Mana Mutation Menace (Journey to Chaos Book 3) (75 page)

“They were going stir crazy in here. It was only a matter
of time before Meza marched out to slaughter, burn, and neuter, and thereby
cause another war. Trust me; I’ve seen it happen.”

“But they’re only a handful of the population. There are
children here who will
never
feel safe again. They’ll have nightmares
for ages.”

“Does Ponix come back alive and hale from his missions?”

“Yes, but…”

“Has Quando found success outside the village?”

“Yes, but…”

“Has Annala matured, made progress toward discovering her
Eternal Hobby, and brought home a boyfriend more compatible with her than
Ralm?”

“All true.”

“Rejoice! If nothing else, your village is now forever
safe from its greatest enemy.”

"Then why do I feel lower than Dengel?"

"Because you have a compassionate and caring heart."

She snorted. "Flatterer."

Tasio replaced his lawyer costume with one more suited for
a great and glorious god. Hovering above Nunnal, he placed his blessed hands on
her head and declared,

“I am your
deity. I formally absolve you of any and all wrongdoing. Now go out and enjoy
the party with your family. Thus says The Trickster!”

Nunnal giggled so much she couldn’t speak. Tasio put his
hands on his hips and affected an air of divine indignation, but this only made
it worse. He pointed to the exit, and, still laughing, she obeyed.

In the village square, everyone was celebrating their
victory over the anathema of their race. There was dancing, singing, feasting,
and a great deal of alcohol. At an enormous stone table, they enjoyed
themselves. It was circular and extended into the sky in a series of rings.

 Eric sat with Annala on one side and Kallen on the other.
All three were eating delicacies and giving each other recommendations, but it
took some convincing on Eric’s part to convince Annala to sit with them. She
thought it a breach of protocol to sit at the same table as her master but at
the same time, she refused to accept an order to join him because he ordered
her to ignore his orders. In the end, he convinced her with the logic that a
servant who doesn’t eat will not be strong enough to perform her duties and
there was only one table prepared.

Emily sat on Kallen’s other side and watched the servant
argue with her master about showing the proper respect to him. It was one more
weird thing on this weird planet that Eric dragged her to. Eventually, she
tired of it and ate her own meal.

“Emily?”

“Yes, Boss?”

“Say ahh.”

“But that’s embarrumph.” She swallowed.

“How is it?”

Blushing, she said, “Good.”

“Then I’ll try some. Thanks for the advice.”

Many young elves came by one or two at a time seeking a
different sort of advice. They wanted to see the outside world, but now that
their parents had finally agreed to support their decision, they were unsure
and hesitant. Kallen and Emily told them of their travels in
Albatross IX
and, at the same time, warned them that such adventures were not for the timid.

A little further down, Hailey delicately ate a chunk of
meat and pretended that she didn't notice Forge stealing glances at her. Tiza,
sitting next to her, exaggerated Hailey's table manners with her nose high in
the air. Hailey laughed and shoveled food with her bare hands while grunting
and snorting, which made Tiza laugh. Nolien smiled fondly until he bit
something spicy. He hopped in his seat and made a funny face and the girls
laughed at him.

Meza and Alexis, both of them fully elven, had carved out
a ring for themselves and their followers. They all told each other of their
heroic deeds in the village’s defense; how many people they saved and how many
enforcers they slayed and how many times they were surrounded. The most popular
story of all was Meza and Alexis going head-to-head with an incarnation of
Order himself with Tasio’s own Seraph of Chaos blades.

Nunnal found her way to her husband, who was sitting with
Mebalos and Kurami and comparing baby pictures of their children. There was a
space reserved for her in their midst and she joined the conversation. Over the
course of the meal, they also discussed regular visits between their homes,
student exchange programs, and of course, cooperation in the development of
technology for treating mana mutation.

Headman Jade cleared his throat and stood up.

“My brethren, today is truly a great day. Today, we
welcome new friends to our table and I foresee a new age of prosperity for us
all. One where mana mutation is regarded as the common cold and enslavement by
Order nothing but a ghost story to tell in safety and comfort." He raised
his goblet. "A toast to the new age!"

All cheered and drank.

"Today, we thank our guardians, both official and
otherwise, for defending our village in its darkest hour. A toast to the
camaraderie between humans and elves!"

All cheered and drank.

“We praise our patron god, Tasio the Trickster, for his
mercy and compassion and also for crafting the champions that saved us this
day. A toast to the glory of Chaos!”

All cheered and drank.

"Most of all, today, we honor these champions, Quando
Yahoeu, Alexis Enaz, Meza Filef, Eric Watley, and Kallen Enaz. Together, they
vanquished an ordercrafter possessed by Order himself! Three cheers for our
heroes!"

Amidst all the cheering, clamoring and intoxication,
Annala sneaked a quick and chaste kiss on Eric’s cheek. He touched the area,
smiled, and believed in his heart that they were going to be all right.

From the Abyss, Gruffle the Reaper watched him celebrate
with hatred in his eyes.

“Remember, Caesar, thou art mortal.”

Eric’s journey continues!

The ground shook and the air trembled as the Astral
Oversoul roared. The people of Coral Plane screamed and scattered, but there
was no escaping the terror of its spiritual presence. One little boy was too
slow and its spiritual tendrils impaled him from behind. He withered like an
insect as the creature brought him to its great maw.

"NOT TODAY!"

A golden-brown blur severed the hand, then swerved in
midair back to the falling boy. Catching him in her arms, she placed him safely
on the ground. Then she waved her staff over him and intoned the words of a
chaotic prayer.

"Interesting times are dangerous times; boring ones
safe. For now, stay safe!"

A pale gold aura encompassed the boy and she pushed him
away.

"This will only hold for a few minutes. Go find your
parents and don't wander off again."

"Thanks, lady!"

The creature brought down its mighty hand on her and she
simply raised her staff to block it. The explosion of energy shattered the
ground immediately around her but couldn't hurt the boy or herself.

"You're welcome. I'm here to help."

The kid scampered off while the lady squared off against
the soul creature.

It was forty feet tall and had a body like a dragon. Due to
its spiritual nature, its body was also ethereal and transparent. It had many
arms down its length like a caterpillar and all of them were tipped with both
hands and feelers. Its head was a giant set of pincers.

 She herself was about five and a half feet tall. Her hair
was long and golden-brown, and two pointed ears poked out of it. Her only armor
was a fancy priestess habit and her only weapons were a bow, a quiver full of
arrows, a staff without a blade, and a
paidrin
necklace. The spirit
monster reached out to grab her and she did not defend herself. Instead, she
shouted, "Perrault, go!"

A golden-brown wolf appeared at her side and lunged at the
hostile hand. Her teeth sank into its flesh, despite its incorporeal nature,
and melted it down to the creature's wrist.

"Keep him busy while I prepare the killing blow."

The wolf nodded and then scampered up the spirit creature's
main body. Along the way, it bit and tore, and each wound released a stream of
grey gas.

Shrinking the staff, the elf placed it behind her ear. Then
she took the bow and nocked an arrow. Pulling the string back, she generated a
magic circle underneath her feet. This described the spell she was to perform.
It contained routines for channeling her chaotic power in addition to her faith
in Lady Chaos, along with the intended mechanical function. It was not a spell
of destruction but exorcism. With the spell construction complete, she took aim
at the creature.

"It's time for you to go back to the veins of
Noitearc!"

She released the drawstring and the arrow soared through
the sky. Striking the creature's center of mass, it released its payload of
holy power. Ten screams across ten thousand pitches filled the area, as the
spirit monster disintegrated. In its place was a towering mass of grey smoke.
The ten screams came from the ten souls trapped within the monster as it flew
about in fear and confusion. Again the arrow flashed as its secondary function
activated.

From its point, a circle appeared in the air. This circle
expanded until it was the size of a bus and its insides filled with a complex
magical rune. It pulsed once and the writing faded to reveal a tunnel of
rainbow light.

"Off you go!"

Air was drawn into the portal and the souls along with it. All
of them resisted, but none of them escaped. All were pulled into the veins of
Noitearc without fail. Perrault tossed the last one in herself. Her mistress
scanned the area to make sure they didn't miss any, then she snapped her
fingers. The portal closed without fuss.

Perrault trotted to her mistress' side and heeled. The elf
knelt and petted her head while rubbing her back.

"Good girl!"

"Cleaning up after your boyfriend?"

Floating behind the elf and wolf was a demonic troll.
He
was squat in height and broader in bulk. His skin was pale, molting, and
rotten. He wore an oversized and threadbare black robe through which ratty
black bat wings emerged. The robe’s hood concealed his face except for his long
and liver spotted nose. Low-grade divinity shined within him and cast his
decaying essence forward. His scythe was a worm-eaten wooden pole with a bronze
blade coated in patina.

Looking at him made her sick, so she spoke with her back to him. "I
am and I wouldn't have to if you did your job,
Reaper
."

"I don't have to until I fulfill my Final Wish, which you are
preventing me from doing."

Perrault barked at him.

"All I'm preventing you from doing is exploiting the souls of the
dead for a petty grudge."

"So much damage and so much trouble; it would be better for the
world and everyone in it if you would let me kill him."

The elf gripped her bow tighter but still did not face him. She didn't
want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her anger. One look at that ugly
and smug face of his and she might launch another arrow at him. He loved
illustrating how she couldn't hurt him.

"You will
never
kill him."

"'Never' is a big word, Priestess. Aren't you always preaching about
how 'all things are possible with chaos'?"

The elf spun around and nocked an arrow.

"
Including your death!
"

The reaper laughed. He pointed
and
laughed. The elf grumbled as
she put away her bow and arrow. Then she knelt again and whispered into her
familiar's ear.

"Bite him."

Perrault dashed forwards and snapped up the demonic troll's left foot. He
yelled and shook her left and right, and when he finally dislodged her, it was
because she took his foot clean off. The elf laughed at him. She pointed
and
laughed.

"That was immature of you,
Annala
."

The elf immediately stopped laughing. "Do
not
use my real
name. You might cause a paradox. Unless you're talking to my mainstream self,
you have to call me 'Priestess.'"

This started him laughing again. "You've been watching too much CV,
Priestess
.
I suppose you're going to run off and do another thing now? Take your companion
and crisscross time and space to make sure everybody lives?"

"Yes, I am."

"You will fail. I have permission from Lord Death himself. The
problem with fighting death is that you can never
ever
win."

All of a sudden, the elf shimmered with golden-brown light. So did her
familiar. She examined her hand as it became transparent.

"Looks like there's no more time for banter, Reaper. We can pick it
up again next time." Smirking, she said one more word. "
Allons-y
!"

She winked out of existence.

I hope you enjoyed Journey to Chaos Book 3:
Mana Mutation Menace
.
Writing this one was strange because it was originally the second half of
Looming Shadow, so it was basically done last year. There was little of that
"surpass Dengel" plot thread after Eric became a grendel; that scene
where Eric spat on Dengel's statue was it. I wrestled around with breaking it
off for a couple days and then I made the decision to do it. It was like
splitting a heavy load.

The new center of gravity would clearly be the Mana Mutation Summit, but
it was no easy feat to reorient the story around it. The first couple of chapters
had to be completely redone because they were wholly insufficient to reflect
this new center of gravity. Everything in Dnnac Ledo is different from the
previous draft because it had to be framed as relating to Annala's diplomatic
mission. The Summit itself had significant changes, or rather, a great deal of
fleshing out to truly establish it as the center of gravity. Eric's monsanity
required many little tweaks and changes through the entire manuscript. That was
fun to imagine (and it also provided an excuse not to use concrete economics!).

In other words, this book was done last year and then redone this year.
Book 4 is in its first draft right now. Four out of five arcs are done. It will
come out sometime next year (2016).

Please leave a review for this book on Amazon or
Goodreads or something. If you liked it, that's encouraging; if you didn't,
then I'd like to know where I can improve. Also, if you're active on
Tvtropes.org, I'd like to see "moment" subpages show up.

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you again
next time!