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

a longtime,” he informed me. “You might want to consider how your wordswill affect your future.” Reaching through the thorns as thoughthey were insubstantial, he thrust his hand into mystomach.

Physical pain was almost impossiblefor me these days, but what he was doing was entirely different.Ripping his hand free, it emerged with a glowing handful ofconcentrated aythar. I screamed.

“Today we will teach you a new sort ofagony, Mordecai,” he said in a calm tone.

The next handful he took was lesspleasant, and since the only power I was free to use was my voice,I channeled everything I had into it, emitting a painful cry thatwould have turned his head to jelly if he’d been amortal.

He flinched, which did little toimprove my mood, but it was a start. The vines covered my mouthagain. Ripping and tearing at me, he tore my essence away in bothsmall and large chunks. It was the spiritual equivalent ofdisemboweling someone, and then eating the organs in front of theprevious owner.

Being unable to die was a real problemsometimes.

It could have been much lessunpleasant, or at the very least, non-painful. I was gaining a newappreciation for the humane method that shiggreth used with theirvictims. Even my struggle with Chel’strathek hadn’t been thisbad.

After he had reduced me by half ormore he allowed me to speak again, so I took the opportunity to cryuncontrollably. Deep within I hated him, and deeper still I wantedto respond with a clever remark, anything to cover the shame andindignity of what he was doing to me. But the agony had defeatedwhat was left of my sanity.

“I’m going to keep you forever,”Mal’goroth told me, “since I don’t have the key to the spellweavethat sustains you. But don’t worry; you’ll be my most favoritepet.”

He resumed his awfulfeast, but one clear thought brought me a tiny piece ofsatisfaction. Peter, do itsoon.

I had lost all conception oftime.

Whether it took him minutes or hours Icouldn’t be sure. For me it felt like an eternity. There wasn’tmuch left of me. Mal’goroth had devoured everything but the stilldead flesh that encased me. The thorns were gone, but I was tooweak to move. The only aythar left was that of the spellweave thatsustained me, the cursed magic that bound the true Mordecai’s souland kept me in my damned, undying state.

My consciousness began to fade, tooweak to sustain itself as I watched Mal’goroth walk away. “I’llfind you later,” he said as he left. “…in a week, or a month, or ayear—whenever I get bored. I have a lot to do in themeantime.”

I was desperate to speak, but my lipswouldn’t move.

He stopped, gazing down on me withpity. “I’m off to finish my task. Your family, your people, yourrace, all of them—do you understand?”

I couldn’t nod, but my eyes probablyshowed him my feelings.

“After I’ve done that, it will be justyou and me and the others like us. I might let the new She’Har,whom you kindly resurrected, live if they can find a way to set usfree. That’s your only hope, really. Otherwise, I’ll destroy themas well, and then we’ll just have to amuse each other for a very,very long time.”

Once again I wished my dead eyes couldweep, but they continued to betray me, remaining dry and nearlylifeless.

“Don’t think your people can hide,” headded, pausing again. “I’m not picky. If necessary I’ll tear downthe mountains, burn the forests, and boil the oceans. I won’t mindkilling every living thing just to make sure they are dead. Thatshould give you some comfort.”

Mal’goroth had apparently learned adifferent definition of the word ‘comfort’ than I had.

Perhaps he was able to read mythoughts because he seemed to answer me then, “They won’t have tolive, Mordecai, but your suffering, and mine, will lastforever.”

I closed my eyes and letmy awareness drift into the dark. Finishit, Peter, please.

Chapter 43

Once again Gareth was forced to serveas mount, while two humans and three gods rode on his back. Thegods could have flown themselves, but Walter had insisted that theystay together; otherwise his invisibility spell would be moredifficult to manage.

The vast amounts of aythar being used,along with the chaotic fighting, allowed Walter to modify theinvisibility spell to some degree. Assuming that the combatantswere focused on their battle, he gave the shield a faintpermeability to both light and aythar, so they could see and sensethe fight. From inside it gave the world a dark hazy appearance,while from the outside they would seem ghostly and ephemeral to asharp eyed observer.

Passing through the gate, it was easyto tell which direction to take. Only a half a mile or so in thedistance were frequent flashes of light and the deep dull booms ofMordecai’s signature iron bomblets.

Why is he usingthose? Gareth wondered. They were sure tobe nearly useless against a being as powerful as the spidergod.

“What’s happening?” asked Penny. Thehaze, combined with being limited to only normal vision, made itdifficult for her to discern anything at their distance.

“He’s using his iron bombs, lots ofthem,” answered Walter, straining to sense something more specific.They were less than a quarter of a mile away now, but the shieldinterfered with his magesight.

“Is he winning?” she askedhopefully.

“He will, undoubtedly,” said Gareth.“His strength is at least twice as great as the spider’s, but he isfighting oddly.”

“He should be trying to finish thisquickly if Mal’goroth is coming,” pointed out Walter.

They both stopped for a moment,wondering at their perceptions. The lack of communication annoyedPenny to no end. “What?!”

Walter seemed confused, “I don’tunderstand. What is that?”

But the dragon knewexactly what he was witnessing. Thefool! he exclaimed mentally. Bankingrapidly, he began a series of powerful wing strokes to gainaltitude.

“You’re going the wrong way!”complained Penny.

“We should have stayed inside thecastle,” responded Gareth, “or better still, we should be in yourhidden sanctuary.”

Walter seemed fascinated, staringbehind them as the dragon made haste to bear them farther away.“He’s caught him somehow,” he relayed. “It looks like a giantgolden box of some sort. I think your husband just declared himselfthe victor.” His voice was elated.

The dragon kept flying farther away.“We need a shield,” he said loudly.

“I’ve already got one around us,” saidWalter.

Gareth blew flames in his frustration,heedless