Chapter 28: 28: When All the Heroes Fall

“The real battle,” Feslia stated in reply to my question.

“Uhhh,” I frowned, looking up at her.

“We don’t know much about who they are, or what they want, or why they wish to crush everything we oversee, but we must fight them nevertheless. This world used to be a lot bigger until they arrived. There were so many more landmasses and cultures on this world. It took everything we have to rebuff them the first time. They stayed silent behind their wall of fog after that… but something has caused them to wake again,” she explained, a sombre expression on her face.

I didn’t respond straight away, taking the time instead to get a good look at the battle raging before us. It seemed like the landmass we were standing on grew into something larger, but it was obscured by fog before I could be sure.

The blasted landscape was roiling with the undulating mass of the battle. Large beings that exuded power in much the same way that Feslia did crashed through the surging ranks of their corrupted foes. It seemed as though an ocean of hellish geometrically twisted beasts poured out of the fog in a never ending stream. They boiled over the top of each other in their fervor to reach the gods they fought.

The gods were startling. Each was unique, their colours, weapons and even their race were all different. Many held humanoid forms, but many did not. I saw huge armoured lizards fighting alongside a flaming golden bird that reminded me of a phoenix.

“What do you need me for? This is like, way above my level… and I’m here with my Earth body…” I said uncertainly glancing up at my goddess.

“Your Earth body?” she gasped, her eyes going wide, “Oh no.”

“Will… what happens if I’m here in my Earth body?” I asked tentatively.

“If you die, you will not be caught by the spell that we maintain across this world,” she stated, and it may have been my imagination, but it looked like her face had gone slightly paler.

“That means… I’ll just die? For good?” I asked fearfully.

“Yes. I had… I had banked on using our worldwide spell to send you back where you came,” she grimaced.

“Wait so, I’m stuck?” I blurted in alarm.

“I don’t have enough energy for another one of those portals. I had thought… you were within our spell when I had last checked, using your Pellan body… Logged in as you say,” she said worriedly.

“I just logged out, I have school…” I winced, kicking the ground with a foot.

“You do not seem as worried as I thought you’d be Sylanna,” Feslia observed with a raised eyebrow.

“I dunno, like… this just doesn’t seem as scary as just a normal crowd of people. If they were all people talking and partying who expected me to do the same and be all… extroverted, I’d be terrified. But them? I can set those creepy things on fire,” I said, thinking through my reasons for my fearlessness as I spoke.

Feslia watched me for awhile, a small smile on her lips before she finally spoke, “You are a unique young woman Sylanna Walker. I think I picked rather well when I offered you the priestess’s mantle.”

I couldn’t help blushing, a stupid grin on my face that I hid by studying my feet. I was on Pellan, in my real body… and it felt no different. I looked down at the battle raging before us and tried to feel more than a moderate level of fear over potential death. Dying would suck, for sure. There were so many things I’d like to do with my life, especially now that I was Sylanna. No piercing panic roared through me like when all my normal triggers set my panic off. On the contrary… this was kind of exciting!

“If you give me armour, I will go and bash them for you… I assume that’s what you wanted?” I asked, turning up to my apprehensive goddess.

“Oh, no… I do not want you to join the main fray my little priestess. I would not wish that on you,” she said, and I deflated slightly in disappointment before she continued, “I want you to go and talk to them.”

I followed her outstretched hand into the sea of fractal abominations and gasped. What the fuck?

A tight circle of order stood defiant within the mass of screaming twisted monsters. It was hard to tell from this distance, but it seemed as though the circle was formed by a ring of twelve large knights in purple, black and gold armour. Among them were more normal sized figures who stood with just as much imperiousness as the large knights that were their bulwark. Piles of dead monsters rose up around their circle like an earthen berm.

“What on Earth?” I asked, baffled.

“Pellan dear, you’re on Pellan,” Feslia smiled, “But as for who they are, that is something I would like to know. They tore a portal in the air some four hours ago, appearing right in the middle of that mess and have been fighting ever since.”

“Why can’t you talk to them?” I inquired with a tilt of my head.

“Because one of those that fight within that circle has an essence that reminds me of your lover. I figured with that connection you might be the best bet to make contact,” she explained.

“Wait, Karen’s down there?” I squeaked, panic surging through me for the first time since I arrived.

“No, but someone… connected to her in some way, I don’t know anymore than that,” she shrugged.

I breathed slowly, controlling myself before I spoke. That had been terrifying. I was about to rush off down there and try and kill every scary creature that might hurt her. Or help her kill them. I don’t know.

“Okay… so you want me to like, skate over there?” I asked, biting my lip in thought.

“If you could. Be as careful as you can though, I don’t want you being hurt,” she told me worriedly.

“Yeah nah it’s fine ay, I’ll be all good,” I grinned cockily.

Feslia laughed and made shooing motions. Right, time to go play ambassador.

I skipped up into the air on footsteps of light and started to spiral up, gaining altitude with each turn. I wanted to be way out of reach of the battle, with its explosions and crackling magic. The gods were awe inspiring in the way they fought. Although each one fought as an individual, they were so effective that they held the tide at bay.

Once I had enough height, I moved down towards the battle, eyeing my target for a way to approach them. A few of the more enthusiastic monsters below tried to use whatever ranged weaponry they had to try and bring me down, but nothing came close to hitting me.

I was even more confused and impressed when I got a good look at how the people in the island of calm were keeping it that way. Because I was constantly on the watch for projectiles, I noticed their solution to that problem as I skated closer through the air. The knights had several guns mounted on their shoulders, or at least they looked like guns. Each gun was moving fast, like a sparrow watching for prey it zipped from one position to another, firing little beams of light that made a cracking sound as they superheated the air between them and their target. Each blast would hit one of the strange bolts that some of the creatures were capable of firing.

Each knight wielded tri-barrelled rotating cannons on each arm that shot repeating blasts of grapeshot. Except the grapeshot was made of light and exploded on contact with whatever it hit. A sweep of their arm would bring a violent end to dozens of the creatures that assaulted their bastion of calm. Every now and then one of the creatures would sneak up close, only for one of the other warriors to step in and end them.

Now that I was close, I could see what the individuals who supported the knights actually looked like. They wore overcoats in the same colours as the knights, plates of armour protecting arms, shoulders and legs. The surprise came when I saw a few that were tiny. Shorter even than I was, these small humanoid warriors were nevertheless just as destructive as their taller more average height companions. The overcoated fighters used many different types of weapons, one even wielding an enormous mace like it was made of foam.

I saw one smaller darting abomination slip between the cannons of the knights and leap at one of the supporting warriors, only to be blasted out of the air as the woman raised what could only be a very large pistol. The gun spat a bolt of inky darkness spotted with bright stars of light. The bolt hit the sinuous awful creature in the face, disintegrating it from head to tail as it travelled down its twisted spine. When it was done, only small scraps of warped flesh fell to the ground.

Wow, okay… these people knew what they were doing. I circled in the air and watched them fight for a while. One of the tiny members of their party casually cast something into the air and I watched with rapt attention as blades of air streaked out towards their enemies. Another was darting in and out of the fray with knives flashing. They moved with terrifying speed, always just an inch ahead of slashing claws that could have ended them.

It was in that moment that I felt my stomach lurch and I began to fall towards the sea of terrifying monstrosities. I had forgotten about my mana! Shit! Shit shit shit! I screamed as I fell tumbling through the air. I’d kept my momentum thank Feslia, and I saw myself coming moderately closer to the circle of safety.

I was all but sure I would die here, plummeting to my death, when I felt soft feathery hands wrap around me. I couldn’t see who or what had caught me because they had me from the back, but I could see two powerful wings beating the air as we descended gently to the ground in the center of the purple accented warriors.

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When I was placed gingerly on the ground, I turned quickly to get a look at my saviour and found myself gasping in surprise.

“You!” I squeaked.

“Me?” the beautifully feathered dragon asked, her dark feathers sparkling with starlight.

“You saved my party and I from a big stone golem thing like a few days ago or something,” I explained, still inspecting the beautiful creature in amazement.

“No shit. What are you doing here?” she smiled.

“I’m-” I started, only to be cut off by a cry from nearby.

“Nia! Problem!” a gruff male voice called.

What… Nia? Where had I heard that name before?

The dragon’s form seemed to shift as she looked over at the person calling her name. Her form turned into that of pure amorphous starlight for a moment, then back into the shape of the woman I had seen with the pistol earlier. Her hair was long and luxurious. It had the same strange quality her feathers had sported, the base colour being the colour of a dark nebula, while little dots of starlight sparkled throughout. Her eyes were the same, with a barely perceptible pupil within the center.

She turned towards the call and shouted, “What is it Farden?”

“One of those things!” the man named Farden called back.

“Those things? What do you…” she frowned, then her eyes went wide and she trailed off.

I followed her gaze and felt the blood in my face drain as I beheld the cause of all the alarm. A roughly humanoid creature hoisted itself atop the pile of enemy corpses like a king mounting the steps to his throne. It seemed as though the thing was made of dark smokey glass, like wood smoke frozen in time. The skin of the awful being was constantly reconfiguring in wild geometric patterns that seemed to defy the third dimension with every mind wrenching curve.

It’s terrible impossible eyes locked on Nia and I with a grin that revealed a hidden mouth full of tombstone teeth, “Ah, two shards in one place! But you are not yet ready. Disappointing!”

It’s voice was multilayered, like a chorus that was out of sync slightly. I felt a deep shudder in my bones.

“Fuck,” Nia said almost casually, “Farden, open a portal! We’re getting out of here right now!”

“Yes ma’am!” he agreed, stepping to the middle of the group. He reached out a hand, and I noticed some sort of device on his arm light up. Reaching out almost reverently, he lifted an arm straight out from his body. His index finger paused for a moment, then tapped lightly on the air. Ripples spread out in a circle, and I realised it was the same effect as the one that had brought me here.

When the ripples had formed a circle roughly four meters in diameter, he drew back his hand and formed a fist, then drove it forward into the rippling space before him. Reality shattered like glass, the shards moving to form the edges of the portal, just as they had in my bedroom. Through the portal I saw something awe inspiring. A colossal structure made of a light grey stone rose into the sky past the view the portal gave me. It was bedecked in huge purple black and gold banners with a single orchid motif in the middle.

I didn’t have time to get a better look before I was distracted by Nia bellowing orders, “Form up for portal extraction! Orderly now! We’re getting out of here before that thing gets down that pile of corpses!”

A chorus of “Yes Captain,” and “Yes Ma’am!” cried came back, and she nodded in satisfaction.

Turning to me she pointed through the portal, “Through there please, I’d like to talk to you some more but now is not the-”

She was interrupted by an explosion knocking us both to the ground. I lay on the ground in a daze, and distantly heard Nia shouting for everyone to get through the portal. My head was ringing from the impact and I had to blink several times just to clear my vision.

“Yes! Scurry about you pathetic little creatures! I will have you all!” the terrible creature laughed in the distance, “Keep the portal open will you? I’d like a chance at that beloved Bastion of yours.”

Struggling to my knees, I looked around and saw that Nia and myself were some of the last ones on this side, most of her team was standing on the other side and firing a hail of death through to cover us.

“Come on girl, lets get through this portal before shit goes real fucking wrong,” Nia said urgently, lifting me by the armpit to my feet.

We struggled together towards the portal, dodging crackling shards of strange geometry as we ran. We were almost to the portal when a stray enemy projectile skipped off the ground and through the portal, striking Farden in the arm and shattering the device he had used to open the portal. The last I saw through that portal was Farden looking up in shock from the device, meeting Nia’s eyes with an expression that said, “I’m sorry.” With an awful screech akin to protesting metal, the portal collapsed in on itself, the shards of reality tumbling chaotically back into place.

We lurched through the space that had only just previously been occupied by the portal, then slowed to a disbelieving halt. Oh no.

“Nia?” I asked, almost begging for this seemingly strong woman to get us out of this.

“Shit,” she muttered, looking around us.

There weren’t many of us left on this side, only a single knight and two others were fighting desperately. My breathing caught as I watched the knight forced to one knee, its arm torn off by some strange reality defying horror. The arm was entirely mechanical, and the other one rose in defiance, the scatter cannon droning a staccato rhythm of death. Another creature latched onto the still functioning arm and turned it towards the ground where it chewed the ground up in a riot of explosive discharges.

The knight finally fell to the ground, and the chest opened up, revealing one of the four foot tall creatures. She leapt from her ruined armour and drew a pistol, blasting shot after shot into the enemy.

Time to stop being an innocent bystander! I sent a tangle of blue and gold threads out to the brave little warrior, then leapt through the air. I marked the few allies we had left as friendlies to my abilities, then spun in the air and crashed down to the earth. A wave of flame rushed out from the impact as I activated my ability. The creatures around us recoiled momentarily as they were burned, but ultimately my acrobatics had little effect. They were much too powerful.

A scream of inhuman rage alerted me of an incoming enemy from the side, and I whirled just in time to slam a gauntleted fist crackling with lightning into the side of an outstretched toothy maw. I sent an explosive shard of light into my tumbling foe, then turned back to the rest.

I fought beside my small fluffy companion, for only a few moments before she was all but disintegrated by a bolt of twisted and bent reality. I stood in shock for a moment, staring at the space she had occupied. I felt a sick feeling in my stomach when I realised she had been real, and she wouldn’t be respawning. This wasn’t a game. I looked up to see what had done this and found my eyes captured by the disturbing gaze of that awful creature with the shifting skin.

It reached down, hands curling around my waist while I was held still by its aura of fear. That terrible grin rippled open on its flat plane of a face and I felt my heart beating an awful intense beat of terror.

“I wonder… what would happen if I tore you from this reality before you were ripe,” it mused.

Being in its grip was disturbing, the skin of its fingers shifting and moving in a way that made my own skin crawl.

“W-what are you?” I choked out, asking the single burning question that had been on my mind since I had seen it.

“What am I? Good question. I was created as a weapon by an arrogant and insane man of your own race… but I am so much more now. I am everything, I am a true god. I will reshape all. I will end all,” it grinned, the many voices that made up its words shifting from tone to tone randomly.

“You’re fuckin’ dead is what you are, you creepy cunt,” Nia growled, rising up behind it in her dragon form.

A blade made entirely of nebulous void and sharp starlight descended into the terrible creature’s neck with viscious speed. Its skin popped like a soap bubble in slow motion, pieces of it spinning out through the air. The center of the creature imploded, then exploded, and I was caught up in its waves. The scene around us shifted to a kaleidoscope of shifting glass and I blacked out, my last sensation being that of feathered arms closing around me.

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