The Final Redemption by Michael Manning (little red riding hood ebook free .txt) 📕

The force was such that while myshield absorbed most of the impact, my body turned to jelly withinmy armor. No mortal would have survived. The change in velocity,from whatever speed I was moving, to zero, was simply too great.The earth around me was liquefied by heat and pressure, explodingoutward to hide the world from normal sight.

Penny had been in the airwhen I smashed into the Dark God. I thought I had managed to get ashield around her before I impacted, but I worried what theshockwave might do to her. My magesight found her now, collapsednear one of the outer walls. She’s alive,and conscious. I could see her strugglingto sit up, confused by the dust.

The thing that had been between me andthe bottom of my new crater had been pulverized and splintered.Fragments of its body and legs had flown in all directions, but itwasn’t dead. The majority of it had been sent flying in a vectoropposite to the angle of my descent. Now that I was close I couldsense its enormous aythar.

This is no ‘seed’.Mal’goroth left this one with a lot of power, I observed. At a rough estimate it was something close to twoCeliors worth of aythar. Not as much as I held, but enough to makeit a serious handful. Its body reformed even as it was flung backby the devastating impact. It struck one courtyard wall, damagingthe stones and crushing its body again. It recovered from thatwound even more quickly.

The air was so heavy withdirt and ash that it blocked all sight. Itprobably isn’t good for breathing either. Harold and Penny were fully within the cloud. A word and athought brought a wide brisk wind to clear the air.

Rising to my feet, I surveyed thescene. The courtyard was largely empty now, the ground, which hadbeen hard packed dirt and grass, was now blackened earth and what Isuspected might be the beginnings of glass. My crater was adefinite eyesore.

“Do you know how difficult it was toget grass to grow in here?” I said, projecting my voice in thedirection of the large arachnid. “With all the traffic andwagons—it was almost impossible,” I finished, answering my ownquestion.

A sudden pulse of aythar appeared andvanished. The creature was examining me keenly, and I suspected ithad just sent a signal of some sort.

“Signaling for help?” I asked aloud.“Make sure whoever you call has deep pockets. It’s going to cost afortune to replace all the dirt, re-level the ground, and replantthe grass.”

“You caused most of the damage,”replied the strange being in a tone that seemed far too cultured toarise from something that looked as though it should be hidingunder the furniture—if you had furniture that large.

“That is hardly material to the issue.You were trespassing, and this damage resulted from my effort toprotect my home and property. Therefore you are culpable for anylosses incurred here,” I countered. If it, whatever it was, waswilling to discuss legal particulars, then I was game. Having beena count for many years, I had become far too familiar with theterminology. I found myself smiling at the situation.

Stubborn people love toargue a point, and gods are the most stubborn of all.

Laughter rang out from the directionof my new opponent, “Human law does not apply to us.”

“Defineus.”

“We are not human,” said the strangegod.

His willingness to talktold me everything. The spider had assessed our relative strengthsand was certain I outclassed him by a considerable margin, despitethe difficulty reading me properly through my armor. The onlyreason he had to continue a pointless discussion was to buytime. My time is nearly over,I thought sadly, but itwon’t end the way you wish it.

“Give me your name, before I prove myright upon you,” I challenged.

“Chel’strathek,” he answered in aslightly petulant tone, “the Terror of the Night, have none of yourkind been properly educated? I thought that perhaps you at leastwould have some knowledge.”

The name brought a string of memoriesfrom the loshti running through my mind, but I preferred to play atignorance. Chel’strathek had a streak of vanity, which would makeit easier to goad him. “I can’t be bothered to keep up with everypetty god left over from a forgotten race,” I taunted. “Theimportant point, is that your nature is irrelevant to thelaw.”

“I answer to a higher power, thereforeyour law does not bind me,” he argued dispassionately.

He definitely needstime. “Very well,” I began, “if your claimis that power bestows right,then it should be apparent to you already that Iwill, given a hard fight, be able to prosecute my right over you.You should surrender to my law and save us both thetrouble.”

Chel’strathek straightened, “I answeronly to Mal’goroth, and his power far outshines yours. I will notsurrender without a fight.”

I smiled, “Then do me one favor and Imay show you kinder treatment once I have defeated you. Let us takeour fight to the open field, away from my property and chattel,lest more unnecessary damage be done.”

“Certainly,” he replied.

He’s decided that he hasdelayed long enough. Our fight will not be over until his Lord hasarrived. I made a mental calculation,though guess would be a better name for it. I didn’t like myestimate, but it would have to be enough. “Move to the open field,half a mile from here, in the direction of the river. I will giveinstruction to my servants here and join youmomentarily.”

I could feel Chel’strathek’ssatisfaction shining like the sun. I had given him even more time.He might gain enough to get by without having to fight me for long.He didn’t want me rubbing his face in the dirt before Mal’gorotharrived. Rising on long legs he grew strange bat-like appendagesand flew away. “Five minutes,” he said to me as he left.

Wasting no time I headeddirectly for Penny. Harold and Karenth met me halfway, and I begangiving instructions as I went. “You need to get everyone in here assoon as possible,” I told them. “How far away are your people?”Inwardly I winced as I realized that I had said your. They were no longermine.

“Almost all are here already,” saidHarold responding to my authority instinctively,