AEONS: THE GODS ARE DAMNED

Chapter 36

|Mid-day|
Chase woke up to the sound of sea gulls; he was confused at first as he stood up; he looked around him and felt that he was still at No-Man’s land… he could feel the weak magic pulsing under the sands, within the ley lines; as he walked, he saw another body washed ashore. He quickly ran to the body and turned it over, only to see that it was the captain, clinging to the flintlock like it was his lifeline.
*
Being dragged and gagged isn’t something that Hycis could say that she enjoyed that much, but she wasn’t given much of a choice.
She was dropped on the stony floor without any caution; when the sack was removed, she found out that she was back in the Midlands, Erevale to be precise.
“I am glad you could join me here Hycis” the voice came from the dark shadows with the tower; out of the shadows, Kelpas materialized with a smile.
“I am sure I would be if the roles were reversed, although I would have spared you the indignation of gagging you and throwing you around like a rag doll”.
“I apologize for the behavior of my subjects…”
“Why am I here?” she interrupted.
Kelpas walked up to her, “I need to draw Chase out of hiding and the only way seems to be…you”.
“You are stupid if you think he will come for me”.
“Am I? You underestimate the bond the two of you share, but… for your sake I hope I am not overestimating it”, he concluded with an evil smile; with a snap of his fingers, the guards stepped forward.
“Place her under strict supervision”, they saluted and took her away.
Dark chuckles rang through the room as Hycis was led out; Kelpas looked around and saw Daemeon not too far off, standing beside a pillar.
“I like the plan, kidnap the girl, the hero comes in for the bait, playing hero as all heroes do…classic”
“you shouldn’t underestimate me, Daemeon, I am smarter than you give credit”.
“Well, you certainly are”, he gave another round of chuckles before dissolving into thin air.
*
Chase rested against a tree after exhausting himself; he had expended a lot of energy in saving the Captain’s life.
As he gave a sigh, the captain stirred and opened his eyes.
“I am glad you are alive, Capt’n...”, Chase said with a weak smile.
Greybeard sat up confused.
Chase pointed to the flintlock in the sand, “...You had that with you when I found you”
“Where be th' rest of me crew?”
“I have no idea", was Chase's solemn reply.
“And your partner?” Chase only shook his head in response.
Chase stood on his feet and helped the captain up, “We need to get to the Midlands, I did a location spell before healing you; it seems that Kelpas took them prisoner but I can’t seem to sense Hycis”.
“Th' Aeden?” Greybeard asked in horror, Chase nodded and started walking, “If this be true, then 'tis suicide”, Greybeard said trying to place the gun on his waist and walking at the same time.
“Not when you have an army” he stopped and lifted his hands in front of him; his eyes glowed, releasing a bright blue light and the wind caught up with ferocity.
*
“…You don’t seem to understand”, Eldrin shouted in anger.
But the King of Entrydal would not have it, “The stone has been with us for centuries, if Kelpas wants, he would have to come here and get it”
“Erevale is at least ten times your might, Kelpas brought it down rather easily; imagine what will happen to you all”, Aelene exclaimed.
“My decision is final”, as those words left his lips the palace was hit with a seismic shock so powerful that everyone was forced to their knees.
One of the soldiers told the King in fear, “The earthquakes are getting worse, my King, we need to evacuate immediately”
“I doubt you will be able to get anywhere” Eldrin remarked.
“Why?” the king asked worriedly.
“I can sense the plague, and it is close”
“If it is then we can get it” one of the elders spoke out.
“Not when the next attack will bring down the sanctum...”, Eldrin replied, “...we need to evacuate or get the god stone out of the king…” a huge explosion shock the palace breaking off his words.
*
The next thing Eldrin knew was that he was laying down on the stony ground far from the castle.
He stood and stared in horror as the sanctum was pulled apart by a tornado and constant earthquake in the distance.
“Aelene! Aelene!! Aelene!!!” his shouts were answered when Aelene’s hand shoots out of a pile of sand. Eldrin rushed to her side and pulled her out. A thunderclap shook the environment and a pillar of fire came from the sky, and in the stead of the sanctum stood another fortress.
“Wha…what happened?” she asked confused
“I have no idea” he answered her and they both paused…
“Oh no!” they both exclaimed as they remembered the god stone.
********
“My lord” Chruma greeted with a smile as he gesticulated; he stretched his hand revealing the last god stone.
Kelpas took it with joy and gave a broad smile; “At last, I shall rise into my full glory, I shall tower over the lands and expand my reign towards the realms beyond…”
“That is if you live to see it” Hycis interrupted him.
Kelpas chuckled, “You overestimate the Aeon...” with a twitch of his finger, she lost consciousness, “...Join Grimuth and Briatha the delrach commander, bring me the last stone”, Chruma nodded and left.
Kelpas laughed to himself, “Prepare, for tomorrow I shall visit the gods” 
*******
“…with the sanctums fallen, Kelpas only needs the Aeon to become all powerful, how can we stop him”, Xetrus said as they all sat in the throne room in silence;
With all the sanctums down and out, the brotherhood hid in an ancient fortress in the mountains; there they held a meeting about how Kelpas would be stopped, if he could be stopped.
Their discussion was still ongoing when a ball of fire appeared and Eldrin emerge with Aelene standing beside him.
“We need more than magic to defeat Kelpas, my friends”, Eldrin spoke and they all went quiet; he and Aelene walked up to their seats and joined the ranks.
“What do you have in mind, Brother?” Aranel Veldroth- a western king – asked.
“The young aeon gave the Kingdom of Erevale technologies beyond our imagination; with that and our combined might we have a chance to end this once and for all”, Eldrin explained himself.
“True”, Aranor said, “All we need is the kings to come together and join us”.
“We can send messages to all the kings in all the lands”, Corym suggested.
“Get that done” Aranor commanded facing Haemir. Haemir nodded and left the fortress.
“We need to keep the last god stone from is reach as well, this is the only way we can assure our own realm’s survival”, Dior Ongluth – the King of Rivleam said.
“How?” Cirdan asked.
Dior spoke again, “We can…”, but a blast of fire collided with the fortress disrupting his words.
“Oh no! It’s Grimuth”, one of the sisters shrieked in horror.
In truth, hovering over the fortress was Grimuth and hundreds of screechers, Chruma and Briatha were among the troops as well.
“Charge!” Chruma shouted and everything came down in flames, blood and death.
***
Fire cackled and stones were crushed as Haemir walked through the ruins of the fortress; Grimuth was the dark god most prized weapon, he proved his mettle by successfully bringing down the every fortress he attacked.
And he had even gotten a god stone all by himself before but now, he had led an army to take the last one.
As Haemir walked on in anger, the surviving brothers and sisters regrouped and tended to the injured ones.
“With this defeat we cannot attack Kelpas now; we are already weakened and tired” Haemir told Aranor.
“The eclipse is not yet here” Corym replied.
“But it will be in a few hours, and that is not enough time to regroup” Haemir retorted.
Flaps of wings were heard and Ralnor landed amongst the ruins…
“What happened here?” he asked in disbelief.
“Grimuth led an army of screechers and delrachs here; they took the last god stone”, Eldrin replied him as he helped Aelene to her feet.
“You mean Kelpas now has all the god stones?” Ralnor asked, clearly pissed off.
“Yes”, Eldrin responded.
Ralnor ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
“We need to attack now”, Ralnor said hastily.
“The kings already sent their response”, Haemir interjected.
“What did they say?” Corym asked.
“They have agreed to join in this conquest; they are all marching for Erevale as we speak”, Haemir replied.
“Then we better hurry, the eclipse is only hours away”, Aelene said.
“Do we know where Chase is?” Aranor asked
“He is at No-man’s land, he is safe there” Eldrin answered.
“Good, now we can focus on destroying that bastard”, Ralnor said.
They all agreed.
***
No sun could be seen around the fortress of doom; screechers and wyverns paraded the clouds and darkness moved through the land of Erevale just as Aelene saw; all the inhabitants had moved to neighboring kingdoms for safety.
Kelpas stood in the center of the fortress, in front of him was an altar, designed with numerous runic symbols, all of which glowed as Kelpas placed the god stones on the altar.
“All I need now is the aeon, in order to complete this...", Kelpas said, “...any luck finding the Aeon yet?” he asked. Chruma answered meekly, "No, not yet my lord, but Briatha is on it”
“If she fails to bring him here before the eclipse tomorrow, she will be executed”
***
Runic symbols appeared on the ground, they glowed and increased into brightness until the light became blinding; standing in the middle of the magic circle stood Chase, he stood with a sword in his right hand and a pistol in the other.
A small dark cloud came from the sky and landed meters away from him; the cloud transformed into Briatha as it touched the ground. She was cloaked that Chase couldn’t see her face.
“I have been tracking you down Aeon”
“You were given a very dangerous job” Chase said.
She smiled, “I captured your lover and delivered her to lord Kelpas, and I will do the same to you”, she tried to hex him but his hand was faster, as he pulled the trigger of the pistol and shot her in the forehead. Blood and Grey matter spilt into the air.
“You shouldn’t have tried”, he said before walking towards the fortress of doom.
Within the fortress, Kelpas heard the shot as it rang through the grounds;
“Find out what made that sound”, he ordered the screechers and they took off in obedience.
*
Chase was not just a skilled fighter, he was an aeon, not just any aeon, but one trained in martial arts and swordsmanship by a drengrin and trained in spells by another… he is the fruit of their labor and the heir to the universe’s most powerful creature… he is the last aeon…
He proved this as he easily slashed his way through Kelpas’ defense. Within the hour, he made it to the center of the fortress. ‘Kaboom’, the door was blasted off its hinges as Chase destroyed it with a single wave of magic.
He stepped into the room and quickly disabled the screechers and wolves in the room, leaving only Chruma and Kelpas standing.
“I have to admit, you have your father’s courage, coming here alone and without help you made it to me… you are truly your father’s son… how did you get pass Grimuth?”
Chase pointed the sword to him, “You will pay for all you’ve done Kelpas Aleaxetris, for those you killed, my father, Itham, Allania… Hycis…”
“Hycis?” Kelpas asked with a taunting voice, “You mean this bag of meat?” he snapped his fingers and Hycis appeared on the stony floor beside Kelpas.
“Chase?” Her voice was hoarse, she was battered.
“Hycis”, he tried to get close but was intercepted by Chruma.
Kelpas held her by the hair and Chase shouted, livid, “Leave her alone!"
“Oh, I will, after you surrender”
“F*#k you!” he charged but Chruma closed on him; both locked swords.
“You will never defeat me Aeon, you are mine”
“You filth”, Chase spat out and kicked out; Chruma moved back and attacked but Chase blocked it.
Chase gave a thrust and Chruma teleported to his back, striking him in the process; Chase fell on his knees, Chruma brought the sword down in a slash and Chase rolled out of the way, the sword cracked the stony floor; as the two battled Kelpas went back to his spell while Hycis battled with her bonds using every unknotting spell she could remember.
Chase stepped back and barely weaved Chruma’s sword but this gave Chase the opportunity to strike Chruma’s open wing; so he took the shot, but as he was about to strike Chruma, he felt a splitting headache; he was forced to stagger backwards. He could hear Chruma chuckle as he stalked his prey.
“You can never defeat me young one” Chruma’s voice sounded distant, but it was still audible enough to piss Chase off.
Chase lunged for him causing Chruma to side step the attack, but that was all Chase wanted. Chase landed on the stony floor and rolled back to his feet; they both circled themselves, both fighters calculating their next move.
Chase attacked first and they both went into complex flurry of moves; the next thing that was seen was Chruma’s sword sliding away from the fight scene after Chase psychically blasted it away.
“Not bad” Chruma said but as he tried to use his spell against Chase, a quake rushed through the whole of Midland, the force of the quake forced both fighters down to their knees. A huge light appeared over the altar; the dark clouds above the fortress were cleared, as a pillar of light was projected out of the fortress. Energy rushed from all Fortress of doom from all the lands and combined at the central fortress, opening a portal over the altar.
*
“Do you see what I see Haemir?” Aranor’s words sounded heavy
“Kelpas opened the gateway; he wouldn’t do that if Chase isn’t in there with him” Haemir answered
“We need to end this before it gets any worse” Ralnor said
The Drengrin brothers landed on the ground; around them stood their army; every king within the lands was present even the scums from the No-man’s land seemed to see it as an opportunity to flex their tired muscles and prove their worth to the Aeon that summoned them.
“There is no way we are getting any close to the fortress without encountering Grimuth”
“Leave Grimuth to us, just make sure Kelpas doesn’t get to the other side of that gateway”
“Are you sure?”
“We can take Grimuth, you must take Kelpas”
“Very well”
Captain Aendryr blew the horn and the army moved in; ballistae, flying ships, enormous cannons and several other weapons of war were rolled in as the siege began in earnest. The drengrin brothers took to the skies to intercept Grimuth.
*
Chase quickly balanced on his feet but Chruma was about to launch a spell at him, only to be stopped as a sword impaled him from behind. Chase watched in horror as Chruma fell to the floor, frozen and dead. Behind Chruma stood Hycis; she gave him a smile.
“It is time we end this madness” , those were are words.
They both turned to face Kelpas; the fortress shook as several fireballs collided with it; Kelpas stood facing them.
“The combined might of all the kings in all the lands now stand at your doorstep; no amount of screechers, Delrach or monsters can save you now”, Chase said, he could almost taste the victory.
“All that won’t matter after I become the one true god”; he released a wave of energy knocking Hycis out and Chase staggered; before Chase could regain his stand Kelpas held Chase by the neck and threw him through the portal.
*
The battle outside the castle was gory, men, women and monsters were dying left and right. While the brothers battled Grimuth above, others battled each other below, death became the song the night sung.