Chapter 27…Karma is a Bitch
Sora gazed quietly as the assembly of Yaksha ready or not to do battle. A single tear fell from her eyes. “Mother?” Ora asked standing next to her. “As a Yaksha I am proud. As a mother I weep. Many will not see tomorrow. We may very well be fighting a futile, pointless battle” she replied. "I am reminded of an old human tale. Once there was a man who walked a beach every morning scooping up starfish washed ashore and tossing them back into the sea. Another man watched him do this day after day. One day the man watching approached the man picking up starfish. “Why do this every day when they simply wash ashore again? It means nothing” he said. The man picked up another starfish, looked at it, and threw it back into the sea. “Nothing? It meant everything to that little starfish” he said smiling before going about his business. Sora grinned and chuckled. “Understood. Don’t you have someone you have to see?” Sora asked. “Oh shit. See you on the battlefield mom” Ora said kissing her before leaving.
Ora quickly made her way to the chambers at the top of the Sanctuary. There, The Sage of Quintessence and a very nervous Kanya stood. “Wouldn’t you be a better pick? You’re way more powerful than me!” Kanya asked her. “As old as I am. As powerful I may be, I never learned to sing. I couldn’t carry a tune if it was in a bucket. That leaves you. Be not afraid for I will guide you” the Sage said. “There’s our songbird” Ora said approaching. “Not funny Ora! I’m about to piss my shorts here!" Kanya yelled. Ora hugged her and ruffled her hair. “You got this. All you need to do is concentrate. The spell the Sage will cast will do the rest” Ora said. “This spell will really work?” Kanya asked. “Empathy magic, especially song magic doesn’t rely on words but emotions behind the words. As long as you sing true, you will reach the hearts and minds of every human on Earth” Ora said. “And this will stop people from hurting and killing one another?” Kanya asked. “Briefly. No spell on Earth can permanently change people on such a grand scale. If we’re lucky it will last at least 30 minutes” Ora replied. “30 minutes? That’s it?!” Kanya asked. “30 minutes to save the world. No pressure” Ora chuckled. The Sage bid Ora to stand back as she connected her and Kanya to the Astral Plane. “Whoa. There’s so many more lights” Kanya muttered. “Because you’ve grown. From here you shall sing and connect with humanity” she said. There was the sound of a large bell. “It’s begun” the Sage said.
The Sanctuary began to glow as a pillar of light fired off into the sky. “Sing Kanya! Sing for the world!” the Sage yelled.
(Authors note: the song Kanya is singing is Face my Fears by Hikaru Utada)
“Breath, should I take a deep. Faith, should I take a leap? Taste, what a bittersweet. All my, all my life…let me face, let me face, let me face my fears. Oh, let me face, let me face my fears. Won’t be long, won’t be long, I’m almost here. Watch me cry all my tears…”
Kanya’s song radiated across the planet as sparkling bits of light fell like snow from the sky. A teacher in Indiana, holding a shrunken cheerleader in a cage wept and begged forgiveness for what he did to her. A woman in Mexico City begged God for forgiveness as the shrunken man she abused as a sex toy watched. A teenage boy in Paris brought a shrunken woman he’d been hiding to his parents. Across the planet, the goodness in people began to outshine the darkness.
Next, the Sages of Fire and Wind teleported right above Ebon Palace. Those standing outside gazed up at them. It did not take long for Kasem to notice their presence. “And so it begins the twilight of the Yaksha” he said flying outside. As he gazed up, he saw the Sages combining a spell. “The first to fall” he muttered as he concentrated. As he did, he noticed Kanya’s spell. “What…what the hell is this?! The power…the chaos energy has been cut off!” Kasem yelled. The air began crackling with energy as he ranted. Ears popped as air pressure dropped like a rock. The Sages were concentrating the spell at one fixed point. A point that shimmered before glowing. Crackling with energy, the wind rushed and vacuumed into the focal point. “You bastards! You’d cast that spell?!” Kasem yelled as he used his stored energy to strengthen the barrier around the Palace. Strengthened it enough it trapped those outside of it. “Burning Creation!” the Sages yelled letting the glowing point of light drop from the sky. The second it touched the barrier it detonated. Those trapped outside was blinded…and then nothing. The entire region shook violently as the shockwave flattened the forest for a mile around. Beyond that was a forest of flames. The blast so bright, spy satellites from every major superpower detected it. Those alerted to it wondered who would nuke a forest in the middle of nowhere China. Yes, one could call it a nuke in the loosest sense of the word as what the spell had done was suck up 20,000 cubic feet of air, squeeze it to the size of a pinhead and then superheat it till it turned into plasma hotter than the surface of the sun. Contained to its size right at the moment it touched the barrier than let go to expand violently in a horrific explosion. The mushroom cloud reached over 10,000 ft. into the air. Mike got his bombardment and then some. It cost a huge amount of energy to cast but it did what it was supposed to do.
The five kiloton blast vaporized the Asura trapped behind the barrier. They were dead before they felt any pain. No bodies, not even ashes remained. The ground blistered black except for an ominous sparkling caused by traces of sand turned to glass by the heat. It took his full concentration for Kasem to hold the barrier as fire and wind ripped around them dead in the middle of a mushroom cloud. The Asura inside trembled wondering if the Yaksha were as peaceful as the old stories claimed they were. 15 minutes passed before the next part of the plan was done. Kanya rested as her song worked. Mike sat down and held her close. “I could hear you in here” he said touching his heart. Kanya smiled and nodded. Another bell rang out signaling the deployment of the Yaksha. They watched from above as the Sanctuary powered the ultra-long range teleportation spell for 107 Yaksha. Ina flash of light, they were gone leaving Mike, Kanya, the Sage of Quintessence and low-ranking minor Yaksha behind.
The ground underneath them glowed as a gigantic magic array formed and within seconds they were gone. They all appeared 50 ft. in front of the entrance to the Palace. When Kasem saw they had arrived, he lowered the barrier knowing they wouldn’t try the same devastating spell again. The Asura were highly hesitant to do battle but that changed as Kasem used the power he had stored to boost their abilities plus their aggression. In a collective roar, they streamed out of the palace like angry fire ants towards the Yaksha. As they kept pouring out, it became clear they outnumbered the Yaksha. “They outnumber us almost 3 to 1” Alma whispered after observing their numbers from above and landing. “So…I take the 120 on the left and you take the 120 on the right?” Ora asked her mother. “Have pity on an old woman dear” Sora said. “Okay, I’ll take 121” Ora replied grinning. “Much better!” Sora yelled activating her spells. An exchange of spells criss crossed the air as they both rushed to close the distance. Yaksha killing an Asura with a fire spell. An Asura killing a Yaksha with a lightning spell. The entire battlefield became chaos.
After a full 15 minutes into the fight, it was clear the Asura had the advantage. “We can’t break their lines! We need Kasem himself to come down!” Sora yelled. “Agreed! Drop to the ground!” the Sage of Wind yelled. Once those nearby got in range, the Sage concentrated her magic and clapped her hands hard sending an ear drum piercing shockwave of air pressure. The Asura staggered long enough for Alma to raise into the air and fire a precision volley of deadly icicles into the heads of their enemies. The Sage of Fire began shooting concentrated blasts of fire exploding their ground like artillery. The tide of battle began to turn. Angered, Kasem used his forbidden necromancy to animate the dead but with souls they had no magic. They were just cannon fodder to exhaust them…and it was working. They began to falter and on that note, Kasem decided to take to the field. “Take me with you my love!” Juna yelled to him. Kasem kissed her imbuing her with power even more than before. “Mind the house while daddy is away” he grinned before leaping off the floor. Kasem came crashing down with thunder and lightning killing those close by.
“You burned up my front yard” he muttered as he formed his lightning sword. “Ehh…I heard iron can be a good fertilizer and Asura blood is rich in that” Ora said smiling. “Keep smiling. I’m going to enjoy wiping it off your face before I torture you. Mommy over there can watch” Kasem growled. Sora stood in front of Ora. “I’ll handle this. Push through the lines” Sora said. “But mom…”
“GO!” Sora yelled. “She won’t be alone” Alma said as she and now the three other Sages stood with her. Ora tried to block out the sound of battle as she ran. The deafening thunder could be felt in her bones. Wind started the attack with blade made of pure overpressure. Kasem easily deflected it. Alma tried to help only to be struck by an attack nearly stopping her heart. “Idiot. Lightning always stands over water” Kasem muttered. He went to finish her off until he was struck hard by something sending him flying. Kasem used wind magic to stop himself. He coughed blood as his ribcage was shattered. He flew back to find a stone shaped fist jutting from the ground with the Sage of Earth standing behind it. “You think you accomplished something?” Kasem said as he quickly healed. The Sage cocked an eyebrow at the unusual rapid healing. He realized Kasem was using the chaos energy to boost that as well. Kasem powered up and turned to his lightning form attacking. The Sage did not move and blocked his literal lightning-fast attack. It turned into a whirlwind of thunder and lightning around him. No Sage could help. Kasem finally stopped. “As much as the storm howls, the mountain cannot bow” the Sage said coldly as the ground itself swallowed Kasem. “Quickly! Get ready to seal him!” The Sage of Wind yelled. “It won’t work! I cannot hold him!” the Sage of Earth said before the ground exploded. "Silicon can conduct electricity fools. As for you…"Kasem said powering up even more attacking the Sage of Earth. A ferocious thunderbolt plowed right through his stone shield and through the Sage killing him.
The Sage of Quintessence staggered. “What happened?!” Mike yelled. “The Sage of Earth has fallen” she replied. Kasem tore into the other Sages barely staying alive from his withering attacks. Their only hope was his body was burning out from the tremendous strain. Although he was getting weaker, he still had the upper hand. The Sage of Fire counter attacked as hard as she could with her flaming sword. It appeared this fight would end the same way as the last one with fire versus lightning. However, this Sage of Fire had over 1000 years more experience than the one Kasem fought for control of the Ebon Palace. She held her breath as a dome of intense heat built up around them. Kasem’s attacks grew weaker and fainter until they fizzled out completely. As much as he tried powering it back up nothing happened. Then she volleyed him with flames. Again, Kasem healed rapidly but slower this time. “You bitch” he hissed. “Humans call it a heat lance. Enough focused heat and the air itself becomes a near perfect insulator” she said. Kasem saw her toes clench, her knees wobble slightly. He grinned knowing she hit her limit. “I’m more than just my lightning” he said grinning. Kasem gathered chaos energy into a sickening back void of an orb and threw it right at her. With chaos energy being the exact opposite of what Yaksha uses, it was beyond deadly if it connected. It was a literal ball of pure death flying towards her. The other Sages threw up a barrier to protect her and when it touched the positive energy of the barrier it exploded violently. The dead and injured were blown off the ground by the shockwave. Those closest to it were killed instantly friend or foe. The Sages were on their knees weakened. Sora and Ora rushed to defend them. “Oh goody. You can die with them” Kasem said powering up another. Just as he did, he felt something suck away at the power he stored up. He paused and looked at the Ebon Palace throne room. Someone jumped from it…
Five minutes earlier…
“They’re weakening. Kasem weakens but it’s not enough. I fear as long as his body and magic are still tethered to the Palace, his control of that energy will be our undoing” the Sage if Quintessence said. “Wait. It’s linked to his magic also? I thought it was just his body” Mike said. “His magic as well” she said. “Fucking Christ on Sunday! You could’ve said so sooner! Teleport me to the Ebon Palace throne room now!” Mike yelled. “But…you cannot fight” she muttered. “I damn sure can!” Mike yelled touching the shard of the Coin in his chest. He handed Katie to Kanya. “She hasn’t eaten in two days. Don’t let her bite you and remember what you promised me” he whispered. “Do it now before it’s too late!” he yelled to the Sage. She nodded. The magic spell formed beneath him. “Just get that arrow spell thingy ready!” he yelled as he teleported away. Mike appeared in the throne room, but he was not alone. Juna stood guard. “They send a human now? Desperation” Juna laughed as she walked towards him to kill him. “Pot calling kettle” he muttered as a flash of speed took him into point blank range. He punched her hard smashing through her defenses leaving her falling to her knees. “How…how can you be that strong?” she asked. “I have some of his power and it’s been growing. I’ve been around him long enough to know how to use magic on my own now but you’re just a newbie. Be a good girl and stay down” Mike said coldly as he held up his hand and began binding with the Apex Lattice, the heart and collector of the chaos energy Kasem had enslaved. As Mike thought, there was just enough of Kasem left in him that the spell he used to control it thought Mike was him. A bold gamble that paid off. Mike damn near came in his pants from the infusion of energy and his lust nearly took control of him. He looked down at Juna no longer as an enemy but a female plaything. Her bare feet, her tits, the sweat on her body. Mike growled wanting to fuck, shrink, and then eat her. He held it together long enough to begin his own plan. The one he kept from everyone. He grabbed her by the throat and shrank her until she was trapped in his fist. Then he jumped off the ledge…
Now…
Mike landed between them shocking them all. “Michael. Michael you’re still alive? And you threw your bones into this lot? I thought you were smart” Kasem chuckled. Mike showed him Juna. “Surrender” he said. “Or what you’ll kill her? I brought her back before; I can do it again” he said. Juna’s eyes went wide at his callous tone. “I see” Mike said. He placed the fingernail of his thumb underneath Juna’s chin and quickly pushed. There was a small little sound that came from the ground and a small spurt of blood from Mike’s hand. Kasem looked down at his feet to see the severed head of Juna. His Asura blood ran cold. “You’ll pay for that. YOU’LL PAY!” Kasem screamed charging him with a lightning charged fist. “Angry? Good! Like you once told me, angry gets shit done!” Mike yelled. Mike tossed the headless shrunken corpse aside and easily caught his fist. Kasem looked shocked. Mike delivered a crushing punch to the stomach making the man gasp for air. “What was that about making me pay?” Mike asked before punching him in the face making him fly 100ft. away. “That was for Katie asshole” he hissed. Mike quickly closed the distance and Kasem threw up a barrier. A pinpoint lightning strike shattered it before a knee went right into his tender ribs. “My god. He absorbed the chaos energy too” Ora muttered. Kasem healed and went on to attack. Mike deflected almost all of it except a lightning punch. “You don’t owe these fools nothing! They betrayed you! Leave!” Kasem yelled.
“I was trained by the United States Army jackass. We don’t leave anyone behind” Mike said grinning as he wiped blood from his mouth. “Arrogant little shit!” Kasem spat as he fired off a chaos death orb. Mike swatted it away into the air. “How does it feel Kasem to be truly alone now? Look around you, the Asura have stopped fighting. How does it feel to know all that time spent fucking people over didn’t win you shit. One of the oldest questions around is it better for a king to be feared or loved? Fear gains you temporary respect. Love gains you loyalty for a lifetime. You’re no better than every other dictator in history and you’re about to join them in the loser club” Mike laughed. “Shut up. SHUT UP!” Kasem screamed attacking him. Kasem used all his speed and power to plunge a dagger of lightning into Mike’s chest only to find it instantly dispelled. A magic sigil array on his right wrist glowed for a second before disappearing. "Did you see that?! A Sage level nullification spell! Where the hell did he get that?! Ora yelled. “Do it now!” Mike thought hard as Kasem was confused and distracted.
The Sage of Quintessence had been monitoring the fight between them the entire time and was just as shocked at how Mike held his own. As soon as she sensed his request, she began the Hou Yi spell. “The light shines on the just and unjust like. Let the light illuminate the darkness before me! Heaven and Earth are limitless! HOU YI!” she yelled invoking the spell. The brilliant light turned into a bow and arrow. She drew the bow grimacing from the force and pain as the sheer power burned her fingers. A bone jarring sonic boom filled the room as she let go. The spell flew through the air so fast a shockwave of pure plasma enveloped it. At 400 miles, a Yaksha deflected it by 0.7 degrees north northeast. Their hands still trembling from the effort. At 913 miles, another Yaksha deflected it by 4.3 degrees negative and 3.2 degrees northeast. The final leg had the Yaksha deflect it by 1.3 degrees negative and .01 degrees east by northeast. “Incoming!” Mike sensed. Mike head buttered Kasem breaking his nose and staggering him. Mike jumped off and quickly had those nearby take cover. Kasem opened his eyes to see Mike give him the finger and then…
KABOOOOOOM
“Mike…” Ora muttered seeing the toll the chaos magic had done to him. A war cry erupted from the impact zone as a burst of wind blew the dust away. Kasem was alive…barely. His body nearly blown to bits laying at the bottom of a shallow crater. Missing an arm, a leg, half his face. A hole in his chest the size of a grapefruit. Kasem and everyone watching could see he was running on fumes and healing from that would take more time than he had. “Seal him” Sora said. “Gladly and I have just the thing” Ora said holding a solid gold coin. Kasem’s eyes went wide in fear seeing it and rightfully so. Aside from the obvious reason of being imprisoned again, there were two distinct reasons for him to fear a solid gold coin. One, gold is more than a great conductor of electricity, it’s also a great medium for magics. Since the beginning of recorded time, enchanted gold objects have existed. Swords, spears, crowns, even fleece and human hair are noted to have magic within them. Placing a Sage level binding spell on a gold coin would be bare minimum 100 times more effective as the one on the old Coin that was made of a copper and nickel alloy. And two, gold while malleable and soft endures FOREVER. Unlike copper, nickel, or even ancient iron, gold won’t tarnish, oxidize, or rust. Kasem knew if he was trapped in that, his 2000 year stint in the old Coin would seem like a bad weekend.
“No…please…” Kasem begged. Just as they were about to begin the spell, Mike stepped between them. “You like to make deals right? Here’s one. You put your soul inside me and get not only an intact body but the power I’m still connected to. In exchange you give Katie her soul back” Mike said showing him the shard in his chest. Kasem had been so distracted he only now realized his own power left in the shard of the Coin was how Mike held his own. He had been fighting his own power the entire time. “Mike you can’t!” Ora shouted. “DEAL! SOUL RESONANCE!” Kasem yelled detaching his soul from his broken body and rushing into Mike. A gust of wind followed by an ominous dark aura surrounded Mike. “No…” Ora said weeping. “When I gain full control I’m going to slaughter the whole goddamned…what are you doing? What’s…there’s something inside you…” Kasem said as Mike touched his chest with his hand. A magic sigil array glowed as an immense powerful Sage level binding spell was invoked. The spell quickly bound Kasem’s soul inside Michael. “A Sage level spell again and a binding one? What is he doing?!” Sora asked. Ora shook her head not knowing. “What are you doing Michael?!” Kasem yelled. “Ending your fucking existence once and for all” Mike hissed activating his last Sage spell by touching his left wrist. Katie, who was being held by Kanya suddenly was teleported away. She ended up right in Mike’s hand. “What?” Kasem asked. “You remember what you left behind right Kasem? Dinner time sweetie” Mike chuckled looking at Katie.
Kasem tried to override Mike’s control by squeezing his hand to crush Katie to no effect. Mike held out his finger to her. Katie looked up at her giant with a very concerned look. Somehow she knew this was it for him of she fed this time. Katie shook her head making a very anxious sound. “…I know sweetie. I know but it has to end. Now eat” he commanded. Teeny little tears fell from her eyes as she bit down. “NO…NO NO NOOOOO!” Kasem screamed as he felt Mike’s life energy drained away. So famished, Katie absorbed far more than normal and at how weak and injured Mike was…it would prove fatal. The ancient Asura screamed as he was utterly consumed. Mike fell to the ground twitching looking at Katie near his face. “You’re…so…pret…ty” he gasped before the flicker of his life finally faded into eternity. Katie poked his face and then began hitting it. When he did not move the tiny girl let out a pitiful wail. Ora and Alma rushed over to him. “Oh Mike. Oh no…” Ora whispered crying. Alma wept tears of ice and petted Katie. Moments later there was a flash of flames and out came the Asura Empress herself.
“Let me guess. Now that we’re weakened, you’re here to finish us off” alma said coldly. “You guessed wrong” the Empress said. She turned around sensing a rise in aggression from the Asura survivors. “Bow before your Empress you filthy traitors!” she yelled as a burst of fiery power came from her. They wisely bowed before her and as walked towards Kasem’s corpse. She rammed her hand through his exposed chest and tore out the control glyph to the Ebon Palace before absorbing it. She sighed softly. She turned and walked towards Alma and the rest. “Oh Michael. You were a man of your word. You told me you’d do it” she whispered. “You. It was you that gave him those spells. WHY?!” Ora yelled crying. "Because only he could do what could be done. Like last time, binding him to a coin was just kicking the can down the road as humans say. The only person in existence that could end him permanently was Michael. Kasem would not have taken the bait otherwise. Ora scowled at her because deep down she knew the woman was right. “Why did you not simply come to us?” the Sage of Wind asked. “You might have influenced Michael to say no and that’s assuming you would even trust me enough to consider my idea. What was done had to be done the way it was done. Who among you was closest to him?” she asked. “Katie” Ora said. “The soulless mate of his. Is there another?” she asked looking at the sobbing small woman at her feet. “Why? What the hell do you care?” Ora spat. “Because that person should make the arrangements to honor him, and I wish to be part of it. It is the least I can do” she replied kneeling and petting Mike’s hair. They grew quiet seeing the Empress herself shed tears for him.
“Kanya would be the one you speak of” Ora said quietly. “Then she should make haste. There is much to do to prepare for what is coming” the Empress said. “What the hell could be coming now?” Ora asked. “While Kasem has died, his revenge will live on. The world he broke dives headlong into a final conflict and your empathy spell didn’t help. By day’s end it will wear off and humanity will know they were influenced. Aggression will rebound and with it war. A war to burn the world.”
“The final curtain draws near on this story we call civilization” she said ominously.
Another sneak peek for this week’s chapter of the Coin!