Chapter 12
The Puppets
Terrill and Floyd dropped off the skyship, their bodies sinking beneath the surface of dark, swirling monsters. The sole flame that came from Floyd was the only sight Torry had left of them as they were reduced to pinpricks in the marshalling chaos. With them gone, Charles turned away, towards the hole in the deck.
“Take us out! To the Abyssal Palace!” he yelled. There were some grumbles below, indicating that Walter did not take kindly to being ordered around by the man, but the engines whined, and the skyship turned.
That movement attracted some of the monsters that were not making their assault on Valorda, one like an undulating eel with wings. Its jaws opened wide, revealing large pointed teeth that expanded past its jaw with the intention of swallowing them whole. Torry held two fingers forward. “Thunder Javelin.”
Her fingers sparked, and the air rumbled with the clouds that rolled in. Lightning gathered in the clouds, and the blonde fired, her bolt searing the eel through and sending it exploding into ashes. Another creature had attacked Lumen, knocking him along the deck, and Torry turned her magical energies upon this bird-like creature. Wordless incantations gave rise to her surging power and she clapped her hands together, creating an orb of water that encircled the beast. It began to writhe and drown, unable to act as Charles slashed straight through it, ending the fight.
The skyship broke through the haze of darkness, the turbulence causing the ship to bounce, but each of them held on to the dangerous deck. Torry took the opportunity to look back. They were getting farther and farther away, but the tempest of darkness was no less visible, as if Golbrucht was sending some sort of beacon that the end was here. A fact that made her clench her fist, just in time for Charles to grab Lumen and strike him across the face.
“Lumen, I understand the emotions you must be going through after Golbrucht, but not right now. Do not let yourself get distracted. I taught you better than that.” Lumen was in a fugue, barely able to focus on his mentor’s words. Torry bit her lip, unsure if to intervene or not. “You have your own choices to make, do you understand? But don’t let him get under your skin. Not until the battle is won. Don’t throw it away.”
“Charles…” A loud popping sound interrupted whatever Lumen might have been about to say, and Torry recoiled at the sight of smoke pouring from the hole.
“Hey, I could use some help here!” Walter yelled. Charles squeezed on Lumen’s shoulders for a second, imparting his wishes, and then departed down the stairs to help Walter with whatever had happened. The black tornado continued to remind Torry of how fast they needed to get to their own destination, and how little the vehicle was slowing. Leaving her alone with Lumen, however, she decided that she no longer wished to look at where Floyd was fighting. She just had to trust in him. If anyone was in peril, it was Lumen with the way he stared westward, towards their destination.
“He was kinda harsh, wasn’t he?” Torry said, coming next to Lumen and causing him to jump. Now that Torry was closer to him, she realized he was about her age, but while she had spent so much time absorbing knowledge and pursuing the zest of life, Lumen held a weariness of the world behind him.
“Charles means well, and he’s not wrong. He’s dealing with his own demons.” Lumen’s chuckle conveyed no happiness and Torry frowned. It reminded her of the mask Floyd always presented himself with, seemingly carefree and troublesome, but carrying expectations that choked him. Seeing him now take responsibility for a country with Terrill, it made her laugh a little, though it was not the place to. Her companion took notice. “What’s funny?”
“Oh, just thinking about Floyd. He’s dealt with his own demons, too. I think we all have.”
“Not Terrill.”
“Terrill has his own, too. He’s just made the choice to move past it. Admirable, in a way. It’s what draws people to him to do their best and overcome their own flaws. Makes him special.” Torry put her hands in her pockets, smiling at Lumen when she said these things, and he was taken aback. Part of him looked flushed, but he soon looked away, coughing and muttering incoherently for a second.
“I…I guess you’re right. I’ve never had much choice in life. Ironically, I was always told to be the ‘special’ one, though all that really meant was I was important enough for my death to serve a purpose.” Torry hummed a little, only understanding the fragments of the situation she had gathered from their clashes with Golbrucht and what Terrill had said. “But then, being pulled out of the Shadow, being given a choice and being allowed to live…it was a whole new world. So free.
“And so frightening.”
Lumen’s entire body was shaking now. Torry wasn’t sure of what words she could give to console the boy. It was such a wild situation to imagine, that she couldn’t possibly think of what he was going through, or the emotions playing in his head. All she had were her own memories, of her mother walking away, discarding her for her lack of proficiency in magic. Unlike Lumen, she was glad to match those expectations, and prove how skilled she had become. Her hand tentatively raised, pondering the best way to console Lumen when he started to speak again.
“I’m not sure what the correct course of action is for me, anymore,” he said, closing his eyes. The wind around them whipped his blond hair into his face, and Torry thought he looked like a forlorn prince, one that very few could understand. Behind them, the smoke petered out, whatever situation had been created now resolved. “Golbrucht wants me to fuse with him, to serve as his vessel, and a part of me wants to do it, because it would mean living, instead of dying…”
“Yeah, but you wouldn’t be living as you, right?” Torry retracted her hand, opting to lean in front of the boy, instead, while his eyes blinked towards her. “Don’t you have something you want to live for? Something that being taken over by Golbrucht would prevent? Like me. I’m all about magic and research. If you took that away from me, I wouldn’t be me. I wouldn’t want to live an existence like that.”
“But that’s the thing,” Lumen said, the stress leaking out of his voice, his face showing the strain of consideration, “I don’t know what I would do as me. My whole life has existed only as the ‘Chosen One’. I never really had a choice. And even now, I just keep thinking that maybe adhering to that prophecy is the right way to save Sayn. That maybe, if I join with Golbrucht, I can destroy him by…”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence for his meaning to be palpable, and it was something that Torry refused to stand for. As Charles had, she grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him to face her, the lost fugue returning to his eyes. “Right there. Listen to yourself. You have a meaning, a country you want to save, right?”
“But that’s just me following the plan of-”
“No,” Torry insisted, shaking her head. The Abyssal Palace was close now, but the lost boy before her was more important and she tightened her grip. “It’s something you want to do. To save your country’s soul. You need to be alive for that. Didn’t Terrill teach you that? There’s value to you living, Lumen. I may not know you well, but I know that. Each of us has a soul that’s worth something.”
“But my soul is Atrum. It’s why I can feel him, and the blows his body takes in this physical realm. Is my existence really worth-”
“Stop that!” Torry took her turn to slap Lumen on the other cheek. This one appeared to wake him up. “You still have a soul. The same way Atrum has a soul. You can understand each other, but you’re not his. You’re you. So, don’t. Don’t throw the life that you’ve been given away. It will only let them win.”
“I’m just…not sure. Is it really possible to save anyone?”
“If we stop believing we can, then it is.” Torry removed her hands, eyes now locking on the darkened shape of the Abyssal Palace. The scorched ground from their battle with the Shadow in Adversa remained, but all of the trees were yet standing. The Lifebloods had not yet completely broken down. The skyship jerked, beginning to descend in a wider area outside the copse of trees. “I’m going to believe that we can find a way to save you, and the world, and stop Golbrucht. If it means breaking the system to do it, then we’ll find the best way to do it. I’m going to believe in that power, and not lose anyone. I don’t want to see someone walk away to oblivion again.
“So, please, Lumen, believe with me.”
The skyship grinded to a halt, steam jetting out as it touched the ground. The landing was less than smooth, but Torry hadn’t been sure what to expect, and was ready for anything, even being pulled back from falling over by Lumen. Once certain that the vehicle was no longer going to move, she nodded to Lumen and led him from the deck to the cabin below. Charles and Walter were both waiting at the ramp that opened onto the grassy fields, and the enormous structure of glass and stone that waited just outside. It was the oldest of them who chose to lead the way, Walter keeping an eye on his back the entire time, though Torry couldn’t discern with which emotion.
“It’s this way.” The gruff direction brought Torry straight to the Abyssal Palace. Her throat grew dry, remembering the events from the last time she was here, but now able to fully take it in. Night had fallen over them, but it was no less visible, its stained-glass windows shining with a blue light that sent shivers down her spine. The stairway, too, was quite visible and quite the climb upwards, which Charles led on in silence. Their approach only made it more evident how hallowed a space this was, with Torry feeling her body overcome with the aura of magic that only the dwelling of a Lifeblood could give.
“No defenses? That’s unlike him,” Walter said as they neared the top of the steps. “Be on your guard.”
“Indeed. I can feel the Lifeblood from here, and the Palace is tricky. It will not suffer fools in its space.”
“And there’s Golbrucht,” Lumen confirmed for them. No one needed to share the acknowledgement.
They reached the front doors, stretching high like the arches of a cathedral. There were details etched around the arch, but unlike the designs of the windows, this was harder to see in the darkness, and they were details that none of them had time for. If Terrill and Floyd were to fight their great battle to success, then it was of utmost importance to reach the Lifeblood on their end. Charles knew this and placed his hands against the doors. They opened at the slightest touch, swinging inward and revealing the pale blue contents within. It felt as if the Lifeblood, itself, was welcoming them…or daring them to enter.
“He’s further in,” Lumen breathed, feet shuffling forward. No one yanked him back, not even Charles, who affixed him with a glance of pursed lips and narrowed eyes. To Torry, he was acting like a magnet, drawn to the soul now in the same physical space as he. The four of them stepped over the threshold, and the doors snapped shut. Torry swallowed.
“Can you feel it?” she whispered, too afraid to let her voice rise above it. The men with her gripped tight to their weapons, inching forward into the atrium of the Palace, stopping at the many paths before them. “It’s in here…still lingering… Still given form…”
As one, they echoed the same thing they had all felt, that had invaded their souls and nearly won. “The Shadow.”
The walls reacted, some of the passages twisting and turning. Torry couldn’t decide if it was illusion or reality, but she backed up against the other three, while Walter and Charles became more protective, pushing her and Lumen further inward. Laughter abounded through the walls, a sinister echo of the very thing now steeped in the halls of the palace. It was forever a reminder of Golbrucht’s acts, and a sign that his machinations were not yet finished.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Which way?” Walter asked, his hands shaking. Torry reached over to steady him, for what little good it did. He thanked her, nonetheless.
“I…I only know that Atrum is in the Palace. I can’t navigate.”
“But I can,” Charles said. “Be very careful. This place was a portal to hell before the Shadow. It will try to lead you astray to protect itself, whether we are wanted or not. Stick close to me.”
Torry wasn’t going to refuse the man’s direction, and given he was the only one of their group with confidence, it put all eyes on him as he found the correct corridor and led their group down it. Walter brought up the rear, his eyes shifting every which way, looking for the Shadow that could burst out at any time. The only remnant of it Torry could swear to hearing was the cackling child’s laughter, but no visions of despair manifested themselves.
The corridor snaked forward, lined with blue torches, and a smoky substance of darkness that trailed the walls, dead-ending one of the corridors that Charles stopped before. He scoffed, his blade raising high. “I told you it would try to trick you. Do not hesitate. Cut the true path.”
The words sounded of warning, and no one thought to stop Charles before his blade slashed through the curtain of black smoke. It parted, revealing a straight, and brighter, corridor beyond, proof of the way the Palace wished to lead them astray, away from the Lifeblood. Yet that action carried with it further ramifications when the smoke billowed out, consuming the hall with its absolute darkness and leaving nothing but the four of them standing in an abyss. Their breaths were all that could be heard, and Torry could discern no details; not even a speck of light.
“Torry.” Her breath hitching, and her heart feeling like it stopped, Torry turned in that blackness to see a woman standing there, hand extended. Her blonde hair was unchanged from the day she remembered her, the pointed hat upon her heat wobbling. Torry took a step forward, wanting that welcome with all her heart.
“Mother…” One foot placed itself in front of the other, her fingers trembling with yearning as they reached for the woman, nearly touching fingertip to fingertip when Torry saw something out of the corner of her own eye. There were a group of people standing before Walter, from an older couple, to a young man who was once older than Walter, himself, and a young woman. He was locked up at the sight of them, and Torry pulled back.
“Don’t you wish to come with me?” her mother asked, and Torry had to forcibly yank her hand back so as to not give in. She shook her head. “If it’s my approval you seek, then you need not worry.”
Cut the true path.
It was now clear what Charles meant, and though it took all her willpower, she turned away from her mother, towards Walter, whose sleeve she grabbed. “It isn’t real.”
The hunter closed his eyes, and with that same extraordinary willpower, looked away from the family he had lost. They couldn’t hold him back anymore. “I know.”
They joined with Lumen and Charles at the edge of the darkness, and with a resolute step, proceeded through the cleaved smoke and out the other end, back in the hall of blue light. This time, there was a bright light shining at the end of it, and Torry didn’t need Charles to guide them there in order to know what it was. Still, they stayed close to one another in case anymore tricks or traps tried to ensnare them.
None did, and after their silent walk down the long corridor, they emerged in a wide room, drenched in darkness but with lines of blue and brown crystal covering the walls, giving it an all-too ethereal glow. The centerpiece of the room, of course, was the large crystalline structure, one that ended a few feet before the ceiling, and towered over them. Torry broke from the group to approach it while they stepped to the center, their eyes peeled for any enemy, Fiends or otherwise.
Though not connected to the darkness emanating from it, Torry could feel the extent of its magical power, her body attuned to it flowing through her. Unlike before, and with no Krysta to stop her, Torry had no compunctions about reaching out to touch the crystal. It was cool to the touch, smooth in spite of its jagged appearance. The tactile sensation did not reveal anything more, but Torry could still feel it, that soul deep inside. She wished Terrill or Krysta were here with their ability to sense the earth and souls, respectively, but she rolled up her sleeves, determined to find the answers by herself, anyway.
As the others kept watch, Torry circled around what she could of the Lifeblood, and the closer she examined, the more she began to notice cracks and seams that were coming undone, yet held together by a thin fiber. Something was keeping the Lifeblood of Darkness from breaking, but just as with the others, it was breaking down all the same. To Torry, she was no longer worried about their fractures, but silently reveled in the fact that it revealed something: Golbrucht was tied to the Lifeblood of Darkness. It was the only explanation for why it would need to be stitched up. She started to tap her foot.
“Elements…” The word came out in a mutter, and she began ticking down on her fingers, her feet soon finding themselves moving back and forth with consideration. “Each Fiend shows an element. Clay for Earth, Winifred for Wind… So…Golbrucht is a Fiend of Darkness… King of the Dark… Would that mean…?”
“What have you figured out?” Lumen’s voice caused Torry to jump. He looked curious, sharing that same scholarly expression Floyd had said was on her own face many a time. It felt like having a kindred spirit and Torry pointed to the stitching alongside the Lifeblood.
“The Fiends are tied to the Lifebloods. If what Golbrucht said is true, then when they merge, it’s like being Blessed, but not, which means whatever fate may have been ordained for them, the blessing of that Lifeblood filters them.” Torry tapped her fingers against each other, with Lumen leaning closer to examine the string that was there. His frown of concern said everything, but Torry didn’t stop rambling off any of her conclusions. “If the Lifeblood’s roots and crystal structures can be said to span both worlds, then it makes sense that the Fiends soul and body, existing as both rather than one with prominence, would ride the cycle and reincarnate through the Lifeblood. So, if the Lifeblood doesn’t exist, then they wouldn’t. Or maybe just Adversa would do the trick.”
“And that’s why he’s holding it together. I see,” Lumen said, nodding his head. It soon cocked to the side, and Torry followed his gaze. “But you’d think, with the full power of a Lifeblood, it would have been easy to create a Shadow, right? Or all that other stuff.”
“What? Are you suspecting there might be a block? How would that be possible?”
“I can look inside with some light.” The suggestion was met with a bright beacon burgeoning in Lumen’s hand, and he approached the Lifeblood, the dark crystal reflecting the light. The strings seemed to recoil, or pull tighter, and Torry felt a difference in magic power, the opposing elements reacting, sensing the light.
“So, Terrill Jacobs made the choice to go to Valorda after all.” Lumen pulled back, and Torry took him yet further away. They each backed up towards Walter and Charles, looking around for the source of the voice. It was Lumen who found it first, staring up to the ceiling and the top of the Lifeblood. Even in the darkness, he was unmistakable, legs crossed and placed atop the Lifeblood like a throne. “His altruism is befitting a hero, but there’s no saving this world.”
“Why don’t you come down and find out if that’s the case?” Charles called out, receiving laughter in return.
“Puppets need not speak back to their owners.”
“I am not your puppet. Not anymore. None of us are.”
“But that’s not entirely true, is it? Lumen?” Golbrucht extended his hand, the guise of Lumen’s soul counterpart offering the boy a place with him. Torry made sure to shove him behind her. Her action received a scoff. “Do you think you can defend this world? You know the Lifebloods are the very source of life in this world, their cycle with Adversa sustaining the Great Soul. Yet you theorize the only way to stop me is by ridding the world of its very foundation. See how fate toys with you.”
“Fate has toyed with all of us.”
The addition of a second voice caused Walter and Torry to look back, towards the entrance they had come from. Manifesting from the line of the Lifebloods, another figure appeared, robed and with a giant axe, the same man that had clashed with Alexander at Fort Tierial. Torry’s fists tightened, wondering how many more Fiends would join them, though Golbrucht stood, surprised at his subordinate’s appearance.
“Oho? Clay, here I thought you and Winifred would be busy with your own games in Valorda. Or have you abandoned your match with the old man?” Golbrucht said with a leer. Flanked by the two, Torry found her back against Lumen’s, the boy shaking. The Lifeblood pulsed, an attempt to brim with light, but failing all the same. “Not that it matters. I can pull your strings tighter anytime I wish.”
“Oh, I’m sure that you could, Golbrucht. Yet for a moment, our interests as Fiends align: a sundering of Adversa from Dimidia.” Clay’s axe clanged across the floor, echoing out with a shriek that made Torry’s ears whimper. “An end to the cycle we have perpetuated these long years, and fulfillment of the prophecy. Two nameless men, embracing death.”
“I don’t intend to embrace death, Clay. That is the reason we are Fiends. But I can admit to some fascination at how this has all been set up. Was it part of your machinations from the beginning?”
“Machinations?” Clay got a good laugh going at that, the tension between the two parties building. “What would make you think I’m so intelligent. I’ve served as your pawn for some time, have I not? I’ve no right any longer to be the Chosen One seeking a deathmatch with the King.”
“Then why are you here?” Lumen shouted, the same time as Golbrucht echoed in Atrum’s voice. It was a disturbing confirmation of their connection.
Clay wrenched his axe from the ground, heaving it on his back. His skin began to melt away, decaying into bone as his form revealed itself. The Lifeblood shuddered in his presence, and Golbrucht dropped down to the floor, drawing the rapier at his side. “I told you. Our goals are aligned: to reduce Adversa. For that, I need to rend the darkness…and destroy the light.”
“Goals aligned? Hah! You wish to bring about Implere but keep your own source intact!”
“I care not for my own life. I threw that away long ago when I engaged you in battle.” Clay stepped forward and the palace shook. He was bringing his full power to bear, and Golbrucht was no different. The quartet drew closer, and Torry found her mind going over Clay’s words. “But I will see my duty fulfilled, no matter how many lives it takes. I will use her light, and shatter both!”
Clay swung his axe for Golbrucht, and the Lifeblood flashed. In that moment, Atrum’s body was wreathed in darkness, becoming like a blood-red claw that broke the spines of earth that attempted to impale him. When he straightened, the stitches on the Lifeblood grew, becoming tendrils that snapped outward for Clay. He crowed in victory. “The greatest advantage of Soul String! Fiends exist outside the boundaries of bodies and souls, and thus I can easily take advantage of you! Over any soul! Reality does not pertain to me!”
“Hah, then you forget who else it does not pertain to!” Clay spun, his axe snapping the threads in two. The resultant wind bowled over the four of them, nearly picking them off their feet save for Walter, whose spear spun and created a countering wind current, canceling the earthen effect. “Let us finish this, Golbrucht! There is no more perfect stage! As Chosen One and King, let us bring an end to this era of Adversa together!”
The two Fiends ran for each other, with their group stuck in the middle. Torry grabbed Lumen and the two jumped aside, their bodies rolling on the stone floor to much bruising. She still couldn’t get the words out of her head, and when the clash met in the center, cratering the floor and causing the Lifeblood to crack just a little bit more, the truth became plain. Her mind recreated the diagram of her mother’s and truth settled in with a gasp.
“Of course… \Destroy the four, and it breaks down, but destroy the Lifebloods of Light and Darkness, and it would be the same. That means… Krysta!”
“For what other purpose do you think I’ve goaded you!” Clay broke off his attack, his axe cleaving downward, only for Golbrucht to leap back out of range. “I had Winifred take Terrill to Clupei in the first place to begin uncovering the truth of the Fiends and of Golbrucht. And knowing that, your dear friend would keep tabs, make sure you were kept safe. For all of her aloofness, the Lifeblood of Light has come to care for you, the same way she cared for Eric North. And Winifred will see to it she is reunited with your friends, who will no doubt come here.
“And at your fallen forms, only one path will become clear: destroy the fate that shackles us. Destroy her own essence!”
“Ah, so that’s what it is, is it? The same but a different method.” Golbrucht tossed his head back with uproarious laughter. “A well-played game, driving all the players to one place. Though I do not think Terrill Jacobs will make it.”
“Terrill will make it!” Lumen shouted, pushing himself up. He held his sword, pointed in the direction of Golbrucht, shaking but with determination and purpose. “I believe in him. And if you’re both here, then we’re on the right track, too.”
“There will be no ‘track’ left for you,” Clay responded, shaking his head with a scolding, like they were children who understood little of the world. “We must all rejoin the flow. As must you, Chosen One!”
Clay spun in a wide circle, all of the room shaking as columns of stone emerged, tinged with red. Walter and Charles barely avoided the first wave, only for the second to strike them and throw them towards the walls. Both recovered, and jumped on to one of the sailing columns to run for Clay, trying to strike at the same time. They missed, their weapons grating against one another’s, causing Walter to glare. The moment was the lapse in judgment that Clay used to send spikes from the ceiling, hitting both in their shoulders and tossing them to the floor.
The rest of the columns transformed to drills, aiming for Lumen. Torry reacted in a flash, bracing her hand and summoning a frosty chill that turned the area to ice. The attack still encroached upon their space, and it was all Torry could do to hold it back until the stone was broken off by a dark crescent.
“Hands off my vessel, Clay.” Golbrucht’s eyes flashed red, and the Lifeblood began to exude tendrils that became a singular ray which struck the opposing Fiend. “I will not permit you to ruin my Lifeblood or my vessel, but if you wish to kill them…then, by all means, accept my power and control.”
“Hah, how much you overestimate.” This time, Torry couldn’t block the attack, the stony fists striking both her and Lumen to send them rolling across the floor like ragdolls. At one point, Torry was almost certain her arm had broken, and looking up, she saw an even more malevolent Clay, his skeletal form dripping with dark magical energy. “You may have your Soul Magic, but I know how to ride through any flow. Let us end this, heroes, Golbrucht, that fate may begin anew!”
Clay’s axe came down, a greater force than ever before, emanating an earthquake before it even struck, with the intention of bringing the entire palace down around them.
And the room began to glow, the Lifeblood’s luminescence reaching its zenith in its final hour.