Chapter 550: Last Hope
“Then why? What does it even matter if I have two hearts?”
“Stryg,” Holo placed her hand on top of his. “Our Father has been looking for someone like you for a thousand years. Someone like you was one of the main goals for why he founded the Morterm Order.”
“Why? …What does he want from me?” he whispered.
Melantha and Holo shared a troubled look. “Everything.”
Holo glanced out at the city of Hollow Shade in the distance, even in the darkness of night its presence loomed on the horizon. “Do you know why I built the City of Shades there?”
“Because it was a strategic location?” Stryg guessed.
Holo inclined her head, “Explain.”
He took a deep breath, “Well, I suppose it’s because the city is built next to the Dire River that runs across the entire Realm. The merchants of Frost Rim can head down from their mountains and have their goods shipped down the river instead of having to sail around the continent through Hoarfrost Bay— which I’m told can be quite dangerous— to the Ebon Sea. Thanks to the river, Frost Rim can ship precious ores to Murkton.”
“And with a little help from their blue mages, Murkton can send large shipments of crops from their fertile lands to the barren homes of Frost Rim,” finished Holo. “It is a very symbiotic relationship. However, what part does Hollow Shade play in all of this? What needs do Great Cities have for our own city?”
“Um…” Stryg scratched his cheek. “I’m not sure.”
Holo smiled patiently. “Hollow Shade provides a central marketplace for all of the countless small villages and towns sprawled across the land. They can have their goods put on the river boats, which work for Hollow Shade, and have them sent to the city, where they will more easily find customers who will pay a better price.”
“A strategic location,” Stryg nodded.
“Indeed. Our city’s lords also provide soldiers who patrol for bandits that once used to prey on the Dire River. Now those bandits and pirates have moved on to the Ebon Sea, making the sea route more dangerous and expensive, which in turn makes merchants prefer the use of the river trade routes instead.”
“Which makes them rely on us,” Holo continued. “We want the other Great Cities to rely on our trade power. It keeps them from trying to do anything dangerous.”
“Plus it keeps gold flowing through the city,” Melantha noted.
“And yet all of that pales in comparison to the main reason why I had the city built exactly where it is,” said Holo. “You see, Stryg, I convinced the Ebon Lords to help me build this city right where it was for the reasons we’ve just mentioned. But I could not care less for the gold. I had Hollow Shade built here because of what lies underneath the city, the greatest convergence of leylines in the entire Realm. I call it the Crosspoint.”
“Leylines…” Stryg muttered. He had read about them in advanced magical theory books at the academy. Details around them were vague with little grounded information to go off of. “They’re like rivers of mana?”
Holo nodded. “If Aleirune is the heart of this world, then the Null Realms are her body, and the leylines are the veins. Mana flows from Aleirune into the leylines and permeates the ground, slowly rising into the air.”
“Where mageborns slowly absorb the mana,” Stryg said in understanding.
“Yes. Leylines are pure concentrated streams of power, a power that almost no mage can ever sense, let alone touch. Only the greatest of mages can potentially tap into a leyline and only in a place like the Crosspoint where the leylines converge. But if they do manage to connect to the leylines they will be capable of wonders. It was through the leylines that the Ebon Lords and I built the Shade Wall.”
“However,” Melantha interrupted, “Such a power comes at a cost. A mortal body was never meant to hold such levels of mana. It destroys them, even tapping into the leylines for a few seconds could cut a mortal’s lifespan in half.”
Stryg furrowed his brow, “But then how did the Ebon Lords build the wall—?” His eyes widened in realization. “No…”
“There is a reason none of them survived long after the city’s founding. It was a heavy price they paid. Of course, fear of the sun god’s wrath helped them pay it easily,” said Holo.
“So it’s a forbidden power then,” muttered Stryg.
“It is a divine power, it was never meant to be touched by mortals. Unfortunately, not even gods can truly wield the leylines’ might anymore,” said Holo. “At some point after the dragons arrived in the Null Realms, the leylines were tainted with chromatic mana, empowering them in a sense, but sealing their power from elemental creatures.”
Melantha planted her hand on the grass, “Only species descended from both dragons and elementals can access a leyline’s power now. In other words, a chromatic species.”
“Like vampires or drows,” whispered Stryg.
“Or goblins,” added Melantha.
“Only the greatest of their mages can tap into a leyline,” noted Holo. “But the leylines are like hurricanes of magic, it’s almost impossible to find yourself within it. To make matters worse, there are too many chromatic colors permeating the leylines, you could easily lose yourself within it.”
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“Leylines are storms of unpredictable magic, where your mind can easily be torn apart with one mistake.” Melantha winked, “But that is where beings of chaos thrive. Among all the elemental species, a titan’s chaotic nature gives them a unique edge in the leylines. In ancient times, before the leylines were tainted, titans used the leylines to create great cities and even built gates that stretched across our world and into the Null.”
“But after chromatic mana intermixed with the leylines, titans can no longer touch its power,” said Holo. “Hybrids like us are the exception. What’s more, our father discovered that true chromatic mageborns can focus in on their singular color amidst the storm and find some level of sense of self within the leylines and therefore draw upon its power more easily.”
Stryg glanced at both of them curiously, “Then you two—?”
“Another reason why our father preferred to sire true chromatic hybrids,” said Melantha bitterly.
Holo looked at Stryg with a troubled expression. “The only chromatic mages who have an easier time accessing the leylines are prime mages. They wield all ten colors and can therefore sift through all the colors within the storm of magic. The Ebon Lords could access the leylines because of this, though they were all mortals, incapable of handling the power for long. I helped guide them as best I could, directing their power into the massive and complex enchantments that created the Shade Wall.”
“And yet they still died,” Stryg muttered.
“And yet they still died,” Holo said softly.
Melantha poked Stryg lightly in the chest, “There has never been a first-generation titan hybrid with the powers of a prime mage. Even second-generations at best can wield six colors. And by the third generation, titan blood is so thin it hardly has any effect on them. You are unique, little brother.”
Holo’s expression grew solemn, “With your abilities and enough time and training, you could potentially wield the full might of the leylines.”
Stryg stretched his hand out to the stars. “You’re saying I could be like the titans of old?”
“Even more,” said Holo. “The leylines have been empowered by chromatic mana. You’d only be able to touch the leylines for brief moments, but who knows what you’d be capable of during that time.”
“That’s why our Father wants you,” said Melantha. “For all his power, there are things outside his realm of control. He would use you. For what exactly? Well, there are many secrets he kept to himself, but knowing Death, I doubt any of them will bode well for mortals.”
“Then I’ll use the leylines to stop him,” said Stryg.
Melantha sighed. “It doesn’t work that way.”
“Why not?”
“For one, you can only access a leyline’s power while you are directly above one. Secondly, even with the powers of the leylines, you wouldn’t be powerful enough to defeat a Calamity.”
Stryg frowned, “But I thought you said Stjerne wants this power for himself?”
“Father’s powers are great but that doesn’t mean he can do anything. For example, he can’t heal a cut on someone’s finger, not without concocting an elixir of some sort. Whereas a simple white mage acolyte could do so with a simple spell, does that mean the acolyte is stronger than the god of death?”
Stryg hung his head, “I see your point…”
“No, I don’t think you do. If Father finds you, he could use your powers to accomplish things far worse than what Ananta did here and you couldn’t do anything to stop him.”
“Maybe not me, but you could. And Holo. And Lunae. You’re titans too, aren’t you?”
“It doesn’t work that way, little one,” Holo lamented.
Melantha shook her head, “Titans are not born equal, neither are gods. Father is the strongest of the Calamities, the only titan who could ever challenge him is—” She threw her hands up in frustration and looked away.
“Who?” Stryg asked.
“...Hope. His sister,” Melantha whispered.
“A Calamity?”
“The only Calamity who was not born from the pain and rage of the World Soul, but from the love Aleirune still held for this world,” whispered Holo. “The Calamities were born on the day of the Sundering. They were born all throughout the Realm. When they were children, their true powers were still unknown to them, it was Death and Hope who found each other. They survived the wastelands together and found the others. They led the crusade against the dragons. And they ended the Sundering Age. If there is anyone who Death will listen to you, anyone who can save you, it’s Hope.”
“But no one’s seen Hope in a very long time,” muttered Melantha.
“So how do we find her?” asked Stryg.
“Holo and I have been looking for her for many years. I have some leads, traces of where she’s been, but nothing solid, not yet. In any case, word will reach Father about your Astral Light incident. He will come searching for you, in time.”
“So what am I supposed to do?” asked Stryg quietly.
“Hide,” said Melantha.
“What if I don’t want to?”
Melantha frowned. “What? This isn’t what you think, it won’t be some long-lost parent-child bonding moment. I know what it’s like to grow up not knowing who he is, but believe me, Death isn’t someone you want to get to know, he’s dangerous.”
“I know… But if Stjerne is as powerful as you say, then couldn’t he help stop Ananta? Couldn’t he find a way to stop the World Soul from dying?”
“Our Father had many encounters with Caligo,” said Holo. “If anyone knew who Caligo really was it’s him. And yet in all these years, Father didn’t do anything to stop Caligo.”
“But he didn’t help Caligo either, did he? Why?” whispered Stryg.
Holo sighed. “Who knows? We haven’t really spoken much in 300 years. Even back then no one knew why Father did what he did. Sometimes it was just a game to him, other times it was a plan he had set in motion centuries beforehand.”
“I know it doesn’t sound like a good idea, but who else knows how to stop the Realms from fracturing?”
“There are others. Elemental gods more ancient than the Calamities, they were old even before the Sundering,” said Holo grimly. “They are powerful, some even as powerful as the Calamities, some even wiser, but they answer to no one, save Aleirune herself. They will not help us.”
“Then why don’t we just ask Aleirune for help?” said Stryg.
Holo chuckled, “Gods, I wish it were that easy.”
“I don’t understand…”
“The World Soul’s voice has been silent since the Nexus Age when Lunis was nothing more than an idea. A thousand years of silence. Not even her own children have been able to commune with her.” Holo closed her eyes in reminiscence, “Father tried, many times, but she never answered. One day, he just stopped. That’s when he founded the Mortem Order.”
“When the Mother of Gods is silent, the Calamity will rain ruin on the land,” Melantha recited quietly.
Stryg cocked his head to the side, “Um, so is it weird if I spoke to her a few days back?”
Melantha and Holo stared at him wide-eyed. “What?”