Determination (37 page)

Roxie took a calming breath and gazed skyward. “Stop fighting!” She stabbed the air and imagined walls crop up between each battling pair. The gods backed away, confused and gasping for breath. “Did you learn nothing from the War of Creationism? Even if you kill me and keep fighting, more Aigis will take my place one day. They’ll learn Frava, like I have, and you’ll either be killed or have your wills shattered. Let Nexus and I decide this ourselves.” She poured all her will into her words, urging every last god to see the wisdom in what she said. “Unless your glorious prophet is too much of a coward to fight a child.” Saying that was a gamble. Either all of them, including Nexus, would be eager to see if he could bring her down by himself, or they wouldn’t care what happened so long as they prophecy was fulfilled.

Leviathan spoke telepathically to all of them, his gargantuan mouth unmoving like the wardens guarding entry to the Chthonian Mountain. ‘
Heed the Aigis. As one who’d been present during the War, we don’t want to put the universe through that again.
’

Roxie felt the sorrow and regret in Leviathan’s booming voice, and for a moment she was overwhelmed by his emotions, but she clung to her cold anger and braced for whatever might happen next as she inched towards the plateau.

The gods considered both their words and those defending Roxie urged Nexus’s allies to let Roxie and Nexus resolve the conflict themselves. Several gave in and vanished from the realm.

The one facing Kara said, “I will consent on one condition.”

“Name it,” Kara said.

“Divine society has to assure that fighting won’t resume no matter the outcome.” He glanced at Roxie before taking in all the gods filling the sky. “If Nexus loses, by death or shattered will, those of us aligned with him need to accept such an unfortunate outcome. But if the Aigis dies, then those who oppose us must accept that outcome. Consider it fate.”

Baku drifted closer to Kara. “I seriously doubt this prophecy will give any of you want, Kambrett.”

Kambrett gave him a haughty smile. “Nexus’s prophecy was formed with great care. You’re wrong to anticipate such things.”

“I’m willing to agree to those terms,” Kara said confidently.

“Kara!” Baku reached for her but she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“I have faith in her.”

Baku’s incredulous stare softened to calm acceptance. He nodded. “So do I.” He looked at Kambrett. “I consent as well.”

Relief washed over the realm as the gods unanimously consented to the terms. Those sided with Nexus were happy to stop fighting, confident Nexus could handle an Aigis as young as Roxie by himself. Some who sided with Kara reluctantly consented, but were just as happy to stop fighting. The gods alighted all along the edge of the mortal-free half of the realm. Some vanished and Roxie’s attention was drawn to the furious aura emanating from the temple.

Seeing no need to continue draining herself with her giant form, Roxie shrunk back to her normal height and flew onto the plateau. Nexus burst out of the temple, darting towards her, and landed hard, cracking rock. He stood defensively close to the tree, glaring at her with mad eyes lined with rage. Terror and fear roiled around in him.

Nexus did
not
want to consent to the terms. After his first skirmish with Roxie, his confidence in beating her was shaken. However, his pride refused to let him remain in hiding, even if hiding would’ve bought enough time to let his prophecy come to fruition. He’d be eternally labeled a coward.

Nexus’s proximity to the tree made Roxie almost certain it was his icon. Now it made sense how she hadn’t noticed it earlier: he stood close enough to seem like there was only one of him again.

Nexus looked like he was trying to kill her with his glare. “I can’t believe the lot of you allowed yourself to get sucked into fighting each other, instead of one lonely Aigis.”

Din said, “You’re the one who ran from her and told everyone else to protect you.”

Nexus aimed his look of death at Din. “I’ll take great pleasure in ruining your worlds, either by my hand, or by the mortals I acquire through my prophecy.”

“Gotta beat Roxie first.”

Nexus faced Roxie again, a wave of fear passing over his dark eyes. He bent into a fighting stance. “Gladly.” He kicked up dirt and rock as he launched into the offensive.

Chapter 28

Wants

Roxie deflected Nexus with both sword and shield, and willed him to keep sailing through the air. She dashed towards the tree and raised her sword, but his will yanked on her ankles and she belly flopped. Sensing his next attack, Roxie rolled onto her back and stabbed in his direction as two giant hands came down on her. She ran her sword through one as all went dark, and braced herself as both hands wrapped around her and the plateau. Rock rumbled and cracked, and she felt herself get lifted into the air.

She concentrated on growing again. Nexus’s hands squeezed but the pressure was nothing compared to a mountain falling on her. Her swelling body forced his hands apart as she held her sword buried in his palm and grabbed his other wrist. She exploded to her full height, forcing the hands wide, and crushed his wrist connected to a disproportionately small arm. His hands were giant-sized, yet his arms stretched to compensate for Roxie’s breadth while the rest of his body remained normal-sized. She held him in front of her and he hung there, head tilted back and mouth agape in silent agony. She yanked her sword upwards, ripping his hand in two between digits, and he screamed. She swung again, aiming for his neck, but he wrapped his bloodied arm around her wrist, the limb coiling like a snake. Her arm and sword shook as she tried to finish the swing.

Yelling erupted all around them. Gods cheered Roxie on, urging her to finish Nexus, and others yelled at him to stop dragging the fight out and kill the Aigis already. Rage, embarrassment, fear, and desperation emanated from Nexus. He didn’t want to believe Roxie was so strong. Her ability to cause so much agony baffled him.

You can’t win this fight, Nexus. Give up or die. I’ve been trained by Aerigo, tutored by Nero, and I fight for the sake of others, unlike you, who fights for his own selfish wants. You can’t win.

To the underworld with you and your poisonous words. Die, Aigis!

Roxie twisted Nexus’s wrist, making bone snap. “My name is Roxie,” she said in a deadly calm voice.

“I don’t care,” he said between gasps. “You’re nothing to me, a nameless nothing.”

Nexus tried to fight her will but she bashed his face on an upraised knee. His will holding her sword at bay failed and he vanished in time to have her horizontal swing cut only air.

Roxie sensed him take flight. He tried to superimpose on the sky but only a ghost of his gargantuan torso flickered on the horizon as Roxie willed him into her outstretched shield hand. He resisted but she yelled, “Come!” His normal-sized body fell towards her and rapidly swelled to a size more than big enough to crush Roxie. She held out her sword and presented the edge of her shield as his huge shadow cast her in semidarkness. He twisted midair and grabbed both weapons in his giant hands as he let his weight fall on her.

She spread her feet and braced against him, eye-level with the base of his sternum. He was more than a giant head taller than her while kneeling but she held him up, unwilling to give ground. His bleeding torso bent over her as he tried to push her shield aside and will her sword to snap in two.

Roxie tried to shake him off but he held on as blood dribble down his forearm. She bodily swung him around, lifting him off his feet, yet he still held tight as he willed the metal to snap. She tried angling the sword so she could stab him but he went with her movements. He was convinced he’d be safer if he removed the sword from their fight.

That wasn’t true. Her sword was an extension of her Frava power.

Feed me lies all you want, Aigis. You can’t fool me.
He grit his teeth and flexed his wrist, but the blade held.

Why are you so afraid of my sword?

Nexus said nothing. They both knew he’d be lying if he tried to deny his fear. At least he wasn’t stupid enough to try.

Roxie stopped swinging, twisted her shield out of Nexus’s grip, and seized his wrist again. She dug her fingers in, drawing blood. She had half a mind to tear the hand off but she wasn’t ready to resort to that. Despite Nexus’s paranoia, she wanted to see if their fight would persuade him to call off his prophecy.

Never. You’ll have to kill me.

Roxie paused. She thought she’d seen a flicker of another god’s face overlapping Nexus’s, one covered in auburn fur and a curled goatee. Who--?

Nexus wrenched and the sword broke with a metallic snap.

She flinched and looked at the half attached to her hilt, still glowing. The edge curved into a point that looked like it could chop fingers off easily. The half in Nexus’s bloodied hand turned into a silvery sand and blew away in the breeze.

Smirking, Nexus cocked his fist. “Good riddance.”

He swung at her face and Roxie speared him in the fist, skewering his fingers and burying the blade to the hilt. Nexus dropped to his knees, eyes squinted shut, screaming. Roxie twisted the broken blade and he let out a scream that made her wince and feel a twinge of pity, but only a twinge. He’d killed Aerigo, along with so many others indirectly. His pain paled in comparison to how much he’d caused.

Nexus’s gargantuan body bubbled and turned liquid. He spilled out of Roxie’s grip before she could will him to remain solid, and his amorphous body shot into the air. He flew inside the thunderstorm and red seeped into the clouds as one flash of lightning after another lit the sky.

Holding her sword horizontally in front of her, Roxie placed a hand over the broken end and slowly passed it along where the rest of the blade should’ve been. A piece of her Frava power poured into Aerigo’s dagger and the sword lengthened back into its whole, full shape. She examined the glowing tip, gave it a satisfied nod, and turned her attention to the storm.

Hoping Roxie wasn’t as competent as Aerigo, Nexus attacked her with one bolt of lightning after another. Roxie held her sword high and absorbed each strike with her eyes closed and body tensed for each bang of thunder. Nexus willed more lightning bolts to strike her, faster and faster, hoping it was only a matter of time before Roxie could take no more. She willed her sword to absorb the voltage. The blade hummed, vibrated, and crackled with all that power. She could feel the hairs on her arms standing on end.

Nexus sent tornado winds at her but Roxie willed herself to stay rooted in place. The roaring wind sent her hair dancing and forced her wings open and to angle them downwards.

Focusing on the electrical energy stored in her sword, Roxie released it in one huge explosion, heating and charging the air, and making her face sting like it was getting sunburned. The deafening explosion engulfed the sky in a flash of light and the shockwave tore up the thunderhead. Nexus’s cries of agony echoed across the realm as his body contorted.

Roxie willed his neck into her shield hand. His gargantuan body flew towards her, chest leading the way with his arms and legs sailing behind him. She caught him by the larynx and formed a mental shield around her body, just in case he tried to kill her like he’d killed Aerigo. “Give up!” she snapped.

Again, a flash of another god’s face appeared over his. This time she caught a glimpse of a chiseled face and beady eyes that gave her the creeps.

Nexus feebly clung to Roxie’s physical shield, gasping for breath. He pried open his bloodshot eyes. Every square inch of his skin smoked and he was covered in blisters, some oozing blood. Physically he looked done. But mentally?

Nexus shook his head. “Never. I’ve worked too hard to give up in the eleventh hour.”

Roxie could’ve sworn she’s sensed a part of Nexus eager to give up to preserve his life, but that eagerness buried itself under agony and desperation. Maybe she just had to stoke the flames to that eagerness. “This is your last chance. You die and Baku and Kara lose their son. But if you call off your prophecy, I can let you live.”

“Die, Aigis,” he said weakly.

Roxie felt a twinge of pain in her chest but it stopped when Nexus grunted. “Think about it,” she said. “There’ll be no prophecy for you to enjoy if you die.”

Once again, that face appeared for a fraction of a second. Nexus shook his head as if trying to clear his thoughts. “I swear my prophecy is my own want. How can you expect me to give up on it after all this time?”

The first bit was an odd thing to say. Of course this prophecy was his own want. He’s the one who’d orchestrated it. Why would she think it was someone else’s? That aside, Nexus was making it painfully clear that he was leaving her with no choice, but she wasn’t quite ready yet. “Because your life is more valuable than your own selfish wants. What’s the point of being obstinate if you won’t be alive to enjoy the fruits of all your hard work?”

He tried willing her to die again but his bodily injuries made it too agonizing to hold his concentration.

Time to throw in one last bit of leverage. “I know where your icon is, Nexus. I could’ve beaten you already.”

Nexus’s eyes flew open as he held his breath, staring at her with sheer terror and wracking his brain for a solution to his dilemma.

In order to move his icon, he had to become one with it first. Icons were part of a god’s soul. They weren’t mere ornaments that could be picked up and put down on a whim. If Nexus absorbed his icon, he’d have zero chance of surviving a fatal blow.

So that’s why he’d refused to give up all this time...

“Call off the prophecy.” Roxie poured her will into her words.

Nexus’s mouth moved but no sound came out. He swallowed. “No.”

Closing her eyes, Roxie took a deep breath. “Fine.” Aiming for his heart, she thrust her sword.

Nexus’s body morphed, moving flesh and bone out of the strike’s path. Her sword passed through a gaping hold in his chest. She swung horizontally and his ribcage split in two, creating what looked like a sideways keyhole in his torso. His larynx looked like it was melting. Roxie reflexively recoiled, repulsed by the gooey flesh encasing her fist, and his body shrank. He was getting tired. Like Roxie, it took less energy sustaining his natural size.

He retreated to the plateau and stood defensively in front of the gnarled tree, his icon.

Seeing the opportunity to conserve her own energy, Roxie shrunk back to her normal height as well, ready to go all-out. She was done trying to give Nexus chances to live. Sword and shield held ready, Roxie flew at him, intending to end this fight quickly.

Nexus’s body morphed again, building in height and muscle mass, and his hair receded back into his scull. Roxie’s throat constricted as Aerigo’s figure stood in Nexus’s place. It was a perfect replica of his sculpted chest, broad shoulders, handsome blue eyes--everything. The replica smiled but it was Nexus’s grin of superiority on Aerigo’s features.

What a cruel, desperate move.

Nexus launched into the offensive, his desire to kill her coming off in waves. Roxie let him come to her. She was done with him, so damn done. He’d thought wearing Aerigo’s guise would sap the fight from her, but it only made her want to kill him even more.

They fought midair, fast and savagely. Tears tried to blur Roxie’s vision but she wiped them away as needed between attacks on the replica of the man she loved. Part of her wanted to stop attacking because that was Aerigo and she didn’t want to hurt him, but the rational part of her refused to relent. Nexus hadn’t been able to mask the cut to his chest, bullet wound to his shoulder, crushed wrist, and the mangled hand dripping blood. She added more cuts and gashes as they fought, and took many hits, too, but she was numb to physical pain. Her heart ached with loss. She had no room for physical pain.

Roxie drifted closer to the tree as they fought. Nexus tried to block and steer her away, but that made his movements all that much easier to anticipate. The gods yelled at Nexus or cheered Roxie on. Their voices made her fight all-out, as did Nexus. He scrambled to keep her away from the plateau but she methodically forced him to give ground.

She touched down on the plateau and he willed that section of rock to crumble. Flapping her wings, she flung Nexus away with her will but he rebounded as if tied to her with a bungee cord. She swung her sword and he stopped short.

“Help me!” he cried to the gods.

Sympathy flowed towards Nexus but none of the spectating gods moved.

“Please! To the underworld with the terms! Are all of you really willing to give up like this?”

His allies wanted to help but they held back. They had all concluded that staying out of this fight was the wisest course.

Nexus morphed back into himself and resumed fighting Roxie, yet kept backing towards the tree. Tears welled in his eyes and his attacks became more desperate. Roxie countered most and took the occasional hit as she fought to within striking range of the tree.

She focused on the glow emanating from her sword and sent it at Nexus. He tried to dodge but it wrapped around his torso several times, like a rope, pinning his arms to his sides. Two more lengths of light wrapped around his legs, forcing him to his knees and pinning his shins to the ground.

“Help me!”

Roxie pressed the tip of her sword to the tree trunk and fixed Nexus with a cold glare.

“Mother! Please!”

Kara bowed her head and remained next to Baku. He took her in his arms and she hid her face in his bare chest.

“Anyone!”

‘
We have all weighed each choice we could possibly make in this moment,
’ Leviathan said from his perch low in the sky. ‘
The wisest course is to allow you and the Aigis decide the universe’s next direction.
’