Lodestar knew he had not completely gone from this world. He could feel the other souls around him, human souls, caught in the Pillar of Ice and Fire.
The Guardian returns!
In his essence, he knew what it meant, how excited the other souls were at its return, so he retreated away, attempting to find rest in the cacophony.
Then, the Guardian was no more.
Whether she died, or gave up, whether she moved on or went elsewhere, none of the souls knew. Finally, it was quiet, and Lodestar could find his rest, though it became too quiet, and he ventured forth to the edge of the Pillar to see what was going on.
Twilight’s Son hovered there, watching.
Lodestar, you are needed.
I rest, Lodestar replied, retreating slightly.
Find the Guardian.
Find another. I rest—
Not in peace.
No, not in peace, he thought forlornly.
Once more, Lodestar, find the Guardian, see if she is true, and you will find peace.
A host.
Then Twilight’s Son began to sing. The language became clearer in his mind, as he remembered his former host, remembered his hosts before that, the heroes, the men and creatures he had aided, and most of all, he remembered himself. He remembered that he was a hero.
I have found the Guardian, Twilight’s Son.
And?
She has chosen to learn dark ways. Lodestar almost spat the words out, his anger palatable. She’s a shade, still powerful, but a shade nonetheless. She is under another’s spell.
You no longer guide, Lodestar. You have an opinion of this matter.
She is the Guardian and has a responsibility. What can dark arts teach her? Who will guard
There are many other heroes who would gladly take her place.
“She can’t just give it up!” Lodestar roared, no longer content with mere mind contact. “She has a responsibility!”
“As do you, now, to guide her back to her responsibility.”
“I can’t go to Grandville.”
“You can go between dimensions, and you can stay here. The Midnighters are looking for new members.”
He shook his head vigorously. “No magic.”
Twilight’s Son chuckled, a sweet tone to the sound.
“You stay entrapped in nine generations of Aztec priests and see how you like it.”
You still are angry at your past hosts.
I’m angry at magic.
Magic is what made the Guardian, and magic is what made you.
His human face contorted into a look of disgust for a moment before he heard the swishing of wings.
Yes, StarWyng comes here often to fly.
Nate is still dead.
No, he isn’t. He was brought back to life to continue his killing ways.
“StarWyng should have killed him by now, then.”
No, she hasn’t.
She will kill me, instead.
No, she won’t.
“We’ll see, fellow traveler,” Lodestar said, striding away. “We’ll see.”
As it happened, she did not kill Lodestar; in fact, she embraced him as if she has been lost without him. Lodestar was slightly upset that Nate wasn’t dead by now – his time with his last host had burned him. But part of an unsaid rule of Kheldians is that once a new host is chosen, the old host was to be forgotten.
But the magic spell took the attributes of his last host. He looked like Nate, sounded like Nate, felt like Nate. Lodestar couldn’t forget him that easily.
Grim wanted to kick the man who was on his knees before a large tree in
Grim had never felt this angry in all of his life. He had hated the man once before, but never with the all-consuming hatred he felt right now, the want and need to turn him into a bloody spot, all because of his cowardice.
Now the man got up, and Grim approached him quietly. He hauled off and hit the man right in the jaw. He rocked from the punch, but didn’t back off. “That’s from
Masonry easily caught Grim’s fist before it connected. He thought of twisting Grim’s fist back, driving him to his knees, but figured why bother? He deserved it.
“
“Nothing you wanted to do! You wanted her dead!”
“It was futile—“
Grim pulled on his fist that Masonry held tight.
“Will you let me explain?”
“No, because you’re a liar! Let go of me!”
Grim tugged hard, and Masonry let go, letting Grim fall backwards onto the grass. Grim looked up at Masonry, fire and fury in his eyes.
Masonry rumbled, “Then I won’t bother to explain, not to you, not to anyone.”
Grim got up slowly, snarling, “I’ll get you.”
Masonry shrugged, and teleported away. Grim dusted himself off and glared at the spot he had been in. He was going to get him, and the simplest way was to get at the person he most cared about. But he was going to need a little help…
The group of Thorns turned to face Grimaulkin, stopping their summoning in mid-chant. The man in the center of the circle toppled to the ground.
"How dare you disturb me," the mage snarled at him.
"Cut the shit, Alex. I'm done working for you." He tossed a bag to the ground, near the man whose soul they were going to rip out.
"I heard things were lucrative," the mage said, and glanced at a couple of Thornites, who drew their swords at Grim.
"Very lucrative. I got everything I needed. See, I can summon creatures such as that, but with slightly more power than yours. As a matter of fact, I can tear their souls out of their bodies and use that." Grim slowly advanced, grinning at Alex. "Bet you didn't think anyone could do that, huh?"
"It's...not unknown," Alex said hesitantly.
Grim tossed a bone to the ground, and a creature in chain mail rose from the earth. He carried a sword, but stayed in a passive position. "Bet you didn't think I could do this, either? I found myself a relic of a medieval knight, if you believe it, and the Legacy Chain so kindly let me use it to summon that knight - and there's another one that the Lost allegedly has, too. Look what he can do!"
With a snap of his fingers, the creature drew his sword and stabbed Alex straight through with it. Alex - and the Thornites - moved in slow motion as Grim conjured a pit of blackness at their feet. The knight dispatched Alex, then turned to the Thorns. There were only three of them, also easily dealt with.
He turned to the bodies and took a bone from each, wrenching off their pinky fingers and then tossing a teleportation disk onto them. They'd realize something was amiss after a few weeks of seeing enemies return to the Zig, missing their pinky fingers. Poor Idaho, he thought, laughing.
He began the chant to summon his demoness there, and she appeared, in the form of a beautiful red-skinned, red-winged, naked woman, suspended in the air. "What do you wish now - " then she noticed the chains.
As she attempted to leave, she found that Grim had uttered something in the spell to lock her into the circle. She flittered back and forth, trying to keep within the center, away from the chains.
"Zoreteth," he said quietly, though it boomed within the circle, "be still."
She dropped to the earth. "How dare you!" she cried. "Who told you?! When I am free I will tear them - "
Grimaulkin ignored her as he continued the spell, pointing the athame at the chains. "Bind Zorteth tight, bind her unto me."
"NEVER!" she howled, her voice attempting to break through Grim's concentration. His thoughts centered entirely on watching the chains rise of their own volition and wrap themselves around the suspended body. She struggled as the chains climbed up, wrapping themselves haphazardly around her, even looping around her wings.
The last link left the floor and tucked itself into her waist, sealing itself with the other open link. She began to glow a bright, almost angry yellow.
"What do you expect to get from me, mage? I have given you power and spells, even your brother! Am I not generous?"
"Bound thou art to me," he replied with a smile. "I take thy power from thee, not bend to thy will; thou shalt bend to mine, Zoreteth. Thy host of underlings art mine. Thy power is mine. Thy knowledge is mine. Thy soul is mine. Thy soul..." He took the athame, held it by its blade as if he was going to throw it. "IS MINE!"
He threw the blade through the boundaries of the summoning circle, and it pierced the center of the demoness's chest. She howled in agony, the yellow growing brighter; the athame turned black and slowly the chain wrapped itself around it as well. Slowly, she disappeared.
As the last of her faded away, the knife fell, clattering to the floor. He did not touch the chain-encased black blade, leaving it there as if it were still hot from the forge. He summoned Louie instead. "Take that and put it in the desk."
Louie looked at his brother, doing as he commanded. Grim could feel rather than hear the word "Free?"
He grinned at the shade. "Are you kidding?" He passed through Louie and turned instantly into his old self. "You'll kill me." Then he laughed, falling over, his laugh becoming more maniacal as Louie mournfully put the dagger in the desk.
*athame: a blade, usually a dagger, that is used to direct a witch's power. Can be used interchagably with a wand.
His eyes widened when he saw the man walk in. "Grim, hey." Dark hair, dark eyes, very big and broad. Grim would have loved to have his way with him, but the opposite had happened, just this past Christmas. Dysio had already threatened him, but it didn't seem to make a difference. And he did fool them for a while by coming aboard as "War Mace", but as soon as Grim heard the dark chuckle, he knew exactly who the man was.
"Masonry," he spat.
The man paused while pulling a chair from the table. He looked up and continued his motion. "Yeah," he replied.
"You owe me an apology, you son of a bitch."
Masonry leaned forward on the table. "I'm sorry. Look, I need your help."
Grim found himself leaning back, regarding Masonry. "That didn't sound very sincere."
"What else do you want out of me?"
Grim sipped his coffee and smacked his lips contentedly. "What help do you want out of me?"
"I want to know how to get a soul released."
"No, sorry, can't help you."
"That was fast."
"I wasn't sincere." He grinned.
Fire leapt into Masonry's eyes as he got up, slamming his palms on the table. "Fine. I'll find me someone who can help me."
"I don't know anyone who would help a rapist and a murderer."
He turned from Grim, then turned to look back at him. He thought to say something, but shook his head instead and stormed out of the kitchen. He heard the front door slam as Dysio came sleepily into the kitchen, in his full demonic regalia. "Who was that?"
"Masonry," Grim said, tossing the coffee down the drain.
"Why didn't you call me?"
Grim smiled, walked over to his lover and kissed him gently. "I handled him."
Dysio grinned, scooped Grim up in his arms. "Now it's my turn."
He looked out at the area beyond his circle and saw Dysio standing there. His chant did not waver, his mind did not focus on anything other than the chant. He wound it down, and the fire in the cauldron grew hotter, melting the liquid within to a thick goo. He took up the chains.
Now, he could relax his mind and wander to the fact that the protective circle held. What Dysio would be seeing is a large, columned mirror, his own reflection. He could also relax, knowing that the man out there wasn’t Dysio.
He contemplated a couple of minutes of who it could be, then cleared his mind again. He slowly dropped the chains into the goo, concentrating on covering every inch of the chain with it. Once it cooled, he would go through the chain by hand and cover every single inch of it, rubbing it into the cold metal.
It was overkill, he knew. But the consequences if he didn’t actually follow this would be dire on his end; not only would his demoness torture him for eternity, but probably many, many worse things that he couldn’t even dream of. No, the longer he stayed here the better it would be.
He sat down and waited.
Wham! Silos’ sneering voice filled his mind as Idaho slammed the axe down on the Hellion’s shoulder and nearly cleaved the man in half.
Not dead yet?
Then Masonry’s, as he raised his arm for the killing blow seconds before Star tackled him.
You be the mender!
Ariel’s angry, tear-filled eyes, glaring at him as he whirled with the axe, taking down three Hellions at once. Wham, slam, crash! Soon enough, the gang of men were reduced to a pile of bodies in assorted degrees of dismemberment and consciousness. As they disappeared to the Zig’s infirmary, he breathed heavily, now covered in blood not his own, and feeling guilt-ridden.
“Why I fix?” he whispered to himself, trudging his way out of the cave, paraphrasing Star’s words from yesterday. As he exited the cave, he felt a bullet in his arm. It hit bone, making his arm numb and dropping the axe to the stones with a clatter. He ducked into the alcove, leaving the axe there, holding his bleeding useless arm, and seeing a group of Sky Raiders.
“Captain Castillo sends his regards!” yelled one man as he made a downward, cutting motion.
All of the men fired at once, but they all hit above him. He looked up to see why – a huge stone gargoyle was perched fifty feet or so above him. They shot out the support.
He couldn’t move fast enough as the gargoyle tumbled forward, taking some of the ledge with it. Idaho put his arms over his head in an instinctive effort to stave off the falling granite, but it slammed into his head knocking him out instantly, breaking his neck, back, and thrusting his thigh bones through his hips.
As the teleporter took him to the hospital, the leader yelled, “The irony! Masonry buried by masonry!”
“I don’t think it was Masonry,” said one man.
“Looked like him,” offered the engineer, gathering up his things.
“A hero just the same,” snarled Clayton. “Gone. C’mon, boys, let’s find a few others.”
He woke up in the hospital, good as new, as a man slumped in a chair next to him. Idaho raised his head and looked at the man. "Not quite as bad as the Nexus they brought a couple of days ago, but bad enough. You okay, buddy?"
"Yeah, but are you?"
The dark haired man waved his hand. "I'm a doctor, it's what I do. You had more broken bones than a chicken. What happened?"
"Got caught under a stone gargoyle," and Idaho told him what did happen. The doctor nodded, but looked like he was ready to fall asleep.
A nurse came into the room, "Doctor Sixx?"
"I'll be okay in a few. Go on, wheel him out. Don't discharge him yet, though. I still need to talk to him."
"Yes, Doctor." The nurse got a pair of orderlies who manhandled the gurney out into the hallway. "You heard the man," the nurse said kindly. "Rest."
Idaho put his head back on the pillow and sighed, as they wheeled him into the elevator.