Kade was backing away, though he was hardly aware of it. His eyes kept going from Lothros to the bisected body of High Keeper Bandal, but his mind couldn’t make sense of what was happening. Then he realized the pulse was back, stronger than ever, and the combination of the madness he’d just witnessed with the pounding in his mind was enough to bring him to his knees.
Lothros stared at him, an amused look on his face, as Drake and Alaric moved defensively in front of their master. The amusement vanished, and raw, red energy erupted from Lothros’ body without any accompanying gesture, and twin blasts collided with each Aspect. The burning, tearing force slammed both entities into opposite sides of the cave wall, and Kade could distantly feel them retreat from the overwhelming power, Drake barely managing to reform as a necklace, while Alaric seemed to be hiding somewhere in Kade’s mana pathways.
Lothros approached him leisurely, ignoring the dead Keeper as he strode uncaringly over the fresh corpse. “I’ve waited a long time for this,” he said. “You can’t imagine how it felt, knowing all along I was missing something, but not understanding what.” At last he reached Kade, still frozen on his knees, and placed a hand on his head. “Hold still,” he said in a serious tone, “I’ve never done this to someone so pitifully weak.”
The moment Lothros finished speaking, Kade felt a shock through his entire body, and then nothing.
***
Kade was somewhere familiar, though it was difficult to remember how he knew this place. He wasn’t aware of his own body, but he could part see, part sense the world around him. The space felt endless, but somehow he knew he was journeying to its center. Blackness transitioned to the familiar teal glow of his own power, and soon Kade understood he was exploring his own Soul Core.
Chains became visible next, endless chains floating around him–but he was now certain that it was actually one chain, simply unwound in a way he’d never experienced before. He willed himself to follow it to the source, and at last he saw the familiar glowing orb that he assumed was the center of his Soul Core. He was shocked by its appearance, however.
He had vague memories of being in this place at least twice, and both times the orb had been conspicuously wrapped in the chains that now seemed to be freely floating throughout this strange little universe. Instead, the chain ended by connecting to the source of the light, and as he grew closer he realized it was an object. It took a moment to see what it was through the brightness, but it finally revealed itself to be a plain, white rod, seeming broken at one end.
The unexpected item meant nothing to him, and Kade found his eyes instead drawn to the final links in the chain, which connected to the unbroken end of the rod. Strangely, they were each of a different color, and they were all noticeably thicker than the other uniform lengths Kade had seemed to be swimming through as he’d approached.
Closer inspection revealed that there were five unique links. The one connecting to his typical, glossy black chains was teal, and was difficult to make out as it so closely matched the energy all around him. The next was silver, suspiciously similar to those belonging to Drake, and it was slightly smaller than the first. It was followed by one that was nearly transparent, then another that was perfectly white. Finally the chain ended in a thick purple link, which connected to the rod.
Kade wasn’t sure what to make of any of them, but his mind was drawn to the last link in the chain, the deep purple catching his eye, hauntingly familiar. As he watched, he was startled to see that it appeared to be shrinking before his gaze, and Kade even had a sense that it was weakening as it did so. The link grew smaller, and smaller until abruptly it snapped, the pure white rod drifting free as the purple link disappeared into the ether.
There was a tremendous sense of pain then, though it wasn’t in his body, and the entire world around him seemed to shake and quiver with it. All at once it was gone, however, and the chain was left adrift, now one link shorter. When Kade recovered himself, his awareness turned to the white rod as it made slow, steady progress away from the center of his Core. Whether driven by curiosity or instinct, Kade’s consciousness followed the rod as it moved away, more and more rapidly.
With a jolt, awareness of his body returned, and Kade had the impression of being pushed against a cold stone wall. However, his eyes were still somehow perceiving the broken white rod, and he watched in fascination as a hand pulled it from his chest.
He was so weak, and his body felt wrong, but he managed to keep his eyes open as Lothros inspected the rod, about a half a meter long, and took a step back toward the familiar purple lake. They were back in the Elder’s Soul Core chamber. Though a thousand sensations were returning at once, Kade was still shocked to realize that the pulse which had haunted him for so long, was gone.
The High Priest was smiling in a somewhat uncanny way, as if his mouth wasn’t built for the expression, and he looked like nothing so much a predator which had cornered its prey. The sharp blue eyes finally looked away from the object, and came to rest on Kade’s own. “You’re alive? Curious,” he stepped farther back, and a hand went to his own chest. When he spoke again, his voice was strained.
“When I first saw you in the courtyard that day, I almost lost myself entirely. Do you have any concept of what it’s like to see someone else with a piece of your own Soul?” As he spoke, a second white rod was slowly materializing from the man’s own chest, and his voice grew more ragged. “Of course you don’t. I doubt anyone else has ever experienced such humiliation. I had to focus on that fool Sorcerer to stop myself from staring at you open mouthed like a simpleton.” He glanced back, “How are you not dead, now that I’ve stripped you of it?”
At last the rod finished emerging, and Kade saw that the end of this one was broken as well. Lothros let out a satisfied sigh when it was finally out, and he didn’t seem to share Kade’s weakness as he stood up straighter. With no fanfare, the Priest touched the two broken ends together, and the rod was simply whole once more. “Remarkable,” the man whispered as he cradled the rod to himself. “I can only imagine what this has been used for in our long history.”
He smiled at Kade then, “You likely don’t have long. I’d use you as a power source for the ritual like your comrades there, but you’re just an empty shell now.” He started walking toward the purple lake of power behind him, but at the mention of his friends, Kade forced himself to look away. He saw that he and his entire party were being held against the wall of the chamber, each with glowing red manacles of energy securing their arms and legs, though only Kade was awake.
“I hope you appreciate the effort this took,” the High Priest continued. “You would never have survived the extraction if I hadn’t forced you to Primus. And then I’d be back to waiting for this marvelous Artifact to appear once more.” He stopped at the edge of the lake, “And I don’t think I have the patience for that. I’ve been trapped at Quartus for millenia, all because I was incomplete. But now,” he turned and looked at Kade, smiling again, “now I reclaim my power.”
Lothros dipped one end of the rod in the lake, and the world went mad. Purple light nearly blinded him, and the small red aura that burst to life around the High Priest provided the only relief. Kade could hear screams, somewhere between agony and rapture as the purple lake seemed to rush into Lothros all at once.
Slowly the light receded as the lake was drained, and the silhouette of Lothros became visible once more. The red light was now almost entirely gone, and the High Priest appeared to be consumed by the ravenous purple energy of the Elder. Kade couldn’t completely see what was happening, but he was certain that he was witnessing the man change. The minutes ticked by as Kade struggled to get a better hold on consciousness, and the light continued to fade from the chamber.
At last whatever Lothros was doing came to an end, and the man stepped away from the now empty lake that had once housed the power of a dead Elder. Kade was finally able to see the man clearly as he turned back toward him. He had been transformed, though not as much as some of the more exotic Keepers that Kade had met.
The top of the man’s robes were destroyed, revealing the most pronounced difference as he now had four arms, similar to Eleonora. Unlike the bulky woman, however, these were slim and humanoid in appearance, and one still grasped the unblemished white rod. The rest of the changes were more subtle, with the man’s skin now appearing ashy gray, and the bones almost protruding from the skin in a distinctly alien fashion.
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His face was the most disturbing, as he still possessed much the near angelic perfection he had before, but his mouth was now almost demonic by contrast. What had been the mere hint of the uncanny was now on full display, as the man’s smile showed teeth reaching all the way to his ears. Lothros still possessed the long, swept back silver hair, but now it was broken up with numerous horns that seemed to be reaching back behind his head. He breathed a single word in utter satisfaction: “Finalis…”
Kade considered the word for a moment, as well as everything he’d witnessed, which finally gave him the strength to speak. “All this,” he began, his voice barely above a whisper, “all this just to attain more power? To what, sit in your abby as the strongest priest on Iros? For this you killed Bandal? Just to steal the power from some dead Elder?” At his words Lothros looked genuinely baffled, and he tilted his horned head in confusion.
“If you don’t understand what I am, then you truly don’t know what you are, do you? What you were, I should say…” he turned away, and began to pace. The white rod tapping out a steady rhythm as spoke, “This is concerning, it hints at another player. All the other players are supposed to be dead,” he said with irritation, and Kade’s frustration grew as the man ignored him.
“Lothros!” be bellowed, though the effort it took was extraordinary. The High Priest stopped in his tracks, and looked back at Kade, his smile returning.
“That, is not my name–”he began, but stopped short as the cave rumbled ominously around them. Kade looked rapidly between Lothros and his bound friends, hoping that one of them had managed to regain consciousness. He was disappointed to see that they were all still slumped in their restraints, though he belatedly considered that none of them were up to challenging someone who had attained Finalis.
The High Priest looked around, fury and surprise painting his alien features, and after a moment his eyes focused on the ceiling at the far side of the chamber. The rumbling grew, and dust began to fall from above as small cracks appeared. Kade’s eyes couldn’t follow what happened next.
The ceiling exploded outward in a massive fall of stone, earth, and ancient Elder flesh. There was an ear-splitting crash, and then Lothros was simply gone, someone new standing in his place. A second crash echoed a fraction of a second later, as the four-armed priest collided with the distant chamber wall.
Kade looked from the fresh hole in the side of the cave, to the unusual newcomer. The being appeared to be male, though his body was so stretched and narrow that it was difficult to even think of him in human terms. He was easily twice Kade’s height, and wore nothing but a deep green skirt around his lower half, leaving a pale, densely muscled torso exposed, and two inhumanly long arms slowly crossing over his chest.
Kade looked upward at the more traditionally humanoid face, though the nose was longer, and the cheekbones pointier than could be considered ‘normal’, if such a word could even apply. His hair was a deep, glossy black, and worked into a single thick braid going halfway down his back. His eyes were entirely a shade of green that matched his skirt, without a hint of white to them, though Kade could somehow tell that he was looking expectantly in the direction Lothros had been thrown.
“Come out, old monster,” he called, and the voice surprised Kade. It was slightly higher than he expected, and strangely…refined? A moment later, Lothros was standing some distance away from the newcomer. Disturbingly, Kade hadn’t seen any sign at all of the High Priest until he simply appeared; Kade was beginning to feel alarmingly underpowered for the confrontation taking place only a few meters away.
“Which one are you?” Lothros asked, taking a practiced battle stance. The far taller being remained standing casually in place, wiry arms still crossed.
“Wrayeth,” he said slowly, clearly expecting some kind of reaction to the name. Lothros’ too-wide smile split his face, and he relaxed slightly.
“The weakest of the four? It appears today is still a good day,” if this ‘Wrayeth’ was expecting a reaction, it clearly wasn’t this, and his arms uncrossed as he stood up straighter, fury plain on his alien features.
“That is how I’m remembered? It seems that every day I find another reason to hate this generation. I may not have been physically as strong as–” He was cut short as two of Lothros’ fists crashed into his lean midsection, doubling him over with the force, and exposing his chin for the follow up strike from the other two fists. The taller man careened backward, flipping over entirely before his long arms caught the ground and dragged him to a halt.
His green eyes seemed to burn with fury, and instantly he was back at Lothros, unnaturally long arms and legs a blur as he seemed to strike from every angle at once. Kade gave up trying to track individual blows as the two powerful beings seemed to move in fits and starts around the room, only clearly visible when either combatant landed a particularly devastating attack.
At last Kade noticed Wrayeth had seemed to force himself into a calmer state, and his technique appeared to sharpen with each passing second, until a deafening crack signaled Lothros once more being hit hard enough to be sent flying into the distant wall of the cave. The tall warrior stood up straight, and spoke softly, “I’m still a son of Tyranos, you insolent prick.”
Kade’s eyes widened at the remark, though Lothros’ only response came in the form of a continuous blast of dense energy. Kade noticed curiously that it was now the precise shade of purple that the lake had been before it was drained. Wrayeth’s form was lost entirely as the attack rolled over him in a wave, and Kade felt a faint hope die as the mysterious man appeared to be vaporized before his eyes. But then something strange happened.
Kade noticed a thin gouge of deep emerald in the stream of energy beyond where it had collided with Wrayeth. As he watched in fascination, the streak was joined by several others, and Kade was soon able to make out the shadow of a hand reaching toward Lothros. Where the energy poured over the clawed fingers, it was changed somehow, shifting in color and appearing to dissipate harmlessly.
After another moment, the massive corridor of purple energy seemed to pour around the entirely exposed form of Wrayeth as he pushed the single hand out in front of him. A look of serenity was on his face as he held back the attack like it was nothing more than a light stream of water. But the display didn’t stop there, as now the energy in front of the man began to shift to emerald, as if it were being infected by contact with the self proclaimed son of Tyranos.
The emerald light seemed to advance faster and faster as the moments passed, until it disappeared into the cracked cave wall where Lothros had been thrown. There was the briefest scream of fury before an explosion rocked the chamber once more, and Kade felt himself fall to the stone floor. The bindings on his hands and legs had disappeared, and he heard several other similar thumps as his previously bound companions joined him on the ground.
Wrayeth was above Kade a moment later, pulling him to his feet. Kade had a thousand questions, and he still wasn’t sure if this strange being was a rescuer or something else entirely. He was given no time however, as the tall man rushed to gather up the rest of the fallen. “Can you make Energy Projections?” he asked while he deposited Sal, Edwin, Graves, and Cerano into an undignified pile.
Kade was surprised by the unexpected question, and impatience showed on the alien features inspecting him as he hesitated. “Yes,” he said at last. “Normally, yes. But right now…” he reached out experimentally, confirming that he wasn’t able to channel any energy in his current state. Wrayeth let out an irritated sigh and reached for Kade’s arm with one hand, while putting the other on his chest.
“We don’t have time for this; he knows I can’t kill him and that blast won’t disorient him for long,” again, Kade was bristling with questions, but they all fell away as he felt his energy pulled through is arm, and a moment later there was an odd box made of energy appearing in front of them. It looked disturbingly like five coffins lined up next to each other, with some kind of handle forming above them.
“What the hell is that?” Kade asked.
“I can’t carry all of you and move as fast as we need to. We have little time; the Elders are already waking up,” the way he said ‘Elders’ was somehow mocking, but Kade didn’t have time to react as he watched the man load the odd carrying contraption with his unconscious companions. At last he turned to get Kade, gesturing at the final coffin.
Not knowing what else to do, Kade felt he had to trust this man. He did appear to be saving them after all, and they were certainly no safer with Lothros. He begrudgingly began to get into the box, noticing the cave lighting up with purple energy once more as he did so. As soon as he laid down Wrayeth effortlessly picked up the contraption by the handle, and made what was likely a rude gesture in Lothros direction, based on the smirk Kade could see on the man’s face.
“You should have stayed dead, Karavash,” Wrayeth remarked. “Coming back twice is tacky,” Kade heard the surprising words, but before he could fully process them, they were gone.