XLVIII. I Bring You Death

The inside of Yggdrasil was a massive courtyard arranged around the central shaft of the tree, with shops, offices and a barracks carved into the wood. Intricate scenes of ancient elven history were etched into the walls and painted in vibrant greens, dulcet blues and mother of pearl whites. A massive staircase with banisters carved in elegant lines circled the central shaft up to the second level, the polished floor was painted red and littered with the half-eaten corpses of elves. Several flat faced, furry quadrupeds with the mouth and eyes of an arachnid looked up from their meals and bounded across the atrium to meet Aichlan and Maleah as they entered.

Aichlan shoved his sword into the vertical mouth of the strange creature and kicked it free from his blade. Maleah thrust her spear and skewered one in a similar fashion, pulling her weapon free to slash at its leg. As the fuzzball attempted to right itself, she plunged her short sword into its face while Aichlan finished off the last. Rowena entered, followed by Clarissa, Alice, Eth and Donough. Hot tears burned in Rowena’s eyes as she took in the carnage before her, her fist clenched at her side as she trembled with grief and rage.

“Where to?” Aichlan asked as delicately as he was able.

Rowena shook her head as if to dismiss the feelings of guilt and anger roiling within, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. “The temple is in the canopy.”

Donough whistled and craned his neck towards the incredibly high ceiling. “How far up is that?”

Rowena picked up a quiver of arrows from the corpse of a fallen elf. “It’s far.”

Without a word, Maleah shook the blood from her blade and marched towards the staircase. Her posture and movements screamed of a fanatical determinism that would only end in someone’s death.

“Maleah.” Aichlan sheathed his sword and stepped forward. “Hold a moment.”

Maleah stopped, but did not turn to face him. “What?”

“We do this together or not at all, you rush in there with this chip on your shoulder thinking you’ve got something to prove, you’ll only wind up dead; and end up getting all of us killed as well.”

Maleah clenched her fists as her shoulders tensed. “You don’t know anything about this, this is—”

“He’s your brother and you love him, I fucking get it.”

Maleah spun around and locked her ruby eyes with his as tears spilled down her cheeks.

“He’s your brother, and he betrayed you.” Aichlan said in a somewhat softer tone. “That is his sin, his burden. Not yours.”

“I’ll do what is needed.”

“I should hope so,” Aichlan rested his hand on the pommel of his sword as he approached, “that child you were with, she needs you.”

In an instant, her tension was released, replaced with fear and genuine concern, confirming Aichlan’s suspicions. They were related, that little girl was likely Osric’s. There was no other explanation for this magic using child to appear so inexplicably.

Aichlan placed his hand on Maleah’s shoulder and leaned in close. “She’s likely to lose a father today, don’t let her lose an aunt as well.”

She did not reply, nor did Aichlan really expect her too, he had said what he needed. He waved his hand in a circular motion overhead, signaling for the group to follow. While he would have preferred Alice and Clarissa to have stayed far behind, he knew that they would be invaluable in the struggle to come.

* * *

The second level was nearly three stories above them, and the winding staircase wrapped around the central shaft with no landings or places to rest. The second level was a town center of sorts, with a great orb floating overhead like an artificial sun. There were parks and gardens on the verandas, giving the illusion that they were outside when in fact, they were in a giant tree. They encountered more of the same however, corpses of soldiers and civilians strewn about the streets, shambling undead and terrors of Dusk running rampant.

Rowena rang the bell to the gondola, a pulley and chain device that was meant to ferry travelers to the higher levels, but as should have been expected, it was out of order. The operators on the upper levels had either fled or more likely, been killed.

“If we go up another level, we’ll be in the cloud districts.” Rowena explained as she scavenged more arrows from the fallen. “We can head out to the branches and take an external lift up to the temple, those are automatic, running constantly on wind power and hydraulic pressure of water moving up and down the trunk.”

The distance between the second and third levels was nearly twice as high as the first was from the second. At several points, they were forced to do battle with corpses that reanimated at their approach. By the time they reached the third level, they were drenched in sweat and exhausted.

The third level was much like the first, with wide open spaces and shops lining the outer walls, and great arched gateways leading out to the different branches; branches that each held a different city for each compass point.

As the group marched wearily towards the north exit, their path was blocked by an explosion of black smoke. The smoke coalesced into human form, becoming the witch Morana before their eyes. Clarissa made the sign of the Dawn and retreated behind Eth as both Aichlan and Rowena’s hearts skipped a beat and their stomachs rose to their throats. They had seen her power before, and only narrowly survived. Even Donough, never one to shrink from a challenge, was visibly shaken.

Morana tossed her hair, shedding a flurry of snowflakes and glittering ice crystals. She stretched sensuously, her arms wrapped in wide silk sleeves attached by silver armlets. Her skin was like snow, barely contained in a black bustier loincloth combination with silver embroidery. True to her namesake, she wore a belt of silver hoops with dozens of keys about her waist, and thigh high black stockings and heeled ankle boots. For a woman who embodied death and winter, she was stunningly attractive.

Slowly, she opened her glacial blue eyes, filling the sprawling room with her oppressive presence. A primal terror wafted from her, in conjunction with a contradictory eroticism. The group of would be challengers physically buckled under the weight of her black aura. She folded her arms across her chest and regarded each of them with a casual nonchalance. The only sound was the click of her metal claws against the silver armlets.

“Well,” Morana smiled, her red lips glistened like the blood on the jaws of a predator. “Which of you is to die first?”

With some effort, Alice stepped forward and awkwardly raised her hand. “I shall be your opponent.”

Aichlan snatched her back and drew his sword. “Like hell you are.”

Alice wrenched her arm free and stepped forward more emphatically. “Fight me and let the others pass.”

Morana laughed aloud, her eyes cold with disdain and boredom. “Little girl, why the hell would I do that?”

“Eth, grab her.” Aichlan ordered as he and Donough took up position as vanguard.

“What are you afraid of?!” Alice shouted before Eth clamped his hand over her mouth.

Morana rolled her eyes and clicked her fingers together. In an instant, Aichlan, Eth, and Donough were sent flying back several feet. Alice screamed and looked back in horror, only for Morana to warp through space and reappear standing mere inches from her face.

“Your attempts to exploit my anger are foolish, little girl. Effective, but foolish all the same.”

Alice swallowed hard and tried to stand as tall as she was able. “I-if you’re as powerful as you claim, it should be a simple matter to finish me and finish off my comrades before they reach your master.”

Morana struck out like a viper and clutched Alice’s face in her claws. “He is not my master child.”

Morana shoved Alice back onto her ass and turned her back on them in revulsion. As Alice pulled herself to her feet, Morana spun back around and aimed a finger at the young mage.

“You don’t even have a title, child. Do you even know with whom you are proposing this duel?”

Alice wiped the blood from her cheek. “Does it matter?”

Before the witch could answer, Aichlan charged at her, his sword raised, shrieking like a man possessed. Morana casually waved her hand and he froze in place mid- stride. Aichlan’s face strained and contorted, but try as he might, he could not force his limbs to move. Eth and Donough hurled themselves at the witch on plumes of fire, and she similarly halted them with only a glance. Rowena launched an arrow, which Morana caught easily in her fingers. She blew as if extinguishing a candle, and Rowena tumbling head over heels into a wall, pinned in place by a constant gale.

“You think this lot would fare much better against Ozzy?” Morana glanced at Maleah, who took up a defensive stance but made no moves against her. “Ah, the sister, we meet again.”

Maleah positioned herself away from Aichlan and Alice, motioning for Clarissa to flee. “I have Keres.”

“Who?” Morana picked the lint from her garments. “Oh, the child. Glad to see that wasn’t a total waste. You have my thanks.”

“Is that all you have to say about your own daughter?”

Morana shot Maleah a blood chilling look, causing the cavalier to stumble back a step, losing whatever composure she had left. “I’m really not in the mood.”

“I am your oppon—“

Morana hurled an orb of black energy at Alice. “You are nothing.”

Alice clapped her hands together and raised a crosshatched wall of lightning in front of her. The orb struck with the force of an eruption, exploding into a viscous cloud of miasma and black flames. The wall of electricity strained and buckled, but ultimately held. Alice released the spell as the smoke cleared, gasping from the exertion.

“Oh?” Morana teased, her interest piqued. “You cast directly from the spirit.”

“Send my friends ahead,” Alice gasped, struggling for breath amid the smoke and fire, “seal the room and fight me.”

Morana frowned. “And just like that, the magic is gone. No. I stand to gain nothing, I only humored you this long out of boredom.”

“What of your pride!” Alice screamed, stumbling forward as she charged another spell.

Alice released a massive bolt from both hands at the witch, which she effortlessly batted away with her hand.

“I spent an eternity being raped to death by demons, if you think I have pride left after that, you’re—” Morana looked down at her burned and ruined hand with growing rage and horror. “You little cunt—!” Morana took a deep breath and concentrated her energies to restore her hand. “That was a very foolish thing to do child.”

Lightning rippled across Alice’s body. “Send them away and teach me a lesson then.”

Morana fumed for several moments, abruptly switching to a giddy smile as she shuddered with anticipation. She cast her smiling, glacial blue eyes on Alice, and clicked her fingers together once.