We walked out of the church, my steps fumbling. A headache screamed in my head like the howling of a dead family. Every nerve in my body shivered. My mind trembled at the weight it carried. Three remnants piled in my mind. The thought of assimilating another one was like kicking the chair out from under my feet at my own hanging.

Still, work remained undone. We paced out the chapel before I fell down the stairs leading out of the chapel. As my lips split against the rough stone under me, several pounding sets of footsteps rumbled the cobblestone. As I glanced up, blood leaked from a broken mouth while a sheen of sweat collected on my eyebrows.

Several sets of eyes stared back at me. One set of eyes owned broad shoulders with whips of molten metal while another carried a sword shining in the sun. Another wore armor of ice, crimson as red wine. Here was Solomon and Krakowah and Ara. They’d defeated the tribes already.

A stripe of metal had been ripped from the helmet of Solomon, revealing two deformed, malshapened eyes. Beneath the sick yellow skin and squinted brows was a set of noble, nigh angelic eyes. A melody of emotions piled on that short strip of skin. Pain, spite, and guilt, but most of all, hurt. After a moment, Solomon cried out,

“Why? Why did you do this?”

I pushed myself from the ground, my arms shaking. After sitting up, I slouched as I said, “I’m a mindless force of darkness. Why do you even ask?”

Solomon hissed, “Don’t spit in my face with those lies. I know you better.”

I frowned as I said, my voice scathing, “Apparently not as well as you’d believe.”

He slammed his shield into the stone, cracks radiating from the impact as he roared, “You betrayed me. You betrayed the empire. You betrayed Gaia.”

I cackled out a weak, pained laugh before I said, “I am the only saint who stayed true to himself. You all cast aside yourselves for something greater. You ended up being nothing more than glorified slaves.”

Krakowah snapped back, “I spent decades fighting evil since before you could even old enough to wipe your own ass.”

I said, “Did you decide that what you fought was evil, or was it decided for you?”

Ara stabbed her words, “You're the one who can’t see past his own shadow.”

A surge of agony grinded through my temples as I said, “Do any of you even know who or what Gaia is?”

Disgust riddled Krakowah’s face as she said, “She’s the benevolent ruler of this world.”

I grimaced as I said, “You’ve felt her right? There’s nothing benevolent about that thing. You’ve seen what her energy has done to those outside the barrier. I’ve seen children with bulging tumors under there face, missing ears and eyes, even one who’s skin cracked like paper. Gaia’s light shattered those people. She shattered you as well.”

Ara forced her hand onto the stone beneath her. Shards of ice shot towards me, crawling like a fast millipede. The attack could’ve killed me, but an enormous, dull yellow blade slammed down in front of me, stopping the attack. The cracking of ice matched the hollow hum of Razor’s horn as bits of cold landed on my face. The shavings of ice melted as Razor said,

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“Save the fun for after the talk.”

Attached to a blue orb, the yellow blade brushed aside the red ice before Solomon said, “Gaia prevents the destruction of Nelastra. She has blessed these people with her kindness and banished those outside to exile. You speak blasphemy.”

I let out a ragged breath before saying, “You remember the energy let off by the remnant? That is what causes the corruption. The church keeps the remnants since they give them an endless source of souls for their forging and chaining. They want a land of monsters so that they can maintain dominion over those who can’t fight them.”

Solomon stepped back as he said, “That’s madness.”

I stood up by pushing my knee with my hand as I said, “Is it though?” I took a step forward as I said, “Look at what they’ve done to their heroes.”

I pointed at Ara as I said, “Your entire people were cast aside for allying with a rival nation. Now you’ll slowly lose your minds as Gaia’s light lets itself in.”

Ara bit her lip before I said to Krakowah, “The geshians killed half their people for nothing, and now you’re a slave of another nation, far from home. You’ll never see your father’s face. She stole that from you.”

Krakowah’s hands trembled before I turned to Solomon and said, “And you...Hundreds and hundreds of years of dedication and reverence, yet you live in a small home beside the palace. Your family is dead. You’re treated like a dog. Your people are slaves with you as their leader, the man who abandoned everything for a hollow title, empty as air.”

Solomon Lifted his sword as he thundered, “You wretch.”

Slicing through the atmosphere, he swung the sword down like a guillotine. The blade enlarged in my vision before Aether reached out his hand and stopped the blade by uncurling a single finger. Wind exploded all around us as the sword’s impacted ebbed around us. The ground beneath solomon’s feet crushed like folding tin. Chips of the sword’s blade shot out around us. Sound erupted from the point of contact, yet Aether’s hand moved not an inch.

Solomon’s arms shook as Aether raised his hand, taking the blade with him despite Solomon’s struggling. Krakowah and Ara’s confidence deflated as Aether grabbed the blade with two fingers and his thumb then folded the metal like putty. The beautiful blade crumbled, just like Solomon’s anger.

Solomon let go of the sword before Aether tossed the metal aside. This was no normal throw. The air around us followed the swing of his arm like an instant hurricane. The only visual evidence of his throw came from Aether’s arm disappearing. The explosion of noise occurred after the movement, like a thunderclap right beside your eardrum. After less than a second, a portion of the barrier surrounding Nelastra lit up like a solar flare as the blade bounced on its surface.

Solomon gasped as he said, “What...how?”

Aether replied, “Shimerac would know. He’s the one who sealed me.”

Krakowah screamed before brandishing two chains from the air, the metal materializing in a fiery flash. She leapt forward while swinging the chain before the spiked tips whipped against Aether’s shoulders.

Metal splintered like wood cracking before Aether said, his voice flat, “Is that all then? I’d rather us get the last remnant, if you wouldn’t mind.”

The red glow around Krakowah’s fists exploded into a torrent of blue as she shouted, “Why is something like this allied with the Darkened One?”

Aether tapped his center crystal as he said, “It’s sad that we must fight, but I have my reasons. What has been done to me must not be allowed to continue. This unfeeling body is more a moving prison than life.”

Ara squinted her eyes as she said, “What does that have to do with Gaia?”

Aether glanced at her before saying, “Do you know what I am?”

Ara reeled back as she said, “What? Ugh...a golem.”

“Precisely. I am a byproduct of soul forging. Why does your kind forge or chain souls?”

Ara glanced around before saying, “Well...to fight monsters, mainly.”

Aether nodded before saying, “What makes those monsters?”

A sudden spark appeared in all their faces as their eyes went wide and their jaws slackened. After a moment, Aether continued, “That’s right. The remnants. You worship a maker of monsters.”