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Kale
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Chapter Sixty-Three: Sha
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Realm of Dreams
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Torrents of wind are all around me, the sea of my soul rages against what is left of the mountain that Valka once shaped, the tip of the blade of my people’s will glows brightly at the crest of it, resonating with something, its light growing brighter. My eyes look downwards and see my chest doing the same, something inside me is affecting the entire Realm.
In front of me, I see darkness beginning to swirl, the Nine starting to take shape, standing around me as I kneel. Valka stands in the center of them, her crimson eyes burning like a sun’s fire as she looks down upon me. The last in the line is Amon, his eyes glow a bright purple, no longer oppressed by the crimson that still fills most of the other demons’ eyes.
As I look upon them, I see one of the other demon’s eyes has a flicker of green swirling in it. This one with the green spark does not look upon me like the others, it stares into the depths of the endless seas. My mind is drawn back by the pain in my chest. My eyes look up to Amon, searching him for answers, among the demons he is the only one who has earned my trust. When he helped me in the Colosseum, I could feel his soul, there is good in him, and he wants to help our people and see them thrive.
Valka steps forward before I can get an answer from Amon’s eyes. She reaches her hand towards me, and I pull away from her, my jaw flexing, there is hatred in me for her, for what she did with my body in the Colosseum. The faces of those she killed are still fresh in my mind. But I do not let it cloud me completely, logic tells me to use her and the other demons, as they surely seek to use me.
“Breaking two boundaries in less than a year.” Valka turns towards Amon now “My, he’s broken your record, Amon.”
Amon says nothing, he peers at the energy coursing through my chest.
“Your soul is expanding too fast for your body.” Valka says, inching closer, her hand curling back “It’s too strong for your weak frame.”
I do not answer her, I look to Amon who nods in agreement. What does that even mean, how can a soul be too strong for the body it claims?
“A not-so-uncommon problem in those who bear a Spark.” Valka says, now walking around me, her eyes looking upon me with curiosity as mine look on her with disdain “Though for it to occur before you even reach the seventh boundary is in a word… peculiar.”
Spark, yet another word I do not know the true meaning of. She pauses, looking down towards my chest, the smile ensnaring her lips further, showing the sharpened tips of her canines.
“Speak,” I say, still trying to blindly hold back that which flows inside of me. I need instruction, I don’t understand how any of it works. Frustration is rising in me.
“You require a Legacy to channel the excess energy into.” She says, still walking around me “You need my Legacy.”
Legacy? I remember the words of the Nine, but I hadn’t given it much thought until now. She stops behind me and speaks softly in my ear, her words almost fervent.
“My Legacy will save you—it will make your body stronger—it will…”
“Be silent,” I say before her tongue can slither more venom in my ear.
She walks in front of me now, her eyes somehow brighter as the smile curls deeper on her black-painted lips. Amon showed me the truth before, I know that I can press her from my Soul’s Realm. She seems to understand this as well, her demeanor is different now than it was when I first met her, I cannot tell if she is pretending for the sake of using me for her whims, or if she… no, I cannot trust her. She is vile, her previous words and actions playing in my mind.
I do not ignore Valka’s words though. As much as the thought of her help pains me, I have seen what my pride has wrought, some of the dead I carry a testament to its folly. I do not trust her, and never will, but if her way is the only way to survive, so that I might be able to help those I care for, then the path is clear.
“Amon, is there any other way?” I ask him, the pain increases again. Whatever I need to do, I know it must be quick.
“Her Legacy is the best for what you need right now.” He says, glancing over at Valka who smiles deeper, then back to me “However, it is not the only one that can fix the problem.”
Valka laughs, but her face spells irritation as she moves to speak, before she can even begin, I give her a look, one that Nekam taught me, a look that means silence must follow.
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“My legacy is perhaps the third best option.” Amon says, and then he points to the one with the green flicker and says “Theirs would be the second.”
The demon with the green flicker still does not turn, its gaze still fixed upon the abyss of the seas. The pain rises again, I feel pressure wanting to break, like another boundary about to shatter. I do not trust Valka, and I do not know enough about the green flicker demon, the choice is clear. While it may not be the best option, it comes from one I respect and trust to help me, instead of trying to control me.
“I do not understand what these Legacies you speak of are.” I say, gripping my chest as the waves rise higher in the sea “But I choose Amon’s.”
“Foolish.” Valka sneers, turning her back to me.
Foolish would be to trust her. She should not be surprised, she has given no reason for me to trust her. All I have known from her is suffering. There would have been a catch with her help, of that I am sure.
“Then we must begin,” Amon says.
The other demons move around me in a circle now, save the one with the green flicker who still searches the seas, transfixed on something in the depths. There is no time to think about why. The energy discharging from my body begins to push back towards me, the pain in my chest lessening, as though the demons who circle me are taking some of the burden. Amon kneels in front of me, now at eye level, his spirit swirling with energy.
“I will help you to understand some of its truths.” Amon says, placing his hands on my chest “Whether you can use my Legacy will depend on you.”
Time begins to slow to a crawl. From the center of his being, purple light begins to pour towards his hand, flowing into me. Images flash in my mind, sounds of echoes long past resonating within the flow. I begin to feel something, a rhythm that gives rise to meaning as the images begin to make sense, they are memories… I feel the pull towards them.
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A being swathed in purple light stands before me now, in the memories that Amon shows me. We are in a space of darkness, around us mountains jut into the air, it is hard to make out the shapes of anything else, the only light comes from the speckles of stars above and the being. There is a hum of energy in the air, thick and rippling. It shakes my soul, changing the flow within me, as though trying to guide me towards some deeper meaning.
The being's form takes shape now as the light folds around them, it is a man, covered in glittering armor that looks like he smithed the stars over his form. In his hand, he holds a massive hammer that radiates light, each side of it blunt as though meant to crush with sheer force alone. The material of it looks to be made from his purple energy, there is something almost familiar about the shape and design of it. The being speaks one word, in the old tongue of our people, the sound deep and brimming with power.
Ata
Its meaning - to push or expand. The man moves the hammer through the air slowly, energy from their body flowing into it, creating ripples of pressure. The size swells more and more until it is larger than the being itself. The man clad in starlight slams the hammer into the ground, and energy flows out, sending cracks through the memories landscape, shattering a mountain in the distance. He swings again and again, each time the hammer grows smaller as it discharges energy. The vibrations of it rattle my existence, but there is meaning in the flow, something I can almost parse as I feel it.
He brings the hammer up in front of him now and says another word in the old tongue.
Sha
Its meaning – to pull or contract. The hammer begins to shrink back into his palm, vibrations roll through me as energy from the hammer moves toward his chest until the light begins to fade. Darkness swallowing the light as the memory fades, I feel a push, guiding me back to my own realm.
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Amon’s eyes burn brightly still, his arms shaking from the release of energy. I can feel the strain upon him. The pain in my chest floods my mind again.
“Form what you have learned.” Amon says, the other demons still moving in a circle around me “Transfer the expanding energy into the Legacy.”
Transfer it… but how, how does one… I feel something, as I think on the words the being swathed in purple light spoke, there is some kind of understanding flowing into me. It is not my thoughts, but the ruminations of the one in the memory, the singular words expanding into a thousand in my mind, overwhelming my senses.
“Focus on it, but do not fight it. Feel the meaning.” Amon says, his face looking as though he is wracked with pain “We will do what we can from here, you must do what you can from there.”
I am not confident that I have learned enough truth from the memory, and yet, some part of me thinks I understand the intent. Amon pushes me backwards and I feel myself falling towards reality.
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Realm of Reality
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Heat, overwhelming heat is the first thing I feel when I stir. It's so hot it feels as though my blood is boiling. I feel myself being dragged, then suddenly air rushing around me, gravity’s embrace pulling me towards something. My eyes spring open. Kotina is clutching me under her arm, we are in the air, falling towards something… the river that snakes through the land below the floating island.
Water plumes around us as she turns her body to take the impact on herself, it rises high into the air as it swallows us into the depths. There is relief from the heat though as the frigid waters sap it from my body. Enough relief that I can try to think. Remember the feeling, my eyes close as I am pulled by the current of the river, my head pushing above the water, Kotina holding it up.
My mind retraces the echoes of the being swathed in purple’s words. I need to contract the energy back into me, I need…
“Sha,” I whisper in the old tongue as I feel the rhythm begin to change, trying to match what I had learned before. My understanding of the meaning is only enough to pull it slowly back.
“That’s the way, whatever you're doing, keep doing it runt,” Kotina says, but her words are far away as I am swept by the word's true meaning.
My breath slows as I inhale and exhale, pressing the energy back into me. I feel Amon and the others touch on the edges, helping me to move it back. The waters around us in the river are swift as they carry us. I feel the heat in my veins beginning to fade as calm rises inside me once more. For how long it is contained though, I do not know, I can feel it pressing still, wishing to be released.
“Slaggin hells runt.” Kotina says, pulling me towards the shore “That was a little close for…”
She stops abruptly, low growls and unnatural shrieks coming from all around us, her frame goes rigid. My eyes move towards what causes her stillness… Sekat.