Chapter XLIV: The Ninth (Cont. II)
Maximus nodded slowly, “It is your purpose.”
“What?” Adelia stared at Maximus, “This is a trick isn’t it?”
“I AM NO TRICK!” The energy rolled from Maximus’ fingertips and shattered the closing darkness, pushing it back once more. After a moment, Maximus buckled and dropped to one knee, steadying himself as he panted with weakness. “I am dying now…..I cannot stay for much longer. You must listen and understand….you must believe in me….or else all is lost.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Listen…please…”
Adelia drew near and stared into the face of Maximus the Wise, the frail and broken face of a man who had once had far more power than he did now. He was dying, she could tell….and it was no trick. “Speak….I will listen.”
Maximus rose slowly to his feet, steadying himself on his staff. “Your purpose is not to battle Baen and slay him, for that is impossible. Baen is one of the Watchers and while we have banished him from Cion Sky and forbid him to hold sway over the world like the remaining twelve do, he cannot be destroyed. There must be a Thirteenth Watcher. A keeper and protector of hate and evil. We knew early on that we could not allow him to remain in Cion Sky, but we cannot defy God’s word, and he decreed that there must be Thirteen. Thus we tried to cast him somewhere where he could do little harm and thus darkness would lay dormant. But Baen found his way out and he tricked us. He found his way into Maximure and gained enough power and knowledge to destroy reality, existence, and even God. This is a battle that does not just deal with our own worlds, but every world. For God is infallible, not by virtue, but by action. We must keep him so, for if he is ever proven to not be, than all belief will change and with it, all the world. Baen knows this now, and thus he seeks to bring about the end by either erasing our world by defying our word or forcing us to kill him and thus proving God wrong.”
“My God…..then how can we win?”
Suddenly a tentacle burst into the light and wrapped around Maximus’ waist, pulling him off his feet and dropping him to the ground. Adelia raced forward, “MAXIMUS!”
The Watcher spiralled free, shattering the tendril with a bolt of light. “My time is gone! I can’t stay! I have to go!” Tendrils surged all around Maximus as he struggled to battle them off, “You can do it, Adelia! All rests on you! Remember my words…the answer lies within! Save your friends…your world….accept what you must do….no matter how horrible….no matter how much you hate it….remember that there is a difference in perception….it is not a curse….but a privilege!” And with that, the Watcher burst from the shadow with a bolt of light, his last words hanging in the air.
Hold on….do not let the darkness take you before all is in order! Look and you shall see!
Adelia turned in the shrinking pool of light, trying to decide what it was that Maximus meant. Tendrils surged out in every direction and wrapped around her, dragging her towards the darkness. There was a way out of the shadow….a hole that she couldn’t see…..she just had to believe…she had to understand. But what? What was her purpose? A tendril dragged her into the darkness, the screaming faces bearing down on her as she screamed. She couldn’t fight them all……she was losing fast.
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Vigile continued to spiral around Baen as the two still could not land a hit. Baen lunged in again as Vigile flipped over him, catching Baen’s hair and tearing a lock of it away. The demon turned and stared at his former general. “You’re good, Xul’Nue. A very nimble devil, but I don’t ever tire, for hate never sleeps. Meanwhile, you are nothing but a mortal, and thus you will eventually become exhausted and then I shall have my fun with you.”
The Xul’Nue lunged forward, dodging Baen’s blade and pushing him back again and again, “You won’t have the pleasure of living that long, dark one!” The Watcher stumbled back as Vigile renewed his fighting efforts, batting Baen’s staff away and sending it over the edge and into the lava where it crackled and exploded in a great bolt of blue that hurled the two to the ground.
“MY STAFF!”
“Worry more about your own hide,” Vigile said with anger, lunging once more.
West helped hoist Thyrus to his feet, watching the Xul’Nue continue his struggle. The wizard stared up with a slightly cross-eyed expression, “What happened?”
The Preston glanced over at the Xul’Nue, “One of our worst enemies became our best friend.”
Thyrus followed the gaze and snickered, “Told ya good wins out in the end.”
“Not just yet, old man,” West said, pointing to Adelia and Blackheart. “Any luck yet, Blackheart?”
Blackheart stared down at the cold frame of Adelia; the darkness had begun to settle around her. “Nothing,” he said with a sigh of weariness. The leader of the group turned to the others, “But I’m not giving up on her just yet.” He turned back to stare into the wide and dark eyes of Adelia, but not the friendly ones, but the familiar ones that had choked him. With a great swing of strength, Blackheart was hurled across the platform, his body catching several large rocks before he stopped in a slight crater.
The others’ eyes turned back to Adelia, as she rose, her one hand missing. Her eyes swirled with darkness as she marched towards Blackheart with the conviction of a murderer. West sighed, “Looks like we’re going to have to kill her, then.” He drew his blade and marched towards Adelia. The Seph waved her arm in the direction of West and hurled him backwards, his body sailing over the edge. His body crashed against the jagged side of the craggy lands as he looked up to see Thyrus and Samden, each holding one foot. “Quite obliged, friends.”
Donovan stared in awe as two rather frail men hoisted one of the largest men he had ever seen back over the edge. He wandered slowly over to the group, “How the hell did you do that?”