Chapter 21: The Ritual of Ages
The King shrieked in agony, as Inigo and Gudmand prodded their blades deep inside his chest, thanks to one of the many openings of his highly elaborate and ornamental armor. His spectral howls rumbled the ground as bolts of energy shot out of his wound, while the crystal itself, in symbiotic unison, spun and shook violently, its magical power flickering, as if its life were too seeping away.
In tandem to the King and the crystal's collapse, the floating orb of that held Aalik's unconscious body grew equally unstable, until it finally phased away into nothingness, throwing the boy back into the snow.
Motivated by the sight of Aalik's freed, breathing shape lying behind them, Inigo and Gudmand let out a sonorous war cry and pushed their blades forward with all their might, determined to end the King's life once and for all. However, they could go no further.
They stared aghast at their immobilized arms, now restrained by the King's monstrous grip. Their horror grew not only as they realized the speed of the King's grapple, or his newfound, inhumane strength, but the vision of the man himself.
Crystal grew out of the King's skin and armor, protruding like exposed, luminescent bone. It crept like mold, starting from the King's extremities and spreading towards his torso, slowly turning him into one with the crystal itself, but worst of all, were his eyes.
A shiver ran up Inigo and Gudmand's spines, as they looked into the King's glowing, green voids, shining a light not mean for human eyes, complemented by his sickening, teeth-flashing smile, smeared by putrid, green blood.
The King screamed; his echoing voice joined in by countless spectral others, and with the mere flick of his wrist he sent Inigo and Gudmand flying, back towards the entrance of the mountaintop.
The two swordsmen flew, staggered by the King's display of power, but as they fell over the snow- covered floor and looked back to see the King's lumbering shape going towards Aalik, their courage won out. They leapt and sprinted as fast as they could, crying out in defiance in order to capture the King's attention.
The King shifted his sights away from Aalik, whom he could have sworn had shifted sides, despite the boy's apparent unconsciousness, and turned to face the two swordsmen coming at him. His bloodied smile faded away, now replaced by a look of disdain at the utter insolence of the two warriors that dared to raise their blades against him.
"DIE!" The King roared, aiming his arms directly at Inigo and Gudmand, before they extended at lightning fast speeds.
To the King's unending frustration however, the two swordsmen managed to roll out of harm's way at the very last moment, causing his skewering limbs to plow through the snow and sink into the rocky mountain floor. The King shot a glare of contempt at Inigo and Gudmand with his horrifying eyes, but it was pointless. He found no fear in the two as they closed in and prepared to deliver the final blow. The King grunted, feeling both blades sink deeper into his chest and heart.
Inigo and Gudmand felt the taste of victory, for the King's expression warped from pain to that of nothingness. This would not last. Horror and disbelief grew in their faces, for the crystal growing inside of the King kept death's grasp away, repelling their blades back with ease. Then, the King recovered, his deathly grin in full effect, as he stared at them both, directly in the eye.
"BEGONE!"
In cue to the King's commanding words, several sharp crystals burst out of his ribcage, launching themselves at Inigo and Gudmand at incredible speeds. The two swordsmen reacted as best they could, jumping backwards with all their strength and putting their swords between them and the incoming spikes.
Inigo and Gudmand crashed into the snow, thrown away by the sheer power of the skewering crystals. They were battered and wounded, having only barely escaped death, despite the flawless quality of their parries and reflexes, and right by their side were their swords, both cracked in two.
The King laughed maniacally; his sense of pain dulled not only by the joy of trumping the swordsmen's efforts, but also for witnessing their struggles as they tried to stand up to him once more."YOUR BRAVERY KNOWS NO BOUNDS, NOR DOES YOUR INSOLENCE!" The King exclaimed, with such fervor that he failed to take notice of Aalik's changed position, amongst the bodies of his fallen men, as well as the crystal's foreboding hums.
His body grew to colossal proportions, bone snapping and flesh tearing as the creeping crystals left his head as the only remaining part of his dubious humanity. Inigo and Gudmand, unfazed by the King's transformation and their open wounds, picked up their broken blades and readied themselves, the fire in their eyes still ablaze.
The King smiled daringly. "SO BE IT, COME! I SHALL GRANT YOU A WARRIOR'S DEATH!"
With a quick jerk, the King retracted back his crystallized arms to a manageable, yet still enormous, size, before swinging them at the two rushing swordsmen. He missed intentionally, leaving his face exposed and within reach.
Inigo and Gudmand took aim, and bait, only to fall prey to the King's inescapable hold, as his hands rapidly retracted and caught them in midair. The King held them close, enough to see them furiously trying to slash away at his face, but always falling short of a hair's breadth.
He laughed mockingly, taking immense pleasure out of their futile efforts, before raising them further up into the air. "LET THIS BE A LESSON FOR YOU, BRAVERY IS A VIRTUE TO BE ETERNALLY TESTED AGAINST THE FIRES OF DESTINY, BUT IN THE END DESTINY CLAIMS ALL!" The King proclaimed, tightening his grip as he went along.
The crystal floating besides him on the other hand, haphazardly continued the process of the ritual, realizing the futility of trying to reach the King in the middle of his speech.
"TO FACE WHAT WILL SOON BE DESTINY ITSELF, NOW THAT IS A VIRTUE THAT STANDS ABOVE ALL AND FOR THAT I ADMIRE YOU, IN SPITE OF YOUR INSOLENCE!"
As the King's crystallization began to encase his mouth, the floating crystal slowly but surely regained its lost momentum, its surging bolts of power deafening Inigo and Gudmand's cries of pain.
"YOU SHALL BE HONORED FOR AGES TO COME THAT I ASSURE YOU, HEADSTRONG FOOLS AS YOU MAY BE!"
Closer than ever in its race against time, the crystal drew more and more from its resurfacing well of power. Now only less than half of the King's face remained, its efforts would not be for naught after all.
"REJOICE WARRIORS! REJOICE FOR THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA! REJOICE FOR MY REIGN! RE-"
The King's speech and life were cut short, much to the crystal's horror, all thanks to the fishing spear that pierced clean through the man's eye and skull. Inigo and Gudmand breathed out in relief as they fell to the snowy floor, now free of the King's crushing grasp. They immediately turned back after landing, following the origin of the spear's trajectory.
There they saw him, standing amongst the bodies of fallen soldiers, holding onto his tattered satchel and in a still very much-weakened state, not helped whatsoever by the sheer effort required of his spear throwing feat. Aalik looked at Inigo and Gudmand, giving them a small but victorious smile, before stumbling to his knees and dropping face first into the snow.
Inigo and Gudmand ran to his aid, their steps hastened by the feeling of prickling power building behind their backs, as the King's standing corpse began to convulse, crack and glow uncontrollably. They picked up Aalik and dared not falter their pace, despite their grave injuries, for the crystal's shriek of agony told them otherwise.
Inigo and Gudmand jumped as they shielded Aalik, narrowly evading the ensuing shockwave. Such was its might that it wiped away the eternal front of storm clouds that loomed over the mountains, before extending to every corner of the world. It was a calming vision, compared to the ominous release of power from before. It was no more different from a warm summer breeze, with a mystical all-encompassing undertone, caressing the earth as it passed on by.
The King and the crystal were no more, blown into dust and swept away by the remaining winds of the fading snowstorm. In their wake was a mark, a deep scar in the now snow-less center of the mountaintop. Like a splinter removed off a festering wound, a wound that could now heal, the world was at last relieved of its age-old burden.
As Aalik, Inigo and Gudmand opened their eyes and raised their heads, their harm and fatigue cleansed away by the parting wave, they witnessed the night sky above them.
Stars decorated the infinite canvas, twinkling like faraway fireflies in the comforting darkness, and covering it all like a luminescent mantle, was an aurora. Its beauty, far beyond the reaches of a mere description, did not only awe the three lone figures standing atop the mountain, but it sent them a message as clear as the sky above, one of gratitude and reassurance, one they understood.
After all, it took no words to tell.