Chapter 9

Guillotine

As the dust settled, the construct came into view. There was a massive hole where its neck would be, and the places where Ragnor and Celeste had landed their blows had deep indents. The snake rapidly reconstructed itself before their very eyes, black drops of blood dripping from its wounds unto the ground. Before any could get on Celeste, she backpedaled, launching herself backwards in very much the same way she had done earlier.

Where the black drops of blood landed, steam began to rise and a sizzling could be heard. Everything it touched began to melt into a goop, and to their surprise, the goop began to form miniature snakes, practically identical to the main construct. They were fast, and immediately upon being formed they beset Aarok, Celeste and Ragnor from all sides. Nohochacyum struck out his shield, a thin film of energy spreading all over the surface. The energy began to segment itself into hexagonal shapes, the center of the hexagons stretching out to form spikes. Nohochacyum then pointed these spikes towards any snakes that approached him and fired them off of the shield towards the snakes.

Successfully impaling the snakes, he began to focus more power through the staff, this time forming the energy into a crescent shape. He did not hold it for nearly as long as before, as he had to concentrate on moving around to keep the smaller snakes in line with his shield spikes while making sure the snake above was at a comfortable distance away from them. It was a strange experience for him, fighting without the use of his old powers. He was limiting himself to using nothing but raw power. He could use some of his old spells, but he felt that they were too seeped in his past resentments and grudges. He did not wish to taint Ray’s future path with his past mistakes.

Suddenly, the massive snake lunged forward like a javelin straight at Nohochacyum. He focused mana into his legs, letting it come out like a geyser through the soles of his feat in a mimicry of Celeste’s own technique to launch himself to the side. With a resounding crash, the snake’s head embedded itself into the ground, before pulling itself out. With a throaty hiss, it slid off the building, skirting around the group until it had them surrounded on all sides with its massive body. Nohochacyum slammed the butt end of the staff into the ground, forcing the mana in the area to channel into the ground, all the way to where the snake’s tail was about to meet its upper body to complete the circle. A giant spike of earth jettisoned out of the ground, directing the tail upwards giving the group a brief way out.

Celeste, Ragnor, Nohochacyum, Aarok and Charles ran through, with Nohochacyum forming a barrier around them to hold off the snake’s fearsome bites as they did so. Once they were on the other side, Celeste unfurled her phantasmal wings, then rocketed upwards towards the snake’s head. Maneuvering her body so that the snake’s repeated lunges just barely missed her body, she flew behind it and delivered a fearsome double kick that snapped the snake’s neck backward, driving it part of the way down.

Ragnor did not miss the opportunity, jumping as high as he could by using a spark of electricity to stimulate his muscles to their breaking point. He managed to get just high enough to see the point where Celeste had hit, and he brought up his feet behind him so that he could once again kick outward, pushing himself through the air through sheer force. He was like a meteor, his glaive held out in front of him sparking with electric currents. He landed glaive first, further deepening the gouge that Celeste had dug out earlier, the blow being sufficient to push the snake’s the final distance to the ground. Unfortunately, the blows caused the snake to bleed more, meaning more small snakes would form from the ground only this time with greater numbers.

Aarok commanded his Lamia and the Howler Moon-key to assist in destroying the new guests. The Lamia was a snake like being, with the upper half being a human’s body while the lower half was that of a snake. However, his was a juvenile and as such had not sprouted the human half yet so it still looked like a snake with the upper half being bloated. Lamia’s were creatures that excelled at utilizing weapons and magic in equal measure, making them a much sought after familiar. The Howler Moon-key in turn was a Howler monkey the size of a gorilla and had silvery hair instead of the jet black its mortal world counterparts had. Howler Monkeys got their name from their propensity to make loud howling noises to both communicate with one another and to ward off would be predators. The Howler Moon-key took this trait and put it on magical steroids, its howls having the force of a literal cannon. Nature in the Divide was a dangerous place, and a lot of the animals that the mortal world have exist there, but not without having to weaponize or gain magical traits to survive. The Howler Moon-key was one such creature. Apart from their vocal abilities, the monkeys had adapted to bending rays of light to use minor illusions. In the wild they were limited simply cloaking themselves at night to avoid predators, but when given proper training, they could made for terrifying illusionists.

Sadly, Aarok had recently acquired the Howler Moon-key and as such it was limited to its blasts of noise and the formidable strength its stature afforded it, but it was enough. The ground and air shook as the howls passed through like a train, the force shredding any of the snakes it came in contact with. The Lamia used its tail like mace, bludgeoning any snakes within range. Aarok himself fired off concussive bolts of force, with a few bolts of flame and ice intermingled in between.

As for Charles, he kept his sword close and swatted anything that came close with it, but since these snakes were still far stronger than him, he did his best to draw any that approached him into the line of fire of Aarok or one of his familiars.

*****

Ray was currently lost somewhere in between euphoria whenever Nohochacyum would lash out with magic and deep concentration on how Nohochacyum was lashing out with said magic. From what he could figure out, Nohochacyum would draw something from his chest and push it along the length of his arm. It was strange, because he could still feel that something when it went from his arm into the staff and into the tip. He supposed this was what it meant when people would say “become one with your weapon” and “it is an extension of yourself”.

It had only been a few minutes since the battle had begun in full and the entire experience was incredibly surreal, almost akin to watching a movie. He cried out in shock and dismay when Celeste got hit by the Giga Snake (what Ray had begun to call it in his mind) and got sent flying into one of the larger stone buildings, breathing out with relief when he saw her stumble back out with a slight limp and a few scratches here and there being the majority of the damage from what he could see. He was dazzled by Ragnor’s ability to slip in and out of the Giga Snake’s range, landing devastating blow after blow, rending large gashes across the stone surface.

He wasn’t sure how they were supposed to take down this thing as it proved itself to be in possession of some sort of healing ability and he did not want to break Nohochacyum’s concentration with questions. He was sure he had a plan so he’d just wait and see and hope for the best. All he knew was that he was giddy with excitement at the thought of being able to even a fraction of what he was seeing and experiencing right now.

*****

Nohochacyum did not have a plan and he was honestly a bit worried. Based on his past experiences in dealing with such shards, he knew that shards that resulted from sentient life tended to try form such constructs in an attempt to “reform” a body using materials available close by. There were only mundane stones and such that the Mayans had used to construct their buildings so he had not expected something too great. As such he had been confident that he could use the limited power he could exert through Ray before he’d fade away from existence.

Unfortunately the ability to regenerate and create minions had not been in his calculations. A shard of that size should not have been able to create such advanced abilities. Now here he was reaching the limit of what he could do via Ray, and he truly did not wish to corrupt this opportunity he had carefully cultivated. The boy did not truly know just what it was that he had been given, and if the events to come were to be survived, he’d have to think of a way to stall until the children’s guardians could arrive. Already the girl was heavily injured. She did her best to hide it but an old soul like him would not be so easily fooled. From what he could tell, he knew she was suffering from massive internal injuries, which would have been fatal had she not excelled at fortifying her constitution. He cursed his past self to construct the path leading here in such a way that would increase the perspective length and time the stronger one was. Just a few more minutes and they should be here.

It was then that he felt Ray pinch at his internal reserves, and Nohochacyum marveled as Ray managed to exert some sort mana manipulation. It was a clumsy attempt at best, but he was learning fast, copying some of what Nohochacyum was doing. But he was not extending the stream of mana through the staff. Rather, Nohochacyum felt him begin to extend some mana upwards and began to form a construct of sorts…was that a blade? What was he doing forming a blade all the way up there?

*****

Ray was startled when Nohochacyum had scanned Celeste and the results showed that she had received internal injury. He wished he could do something, if only to help the girl. He would never forgive himself if he just sat by and let her continue on like this, especially when she had fought for his sake. But what could he do when someone else was controlling his body? No, he would not let that be his excuse. How many times had people in movies he’d seen manage to exert some measure of influence on their body when they were controlled? It was foolish to try and compare movies to real life, but he had only a day ago believed with resolution that magic was not real so he might as well try to prove another myth correct.

Ray focused and tried to reach out to ward the center of his chest, doing his best to mimic the feeling that came whenever Nohochacyum did it. At first, it felt like trying to wrangle a wet frog that was trying to escape from his hands, but every time Nohochacyum would reach in to take out more, Ray would do his best to form his mind in what he imagined was vice and pulled. He kept on telling himself that this power was his now, and by right it would listen to him. On the fourth time that Nohochacyum reached inside, Ray felt something give, and a trickle of what he figured was mana began to split off. It was entirely separate from the comparative stream that the god in his body was using, but it would have to do. While he was pretty sure healing magic would be a thing he’d find out about in the future, he wasn’t so overconfident in his intelligence that he’d try to do such a thing and waste his success. He was not sure if he’d be able to pull it off a second time before something worse happened to any of the people fighting, so he’d rather not risk it. Quickly stamping down the rush of pride and excitement that surged through his psyche due to his success, he held the trickle in place as best as he could, trying to think of what he should do with it.

He did not think he’d make it this far, so he had honestly not been prepared to do something. Nohochacyum had said that his family should be on their way here, so perhaps he’d be able to do something to slow down the Giga Snake? When Nohochacyum’s point of view swept over the snake again after a combat roll to dodge a vicious bite, Ray noticed that the Ragnor had tried to capitulate on the opportunity by striking at the GS’s neck. This prompted a quick lash from a spiked stone tail, and Ragnor tanked the blow as best as he could, leaving gouges in the ground as he was sent sliding back. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Ragnor resumed his slinging of lightning slashes. Ray made mental note to praise the warrior for how cool he found his lightning abilities later, and maybe ask him for a few pointers on doing the same before focusing on where Ragnor’s blow would have landed had the GS not interfered. Wait, wasn’t that where Nohochacyum blasted at the beginning of the fight? Ray watched the view shift as once again Nohochacyum had to dodge out of the way when the GS slammed the ground with its tale, black drops of blood now oozing out of the tips of the spikes, refreshing the minions that the fighters had exterminated a few seconds ago. He saw Nohochacyum raise the staff and once again blast it the GS in the face with a bolt of force, sending its face careening backwards from the collision.

Ray focused once again and saw that yes, it was where the magic had landed earlier. It was healed now, but he clearly remembered it looking darker and smoother when it had first formed. Quickly scanning the field of vision before him, he saw that everywhere that had been hit, there was a slight change in texture, implying that the regeneration had some sort of limitation. That was when Ray was struck with a realization. Maybe the warriors hadn’t noticed because of the frenzy of the battle, but not once had the GS allowed them to hit the same place twice. Sure they landed blows, but the startling speed the GS exhibited alongside its relentless attacks made them paltry at best.

Ray began to think, he was certain by now that if he really focused he could make a shape in the same way Nohochacyum had made a shape on the surface of the shield earlier to block attacks. The real question now was, what shape would he make? But before he tried that, he’d first see if he could extend the mana out of his body without interfering with Nohochacyum. Concentrating, he extended the trickle had had until now maintained in a mental grip upwards to escape via his head. He met a large amount of resistance when he reached what felt like the border between his skull and his brain. So mana could not enter his brain directly or at least it couldn’t the way he was doing it? Interesting, but not what he needed, so he began to explore and soon found a way out by skirting alongside the edge of his skull until he felt the string of mana leave by his ear and head upwards.

A few seconds was all it took for it reach high enough to overlook the battle field, at least by his estimate. As he began to think, he watched helplessly as Aarok and Charles had to be pulled out of the way by Celeste before a vicious bite swallowed the spot they had just been standing on. However, that was when a delicious idea began to form in his mind. Gathering all of his will, he began to focus on the end of the strand above him, trying his best to mimic the shape of a crescent that he’d seen Ragnor produce using the same feeling he’d gotten when Nohochacyum formed the hexagons earlier. From his current estimate, all something like this needed was his concentration as well as an understanding of the shape he was trying to produce.

What he was trying to do was make a guillotine of sorts. He knew he could not do anything fancy, but if he could make this work, he’d be able to decapitate the snake. With Nohochacyum being such an old existence and having been locked away here in self-imposed exile for so long, maybe he hadn’t seen the device he was trying to make. It took another 2 precious minutes before he finally managed to get the side facing the GS into what he hoped was a sharp edge. All that was left was waiting for both the right timing and figuring out how to send it down with enough momentum to matter. By now he was mentally exhausted, he had never imagined doing this would’ve been so tiring, but in hindsight it made sense. He was altering the state of the world around him to some degree and such a thing could not be easy. Shaking his head clear from distracting thoughts, he thought back to what else he’d felt Nohochacyum do, his mind turning towards the bolts of force. He still wasn’t sure how Nohochacyum did that, but if he were to make an educated guess, then he’d say it involved compression mana in the opposite direction of where he wanted the projectile to go. He would’ve taken more time to think it over, but suddenly he saw Ragnor fly across his field of vision, followed shortly by Nohochacyum throwing himself to the ground. He heard a thud behind them, followed by the ground shaking. He didn’t know what just happened but he was out of time. He slowly began to layer the strand of mana along the upper edge of the blade, squeezing them as tight as possible together and willing them to unravel upwards so that the blade could descend downwards with force. Before he focused his attention back to the field around him however, he felt Nohochacyum focus his attention on the blade that he had made.

‘What are you doing child?’

‘I’m made a guillotine. If I can have this land on the Giga Snake’s neck when it strikes, I can hopefully lop off its head.’

‘Giga Snake?’

‘Yes, that’s what I’m calling the big snake thing. I know it sounds stupid, but I feel it’s still better than just calling it big snake or just snake.’

Ray heard Nohochacyum’s chuckle all around him. It was an unnerving thing.

‘I see. I admire your efforts but I regret to inform you that your “Guillotine” would not do anything to the Giga Snake as you call it. It’d unravel long before it gets the chance to. Still, it’s a curious device, so I say it’s worth a shot.’

‘Really? I’m glad I could help. But we’ll have to time the descent just right. I was hoping to target the same area where you hit it at the beginning of the brawl. I’m not sure if you all noticed but wherever you guys hit it, there are small and hardly noticeable differences. I think, and hope, that striking the same spots repeatedly would whittle it down.’

‘Yes child, I have indeed noticed that, but I have not been able to figure out how to solve this problem without using my old magics. Having given you my Heritage and potential, there is only so much power I can use without it burning your body from the inside out. This Guillotine may be able to solve that problem.’

‘If I may ask one more thing of you, could you use the opportunity when it strikes me instead of the others. I don’t wish for them to risk themselves any further.’

‘I understand. You do understand that there’s a very large chance of your body getting gravely injured should I do so? My abilities to dodge so far are solely because I could predict it coming, your body is nowhere near capable enough to move at the speeds necessary to do so otherwise. I’ll need to bait it and wait till the last possible moment to ensure it doesn’t pull back for this to work.’

‘I understand, but I can’t have them be the only ones putting themselves on the line. Do what you must.’

‘You are brave and selfless. I did not know your personality when I chose you, only that you had the ability to inherit two Heritages, but know this, I am proud that someone such as you take up my mantle. This will be my last strike on the beast. After this, I will no longer be able to maintain my grip on the plane of the living.’

‘You’ll die?!’

‘Yes, but such is the way of the living. I only held out as long as I did because I did not wish for my Heritage to be corrupted by the shard of Chaos. I had intended to simply destroy them both, but I changed my mind after much self-reflection. Use my Heritage well, and pay attention to how I use your spell. It needs but a few tweaks for it to be a spell with power, so make sure you use this last strike to learn how to improve it moving forward’

And so, Ray felt Nohochacyum recede from their shared mind space. He had not realized it as he was too busy focusing on his construct, but when Nohochacyum had begun to talk to him, time around him seemed to slow down. He’d read about this before, how speeding up someone’s perception of time would allow them to experience everything around them slower as a result. It was too bad he would not be able to learn this from Nohochacyum.

As everything sped back up to their normal pace, he felt himself move to stand in front of the Giga Snake. Nohochacyum quickly moved the construct to be above a spot a few feet in front of them, where he calculated the place they’d need to hit would be. The Giga Snake reared its massive head back, fanning out its crown around it. Ray was in awe as he felt a rush of mana surge through the staff and integrate the trickle of mana he had sent upwards, infusing the blade he had formed, giving it a sense of sturdiness that he had not noticed was lacking in his own attempt. The blade was sharpened and the strands of mana that he had compressed along the back were uncompressed, replaced with several “bulbs” of mana that held balls of mana inside of them. These balls he could feel were compressed even tighter than the strands he made earlier, and he watched in amazement as functional magical rocket boosters were made before his very mind. The bulbs would direct the force from the decompressing mana, sending the blade surging downward with all the force of a train. The latter was only a guess on his part, but he could feel the power packed into each one, totaling 4 such bulbs so he felt his expectations were reasonable.

“Come and face me you oversized worm. Show me how strong your bite really is!” Nohochacyum yelled, bracing himself with his shield in front and his legs positioned to absorb as much shock as possible. The Giga Snake did not even need to be asked once, lunging forward like a massive whip towards Ray/Nohochacyum. Ray was wracked with pain as he was sent flying back, shortly after Nohochacyum let fall the guillotine.

When he landed, he saw the Giga Snake’s body coil around itself and stretch upwards, noticeably missing a head. The head lay on the ground, gnashing its fangs at everything and nothing. Ray tried to stand up but the pain was too much, his attempt at pushing himself up with his arms ending with a shuddering gasp as he lay himself back down.

His spell had worked, but was it enough?