Our victory at the gate was the most impressive yet. When the tally came in from each squad, we were shocked at the losses. Zero! We took zero losses in our siege. Thanks to my planning, Wraith’s sacrifice, and the incredible talents of our fighting force, morale was at an all time high. Only one obstacle remained. The Devil King’s castle.
We kept a detachment of barbarians and dwarves back at the gate to guard the wounded. I offered Arduwan to stay there with Wraith, but she refused.
“Absolutely not, Eric. I will not abandon you during this most trying time. My life debt
forbids it.”
“Wow, that thing’s pretty ironclad isn't it?” I noted.
Arduwan spurred her horse up next to mine and said, “Thank you for saving him.”
I tripped him out a window. But she couldn’t have known that, so I merely replied, “Of course. He’s my best friend. Well, besides Stephanie.”
Arduwan pondered for a moment and then said, “I wonder how they’re all doing back at the mansion? Probably worried sick about us.”
“Yeah. Well let’s just make sure we pull this off.”
* * *
According to the maps we saw at the gatehouse, the Devil King’s castle was only about ten miles away from the wall, so it didn’t take us long to get there. We hung back about a mile away once the building came into view so that the army could catch up. This had to be the most evil looking, most intimidating structure I had ever seen. The place made Davol’s Fortress look like Michief’s doggy bed. It was all black, with gargoyles and spires that pointed up towards the sky like an angry palm stating, ‘Halt!’. It definitely wasn’t Magic Kingdom.
What’s the plan, sir? asked Captain Christoph with King Ardu and the other leaders by his side.
“Have the Plasma Squad form up. Ardu, get the barbarians and the mercenaries into a close flanking position to their sides. We’re gonna ease our way up slowly and attempt to draw their forces out to meet us.”
It didn’t take long during our slow march towards the castle for the gates to open up and a battalion of hell bent human worshipers of the Devil King to make their way outside. We remained steadfast in our approach. That’s when I saw him. On a balcony, about midway up the castle, the Devil King himself made an appearance.
He was shorter than I expected. Maybe five foot ten by my best guess. But he was completely ripped. He had black armor that intermittently covered his upper body and spikes on his iron shoulder pads. His helmet bent down into a mask that covered his eyes and nose, like batman, and a long, sleek, ponytail blossomed from the top of it.
He shouted down to us as his soldiers formed up in front of the castle, “Who dares encroach upon my domain?!”
I gulped hard and then spoke up, “‘Tis I, Sir Eric Noble. I have come to end your reign of terror upon this world.”
“Oh really?” he taunted, “I’ll tell you what. If you can get to me, I’ll give you a free hit, little man.”
I surveyed my surroundings. We had stopped just a stone's throw away from the enemy line. I was confident I could hit him with the Divine Arrow from here. According to the Tome of Wisdom, all I had to do was fire it within my normal range and once it connected, it would deliver a fatal hit. So I decided to go for it and end this thing now. I reached for the arrow, took aim with my bow, and fired it directly below Shagrath’s neck.
The arrow shimmered its golden light from within. Everyone standing on the battlefield, from both sides, looked up in awe as it passed through the air. Then all of a sudden…
“Cosmic Window!” Shagrath shouted, as he held his hands in front of him and made a motion as if he was opening up a scroll. The very fabric of time and space opened up directly in front of him between his motioning hands just before the arrow reached its target. And as quickly as he opened the space fold, he closed it, and the arrow was gone.
“Mwahaha, I’ll be waiting,” he stated, as he clapped his hands and turned to go back inside.
Suddenly, there was a slight rumble. The gargoyles decorated along the castle's exterior began to animate. They were now real like winged, horned, devil tailed demons! And they were descending down upon us ahead of the foot soldiers advance!
I was in total shock. The arrow that we had worked so hard to create, that Tolly died to preserve, that was sworn by him, Apollo, the Oracle, Delilah, and the Tome of Wisdom itself to work…was gone. Never even made it to its target. My inner monologue was interrupted by Arduwan.
“Eric, what now?!”
I shook off my delirium and answered, “Everyone, attack!!!”
The battle ensued. Knights, barbarians, dwarves, mercenaries, demented followers, and gargoyles clashed. Plasma fire tore through the sky in an attempt to fell the airborne attackers. I found myself shoulder to shoulder with Arduwan and Captain Christoph as the wall of enemies met our side. On their own, these soldiers were weak. I easily eliminated three of them during our initial entanglement. But there were still hundreds of them and we were on their home turf. I needed to think of some way to prevent this from becoming a total bloodbath. Then it came to me.
“Arduwan, do you still have that Strength Amplifying Potion Tolly gave to you?”
“I do. Why do you ask?” she replied, as she gored a nearby soldier.
“Drink it, now! I want you to toss me into that balcony window Shagrath was speaking from.”
“What?!!! That’s crazy!”
“It should enhance your strength ten fold. Do you think that’s enough for you to be able to toss me that high?”
“Yeah, of course. But won’t you land hard?”
“Don’t worry, I have a plan for that. Just do it.”
“Okay,” she said, as she retrieved the potion from her satchel and started to drink it.
“Remember, your strength will increase for about ten minutes, so use the time after you toss me wisely.”
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“Got it.”
Christoph signaled his knights and the Plasma Squad to form up around us to give Arduwan a good running space to throw me. She guzzled down the potion and had a look of glee afterwards. You could tell the power was coursing through her body. She scooped me up by my chainmail and got a running start before releasing me into the air. A gargoyle attempted to grab me as I whizzed past him. It was working. I flew like a bird directly towards Shagrath’s court. As I came into the window I shouted, “Gust!” while extending my hands forward and then quickly pulling them back. The spell was much more powerful this time than when I had tried to use it back when our minecart was crashing in the dwarf tunnels. A rush of wind blew towards me and slowed my crash to a tumble as I rolled into the court. Shagrath turned quickly with a look of astonishment at my appearance.
I came to my feet, dusted myself off and said, “Alright, how bout that free hit?”
He gritted his teeth angrily and jumped into the air. With his legs spread apart, he came down like a waffle iron. I dodged swiftly and watched the tile crack below his boots where he landed. He leaped again and tried once more. Then again, a third time. Then a forth. Each time I narrowly escaped.
Finally, he tried a more direct approach. He drew his black metal sword and swiped at me. I attempted to cross blades, but the power from his attack knocked me backwards. No sooner than I got my footing, he charged at me. Desperately, I took a knee and shouted, “Splash!” Water rained down around him and puddled up on the floor.
He stopped just shy of where I knelt and said, “Ha! Splash? Really?”
I touched the floor in front of him and cast, “Chill!” But instead of sending him sliding as I did to Throd, I held the spell in place and continued putting MP into it. He slipped and fell on his back. The ice made its way up Shagrath’s body and froze him to the ground.
A moment later, he burst up from the frozen sarcophagus I created and landed on his feet. He scoffed, “Mwuahaha! Your feeble skills are no match for the likes of me!”
Wasn’t looking good. I’d used a lot of magic power in the last two or three minutes. Might be able to pull a couple more good spells if I tried. I had one worth a try.
“Lightning bolt!” I yelled, pointing my finger at him.
He crossed his arms to shield his face and took the full brunt of my attack. That bolt was stronger than the one I used in the arena in Brasshaven. I was in real trouble now. That used a significant amount of MP. I’d need at least a couple more minutes before I could even use a party trick. By the looks of it, he wasn’t going to give me that.
“You fought valiantly, Sir Noble. No opponent has ever caused me such problems. I shall kill your friends quickly in honor of your efforts,” he said, as he looked down at me still kneeling and held his sword above.
At that exact moment, the most amazing, miraculous thing happened. And that’s saying a lot, because I travel to other worlds for a living. From across the king's court, a window shattered and in from it the Divine Arrow made its way directly to the back of Shagrath. Its golden arrow head protruded through the front of his chest, just below the neck. Exactly where I had aimed for it to hit.
That’s when I understood. The arrow would always hit its target and deliver a fatal hit. It just needed to be aimed. Shagrath had used his magic to teleport it to the other side of the cosmos and for the duration of this battle, it had been making its way back here. Back to its intended target.
He stood there, reeling in agony with his sword above his head. After a moment, he dropped it and fell onto his back. This caused the arrow to press forward further out of his chest. Then after a moment, it disappeared into golden dust, signifying the death of the Devil King of Callist.
I hobbled to my feet, removed Shagrath’s helmet and went over to the balcony. I looked out over the battlefield and shouted, “The Devil King is no more!” before tossing the metallic helmet mask off the edge.
Everyone stopped in their tracks. The gargoyles scattered in every direction and the remaining followers turned tail and fled from the domain. Cheers erupted from our ranks. The day was ours.
* * *
Once I made my way back to my comrades, I was met with pats on the back and words of gratitude from all the combatants. Arduwan, her father, Captain Christoph and the other leaders sounded off applause at my return.
“You did it, Eric!” Arduwan congratulated.
I replied, “No, we did it! Come here, girl!” This time I took her into a bearlike embrace. We held each other tightly as I whispered in her ear, “you’re free to go now, Princess. The life debt is paid forward. Go now. Live your own life.”
She broke away from me, looked into my eyes and started to tear up. “Oh, Eric!” she cried, as she resumed our embrace. Didn’t hurt feeling that bosom pressed up against me one last time.
I turned my attention to Captain Christoph, who knelt down and bowed before me with only eight other surviving Knights of Vale. They suffered great losses in this final battle. But he said to me, “Lord Noble. I shall return to my king with word of your incredible achievement. I have no doubt you will be hailed a hero in our land for generations. Furthermore, I will insist that we open a direct line of diplomacy between Vale, the Barbarians, and the Dwarf Kingdom.”
I nodded as the dwarven leadership approached. The three of them knelt as well and said, “Likewise, Sir Noble. The dwarves are most grateful of the success of your rallying of our alliance.”
King Ardu was next. He hammered a fist across his chest and stated, “Let me remind you that the Barbarian Life Debt is still in full effect for every barbarian except my daughter, Princess Arduwan. We are at your command.”
Great.
“Everyone, Everyone. Please listen up,” I said, “I know we’re all excited. But let’s all get back to the gateway and inform our allies of our victory. Frankly, I prefer we’d all just leave this awful place.”
* * *
So we all made our way back to tell Wraith and the others of our accomplishment. When the final tally came in, we mourned the deaths together as a group. The campaign against the Devil King of Callist had certainly taken its toll. 136 barbarians, 28 mercenaries, 11 dwarves, 15 knights. Only eight of the Plasma Squad survived the final battle. Three of the barbarians and five of the dwarves. They bore the brunt of the attack from the gargoyles.
We all decided to camp outside the domain wall while we recuperated before our respective journeys home. The Knights would return to Vale and the dwarves back to their mountain range. The barbarians would return to their lands and the various mercenaries would scatter back across the world as they were before we summoned them. I allowed those with functioning plasma rifles to keep them. I figured why not leave my mark on the lore of the world and distribute some legendary weapons.
Then the question came of Wraith and Arduwan. She was babying him much the same way two certain ladies I knew babied me when I got injured in Callist. Riding out of here would’ve been tough for him. Luckily, we found some healing potions in Shagrath’s castle, so the it would be easier to take care of our most badly injured. When the time came for us all to part ways, I assured Arduwan once again that it was okay. The two of them climbed aboard a horse, Wraith riding pillion of course, and we said our goodbyes.
“It’s okay, Arduwan. You can go and be happy now. You too, Wraith. Go have your own stories.”
“What will you do?” Wraith asked.
“Me? Well, with the Devils gone and all the stones green, it’ll be a good long while before another threat arises from them. So I’m gonna go home and enjoy being a rich dude in an English mansion with a house full of hot chicks for a while.”
“Haven’t you been doing that this whole time?”
“You’re clearly forgetting the part about Devils.” I noted.
And with that all said, the two of them rode off together. The time would come when we would reunite but for now it was goodbye. They could cause havoc amongst themselves for a while. I was ready to go home. I was tired and I missed the girls. Anabel’s cooking was surely going to be savored even more than usual. Stephanie’s jokes would be a welcome sound. And Emily’s beautiful green eyes would gleam at me as she looked up from her current book.
I rode by myself across the plains and the mountains, into the desert and back to the canyon where the spring was. I descended down one last time for, hopefully, a good long time, and found the stone. Sure enough, it was green. A shade I had so longed for. This damn world was the bane of my existence. In terms of least favorite worlds, it was a toss between Callist and Murk. That place just freaked me the hell out. If I had to pick a favorite, it’d either Bristol or Synthetica. Bristol because the nostalgia of traveling with Anabel and becoming a hero for the first time in my life. Synthetica because that’s where I finally got to connect with my father and learn the full truth of why he wasn’t in my life. Plus I just liked cool Sci-fi stuff. Wraith was more of a Fantasy guy than me.
All the same. It was time to go back home.