Monsterworld, p.125
Monsterworld, page 125
part #1 of Monster Slayer Series
She leaned into me, which I was glad for. Once she might’ve shied away from my comfort. Now she embraced it. “You can’t know that. Maybe I’m too fucked up to ever get better. Maybe I’ve created too many ghosts and my life will always be haunted by them.”
“Maybe,” I said and she looked at me sharply, as if she’d expected me to contradict her. “Eve, I won’t lie to you. Your way forward was always going to be hard after…the things you did in the past. But you chose to not die before. You made that choice for a reason, right? You wanted a chance at redemption?”
“With my entire soul,” she said, gravity seeming to pull her words deep into my chest.
“I can feel that,” I said. “Vrill can too.”
Upon hearing Vrill’s name she stiffened. “Don’t say that,” she said.
“Sorry, but it’s true. I know you want to continue to punish yourself for the pain you caused her, but I think she’s forgiven you.”
Eve closed her eyes and when she opened them again they were wet. Tears dangled from her eyelashes, as if wanting to drop but too afraid to do so. “I don’t deserve her forgiveness.”
“That’s not for you to decide. All that you get to decide is whether you deserve to forgive yourself.” The words were true, but at the same time I could hear Beat in my head saying, “Thanks, Dr. Phil.”
Eve blew out a harsh breath. “And if I decide I’m not worthy of forgiveness?”
“Doesn’t change what you do. Whether you forgive yourself or not, the only way to atone for your sins of the past is to go forward with the intention of helping people rather than hurting them. For the rest of your days.”
Eve looked at me, her eyes full of a childlike wonder I hadn’t seen before. “I think I can do that.”
“I know you can.” I kissed her on the forehead. “Have you seen Vrill?”
“She was heading in the direction of Mrizandr a while ago,” she said.
I stood. “Thanks. Do you want to come?”
She shook her head. “I’m okay now. Thank you. I need some time to think.”
“Okay. Just know I’m always here for you.”
“I know that. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I headed down the hill, making for the dark shape outside the ward shields, which I knew to be the slumbering beast that had saved our lives on more than one occasion.
~~~
Vrill was still there, but asleep, curled up next to one of Mrizandr’s forepaws. She was a light sleeper, however, on account of never knowing when you might be attacked by monsters, and so her eyes shot open as I approached.
When she saw it was me, her body relaxed, though she pulled herself into a sitting position, legs crossed in front of her. “Let me guess: You were just going for a walk and happened to run into us,” she said.
“Nope,” I said. “I came looking for you.”
“Why?”
The fact that she had to ask that stung a little, but I brushed it off. It was clear she was struggling with a lot right now. “Because I care about you.”
“You shouldn’t. I’m damaged goods now.”
“Yeah, I’m hearing that a lot lately. Which means we’re all damaged goods, in one way or another.”
“And yet I’m the only one damaged in the I’ve-looked-into-the-disturbed-minds-of-demon-overlords kind of way.”
“True,” I said. “But back on Earth that would be pretty normal.”
She raised her eyebrows skeptically. “You have demon overlords back on Earth?”
I had her attention now. “Not exactly like the Morgoss, but yeah. We have great evil on Earth. Serial killers. Rapists. Terrorists. Genocide. Earth is as harsh a place as exists in the universe.” As soon as I said it, I knew it was true. All this time I’d been thinking Tor was way, way worse than Earth, but it wasn’t. Not really. It was the same. There was good and evil in equal measure. Dangers in equal measure. Yeah, they looked a little different here, but that didn’t change what they were at their core. Darkness and brutality. Pick up any newspaper back on Earth and you’d figure out pretty quickly how bad things were.
“I didn’t know that. Neither you nor Darcy ever shared that with me. I always thought the humans here would rather go back to Earth.”
“Sorry, we don’t always talk much about our home planets. But I’m sharing it now. And no, I don’t really want to go back there. This is my home planet now.”
“Mine too,” Vrill said, though she didn’t need to say that. Many of her people were already here, refugees from Lri Ayem. The rest would be brought across as soon as possible. “But I don’t understand why you think people on Earth have looked into the minds of evil. Just because evil exists doesn’t mean you can understand it as completely as I now understand the Morgoss.”
I coughed out a laugh but not because I was making fun of her. Because it did seem a little ridiculous, mostly because it was true. I tried to explain. “Humans are obsessed with evil. We have entertainment programs that focus entirely on evil, probing into the minds of the worst of the worst, those who commit atrocities. We have an entire genre centered around horror, killing, death. We like being scared for some odd reason.”
“Why?” It was one of Vrill’s innocent questions that had become fewer and farther between the more time I’d spent with her.
“Who knows?” I said. “Maybe it’s because it would be scarier not knowing what evil looked like at its core. Or we’re just a bunch of freaks.”
Vrill finally laughed, and I was glad. Shadows had seemed to cling to her for a long time now. “From what I know about you and Beat, that could be true.”
“Ha ha. You’re so funny these days.”
“I know. My mother told me I’m different now.”
“Really? How so?”
Vrill shrugged. “She couldn’t explain it. Just…different. She said she liked the woman I’d become.”
“See? There’s nothing bad about changing. And yes, you’ve looked into the dark horrific soul of the worst creatures this world has to offer, but that doesn’t make you like them. The fact that you saw that and then managed to break your chains tells me you’re the exact opposite of them. Which makes you fully undamaged, or else you wouldn’t still be fighting.”
Vrill digested all that, nodding a few times as if to convince herself I was right. “Will you stay with me and Mrizandr for a while?” she asked.
“Of course,” I said. “Always.”
She made space for me and I lay down on my side. She tucked herself against me, her warm body spooning against mine. I could feel the thrum of Mrizandr’s body as well, like an ancient creature that could never be fully turned off, even when at rest.
My heart beat against Vrill. Eventually, she drifted off, but sleep eluded me. Because I could sense something had changed in the air. There was a frenetic feeling, like the air itself was charged with electricity. And I knew.
I knew.
The Morgoss had left Annakor for the first time in over a century.
They were coming.
Vrill stirred in her sleep, turning toward me just as her eyes flashed open.
FOURTEEN
LAST BLACK
The attack was coming far faster than any of us could have expected. After years of small skirmishes with monsters and demons, the Three were finally facing what could very well be the final battle in a war of attrition that had almost led to their demise.
The last of the silver light was fading fast, and already we could make out the demon torches blazing against the backdrop of the dark mountains. Winged forms wheeled about in the sky, shrieking and snapping their deadly beaks. Gargats, hundreds of them. There was a reason why the Morgoss hadn’t been attacking with the frequency and with the numbers they had been in the past. They were building up their army to a size worthy of a final push.
Luckily, we’d been doing the same. In addition to the few dozen tribeswomen from Bu’ploog’s old forest tribe, we had the refugees from Lri Ayem. For the first time in as long as Eve could remember, our number had surpassed triple digits. And yet that was nothing compared to the tide of monsters we saw roving across the wastelands. There had to be ten thousand, including a dozen trolls, their footfalls like the aftershocks of a major earthquake, the ground quivering beneath our feet. Several of the trolls held massive drums—dum-dum-dum they sounded, like a funeral toll as they hammered them with huge bones that might’ve been from the powerful legs of long-dead dragons.
The legions that marched around the feet of the trolls were a united group that spanned the various monster races I’d come to know since arriving here on Tor. There were hundreds of Maluk’ori, spitting and gnashing their teeth. Slithers slipped and slid their way across the terrain, hooded heads raised with fangs bared. Hellhounds the size of bulls with maws brimming with unbreathed flames galloped on powerful legs and forepaws. Bludgeons stomped heavily, backs bent and hammer-like stone fists knotted as if they longed to punch the very air into submission. The fire demons known as fyrisia moved like wraiths, trailing heat signatures blazing around their incandescent forms. Although they could not be seen, I could also feel the progress of the many-mouthed burrowers known as the vostra as they tunneled their way beneath Tor’s hard-packed ground. Another invisible enemy that could be sensed but not seen were the shadow creatures. From this distance, they remained invisible, hidden from even my God eyes. We had the Revealer set at the back of our army, the crystalline orb strapped tightly to a stone mount to protect it. Lace, with her reliable hands and agility, was responsible for keeping it safe. Not even the Three knew the range of its power to reveal that which was hidden. We would soon find out.
And, of course, there were galuts, the horselike creatures bristling with spikes and sporting fangs so long they would’ve made saber-toothed tigers envious. The galuts were ridden by none other than the members of the treacherous tribe that called themselves the Creed. I looked at Silk because of her history with these people. She stared straight ahead, though I was certain she sensed my gaze. She’d recovered fully from her injuries sustained during our mission to Annakor, and now she sat atop her own galut mount, Shadowflash. “I am not a delicate flower, Sam,” she said without making eye contact.
“No. No, you are not.” She smiled a catlike smile and gripped her weapons, knuckles whitening.
I cast my gaze along our own line of troops, many of whom carried their own demon torches. Vrill was far to the right flank, standing directly in front of Mrizandr’s slumbering form. The big guy couldn’t protect himself, so she would defend him to the death.
I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
Beat and Asfandiar, who’d replaced Millania as an interim Protector, gave final speeches to the Warriors under their charge. Vrill’s mother, Delaqua, was doing the same with the Lri Ay soldiers who’d struggled for so long on their own planet only to flee here to do the same. Misha, with Chastity standing beside her, spoke in low tones to the tribeswomen. The women’s faces were hardened and determined. I knew we could count on them not to retreat in the face of adversity, holding the line when others might let it break.
Our resident blue lioness, Nrrrf, roved from side to side, tail twitching. Despite her impressive size, she was dwarfed by the magnificent marmot standing idle nearby. Stomp, as she’d named him, was thrice the size of an elephant and instead of a nose had a long, sharp tusk that could be used to both impale and skewer at his pleasure. Having him on our side would help with Mrizandr’s absence.
Similarly, Tattoo-ah-ah and his gorilla minions would make up some of our disadvantage in numbers, or at least so I hoped. Thus far the Kong-sized gorilla hadn’t shown much interest in anything but food. Even now, with the enemy at our doorstep, the big ol’ guy just sat in the dirt and played with his fingers. The rest of the gorillas seemed to take their cues from their leader, rolling around and play-wrestling as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
Monsters continued to pour from the pass between the mountains. Suddenly, like a tap running dry, the last of them marched through. And then—
We saw them. Them them. The Morgoss, or at least the two that were still left. First came the stone-skinned behemoth we’d only recently done battle with, Persepheus’s green heart pulsating through his skin. It was dark enough now that the light from the goddess’s heart was like a beacon, a lighthouse signal to ships that the rocky shore was near. He hefted two boulders that must’ve weighed a ton each and had more strapped to his back. The blunt weapons seemed strange for a being of his supernatural level of power, but then again I didn’t think any of us wanted to be hit by a boulder.
Behind the first Morgoss was the last one. If his brother was the hammer, he was the sword, standing just as impossibly tall but wearing bright silver armor, polished to a gleaming shine. The sword he gripped was twenty feet tall and sharpened to razor edges. If he got close enough, he would be able to cut down a full third of our army with a single blow.
Luckily, we matched these two assholes with two powerful creatures of our own:
Airiel soared overhead, light pouring from her like she was a living, breathing star, angelic wings barely moving as she captured the attention of everyone on the battlefield, including the Morgoss. She lowered her angle and landed gracefully in front of our army. “Sister,” she said, just loud enough for us to hear.
The earth beside her exploded, chunks of dirt and rock spraying in all directions. Minertha shook herself clean, reddish brown skin appearing almost black in the growing shadows cast by the mountains as the sun slipped behind the peaks.
The two goddess sisters stood between us and the monster army. I leveled my gaze at their life meters, bobbing over their heads.
Airiel’s read 1,000.
Minertha’s read 1,000.
At long last, they were fully rested and prepared for the battle to end all battles.
“Get out there,” Eve said, having approached on silent feet. “Speak to your warriors.”
I glanced at her. “Shouldn’t the Three…”
“No. They’re not the ones who brought us all together. You did.”
I shook my head. I knew I’d worked hard to unite those gathered to fight for a single cause bigger than their petty rivalries, but I’d had a lot of help along the way. “No, we did,” I said. “All of us.”
Eve nodded, recognizing that it had taken a village to accomplish what we had. And yet we hadn’t accomplished anything, not yet. “Speak for us all then,” Eve said.
That I could do. I marched toward the Three, but not to speak to them. Airiel and Minertha turned to watch me, small smiles on their lips. They each nodded in turn and I returned the gesture, stopping when I was about halfway to them. I turned to face those who’d trusted me with their very lives.
All eyes were on me, multiple races from the Eight Planets. Strange creatures willing to fight alongside humans. Aliens, all of us, joined together in the greatest cause the universe had ever known. It was truly good versus evil.
I opened my mouth. Closed it. Licked my lips. I wasn’t nervous. Quite the opposite, actually. I felt a strange calm settle over me. “You are the chosen people,” I started, the words flowing out of me like water from a tap. “I didn’t choose you—the universe did. Fate did. Powers none of us will ever truly understand brought us together to this place at this time to fight against Evil with a capital E. I am honored to fight alongside you. Honored,” I reiterated, tapping my fist to my chest.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to shed a tear, Ryder,” Beat said, slamming the tip of her new spear into the ground so hard it stuck fast.
I chuckled, as did many of the Warriors. This was why she was so valuable. She broke the tension and reminded us all why we were the good guys. “I’ll only cry if you manage to kill more monsters than me,” I said.
“Then prepare to sob a river,” she retorted. “Better find a Costco to buy a family-sized eight-pack of Kleenex.”
“Challenge accepted,” I said, wondering whether even half of our allies had any clue what the F we were talking about. I tried to get my speech back on track. “Not all of us will survive this night,” I said. “That pains me greatly to say, but we cannot go into this with our eyes closed. We must make every loss count. I swear to you all that if I die tonight I will take a hundred or more of these motherfuckers with me! I swear on every one of your lives that this will be the LAST BLACK! Who’s with me!?”
“Yeah!” someone shouted. A chorus of yeahs followed, hands firming up grips on weapons, many of them raising swords and bows into the air.
“I said, WHO IS WITH ME!?”
This time the roar was deafening, temporarily silencing the dum-dum-dums of the enemy’s drums. I let the roar wash over me, relishing this moment, trapping it in my memory so that, if I survived this night, I could relive it again and again, inspecting it from all angles.
Then, at the penultimate moment, I gave a command that had never been given on this battlefield in all the years that the Warriors had fought the Morgoss’s monsters. Before tonight, we’d always been content to form our circle of defense and let the monsters come to us.
Not anymore.
“CHAAAAAARRRRGE!” I shouted, just as the Black arrived, casting Tor in complete and utter darkness. I hoped what I’d said was right, that this would be the last Black.
~~~
We swarmed over the plains, a diverse group of warriors fighting for something the Morgoss would never truly understand: our freedom. Our very lives. We had no desire to oppress or enslave our enemies, only to end them.
The monsters also picked up speed, growls and grunts emerging from the backs of their black throats. We were like two waves set on an unavoidable collision course. Just ahead, Airiel took to the air once more, powerful white wings thumping at each side. Several of the gargats shrieked and wheeled away from the main flock, heading in her direction.
On the ground, Minertha dove back under the earth’s surface, chewed up rocks and dirt spouting from the hole she made. A few moments later she popped up like a gopher further away before vanishing once more.
