Chapter 60 – An Illusion of Camaraderie

Wide-eyed, Adam tried to get out of the water of Ziecherhein’s Node. Gripped by the fear from Osaehin’s Invocation, thoughts of panic flashed through Adam’s mind. How the humongous Root would squish him like a bug. However, above all, it was the damned water. The uncaring mass of liquid misery that waited to suffocate him.

Enough! This won’t help me! He took deep breaths. Waves of merciless headache battered temples as his eyes flicked restlessly between the water and the furious fight of the Roots and Thalers. Panicked memories bubbled up, like how his lungs had burned in the need for air, long ago, and how he’d even accepted his fate. Once.

But not today.

He kept taking slow breaths. Do it for Eric, do it for Catherine. Come on, you stupid sack of… No. He exhaled deeply, trying to release the anger at himself with it. And finally, when he was only waist-high in the water, he broke the hold of fear after a final push with all his willpower. The yellowish glow disappeared, along with its drain on his Inner Fire.

Although his limbs were still shaky, he was finally able to think somewhat clearly and looked at the chaos around him. The enormous Root monster continued its rampage, but there was no sign of Desdemona. Up on the pyramid, he saw some vague flashes of bluish-white that looked like Novaseering. There was no telling if it was caused by Emily or Oliver, or if it came from Thalers, though.

What he was quite sure of, was that something was flying right at him. A certain something bluish near the side of the pyramid reflected the green light of the patterned trails in the ground. When recognition hit him, he tried to scramble out of the water in time.

It was Caine. Apparently, he was able to fly on a diamond-shaped plateau of Ironglass that used wide wings of Marrow, like an improvised version of an Aerial Aegis. Panting and bloody, with a familiar green chain wrapped around his torso, Caine soared with an impressive speed. A bit too fast for Adam’s liking, even.

Adam swallowed. His mind raced about how he could get close to Caine since the damned water slowed him down and prevented him from jumping.

All too soon, Caine was flying circles high above Adam and formed three harpoons of Marrow. Seeing no alternative, Adam growled in reluctance and dove low into the water. With a raw battle cry, Caine fired his Invocations.

Gasping for air, Adam burst out of the water. As if he held up the ugliest, grumpiest dog in history, he raised a squirming, scythe-armed Root above his head; the same one he had bumped into when he had fallen down. Harpoon after harpoon thudded into the Root’s body while Adam was using it as a living shield. Adam roared as he ran towards Caine, lifting the crumbling Root for protection. The spears dissolved as Caine prepared a new attack. But Adam wasn’t planning on playing a sitting duck; he broke the gnarly scythe from the Root’s arm and threw it.

Caine’s mouth twitched before he swiftly tried to move his makeshift Aegis out of the way. However, the scythe hit the Invocation’s left wing and shattered it, sending shards of brittle Marrow flying. The Aegis spun out of control and crashed into a strip of dry land. With only a hastily conjured barrier of Ironglass to protect him from the impact, Caine rolled over between the crumbled remains of his Aegis.

Adam discarded the remains of the Root and charged out of the water.

Bruised and panting, with one arm hanging limply, Caine stood up. He reached inside his coat and pulled out a bronze symbol. Adam gasped when he recognized the symbol a little too well. The construct with hooks, arches and serrated edges, within two concentric circles, was similar to the one the giant had used on him and Emily.

Shit.

Caine aimed the symbol right at Adam, mumbling unintelligible words in his Invocation of Reminiscence. The symbol glowed brighter and brighter, gathering nasty green bolts of energy. Adam dashed away, his mind racing for what to do, but there was no way he’d be in time to evade this attack.

Finally, he crossed his forearms in front of his head, right before a crackling beam of white-hot energy hit them. What seemed like bolts of lightning surged through his body like wildfire, lighting up all around him. Adam screamed. High and guttural. His muscles convulsed, burned, and tore in the brutal pain.

However, Adam refused to go down.

He locked eyes with his former friend as the Invocation continued, and screamed like a horrid beast. Despite the horrible convulsions, his left heart beat louder than ever, sending out all the heat he had inside of him. The Inner Fire fought the electrified Origin all over his body as he forced his legs to keep moving forward.

“Why?!” Caine hissed through gritted teeth, beads of blood dripping down his face. “Why. Don’t. You. Stay. DOWN!”

A fresh, even stronger surge of power shook Adam’s limbs, he howled in agony but kept on moving nonetheless. He saw before his mind’s eye how Emily, Oliver, and himself had struggled through the Realm. How they had fought the peacock, the Roots, the Thalers, the Giant. All because of one man. Adam roared in unending rage as he forced his body beyond its limits, having long lost the feeling in the arms he kept crossed before him in vain protection. He could barely breathe as his chest refused to move. The muscles in his legs almost seemed to rip in the effort.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Still, he walked on, step by bloody step.

Caine’s face paled; fear replaced the perseverance in his eyes.

“Time to face the consequences!” Adam laughed like a maniac, drunk with pain. Caine’s Invocation became unstable, its power dampening or increasing at unpredictable intervals. Bolts of lightning forked off, hitting the ground at random. Feeling the moment, Adam gathered Inner Fire into his numb arms. When Caine’s beam weakened again, Adam growled and spread his arms, splitting Caine’s Invocation in two. The remaining, crackling energy harmlessly surged past Adam as he moved forward.

Adam raised his fist. His vision grew blurry while he neared Caine.

The Fell-handed bastard conjured a small field of Gaolom right beneath Adam’s foot. He stumbled, feeling something crack in his ankle. However, he barely felt it through the pain that ravaged his entire body. Grunting in bitter perseverance, his mind barely able to form coherent thoughts, he hobbled onwards.

Caine’s mouth opened as if he wanted to speak.

Too. Late.

With lurching and wobbling steps, Adam got close enough. Uttering a hoarse excuse of a scream, he raised his fist and punched his former friend in the jaw with all the strength he had left in him. Bone crunched, and Caine’s head bobbed backwards before he fell down in the dirt.

Adam tried to follow up but his left leg didn’t work. Huh, that’s weird. Before he knew what happened, Adam’s chin hit the hard ground. He panted deeply, his lungs burning in pain. His body felt impossibly heavy, numb with soreness. His left heart felt utterly exhausted. In front of him, Caine lay on the ground, splattered by the rain. His bronze symbol was gone.

“Why did you do it?” Adam asked with slurred words, his lips moving with difficulty. “Why did you Taint my family?”

Caine bared his teeth. “Eat shit!” he made jerking movements with his fingers, as if trying to Novaseer, but apparently he didn’t have the strength to properly lift them. He turned his face to the right and glared at Adam. “There’s no one to manipulate, Adam! No Emily, no Oliver, it’s just us. So, tell me!” Caine hissed with a hoarse voice. “Why are you doing this?”

“To go home!” Adam said, trying to drag himself towards Caine. “Out of this shithole inside your head! To get my family back! To—”

“Oh, come on!” Caine spat, his face wrinkled in frustration. A red swelling grew where Adam had hit him. “I’m sick of your damned lies!” He grunted, trying to roll over.

“You just wait, I’ll make you sick all right…” Adam growled.

As he tried to crawl, he saw how Oliver used Ironglass chains to swing and evade the great Root monster’s attacks. Adam groaned, in his current, broken state, there was no chance he’d be able to help Oliver. As Oliver desperately ducked beneath one of the giant tentacles, the titanic monster crushed Thalers near it with terrifying ease. From this point of view, Adam saw how other trunks and vines that grew from the great Root’s body led into the openings of tunnels. Tunnels that led further into the Realm. That thing is connected to the other Nodes and is bigger than any other Root creature we’ve seen. If we can kill it somehow, would all the thorn bushes and all connected to it die? Wait…

Adam’s eyes swivelled from the monster to Caine and back. He remembered how all the Overgrowth was connected to each other. How the Thalers tried to understand the infection of the Roots, which was so new to them. How the Roots had infested Catherine’s Node and walked around in the chambers of the library. How they wrote in the books, and so, adjusted Caine’s memories. While they left other chambers in the pyramid, entire Nodes, untouched.

“You’re Tainted,” Adam said, staring wildly at Caine. It was unreal, impossible. Yet it all made sense. “The Overgrowth and the Roots aren’t a psychological problem like the Thuraum, they are the Taint. They spread across the Realm of Remembrance, trying to invade specific Nodes. And when they reach a library, they try to adjust parts of the memory.”

Caine wiped the rain from his face with a shivering hand. “What? Of course I’m damn Tainted! What are you trying to—”

“I’ve been Tainted as well!” Adam said, pointing a quivering finger at himself as his mind raced for the implications. Although parts of him tried to cling to the hatred, doubt and confusion took over. “I can’t remember so many things, like how to use Reminiscence!”

Caine opened his mouth, his face torn with fury, but Adam was faster. “I haven’t used any damned Reminiscence on you! I just gave everything I had in our fight, risking my own life! Why would I hold back?”

Caine gaped, clearly lost for words for a moment. For the first time in years, Adam and Caine truly looked each other in the eyes. Adam saw the man who had struggled with the Starwing Order led by Zachalynn. Who had resisted the temptations of the Pure. He saw the man who persevered despite his traumas. Who had lived with Adam in the Badger, who had once played with him in the streets of Gotterburg, who had taught him to read and had paid Adam’s tuition for him, so he could chase his dreams. For the first time in forever, Adam truly saw his old friend again. And in Caine’s hurt, yellow eyes lay disbelief, confusion, and pain for all that had happened.

“You didn’t do this,” Adam said with a shiver in his voice. The words broke the foundation of hatred, of anger inside him. He looked at Caine’s battered body and the red swelling on his jaw. I’m so sorry.

“Neither did you,” Caine’s voice was dry and hoarse, and his eyebrows furrowed in astonishment. “But who did?” He swallowed and looked away with a guilty expression. “Emily damn hates me.”

Adam frowned. “She lied to me about being a Pendulum, but that just means she’s on the same team as you. One where… both Insticas and Novaseers are welcome.” Adam’s brows furrowed. Huh, that doesn’t sound all that bad, actually. “But Emily wasn’t there when we fought in your house, so...”

Realisation kicked in. Who hated Instinct, but was always eager to learn more about Reminiscence? Who pushed Adam in trying to remember as much as he could and to ‘share knowledge?’ Who had ‘followed’ Adam to visit Caine’s house, helped him escape and brought him to the Starwing Grove so they were transported to Caine’s Realm? Who had always been first to hate on Caine with every memory they saw, explaining them as the steps by which Caine became ‘the fiend he is today?’ Adam remembered what Caine accused Adam of: entering Caine’s Realm to learn more about Reminiscence. The supposed key to winning the Civil War. It dawned on Adam who had convinced him, in the room with the Thalers and Thuraum, that he’d do all it took to win his war. The one who had said the bitter reality of war leaves no room for naivety.

Adam felt the blood drain from his face. He shivered from head to toe. Feelings of friendship yelled at him it couldn’t be true, that there must be a mistake. No… no, no, NO! This can’t be!