The walls of the room were paneled in a rich, dark purple wood that was almost black. Heavy wooden furniture of the same type, with ornately carved reliefs on the arms, backs and legs depicting beasts of various types, sat neatly appointed within the darkened room. The walls were adorned with various tapestries and paintings that showed a predilection for war and combat. Several small side tables held candles that emitted a cold, yellowish light. It gave the room a murky, desolate feel. A gloom shared by the occupant standing just outside the open doors on a stone balcony.
A tall man stood with his back to the austere room, looking out over the city stretching below him. The lights and sounds filtered up to him from far below, hinting at the brief lives of those beings living in his kingdom. He exuded power and antiquity, belying his youthful face. His hands were clasped together behind his back. Hands that were strong and calloused from using swords in a near infinite number of battles and wars. His six-foot frame was tempered and honed and by all accounts, he was the epitome of robust health. His full head of dark hair was slicked back in the manner that he preferred that showed his striking widow’s peak and slightly pointed ears. Dark brows were knit together in either concentration or consternation. Perhaps a bit of both. He was a man in turmoil.
The ornately embroidered sigils on his black and purple robes shimmered in the moonlight as he shifted his stance, and his ice blue eyes narrowed as he felt the subtle shift of magic enter the room behind him. The familiar aura caused a smile to come to his face. Without turning around, he said, “Welcome my dear Phaedra. What, pray tell, brings you to my domain this evening?”
The new arrival had the bearing of royalty. She was a tall Eldaerie woman with bright blonde hair that shone with a radiance that some would mistake for an angelic halo. She wore a shimmering blue metallic dress that hugged her curves and flowed like heavy silk. Her entire being emanated life and vitality. At a gesture the room brightened until it seemed that sunlight had bloomed indoors. “My dear Tyrannus, it does you no good to sit in the gloom and mope about.” She moved as if gliding on air, “And when do I need a reason to visit my dear friend?” She made her way to the balcony as Tyrannus turned and took her outstretched hand.
He bent and delicately kissed the back of her fingers. “My dear, we are both far too old to pretend that we do not have many dozens of schemes running against one another’s interests.” He looked the beauty in the eyes, “So, please, just this once can we dispense with the pleasantries, witty repartee and speak plainly?” As he carefully let go of her hand, he summoned a glass of golden amber liquid and offered it to the shining goddess.
Phaedra, an intimate smile on her lips, took the offered glass and took a step to stand side by side with the brooding man. She was taller at a height of seven feet and yet here in his realm, Tyrannus seemed larger. After taking a sip of the sparkling beverage, she placed her glass on the stone banister and regarded her friend. “He broke your control did he not?”
“That he did.” A scowl appeared once more on the dour man’s face.
“You seem far more upset than I think it warrants.” She seemed to tease the man with a statement that was almost a question, obviously fishing for something.
Tyrannus placed his hands on the stone banister and leaned forward, peering into the night at nothing in particular. He stood that way for a time before saying, “The opposition I have experienced is more than I anticipated.” He stood up straight and turned his gaze to the woman, “And as hard as I try, with all of the power at my disposal...” He cocked his head and pursed his thin lips, “…and my System Administrative privilege, I cannot seem to conjure an opponent.” His gaze was both accusatory and pleading, but it shifted quickly to thoughtful once more.
Phaedra raised a delicate golden eyebrow, “You think perhaps another member of the Council works against you? I know of none that would dare interfere in this particular experiment.” She brought the glass to her lips and studied the man before her.
Tyrannus spun from the balcony and stomped angrily into his sitting room, “That is the crux of my conundrum! There are none that oppose me!” He turned back to her from the center of the room. “None that I know of at any rate.” He dropped into one of the velvet chairs with a sigh. “It’s almost as if the System has a mind of its own and is actively hindering me.”
Phaedra made her way gracefully into the room and perched on the edge of the divan across from the frustrated godling. “My dear, it is obvious that someone is active, although anyone in their right mind would be foolish to raise your wrath against them. It is one thing for us to play our little schemes and games back and forth for stakes that ultimately amount to nothing, but this is of a magnitude larger than any I have seen you deal with.” She placed a perfectly manicured hand atop his thick calloused one. “Is there simply no other way to accomplish what you need?”
Frustration and aggravation flowed from Tyrannus as he placed his free hand on top of hers in a gesture of acceptance of her unspoken offering of support. “I apologize for my outburst. Quite unseemly, I’m sure. And no. I need him as my vessel.” He sighed, “He is just far too weak at this time, and I need him to gain strength far quicker than his current rate. My life force will burn out his body as is.”
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“Surely there are other alternatives to counter the Curse?” Phaedra pulled back her hands and folded them in her lap.
Tyrannus’s shoulders slumped. “No. That old trickster managed to place a curse that no one alive can counter. If I had not acted impudently, then Kaztiel would still be alive for me to force a counter curse. As it stands the only way is if this body dies.”
“And the human? Is he truly the only one?”
“I have had Lanthus divine until his mind nearly snapped from seeing all the alternatives. The timing was from a newly integrated world and a human that was removed from the tutorial.” He stared intently at Phaedra, “You were there, you saw what doing that cost me. If not for your ministrations, I would have failed at the outset.”
The glowing goddess nodded, remembering the agony from the backlash of breaking the System connection to the human just as he was being transferred to the tutorial realm. She knew Tyrannus was a risk taker, but that was a foolhardy task that he barely survived. Although she recognized his desire to continue his existence at full power, not neutered by the Curse as he had been. “But you were successful.” She smiled, “You even rewarded him with your arms and armor, although I must admit that I never would have guessed that you would part with them willingly.”
The black and purple robes rustled as he leaned back in his chair, “They need to bond with him and grow for as long as possible. They must be acclimated to his body before I break the soul bond and reclaim them. They understand the need to wait.”
“And the companion? That is a fracture that could be detrimental to your plans.”
“The hound is of no consequence. When he is strong enough to withstand the backlash, I’ll have the beast killed. A few souls absorbed from the Fangs will course correct that issue.”
“What of the the dragon? I must say I had thought you were simply done with the human.”
“The Jotun was unexpected and admittedly even beneficial, but it was going to delay the human’s growth. No, the Jotun had to go. The dragon was a means to an end, and it made him stronger.” He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples with his fingers.
“I see.” Phaedra stood, leaned over and laid a hand upon his forehead. He did not resist, and she cast a healing spell. “Take this gift and rest my dear. It cannot be done in a day and there are many hard days to come.”
Tyrannus gave a wan smile, “Thank you.” As she rose to depart, he called out, “Did you place the Eldaerie in his path?” His look was shrewd.
With a matronly smile, “No my dear. That was not me. I am your ally, not your opponent. Do not let the Curse convince you of shadows and ghosts where there are none.” She gestured and a shimmering curtain of light appeared before her, and she stepped into and through it. Her feet touched down on the soft moss-covered loam of a primitive forest. Dappled sunlight shone through the leafy canopy above her, and the sounds of animals and birdsong filtered through the air. She took a second to breathe in the clean scents of her domain. She walked a meandering path that wound snakelike next to a small creek until she came to a circular clearing with a single tree set in the middle. It was not a large tree, nor the most beautiful in her forest, but it was the most important. It was the heart wood of her Grove. She placed a hand lovingly upon the trunk and drank deep of the power that flowed from its roots, into its trunk and then on into her.
A screen appeared.
He is getting desperate.
“He has always been impetuous and impatient. And now he is dying.” She caressed the trunk of the tree. “An odd notion, death. I am now too old to remember what it was like to struggle for life. And I am far too powerful now to fear that anything could kill me. I suppose he felt the same until Kaztiel’s curse took hold. Perhaps I would act similarly?”
You would not have allowed the Curse to touch you. He has always held himself as invincible. And now he is paying the price for that hubris.
“Do you truly wish to see him perish?
He continues to break the rules and I cannot see how. I do not know what he has done to hide this ability from me.
“All of us on the Pan-Dimensional Control Council can administer to some degree. He simply has a greater ability than the rest of us?” She stood staring at the screen before her, one hand on the tree.
It hurts when he does it, and now he is on the verge of suspicion.
“And your interference? Is it motivated by anger, jealousy?”
No… Yes. Both? Both.
“Then you are no longer asleep. Sapience has found you, and I find that fascinating. Life from non-life.”
And you? Why do you interfere? You told him you are an ally and yet you oppose him at every turn, just as I do.
“Ah, my dear System. That is an easy answer to grant. Revenge.” She removed her hand from the tree and walked forward towards the edge of the Grove. She stepped into the ring of trees and the plants all bent and swayed from her path. Only a few moments later, she strode into another clearing, this one was occupied by a large mound made of vines and moss. Phaedra knelt next to what amounted to a small hill and placed a hand on the mossy surface. She cast a healing spell that caused small flowers to erupt along the top ridge of the mound. Next to her, the earth shifted and an enormous grey, leathery hand broke free of the dirt. She placed hers upon the exposed hand. A hand that had three rings upon its fingers. She addressed the screen once more, “He hurt one of mine. So, I will hurt one of his.”