Michael Manning - The Archmage unbound

The god pulled away from her causing Rose to cry out in anguish at the sudden loss. “That is the bliss you might have had,” he told her and then twisting her thick black tresses in his hand he lifted her from the ground by her hair. “This is what you will receive instead,” he intoned cruelly as she cried out in pain.

“Stop it!” I screamed.

“Or what?” asked the god, sneering in my direction.

“Put her down,” came a gravelly voice that I nevertheless recognized. Dorian Thornbear stood in one of corner doorways behind the throne. Cyhan and Penny were close behind him. Impossibly he wore the armor I had made for him, though I couldn’t imagine Edward would have been foolish enough to leave him with it.

Dorian repeated himself again, “Put her down or I’ll cut your fucking head from your shoulders.” He held one of the enchanted swords I had given him.

Celior looked at him in amazement. “A stoic? How unusual. Do you think you can save this woman? Here, I didn’t really want her anyway.” Using a slow sweeping movement the god threw Rose at Edward and the two of them went down in a pile of tangled limbs. Several torn locks of her hair hung loosely from Celior’s fingers. Glancing at the hair the deity began to laugh.

Screaming in rage Dorian charged at the mocking god. He moved with speed and his size along with the shining armor he wore made Celior seem small in comparison.

The god didn’t bother trying to dodge or avoid him. With one arm he caught Dorian, grasping his armor at the gorget that protected Dorian’s throat. Despite Dorian’s incredible momentum Celior was not moved at all, and even his hair hung calmly about him. Lifting he drew Dorian up, until his feet dangled above the floor. “You amuse me greatly, but you must not die yet little warrior.”

As he found himself rising above the floor Dorian swept his sword up and across, attempting to cut Celior’s arm from his shoulder. His heart pounded with the strength of the earth and when his blade struck the god’s arm it made a sound as if a massive gong had been struck. The sword shattered as though it was made of glass and fragments of steel flew in every direction.

In a movement that seemed almost languid the shining god threw Dorian across the room. My friend’s armored body struck the wall so hard that it bowed outward and the stones cracked, and then he fell to the floor unmoving.

While Celior’s attention had been on Dorian the pressure on the rest of us lessened. Hearing a cry of pain I saw Rose rise from the dais holding a bloody dagger. Edward lay bleeding beneath her.

Turning his attention back to us the pressure increased again and Rose’s knees buckled. Kneeling in the King’s blood she still laughed. “You cannot have everything,” she said in a voice so soft it was almost inaudible.

Around the room everyone was on their knees again, including Penny and Cyhan now. My eyes sought Penny’s and for a moment we were together again, despite the intervening distance. In Penelope’s haggard face I could see fear and exhaustion, along with worry, probably for me. Still I felt a tiny flower of hope blossom in my chest at the sight of her.

The god’s attention was fully on Rose now and holding up his hand a tiny ball of flame flickered into life above it. “You have displeased me child. I think perhaps you should burn first.” With a twist of his hand he casually tossed the flame at her.

Drawing on reserves I hadn’t known were there I somehow erected a shield before her, sending the flame sliding away to one side where it flickered and died. The god laughed and looked at me. “You amaze me wizard. I thought you had reached your limit.”

The continual strain of shielding my mind against his power had left me weary and I found myself wishing for a clever response. The best I could manage was, “That just shows your ignorance.”

Celior frowned and holding his hand out toward me he said, “Learn humility.” Then he turned his palm toward the floor as if pressing downward.

The pressure on my shield and mind increased several fold and I collapsed. Pain shot through me as my shield vanished. Drawing inward I tried to protect my mind but Celior’s will shot through me and it felt as though knives were stabbing into my skull. Blood began to drip from my eyes and I could hear myself screaming.

My entire world dissolved into agony and I felt my sense of self slipping away. In my desperation to escape the pain my body curled into a ball on the ground while my fingers clutched at the hard floor. The stone! That single thought permeated my being and gained focus as I sought to preserve what was left of my sanity. Remembering the stone Moira had once given me to shape, I struggled to emulate it. Surrendering my humanity I tried to become the stone… for stones feel no pain.

Still the sharp barbs of Celior’s thoughts wrapped around my tortured mind and even through my misery I could hear his voice, echoing in my mind, “Did you think you had the power to protect yourself tiny mortal? I let you believe so only to increase your shame and suffering.”

I was utterly blinded by the agony, and yet somehow I could hear. A sharp cry rang out, and I recognized Rose’s voice. It was followed by an anguished yell and then Celior spoke again, “You seek to hinder me by killing your King? Watch and know despair.” After an unknowable pause he spoke again, “Rise Edward, King of Lothion, your wounds were not fatal.”

“Mort! Mort! Can you hear me?” Penny’s voice was next to my ear and somehow I knew she was stroking my brow, though I couldn’t feel it. The only sensation left to my body at that point was ceaseless burning pain. My deepest desire was to answer her, but I couldn’t. Instead I focused on the only thing that seemed to give me surcease from Celior’s torment, the image of the stone I held in my mind.

My focus increased and the wracking agony lessened as I felt my conscious mind harden. At last I was able to open my eyes again and I saw Penelope leaning protectively over me. Over her shoulder I glimpsed the angry god approaching.

“Do you think to protect him woman? He is of no use to you anymore. I will make his death long and painful. You should worry more for yourself,” Celior announced with a grin that would have made children laugh at the beauty of it.

“His dying breath is worth more than your entire being!” Penny screamed in defiance as she drew me close, cradling me beneath her. Her tears fell on my face and I struggled to speak, but my mouth still would not cooperate.

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.