Chapter 18

“So where do we find him”? Enoch asked excitedly, his body crackling with anticipation. Jennifer stopped, opened her mouth, closed it, began to take a step forward and then stopped, took a step back and then crossed her arms and placed a hand on her chin.

“Ummmm… I don’t know.” Meerous’ rolled her eyes and Enoch smacked his forehead.

“How can you not know?!” Enoch exclaimed, “You made that whole cool announcement like you had a plan!” Jennifer crossed her arms tightly, her lips frowning slightly,

“Not really sure what to tell ya, I didn’t think of that okay! I had the music before, but that was just leading me to Death, but I got no way to find James…” The trio looked down at their feet and Meerous at her… tail, when a familiar voice beeped behind them,

“I can help with that!” Sitting on a rock, totally unnoticed by all three of them, was Squawk, not Chirp used as a mouthpiece, but the maestro herself.

“Squawk!” Jennifer ran over and slid down to face the little bird eye to eye, “I’m so sorry I yelled at you, I was angry and frustrated and I-” Squawk raised up a little wing,

“No need for apologies Jennifer, I have forgiven you entirely,” the little bird proclaimed proudly, “and, because I’m such a good friend, I decided to keep tabs on James incase you ever needed to find him again. Chirp has eyes on him now!” Jennifer would’ve hugged her if not for the size difference and potential for crushing… She wondered why she’d ever wanted to strangle this amazing little bird.

“Who is this…” Meerous ventured, not enjoying Jennifer’s close new friend.

“Oh, sorry, this is Squawk, she’s the Form of birds and a good friend.” The introduction took for Enoch who gave her a big smile and shook the bird’s little wing, Meerous merely nodded courteously in her direction. “So Squawk, spill it, where is he”?

“Oh that’s easy, he’s been captured by the Deathless.” The trio’s jaws hit the floor,

“WHAT?!”

“Yeah, turns out that Death’s got someone here on Adam with some semblance of brain power, and whoever he is has been controlling the Deathless this whole time.” Jennifer remembered why she’d wanted to strangle the little bird.

“Squawk! This is information you really should have lead with!” Jennifer spun around and paced a few feet before stopping, planting her feet and concocting a game plan. “Squawk, how many Deathless are near James right now”? Squawk closed her beady little eyes and, whistled a little tune for a moment, and then opened them slowly, yawned and began preening. “SQUAWK!”

“Oh sorry, a little over two thousand.” Jennifer’s whole body tensed, she hated this stupid world, she hated stupid Death and stupid James and the stupid Deathless, why couldn’t anything just work out… She looked to Enoch hopefully, he smiled in return and gave her a thumbs up, at least she wasn’t alone. She felt the weight of the weapon hit her hip and she recalled that Slade had offered his help too, this could work.

“Meerous,” The serpent leaned in, “I don’t think you’ll be able to come with us, but I’d like to ask a favor.”

“Anything.”

“Could you find my city? I… I have some unfinished business there.” Meerous nodded, and Jennifer turned away to face Enoch and Squawk.

“I know you want answers Jennifer, but are you sure you’re ready to do this? We’ll be walking into a hive of Deathless, I… I just want to make sure this is what you really want.” Jennifer considered the question, she doubted Death would care if the Deathless managed to kill her, he’d probably just find someone else, so this really could be it for her. But, the more she thought of James, the more she dwelt on those burning questions, the more that strange sensation overtook her, that unnameable quality that drew her away from home in the first place, kept her walking when her legs refused to move, kept her moving when fear had her paralyzed. She gripped her hand tight around the knife’s handle, the feeling was stronger than ever, and it pointed her toward the darkness over the hills.

“Squawk, lead the way!” The bird gave a salute and took to the sky.

“Well, if you’ve made up your mind, then I suppose you’ll need a ride.” Enoch allowed himself a sly grin.

“But we don’t have the car anymore how will we…” She watched as Enoch morphed from human to beast, a powerful fiery beast with flaming haunches, hooves like coals, and a mane like smoke. Jennifer didn’t think twice, she leapt onto Enoch’s back and grabbed hold of flaming reigns that materialized out of the smoke. The second she had situated herself on his back, he launched himself into the darkness, Solaris gliding beside them and Squawk flying ahead in the distance.

Enoch’s hooves thundered across the valley, the snow melting beneath his galloping, the void recoiling around them. The light of his flames illuminated the world, licks of flames remained behind them, marking their path from the ocean. With every powerful snort, smoke flew from Enoch’s nostrils and into the air above them, filling Jennifer’s nostrils and obscuring her vision. But Jennifer was to entranced by the ride to notice. The wind whipped back her hair, her body pulsed with every crash of hooves on stone, and the fire burned brightly, illuminating her vibrant green eyes.

Enormous ravines cropped up before them only to be cleared easily by Enoch’s explosive haunches, the two soared through the air, nothing but darkness below them, only to land effortlessly back onto Adam to continue their charge. Jennifer knew the danger that awaited them, she knew she may be riding straight to her death, but, despite every warning, she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. Like the heroes of old, Jennifer raised a fist in the air and let out a violent battle cry, surprised to hear Enoch follow up with a frenzied whinny and mighty snort. The two may die, but they’d die fighting.

They didn’t need Squawk to tell them when they were close, Jennifer had already spotted it off in the distance, an old abandoned castle, a remnant from an age long past, lit with fires and patrolled by large hoards of Deathless.

“WHAT’S THE PLAN”? Enoch’s human voice came as a surprise coming out of his beastly mouth.

“I DON’T KNOW, I DOUBT WE CAN TAKE THE WHOLE FORTRESS, BUT I THINK I HAVE AN IDEA. YOU AND ANOTHER GUY JUST NEED TO KEEP ATTACKING THE FRONT, SQUAWK AND I ARE GOING TO SNEAK IN THROUGH THE BACK AND FREE JAMES, THEN WE’LL ALL ESCAPE TOGETHER!” The wind was so loud she had no clue how much of that Enoch heard.

“WHO’S THE OTHER GUY”? Jennifer, realizing how quickly they were approaching the fortress, leaned her head over to face her sheath and shouted as loud as she could,

“SLADE! I NEED YOU!” For a moment all that could be heard was the thundering of Enoch’s hooves, and Jennifer wondered if he hadn’t heard her, she took a deep breath, ready to shout again, when she looked up to see the Deathless hoards dropping like flies, a cloaked man weaving between them.

“GUESSING THAT’S HIM”? Enoch yelled, Jennifer kicked his side in acknowledgment.

“KEEP ATTACKING, I’LL SEND SQUAWK OUT TO LET YOU KNOW WHEN WE’RE READY TO LEAVE!” She pulled back on the reigns and Enoch began to slow down, once he’d reached a trot she rolled off his side and onto the ground. She looked up to see him charging toward the entrance, morphing back into human form and covering a group of five Deathless entirely in flame.

Jennifer would’ve liked to stay and watch, Slade and Enoch had a beautiful way of fighting, but she had a mission to complete. Whistling for Squawk, Jennifer ran round toward the side of the fortress, hiding in a snowbank fifty yards away, pleased to see the Deathless patrolling the sides had all begun making their way to the entrance.

“Squawk, I need you to lift me into that window right there, can you do that.” Squawk looked offended.

“Why would you feel the need to even ask”? Wasting no time the little bird morphed into what could only be described as a colossal pigeon, the kind that had the potential to gain revenge on every cat and small child that ever lived. The great pigeon Squawk grabbed hold of Jennifer between her talons and lifted her off the ground and, under great strain, brought her toward the window. Jennifer, sensing the pigeon couldn’t maintain this position for much longer, swung herself back and forth and shouted,

“NOW!” Causing the pigeon to release Jennifer, hurtling her through the window and onto the cold hard stones of the fortress, bruised, but overall unharmed. Squawk shrunk down to her regular size, breathing heavily, and collapsing onto Jennifer’s shoulder. “Thanks for that Squawk, but it’s complete silence from here on out.” Jennifer whispered, the little bird nodded her head weakly and crawled into Jennifer’s bag, likely for a nap.

The inside of the fortress, unlike the dismal exterior, was absolutely stunning. The second Jennifer left the stone hallway of the outer wall she was immediately greeted by riches beyond her wildest dreams. Great silk blood red carpets blanketed the floors, crystal chandeliers, plural, hung from the ceiling, candles blazing, reflecting off the diamond design and bathing the room in a scattered warm glow. A beautiful diamond staircase rose from the carpet and connected to what must be the main part of the castle, Jennifer couldn’t quite accept what she was seeing, this wasn’t even the main gate, this was a side gate, and yet they’d adorned it with all the wealth of a fattened king. Though the beauty of the room left Jennifer on edge, the lack of Deathless offered her some relief, she could see markings in the rug where’d they’d clearly left in a hurry. Squawk’s comment about a representative of Death’s rolled around her head, she’d said he had some brain power, she hoped not enough to figure out their plan.

Leaving the entrance way and entering a hallway just as ornate as it’s foyer, Jennifer heard the muted sound of footsteps and, gripping the handle of the weapon, she swung around and hid in the opening of a window, her back leaning against the wide stone frame. Her breath held and her ears wide open listening for even the slightest sound, she sighed with relief when she heard the footsteps trail off in the distance. Leaping off the window sill and back into the hallway she began to walk quickly and quietly toward the center of the castle, if this representative was anything like Death himself, he’d want James held in the most showy area of the castle.

“Squawk,” Jennifer hissed softly into the bag. She waited a moment until the little hat, followed by the little bird beak poked out the top,

“What is it Jennifer,” she beeped indignantly, “I was in the middle of a nap.” Jennifer restrained the choice words boiling to the surface and managed to get out her question with only thinly veiled lividity,

“Do you know where James is being kept? This castle’s pretty damn huge…” Squawk closed her little eyes again, whistled her little tune and, before Jennifer could remind her that every noise they made significantly increased their chances of dying, Squawk’s eyes shot open and, with a happy chirp, informed Jennifer,

“There’s a ballroom in the center of the castle, just keep heading inwards and you’ll come across a courtyard, the big wooden doors will lead you to James.” Jennifer, surprised at how concise that was, offered Squawk a smile and then allowed her to return to her nap.

After another thirty minutes of wrong turns, Jennifer finally made her way onto a terrace overlooking the courtyard Squawk mentioned. She had to cover her mouth to stop from gasping when she saw the courtyard and it’s decor. Diamond statues of a thin faced, well dressed and clearly very confident man littered the place, surrounded by golden fountains, a golden walkway, crystal rivers flowing like water through the snow. The fountains sprayed liquid diamond out into the snow, giving the snow a crystalline quality that Jennifer found both gorgeous and terribly unsettling. Great torches of gold rose from the crystal snow and sprayed light onto the diamond and crystal, reflecting it off into the night and lighting the whole courtyard in an orange hue.

Jennifer grabbed a hold of the wall beside the terrace and shimmied her way down to the bottom, grateful for the ample light illuminating her path. Not wanting to test her luck and afraid to leave Enoch and Slade to fight alone for too long, Jennifer ran straight through the crystal snow toward the large wooden doors ahead, an odd comfort in the presence of the knife on her hip, whatever awaited her on the other side would not find her defenseless. She stopped at the entrance, deep breaths, tensing every muscle in her body, sweating in freezing weather, a slight tingling in her stomach, a fuzziness resonating through her mind, but none of it enough to stop her from shoving open the doors and facing the truth head on, she’d already come this far…

The doors flung open with little resistance, so little in fact that Jennifer actually fell right through them onto the diamond ballroom floor, quite thankful she caught herself before her face smashed into the most unmovable substance on the planet. The moment she looked up she wished she hadn’t, a score of Deathless, all dressed mockingly in formal attire and standing mindlessly around the room, turned to stare at her. Jennifer braced to run, but something stopped her, none of the Deathless were moving, they simply stood there, posed like bureaucrats, lords, dukes, ladies, duchesses, around a lavishly ornate dance floor, adorned with great banners of gold, and icy blue. Great fires roared from the ceiling, licks of flames descending, colliding with the diamond and then exploding into light that bathed the whole hall in a twilight glow. Jennifer followed the natural path toward the throne topping two winding diamond staircases, and, atop the throne sat a brain held up on a diamond pedestal. Nerves from the brain shot out towards a single icy hand adorned with rings of all different shapes, sizes and hues, one of them, a yellow fiery ring, lay shattered around the middle finger.

“Aw, the wandering human has graced us with her presence!” A voice called out from behind her, she spun round to see the thin faced man whose image had been carved into each and every one of the diamond statues. He walked right past her, a flourishing of his purple diamond encrusted cape. He wore a comically large golden crown with precious stones shoved into it, in one hand he held a scepter, a diamond the size of a fist in the pommel and the other hand rested on his hip. Whoever this was, Jennifer thought, clearly wanted everyone to see him as royalty. As he walked up toward the throne the Deathless burst into applause and began bowing and curtseying in robotic movements that would make even the least self-aware narcissists uncomfortable, yet this one seemed not to notice. Throwing up his arms, the man turned to face his audience, freezing as he caught another glimpse of Jennifer,

“Wandering girl!” The Deathless went quiet, an unnatural silence like someone had sewn their lips shut and stitched their arms to their sides. Jennifer faced him, an eyebrow raise was again attempted. “I know you have been a stray for quite some time now, but it is proper to bow in the presence of your king!” The words came off loudly and without an ounce of authority, like a beautiful dance routine from a puppet, impressive, but you know the puppet had little to do with it.

“I didn’t know I had a king,” Jennifer smirked, “if you are our king then you’re doing a pretty crappy job of it, have ya looked outside lately.” Considering the amount of Deathless around her Jennifer figured she should be more cautious, but this guy just really bugged her, and she refused to give him anything, certainly not fear. The wanna-be king sneered and approached the throne with the brain on it and sat himself down on the arm rest, Jennifer found that telling.

“You obviously have no clue who you’re dealing with, Death chose me to run this world, now what does that tell you”? The puppet king cocked an eyebrow, something wasn’t right.

“Tells me Death has a sense of humor!” She imagined the Deathless would’ve laughed if they’d had their wits about them. But someone did laugh, the exaggerated king chuckled, an awkward sound that wasn’t quite low enough to be considered manly, but not quite high enough to be a giggle.

“Oh wandering girl, he did tell me you were a joker.” He eased onto the armrest, his posture relaxing as the card fell from his sleeve.

“Who told you…”? Jennifer already knew.

“You mock me, but I possess something that not even Death could match, the greatest treasure in all the cosmos. You believe me to be a poor king, but I, king Melodus, captured Destiny himself!” He stood to his feet, excited to see Jennifer sweat, and the Deathless explode into autonomous applause. “Now my servants, bring in my prized possession, wandering girl I present to you, DESTINY!” He threw up his arms and from the side door, dressed in a dirty and blood stained tuxedo, hobbled in James. His eyes, nearly swollen shut by blotchy purple skin, managed to look up enough to scan Jennifer, watching to see some sense of surprise on her face, to see if she had known. When the surprise was absent, he hung his head in shame. A Deathless, dressed in equally fine yet stained clothes approached Jennifer with a beautiful satin ball gown, strapless with a ruffled wide skirt. The dress was presented to her and she stared at it in disgust.

“What the hell is this?!” She demanded, Melodus merely grinned, his lips peeled back to reveal perfectly white teeth, so white as to be unnatural.

“You’re going to put on this dress, you’re current clothes are an insult to my court and to my eyes. After that you and…. James as you call him, are going to dance for me.”

“LIKE HELL I AM!!” Melodus’ lips peeled back even further, yet the skin near his eyes never wrinkled,

“You need to understand who is in charge here.” He motioned toward one of the Deathless by James. Jennifer cringed as the Deathless drove his fist into James’ stomach, causing James’ already shaky legs to give out from under him. Melodus let out another unnatural laugh and then turned back to Jennifer, “you must know that any injury inflicted on a Form by a human is permanent, shall we remove one of his arms? He only needs one to dance.” Melodus had found his angle, what he lacked in authority he made up for in cruelty.

Jennifer looked helplessly at James, his crumpled body twitching on the floor, the Deathless had begun kicking him repeatedly. She had come here to confront James, to shout at him, to force her anger on him, to make him squirm, this… this complicated things. Risking one’s life for a friend is one thing, but for someone you have every reason to hate? This was her pride on the line, she’d be forced to dance with the man who lied and betrayed her, at the whim of a power hungry snake who would revel in her weakness, and, at the end of it all, she’d likely be killed anyway, they both would. So why bother she thought, why not die with her dignity intact? She stared at James, writhing on the floor, and she couldn’t she… she wanted to but, but something deeper cried out, something that told her that, if the situation were reversed she’d know what she’d want.

Snatching the dress from the Deathless she stripped down to her underwear tossing her clothes onto the floor and putting the satin gown on as haphazardly and poorly as possible. The Deathless picked up her bag and the weapon and scurried off to the corner with them, away from Melodus… The good king Melodus watched with glee, snapping toward the Deathless to lift James off the ground and bring him to Jennifer, another snap lead the Deathless to take up instruments, an orchestral mishmash that showed a fundamental misunderstanding of what instruments go well with one another. The music they played, while certainly not good, had a haunting and eerie tone that seemed to do well in capturing the mood. The Deathless tossed James into Jennifer’s arms, she caught him just barely and managed to help him to his feat.

“I-I’m s-so so-sorry…” He whispered into her ear, she merely nodded and began to sway with the music as Melodus jeered.

“See how they dance for me?!” The comment went to the Deathless, but the intent seemed to be for someone obviously not present, “Destiny himself dances for me, the human girl dances for me! All of you!” He motioned toward the Deathless scattered throughout the room, “DANCE FOR ME!” He screeched in ecstacy.

Jennifer lead, she placed her right foot forward, her left up and left, she brought her feet together and posed momentarily on her toes, she brought her left foot back, and her right foot back and to the right, returning to her starting position. Freddy had taught her to waltz, it had been a good memory… James followed, his whole body trembling in her arms, mumbling apologies in her ear as he put all he had into remaining on his feet. For the circumstances, Jennifer’s dance had all the poise of nobility, she began to flow, James’ beaten body now adhering to her slightest movements. She began to break out of the box and move farther into the court, forward, forward, forward, back, back, spin, forward forward, back, back, spin, forward, forward, forward, back, back back, spin. James lifted his head enough to meet her eyes, she returned the gaze, all his guilt, his shame, his regret poured out, only to be met by Jennifer’s steely gaze, a gaze that said one thing, ‘right now, we dance, everything else waits.’

James seemed to grasp the message, and he soon began to force himself to move into the rhythm, pushing his limbs, ignoring the pops and creaks that followed every movement, ignoring the sneering laughter of the false king, and ignoring all the words he wished to say. Soon, he stopped following, he began to lead, pushing forward, forward, back, back, spin, and Jennifer allowed him, but his legs again buckled and Jennifer resumed her lead until he again mustered enough strength to lead. This shifting of leads helped ease Jennifer’s fatigue, already exhausted from the break in and doing everything she could to carry the much larger James, she needed James to carry his weight, the longer they danced, the longer they lived.

The Deathless waltzed rigidly beside them, each movement performed with all the grace of a beetle pushing dung up a hill. Yet they never collided with Jennifer and James, each time they came close their bodies would jerk away, the floor seemed to belong entirely to Destiny and The wandering girl.

Her breathing growing ragged and James’ eyes fluttering shut, neither of them knew for how many hours they’d danced, only that Melodus had not yet stopped them, they still breathed. Jennifer’s foot hit the ground at an angle, her whole body began to crumple only to be caught at the last second by James who, with all the strength he had left, managed to hold her steady in a pose reminiscent of a dip, until Jennifer managed to regain her footing and stand back to her feet. James collapsed again into her arms and she again slowly swayed to the music, she had nothing left, no reserve of energy, her second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh winds had all come and gone, and now she struggled even to stand, much less dance.

She could hear Melodus shouting, demanding they dance, screeching they do as they’re told, but Jennifer no longer had it in her, she allowed her body to go numb, James did the same, they merely stood facing each other, eyes shut, panting air through inflamed and dehydrated throats. Melodus, a dagger in hand, approached the pair, she knew she should fight, she knew she should run, but her body refused to listen, she truly had nothing left.

A loud pounding could be heard in the distance, a voice carried over the pounding,

“HEY, WHOEVER’S CASTLE THIS IS BETTER OPEN UP! ALL YOUR GUARDS ARE DEAD AND YOU’RE NEXT SO HURRY UP AND LET’S GET THIS OVER WITH!” James’s ears twitched at the sound of Enoch’s voice, a spark of hope momentarily lit his eyes.

Melodus hesitated, looking to the door then to the pair, to the door, to the pair, he groaned and made a few non-committal motions both ways mumbling,

“How the hell did they kill ALL of them…”? Finally he turned to the brain on the throne and screamed, “I’m going to go clean up YOUR mistake, don’t you dare let them escape while I’m gone!” And with that he tossed off his crown and cape, threw his scepter to the floor and stormed out the door.

Jennifer’s head shot over to her bag, before she could call out to Squawk, James’ voice shouted horsley,

“The brain, Squawk go for the brain!” Jennifer, looked at him in surprise, snapping back to see Squawk rocket out of the bag and straight toward the brain, her small body morphing into a hawk, her talons poised and open. The Deathless began to move, forced movements like their bodies hung from strings, to block Squawk’s path. Easily weaving between them Squawk rose high in the air and positioned herself to dive bomb the brain. She dove swiftly, her eyes locked onto her target, but her momentum quickly fell out when the air within the room swelled and beat against her, stopping her in midair and throwing her to the ground.

Jennifer stared in horror at the beaten little bird, and began to move in her direction when she saw one of Squawk’s little eyes wink. From behind the brain, entirely unnoticed by everyone in the room, Chirp, the size of a condor, snatched the brain from the chair and flew it into the center of the hall, dropping it, and the hand from on high. The brain and hand collided with the ground, the brain exploding and the hand rolling next to it. The second the brain smashed the Deathless froze, their forced movements replaced with utter confusion, Jennifer watched them curiously, but James leaping off her with newfound vigor brought her back to reality. The hand, once smashed, began to slowly reform, bones snapping back into place, the brain, scattered in hundreds of tiny pieces, began to reform. James wasted no time, he grabbed the hand off the ground and yanked the rings off, one after the other, until they all landed with soft klinking onto the floor. Remembering what Squawk had told her in the wreckage of the floating city, Jennifer ran toward the rings and began to shove them onto her fingers, sensations of air and lightning coursed through her veins, images of mountains, forests, jungles, covered in ice, filled her mind, she saw them, and saw through them, witnessing all that they could see, all that they were, she felt power over them. James had nearly removed all the rings save for one icy blue ring wedged onto the ring finger of the hand, when the hand gripped James’ wrist, and the Deathless snapped back into action, charging the pair like shots from a cannon.

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Slade and Enoch, surrounded by the charred and dismembered remains of Deathless, stood patiently facing the great front gate of the castle. Occasionally the Deathless would attempt to reform only to be recharred or sliced into even smaller pieces, while neither of the pair was really proud of it, they found this process quite entertaining.

The front gates swung open and Melodus, his eyes enraged and his veins protruding from his skin, glared down the duo before him, but he made an attempt to maintain some form of regal bearing.

“Ah, the Form of Fire and the Form of Weaponry have come to pay respects to their king, it is customary to kneel you know…” The pair cocked their heads, their knees remained still.

“Uh…” Enoch scratched his head and glanced over at Slade, “Do we have a king? I was in this cage underground for a really long time so I genuinely have no clue…” Slade shook his head no and Enoch let out a sigh of relief, “That’s good to hear, no offence to you…whoever you are, but you don’t seem like the kingly type.” Melodus’ eyes shot open, red veins crackled like lightning from his pupils,

“WHOEVER I AM?! YOU TWO DON’T KNOW ME?!” He screamed, any regal bearings pretty much out the window at this point. Even Slade looked slightly uncomfortable, the guy seemed really hurt.

“Should we…”? Enoch ventured. Melodus looked like he might snap, when he took in a deep breath and smoothed back his wispy yellow hair.

“No matter, you will remember soon enough. You made quick work of my servants, and for that I will have to kill you.” Enoch again cocked his head, since he had no idea who this guy was that meant he had no idea how viable a threat that was. Before he could come to a decision, Slade charged toward Melodus, a massive broadsword cocked back and then swung with every ounce of force Slade could muster, he brought the sword from behind his back swinging from the hips and driving the sword into Melodus’ face, knocking him to the floor.

“WOAH!” Enoch exclaimed, “That was really harsh, we could have at least tried to talk this out with him!” Slade merely sheathed the massive blade and began to move inside when a hand grabbed him round the ankle. Slade glanced down to see Melodus, very much alive smiling up at him. Ripping his ankle free from Melodus’ grip, Slade leapt back to Enoch’s side and drew his sword, brandishing it before him. Laughter bursts from Melodus’ lips as he stood to his feet, his hand covering the section of his face Slade had driven his sword into.

“You’re going to have to do MUCH better than that if you want to kill me Form of weapons.” Melodus allowed his hand to slowly slide down his face, skin falling to reveal the truth beneath. Diamonds sparkled in the starlight, protruding from Melodus’ face and growing outward ripping up skin to reveal more diamonds beneath. Soon Slade and Enoch stood across from a mass of diamond in vague human form, a mouth forming from a fissure within the diamonds spoke with a echoey wale,

“You never did much care for me brothers! But the humans? THEY WORSHIP ME! AND SOON YOU WILL TOO!” The diamond behemoth lifted his arm and drove it into the ground, rumbling began beneath Enoch and Slade’s feet until Diamonds broke through the surface and shot up toward the duo, the pair only managing to barely avoid being skewered.

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The Deathless, now inches away from Jennifer’s throat, let out blood curdling screams as their icy hands descended upon her. Fearing this may be the end, and desperate for it not to be, Jennifer swung her arm toward the Deathless, shouting,

“BACK OFF!” A massive gust of wind followed the motion of her arm and launched the Deathless back, each one colliding with either a wall, the stairs, the pillars, but none of them remained standing. Shocked, Jennifer stared at her outstretched arm, marveling in the power she felt pulsating through her muscles. She looked to James for explanation, but he had already begun smashing the brain with his foot, causing the Deathless to again assume a catatonic state.

“What’s going on here?!” Jennifer would’ve been more specific but she had no clue where to start. James eyed the brain and scattered brain chunks suspiciously, when they remained still James shot a quick glance toward Jennifer,

“The brain controls the Deathless, it’ll reform soon, we need to move.” The second he’d finished talking his eyes snapped back to the brain, he refused to even blink.

“The brain? So that Melodus guy’s not the one in charge? Squawk literally meant that

Death had someone on Adam with some brains…”? James didn’t even chuckle at the joke, instead he merely pointed the the rings on Jennifer’s fingers.

“Do you know what those are”? She nodded, realizing he wasn’t even looking at her,

“Uh yeah, Squawk explained it earlier.” James nodded, she could see him.

“Good, then you know how valuable they are, take good care of them, if Death or Melodus regains them we may never make it out of here.” Jennifer smiled slyly and crossed her arms confidently,

“Oh I wouldn’t worry about that puppet king, Slade and Enoch are out there kicking ass as we speak, they’ve probably torn him to pieces by now.” James, his eyes still fixed on the brain, let out a frustrated sigh,

“Melodus isn’t human, he’s a Form, and a dangerous one at that, Slade and Enoch won’t last long like this…” He scratched his head, noticed a slight movement and began stomping it into the ground with meticulous vigor. Jennifer was about to try and raise an eyebrow, but decided it just wasn’t worth it,

“That guy didn’t look dangerous, what’s he the Form of”?

“Diamonds.”

“Diamonds”?

“Yep, nearly the hardest substance on the planet, harder than any steel weapon ever built and solid enough to withstand practically any temperature that could safely exist on this planet. We need to move, if we make a run for it we may just make it out alive. Jennifer,” He turned to face her, she swallowed hard, he looked serious, “I need you to grab Squawk and head out the exit, don’t let Melodus see you and see if you can get Enoch or Slade’s attention, either of them should be able to make an adequate distraction.”

“And you”? Jennifer didn’t appreciate being ordered around, but she figured now wasn’t the time to be picky.

“I’m going to separate one of the brain chunks, move it somewhere far enough away so the reforming process will slow down just enough for us to make our escape. Now Jennifer, listen closely, DON’T FIGHT MELODUS. You will not win and you will surely die, do you understand me.” Jennifer only had so much patronizing she could take, especially from James, especially now. Without answering, she turned and ran over to where the Deathless had taken her stuff, she tied the leather sheath to her waist, the weight of the weapon immediately catching her attention, she ventured a quick glance to James to see if he’d noticed, his eyes never left the brain. She slung her bag back over her shoulder and ran over to Squawk, limping to her feet and staring proudly at Chirp who circled the room from above.

“He’s a good boy isn’t he”? She beeped, Jennifer smiled and nodded, scooping up the little bird and setting her in the bag. Taking one last look at James, he gave her a slight nod, and she took off toward the front entrance, leaving James to deal with the brain.

Upon exiting the ballroom Jennifer immediately became aware that the wind had died down to a mere whisper, the air, still cold, felt far less biting now than ever before. She stared at the foggy white ring on her index finger, she wondered in what world she’d be able to control the very wind itself, she’d never felt so powerful. But, remembering her mission, she sprinted out toward the front gate, weaving between stagnant, unmoving Deathless who seemed to care little for her presence and let out dissatisfied grunts each time she came too close.

The scene at the front gate was not a pretty one. Slade stood panting, his arms low and his sword heavy in his hands, shattered weapons lay strewn about the battlefield. Enoch looked equally as tired, but he was currently bathing the diamond behemoth before him in fire, heating it to the point where the ground itself began to liquify. The moment Enoch caught a glimpse of Jennifer he shut off the fire and yelped as Melodus leapt forward and attempted to drive a diamond spike through Enoch’s heart only to have Enoch dodge away at the last second. Before Melodus could turn to follow he was met with a volley of gunfire emerging from under Slade’s cloak, though they had no effect in hurting the monster, they certainly took him off guard. Growling, he got down on all fours and charged Slade, nothing in Slade’s arsenal even remotely capable of stopping such a charge, so, instead of blocking the charge, he stuck his sword into the ground, and twisted his body upwards over the pommel and launched himself into the air over Melodus’ back. The beast, unable to change directions at such short notice, crashed into the sword, shattering it into pieces, but leaving Melodus entirely unharmed.

Jennifer knew they’d never win like this and she decided James’ plan may be best after all, so she waved her hands to get Enoch’s attention. He glanced at her and mouthed,

‘What’? She mouthed back,

‘Escape,’ he nodded, turning back to Melodus to gauge the situation, but, Melodus had already closed the gap between them, his hand shot out of the darkness and wrapped itself around Enoch’s throat, lifting him high into the air.

“REMEMBER ME NOW, BROTHER?!” He screeched, his hands tightened around Enoch’s windpipe, preventing him from even screaming, he merely opened his mouth in a desperate attempt to bring in any air. Slade charged in, but found himself quickly knocked away by Melodus’ free hand, “DON’T WORRY, YOU’LL GET YOUR TURN TOO!” He sneered toward the fallen Slade, his body twisted and mangled on the ground. Jennifer watched on in horror, frustrated at her own weakness, she wanted to help but what could she-

Her eyes dropped to the rings, her mind, filled with sensations of wind and lightning, told her what she had to do. She focused on the feelings and pointed those feelings toward Melodus, beginning to feel the wind rushing through her fingertips, and the lightning crackling across her skin.

“HEY ASSHOLE!” Melodus began to turn his head when a massive gust of wind snapped it back.

“WHAT THE HELL WAS-” He didn’t have time to finish as a lightning bolt, a marvel Jennifer had never before experienced, cracked from the sky and collided with the diamond beast, an ear shattering scream to pierced his lips. Enoch, a being of energy himself, took this extra boost and burst into flames, singeing Melodus’ hand and freeing himself from his grasp. Placing his hand over his face and regaining his balance, Melodus wailed and stomped across the ground, his body twitching and spasming. Jennifer smiled in satisfaction, she figured that, if one didn’t quite do the trick, she’d try a second one, but, before she could gather the focus, a diamond hand burst out of the ground at her feet and lifted her off the ground and into the air. She stared at Melodus in shock, only now noticing that one of his arms rested on the ground. He broke into maniacal laughter,

“YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE SO CLEVER?! BUT NOT SO CLEVER ANYMORE ARE YOU?!” Jennifer struggled against the diamonds encasing her, flailing around desperately. Melodus’ voice continued to mock her, “WHY DON’T YOU HIT ME WITH MORE LIGHTNING? COME ON, SEE HOW CONDUCTIVE I AM!” Enoch began to rise to his feet, but before he could do anything, Melodus leapt over to Jennifer, standing next to her vulnerable, charrable, human body. “I WOULDN’T IF I WERE YOU, ANY TEMPERATURE THAT MIGHT HAVE EVEN THE SLIGHTEST EFFECT ON ME WOULD ROAST HER IN AN INSTANT!” Enoch lowered his hands, eliciting a chuckle from the monstrous king. “NOW,” He looked toward Slade who had just barely managed to stand, “LET’S PLAY A GAME, IT’S CALLED, ‘STAND STILL OR THE GIRL DIES,’ THE RULES ARE SIMPLE, YOU MOVE, SHE DIES!” With that he released a volley of diamond shards toward Slade, he stood his ground and the shards lodged themselves in his body, throwing him to the ground.

“SLADE!” Jennifer screamed, drowned out by Melodus’ laughter.

“AND NOW FOR THE OTHER ONE!” Melodus turned his arm toward Enoch, a wicked grin crackled across his face. Rising to face Jennifer, Enoch let out a reassuring smile, opening his arms in preparation for the coming onslaught. Jennifer struggled desperately against the unbreakable grip, a clinking sound accompanied every move. Confused as to the sound’s origin she strained her neck toward it only to see the weapon bouncing lightly against the diamond. Without a second thought she squeezed her hand down to the weapon and carefully lifted it from the sheath until she had a firm grip on the handle. Uncertain how the weapon worked, she figured she’d just start stabbing things until something happened. She turned the knife around and stabbed the diamond covering her arms, letting out a victorious laugh when the diamond shattered like glass around her. Melodus swung round, shocked to see her free and enraged to see his diamonds shattered. Before he could do anything, Jennifer pushed off the ground and leapt toward the monstrous creature before her, pointing the knife ahead of her. Without an ounce of resistance, the knife slid through the Diamond exterior and straight into the false king’s heart. For a second Melodus merely stood still, his eyes wide and his mouth hung open. Then, all at once, his diamond body faded to dust, Jennifer could hear the statues within the castle shattering with him. Then, silence. A long silence permeating through the air, killing even the slightest traces of thought. Within that silence, Jennifer’s eyes searched for Melodus, her enemy, her once captor, but he was gone. The adrenaline faded, Jennifer became keenly aware of the dust that covered her body, aware of what… who the dust once was.

The weapon dropped from her hand and she fell to her knees, tears ran gently down her cheeks. Enoch slowly approached her, his movements cautious and controlled, fear, Jennifer scared him… She couldn’t believe what she’d done… Her arms spasmed, her breath came short and strained, her whole body had gone pale and the blood drained from her face.. Jennifer would be now and forever, a killer.