Stormforge (Rise To Omniscience Book 5) Page 20

  “Wait, how was I able to defeat both beasts if they were twice as strong as me?” Morgan asked.

  “You’re really bad at math, aren’t you?” the god deadpanned. “They weren’t twice as strong as you. You were half again as strong as them, and had you been pulling on your full power, you’d have been five times as strong!”

  Morgan’s lips parted in a small O as he finally understood what the man was saying.

  “Wait, so if I’m only using a small part of my power, can I defeat the Pinnacle King if I unlock all of it?”

  “Please,” the god said with a snort. “There’s no way in hell you can kill him. Not unless you make it to the Pinnacle yourself. No, your best chance at winning would be to lock him away once more by repairing the script Samuel put into place and flooding it with reiki. Of course, you’d need a bunch of bodies to hold him off while you were doing so, and to get those bodies, you’ll need to make that alliance happen.”

  “Is there any way for me to unlock my full potential, to gain actual control?” Morgan asked.

  “Sure, I know someone who can teach you. But that’ll take time, time that you don’t have right now. We’ve wasted over three days here already on this, and you’ve still got a bunch of Kingdoms to convince to join you.”

  Morgan winced at that, realizing how far behind he really was. He’d come here to wallow in shame, guilt, and self-pity, but had found this stranger here instead. This man had beaten a lesson into him while giving him the will to fight once more. At the same time, he’d severely tempered his battle-lust and taught him a valuable lesson about losing control. Just who was this man?

  “Here.”

  Morgan’s hand flashed out and he caught a paper bag filled with small pastries. They were quite strange looking, as they were round and had holes taken out of the middles for some reason. Upon closer inspection, Morgan could see that they were filled with something, though he couldn’t make out what.

  “I’ve done all I can for you here. At least, as much as I’ve been allowed. If you survive and manage to lock Octagon away, I’ll expect you to come back.”

  Morgan nodded, already turning mid-air to head to the palace in the West. He was already here, so he figured he may as well start there.

  “You might wanna head to the East first,” the man said. “I have a feeling that both the West and South won’t be joining you.”

  “How do you know that?” Morgan asked.

  “Just call it a hunch,” the man replied. “Oh, and one last thing.”

  Morgan turned back, giving the man a questioning look.

  “I’d recommend learning Gravity Warp as soon as possible. It’ll come in handy over the following days.”

  Before Morgan could ask him what the skill did, the man vanished.

  Yup, Morgan thought with an eye-roll. Definitely a god.

  Still, despite him not knowing exactly who the man was, he’d given him a lot of good advice. He’d also lit a fire under him once more and given him what he’d needed to move forward. There were a lot of people counting on him and he needed to move quickly in order to make up for the lost time. So, angling East as the god had suggested, Morgan took off at top speed. It would take him a few days to get there, but if he really pushed it, he might make it back to the North in just under a week with reinforcements.

  ***

  The man stood in the air, watching Morgan flying East with a feeling of trepidation. He hadn’t actually vanished, simply turned invisible to him. He’d wanted to see what Morgan would do, and it seemed he was back on the right path. However, the timeline hadn’t shifted as it was supposed to after the correction, which made him extremely nervous. It only served to highlight the coming storm, one that would put the Pinnacle King Octagon to shame.

  He’d been working for as long as he could remember to keep the peace, but with Samuel’s untimely demise and his rash actions leading up to that, his world was now in flux. With no overseer and the rules normally governing the world gone, the borders were collapsing. The Five Kingdoms would soon…

  A piercing pain filled the man’s head, and he doubled over, clutching at his head and letting out a strangled groan. This was accompanied by a high-pitched whine, blocking out all sound and leaving him in a state of pain.

  “You can’t keep me locked up forever.”

  The man gritted his teeth, forcing the voice down, though it took some real effort this time. His episodes were growing worse, and though he hated to admit as much, the voice was right. He couldn’t keep him locked up forever and the storm that would come with his release would cast a larger shadow than anyone in all the universe had seen before. He wasn’t out yet, though, which meant that there was still time.

  Let’s just hope that boy can really do it, because if he can’t, everyone is doomed.

  28

  Sarah and Katherine were portal jumping, moving quickly across the open plains between City Eleven and Thirteen on horseback, leaping forward a couple of miles with each jump. The problem with doing this was that it tired Katherine out very much and therefore took all of her concentration to do continuously.

  They’d left just a couple of hours ago, leaving the city in the hands of her two generals after explaining their plans. Bell and Fuza had been less than happy about the departure of two of their most powerful fighters but hadn’t tried to stop them. They understood the risks better than anyone and knew that in order to win, they had no other options. By now, they knew could either take the risk or die trapped within their walls.

  Katherine had had them call for reinforcements from City Twelve. There hadn’t been so much as a peep from the West Kingdom since the attacks had started, and she’d decided to move whatever forces they had left to reinforce City Eleven. The influx of some fifty-thousand soldiers would help keep the enemy at bay for at least one more attack, which should give them plenty of time to save Gwendolyn and return. After that…well, they’d figure it out then, after they’d succeeded with the impossible.

  Sarah pulled her face down into her hood, feeling the biting cold eating away at her skin. Their horses wouldn’t last much longer, she could feel it, and knew that soon, they’d both be moving on foot. Still, they were making good time and would hopefully manage to reach City Thirteen before they gave out. Having something to ride on the way back would be extremely helpful indeed, especially as they’d likely be exhausted and running for their lives if they even managed to make it at all.

  Neither of them spoke, both too cold and worried to do so. Besides, the odd silence of the open, snow-covered landscape just made talking seem like a bad idea. They didn’t know where the Pinnacle King may have stationed forces, so it was best to remain on the safe side.

  Their horses collapsed a half an hour later, the biting temperature now well below zero and the wind picking up. Having little choice but to continue on foot, Sarah and Katherine set out once more. The portals popped open one after another, each time bringing them farther north. Each time Sarah stepped through, she noted the temperature was just that much colder. By the time the sun had gone from the sky, leaving the moon to paint the landscape in its luminescent brilliance, it was getting to be so cold that she was losing feeling in her hands and feet.

  “How far have we come?” Sarah asked numbly.

  She’d been keeping her head down against the wind, fighting her way forward, so she hadn’t really been paying attention to their surroundings.

  “Just passed Nineteen,” Katherine replied.

  Her voice sounded strained; her teeth clenched to stop them from chattering. Sarah didn’t ask any further questions. She looked over her shoulder, and in the distance, just visible through the blowing snow, were the looming walls of City Nineteen. They were in the true North now, uncivilized lands where beasts roamed freely, and the Pinnacle King lay in wait. All Sarah really wanted to do right now was turn around and head back to the city.

  There would be buildings there, a way to make a fire, and perhaps even something
warm to drink. She could almost imagine being able to sink into a warm bed after a nice, hot bath and fall asleep in the warmth and comfort of a…

  “Get down!” Katherine hissed, dropping to the ground herself as she said so.

  Sarah stood there, momentarily confused, before Katherine hissed at her once more, grabbing at the bottom of her coat and yanking hard.

  “Get down!” she said, and this time Sarah complied, dropping to her belly in the almost knee-deep snow.

  “What? What do you see?” Sarah asked, looking around in confusion.

  She couldn’t spot anything, but maybe Katherine had better eyes than her.

  “There,” Katherine whispered, cocking her head to her left. “Right on top of the slope.”

  Sarah slowly turned her head in the indicated direction. For a few moments, she didn’t know what Katherine was talking about, but soon she spotted movement. She narrowed her eyes to better see what it could be through the drifting snow, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make the thing out.

  “What is it?” she asked in an undertone. “Is it a patrol?”

  Katherine shook her head.

  “Beast. Looks to be an advanced one too, and this far out, we can bet it’ll be a doozy.”

  Had Morgan been there, Sarah knew what he would do. In fact, she could almost picture his goofy grin and the look of wild abandon as he sprang to his feet, intending to rush the monster head-on. She actually braced herself for the explosion of movement beside her, but Katherine remained completely still.

  The nervousness faded then as Sarah realized that Katherine was not Morgan. She wouldn’t go rushing out to face an unknown beast simply for the thrill and challenge it might pose. Instead, they remained perfectly still, waiting until the silhouette vanished from their sight.

  “Wait,” Katherine said, placing a staying hand on her arm. “Give it a few more minutes.”

  In all truth, Sarah didn’t really mind waiting. Down this low, with snow piling up on all sides, she was completely out of the wind, and without that constant annoyance, she was actually much warmer. She hadn’t realized how much of the chill had been coming from the wind and constantly blowing snow, and now that she was finally resting, she honestly didn’t want to get up.

  However, Katherine rose just a couple of minutes later and opened another portal, forcing her to rise as well. The wind whipped around her, sending her cloak billowing and a new chill creeping into her bones. They couldn’t arrive at their destination fast enough, even if it was the home of a beast powerful enough to destroy the Five Kingdoms. Right now, all Sarah wanted to do was be warm, no matter the cost.

  Traveling only became more miserable from there, the wind picking up and the temperature dropping. So, by the time they reached what looked to be a half-buried lump of rock at three in the morning, Sarah couldn’t feel a thing. The temperature had to be near negative two-hundred by then, and had her rank not been so high, she doubted she’d still be alive. As it was, she honestly wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep going.

  She was so numb, in fact, that when she walked directly into Katherine, the feeling barely registered, and only the sound of Katherine grunting let her know what she’d done.

  “How much farther?” Sarah asked, her voice coming out in a half-croak, half-whisper.

  “That’s an old outpost set up by Loquin, so we should be almost there,” Katherine responded.

  She sounded far better off than her, though that was hardly surprising, considering she was a super. Sarah would have used her Mage Shield for warmth, had she not thought the glow would give away their position, so instead, she was forced to continually take the brunt of the gusting wind. It still seemed strange to her how a person with an ability centered around water and ice could even get cold, let alone be affected this much, but it wasn’t like there was anyone to complain to, so Sarah kept any comments to herself.

  “How do you know?” she asked, now seeing the half-buried wooden shack for what it really was.

  “She wasn’t the only one with spies,” Katherine replied with a tight smile. “I found out plenty of their little secrets as well, including the location of the Pinnacle King’s whereabouts. Though for our sake, let’s hope he isn’t home.”

  A sudden, stronger gust of wind reminded the both of them where they were, and they turned back to trudging through the ever-deepening snow toward the looming shadow in the distance. It had been growing larger for some time, but now Sarah could finally make out what it really was: a massive chunk of ice, so large that it blotted out the entire sky.

  The cold was so pervasive now that Sarah had to wonder if she’d ever be warm again. However, as they approached the mass of ice, the wind abruptly cut off, and though it was still bitterly cold, it was no longer as horrible as it had been just moments before. The glacier blocked everything out, which meant that it was blocking the wind as well.

  “Never thought I’d be so grateful walking into a deathtrap,” Sarah muttered.

  A tall fissure in the ice soon became visible, a yawning chasm in the wall that climbed high into the sky before disappearing into the darkness. The snow was far shallower here, packed down by the tromping of thousands of monsters. Their footprints had been visible from time to time as they’d traveled, but never had they been so obvious or seen in such abundance.

  Just seeing that many footprints, as well as the massive size of the glacier, finally drilled into Sarah the knowledge of what they were truly facing. Sure, she’d known they were fighting a monster among monsters and his hordes of twisted creatures, but the sheer scope of his power just hadn’t registered up until now.

  “I really miss having access to my long-distance portals,” Katherine griped as they stopped right before the entrance.

  Sarah, much as she disliked the Queen, had to agree. Taking a single jump to City Nineteen, then traveling by sight would have saved them a lot of time. Not to mention that the trip back would only have taken a single portal, as Katherine knew where she was going. They could have cut their trip by more than half coming here and almost completely when heading back.

  Instead, they’d be going in, hoping not to be seen, and then running for their lives on the way back, all while hoping to not be caught.

  “You ready?” Katherine asked, looking into the yawning chasm.

  “Nope,” Sarah replied honestly.

  “Neither am I,” Katherine responded.

  Then, together, the two of them headed into the glacier.

  The first thing Sarah noticed upon entering was that it was much lighter than she’d been expecting. A cave made of ice was still a cave after all, but the walls seemed to have some sort of bioluminescence built into them, as they glowed a bright blue. This gave Sarah the option to activate her Mage Shield, which she immediately did.

  The temperature rose by about a hundred degrees, giving her immediate relief against the bitter cold. It was still effectively about eighty below zero, but with no wind and her shield up, Sarah didn’t feel like she was about to drop dead.

  The tunnel was eerily silent and oddly oppressive. By unspoken consent, neither of them said a thing, moving forward at a swift trot and stepping through a portal to the opposite end of the long hall. Down here, Katherine would need to rely on line-of-sight to create her portals, as she couldn’t blindly jump like she did out on the open tundra. There were just too many risks associated with that technique, and had they had more time, they might have forgone using it at all.

  However, with the looming threat of the Pinnacle King and his forces, they had little choice but to take the risk and hope they weren’t caught. The tunnels, no matter which they took, all sloped down, which meant that at a certain point, they’d be beneath the surface of the North Sea. As a water mage, Sarah wasn’t particularly afraid of water, but the oppressive atmosphere, as well as the strange silence of the tunnels, was making her uneasy.

  Katherine was on edge as well, jumping at every small sound. No water drippe
d from the ceiling, and the floors were frozen solid. It was simply too cold for anything to melt. But the wind still whistled in through cracks in the walls, traveling through the corridors and rattling the icicles.

  All in all, it was an extremely nerve-wracking experience. Worst of all was the fact that they had yet to run into a single monster, beast, or other creature. And the longer they went without bumping into any, the more nervous and tense they became. The questions in both their minds were obvious: where were they?

  The Pinnacle King was supposed to have millions, so surely they should be running into something. The ground suddenly leveled out then, opening into a small cavern of glittering ice. Small pillars rose from the ground, blocking off their view of the other end. However, what it didn’t block was the massive beast lying on a platform in the center, its shaggy, reptilian head nestled between its front paws.

  29

  Both Sarah and Katherine froze in place, staring at the massive beast, and then at each other. The message was clear. Back away slowly and look for a different route. However, before they could take so much as take a step back, the beast’s eyes snapped open, icy blue eyes flicking to them as its pupils constricted to slits.

  “Shit,” Katherine muttered as the beast rose off the slab of ice, stretching its sinuous back and yawning widely.

  Shit indeed, Sarah thought, examining the massive creature.

  Over twenty feet in length, not including the tail, the beast stood nearly nine feet at the shoulder. Its body was covered in shaggy gray-white fur, though its legs and head were very obviously reptilian. Its tail was nearly eight feet long, tipped with a wickedly sharp barb and glowing an ominous red.

  Its open mouth revealed several rows of inward curving serrated teeth, as well as a forked tongue. It was clear that this creature was at least at the Intermediate stage, perhaps even Advanced, though Sarah really hoped it was the former. Without Morgan here, they would have no clue what they were facing, nor how strong it really was. Chances were that if it was here, in the lair of the Pinnacle King, that this creature wasn’t to be taken lightly.