The Observor — The Final Showdown (Part 2)

“Shall we begin?”

Large and bulky, though not overly so, the speaker stood in front of Gideon and I without even a hint of accepting a defensive posture. He had the air of one so confident in his abilities that losing wasn’t even in the realm of possibility. Beside the fiery-maned stranger, a lanky goblin bounced up and down, a pair of decimated shackles in his hands. It giggled with glee as it flailed wildly, continuing to smash the shackles to ruins against any hard surface it could reach, occasionally including its own forehead.

Like water from a basin, the mocking leer drained from the stranger’s face. Disdain became menace, as he raised his hands to attack. Having already seen the barbaric savagery my opponent was capable of, I knew I needed to take the fight to him. With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and let the world slide away.

Silence. My pulse slowed. Fear and shock melted away like frost in the morning sun. I was serene. I was ready to begin.

Into the void I had formed within my mind, the power of the oceans and islands flowed into me, forming a great sea in my consciousness. I opened my eyes, the world tinged with a sapphire haze, and fixed my gaze squarely onto my foe’s goblin companion. A wave of power shot out at the goblin, crashing into it and rebounding, like a ripple hitting a wall. The goblin froze, a barely visible blue corona forming around its head. After a second of inaction, a snaggletoothed grin broke across its face as it looked up at my foe. Slowly, it started a malicious laugh as it started to inch its way backwards towards me, skipping and hopping the whole way. Taking up position between Gideon and I, its laughter began to die as it appeared to look to me for orders.

As the exertion of my will over the goblin was complete, the wave of power I sent out returned to me, once again filling me with the mana of the islands. Once again filled with power, I began a complex weave of summoning, invoking a cryptic series of arcane words of power. As the incantations finished, I molded the mana into a rippling orb, hovering directly overhead. With a crack, my head snapped back, eyes fixed on the ceiling. Only one more word escaped my lips.

“Jwar.”

The faint tang of saltwater filled the air. Cheeks moistened with the gentle mist of spray. In the air above me, the cerulean orb collapsed in on itself before exploding in a flash of light and sound. As the din settled, the sound of massive powerful wings resonated off the walls of the corridor.

“You have called, and I have come.”

The sphinx’s voice was that of an archivist, filled with the impatience and superiority of one who has lived long enough to catalogue the secrets of the world.

“Do you seek knowledge,” the sphinx grumbled, fixing its cold gaze on me?

“I seek whatever help you can provide, great sphinx.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, a hollowness filled the sphinx’s eyes, drawing me in. Images swam before my eyes. An exchange of currency. A new companion. A small hint of satisfaction. I knew this was a vision of things to come, though it would be a moment before I would be able to sort the vision out enough to make use of it. In the meantime, I would have to rely on the strength of my companions to get the job done.

With my full attention on trying to make sense of the new information filling my mind, I was completely oblivious to the rasp of metal on stone as Gideon, sword drawn, rushed across the floor at my now defenseless opponent. A brief flash of remorse crossed Gideon’s face as his sword swung down. The mage jumped back just in time to avoid a lethal blow, though not quick enough to avoid the attack completely. A gash opened up from shoulder to hip, and the edges of his freshly cut clothing slowly began to become darken with damp, crimson blood.

The mage’s arms shot up in a frantic attempt to protect himself. A ribbon of emerald energy whipped out of his fingertips, coiling around Gideon’s sword arm. The energy began to peel back from the creature hidden underneath as a skin from a snake. Out of the glowing shell, a rich, green boa began to constrict, wrapped around Gideon. With mongoose like reflexes, Gideon managed to throw the massive snake to the ground, bouncing quickly back to my side.

With a small amount more breathing space, the evil mage sneered at the treacherous goblin, raising his hand in a cursing gesture. From his tightly closed fist, small bars of green energy began to shoot out towards the goblin. As they rapidly crossed the distance, they took on a darker hue, sprouting faintly glowing leaves as the beams spread like ivy throughout the empty space. Upon striking the goblin, vines began to wrap around the goblin’s head, appearing to strangle the poor creature. A muffled popping sound filled the corridor, a sickly sound like a melon dropped against a stone floor.

Strangely, the goblin didn’t immediately slump to the ground as expected. Instead, the vines began to recede as quickly as they had grown. With a flash, the goblin turned to face me, hate filling its eyes. Suddenly, it all made sense to me. That popping sound wasn’t the goblin’s head collapsing as I had originally though. It was instead the collapsing of my spell of control. The natural order had been restored, and the goblin bounded across the room to rejoin its former master. Now flanked by goblin and snake, the dark mage closed his eyes and began to gather his power.

As soon as this window opened, Gideon took advantage of it. As he charged across the room, I nodded to my newest companion, and the sphinx roared as it bolted across the room after Gideon with a speed belying its size. As they crossed the midpoint of the corridor, the boa guarding the mage coiled and sprang at Gideon, wrapping him in its massive coils. With his sword hand just barely free of the coils, Gideon began the arduous process of hacking the boa to bits. After a couple of swings, the boa fell to the ground in a few large pieces. Thinking the path now clear, Gideon once again began to advance on the mage. No more than a step into his charge, Gideon recoiled as a wisp of green energy shot into the pieces of the massive snake, forming connections between the pieces. As the length of the connections shortened, the individual pieces of boa reconnected, knitting bone, muscle, and flesh as new. Within ten seconds, the boa was once again whole. Gideon backed away slowly, realizing he’d need to find another way in.

With dominance over the aerial realm, the sphinx sped forward unabated, intent on the mage. Screaming into a dive, the sphinx bellowed a roar as it pulled back a massive paw. As soon as it was in range, the sphinx released its paw like a slingshot, crushing the mage with a mighty blow. A blur of crimson energy, the mage flew across the corridor, smashing into the wall on the other side. Somehow, he managed to stay on his feet, though he was clearly beginning to bleed significantly.

I reached out to the mind of my enemy. I could tell he was almost finished with his summoning, so I would have just a small window for action. Using him like an antenna, I pushed outward to all the companions at his disposal looking to strengthen my army while weakening his. Enticed by my offer, I felt the foreign sensation of burning mountain energy draw back along my bond. Pulling out quickly, I was a bit surprised when a ruddy pool of power followed me out of his mind. Beside me, a pair of smoking footprints began to form on the stone. As a heat shimmer formed in the air above the footprints, the air slowly started to take the form of a man-sized beast, flames lapping the creature’s maw. As it erupted into being, a giant gout of flame shot from the beast’s mouth with a roar, headed straight for the boa. Engulfed in flames, the boa thrashed about in agony, leaving nothing but a trail of ash on the stone.

Just as the gruesome display finished, the mage snapped to attention, his eyes bloodshot orbs of power, fixated squarely on me. A crackling rift of the deepest red appeared over his head. Slowly, a reptilian snout began to forge its way out of nothingness, smoke slowly wafting up from its massive nostrils. Just as the gaping maw had completed creeping into being, it shot forward, blooming into a massive hellkite from nothingness. Enraged, the hellkite began a mad charge across the sky toward us, but at the last second, a high-pitched whistle from the mage brought it to heel. Apparently we had forced him onto the defensive, if only for a little bit.

With the dragon’s tail curling around his legs like the smile upon his face, the mage sat in a defensive posture, awaiting our next move. As expected, Gideon brandished his sword and charged forward followed soon after by the massive sphinx and the flaming beast I had summoned from my opponent’s retinue. As they rumbled across the room, the mage’s cohorts assumed a defensive posture, the hellkite taking flight to intercept the sphinx while the goblin moved to take on Gideon. Unblocked, the flaming beast made straight for the mage, but just before he could reach him, a metallic tang began to fill the corridor as a bolt of lightning shot towards the beast, frying it midstride. Gideon made short work of the puny goblin in his way, but he was forced to retreat to safety as the aerial battle came to an abrupt and bloody end, as tons of dragon and sphinx fell to the ground, landing right on top of the goblin corpse.

With the battlefield cleared to just Gideon, the mage, and I, the advantage seemed to be ours. Just as that thought crossed my mind, I began to notice the low thundering of hooves. As if using the mage as a door, a massive centaur rode into the corridor. Something struck me as off about the creature, though it didn’t readily register with me what. As I peered closer, I realized what it was that had me feeling off about it. There was a bizarre sense of insubstantiality about it, barely noticeable at this distance. With a wave of the mage’ hand, a subtle red haze crept through the air across the corridor. As it settled on the freshly summoned centaur, a dull red glow began to form in the centaur’s eyes, slowly building in intensity. With almost no warning, it shot like a cannon towards me, galloping at breakneck speed on its four powerful legs.

This unexpected charge caught me completely by surprise. Without the time to react, Gideon jumped in front of me at the last second, just as the centaur’s massive scimitar came crashing down. With a wet squelch, Gideon slumped to the floor. As the centaur towered over his crumpled form, Gideon shot me a look of remorse, his words growing weaker.

“I’m sorry, my friend, but I must withdraw. I must heal. Remember to stand strong, be a bastion to those around you. Persevere and you will succeed. Another time…”

As the final words left his lips, the collapsed form of Gideon Jura slowly melted into nothingness, his gleaming armor seeming to suck the light from the room, burning an afterimage into the eyes of all present. Using this departure as a distraction, I darted around the corner into the ruins of what was once the great vault of this ancient castle. My final destination. To cover my escape further, I presented my opponent of visions of things that may come to pass or may not. Visions of foreign lands, the draining of power, and a ward against evil danced before my opponent’s bewildered eyes. The mage began to violently swat at the images, as though they were nothing more than gnats. Unfortunately for him, these gnats had power, and, through his actions, he unwittingly told me his greatest fear. Knowing his fear for the image of the ward, I stored it away, as well as that of one of the foreign lands, one of eternal sunshine and boundless plains.

I immediately began setting a trap in the vault chamber, inscribing a spell into the very stone of the entrance. As the centaur crossed the threshold, a white circle of runes burst into being on the floor tiles surrounding the beast. Terrified, it began to thrash about wildly, contacting a solid force as it hit the perimeter of the circle. As it struggled, it began to become more and more ethereal until nothing remained save the illuminated circle. With that threat taken care of, and no new ones on the immediate horizon, I enacted a risky strategy. In front of me, from the stone floor itself, a stonework sculpture, vaguely reminiscent of a spider rose into being. This was one of my most powerful summons, but I had expended enough power to create the ward against the centaur that I wasn’t able to bring out its full strength just yet. It would need to mature.

As he strode around the corner, the mage stopped for a second to survey the situation. As his eyes crossed the runic circle on the stones, he sniffed and fixed a disdainful glare on me.

“Parlor tricks. Do you plan to do anything of value during this duel, or are you just going to continue to delay the inevitable until I flay you like your pathetic friend? I mean really. You’re like a child in a world of adults.”

Unbeknownst to me, his words were nothing more than a mere distraction. And he had the nerve to call my spells parlor tricks! While he was busy attempting to get me on edge, he was busy building for a summoning spell. As his last insult flew, so flew the spell from his fingertips. An elder troll, covered in the glowing red mist of earlier, with the same intense glow in its eyes, bounded towards me like a wildcat. Unable to react in time, I was sent flying as it rent into me with massive stony claws. As it started to near the stone spider on its way to where I now lay, it hesitated. The faint sounds of cracking could be heard coming from within the shell. It appeared that my companion had finally matured.

Unnerved, the troll quickly crossed back to its master, looking for further instruction. From within his robes, the mage produced something I thought to be nothing more than a legendary artifact of an ancient world. Somehow he had found it, and he was prepared to give it to his troll. It was a small, two-pronged blade with a fairly simple handle. Nothing about its appearance was remarkable at all, but I noticed the signs and knew I was in for trouble. As the blood from the mages wounds reached the blade of the weapon, rather than slide along it on a path to the floor, the blade absorbed the blood, beginning to glow faintly. If my studies were to be trusted, if the blade was charged with the blood of its enemies, it could bestow great power on either its wielder or owner. I was going to need to end this quickly.

There was an eruption of stone shards from the center of the room and a blinding light. When the dust settled and vision returned, the stone spider had been completely demolished. In its place, floating high above the ground on gossamer wings was an angel of the purest light. Enraged at the vile mage in front of it, the angel dove at him, intent on delivering retribution. As its broadsword slashed across his chest, I could feel the loss of his strength invigorating me, knitting my wounds. The angel then flew up out of the reach of the troll, circling back for another round of attacks.

With the angel regrouping for another attack, the mage took advantage of his slim window. The troll, now equipped with the blade, lumbered across the vault to attack me. I tried my best to dodge, but I’ve never been the type to win my fights with martial prowess. A wild slash by the troll reopened a deep gash in my arm, the blood being absorbed by the blade, increasing the brightness of its glow. Now charged, the troll aimed the blade at the diving angel. A beam of iridescent darkness shot out of the main shaft of the blade, lancing the angel mid-flight. The faint smell of rotting flesh filled the room as feathers began to fall from the wings of the weakened angel. Just before the angel was in range to bring her sword to bear against the mage, a bright arc of lightning blasted towards her ending her existence. I tried to rebound it back towards the mage, but was unable to draw the appropriate power at that time. A cloud of burnt bone and ash that was once an angel pelted into the mage as a greasy smile crossed his face, never reaching his eyes. Those were fixed on me.

I needed to think, and fast. How was I going to get out of this? That stupid weapon was incredibly powerful, and the troll quite resilient. Fortunately, my opponent had suffered far more damage than I during this fight, so there was still a chance for me to win. In addition, he appeared to be getting more and more fatigued, the mental toll on him becoming quite great. He looked just about spent. I just needed to think!

Like a monsoon, a brilliant idea stormed into my brain. Of course! It was all so simple now. I realized that the resources I’d been holding onto, intending to use, were useless. But I did remember the one ace I still had up my sleeve, and, with my opponent starting wear thin, it was time to call upon it.

Clasping my hands together tight, I began to form the picture in my mind. A great column of water, hundreds of feet high, stretching across the sky. Slowly, parts of it lengthened and flattened, almost taking on the appearance of fins. The top grew closer to a conical shape, splitting down the middle into a great, watery set of jaws. When the sheen of water burst, like the skin of a balloon, what remained was a sight to behold. One of the legendary dragons of old, the Tide Star herself. Keiga.

Coiling in the air above me like a vast river, Keiga was an awesome sight to behold. Simply managing to summon such a powerful creature took a lot out of me, and I dropped to one knee. Obviously stunned at my newest compatriot, the mage across the chamber stared into the sky with a widening expression of horror. He knew the power of the Tide Star, and the damage she could wreak, even if defeated. Undeterred, he harshly barked orders at his troll.

“Get him! We must end this now!”

The troll lowered his head and charged. Keiga made a move to defend me, but I waved her off. With a quizzical look, Keiga did as she was asked and retreated to the relative safety of the skies. I couldn’t risk losing her, not yet. I needed to regain my strength in order to be sure I could protect her. If that meant taking a hit from this rampaging troll to keep her safe, so be it.

It hurt. At least I think it did. I was hit so hard that I had to claw my way to my feet halfway across the room, a bloody rend cutting me from hip to shoulder. The troll’s blade glowed brightly now. With the troll’s attention firmly on me, I gave Keiga the signal to attack. Like a wave breaking upon the shore, she gracefully, yet powerfully, crashed into the mage, wrapping him in powerful, sinewy coils. A bar of white heat shot from the troll’s weapon at the mage, invigorating him. Before he could recover too much, though, I had finally reached the point where I could end this battle.

Reaching deep into my mind, to a place hidden from virtually all, I found a source of power that surprised even me. Volcanoes, destructive yet beautiful, timeless and chaotic, the source of power wild enough to burn ones’ soul right out of the body. Drawing upon this primal power, I connected with the ground beneath me. For a moment, there was silence.

A pebble moved. Nothing large, simply a grain of stone fractured in eons past. A speck. Then it spread. A deep bass rumbling. Tremors spreading, increasing violently in power. Pillars broke apart. Stones cracked. Huge chasms began to form in the tone around us. It was an earthquake, and none save the fastest would be able to outrun its power. I knew I had more strength left in me than my opponent. I took advantage of this, feeding my own strength and power into this frenzy of clashing natural powers, whipping the world around us into a chaotic frenzy. As the walls fell, I dropped to a knee. Stones crashed down around me. As the storm reached a fevered pitch, a massive part of the chamber dislodged itself, falling directly onto the mass of muscle that was Keiga and the mage, crushing it utterly.

Once again, silence. Darkness. It was like returning to the womb. Blind, deaf, and dumb, I could do nothing more than stand. A light began to build, centered on the fallen mountain of rock in front of me, headstone of my late opponent. A ball of light broke its way free of its earthy prison, hovering above the crude pyramid. Lazily, it drifted off, over my head towards a hidden corner of the room. There, amidst the rubble lie a small tarnished sphere. Dull and uninviting, it sat alone, almost waiting. The light entered the sphere. In a flash, the tarnish was removed, and the ball returned to a glistening orb of quicksilver. My eyes seemed to slide over it as if they didn’t want to take it in. I knew this was the item for which I had searched and fought. The reason I had killed. After all my trials, it was finally mine. Perfection at last.

(For the first installment of this story, click here.)