Chapter 17: Common Ground

As I observed the destruction while the Golden Dragon approached our main city slowly, my only thought was for my family’s safety. I made my way to the White Dragon. Fortunately, my cell doors had been destroyed in the earthquakes, and the guards were too busy to deal with me, so I traveled through the complex with relative ease.

As I stood at the maw of the mighty creature, its head alone larger than a skyscraper, I shouted at the top of my lungs for her to save my people, and most of all, to save my family. She spoke into my mind again, telling me that she could not.

She had already pleaded with her father to be merciful with mankind, but he refused. He told her that he had watched our kind for a long time and knew that we would only bring our disharmony to this part of the universe if we were allowed to live. She told me that even if she possessed her former strength, that she was no match for her father. I asked her what I should do. She told me to pray.

If anything could make Eramar feel better in his current condition, it was the priceless look on Konamay’s face.

“No! It can’t be! You shouldn’t even be alive! At the very least, you should be in too much pain to move!”

“Of course I’m in pain, you idiot,” mumbled Eramar. He’d long lost all patience for this man. “I just nuked my arm and fried my organs. It feels like an army of Gremlins is tearing me up from the inside out with chainsaws. But what I find even more aggravating is your sheer stupidity ... you vomitus, voracious, volatile waste of human flesh!”

All color had drained from Konamay’s handsome face, making him appear haggard and ghost-like. His long, blonde surfer-boy hair fluttered in the wind as he backed away, panic-stricken. “Stay back! Stay back!”

Konamay turned to the half-ruined fountain at the center of the square which still drizzled a bit of water. He was in no state to create his own water, so he tried to use water from another source. As Konamay reached out his hand, ropes made of water from the fountain lashed out to strangle Eramar.

With a twitch of his fingers, a wall of magma sprung from the ground in a sort of shield in front of Eramar. Summoning a squirt of lava from the ground to vaporize the water wasn’t easy, but Eramar had just enough psions left to pull it off.

“What’s the matter, Konamay? Scared of facing reality? Frightened of what the truth might mean for you?”

Instead of answering, Konamay swung his massive scythe, but his movements had become sluggish and disorganized. The scythe no longer glowed with psionic energy, which meant it was no different from any regular handheld weapon. It also meant that Konamay’s psions were spent thanks to Hell’s Prison.

Deftly ducking under the blow, Eramar grabbed the scythe by its staff and swung with all his might, wrenching the weapon from Konamay’s grip and throwing him to the ground at the same time. Eramar wasn’t entirely sure where this burst of power came from, especially considering how much blood he’d lost, but Zand had always taught him that desperation can sometimes bring out the most strength in people.

Now the tables had turned. Eramar stood over the crumpled form of Lord Konamay, who lay in the dirt on his back in exhaustion and terror. Eramar held the massive double-bladed scythe in both of his bloodied hands. The weapon was lighter than he thought it would be. Eramar lowered the blade to gently press it against Konamay’s throat. Both men panted frantically ... both men had death in their eyes.

As the knowledge of his demise settled in, Konamay’s demeanor changed from fear to angry acceptance. “Finish it, Demon Slayer. Finish it just like we both knew you would. I always meant to die a soldier’s death. Now’s as good a time as any.” This man knew he was beaten. In just a few short moments, he’d come to peace with that fact. The resolve of a soldier.

You have won the battle, Eramar, but the war still wages, Zand’s voice spoke into Eramar’s head. You know what to do ... you always did. End it so that all those good men and women can go home to their families ... families on both sides.

Eramar shook his head at Konamay and threw the scythe away. He then bent down and grabbed Konamay by the scruff of his neck. A difficult task as the man was built like a gorilla, and muscle is much heavier than fat.

“I can’t believe that I’m doing this. After everything you just put me through, I can honestly say that I’m not too inclined to spare your life at this point. But there are bigger things going on than our petty grudge match. That’s why I’m actually going to let you keep your worthless life so that you can call off your troops.”

Konamay laughed so hard that he started coughing up his own blood. Breathing even harder now, he said, “I must be dreaming. Truly there has never been anyone born in this universe as stubborn as you.”

Eramar gripped Konamay even tighter. “I could say the same thing about you. Now I want you to listen carefully, because it’s the last time that I’m going to say it. We did not kill Senator Randals. The Minister of Fire was not conspiring against the Water. This entire war has been a setup by Gregory Industries.”

“I have my orders, Eramar. They are to keep fighting until the Ministry of Fire surrenders. I may be an Elemental, but I am first and foremost a soldier, same as you. I swore an oath of loyalty to Sorric. My place is not to question, but to obey.”

“Don’t you see, you moron! That’s the same conforming rationale that has led to the eradication of more innocent people than I care to count! You are more than just a soldier, damn it! You are a man just like me! A man that breathes, thinks, and feels! So try doing it for once instead of just doing what everyone else thinks is right!”

Konamay looked even more frightened than before. Eramar understood. It was frightening to accept change. “But ... you’re the enemy?”

“Maybe if I stopped thinking like that a long time ago, I could’ve stopped myself from marching to war for a government that was steadily declining. I could’ve stopped myself and others like me from slaughtering countless innocents just because the Empire said so, like the massacre of Gackbar.”

“You were at Gackbar ten years ago?”

Eramar only nodded in reply.

Konamay took in a deep breath, his face going solemn and his voice reverent. “Back before he became Emperor, Senator Chissler sent the Water Elementals there too. We were angry, true. The Goblins had attacked a defenseless colony, attempted to assassinate our Emperor, and held a member of the senate hostage. Even so, I never thought it would go so far. So much destruction in such a short amount of time. Not just city defenders, but noncombatants as well. We were told that we would be fighting against Shadow Order Goblins only, not civilians. I thought I was the only one left who felt haunted by those days.”

“And you’ll be haunted by these days unless you do what I say and call off your troops.”

“It’s not that simple. I need proof. I need-”

“Lord Konamay, sir,” called a voice from Konamay’s wrist communicator. “We have been trying to reach you on the comm for an hour now, sir. The psions in your area were so charged that they interfered with the signal. If you’re reading this message, there’s a situation mounting at Gregory Industries.

“Lord Gregory has ceased all negotiations and weapons trade with the Water. He’s completely closed off his facilities. We asked if they require assistance, but they insist that the situation is well in hand. Lord Gregory is a valuable supplier for the war. What are your orders, sir? Over!”

Konamay just stared in shock at Eramar for a few seconds as the communique continued.

“Repeat! Orders, Lord Konamay, sir?”

Eramar prayed silently that the man would take a hint and do something sensible for once in his life.

Slowly, Konamay raised the communicator to his mouth, and said, “All units, cease aggressive action against the Ministry of Fire and fall back to the command point. I repeat, cease aggressive action and fall back.

“No Water Elemental is authorized to resume combat until after I have spoken to the Minister of Water and investigated the recent developments at Gregory Industries. And while you’re at it, get a damn medic for me and my friend, Eramar Razor, the Demon Slayer.”

Ryan reacted first. As he rose to confront the Goblin Assassin, he barely even registered Leon’s cry.

“No! Wait!” said Leon sluggishly, still recovering from the explosion.

But before Ryan even knew what was going on, he jumped at the Goblin, swinging his sword wildly only to pass through the creature as if he were a shadow. In a puff of black smoke, the figure of Galzar vanished leaving behind a dumbstruck Ryan. Then, silently materializing out of the shadows behind him, a black and green hand with slimy, clawed fingers reached out and knocked Ryan on the head so hard that he saw stars.

As Ryan lay on the ground with his vision dimming, he saw Leon give a valiant effort of fighting off the horrid monster in tattered gray robes. Leon wielded fan-like swords glowing with purple energy. Galzar grabbed the daggers that floated around him to defend himself. The black knives glinted in the light evilly, like obsidian almost.

Despite having a brush with death only moments before with the little present that Galzar left for them on the wall, Leon handled himself quite well. He used moves that might’ve even put Grafael to shame, twisting and hacking with superb high and low strikes. Leon was fast and calculating. Every moment he fought, he learned more about his opponent, adjusting his thrusts at a new spot each time.

However, Galzar wasn’t like Hamma Steel. He was cool and calculating too, and more experienced than Leon, always seeming to be one step ahead of his opponent. Wherever Leon placed his sword, Galzar either blocked or sidestepped out of the way. Both warriors dueled like pros as their weapons clanged! against each other, but Galzar gained more and more ground against Leon, even cutting his robes, leaving slashes on his armor, and coming close to flesh contact.

Realizing his growing disadvantage, Leon quickly changed tactics. Somersaulting over a side swipe by Galzar and gaining a good distance between them, Leon swung his swords like fans, spraying his opponent with wind attacks that acted like blades as the air currents cut through the floor and ceiling.

Ryan struggled to his feet and came to Leon’s aid, igniting his sword and adding his own flames to the explosive mix of wind. Galzar disappeared in the flash of light and cloud of smoke that followed the explosion.

“Did we get him?”

“I don’t know,” whispered Leon, inching forward with his swords in front of him.

One second went by. The smoke hadn’t cleared. Slowly, Ryan inched forward raising his sword, using the flame to get a better view. The smoke started to dissipate ever so slightly, but still no Galzar. Ryan almost hoped that they had put an end to the maniacal Goblin when he noticed movement to his right. Raising his sword, Ryan shrieked out a war cry only to see a tiny moth fluttering outside the hole in the wall. Ryan laughed out loud.

“What is it?” asked Leon, staying a good distance away.

“It’s only a bug,” said Ryan, turning back to Leon and pointing at the insect that had nearly given him a heart attack.

Leon backed away, as if Ryan had said the name of the devil himself. “Why would a bug be in here? This is a noble’s building! They take great strides to fumigate their homes!”

Ryan thought Leon was joking. “Come on. Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a bug before?”

As Ryan turned back around, the moth had vanished. In its place stood the hunched form of Galzar Slithe grinning wickedly. This time, Ryan at least managed to jump out of the way as the first barrage of knives came soaring at him.

Galzar seemed to have an unlimited supply of those things as he pulled them out of his robes and sent them spiraling towards Ryan and Leon with deadly accuracy. Some of them even exploded with black smoke, but they looked identical to the regular ones, so it made things even more difficult.

“You could’ve finished him off while he was a bug, you dolt!” growled Leon while batting away the black knives.

“Hey! Give me a break! I’ve done the smart thing plenty of times! Everyone has their stupid moments!” retorted Ryan, ducking under several knives aimed at his head while blocking a couple others with his gauntlet.

“For you, ‘stupid moments’ are your whole life!”

Galzar picked up on Ryan’s dodging pattern quickly and finally nailed one in the thigh. Ryan screamed and fell to the ground. Leon managed to fire another barrage of slicing wind attacks, but they were quickly absorbed by spinning blades that floated around Galzar and acted like shields.

With a jerk of his chin, Galzar mentally sent these floating blades zipping towards Leon like torpedoes. By aiming them at his lower section, Galzar effectively forced Leon to jump to avoid impalement. While in midair, Leon was helpless as Galzar gave a twitch of his hand that brought the blades flying back to their point of origin. Leon got two hits in the shoulder. He went out like a light, falling face-first to the ground.

“Leon!” cried out Ryan still unable to force himself to rise. The knife buried in his leg made him feel numb and weak.

“Don’t worry, young half-breed,” said the Goblin in a whispering voice. “He’s not dead, only paralyzed. My knives are enhanced with a paralysis agent that induces a mini coma. Nonlethal in a limited dose.”

Ryan pulled the knife from his leg and sent it flying at his opponent. Galzar casually caught it in between his fingernails.

“You show impressive resistance to my poison. Must be that Saurian blood running through your veins.”

“Funny you should mention blood,” grunted Ryan as he jumped for Galzar, but his legs soon gave out from under him.

Galzar knelt down beside Ryan and stared for a few uncomfortable moments, his piercing yellow eyes almost glowing. “To think that the servant would want a half-breed mongrel like you. I can’t imagine why, but I suppose it means that I must keep you alive for now. Maybe I could use you to amuse that buffoon, Gregory. He’s been pouting since he lost his last playmate.”

The last thing Ryan remembered before he blacked out was a green fist making a beeline for his face.

He woke tied up with glowing blue ropes back-to-back with his least favorite person in the universe, Leon Lurranna. He could already feel his psions being suppressed, just like that one time he got caught by Hamma’s mercenaries. They sat together in the middle of a massive bedroom, but from the size of it, it could’ve held a house.

Pictures and portraits as big as theaters lined the wall, and all of them were depictions of one man in particular. There were dozens of pieces of furniture in the room and all of them lined with exotic animal skins. Animal heads hung on the walls, as well as furs from various beasts.

Ryan didn’t know why, but just the thought of all the poor, dumb animals that went into the decoration of this chamber made him feel sick to his stomach. True, he and his father had done a little hunting in their time, but this just seemed excessive.

At the very end of the room, dozens of meters away, was a balcony that overlooked District 8. Ryan was amazed at the detail he could see considering they were as high up as Mount Everest, but then he realized that a layer of glass separated the outside view. Ryan guessed that the glass was somehow tripped out to enhance the view. On the balcony, he saw Galzar in deep conversation with a well-dressed man with a thin mustache. Ryan didn’t have to venture far to guess the man’s identity, what with all the paintings and marble statues of him lining the room.

Ryan instinctively tried to wiggle out of his restraints.

“You can’t honestly think that that could possibly work, can you?” Leon sounded as dreary as ever.

“Good to know that your dazzling personality is still intact,” whispered Ryan.

“What was that back there anyway? Why didn’t you listen to me?”

Ryan gave an angry growl. “What?! I didn’t know he could turn into a fly! Did you know he could turn into a fly? If you did, you should’ve shouted out something useful like, ‘Hey, be careful! He can turn into a fly’!”

“That’s no excuse! If you kept on your toes, you could’ve got the jump on him while he was in a vulnerable form, and we wouldn’t be in our current predicament!”

“First of all, saved your life. Grabbed you while you were falling off the side of a mountain-sized skyscraper! Didn’t have to, but I did. Second of all ... um...” Ryan lost his train of thought trying to think of a cutting remark. “You wear glasses! So there!”

Oh, repartee!

Leon sighed in remorse. “It doesn’t matter much right now anyway.”

“What? That you wear glasses?”

“No, you idiot! That you saved my life, seeing as how we’re probably going to die now.”

“Oh, yeah,” agreed Ryan sorrowfully. “There’s that.”

Gregory continued his conversation while another classic awkward-silence-moment settled over the semi-pals.

Leon began, “I failed her. We came this far only to fail her now, and all because of me, because I wasn’t ready to lead. The only thing I can count on to never fail is the classic Lurranna fallback of failure.” There was no humor in Leon’s voice, no contempt or blame directed at Ryan. Just bitterness and shame.

Never thought I’d see the day that Leon had self-confidence issues. Maybe we’re more alike than I thought.

“Quit your whining, already,” said Ryan, trying not to let himself get caught up in Leon’s current depression. “If anyone’s failed, it would be ‘we failed her’. There’s no ‘I’ in team, and despite the fact that we hate each other, we’re still a team. Also, we haven’t failed yet, not so long as I’m still breathing anyway.”

Leon actually laughed a little at that remark. “You know, your stupidity is strangely comforting at this moment.”

“Thanks ... I think,” responded Ryan, resuming his wiggling to freedom.

“No. Thank you for saving my life. I know it’s a little late in coming, but I just thought I’d get it over with before I die.”

“How much did it hurt to say that?”

“More than you can possibly imagine,” said Leon without irony.

Gregory and Galzar finished their little discussion as the glass doors that led to the balcony dissolved in a flash of light and reappeared a minute later after the pair stepped through the threshold. Lord Gregory crossed his arms and scowled.

“You know, I would think that everything I’ve accomplished would warrant a little more respect than to send children to bring me down.”

Ryan and Leon shared a look, although they had to strain their necks to do so since they were at each other’s backs.

“Well,” started Ryan. “That’s what I said, Mr. Mustache. But after getting a look at your tower, which is basically shaped like a giant dick, our superiors figured you must’ve been compensating for something, so they didn’t wanna bother sending the A-team.”

Lord Gregory’s face actually turned red with anger. A vein literally popped along his neckline and started throbbing. Lord Gregory raised his fist and backhanded Ryan along the side of his face. It might’ve hurt if not for the fact that Ryan still felt groggy from the poison.

“You are Elementals after all. Even if you are still wet behind the ears, you are no less a sacrilegious little imp, the same as the rest of them.”

“Question,” said Ryan, turning to Leon. “What does this phrase even mean, ‘wet behind the ears’?”

Leon sighed, but fortunately played along with Ryan’s quip. “I believe it is a reference to the way an infant is still wet from bodily fluids after birth. Hence, he is describing us as immature and naïve.”

“Oh. So, it’s meant to be a derogatory phrase?”

“Indeed, it is.”

“Hmm.”

“Quite.”

“ENOUGH!” Lord Gregory looked so angry that Ryan half-expected steam to come out of his ears. “YOU’RE BOTH AS INSOLENT AS THAT OTHER BITCH!”