Kastori Restorations (The Kastori Chronicles Book 4) (25 page)

There’s nothing you can do about it. If it is, in fact, a trick, you can’t get out of it. You have to accept it and move forward.

“Understand, Celeste, I control your life right now. I control what you see, smell, hear, touch, and taste. I have complete dominion over your mind. Doesn’t that terrify you?”

Don’t engage. You’ll only fall deeper into his games. Stay above it, stay focused, and be prepared to fight.

“Celeste!” his voice roared, now no longer in her mind but all around her.

The menacing shout shook Celeste’s body, but she quickly recovered and stopped walking. She held her sword at the ready and looked around. She was not surprised when she did not see him anywhere, though she did notice the very faint outline of trees off in the distance.

“You dare to ignore me as I speak to you?” he growled.

“I know what my job is and it is not to engage in your mind games,” Celeste said. “It is to reach you and either convert you or end this madness.”

Typhos laughed as stars slowly formed in the sky, like individual lights on a stage slowly turning on one by one.

“You cannot even bring yourself to say you will kill me because you are a coward. You don’t know what’s real and what’s not, and you are afraid to confront such a decision. You know you may have to kill me, but you can’t say it that way, because you run, afraid.”

I am not afraid. I just know what I need to do.

Don’t engage.

“And now, it seems you are too afraid to talk to me?”

Typhos’ words sounded more concerned than they did threatening. Celeste almost smiled at how Typhos himself seemed to be breaking, but she knew any display of expression would be used by him in some cruel fashion. She kept her stoic demeanor as she recognized the setting as Anatolus at night.

“You dare not speak to me, the one who controls the power of this planet?!?” Typhos yelled. “Fine. Let me introduce you to an old friend.”

Suddenly, a great snarl and hissing came from above. Celeste saw the face of Calypsius flying at her and rolled to the side at the last second, feeling the wind produced by its movements brushing against her hair. She quickly rose, her sword at the ready, as Calypsius came to a stop and stood in front of her.

But this was not the Calypsius that Celeste and her allies had fought the first time on Anatolus. Nor was it the Calypsius clones that she saw in her vision just before arriving. This one was about a tenth of the size—still menacing, and with proper proportions, but at a size that gave Celeste a chance to win.
He doesn’t want an easy victory. I’m not sure he even wants me to die.

Calypsius opened its jaws and roared with pride at Celeste. She removed her left hand from the sword and used her magic to push the beast back about fifty feet. She looked at her hand, surprised that it could move a monster of such magnitude back, but she had little time to admire it as the creature lifted up and soared at her, breathing fire. Again, she rolled to the side, dodging the flames as the monster stayed airborne, coming in for another pass.

“My greatest creation, wouldn’t you say,” Typhos said. “And your greatest nightmare. The creature which toyed with you when you arrived here, a creature which you defeated only through sheer luck and allies whom you do not have now.”

No. But I have their power and their skills.

The creature came back for another pass, its mouth rearing back to breathe fire. Celeste recognized its positioning and braced herself, firmly digging her feet into the ground. As soon as the monster launched its first ember from its mouth, Celeste activated a reflective spell on her sword. The magic bounced off her blade, producing intense heat but leaving her unharmed. The magic went back to the miniature Calypsius and burned its mouth. The creature gagged and collapsed to the ground, rolling and blowing dust into the air.

Celeste wasted no time, endowing her sword with a magical ice spell along the way. She got within range just as the monster swung its sharp, thorny arm toward her. Celeste sensed the attack just before it came, but it slowed her down as she ducked. The creature rose back up and lifted its arms in a display of pride.

A display that’ll end it.

Imagining how Crystil would do it, Celeste shifted her weight back to her rear leg, putting all of her weight on her foot. She then pushed off, contorted her body, using her muscles for torque and greater throwing strength, as her arm came from behind and her blade flew through the sky. She stumbled forward after she had completed the throw.

Her aim was true. The blade pierced the chest of the smaller Calypsius.

The monster howled in agony, desperately clawing at its chest to get it out, but it did no good.
So this one feels pain
, she thought.
Typhos didn’t have these tests prepared. He’s doing it on the fly. The anger will make them easier and easier to see them for what they are.

Finally, the creature collapsed, but not before making sure it dove at Celeste in the process. She hopped to the side as the creature’s jaws snapped shut, missing her. The ground beneath her shook. She went over to the chest, grabbed the sword from the monster’s chest with some difficulty, and then chopped the beast at the neck to end it.

“You truly are powerful, Celeste,” Typhos said, honest admiration apparent. “But unfortunately, the same cannot be said for your home planet.”

The scene shifted, and she was at the palace, the warehouse in her view. Between them, she saw Caliphae approaching with their swords, humans with their rifles on top of a hill, and Kastori at the bottom of the hill, the two sides locked in combat.

“Look up.”

Her eyes went to the heavens where she gulped at what she saw. The three Calypsius clones flew a few thousand feet up, all three of them breathing fire together. The spells combined to form one massive attack which launched down on the warehouse. A massive explosion took place, destroying all life within a mile’s radius. In her heart, Celeste knew this was real and could only hope Cyrus and Crystil had survived.

“You now realize the predicament of your situation,” Typhos said. “Even if you defeat me—an outcome that will not happen, for it never has—your people will perish all the same. The survivor of this great battle will live with the destruction of Monda.”

Typhos began cackling as a white light blinded Celeste. She knew what to expect, however, and anticipated the heavy raindrops and thundering storm above her. She sheathed her sword and looked to the heavens.

“Even with the futility of your battle, I am impressed by what you have managed to do. You have destroyed what I hate, and you have destroyed what you fear.”

Celeste felt lifted once more, her body rocketing up the mountain. With no control of her body, she stole a glimpse of Monda. What she saw gave her great relief.

Yes, the monsters had destroyed the warehouse. Much of Capitol City lay in ruins, and the black-magic Calypsius continued to lay waste to much of the city. Two fighters had fallen.

But Cyrus and Crystil still lived.

It’s still a battle that matters. Other people live. My father still lives. As long as we have enough for a society, I accept the collateral damage that comes.

Her flying soon ended and Celeste deftly landed on a platform. She was now nearly three-quarters of the way to the peak. She could no longer see the ground from which she had come from, and when she looked up, though she could not see the actual peak, she could see the space which the mountain did not reach to. She saw a spiraling staircase and followed it, the steps frighteningly narrow. With the wind and rain as heavy as it was, Celeste took each step with extreme caution, never going more than a step every couple of seconds.

After two dozen steps, the last one feeling wobbly, Celeste dove on a small platform that supported her with ease. She looked to her left and saw another cave.

“You have succeeded well in my tests for you so far,” Typhos said, his voice omnipresent on the planet. “You are at the halfway point to facing me. Finish this and one last test, and you shall have your meeting with me.”

A short laugh followed as Celeste steeled herself, reminding herself that whoever—or whatever—she saw in the cave, it was merely an illusion. Typhos could not bring people back from the dead, nor could he suddenly turn one of her greatest allies into a foe.
Whatever happens, do not surrender to the mind games that Typhos has. Death, if it happens, happens. But you don’t give in to his mental tricks. Don’t let your spirit break before your body.

“You have proved to me what you are capable of killing. That which I hate, and that which you fear. But can you kill that which you love?”

43

Blood soaked Cyrus. It smeared across his face, it drenched his clothing and protective gear, and it coated his sword.

But it was not his own blood—it was the blood of the enemy. First, the Caliphae, which he had warded off as he ran as fast as he could from the impending doom from the Calypsiuses in the sky. That blood soaked his sword.

Then came the blood of the white Calypsius. That blood had enveloped all of him. He mercilessly and unrelentingly cut through the creature’s chest, using the Kastori and humans around him for protection from the other monsters. He tore away at the scales and came to the creature’s rib cage. He could not pry or cut open the bones, so he instead ducked through them and placed his back against the ribs, facing the beating heart. With a loud roar, he plunged his sword into the creature’s heart, ignoring the endless spurts of blood on his face and the shaking of the enemy. He twisted the sword as he yelled, “Die! Die! Die!”

The monster did not give in for several seconds, even as it had no way of stopping Cyrus from his goal. But eventually, the heart stopped beating, Cyrus withdrew his sword, and he emerged a stronger and more disgusting man. He looked to his men and the Kastori, who gazed upon him with a mix of fear and awe. He held his sword in triumph.

“Nothing on this battlefield is invincible!” he shouted, drawing cheers. “Push back on the enemy! If we can destroy a creature of this magnitude, nothing can stop us!”

But the truth that Cyrus did not articulate was that there seemed to be an endless supply of the monsters and that they had not yet reached the end. He heard the crashing of the red Calypsius into the ocean, even as far away as they were, but that still left the black-scaled monster destroying anything that stood or carried a rifle. The Caliphae numbered in the hundreds at the start, and even if they’d eliminated half their forces, they still had a long battle ahead. And that didn’t count for the slithering serpents on the ground, which made for difficult targets as they swarmed like an infestation.

He also knew that morale might yet suffer to the point of surrendering. The humans and Kastori had mourned the loss of their allies when the warehouse exploded. The only ones who survived were the ones who listened to Cyrus when he yelled for them to run into the woods, a decision he had made when he noticed the three monsters coming together and ascending into the sky. The rest perished, and their bodies—or their remains—now littered the ground. If one had viewed the plains during the day, they would not look green with life, but red with death.

But can’t stop. No. Celeste is counting on us to survive. Crystil is doing her job in the air. There’s no way she would’ve died the way the other two did. She’s still up there. I hope Pops is still up there.

If it’s our duty to die fighting because the enemy never stopped coming, then we die doing what we could.

A new wave of Caliphae approached the corpse of the white Calypsius, and the humans and Kastori turned their attention back on the enemy, firing their weapons. Cyrus grabbed a rifle from a dead man and pointed it to the enemy, taking out the slithering monsters when he could and attacking the Caliphae when none presented themselves.

Bring the last one down,
Cyrus thought in reference to the black Calypsius.
Come on, Crystil.

But the Caliphae seemed to break through, and one came charging at Cyrus. Without thinking about it, Cyrus yelled as he brandished his sword and pointed it furiously at the enemy.

He had not expected the action to produce magic, and the Caliphae flew through the air, impaled on a thick branch on a tree.
Oh, right. I have magic.

He tightened his hand as he prepared to use his newfound powers, focusing on the monsters ahead, determined to bring quiet to Monda in the hopes that Celeste could finish off the sworn enemy and the genesis of the monsters.

44

Crystil would never allow herself to dwell on the progress of battle until it had finished and she could properly digest all of the events. The slaughter of a particular enemy could make it easy for emotion to get in the way, not allowing her to properly consider the situation.

But when Garrus shouted, “I’d say we’re taking back our world!” she found that she had to agree.

Two Calypsius monsters had perished. Much of the Caliphae had fallen as well, either from friendly fire from the monsters above or from the humans. They had lost two of their ships, but Cyrus still lived and many of the humans and Kastori did below.

Yet she did not indulge in the feeling because of what flew directly in front of her. The black-scaled Calypsius, breathing fire upon swaths of humans and Kastori on the battlefield. Signs of its previous fire exhalations appeared everywhere, as the entire Capitol City seemed ablaze. Smoke rose to the sky, making vision difficult, though the magical properties of the ship ensured that the monster would stay visible on their displays at all time. Crystil knew if four ships could take down the other Calypsius, then they could with this one as well, especially since it could not physically manipulate their ships with magic.