Michael was on the right side of the mountains,
and he thanked his luck for that. The town that lay before him was
Plinth, and it seemed every bit as bleak and deserted as it had been the
first time he had visited. This time, however, he wasn't fooled.
He had his sword drawn - he had been relieved to find that the stones did
not react to his doing so - and he was advancing slowly toward the city.
Every nerve in his body was tense, and he hoped that, should something
go wrong, the stones would stay just as quiet as they were now. It
was possible, he thought to himself, that he had drained them in the last
use. Then again, he was never very good at self-delusion.
A raggedly clothed figure emerged from one of the
buildings ahead, seemingly unaware of Michael's presence. He stopped
in the center of the only street, and turned to face the warrior.
His grip tensing on his sword, Michael advanced slowly, keeping his eyes
out for any others who might be present.
"Stop." the figure commanded once it had decided
that he was close enough. They were still a block apart, but even
from that distance, Michael could see that this wasn't an ordinary person.
The figure was about half of Michael's height, and
its skin was a greenish color that hinted at infection. Its legs
were bowed, and it leaned forward as though it was prepared to strike at
any moment. Perhaps the worst feature of the creature were its eyes
- it had none. Instead, two bloodied empty sockets stared at him,
tracking his every movement despite the fact that the creature should be
blind. It was, in short, either a demon or a person possessed by
one.
"You are him...." the creature spoke, its words
coming out as an ordinary person might speak them. There was an undertone,
however, almost as though another person were speaking the same words at
the same time. There was no mistaking the figure - it was a demon.
Michael brought the sword to a defensive position,
and it was then that the realization came: His sword was not reacting
at all!
"You destroyed our master!" the demon accused, keeping
its sockets trained on him. The demon's voice snapped him out of
his shock.
"I did." Michael said, watching the thing's
every move. "And I could do the same to you. I think it would
be in both of our interests if you simply were to let me go on my way."
"I cannot do that." the demon replied. "But
you have mistaken our intentions."
"Our intentions?" Michael had to fight the
urge to take a step backward. He didn't like the sound of that.
Slowly, one by one, figures began to emerge from
in between buildings, out of doors, or simply from the air itself.
After perhaps two minutes had passed, there were more than fifty creatures
behind the one Michael had been addressing. The lead creature had
never stopped staring at the warrior, and Michael had been too unnerved
to glance away for very long at all.
"Our leader is gone. Such is the way of things.
We served him for an eternity, and now he is no more. We need to
serve another." the one in the front proclaimed.
Michael did step back then, as the realization came
to him. They didn't want to destroy him, they wanted him to be their
new master! He resisted the urge to mow them all down - with his
sword's magic dormant, there was little he could do against them.
"No!" he said.
"But there is no other for us to serve." the creature
objected. "And you have what our leader once possessed."
"What is that?" Michael said, tensed.
The answer was wordless - every demon pointed simultaneously
toward Michael's hand. Michael shivered.
The Stones.
"We know of the Other." the leader spoke once
more. "The one who calls himself Stinnett."
Michael didn't say anything. He couldn't tell
them to go join Stinnett - that would simply be stupid. But he couldn't
tell them to join him either.... "And so?" he finally decided
to say.
"He does not possess the power. You do.
You shall be our new master."
Michael shivered again. "No."
"It will be!" the leader objected, loudly.
"There is no other for us to serve!"
"No!" Michael nearly screamed the word. "I
will have nothing to do with your kind!"
The leader hissed and took a step forward.
"We require a master!" The others behind him began to mumble and
move forward.
"I will not be your master." Michael said,
through clenched teeth. There were too many demons - even if his
sword had been working at its full potential, there were still too many.
But he could not simply give in and attempt to command them.
The leader hissed again, louder, and lunged toward
Michael. The warrior jumped back just in time to prevent himself
from being gutted. Swinging his sword around, he nearly severed the
thing's arm. The demon backed away, its wound mending itself before
Michael's very eyes. So this is what it was like to fight demons
unaided....
The crowd of monstrosities started moving forward,
as did their leader. Michael backed away, cutting any that would
come too close, but he knew that the battle was already lost. The
leader leapt toward him again and he was unable to turn in time.
Grime-encrusted claws raked his side, sending spears of pain through his
body. He could feel his side grow warm as his own blood poured out
of it. Demons surrounded him now, clambering over one another to
try to tear him apart, forcing him to the ground. Desperately, Michael
tried to fight them off, but the magic of the sword would not come.
His mind flailed out, trying to find an answer...
The Stones provided one.
The sickening light burst from Michael's hand once
more, enfolding the demons surrounding him and tearing them apart before
they could even begin to react. The remainder of the demons began
to turn, but it was too late for them as well. The light radiated
outward, twisting the creatures with its power before rending them to pieces.
Michael was on his feet now, watching as the power destroyed his adversaries.
He saw them scatter, and without even realizing it, willed the light to
follow them. He could feel the power of the stones now, as he had
once felt the power of his sword, except this was much more potent, much
more real than anything he had ever experienced. He directed
its power, seeking out the demons and tearing them apart until the town
of Plinth was as empty as it had appeared initially.
The light returned to the stones and their burning,
which Michael had not noticed before, subsided. There was a brief
rush of dizziness and nausea then, and for a moment he had to sit down.
But after that, nothing.
He had used the stones! Not before, as part
of a reflex action, but as more of a desperate measure. Except he
controlled their power this time, made it act out his will. And he
hadn't been nearly as harmed as he had before. Examining himself,
he found that the bleeding at his side had stopped, and the wound itself
didn't appear nearly as bad as it had initially seemed. Had the stones
healed him? It didn't seem likely- according to Dabiri, the stones
were an immense evil. But if that were so, he would not have been
able to control them. In fact, it might be possible for him to use
the stones for good.... He wasn't sure of the idea, but if it could
be done, then it was a way to destroy Stinnett, once and for all.
Gathering his strength, Michael sheathed his sword
and started walking through Plinth. All the while, he was examining
the stones. Yes, he finally decided, he would use their power.
To destroy Stinnett. Not only that, but he must not allow himself
to be stopped on his way to the demon.
The stones would guarantee that he wouldn't.