Destroyer of Worlds

6

Along the great Fortress wall, the Fomorii swarmed. Some climbed and ripped out chunks around the windows, ignoring the clouds of flaming arrows that emerged from within. Others crashed against the great gates. It was only a matter of time before they broke through the defences.

'Death is all around, brother,' said El-Di-Gah-Wis-Lor, the final judgement of the Drakusa. Blinded by his hood, the giant saw everything. 'I feel it circling, shifting the patterns of this world, leaving marks and symbols that tell of its passing. A shadow where none should be. A cloud in the shape of a skull. Random grains of sand that spell a dead lover's name. The others do not notice these things, but they feel it, sometimes. A shiver. A moment of emptiness. A question on their lips.'

'Yep, this time we're bringing death on a grand scale, and you're helping me do it,' Hunter said. 'I've always hated my strength, but sometimes you've just got to recognise what you're good at and go with it.' He watched the Fomorii in action. 'I hope they're enough to get things moving.'

'They will suffice for now. There are more things on the way.'

'Yeah?' Hunter shrugged. 'Funny how things turn out. All these little coincidences. Me stumbling across you, you saving my life. Your presence saving the lives of the others. Now this.'

'There are no coincidences, brother.'

'Maybe you're right.'

The giant turned and looked into the sky behind him.

'What do you see?'

'The opposite of us, brother.'

Beyond the deafening rending and tearing of the Fomorii, Hunter could just make out another sound, drawing nearer. 'Wings?'

From the far horizon came the Fabulous Beasts. He counted seven; there could be more behind. The one at the head was larger and even more magnificent than the rest, the steady rhythm of its leathern wings like a heartbeat. Its jewelled scales gleamed, and the myriad colours, and the sheer wonder that it evoked deep inside him made the desolation of the blasted lands insignificant, a grey shadow that would fade in the first rays of the sun.

Hunter watched the Beasts pass over and for the first time in his life felt at peace. The downdraught from the wings ruffled his hair and the shadows passing over were cool and refreshing. Sinuously, the Fabulous Beasts arched and then drove down towards the Fortress, performing an intricate, breathtaking ballet in the air above it.

The greatest one was the first to release a blast of liquid fire that sent a geyser of rubble blasting into the air and set alight a large area of the Fortress. Soon the others were diving and releasing their terrible flame. The Fortress shook and large sections of the wall fell away to reveal the swarming insect life within. The glorious blaze leaped up to the sky, pouring thick black smoke that for the first time obscured the shape of the Burning Man. The heat was so intense that Hunter could feel it on his face a mile distant.

'Game on,' he said.