Chapter 27

The trip felt the same as every other time he had teleported himself. It had seemed like he’d blinked his eyes and was in the place of his choosing, albeit a bit more nauseous than before. Kalex looked around and found himself on the shattered steps of an abandoned city center, the place where he’d felt the power of this world for the first time. Pinging Lex didn’t prove fruitful unless his goal was to fill his head with heat, so he instead opened his presence sight to get an idea of what the town had to offer.

Kalex didn’t know what he was looking for, but he had a feeling he would know when he came across it. The first thing to catch his senses was the number of active people milling around various houses on the outskirts of the town. It hadn’t been very long since the denizens evacuated the town after his birth, but with the active second sun of the Days of Many, it seemed like people were slowly re-populating the town.

The most vibrant myst signature came from a single person in one of the various small groups lining the town’s periphery. Curiosity gripped him as he studied the signature further. Kalex brought his presence in and decided to hide himself as he made his way in that direction. The power cascading from this person was much higher than the rest and probably approaching the rank of Sage if he had to guess. “Why would there be a high Platinum rank in this old abandoned place?” Kalex murmured quietly to himself as he reached a group of tents that were far removed from the other small abodes around the town. Reaching a good vantage point and listening in rewarded him with the reason.

Through some dew-covered bushes that survived Fulrog’s stampedes, Kalex was able to hear small snippets of conversation from the people around the area. “...Have to search again? The Captain has to know by now that nothing’s here. We don’t even know what we’re looking for!” One sparsely armored man said to another. Extending his presence sight once more, Kalex looked into the biggest semi-permanent tent and found the ‘Captain’ of whom the men were speaking about.

The man was with a few others around a rough-made table in what seemed like aggressive discussion. “The Sigil did not lie! Voric was our highest ranking informant and we have never found one of his leads to be falsified! If his last correspondence is regarding the children that the empty-headed Elder was trying to hide, this could be our chance to finally make a move on the Realm! With news of the death of the last Overlord, The Potentate has barricaded himself in his little city. Once the kids are found and the walls of Everblade have dropped, our plans will officially start. So we will continue our search for the boy and his companion, because war cannot start without all of our pieces in place!” The Captain roared as he ended his speech which seemed to have the intended effect of rallying the people around him.

Kalex’s face distorted into one of confusion and disgust. It seemed that when Voric decided to trade his life to distribute information about Kalex and Lyla, the powers of the Realm weren’t the only ones to get that information. From searching the Realm with his senses, he had noticed that warriors were gathering, but he didn’t know that a war was slated to start so soon. On Diat, small squabbles happened often, but they were usually only between small groups with unheard disputes, traders who had their territory encroached on, or provinces wanting to take the land of another. Kalex was only witness to one actual war on Diat. He was young and didn’t remember much of it until he received his Lexidex, but it was between an extremist group known as the Fallen, who were mostly made up of Seers who escaped the death penalty, and the Council, who ruled over Diat and put forth the rules on Seers.

A loud smack took Kalex out of his musings. As he further focused his presence sight on the interior of the tent, a beaten man came stumbling out. The man did not look proportional compared to the regular people Kalex had seen and he silently wondered if Enternia had anything other than humans. Getting to his feet, the man held his arms full of corded muscle outward toward the opening of the tent.

“Please Captain, your sight is blinded by gold and accord. I’m confident that a peaceful solution can be found.” The tent flap whipped open to reveal a man with folded skin that bulged through every piece of armor he wore. The rotund man was the one who carried the dense myst signature, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by the voice that followed the disproportional man's statement.

“You’ve always been a thorn in my side, Timik. If it wasn’t for the Archlord of Embers granting you access to our mission, you’d still be toiling away in the Room of Anvils.” A high-pitched voice more befitting of a spoiled child exclaimed. “No longer will you attempt to indoctrinate your ideas into this mission, and with the power vested in me as the Captain of this excursion, I hereby remove your right of claim to its bounty. Furthermore, due to your abject lack of adherence towards the Realm of Forge’s goals, you are exiled and a bounty will be put on your head for the charge of insubordination!” The Captain sneered as he lifted his head to behold the man named Timik from the top of his nose.

Timik’s jaw fell further as the Captain’s words registered. “I believe a bounty of thirty gold rounds should suffice, and it just so happens that I have a bag with exactly that amount.” The Captain smiled wickedly around at the other men who had just exited the tent. Hearing the statement caused the men to mimic the Captain's expression. “The one to bring me his head will earn an extra five gold rounds!” The Captain promptly spun on his heels and started to advance back into the tent as everyone else took a threatening step toward Timik.

A spike of anger erupted inside of Kalex. His first thought was to explain the situation away because they were invaders and that was just something that happened, but the man being punished was actively attempting to find a non-violent solution to what his Realm was attempting. During his short time on Enternia, Kalex had seen too much violence and had only primarily dealt with the upper echelons of society, so seeing a regular person ordered to be killed due to his thinking not aligning with the majority, rubbed Kalex the wrong way. Also, he didn’t like the look or the tone of the so-called Captain and Kalex promptly took the side of Timik.

One thing he was unsure about was if he should interfere. Thinking about it, Kalex came to a conclusion. He held no loyalty to any of the Realms and if there was someone who needed help and he had the means to do so, he would do what he could. In the split second he took his gaze away from the sight to think, he heard laughing.

“Please! Have mercy!” Timik said but was cut short by a kick to his ribs. “You heard the boss, thirty-five gold rounds is more than we make in a year combined!” The Captain's associate laughed out. “You’ve always been the weakest of all of us so that means we can have a little fun before handing you in.” The warrior grunted as he landed a kick on Timik’s temple. “But you’re right, The quicker we’re done with you, the quicker we get paid.” The warrior turned to the others that had gathered. “Come on boys, it’s time to finish this. We’ll split the bounty between us.” The warrior cackled. “Easiest gold I’ve ever made.”

A small gust of wind was all the warrior felt as the swipe of his sword was caught by a small hand. Kalex imbued his fingertips with myst and brought them together, shattering the sword in the process. He looked down on the bleeding and broken man and spoke. “MEND.” Timik began to glow brightly for a moment as the cloak of death departed and he regained his consciousness. At the surprise of awakening, Timik tried to get to his feet only to have a small boy angle his palm towards him. Timik stayed put and started to watch what was unfolding in front of him.

“How dare you child! I don’t know what kind of item you used to survive my sword, but it will not happen again! We were not to start culling the Realm until word came from the Archlord, but we will happily make you the first seed we burn!” Kalex gave the man his best look of confusion and tilted his head. The warrior unsheathed a spare sword and made a quick overhead swing at the boy. He knew his aim was true, but the boy seemed to be just out of his range as his sword came down. The other warriors made a half circle around the lead warrior and prepared their weapons. Turning to the group, the warrior shouted at them to attack. They all went pale as their swords fell from their limp hands at the halfway point of their strikes.

Kalex dove through their weak wills with his myst easily and took their cores in a stranglehold. As they lifted their weapons to harm Kalex and his ward, he began to pull. In the blink of an eye, their cores shriveled and fractured and seemed on the cusp of breaking apart. He didn’t look at their status to make sure he didn’t take every bit of their myst as he had in the past; however, he would show them the same mercy they attempted to give to the helpless man.

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The malice in Kalex’s eyes shown with the myst he had siphoned from the warriors, and one by one, their cores shattered with a final expulsion of energy. Timik looked on in horror at the unmoving bodies of his would-be killers, then to the child who had saved him. “Please sir, as of a few minutes ago, I have no affiliation with those men.” Timik pleaded with the white-haired boy, afraid that the same treatment would come to him.

“I know, I heard the entire thing. You don’t have to worry about them anymore.” Kalex said with a genuine smile. Timik sighed in relief and allowed himself to relax a bit. He felt better than he had in years and was ready to leave and start anew now that he wasn’t a part of the Realm of the Forge any longer. A wheezy chuckle came from the entrance of the tent that made Timik’s blood run cold.

“Planning on escaping after you’ve killed my men, are you? Looks like I will be the one to claim your bounty!” The Captain gave a brief look towards Kalex and laughed. “You found a child to help you.” He said, barely retaining his laughter. “Appropriate help for someone of your standing.” The corpulent man turned to Kalex. “And you, little boy, can be happy that your death will be the start of the Forge’s rise through this Realm!”

Kalex immediately went on the defensive and, using his myst, ordered the pudgy man to stop. The Captain halted midstep and was barely able to plant his foot to stop himself from falling. Sweat began to dribble down the man's round face. “I’d be willing to compromise if you give me information on a certain pair of children that we’ve been looking for.” he squeaked out with as much bravado as he could muster. “One was a girl with the purple eyes of a commoner and the other was a boy…with…green…” Realization gripped the Captain as he looked into Kalex’s emerald eyes. Kalex felt the myst around the man start to move until it fell onto an item in a pouch attached to his belt. The item activated before Kalex could stop him.

A bright flash lit the area in a scalding blast that seemed to focus on the eyes. Other than a moment of blindness that allowed the Captain to shake off his immobilization, Kalex was unharmed. The same couldn’t be said about Timik. Similar to what happened to Lyla and the others who were witness to Kalex’s eclipse stone test, Timik was on the ground, grasping at his face in obvious agony while silently screaming. The scene brought back the memory of how upset he felt when he had caused Lyla to writhe in pain the same way, but the Captain didn’t give him time to reflect.

Reaching into one of the many pockets that lined a leather harness that may have once fit correctly in the distant past, a small chain was taken out. The chain seemed like one that would’ve been worn as a necklace, but this one had a much more sinister purpose. The Captain pitched the necklace at Kalex, tumbling wildly as it flew. Upon impact, the chain grew slightly and elongated. With the wild movements of the chain, it soon wrapped itself around Kalex, causing him to fall into a growing pool of blood courtesy of Timik.

The Captain screeched with laughter at the sight. “This day couldn't get any better! I get to bill the Realm for 35 gold rounds AND bring back one of the children that caused the Seed’s power to soar higher than the rest. Now, you first Timik. Don’t try to fight your fate and keep still for your Captain.” He sneered from ear to ear as he moved his fingers as if the thought of killing Timik was something he couldn’t wait for. Kalex was having a day of bad nostalgia as the chains binding him felt oddly familiar to the rope Elder Tora had bound him with on his final day on Diat. Kalex was a lot stronger now and he knew he just needed a little bit of time to shed the chain, but Timik would not last long enough for him to do that. He had come this far to save the man and he told him that he needn’t worry.

Kalex despised going back on his word, so he asked Lex for some assistance. “I have a plan that could work, Mr. Wounder. Think about how you expand your presence outward and how you can use it to focus on one person or object. Instead of using your presence to look outward, enter a deep ponder and use your Domain.” Lex’s voice echoed. Kalex made to ask a confused follow-up but felt Lex stop that train of thought. There was no spare time to think about what Lex was telling him, he just had to trust the instructions he was given.

Dropping into a deep ponder in the middle of a tense situation was as simple as breathing. He’d been trained to do this exact thing for years before he was found to be a Seer. Kalex let the world fall away and his inner domain bloom in his mental eye. He felt gratitude to the Captain at the moment; his slowness allowed him to figure out what Lex had told him to do. Luckily he found the process to be fairly simple. He knew it would’ve taken a lot longer to figure out if Lex hadn’t given him the presence sight example, but the process of sending out his senses through his domain went well nonetheless.

He first spotted the Captain, who was slowly walking towards the barely breathing form of Timik whose myst signature looked dull, even compared to the flora that lined the outside of the Captain’s tent. The Captain on the other hand seemed to be leaking myst from every pore of his body. Kalex cringed slightly as it made him think of a weeping, fetid wound. His sense of time seemed to be slower than reality as he peered through his domain into the material world, so he felt in no rush to wrap his senses around the mostly dead man. It felt a lot like his presence sight, but with the difference of clarity. It seemed like he could see every detail of what he focused on and the man was definitely in poor nick. With barely a thought, his domain rippled with his intent. “HEAL.” Kalex heard himself say in a soothing, almost melodic voice.

Timik twitched slightly as Kalex’s myst began to drain. It wasn’t much considering his oceans' worth of myst, but it was much more than he had expended when he helped Lyla and the others after the eclipse stone explosion. Seeing the man heal up in the time it took his heart to beat a few times, he prepared himself to exit his ponder and take care of the Captain, only to be held back by an almost invisible arm made out of myst.

“Do not leave the state you are in Mr. Wounder.” Kalex instinctively knew who the voice came from, but Lex usually had a different-sounding voice. When he heard it in his head or when Lex spoke aloud, it sounded like a nasally young man who had barely found the deepness in his voice, but now the voice reminded Kalex of a man who had lived eons and told detailed stories all the while. Kalex recoiled at the thought, as he didn’t know where he made that connection. Lex broke him out of his thoughts as a window appeared in his vision.

“This process could take a while, Mr. Wounder, but time is not on our side, I’m afraid. I’ve tapped into your neural pathways and found that I can perform the integration quicker than you can say Nurdle.” Kalex recoiled further. “What do you mean by integration?” He said, not taking his sight from the arm of myst that was slowly radiating outward into the form of a Beer. “It’s exactly as it sounds, Mr. Wounder. It’ll be a similar process to the one the Lumen do when finding people to give their blessings to. You are powerful enough to do that. And I can feel your thoughts, this will not be the twisted integration that the Lumen implement and although you will have total control over your domain, the ones inside will not have their wills crushed by yours and will be able to grow along with you as long as both parties approve of the situation.”

Kalex finally let himself relax a bit and decided to trust Lex once again and pressed the affirmative option on the window in front of him. “Alright Lex, I think this will be for the best. If I can help people and give them a place they can grow, I’m for it. But wait, why’d you mention Nurdl…” Kalex was interrupted by Lex exclaiming in a way that was very out of character. “And…Finished!” Lex’s form became more solid and he could be seen jumping slightly and holding both fists above him.

“Uh, Lex. What are you doing?” Lex lowered his arms and coughed into his hand. “Apologies Mr. Wounder, I thought I’d make your domain look like a fun place to be so our visitor wouldn’t be too shocked by his new state of affairs.” Kalex turned around and looked into a far corner of his domain. A man with eyes bulging out almost as much as his muscles were, couched huddled with a stare of disbelief painted across his face.

“This is NOT where I thought I’d go when I died.” Timik unwound his arms from around his legs and allowed them to fall. After a moment, he began to snore softly. Kalex and Lex turned to each other at the same time and shared a chuckle. “Well, it looks like he’s comfortable. Is it alright if I leave him in here when I exit my domain?” Lex bowed at the statement. “It will be perfectly fine to leave him here. I will do my best to help him adjust to living here and you will be able to mentally communicate with him. I believe he will also be able to exit your domain at his discretion, but I will attempt to advise him to warn you beforehand.” Kalex nodded. “Thanks Lex, that makes sense. If he’s safe, I think it’s time to see what the Captain’s up to. From the look of it, it doesn’t look like anything good.”

Kalex returned to Enternia to the feminine screams of the Captain. “No! My gold! You’ve taken my bounty!” The Captain said in between quick deep breaths. “I’ve lost my men and my bounty! I will at least have you to turn in!” The Captain reached into a pocket and threw a bauble at Kalex. It exploded in choking smoke, but Kalex was able to produce a thin film of myst and surround himself with it. The smoke wasn’t able to make it through, leaving Kalex with fresh air to breathe. Kalex was at a crossroads. The man was no threat to him and he could just leave or he could stay and fight, almost guaranteeing the end of the Captain’s life. As the smoke cleared, he came to a decision. “One punch wouldn’t be too bad, right?” He smiled as broke through the chains binding him and infused a tiny bit of myst into his knuckles.