Unconquered Pt. 15

Goat, his eyes narrowing, frowned. "What is-"

"Ah," Ceaith said, holding up her finger. "I've got a plan. And whenever Ember had a plan, he didn't tell us shit."

"What about Iremire-" Chirp said.

"Eh, it wasn't as funny with Iremire," Ceaith said, waving her hand, then sighed. "Come on. Lets cuddle up in a big, mostly girl pile." She winked at Chirp, then stood, walking towards the growing campsite. The other Lunars followed after. Once they were alone at the campfire, Goat shot a look at June. June nodded subtly, then reached down. She pulled a knife from its sheath at her hip.

The edge glittered with eldrich green fluid.

She slid the knife back into the sheath with a click.

***

Ember sat on his haunches and looked down at the wine the devil servitor had brought him. It bubbled and hissed and when he experimentally let a droplet fall onto the floor, it hissed and sizzled. He set the brass goblet down beside him and focused, instead, on the Shadow Dragon.

[And so, Liam the Conqueror toppled the Endless Empire. The gods of Earth and Purgatory crafted a new Empire -- one more great and wonderful than any had ever been seen before. Their mastery of magic and their mastery of science merged the two and created new marvels. And new terrors. The Spiral had more people and more miracles on it than you can possibly imagine. But, like all things, it came to an end. But that end was more...final than anyone could have predicted. One faction declared war upon another and they unleashed their finest weapon first...the vortex arrow.]

Ember blinked. "Like the stuff the Starshrike uses?"

[Yes. Though, larger. And in immense numbers. Enough to cause a cascading, overlapping storm of howling destruction. In a single minute, almost all life in the Spiral, all live in the universe, was snuffed out as the vortexes merged, then grew, then spread. And afterwards, all that was left was the Sunder and the weapons of war that were too hardy to die. The Champions. The Fair Folk.] He shrugged. [But some humans managed to shelter, in their battleships and their fortresses, behind reality generators and mana-fields.]

Ember nodded. "So...the gods survived and made the Land?"

[Yes, actually,] the Shadow Dragon said. [Well. No.]

Ember made a face. "How can it be yes and no?"

[The survivors did not include the gods. There were always fewer of them, and they had been on the front lines. But the survivors did remember the gods. And in the Sunder, there is a certain paucity of resources, materials, energy sources.] The Shadow Dragon chuckled. [And so, some clever clogs knocked together an idea. What if they made artificial gods to make an artificial land, full of deliciously real magical materials and souls to harvest periodically?] He disleaned unforward and fixed an eye upon Ember. [But they needed a way to make sure that the people of the world never got too advanced or organized or unified. And so, they made you!]

Ember blinked slowly.

"What?" he asked.

[The Sun chooses a mortal primed to destabilize the Land any time there is a hegemony. If it's an evil hegemony, then it chooses a hero. If it's a golden age, it chooses a villain. But in the end, the result's the same: Lots of fighting, lots of killing, lots of exploding, and the Locust People get to keep harvesting whatever they need for another few centuries.] He chuckled. [Rather impressive, honestly.]

Ember slowly sat back on his haunches, gaping at him. "B-But we'd know. If there were evil Unconquereds!"

[Yes, because tyrannical Unconquered would write their evil down,] the Shadow Dragon said, tossing his head. [So people would know what bastards they are. Very clever.]

Ember scowled. "I only need one-" He sprang to his feet. "Where's June?"

[I was wondering when you'd ask,] the Shadow Dragon said, clapping his claws together. The black wall that made up the left side of the room flowed downwards and revealed a burbling cauldron of ornate, worked brass. Hanging half in, half out of it, suspended on a pair of chains...was June. She looked haggered and wan, her face drawn, her teeth clenched slightly. Her hands were closed into fists. The belly of the cauldron was licked by a green flame. The Shadow Dragon unnodded to the cauldron with his antihead. [She's been here. I bought her on the open market after she arrived.]

"Hey Ember," June said, her teeth clenched. "When I get out of here, I'm going to fucking kill Goat so much."

"June!" Ember looked from her to the Shadow Dragon to her again. "Let her go."

[Hmm, on the one hand I am the worldbody of an ancient devil crafted by the war-foundries of the ancient nations of the Spiral and on the other hand, you're a depowered mortal whose primary value to me is the shinimatic modeling in your soul,] the Shadow Dragon said. [A modeling I can use to-]

Ember grabbed the goblet, sprinted forward, and chucked it at the middle of the chain that kept June's arms above her head. The goblet hissed and bubbled and the chain smoked as the Shadow Dragon growled unquietly. Ember leaped onto the side of the cauldron, slamming his feet down on the lip. The combination of his weight, his pressure, and the chain's weakening caused the chain to snap with a clattering noise. A single hissing piece bounced off Ember's cheek, leaving a burning string. The cauldron tipped forward and he sprang free, landing awkwardly as June skidded, belly first, along the ground.

Ember grabbed her arm and helped her to her feet. Her legs and her belly looked pinkish -- but not as badly burned as he had worried. Her tail dragged on the floor. She grinned, weakly. "Thanks."

Ember looked back at the Shadow Dragon.

[Oh, you think you can escape?] He asked. [What an amusingly naive idea.]

He unclacked his notclaws together with a hideous antisound. The pyramid around them floated upwards and away, the pieces twisting and floating apart, like a top that had come to pieces. The devil city around them seemed to glow with light and Ember saw as the darkness lifted that devils by the dozen, by the hundreds, were beginning to emerge from the alleyways and the streets around the pyramids. They carried chains. Clubs. Bats with nails through them. Crossbows. Their own dripping vitrified claws.

Their grins were fierce.

Their eyes beady.

"Ember..." June whispered. 'I don't mean to be a downer, but I have none of my magical supplies and you're just...you."

"No..." Ember said, shaking his head slightly. "I may not be the Unconquered...but I'm not just Sleepy Ember from Rataka anymore."

His feet shifted.

His hands lifted.

And I focused -- the whole world snapping into place as I assumed Void Stance. Once more, my perspective was centered, the same focus that Goat had taught me. The devils and the demons fanning slowly around me grinned wickedly. I saw that they were a smooth spread -- from the lowliest of the Sixth Circle to building sized Third Circle monsters. They were just waiting for a signal from their master and their progenitor.

[What an interesting combat stance,] the Shadow Dragon said, wryly. [But I don't see how it'll help.]

I licked my lips. "Void Stance..." I shifted my feet, assuming a different one. "Goes into Fair Fight Hero Style!" My hands clenched into fists and the whole world seemed to narrow around me. The devils snarled -- and one of them charged. He was a Sixth Circle demon, with a glittering golden chain. He swung it at my head. I ducked low, then punched up, striking the joint of his elbow. He squalled, clutching at his arm, before I grabbed his horns and headbutted him to the ground. He collapsed onto his back, groaning.

The other devils gaped.

[Well? What are you waiting for? Swarm him!] The Shadow Dragon unhissed.

"W-We...can't, sire!" a Second Circle devil groaned through gritted teeth.

"They have to fight me one at a time," I said, grinning. I lifted my palm.

Twitched my fingers.

"Whose next?"

A Third Circle demon roared and charged at me. He was huge and muscular and that was why I turned, and grabbed June. I swung her over my shoulder, my muscles burning as I held her aloft. She yelped and I started to sprint away, the devils stepping back to get out of my way. I made sure to keep my posture, my breath puffing as I focused on the kata of Fair Fight Hero Style. As I ran, the Third Circle demon charged after, his knuckles and his feet pounding on the pavement and sending up chips of soulcidian off the ground.

"What are you doing?" June hissed, her head bouncing near my shoulder blade, her tail slapping my cheek.

"Only one can fight me at once!" I shouted back, puffing. "but I can't fight a fucking Third Circle demon without help!"

I skidded around the corner and came to a large street full of market stalls and merchant stands. They were selling tails and bits of powder and severed eyes and large jars filled with greenish glop. They looked like reagents to me -- and so I said: "Grab whatever you can!"

My stance stumbled. Two Sixth Circle demons tried to tackle me. I tossed June onto an awning with a grunt, spun and kicked all in the same movement. My heel slammed into the nose of a Sixth Circle demon. But rather than soaring backwards, he simply stumbled a bit, shaking his head. The other stabbed at my gut -- but I managed to get back into my stance at the last second. The knife stopped, inches away from my side as the demon hissed furiously. His friend shook himself, then leaped at me with his baseball bat. The nails thunked into the wood of a stall as I dodged backwards.

"Hey!" The merchant devils shouted as I grabbed up a jar of bubbling stuff and tossed it into the face of the other devil, who screeched and fell backwards. His friend, freed by his comrade's death, threw his knife at me. I batted it out of the air with a reflexive slapping motion and the knife clattered to the ground. The devil charged. I grabbed the knife and came to my feet, slashing in the same movement, catching the devil in the throat.

The Sixth Circle devil sprawled, clutching at his throat, choking as he died.

The Third Circle demon that had been trying to catch up with us came around the corner, followed by the whole mass of the rest of them. In Fair Fighting Hero Style, they were forced to stop, almost tripping over one another. The Third Circle demon slowly cracked its massive neck, twisting its head to the side like it was working out the kinks. But as its neck cracked, huge spines burst from its back and massive spikes thrust from its knuckles.

"Great," I whispered, then twisted the knife in my grip, holding it reverse style.

The Third Circle demon started to walk forward, grinning. "Well, Unconquered," he said. "I'm going to enjoy forcing you to eat your own nose."

I tensed, then flicked my wrist out. The knife whistled out and slammed into the Third Circle demon's eye socket. I grinned as the demon reared backwards, clutching at its face as I sprinted forward. The massive beast was standing back on its hind legs -- and Ember saw a weak spot. I sprinted, twisted, then brought my knuckles slamming around and punched the massive testes that hung between the demon's thighs.

Every devil watching 'ooohed' softly as the Third Circle demon clutched at himself, his eyes wide as saucers, the knife actually dropping free of the eye socket it had punctured. "Ow," he whimpered.

I caught the knife, then stabbed the demon in the stomach. Whatever metal the demons used -- vitrified brass, maybe -- cut through their flesh. I thrust again and again and again and again and again. The Third Circle demon roared in pain and shocked fury. I realized that I had pushed my luck as hard as I could. I sprang backwards. My body ached with the efforts I had been pushing myself to do -- but I wasn't the boy I had been back in the Rataka village.

The Third Circle Demon clutched at his belly, groaning as blood and bits of organ dripped past his fingers. "You...bastard..." He grumbled, stepping forward, then stepping forward again, then collapsing forward onto his face. Blood -- immense amounts of blood -- flowed and puddled and bubbled from around his guts.

I stood taller, grinning.

And the devils hesitated again, looking at me.

"Ia..."

The solitary voice would have been unheard in most situations. But the entire alleyway was nearly silent. The merchant devils were watching from their shelter, their eyes wide, while the people who had come to buy and sell were fled. But one of the humans who had been lashed up to one of the many posts and whipping branches that filled the city had spoken. Through cracked lips and past bloodied teeth, he had spoken the word.

I tried to keep my confident grin. My back was aching, my arm ached, and the demon blood on my skin was already starting to prickle.

"Whose next?" I asked.

A sixth circle devil snapped up a crossbow and fired it at me. I jerked aside, but the bolt still skimmed along my shoulder. I took the pain and drove myself forward, running up and stabbing the devil in the gut. He collapsed, his crossbow clattering to the ground. I sprang backwards.

"Ia!" Another voice -- a woman this time. "Ia!" A third voice, lost among the buildings.

"Shut them up!" A Third Circle devil screamed, his throat bulging as he howled at the top of his lungs.

"I thought you were just going to kill one...little...human," I said, awkwardly trying to hold my knife and stem the bleeding from my shoulder wound. "It's not that hard, is it?" I kept my stance, focusing hard.

"Ia! Ia! Ia!" The chant was growing now. "Ia! Ia! Ia!"

I stood taller. But I didn't feel anything filling me. There was no flow of magic. No spark. There was just a growing exhaustion. Two Fifth Circle Devils started to advance, grinning slowly. I shifted my stance, trying to right it -- trying to keep them at bay. One of them hesitated, but the other gripped a polearm. He thrust it at me. I jerked aside, but I wasn't quite fast enough. While the blade didn't cut me, the shaft did catch me in the gut and knock me over. My stance faltered and devils surged forward.

I shoved myself into the fall -- skidding backwards on the ground, moving underneath a stall. Several devils sprang onto the stall. Others ran behind it. I kicked out one of the legs of the stall and the whole thing pitched to the side as I rolled away. In the chaos and the confusion, I came to my feet, panting heavily. Two Sixth Circle devils sprinted at me. I stabbed one in the throat, grabbed his sword, then took the other's hand off. He screeched, green blood pumping into the air as he clutched it desperately, his eyes bugging.

My back bumped against a wall. Devils came from the left. From the right.

"Ia! Ia! Ia!"

The chant was growing.

And then a figure dropped from the roof. They were an emaciated woman, holding a stick. They landed on a devil and began to smack them about the head. "Ia! Ia! Ia!" She shouted. I sprang forward and slashed the devil down. He and the woman sprawled, but she came to her feet, snatching up the devil's weapon -- a large brass chain. She twirled it over her head. "For the Unconquered!"

Around me, other things were beginning to land on the devil's heads. Stones. Small brass cauldrons -- chamber-pots, I realized. I gritted my teeth, then shouted. "For the Unconquered!" I slashed one of the devils across the face, then threw my knife at a second who was trying to crawl onto the woman. More people -- emaciated, burned, starved people -- were coming from the alleyways. They carried clubs and crude spears and vials of hissing liquid and among them was June. She was holding in her hands what she had gone off to find.

I had expected she would make thamaturgical concoctions.

She hadn't.

She held aloft a pair of huge bolt cutters crafted from a leering skull and a pair of thigh bones from some ancient beast. She shook it and shouted. "Ia! Ia! Ia!" The freed souls she had liberated charged at the devils and the devils started to fight back. A human head went flying. Another man was impaled through the stomach by a spear. But the devils were taking losses -- frenzied human leaping onto them, stabbing them with knives. But there was a singular advantage, I saw.

The devils felt pain.

The humans had known it so long that if they felt it...they didn't show it.

The devils started to fall backwards, their spear points shivering as more and more humans surged through the city streets. More bolt cutters and axes and other cutting tools were being hefted upwards. The chant was a roar now. "Ia! Ia! Ia!"

The devils ran. They threw down their weapons and they sprinted away, screaming and hissing as they did so. But as they ran, I saw an inky shadow beginning to grow beyond us. The Shadow Dragon didn't move. He simply was there, looming. His size grew and grew and grew -- and he went from being merely titanic to being impossibly gigantic. Noneyes the size of small worlds unglowed down upon us with a baleful antilight

[I am very upset by this,] his non-voice filled all void in the world, shaking Ember from his stance with the force of it. [I simply wished to flay your soul apart and find out how to manufacture my own Unconquered. But I guess that's just too much of an ask for some people!]

Ember gulped. "W-We never had a chance."

"No, not really," June whispered.

Ember looked at her. He smiled. "I loved them, you know."

June blinked.

"All of my Lunars," Ember said, his voice soft. "T-They mattered more than the power. More than the Land. More than anything. So...just knowing them was enough." He smiled, then turned back to the Shadow Dragon. He lifted his sword, then he started to charge. He gripped the sword in both hands, screaming at the top of his head. He sprinted towards a pile of rubble created by the battle, springing up it, then launching himself into the air. The Shadow Dragon's head dismoved to grow closer, as if he was leaning in close, to regard this spec, this pathetic nothing.

Ember swung.

His sword struck the nose of the Shadow Dragon.

Boom.

The roaring explosion picked Ember up and smashed him into the ground. He felt several bones snapping like twigs. Pain exploded through him and blood spurted past his lips as he clenched his teeth, looking up, his eyes wide. Because the Shadow Dragon was moving. His head reared backwards and an audible screech filled the air. Because he had been shot.

Shot by the mana-cannon of a skyship that hovered in the air above the city of Hell!

Ember gaped at the skyship and, for a dizzying moment, he swore that he saw the glow of his Lunars, the silvery sleekness of the Starshrike. But then he blinked again as the skyship swept down and turned its broadside upon the Shadow Dragon. The hull was made of wood and brass, not of the shimmering silver that he knew his ship was made of. A figure sprang onto the shimmering aetheric rigging, hanging off the line.

She was silver, with long shimmering blue hair.

And she held a sword made of glowing fire.

"Fire!" The Elegant Nova of Progression, Champion of the City-State of Lyca, shouted at the top of her synthetic lungs. Each mana-cannon spoke at once, and the hammering blasts of raw, crackling magical energies pounded into the Shadow Dragon's nose, head, neck. He reared backwards, hissing and screeching audibly, then collapsed into the devil city, sending up a cascading wave of debris. The skyship swept down, its prow and its keel smashing aside brassy buildings with a squeal of metal. A gangplank extended and Locust People in gas masks and trench coats came charging off, automatic crossbows in their hands.