Alie's confidence shattered with six simple words.
"You're going to fight that thing?"
She paused. Michael's eyes had widened in horror. His mouth hung open in shock and disbelief, as if he couldn't figure out how to simultaneously insult her and chastise her.
She forced herself to stand tall. She squared her shoulders and looked him straight in the eye, hoping she looked more sure of herself than she felt. "I'm going to destroy it," she said, her voice only slightly wavering.
He didn't respond. His dark eyes, always so kind and caring, flooded with emotion. There was fear in them, yes, but also trust. He wanted to believe that she could do it. She clung to that bit of hope in him like a lifeline, craving his approval.
She tried to smile. "Cover me?" she asked.
He let out a long, burdened exhale, but drew his pistol from his pocket. "I don't have much of a choice, do I?"
"You both are crazy," Darrel chided, stepping back.
Michael shrugged. "Does that mean you're not going to join us?"
Scowling, Darrel shoved the crystal into his pocket and drew his swords. "Sure, why not? We're dead, anyway."
The monster's challenging roar made her cringe. It ground its massive paws into the ground, pulling up chunks of earth. Acidic spittle rained down on them; Alie lifted her arm and imagined a shield against it. With a mighty snap of its jaws, the Evil bit at the shield, crunching magic between its teeth as easily as candy.
"I hope you have a plan!" Darrel cried. He ducked out from the protection of the now crumbling shield, racing off on his own toward one of the beast's giant paws.
There was no hesitation in Michael's aim. He lifted his pistol high, blasting off several plasma rounds at the beast's large red eyes. "Go," he instructed firmly.
Alie took off after Darrel as her fist tightened around the Ultimate. Though she hadn't even started fighting yet, her heart hammered so hard in her chest, it nearly hurt to breathe. Fear wrapped a vice-like grip around her throat. Her vision momentarily turned white as she fought her own body to keep moving.
What had she been thinking?! She wasn't a fighter. She was a reader. Heroism sounded like a great idea, until she actually had to go out and do it. She was kidding herself. She wasn't some chosen savior. She was a couch potato.
Electrified bolts of magic sparked up and down her arm. The Ultimate, hungry for battle, urged her forward. The voices of its past still echoed in her mind, just past the thundering of her heart. "Protect the Realm..." they sang in unison. "Defeat the Evil..."
A massive paw swept out at her. In a panic, she dove onto her stomach, sliding across the hard dirt just in time for the bus-sized foot to rush past her.
Okay, she was in way over her head with this. Fighting to catch her breath, she tripped over her own wobbling legs as she struggled to rise to her feet.
Darrel appeared beside her, grabbing onto her arm and yanking her up. "Clumsy oaf!" His pupils had shrunk in terror, and his breathing was ragged. "You'll never get anywhere if you can't even keep on your feet!"
Her hands trembled so badly, she couldn't see them clearly. "It's just... I can't... I'm sorry!"
"Don't be sorry! Be fast!"
"Look out!"
They had been fortunate last time, but the monster did not intend to miss twice. With a growl, it lifted its paw high, preparing to stomp on them.
Her sword arm, electrified with a sudden rush of magic, flew upwards against her will. The Ultimate pointed straight up into the air, directly at the center of the Evil's large paw. It wasn't until the force of the monster's blow thrust her down against the earth that she realized what had happened. By then, she had already fallen, again.
The black paw sank down the blade all the way to the hilt. Alie clenched her teeth and clamped her eyes shut. A magic shield hovered just above her, its thin layer appearing just in time to prevent her from turning into a pancake.
A deafening screech split the air. The Evil yanked back its foot, nearly ripping the Ultimate from her grasp with it. The creature stumbled back, hissing and growling.
The sword was a nuisance, at best: merely a thorn in its foot. It shook out its paw, rumbling a low, menacing growl as its curved, panther-like ears flattened over its skull.
Flat on the ground beside her, Darrel panted heavier than a dog after a run. His eyes had turned white with fear. "You really like to cut it close, don't you?"
She didn't have time to respond. The monster snapped at them with its yellowed teeth, its snout breathing over them the putrid breath of death and decay.
With a shout, Darrel swung his swords straight at the teeth trying to chomp on them. The metal struck true with a loud clang. Growling, the beast's jaw snapped at them viciously, snatching Darrel's swords from his grasp and throwing them far into the wilderness beyond.
"Don't just stand there," Darrel hissed, imagining a new pair of swords in his grasp. "Get on top of it! Hit it where it'll hurt!"
Right. She ran off without him, racing down the monster's side.
How was she going to do this? She had magic on her side; if she wanted, could she just wave the Ultimate and expect the beast's whole head to come sliding off its shoulders? No, something in the way the blade's magic urged her forward told her she had to get close. Her stomach flipping with nerves, she turned straight for the monster and held the sword up high.
Occupied between Michael's plasma blasts erupting over its face and Darrel's swords clanging against its teeth, the beast failed to notice her approach. She knew climbing up its leg would only alert it to her presence. So she took a trick from Darrel's skillset, instead.
As the beast hunkered down close to the ground, intent to eat Darrel whole, Alie imagined a large trampoline appearing on the ground in front of her. As fast as she could, she ran up to it and jumped. Golden magic swirled around her as her imagination propelled her high. She landed in the center of the trampoline, sinking low into its depths. Then it thrust her upward, and she sprang like an acrobat high into the air.
The magic was sensitive. It propelled her much higher than she had planned, causing her stomach to drop out from under her. Her feet flailed in the air, seeking ground, but the Ultimate remained angled high above her head.
The blade knew where to strike. Its magic kept her arms above her head, guiding her as she fell closer and closer toward the massive Evil's hide. When it was time, she knew it would strike of its own accord.
She just hoped she didn't break any bones when she finally landed.
The blade whipped down in front of her so fast, she would have missed it if she had blinked. The Ultimate sank deep into the monster's side, slashing a long gash into its hide. Black tar spewed from the wound onto the ground below. The earth smoked wherever the tar landed, simmering under its heat.
She managed to land in a tumbling roll somewhere beneath the monster's stomach, out of reach of its spewing guts. Her arms ached from the force of the blow she had dealt. Her ears rang from the deafening roar the beast released when it was struck. Her hair stuck to the sweat on her face and knotted around her eyes. She swept it back with fingers that trembled from a rush of adrenaline, and stumbled onward.
A deep, wicked laughter bubbled up around the whirring thoughts of her mind. It was not her own, nor, she was sure, did it belong to the choir voices singing of the Ultimate. It was like darkness itself had been given a voice, and it chilled her to her very bone. She froze where she stood, forgetting everything but the sound.
"Oh, Wielder," the voice spoke to her mind. "You have become quite the nuisance."
Alie's blood turned to ice. She hadn't realized the Evil could talk.
"You think you have bested me? I am the great Destroyer. I have roamed the Realm for millennia. I seek out fear and delight in pain. I dine on dread and sorrow and fury, insatiably hungry. It will take more than a mere scratch to mortally wound me.
"You are not a threat; you are a game, of which I am a master at playing. Your terror gives me strength. Your desperation is my entertainment. Only once you have exhausted every effort against me and become too weak to fight will I lose interest in you as my toy. And then I will dispose of you like the pathetic trash you are."
The voice wrapped around her consciousness like a blanket made of blackest night. It tightened around her, drowning her in sorrow and hopelessness. She fell to her knees, crushed by its weight.
"I will throw your body into a ravine. No one will ever know what became of you. Your friends will gather to mourn you, and I will be there to delight in their misery. Then I will devour them too, and the misery will spread, and so I shall devour the whole Realm, until not a drop of it is left."
A vision of the Realm – a cluster in space of hundreds of worlds, glowing with a glistening golden light – appeared in her mind's eye. One by one, the worlds started winking out of existence. Soon, all that remained was a single speck of light, but that too was snuffed out easier than a candle in the wind. Nothing remained. Only emptiness and loss filled the nether.
"There is a weapon," the faint voices sang. "A weapon that will defeat all Evil. A weapon that will protect the worlds from harm..."
That weapon was now hers.
She sucked in a breath and squeezed her fist around the hilt of the Ultimate. The sword was made to destroy these monsters. It was forged specifically to eliminate them and revive the magic of each world. Though she was weak and inexperienced, it carried the legacy of a million victories. All she had to do was let it work.
She closed her eyes. A calm, soothing breath filled her lungs. Magic kissed her skin as she surrendered herself to the blade's authority, giving it permission to use her as it needed to do what it did best.
The knowledge of ten warriors before her flooded into her being. Their magic pulsed through her blood. It felt otherworldly, as if she herself no longer controlled her body. She surrendered herself to the strength it brought to her limbs, to the control and the confidence and the determination that she lacked. When she stood, it was with the support of every Wielder before her. They had faced much worse than this beast. They had stared into the face of darkness itself and destroyed it with life giving light. They revitalized her soul.
She scanned the monster with a quick glance. It would need to be immobilized before it could be destroyed. The thought swept her toward its back paws, where the Ultimate slashed with practiced precision. The blade swept easily through, severing joint from bone.
Before the beast could even falter, she jumped, climbing her way up the creature's leg onto its haunches. She swung the blade around and drove it tip first deep into the muscle of its haunches.
The monster roared. It whipped its head around, biting fiercely at her. She merely sidestepped out of the way of its flashing teeth before striking once again. The Ultimate slashed across the monster's muzzle with ease.
She could feel the vibrations of its snarl in her mind. "Vicious beast! You shall pay!"
With a massive shake of its head, it sent her flying backward. Her imagination brought her safely back to earth, helping her drift gently to the ground in a swirl of golden light. Magic formed a thick shield above her head just as the monster smashed its head down atop her. The bang of its skull colliding with her magic sent a shockwave across the barren landscape.
She formed a whip of light with a wave of her arm. It lashed out from the barren ground, snapping up and over the beast's large body and latching to the ground on the other side. Like snapping ties, beams of magic shot out of the ground and captured the beast, pinning it to the ground. It thrashed back and forth, snapping ferociously at the light.
Its weakened back leg crumpled first. Then the rest of its limbs followed as the magic tightened its grip. It fell to the ground with a furious roar, exposing its belly.
Alie appeared at the base of its neck, teleporting across the short distance with a blink. The Ultimate plunged deep into the soft underbelly, eliciting another pained roar. Then she began to run.
The blade gutted the beast from neck to rump. Black sinew sprayed across the ground in her wake. But the Ultimate wasn't done yet. With an arc of her arm, it slashed a series of cuts across the center of its chest.
The monster's black heart lay deep within. The Ultimate knew this. She knew this, thanks to the warriors' thoughts filtering through her mind. The enchanted blade whirled with purpose, slashing its way through the tough hide and muscle in search of the soft organ.
Every effort had brought her to this. A triumphant smile stretched across her face as the magic racing through her realized how close it was to victory.
With one final, forceful thrust, the Ultimate sank deep into the beast. It gave one last thrash, roaring its fury into the night. Then it collapsed with a thundering crash, and lay still.
She took a cautious step back. Her shoulders dropped as the magic flooding over her slipped away. The Ultimate's control over her body vanished like an exhaled breath. Exhaustion pulled at her limbs. She fought to catch her breath.
But a wide, relieved grin refused to leave her face. The monster was finally dead.