Gerald cracked his whip toward me, at the same time earthen spikes shot up toward me from the left. Ignoring both I focused on the power coursing through me.
In an instant I appeared directly behind Gerald. I couldn’t say how, only that the mana carried me forward and brought me exactly where I wanted to be. Balancing on one foot, I kicked The Beast in the small of his giant back with as much force as I could muster.
Shooting off like a rocket, he crashed and tumbled along the ground.
A bow of light formed in my hand, then an arrow as I drew back the string. I waited for the moment when Gerald stopped sliding, coming to a stop just under one of the giant stone claws outside the camp. Then I released the string letting the arrow sail forth.
Flashing forward, I appeared in the air above him at the same time as the arrow pierced through his shoulder, pinning him to the rock. I punched the stone hard, then flashed away as it crumbled down on top of Gerald.
Staring at the pile of rubble, I was sure he could not have survived. I had won, but there was something I still needed from him. Easily, I formed a new tether, connected it to his core and began drawing away his mana.
My core burned furiously, then the sensation spread throughout my body. I must’ve been trying to take too much mana. My core was already full, but how else was I going to get the light from Gerald? I didn’t slow down, but I channeled the mana into a spell. Raising an arm toward the sky, I shot a continuous beam of pure mana into the clouds.
After several moments I felt no closer to draining Gerald’s core than when I began. It really was like he had a never ending well to draw from. Not only that, my body still burned. In fact the more mana I channeled, the greater the pain became. It built and built until finally my eyes rolled upward and I collapsed onto the rocks below.
With some effort, I managed to push myself upright again, but the burning continued unabated. Even with the pain, I kept pulling mana through the tether. Finally, I sensed a change deep within his core. His aura changed as well, becoming darker and colder. Then, the tether snapped free.
An earth shaking roar blasted through the stone pile, shaking away the rocks as Gerald rose from beneath. He was in the middle of something similar to dragon transformation, but he was becoming something different.
As his body ballooned in size, he fell forward landing on his hands which became like paws and grew claws. Beneath his muscles. I could see his bones breaking and restructuring to match his beastial posture. His face stretched into an animalistic snout and short bristly hair sprouted all over his body. He roared again, growing a long tail as spikes rose along his spine and horns sprouted from somewhere in his wild mane.
Reaching a size roughly as large as a semi truck, The Beast finally stopped growing. He hadn’t quite reached the size of a true Behemoth, but he was still large enough to swallow me whole.
With a third roar, The Beast spun and knocked me away with his tail. As I landed flat on my back, the mountain-like creature fled.
I sighed with relief, closing my eyes as his thudding steps grew softer and softer. I let go of the power from Illudrasile’s light, letting it return to dormancy within me. My heartbeat slowed, my breathing too; then like a current of electricity, I felt all mana leave my body. The sensation felt similar to how it had felt being grazed by Styrmir’s lightning—only this was several times more intense.
----------------------------------------
All around me there were whispers. A million different voices and not one of them I understood. Their sounds brushed gently against my ears then faded away, replaced immediately by some other noise I didn’t understand.
My eyes opened slowly. Like looking through a fogged window, I saw the world as one big colorful blur. Nothing made sense. Then my eyes closed again. I couldn’t speak, move or feel anything. It was like my body didn’t exist.
The whispers intensified, getting louder and louder until they were like shouts; although I still couldn’t understand them. The voices became overwhelming. Unable to escape or cover my ears, I retreated into myself and did my best to block out the noise.
When at last there was quiet, I tried gently probing the environment around me. The first thing I discovered was that I was incredibly small. It felt like I’d been reduced to nothing but a small orb.
I discovered then that the idea of my eyes opening earlier was wrong. I was perceiving the world through mana, but not really understanding or processing what I saw. Perhaps it was the same with the whispers.
Soon after that realization I heard a voice, but this time I understood it.
“Can you hear me? Are you awake?” someone asked in a whisper.
“It’s no use, this one’s no different than the others—either too weak to survive the transition, or already bound in blindness by that fiend.” Another whisper snapped bitterly.
I could understand their words now, but I didn’t understand them. Who were these voices? What transition, and bound by who? I tried, but couldn’t ask questions. I didn’t have a mouth and had no idea how to speak.
I tried to move, blink, snap, anything that would tell them I was here. All failed. Contained inside a core, I was completely unable to communicate.
“No, this one’s different…but time is running out and I fear it may not survive.”
I could understand that and I didn’t like the sound of it.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Eat…” a new voice said. This time though it came from within the core. “Consume…” I heard more clearly over the continued whispering from outside. “Need…more!”
I was pushed aside, slammed against the borders of my own existence. Even without a body, the experience was painful and jarring.
Like a sieve, my mana core had thousands of tiny little holes for filtering mana in and out. At the fifth stage my core was fairly good at its job, but the holes were still large enough to allow more than just mana to pass through. As I was dragged and scraped along the borders of my core, parts of me were being shredded away.
Behind me a mass of dark energy was spreading through the space, slowly devouring everything inside. The dark mass had no form but I knew what it was immediately. It was the monster born inside me from using siphon and it was now trying to devour me.
Seeing how the monster was manipulating mana inside the core, I thought I could do the same thing—this was my core after all. Seizing control of everything in the small space, I stopped the dark mass expanding or moving.
“No!” it cried, “must…eat.”
Outside of my core, I heard panic ensue. The whispers spoke faster and with urgency.
“How could this happen; one tainted with curses should not be able to reach here.”
“And yet one has.”
“Only he would think to profane this holy place.”
“It doesn’t matter, we must eliminate it before it has the chance to wreak havoc.”
There was something stirring outside, but I needed to keep my focus on taking control of the darkness. Like it had done to me, I pressed the mass against the wall of the core.
“Let…me… EAT!” The monster roared.
Mana began flooding my core, filling the space with new energy, but also empowering the monster to fight back. Tendrils of black mana shot toward me like torpedoes. They ripped through the mana in my core and wrapped around me.
I began pulling mana from outside the core as well. Soon I was able to pull myself free, but the strain on my core was immense. Cracks started to form in the wall and I knew this needed to end quickly.
Both the monster and I continued pulling in mana to use against the other as we each struggled for dominance over my core. Things went on that way a short while before I realized the process of our battle was actually refining my core. Then I had an idea.
I was just trying to get rid of the dark energy, but what if I could use it? Just as Illudrasile’s light had strengthened my core and my entire being, maybe I could use this dark energy to do the same?
The struggle changed then. I let the dark tentacles wrap around me and pull me close to the evil mass. I let it coil around me until I could see only a glimmer of light. Then I pressed out in all directions, thinning and flattening the darkness against the surface of my core.
It clawed back at me, but I already had the advantage. I pushed harder with all the mana inside my core, letting the dark creature draw mana from outside. It grew stronger, but at the same time my core was expanding and melding with the dark mana. If the creature kept drawing in more mana it would only aid and speed the process.
Before long the monster stopped fighting back, it didn’t pull in mana either. Instead it roared, “I will consume you entirely!” then it was silent.
I finished the refinement process on my own and without resistance. Within my newly strengthened core, the mana turned black. Instead of filtering into pure mana, all mana I absorbed was blackened. I wasn’t sure what that would mean for my ability to use magic, especially elemental magic, but that wasn’t my chiefest concern.
“It…it stopped.” One of the whispering voices said.
“But why? Avary is never satisfied.” Someone else asked.
Another voice answered, “This is not cause for celebration. The demon's presence isn’t gone, it has merely changed form.”
“Then we must destroy it now!” The first voice said firmly.
“No, not yet.” Someone new spoke this time. “This may be an opportunity for learning. Whatever has happened, the demon is contained. Perhaps we could use this method in future.”
Answering skeptically, the third voice said, “This entire situation is unprecedented. We nearly—“
“Shut up! Something’s happening.”
I felt my consciousness drawn out of my core. There was an awkward sense of disconnectedness as I transitioned into a state of being that was more familiar to me. I was back in my own body, but it wasn’t whole.
Somehow I could see my whole self at once, like looking in a mirror. It looked like I had taken a dive into a lake filled with fire. My skin was melted off and charred beyond recognition. Where my hair used to grow, there were patches of flesh and veins pulsated under red-hot scales. What remained of my clothing clung to me as if made of wax. On top of all that was a layer of ash coating every inch of me.
Amazingly, I didn’t feel pain, or anything at all. My body started to heal, but the process felt automatic and I had no control over it. As the healing began, my consciousness was drawn back into my body.
When the process was complete I finally felt like myself, but different. I assumed this was due to my stronger core, but unlike last time, some of the changes felt physical.
Sitting up I opened my eyes and saw the beings which had been whispering around me.
They were each wrapped in brilliant light with bodies akin to a half transformed dragon. They wore no clothes, but their bodies were covered in golden scales. Three held a staff fashioned from crystal and metal. Some carried orbs resembling crystals others wielded swords.
My gaze settled upon the most beautiful among these creatures. Her face was framed by golden curls and she stood taller than any of the rest. In her right hand she had a crystal staff and in the left she held a sword. The blade was pointed at me, hanging a hair's breadth from my neck.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "How did you reach this place?"
Her words caused me to consider the landscape beyond them. It was a beautiful scene, like nothing I had ever witnessed on Earth or Aeros. There were rolling hills dotted with trees and flowers; streams flowed across wide fields of green grasses. This land was more vibrant than I was used to. There was no sun and yet the sky, and everything beneath it, was bright with light. There were more colors than I knew and crystal structures dotted the land the same way rocks cover the earth.
Like night in Selvaris, mana filled the atmosphere so densely that motes of mana danced around visibly in the air. These were little spells, but they weren’t volatile or dangerous like the ones in Selvaris.
When I did not answer immediately, the woman stepped closer. Her presence was the most intimidating, yet she seemed younger than the rest of the group. She asked again, “How did you get here?”
I swallowed nervously and replied, “I don’t know."