Turning his attention back to us the pressure increased again and Rose’s knees buckled. Kneeling in the King’s blood she still laughed. “You cannot have everything,” she said in a voice so soft it was almost inaudible.
Around the room everyone was on their knees again, including Penny and Cyhan now. My eyes sought Penny’s and for a moment we were together again, despite the intervening distance. In Penelope’s haggard face I could see fear and exhaustion, along with worry, probably for me. Still I felt a tiny flower of hope blossom in my chest at the sight of her.
The god’s attention was fully on Rose now and holding up his hand a tiny ball of flame flickered into life above it. “You have displeased me child. I think perhaps you should burn first.” With a twist of his hand he casually tossed the flame at her.
Drawing on reserves I hadn’t known were there I somehow erected a shield before her, sending the flame sliding away to one side where it flickered and died. The god laughed and looked at me. “You amaze me wizard. I thought you had reached your limit.”
The continual strain of shielding my mind against his power had left me weary and I found myself wishing for a clever response. The best I could manage was, “That just shows your ignorance.”
Celior frowned and holding his hand out toward me he said, “Learn humility.” Then he turned his palm toward the floor as if pressing downward.
The pressure on my shield and mind increased several fold and I collapsed. Pain shot through me as my shield vanished. Drawing inward I tried to protect my mind but Celior’s will shot through me and it felt as though knives were stabbing into my skull. Blood began to drip from my eyes and I could hear myself screaming.
My entire world dissolved into agony and I felt my sense of self slipping away. In my desperation to escape the pain my body curled into a ball on the ground while my fingers clutched at the hard floor. The stone! That single thought permeated my being and gained focus as I sought to preserve what was left of my sanity. Remembering the stone Moira had once given me to shape, I struggled to emulate it. Surrendering my humanity I tried to become the stone… for stones feel no pain.
Still the sharp barbs of Celior’s thoughts wrapped around my tortured mind and even through my misery I could hear his voice, echoing in my mind, “Did you think you had the power to protect yourself tiny mortal? I let you believe so only to increase your shame and suffering.”
I was utterly blinded by the agony, and yet somehow I could hear. A sharp cry rang out, and I recognized Rose’s voice. It was followed by an anguished yell and then Celior spoke again, “You seek to hinder me by killing your King? Watch and know despair.” After an unknowable pause he spoke again, “Rise Edward, King of Lothion, your wounds were not fatal.”
“Mort! Mort! Can you hear me?” Penny’s voice was next to my ear and somehow I knew she was stroking my brow, though I couldn’t feel it. The only sensation left to my body at that point was ceaseless burning pain. My deepest desire was to answer her, but I couldn’t. Instead I focused on the only thing that seemed to give me surcease from Celior’s torment, the image of the stone I held in my mind.
My focus increased and the wracking agony lessened as I felt my conscious mind harden. At last I was able to open my eyes again and I saw Penelope leaning protectively over me. Over her shoulder I glimpsed the angry god approaching.
“Do you think to protect him woman? He is of no use to you anymore. I will make his death long and painful. You should worry more for yourself,” Celior announced with a grin that would have made children laugh at the beauty of it.
“His dying breath is worth more than your entire being!” Penny screamed in defiance as she drew me close, cradling me beneath her. Her tears fell on my face and I struggled to speak, but my mouth still would not cooperate.
At last the pain was gone, along with my vision of the world around me. I saw and felt nothing. In peaceful bliss I relaxed and deep below I could hear the steady beat of the earth. Closer and yet more faintly I heard a single perfect voice, “I will rip your cursed child from your womb and crush it before your eyes.”
“No,” I said simply and I began to sit up. The pressure against my mind was still there, but it was no longer beyond my ability to stop. Something had changed inside, and a new strength had emerged, drawn primarily from the pulsing heart of the world. Looking around myself with new eyes I took in the room with a clarity that came from a calm center. I had found my balance, and in that timeless instant I saw everything.
Dorian and Elaine were both still unconscious, their bodies collapsed near the wall to one side of the room. Rose lay face down near the throne, a still spreading pool of blood fanning outward from beneath her. Edward stood over her now, a bloody dagger in hand and a smile upon his face. His grey hair was gone and he looked younger than I remembered. Last of all, I spotted Cyhan, crouched near the doorway, still holding a sword though he seemed powerless to move.
Most importantly the shining god was reaching down, though his movement seemed terribly slow. Penelope’s face was still above me, framed by loose strands of soft brown hair, shining golden with Celior’s light behind her. Her eyes were on mine and in that moment something passed between us, a type of communication that was ineffable. Apologies and regrets were forgotten and meaningless, for our hearts had found each other once again.
Celior’s hand was over her head, and his fingers were beginning to clench inward, to grasp her by the hair when finally the universe snapped back into motion. Without conscious thought I drew deeply upon the power beneath me while reaching up to meet the god’s greedy hand with my own, “ Na’Pyrren Ingak mai Lathos” It was the spell I had created to harden and strengthen my hands when working with the hot metal of the forge.
Our hands entwined for a moment and I felt the immensity of Celior’s unwitting strength, but I didn’t care. Clenching my hand into a fist the shining god’s bones broke, snapping like dry twigs under my fingers. Staring into the brilliant blue eyes of the god I spoke, “You will never touch her.”
Celior screamed and drew back as I released his hand but he recovered his composure within seconds. “I am done playing with you wizard,” and so saying he held up his hand, flexing it, as if to demonstrate that it had already healed.
Raising my staff I created a new shield around the two of us. Using my newfound strength I imbued it with so much power that blue sparks sizzled and spat around the edges. My instincts were screaming at me to find some way to get Penny and our unborn child away, but I knew there was no escaping the monstrous deity that stood before us.
Luminescent tendrils of power were beginning to test the boundaries of my new shield but I ignored them and looked back, into Penny’s dark brown eyes. There were dark circles under them and her body had swelled even more with her pregnancy but gazing at her all I could see was the girl that had run with me through the open fields of our childhood summers. The word love simply wasn’t enough to describe what she meant to me. Gazing into those eyes I saw my future, and the proof of it was growing in her belly. I wanted nothing more than to hold her and forget the nightmare around us.
I opened my mouth and said, “You are such an asshole.”
Her expression faltered, “What?”
“Was that really the best message you could leave me? I thought you were dead!” I said angrily.
Disbelief marched across her face, “I couldn’t say more! I didn’t know what might affect your fate.”
“Fuck fate! Fate is a goddamned whore! She changes her mind more frequently than that fickle bitch Lady Luck! Next time you tell me the truth and consequences be damned!” I shouted.
Penelope’s face twisted into an expression that was a mixture of irony, humor and worry. “There may not be a next time, this was as far as my vision got; the rest is up to you.”
Now it was my turn to be incredulous. All the suffering and fear I had been through, and this was the extent of her vision? “If we make it home alive we are going to have a serious talk,” I said and turned my attention back to the angry god.
In the short time I had ignored him Celior had changed. He had grown several feet in height and golden mists wreathed the ground about his feet. His overall luminosity had increased as well, making it almost painful to look at him. This isn’t looking good, I thought to myself.
Across the room, Cyhan was kneeling over Rose and from his awkward motions I could tell he was having difficulty moving. Celior’s presence was like an iron weight and without powerful protection I doubted any normal human could move. Reaching down Cyhan pulled the necklace from around Rose’s limp form and settled it over his
