Spellheart 9: Chapter 61 (Patreon)

The moment the planet’s core shattered, it was as if time itself came to a standstill. The rumbling ceased, replaced by an eerie, profound silence. Then the planet exploded with a deafening roar that echoed through the void.

Magma flew up and out in all directions as the crust splintered and cracked, then splintered and cracked some more. Hopefully, the Matriarchs of the Hearthwood made it to my Pocket World Passage quickly. A few of them would do just fine in space, so they could help the others if any were too slow.

Hopefully they all followed my advice and picked up the right spells and techniques to survive in space, but even if they didn't, I trusted them to have picked up defensive items from the clan vaults that would let them survive until I could pick them up.

Sam and Dean were both Demigods, so I knew that they were fine, even if they’d been caught by surprise during the blast over in the Satyr King’s palace.

The core spread out, spewing chunks of molten rock and metal into space. The light from the explosion was blinding, illuminating the dark void in a harsh, unyielding glow. The force of the explosion propelled me backward, and I braced myself against the shockwave, using my Gravity concept to keep myself anchored to the biggest piece I could find.

My fight with the Primordial Elemental wasn’t over.

I watched as it tried to attack, its once fearsome form now pitifully weak. Its roar was silent in the void. But it was too late. Without the planet’s pressure, it was like a fish out of water, its strength and power rendered useless. It wiggled its tail and flapped its arms as it tried to claw through the magma growing ever sparser, only to find no purchase at all.

I maneuvered myself away from its path, watching as it thrashed in the void, helpless and unable to move. It was a strange sight. This once-powerful creature couldn't fight at all now that it was out of its element. No wonder it had fought so hard to preserve the World of Woods and Wilds. It was helpless without it.

I let the creature drift away. Now that I’d finished what I wanted to do, I had no more qualms with it. I had won, and it had lost. From here on out, its fate was its own.

While I could have tried to finish it off so I could use its hide to make armor or its core to make an incredible weapon, I didn't think it right. Not with so many other valuable artifacts ripe for the taking all around it. Best to just leave it be. Maybe it would find a new planet to inhabit. Or make its way to one of the bigger pieces of debris.

The hard part was over, but the work was only just beginning.

My eyes roamed the destroyed world. I hadn’t been quite as lucky as I’d hoped, so I would need to nudge the debris in the right direction by hand.

It was time to feed a hungry Planetary Defense Array.

***

The debris from the shattered planet drifted around me. No doubt, some bits and pieces had gone rocketing off into deep space, but most of the big chunks of debris stayed fairly close to the site of the former planet.

Perhaps with a few million years, they’d settle back down and reform into something planet-like. That was good. I would have hated to be the reason everybody had to call this place the nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine worlds.

I was only interested in the bits and pieces that had once born life. Heck, many of those bits and pieces still bore life now, even after the explosion. Anything with substantial zeal flowing through it was bound to be particularly hardy, and there were hundreds of spells useful for trapping a bubble of air.

Most shields did it automatically as a byproduct of their functionality. While the planet's crust had been thoroughly destroyed, shattering every large Sacred Grove on its surface, there were plenty smaller Sacred Groves mostly intact. I found those at the True Mage level particularly interesting.

They were small enough that some of them had survived on a planetary fragment intact through sheer luck, and the synergistic effects of the plants, combined with the directed will of the elven gardeners tending the Sacred Groves, meant a few of them were drifting through the void as flat-isolated islands of life. A few of them even seemed to have a stable enough magical ecosystem to continue as they were indefinitely.

I combed through the debris like a kid through a box of free toys, sorting out bits and pieces here and there, taking everything that looked even halfway interesting.

“Mhm... a couple of elven Wizards. I’ll hang on to them. Bunch of Satyrs... toss them over here. Wow, that is a chonker of a tree. I want it for the Hearthwood.”

It really was a big tree. It looked like it was holding onto an atmosphere on its own, and there were at least a few thousand elves and fairies clinging to it desperately as both they and the tree drifted helplessly through the void. The fragment it rested upon looked like it had once been part of a Demigod's Sacred Grove. Maybe even the Satyr King's own Sacred Grove.

Most of the grove was gone, but the tree remained, and through its power alone, it was struggling against the forces of the void to stay alive.

There were a few Satyrs, too, so I landed to sort them out and toss them away in the scrap pile. For a prize like this one, I didn't mind getting my hands dirty. When I noticed the Satyrs were speaking to the elves, I landed quietly and listened in.

“Quick! We need some heavy-duty spells to direct us to a safe world to land on. And then some to slow us down when we fall. Wizards, three of you are going to need to kill yourselves and turn into wisps so I can use you to save everybody else!” one Satyr said.

“Hurry up and kill yourselves!” the other Satyr added. “We don’t have time to argue. Here, I’ll choose. You and you! Your wisps will save your kin’s lives. And more importantly, ours as well. I know it’s a big sacrifice, but--“

I cut him off, feeling I had a good picture of the situation. “Let me guess. It’s a big sacrifice, but it’s one you’re willing to make.”

Both Satyrs jumped back in terror. But they were far too slow. They had the look of people who’d been powerful until recently. Unfortunately, the planet’s destruction had divided their Sacred Groves into all sorts of random chunks and what was flowing through them now was a chaotic and jumbled mess. I could see zeal running around inside their bodies, ravaging them from the inside. They weren’t quite Demigods, even if they were whole, so perhaps they had been Satyr Sorcerers?

Every powerful Satyr was no doubt dealing with a confusing haze of zeal influxes from their destroyed Sacred Goves, just like these two. The important thing was my hope that they'd still have enough power to count in the eyes of the Planetary Defense Array.

“How’d you get here? Do you have a ship? If you’re willing to take us to a safe world, we’ll sell you every single one of these elves here!” The Satyr Sorcerer gestured behind him.

I shook my head. “Fellas, you’re in no position to bargain. Why would I buy anything from you when I could just take it?”

I grabbed the two Satyrs. Picking them up one by one, I hurled them toward the World of Sanctuary and Serenity, where the Planetary Defense Array was waiting to gobble up Sorcerers just like them.

I turned back to the elves. “Now, ladies. That is a nice tree you’ve got there.”

The elves looked at one another. The three wizards who’d been ordered to kill themselves moments before stepped forward to lead. With head bowed, they addressed me.

“Y-you’re a chaka, correct? A human?” one asked.

I pointed to myself. “Yes, indeed I am. How’d you ladies like to accompany me back to my home? You see some ugly bastards like the two I just got rid of knocked down half the trees in my forest. I need to replant, and your tree caught my eye. Give it to me, and I’ll give you a ride to my home, as well as food and housing, until you get back on your feet.”

The Wizards glanced at one another as though they couldn’t believe their own luck. One eventually answered me.

“We gladly accept, sir! Please, take the tree.” The wizard vigorously nodded her head. “And us too. If you’ll transport us to a safe world, we’ll ensure this tree is planted and takes root. Most of us have cared for it all our lives.”

I chuckled. “I’m glad.”

My next few encounters went along a similar line. I was shopping for anything interesting. It turned out that when you had all the impressive landmarks of an entire world, you could pick up some memorable stuff.

I found a giant mountain that emitted a huge amount of Earth zeal, a chunk of land with a sparkling lake brimming with water zeal, a swamp filled with poison zeal, a field of shining silver sand brimming with sunlight zeal, and much, much more. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure how I was going to fit it all in the Hearthwood, but maybe I could recruit Dean to fold some pocket spaces for me.

I put all my prizes aside when I finally ran into the fragment carrying my Pocket World Passage. I checked in with my Matriarchs, pleased to see that everyone made it home safe and with lots of loot and rescued people to boot.

“We found lots of great stuff!” Eltiana grinned at me. “I snatched this Satyr fountain that spews endless wine! We'll put it in the new town square while we’re rebuilding.”

I chuckled. “That’s great, Eltiana. I’m sure that’ll be a popular attraction for the city. What about the people?”

“Yeah, we rescued a bunch of elves and fairies, too.” Eltiana shrugged. “They’re all pretty lost and confused. And I doubt we even got a tenth of the innocent people who were on the World of Woods and Wilds when it was destroyed. But hey, there could be worse fates! Like being forced to garden for the Satyrs forever.”

I chuckled. “Agreed. And don’t count all the elves and fairies as dead quite yet. I’m pretty sure wisps can survive just fine in the void. I’ve picked up quite a few myself, and I even have a few chunks of rock with survivors on them. See if Argona can get some golems to help comb through the debris. I could use a few extra sets of hands.”

“Orders received, Patriarch!” Eltiana kissed my cheek, then darted back through the portal to the Hearthwood.

After more searching, I found the other fragment I was looking for. The remains of the Satyr King’s palace. It was easy to find because the moment I entered the magical bubble keep an atmosphere in, I heard Dean’s booming voice.

“Not so smug now, boatman?” Dean cackled.

“Unhand me, human! I don’t know what you’ve done, but as soon as my people stabilize my Sacred Grove’s magic, you’ll be utterly destroyed!” answered the familiar voice of the Satyr King.

“Your agents have their own problems. As you’ve no doubt guessed. We wouldn’t have been able to deal with all your Demigods otherwise,” Sam replied.

I landed at the doorway to the palace. It was a grand home, even in its current state.

It was made from equal parts carved wood and white stone. The gnarled ancient bark was adorned with intricate patterns, and hundreds of windows lined the structure’s surface, with glass far clearer than I was accustomed to on the elven homeworld.

Magical lights filled every room, and I spotted no less than three grand banquet halls from the air. A few of them were even filled. Scantily clad elven servants were still handing out drinks and desserts to a few shell-shocked and nervous Satyrs sitting at the tables.

The zeal running through all of them had run completely rampant, and it looked like they had little to no power to muster at all. Even so, the elves continued to serve them with downturned faces and docile expressions, even though they could probably defeat the Satyrs if they banded together.

Sam and Dean sounded like they had the situation with the Satyr King himself well in hand, and I’d need to get the servants somewhere safe. Otherwise, the Planetary Defense Array would get them too.

So I crashed straight through a skylight and landed in the most heavily populated ballroom in a shower of broken glass.

“Hello! Sorry to interrupt your party, but I’ll be taking all your elves now,” I announced as I landed.

The moment I made my declaration, the grandeur of the banquet hall was shattered. The Satyrs rose from their seats, their faces twisted in outrage.

“And who are you?” one of the more pompous-looking Satyrs demanded, puffing out his chest in a futile show of dominance.

“I’m the one who blew up your planet,” I replied, my words hanging heavy in the air. A moment of stunned silence followed.

“It was you who destroyed everything!” the Satyr who’d spoken a moment before screamed at me. He knocked his cups from the table and looked like he was about to charge me. But the moment he left his chair, he seemed to remember how little power his limbs held. So, instead, he turned to the elven servants. “You! Attack and destroy him! Kill this intruder!”

I rolled my eyes and crossed the room in a blink of an eye. One moment, I was standing amid a pile of shattered glass. And the next, I was standing with the Satyr’s throat clutched in my grip. He kicked his legs pathetically, feet unable to find purchase anywhere.

“You’re done. All of you are. Feel this? This is power.” I waved my hand, and earth zeal flowed from me. The ground erupted and tossed over tables and chairs, throwing the Satyrs on their asses. “And right now, you don’t have any of it.”

While I directed my words toward the Satyrs, I was more interested in the impression the elves were having of our little chat. Right now, all of them were frozen in fear.

I pointed at the nearest elf, a young woman who was watching me with wide eyes. “She could probably take all of you down without breaking a sweat.”

The elf seemed hesitant and confused. She pointed to herself. “M-me?”

“Yes, you. Come here.” I grabbed one of the few intact bottles of wine and bit the cork before spitting it out. I held the open bottle for the elven servant and grabbed one glass from her tray. I filled it with more wine and then passed it to her. “I want you to pour this wine all over his face.”

“I... I could never!” The elf took a step back in fear, but I grabbed her wrist to keep her in place.

“You can and you will.”

The elf saw my stern gaze, and she poured wine all over the pompous Satyr’s face with trembling hands.

I turned to the Satyr with a grin on my face. “Now watch as he does nothing about it.”

“You will be executed! You’re dead! You hear me!?” The pompous Satyr sputtered and huffed. But he could do no more than shout threats and wave his hands.

I shook my head and tossed him on the ground. “It’s the same for all the Satyrs. I destroyed their planet along with all their Sacred Groves. Their power is broken. Right now, you’re stronger than they are.”

The elves looked at one another. A bold elf grabbed a glass of wine off her tray toward the back of the room and tossed it in a Satyr’s face. He coughed and spluttered just like the other hand. But like the other, all he could do was threaten and curse. He had no real power left.

“Come on,” I told the elves. “Ditch them. Let’s get out of here.”

<Note>

Chapter 63 this Wednesday is the last chapter. After, we'll be smoothly transitioning into Amazon Apocalypse 2.