At last the pain was gone, along with my vision of the world around me. I saw and felt nothing. In peaceful bliss I relaxed and deep below I could hear the steady beat of the earth. Closer and yet more faintly I heard a single perfect voice, “I will rip your cursed child from your womb and crush it before your eyes.”
“No,” I said simply and I began to sit up. The pressure against my mind was still there, but it was no longer beyond my ability to stop. Something had changed inside, and a new strength had emerged, drawn primarily from the pulsing heart of the world. Looking around myself with new eyes I took in the room with a clarity that came from a calm center. I had found my balance, and in that timeless instant I saw everything.
Dorian and Elaine were both still unconscious, their bodies collapsed near the wall to one side of the room. Rose lay face down near the throne, a still spreading pool of blood fanning outward from beneath her. Edward stood over her now, a bloody dagger in hand and a smile upon his face. His grey hair was gone and he looked younger than I remembered. Last of all, I spotted Cyhan, crouched near the doorway, still holding a sword though he seemed powerless to move.
Most importantly the shining god was reaching down, though his movement seemed terribly slow. Penelope’s face was still above me, framed by loose strands of soft brown hair, shining golden with Celior’s light behind her. Her eyes were on mine and in that moment something passed between us, a type of communication that was ineffable. Apologies and regrets were forgotten and meaningless, for our hearts had found each other once again.
Celior’s hand was over her head, and his fingers were beginning to clench inward, to grasp her by the hair when finally the universe snapped back into motion. Without conscious thought I drew deeply upon the power beneath me while reaching up to meet the god’s greedy hand with my own, “ Na’Pyrren Ingak mai Lathos” It was the spell I had created to harden and strengthen my hands when working with the hot metal of the forge.
Our hands entwined for a moment and I felt the immensity of Celior’s unwitting strength, but I didn’t care. Clenching my hand into a fist the shining god’s bones broke, snapping like dry twigs under my fingers. Staring into the brilliant blue eyes of the god I spoke, “You will never touch her.”
Celior screamed and drew back as I released his hand but he recovered his composure within seconds. “I am done playing with you wizard,” and so saying he held up his hand, flexing it, as if to demonstrate that it had already healed.
Raising my staff I created a new shield around the two of us. Using my newfound strength I imbued it with so much power that blue sparks sizzled and spat around the edges. My instincts were screaming at me to find some way to get Penny and our unborn child away, but I knew there was no escaping the monstrous deity that stood before us.
Luminescent tendrils of power were beginning to test the boundaries of my new shield but I ignored them and looked back, into Penny’s dark brown eyes. There were dark circles under them and her body had swelled even more with her pregnancy but gazing at her all I could see was the girl that had run with me through the open fields of our childhood summers. The word love simply wasn’t enough to describe what she meant to me. Gazing into those eyes I saw my future, and the proof of it was growing in her belly. I wanted nothing more than to hold her and forget the nightmare around us.
I opened my mouth and said, “You are such an asshole.”
Her expression faltered, “What?”
“Was that really the best message you could leave me? I thought you were dead!” I said angrily.
Disbelief marched across her face, “I couldn’t say more! I didn’t know what might affect your fate.”
“Fuck fate! Fate is a goddamned whore! She changes her mind more frequently than that fickle bitch Lady Luck! Next time you tell me the truth and consequences be damned!” I shouted.
Penelope’s face twisted into an expression that was a mixture of irony, humor and worry. “There may not be a next time, this was as far as my vision got; the rest is up to you.”
Now it was my turn to be incredulous. All the suffering and fear I had been through, and this was the extent of her vision? “If we make it home alive we are going to have a serious talk,” I said and turned my attention back to the angry god.
In the short time I had ignored him Celior had changed. He had grown several feet in height and golden mists wreathed the ground about his feet. His overall luminosity had increased as well, making it almost painful to look at him. This isn’t looking good, I thought to myself.
Across the room, Cyhan was kneeling over Rose and from his awkward motions I could tell he was having difficulty moving. Celior’s presence was like an iron weight and without powerful protection I doubted any normal human could move. Reaching down Cyhan pulled the necklace from around Rose’s limp form and settled it over his own head. His movements became considerably quicker after that. Is he just seeking to escape? I wondered. Dorian couldn’t possibly have appeared with his arms and armor by chance. “Take them and get out!” I yelled at him as loudly as I could, gesturing at Rose and then Elaine. I would have liked Dorian safe as well, but there was no way Cyhan could have carried them all and at least Dorian was armored.
Celior smiled chillingly, “Save your breath mortal. I will only hunt them down once I am finished with you.” Reaching out, his hand pressed against my shield causing brilliant sparks to fly. “Your shield has improved. I might have to exert myself slightly to break something like that,” mused the shining deity, “though I know an easier way.”
I hardly liked the sound of that. Glancing backward I noticed one of the giant stones from the ceiling lay beside Penny and me, forming a natural barrier. “Get behind the stone Penny,” I ordered quietly. Turning back to Celior I tried to buy some time. “I’m done listening to your pathetic childish threats,” I said loudly.
The god laughed, “One small taste of the earth and you think you have a chance, I begin to doubt your intelligence Mordecai.”
For a moment I doubted my resolve. Obviously bear-baiting an angry god wasn’t among the smartest things I had ever decided to do. Stupid never dies, I thought inwardly, and then I replied, “Intelligence is overrated. I don’t need wits to see that you are nothing, despite your power. You are a parasite, a plague upon humanity, a figment of some man’s demented dream, drawing your sustenance from the hearts and souls of those who mistakenly worship you.”
As I spoke Celior’s face went from amused to thunderous and I put even more power into my shield. Whatever was coming would be bad. “I will show you the folly of your fool’s tongue,” the god replied and then I discovered my error.
A flash of light illuminated the room and for a split second it was as though the sun had touched the earth. It centered upon Celior and so intense were those rays that everything they touched burned and turned instantly to ash. The cloth furnishings in the room burned so rapidly they didn’t even have time to catch fire. Even the very stones smoked where that awful light played across them. My shield, on the other hand, was transparent, for light had never been a danger.
Staring up at Celior my skin and clothing crisped and vanished almost instantly from the half of my body facing him. My eyes shriveled and burned so quickly it was a mercy to no longer have to see the light. A scream rose in my throat but failed to escape for the pain had taken my breath away. As quickly as the light had appeared it vanished.
In its wake I was left a smoking ruin. The outer layer of clothing, skin and fat on the side of my body that faced the shining god was gone. If it hadn’t been for the cauterization that occurred simultaneously I might have bled to death, but instead I was left in a horror of agony and pain. Collapsing to the ground I knew I was dying already, but it might take hours unless Celior decided to hurry it along.