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Adherent Worlds: Sons of Destiny
Chapter 8: To Live Or Let Die Part 3

Chapter 8: To Live Or Let Die Part 3

As dawn's gentle fingers peeled away the veil of otherworldly Darkness, the landscape of Salaria blossomed under the caress of a singular, radiant sun. Yet, this was no ordinary sunrise, for the realm of Salaria was cradled by the celestial embrace of four other suns near its solar system, their combined luminescence banishing darkness in Salaria. Only through the arcane arts of Ulumbria's plane did night grace this land, its enigmatic cycle woven into the very fabric of Salaria's existence—a tale to be told in the fullness of time.

In the tender clutches of this false twilight, our intrepid heroes, Enai and his companions, stirred from their deep repose. With limbs languidly outstretched and yawns that past their lips, they greeted the day. Lyrielle, with a heart as warm as the hearth, proposed a feast to break their fast, an offer the young adventurers embraced with gratitude.

Zacarya, driven by a sense of urgency that clawed at his spirit, sought Lyrielle's counsel. "Once we have sated our hunger," he implored, "we must convene with the town's arcanist. The matter presses upon us with the weight of the thousand Kiov bulls." In solitude, he wrestled with his thoughts, a storm brewing behind furrowed brows. "There is a piece of the puzzle im missing?" he murmured. "The hybrid scourge that claimed your mother bore the mark of necromancy, yet its purpose was not to awaken the dead. No, its design was far more sinister—crafted to defy cure, to elude even the most potent of remedies. We have known the bane of Chronolock, but this... this abomination is a harbinger of death unseen, a perfect instrument of murder." His gaze narrowed, hand caressing his chin as if to coax clarity from his very skin. "In the end, your mother, for all her wisdom and healing prowess, found herself ensnared in a labyrinth with no escape, each attempt to heal but leading her deeper into despair."

Tyrielle's gaze, heavy with the weight of dawning realization, met Zacarya and Enai's. "Perchance my mother's demise was entwined with her necromantic discoveries, for she did seek the counsel of Lorion in the days preceding her affliction," she mused. Enai, his brow furrowed in contemplation, turned to her. "You speak of frequent parleys with Lorion before this Sickness took hold? Such tidings strike a dissonant chord within me. Had you sought his wisdom before the permafrost's touch?"

She paused, her mind adrift in the sea of memories. "Aye, in the inceptive agony of her illness, when she deemed it but a trifling ailment, I beseeched Lorion for his aid. Alas, when the sinister hue of purple trailed her veins, her strength waned with cruel haste, rendering her voiceless, bound to her bed in a silent scream of paralysis. Deprived of options, I divulged to Lorion my intent to quest for the frostfire bloom, its rumored curative essence a slender thread of hope. Yet, he forbade it, his decree veiled in mystery," she recounted, her eyes narrowing as the seeds of suspicion took root.

Without a moment's delay, the trio departed the confines of their humble abode, their hearts set upon the arcanist's sanctum. The shop, however, greeted them with naught but silence. An amber flame danced within the hearth, greedily consuming scrolls and tomes in its fiery maw. Zacarya, with a swift stride, salvaged what remnants he could from the conflagration—charred fragments of knowledge that remained untouched by the flame. Meanwhile, Enai hastened to the storeroom, only to find it deserted, its door agape as if in silent proclamation of a hasty departure. Lyrielle trailed close, her heart a confusion of emotions.

"He has taken flight, forewarned of our coming. The elusive shadow has slipped through our grasp," Enai declared. Lyrielle's visage, a canvas of confusion and sorrow, parted to voice the sting of treachery. "How could he? To think that he might wield a hand in my mother's untimely end..." Her words trailed off into the ether. Enai, ever the loyal companion, offered a comforting hand upon her shoulder. "The path ahead is fraught with shadows, my friend, but fear not. Together, we shall pierce the veil of this mystery. Let us scour this place for clues and forge a new plan."

In the hushed whispers of the arcanist's abandoned sanctum, Enai and Tyrielle embarked upon a search for truths secluded in secrecy. As the minutes unfurled like the sands of time through an hour glass, Enai's keen eyes chanced upon a sartorial garment—a robe of the deepest purple, its fabric flowing like wheat in the warm wind of the plains, alien amidst the Tion attire. With a beckoning gesture, he summoned Tyrielle, whose fingers brushed the foreign threads. "This garb is of a land beyond ours, this was not made by the hands of my people," she declared, a storm of unease brewing in her gaze.

Enai, meanwhile, delved into the half-charred remnants of parchment, their scorched edges a testament to desperate secrets. Zacaraya, lost in thought, recognized the script's kinship with the Elven tongues, yet its message danced just beyond his grasp. In his possession, a tome of incantations held the promise of understanding. Leafing through its ancient pages, he discovered the ritual of Shiav Torienve, a key to unlock the lexicon of all creation.

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The ritual, simple yet profound, required but a trifecta of components: the earthy essence of thyme, the resilient dandelion root, and the utterance of an incantation as old as the stars themselves. Zacarya conveyed his need to Tyrielle, who, with a slight forced smile, produced the required elements from her medicinal trove.

With reverence, Zacarya intoned the sacred words, "Lissë, Síra, Ciryat," an invocation that transcended the boundaries of language. A plume of ethereal smoke marked the consummation of the spell, and for a fleeting hour, the veil of Babel was lifted, granting Zacarya the gift of universal comprehension, bestowed by the arcane grace of Axiel.

With the arcane veil lifted from his eyes, Zacarya beheld the parchments anew, their cryptic script now clear as the crystal waters of the stordvan river which flowed from the peaks of the Lilivian mountains into Tianin. His gaze sharpened, he summoned Lyrienne with a voice tinged with discovery. "Lyrielle, quickly over here! Know you the whereabouts of Lumina Thicket Forest?" Her response came swift, "Aye, it lies near the domain of the Long Spear tribe, skirting their borders. 'Tis the abode of Grandmaster Arcanist Felwen." Zacarya's eyes met those of his comrades, a storm of resolve brewing within. "To the thicket we must venture, for I sense the grandmaster's hand in this dark tapestry."

He pondered the strange script, its origin a riddle wrapped in the enigma of ages past or lands unseen. "How many suns must set before we reach the thicket?" he inquired. "A day's journey southward," she replied, nodding with certainty. "And the grandmaster's sanctum?" "Fear not, for I shall be your guide."

Thus, they embarked southward, until the once-verdant Lumina Thicket loomed before them, a shadow of its former glory. Enai, with a furrowed brow, sought confirmation from Lyrielle, "Has it always looked this way?" Her voice, laced with disbelief, echoed his concern, "No, not at all, what malevolence has befallen this sacred grove?"

Venturing deeper, where the forest's creatures whispered of unease, they arrived at the Arcanist temple. A dark ambiance of sorcery hung heavy, the silence punctuated by the murmurs of spirits bound to the mortal coil. Zacarya, with a breath to steel his resolve, dismounted and readied his bow, his allies mirroring his vigilance.

They approached the grand arcanist's temple, its doors parting to reveal a vast hall of towering pillars and a library brimming with ancient knowledge. At the chamber's heart, a figure cloaked in purple, similar to the garment found in Lurg's forsaken arcanist shop, awaited their arrival. In the hallowed expanse of the Arcanist temple, a solitary figure stood enshrouded in the mystery of a hooded cloak, the color of twilight's deepest shadow. With hands raised towards the heavens, they began to weave the fabric of an ancient chant, their voice a tapestry of power and purpose. The air itself seemed to thrum with anticipation, the very stones of the temple vibrating with the force of the incantation. The pillars, etched with runes of old, glowed faintly, responding to the call of magic that transcended the boundaries of the mortal coil.As the chant crescendoed, a vortex of ethereal light began to combine above, spiraling into a portal that bridged worlds unseen. The figure's cloak billowed as if caught in a tempest of otherworldly winds, their identity obscured yet their intent as clear as the stars that now seemed to dance within the confines of the temple's ancient walls.

The enshrouded figure rose with an eldritch chant, his form ascending as if airborne by unseen zephyrs. Aloft, he pivoted gracefully, his gaze piercing through the dimness to fix upon the trio of heroes. It was Lorion of Lurg, his visage twisted into a malevolent scowl. Lyrielle's voice, fierce with righteous fury, shattered the silence. "What sorcery is this, Lorion? Have you forsaken all reason? Yield now, or face the dire consequences for the vile murder of my mother!" Her words rang with the steel of conviction.

Lorion's response was a cacophony of deranged laughter, echoing ominously through the chamber. "Fools!" he bellowed. "It is you who shall embrace oblivion this day!" The companions eyes darted about, taking in the grim decor of ossified remains strewn across the room. With a flourish, Lorion swept his hand above his head, and as it descended, the illusion that had cloaked his false form melted away, revealing the grotesque countenance of a Morasu dark elf, his eyes a void of black glaze.

Zacarya's mind reeled in disbelief. Dark elves, mere figments of legend, banished from the realm of reality! Yet here stood one before him, draped in robes of the deepest violet, his elongated, claw-like fingers outstretched in a sinister gesture. The elf hovered nearer, a rune of purple light swirling beneath him, its glyphs a mystery to Zacarya now that his spell of comprehension had waned. But the script bore a haunting resemblance to the ancient texts he found in the arcanist shop in Lurg. A realization dawned upon him—the language must be that of the Morasu, a tongue spoken in hushed tones and woven into the nightmarish tales of his youth. Tales of dark elves, their skin a tapestry of midnight and amethyst, their eyes vast pools of obsidian. As the necromancer advanced, his finger pointed like a harbinger of doom, he began to weave a spell of malevolent intent, his voice a chilling blend of power and madness.