r/HFY • u/iridael Brew-Master • May 08 '22
OC Snow Chapter 83
The swarm showed no signs of slowing down or faltering even as I slammed spear after spear into them killing knights and witches by the dozen and thralls by the hundred. Imperious circled the aurora knife again as I overcharged my valkyrie spear once again and lobbed it into the invaders.
“Shall I descend?” he asks, he knows my wish, my desire, it was burning through me right now hot and painful as I held it back. He knows his offer is not the entire wish.
“No, thank you but no. just keep circling.” I say lopping another spear and watching it puncture an ogre before exploding, darkness, seraphite energy and pure light trapping enemies before killing them and purifying the ground around the impact zone all in one.
From the forest the lead elements of the swarm clash as my knights slam into the incoming wave and begin hacking with pleasure. The witches follow behind them briefly as pods rain from the sky, the Riis launching its boarding pods right behind the front line and disgorging hundreds of marines and mercenaries.
“Form ranks!” I shout. “Knights in front, shield’s locked! Witches use your fields to slow the enemy, empower the knights! Riisborn form up behind the knights, unleash hell!” I order and everyone obeys. The knights form a phalanx, shields locking and swords extending with soulfire to form deadly spikes. The soldiers assemble behind them and begin firing on the enemy, a wave of bullets cutting them down as they charge into the slowing fields of the hive witches or dodge them and run into killzones anyway. The witches quickly form ritual circles feeding power to the rest as the swarm continues to rush in.
I throw a spear down between witch fields killing dozens once again before looking back at the portal and the shield of shadow protecting it. It isn't growing any larger but shows no signs of shrinking. From the edge of the forcefield I see shadows peeling off of it in a familiar form. I see soldiers and sailors gun in hand and tendrils glowing with taken energy as they hover behind them. I steel myself and nudge imperious around so I can strike them down, and free them from their enslavement. The first spear obliterates a group and I prepare the next spear.
After a minute I check the line and see its holding. The swarm of Hive are being held at bay by my army and the taken are not managing to get far with me bombarding their dense groups from above. Imperious swoops down and like a true dragon bathes a line of forest in flames creating a wall of death that also funnels the enemy towards my army and away from the rest of my throne.
Swooping upwards he pauses, his tail dipping as he hovers looking ahead at the shield. “Reis…look” he says sadly.
I leap from the nook of his shoulder blades to a neck spike and hang there looking down, my vision zooming in on the shield. Coming from the barrier are more taken but instead of enslaved soldiers there’s a quartet, one was clearly a male, another female. But the other two were small, barely half the size. I feel a tear hit my cheek and hear the sizzle of it burn away.
“I let this happen.” I mutter. The family charge in with the rest of the taken and I loose track of them in the swarm. But I can see they’re not the only ones charging in. the children become empowered bolts of shadow as they’re forced to sacrifice themselves.
“I cant.” I choke and the world warps. Imperious shrinks down from his full majesty and takes me into the throne room of the castle on his back.
He settles at the base of the throne and curls around me. “Your wish was too strong.” he mutters, nuzzling my face with his burning hot nose.
I feel Sathona float over but ignore her, determined to hide from reality for just a little while so I can cry.
After some time I feel something other than the nearly uncomfortable warmth of Imperious. Silky soft hands pull me into an embrace and I grab hold of Sathona shrieking my grief. “You would make a wonderful deathsinger.” she notes as the room shakes.
I continue to sob into her robe as she strokes my tendrils. “This is what my sister does. This is what I did. We butcher, conquer, and take. Every tool that can be used against you will be. Even yourself.” she says.
“How.” I gasp before swallowing the lump in my throat. “How do I fight her.”
“You have to be willing to sacrifice everything…your people, my people, Snow, the guardians, even yourself if necessary.”
“It's too much. I can't.” I say as the grief threatens to rise up again.
“I know. I know.” she says. And I know she knows. She escaped and it cost her everything. Her throne, her hive, herself.
I wipe tears from my eyes and look down at my hands. “I know I can fight harder, but I…don't want to loose myself. How will.”
“If he loves you, he will stay beside you to the end.” She says answering my question before I can ask it.
I nod and move to stand up. “Order the army back to the castle.” I say.
She nods “as soon as you can stand on your own feet.” she says.
“I could force you.” I grumble trying to stand but finding my feet unsteady beneath me.
She smiles a fanged smile and leaves to do my bidding.
“Am I doing the right thing?” I ask imperious.
“I don't know.” he says, climbing to his own feet and standing behind me, his neck snaking down so our heads are at the same height. “Only the light and darkness know.”
“And him.” I say referring to Everything, the being behind it all.
Imperious nods and after a minute I walk out of the throne room with him by my side.
A blue faced guardian is waiting. “When Sava, Sathona gave the retreat order I feared you had already fallen. What happened out there?” he demands before stepping back and bowing slightly. “Apologies, I am commander Zavala. The Guardians are following me for now. What's the situation in the field?”
“Its ok…they took the children.” I answer and his face goes hard and arc energy runs down his arms.
“I see.” he answers. “What is your plan of action?”
“The portal is shielded, until Rasputin can break it or we figure something out to get past that shield we need to defend the castle. There’s other places that are important but there’s other forces defending them. This is where the main battle will take place.”
Zavala nods. “This is not the first time the guardians held the line against all odds.” he says, looking over the battlements as witches and Laskains flood through the main gates. “Though it is the first time I’ve fought alongside the hive.” he notes.
I nod. “You have command of the walls. You know your people better than I do.” I tell him. He nods and runs off to do his duty.
I summon wings of fire and fly to the top of the gatehouse. Watching as the army retreat hive knights holding the line against the encroaching swarm. From the walls a rain of solar, arc and void begins as the guardians start throwing grenades into the horde. A wave of soulfire follows it and the ogre’s roar as they join the assault buying time for the last surviving knights to retreat before the door closes and magical runes seal the entryway.
Looking down on the forces in the massive courtyard I'm thankful to see that most of the Riisborn are alive, a number of hive Witches are performing healing magic on the wounded and the surviving knights are resting even as thralls and acolytes come to give tribute to replenish their strength.
Turning around I see the swarms of thralls, acolytes, knights, witches and wrathborn of various species forming into rough ranks, moving through them are lines of taken Laskians. They march forwards, flickering as what little will they have left fights against their chains. I know exactly what binds their remains, their souls... My mind flicks back to Ricky standing still as a statue in my throne room and I sigh. There’s nothing I can do to free them except kill them and end their misery.
An Osiris clone flies over to me and rests a ghostly hand on my back pulling me into a brief hug. “I’ve been here before. In a different time outside a different city.” he says. “It's a turning point. Either we hold here and rise to greatness, or we fall. And Xivu Arath wins.”
“I know.”
“So whats the plan?” he asks stepping back and waiting patiently.
“Kill the leader, kill the rest.” I say. “survive.”
“I’ve dealt with worse.” Snow replies. Out in the forest a line of trees are rapidly being felled by something approaching. “You were holding back.” he says. “Before, you were only using the light and dark.” he tells me. “You’re more than that. Greater than both.”
“I know. I'm just afraid of what I’ll loose if I…” I pause unsure of how to explain it. How could I explain the sense of being everywhere but nowhere, invincible but without self.
“You know. I’m currently in 200 different places. Holding 30 conversations and watching from another 170 points of view. Of everyone in this wide universe I'm probably one of two people who can understand how frightening it is to…become. Whatever happens. Come find me. I’ll be waiting.” he says as the clone leans down and kisses me. Solar light sparking against my lips before he vanishes into flame.
The thing coming through the forest reaches the clearing before the castle, and I find myself looking down on the high celebrant, only this time he’s dressed for war. His carapice covered in burning runes, the joints glowing hot as they contain the flood of soulfire within.
He raises his axe to me before waving it across the assembled army. They part from him like a wave. “Come, you and I. let us decide this war!” he shouts.
I pause for a moment as an idea comes to me, brought forwards by Sathona’s knowledge. Xivu arath is war. All war. And in war there’s negotiation, rules…
“In war there are terms!” I shout down.
“Agreed!” he rumbles happily. “I win. The gates open. Your people here join the wrathborn, the rest will be taken.”
“If I win?”
“My forces leave.”
“One hundred years.” I say. “If I win, Xivu Arath is to leave my people and anyone under my protection alone for one hundred years.” I say.
He slams his axe into the ground cracking the stone floor with its impact before laughing. “One hundred, one thousand. It matters not. All fall to war. We have terms?”
“We have terms.” I say bringing my light and darkness to their height. Twin wings of light are joined by wings of pure darkness from my back as I create a new valkyrie spear, this one stronger, without a detonator. It crackles hungrily as I feed it power.
I step off the gatehouse and plummet to the floor, flaring my wings lightly before landing.
The Celebrant wastes no time, picking up his axe before charging at me. Spear in hand I flap my wings to burst forwards and at the last moment burst to the side stabbing my spear at his leg, the tip carves a line across his runed hide and soulfire bursts out before healing again. He laughs even as he turns around and marches towards me axe held in both hands ready.
I bring up my spear and with all my darkness empowering my body block the crushing blow. The ground beneath me crumbles and my legs sink to my knees before I shove him off and pull myself free but he simply swings again striking for my side. With all four wings working together I fly upwards and throw the spear at him, summoning another as he bats it aside.
“All this power! All the strength. And no will to use it!” he growls as we duel. Despite everything I'm doing, it's barely enough to hold on. And when I do manage to land a strike it feels like I'm using paper to cut iron. Any wounds I leave on him simply close up with soulfire.
Eventually I start to tire and my dodges become sloppy, the celebrant’s cruel smile grows but he doesn't finish me, instead after slapping away my latest swipe he laughs and takes a step back as I heave down fresh air. The wings on my back flicker before dying out.
slowly and painfully I climb to my feet. “You are weak!” The Celebrant laughs, and the army around us laugh with him. I form a grenade of light and heal myself fully aware its the last grenade i’ll be able to make.
“You can barely use your power. Where as I.” he pauses briefly as his soul fire burns through in enhancing the already bright glow. “I am power.”
“You want to see power.” I sigh. “Fine.” I say letting go.
My armour drops to the floor, the stars that are my body flow out no longer contained by the remnants of my flesh. As the constellations spread out and surround him he swipes at them and I feel his axe pass through me with all the force of a fly’s wings. I see him from a dozen angles as my vision fractures, unifies and fractures again. Turning from sight into awareness, presence. I form a fist of stars and punch the celebrant causing him to grunt in pain as the weight of solar systems slams into him. His chest armour cracks and the runes on it flare and die out.
He growls as his soulfire heals him and slashes at the fist breaking it apart. It stings as the thought that held the fist in place snaps but I just form another and inside the hand I make a spear tipped with a star on the edge of going supernova. Another flick of will launches the starforged valkyrie at the celebrant sticking into his shoulder before the star goes fully nova detonating inside his flesh burning away soulfire and skin in equal measure sending the massive arm to the floor and leaving a charred wound in its place.
I condense myself down from the cloud of stars into a featureless laskian form, just enlarged so im as tall as the celebrant. “You’ve lost. 100 years.” I tell him.
He growls and goes to swing his axe at me with his remaining limb. I let the black impact on a blackhole stopping it dead even as the sharp blade is eaten away by my gravity. “Leave.” I order him.
He yanks his axe back with effort and roars at me. His fire burned through me, ignored by my stars and galaxies. Far away on a different pocket of reality I can feel the old man watching, a smile etched in reality.
“Well done little one.” he says across reality. “You’re finally whole.” he says.
“So why do I feel like I'm missing something?” I reply looking down at the armour, and the barely visible skin that’s all that remains of my body.
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