Growing wild energy flared brightly around the room, arcing from the jagged tops of the shattered stumps to illuminate the cube, before frizzling into the fading aurora above. Belthor watched helplessly as Lailoken hobbled on crooked legs, stopping between the two remaining magical stones, blackened arms outstretched.
The crackling power surged again. A spear of energy shot from the stone, lancing through Lailoken, into the cube, forming a continuous flow. The square crystal began pulsing, revealing a swirling darkness curled within.
A single tear of frustration ran down Belthor's cheek as he gasped through gritted teeth.
"Danu! Give me strength!" He struggled to his knees, ignoring the breathless pain of broken ribs. Grasping the longer piece of the rowan staff, he jammed it into the ground, pushing himself shakily to his feet. Sweat dripped from his the tip of his nose as he shuffled slowly across the rubble strewn floor, every step an effort.
Belthor squinted against the intense light that surrounded his son.
Lailoken had become an indistinct silhouette between the stones, arms flung wide and head back. Belthor knew enough about wild energy to know that he should not get too close for the enormous potential energy generated by the millions of tonnes of water roaring overhead was unpredictable; held in check and harnessed by the standing stones since time immemorial.
Now it was almost free.
In a desperate gesture he launched the broken staff, javelin style, before collapsing, face first, into the sharp rubble beside the glowing cube. The wood clattered off the top of the crystal cube, and struck Lailoken under his chin, sending him collapsing backwards.
Unluckily, the staff rebounded, wedging between the crystal and the last standing stone. The roaring energy surged through the staff and the crystal glowed brighter still. Belthor raised his arm, shielding his face from the intense radiant heat.
He had to scramble and pull his way backwards, sheltering behind the stump of a fallen stone; for slowly, in an incandescent trickle, the crystal began to melt. A deep chuckle echoed around the circular room, as Lailoken appeared beside him.
"You have my thanks, Belthor. You have saved this frail body ages of pain. Truth be told, I doubt I could have survived it, nor would your precious son. But it is the
price I would gladly have paid to free my Mistress." Sour anger hardened Belthor's resolve, the beast had his son, and he would make it pay for that mistake. It's better for him to die, Belthor thought grimly, than exist in hellish torment. He lifted a hand towards the still-smoking Lailoken, his red robes singed and sooty. Lailoken laughed, suspecting Belthor was reaching for his Son's help in a pathetic gesture. Instead Belthor was tapping into the abundant power circulating around the room, as he formed a ball of energy and with a strong thrust of willpower, threw it into Lailoken's chest.
The small explosion hurled Lailoken backwards, his robes flapping like dirty wings and catching fire. Rage lent Belthor strength, and he rose like an avenging angel from the rubble, his robes floating behind him caught in the circulating vortex of air drawn to the melting cube behind him. Lailoken lay against the wall, the flesh of his chest and abdomen bubbling as the ring of flames finally died. He opened his eyes as Belthor's shadow fell over him. "Does it not pain you to see your Son injured like this, Belthor?" Belthor stooped and picked up a sizable chunk of rock from the floor, then slowly raised his hand. "Demon, you will now join your hellish brethren in the afterlife,
where my Goddess Danu will send you on to the Creator herself to receive your final judgement." Laioken's eyes flickered to the cube and the flaking skin of his face cracked as his smile widened. He began to laugh horribly. Belthor raised the heavy stone, ready to strike, when he felt the hot prickle of a presence behind him. "STOP," the compelling command rooted him to the spot magically.