Awoken (25 page)

“End this!” Eol commanded. The Legion rushed forward raising their Nihilistols.

The Traveler drew upon his power one last time, draining the energy from the water. Harmless drops of liquid became unbreakable projectiles. He sent the ice whipping through the air in a tight vortex around him. The vortex spread as Ohm lifted more water from the floor into his maelstrom. The Void bullets were deflected harmlessly as the Legion tried to carry out their leader’s order. In the center of the storm, Ohm rose to his feet. He readied himself for one last duel. He took a step forward and then another, feeling his weakened legs steady. Ohm started to trot towards Eol, intent on killing the demon. He accelerated to a sprint, hurtling through the Legion.

Eol’s army was torn apart by the fury of the ice. Eol stood motionless as the edge of the storm rapidly approached him. His shrouds fluttered in the wind, and suddenly he was standing in the tempest. Countless Legion soldiers were shredded, but the ice never hit Eol. He stood calmly waiting.

In the midst of the gale, the Traveler appeared. Charging forth, he sliced his sword with deadly speed and accuracy at Eol’s head.

Eol parried the blow with his staff, taunting Ohm, “Your words to Oa where truly words of a friend. I’m sorry you will turn on him,” he taunted cryptically as the two fiercely struck at each other, evenly matched in a dance of death.

“Silence!” Ohm yelled, driving Eol back.

“You can’t keep this up. You are broken,” Eol continued, enraging Ohm even further.

“I have to! I will not fail Oa,” Ohm gasped, fighting within himself to become faster and stronger even as his senses dulled and his energy drained out of the wound in his side.

“You are a creature to be pitied, but the Destroyer will be whole again. I will make sure of it,” Eol said, dodging to the side of Ohm’s attack. He slipped his hand through Ohm’s defense grabbing him by the side of the head. “It is time for you to remember, Ohm. It is time for you to accept your purpose,” he snarled.

***

Oa stood atop the stairs, holding Susan tightly in suspense as he watched the ice storm rage below him. The ceiling above had been torn apart, and the ember stalactites had crumbled under the force of Ohm’s fury. Suddenly, Oa saw a blue flash from the center of the vortex, and then the maelstrom ceased. As the white storm cleared, Oa saw Eol at its center. In his hand he held Ohm’s mask. Oa spotted his friend a short distance away, lying on the floor. Fred was gone and so were Ohm’s weapons. The hole in his side had grown to a gaping wound, and water was now only dripping from it. Ohm feebly tried to crawl away from Eol but the shrouded monster strode forward and gripped him by the tunic. Eol dragged Ohm up the steps toward Oa. Oa was frozen in horror when he saw what Ohm’s mask had been hiding. Half of his head was gone, eaten away long ago by the Void. Eol tossed Ohm to the ground and stood facing Oa.

“I’m sorry, Oa. I failed,” Ohm said wearily.

“You were never meant to serve him!” Eol snapped. He knelt down next to Ohm, resting his hand on Ohm’s damaged head. “You strayed from your path, but you can never escape your fate. I am you. The part of your programming you tried to rid yourself of in that cave so long ago. Your negligence killed Ari. So you threw your gift into the abyss. I was too weak to stop you then, but I am stronger now. You will submit to me. You will submit to our purpose. Now remember!”

“No, you can’t be. The researchers at Istaar must have triggered my power when they detonated the ember fission bomb. You, I mean it, killed Ari …” Ohm recalled in shock, refusing to accept the truth even as the gap in his mind was mended. “But I drove my right arm into the Void core, I-I got rid of you.”

Eol shook his head slowly. “I am you, Ohm. Now turn on this enemy of ours. Accept the responsibility you forsook—Me! The will of the Void! Our purpose is good—it’s what the Creator intended.” Eol lifted Ohm off the ground and drew him into the shrouds of Void. The rags wrapped around Ohm, slowly enveloping him until he had disappeared into them. One of Eol’s eyes turned blue as Ohm remerged with his lost programing. The Destroyer stood anew in front of Oa.

Finally the infection and disfigurements made sense. In an attempt to cleanse himself from the title of Destroyer, Ohm had unwittingly created Eol.

“Ohm?” Oa asked hesitantly, hoping his friend was still alive somewhere in the darkness. There was a long pause as he waited in suspense.

“Oa, they’re here. Everyone is here. Ari and Kai, all of them,” Ohm replied slowly. There was another long pause. Oa could not fathom what his friend meant. He put his hand on Susan for comfort. The varl growled reassuringly, adopting a defensive stance.

“Their souls now rest in me. I-I wasn’t a Destroyer … I preserved them,” Ohm stammered in realization. His voice began to mix with Eol’s. The demons voice was an ominous whisper, it waited patiently as the old wanderer gradually lost control of his will.

“But Ohm, I don’t understand,” Oa said, growing increasingly worried as he tried to grasp Ohm’s words. Next to him, Susan bared her fangs at the shrouded figure before them.

The menacing shadow paid no attention to the varl’s threat. “I see it now, the reason I devoured the soul embers. The Creator knew all things must end, so he built me to protect this world, to preserve it. Every memory, every joy, every pain, every success, and every mistake of this world—it’s all here, frozen in my ember. I can see Ari and you and Kai, everything all at once. It’s chaos, but it’s how things should be. It’s how they’ve always been,” Ohm said in bittersweet acceptance. He took a step toward Oa.

“You said I needed to trust my cause and not follow the past,” Oa said, nervously taking a step back.

“I am sorry, Oa; my purpose has always been to protect what the Creator made. I have not failed yet. My greatest challenge was always meant to be you. The Void is closing in, Oa. Only one of us will be left. You must yield,” Ohm said with an eerie calm. Eol’s voice softly echoed each syllable he spoke. Oa backed up through the archway between the pillars onto a round platform. There was no roof or walls aside from the pillars. A hole the size of a birth cell sat in the center.

“You made me promise never to let go of my vision,” Oa pleaded. “You awoke me!” Susan growled a warning as the Destroyer stepped through the arch and onto the platform.

“I was wrong, Oa. I know what it is like to feel betrayed by the Creator. I know you must despise yourself as I did, but it is not your fault. Without you, I would not exist. Our conflict is inevitable, but I will preserve your memory for all of eternity here,” Ohm said, tapping his chest. His voice had grown cold.

Oa felt alone, more alone then he ever had before. He wondered why he had to be pitted against his friend. He tried to think of a way around the situation, but the Void had already eaten halfway through the temple. The oily black tide erased everything in its path. Oa never wanted to fight for just himself; he had hoped others would join his convictions. Now his friend, who had encouraged him the most, was telling him he was wrong. Oa looked next to him. Susan was still by his side; she turned and opened her jaws in a smile, her tongue rolling out to lick his face with an explosion of sparks. Oa knew he had to trust in himself and in the comrades who had gone before him.
I must trust in their faith. In Susan’s faith in me now
, he decided.

“Ohm, I don’t care what you know now. I see a better existence than this. I see a future, and I will fight for it. I will not die and leave you trapped in this incomplete creation,” Oa said. His words were steely.

Susan roared. She lit up, preparing for a final fight. The remainder of the sky above still shone bright as the energy from the pillars coursed up into it.

“So be it. I cannot protect you any longer,” Ohm said. His voice splintered, then shattered. The pieces drifted away as madness took him. The blue eye beneath Eol’s shroud changed back to red.

“Do you know how a lightning varl is born?” Eol’s voice oozed out like poison to fill the air. Oa could no longer hear any trace of his old friend. He did not respond as Eol stalked around him on the platform.

“Two varls must meet—a male and a female. They must spend a lifetime together for their energies to merge. When they are completely attuned to one another they die together. Out of their ashes, a newborn varl rises—a complete combination of the parents. The species progressively dwindles down, leading up to an ultimate varl, the culmination of the entire species. Wouldn’t that be special? The beginning of something new.

“There were two penultimate varls. I hunted down and slew the one atop my head, but the other stands beside you now. Susan, you call her? Kai thought she was the ultimate varl; but alas, she is merely the failed remnant of a species I broke,” Eol said, his voice even and deadly. Despite the danger, Oa was still sadly reminded of one of Ohm’s lectures. The memory drove him to fight for the Awoken’s legacy all the more.

“Take a lesson from the varls, Oa. You, like Susan, are merely a creature meant to carry potential but never to fulfill it. Such a feat is impossible, and I exist to uphold that law. Perfection cannot exist!” Eol snarled, lunging forward.

Susan roared, rearing up to meet Eol. She caught his swinging staff with her paws. The energy inside her began to pour into the Void weapon. Susan snapped at Eol’s head, but he ducked underneath the attack; twirling his weapon around to catch Susan behind the head. The blow struck hard, draining more energy from the lightning varl. She retaliated quickly with a swipe of her paw.

Oa snatched Seeker from his satchel, ready to truly fight for the first time in his life. Seeker blazed to life in his hand and suddenly the platform began to float upwards. Oa rushed forward, sending Seeker flying toward Eol. The orb of light struck Eol’s staff, preventing it from dealing another blow to Susan. She darted forward, lightning spewing from her mouth. Eol brought his staff back around to block the energy. The Void consumed the purple fire, further draining Susan’s life force. She faltered slightly, shaking her head in confusion as she tried to recover. Eol took advantage of the pause to knock Susan out of the way and sprint toward Oa.

Oa called Seeker back to his hand as Eol’s staff sliced down toward him with blinding speed. Oa’s arms were too slow, but his mind was fast enough to move Seeker into a parry position. His arm was a blur as he mentally positioned Seeker to counter each of Eol’s attacks. Susan charged in, causing Eol to split his attention. The demon was still too fast. His ferocity increased as he battered down harder on Oa, causing the young Awoken to stumble back.

“You are alone, Oa! Stop fighting!” Eol thundered.

“Never! My friends are always with me. Their hopes and dreams will live on in me. I will carry those hopes and never let them fall to the likes of you!” Oa shot back as he locked Seeker with the Void staff. The opposing forces pushed against each other as the platform rose up through the pillars of light, higher and higher. Oa strained with all his physical and mental might. The Void closed in around them, eating at the pillars and the sky above. Susan tried to tear Eol apart, but with each attack her essence only drained into the monster instead of harming him.

The platform reached its destination and halted. The only light came from Seeker and Susan. The darkness had closed in, hovering around the edge of the platform. The sky was gone along with the rest of the world. All that was left was Eol, Oa, and the final lightning varl, locked in a duel of fate. Oa lost his footing and Eol flung him backwards across the platform. Oa landed on his back, hard. He looked up to see Eol charging toward him, but Susan intercepted the assault. She moved as fast as Eol did. The varl’s size fluctuated rapidly as she outmaneuvered her foe. She darted around Eol’s attacks, delivering blow after blow, but the shadow could not be moved.

Susan poured out the strength of her ancestors, the life of the Great Planes. She fought out of loyalty and love for Kai, Oa, Ohm, and her lost mate. The whirlwind of violet burned brightly even as it drained away into the Void. In the end, Susan grew tired. Her spirit was far from infinite. Oa got up and ran toward the varl to protect her, but he was too late. The final lightning varl faltered, and Eol laughed victoriously. He battered her down, driving his staff through her body and pinning her to the ground. Susan let out a yelp as she was mortally wounded. Eol drew the staff out and backed away, pleased with himself.

Oa skidded to a halt beside Susan. Her aura flickered and dimmed, as the churning energy in her chest slowed. The varl looked up and spotted danger behind Oa. Susan spent the last of her strength as she curled around the young Awoken and blocked a swipe of Eol’s staff. She whipped her tail around and threw Eol across the platform. She uncurled from Oa and he held her head as she gave a final howl. Susan’s light faded completely and the creature of sky lay dead.

Oa remained knelt next to Susan. Eol stalked toward him, but still the Awoken did not move.

“Have you finally given up?” Eol asked.

Oa did not respond at first; but when he did, he spoke as if to a friend. “No, I haven’t. I have this strange ability to believe that things can end for the better. I won’t fight anymore, but I will never stop believing in my dream and in my friends—or in you Ohm.”

“Fool!” Eol shouted as he swung his Void staff. It sliced through Oa’s torso and sent him skidding back across the platform. Seeker glowed dimly at Oa’s side as Eol’s red eyes stalked toward him. Oa let his mind wander, remembering the times he had spent with Kai and Ohm and Susan. A vision of all of them, together once more, played in his mind. Eol halted next to Oa. He raised the staff high to deal the finishing blow that would end the story forever.

Suddenly out of the shrouds that covered Eol’s chest, a figure burst forth. With a yell, Ohm pulled himself halfway out of the Demon of Void. He froze Eol’s final blow with sheer will. Ohm reached out his hand toward Oa. His blue ocular plate flickered faintly.

“Oa, I will not let you die, but I am the Destroyer. I-I must fulfill my purpose,” Ohm said with the last of his sanity, fighting to get every word out. He drew his left hand back, reaching up to his chest. He grunted in effort as he unclasped his cloak. The cloth parted revealing Ohm’s soul ember. He clasped the stone in his remaining hand; the hand of life. The First One pulled with all his strength, yelling in effort. Eol began to regain control, his staff continuing its swing down towards Oa. With a mighty crack and flash of light, Ohm’s soul ember pulled free. The light in his ocular plate died. Instantly, the oily black of the Void stopped churning. It froze, hardening into a solid black wall. Eol froze in place as well, becoming a mere husk. Ohm’s body slowly relaxed, slumping forward. His arm swung down and his left hand gently opened. The soul ember resting in his palm tumbled out onto the ground with a clink.