Mark of the Fool

Chapter 880: Piercing the Veil

Hannah’s power sang all through Alex’s being.

She smiled at the Roth family, and it was like the sun coming out after the darkest storm.

“I’m strong now…strong enough to bridge the gap through you, Alex,” she said. “Because you gave me the last bit of energy I needed, Selina. And because you have been channelling your faith through your power, Alex. You and your companions rolled back the grey rain-curtain of the after-world. And now, Carey and I can return.”

She looked at Alex. “Prepare for a power unlike what you have felt before. Prepare to use it to end this war.”

Mr. and Mrs. Roth looked up at Hannah.

“Thank you,” Mr. Roth said.

“For finding us. For helping us to have this moment together,” Mrs. Roth said.

They turned to their children, speaking in tandem.

“We love you and we will be with you, always.”

“But it is time for you to go.”

“But…there’s more—” Selina started to say, then stopped. She looked like she would cry. “You’re right…we can say more later.”

“Much later,” Mrs. Roth insisted.

For one final time, she hugged her children.

“As much as I want to see you, I don’t want to see you for a very long, long, long, long time, do you understand me?”

“Yes mother,” Alex said, hugging her back.

“Now go.” Mr. Roth clapped his children on their shoulders. ‘You have our kingdom to save.”

The light of the after-world blazed brighter

Hannah’s power began pulling at Alex’s soul.

He was the bridge.

And it was time for that bridge to be crossed…and for the door between life and death to be closed.

“Leave Thameland to me,” Hannah said. “I will protect our people.”

She extended her hand. Alex took it.

The light of the after-world flared blindingly bright.

“Farewell, our children,” Mr. Roth said, his image fading.

“We love you,” Mrs. Roth said, her image retreating into the light.

Carey took his other hand.

Selina took her brother’s arm.

Then, they were gone.

Across the planes they flew, the images of the havens and voids within the after-world fading from both Alex’s eyes and his memories at the same time.

They passed through space.

They passed through time.

And for a moment, he…felt as though he was everywhere.

He saw shifting sights.

Forests filled with great wolves.

Vast expanses of space.

Burning stars in the night sky.

A young bald man, travelling with his…two tattooed identical brothers? And their companions.

Without warning, the images abruptly faded.

Alex felt Selina’s spirit—linked to him through blood and their faith in the Traveller—separate from him.

Everything had happened in the space of a single blink for Selina.

One moment, she’d felt a warm touch on her cheek.

She’d looked up and blinked, and as her eyes closed, she’d seen…her parents, her brother, Carey and the Traveller.

Vague memories of her mother and father from when she was a toddler suddenly grew as clear as crystal; the image of her parents in the after-world was as real in her mind as the sun beaming through the windows of the meditation chamber.

The encounter had all taken place in a single blink.

But now, she was back in the meditation chamber.

Back with the Lus.

Back with the queen, the prince, and the royal guard.

Back with…another…

A woman with long black hair was floating in front of her, her white robes radiant in the firelight from the altar. She smiled down at Selina, and the young girl’s hastily shaped clay goddess shuddered, transforming, becoming the perfect miniature replicas of the goddess statues they’d found in the Cave of the Traveller.

“What in th-” Mrs. Lu cried. “Who are you?”

“How did you get in here?” Mr. Lu shouted.

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Light radiated from the woman.

The lantern’s flame swelled, growing brighter.

“Mrs. Lu, this is the Traveller,” Selina sounded awestruck.

The Lus, the queen and everyone else gathered in the chamber gaped, suddenly at a loss for words.

“Thank you all for your faith,” the goddess tilted her head in a bow. “Yours was the last bit of strength I needed to return. You have my blessings: now and always.”

She looked down at Selina’s lantern. “Can I take that?”

Selina silently and vigorously nodded.

“Thank you,” the Traveller said. The lantern teleported to her hand and she looked at the others, her gaze lingering on the sleeping prince. “All will be well. I will focus my strength on Thameland while the Heroes finish this fight. Thameland gave much to me. And I shall give back to her. All will be well.”

The goddess shone with a dazzling light.

Then vanished.

“Oh mighty Traveller…bless us,” Tobias prayed, his eyes closed. “Bless us. Save us. Help us.” His voice echoed through the cathedral.

“Bless us. Save us. Guide us. Let our faith reach you,” the other priests prayed as he did.

Outside, fires raged through the city.

“Bless us,” Tobias continued praying. “Save us. Help us—”

Something warm touched his brow.

Tobias flinched, his eyes looking up.

The high priest gasped, followed by every priest who’d also seen what he had.

Floating before them was a goddess in all her glory, radiant with divine power so pure, it made the high priest weep.

“I am here now.” Her smile was gentle. “Your faith has given me the strength to return to you. And now…that strength is yours.”

The Traveller extended a hand.

Divine power blazed around her palm, issuing from it. Dazzling light spread through the cathedral, touching every priest, wrapping them in warm nimbuses of divinity.

“You are my priests, and also priests of Uldar,” she said.

“The Saint of Alric!” a priest cried.

“The Traveller—the Traveller has returned to us!” another shouted.

“I have joined you,” she said. “And now, it is time for you to join the battle of Ussex. Fight alongside your kin, children of Thameland. I will be with you, in all ways.”

Tobias smiled, his eyes wet with tears.

He remembered his youth; images of a young man entering the clergy, learning his letters and the wonders of faith appeared. That was before the politics, the manoeuvring, the scheming to gain position…it was well before the war and long before he’d learned of Uldar’s betrayal.

Back in those early days, he’d only known the ecstasy and love he’d felt in embracing what he’d thought was a loving and kind deity.

And now…

…now that feeling was back. He could feel kindness embracing them, and he did not feel afraid.

The old man rose to his feet, standing straighter than he had in years.

He turned to his priests, eyes flashing.

“Priests of Uldar! Priests of the Traveller! Go forth with me and smite the creatures plaguing our home! Send them to the after-world! Save this land!” he roared.

The priesthood raised their voices, joining with him, every nimbus of light surrounding them growing brighter.

Above the altar, the Traveller waved a hand. “Go forth.”

Tobias and the other priests flashed with blinding light, then vanished.

“Your majesty! Watch out!” a knight cried.

He threw himself between King Athelstan and a spawn knight, screaming as its back legs skewered him.

“Damn you, filthy-spawn!” The king drove Uldar’s blade through the spawn knight’s head.

The creature shuddered and died.

Panting, King Athelstan looked at a street filled with bodies, blood flowing down the cobblestones in a stream.

Fires raged in the distance.

And all the while, he could see titans and more Ravener-spawn approaching Ussex.

In the distance…were those clouds of fire?

Coming so fast, against the wind?

He knew at that moment that he was going to die here, and his city would die with him.

Taking a deep breath as war raged around him, and preparing for death…a blazing light caught his eye.

“What?” Athelstan spun around.

Far in the distance—mounted high on a hill—the cathedral of Ussex was shining, as if burning, like a miniature sun had been born within the building and was casting its glow through the stained glass windows.

A bell started tolling.

“What is that—?” King Athelstan murmured.

A column of light suddenly rose from the stones beside him, and in a blink, the high priest of Thameland stepped from it. The old man looked ten years younger. His shoulders were squared, his eyes burned with life, faith and hope.

Throughout the street, Ravener-spawn stopped dead, staring at the luminescent mortals who’d appeared beside the king. Soldiers of the Thameish army paused, their eyes caught by the beautiful light surrounding the white-robed priests.

Tobias raised his hands. “And so she appeared before us, burning lantern in hand.”

His voice rang through the city.

“And she did say: go forth.”

A wave of divine light erupted from his body, washing over the street.

Every mortal that it touched began to glow with holy light, wounds closing, fatigue leaving them. Divine energy clung to their weapons and armour, granting them renewed strength.

The Ravener-spawn did not fare as well when the light touched them.

Shrieking as flesh ruptured, divine flame danced along their skin, marrow turned to ash, drifting from cracking bones. They fell by the dozens, collapsing on the bloody road, turning to husks of ash and dust.

“It’s a miracle,” the king murmured. “What is happening?”

“Look up!” Tobias pointed to the sky, his voice booming over the city. “Your faith has been rewarded, children of Thameland. Look and see the Saint of Alric, she has returned!”

The king craned his neck, looking up at the sky.

He dropped to his knees.

Floating above Ussex—at least a hundred feet tall—was the image of a goddess, a lantern was clasped in her hand. Within the lantern holy fire blazed, while her eyes blazed with divine wrath.

She lifted the lantern, it burned brighter.

Beyond the city walls, oncoming hordes of Ravener-spawn paused, flinching at the light.

The image of the goddess fixed her burning eyes on them.

She spoke four words:

“You shall not pass.”

The light in the lantern flared.

Ravener-spawn vanished.

In an instant, thousands of Ravener-spawn were gone. The black balls with burning wings, air blasters, titans and more…were all just gone.

“It’s…it's a miracle!” the king shouted. “A miracle for Thameland!”

He raised his voice, and the entire city answered.

Part-roar and part-cheer, the soldiers' voices thundered beneath the blinding light of the Traveller and the morning sun. Their cries echoed through the sky, and spawn within the city’s walls shrank back.

“I must bring aid to other parts of Thameland,” the Traveller said. “You have my blessing. Use it. Go forth. Destroy the Ravener’s spawn. All will be well.”

The goddess blazed brighter and vanished.

“You heard the Traveller!” the king shouted. “We have been given aid and reprieve! Let us retake our city!”

Ezerak smiled, looking down at the divine light playing across his curved sword. Around him, his horde of tattoo-monsters were filled with renewed vigour.

The fallen king let out a giddy laugh. “Looks like I won’t be seeing another kingdom fall today!”

“Indeed!” Kyembe raised his blazing sword. “Come, then. Glory is to be had, and we have more of our people to find in the city.” He gave Ezerak a sly look. “I would wager that I shall slay more monsters than you and your army by the end of this.”

Ezerak grinned at him. “You’re on.”

Together, the two men jumped from the roof, landing on hapless Ravener-spawn standing below; they began swinging their weapons, cutting a path of bloody ruin through the monsters.

Wurhi of Zabyalla shook her head, completely bewildered.

“What in every hell happened to those monsters outside the city,” she wondered, climbing down the building to rejoin her two companions.

Far from the battlefield, far from Thameland and far from the planet on which that kingdom existed…

…there abided a star.

It burned blue in the inky sea of stars, bringing a heat to the cold emptiness of space around it.

One might have thought the star lonely, as there were no planets nearby to keep it company.

Nothing had approached—not even a comet—in hundreds of years.

Until now.

For the briefest of heartbeats, an apocalyptic army of monsters appeared a few hundred feet from the star’s surface. A moment before, they’d been a horde of fierce creatures capable of rending cities apart and striking terror into enemies.

But now?

Now they did not have the time or breath to even let out a short scream before the star burned them to nothingness.

And so the star was alone again.

But, that would not be the case for long.