Remnants of Night

Even under the stress of the moment, I kept it together enough to not revert to my true form. I was too big, too noticeable. My wings, however, were the only way of getting there without drawing on—I still can’t believe it—a god’s power. Across the roofs, over alleyways and the occasional street, I headed back toward Cedar River. Darkness was a boon, masking my path, but what if someone looked up? What if a group of someones looked up? I had spent a decade hiding who I was so that I could safely and peaceably reside here.

I paused and realigned. Ian was casting; I could feel his concentration. Devi would be with him, I hoped. And Cen. Aw, crap Eleanor. Would they remember to protect her if I wasn’t around? How in Blue Hells was I in the past ten years pretty much alone but now have a whole company of people embroiled in my life, neck-deep in this mess?

The streetlight revealed a vehicle that looked to have had something large land on top of it. The whole front passenger side was crushed. Lucky for us, the owners didn’t have an alarm and apparently the sound of crunching metal was not enough to get late-working Rutherfordians to look out their office windows. Lights were on in some windows, not all looked like the ones left on to keep away potential thieves. I hopped down from the wall, using my wings to slow my fall and inspected the wreckage.

Down the street, I heard a deep rumbling growl followed by a holler that sounded like Cenav. Yep, they’d found Invyrchal’s surprise alright. I ran.

They had contained the grelban in a small city park—good for them, thinking ahead—but it wouldn’t be contained for long. If it thrived off negative emotions like fear and despair; a big city like Rutherford would be a banquet. The grelban had Cen pinned beneath it but before I could gasp in terror, it was bowled off him by a blast from Ian. The mage’s left arm was bleeding but it didn’t appear to be slowing him down. Cen had removed his amulet and no longer looked human but the grelban was his size nearly exactly and steadily growing.

Grelbans were hard to describe as a whole since they never looked the same. Their appearance was based on necessity. They evolved in order to devour, to make their last moment count. In a fight versus a Sarkkrai, a Harbinger, a Pelthocian mage and me? This was going to get ugly. Or had it already? The grelban was looking like a nightmare mixture of scorpion, ape and buzzard. It had six multi-jointed legs, its heavy bulbous torso had long stringy tan hair and the head lacked any eyes, its face completely bald with a mouth that nearly split it in half.

“Mistress.” Devi appeared at my side while I was so caught up staring at the beast. I did not jump in startlement. I vehemently deny the accusation.

“I know how to defeat this thing but I am going to need everyone. Cen! Ian! Eleanor, you too, May The Fel Take It.”

Ianarius was holding off the beast with a shield spell but I felt a touch of relief bleed through our connection. He built up his energy and with a grunt, shoved the grelban off and smashed it under the shield spell like a bug. It clawed and snarled as it was forced a foot into the dirt on its stomach. Nifty spell but it wouldn’t last. In the mere seconds it took for the mage and my son to join me at my side, the grelban sprouted tentacles that began to suck at the spell holding it down like a leech.

“I did not want to leave your side. When you were suddenly gone from my sight—”

“Cen, it’s okay.”

“That fire-creature! I would not have left—”

“It’s okay! Invyrchal,” there was no way to say it but to just say it, “is a god. A Lehiras deity. Ian, this is how he could do what he did.”

The grelban roared, the claws on its front feet finding purchase as it sought to drag itself out from under the spell. Ian held out a hand, willing the spell to hold firm. The monster’s hard exoskeleton gave a sickening crunch but instead of stopping it, the exoskeleton molted. Spikes drove up into the spell, piercing it and allowing the questing tentacles inside.

“We don’t have time. My spell will not hold much longer.”

“It’s a grelban. It’s evolved to eat whatever energies you throw at it—spells, emotion, whatever it can get.”

“If Pelthocian magic will not suffice, then I will need a weapon,” Cen said, his hands clenching and unclenching.

“There’s more. It will keep eating and eating and once it’s full, we better not be anywhere near it because it’s going to explode.” My words had their effect. Two of us without weapons, two of us only able to feed the creature and a human.

“S-so no matter what we do, it’s going to explode and… and kill us all?” Eleanor squeaked out, eyes as big as saucers.

“No,” I said, as confidently as I could. “This thing only lives for about an hour but we are going to overload it—stuff its glutton face—to speed up its life then we are going to shove it through a portal.”

“Why do I get the feeling you’re leaving something out?”

I looked at Ian. So astute. I ignored him. “We need to keep it in this park. Do whatever you must to keep it here. Cen, Devi, I need you two to jump in when you see the opportunity. Try to wear it down, injure it. Ian will cover you with spells. Eleanor—”

“I’m not leaving!”

“No, you are not. I need you to stay where we can all see you but stay out of harm’s way. Just by being here, you should be helping fill that things gullet.” I looked away from my determined house-sitter—no, my friend—and back to the grelban. It had gotten free and was eyeing us while it digested the last of its snack. “I will be providing the main course. When it’s time, I’ll call a portal and we shove its ass in!”

I had never needed to rally the troops or give speeches to the Sarkkrai forces but I think I did well. They mulled it over and to-a-one nodded agreement. Sure, I neglected to mention Invyrchal’s threat about drawing too much on him, or his having an impact on my magic at all but that wasn’t anyone’s concern but mine right? Girl has to have her secrets—especially when they are as crippling and devastating as mine.

Cenav jogged left, Ian to the right. My son looked as confident as he always did. This was merely another step in getting stronger, another step closer to confronting his father and taking the reins of their people. He would kill someone who was still—as much as he shouldn’t be—important to me. Perhaps even two. War was part of Sarkkrai philosophy. Cen would take that desire for conflict right to the Pelthocian door step; he would be confronting Ianarius Nalach that day, who would unequivocally be standing at the forefront.

Ian looked determined, his jaw was set and those strange swirling eyes of his were dark. Determined, but not without apprehension. The lion’s share of his trepidation was probably not even about his own safety. I wanted to reach out and touch that mind of his, sample those feelings—was some of that worry for me?—but I couldn’t resist tampering with his concentration.

Devi was watching me very carefully. Despite his lack of magic, his sense of perception was top notch. Then again he was a Harbinger. He knew I was hiding something, in a whole different way than Ian, but unlike the others Devi would never question me. “Be safe, Devi.”

The Harbinger inclined his head and turned away, already moving at a fast clip. Eleanor stepped up to my side, her white-knuckled hands clasped above her breasts. Unlike my other associates, she wasn’t trying to hide her fear. No, my friend in her pretty blue dress wore her fear right out there on her sleeve, so-to-speak.

The fight was on. My quick-moving assassin produced two long knives from his sleeves—silly me for not thinking he wouldn’t be armed—and charged in before the grelban could focus on just one of them. Cen, not to be outdone, circled around and made a grab for one of the insectoid legs. With a yank, he unbalanced the beast enough for Devi’s knives to find purchase in the grelban’s face and neck. It roared and shook them off, bulldozing into Devi with its heavy shoulder. The Harbinger’s place was filled by a shearing energy spell that burst up from the ground like spikes, the intense piercing sound almost as painful as the spark of light.

The spell bit through the beast’s plated chest as well as its jawbone, knocking segments of bone and teeth flying in a sickening spray. Cen had taken hold of one of its segmented limbs again, this time ripping it completely off.

The grelban screeched in pain and anger, its voice taking on a gurgling sound as blood from its facial wounds leaked into its mouth. My team was on their feet, hale and whole; I began to think Invyrchal had overstated its power.

And that’s when it proved me wrong. It’s back arched, its spine chunking up and widening into wicked spikes. The spine burst out from its hind end, becoming a lashing tail which it put to immediate use by knocking Cenav back and into a tree. With a wet shucking sound, its mangled jaw bone fell off and was replaced by a bisected maw that slavered a green liquid. It shook itself like a dog and the mess that Ian had made of its chest reknit. The leaking stump of its missing leg sealed and withered.

I was right; physical wasn’t going to be effective enough. As the beast scampered past the consecutive blasts sent by Ian, I centered my own energies. I sent out a tendril toward the grelban, testing. Unexpectedly, the moment it got close enough the beast latched onto it and sucked it up like linguini. Hungry bastard. For stabilities sake, I sank to the ground and placed my hands in my lap. It just wouldn’t do to get dizzy and fall on my ass right now.

The grass was cold and slightly moist. You owe me a dress, sparky. I steadied myself mentally and physically then I opened the floodgates. Screw that campfire! He can’t dictate how I run my life! If I have access to his great and all-powerful magics, let’s just see how much I can pull. This is my world and I would not be pushed around! I siphoned the energies, pooling them till just the right moment. When the grelban lost its footing, its hideous eyeless skull bouncing off the sod, I threw out the hook. It snatched at it greedily. Cenav had an improvisational weapon made of a bench pole; Devi timed his own strikes in between the Sarkkrai’s heavy slower swings.

The energy I was feeding it in thick jolts was having its effect. The grelban caught the metal bar in its mouth and there was a sharp snapping sound and Cen quickly dropped it. He shook out his hand as if it had gone numb. In a sudden change-up of how it had been attacking, the grelban feigned a strike at Cen then pivoted sharply, attempting to skewer Devi on the wicked points of its spine. The knife the Harbinger had been trying to pry into the beasts back suddenly became stuck; if not for Cen’s latching onto its tail tail, the spines might have penetrated.

My concentration lagged out of my concern. A shout from Ian set me back on track. I settled back to the ground from a half-crouch that I hadn’t even known I’d come up into. I began to draw in energies, closing my eyes briefly. When I opened them again the skin upon my hands looked as if a spot of ink had been poured on them. The blackness ran along the tendons, the nooks between my knuckles. It crawled along my arm, dripping down the sides as if gravity played any role in Invyrchal’s machinations.

Well, then listen to this! I spun the energy like cotton candy and tossed the treat to the hungry monster. Ravenous, it slurped it up. The grelban gave a hacking cough and grew bigger, its tail thickening and sprouting long needle-like spikes.

“Zofeya, this is not working.” Ianarius shouted unhelpfully, stalking this way and that in hopes of finding an opening. He then glanced at me and came to a halt, mouth parted in a way I would have thought was charming if I didn’t know why I was on the receiving end of the expression. “What have you done?”

His lapse of attention nearly cost him when the grelban turned on him, seeing an easy distracted target. The Master Mage, however, wasn’t off balance enough to not sense an intake of breath, or preoccupied enough to not throw up a shield spell to deflect the grelban’s new ability. He flinched back as green fluid splashed upon the shield, the grass below began to wilt on contact.

The beast sniffed like a hound catching scent and with a gruff snarl, it bounded away. And toward where I sat! It barreled past Devi and Cev. At my side Eleanor gave a shriek and the sudden allure of soul-chilling terror, drew its nose. It rushed her, faster than the blasts of energy Ian sent its way. It shrugged off Devi’s tossed knife and bounded through a fire explosion erupting in its path. Ian was drawing in for a shield spell, I could feel it through our connection. He would make it in time, I had to trust that; I could not halt the feed.

Cen was there. His arms were cut from where he had been knocked into a tree. With a shout he leapt up and drove the metal pole down, driving it deep into the thick tail of the grelban, through it and into the ground. The beast roared and slashed out with hands the size of serving trays, coming within inches of Eleanor. Her skirt fluttered in its wake. Huh, I guess I was wrong about Ian; I glared over at mage. He had his hands up, they were glowing an oracular light. Okay maybe he had been prepared to step in but my son had beat him to the draw.

Eleanor was frozen stiff in fear but Cen had succeeded in derailing its train of thought. It twisted with feline grace, flipping its body around and gave its tail a wrench. Flesh tore and bone broke. It pounced, nearly taking Cen off his feet. My son had a firm grip on the grelban’s two front legs but standing upright as it was meant it had two more in which to use. Blue fire erupted between them—Cen’s heritage flame—and the beast skittered to the side. The smell of cooked grelban fell somewhere between swamp mud and cheap vegan burgers.

“Eleanor, get back,” I said, jaw clenched. The blackness had seeped up my arms and now patterned my chest. I could feel it; its warning signs were tingling along my nerves. Eleanor looked back at me and I could see some of her fear was directed at me as well. Beyond her, I could see the beast shaking and snarling, its body reconstructing, capitalizing on our emotions and evolving.

“Zofeya, this is not working. What is it you are doing?” Ian said, his voice at my side. “What are you doing to yourself?”

“You are interrupting my concentration, Ianarius.”

“Answer my question.”

“It’s none of your concern.”

“It’s all our concerns!” He nearly yelled. “Everything you do right now is our concern! We are in this together! Did you… Is this something Invyrchal did? This black marking?”

I frowned, the spooling of energies slowed. With the connection to the grelban open, it was difficult to keep Ian out. But I certainly tried.

“Zofeya, what is this marking? Your skin is—” The mage suddenly hissed and I was engulfed in a prism sphere. My line to the grelban was cut off. Devi was on him before I could draw breath to shout. The sphere the miraculous Master Mage imprisoned me in weakened while he split his attention to keep Devi from planting his daggers in his chest. A whirlwind of air wrapped around him, tossing the Harbinger back. The prism hardened once more. “I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for this.”

I stared at him, seeing Devi rise in my peripheral vision. “I am not sacrificing myself. I am not a hero. I’m showing that arrogant spriggan that he can’t push me around. He can’t restrict me. It’s… it’s his power I’ve been using, Ian. It was never my own. But I can use it to end this. Now lower this shield and let me do just that.”

He studied me, his thoughts running sixty miles a minute. As intelligent and astute as he was, there was no way he could fathom this. He glanced at Devi, at Eleanor and Cen, who were in the process of bludgeoning the grelban’s already malformed face.

“Let me do this.”

“We will follow your plan.” The prism dropped. “But I will be the one funneling energy into this beast.”

My mouth came open, aghast. “Do you even know what I was doing? That wasn’t my energy, it was Invyrchal’s! You would be funneling your own life into it!”

“Do you even see what you are doing? This blackness—it’s an auger.”

“Mistress?” That got Devi’s attention. “Don’t do this. If this hurts you, don’t do it.” My Harbinger was looking at me with unblinking frightened eyes. It could have been an act; he was capable of it now. He wouldn’t lie to me but he would play to whatever advantages he had. “I can’t survive without you.”

“I’m not going anywhere. If you want to help, get ready to throw that thing through the portal. When the time is right, Ian, you will help me open it.”

“I will stand ready.”

“How much more time will you need?” the Harbinger asked, face carefully blank.

“With how much I’ve been feeding it, the change should be soon. Unfortunately I don’t know what it will look like. I just figured we’d probably know it when we saw it.” I’m a girl of planning, yes sir.

“Then time I will give you.” He twirled his knives over the back of his hand before heading back into the fray. Cenav was tiring but he had been doing exceptionally well at keeping the grelban from leaving. It had tried to bolt a few times, to seek easier targets to slake its blood thirst.

I pitched out a lure and the grelban sniffed like a dog, coming back toward me to take the bait. The pressure behind my eyes doubled. I heard the phone I had tucked into my bra jingle. Incoming message from Invyrchal? No doubt.

“When the time comes, use me as basis for the portal spell. Not Invyrchal.”

I glanced up at the mage. “Fine. It will sap you good, so be sure ready yourself for that. And do not influence the destination.”

“It would make a fine gift for the Sarkkrai but I will stand down this time.”

Good. I already had a place in mind. Out of the way, secluded. No one would even know but me. Minutes past, the grelban grew. Every attack seemed to influence it to change, to counter it. Minutes past, and I began to fear for my son. He was worn out; his movements were slowing where the grelban’s were speeding up. A gash on his forehead bled down over his right eye. It narrowly missed biting his shoulder but the teeth marks were visible where they scraped his skin; the saliva was a worry, a possible factor in Cen’s rapidly deteriorating stamina.

As Devi sought to draw its eyeless gaze, I noticed the cut on its hind leg sloughed off, skin and tissue. It had started! The grelban was beginning to break down!

“The portal, Ian, get ready.”

“I am. Draw on me. I won’t…” He swallowed. “I won’t let him have you.”

The conviction in his voice drew my eyes but he wasn’t looking at me. He was watching the creature. Another jingle from the phone as another piece of the enraged grelban fell off. In my mind’s eye, I pictured where I would send this hell spawn. I would send it to my lair in Lehiras. I would destroy my old home to save my new one. Reaching across non-physical barriers, I touched it for the last time and pulled the memory to me. Linking it to this world, I then knocked on Ian’s barriers and found him open to me without hesitation.

I found him open to me. His whole mind. It was there. No barriers. Rakmorath’s greatest threat.