Something Else

This is completely the writing of my friend. Antel's dead, the universe is saved, everyone gets goodies from the gods...it's over, right? Right? This is the last chapter of From Grace We Fall.

"Good grief..." Antel muttered as Raven's Nest entered his underground arena. "You guys just don't give up, do you? I mean, is it too much to ask for a group of heroes that die? You complain about clichés, but your entire group is a cliché." He began pacing, waving his arms comically as he continued to rant. "You're heroes that always win! If, by some f*****g miracle, one of you happens to die, what happens? You get raised! That's almost as cliché as the 'dying friend and-or family member giving a hero the power to defeat a much stronger enemy' bullshit!"

Undaunted, Glide strode up to Antel, backhanding him in the face. "Shut the hell up!"

Antel gaped at Glide for a moment, going silent for a few seconds before managing to find his voice. "You... you hit me. You don't hit people when they're ranting! That's not cool!"

"I told you to shut up." Glide growled, slapping Antel again. "If you're gonna keep whining like a b***h, I'm just gonna keep slapping you like one."

"Quit smacking me!" Antel snapped, raising his arm and pointing a palm at Glide. "You're starting to get on my nerves!"

Dham, standing among the rest of Raven's Nest nearby, recoiled at the sight of Antel's ring.

"What's wrong?" Ambree asked, glancing between Dham and Antel.

Dham didn't respond, darting forward and grabbing Glide, wrapping his wings around them both. Mere milliseconds later, a jet of fire erupted from Antel's palm.

"Didn't know he could do that..." Glide muttered.

Dham smirked, his stone wings returning to normal. "You should've hit him harder."

Ambree drew Illyria from its sheath, brandishing the blade and charging at Antel.

Antel turned his attention to Ambree, knocking Illyria from her hands with a burst of energy. The sword sailed through the air, landing in Revan's paws.

"Revan, give me the sword." Antel commanded, holding out his hand.

Revan snarled, tucking his paw behind his back, keeping the sword out of Antel's sight. "We had an agreement. Where's my reward?"

Antel pulled his hand back, grasping the bag that hung on his belt. Nodding, he pitched it to Revan. "The key to your hidden powers. Now, the sword."

Revan snatched the bag out of the air, slipping it into his pocket. "A deal's a deal." He murmured, tossing the sword to Antel. "Be careful, it's sharp."

Antel held the sword high, turning to face Ambree. Stunned by Revan's betrayal, she was unable to defend herself when Antel swung.

Glide slid forward, flicking his chain up and catching it in his mouth, pulling it taut and intercepting the blade.

Antel stared, horrified, as the blade shattered. "But... this is... Illyria! Why didn't it-"

"You really are just a... simple creature." Revan commented, twirling the sword in his paws. "And a sucker, to boot. You really think I'd be stupid enough to ally myself with someone like you?" He scoffed, planting the sword in the ground and leaning against the hilt. "I'm sure you can guess what this is." Grinning, he pulled the sword up, tossing it to Ambree.

As Ambree moved to attack him, Antel raised his hand, a ring of energy looping around Glide's neck. "Attack me and your leader loses his head. Not even a zombie can survive that."

Ambree stopped in her tracks, slowly lowering the sword's blade to the ground.

"Don't be stupid!" Glide barked, dropping to his knees as the ring tightened around his neck. "He's gonna kill me anyway, just do it."

"I'm not going to kill you." Antel smirked. "She is."

"What!?" Ambree yelped, nearly dropping the sword.

"Kill him." Antel commanded. "Kill him and I'll raise your parents."

Ambree tightened her grip on the sword, raising it again. "How do I know I can trust you?"

Antel shrugged. "You don't. Then again, why would I lie? I could just as easily kill him myself."

"... My parents first." Ambree said. "When they're back... I'll do it."

"I didn't think it would be that easy to corrupt you." Antel muttered, starting to draw complicated runes and symbols in the air. "Heroes these days, promise them their parents' resurrection and they'll slit a friend's throat for you..."

After a few moments, the runes Antel was drawing began to glow, a pillar of light descending from the sky. When the light dimmed, Ambree's parents were within the arena.

"There." Antel said. "Done. Kill him now."

"You'd better take my head off in one clean stroke." Glide warned. "Because if you don't, nothing will be able to save you from me."

Ambree nodded, raising Illyria above her head. Turning to Glide, she smiled slightly, flicking her thumbnail against the sword's crossguard. She paused, then broke into a wide grin, wheeling around and heaving the sword with all her might, the blade piercing Antel's chest.

"... I think it's safe to say that that probably hurts like a b***h." Glide grinned, getting to his feet, the energy ring around his neck vanishing. He grabbed Antel by the throat, lifting him off the ground and onto his feet. "You're going to tell me exactly why you did this. If you don't, I'm going to make you suffer."

Antel growled, attempting to gather energy in his palm, only to have it flicker and dissipate. "You're not getting anything out of me. It's already too late, anyway. You'll never stop Fabian. If you try, he's gonna make you scream like a cat in heat..."

"That's f*****g useless." Glide muttered, grasping Illyria's hilt and pressing the blade downward, cutting through Antel's body. "God, why does it always have to be this way? Drop a single hint before you just lay down and die." He ripped the sword free, tossing it to Ambree. "Dham, get the f**k over here."

Dham nodded, obediently joining Glide. "What is it?"

"Exactly what I was going to ask you." Glide replied. "The ring. Don't think I didn't see how you reacted when you saw it. You know what it is, so spill."

"It belonged to... Ptolemy..." Dham murmured. "He created it centuries ago, during the first war on Arctan. It was his greatest creation; a ring that can literally suck the powers right out of anyone. It doesn't just copy them, it removes them from the original wielder's system."

Glide took a moment to think, then grabbed Antel's hand and pulled the ring from his finger, tossing it to Revan. "Hey, kid, catch!"

Revan plucked the ring out of the air, sliding it on. "You're giving it to me, master?"

Glide nodded. "The rest of us either have enough powers as it is, or would abuse the hell out of those powers. It's all yours."

Before anything more could be said, black orbs descended from the sky, a large, scythe-wielding bat appearing as they vanished.

Shetani immediately stepped between the bat and Ambree's parents. "Therali, I don't care how they were raised, you're not taking this girl's parents from her again."

Therali smirked, hooking the blade of his scythe around Shetani's shoulders. "Come on, you know me better than that, 'Tani. I'm not here to personally reap anyone."

"Your blade's dull, Therali." Shetani commented.

Therali shrugged. "Yeah, well, it's sealed. Anyway, you're all going to need to orb Up There, so we can give you your rewards for... y'know, helping keep the peace. Again."

"'Up There'?" Ambree asked.

Therali nodded, pointing upward. "Up There, the high plane. The home of the gods."

"Everyone, join hands." Shetani instructed, extending her paws. "The other gods don't like being kept waiting."

 

...

 

"Nice place." Glide grinned, looking around as Therali gave the group a guided tour of the high plane. "More grass than I thought there'd be. Less clouds, too..."

Therali chuckled. "The only true paradise left, in the only place nobody can spoil it. You guys figure out how you'd like to be rewarded yet?"

"Can you enhance my memory?" Niqi asked.

Therali nodded, tapping the butt of his scythe against Niqi's forehead. "That'll do it."

Niqi blinked. "... Whoa. I can remember what I had for breakfast when I was six."

"Your turn." Therali said, turning his attention to Ambree.

Ambree thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I'm not sure what to ask for, to be honest. Just give me something that'll make me... special. Unique."

"I know just the thing..." Therali smirked, laying a paw on Ambree's head.

Ambree's eyes widened, her hands beginning to shake. "What's going on...?"

"I'm sure you feel that power." Therali said, his paw glowing. "Show us what you can do."

Ambree shut her eyes, black energy surrounding her. Slowly, she rose off the ground, levitating in front of the group.

"Hit her with a fireball, Glide." Therali ordered.

Glide raised an eyebrow. "You want me to wha-"

"Do it, or I'll make you do it." Therali snapped, one pitch black eye glaring at the Varixian.

Glide nodded, flames beginning to gather in his palms. After a few seconds, he pitched them at Ambree, the aura around her absorbing them.

Ambree opened her eyes, her aura shifting from black energy to Glide's fire. "What in the world is this?"

"That aura will mimic any type of magic thrown at it." Therali stated. "Change it to fire and it'll keep you warm, or burn through your enemies. Its possibilities are endless."

 

...

 

"Well, that's everyone." Therali said, turning to Glide. "Except you. What do you want?"

"Uh, Therali..." Shetani murmured, nudging the bat god with her elbow. "Bad idea."

Glide broke into a wide grin. "You're gonna hate me after this."

Therali sighed. "How many things are you going to list?"

"A lot." Glide responded. "First of all, repair my sword."

"Easy enough." Therali shrugged, taking the pieces of the sword from Glide and working his magic to repair it.

Glide took his sword back, sheathing it. "Cowboy hat. Stylish."

Therali raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, summoning a black cowboy hat and dropping it on Glide's head.

"An outfit to match." Glide continued, shedding his vest and fishnet shirt.

"Good grief..." Therali muttered. Shaking his head, he summoned a new black vest, a pair of embroidered batwing chaps, and blue carpenter jeans. "Happy now?"

Glide didn't respond, simply donning his new outfit. "One last thing. Since Dham didn't mention it... summon Dex Bates for us. He might come in handy sometime."

"Finally, something that's not just for your gain." Therali said, pulling a glass orb from his pocket and tossing it onto the ground. A cloud of smoke erupted from the shattered object, Dexter appearing as it cleared.

Dexter glanced around, groaning quietly when he noticed Glide. "What part of 'don't try' did you not understand?"

"Dude, if I wanna find you, I'm gonna find you, even if you don't want me to." Glide smirked.

Dexter rubbed his temples. "This isn't going to end well for me, I know it..."

"I think it's time for us to leave." Shetani said. "Come on, everyone, join hands. We're orbing home."

"Wait!" Therali barked. "There's... there's something else..."

 

-End-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…That’s a cruddy way to leave you hanging, isn’t it? Alright, the story truly isn’t over, although you probably figured that out by now.

Here’s a preview of the next book in the series:

 

 

"Isn't that your mother, Glide?" Shetani whispered, nudging Glide. "She looks -"

"- pregnant." Glide finished. "And pretty far along, at that... Think you can, uh..."

Shetani raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Glide shrugged. "I don't know, look in and make sure baby-me is okay."

Shetani rolled her eyes. "Fine, I suppose. These are special circumstances, after all." She paused, closing her eyes and focusing. After a moment, her eyes snapped open. "Glide... There's two..."

 

Reviews

[KEi]

//Undaunted, Glide strode up to Antel, backhanding him in the face. "Shut the hell up!"//
O LOL
Dude just got PIMP-slapped.
xD

//"Don't be stupid!" Glide barked, dropping to his knees as the ring tightened around his neck. "He's gonna kill me anyway, just do it."//
Stop trying to play the f*****g hero Glide.
It doesn't suit you.
(Die and I'll kill you. Got it?)

GAH!

Cliffhanger much?
MOAR PLEASE!