The Creators Ch. 18

"I would prefer not to stab you in the back," Jade breathed on my neck and planted her bare lips on my naked throat. "You've earned that much, Death Kiss."

I let out a shuddering hiss.

"Shoot your bolt into the sand, then drop the crossbow."

I fired the bolt in front of me, then dropped the weapon beside it.

"Draw your rapier from its sheath, then take off your belt and sash."

I pulled my sword out, then unbuckled my belt and sash, and set them in the sand. I was shaking horribly.

Jade put a steadying hand on my shoulder and massaged my neck. "Take comfort, for death is not the end."

I laughed and wiped a tear from my cheek. "Don't give me any of that bullshit. Not you."

Jade chuckled coldly. "I do not speak of the fairytale Her Holiness deludes herself with. I speak of the ballads they will sing of you until the end of time. That is all that matters when we go. Tonight I will write the bars to the song of your fall, Tera Autumnsong."

"Aren't you fucking clever."

"Would you rather have a dullard compose your haiku?"

"I guess not," I muttered and took a deep breath. "OK. Let's do this."

"Ten paces."

I took ten measured steps away from Jade and tested the weight of my rapier in my hand. I never carried a weapon for long, nor did I have a favorite, but this one had served me well for the time that I'd had it. My final footfall landed in the sand, and I felt the granules press pleasantly between my toes. I looked out at the dunes before me, the Gratoran Wall behind them, the threshold of Droktin's pass revealing the sliver of green splendor just beyond it, all beneath the sweeping desert sky that painted pale hues of azure across the world's ceiling. I never wanted to turn around. I wanted to stay there for eternity, and just marvel at the beauty of this desolate corner of the universe. Why did I never appreciate it as I should have? Why did I never wonder at the vast expanses and cavernous depths, the great unknowable seas, and the lushness of the forest?

"But you will, Justina," I whispered to the wind. "You will marvel at it all."

I turned around. Jade had tossed her obsidian katana in the sand and was holding her steel wakizashi. She bowed to me, and I nodded to her. Then we charged. There was no primal scream, no defiant last cry. There was only my sharp breath, and the sound of my footsteps padding into the sand. She raised her sword, and I raised mine. Our steel clashed. She slid her blade up mine, using her strength against me. I ducked beneath my failed parry, sliced at her legs, and whipped around. Jade was already there, her blade crossed mine, and she wheeled to her left with her elbow out. I leaned back just in time for her strike to miss me, then I slashed for her exposed belly. She caught my strike with her pommel, twisted to my right, and drove her blade toward my shoulder. I pivoted on my heel, ducked her backhanded slash, and swung for her leg. My blade bit into her flank, cleaving through flesh and muscle, and she rounded on me and drove her sword straight through my chest.

I spat blood in her face and smashed my hooked hand into her face. Her nose broke, her head whipped, and she ripped her sword out of me. I came in for another charge, then collapsed onto my belly. I clamored on my hands and knees, then fell forward again. Sand filled my mouth and nose. I clawed on my stomach and dragged myself forward. The sand was wet beneath me. The desert air was becoming colder. I grasped for Jade's feet and brushed her bare toes with my fingertips. Jade crouched before me and gently lifted me by my armpits. Blood poured freely down my belly and ran in purple rivulets down my pelvis to drip from my crotch. I swayed precariously on my knees, needing Jade to support me until I found the right balance. She steadied me with her fingertips on my shoulder, then let go. I felt her steel rest on the back of my neck. I took a deep breath through the one lung that still worked. Her blade left the back of my neck. I looked to the sky, and—

JULIA

I climbed up the mountain. Lucilla stared down at me from the peak, the wind billowing through her white furs, her blonde hair whispering past her cold-blushed cheeks. I'd been climbing for hours, trudging through knee-deep snow, but I hadn't made it any closer. I called her name, but she didn't so much as blink. She just kept on staring at me, watching me struggle up the side. The sun glared from the fresh powder, and I had to shield my face to keep from going snow-blind. When a cloud darkened the sky, I looked up. I was at the peak. Lucilla stood at the apex, staring across the landscape. Terondia was shown below us in the valley, snaked by the many fjords and rivers that channeled to its bay.

"Lucilla," I gasped, out of breath. She didn't turn around. She was gone. The snow drifted in the spot she'd been standing, but there were no footprints there. I wasn't on top of a mountain anymore. I was in the glass plane of Drastin, staring across the void. Night Eyes was on the other side, holding a red-haired woman by the waist. Her head hung from her shoulders, curtaining her face from me. Night Eyes giggled, and the woman raised her head. It was Lucilla. Her hair was stained red with blood, and there was a gaping hole in her brow. She opened her eyes, and they were black.

My eyes opened. I was staring up at a wood ceiling. Fresh linens covered my body, and the smell of tobacco filled the air. I turned my head.

"Hey Mom," Diamond grinned beside me, puffing on Tera's pipe.

"You shouldn't smoke," I croaked.

She stuck her tongue out at me, then took a deep inhale, and coughed horribly.

"Told ya," I smiled weakly, then frowned at her head. "Diamond, what happened to your antler?"

"I bumped my head," she shrugged, then reached down, and pulled something off the floor. "So did she, apparently."

Tera's head hung from her black hair. Her face was pallid and sallow, her purple eyes were rolled back, and her serpentine tongue hung from her bloodied lips. Diamond stuck Tera's pipe in her mouth and cackled delightedly.

"You shouldn't smoke, Tera," Diamond mimicked my voice as she moved Tera's jaw, "it's really bad for your health!"

"Put that away! It's filthy!" I scolded and tried to raise my head. I couldn't even lift it an inch before a wave of nausea hit me, and I barely avoided vomiting. When the world stopped swimming above me, I slowly turned my perspective to Diamond. "What happened?" I asked.

"Boy, where do I start?" Diamond sighed dramatically and looked me over. "With you, I guess. You know, you're a real mess."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Yes, you are," she tsked disapprovingly, "jeepers-creepers. If you can't handle a tiny little hostile takeover without cutting your own wiener off, I don't know how you expected to lead the rapture."

"I was never meant to lead," I whispered, and reached out to Diamond. "It was hard for me to see that. I know it now."

Diamond let me stroke her cheek, and her beautiful smile broadened beneath her black eyes. Such a beautiful smile. Such a beautiful girl, my daughter, my saint, the deliverer of my purpose, the traitorous little whore who stole the angel from me. Such a beautiful girl.

"What happened after that?" I asked.

"Oh, some stuff. You blacked out, Jade cut Tera's head off, then I came over here and fixed you up." Diamond pulled off my covers and revealed my naked body. The place where my penis had been was now just a smooth hairless part of my pelvis, not even a red hair out of place. "I'll sure miss that dick of yours," Diamond sighed, "but if it's going to be too much trouble, then I guess I can do without."

"Diamond," I gasped, "how did you do this?!"

She smiled guiltily. "It wasn't all me; I had a little help from my friend."

Diamond stepped to the side. There was a man lying in the corner. He had blond hair, freckles, and a pointed nose. Brandon. His cheeks were hollowed, his eyes were sunken, and blood stained his lips. His wrists and hands were bound together with obsidian cuffs, hogtying him on the floor. Though his blue eyes were open, they were faded and distant, and his bloodied mouth was breathing as though in the depths of slumber. Tied up next to him was a young sleeping succubus. Justina.

Diamond grinned at me. "Watch this," she giggled, set Tera's head down in front of Justina's face, and tickled the succubus's nose.

Justina's eyes fluttered open. They were clouded for a moment of drowsiness, then they narrowed at the thing before her, not quite understanding it. Then they bulged. She blubbered, she gasped, she choked, and she screeched. She screeched, and screeched, and screeched.

Postlude: Fatigue

CORRUPTION

Xaya examined me curiously. She prodded at my foot with a stick, and when I didn't respond, she crawled to my side and looked into my eyes.

"I'm not dead," I murmured.

She sniffed me, then lowered her mouth to my nipple, and bit it hard. There was no pain, for Xaya was incapable of inflicting any damage to me, but it was annoying.

"I'm not food either," I groaned, and shooed at her.

She attempted to eat me for a few more minutes, then got bored of that, and tried having sex with me. In that regard, she was at least somewhat successful. She straddled me and rode me hard, then came to a quivering climax as I was roused to a slight upswelling of sensation. Once satisfied that she'd dominated me in her primal manner, she squatted over me, marked her territory, then kicked dust on me, and left. I was incapable of feeling pride, so I only felt some comfort in the warmth of her urine in the wake of indignity. I was terribly cold. Though my youth had returned to me after Julia had been healed, I had been drained to my limits. I turned my head and glanced at the chessboard.

I had lost many pawns, my bishop, and one of my knights. Less than half of the Breytans remained to occupy the single knight I had left, but they were inconsequential now. My opponent had lost all knights except one, both bishops, and most importantly, the second king. The remaining king was left impotent and surrounded, all but checkmated, and the queen and rook were far, far away. There was a new piece on the board, a deceptive little pawn that had almost made its way to the other side. I hadn't planned on making myself a part of the game, but stalling the enemy's queen had become paramount after my king had been put in such danger.

Thankfully, my gambit had paid off, but barely. My queen seemed hellbent on her own self-destruction, and I had to leave the game to feed her my lifeforce through our bind. As I shriveled to a husk in the astral plane, I waited on desperate minutes for Diamond to bring Brandon to her. Even after every serendipitous turn of the game, I was down to my last seconds by the time Brandon healed her. Truly, I was divine, for only a god could've accomplished so much against such odds, but in my darkest moments, I prayed to the Holy Mother Julia was so fond of. It didn't occur to me until later that I had been praying to myself.

I turned my gaze to the astral sky and stared up at the heavens. The stars above me twinkled in response, and I rested my gaze on the realm of Serenity. It would be the realm of Silence very soon.

"Checkmate," I whispered, and smiled to myself. I wished there was someone out there who could share in my victory, but only the cold perpetual night bore witness, and my smile faded. I was alone.

Excerpt from Dr. Siam's thesis, The Broken Bridge, page six-hundred-ninety-five:

There is a decision.

I have been drinking quite a lot lately. It has been twenty years since I started writing this fucking thesis. I see the lines on my face becoming clearer by the day, the hairs on my head have thinned and darkened to grey. I don't even recognize myself anymore. Furok comes in from time to time to check on me. I know he wants me to help Halok, but there's nothing to be done for the poor man. If he can't be tethered, and he can't be bound, then send him to Arbitrus! But of course, no one has seen Arbitrus for a year now. Many people think he's gone to spend the rest of his days in the Holy Mother's sanctuary. Bullshit. His husband is dead, and now there's nothing in him but spite. I look out the window every day and wait. He will come. Like a phoenix over the Gratoran Wall, he will come and do the duty of his god. The Maternal Order would say that such genocide is blasphemy, but I know very well that it is a core precept of religion. Bringing him here was the worst decision Droktin ever made, but making terrible decisions is a core precept of science.

There is a decision.

The Creators don't come by accident.

Fuck, I'm getting old. No one even wants to touch me anymore. They can hardly look at my face. I was once a beautiful man desired by everyone, denied by no one. I can't even get hard anymore. An incubus who can't get hard. Water that can't get wet. I broke the leg off the table and tried to fuck my own ass with it last night. Now there's shit all over the carpet. How do you know when you're going crazy? Wait, "how" is a stupid question; why am I going crazy?

There is a decision.

If there is a decision, there is a god.

No, there's a man. Someone learned how to traverse the broken bridge. Someone learned how to go and come back, and bring the Creators with him! Or is it a her? Is it her?! No, no, no... she is trapped in her own realm, caged by her own guilt. There is someone else. There is a he/she/it, and he/she/it makes the decision. I tried killing myself the other day. I couldn't do it though. I walked right onto the balcony and looked down. I know that I will exist forever as energy, but there is that question... that one fucking question. Not what, who, where, how, or why, but do! Do we exist within our minds, or are we our souls? Are our souls just energy, or are they us?! If I jumped off the balcony, would I come back as nothing more than just one more kilojoule in the Heat Bringer's fire? Would I be a rock in the Earth Former's mountain? Would I be the life given by the Giver? What the fuck are we?!

There is a decision.

If there is a decision, there is a god.

What is god? Stupid question. God doesn't exist; God is just the name I gave the traveler. Who is the traveler? Also a stupid question. It's immaterial. How does he/she/it retain his/her/its memory after leaving the astral plane? Who says he/she/it does? Both are stupid questions. Why, why, why... why does he/she/it bring the Creators back?!