Chapter Six
Comes The Hollow

With a flash of light, Cinero was thrown backwards, only barely managing to maintain his footing while he shielded his eyes. All sound was muffled, as if it came from the other side of a closed door. The only thing he heard with crystalline clarity was the voice of Aesling in his head. It was panicked. Terrified. And it was loud.

“No!” she yelled. “His evil was sealed!” Before Cinero could ask what she meant, who she was talking about, his vision returned to him. All of the colour in the room seemed to be draining away, like paint in the rain, coalescing into a shape next to the table on which the Prince had been laid down. Slowly, the shape gained form. The colour streaming into it did not, as Cinero had expected, give it colour, but instead seemed to disappear into an infinite nothingness, taller than any man. Only its skin shimmered, like he had once seen some of Flaveo’s concoctions do when he’d spilled some of his reagents, colours flashing and disappearing into that slick blackness. 

It reached down, a gauntlet forming out of the mass, towards the Prince, still prone on the table. Then it spoke, with a voice like cracking marble, like knives on grindstone, sharp noises that hurt not just the ears but the soul. “Look what you’ve wrought, Princeling,” it said. Its hand just above Prince Clarus’ chest, its voice dripping with malice. “All of your strife, and it was undone… just like that.” It waved another arm that formed out of nothing at the King’s lifeless body. “All for nothing.” Everyone in the room slowly came to their senses, but all were stunned by the tableau before them. “Was it worth it?” Slowly, the Cavean’s face began to form, but there was nothing there. Hollow sockets in a colourless mask scanned the room with malice, a rictus grin fixed on its visage.

Prince Clarus rolled off the table. It was clear the years he had spent seated had not been kind to his physique, and he landed roughly on his knees. Nonetheless, he immediately reached for the broken sword he had dropped, and raised it defiantly. “I stopped you before, you ugly bastard, I’ll do it again.”

“I am certain you will try,” the creature said. Cinero was starting to realise that this thing was, in all likelihood, the Cavean. The monstrous entity that had almost broken through to the Southern Shelf and the Kingdom’s heartlands. The Empire’s last general. Cinero looked around. Rubicus had raised himself to his feet, and he had already drawn his short sword. Flaveo was still scrambling to get up, though judging by his sluggish movements, he had been dazed by the fall. Caerella was nowhere to be seen. “Now then, Princeling,” the Cavean said, “face oblivion.” It grabbed the edge of the giant marble table and tossed it aside like it was nothing. It crashed through the far wall, shattering in a cloud of dust and splinters. The Cavean stepped forward. And then stopped. It turned around. 

Behind it stood one of the King’s advisors. He held a dagger in his shaking hands. Despite his fear, he had still stepped forward and attempted to halt this thing in its tracks. Cinero wasn’t sure he’d have had the wherewithal to do the same. The Cavean’s hollow eyes fixed themselves on the man. 

“Heh,” the Cavean said, and struck the man so hard Cinero could hear the snapping of his bones across the room. He was dead before he hit the ground. “Now,” the creature said, turning around again, “I believe we were in the middle of something.” Prince Clarus had already lunged at it, but it was faster than its sise might indicate, catching the Prince by the throat in a single gloved hand and holding him up. 

“Clarus! You have to do something!” Aesling yelled in Cinero’s head, and her frantic cry shook him out of his stupor. Almost automatically, he took a step forward. The Prince needed help. He was clearly going to die if nobody came to his rescue. Then Cinero felt a hand on his arm. Rubicus charged, the mountain of a man closing the distance with heavy, thudding footsteps. In his off-hand, Cinero saw a vial of magic. Flaveo was on his knees next to his pack, quickly mixing ingredients. Cinero knew he had to do something. Quickly throwing off his own pack, he retrieved one of the smaller swords he knew how to wield with a degree of proficiency, a solid steel blade. He turned to Rubicus in time to see him strike at the Cavean. 

Rubicus, despite his sise, was still easily a foot shorter than the creature, but that didn’t stop him throwing his full strength into the swing. The Cavean dropped the Prince and struck at Rubicus with the back of its hand. Rubicus dodged it, feinting left, then right, the vial of magic to his lips. While he wouldn’t have the time to let it build up, a directed blast of magic was enough to kill anyone at that distance. Rubicus extended his already-glowing sword to the Cavean. It grabbed the sword. Cinero thought it would pull the sword aside, direct the blow to someone else. It didn’t. With a burst of light, colour returned to the room for a moment. A stream of fire and heat obliterated the Cavean’s head. There was a moment of deafening silence. Then, the Cavean’s laughter rolled through the room once again.

“So brutish.” It yanked the sword out of Rubicus’ hand, struck out, and the large man went sailing through the air, landing near Cinero with a thud, the wind audibly knocked out of him. A smaller man would have been knocked out, but Rubicus, Cinero knew, was made of sterner stuff, despite his age. That, and his armor likely lessened the blow somewhat. Cinero rushed over and helped him to his feet and, wordlessly, handed him the large two-hander. Rubicus took it with a grateful nod, and prepared himself for a second charge. 

The Cavean had now turned his attention to them fully, but didn’t approach. He seemed to be ignoring Prince Clarus, who was having trouble even getting to his feet. That was something, at least. Cinero wanted to yell at the Prince, to get out of here, but he couldn’t find his voice. 

“Please! Help him!” 

“How?” Cinero pleaded. At least he could still communicate with Aesling internally. It was a strange relief, even if it did mean acknowledging the fact that he had just accepted the voice inside himself. 

“Keep him busy! The Prince contained him once, he can do it again!” Just as Cinero was starting to resign himself to the possibility of dying to give someone else a chance to stop this evil, he felt a warmth in his chest. “I… I will help where I can, young one!” It spread to his arms and legs, and he felt… strong. Powerful, even. Terrified, he realised he couldn’t direct it to a limb, or expend it in any way. And then it just… stopped. But that wasn’t possible, was it? Magic was a destructive force. It couldn’t just… stay in you. “You can worry about that later, child! Please!!” Aesling’s pleading made Cinero’s heart bleed, and he nodded to Rubicus. If one assault was not enough, two might suffice to keep the Cavean distracted long enough for the Prince to do… whatever it was. 

The two of them charged, Rubicus catching another phial of Flaveo’s magic as it was tossed at him. The Cavean seemed to grow larger the closer he got to it, and the more detail he saw, the more Cinero wished to turn and flee. The roiling skin, soaking up the light and colour from the world around it, seemed to live a life of its own, sometimes like armor, sometimes cloth, sometimes bone. 

“Princeling!” the Cavean said, with… triumph? It sounded almost excited. “I will rend your nation's flesh from its bones! And you will walk through its carcass and know you did this.” It raised its hand and, like from shadow, it seemed to pluck a sword out of the air. “Live, Princeling! Face an oblivion of your own making!” It spun around at the remaining advisors, huddled, cowering against the wall. The Cavean’s sword sung through the air, like the shadow of a bird in flight, and cut through all of them. They fell where they stood, but… not all of them did. Cinero stopped, and Rubicus did too, both of them raising their weapons. Where each of the men had died, a shade stood. A shade with hands ending in talons. With a face contorted into mindless hate. The Cavean turned back to the Prince, and then almost casually glanced at Rubicus and Cinero. “Kill them,” it said with such disdain, such disinterest, it made Cinero feel like an insect, about to be squashed. “Seise the magecraft, he may be of use.” 

The demons, over half a dozen, swarmed around the Cavean like water around rock, and charged at Rubicus and Cinero. The guards by the door seemed to have finally come to their senses. Some rushed forward, to protect their Prince. Others ran out the door. They were no match for the blind rage and ferocity of the shades. Their bodies hit the floor around Rubicus and Cinero while they fought, the large man keeping the shades at bay with wide swings, Cinero diving under his arms to swipe and stab. He was fast, faster than he’d ever been, and he felt strength in his arms he could have never imagined.

It wasn’t enough. They would not be able to keep them back. The Cavean seemed only to observe with mild disinterest as Flaveo was grabbed and dragged away, and the bodies of the fallen soldiers, the ones that were somewhat intact still, were brought by the shades to their master. More demons rose. 

Then, with an unmistakable yawp, a shadow detached itself from the far wall. Cinero didn’t even know when she had snuck into the room, but Caerella had clearly been lying in wait, and now she had leapt forward, the head of her axe cleaving the air towards the Cavean. Its edge gleamed silver in the dim light of the room, and a sound, like a clear bell, rang through the room as it connected with the Cavean. There was a ripping, tearing noise, and then the axe struck the cold floor. The Cavean turned around. 

“That hurt, you know,” it said. “I think I’ll keep you.” It thrust its free hand forward and grabbed at her, but Caerella danced backwards. It wasn’t enough. The shadows in the air around her danced and seemed to flow in on her. She tried to pull away, but even from a distance Cinero saw her movements slow down quickly. Darkness flowed around her, into her, until she was obscured from view. When she finally moved again, she was not herself. Caerella was gone. Something that looked like her and yet distinctly alien, faceless, elongated limbs moving as if underwater, had taken her place. “Much better,” the Cavean said. It turned to Cinero. “Finish this,” it said, and began to stride out of the room. Behind him, the Prince made a final lunge at him, pushing himself off the floor, his broken sword thrust forward. It struck the Cavean’s back and… Nothing. Only silence. Even the shades ceased their assault. 

“Why doesn’t it… why can I not…” Prince Clarus said quietly, his face falling from determination to despair. The Cavean turned around, a horrifying chuckle in its throat. 

“Your magic is not real, Princeling. It was a fluke. Now die. Or don’t. I care not. I’ve a kingdom to burn.” It turned, the shade of Caerella behind it. The Prince fell to his knees, and the shades once again attacked Rubicus and Cinero. Even with the power coursing through him, the many swipes, the claws swiping at his face, he couldn’t deflect them all. 

He heard a yell, and saw claws as long as his forearm pierce through Rubicus’ midriff, right below his heart. In that moment of distraction, he felt his back suddenly run white hot, as if hot water was being poured over him. Then everything rapidly started to get cold. The strength in him ran out of him in rivulets and pooled around his feet. 

It was getting harder to stand. His sword fell from his grip. He sank to his knees. He looked at Prince Clarus, and saw the Prince look back at him. In that brief moment, Cinero was glad to have connected with the man, if even for a brief moment. If he was going to die, there were far worse faces to gaze upon. Then, everything went black, and he was only tangentially aware of hitting the cold floor. 

There was nothing, no sound, no smell, no touch, no colour, as Cinero died. 

“Oh, no you don’t!”

Elamimax

Exciting :3c I'll see you next week!