zg_shadows | Endgame

((Apologies, this isn't that good, but I want to get something written whilst it's still fresh in my mind)).

The being most knew as Jack- even he often thought of himself by that name nowadays stood on the battlefield, watching as the massed hordes of his forces assembled. His forces. He savoured the feel of that thought, even as the others tried to intrude upon his attention. A long-dead sorceror from an age of heroes, and a demon used to create the form that was now his. He exerted his will to suppress them, going over his plan in his head.

Then it arrived, and all thought of plans was banished for a time, as destruction and hunger and rage all burned through him. He stood, locked in a rictus of ecstasy as artillery slew dozens of his troops, and he gloried in the destruction. Reacting to his state, half the Maeljin sped forward to engage the enemy. Or if not the enemy, anything that got in their way. A small part of Jack's mind railed against him, telling him that this wasn't the plan, this wasn't the well-ordered strategy that would lead to the defeat of his enemies, and his reward. But it was drowned out by the urges of the Wyrm, reflected in its General.

Then the Maeljin began to fall, and as he felt their destruction, like little pieces of himself being torn away. The shock of it, combined with Mhairie's attempts to get through to him were enough to break him out of his destructive trance, and allow him to bring his army back under some semblance of control. Pulling back those Maeljin still exposed, he directed his attention to two of the Maeljin who had not yet advanced far.

Hakaken and Doge Klypse looked at him, and even over the noise of the battle, he could hear their voices, as if he were talking to himself.

"Is it time?"

"Yes", came his reply, "we've let these Gaians win enough".

With a gesture, Hakaken and hundreds of fomori surrounding it were surrounded by green-hued energies, as an elaborate mandala formed over Jack's head. With a swirl of energies, they vanished from where they were, and reappeared further down the battlefield. Hakaken howled, and a black pit opened around the the charging Black Fury tribe. When it vanished, so had most of the tribe. A handful stood in shock at the sudden losses. Griffin's Glory was not amongst them.

Hakaken howled again, and when this pit of shadows faded, Michael-Stands-Ready was suddenly the only Child of Gaia remaining on the battlefield. There were not even corpses left to mark the passing of Unity and the rest of the tribe.

The Doge reached out somehow, and called some of the remaining shards of Anthelios, which cascaded from the sky onto the Gaian forces, killing and maiming hundreds.

And Jack, surrounded by more and more visible energy, grasped it and projected it towards the middle of the opposing force, using his connection to the Wyrm to channel more and more destructive energy through it as the Wyrm grew in power and speed.Then the Wyrm reached the Weaver and devoured it, and the resultant surge of energy was too much for Jack to keep control of- it detonated, obliterating the majority of the Gaian forces. And some of his own, but Jack scarcely noticed or cared.

The Wyrm turned, and began to move impossibly fast towards the Heart of Gaia, even as Jack directed the army in it's wake. And then suddenly, there was an awareness of magic. With his understanding of essence manipulation, he knew that someone was trying to duplicate what he had done with Hakaken, and he reached out with his essence to negate it. But he was still drained from having channeled so much energy, and could not prevent it. Then two familiar figures appeared behind him. Two of the few he knew he had to worry about, Thaddeus and Tolly. Seeing no reason to stand and fight, he started to run, gutting an unfortunate Spiral from his bodyguard who didn't move out of the way fast enough. As he ran, he triggered the various escape spells he had planned for this eventuality, but felt them being snuffed out even as he used them. Still trying to flee, he felt the blows from Thaddeus strike home, passing through all his defences, and he felt his form dissolve as his spirit was drawn back into the Wyrm itself.

But as he faded, he knew their effort was too little, too late. He had won, and he would have his reward.

Give me what I was promised, he silently screamed...