A Prison of Worlds (The Chained Worlds Chronicles Book 1) (44 page)

“Yeah,
but I am aiming to be your last,” I rasped out.  The thunder was coming closer,
but I couldn’t see behind him.

“Pathetic...”
was as far as he got before I felt a monstrous concussive force detonate from
behind Vatapi and the entire world became one of light, explosions and pure
motion.  When the world finally stopped moving I dazedly opened my eyes in
confusion.

There
was a forest around me, not a park but a real forest, with leafy trees of
various sorts, some reaching hundreds of feet in the air.  Pushing up with my
arms, I saw a long trough of earth plowed into the ground far into the depths
of the forest.  Both sides of it were clear of vegetation, only shattered
splinters showing where entire trees may have been in the way. 

I
still couldn’t feel or move my legs so I rested in my shallow crater for a few
minutes.  As I gained more strength I looked behind me and started at seeing
the upper half of Vatapi’s body from his chest upwards, face down on the
ground.  His huge cat’s eyes gazed blankly at the dirt he lay on.  Next to him
rested a massive chunk of rough permacrete with a large rune engraved on it. 
My personal sling for the deadliest goliath.

I
let my arms collapse in relief.  While I made sure to keep an eye out for any
movement from the demon lord I was confident he was dead.  Or at least dead as
demons can get.  With the dimensions blockaded from the rest of the multiverse
I was not sure if he would reform in his home plane, but he was gone for a
little while at least.  As his form slowly dissolved into sludge and then
evaporated I simply relaxed and let my body heal.

It
took several hours, but feeling and strength came back into my legs.  I finally
stood up.  I was in a new dimension.  Likely it was the Baron’s but since there
were now ten dimensions chained together, there was no guarantee that was
true.  With a sigh, I returned to my default human size and form.

Looking
over to the anchor, I trudged over to pick it up.  This world had lots of
energy.  I wouldn’t be getting tired anytime soon.  Well, not physically.  I
wouldn’t mind taking a weeklong nap now that the world had ended.  With a sigh,
I started to follow the furrow I had created in the ground.  With any luck, it
led back to the portal and my home for the last year.  Doubtless there would be
a bit of work to do once I got back.

The End of Book One of The Chained
Worlds Chronicles