Chapter Twenty

"You know they will not let you die so easily." The older voice laughed, "You'll get what you want, one way or the other."

Cierra and the skeleton warriors glanced at each other, uneasy. The only being that Cierra had encountered that could speak was Menace, and that hadn't gone well.

There was a sound of tapping in front of them, leading away, towards the voices.

"Ah," the voice sounded amused, "It seems we have visitors."

"What—," the young man sounded on edge, but the older person interrupted him.

"You should go, I'll take care of this." There was silence and then the a strange shuffling sound Cierra had never heard before, almost as if something was sticking and unsticking from the floor.

The women, weapons raised, waited. Cierra held her breath and all around them was silence except for the footsteps slowly advancing.

"I heard rumors of a young lady who shined bright, like the travelers in the old days," The voice echoed off the cave walls, "You are shiny, it's true."

The being stepped into the light, and Cierra gasped. If Menace had been twisted, then whatever stood before her was truly a nightmare. The main trunk of the body had no hips or waistline and was bent backwards in an arch, with two arms sticking out from each side. Its torso ran into five short tentacles which held the body up. The being's skin had a texture that reminded Cierra of tree bark, each rough outline a lighter blue than the rest of it and its eyes reminded Cierra most of the Bringer of Nightmares, as they hung in his face like two moons, large and silver.

"And are these the women of Fólkvangr?," The being asked, an amused lilt in its voice, "I expected you hundreds of years ago, what brings Freya's graveyard of cowards here now?"

It stepped closer and it seemed to Cierra that the monster moved in an impossible way, his body somehow staying steady on two legs when it looked like he should simply fall over.

"We have merely waited until we were strong enough to strike." Leif answered calmly.

The being looked them over, "And what makes you believe you are strong? You have decayed to nothing more than bones, if you were not under Freya's protection you would already be mine."

The women stood defiant, unphased by the creature's words.

"It does not matter what we would have been, we are here now." Leif raised her sword to the sky, "For Freya!"

With weapons ready, they charged forward. Before they could get close enough to land a hit, the creature's arms shot out, doubling in length, knocking them back. Arms fell to the floor and some of those closest to the monster fell, their spines collapsing. Cierra focused on healing the damage but still a few skeletons lay on the floor, unmoving.

"Cierra," Leif called out as she attempted to position herself behind the being's back, "Run, get what you came for and leave!"

Already spear holders and those with long range weapons were taking over while women with short range weapons looked for openings.

"I can still help," Cierra said, holding up her sword, "You all need me."

To prove her point another skeleton went down, and Cierra focused on putting them back together.

"See?" Cierra gloated, "Useful."

Still, she wanted to join the fighting and make a real impact, but even Cid was struggling to get close enough to land a solid hit.

Before any of them had time to react, the creature grew, nearly doubling in size, leaving very little room for them to maneuver behind and attack.

Leif grunted in frustration as they were forced to back away.

A giant arm rushed out, pushing everyone out of its way, and grabbed onto Cierra. Wrapping its too long fingers around her waist, it squeezed her waist until she screamed. Her chest ached, pain blossoming on both sides of her torso, and she tried to gulp in air, only succeeding to take half breaths.

"Cierra!" Leif and Silva called out to her, trying to get close, but held back by the three other arms.

"Cierra? What a pretty name." The arm dragged her close to the creature's face and for the first time she could make out teeth like razor blades. Despite the pain, she squirmed trying to get away.

"I haven't seen a being like you in so long…" The creatures voice trailed off, "Who do you belong to, lets see..." Cierra was twisted around as the monster looked her over. "Is it a ring? A bracelet? I remember one girl wore a golden headband gifted to her by some monkey who claimed to have usurped the heavens." He moved his fingers to look at her hands and arms.

"Though, I don't remember anyone being quite this bright. How are you able to keep your power up consistently? Who do you draw on?"

When she was silent, he shook her, and she bit her lip to keep from screaming. Nothing she had ever experienced amounted to the pain she felt now. She tried to concentrate to heal herself, but the pain was too much.

Beneath them Cid growled, him and the warriors trying to find a way to get close.

Somewhere in front of them there was another screeching yell and the world shook.

The twisted creature laughed. "Have you come to see our little experiment? To free her from her chains?" he taunted them, "I wonder how much longer she'll last?"

"Who do you mean?" Leif asked on behalf of them all.

"You don't know?" Holding Cierra, the creature stepped back, a wide smile crossing its trunk like face, "Follow me, you're going to love this."

He moved backwards in smooth movements, never taking his eyes off his enemies, the cups of his tentacles occasionally suctions to the floor before releasing in a strange popping sound.

He led them into a room that opened into a large space, around the edges of the room dimmed lamps with blue flames lit up small areas around them. Lined up on one section of the wall were a series of standing desks, vials of black and brown overflowed onto the tabletops as if they had a life of their own. Nearby a row of tear drops the size of Cierra's hands were sitting, four out of five were solid gold, wrapping around a semi-translucent amber center. The fifth was separated from the others, and a dark black liquid rested on top of it, as if it was trying to eat through the gold outer layer.

"Are those Freya's tears?" Leif asked, her voice shaking, "What have you done to them?"

"Oh, that's not even the best part." The monster backed to the side of the cave.

In the middle of the room something large moved. A bolt of blue-black electricity raced down from the ceiling, illuminating the giant body of a woman before striking her. She cried out, screaming the loud cry that they had heard earlier, and her body hit the floor.

Cierra watched as the floor shook and the women grabbed onto each other to keep from falling.

Vaguely, she could see the outline of the giant woman in the center of the room.

"Is that…" Leif approached the woman, "Is that Freya?" Leif's voice shook in disbelief, "She was here the whole time?"

"She was here the whole time?" The being holding Cierra mocked her. "At least part of her, yes." He continued, amused, "We've been taking our time with her. Can you imagine if we brought a goddess to our side?"

Cierra closed her eyes; this was the distraction she needed. She focused on the spot near Leif, on what it would look if she was standing there next to her. Her ribs seemed to pound against her chest, but she kept trying.

"You have been attempting to corrupt a goddess?" It was Silva's voice now, disgust layered think on the word 'corrupt.' "You cannot do this; divine power cannot be diminished."

"Yet." The monster corrected, "Divine power cannot be corrupted yet."

Cierra tried to steady her breathing. Just let it go, she thought, just let the pain go. She inhaled slowly through her nose as best she could, picturing her spot, her feet planted firmly under her, sword in hand, Leif at her side.

"What is this?" It was the creature's turn to sound disbelieving.

Cierra opened her eyes, feet on the ground, the constant pressure on her chest gone. Immediately she stumbled and Leif caught her. Her chest felt like it was slowly collapsing inwards and breathing continued to be a struggle.

Leif touched at her ribcage, pressing gently, causing Cierra to cry out in pain. Immediately Cid was by her side, body pressed against her legs as though to hold her up.

"You have broken at least one rib." Leif said gingerly, "Heal yourself."

"What are you? How did you do that?" An arm swung towards them and two skeletons intercepted.