Nineteen Years Ago

Stephen Hardwynn looks at the shattered moon's light reflecting off the waves of the choppy ocean outside of his office window. His eyes itched from the damage inflicted during the night his son died,they always say don't stare into the sun but it's hard not to when you're standing in it. He kept the events in the Source vault a secret, no one would really believe him anyway, it was better off that the world thought Asher died a proper hero's death. Not the nightmare he had witnessed . All that really mattered was the world, he… had lost its brightest light.

The buzz of an intercom interrupts his runaway train of thoughts, they were relentless, he had barely slept the past year and there seemed to be no stopping them.

"Sir, we have a situation. We stopped a man at the main gate claiming he has important information. He keeps claiming he knows what was in the crystal. He said you would know what he was talking about."

Stephen's heart races.

"Could be Sourcer scum sir... want us to take care of it?"

Stephen quickly pushes the button on his desk.

"Bring him to me."

The intercom squawks back. The guard hesitates.

"Ye yes, sir." The soldier says. Stephen could hear the confusion in her voice.

Stephen paces back and forth burning in anticipation to hear what this stranger had to say. It could be bullshit. He wouldn't be the first arriving to Hardwynn City making wild claims, monsters living out in the Harshlands and such but he held out hope, he needed someone else to understand what he saw.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

"Enter!" he shouts, and the door slides open. The guards escorted in a disheveled man, his long hair and beard were unruly. His clothes are dirty and haphazardly sewn together. Stephen sighs, just another crazy from the Harsh.

"Leave us," he says, motioning for them to leave. They salute him and back out of the room, closing the door behind them. Stephen looks the man up and down and walks back to his window peering out over the ocean.

"You have five minutes. If i think you are crazy or full of shit, you will be escorted back to the Harshlands"

The raggedy man walks forward and clears his throat.

"Sern, it's called Sern, it can take the energy and form of anything more powerful than its current form." Stephen looks at the man through the reflection of the window.

"It makes these…" he searches for the proper word. "Seeds... these seeds allow him to mold dead matter into anything he wishes,he can create just about anything his twisted mind can think of."

Stephen turns towards the man.

"Tell me stranger, what is your name? How do you know all of this?" He walks to his desk and opens a drawer. Stephen removes a bottle and two glasses, he pours the brown liquid from the bottle into the glasses.

"Jontha," the man replies, taking the glass from Stephen.

"It may seem crazy but I have lived for a very long time… my people were the ones who defeated Sern, trapped him in that crystal."

He takes a large gulp from the glass.

"Until you people freed him."

Stephen twirled the glass in his hands,staring at the liquid spinning into a whirlpool.

"He took his face, he became my son…"

He says, his red eyes swelling with tears. He takes a mighty swig of his glass.

Jontha walks to the window, his shattered home glowing in the night sky.

"He took more than his face. He won't be as strong, but he can use all of Asher's powers.

But that's not why I came. It's about your other son. It's about Chase."

Stephen stands next to Jontha.

"What does any of this have to do with Chase? He is just a child." Stephen says, his crimson eyes piercing into Jontha's soul.

Jontha meets his eyes.

"A child that can put an end to this nightmare once and for all."

The two stare back out into the ocean, finishing their drinks.

Stephen sighs."What must be done?"

Present Day

Sern clicks their jagged black nails on the armrest of his throne as The Patchman rises from his inky pool of shadows. Patchman walks towards him, kneeling on the floor,an amalgam of flesh,bone,metal and stone. The massive living fortress crashes across the landscape,its massive mouth devouring all in its way, adding to its form. Each step shakes the earth, but the throne room remains perfectly still.

"Master, All is ready, our players are in place and the advance team moves for New Eidolon,it should bolster our troops for the final assault, Hardwynn City will fall." He says hoping his god would be proud of him.

Sern plays with a necklace holding four bones on it, the bones whisper to him, they tell Sern of the shapes, of the form and power they hold. Sern loves them. They were with them at the place in between, they had fallen in battle fighting alongside the Usurper and Sern. They helped pave the way towards the heart of that place and he made sure they would feel the glory with them.

These four bones were all that remained of them, they had helped Sern twist many worlds until the filthy humans ruined everything. The humans took them from Sern, put their disgusting hands on them. Sern's loves found their way to this new planet. Once Sern was free they could hear them, they called to Sern and with their new body Sern was able to retrieve them easily.

The Patchman watches Sern with glee knowing he was about to witness a miracle. His eyes light up as the bone begins to grow black veins and tendrils, a web of nerves reaching out onto rapidly growing bones and muscles. Gray skin covers the newly grown body, the face gaunt. Resting above its two black bulbous eyes was a third glowing with a green mist. Two horns twisted up through its flesh, their tips glowing green.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Sern snaps their fingers and a Sourcer brings forward a red robe, draping it over the creature.

"Rahm, Shepherd of the Unwilling, You are complete once more." Sern can't help the smile that spreads across its face as Rahm bows at him. It may resemble their long dead companion but it was still one of Sern’s creations, completely obedient to Sern. Rahm was their's.

"You will aid my army, bolster my minions in the battles to come. Go, the human will take you where you are needed."

Rahm walks towards Patchman and they both bow as the shadows swirl and move beneath them. They slowly descend into the floor.

"Patchman… do not fail me. I know of the debacle in the forest, do not let it happen again." Sern's eye's glow bright with sunlight, Patchman could feel their heat on his face.

Patchman's heart begins to race.

"Rahm will see to it, he will guide you pathetic humans and my chosen to victory."

The pair fade into the floor and the shadows return to normal. Sern fondles the remaining bones around its neck, they call to be whole again.

"Not yet my friends, your time will come."

New Eidolon

Chase lies on the med station table horrified at Jontha's story. The smell of stew pulled him from his deep slumber, it was his favorite. He held onto the images he could recall from his dreams if you could even call them that. He didn't know how long he was unconscious but being home ment it was at least a few days. It pales in comparison to what seemed like the endless traversal of an empty alien world, the strange things he saw slipped away with each second leaving only fleeting images and feelings.

He sits up, placing his hand where Victor had impaled him. Instead of sutures or open wounds there were scabs of crystals. He could feel a healing warmth radiating off of them, it reminded him.. no it was the same feeling as Hira's healing abilities. It had been ten long years but his heart still ached for her, would she still feel the same, could she forgive him for not taking her with him? Surely she had moved on, he left her there with nothing but a note explaining his actions. At the time he thought it was the right move, no way he would allow her to suffer the horrors of the Harshlands. He thought he was making a heroic sacrifice, now much older and experienced he realizes that he should have left that decision to her. A regret he had to live with… hopefully she would at least be proud of the things he had accomplished.

He shakes the thoughts from his head and gets out of bed onto shaky legs and makes his way to the doorway.

"Got any left for me?" He croaks out, his throat dryer than a desert.

Tilly jumps up and hugs him, peppers him with kisses. Chase's pale face lights up red.

"I told you not to break that new armor. You're going to have to use the old stuff now." Hu says sipping broth loudly from his spoon. Tilly walks over to him and whacks him on his head.

Chase sits at the table as Tilly fills a bowl and passes it to him.

"Sorry about that Hu. It definitely did its job though, I would probably be dead without it." The steam from the stew reaches his nose and makes his mouth water. He scarfs it down, drinking the savory broth from the bowl, the others watch in amazement as he finishes off the rest of the pot.

"Ahhhhh." He slides back in his chair rubbing his stomach,releasing a loud belch.

"It feels like I haven't eaten in years. Hu, that stew always hits the spot!"

Chase shifts his attention to Jontha.

"Thanks for saving me from Victor back there."

Jontha nods."I did what I must,humanity needs you.."

Chase cuts him off.

"Stop, I heard everything you told them.why me? Why am I so important? I'm nothing compared to my family. I'm sure my dad could mop the floor with this Sern guy."

Jontha sighs.

"Your powers, they are the same as my friends, when we fought against Sern all that time ago he was the only one who could match him." Jontha looks down, a look of shame on his face.

"We put something around your core, a dyson sphere they called it. It kept you disconnected from your core, you couldn't feel hunger,you were only allowed to manifest a small amount of your powers. This let it grow to massive proportions.Your battle against that giant chosen must have damaged it."

Chase looked hurt.

"I know my dad was cold but this tops it." He rubs the back of his neck, flashbacks of the accident he had when he was a kid ran through his mind. He always thought it was strange that all he could remember was waking up in bed with bandages wrapped around his neck and head.

"That bastard… Did my mom know? Did my Uncle?"

Jontha shrugs. "As far as I know they did not."

Hu jumps out of his seat in excitement.

"Genius! I'll be in my lab.. You three should probably warn the townsfolk." He scurries off into his workshop, the racket is almost instantaneous.

"Get Dressed my liege, we got a meeting to hold." Tilly throws a shirt at Chase hitting him in the face and heads for the door, flying off into town.

Chase grills Jontha.

"You and I are gonna have a chat after this."

Jontha meets Chase's eyes.

"I owe you that much, I will tell you all that I can."

The meeting hall was buzzing with the worried chatter of the citizens of New Eidolon. The council of founders sat on the stage trying to quiet the raucous crowd. Chase, Tilly and Vandresh sat in their usual seats, Hu stayed at his workshop tinkering away with whatever epiphany he had come up with. The last seat held the hilt of Kimiko's mace and a wreath of flowers.

Vandresh raised his hand and shouted.

"Order! Order! Please be seated, time is of the essence." The crowd slowly settled, Vandresh was the de facto ruler of New Eidolon. The people loved him, the others personalities weren't suited to take the leadership reins, Chase maybe, but he wouldn't even show them his face, most didn't even know his name.

"I am going to get straight to the point." He pans across the audience. "There is a large hostile force heading straight for us and could be here any moment. We have already begun evacuation protocols."

The crowd rabbles and one of the denizens speaks out.

"Evacuate? We are just going to roll over? I say we stay and fight!" Some of the crowd cheers, others sit silent with worried looks on their faces.

Tilly stands up addressing the crowd.

"This isn't bandits or a small warlord force. This is an army, an army of Sourcers they have creatures, twisted mutations of people…" She looks at Kimiko's empty chair. She tells them of the encounter in the forest.

The mention of Sourcers stirs up the crowd.

"I'll believe it when I see it!" The man shouts, getting a rise out of the unruly townsfolk.

Tilly does her best to contain her anger.

"Where the hell would we go anyway? There's nowhere to run to!"

Chase stands up, and pulls his hood off.

"Hardwynn City. We will go to Hardwynn City. It's the only place that stands a chance against this army."

The man laughs.

"They would never let us in! They would probably kill us themselves!" The crowd murmurs in agreement.

"They will have to let us in" Chase replies

"Why the hell is that?" The man shouts back.

"Because I'm Chase Hardwynn, son of Stephen and Mina Hardwynn. Because that was my home and if they want me to return then they will have to grant you refuge."

The crowd gasps, some call out "Bull Shit!" Some shout for proof.

Vandresh yells for order once more.

"It's true people, He is who he says he is….We have already lost people to them and I don't want to lose anymore. Stay and fight if you feel that's right but I would much rather you defend the evacuation. Please, leave here gather what you must and meet at your designated sites. Double duty for guards and look outs, the convoy leaves at dawn… pray we get that much time."

The townspeople disburse, rushing home to gather supplies or prepare to fight, the guards and fighters man their posts and set up the defenses. No one noticed the strange man in the back of the meeting hall disappear into the shadows.

It was 3am when the alarms blared and the area lit up like the sun. The town was surrounded by thousands of glowing green eyes,slowly closing in on them. The Battle of New Eidolon had begun.