chapter 30
previous chapter
The sun rose over the world.
Ancient One stood on the peak of the Spire, amidst the ruins of the destroyed fortress. Power, Knowledge and Invincibility coursed through his veins, fuelling him with a new kind of madness, the intoxicating insanity that comes with knowing you have the ability to alter the fate of the entire world. The metal armour burned faintly, surrounding him with a barely noticably aura of flames.
Standing at the edge, he gazed far below, surveying everything that humans had brought into the world. The City was an eyesore: a bustling hive of greed and pollution. Ancient One was displeased: in his mind, he could see a greater future, where he could rule as a new god-king, and somewhere in his boundless knowledge, he saw how to extend his lifespan far beyond that of any mortal. The future is now... and he had the world in his grasp.
"Maybe not the entire world," hissed the Messenger from behind him, and Ancient One turned around in shock. And yes, there was the Messenger, crouched on a pile of rubble, clutching a long gnarled staff. "Even with the rune of Knowledge, you have to work within the limits of your own mind, and there are some things you will never know... and that shall be your downfall."
Ancient One was shaken. How long had the hag been there? And how could she have known what he was thinking? "Do not presume to challenge me, hag!" he roared. "I am more powerful than you could possibly comprehend! Power is nothing without the knowledge to control it, and I hold that knowledge now!"
The Messenger cackled. "Fool! Power may be nothing without knowledge, but knowledge itself is useless if you do not have wisdom... and the wisdom of the Ancients has already died within you, corrupted beyond hope. The world does not need another self-proclaimed god like you!" She spat. "You are a disgrace to the Ancients, and today I will destroy you completely..."
With that, the Messenger twirled her staff, and leapt forward, moving with astonishing speed. Ancient One snarled and raised his arms in defence: just in time too, as the staff struck like thunder, each blow kicking up a shower of hissing sparks. Spark, spark, spark, and then the Messenger leapt back, and waited, the staff held outwards in a defiant pose.
"Impressive, but not good enough!" laughed Ancient One. He sounded more relieved than he felt: to his utter horror, his ability to foresee the future apparently failed to apply to the Messenger. He could not predict her movements, he couldn't see what she was thinking, and worst of all, he didn't know what she was planning. Even if she had found a way to circumvent the Knowledge rune, she could not possibly hope to beat the rune of Invincibility.. but he did not plan to let her live long enough to find out.
A spinning ball of magical energy formed rapidly in Ancient One's right hand. It was time to end this folly. The old hag must die. He hurled the ball forward.
* * * * *
The Messenger was human, once upon a time, living a quiet life in one of the many villages dotting the Spire peaks. When the Ancients began dying out, they chose her to become their eyes and ears in human affairs. She was younger then, and the Council taught her many new things. Over the years, she began establishing the spy network below, and in time she learned much of the Council's secrets, and kept a closer eye on the Ancients than the petty affairs of the City below.
It was rumoured that part of the old magic was lost when the last female Ancient died. The mind of a man is markedly different from the mind of a woman, and though they may both be argued to be equally capable, there were some things that came easier to a woman. The Messenger learned the arts of the Ancients, and grew into something more powerful than the strongest of the old battle mages. Because she was a woman, the Messenger was smart enough to keep her mouth shut about her own abilities, always careful to mask her true power behind a benign smile.
One of the very important lessons that all men eventually learn is this: do not ever assume that a woman with a benign smile isn't capable of kicking your ass.
* * * * *
To Ancient One's complete astonishment, the Messenger formed an identical ball of energy in her hands, and threw it outwards to meet his incoming missile. The balls met and exploded in mid air, blowing a tiny crater in the ground.
The Messenger breathed heavily. Without the rune of Power, that little trick had seriously drained her. She had one advantage now: by being able to hide her existence from the rune of Knowledge, Ancient One had gone from serious underestimation to incredulous overestimation of her abilities. He was unsure of what she was capable of, and if she made full use of that, she had a good chance of taking him down. Besides, the freshly claimed rune of Power was just beginning to take effect, and Ancient One only had a fraction of its full strength.
The Messenger charged.
* * * * *
Hours before, a unicorn plucked Cantrip from the air, and flew back towards the peak.
* * * * *
The Messenger slammed into Ancient One's metal shell, and threw him off balance. Taken by surprise, Ancient One staggered to his feet, but recovered enough to swing a fist right into the Messenger's frail body. The blow connected and sent the Messenger flying, blood spraying from her mouth as something inside her shattered. Her body spun as it flew backwards, and fell with a sickening crunch on the floor. Blind with rage, Ancient One raised both fists like a hammer, ready to deliver one final blow to seal the Messenger's fate.
Unfortunately, fate doesn't really like to be sealed. Especially not by crazed, metallic monsters leaking magic all over the place. Cantrip stepped out from behind a shattered wall, and placed one hand inside his pocket.
He felt his hands close on the imp, and he squeezed. Time slowed to a crawl...
Knowing something is going to happen and being able to do something about it are, of course, two completely different things. Cantrip was moving too fast for Ancient One to react, and he shot forward like a comet, catching Ancient One from behind and twisting him in a stranglehold.
"Now! Do it now!!" shouted Cantrip, desperately holding on to Ancient One's struggling body. The Messenger struggled to her feet, one hand clutching her crushed chest. She was breathing with difficulty now, but she nodded, and wiped blood from her chin with one hand. Then she began to draw on the ground, using her own blood as ink.
Cantrip hung on tightly, trying his best to dodge Ancient One's flailing fists. Enraged beyond anything he had ever known, Ancient One roared, twisting and turning, trying to shake Cantrip off. Like the world's most annoying insect, Cantrip continued clinging on...
...and then it was complete. The Messenger collapsed to the floor, her last breath bubbling through the blood in her mouth, and then she gave a final gasp and was no more...
...Ancient One took a step back, still struggling...
...right into a red circle of runes, drawn with blood. The ground beneath his feet burst open, and shadows burst into the sunlight. Septaphim emerged, still within Prawn's battered body. He screamed in pain at the rising sun, and the blood runes boiled as red shafts of light shot out of each one.
"It ends NOW!" shouted Septaphim, and then there was nothing but blood-red light, blindingly bright. For a moment the world stood still, and then the light within the circle consumed Septaphim, Cantrip, and Ancient One, sending them spiralling into eternity....
And then there was nothing but silence. Down below, the City began to wake up, and it was a day as uneventful and unremarkable as any other.
next chapter
The sun rose over the world.
Ancient One stood on the peak of the Spire, amidst the ruins of the destroyed fortress. Power, Knowledge and Invincibility coursed through his veins, fuelling him with a new kind of madness, the intoxicating insanity that comes with knowing you have the ability to alter the fate of the entire world. The metal armour burned faintly, surrounding him with a barely noticably aura of flames.
Standing at the edge, he gazed far below, surveying everything that humans had brought into the world. The City was an eyesore: a bustling hive of greed and pollution. Ancient One was displeased: in his mind, he could see a greater future, where he could rule as a new god-king, and somewhere in his boundless knowledge, he saw how to extend his lifespan far beyond that of any mortal. The future is now... and he had the world in his grasp.
"Maybe not the entire world," hissed the Messenger from behind him, and Ancient One turned around in shock. And yes, there was the Messenger, crouched on a pile of rubble, clutching a long gnarled staff. "Even with the rune of Knowledge, you have to work within the limits of your own mind, and there are some things you will never know... and that shall be your downfall."
Ancient One was shaken. How long had the hag been there? And how could she have known what he was thinking? "Do not presume to challenge me, hag!" he roared. "I am more powerful than you could possibly comprehend! Power is nothing without the knowledge to control it, and I hold that knowledge now!"
The Messenger cackled. "Fool! Power may be nothing without knowledge, but knowledge itself is useless if you do not have wisdom... and the wisdom of the Ancients has already died within you, corrupted beyond hope. The world does not need another self-proclaimed god like you!" She spat. "You are a disgrace to the Ancients, and today I will destroy you completely..."
With that, the Messenger twirled her staff, and leapt forward, moving with astonishing speed. Ancient One snarled and raised his arms in defence: just in time too, as the staff struck like thunder, each blow kicking up a shower of hissing sparks. Spark, spark, spark, and then the Messenger leapt back, and waited, the staff held outwards in a defiant pose.
"Impressive, but not good enough!" laughed Ancient One. He sounded more relieved than he felt: to his utter horror, his ability to foresee the future apparently failed to apply to the Messenger. He could not predict her movements, he couldn't see what she was thinking, and worst of all, he didn't know what she was planning. Even if she had found a way to circumvent the Knowledge rune, she could not possibly hope to beat the rune of Invincibility.. but he did not plan to let her live long enough to find out.
A spinning ball of magical energy formed rapidly in Ancient One's right hand. It was time to end this folly. The old hag must die. He hurled the ball forward.
* * * * *
The Messenger was human, once upon a time, living a quiet life in one of the many villages dotting the Spire peaks. When the Ancients began dying out, they chose her to become their eyes and ears in human affairs. She was younger then, and the Council taught her many new things. Over the years, she began establishing the spy network below, and in time she learned much of the Council's secrets, and kept a closer eye on the Ancients than the petty affairs of the City below.
It was rumoured that part of the old magic was lost when the last female Ancient died. The mind of a man is markedly different from the mind of a woman, and though they may both be argued to be equally capable, there were some things that came easier to a woman. The Messenger learned the arts of the Ancients, and grew into something more powerful than the strongest of the old battle mages. Because she was a woman, the Messenger was smart enough to keep her mouth shut about her own abilities, always careful to mask her true power behind a benign smile.
One of the very important lessons that all men eventually learn is this: do not ever assume that a woman with a benign smile isn't capable of kicking your ass.
* * * * *
To Ancient One's complete astonishment, the Messenger formed an identical ball of energy in her hands, and threw it outwards to meet his incoming missile. The balls met and exploded in mid air, blowing a tiny crater in the ground.
The Messenger breathed heavily. Without the rune of Power, that little trick had seriously drained her. She had one advantage now: by being able to hide her existence from the rune of Knowledge, Ancient One had gone from serious underestimation to incredulous overestimation of her abilities. He was unsure of what she was capable of, and if she made full use of that, she had a good chance of taking him down. Besides, the freshly claimed rune of Power was just beginning to take effect, and Ancient One only had a fraction of its full strength.
The Messenger charged.
* * * * *
Hours before, a unicorn plucked Cantrip from the air, and flew back towards the peak.
* * * * *
The Messenger slammed into Ancient One's metal shell, and threw him off balance. Taken by surprise, Ancient One staggered to his feet, but recovered enough to swing a fist right into the Messenger's frail body. The blow connected and sent the Messenger flying, blood spraying from her mouth as something inside her shattered. Her body spun as it flew backwards, and fell with a sickening crunch on the floor. Blind with rage, Ancient One raised both fists like a hammer, ready to deliver one final blow to seal the Messenger's fate.
Unfortunately, fate doesn't really like to be sealed. Especially not by crazed, metallic monsters leaking magic all over the place. Cantrip stepped out from behind a shattered wall, and placed one hand inside his pocket.
He felt his hands close on the imp, and he squeezed. Time slowed to a crawl...
Knowing something is going to happen and being able to do something about it are, of course, two completely different things. Cantrip was moving too fast for Ancient One to react, and he shot forward like a comet, catching Ancient One from behind and twisting him in a stranglehold.
"Now! Do it now!!" shouted Cantrip, desperately holding on to Ancient One's struggling body. The Messenger struggled to her feet, one hand clutching her crushed chest. She was breathing with difficulty now, but she nodded, and wiped blood from her chin with one hand. Then she began to draw on the ground, using her own blood as ink.
Cantrip hung on tightly, trying his best to dodge Ancient One's flailing fists. Enraged beyond anything he had ever known, Ancient One roared, twisting and turning, trying to shake Cantrip off. Like the world's most annoying insect, Cantrip continued clinging on...
...and then it was complete. The Messenger collapsed to the floor, her last breath bubbling through the blood in her mouth, and then she gave a final gasp and was no more...
...Ancient One took a step back, still struggling...
...right into a red circle of runes, drawn with blood. The ground beneath his feet burst open, and shadows burst into the sunlight. Septaphim emerged, still within Prawn's battered body. He screamed in pain at the rising sun, and the blood runes boiled as red shafts of light shot out of each one.
"It ends NOW!" shouted Septaphim, and then there was nothing but blood-red light, blindingly bright. For a moment the world stood still, and then the light within the circle consumed Septaphim, Cantrip, and Ancient One, sending them spiralling into eternity....
And then there was nothing but silence. Down below, the City began to wake up, and it was a day as uneventful and unremarkable as any other.
next chapter
posted by nerdook at 9:05 AM
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