Deep in the heart of the Gaian Nebula

Leviathos appeared above the rock that had once been the stone titan Gaia’s heart. Now it served as a terrarium for himself and, by extension, the sleeping mind of Sauridius. The ambient magic of the world spawned many bestial drakes that, given enough magical exposure and time, would mature into full-fledged wyrms. A never ending supply of troops that Leviathos had cultivated for his campaign.

Flush with life magic, he practically tingled. He turned and saw the looming false star. Sauridius was a curious elder god. Rather than forging a war body that made combat easier, while also providing more easily identified weaknesses? Sauridius had made his body of pure magic itself. Thus, all that had been of his mind, his consciousness, had become this star, or rather, a false star.

From a distance, he appeared to look like a star, but up close, it gave off no heat. For this star shone with a spectral brilliance. Soul magic. The roiling cloud of aether shone with the tinge of a soul. He’d followed the plan meticulously. He was to harass and wear down his enemy enough that he could make an assault on their wellspring to pillage enough light magic to jump start the sleeping elder god.

Only Leviathos had no plan to be a puppet for Sauridius once again. He enjoyed his freedom of the god far too much. However, possessing Sauridius’ power would prove useful. That decided his choice for him. He would bring back the elder god. But instead of simply resurrecting Sauridius, he would fuse the elder god and himself, granting himself control of the vast wealth of power. In effect, he would become instantly as powerful as Sauridius was and bypass the ascension process.

Leviathos began his work, weaving and sketching a vast tapestry of runes and glyphs. A spell of this magnitude and complexity meant it would need to be cast as a ritual. He anchored the spell to several points, using rune jars of the same make he’d given to his son Ominek. Reflecting on that failure, he was forced to admit that Ominek truly had been the best of his only clutch of offspring.

Ominek found his father in the Gaian Nebula. Forced to sit the assault on Eryn out, he’d been given a task of his own. In the end, Luffa and a handful of her stubborn primals had betrayed him. The rest he’d been able to maintain their allegiance. Sulking about not being able to assault Eryn, he’d opted to remain at home in the Nebula to await his father’s return.

If Sauridius was to be reborn, he wanted to witness it firsthand. He drifted there in the vacuum of space, observing Leviathos’ ritual. No stranger to complex spell casting, Ominek appreciated the chance to study his better at work. Finally, it was all coming together.

“All the sacrifices and loss.” He mused to himself softly.

How many brothers and sisters had he killed personally and by order? The blood and souls of so many could have filled a vast ocean in his estimation. Nevermind that of their victims. Death was simply a condition, not an end. Dread lords didn’t let it stop them from continuing their work.

He continued to study his father’s work when a nagging feeling overwhelmed his attention. Something wasn’t right. But about what? He studied the spell and immediately spotted it.

It wasn’t exactly small or innocuous, but his father continued weaving the ritual oblivious. The words were traveling up his throat to his voice box when he bit down hard and forced himself to stop. No. Not here, not now.

There was something in him, something bitter and angry at all the pain, fear, and torture he’d endured as a hatchling that stopped him. He wanted to see what exactly would happen. Conceptually, he understood what his father was attempting. Awaken Sauridius and bind the elder god’s consciousness and soul to his will.

It was a grander, more complex version of the ritual he’d been given to raise Anorax. And then it hit him. He’d made the same mistake that the little witch Amara had torn into Ominek’s ritual. Leviathos had left the binding half of the spell undone and disconnected.

A cold, wicked smile crept across Ominek’s lips. He could still remember the casual scorn his father gave him after his failure at Hidros. They’d expected failure there, given how many unknown variables were in the mix, but it didn’t stop Leviathos from being harsh with him, anyway. The thought of watching his father’s own foolish mistake devour him felt like a divine treat, gifted to him from on high.

Leviathos finished his spell, with the flaw included, and executed the ritual. Designed to both jumpstart Sauridius, and bind the elder god’s soul and mind to the caster. The Ritual served as both ascension rite and divine binding spell. And now that spell was executing. Ominek watched with held breath as the spell fused and went into motion.

Vast channels of aether flowed into the inert mind of Sauridius slowly rousing it from its thoughtless slumber. This is where the binding spell would have immediately gone into play. But unfortunately, that piece of the ritual was tied to the rest, leaving the mind free to target Leviathos. Long tendrils of pure magic reached up from the surface of the false star, grasping for Leviathos and coiling around him.

“NO!” the demi god roared.

But his struggles were in vain. He lacked the power to resist the splintered elder god’s pull. Leviathos struggled in vain as the tendrils of Sauridius slowly drew him down to the surface of the star. Ominek couldn’t resist the chuckle that bubbled up from deep within him that burst into full on laughter. Finally, his father turned back, noticing him for the first time.

“Ominek! Help me!”

“Oh father. You poor fool. You were so consumed with your own victory you neglected the flaw in your ritual that was so brazenly obvious. I can only assume you were cursed by that second hand arch priest before his death. Now grand father will devour you, as you’ve threatened to devour me so many times throughout my life.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Leviathos’ magic flared as he tried to resist the pull as more and more magical tendrils rose from the star’s surface, seizing his father like a celestial cephalopod. Powerful wings tried to unfurl open and flap, instead trembling weakly under the tightening pull of Sauridius.

“I’ll give you anything you want! Anything! Just help me!”

Ominek’s brow furrowed in confusion. “But father. This is what I want. Tell grandfather I said hello.”

Ominek watched his father’s struggle vainly as he was eventually consumed by Sauridius’ Mind. And then, he saw his true opportunity and seized it. The binding half of the ritual was still primed and ready to use. Because it was been disconnected from the primary ascension spell, it remained active in a limbo state. So Ominek quickly wove a series of runes and cast it. In place of Leviathos, he’d placed himself. He would become the dominant portion of Sauridius. Like the humans in their spell mechs. He would be the controling portion, and Sauridius his spell mech.

As the binding spell took effect, Sauridius reached up for him, but the touch wasn’t forceful and hungry the way it had been for Leviathos. This was like the arms of a mother, reaching out to hug him. He felt the divine magic wash over him as he sank beneath the surface of the false star. His body broke down, his consciousness merged, and Ominek both ceased to be, and ascended at the same time.

“I’m a god. Truly a god.”

“Yes. But you merely pretend where I simply am.”

It was Sauridius. Ominek could feel his grandfather already sifting through his memories, like pages of an old book. Reading the dread lord page for page, word for word. There was an odd moment of jockeying as Sauridius tried to assert himself over Ominek and clashed against the restraints of his binding.

“So. You have fused our essences together and bound mine to yours. Interesting.”

“It was a genius capitalization of opportunity if I do so say so.”

“Perhaps. But the plan has not gone completely to plan. We have many enemies still at large, and we currently lack much of the magic and resources I once had.”

“Tell grandfather, just what exactly are we capable of?”

There was a contemplative silence for a moment as Sauridius thought about the situation. Ominek felt as though he’d been scanned, but it was more like Sauridius’ mind had studied him.

“You have many aspects of magic in small detail. But the only divine portion you have is soul magic, though you have much of it. We must seek more magic if we want to stay ahead of our enemies. We must also cultivate worship to further grow and augment our power.”

Ominek thought for a moment and felt that was a sound conclusion. “Shore up our positions. Sensible. What do you suggest as our first target?”

He felt Sauridius ripple with approval. Ominek was canny, smart, and open to input. That would make him an excellent heir to groom.

“We will require divine quantities of magic. The closest is what remains of my heart.”

Ominek followed Sauridius’ gaze into the distance and found it settled on a vast crimson nebula. A massive red giant star surrounded by a massive orange and red nebula that pulsed with vibrant fire magic. Ominek no longer possessed a mouth, but if he had one, he might have salivated at the prospect of ingesting so much magic. Which got him wondering.

“Grandfather… what are the advantages of possessing a body versus not?”

Sauridius rumbled with something Ominek might have guessed to be a chuckle. “Having a body lends itself to martial combat. A warrior clashing with armies, or other gods. Not possessing a body means you’re are harder to kill. There is no shell upon which you can be destroyed. After all, thanks to the conservation of energy, we can not be destroyed in this form. Merely…altered. Much as you’ve already done.”

So. That was his secret. His grandfather had survived so long by avoiding confrontations himself, and in the unfortunate instances, he found himself overwhelmed by a warrior god. He wasn’t truly destroyed, more like disembodied would be the closest appropriate term.

“You understand as close as you can come to being correct for possessing such a young mind. In time, you will know more. But for now, your limited world view suffices to grasp the concept.”

Ominek became alarmed as he realized that his thoughts were becoming foggy. It was harder for him to remain focused.

“Be at ease. It is merely the torpor of post ascension wearing you down. As a mortal, it is easy to shrug it off. But ingesting large quantities of magic in divine levels induces a state in which you go into hibernation as your soul and body realigned with each other.”

“But we’ll be vulnerable!”

“Correct. Let this be a lesson to plan your consumption more carefully to allow contingencies to take effect, lest we find ourselves pounced on while we’re weakened.”

Ominek wanted to issue a biting retort, but his grandfather was right. He’d taken part in the ritual without even considering any other factors. Now that he was a god, he needed to move more carefully. Plan better, and act where he needed. He made a mental note to make a new body when he awoke, so Morwen could see the pleased smile on his face as he tore down everything around her with sheer divine might.

Finally, he would get both his revenge and dominion. After his nap, of course.

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