Chapter 32 He Started It.

Isaac had hit the wall in a roughly standing position. His head was spinning from the impact and he was disoriented enough from the hit that when his feet hit the ground his knees gave out under his own weight. He heard a word that snapped him back into reality: “Command:” Fen had begun. Even in his semi disoriented state Isaac knew what that meant. There was only one command spell as far as either of them was concerned and Isaac was not planning on being disintegrated.

Isaac threw his hands out and dumped as much mana as he could in Fen’s direction. If his head had been just a little clearer he might have teleported away. Unfortunately for Isaac that was not the case. A wave of dark mana, already compressed to its limit as Isaac had been preparing to use it to summon a sword, pressed outward from Isaac’s outstretched hands. By the time Fen had finished saying: “Be undone!” Isaac had dumped nearly half of his own maximum mana into the wall in front of him.

The branch of reality appeared, it launched out at the speed of reality itself making it appear as though the entire temporary construct had materialized simultaneously, it connected to Isaac’s wall. Isaac braced for impact, Fen prayed to Dri’El that the wall wouldn’t be strong enough, Lenna’s heart stopped, Jala held her breath, Alexis was frozen to the spot. Then, an instant later, it was gone.

Isaac’s shield had been deleted. It was gone along with Fen’s spell, most of Isaac’s bracers, and Isaac’s hands the whole way up to three inches shy of his elbows. No one expected to see what they all witnessed in the aftermath. In place of Isaac’s missing pieces, his mana pathways could be seen with the naked eye. Ridgid veins that seemed to bend at harsh angles to follow along the rough path that his real veins would have taken. The other main difference was that these were made of dark mana that was so compressed and so pure that it was both a solid and a liquid. It was crystalized mana that also seemed to be trying to flow out of him like water.

Shock hit Isaac harder than it had ever hit him before. He stopped breathing, his eyes were as wide as they could be, the only thing in his focus was his missing hands. Some kind of self preservation instinct kicked in. The same instinct that had helped keep his blood in his body after he had passed out during his and Lenna’s first meeting. The same instinct that forced the mana in his core to turn to death mana both times that his heart had been destroyed. This time, everyone watched it happen.

The dark mana in Isaac’s hands turned into death flames in a little longer than a blink, just enough time for everyone to burn the image into their memories. Flesh, muscle, bone, and tendons formed around and over his mana pathways. The entire process took only around a second as his body had been repaired as if nothing had ever happened. Other than the mild concussion, three quarters of his mana being gone, and the missing bracers, Isaac was completely back to normal. There was one problem however, Isaac wasn’t breathing. The shock had hit him so hard that he forgot how to breathe. It was a miracle that his heart was still beating.

Fen watched his disintegrate spell remove Isaac’s hands and he cursed internally. He wanted, needed, the spell to kill Isaac outright. He had hit him with the two most disorienting spells he could think of back to back and then tried to end it all in a single hit. Now? Now Fen’s mana was bleeding out in every direction and the rate was only increasing as his mana pathways continued to break down. He rolled away from the sword that was still stabbed through his mostly incorporeal body. Everything burned and ached worse than anything he had ever felt before. He tried to get up but his hands couldn’t support his own weight. He knew that the end was coming. He also knew that it would be quicker than he wished but slower than he desired. The pain would drag on for what felt like an eternity but it wouldn’t take nearly long enough for anyone to be able to save him. The worst part was that he had failed. Isaac was still alive. He could see his arms rebuilding. ‘I would say it’s been a good run but… it really hasn’t.’ Fen grumbled internally through the pain.

Lenna grabbed Isaac’s hand with one of her own and his face with her other. “Isaac. Isaac!” She yelled at him. “Look at me!” She ordered. She needed him to power through the shock or he was going to die anyway. His face was blank and still staring at where his hands had been when they had gotten deleted. His brain was like a clock with a broken gear, clicking back a second every time it tried to go forwards. She could tell that he wasn’t breathing. She let go of his face, pulled her arm back, and slammed her palm into Isaac’s chest to force all the air out of his lungs.

The impact was hard enough that Isaac’s body tried to cough involuntarily but there was no air left to do so he tried to suck in a breath again only to enter a coughing fit. ‘At least he’s breathing again.’ Lenna thought as Isaac rolled onto his side as his brain tried to get moving again.

Jala was frozen in the doorway. Fen was dying and there was nothing that she could do. Once his body could no longer hold mana it would start burning the power that was in each of his cells in order to keep running. As that happened each cell would die. A high level cleric could save him with the right healing spell but after what Fen had just done, and the fact that he was a dark elf, she knew that no matter what she said, who she begged, no one would help him. Tears came to her eyes as she watched him there on the ground, still trying and failing to get up. “Fen.” She whispered. “You idiot.”

Lenna looked over to Fen and she could feel the mana leaking out of him. So much was pouring out of him that the ambient mana levels weren’t going back down after all the spells and dark mana that had been thrown around. She looked down at her uncle by marriage. She hadn’t really known him at all but if he died then trying to get Jala to work would be impossible. After that Jala might be killed as she was no longer useful. The important thing was that Isaac would survive. It would take him a bit to get mostly back to normal but he would live. She sighed and turned back to Isaac. “Isaac.” She said softly and started rubbing his back. “Are you going to be okay?” She asked.

Isaac’s head was foggy, spinning, and the edges of his vision were dark. He heard Lenna’s voice and felt her hand on his back and he latched on to it. He tried to focus on her as best as he could and get his breathing back under control. It took what felt like ages but eventually he could answer her with a groan.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Good.” Lenna said softly with a smile. “Just rest there for a bit. Fen’ll be dead by the time…” Her voice trailed off as Isaac’s hand reached half behind himself to grab onto her arm. “What?” She asked.

“Bring him here.” Isaac told her.

Lenna looked back at Fen who was still incorporeal as that seemed to be slowing down the rate that his body was degrading. She looked back at Isaac. “I can’t. He’s made of shadows.”

Isaac groaned and got his hands under his shoulders to try and push himself up. “Bastard.” He grumbled.

Lenna grabbed his shoulder and helped him up into a sitting position. “His mana pathways are breaking down.” She told him.

“Why?” Isaac asked as his eyes tried to focus on Fen from across the width of the hallway but failed.

“He tried to cheat a ninth level spell.” Jala explained and started to slowly walk towards Fen. “Then he didn’t let them heal and instead forced more mana through them. He could have survived just the first spell. The other two killed him.” She looked down at her husband sadly.

Isaac felt his mana reserves and knew that he had enough to probably save Fen. The real problem was: Did he want to? The answer was a giant ‘No’. He looked up at Jala. “You owe me.” He told her. “Not one, but two life debts.” She looked down at him with surprise evident on her face. “Until the end of time, you will serve me.” He explained. “I own you.”

Isaac didn’t let her respond as he formed a ball of dark mana in his hand. He looked at Fen and sighed. He tried to get up but still ended up needing Lenna to help him over to Fen. “Let me die.” Fen’s ethereal voice spoke as he was effectively bleeding out on the ground.

Isaac turned the ball of dark mana into death flames and pushed it into Fen. The power flowed along the skeletal remains of his mana pathways and started to repair them. Fen’s mana reserves were still empty but after a few more seconds of Isaac pouring his power into him he stopped degrading. “Why?” Jala asked in a whisper.

Isaac sat back on his haunches and leaned against Lenna. “I told you.” Isaac said wearily. “From now henceforth, I own you. I saved him not once, but twice.” Isaac explained. “I could have let him die both times but I didn’t.” He turned to look at her. The world started to spin so it took him a few seconds to focus on her properly. “I saved him. Twice. Because of you. Now you owe me your life. Twice.”

Jala looked back and forth between Isaac and Fen. Tears started to fall down her face. She dropped to a knee and bowed her head. “As you say my Lord.” She told him. “I, Jala L’Vore, owe you not one but two lives. In exchange for this great service I will serve you for as long as I am able. I will have no other loyalty. I will give you my own life if it pleases you.” She sniffed. The emotions flowing through her were all far too strong for her to properly sort through at that moment. Resignation to her fate, relief that Fen was alive, fear of what was to come, dread at the future wrath of her god, and resolve to follow through.

Jala had never been one to do anything for someone else. She had never felt the need to. To her doing things for someone else was only a means to an end. Usually that end was furthering her research. Fen had been by her side for over half of her life. He had always been there, tagging along like he had nothing better to do. He was her one and only friend. When she had begged Isaac and Lenna to save him she had hoped that Lenna would do it because they were family but instead it had been him. After that she had decided that she would help Isaac as long as he would help her continue her research. Once he proved to no longer be helpful she would make a teleportation circle while no one was looking and she and Fen would disappear.

It wasn’t a great plan as she would have to always have a teleportation scroll or ritual ready in the event that he showed up again but humans lived short lives. In the event that he was truly immortal then they would just have to wait until he lost interest in them. Instead Fen had to go and try to fight him again. He almost won too. Isaac, her new master, was a monster. There was nothing mortal about that man. On the surface he seemed very much like Fen, arrogant, powerful, self centered, with a type of charisma that made you want to hit him in the face just as much as it made you want to follow his lead. In the end, Isaac proved to be more than Fen could handle. Could she have intervened on Fen’s behalf? Yes. Would it have saved him? No. By the time Jala could have done anything to Isaac, Fen had already signed his death warrant.

Jala’s tears hit the hardwood floor. Lenna’s hand refused to leave Isaac’s shoulder as she had been so close to losing him. Fen was face down and corporeal again but drained beyond anything he had ever felt before, he quickly lost consciousness. Isaac was leaning into Lenna, taking the contact where he could get it but also using her to help ground him while he tried to sort through everything. Alexis was a statue, she hadn’t moved since the first exchange. A door flew open at the bottom of the stairs causing her to jump as it banged against the wall.

Edward took the steps two at a time until he reached Alice and then looked down the hallway. Carnage. That was what he saw. Isaac looked like he was barely still conscious with Lenna holding him upright. The new drow woman, he forgot her name, was kneeling at Isaac’s side with her head down. Her husband looked like Isaac had just taken him apart and then put him back together. The thing that really ground Edward’s gears was the hallway itself. Rug blasted apart, blood on the ground, a sword sticking out of the two hundred year old wooden floor, the magical lamps tossed about at each end of the hallway. Edward’s eye twitched.

“I left,” He began through gritted teeth. “For five, fucking, minutes.” He took a deep steadying breath. He rubbed his eyes with his fingertips. “And a demigod and a grandmaster sorcerer tried to kill each other in my Guild Hall.” He said quietly enough that only Alexis could hear.

Isaac took a deep breath and then opened his eyes and slowly turned to look at Edward. “He started it.” He said simply.

“I don’t care who fucking started it!” Edward snapped.

Isaac winced at the volume which was definitely not helping his pounding headache. He felt some healing flow into him from Lenna. Not a lot as she didn’t want to give him a fever but enough to help sooth his head. “Ouch.” Isaac replied.

Edward frowned at him. “The duke told me to put trackers on them and keep them here until he’s figured out what he wants to do with them.” He took a steading breath. “I might just recommend execution.”

“Now, now.” Isaac replied. “I have a solution.” He sighed. “I’m tired of fighting this one.” He nodded at Fen. “So he’s getting as many antimagic cuffs as can fit on his damn body.” He then nodded at Jala. “She hasn’t been and won’t be a problem. I’ll put my reputation on it.”

Edward gave Isaac a flat look. “Your reputation?”

“Yes.” Isaac responded.

“How much do you think that is worth exactly?” Edward questioned.

Isaac narrowed his eyes at the larger man. “Enough.” He answered. “I may feel and look like shit but I’m still stronger than you, Guild Master.”

“Are you threatening me?” Edward asked indignantly.

“No.” Isaac replied. “Just reminding you who snuck past ninety seven wards, killed a handful of chimera, fought a twentieth level sorcerer and won, then brought them both back here as prisoners.” Isaac sat up a little straighter. “Speaking of which. Where is my double platinum tier reward?”