Death: Genesis

Something smashed into Zeke’s hip, sending him stumbling to the side. At the same time, another force hit him from the other direction, followed by the Karag Morn, the level ninety-four Knight, finally making his move. Zeke raised his hammer to block the oncoming strike from the big man’s cudgel, but he was too slow. It hit him in the chest, knocking him away. He skidded backwards almost a hundred feet before he came to a stop in a cloud of dust.

That’s when something else hit him, though once again, Zeke couldn’t see the culprit, even if he could feel the wound they’d opened up along his ribs. Metallic blood oozed out, but he knew the effects weren’t serious.

More annoying than anything, actually.

That escalated when something pierced his eye, and he let out a violent roar that cracked the nearby earth.

“That’s it. No more messing around,” he muttered inwardly, blinking away the pain. The vision in his injured eye had gone blurry, but he hoped it wouldn’t be permanent. To heal it, he embraced [Touch of Divinity], letting rejuvenating mana course through his body. The wound on his side mended, and his massacred eye sealed shut. His vision didn’t return to normal, but that was expected for now. It would take more than a second’s worth of healing to heal it completely.

Even as he healed, he enacted a few skills.

First came [Flames of Reprisal], and his body erupted, with black-laced fire pouring out of the cracks all over his metallic body. Zeke didn’t bother trying to stop the next attack. Instead, he let it come as he picked himself up from the ground. A second later, another invisible strike slashed into his thigh, but this time, the culprit didn’t escape unscathed. Instead, [Flames of Reprisal] leaped out, enveloping a human-shaped figure, wreathing them in fire.

They screamed.

Zeke’s hand snapped out, wrapping around the enemy’s waist. They’d stumbled in pain, and now that he could see them – or at least an outline – it was easy enough to catch them. And when he did, he squeezed. The sound of bones cracking filled the air, accompanied by another agonized scream.

When he felt a jolt of kill energy enter his body, Zeke tossed the figure aside. He glanced at the broken figure, which had been rendered entirely unrecognizable by a simple squeeze of his fingers.

“Pitiful,” he growled, just loud enough for the real enemy – Karag Morn – to hear him.

The man let out a wordless roar, then used a skill. It was one Zeke had seen before – or at least a variant – so he wasn’t surprised when the Knight became a gleaming, twenty-foot-tall avatar.

Nor was Zeke impressed when the Knight leveled his cudgel at him and let loose with a battering ram of unseen force. It took Zeke in the chest, but because he’d felt the attack coming, he’d increased his weight to the maximum his racial ability would allow. Still, when it slammed into him, it made him stumble backward a single step.

[Flames of Reprisal] lashed out, licking Karag Morn with black fire that glanced off his shining armor. He charged, but by that point, Zeke had already summoned [Storm of Hammers], so his mad dash exposed him to a battering that filled the air with the sound of denting metal. When he finally reached Zeke, he found himself on the losing end of Zeke’s hammer.

The knight screamed as his entire chest caved in, but miraculously, he held his grown long enough to bring his own weapon to bear. It hit Zeke in stomach, then in a massive uppercut, the weapon collided with his chin. He fell backward once again, frustrated by the shape of the battle.

“Take it seriously, then,” Eveline said.

Zeke hit the ground, then rolled to his feet just in time to avoid the Knight’s next attack. The man was furious, attacking with reckless abandon that exposed him to a hundred counterattacks Zeke didn’t perform. He didn’t want to beat the man too quickly. Instead, he wanted to test his new skills as well as the durability of his own body. That meant taking a few extra hits.

For the next few minutes, the Knight battered Zeke with one attack after another. Some of them hurt, a few broke bones, but mostly, they were just annoying.

“Is this all he’s capable of?” asked Zeke.

He’d leveled a couple of attacks at the man, but for the most part, he’d confined his reactions to defense. Perhaps Karag should have continued with his attempt at retreat, because he clearly wasn’t capable of standing up to someone like Zeke.

Nearby, he noticed the other members of the Radiant Host trying to flee, but his own army cut them down before they had a chance to go far. And then the centaurs swept in, cutting off any hope of escape. Trapped, the Knights tried to mount a defense, but their lines had been broken, and they had no chance of standing up to the steady onslaught of the kobolds’ attacks.

Meanwhile, Zeke took everything Karag could throw at him. Some of the abilities he used were meant to do damage. Others, to help the Knight endure Zeke’s attacks. Still others mended his armor or maintained a weak domain around him. It was all so ineffective that Zeke began to wonder if that was the best the Radiant Host could throw at him.

“I beseech thee, my goddess!” screamed Karag. “Lend me your aid so that I may vanquish this foe!”

As he finished, he thrust his cudgel into the sky, and for a moment, Zeke just looked at the man like he’d gone insane. But then, the mana in the area stilled, and his blood ran cold. Suddenly, he couldn’t move, and he wasn’t the only one. Every single person on the battlefield had frozen in place.

A twinkle in the sky caught Zeke’s attention.

“That’s not good,” he said inwardly.

“I agree,” Eveline replied. She made to say something else, but before she got an entire word out, she went completely silent.

Zeke struggled to move, but it was like pushing against a mountain. Or carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He couldn’t even blink, much less twitch a muscle in the right direction. His thoughts grew sluggish, and his mind went briefly blank.

But then, his Will took hold. The fires of destruction flowed through him, and suddenly, he was free. Still, he could feel himself struggling to maintain enough power to keep the shackles on his soul at bay.

The twinkle grew into flame, and then that flame became a great conflagration that lit up the entire sky. People on the ground collapsed, their entire bodies turned to ash that remained suspended in the air. To keep his people safe, Zeke poured his Will into his domains, pushing as much mana into them as he could possibly spare. Their power flared, enveloping his army in his own black flames.

“Interesting,” came a booming and impetuous voice as a figure stepped out of the sky. Instantly, Zeke recognized her as Shar Maelaine. He’d seen her portrait in Lady Constance’s office, but she didn’t even begin to resemble that painting. Still, he could never convince himself that she was anyone but the Sun Goddess.

She glowed with a radiant power that seared Zeke’s eyes, threatening to blind him. She eschewed armor, instead opting for a white toga trimmed in gold that hugged her perfect form and left almost nothing to the imagination.

“So, you are Oberon’s little project,” she said, stepping down from the sky. Her feet fell on nothing but air, but it was as if she was descending an invisible staircase composed of pure light. “For such a primitive creature, you do have potential. Yes. I have chosen to extend to you an offer. Join me.”

Zeke stared at the woman for a long moment before letting loose a peal of laughter. That clearly wasn’t the response she was looking for. The pressure on him doubled, and he very nearly collapsed as she demanded, “You dare?!”

“Oh, come on,” Zeke said, his voice – indeed, his entire body – straining beneath her imperious gaze. “You didn’t expect that to work, did you? You stand for everything I hate. And besides, I already have a patron. I don’t think he would take too kindly to your attempts to poach me.”

“The druid is inconsequential. He only cares for his little forest. He does not play the game,” she said, getting her anger under control. But she did push a little more of her power into him. That finally broke him, and he collapsed to his knees.

Still, no one else in the area had moved a muscle.

“I’m not…a traitor,” Zeke growled, flaring his Will to new heights. It flowed through him, empowering his body and allowing him to climb – difficult though it was – to his feet. By that point, she had reached him, and when she did, she found herself face-to-face not with a man cowed by her power, but with a [Titan] who refused to be overcome.

“Oh, you are an interesting one,” she said, tapping her plump lip with one slender finger. Only then did Zeke notice that she wasn’t human. Her ears were tapered, and her features had the distinct cast of elven ancestry.

“You’re not even human? Do your followers know that?” he managed to croak. Indeed, they were uniformly human, and they treated everyone else – even elves – like they were inferior. Often, the Radiant Host enslaved any non-human they found.

She waved her hand dismissively. “I do not care what they do here,” Shar Maelaine stated. “Only that they grow stronger so that they may serve me better upon ascension.”

“And so you can drain a portion of their power, right?”

She raised a single, perfectly arched eyebrow. “Just so,” she admitted. “You have begun to tap into that well yourself, have you not? I sense the spark in you.”

“Is that why you’re here? You want to take my power for yourself?”

“Ideally? Of course. It would be nothing to me, but every drop counts. However, I have come to understand that those arrangements are not fit for someone of your talents. What I propose is an alliance. I offer my patronage in good faith, expecting you to continue to grow. When I call on you, we will fight together. Otherwise, you maintain your autonomy, such as it is.”

Zeke pretended to think about it, but he already knew his answer. There was no way he would subjugate himself to someone like her. The things she’d allowed to happen under her nose were deplorable.

And besides, Oberon had supported him from the very beginning. The dwarf had saved his life, and he’d helped Zeke on too many occasions to count. No – he wouldn’t trade one for the other.

“I think I have to refuse,” he said.

She frowned, not unlike a petulant child. “Very well. I expected you would make that choice. A pity. You did have potential.”

Then, she raised a single finger, and a beam of light descended from the sky. Zeke tried to move. He wanted to dive out of the way. But suddenly, any mobility he’d regained disappeared as she clamped down on him with the full weight of her own Will. His mind nearly shattered, and his Will broke before the beam of light slammed into him.

But he did not burn.

In fact, his vision suddenly darkened and he realized that he was entirely encased in…something. The smell of wood burning tickled his nose, and he used the next few seconds to regather his Will. It was weakened by the Sun Goddess’ attack – or perhaps it was just her attention – but it would take more than that to completely destroy it.

Just as Zeke recovered, the wood encasing him retracted, revealing a ring of devastation that surrounded him. More, he saw that another figure – this one familiar – had arrived. Oberon looked the same as ever, short and stout and with a beard of leafy vines, but he wore an expression of fury upon his usually placid face.

“You overstep, Shar Maelaine,” he growled, his knuckles whitening around the haft of his gnarled staff.

“You came? Color me surprised, o venerable druid.”

“Do not mock me.”

“Never!” she said, her eyes wide. “I merely saw a promising candidate and made an offer. He insulted me, and you know I can not let that go. I acted out of anger, and I am certain I will pay the price.”

“You will. I intend to see to it myself,” Oberon said. It was only then that Zeke saw that the dwarf was floating in mid-air. “The Judicator shall hear of this.”

“So they shall,” Shar Maelaine said, dipping her head. “And I will accept my punishment.”

With that, she flashed once again and disappeared. The battle did not resume, though. Instead, Oberon simply shook his head and looked around, an expression of disgust playing across his face. Zeke followed the dwarf’s eyes, and he saw that, for thirty yards all around Zeke, there was nothing but molten earth.

“She killed her own follower in a fit of petulance,” Oberon muttered, zeroing in on a puddle of liquified metal where Karag had once been. Then, he turned to Zeke, “Are you injured?”

Zeke shook his head. “I’m fine,” he said. “What was that all about? Who is the Judicator? And why are you here?”

“I am permitted a certain amount of leeway to protect my followers from others like me,” the dwarf answered. “But beware – I thwarted Shar Maelaine this time, but she does not take losing well. She will send every agent she has on this plane after you now. You must be ready.”

“Is there anything you can do to help?” Zeke asked. He felt prepared for war – after all, that was what he’d been doing for the better part of two years – but he wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to ask the powerful dwarf for assistance.

“No. If I meddle too much, you will use my power as a crutch. You must stand on your own, or you will be far too weak to survive what’s coming,” Oberon stated. “Remember your quest. Remember the tasks I mentioned during our last meeting. You mustn’t grow distracted, or you will fail.”

With that, the dwarf disappeared, and the world returned to normal. Even as his people continued to clash with the other army, Zeke lost himself in thought of his future. During the fight against Karag, he’d lamented the ease with which he would have defeated the Knight. He wanted a challenge. And now, he’d found one.

He would destroy Shar Maelaine.

Not now. Perhaps not within the next hundred years. But one day, he would stand before her and strike her down. With that goal in mind, he turned his attention back to the action and set out to take the first steps in what he knew would be a long journey.