At the Sanafalls Cathedral, a meeting was taking place as the Grand Scholars were updated on the situation happening in Tarquessa. Fiana had just finished providing them with information regarding their search for Ezekiel, and none of the Grand Scholars looked happy.
“This is a ridiculous mess. Isn’t it.” Linette as she glared at Scarlet, who looked utterly unrepentant at what she had done. “Not only have we lost the only Void Mage to have created a viable meditation technique, as well as an expert Apprentice Tier Enchanter, but three of our more, well versed, Scholars have spent the last week on a wild Spirit chase through the desert.”
At this, the other two Grand Scholars looked at Scarlet as well. None of them looked happy, but Scarlet continued to look stone faced and set in her opinions.
“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to share your thoughts on the matter? Given that you are directly responsible for each of these incidents.” Linette asked. “Grand Scholar Scarlet, I asked you a question.”
“I did the right thing! Ezekiel would’ve left no matter what. At least I tried to keep him safe. Same with sending Fiana and the other two to hunt him down.” Scarlet exclaimed. “What would you have done, if he had approached you, asking to go headfirst into a warzone?”
“I’d have let him.” Linette replied. “And I don’t appreciate you telling him otherwise when he came to you.”
Scarlet looked even angrier at Linette’s reply than she was at being caught lying. She had thought that her fellow Grand Scholars would have wanted to support keeping Ezekiel safe.
“So, you’re sayin you wanted him to die?!” Scarlet nearly screamed, no longer able to keep her emotions under control. “Cause that’s the only thing that’ll happen if he makes it to Harkem!”
“You don’t know that! Besides, if we had at least implied we would help him, we’d have been able to keep him here until we figured out how to keep him relatively safe when he left!” Linette exclaimed. “But now he’s lost to the desert, and apparently working with Tarquessa’s Underworld to make his way north. Neither of which are options that we wanted for him.”
Scarlet and Linette continued to stare each other down. Each one acted like they wanted the other to spontaneously combust before their eyes. Finally, Leonard and the fourth Grand Scholar, Carrian’s replacement, who had arrived three years ago, decided to intervene.
“Ladies, please stop trying to kill each other with your glares.” Leonard said. “Whilst Scarlet is certainly the most in the wrong here, yelling at each other for past actions won’t help us. Nor will it help Ezekiel. So, what steps should we be taking?”
“Retrieving Ezekiel should be our main priority. Only by getting him away from Tarquessa and the Empire will he continue to be safe.” Scarlet immediately said.
“Denied!” The other three Scholars said in unison. Scarlet looked incredibly indignant at their reply. She moved to speak up again but was interrupted before she got the chance.
“If I may?” The newest Scholar to the Sanafalls Cathedral said. “Perhaps we should pass the coin, as it were. Send a message to the Harkem Cathedral and let them handle it. Their intervention won’t be much worse than our own, after all. Plus, with the repeal of all exiles and outstanding warrants for those who are willing to participate in the Empire’s border conflict, that means that Ezekiel won’t be in any legal trouble if he does go home.”
“Scholar Greaves! You can’t be serious! The Empire is well known for going back on their word when it comes to ‘valuable individuals.” Scarlett exclaimed. “The Church of Ten in Harkem is already on thin ice. They would not be able to support Ezekiel safely within the Empire. Especially when they’re currently facing an active and open battle with the Cruor!”
Linette and Leonard both winced at the reminder of just how bad the Empire was right now. The open battles with the Cruor had shocked most of the world. From what they knew of the historical texts, the Cruor hadn’t been this aggressive in decades. Since well before Ezekiel was born. The only explanations they had were assumptions that they could only pray weren’t true.
Unfortunately, what little they could get from the few Cruor that were captured merely supported those assumptions. As such, the possibility of a new Broodlord making a name for themself was taken seriously. Especially since there were apparently sightings of several new and young Winged Cruor taking part in the battle. Not something that often occurred, as the Empire’s border was not near their territory.
“I hate to say it, but I think that Greaves has a point. Ezekiel has already broken his contract with us, a punishment that can’t be taken back, and will not help us going forward.” Leonard gave Linette a pointed look. “As such, I agree that, if Ezekiel is hellbent on returning to Harkem, then we simply need to let him. Besides, it’s not like we can afford to send additional forces after him anyways. If the Cult of Light catches even a hint of a Grand Scholar from outside Tarquessa approaching, they’ll start taking drastic actions to ensure that we can’t reclaim our territories.”
Ezekiel and Fiana’s group were not the only ones that the Grand Scholars had been looking into recently. They had also been looking for information from some of the Church informants throughout Tarquessa. Most were dead, at least in the cities controlled by the Church.
What they could convey, however, was not a pretty picture. For the most part, it seemed like the citizens were decently treated, so long as they did not dissent against the Cult. But for those that did, for some reason their minds eventually changed overnight, and they directly entered the war with a zealous enthusiasm.
It was accurately assumed that the Cult was changing these people’s minds for them. Something that couldn’t yet be proven but was a terrifying possibility all the same. The destruction of several cities by these zealot’s hands was more than enough to have the Church back off, at least by a little bit.
Better to have the Guild fight it out anyways. As they were the ones that were built and trained for it. Which was the only reason why outside forces could still send Guilds to fight for them. Though it was uncertain how much longer it would be before Legendaries started entering into the fray.
“What about the three Scholars that this one sent to bring Ezekiel back?” Linette said as she pointed at Scarlett. “Should they be recalled?”
“No, leave them be. I’ve already given the letters of recommendation for the Harkem Cathedral. So long as they can get Ezekiel there safely, they’ll find themselves supported. Otherwise, they are to confirm his death, and return here. If they can.” Greaves said. The other three looked surprised.
“They went to you after I gave them their order to get Ezekiel, didn’t they!” Scarlet said.
“Indeed. I found them when they were looking for Leonard, but they couldn’t find him.” Greaves explained. “Given their concerns, I decided that I would do what I could to help both them and Ezekiel. So, I ordered them to go and support him in any way they could. If they could.”
“You rotten little worm!” Scarlet called out. She released her mana and tried to pressure Greaves. Runic scriptures began to faintly glow across her body.
Both Linette and Leonard were shocked. Not just at the fact that one of their number would so blatantly threaten a peer, but also because they could tell that Scarlet was at least a whole Step stronger than she had been nearly a year ago. Something that was thought to be impossible for Legendary Mages who had lost their Spirit.
However, while Greaves was also somewhat surprised, he stood up and met Scarlet’s mana with his own. A Deathly aura fell upon the room as everybody started feeling weaker than before. Greaves, who was originally a Step higher than Scarlet, found himself evenly matched against his fellow Grand Scholar.
“Enough!” Linette and Leonard both yelled.
“The two of you are Grand Scholars. Act like it.” Linette said as she glared at Scarlet. She ignored Greaves, who looked insulted as he sat back down, since he had simply been defending himself.
“Look. Ezekiel was going to leave, no matter what we did, unless we imprisoned him. Which we can’t really do, since his magic can’t successfully be restrained.” Greaves said. “At least this way, he has some support. Plus, our Scholars can right off any accusations of outside Church interference, as they are ‘officially’ transferring to another Cathedral.”
Scarlet continued to glare at him. But Leonard looked thoughtful. Ultimately, he decided that he agreed with Greaves’ course of action. As did Linette, though she was still annoyed that this wasn’t brought to her attention sooner.
“Let’s call it a day here, shall we? Scarlet, go talk to the mind healers and get your thoughts and emotions sorted out. If you try to pressure another Scholar like that again, I will be bringing you up as a liability to the Church.” Linette, as the senior most Grand Scholar, stated. “I know that you feel that you need to keep him safe, to ensure that Carrian’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain. But Ezekiel is neither a pet, nor a prisoner. You and Leonard are the ones that taught me that, when I wanted to have him so swamped with work that he wouldn’t be able to even think of leaving our Cathedral, even as an Affiliate.”
Scarlet just grinded her teeth together as she got out of her chair and left the room.
“Is she likely to do anything else?” Leonard asked.
“I don’t think so. Though, in the future, perhaps altering a fellow Grand Scholar’s orders should be given a second thought, hmm?” Linette said to Greaves.
“Was I wrong?” He asked. “I want the kid safe, just as much as you all do. Probably more, since he helped my grandson become a Mage with his Void Meditation techniques. Can you honestly say that he’d be safe, at least from himself, if we tried to keep him here?”
Neither Linette, nor Leonard, were willing to answer. They both knew that Ezekiel was the kind of young man who would go to extremes to do what he felt he needed to do.
“Let’s just hope that the Cult doesn’t get a chance to sink their claws into him. That’s the last thing we need right now. Not with how much Ezekiel can still bring to this world.” Linette said.
“Knowing Ezekiel, he’ll probably pull off another miracle at some point that will cause an untold amount of chaos, all while solving a problem.” Leonard said.
No one said anything else as they left the room. They all had work to do, and the situation was sensitive enough already. There was little they could do to help in this situation. For now, Ezekiel would continue to be on his own.
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Back in Tarquessa, beneath the sandy dunes of the desert, another meeting is taking place. Several Legendary Hunters sit in a circle of differently colored Lights as they discuss recent events. Though none of their features can be seen, a sense of unease and displeasure is emanating from all of them.
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“It seems like we have a problem in Tarquessa.” Lana, the Blue Light, said. “Do you have a plan for this, Marco, or will you simply charge in like a raging bull and destroy everything we’ve built just to get him?”
“Shut up, Lana, so long as the Anathema dies it doesn’t have to be by my hand.” Marco, the Red Light, replied. “Besides, I’m stuck in Rime thanks to our illustrious leader. Chime is also under our control, but Zime is still being contested. If we can’t get it brought to heel soon, reinforcements from the empire might come through before we can lock it down.”
“Who named these towns?” Typhos chimed in, sensing that his fellow Lights were about to break into a fight. “I mean, it sounds like they were named by children.”
The Lights all shared a glance. All of them were somewhat dumbfounded by Typhos’ redirections.
“They were named after three brothers. Each one being the founder of their respective city.” Erkan spoke up. “Originally from the entity that existed before the Willowbrush Empire, the three brothers were mere Adepts that decided to carve a path to Tarquessa on their own. But none could decide where to start. So, they each picked a different area of the Fjorya, and decided to make their own way. The result is the three cities of Rime, Chime, and Zime.”
Typos and the other Lights looked to Erkan in shock, not expecting an answer at all, let alone from their quietest member.
“I was born in Chime, before I made my way to the Morathi Alliance to meet my father.” Erkan explained. “He was a merchant who liked to take liberties with women along his trade routes up and down the eastern edge of Tarquessa.”
Typhos fidgeted uncomfortably as he heard the explanation. Now he felt bad for making things awkward when all he wanted to do was diffuse an argument before it started.
“Regardless,” the Gold Light and Speaker spoke up, “the Anathema is within Tarquessa. We need a way to deal with him. Preferably without moving a large number of our forces, or our Legendaries.”
“Given we still know little about what the Void can do, it might be best to throw as much as we can at him. He is still limited by the amount of mana he has in his Tier, is he not?” The Green Light asked. “He shouldn’t be able to do much on his own, but if word of his contracted Hunters is true, then we have a fairly large, and powerful, team that we will need to get through.”
“Perhaps we can finally use ‘that’ person.” The Violet Light suggested. “We know she’s already become an Adept. So, it couldn’t be too hard for her to get close to him. Especially if he still cares about his friends and family. Which we know he does, or he wouldn’t be willing to cross Tarquessa, just to get to Harkem a little bit faster than crossing through the Morathi Alliance would allow.”
“The girl wouldn’t be willing to do it. She still cares for her past friends, but she’s basically renounced her family. Didn’t even care when I killed her father as a punishment for screwing up that mission a couple years ago.” Marco said in frustration. “Her mother went and died during an infiltration as well. In Chime, of all places. Stupid bitch let slip that she was married while trying to seduce the mayor. Lucky for us, when the bastard killed her for lying to him, we managed to make use of the chaos that was caused when the investigation revealed his perversions.”
Lana and Typhos oozed disgust at the reminder of how they managed to take over Chime. As well as the fact that Marco was laughing at the circumstances. Neither were fans of human trafficking. One of the things they did their best to stamp out as Lights of the Followers of Radiance.
“Can we not simply threaten her Spirit?” The Violet Light asked. “If she is unwilling to work with us, then that just means that her bond was a mistake, and not supported by the Radiant Lord.”
“Unfortunately, her Spirit is much more manageable. Given that it is the one that usually encourages the girl to follow our orders.” Marco said. “We might have to force her eyes open. Ensure that she sees the Light.”
Everyone there tensed up at what Marco was suggesting. It was considered a great honor to be shown the Light. Something that only the Speaker could do for someone. At least in truth. There were artifacts that held a piece of the Radiant Lord’s Light, but they were mere drops compared to an ocean.
Such an artifact had been used in Harkem, eight years ago, to get Duke Harkem’s brother to fully turn to them. But for them to use such an artifact on a young girl, one that was barely an Adept, would be quite wasteful. Something Lana had no problem stating.
“Do you understand what you are suggesting? The cost would be nearly higher than if we abandoned one of the cities under our control. We can’t just-”
“Enough!” The Speaker interrupted. “Marco, if you wish to use one of your Radiant Orbs, that will be on you. Even if it works, you will receive no more to replace it. But if you fail, then there will be a price that you will pay. Understood?”
Marco swallowed nervously; he could feel the Light within him burn slightly. Something he hadn’t felt since becoming a Legendary. There simply wasn’t much in the natural world that could burn him.
“I understand, Radiant Speaker. But I know that the Anathema cares too much for his friends and family. He won’t be willing to just straight up kill one of his oldest friends. That will give her an opening to strike him down.” Marco said, fully confident in his plan. “The fact that she is already an Adept, and will undoubtedly reach the ninth Step, will mean that she should have no problem killing the Anathema.”
“Perhaps that would be the case, if he were alone. But he is traveling with a troop of Hunters, remember.” Typhos said. “You will be wasting your Radiant Orb if you do this. The girl won’t live longer than a year either, so it’s a loss no matter what.”
The Lights fell silent in contemplation. Marco was utterly confident, Lana thought he was a fool, like usual, and Typhos thought that using the Radiant Orb was a waste but admitted that getting the girl to do the deed would increase the chances of success.
“Do it.” The Gold Light said. “Have a strike team with the girl included get ready to support one of the supply depots near the one that the Anathema recently struck. One of the ones to the North. That’s the most likely direction that they will be heading in, given the Anathema’s ultimate target.”
“Understood. I shall go and do this now.” Marco said. “If I may be excused?”
The Gold Light merely nodded his head. The red Light around Marco faded away, and he found himself once again inside the hidden room that held the Communication Relic.
Stepping out from the hidden room, Marco gestured for his Spirit to come to him. The fiery feather serpent leapt from the lava in his personal quarters and coiled around him. Exiting his quarters, Marco called for one of the guards to retrieve Riley from her quarters and bring her to his room.
As the guard ran off, Marco returned to his room. Diving into the lava pit, he swam to the very bottom, where he opened a secret compartment protected by hundreds of enchantments. Reaching inside, he grabbed a radiantly glowing orb, this one with a blue liquid surrounding a golden marble.
Shaking his head, he placed the orb back inside. Reaching for another one, he pulled out a similar orb, but this one with red liquid surrounding the gold. It was identical to the orb that Count Forret had used to break through to Tier Four all those years ago.
Grinning to himself, Marco closed the compartment and ascended out of the lava. Reclining in the lava on one of the edges that acted like a seat, he and his Spirit settled down to wait for Riley to arrive. They couldn’t wait to see how she would act when she finally saw the Light.
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Riley was nervous as she walked through the underground pathways of their current headquarters. It was a different layout from the last few bases she had been to. The underground area was far more extensive. Something she attributed to Marco’s ever-growing ego as the Cult took over more cities. Worse yet, Marco had the power to back everything up.
Ever since that first meeting with the Red Light of Radiance five years ago, not once had she been summoned to his personal quarters. Worse yet, it was while she was recovering from her last mission. Given the war with the Church of Ten, the Cult of Light had been sending her to several areas. Mostly to attack several Guilds that had set up defensive bases and staging points for retaliation.
She might’ve been an Adept now, but that was mostly due to the Flame Crystals she had absorbed. All earned, through blood, sweat, and tears, but still. It was different from gaining power the slow way. Worse yet, she seemed to have hit a plateau, and wasn’t able to improve as quickly since her Tier Up. Something that had made things more difficult for her.
She couldn’t help but think that the Cult had done something to her to prevent her from getting too powerful. Not that it should matter, since she was contractually bound to the Cult, and she wasn’t willing to give up Celia just to run away. Not without finding out how to keep her at least.
A familiar scaly head butted up against her thigh. Turning to look downward, she saw that Celia had grown to the size of a large dog. The Flame Spirit had sensed her partner’s negative thoughts. Breaking her out of them, Celia gestured for her partner to look up. Riley realized that they had arrived.
Taking a deep breath Riley knocked on the door but was welcomed in before her hand could touch the enchanted stone door. As it opened on its own, she found her back heated up slightly as she was pushed into the room by a flaming hand. One that wasn’t nearly hot enough to cause even a non-Flame Mage to burn. Celia rushed in after her.
“Greetings, Red Light of Radiance. Hunter Riley has answered your summons. What task do you have for me?” Riley bent down and dropped to her knee as she spoke. She didn’t dare to look into Marco’s eyes. Now that she was no longer a trainee for the Cult’s forces, a certain level of respect was expected in her behavior.
Marco was seated behind a large black stone desk with glowing red lines. Both as enchantments, and as decoration. Atop the desk was a large orb with a golden core surrounded by red fluid. Riley felt a sense of trepidation as she looked at it. A feeling that Celia shared.
“Congratulations are in order, Hunter Newland.” Marco said, taking pleasure in reminding Riley of her now gone family. “The Lights of Radiance have decided, you are to take a support squad of a half a dozen Adept Hunters. You will go to base S-C-Two, where you will await further orders regarding your target.”
“My target?” Riley inquired. Riley usually went on group missions nearby, and they almost always included battles on a relatively open scale. Given her experience, she knew that ‘Target’ missions usually meant assassination, acquire, or destroy. She dreaded finding out which this one was going to be.
“Indeed. Your old friend, the Anathema, is in Tarquessa. Your mission is to kill him.” Marco said with a face splitting grin.
Riley felt dread pool in her stomach as she realized that Ezekiel was in Tarquessa.
“NO!” Riley exclaimed before she could stop herself.
Marco’s face immediately lost its smile. Without even a word, his Spirit directly bound Celia in its coils. The lizard Flame Spirit started struggling, letting out yelps and cries of pain that Riley could do nothing about. Instead, she had to worry about the hand that was now wrapped around her throat. The heat emanating from it was slowly burning her.
“What was that?” Marco asked with a crackling rumble in his voice.
But Riley couldn’t reply. She could barely breathe.
Marco held out his hand. The orb on his desk flew into it. Holding it up to Riley’s face, he made sure that she could see it clearly. Then, he forced it into her hand, his Spirit dragging Celia over to touch it as well. They both felt something as they simultaneously touched it.
“Absorb it.” Marco demanded. “I did not expect your disloyalty to be so blatant. So, I’d rather just get this over with now. Absorb the orb, like you would a mana crystal, and I’ll let you live.”
Not understanding what Marco wanted from this but knowing that they were going to die if they didn’t do as they were told, Riley and Celia shared a thought before immediately absorbing the orb.
All thoughts briefly washed away from both the Mage and the Spirit, as a blinding Golden Light seemed to fill their very beings. Riley felt all her worries wash away, but as they did, she mentally reached out for them, knowing in her heart that these things were important. That they made her who she was.
But the more she held on, the more she started to burn. The Light changed from a comforting embrace to a blinding pain that seeped through her body. She vaguely sensed that her choice to hold on was hurting Celia too, but she just couldn’t let go. Even with the pain.
Then, her eyes opened, and the pain became even worse as her body was assaulted with alien senses that now pervaded her soul. Finally, the pain became too much, and she found herself slipping, barely maintaining consciousness.
But as the world shifted into focus for her, and the pain began to fade away, along with the little voice screaming in fear and defiance, Riley began to smile. It was a calm and joyous smile. One that spread to her eyes. One Red, one Gold.
Seeing this physical change, and sensing Riley's mana surge to the peak of Tier three, Marco let out a smile of his own.
“So how do you feel, now that you’ve seen the Light?” He asked.
“I feel... as if waking up from a dream. I don’t understand what I was so afraid of before.” Riley said in an airy tone. As if she still wasn’t fully aware of the world around her.
“What of the Anathema? What do you think of your mission to kill him?” Marco asked, all while knowing the answer in his heart.
As Riley’s smile turned into a vicious snarl, one mirrored on Celia’s scaly face, Marco’s smile grew slightly further.
“The Anathema will die by my hand. His corruptive filth will be cleansed from this world, in a blaze of Flame and Light.” Riley nearly screamed as emotions that were not her own flooded through her mind and soul. She felt a strain in her soul from the sheer magnitude of the emotions.
“Good. Prepare yourself. You and your team will set out tomorrow evening, just before the sun starts to set.” Marco informed her.
Riley said nothing, merely bowing alongside her Spirit before leaving the room. She needed to prepare. She had never beaten Ezekiel in a straight fight when they were children. She knew without a doubt that he was significantly stronger now. As such, she could take no chances.
A part of her was screaming inside at how wrong this was. But it was small, quiet, and utterly unable to do anything about what was going to happen in the coming days.
Unseen to all, a small tear fell from her still red eye as she stalked through the halls to her room.