Realm Wraith (54 page)

“Your master is strong, but so am I,” he said, opening his eyes once more to gaze up at the smoke filled amalgamation.

“And what of yourself?” From within the smoke filled vapors, a multitude of voices spoke to him. “Fire or water, no matter what lord we serve, we are still slaves.”

“I do not want your servitude. I only want to restore the fragile balance we once had here.”

“I am the only thing protecting you!” Azaznir roared, still caught in Tomordred’s tendrils. “If you turn on me, I’ll wipe all of you from existence!”

To demonstrate his point, he summoned a wave of pure flame with one hand and lobbed it right for the indecisive cloud. As one, they cried out, and scattered in chaotic fear. But it never hit them. A wall of frozen water shoved itself between the fire god and the reapers, shattering when the flames hit it, but saving the reapers from agonizing death. Rayne lowered his hand with a small smirk on his face.

“So do we have a deal?” he asked.

The violent eddies of smoke swirled, turning its forces towards Azaznir.

“You think you can turn on your master?
You cowardly traitors
! I will destroy each and every one of you!” The demon’s roars shattered the smoke, which reformed again, as the reapers assaulted him. Tomordred continued his own battle, keeping the fire god restrained, though his strength was slipping, unable to match the will of a deity.

The combined might of the hell beast and the reapers was not enough, and Azaznir began to drive them back, tearing through the tentacles that tried to restrain him, burning the swarm of black smoked beings with his unholy fire. Rayne understood he was needed to complete their trifecta, or it was all in vain.

A frightening sensation spread through his body now. He felt the immense power rushing back to him, and his own spiritual form began to change, stretching longer and longer as it increased in mass. His fingers spread apart, extending outwards, his hands and arms becoming part of the fingers as they continued to pull away from each other. A thin layer of webbing appeared between each of them as they both transformed into small fins. His mouth opened wide, splitting all the way to his jaw line, down his neck, and out to his shoulders, before it stretched upwards, jutting row after row of long jagged teeth. Soon, Rayne’s entire upper body had transformed into a monstrous snake head that reared up on a lengthening neck. His six other heads grew as well, a thousand times their original size, until he had seven identical serpent heads extending from his body. His tail swelled too, matching the proportions of the rest of his form. He cried out, not in pain, but just from the sheer thrill of what he felt in that singular moment, as he regained his rightful place within the universe.

Fully transfigured now, Nen’kai stretched many leagues in length, covered in hard indigo scales, with seven gnashing, gaping maws, fourteen great rifts that burned with purple fire, and fins growing from his body. Each head screamed with the fury of a forgotten god restored, and he turned the full force of that wrath upon Azaznir. Each mouth seized him, each coil constrained the now disadvantaged lord of flames, as he could not hold back the combined power of both the angered Abyss Lord, and the army that now turned on him. Ice and water poured in an eternal whirling tempest, quenching the flames of Azaznir’s sanctum, and the ice spread up his flaming form as he screamed in panic, understanding fear for the first time in his existence. His bones shattered in Nen’kai’s coils, his flames faded into dying light. Within the center of his soul more ice began to spread, carved with strange symbols not of any mortal tongue, one name among seven his enemy now remembered, entrapping bones and weakened fire within a prism. As the fire extinguished, the last thing Azaznir saw was the seven leering draconic faces of an inhuman being, devoid of mercy as it laughed at his fate.

“It seems this realm no longer has a master,” Nen’kai cackled, the swirling waters flowing around him becoming a boiling sea, turning all lava to solid rock that trapped the souls within. “I guess I’ll have to look after it in his absence.”

The cloud of reapers gathered around him, still speaking in multitudes.

“We have done as you asked,” they whispered.

The great serpent god turned to them, each of his heads weaving in the chilling air. “Then do as you please. I no longer have use for you.”

The black swarm ascended into the heavens as one, disappearing into the darkness, and the black portal closed in on itself, leaving a glowing purple tear in space that faded into nothing.

One single head bent down to a floating block of ice within the turbulent sea that stood unaffected by its boiling heat.

“Get up,” it spoke to the fallen black form still stretched out on the ice.

The light in Darrigan’s eyes brightened, as the demon god’s power restored his spirit. His form changed, black smoke and dust becoming white mist and frost. He looked up, bewilderment on his normally sneering face.

“You really freed them,” he said. “But why? They’ve taken advantage of you. Creatures like them do not show loyalty just because somebody granted them a kindness.”

“I don’t see it that way.” Nen’kai’s overbearing voice filled this place, resounding with equal volume through each of his heads. “I agreed to protect them as long as they serve no god. But at the same time they know if anything were to happen to me, they would lose that protection. In the end, I think that will motivate their actions to my benefit, even if they do not consciously believe that they serve me.”

“So they traded one fear for another. You really are a tricky one.”

“Are you comparing me to my brother? I’m not
that
awful.
” The reptilian head grinned, as much as the head of a snake could be imagined to grin. “Water can be merciless; it can bring great destructive force. It can tear you apart, or freeze you, or boil you alive. But water also erodes. It bides its time, seeping into cracks, trickling over dirt, and in the end it leaves a great canyon. That is something Azaznir could never fathom.”

“It really is you,” the reaper gasped. “You really are Nen’kai. Your presence—it’s almost enough to make one deaf.”

Nen’kai did not answer, but moved his great body over to where Azaznir stood, frozen in a massive block of ice.

“Come, Darrigan,” he said. “There is something we must do.”

* * *

Within the swirling eternal maelstrom of Nen’kai’s realm, a great form tore apart the never-still clouds as it descended towards the sea, though they formed back together again. A mighty ice block, containing the charred bones of an Abyss Lord whose fire had been extinguished, fell among the lost souls churning beneath the waves. Darrigan appeared as a white mist that spread across the ocean and collected itself as vapor, taking on solid form. He stared at the ice block, as if trying to comprehend the strange symbols carved into the very center.

“I wouldn’t read that if I were you,” a voice boomed from the heavens, as countless serpent heads burst through the clouds and surrounded the frozen figure. “The only way to keep him bound was to use his true name. That is how he kept me chained when he imprisoned me. You may not be mortal, but it could still be dangerous to try and comprehend such a name.”

“So, he’s just stuck there, then?”

One face drew close to the icy block of bones. “As long as that name surrounds his very core, he cannot call forth his fire, and cannot melt my ice. He will stay trapped here, until someone or something takes pity on him, and tries to set him free.”

“Who would pity him?”

“Exactly.”

The long, indigo coil clutching the ice unwrapped itself, and Azaznir plunged into the water, drawn beneath the waves.

“My ocean has no bottom,” the serpent hissed. “He will continue to sink for eternity in a frozen hell. The deeper he falls, the harder it’ll be for him to get back out, even if he does escape. He is restrained to one place right now, so he cannot pull himself between worlds. But, really, this is my realm. Nobody here would try to save him.”

“He could have done the same thing to you,” Darrigan noted. “It’s not so easy to escape being buried in the magma of his realm. Instead, he trapped you on the material plane.”

“I think he knew better. If he kept me within the Abyss, my servant would stop at nothing to free me. That’s how loyal Tomordred is. Azaznir’s underlings only serve him out of fear. I tried to tell him, but—” Now Nen’kai began to laugh again, a twisted, inhuman laugh that mingled with the howling winds and crashing waves. It was a strange sensation, being here, finally understanding what he was. He embraced those feelings now, yet deep down he still felt the memories, the sentiments of his former human life, not so easily forgotten.

The top of the iceberg containing Azaznir’s soul dipped below the surface of the water, and it vanished into the darkness of the deep. Nen’kai watched it disappear, not truly pleased at getting his revenge, but he knew it would be a very long time before the fire god’s retribution became a concern. He was finally free, he was finally home. And yet, he didn’t feel content to idle away the years haunting his world, as the other demon gods did.

You speak as if my existence is boring,
a mocking, female voice echoed through his heads. Kaledris, he knew instantly, because who else would it be?

Maybe not for you,
he thought back, focusing on her presence.
But I am not content to sit still.

Give yourself some time. I’m sure you’ll settle down eventually, and find more meaning in ruling your domain as you should, rather than running off and getting in trouble elsewhere again.

It is as you said. As chaotic beings, we are always changing. Nothing ever stays the same.

Her laugh echoed.
It is good to have you back, my brother. Though I think I’m the only one among us that actually missed you.

Her presence pulled away from him again, but now he understood the strange goddess, and the thoughts she tried to show him of the past he could not grasp until now. It did not really matter that she was the only one of his kind who noticed or cared about his absence, but the fact that she did still meant something.

He drew himself and Darrigan from the storm, and took them to the black lake surrounded by an endless field of ice. Here Tomordred waited for him, his vast eyes quaking with emotion

“My lord, you’ve finally come back,” he said.

The great serpent slipped into the dark waters of the lake, his massive form scattering the aqua light shining from below. His many heads stayed raised above the water’s surface, looking down upon his loyal follower.

“That’s right, I am back. And thanks to you, I’ve finally woken up.”

“But I did nothing. I could not even save you when the reapers attacked you so long ago.”

“No, you didn’t. But if it weren’t for those faint memories of you, I might not have realized who I was in time. And now you came to my aid when I needed you. You have proven your loyalty.”

“Thank you, my lord.” Tomordred’s voice filled with a strange joy.

Nen’kai looked around at the frozen wasteland of his domain, remembering. He glanced down at Darrigan, and at Tomordred’s still form.

He spoke after a little while, in his servant’s direction. “There is somebody I’d like to visit, back on Earth. Perhaps you’d like to come with me.”

“But, my lord, my soul is bound to this world. I cannot leave it; I’ve tried!” Tomordred protested.

Nen’kai leveled his gaze at him, a playful look of anger on his faces. “And I’m asking you to come with me. Do you doubt your god?”

“No. Forgive me.”

The serpent god reached out toward him with unseen hands, pulling them both away.

“Well, boss, I’ll just wait for you here then,” Darrigan said, waving from the shoreline, ever-present leer on his face.

* * *

A dark and chilly winter’s night settled over the sleeping city. The silent streets of Langfirth were buried beneath a mountain of snow that burst from the skies, driving away all sensible creatures to seek warmer refuge. The evenly spaced street lamps broke up the darkness, along with the lights of the buildings and the occasional lit window where shadowed forms moved about their nightly routine, oblivious to the outside world.

Only one man stood out on the street, bound to a dark colored jacket and hat, despite not needing such protection against the cold. Blonde hair strayed from beneath the hat’s brim, which shielded eyes of an intense purple color, inhuman eyes shattering any false notion that this was an ordinary person.

“It seems a lot of time has passed while I was gone,” he whispered, gazing up at the sky, though the stars and moon were hidden from him by dark clouds. “It’s already winter again. But that suits me just fine. Wouldn’t you agree?”

He looked down at his companion: a large black dog, almost formless, simply a mass of fur that left no recognizable features save for two dark eyes hinted with purple light that stared upwards at the man. Its lips pulled back around sharp canines in a very unnatural sort of smile. An equally unsettling and chilled smile danced across the man’s face as well, but here in the dark empty streets, there were none that could see it.

The man walked forward, but the dog hesitated, holding back. The man turned.