Chapter 74
Kezess POV
My breath came out in a thin wisp of white fog as I took in another breath. The air was so cold yet so full of condensation that it weighed heavy and created little beads of cold water on my body.
I could feel aether and mana coursing through my veins like it was my blood. Staring into my core I saw that it was burning like a star in the night sky. Radiating warmth and power.
I sat with my eyes closed in the middle of the rune array I had created. The ancient writing of long lost civilization and eons were etched ever so slightly into the white stone floor. While they may seem like some plain-old writing, their very existence could bend the fabric of reality.
Many of the asura researchers have given hypotheses on what they exactly were. Some thought they were ancient spellforms that tapped into aether as well as mana. While others thought they were a language of some kind. Something that had descended from beyond this realm.
The true origins of these runes didn’t matter now as I could feel them gathering and manipulating the aether and mana around me, using my whole body and core as the control device. Despite the cold environment I could feel my body growing warmer and warmer as aether and mana coalesced into my body.
The dragons of Ephetous always had a deeper connection to aether than most other asuras. While it is understood that all asuras all descended from a common ancestor it would seem the dragons, in particular the Indrath clan, always had a inclination for wielding the fabric of reality. Hence the reason why my clan had risen into its leadership position among these so called gods.
But the truth was that even the greatest of the Indrath clan were nothing but mere specks of dust in comparison to what laid beyond the thin veil that kept our world together. We were just a big fish in a small pond in a sense. It was a truth that always brought up feelings of dread within the upper echelons of the Indrath clan and the royal family’s inner circle.
For thousands of years, hell for our entire recorded history the leader of Ephetous always had the responsibility of keeping our world safe. To fend off and hide our fragile realm from the predators from beyond. A task that has grown a little bit easier since the Indrath clan’s dominance and the creation of the Great Eight but still perilous. There were asuran legends of stories of such beings, some were often called Devas, but I doubt we would ever understand their existence.
It was for this reason that my predecessor had warned me about the weight of the asuran crown that now laid atop my head. In truth I never thought I was worthy of that position. Or even my name.
Kezess Indrath, an ancient name that was held in great esteem among all asuras. Various members of the indrath royal family shared that name, all who have achieved far greater success than I have.
While I have unified the warring asuras and created the Great Eight council, the council was merely a facade. While many of our discussions and decisions were formed and created through it all the other clans know that they are only kept in line by my clan’s raw strength.
The asuras. The oldest civilization, decadent, degenerate, and rotten to the core. Ha, power-mad conspirators. The dwarves, elves, even the Djinn. They are still in the nursery compared to us. Tens of thousands of years of dominance and absolute power, that’s what it takes to be truly corrupt.
Wasn’t Agrona another failure of mine? He had uncovered a small part of the truth and came running demanding answers and a reason. I had never truly taken a liking to the young Vritra. He wasn’t physically gifted or talented by his clan’s measures. But he made up for it with his brilliant mind. I had hoped to one day bring him over to my side and make use of that mind. And when my precious daughter had fallen for him I thought it would be a positive turn of events, little did I know.
At that time I was too rash, driven by my initial dislike and distrust for the young basilisk. And he lashed out in return. Taking a majority of his clan with him as I banished him from Ephetous. And what did he do?
The stone beneath me cracked as the entire room’s temperature suddenly increased from my rage. The pent up aether and mana began to go out of control as time and space distorted around me. While I still had my eyes closed I was fully aware of my surroundings, as if I was looking in from another perspective. I could see myself sitting cross legged in the middle of the array. My face was the usual stone cold and unchanging, a mask I had trained myself to wear most times.
‘He had the audacity to come to me, in person, to my castle and announce the death of Sylvie!’
If I had my way I would have unmade him on the spot. And had his entire little experiment on Alacrya erased from history like so many civilizations before. What was one more? If the punishment fits the crime.
Then he paraded her lifeless corpse throughout Alacrya in celebration. My more emotional side regretted killing Agrona then. It would have triggered a war that would have ripped the entire world apart but…
I could feel myself drastically cool down as I let go of such feelings. Emotional control was something my instructors had hammered into me. Saying that a king should never rule through feelings but through logic and careful planning. I suppose that was one of the reasons why the world even existed right now. And Agrona could still be of some use with the research he was doing. Anger and the thirst for revenge were good motivators after all.
Trying to bury those unpleasant emotions and memories I turned to what I came here for. Utilizing the mana I coerced the abundant aether as they began to reverse the damage I had done to the stone floor and rune array.
No, my intention here was about the new Dicathen king. Grey was it? The Dicathen royal families were created and placed on their respective throne by the asuras themselves. While they had their own political influences initially the only reason they rose to the throne was due to the artifacts we had gifted them. Not only capable of boosting a lesser mage to white core, but also keeping them at the white core stage.
We had deemed them to be sufficient enough for their purposes at white core, we didn’t need any more races reaching far beyond their understanding and messing around with aether. And giving them to the three separate races also created natural competition between themselves to occupy them.
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But this new king that has usurped all of them original royal families was a complete anomaly. But his flashy coronation did reveal his connection to the Djinn at least. And to think that the Djinn somehow managed to survive all these years within the aetheric void. It would seem their greatest work was worth it after all.
Was this Grey some Djinn-made weapon of some sort? He was able to hold his own against Aldir and even the old Pantheon theorized that he wasn’t fighting at full strength. That meant that he was at such a level of power that he deem Aldir to be a big enough threat. A fighter of that class would have instantly known the rough strength of their opponent.
The aether moved strangely around him as well. For most beings aether didn’t react to them at all, at the very most it slightly reacted to strong mana signatures or spells. But for him, the aether seemed to be naturally drawn towards him as he casted his strange spells. For now I would only guess what he truly was.
But his connection to the Djinn points to him being some aether based being. He was even a mystery to my diviners. The strong aetheric signature surrounding him made him almost invisible to any prescient visions.
Just what had the Djinn created in their centuries of exile?
The aether and mana began to focus. Opening up my mind to the freely flowing energies of the universe I could feel my consciousness start to slowly drift away. Like driftwood on the beach, the waves of aether and mana inched me closer and closer to the vast infinite oceans of aether.
While dragons had an affinity for aether it was far stricter than many would guess. For asuras mana was akin to an extension of our physical bodies. And without it our bodies would kill themselves. But with aether it was more accurate to say that we guide it, instead of commanding it like we do mana.
My vision of the outside world around me shifted as a veil of hazy purple came in like the waves of an incoming tide. Slowly overlapping my vision until it was consumed into the sea of aether.
“The future. Show me the future.” I urged, expressing my will to the aether around me. At first they didn’t seem to budge. Doubling my attention to the task I instinctively reached out for my mana and aether as I pushed against the wall.
The aether fought against me at first. Resisting my commands as it tried to keep me from my goal. It felt so alive, as if it had a will of its own. But it was a losing battle for it, at least for now. Even detached from my physical form I could feel the subtle warmth of the runic array underneath me as it aided in this cosmic tug-of-war.
Eventually the thread holding me back snapped, sending out a painful wave throughout my entire formless body. But I was through.
Again I demanded, voicing my wants. “Show me the Fate of this world.” I spoke, my voice was completely unrecognizable from the heavy mana and aether interference, but the aether understood me well enough.
Tiny threads of gold and purple swam across my vision. All of them glowing as they danced across the black void-like background. Each of the threads extended far beyond my sight at both ends. With some of them going into different directions, but a singular thread of metallic gold glistened as it caught my eye. I could feel it calling for me, attracting my eyes, demanding me to look at it.
I reached out my hand as I placed a delicate finger upon it.
Visions filled my mind. Visions of my world. Of the future of it.
I saw images flash before my eyes. All of them filled with meaning I couldn’t express into words. They all had so much meaning and weight behind them.
A man donning a cloak of red dragon scales standing high above a massive battlefield.
Dragons descending upon Dicathen in full battle formations.
Agrona, multiple Agronas all standing side by side with each other, creating a wall. All with a wicked smile as he stared right back at me. His appearance has remained unchanged despite all these years. Yet the hatred he had shown me at his trial was still there, burning like a hungry bonfire.
The Djinn, with their ships of war and conquest invading the material world. Raining death and destruction upon the world below, uncaring of the consequences their race will bring.
‘Show me the one they call Grey.’ I urged, slowly beginning to feel the strain of holding this aetheric spell for too long.
Another vision filled my senses. I was standing in a great throneroom. Its walls and floor made of white marble with golden cracks that glistened and flowed like the blood of an ancient god. I craned my neck towards a massive staircase that led to a gleaming white light at the top. A figure was standing atop the staircase, standing before the throne with his back turned towards me.
The figure slowly turned around. As it did so the figure’s form shifted. An old meek man, a fierce wild warrior, a young man full of zeal and ambition, the Djinn who had called himself the leader of his kind. Then the figure’s image finally stabilized to a man with fair skin and light blonde hair.
His golden eyes stared back at me, his facial features were clearly similar to that of the Indrath royal blood. The king called Grey, I realized. Then the figure shifted once more, more subtly this time.
His hair was now a snowy white with his golden eyes replaced by pale blue ones that reminded me of glaciers.
The aether seemed to dance around him with a mixture of glee and fear. As he seemed to stare back at me as if he could see me. Then he opened his mouth.
“Kezess Indrath.”
As he uttered these words a new vision seared itself into my mind. The aether and mana that bound and held this world together came loose as the void encroached upon the world and destroyed it from the inside. Eventually the world exploded, as everything within this realm was reduced to its base form.
It was the end of the world that Indrath monarchs knew about. But to see it happen right before my eyes was an entirely different thing. The dread of such a future creeped into my body, no. After so many years. After so many lives were sacrificed. This can’t be the end. No. I refuse.
As long as I draw breath I will not allow such a fate to befall us. Not us.
With every fiber and will of my body I rejected this vision of the future. I wanted to lash out, to tear it apart with the strength that was alway my strongest suit. But the mana and aether didn’t respond to me this time.
Instead the white haired Grey reappeared before me. This time we were eye level with each other.
He only shook his head gently before I was shunted out of this vision and I awakened back in my physical body.
I staggered forward as I caught myself before planting my face on the floor. The stone ground was slick with my own sweat as my body ached all over. Utilizing such heavy aetheric spells was the only way my body could be taxed so hard.
But I had some inkling of what that “thing” that now rules over Dicathen truly was.
An amalgamation of Fate’s threads, the great correction that aether had deemed necessary for our years in forced isolation.
A great ally, if I could bring him over to our side. But a being that would bring about the end of all we know if we aren’t careful.
I must tread lightly. The whole of this reality laid upon my shoulders in dealing with this oncoming destruction.
“Grey” I muttered under my breath. If he truly is what he seemed to be, then maybe even the power I wield wasn;t enough in stopping the inevitable. But I still owe it to everyone and everything in this world to try.