Chapter 9
The Conduit
Wails of grief and despair covered the room, and the black wind turned to a howling storm of the shadows that were tearing through the Lifeblood. The crystal held strong, but any voice it might have had was lost within the tempest. Smoky tendrils tightened around the Lifeblood, while those appendages that came from it turned corporeal, smashing apart the catwalks and tearing into one of the cables that fed from the Lifeblood. Each person surrounding it felt themselves bowled over by its force, tumbling back into a wall, with any attempts to get near neutralized.
Only Terrill was able to keep himself standing, his body instinctively producing clots of earth that prevented him from being blown back. Not that it made the situation any easier to contain.
“My head…my head feels like it’s going to split!” Lumen shouted, the boy cowered against a wall as he gripped his hair. Terrill couldn’t afford to give him comfort. “Pain…there’s so much pain! I…I want to live! I don’t want to die! I want-”
Another gust of the shadowy wind cut Lumen off, and Terrill wondered just what he and everyone else was seeing in that storm. To him, it was just a black wind and a solid shadow that was ripping apart the room and ravaging the Lifeblood; nothing more than an obstacle that needed to be overcome. For everyone else, however, they were each driven to a different place, some with tears, and others shaking with fear. Others shut down entirely, and it was this that Terrill saw upon Krysta’s face when he saw her quivering on the ground.
It was just like Sheeris yet, at the same time, far worse. As if it had acutely targeted her.
“Krysta, snap out of it!” Terrill shouted. His voice attracted the shadow like a magnet, the abomination of souls now realizing he was there and unaffected by its rage and wrath. He reached for his sword but the shadow attempted to stop that by buffeting him with its winds. His hand only managed to find the hilt.
“Terrill…don’t you hear it?” Krysta’s voice was meek, broken by the sound of it. She couldn’t move, her eyes drawn to the Lifeblood with horror, while Terrill searched her. He couldn’t understand what she was saying or meant. “It’s so cold…”
Terrill flicked his eyes between the girl and the source of the abomination consuming them. His foot slipped, and Terrill saw the catwalk they were on eroding, as if acid was eating it apart. He stepped back, closer to Krysta, and observed everyone else in the room. Was there a voice that only he could not hear? It baffled him if that was the case; he was hardly special. The girl behind him, however, was, and Terrill knew the only way out of it was to rely on her.
He let the earth go beneath his feet and allowed the wind to blow him back until his hand wrapped around Krysta’s shoulder. Terrill could feel her trembles underneath his hold, and wondered what the shadow was saying to her in order to shut her down so hard. Next to them, Walter was supporting himself against the closest wall, his eyes wide with fury at whatever the shadow was whispering or showing to him. He couldn’t pay the hunter any mind, not if they didn’t want the entire Fortress to be ripped apart by the shadowy presence that ate at the ethereal.
“Krysta, I don’t know what that thing is saying to you, but you’re the only one that can hold this back!” he shouted, his voice muffled by the endless black wind. A tendril shot from the Lifeblood, breaking into the wall behind him and scratching at his arm. It felt familiar, but the feeling was gone soon as it had appeared. “You need to break through and seal that shadow down!”
“Terrill…I can’t do this.” Her whisper was filled with self-loathing, something he never expected of her. It was like Sheeris all over again, but considerably worse. Tears were falling now and Terrill had to shake her, jerk her out of this state of despair. “I can’t let anyone else take my responsibility. I can’t… It’s all my fault. All my fault.”
“Krysta, get ahold of yourself!” Terrill planted his feet and shook her. Some of her tears lifted on the wind, hitting his face, but he didn’t relent until he had her full and undivided attention. “Now isn’t the time for regrets or despair! There are more lives on the line than just our own! More souls than just yours or mine!”
“But what if…what if it was always meant to…?”
“I don’t care about what’s meant or isn’t! I care about that thing! Now stop breaking down and help me fix this! You’re stronger than that!” He wasn’t sure if his words broke through or not, but Krysta’s eyes changed, their clouded gray slowly turning to steel. She looked away from Terrill and to the Lifeblood, its encompassing storm threatening to consume the source of all wind in the world. This time, Terrill held her softly. “And if you can’t handle it alone, lean on me. Just the same, I’ll lean on you. Like Floyd said, we’re in this together. You’re not alone.”
She wasn’t fully convinced; Terrill could tell. Her legs were still shaky as she stood, and the whispers of the shadow lingered on her, but still she stood. Krysta wasn’t ready to give up just yet, and that was all the push they needed.
“I can’t seal it like Alexander can,” she said, her voice warbling with the wind. A clang on the catwalk said that Walter was stomping forward to weather the gale with them, but Krysta kept her eyes on the Lifeblood. The shadow stirred in her direction, recognizing its newest threat. It shot for her, and she erected a shield before they could blink, deflecting the soul of agony that sought to pierce and defile her. “I can hold it back, though.”
“Does that mean…freeing it is out of the question?” Walter yelled, an attempt to make himself heard. He, too, was struggling against the shadow, but his eyes of rage were replaced by an unsettling grin, the one he had worn in the badlands outside. Terrill shivered, but there was no time to chastise.
“I don’t know!” There was a shattering, and Krysta’s shield was broken apart into shards of light, the only boon being that the shadow’s tendrils were diverted into the catwalk near their feet. It wasn’t much of a boon as it started to shake from instability. “Warren was on his last legs, holding the shadow tight. But this…the shadow over Gladius has to be far greater than what was over Sheeris.”
“But this is Atrum’s soul, right?” Terrill said. He got behind Krysta, holding her steady as she turned her head. She brought another shield up, this one wider and bending towards the Lifeblood, as though hoping to contain it that way.
“I can’t say for certain, but it feels…it’s like…” Krysta reached up, mopping the perspiration forming on her forehead before she swallowed and answered the question the best way she could. “There are so many little souls in there, or parts of them, wailing with their despair, even the people in this Fortress. At the center of it, though, there are two souls, with one of them tying everything together into this…this monstrosity.”
“That would be him.” Lumen was quiet, crawling along the catwalk to near them and their struggle. He looked up to Terrill while his hands trembled, barely supporting his body. “Charles mentioned something about it. Something about a kind of magic he’s using called Soul String to tie himself to others.”
“Soul Magic?!” Krysta’s barrier dropped with the surprise. Terrill stepped into action, his magic combining with Walter’s cancellation to blow back the shadow that encroached upon them before Krysta could get her barrier back up. “I knew he must have been using something but he’s genuinely tying souls together?”
“That’s what he said, and I think it has to be true,” Lumen answered, his confidence in the questions leading to him rising.
“Would explain a lot, like the shadow around LeBrandon, or how the Fiends can use that black stuff,” Terrill said. He pushed Krysta a little forward, prompting her to begin moving her shield against the shadow. On the ground, Titus was groaning, the effects of the black wind mitigated now that they were pushing it back. “And Charles. He had those strings, too, tying him to Atrum. Lumen, you cut them.”
“Damaged them, I think. I don’t really understand it, myself.”
“I might, but…this is the current problem we have to resolve.” Krysta had grown unsteady at the revelations once more, her eyes looking between the Lifeblood and Lumen, a growing concern upon her face. Terrill tapped her shoulder, encouraging her to continue on, and she managed to focus her attentions. Her feet took another step forward, careful to avoid the corroded sections as the barrier pushed onward. It got tighter, becoming a wrap that the shadow strained against until it was forced to coil near the Lifeblood, sealed against it. It wasn’t a perfect fix, and Krysta was taking heaving breaths from the attempt to keep it locked up. For the moment, however, it allowed everyone else to recover from the shadow’s wake.
And what a wake it had left.
The cables attached to the Lifeblood were torn in numerous places, with one hanging loose and spraying sparks. Some of the consoles were damaged, beeping and spewing smoke, while the catwalks were missing chunks of their footholds. Gratefully, the elevator was unharmed, and most of the people remained fine, if winded from whatever visions they had received. Terrill only worried about one thing, however, and that was a question he addressed to Titus.
“Can the Fortress still fly if we free the Lifeblood from this shadow?”
Titus was coughing, unable to answer at first, but he lobbed a question back, though not to Terrill. “Damage report?”
“Most systems are operational!” called an engineer from a console. “Cables one and two are detached, however, and will need to be replaced. Cable five has sustained some damage. Otherwise, console two has suffered electrical damages but should be operational by the time we can fix the cables.”
“I think we can still fly this, but that shadow… I’m not sure if it’s even possible to free the Lifeblood.”
“It’s possible,” Krysta said. She had fallen to her knees, but waved Terrill off when he wanted to approach. “We just need to weaken the Shadow. The only thing I don’t understand is how Atrum could tie such darkness to the Lifebloods. I thought as much in Sheeris, but soul-user or not it just should not be possible.”
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
“Why not?” Lumen asked, curiously bending over Krysta. She moved away, a frown upon her face as she regarded him, but answered him all the same.
“It should not be possible for…” Her lips twisted, as if thinking how best to phrase it. “It shouldn’t be possible to affect a source of magic so easily.”
“Then why don’t we ask it how?” Walter’s suggestion was succeeded by him walking to the edge of the catwalk, a devilish gleam in his eyes. Terrill wondered what the hunter was planning, the madness in his eyes plain to see. Even Krysta recoiled from it, though none could figure out just what he planned to do. “A Lifeblood should know what’s happening with itself.”
“Walter, no!” Krysta’s pained shout worried Terrill, seeming to come out of nowhere. Yet Walter continued to stare at the Lifeblood, his hand outstretched in its direction. Had she not been maintaining the barrier, Terrill was afraid Krysta would lunge for him. “That shadow will rip you to pieces if you try to get at it!”
“Well, what other option is there for this? For me?!”
Walter’s intentions became plain to Terrill, and he stepped forward to stop the man. Walter rebuffed him. “You plan to get a Blessing, don’t you?”
“It’s the smartest play,” the hunter said, though he didn’t sound all that smart saying it. If anything, Walter looked demented at the thought of receiving the Lifeblood’s Blessing. Lumen looked confused, but didn’t dare to ask a question. “If I receive the Lifeblood’s Blessing, perhaps we can commune with it and learn more. Even if we can’t, then I can gain the power necessary, like Torry did, to rip the shadow right out.”
“Only light can destroy shadow, Walter!”
“It’s worth a try. Now, lower part of that shield.” Krysta shook her head, not daring to let any more of the shadow back into the space. It was difficult enough for her to contain it in the first place, her arms glistening with crystalline sweat from the mere exertion she was putting on it. Walter wasn’t taking no, his spear extending and holding up to Krysta’s neck. “I won’t ask again, Krysta.”
“Walter, cut it out.” Terrill’s intervention was marked by him pushing the spear away, but Walter just turned his eyes upon the Guardian. There was no stopping his madness and the lengths he would go to for revenge. They were running out of time. Terrill sighed. “Krysta, do it. It might be the only chance we have.”
“Are you both mad?” Krysta shouted. “I can barely hold this, and you want me to let it free on a longshot? What happens if that shadow tears Walter’s mind apart like it nearly did to the rest of us?!”
“It won’t. That pain was nothing compared to what they felt. My only regret was not having the strength to kill him that day.” Lumen was worried by his statement, and Terrill would have as well, but the more pressing matter at hand prevented it. “Now, release a section.”
Krysta’s scowl conveyed how little she wanted to do this, but as Walter’s tiny winds vaulted him up towards the Lifeblood, she finally relented.
A piece of the shield fell away, and in that instant the shadow screamed with its outpouring of despair. Walter, without thinking further, plunged his hand deep into the darkness. Terrill drew his blade, and seconds later, the hunter began to scream, the dark force surrounding him, threatening to engulf and consume his entire body. However, the man pressed on, his aura of wind slicing out from his body and cutting apart the shadow as he made his way through the air to the hovering crystal.
“You will not best me, Shadow! I have no regret you can prey upon! No despair you can harvest! I only have purpose, and I will rip the heart out of you if I must to achieve it! Your darkness is nothing to the blessing of my soul!”
The shadow shrieked, a curdling cry that caused Krysta to drop her guard, vomit spraying on the catwalk. Terrill ripped his sword out, prepared to protect her with any tool available to him. Lumen was at his side, his hand glowing with a light that the girl took notice of, and his round shield set in service to protect her. Walter continued to plunge in, the shield dropping and the shadow beginning to rip out again, all of its fury aimed at the one who contained it.
But through the shadows, Walter lunged forward, his hand making contact with the crystalline object, and all went still.
There was a moment in which the shadow paused, its screeches ended, and Terrill looked up. Walter was suspended by wind, his body glowing green, his grin splitting his entire face. Then, the light of the Lifeblood shined forth, ripping away the amalgamation of shadow and sending a refreshing and rejuvenating wind through the base of the Fortress. Terrill covered his eyes at the blinding light, his sword-hand lowering, and when it receded, he focused immediately on where Walter was. He was hanging in midair, his hand still attached to the Lifeblood. The shadow had lessened, but not vanished, held back by the Lifeblood’s own light as it conferred its blessing upon Walter.
Krysta recovered, wiping the puke from her lips as she stared up. “So, in the end even he was meant to…”
“Walter!” Terrill called, hoping to get the man’s attention. He didn’t hear him, his face beginning to contort into the same kind that Floyd and Torry had worn upon their blessings.
“What…what’s happening to him?” Lumen asked, stumbling back. It was Titus who had the answer, pulling tools out as though preparing to make the fixes, himself, now that the space was clear of the invading shadow.
“Integration. The Lifeblood has conferred a blessing between body and soul, and the memories of both worlds are pouring into his head. Though no one on the Adversan side of the Wind Fortress has ever received one. Not yet. We are still needed even here. It wouldn’t do to erase us from Adversa for the sole cost of magic.”
“Erase for magic?” Lumen’s question sounded horrified, but went ignored as the rush of wind pulsed out from the Lifeblood. All eyes came to rest upon Walter, who opened his mouth and began to speak, though not in a familiar cadence.
“A shadow lies over Gladius, tied together by many strings,” he spoke, his words resounding with power. Terrill didn’t take long to realize it wasn’t Walter speaking, but the Lifeblood itself, just as intended. “Just the same, I am using my meager strings to speak with you through my Blessed One, as the day grows more dire.”
“How long do we have, then? Before the Shadow forms?” Terrill said, his voice rising to meet that of the Lifeblood’s magnified tones.
“If too much blood is spilled before the day is out, there will be enough despair harvested from the ethereal souls to form a shadow that will rip Adversa apart and leave nothing left. Even we Lifebloods will be reduced to nothing.”
“And how is he doing it? How does he plan to tie all of that despair together along with your own?” To this, the Lifeblood deliberated, and Walter’s body began to shake. Just as it had with the Lifeblood of Earth, there was little time for them to say all that they needed to say. Terrill knew to be quick about it when he received his answers.
“He is using one of our brethren, to whom he is aligned. He holds it in thrall, and as one of the Founding Ones, he is tying his shadow across the world, stitching up the backend of the flow,” the Lifeblood said. Walter’s body began to float down now, still surrounded by the green aura until his feet touched the catwalk and the hunter approached Krysta. She backed away, but Terrill could only watch as he softly touched her face. “We cannot contain our own darkness any longer. Not so long as our brethren remains his conduit.”
“Conduit… The Lifeblood of Darkness.” It wasn’t a question that came from Krysta, but an understanding, and she looked away, her hands balling into fists.
“Through that, he will attempt to destroy all of this world’s flow, and all humanity will be rendered as his puppets are: Fiends, from which there is no return.” Terrill’s eyes widened, wanting to ask more questions about how that was possible, or what it even meant. The Lifeblood, however, was out of time. “You must free us. Free us…
“Free us…”
The wisps of wind vanished from Walter’s body and he fell into Terrill’s arms, the Guardian still shaking. The Lifeblood’s light faded away, and the shadow began to grow once more, leaving each in stunned silence. Walter groaned in Terrill’s hold, but he looked to Titus.
“Do you know what the Fiends are?”
“I’ve never heard of them before today.” Terrill figured as much, and he cursed inside, placing Walter down as he looked up to the Lifeblood.
Free them? How? Terrill’s teeth grit, but then he found the recovering Krysta, and Lumen by her side. He didn’t need to ask how. He already knew.
He needed to free Winifred.
“What does all of this mean?” Lumen asked, trying to draw Terrill’s attention again, but his mind was racing towards the next step in the process. Walter stirred, but everyone ignored him. “Terrill, what does this mean about Atrum’s plan?”
“It means he’s using a Lifeblood to power up his own magic, enhancing his Soul String to draw all manner of darkness into a Shadow that will destroy Adversa. We already know what it’s doing to Gladius, destroying large swathes of the land,” Krysta explained. “I can’t say why, but, no matter what he does, all it will accomplish is needless death and destruction.”
“Destroy the flow, the Lifeblood said,” Lumen continued to question. “What does that even mean?”
“It means it’s time for me to head for the battlefield,” Terrill said, his definitive statement ringing aloud. All eyes were drawn to him, even from the engineers in the room. “Winifred will be waiting there, and if I can sever her ties, the shadow’s hold on the Lifeblood should be loosened enough for you to cut most of it out.”
“And how do you plan to do that? I need to contain it here! I can’t be in two places at once!” Krysta shouted, her words continuing to show her unsettled state after the encounters they’d had. “How do you plan to sever the strings?”
“He’ll have to kill her,” Walter said with a grunt, fully awake. “And I’ll kill my quarry, as well.”
“No, you’re staying here.”
“I’ll do no such thing.”
“You’re not thinking straight,” Terrill said, clocking the man on the head with his fist. “Charles won’t be there. Clay called him their backup plan, which means he’s not needed for two countries already at war with one another. But you’re needed here, or did you not say you spent time learning some semblance of engineering in Rotarin.”
“Is this true, young man?” Titus said. Walter was loathe to admit it, but with a “tch”, he displayed his understanding of Terrill’s reasoning and looked away.
“That still leaves the issue of Winifred’s ties to the Lifeblood. How do you plan to cut them in case you can’t kill her?” It was the first time Krysta had ever shown doubt in his skill or ability to get things done. Terrill had to admit that it stung a little, but she was rattled, and Terrill passed it off as her own doubt of the situation leading her to greater worry.
“The way I see it, the strings can be cut one of two ways: through light to counteract the darkness, or through an opposing element to the body of the one possessed,” Terrill said, his hands on his hips as he puffed his chest with his theory. It was a long shot, he knew, and Krysta stared at him like he was crazy, but he refused to back down. “Floyd cut the strings on the water-using LeBrandon with fire, after all, so I figure I have a shot.”
“We can double those chances, then. I’ll go with you.” Lumen scrambled on the catwalk to stand at Terrill’s side, sword and shield still in-hand. “You’re heading to the thick of the battlefield, so if we land on either side, I can use my royal credentials to ensure we’re not blown apart by either force. That and I use light, myself. I can help.”
“Better than you sitting around here.” Terrill looked across to Krysta, reassuring her with his eyes that everything would be okay. She wasn’t so convinced, so he crossed the distance and took her into a hug before she could protest. “We’ll stay safe, and you guys will have the Fortress up and running in no time.”
“I-I know, but…” Terrill drew back to get a good look at her face, but failed to as she leaned in. “Fate’s flow is…and Lumen…”
“Lumen’s what?”
She shook her head. “It’s nothing. For after the battle. After we stop the Shadow. How do you plan to get there?”
“There’s only one way.” Terrill stepped back, joined by Lumen. He looked to the Lifeblood. “By the end of the day, isn’t it? That means we have one shot. It’s difficult of me to ask it, Krysta, but I need you to open the Lifeblood paths one more time. Can you do that?”
She was reluctant, there was no doubt, and he didn’t blame her. However, like he knew, she realized this was the only way to prevent further tragedy. There was no other option. She nodded. “I don’t know what difference you’ll make, Terrill. I’m not sure we can make any, not if we plan to make this fly like this supposed prophecy decreed, but…stay safe and take some Fiends out.”
“See you soon, Krysta. Ready, Lumen?”
“Uh, what should I expect?” the royal asked while Terrill grabbed his arm.
“Anything.”
The Lifeblood shined, and Krysta clasped her hands. The space shined with green light and a black portal opened beneath both Terrill and Lumen’s feet. Then, with a flash, the two were sucked in to travel along the Lifeblood’s lanes, leaving Krysta and Walter behind, with the battlefield ahead.