XV.

Disaster

Fire. Brimstone. Ruin.

The Petal had collapsed. Stone fell into the world, forgetting what had once hid beneath that grandiose city structure in favor of void—colorless and colorful at once. The world above and below had become a gradient of every horrible and beautiful shade. Empty and full. Dark and light.

Some sections of flaming city still remained floating—chunks of stone steps and platforms all in disarray and disjunction, as though they'd been held up by some invisible matter, some otherworldly force that was now invading their plane. The rest of Calamon was safe—for now.

Serkukan stood two platforms away from Kogar. They were separated by about fifty paces.

But Serkukan's sleek armor was pulsating unusually. It was potent, full of esera. It was vibrant in that ruined section of Caloria. Vibrant in the hole of their world.

"Disaster." Kogar said.

"And Calamity, next." Serkukan answered. He knew the man's intent.

He couldn't reach his dragon form, for Cedric lay unconscious inside; his heart had stopped beating, but the raw esera would be enough to pump him back to life—so long as he timed the revival right. The same was true for Faunia and Marisol, who still lay on that platform with the dancers who hadn't fallen into the void.

He thought of Liara. He thought of Cromer.

Kogar vanished soundlessly. The sky flared.

And then the two-tone angel reappeared above him, with his wings splayed out in golden radiance…

X

"That was a wicked thought you had, Cedric."

Cedric didn't respond. He couldn't see. Couldn't smell. He had no idea where he was.

"A wish for purity. A wish for all things to be razed and began anew."

Then he could see. That narrow alleyway, with the pale archways overhead blocking out the sunlight. Where Rithi stood across from him. He could see himself, too, stood at a distance from Rithi. Tears were in the eyes of his former self.

"I thought only of the possibility. Evra demands order—"

"Order has its own consequence." Akvum stepped into his view, down the alley. "Order would see millions of lives sent to death—have you any idea how many a single million is?"

He tried to shut his eyes but couldn't rid himself of the vision.

Akvum snarled, "If Evra is set free… you would destroy the world as it is."

"And what if it's better? What if through that… what if I could make a place that isn't hell?"

"Calamon isn't hell. But it desires chaos to function. It is a balance that must exist."

"The balance is thrown off by Auctdos Munor. Her influence is choked—"

"Auctdos Munor is not the problem. You are the problem."

He cocked his head.

"Without you, it almost makes sense to free Evra. But for what you'll do after…

When the Ordinators come, all is lost."

"The Ordinators…? Nevermind that—that was you talking to me during my fight. Then is it true, you don't believe in us? You don't believe in people?"

"I believe in the power of mankind to a limit. You broke that limit by a thin margin in beating down Algirak. You will not overcome that threshold again."

"Not alone."

"Not at all."

"If you believed that, you wouldn't be here warning me about releasing Evra."

The cat looked discontent. "Here's my final warning: leave Calamon. Or stay. It doesn't make a difference. But release yourself from thoughts of The Twelve. Don't pursue Kogar. Don't pursue Evra. Don't even think of them. You're asking to die a fool's death."

Cedric had no words to respond with. The dream was already fading.

And then he gasped awake in his dark bedchamber. It was a cramped and dingy room, one of the ones left unrepaired thus far in their work on their small home. The singular window in the room was stained and blurry, with cracks and breaks all throughout the frame. Instead of beds, there were three bedrolls laid out beside each other. More portable, and affordable, than full sized beds.

Serkukan knelt down beside him. When Cedric turned to look, the damage was immediately visible: black, tar-like stains covered the surface of the red suit of armor. Cracks had grown out from those stains and into the crystal, which had almost entirely turned dull and unglowing.

"Serkukan," he muttered as he reached out.

Serkukan recoiled. Then he stood from his crouch and stepped away. He said, "I saved them. Those who hadn't fallen into the Pit. Those allies of yours."

Cedric lowered his arm. He lowered his head.

"Kogar laid me a devastating blow. In a single instant. It took all the last of my energy just to survive."

"How long will it take to heal?"

"There is no healing this. Kogar drained my esera—my ability to hold esera. That's the crux of his power."

"Then, no more bending reality?"

"I was already weak here. Now, I…"

"What about Kogar? Did we learn anything new?"

Serkukan turned back in dull anger. "We learned that he is impossible to kill. He's a man made immortal through his power; with an unlimited supply of esera, he can never die. Especially if he can rend holes through this world's leyline barriers and bring Etheria to us. It's a miracle any of us even got close to him."

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Cedric's brows furrowed.

"Our work here is over."

"You said he's a man." Cedric continued his debriefing, "How is he so powerful? How did he gain the ability to drain esera?"

"Our work here is done."

"I see no reason to give up. We cut down Algirak—"

"We cut down a weak fragment of a once powerful god. Now we speak of slaying an immortal who sups my life and energy with his attacks."

"But I deflected his attacks at me. Those convergences of the leylines—one of those could have killed me silently and instantly, as it did Rithi. Unless… did you save him?"

"Kogar revived him. After he was concussed, I know not where he ended up."

"Faunia and Marisol?"

"Both at the Thelani infirmary. Their ley was cut, they need time to rest. Even Tirolith was weak after the encounter."

"But they're alive. Good." he said. Then he stood and clutched his body in pain before he made his way over to the window.

It was bright when he opened the blinds. His eyes seared. And that pain brought back to his mind the horror; the thought of that Pit hole—the incomprehensible crater of the Third Petal which led into the colorless void beyond their world — was enough to sear his mind. He clutched his head and howled for just a moment, before he shut the blinds and began to pant.

"He has dealt significant damage to Calamon. Not just the city, but this attack may change forever Greater Calamon, and Caloria entirely. Etherians are supposed to be extinct, and now one has used a Petal to open a direct gateway to their home plane."

"We need to meet up with Faunia—she'll know better than I would what consequence this'll have."

"I find it unlikely she would be willing to continue after such a disaster."

"I don't care if she joins or quits. I know my mission."

Serkukan only shook his head and growled.

"Serkukan is right." Faunia answered when prompted with what they discussed. "The Alisars won't be happy about this. They may very well attempt to invade after such a public display of Etherian magic."

"Under that logic, have they invaded Kylinstrom yet?" Cedric asked Marisol, who only slowly shook her head.

They were both placed in the same small room in separate beds, thanks to Yvesmalia. The same room in which Cedric had received his ley suture. They'd been discussing their next moves since they'd awoken, though Marisol could still barely move and couldn't speak in the slightest.

Cedric sat on the end of Marisol's bed, atop her blanket.

"As for the other empires, I know the elven fae of Llueves and the Aeonic Empire will have their own dissent. But the other regions, I… don't know. I haven't been able to get much information on anything besides the big four empires. Adventurers can tell some factoids, but their brainrot seems to limit them to speaking only of beasts they've slain, and the rest of the population seems slim of education."

"Me included. I've never heard of the Aeonics or Llueves."

"Llueves was where the elves lived before the islands of Cylenia and Ruin. The Aeonics are the ones who inspired the Freiyan Hunters' actions and armors—they live in golden, rich cities in good health and prosperity. Their people are not as isolationist as those in Llueves, but they're not outgoing in any sense. Truthfully, these four empires have had little reason to rely on each other at all since the modern age began."

"Isn't this all… beside the point?"

Faunia looked at him head-on. She said, "I'm going to visit the alisars. The Alisan Oligarchy."

His mouth fell open.

"I need to convince them not to invade Calamon. I need to figure out what they know—"

"What about Okella? Kogar? The Twelve...?"

"They'll all still be here when I return. At top speed, in a wagon, it'll take…" She looked at Serkukan, leaning beside the doorway.

"Four months until you return," he replied.

"Four months…" Cedric muttered, "Faunia, this is…"

With conviction, she answered, "Necessary."

"What about Marisol, then?"

"She'll stay here. She wants to recruit more to our cause, to The Hunters. Though, I did suggest we pick a new name for the group."

More Hunters? Led by us...?

Akvum's voice repeated in his mind: when the Ordinators come…

"What will you do, Cedric? You're welcome to come with. It might be a nice step away from all of this… bloodshed, in a way."

"I…" His voice trailed off. I don't know.

"You're without an Etherian. You can't fight them."

"I know."

"We're both injured. Even Tirolith is hurt..."

"I know."

"Come with me."

"I can't. My place is here. Near Evra. I need to reach her. I need to change this world."

She twisted her lips. "Why?"

"Faunia—do you believe in a perfect world?"

She shook her head. "There's no such thing."

He looked to Marisol who only smiled meekly.

"I agree that nobody should need to die pointlessly—but to say that we'll reach a world where it never happens is…"

"Unrealistic." Cedric agreed. "If we were to release Evra, we might have a shot at it."

Faunia looked to him in shock.

"We could establish order. Complete order, not the phony type that the Hunters tried for."

"But such a change to our world… releasing an elder dragon—"

"Would wreak devastation." Serkukan cut her off as he stepped fully into the room. "You're going too far, Cedric."

Cedric glared.

"You heard what the azar said—"

"Akvum?" gasped Faunia.

"—Millions would die. An uncountable number of people."

"Since when did you give a damn?" He threw his hands out in frustration.

"I am your weapon. I am your tool to the ends you desire. This is not the end that you desire."

"If I could make a world where nobody has to die—"

"—you'd first need to make a world where you've killed everyone who may kill. Even incidentally. Evra is not simply order—she is a cleanser, and she is control."

"This world could use some damn clean-up." he said as he stood. He wanted to walk out right there, but just couldn't push himself to leave. He sat back down.

Faunia smiled slightly. She said, "You need a break."

Cedric looked down to his hands. "Yeah. Yeah, maybe I do…"

X

Kogar sat on a shattered stone with his hands interlocked beneath his chin. He stared up into the churning, etheric sky until his eyes burned and threatened to blind. He stared unblinkingly. Not so much at the sky, but at the red-burning star in the center of it all. At the thing that covered him and the surrounding ruins in crimson light.

A figure swept out of the sky at incredible speed and came to a gentle halt beside him.

Kogar pointed. He said, "That's Serkukan. Just over half of him."

"Your scythe?" three women seemed to say in sync.

"Mm." He nodded. "Stand guard here. Should he come back for it, eviscerate him. He's weak like an injured rat."

"May the old make way for new birth." they said, as their form began to glow golden.

Hemah, of The Palm. The white-gowned woman with her golden trim. Her flesh was pristine pale in the few places it was visible: upon her bare feet, upon the places of her hands which weren't covered in golden jewelry, and then her cheeks and around her shimmering lips, beneath the matching gold helm that covered her nose and eyes and protruded in a silver-edged palm-blade.

She was beautiful, allegedly, but those few who had seen her full face were soon torn and scattered in dark gutters and alleys. She wasn't human, that was the important thing. A fullblood Etherian. Unlike Kogar, who attested so wholeheartedly to purity—she was truly pure.

Her three voices said, "We shall do as you desire, Kogar."

"Excellent."

And then again, a figure darted through the sky. A purple bulb. Quietly, she landed before him: Rykaedi. With the same sinister grin stuck to her face as always…