A Gleaming Path Read online

  Before the vermilion giant could recover, Alamor finally joined the battle. He rushed Rotour and plunged his sword into the base of the monster’s throat, breaking through the red scales and scoring far below. The magical energy that radiated about the blade—his Serenity—burned away Rotour’s hide and seared his flesh underneath. The magic flowed over Rotour, a pulsating wave of white light that nearly toppled the monster.

  Rotour’s long neck arched upward as he uttered an awful shriek, allowing Tridian an opportunity to avenge his slain soldiers. The Prince of Tordale aimed his lance and hurled it into the creature’s mouth, the entire head burying itself into the roof of Rotour’s great maw. The ocean beast’s neck swayed listlessly for a moment until his entire form crashed onto the beach and went still.

  “Up here! Keep on coming!” a call rang out across the island.

  Alamor, Tridian, and the Onda turned and looked back to where Saphos ascended the slopes. No more than thirty feet above the monster, Rawner stood at the edge of a precipice, staring down at Saphos and shouting more taunts. The big man had both of his hands wrapped about the shaft of his massive poleax. Alamor assumed that he went back into Onda Reef’s armory to retrieve it as his comrades held off their monstrous adversaries.

  Rawner eventually leapt from his spot on the cliffs, falling toward the azure monster as he reared back with his poleax. By some miracle, his aiming and timing were perfect. He struck mere moments before Saphos could react, slamming his poleaxe’s bladed head straight into the open wound above the monster’s eye that had been created by Hinton’s blast orbs.

  Saphos did not even cry out as he tumbled down the slopes. Rawner fell with him, holding onto the shaft on his poleax while the head still lay inside the beast’s skull. Saphos was already dead by the time he smashed back onto the beach.

  Alamor, Tridian and every Onda hurried at once to the slain monster to see what had become of Rawner. To their shock and relief, they found the big man lying within the sands relatively unscathed.

  They nearly began to celebrate, having defeated both Rotour and Saphos.

  But a piercing roar interrupted any exultation. When they turned and looked back out to the ocean, they realized that the greatest threat still remained. The duel between Samuras and Garadev went on.

  * * * * *

  Both titans wore a number of dreadful wounds across their bodies, yet neither Samuras nor Garadev showed any regard for them. Their pace had not slowed, and their ferocity had not been tempered since they first came together in combat. If anything, it was even greater than before.

  Samuras had endured the worst of the encounter, much of her back seared or raw after suffering the merciless touch from the scalding water that Garadev spewed. She proved far stronger than whatever her foe had harmed her with, still able to maintain her poise and match much of Garadev’s prowess, but Garadev had gained the edge in their battle ever since he unleashed his fiendish projectile. His attacks came faster, became more frequent, and he managed to evade many of Samuras’s strikes as he slowly wore down the Queen of the Ocean.

  As Samuras committed a reckless change, Garadev easily glided out of the way and brought one of his fore claws down in a wicked arc. His claws effortlessly ripped through a portion of Samuras’s hide that had been burned by his water beam. The Onda’s guardian screamed in pain and immediately responded with a blind swipe that Garadev ducked under. The malevolent monster drove forward and leapt onto Samuras, tearing away at her as they fell beneath the waves.

  Samuras eventually pulled free of Garadev’s vicious grasp. She straightened in the water, and when Garadev approached, she struck. She pivoted and swung her tail up from under her body, catching Garadev beneath the chin. The impact was so great that it knocked several teeth clear out of his maw. Garadev was dazed, nearly knocked unconscious. He was helpless to do anything as Samuras slammed into him and pressed her advantage.

  They rolled about underwater, Samuras pummeling Garadev relentlessly with her claws. Garadev endured the savage battering until he eventually regained enough of his senses to counter. He wrapped his long neck around Samuras’s throat and closed his fearsome jaws onto her mane of white frills. Samuras tried to shake herself free, as she did before, but with Garadev constricting her like a taut coil, she found herself trapped. Garadev squeezed even tighter with his neck and jaws, intent for his death grip to be the end of his brutal encounter with the Onda’s guardian, once and for all.

  Where any other creature would have perished in that inescapable hold, Samuras readied an attack that would turn the tide in her favor. Her most powerful energy had been regenerating throughout the battle, but after lying dormant beneath Waverock for so long, she knew that she had to be judicious with releasing it. Summoning it too soon could expend her reserves, and leave her without the ability at her command for the rest of the battle.

  Now that it swelled to its full strength, and with Garadev right on top of her—so close that he would receive every measure of its fury—Samuras called to that unimaginable power. Her eyes became engulfed by a blue gleam, and her mane crackled with bolts of blue energy that looked like lightning. She became enshrouded by a cerulean glow as she roared and sent her energy pulsating throughout her entire body. The same energy shot into Garadev, burning him inside and out.

  Garadev instantly released his grip as he loosed a horrible cry. The mysterious energy that coursed from Samuras’s mane flung him away violently, as if she had thrown him with her own claws. Garadev quickly shambled in the opposite direction of the empowered Samuras, groaning in agony as he retreated to the ocean surface. The Onda’s guardian sped after him, her body still glowing with cerulean light.

  Before long, both monsters were out in open air again, and Garadev immediately turned back to Samuras. He spewed his beam of scalding water, striking Samuras atop her mane and burning her hide.

  The Onda’s guardian screamed, but she did not slow her advance. She continued forward, swimming through the searing stream. It caused her unthinkable agony, but it was incapable of breaking the will to defeat her hated foe—a will that could only be comprehended by an indomitable force of nature like the Queen of the Ocean.

  Samuras finally came to Garadev and clamped her immense jaws onto his throat. Garadev’s scalding water beam ceased at once. With Samuras holding onto him like a vise, Garadev thrashed about madly, trying desperately to free himself as he uttered a gurgled, frightened cry.

  The glow about Samuras grew brighter and fiercer with each passing second.

  * * * * *

  Alamor and his comrades watched in awe from the beach, until Samuras unleashed an enormous burst of energy that was brighter than the sun. Every human, Onda, and Bachu on Onda Reef instantly shut their eyes and turned away from the incredible radiance that may have spanned the entire ocean. They felt an invisible force race over the waters and onto the island, knocking many of them off their feet. A booming, thunderous peal joined the powerful wave, as chilling and as mighty as one of Samuras’s cries.

  Once they were certain that it had passed, they looked back to the ocean, their vision slowly returning after the tremendous light.

  Samuras still held onto Garadev by the throat; only now, Garadev was almost unrecognizable. His limp, lifeless form had wisps of smoke rising from his charred hide, his once-emerald scales blackened and ruined.

  The Queen of the Ocean released her vanquished foe, letting him fall beneath the water’s surface and sink to the depths, where he would lay for the rest of time.

  As cerulean energy crackled over her body, Samuras reared back and bellowed a victorious roar that all of Tordale could hear.

  11

  Celebration did not come right away to Onda Reef following the battle against Garadev, Rotour, and Saphos. Before any kind of peace could truly be enjoyed, the bodies of all who had been slain—Onda and human alike—were gathered together. They were taken to a large pool near the northern edge of the island that the Onda called the Well of Eter
nity. The pool was exceptionally deep, said by the Onda to fall even deeper than the ocean floor. It was where all deceased Onda were laid, their bodies allowed to sink through the tranquil water to their final resting place.

  All told, nearly thirty Onda, and two of the King’s Fangs were placed into the Well of Eternity as every other Onda, as well as Alamor and his companions, stood by to honor their comrades one final time.

  There were other bodies to remove from the island—Rotour’s and Saphos’s. The ocean beasts were much too large and too heavy for any amount of the Onda or humans to move, their bodies like mountains of scale and flesh that would slowly rot underneath the sun. Tsunari communicated with Samuras to have the great behemoth cleanse the beaches by hauling the monsters’ carcasses into the ocean. Samuras dragged them out into the water before letting them drop to the bottom, where they would likely be devoured by the ocean’s many scavengers until nothing remained of them.

  When Samuras returned to the island, she set her massive frame down onto one of the long, rocky outcroppings that ran far over the waters. The Onda gathered nearby and commenced a special ceremony to honor the Queen of the Ocean. Ten female Onda approached Samuras until they were no more than twenty yards from her, where they performed an elaborate and beautiful dance. It was said to represent the Onda’s indescribable gratitude to the leviathan for her protection. Behind the dancers, the rest of the Onda population gathered and genuflected to Samuras, silently offering the Queen of the Ocean their prayers and their thanks.

  Samuras barely acknowledged the Onda’s exultation, only turning her huge eyes to look upon the tiny creatures a few times. When she did, she seemed indifferent to their numbers and their actions. Even still, the Onda went about the ceremony in total reverence, venerating the majestic monster well into the evening, until night began to draw over the ocean.

  The next two days saw little activity across Onda Reef. Every Onda returned to their normal routines, while Alamor and the others spent the days resting and plotting out their journey to the Arid Reaches, where they would continue their quest for Ralu’s Radia, the Radia of Hope. Tsunari promised to assign a host of Onda scouts to help them travel across the ocean, and she also offered to speak with Samuras once again, in the hopes that the great monster would accompany their group to guard them along the way from any other threats that still may be lurking in the ocean.

  On their fifth day since being rescued and brought to Onda Reef, Alamor and the others awoke early in the morning to set out for the Arid Reaches. The sun steadily lifted itself from the horizon as the humans, Bachus, and Onda gathered on the island’s southern beach and made their final preparations.

  But Alamor did not join, at least not right away. As the others readied for their departure, he stood alone atop a tall rock formation on the opposite side of the island. Samuras lay further down the shore from him. Her gargantuan body almost did not fit on the outcropping that she rested upon, but she seemed perfectly comfortable. The great behemoth hardly shifted an inch on the slippery stone as waves crashed into the island’s shores and sent clouds of mist washing over her claws and underbelly. She kept her head tilted skyward, basking in the sun’s light that brought warmth to her cerulean scales.

  It was strange for Alamor to see her so calm. Before, he had only witnessed her unbridled fury after she was freed from Waverock, and when she dueled to the death with Garadev, where she fought with a kind of ferocity that Alamor was certain no other living thing in Tordale could equal. Now, she appeared to be totally at peace, content to lay about Onda Reef lazily and enjoy the comforts that a halcyon summer day brought to the ocean.

  But as Alamor watched her rest, when she appeared almost harmless, he was still in awe of the Onda’s titanic guardian.

  He could not explain why. He had seen huge beasts before her—the Strife Wings, the Maldritch, Rotour, Saphos, Garadev—but none of them roused a sense of wonder in Alamor the way that Samuras did.

  It was breathtaking simply to look at her, a creature the size of a battleship who was also stunning in appearance. Her scales glimmered like sapphires, and the glistening mane of white frills about her neck gave the look of an ornate adornment that only a powerful ruler would be worthy to wear. It was a feature that suited her title “Queen of the Ocean” perfectly. As she lay upon Onda Reef, a place that was like her own throne, where she was surrounded by the tiny creatures who exalted her, she certainly had the aura of royalty in the natural world.

  And yet, Alamor felt that he saw her greatest beauty during the times when she unleashed her unimaginable wrath, where she was like a living, breathing disaster that could annihilate any foe in her path. He thought back to how terrified he was when he stood before her after she emerged from the rubble that had trapped her beneath Waverock, or even to her battle with Garadev, when he watched the awesome, unstoppable power that she used to slay her hated enemy.

  Maybe it was not fear that dwelled within him, Alamor thought, but respect—respect for an incomparable creature that acted by no will other than her own, and whose might was beyond anything that the rest of the world could ever hope to match.

  Eventually, Alamor heard someone approach. He never turned away from Samuras, but looked out of the corner of his eye to see Tsunari join him in his spot on the rock formation.

  “You have watched Samuras for nearly an hour now, even while she has hardly moved,” the Onda leader said as she placed the end of her staff firmly on the ground. “You are amazed by her, aren’t you?”

  “Very much,” Alamor answered matter-of-factly, his eyes still fixed on Samuras. With Tsunari there by his side, he decided to ask a question that had piqued his curiosity for the entire morning. “I’ve noticed that all of her wounds from the other day are already gone. It’s as if she never endured any damage from her battle with Garadev. How is it that she has healed so quickly?”

  He looked over at Tsunari, and the Onda’s leader surprisingly offered a blissful shrug. “I am not sure, myself. The Onda have always just known that Samuras’s body repairs itself far faster than any other living creature. Perhaps it is somehow related to the energy stored in her body, but we can never be sure. It is merely another awesome power of hers that we will probably never understand.”

  As Alamor accepted her answer, he began to dwell on just how many things about Samuras that he could not comprehend. “It astounds me,” he eventually admitted. “With her power, she could tread wherever she wanted. She could probably destroy any trace of civilization in Tordale and claim the entire kingdom as her territory, but instead she remains here to guard over the ocean and the rest of its inhabitants, and even live with you Onda. It almost seems that she doesn’t realize what she is capable of.”

  Tsunari’s widening smile suggested that she was amused by Alamor’s thoughts. “I can assure you that Samuras knows better than anything else in the world what she is capable of. She is not ignorant of the domination she could have over Tordale, she is merely indifferent to it.” Tsunari paused, and several moments went by until Alamor noticed that she had set her eyes onto him, as if she waited for him to look at her before she would speak again. As soon as he turned to her, Tsunari continued. “You must understand that Samuras’s mind is not like yours or mine. She does not ask questions or seek answers; she acts purely based on what her instincts tell her. She has no desires other than to exist freely and to guard her domain.”

  “And in doing so, she protects the Onda,” Alamor said.

  “Yes, but she protects more than just my people,” Tsunari noted. “Whether it is within the oceans or upon the continent, she protects many creatures wherever she treads, so long as those creatures respect the very same world that she so fiercely defends.”

  For a moment, Alamor thought back to the horrific night when Garadev attacked his company out in the ocean. He and his companions were helpless to stop the leviathan then, and even the Balcryst’s tremendous firepower failed to thwart him.

  Samuras not only defe
ated Garadev, she slew him. She managed to kill the same monster that Alamor would have otherwise believed was invincible.

  What other foes could she vanquish?

  “Do you think that Samuras is the most powerful creature in our world?” Alamor asked.

  Tsunari pondered the question for a few seconds before she responded. “It is possible. She is surely the mightiest that I have ever seen, but I also have not seen each and every living thing that calls our world home, so perhaps there is someone or something out there that is her superior.” She turned to Alamor. Her gentle eyes were strangely penetrating. “You ask me this because you want to know if she could defeat the man named Baldaron, am I right?”

  Alamor was somewhat embarrassed that Tsunari had seen straight through his question. “Yes, I do,” he answered meekly.

  Tsunari looked to Samuras once again. Her expression morphed into a stern gaze. “It is something I will not consider, because it will never be my or anyone’s choice other than Samuras’s whether she will challenge that man.” Tsunari’s words came in a deliberately dour tone. Alamor sensed that she intended for them to be a warning to him. “Samuras may be made of flesh and bone, but she is very much like a force of nature. No living thing beside herself has control over what she does; all that anyone can do is exist in such a way that they draw her respect instead of her wrath. I know almost nothing of the man named Baldaron who desires domination over Tordale, so it is impossible for me to judge if Samuras is mightier than he. She may one day seek him out and rid him from this world, or she may keep to our oceans, forever far away from him and the rest of his army. The answer to those questions is not for any of us to decide. Our only decisions can be what we place our hope in during this time of turmoil. The Onda and I have hope that Samuras will continue to protect this world, but we also must do our own part to ensure that peace one day returns to Tordale. We cannot expect Samuras to solve everything for us. That is why we also place hope in ourselves and the other peoples of this world.”