A Box Addressed to Pandora

Ol-Lozen pumped his legs until they burned, but it was nowhere near enough to catch the snickering demon. Not only had it been given a head start by him being dazed and confused by Daigay – No, Quaqua – kicking her own cage apart, but without the latent power from Mouse he had no hope of catching a creature that flew.

What’s more – the demon was taunting him.

Flying just out of reach before evading truly out of range, the Incursion zoomed around the forest slicing branches and slimmer tree trunks with its claws to place obstacles in his path. Not just for him, but for the Tankbuster to clip. He refused to sheathe the weapon out of suspicion that creature would lunge the moment he left himself open, and so ran through the forest swinging the blade.

“CRAVEN DEMON!”

His rage echoed through the night-stricken wood, and would have driven animals into hiding had any remained. As it was, he hadn’t expected the shout to have much effect. Although, a demon with fewer of its own qualities and more imitations of human-variety ones may have been tempted to respond to his challenge out of pride.

(It didn’t)

On the plains, the creature’s mobility multiplied. It flew high, dove low, swam across the tall grasses so only its wings were visible, like the fins of a great golden shark. Towards Ol-Lozen it would make a beeline and feint back at the last, knowing the length of his blade, only to fly off again, the buzzing of its wings a chattering laugh. As a shriek cracked the tempo of their dance, Ol-Lozen turned to the source and was nearly bowled over by an armless body wrapped in vines, roots, branches and small foliage – a sentry, their stealth suit lacking. Shouts of alarm went up over their death, and the yolky creature blurred towards open, screaming mouths, scabbed claws sharp and dripping. Rising from the last of the sentries, it spun in the air to face Ol-Lozen, falling as its wings relaxed, then snapped them back up to swing in pendulum motion past the rippling barrier of bent light.

The Orkan charged inside and found the army still in throes of celebration. Pushing past entire battalions of drunken soldiers, he made his way to the wagon. Jackbee slept completely undisturbed. Scanning the area revealed no Joshua, nor any others. The fire had burned down to embers, soon to grow cold from natural causes.

Ol-Lozen crept closer to the wagon, ears twitching for the sounds of chaos in the distance, screams of bloody murder and breaking wood and clashing steel. He peered around the wagon’s bonnet, heart beating a tattoo against the inside of his rib cage, and found Mouse resting against an empty barrel on its furthest end, jaw slack with a thin line of spittle running down her cheek, almost relaxing enough at the sight to miss the golden blur as claws lanced toward his chest. Catching the attack on the flat of his blade, the Tankbuster retaliated with proportional force.

The demon was vaporized from claw to shoulder, and lost half its head and wings, the wagon losing a quarter of its mass, the explosion ringing the ears of everyone in the vicinity. Wagon and demon were thrown backwards like bouquets. With its cardinal organ having survived the explosion the demon started to regrow, rising onto its feet when the Tankbuster cleaved down its middle, destroying the monster utterly in a shockwave of golden gore.

He found the wagon on its side several yards away, Mouse already having crawled out, coughing, from under a stack of boxes.

“Girl, are you alright?” He asked.

“I was better before I was awoken so rudely.” Bruises had already started to form where wood had struck her, though the skin was mercifully free of more serious injuries. “I heard the Incursion die. How did it find us at all?”

He opened his mouth to give an honest answer –

“Daffodil, are you hurt?”

– but a more chilling voice beat him. Swelling with rage, he slashed the sword in the direction she approached, leveling its non-existent tip at the old woman.

“Are you serious?” Daigay chuckled.

He took a step forward, forcing her retreat. Her amusement dropped down below the earth.

“By the Riversworn, you are serious.”

“You could have killed this girl. Your girl.” Ice coated his words. “Where in the damn plan was this required?”

Mouse grabbed Ol-Lozen by the arm. “Demon, stand down!”

Unearthly light bloomed on his throat, constriction of his airway by its side. He took another step toward Daigay. Pain twisted at his abdomen. In his stomach, the juices bubbled up his esophagus and burned the soft tissue. Groaning, he took another, shorter step, keeping the blade at her chest. Knives dipped in and out of his legs and back, and he gasped as his chest was battered by hammers, pounded on like an anvil.

“No. I refuse to let her through to you.”

He took a last step, almost collapsing as he did. A hand passed through his ribcage and clutched his heart. He tasted iron and bile, and crimson dribbles rolled down his chin.

“I shouldn’t need to explain how disobedience will kill you,” Daigay said coolly.

Mouse, having seen enough, shouted, “DEMON, STOP!”

Wracked by concussive blast of will, Ol-Lozen dropped gasping to all fours. Daigay squatted down on the ground beside him wearing a smile that did not reach her eyes.

“Keep the resolve, but discard the petulance while there’s time.”

“You… are a dead woman.” Ol-Lozen’s eyes were swollen with fury, but they may as well have been filled with cream cheese.

“Someday, but not soon.” She rose back up. “Mouse,” she said, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder, “We have matters most urgent to discuss.”

“Do not… touch her….” he panted, tears in his eyes.

“I can command you again, demon, if you do not remain quiet on your own.”

Daigay gave the girl’s shoulder a squeeze. “Spare him, daffodil, he’s only doing what he believes is right. He’s not well after hearing this news, and to be perfectly honest, neither am I.” She drew in a lungful of air. “The Incursion are coming. That one he’s slain found us, and by doing so alerted their legions. Incursion will swarm here in numbers that cannot be overcome, and every soul here will perish.” She leaned down to be closer. “And they seek you and Ol-Lozen, for they fear the strength of the latent power bonding you together. In Goldhome-In-The-Dell they sought him, and now they’ve sought you. One method there is to guarantee survival, but it comes at great risk, and he,” she pointed to the stunned Orkan, “could not bring himself to let you risk your life.”

Mouse’s eyes slid from Ol-Lozen to Daigay. “What will you have us do?”

Coughing punctuated the air. Ol-Lozen rose back to his feet, feeling awfully lightheaded as Daigay spun the narrative in his favor.

“You must fight. Fight all the way back into the Incursion home and destroy the brain that commands them. Do this, and you would save not only those here, but every life threatened by the Incursion.” She withdrew two objects from her robe: a thick, rectangular ampoule from her robe containing scraps of parchment and shimmer; and a metal device that looked an awful lot like a compass. “When you find the brain, stimulate this vessel with magic. You will learn the rest then. This one will direct you to the city of Norisis – the origin of the Age of Incursion. The brain will not lie there, but the portal to their home will be yawning for you to enter.”

“Thank you,” Mouse said, taking the tools of victory. “If we do not return…”

“You will.”

“But if we do not…”

“But you shall.”

Daigay gave Mouse’s rat’s nest of brown hair a soft tousle before pulling the girl into a sure embrace. “Be well, daffodil. I shall join you anon.”

Somewhere in the camp, a great horn blared across the land. Daigay’s head snapped up. “They come. You must away. Go, go.” She pushed the girl towards Ol-Lozen, who, upon considering the logistics, crouched down to allow Mouse’s arms to be thrown around his neck. He shot a dark glare at Daigay.

“This isn’t over, Innovator.”

She gave him a curt wave and a wry grin. “And it never will be.”

The great horn blared again, and the sounds of soldiers rising to action permeated through the air. Mouse assured her grip around Ol-Lozen’s neck, inclining her head to him. “Are you prepared, demon?”

“Always ready for a battle,” he chuckled.

Mouse gazed up at the dark, shimmering sky, and shouted for all the heavens to hear.

“Protect my Grandmama! Save the lives of those in need! See this Age of Incursion ended!”

In a burst of sapphire brilliance they soared winged towards the sky, and onwards to the end.