I rolled my arms and stretched my body. The open wounds I'd sported during my little cat-and-mouse game with the Siberians had vanished. The Cloak of Levitation had returned to a pristine state, and my eyes and ears were no longer bleeding out of my skull.
But still…
"Is that the limit of what the healing from the burning Command Seal could do?" I frowned as my head continued to ache even after the spell and my own regeneration. Ironically, the pain helped shove the more… burning, destructive thoughts to the back of my mind, but I still wasn't as fresh as I had hoped.
The mad magus only shrugged. "My mysteries can only go so far, my master. Restoring you, your cloak, and our wayward dragon friend was already pushing it. Even my illusions pale beside your own wondrous, maddening powers. Tricking the world into restoring your mind was doomed from the start. And I'm running on fumes, so to speak, master. My spirit origin is burned, and my magical energy is at rock bottom."
No point in wasting my final Command Seal trying to get into perfect condition.
I grunted at the thought and sat down, trying to rest as much as possible. Ridley was sprawled out behind me as well.
We were hidden together inside a bounded field Prelati had hastily thrown up, masking us behind the illusion of endless white sands.
The desert was large, but not that large. I could still see the towering form of crystal in the distance. How the hell Jack had turned into a titan was beyond me. Magecraft, shard nonsense, some combination of both.
Still, it had worked out for me. The various Birdcages followed the titan like a flock of obedient ducks. The Faerie Queen floated higher in the sky, her parade of ghosts drifting around her.
While I would have loved to hide longer and recover more strength, the desert simply was not big enough to allow it.
The ground shook again as the crystal titan took another step. Slashes appeared across the sand as if carved by invisible blades, deep crescents ripping through the desert floor.
Still, while the addition of a titan was unexpected, this was a perfect chance.
Just white sand and enemies on all sides.
A perfect place to let loose.
While I was still lucid, I reached into my inventory and pulled out the Justice tarot card before tossing it toward Prelati.
"By the power of this Command Seal, I order you to live and complete your task."
The third and final tattoo vanished from the back of my hand.
"Ridley, take him and go. "
The dragon gave me an annoyed look, but I didn't budge. I simply shook my head and nodded toward Prelati.
Ridley huffed, but eventually acquiesced.
"And what will you do, my master?" Francois asked with a grin that nearly split his face.
"I will…" I exhaled slowly as I let go of the last scraps of restraint in my mind. "...show these fools the true meaning of Chaos."
My thoughts flooded with blazing, terrible glory.
The tapestry was wrong.
She grew more certain of it with every passing second. Glastig Uaine would not allow such an abomination to exist a moment longer.
Its very presence had marred the play.
She cast a brief, almost pitying look toward the Speaker's weeping form. What horrendous act must have been committed to force that mad faerie into center stage, she did not know. The creature's crystalline flesh and towering shape were an offense to the beauty of the fae, something so grotesque that even she found it unsettling.
Still, while she might have pitied it, the thing had lost its purpose in madness. It had even dared to command her as though she were not a Queen. Such insolence alone would have been enough for her to strike it down.
Its weeping grief as it marched against the enemy was the only reason she had not.
How vexing it was that she had been forced to employ one of her own shades simply to counter the Speaker's madness. Still, the creature would serve well enough as her herald.
This realm of magic, formed of flat white sands, stretched wide beneath her. She observed it all from the sky above. There was only one visible exit to this strange little dimension, and she had already stationed her troupe of striped tigers to patrol it so the abomination would find no path to escape.
Let the mad faerie and the demon destroy one another. Their struggle would only serve her purposes.
In the distance, she noticed the purple dragon rising into the air, a figure clutched upon its back.
The Speaker raised its arms, crystalline scales forming blades, preparing to slash.
Then the wretched power rose again.
"HAHAHAHA!"
Gold and red flames erupted as that vile energy bloomed across the desert.
The abomination lifted into the sky as pillars of fire, larger than before, rained downward. The Speaker answered by sweeping its arms through the air, sending thousands of slashes flying outward.
The impact became a kaleidoscopic explosion of smoke and light as slash after slash formed a barrier of energy against the abomination's flames.
Courtiers from the cage hurled themselves forward at the mad faerie's command. Yet the cursed flames carried a potency even the fae could not easily withstand. Glastig Uaine watched as the charging courtiers died in droves while the woven wall of blades slowly succumbed beneath the cursed power.
The titan continued to stride forward as the clash between the phantom blades and the burning inferno raged across the desert.
Still, the mad faerie had served its purpose.
She summoned her bestower of blessings. A surge of wind swept through her parade of tigresses.
Dozens of Siberians surged forward, their forms carried on wind-woven feet as they strode across the sky itself. A pleased smile crossed her lips as her little knights leaped to maul their prey.
That strange field that had prevented their attacks manifested once more. The abomination waved its hand, unleashing another devastating wave of flame that tore through her subjects.
Yet such resistance was futile. Her magics were not so easily denied.
Behind her, the chorus sang while the shade of the Father spun its working. More and more tigresses returned from the ether to join the hunt.
Her assault had not gone unnoticed.
The Speaker responded by weaving another storm of phantom blades and slashing outward.
Whatever trick the demon had used to keep her tigresses at bay was clearly limited.
Satisfaction filled her as she saw the abomination's left hand severed by the storm of slashes, even as it answered with another gout of flame that devoured the Speaker's courtiers.
The creature was nearing its final moments.
She sent another wave of her tigresses.
Then the abomination's gaze turned toward her.
A shiver ran through her as fear briefly touched her heart under the weight of that look. One of its eyes ignited, releasing a piercing beam of disgusting power straight toward her. With a flicker of will, she summoned another shade, allowing herself to blink aside as the attack tore through the sky where she had hovered.
Anger quickly replaced the fear.
That thing had dared to make her feel such weakness.
Still, the struggle continued below. The titan of blades maintained its relentless barrage.
Pinned beneath the combined pressure of the mad faerie's magic and her own hunting tigresses, the abomination could do little but struggle. It was unfortunate that the remaining courtiers from the cage had been burned away as sacrifices, yet their loss had served its purpose.
The creature climbed higher into the sky.
She would not allow it to flee.
"KIAAAAA!"
A maddening scream forced her to stumble in the air. She blinked away at once, shifting position as something small hurtled past her and slammed into the dunes below.
She ignored the impact and turned her attention back to the battlefield.
The Speaker's crystalline form had stumbled as well. A mortal cruise ship had somehow appeared in the sky, enormous in size. It slammed down on top of the titan. Crystalline blades erupted immediately, carving through the massive vessel, but not before huge sections of the ship shattered and smashed into the giant's body.
Another beam of searing fire tore into the titan, drawing a scream of agony from the creature.
Glastig Uaine frowned at the sudden interference. It mattered little. These were merely the final death throes of the abomination.
She began weaving the magic to summon more tigresses and end the struggle.
"Huuuh… that fucking brat. How dare he throw me!"
Her skin turned monochrome as one of the Siberians latched onto her. Not a moment too soon, as flames erupted across her body.
"Hoh. You have some tricks, woman."
Glastig Uaine slowly turned toward the dune where she had avoided the projectile. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked upon the one who had dared to speak to her.
It was nothing more than a floating head.
A bearded man with brown hair stared back at her. There was nothing below his neck, only a thin stream of blood dripping from the ragged stump.
Two more Siberians manifested before her while she sent the rest onward to continue pressing the abomination.
She peered carefully, searching for any sign of a faerie behind the apparition, but found none.
That left only one possibility.
"You are some foppish creation of that abomination."
"…Foppish creation?" The head barked out an angry laugh. "Let me enlighten you, foolish woman. I go by many titles, but you may call me Nas'hrah, the Doom and Terror of the Modern Man."
"And an inflated name for a fool." She waved her hand dismissively as her two tigresses charged. "I am the Queen of the Fae. Glastig Uaine. Be honored you die by my hand."
"Queen? Ha! A self-indulgent maggot. I will make sure this hurts."
She sneered at the fraud as the pair of Siberians leaped forward and tore into him.
Her body ignited once more with flame, but the fire failed to pierce the monochrome invincibility of the Siberian—
Pain.
It struck her like a storm. Her blood seemed to boil as if it wished to escape her skin, a terrible torture that sank deep into her soul.
Instinctively, she commanded one of her shades to teleport her away.
Yet the agony continued.
"How…?" She collapsed, wracked with pain.
"Hahahaha!"
The cursed head only laughed as the Siberians tore into it.
Her mind swam in a haze of suffering as she reached blindly through her shades. She dismissed the third one that had granted her blinking and summoned another in its place. The Binder appeared, a shade whose magic severed the links between minds and bodies.
Relief came swiftly.
The pain still throbbed through her body, but it no longer clawed at her thoughts.
What filled her mind now was rage.
She would tear that arrogant head to pieces before finishing the abomination.
Her gaze snapped back toward the distant battle between the mad Speaker and her tigresses.
Then she paused.
Where was—
"Melt it all away…"
The words were barely more than a whisper, yet the sound echoed in her ears like thunder.
A sun of destruction descended from the sky, chaos made manifest. Even from afar, she felt her body convulse in disgust at the abominable presence.
It fell like an angry god.
Flames consumed everything below as it descended. Somewhere deep in the back of her mind, she felt something recoil in terror, the faerie within her revulsed by the touch of that power.
Destruction made manifest until nothing was left but Chaos.
Even as her eyes burned from their sockets and her body began to crumble into ash, she found herself with only one thought as the flames erased her from existence.
How beautiful.
***
Comments and Thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Likes are like a drug to me and boost my creative juices.
I have advanced chapters if you wanna read ahead.