But his research did provide many insights into the various triggers that worked on it. One such trigger was a potion that Amadeus himself had invented. It was stocked in reasonable quantities in the apothecary. Its primary function was to sear away the essence from a living organism. Amadeus had researched the fluid and its properties. If you mixed a drop of it with blood, the blood would turn black and devoid of essence, while the essence would mix into the air and dissipate.
He procured a vial of it with Orcus's help and poured it on an open cut that he had inflicted on his own body. Although Lorian could feel nothing, he knew the air in this room was mixed with the fragrance of his essence. The Azhurai being in its ethereal state could smell it. Lorian counted on the demon's lust for blood to lure it into agreeing with his plan. He was glad to see that it was working.
"I'm happy that you can. But you need to listen to me."
He didn't want to give the Azhurai a chance to think about how it was smelling his blood.
"Go on. I'll humor that little tongue of yours while I contemplate ripping it from your throat."
Lorian could see hunger in the eyes of the demon. He knew the Azhurai wasn't threatening him. It was honestly stating what it was feeling. Orcus had been right. Lorian was foolish to trust something like this. It had showed some degree of rationality when it first spoke to Lorian, but it was all a charade. This was the Azhurai's true nature.
"Empty words. You're pure essence. You can't harm the living."
"Really? How do you think I was able to read your mind? There are a hundred ways I can harm you that don't require physical contact."
The demon had a point there. He needed to be careful, but he still had to follow through with the plan. This was his only chance.
"I'm ready to perform the infusion. I have prepared the construct you mentioned. All I need is—"
"My assent. I had gathered that much when you opened the door to this cell. What you need to be telling me is why I should do such a thing. Especially now that I have no proof that you don't intend to betray me."
"That's exactly it. You don't. You mentioned to me that I had just two choices. Either die in the arena or escape. Well now it's you that has only two choices. You can either remain in that cell forever or take a chance at existing again."
"I can wait a thousand years more for another such as you to come by."
"Wrong. You don't have that much time either. As we speak, Amadeus prepares to capture the godling that stands outside this castle."
"Interesting."
"Interesting or not, he wishes to ascend."
"To godhood," said the Azhurai, as if it had suspected such a thing from the start.
"I know not if he will succeed. But if he does, he has little need for this castle. And from what I've learnt, this entire castle is built from his life essences. If he ascends, this castle disappears. And you will be returned to void, losing all chance at existence. If he dies fighting the godling, the outcome for you is still the same."
"You seem to have put considerable thought into convincing me."
"I didn't have to. It's the truth. What I'm giving you is a chance at life again. If we attack him in his moment of vulnerability, there is a chance that we can wound him. At least incapacitate him long enough to escape."
The Azhurai appeared thoughtful. But Lorian knew what it was really thinking as he saw its tongue and the greedy eyes. The smell of blood had to be infuriating to it.
"Very well, human. I agree to this plan of yours, however reckless it might sound."
Good, thought Lorian. The first step of his plan had succeeded.
"Follow me. We have very little time," he said.
The made their way up the staircase, the ethereal Azhurai following him soundlessly.
He had to be careful.
Most of Amadeus's minions were held in special chambers and were always in a dormant state. Apparently, the infusion process had a time limit. It varied from creature to creature. And it also depended on how willing the creature was to be bound. But there was always a limit. Only gods could bind essence to flesh, but using the Lumen, Amadeus had figured out a way to do it. It was, however, not perfect. These chambers would serve to regenerate and heal the essences that were trapped inside the constructs.
But there were some that were always on patrol. These were very weak skeletal warriors, whose main purpose was to be watchful. He suspected that an alarm raised by any of them would bring down the much stronger minions on them. The holding cells were close enough to the laboratory. Perhaps because it was necessary to keep transporting them from one to the other. In a short time, they made it to the laboratory. Lorian pushed open the doors and saw Orcus waiting for them.
"What are you doing here? You were supposed to—" started Lorian.
"That isn't your friend, human," interrupted the Azhurai from behind him. "I can't read their minds, but I can distinguish their thought patterns."
Auros.
Now that the Azhurai mentioned it, Lorian took a closer look at the swirl patterns on the oracle's metallic skin.
Lorian didn't waste any time thinking.
He raised his hand to his right and began casting. A red lance of fire formed in his hand.
"That would be unwise," said Auros.
Lorian ignored the warning and hurled the lance toward Auros. The lance transformed into a thin comet of fire. He saw two blurs before the comet could hit Auros.
He heard a loud clang of metal and saw his comet redirected from its path. It sped off at an angle and hit the wall, breaking a hole in it. Standing in front of Auros, he saw two of the skeletal warriors that Amadeus had summoned during his first battle. The sword in one skeleton's hand was bristling with electricity. It seemed to have struck his spell away to its side. Lorian heard of such magic before. Spell breaking. Enchantments that could be cast on weapons and armor to strike and cut magic.
Fortunately, they were not immune to all kinds of magic. Lorian readied another spell before Auros spoke.
"It would be pointless. Granted, your recent time in the arena has improved your skill. But strike these down, and four more will stand in their place. The master knows of your ludicrous plan. He has ordered that you be brought before him immediately. Now you can either come peacefully, or you can—"
Lorian brought his hands together in a clap. A void zone formed in between the skeletal warriors and Auros. It formed very close to the back of one of the skeletons. The clap was amplified a thousand times into a shockwave. They weren't his specialty but Lorian knew they worked well against enchanted armor and weapons. It wasn't nearly as strong as an impact air, but Lorian knew by now how to judge Amadeus' creations. These appeared to have traded out durability for agility and speed. The sound wave shattered the hipbone and legs of one of the skeletons.
Auros disappeared being pushed out of sight by the force of the wave. The second skeleton was unharmed and rushed towards him. It raised its two-handed blade for a downward strike and leapt toward him.
Lorian quickly summoned his blade and swung it in an arc facing the descending skeleton. The room resonated with the sound of metal clashing against metal as Lorian's magical blade met with the skeleton's blade.
The first strike was the most powerful and he hoped it would connect, but the skeleton was quick to block it. It leapt back in mid-air and vaulted, landing on its feet a small distance away from Lorian. Lorian raised his blade as the skeleton made another run at him.
He buckled and fell to his knees before the skeleton even reached him.
His heart. It felt as if a hand was crushing it. His life was being sucked out from his body. He looked up in time to see the skeleton standing in front of him. Its bony fist connected with Lorian's face sending him to the floor.
"The master has begun the entrapment. Not a moment too soon I see. I would have hated to expend more of our resources in subduing you."
It was done. He had failed.
He tried mustering his st
rength, but even his conjured blade had disappeared from his hands.
"This is a sorry sight..." said the Azhurai, peering over Lorian's limp body as he fell to the ground.
"I guess this means I'm not getting a new body," it continued. It seemed to be amused.
"You have resisted the master at every turn, demon. He has found a punishment fitting for a creature as obstinate as you."
"Save your threats, insignificant worm. The thousand hells of the abyss will freeze before Mog'rath fears words from a pitiful creature such as you."
"Pitiful, am I?"
Green ropes shot out from Auros's body and wrapped around the Azhurai. They appeared to glow with green electricity. The Azhurai continued to laugh through the process, the laughter growing louder.
"Your very—"
"Essence is being dissolved," interrupted the Azhurai. "I know, worm. I can feel it diminishing by the moment. Your lack of understanding of what life and death mean to an arch-demon of the abyss is the very reason your master has failed at converting me like he has the countless other creatures in this castle. Including you. Pitiful? You were pathetic even before your master acquired you. Roaming your world looking at plants, trees and rocks before you were returned to the void. Worthless creatures like you holding the essence of life is the very reason the covenant wars against the heavens."
"Silence!" screamed Auros.
The Azhurai continued laughing.
"Take the human to the master. I will deal with the insolent demon."
The skeleton caught Lorian by the collar of his robes and dragged him toward the chamber. The last image he saw before he lost consciousness was the Azhurai laughing while Auros began wrapping more of the green essence-destroying ropes around it.
*
He must have been out cold for at least an hour he thought as he came to. His eyes opened and all he could see was the black starless sky.
Lorian's eyes slowly cleared up and he could see that he was bound to the floor. There were heavy golden chains tied around his wrists and legs.
He stood up and saw Amadeus standing a few feet away from him. They were on the terrace of his castle. Lorian looked around and saw that there were a few terraces that were even higher than the one they were on.
"You disappoint me."
"By trying to escape? Did you expect me to lie down and die?"
"I didn't mean that. I refer to your method of escape. Did you honestly expect me not to know? In my own castle?"
"What happens to me now?" asked Lorian.
"Tell me. Do you know of the creature you were so readily willing to ally with?"
"The Azhurai?"
"I asked if you knew of this specific Azhurai. Demons have a hierarchy even in the chaos of the Abyss. One decided by power. The species does not matter as much as the individual creature I am referring to."
"Mog'rath," said Lorian, remembering the name.
Amadeus laughed.
"So, you know its name? I'm impressed. Trust me, boy—I did you a favor. At least this way you have a fighting chance."
"A chance at what exactly?" Lorian asked as he strained against the chains.
He looked around and observed his environment for the first time. He was in the center of a very large circle of glowing runes. Around the circle were various floating devices. The devices seemed to be inscribing and removing runes continuously.
"A chance to live. This circle you stand in mimics the simulacrum. You could say that it's a hole in the simulacrum. I only have to give the command, and the protection the simulacrum offers you will be removed. Not completely, though. Just enough to entice the godling to approach. The devices you see floating, however...those are the crucial parts of the plan. You can see there are two types primarily."
That was true. One of them appeared to be diamond shaped, while the other was spherical.
"The spherical ones work by altering the link between you and the godling. You might have noticed, all the godling did was stand still and it could siphon your essence. That's because of your own weakness. But the spherical devices stop the godling from doing so. In fact, they reverse the process and suck the essence into themselves," explained Amadeus.
That was good, thought Lorian. They would siphon in essence from the godling, but his own essence would be intact.
"But you can see how the godling would resist that. The spherical ones would work only if the godling were weakened enough. And that is why I need the diamond shaped ones. They leave the link between you intact, and let the godling siphon your essence. But here is the interesting part. They poison your essence before releasing it to the godling. The godling is free to absorb as much through that link as possible, but it would be corrupted essence. This is the one you have to fear the most, for it destroys most of your essence as it poisons the godling."
"Which is the part where I have a fighting chance?"
"The spherical constructs. They are strengthened by your own will to pull the essence. The poisoning constructs only absorb your essence and release it into the godling if the spherical ones are unable to maintain a steady flow toward themselves. You need to add your own will to them and strengthen them. If you can maintain the flow to the spherical devices, the diamond-shaped ones will not siphon any of your essence. A well-constructed plan, I should say. One that incentivizes you to try your hardest to pull essence your way."
This was stupid.
"You're insane. How can I win against the godling?"
"You won't have to do all the work on your own, boy. I will be weakening the godling myself. It is in my best interests to drain the godling of its essence don't you see?"
Right, thought Lorian. He had to find another means of escape.
"Where's Orcus?"
"The oracle that conspired with you? I care little for its schemes. Its fate is in the hands of Auros now. You should be less concerned about the oracle, and more focused on your own strength. Falter, and you will be an empty pile of flesh. I have seen living creatures absent their essence, and it's not a pretty sight."
His last hope had been Orcus. The little oracle had proven resourceful in the last few days.
There was nothing left to do now except wait. And fight. He had to figure out how the devices worked.
"Prepare yourself," said Amadeus, and he began casting a spell. Lorian's throat went dry and he could feel his body getting cold as the devices began to whir in place.
It didn't last too long and was unremarkable visually. But the effect was immediately visible. A golden dot over the horizon of the black sky that began to grow larger by the second.
The godling was coming.
Amadeus levitated into the air. He began casting. Lorian could feel the floor beneath him tremble.
Amadeus's face had been devoid of emotion the few times that Lorian had seen it up close. But now, even from a distance, as Amadeus floated higher in the air, there was no mistaking the deranged look on his face.
"You thought the Lumen was power? Watch, boy. And learn. See with your own eyes what your masters never taught you and your books never described."
His hands were enveloped with black spheres. Lorian felt his entire body shivering. The spell was completed. Amadeus was covered in a shroud of black necromantic energy as he prepared for the godling's arrival.
Chapter 51
Gawain rushed into the simulacrum chamber as soon as he heard the news. Rhaen was the one who delivered it to him, bless her.
They had found him! Finally!
It had been two months since he had seen Lorian lain down on the floor of the simulacrum. The original plan had been to locate him within the simulacrum after they tethered his physical body to it, but he had disappeared almost as quickly as they had bound him to the simulacrum. Something in the simulacrum had been obscuring their vision. Gawain had been buried deep inside his books since then, while the mages of Norvind took turns trying to locate him inside the simulacrum. To no avail. But now, suddenly, his position ha
d been revealed.
He found four mages huddled around Lorian's body. They parted as Gawain approached. One of them spoke.
"His body is getting colder."
Gawain knelt and placed a palm on Lorian's chest. He could feel a faint warmth, but the mage had been right. There was an ever so slight change in its temperature for the duration Gawain placed his hand. It was indeed getting colder.
"His essence. He is losing it. This is exactly what happened when he trapped the Lumenar shard within himself."
"But that's impossible. The simulacrum—"
"Is not protecting him anymore. It's being altered from within. Notice the runes on his body changing. We have little time to talk. Rhaen, with me."
Gawain walked to the center of the room. Rhaen followed him with a questioning look.
"The rest of you need to stay here. I suspect the runes will continue changing even if you try and stop them. But you must do your best to slow down the process. Re-inscribe the binding runes as they are erased. You hold Lorian's life in your hands."
The mages bowed and began their work.
"You mean to enter the simulacrum..." said Rhaen.
"And I need you with me. The fragment he has trapped within himself is doing this to him. I can explain what I believe is happening once we are in the simulacrum. But we must hurry now."
Rhaen barely made it into the sphere that Gawain had cast before they found themselves standing in the void. Above the vast sea of essences. Gawain closed his eyes and concentrated. Within moments, he could feel Lorian's presence calling out to him and started floating towards it. Yet there was something else he was sensing...
"Do you feel that?" Rhaen asked, floating right next to him.
"I do. There is a sense of familiarity to it. I have felt this quite a few times in the simulacrum, but never so profoundly."
He had never been able to quite place the feeling. He thought it an oddity at the beginning, but after sufficient research, he had concluded it was simply an anomaly in the simulacrum that had been woven in by the void explorers. But Gawain understood much about it when he was feeling it now.
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