Soul Under the Mountain (Legend of Reason Series) (43 page)

But his friends needed help and his plan was going to fail if he didn't do something quickly. He slammed the hammer into Maeris once more, and then immediately brought the hammer down through the floodwater and into the ground. Another earthquake shook the land, and this time, even the other gods nearly toppled over. Maeris was the only one who actually fell into the dark, churning waters, and while he was stumbling to regain his balance, Rommus brought the hammer down upon him one more time.

That was the lull he needed. He reached up to the sky, hoping beyond hope that
the black lightning would come. His soul rejoiced when he saw it weaving between the heavy clouds above. He felt the energy surging through his body as the black streaks began to fall around him. But he didn't aim for the faltering god Maeris—he aimed for the twins.

Rommus outstretched an arm towards the beasts and released all of the terrible energy into
the one that was missing an arm
. Alana, Tannis and Vohl dived out of the way, rolling through the receding water to safety.
The injured beast
was knocked to the ground, but the one with the sword stomped through the water, coming for Rommus. His roars could just barely be heard over the winds as he ran to stop the god of war from attacking.

Terinopus and Tachion had finally seen what was happening
behind them, and Tachion began summoning light from all around him; probably preparing to send the twins to some realm between times in order to save the humans that they were attacking. Rommus screamed as loud as he could for him to stop, and luckily the god of time heard him and paused.

At that instant, the beast with the sword arrived. He swung the sword at Rommus over and over, but it bounced harmlessly off of the armor of Arius. Rommus swung the hammer at the enraged beast, missing several times but constantly keeping up the attack. The beast gave up on using the sword, and instead resorted to punching and clawing at Rommus. The armor protected him from any damage, but the jolts to his head still hurt and were quite disorienting.

Finally, just as Maeris had gotten to his feet and composed himself, the creature was in a vulnerable pose. Rommus swung the hammer as hard as he could at the beast's ribs, and they shattered on impact like
breaking glass. A long howl of pain escaped its ugly mouth as it suffered.

Another blow to the ribs brought the mighty beast down. It choked on the dirty water still coverin
g most of the ground as it fought
to pull breath into its damaged lungs. Rommus raised the hammer high above his head as he looked the beast in its animal eyes. It made a pathetic attempt to hold up an arm to protect itself, but
that
did nothing to stop the hammer from crushing the beast's skull. It went limp immediately and dark streams of blood swam out into the filthy water.

Maeris had
somehow
been affec
ted by what had happened. He looked ill; as if he would vomit or simply fall over and die. But the god found his balance and tried to stand tall. He stretched forth his arms
to call forth magic to attack Rommus
, sending fire once more to wreak havoc on Rommus. The fire did not burn him, but it took away all the air, making it impossible for Rommus to breathe.

The remaining twin with the missing arm had gotten to its feet despite
the lightning attack and
countless sword thrusts from Alana, Tannis and Vohl. Rommus was shocked to see the speed of the creature as it leapt through the air towards Rommus. He braced for impact, ready to kill the lone twin with the hammer of Maeris, but it never got close enough. It rolled through the shallow water and picked up the fallen sword that the other twin had dropped. He wasted no time attacking Rommus, and instead ran at full speed
toward
Tannis.

Rommus threw the heavy hammer as hard as he could, hoping that his father would have a chance to pick it up before the monster slashed him with the sword.
Rommus then set his feet and focused on Maeris. His attack was still strong, but it was far less intense than before. The tornado that he had summoned had dissipated to just a thunderstorm, and the fire that came from his hands was hardly the raging inferno it was before.

But Rommus still needed
to engage Maeris. Actually, he was distracting Maeris from the real plan, which was to kill both of the twins with the hammer of Maeris. Rommus never had any intent on killing any of the gods with his own hands or
with
Archenarius. He had learned their secret when he and Song had spoken with Arius. The twins were indeed a single soul, split into two, but the true secret was that Rommus and the twins were cousins—
in a sense
. They were similar in the same way that Rommus
was
similar to Vohl and the other Dirujen. They were all part of the bloodlines connected to the gods. Vohl and Rommus were connected to Inshae and Arius, and the twins were the last remaining in the bloodline connected to Maeris. They were made nearly immortal to protect the go
d of destruction from assassination-like the Dirujen were—
but just as the sword could kill Arius, so too could the hammer kill Maeris. Rommus had already killed one twin
, essentially sending half a soul to the void
. Now the other half of that single soul needed to be sent to the void in order for Maeris to die.
He didn't want to risk calling forth more lightning to kill the beast, since the hammer itself needed to be used if he wanted to successfully kill the god of destruction.

The hammer fell short of where Rommus intended for it to land, but it was closer to Tannis than it was to the beast. They both raced to grasp the handle, and Tannis slipped on some wet stones in his frenzied attempt to reach
the weapon. He dropped his black sword
into water that was deep enough for him to lose sight of it, but he ignore
d it and scrambled to his feet.

Just as the beast touched the handle of the hammer, Tannis slammed his shoulder into the makeshift bandages at the monster's shoulder. It roared and recoiled, stumbling back a step before advancing again. Tannis grabbed the handle and pulled the head free from the muck, swinging it just in time to block at attack from the sword.

Where the gold weapons met, a bright, violent light appeared. For a moment it was bright enough to be mistaken for the sun, and it seemed to silence the entire world with its power. When the light finally went out, Tannis had swung the hammer at his enemy, but he had missed.
His grip slipped from the hammer and it tumbled awkwardly through the air.
The sword
whistled
as it came down towards the defenseless
Tannis, and Rommus could do nothing but watch
his father close his eyes and wait for death.

But Vohl's sword was what Archenarius hit
as Vohl raced in to protect Tannis
. The blade of Vohl's sword, Tursari, sh
attered into several pieces; all plopping into the water at their feet. Vohl stood there, holding little more than a hilt, unable to protect Tannis or Alana any longer. Vohl and Tannis both shared the same look of despair, knowing that in another instant Rommus and Tannis would both die.

But the sword fell from the monster's hand. Then it
dropped
to its knees and fell face first into the mud and grime. Alana stood behind the fallen creature, holding the heavy hammer in both hands. She had hit the remaining twin in the spine with the sharp point of the hammer, killing it and
finally sending its
soul to the void.

Rommus looked where Maeris once stood and saw nothing. He was gone, just like Arius had been instantly killed and sentenced to eternity in the void. The other gods
looked with open mouths and wide eyes, still in disbelief about what they had seen. Inshae, and Aedensor, the only two remaining gods of light, shuffled back behind Oderion for some kind of protection. It was a sight Rommus was happy to see.

Rommus picked up his sword and sheathed it. "I know how to kill you all, Oderion. You will not conspire against us again, or I will kill you just as I have killed the god of destruction. You have said before that you are unconcerned with the troubles of mankind; see to it that you remain that indifferent. If any god here dares to challenge me, then let him speak now, and make his intentions known."

No god spoke. Only the gentle breeze rippling the pools of water could be heard.

Chapter
46

"Me?" Alana said as they stepped through the portal into Brinn. "Why me?"

"Why not you?" Rommus said as he handed her the hammer of Maeris.

"Well, I just assumed you would be the one to use the hammer. If not you, then Tannis."

"I already have the armor and sword of Arius. I don't need another weapon of the gods. Besides, you seem like you know what you're doing with it."

"Rommus, I only swung the thing once. I don't know anything about its power."

"So? None of us know anything about it. You're just as skilled as any of the rest of us."

"But doesn't the hammer control armies? I don't know how to lead an army. I think Tannis should carry it."

Tannis put a hand on
her shoulder as they walked. "We're all in this together, Alana. It's time for you to assume your proper role."

"My proper role? I thought I was doing my part already."

Tannis nodded. "You are, you are. I don't mean that you aren't doing enough, I mean that it is time that you to advance and move up."

Alana pulled some stray hairs from her face. "I don't know what you mean. What more can I do?"

"Alana, there comes a time in our lives where we can either sit back and watch the world change around us, or sta
nd up and change the world. For a time, we are allowed to choose between the two, but at some point it becomes chosen for us. Mostly we grow too old before we do anything with our lives, and fate sends us to the grave with no significant accomplishments.

"But sometimes a different path is chosen for us. Sometimes fate call
s on us to influence the world. A
nd when we hear that clarion call, we have no choice but to heed it. We are here living in this time for a specific purpose, and this purpose is clearer each day.

"I get all that, Tannis, but what more can I do?"

Tannis let out a deep breath as he weighed his thoughts. "I have a big problem
, Alana
. Uritus and I were working together to try to stop this war, but now it seems our alliance has faltered. It is clear that he still wishes to destroy us all, along with our vision of a free world. When we meet again, there will be a confrontation. I am almost sure of it.

"A large percentage of the Medoran army is loyal to me, but just as many are loyal to Medora. By remaining loyal to the nation itself, they will do as their Emperor comma
nds. The army will be split. A civil war is on the horizon and I don't know how to stop it.

"The Legions will need to be restructured, and I am asking you to be one of the new Commanders. Your rank will be the same as Rommus's, and you will take orders from no one but me. Do you accept?"

Alana was stunned. Her mouth hung open and she realized that she had stopped walking. The others stopped too, turning to face her as they waited for her answer. It was such a shock to her that sh
e couldn't bring words to her tongue even if she did know what to say.

When she first came to Medora she was on a mission to kill the General of the Medoran Legions, and now, not even a year later that same General was asking her to lead a
Medoran
Legion of her own. Tannis spoke of fate and purpose, and it suddenly struck her that he was right.
She truly did believe that fate sent her to Medora. At first the reasons were far different, but she now knew her calling. She was not only m
eant to fight next to Rommus,
Tannis and Vohl—she was meant to lead next to them. She would help to save the world from tyranny and oppression
by doing more than just swinging a sword
.

She reached over and took the hammer of Maeris. "I accept
,
Tannis. Thank you for the opportunity to make a difference in the world. I will do all I can do in the fight for freedom."

Vohl hugged her from the side and smiled. "And so will the rest of us."

Rommus gave a quick nod. "Good. Now let's find some horses. We have to get to Taburdum."

——————

Taburdum was roaring with war. The Medoran phalanxes had collapsed in most places, and the battle had become a massive swordfight.
Strings of blood flung from those swords as they hacked and sliced as far as the eye could see.
It was not a typical Medoran battle, as it was messy and almost totally unstructured.

Four
Thrahks wandered the battlefield scooping up soldiers from both sides and biting them in half.
Even the monsters roamed haphazardly, and although they were fierce and terrifying, it looked as if they were no longer using their magical energy from their chest
s
to kill. Rommus thought that perhaps
after the long war,
their reserves of energy had
finally
been depleted.