The Keys to Ascension Read online

  He sliced through the edge of it, brownish-red blood sprayed out. He prepared to strike the next monster, but tentacles came for him. He dodged around in his saddle while flashing his sword defensively, sometimes cutting through a tentacle, other times forcing one into a temporary retreat. Lizeto aimed his horse to ride between the other knights attacking from the other direction.

  A huge, veiny leg kicked a horse right in front of him. It whinnied as it and its rider tumbled through the sky. Lizeto kept riding under the kicking leg before it set itself back down.

  The monsters crouched, then leapt away. A few fallen Citians returned to their feet and struggled back to the group. The knights returned to their positions on the flanks. Monster blood lay splattered around them. We’re really hurting them.

  Another monster screamed, but this came from the sky. It was just as large as the others and soared right below the scattered clouds, its veiny webbed wings outstretched from its arms. Tentacles hung from its body as it flew over the walls and right toward one of the tall black towers in the center of the fortress.

  Tentalces swarmed toward it and yanked out several men, dropping all but one—a large man in all black, clinging to a black cane.

  “Father! Father, no!”

  The monster circled the fortress with its victim, laughing a deep inhuman laugh.

  Maybe it’ll just capture Father.

  It dropped the count, who spun toward the ground and splattered off the edge of the outer wall.

  “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Nooooooooooo!”

  Lizeto glanced around at the knights around him. They showed grim expressions.

  “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Whyyyyyyyyyyyy!?”

  The three nearby monsters stepped toward the Citians.

  From the center of Lizeto’s mind, a light spread outward, illuminating a new truth. He whispered, “I’m the heir. I’m the heir.” He spoke aloud, “I’m the count. I’m Count Lizeto Pinsta.”

  He rode toward the Citians. “Back to the fortress! Back to the fortress!” He spun around and trotted toward the back gate. The Citians and knights followed, some carrying injured comrades. Lizeto feared that the monsters would stop him, but they just watched. Why not stop us? They could…they could kill us all.

  The gate opened before Lizeto got there. He rode in. A messenger on horseback already awaited him there.

  “My Lord Count, what are your orders?”

  “Tell the commander to pull all military and my relations out through this gate in an orderly fashion. We will fight our way to the capital. Leave the civilians.”

  Stoically, the messenger said, “Yes sir,” Then sped off toward the fortress’s center.

  I know he’s thinking, ‘father like son’, but I care about the common folk. Maybe I’ve been around the Arrassio boys too much, but I consider them my duty not my tools. But…I know enough about these monsters. They want nobles and military. They want them dead so they can rule. Father knew they’d kill him. He knew! I’ve also learned something else…

  Kericles ran up to him. “These things bleed! Ah ha ha haaaaa! We need to go out and take one of the giants down!”

  “I’m evacuating all my military and retreating toward the capital.”

  “Retreat!?” Kericles flung his arms to the sides. “I’m—”

  “Quiet!” Lizeto yelled. He locked eyes with his best friends’ cousin. “There won’t be retreat without battle. Don’t worry. We’re gonna be covered in these monsters’ blood.”

  #

  Kericles and his remaining men stood outside the walls as the centerpiece of Lizeto’s retreat force. Men still battled on the walls, but they would all leave soon. The farthest away would come first, then all they passed by would sprint to here. Bells rang and purple flags flew up the towers’ staffs.

  Kericles stepped forward. The others were a second behind him. More black-armored men sallied behind him. They formed a block. Warriors, including the Citians, on the outside, and archers and the few nobles still alive on the inside. Knights formed four blocks away from the corners. One of the blocks included the new leader of this force—Count Lizeto.

  Kericles smiled. “I hope his promotion lasts more than a day. I look forward to embarrassing him more, new title and all.”

  Of course, Kericles was king…but here he wasn’t. Here he was just a Citian warrior. Brave and skillful. Feared. Feared by all men across the continents. This was who he truly was. Running a kingdom was woman’s work. He wondered if he’d ever see his wife again. He missed her, but when he was with her, he missed the rush of war more.

  The monsters lined up on two sides of the marching block, leaving their route open.

  Why not encircle us?

  The monsters cautiously approached, just like they did the walls.

  Many of them bled from arrows, that sometime still stuck out their bodies. Some tentacles lay limp, others hung with their ends cut off.

  Smirking, Kericles thought, ‘They’re not invincible.’

  The monsters moved closer in on them. They moaned and roared at each other. Finally, a few blocked the path. More blocked the way back to the castle. They didn’t enter the castle and pillage like a normal victorious army. Lizeto was right, they don’t care about harming peasants.

  Standing in front of this small army, Kericles filled with energy as he knew he’d be in the thick of the craziest fight anyone had ever fought in. It could have meant his death, but it’d also mean glory. Such a small group taking on so many monsters outside of fortifications...“Tremendous!”

  “Rwhaaaaaaaaaaa!”

  His fellow Citians joined in. “Rwhaaaaaaaaaa!”

  The Hyzantrian allies responded. “The Divinity. The Sovereign. The Authority.”

  Here it is, time for the beasts from the netherworld to strike. And for us to make them bleed and even fall! Energy rushed through Kericles like his body would burst open. He gripped his hammers, ready for what was to come.

  The enemy still didn’t attack. What clever trick do they plan?

  One yelled, then another and another until all of them screamed for battle, then charged with their legs and tentacles.

  “Duuuuck!” an officer yelled.

  “Duck!”

  The warriors on the edge of the block knelt down.

  The archers loosed, sending arrows blasting into the enemy at fairy close range, some cut through tentacles, other into bodies and even a head, bringing a beast down.

  All the men cheered at its fall as they chopped at the swarm of incoming tentacles. Tentacles yanked men about and threw them to their deaths, sometimes bringing soldiers to huge mouths.

  Some monsters stayed back, letting their tentacles do the work, others ran right toward the block. One barreled toward Kericles. A row of Hyzantrians with spears threw them shortly before the impact. The beast roared, slowing down, then Kericles charged.

  He smashed the beast’s legs again and again. It turned and ran before falling to the ground breathing heavily. Others met the same fate around them, some escaping behind the tentacle fighters.

  Only six or seven came all the way in. Ha. A full charge would have us dead!

  The ones fighting with just their tentacles backed off as well, some examining their damaged appendages.

  In the chaos of the attack, Kericles didn’t pay attention to the knights riding around, chopping at tentacles. They returned to their positions. Kericles stared at Lizeto with open eyes, whispering, “He knew we could live. He wasn’t prepared to die in this foolish sally; he knew!”

  Kericles turned back toward the monsters that stood in their path. They took a few large steps back, giving the humans more room to retreat. He looked into their big red eyes. Behind the gross distortions, he saw something he’d seen again and again in his enemies: fear.

  Kericles yelled, “They show fear like inexperienced warriors! Like men! Like any man not properly prepared for battle! They have the strength, but not the will! Rwhaaaaaa!”

  The Citians and even the
Hyzantrians joined in. “Rwhaaaaaaaa!”

  The Hyzantrians followed the battle-yell with their chant. “The Divinity. The Sovereign. The Authority.”

  The monsters gave way, not attacking again. Kericles was on his way to the capital, excited about playing his role in the ultimate battle against forces never heard of. He smirked. “No greater glory than this.”

  Ch. 70

  Theto stared ahead into the darkness of his hole of a cell. “Yep? Yepiera? Baby? Thranix?” He waited in silence for his high beings to speak. Their power flowed through him, but they made no sound. Did they remove my lice? He didn’t need to talk to his high beings to fight. Whoever these fools are, they’re gonna pay.

  Steps sounding off rock filtered into his little room. He touched the walls, feeling the misshaped rock until his hands turned a corner and felt wood. He stood facing the wood, hoping for a chance to blast his way through someone.

  The door opened. The rush of Thranix’s power pushed toward his hand that would soon unleash it. Before him stood a slim, attractive figure. The young woman wore a veil over her mouth and had medium length hair. Theto dropped the magic as he realized who stood before him. Her.

  He wanted to fall into those green eyes and dream immersed in their water. He wanted to hug her, kiss her, hold her forever. He wanted to bash her brains in…“You set us up?” he whisper-growled.

  She entered the cell holding a candle. Someone shut the door behind her. She looked at him, unafraid of his accusation. “Theto, I need you to trust me. They will take you soon, but it’s alright. Do not fight them.”

  “Take me? Where? What do you mean it’s alright? I’ve been kidnapped by ultimate evil. I’ve known someone wanted me for a while now…” Perlio. “And not for any good. You transformed to save me in the east. You’re one of them. Have you been playing me this whole time? Perlio said I was needed. For what sick ritual do you want me? I’ll resist to the death! I will n–”

  The most perfectly cute lips in the world pressed against his own. He braced against her weight, then grabbed the back of her head, caressing it gently yet firmly.

  He lost himself in her. All his life he wondered what this feeling called romantic love felt like. Now he knew. It felt good.

  She pulled away from the kiss, leaving him yearning for more. Her wonderful eyes locked with his. “Trust me.” She whispered. Then, she pulled her facial mask back up around her face, and snapped around before leaving Theto stunned in his cage.

  #

  Parto failed the inquisition. He could have been one of the best, but he let his rat of a brother distract him. Somehow she must have been compromised. I hope she’s alright. I’ll kill whoever made her not so. He clenched a fist.

  His thoughts ran, filled with him assassinating maleefa after maleefa. But none of that would happen while he remained trapped in this cave cell.

  They could have at least given me a little light. The darkness could be his friend. It had been many times when he snuck in unseen armed to the teeth. But now, his enemies knew right where he was, and the only weapons he had were flesh, muscle, and bone.

  Someone walked toward his cell.

  He prepared to launch at whoever it was, maybe strangle them before they could scream, or a hard kick or punch to the skull, knocking them out in seconds…

  The door opened, holding a flickering candle stood the only person he couldn’t hurt…Her.

  She entered the cell and someone shut the door behind her.

  “Why do you wear that over your face?” he asked.

  She spoke playfully. “It makes me look more mysterious. It’s kind of a thing for women here.”

  “What’s your plan? How did you insert yourself into their network?”

  She put a hand on his cheek. His cheek warmed and he closed his eyes, taking it in.

  I love her.

  She spoke so sweetly. “All will be explained soon, Parto. All. We will have victory today. I promise.”

  She leaned forward, then kissed him on the forehead. Looking him in the eyes, she said, “Don’t resist them.”

  She left.

  Parto held his hand on his head where she kissed, wishing he could capture the love she left there.

  He didn’t have long to ponder the wonder of love before the door opened again. Five guards in leather with cudgels on their belts, and five robed maleefa, stood outside.

  A guard motioned Parto out with his hand. Parto obeyed. They put chains on his hands and ankles. He shuffled forward with them. Torches lit the distorted cave walls as they walked in silence.

  Parto thought of knocking out two of the wizards with hard blows to the head, then using his wrist shackles to choke another, but the guards would have his skull. And, he had to trust her.

  Groups chanted in song somewhere ahead of them. The infidelic noise bounced off the walls and grew as they moved forward. Eventually, they led Parto to the source of the chants—a cavernous room with many torches and two levels. The chants came from above where many robed figures moved about. Ahead, something glowed on the floor.

  Inlayed in the rock, estra formed a four-pointed star, and on it three people lay chained to metal bars. There was a spot for one more person.

  In the glow Parto saw himself in two of the people, and the other was her…

  “What?”

  Finio, Theto, and her lay chained to the glowing star. The glow of the estra seemed to surround them and veiled their bodies in a green radiance. His jailors pushed Parto to the open spot between her and Finio. Theto lay between her and Finio on the other side.

  Theto growled, “I suppose you told him not to fight either.”

  “Please,” she said, “trust me, this is necessary.”

  Parto lay and they chained him. As he settled on the rock and estra, all sense of the many maleefa around him disappeared.

  “Trust you?” Theto said, “So far that has got me chained as the sacrifice in some sort of screwed up ritual on a site that has somehow cut me off from my high beings. You’ve chained my body and my magic. That is what you’ve done. Are you the love of my life or the ultimate witch?”

  “Hey!” Parto said, “she’s the love of my life, not yours.”

  “Ha! Brother, no girl would choose you over me, but that’s beside the point. Can’t you see we’ve been played?”

  “What?” Parto whispered. Pain expanded in his head. He looked over at her. Her veil removed, she smiled, it was beautiful, but it wasn’t the sweet smile Parto fell in love with; it was a smile of exhilaration.

  She spoke. “Do not worry. There is nothing you can do now. None of us can resist. Just wait for it to happen. We will lose our souls for the ultimate ascendency! We are the keys to permanence. We were born for that purpose. While we will be dead for all time, high beings will finally walk on our planet forever! Unrestrained by the finite amount of estra in our mines!”

  The chanting grew louder.

  Finio jerked around. “Ahhhh. Our father raised us to be good, not to bring monsters on Earth. We were born to defeat people like you.”

  Parto’s gut flashed an urged to defend her from Finio’s words, but his throbbing mind countered it. He knew…she was not the lovely girl he thought she was, she was a maleefa. The worst kind of maleefa, and she fooled him like he was nothing but a dull child.

  She giggled. “Our father never saw the light. He even betrayed us. But fortunately the one who did give birth to us prepared the ritual during our conception, and she did so marvelously. Now that we’re the proper age, the world can celebrate its true sovereigns!”

  All three brothers lay silent for a moment, taking it in. The chanting grew louder and louder as the glowing that came from below seemed to expand, becoming brighter and making the rest of the cave more difficult to see. The chanters came near the ledge and looked down on them. Mostly men, and a few women, in different colored robes sung their blasphemous words as Parto’s mind screamed in pain at the thought of betrayal from his only love.


  Theto broke the silence of those being sacrificed. “I kissed my sister!?”

  Parto jerked his head forward. “You kissed her!?”

  “Yeah, our sister! What a manipulative…”

  “Oh, what embarrassment, and our mother is a maleefa!?” Parto yelled. He then muttered, “We are the keys of permanence…we…are.”

  The estra’s glow rose even higher, clouding the room around them. The chanting grew and quickened. Pain rose through Parto and quickly became unbearable. From the grunts and moans of those around them, he could tell he was not alone. He never felt pain like this before. It didn’t seem to have a source on or within his body, almost like the ripping within came from somewhere deeper.

  A woman from above screamed, “Stop! Stooooop!”

  The chanting silenced. The pain halted, although Parto still didn’t feel quite right. The glow lowered and Parto could again see the maleefa one the ledge above.

  An older wizard with white hair poking out his hood came to her. “What’s wrong? We’ve prepared the room meticulously.”

  The veiled woman stared down at the triplets with pain and sorrow pouring from her eyes. She shook her head and ripped off her mask. Her face contorted like she might cry. “I can’t do it. I can’t let you kill my children.”

  The triplets muttered, “Mooooom?”

  Their sister jerked in her chains, angrily yelling, “Mom!”

  The older wizard put a hand on their mother’s shoulder. “This was your plan for them before birth. Don’t go soft on me now.”

  She nodded, sniffling. “I know, but seeing them all grown up…I can’t, just can’t. Not their souls!”

  The older maleefa removed his hand from her shoulder. “If you try to stop us, we’ll kill you.”

  Their mother bowed her head. “I’m sorry.”