I Stand Up To A God

My hand trembled, my heart sinking all the way down to my stomach. The shadow blade in my grip began to fray at the edges, wisps of black smoke peeling off it like ash from a dying fire. I couldn't look away from the purple eyes staring back at me from my husband's face.

How?

"He would've never devoted himself to you or anything else!" The words scraped out of my throat, barely above a whisper. "What'd you do to him?!"

The thing on the throne smirked.

"My my, aren't you a curious kitty?"

The voice purred right against my ear, close enough that I felt breath on my neck. I recoiled, clenching my fists. He wasn't there. How did he hear that?

My pulse hammered in my temples. I really was about to fight a being that existed beyond our realm. A being that had brought down my civilisation’s greatest empires. My mind locked up at the thought, like gears jammed with sand. And somehow, on top of all that madness, it had taken hold of Sam’s body.

Sam rose from the throne and stepped closer, smiling at me. Oh Sam… I could only see the same smile he gave me every morning over breakfast.

"Move!"

Kai slammed into me, shoving me aside, and I hit the ground hard. An obsidian spike shot through the spot where I'd been standing a heartbeat earlier. It caught Kai in the shoulder and dragged her across the hall, her body tearing through the back wall in an explosion of black shards.

"Oops," Sam cackled, hiding his smile behind his hand, eyes glistening. "That had to hurt!"

"Kai!!!"

Marie swept her hand through the air, and a colossal slash of wind cut the giant spike clean in half. She sprinted towards the hole where our friend had disappeared, Ior and Zelo hot on her heels.

A monstrous wolf dropped from the ceiling in front of them, landing with a thunderous crash. Thick goo dripped from its matted fur, its jaw hanging loose and crooked from its skull. Its claws burned like embers, carving into the stone and melting it into bubbling soup with every step. A huge chain was bolted around its neck, anchoring it to the wall and keeping it from straying too far.

"Get out of my way!" Marie roared.

She punched upwards, and a massive chunk of obsidian shaped like a fist burst from the floor, smashing into the wolf's head. Sam clapped for her, whistling.

"Well done, Marie! What control…You've come a long way from burning your family to crisps!"

Marie didn't even slow down. She slipped underneath the stunned monster, flipped Sam the bird, and vanished into the shadows to find Kai.

I stared at my husband, my heart breaking a little more with every word that left his mouth. What did he do to you, Sam? Are you still even in there? What do I do? How do I save you?!... Can I even?

My hands wouldn't stop shaking. My body refused to move, as if my limbs belonged to someone else. My head dropped to my chest. I can't live on without you…

"Just you watch," Sam laughed, "as I tear apart your little friends… You're used to letting your close ones die, aren't you?"

Across the hall, Ior and Zelo never got the chance to follow Marie. The guard dog lunged at them, jaws clacking shut inches from their heads as it tried to snack on them. Ior sidestepped the bite and drove her fist into its muzzle. The shockwave nearly blew out my eardrums from across the room. The wolf yelped, its head whipping the other way, only to be greeted by Zelo's daggers raking across its eye. Recoiling in pain, the beast heaved and regurgitated a torrent of acid, spraying it high into the air above them.

A layer of water spread out over my friends' heads, shielding them from the lethal rain.

"Interesting," Sam's eyes narrowed, and he turned away from me. Where is he going?

Bjorn and Yumii groaned in unison, waves of blue energy rising from their open palms, as if they were holding up the water with their bare hands. The wolf roared at them. Behind my friends, deep in the shadows between two pillars, a pair of purple eyes flickered open.

No!

I jumped to my feet and sprinted across the hall.

"Bjorn! Yumii!!"

They were far too focused for their own good.

Coordinated, they spread their hands apart, and the acid-laced water stretched out like a thin blanket. Then Bjorn brought his palms together in a single clap while Yumii twisted hers in a circle. The liquid wrapped itself around the beast's snout like a muzzle, searing through fur and flesh alike. The wolf howled, thrashing its head.

A purple glowing hand shot out of the shadows and grabbed Bjorn by the hair, yanking him backwards. Yumii was flung across the room by an invisible force, crashing into a pillar. She didn’t get back up. Please be okay!

The wolf cackled, now free, slowly advancing towards Ior and Zelo. Sam's eyes split into a dozen irises, his jaw unhinging and stretching wide like a snake's.

I'm not going to make it!

Bjorn dug in his heels and pushed back with all his might, but his face was already sliding towards that gaping maw.

"No!!"

My shadow mace swelled to twice its size mid-swing, and I put every ounce of strength I had into it. The blow caught Sam square in the ribs and launched him across the room. The mace's handle shrank back to its normal length as I skidded to a stop in the middle of the chamber.

Bjorn patted his face with both hands, checking everything was still where it belonged, and let out a shaky sigh of relief. I squeezed his shoulder and gave him a faint smile, before my eyes drifted towards the crater Sam had left in the wall.

I came this far, no turning back now… I will do everything I can to break you free, honey.

A thousand voices roared at once from the other side of the throne room, pouring out of the smoking hole. The air rushed out of the hall in another howling shockwave, pulling at my clothes and hair. Every hair on my body stood on end. I narrowed my eyes, tightening my grip around my fraying sword until the shadows knitted themselves back together, the blade whole once more. The braziers sputtered and flickered, the wind howling through the broken ceiling.

Near the wall, Ior and Zelo were still locked in battle with the wolf, dodging its iron-melting claws. Zelo launched himself at the beast just as Ior caught one of its massive paws, bellowing under the weight as she held the monster in place. Zelo scrambled up the creature's back and plunged his daggers into its skull, again and again. The wolf shrieked in agony, writhing wildly. Ior's boots slid across the floor, her grip slipping, until the beast flung her clean off its paw. She sailed up to the second floor and smashed through the balcony's railing.

"Shit!" Zelo yelled somewhere behind me.

My attention was locked on the monstrosity climbing out of the crater I'd sent it into.

Black arms, veined with glowing purple, had sprouted from Sam's ribs. They sprawled across the damaged wall, gripping the stone like the legs of a colossal spider.

"You dare!"

He dropped down, the tiles exploding beneath him as he landed.

"You worm, you should be grov-"

A chunk of rock smashed into his face, sending him stumbling backwards.

"Kick rocks!"

Bjorn raised both hands and clenched his fists. Thousands of obsidian shards tore themselves from the floor, the walls and the pillars, slamming around Sam and sealing him inside a jagged coffin. My friend's hands shook harder and harder with every passing second, sweat pouring down his face in buckets.

"Can't.. H-hold… him!"

Cracks raced across the dense stone. I lifted my spear and hurled it just as the coffin burst open.

"ENOUGH!"

PFFRRRRRMM!

A wave of energy swept through the hall, knocking us all off our feet, flames flashing across the room for a split second. I flew backwards into a pillar, tearing a chunk of it off with me as I crashed face-first onto the floor, my ears buzzing. Tears welled up in my eyes as I fought for air, blood pouring down over my lips.

Crap. I wheezed, clutching my aching chest. I broke my damn nose!

"Let's go!"

Bjorn grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet. Together, we fled into the shadow-filled tunnels branching off the hall, running as far as we could from the furious entity.

"We have to go back! Zelo and Yumii are still there!" I yanked on his arm.

"We are as good as dead if we head back right now!"

Godsdamnit! I hated how right Bjorn was. How powerful is that thing??

We kept running blindly, the sound of our footsteps echoing through the empty corridors. The darkness was so thick I could barely see my own hands. I whipped around, feeling something breathing behind me. I couldn’t see a blade even if it reached my throat.

"Wait!" I whispered.

"What?" Bjorn slowed down a bit.

"Quiet! We're not alone!"

We slowed almost to a halt, tiptoeing forward.

"Are you su-"

"Sh!"

I strained my ears, trying to catch any sound at all. Faint echoes of steel clashing and walls collapsing reverberated through the stone around us, and somewhere in the darkness, a small cry rose and faded. My blood curdled.

We need light.

Here.

My spear rose on its own, pulling my arms along, pointing wherever it pleased. I wrenched it back as soon as its hold on me loosened.

Don't do that! I'm going to look like a psycho.

Aren't you one?

...Touché.

"Let's turn on the lights." I let go of Bjorn, who shuffled around aimlessly in the dark.

"Hey! Don't wander off on your own!! How are you gonna even do that?"

"By smashing this cursed place to pieces!"

I roared and twisted my weapon into a mace, swinging it at the nearest wall with everything I had. The stone blew apart under the impact, and the smoke rushed out past me through the gaping breach. Light poured in, spilling across the floor in blinding beams and searing my retinas.

Boy, did I miss you. I squinted up at the sun peeking through the clouds.

The breach opened onto a sheer drop of at least a thousand metres. The fortress had been built right over the edge of the mountain, and nothing lay between us and the valleys far below but open sky.

The smoke rushed out, pulling me towards the edge, my boots skidding across the floor. Bjorn caught my hand before I could go overboard, only for the gale to drag him along with me. I jammed my spear sideways across the opening, bracing it against the stone on both sides, and we slammed into the shaft, stopping just short of the fall.

Then the light reached the ceiling.

"What the FUCK are those things?!"

Distorted humans clung to the walls and ceiling all around us, finally exposed by the daylight. Their limbs were far too many and far too long, bending in impossible angles. The multi-limbed monsters shrieked and peeled themselves off the stone, crawling over each other, their teeth-filled mouths carving through the walls as they rushed towards the fleeing smoke. They swarmed around Bjorn and me, hurling themselves off the edge after it.

One of them leapt straight into us.

The impact knocked my spear loose, and we plummeted down the cliff.