Chapter 224 - Moonlight

Yuzu carefully held her hands over the thick black cord that represented Prince Deka’s fate. Even at a distance she could feel the intense, raw power radiating off of the thread. It burned as if she were holding her hands over a piece of white hot metal straight from a forge.

This black cord writhed and frayed as a slimy substance began to ooze out from within.

The ground shook violently as the giant God of Life bellowed and spasmed against the ground only several dozen steps away from her. However Yuzu did not let that disturb her.

Standing at Yuzu’s side in the aetheric realm at the heart of this Divine Kingdom, Li Ru could not see what was going on in the physical world. From his perspective, Yuzu was calmly sitting, facing the God of Life with her eyes covered by the thick blindfold. Her hands were outstretched, her fingers moving delicately as she manipulated an invisible tapestry. Every so often, an illusory thread shimmered from her touch.

The subtle weavings of Fate were lost on him. Even as he watched her closely, tapping into his powers over Death’s domain, he could not sense what she was accomplishing in the physical world.

Yuzu had offered little guidance, only reassuring him that his time would come. So he waited.

At this time Yuzu carefully grasped Li Ru’s black thread. She wound it around Deka’s cord and pulled it tight.

The tall, gaunt Angel of Death felt the tug on his soul, the inextricable pull of destiny telling him that it was time for him to act.

“So, this is what having Fate on one’s side feels like.” He mused, loud enough for Yuzu to hear.

The young white maiden didn’t respond but continued to focus on her work. She delicately manipulated the invisible threads that only she could see.

Though she had not given him any orders, he knew what she meant for him to do. He could easily ignore her influence or even act against it, but today, he was satisfied to follow the whims of Fate.

Li Ru’s expression hardened as he turned his attention back to Deka. Li Ru had met Deka once. It was a chance meeting in the woods, an encounter that made a deep impression on his soul. Deka was King of the wilds back then, a force of nature that had barely given the young Li Ru an acknowledging glance.

The true form of the God of Life back then was a massive stag with majestic, moss-covered antlers. Proud, vibrant, awe-inspiring.

The God of Life today was a twisted, bloated husk of what He once was. A millennia of hardship and suffering had sunk the God into depravity.

Li Ru had no sympathy for the God, but he did have something he wanted from Deka.

A demonic aura radiated outward from the scholar as he stepped toward Deka. The monstrous stag wailed and smashed His head against the ground and rocks. He convulsed and moaned as His bloated flesh disintegrated into viscous, purple ooze. A terrible corrupted miasma filled the air, emanating off the God.

Li Ru’s skin and flesh turned translucent, revealing his pale skeleton beneath. His eyes darkened into the recesses of his skull as he let the powers of death course through him. Stars twinkled within the shadows of his robes as he took upon the ghoulish appearance of a living skeleton.

He reached out into the air, reciting ancient words of power, and a long straight sword forged in an ancient style appeared in the bony fingers of his right hand. The hallowed weapon shimmered faintly with starlight as he wielded it with a scholarly gracefulness.

He stepped forward reciting a spell in ancient fortus. The space around Deka glowed with a faint shimmering light. As the light shone onto the God, a transparent shroud began to emerge from His body. It had the vague form of the God and exuded a heavenly aura.

This was Deka’s soul, being drawn out of its protective bodies by the Angel of Death.

~

In the physical world, the Abbott screamed as a long, ribbed worm drilled out of his ear from within his brain. The slick, bloody worm slid through his grasping fingers, leaving a mutilated hole behind as it hit the floor and slithered out of sight.

The normally fatal wound rapidly closed up, the Abbott’s ear reforming as his attunement to the Exalted domain of Life saved him from death.

Above him, the massive black stag let out a terrible bellow that caused the trees and vines in the city to rapidly grow and mutate. Entire buildings crumbled as they were overcome with thick, thorny vines.

The wound-ridden front legs of the stag trembled as it pulled itself forward. Mounds of black flesh continued to bulge out of the tree as its torso and the beginnings of its hind legs took shape. Even as the flesh was formed it was being eaten away by corruption, oozing with blood and black sludge.

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“No…” The Abbott groaned between gritted teeth. His hands slipped on his own blood as he staggered to his feet. It took nearly all his concentration to resist the corruptive aura emanating out of the dying God, which burned his skin as if he were standing next to the sun.

His fingers clutched the hilt of his sword, which remained pure and white in appearance as he channeled his spiritual energy into it. His eyes regained their focus as he looked up at the monster that was nearly fully formed.

Though he had sacrificed so much to revive the Prince of Life, he knew that the Prince was beyond saving. All that he had worked for had been destroyed by the deceit of Gantt. He had been fully and wholly tricked. Now all that was left was to undo the wrongs that he had unknowingly brought to fruition.

His body tensed as he prepared to attack the God, however just as he was about to engage a few illusory strands of hair fluttered in his periphery. He hesitated, and in that moment of hesitation he noticed something happening with the monster.

The giant stag that was thrashing about suddenly staggered, halting its cries abruptly. It shuddered for a moment, then the light in its eyes faded as the life seemed to leave its body.

A deep shadow loomed over the Abbott as the monster fell to the ground. He disappeared into the blood, reappearing at the safety of the edge of the plaza. The giant left a crater as it smashed into the grey stone plaza, stirring up a massive cloud of dust that filled the air across the entire plaza. It blocked the Abbott’s sight as he covered his mouth with the sleeve of his robe.

The stench of corrupted flesh hung in the air, but the aura of the God was fading rapidly. As the dust slowly dispersed, the stag’s dark silhouette remained deathly still. Above, the broiling red sky faded into a natural darkness. The silver light of the full moon shone down upon the world.

Without violence or flashy display of power, without any warning, the God of Life was dead.

“This…” The Abbott trembled, his eyes wide as he looked at the lifeless body of the corrupted God. His lips were dry as he whispered under his breath, “This is the power of the White Maiden?”

He felt a gentle tug on his soul, drawing him toward the corpse. It beckoned him toward the center of the plaza.

No, not it. Her.

He stepped forward with hesitation into the lingering dust cloud as he answered the White Maiden’s beckons.

~

“The Prince rests in his kingdom; Fate and Death his final guides.” Li Ru recited softly, “The calamity of his soul averted; May he rest in hallowed peace.”

The skeletal scholar quietly sheathed his sword as he stood before the dead God’s corpse. He placed the palms of his bony hands together and bowed his head in short prayer.

Yuzu stood up, removing the blindfold as she walked up beside Li Ru with a muted expression. The dead God’s form was horrifying to behold, but no longer deadly.

“I see now. Is it that you had me prepared to act in case you couldn’t avert the corruption?” Li Ru muttered, “But now with the Prince of Life dead, what are you going to do? The black spire still stands. Noga has won.”

Yuzu shook her head as she kept her eyes on the corpse, “No, not yet.”

Li Ru followed her gaze, confused. As they looked on, the black flesh began to disintegrate into shimmering particles of light as the remnant aetheric energies dispersed into the air.

Every so often, a shining gem would be revealed within the flesh, twinkling with the vibrant energies of Life. This was god-infused sarira, that contained Deka’s Exalted essence.

Li Ru made a move toward them, but Yuzu held out her hand, stopping him, “You can’t disturb them.”

“I must gather them, to keep them out of the hands of others.” Li Ru replied.

“I know you want them for yourself.” Yuzu said, exposing Li Ru’s hidden intentions, “But they still belong to someone.”

Li Ru paused, his skeletal face inexpressive as he replied, “Who?”

Yuzu looked at the tapestry, double checking her arrangements. Deka’s thick black thread that was being corrupted from inside out had been cleanly cut through. The corrupted fibers had been sliced off, their energies dispersed into the aether. However one small, frayed strand remained. A single black fiber within the core that clung to life.

With each sarira that fell to the floor, Yuzu gathered its thread and spun it around the fiber. The glittering crystals dissolved as their energies bolstered the life of this individual, bringing them back from the brink of death.

~

In the physical world, the Abbott climbed up giant stag’s body as he followed the White Maiden’s call. A dusty haze hung in the air, speckled with silver moonlight, as he felt like he was in a sacred space separated from the rest of the world.

The form of a gnarled black tree with twisting branches that resembled hands came into view. He recognized it immediately as the tree that formed the center of the ritual, though it had grown several times in size. It had served as the portal from which Deka’s body had emerged, though now the flesh had completely broken off and the tree stood alone.

As he walked up to the base of the tree, wondering why the Maiden had brought him here, a hoarse, weak cough drew his eyes up.

At first he could not place the sound of the cough. There was no one there.

But wait- in the rough bark of the tree two meters above him, the wood seemed to form the shape of a person. A woman, with long, thick braided hair, merged into the wood.

The lips of that woman suddenly parted as she coughed again once more.

“Medusa?” The Abbott muttered.

“A-abbott?” She croaked in a faint voice with her eyes still closed.

The trunk began to creak, the wood warped and bulged out as Medusa came alive at the Abbott’s voice. Her flesh remained woody as she emerged out of the trunk, as if the tree was ejecting her from within.

Her eyes were still closed as she fully emerged from the tree and fell to the ground. The Abbott caught her, groaning with exertion as he found her to be unexpectedly heavy in his arms.

Rather than returning to flesh, her body retained the weight and roughness of wood. Her eyes remained closed, her body limp, but she was alive. The Abbott examined her with a shocked expression as he didn’t understand the nature of her transformation, or how she’d survived the ritual.

Thin, leafy green tendrils grew out of her body, gently rising into the air and wrapping around his arms as an aura of vitality gradually grew within her.

This aura was not wild and bestial like Prince Deka’s, but there was a godly quality to it all the same.

He didn’t have time to inspect her as his spiritual intuition triggered. He felt the presence of Exalted officers approach to investigate the scene. He felt another tug on his spirit, gently urging him to leave the area.

“Praise the Maiden…” The Abbott whispered in reverence.

He raised his eyes to the sky as he disappeared into the silver moonlight, taking Medusa with him far away into the mountains.

- End of Book Three -