Eight Gods on a Windowsill

Chapter 11: Rejection



 Abryi led me to the lake very early in the morning. The sun was barely up. I hated getting up this early. But, even I understood that if I were to master whatever ability I had, I needed to train as much as I could. At the shore of the lake, a small dilapidated dingy was berthed to a makeshift dock. The dock looked as though a good wind would cause it to sink into the lake. The boards were worm-eaten and dry-rotted.

 "On the boat." Abryi said abruptly.

 I did as he said. I didn't know exactly what kind of training we would do or where he was taking me. What I did come to understand was this, Abryi was serious. He stood there with his arms crossed as he watched me. I had never seen him take such a serious tone since the day we met. Even then, it was because he was scolding Hina.

 He rowed the boat out into the water. He didn't say a word until we reached a large island in the middle of Wright Patman Lake. Bells Island.

 "Out."

 I clumsily left the boat and drudged myself ashore. "Abryi, what are we doing here?" I asked once I had the chance to survey my surroundings. Bells Island had been uninhabited for more than a thousand years. Since before the Sandlands existed.

 "I took you to a place that I don't have to hold back." Came his response, as he summoned Malda once more from the void. "If we are to master this ability of yours, I cannot afford to do so. Not to mention, we will need to strengthen your endurance." He strapped Malda to his back as he spoke, using a leather harness that snapped to a metal plate on his shoulder. "First, you will run."

 Ran I did. I continued to run in the sand along the shore until I was very nearly out of breath. I could feel the sand weighing me down with each step I took, clinging to my feet, desperately trying to pull me into it. Abryi had managed to keep up with me the entire time, which I was not surprised by. After all, he had trained for battle. What he did next, I was not ready for.

 "Black Slash!"

 I could feel the weight of his strike, the heat of his flames against my back. There was no pain, only heat and then nothing. I turned around to see black flames scattered across the sand. Malda was glowing bright black. Abryi was readying himself for another swing.

 "Black Slash!" 

 This time, I anticipated his swing and dodged out of the way. I was already breathing very heavy. Abryi, however, was barely breaking a sweat. He continued to slash at me over and over. I dodged what I could and tried to deflect what I couldn't. After a while, the sands were burnt around me. The hairs on my arms were also singed.

 Abryi paused for a second, studying the distance between us. His eyes darted from the scorch marks that were all around me. I could see the wheels spinning in his head, calculating the speed of my dodges and my reaction time only by the evidence I left behind.

 I was already haggard. I was gulping air, trying my best to steady my heart and return myself to a rested feeling. I knew he was planning something. My reactions were not as quick as if he had come at me before I ran. He was doing this on purpose, probably trying to force my stamina to increase.

 He pulled Malda over his shoulder, took a deep breath, and in a quick motion, he sent two waves of black flames out in an X pattern. The waves moved faster than before. "Black Cross!" He didn't let up. He sent out a couple of these types of strikes, one after the other.

 The waves were too fast for me to dodge. I put up my hands to try to absorb some of the pressure or negate the attack altogether. I had no idea if it was possible.

 As it hit, I could feel it pushing me backward, forcing me across the sand. I could feel the heat of it against my body. And then, Abryi ran close, swinging desperately into his flames. The force of his strike came down like a boulder against the already crushing imposition from his earlier attack. My knees were going to give. I willed myself not to be overcome, but it was proving a very impractical task.

 Then, I heard it. "Chthonic Axe!"

 The resulting explosion was deafeningly huge. A tremendous cloud of dust formed from the impact. I could hear groaning and clinking. The world was black and felt like it was spinning faster than it normally did. I felt like I had been hit by a starship.

 "Mazbruk." I heard Abryi groan.

 I took a staggered breath and slowly opened my eyes. I could see the sky above. I could feel the wetness of drops fall upon my face. It had begun to drizzle. Trees more than a quarter mile wide around the impact were blown over. I looked down past my legs. The dust was beginning to settle. The crater was enormous, with two deep channels leading out to the shore where Campbell stood ankle-deep in water. Abryi had been sent flying back into a couple of trees and came to rest atop one of the overturned trees.

 I watched as Abryi staggered to his feet, using his sword as a cane to steady himself until he achieved balance. Malda was now trained on Campbell. The look on his face showed more than just confusion. But, his brain couldn't process everything.

 I struggled to my feet, stumbling as I arose. I still felt a little dizzy. The world was spinning. My clothes were torn and dirty. My back ached. Once I got my bearings, I looked over Campbell and realized he was unarmed and unharmed. He stood there like a statue, arms crossed and a crazy bloodlust in his eyes.

 "I can't believe you decided to train and didn't invite me to join."

 "How did you even make it here?" Abryi asked, breathing a little heavy. Malda was still trained on Campbell. He wasn't about to let down his guard.

 "I ran."

 "Across the water?" I balked at the notion.

 Campbell just smiled.

 "And, you thought it wise to just attack us?"

 "What and ruin the element of surprise? I thought you wanted to test her limits, your majesty." Campbell was quick to justify his actions. Instead of saying anything else, he rushed towards me.

 Abryi sent a flaming slash at Campbell, only for my attacker to tank his assault by just raising his arm against it. Campbell pulled his other arm back as far as it would go, making himself appear as if he were fully sprinting.

 Campbell was quick. He was upon me before Abryi could make another attempt to slow him down. I hadn't even the time to process a reaction yet. The next thing I knew, Campbell's fist was beside my face. I could feel the wind rushing past me and the sound of trees being felled. I fell onto my ass. He managed to knock over trees without touching them. He even made my legs feel weak. They were shaking.

 "Your defense isn't even strong enough to deflect my attacks. Yet." Campbell said. His tone was very matter-of-fact like nothing had just happened and he had only been observing. "I thought because you are the daughter of the Ram, you would have his abilities." He made an audible sound of thought. A humph of disapproval as it were. He slid a strap off his shoulder and something hit the sand with a loud thump.

 Finally, my senses began to return to me. I glanced at Abryi slowly walking over and then to Campbell, who by now was bent over the bag and rummaging through it. "Wait, what?"

 "She does, in fact, have his abilities." Abryi mentioned when he finally made it next to me and Campbell. "What she doesn't have is stamina and control. Yet."

 Campbell tossed Abryi a bottle and a package, which he caught with ease. "Figured you could use some fuel for our training." Without looking up, he passed me one also, stretching out his hands. "What about you?"

 "Thanks." I took them and began to partake. Perhaps the food would make some of the dizziness fade. I could already feel my breath returning to normal. The only remnant was the apprehension and dread lurking in my bones.

 "I'd like to enjoy a break with you two before we begin again." Campbell suggested. He slowly returned to his feet. "First, we have company."

 With no warning, a black summoning circle appeared in the middle of the crater formed by Campbell's kick. Black dust swirled around in a column forming the image of someone whose form I was beginning to become accustomed to seeing. Six mechanical spider legs. A humanoid torso covered in a metal vest. Mechanical arms dangling before him, fingers twitching. His face looked like a spider and a human at the same time. Pedipalps and chelicerae sat on the outermost corners of his mouth. His teeth were fangs of all sizes. His eyes made their way up his face in two vertical columns, six in total.

 "Yog Thalthos." The three of us remarked at the same time.

 The spider god winced again. Even his personality reminded me of a spider. Confident when he thought his prey was in his trap and skittish otherwise. Perhaps the lack of his hell-hounds made him even more skittish. I could feel his discouragement as he realized his ambush was thwarted.

 "The last time I was here, child of the Ram, you took something that belongs to me." Yog said with a melodic tone that also held firmness, talking with his hands in a way that he only moved his wrists and elbows. "But, I doubt you will bother giving it to me willingly. So, I am here to take it by force." The smirk on his face told me his confidence returned.

 As Yog pointed his spinnerets at me, Campbell took the chance to try to catch the spider god off guard and came in running as fast as he could, gearing up for what looked like a double punch. But, he instead punched in rapid succession as if trying to break through his opponent's chitin shell.

 Yog put up both of his hands to block the attack and was pushed back a little. And, it was at that moment, Abryi took to firing off the faster attacks he had been using against me before, only for Yog to block them with one of his legs. Yog had yet to take any damage at all.

 I could sense his frustration.

 Yog mumbled something to himself. I couldn't make out what. Instead, the evidence of what he attempted made itself clear. His two large hell-hounds manifested from the black dust much like their master. "Kratos, Kerberos. You know what to do."

 Immediately, the hell-hounds rushed me. If they had divided themselves like before, I would have no doubts that I could take them on. Or, at least, occupy them. But, as they were, I was not sure at all.

 Campbell wasn't about to give his opponent any chance to breathe. "Lion Strike!" He Captain Kirked a double fist punch right to Yog's mid-back. It came down like a hammer with a loud clank against the metal vest, causing Yog's knees to buckle under the pressure. There was still no damage.

 Abryi opened wide and blew black flames at Yog, attempting to find some kind of way to harm this god. "Dragon's Breath!"

 The hounds jumped at me. I put my hands out and tried to force them back. I could feel myself sinking and skidding across the sand.

 At that same time, Yog shot a large sheet of webbing at me. I put up my hands to brace for the impact of the web, not sure if I had enough stamina to be able to reject the webbing. But, it burst into strings before me and fell into the sandy dirt.

 The hounds took the opportunity to bypass my defense and bite into my side. I could feel their teeth against my skin, the pressure of their jaws, but no blood or pain. I put my hands upon their heads and pushed down at them. I struggled to force them off me.

 "Black Slash!"

 Abryi's strike pushed Yog towards me. I took the chance. I wanted to hit him at least once for interfering with my life. I just knew he was behind all the problems I've been having as of late and I wasn't letting him get off without at least one punch. I hit him as hard as I could. I tried to think about all the suffering I've gone through my entire life. I envisioned it was him that caused it. I wanted to reject all the negatives from my life. All of it. My fist connected with his face. I could feel the weight of my punch. I could feel it pushing against him. It felt like time froze. The impact seemed to last minutes.

 When his face finally disconnected from my fist, Yog's body went flying backward into the water. There was a large splash around the impact. Water sprayed up over a meter. When he returned to his feet, I could see the side of his face beginning to reform from the black dust that always seemed to accompany him somehow. Half of his face had turned dark as night. Steel could be seen beneath his face, almost as if he were one of the automatons. It was slowly returning to normal.

 The hell-hounds, too, had been thrown backward into the trees and sand, taking a few with them. They returned to their feet faster than they had when divided. I had done less damage to them than I had thought. But, at least, they were no longer biting into me.

 I looked down at myself for a moment. My clothes were ruined. More tears had appeared in my shirt. I couldn't afford to let it get worse. For modesty reasons.

 "So, you can be harmed." Campbell said with a smile. He ran towards Yog. "Gorgon Strike!" Once more he punched continuously at Yog, this time aiming for his face. I could tell he was trying to stop the regeneration. After a few seconds, he jumped into the air, managing to get really high before coming down with an axe kick. "Chthonic Axe!" The impact was deafening and kicked up even more dust than the first time. Campbell came skidding across the sand towards me.

 Abryi wasted no time. "Black Cross!" And, then, "Black Cross!" He sent his more powerful attacks into the dust. He didn't want to give Yog the chance to even come to his feet. "And, once more for good measure." Three of the same attacks were sent directly into the center of the dust cloud.

 Suddenly, all the dust turned black and began to swirl faster. "You mortals are incorrigible!" The voice came deep and thunderous. "Those pathetic attacks can do me no harm." A giant metallic spider leg arose from the dust cloud, followed by a second one. I could hear the groaning of metal as if whatever Yog had transformed himself into was trying to stand. "Nesbeth will have to forgive me. But, I have to destroy you, here and now."

 A boulder rocketed towards Abryi, crashing into him and sending him into a tree. He hit the tree with a loud thwack. His groan said he was still alive but, sore. "I'm going to feel that later."

 Yog continued to pelt smaller rocks at us. His hell-hounds started turning into dust as Yog absorbed them into himself. "To think, I would have to actually use some force." He bemused with a selfish and condescending chortle.

 "Campbell. Throw me at him." I had an idea that I wasn't sure would work; however, I needed to make a really big impact to attempt what I was doing.

 Campbell didn't even blink. He lifted me with ease and tossed me like I was a skipping stone. The air rushed past my face. I could feel how fast I was going. In an instant, I made it through the dust cloud. 

 I could see the shadow of what Yog had become. He was enormous, more sinister, deadlier. He let out a scream after sensing my presence. I doubted he could see through all the swirling debris. As I drew closer to him, I could finally see his form. He truly appeared to be more mechanical than flesh. The joints of his legs were reinforced. The plates of metal upon his chest and abdomen were thicker. Rivets and screws held him together. Gears and spikes littered each joint, giving him a more deadly impression. His thorax and lower abdomen were covered in more spikes. The ends of his feet looked like giant needles. His fingers had become long sharp claws that looked like scythes. A mask covered the upper half of his face, only letting the illumination of his red eyes shine from behind glass orbs.

 I put my hands out in front of me, clasped together. I tried once more to envision as I had before. I could feel the weight of my muscles tighten, my body tense up. "Reject's Arrow!" Just once, I wanted to sound cool.

 I felt my hands come into contact with his chest. I could feel the pressure of my strike. It felt like I was pushing him back. And then, I went through him. I contorted my body as I did so, trying to slow down and twist so I could see the damage I had created.

 All the dust had settled down, almost as if it had fallen from being suspended all at once. Everyone could see what Yog had become. He was more mechanical spider than humanoid by now. His face hadn't finished reforming and now there was a giant hole in his chest. There was a large red crystal at the center of the hole, suspended in nothingness.

 Yog backhanded me.

 I hit the water. Hard. Somehow, it didn't hurt and I was no longer out of breath. Adrenaline can do so much.

 Yog's face was twisted in anger and pain. I could feel his emotions. Almost as if they were my own. In the deep voice he obtained from his size, he bellowed, "Unholy Regeneration!" The dust on the sand around his body began to swirl low at his feet and funnel itself into the hole.

 I was not about to let him get the chance to be whole again. I jumped to my feet and ran up behind him as Abryi and Campbell looked on. I could tell they were reaching their limit. I leaped into the air, grabbing a hold of one of his legs. I began to climb my way to his chest as he attempted to beat and shake me off. I held on tightly. His efforts made me have to stop several times, and I could feel the weight of each strike. I made my way to that red crystal.  If I could just damage it, perhaps he would leave us alone. I scrambled. When I had finally made my way to the hole, gripping his body with all my might, I put up my left hand and took a deep breath. "Reject." I whispered. I could feel the release of pressure from my hand. I watched as a crack formed in the crystal. As I looked at it, I noticed, it had already been damaged. It was missing one of the tips.

 Yog bellowed loudly. He grabbed me with one hand and finally managed to get me off of him. I could feel him pressing against me, attempting to crush me to death. Suddenly, he let go and hit the sand very hard. Then, he was gone in a large black puff of dust.


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