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The Revenant: Part 8 The Revenant: Part 7 The Revenant: Part 6 The Revenant: Part 5 The Revenant: Part 4 The Revenant: Part 3 The Revenant Part 2 The Revenant February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 The Talisman Weekly is a series of Fantasy and science fiction short stories, delivered in weekly postings. 
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The Revenant: Part 8
Previously: The rounded mass of gears and engines rolled out of its secret, dark and dusty eyrie in the dome and plummeted downward. The Garai phantoms recoiled and were blown away like smoke as its twisted mechanical body tumbled past them, crashing with a fury not seen since the war, directly into the center of the chamber between the two poised men.
Part 8: The Abyss
The thunderous collision caused a shockwave and a splash that threw Court and his men far aside. The chamber reeled and cracked further, its pillars shook, several toppled downward from their frightful dark heights and noisily crumbled around those below. For several long moments it was chaos. The dim Dragoon Knights halted in awe, to watch their sinister masterpiece at work again.
After some time, Court slowly regained his senses and stood up, crawling back on his feet through the rubble. He coughed at the dust clouds filling up the chamber, and cautiously peered over the ruined lengths of the toppled pillars around him. Court saw that in the midst of the ruin, the watery crack was bubbling ominously. Surely he had not just seen -- a Nocturne war machine? After all these years, and then looking for any other sign of life he realized, Where are Adan and Cael? The great machine rose out of the dark water, a living relic, a nightmare. Built with the same skill and fearsome knowledge as Aries Black's armor, its menacing form lurched forward. Blue sparks popped out of it's moving tangled parts, and the living electricity within it's scarred and ancient husk reverberated throughout the chamber as it came rising up. Court could not help but feel overwhelmed by the raw power of it, with its twisted whirling cogs and mechanisms which had lain waste to countless Garai before him. How many wars has this monster survived...and how? Court didn't have time to finish his own thoughts, for he had been seen by it, and dread fell upon him. With all his mind, Court attempted to wrench it apart. A single plate of its steel – bolted armor was torn off. He tried again, but he was just too weak. As Court backed into the shadows, he glimpsed the Nocturne knights fading away. Steadily the towering outline of the war machine came rising above Court, breaking apart all the debris in its path. Court remembered of course, that the Nocturnals had built their war machines to be nearly indestructible by any earthly weapons, and in his weakened state he had little choice. He used the only option he had, and ran. Court ducked under the high piles of debris, clinging to the shadows. He was nearly on the opposite end from the war machine when he found Aries Black. They startled each other as Court rounded the marble throne, each brandishing their guns. In a blur of action, both men were grappling each other, trying to get the first shot off. Even though Black's suit had failed him, he still had considerable strength as Court faltered. Black's sharp gauntlets squeezed down on Court's wrists till they nearly snapped. Then the rage poured out of Court. Black could see it on his face, and for a moment became frightened. This is an anger that could kill us both, he thought. True to this end, a strength returned to Court that could not have been his alone. He now had Aries Black weakening. Court's calm demeanor was shattered, and he looked every bit the madman he had been labled back home.
"You're going to die for what you did, bastard. I've lost everything...my family, my friends - all because of you and this damn war!"
A flash of metal suddenly distracted Court and he only just had time to knock Black's gun away from his head. The gun went off, the blow wildy gone astray. Had they not been overwhelmed in bloodlust they might have seen it pierce the war machine across the water. Ears ringing, Court grabbed Black by the neck, dropping his pistol there at the foot of the throne.
And so, locked together in battle, Court and his nemesis toppled over the ledge before the throne that fell into the dark water. Gun smoke swirled about them. Without a splash they sank, choking one another. There was gurgling, then a forgiving wall of silence that filled Court's ears, until all he heard was the pounding of his heart. Down and down they descended, Black's suit hastening their fall like an anchor. Court could see the jagged walls of the pool coming together at some object below them. The rift was powerful here, like an oppression sucking him down. Thrumming in Court's ears was the strongest wailing. We're glad you came...you belong dead and drowned like all of us. Court felt that behind him, where with colorless eyes, the drowned multitude of the Nocturnals watched hungrily at his back.
The object, though rusted and covered with grime was clearly identifiable; it was a mirror, a tall, rectangular mirror that would have served a Queen's vanity. It lay sunken and twisted along the sharp bottom of the crack, waiting. My Gods, we have no reflection, Court thought as he and Aries Black sank down. Behind the mirror was an abyss of water vast and endless. This was the source of the rift, Court knew instantly. A moment later, they hit the bottom of the rift. Or so Court thought, because something strange happened at that moment. Black had fallen through the mirror, where below him an abyss of endless black water stretched out. There was only a phantom shimmer where the surface of the mirror had been, and now Black was grasping Courts heels as he dangled perilously on the other side of the abyss, pulling them both toward certain death. To be concluded...
1 comments from 1 users
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posted by
gillfish
on May 7, 2008 at 02:59 PM
Hi William-I enjoyed this chapter. It was fun reading about you and where your ideas for the story came from.
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