"What?"
"We become as one. Our essences would share the same body. A prospect that might sound as abhorrent to you as it does to me, but, in our current situation, the best option we have of survival."
"You can't possibly mean that," said Lorian.
"Foolish mortal! That is exactly why I said you needed to comprehend the facts fully. You see it happening right before your eyes, but you choose to ignore it. You cling to hope that you will somehow live through this. Neither of us will last the next hour in our current forms! Together, we would share the same body, but we would still exist."
"How exactly does that even work? Would you be controlling the body or would I?"
"Both of us, in a sense. But the body still belongs to you. For me to take complete control of your body, I would have to devour your essence. But in doing so I would be destroyed as well."
Lorian still had a hundred questions, but the Azhurai had a point in saying that he needed to grasp the facts completely. If he didn't go through with this plan, he would be dead no matter what. If the Azhurai's remaining essence could be infused into his body, they would be able to survive.
That was all Lorian needed to know. His body, as if to prove a point, gave way and he almost crashed to the floor.
"You need to act quickly," said the Azhurai.
Lorian took one more look at the broken Azhurai lying on the ground. It had lost its feet and its ethereal body had several cracks in it. But there was still a certain strength it possessed. As it began to rise, Lorian could sense determination from its wearied body.
In spite of being a mage, his knowledge of demons was no better than that of a layman. If he knew nothing else about demons, the scene he was witnessing now would have been enough to earn his respect. Although he couldn't feel it earlier, he could feel its essence now, and it was far more diminished than his own. Yet, even this close to death, the demon was willing to do anything it needed to, in order to survive. He walked towards the chamber that he had prepared earlier. It still had the bones of the construct lying inside. With whatever little energy he had remaining, he cleared them out of the chamber, making room for the Azhurai as it crawled over.
"Know this, human. Survival in any form at all is preferable to the alternative. Mortals begin their march to death the moment they are born. Which is why they find it easy to give up on their dreams and their very existence when faced with extreme circumstances. I could hear you as your essence was ripped apart on the terrace. You begged for death in order to avoid feeling pain. To share a body with one having such a weak will to live… It disgusts me. Yet I do it in order to survive."
The voice was very different from all the other times it had spoken to him. He realized that this was its true voice. Devoid of any deception, threats or mind games.
Lorian watched as it placed itself in the chamber.
"Do not disappoint me," it said, as it disappeared into the darkness.
Lorian's hands tightened. He felt shame at having given up so easily. He realized that was probably why he was unable to pull any of the godling's essence. Despite being poisoned and broken by Amadeus, the godling had not budged the slightest in its will. As the Azhurai hadn't under Auros's whip.
The shame turned into anger as he thought about its cause. Amadeus.
Without thinking further he pulled down the lever. His body weighing him down, Lorian walked into the dark infusion chamber and closed the door.
He felt the chamber humming with magic. Complete darkness turned into a blinding white light as he felt his weary body turn weightless.
Chapter 53
The gigantic talons of the skeletal dragon pinned him against the wall of the tower. Gawain coughed up blood.
The battle wasn't going too well, he thought as he caught a glimpse of Rhaen battling hordes of skeletal warriors on the terrace below. Gawain had been fighting both Amadeus and the reincarnated Irith'arcana.
Whatever else it might have been in life, Irith'arcana was now stronger than an ordinary dragon. He had destroyed large portions of its body with the Lumen, but the creature had an incredible ability to regenerate and heal wounds. The ones that it couldn't heal didn't seem to bother it.
And Amadeus. Gawain had noticed that Amadeus was casting spells to bolster the dragon's power while simultaneously facing the godling. And the skeletal mages. There was no end to them. Although Rhaen was battling the bulk of the horde, a good portion of his magic own was being applied to keeping them at bay. Although they were strong, they would die with the slightest touch of the Lumen. Left unharmed, they were slowly chipping away at his defenses.
Gawain cast a shield spell with the Lumen to block three large globes of necromantic energy hurled at him by Amadeus. The shield barely held up against the onslaught.
Gawain had realized that the dragon was no easy opponent. Its destruction was next to impossible while Amadeus still lived. The dark energy that Amadeus was producing seemed to play a key role in the dragon's recovery. He had to disable it in some other way.
The spell was known as the crucifixion. It was one of the most powerful spells in the Lumen. The downside was that it took a long time to cast. He was being pressed from all directions. He needed a distraction of some form. He noticed that the Lumenar fragment was battling Amadeus. It bore several wounds that were festering with the black corruption of Amadeus's magic. Whatever Amadeus had done to it, he had weakened it significantly. Yet, even in this weakened state, it was powerful enough to defend itself against him.
He had tried opening a mental channel of communication with it, but it was no use. The fragment was single-minded in its war against Amadeus. In some instances it had even released a spell or two toward Gawain. It refused to listen to reason. And it was weakening quickly.
The dragon moved its head and positioned it right in front of Gawain's pinned body.
Not again, thought Gawain.
It drained a sizable portion of Gawain's magical abilities when he had to defend against its corrupted breath. He cast the same shield spell again before the dragon roared and released its breath.
As breath fought against shield, Gawain thought about the how the Lumenar fragment behaved. It was indeed composed of the Lumen, but having been given life from Lorian's essence, it did have certain human qualities. Self-defense was one of them. It appeared to attack anything in its vicinity that it perceived as a threat. Right now, that was Amadeus.
Gawain needed some way to make the fragment attack the dragon to buy him time for the crucifixion. The dragon's breath abated, and it pushed its talons deeper into the tower pinning Gawain against the wall even more firmly.
Gawain was not too concerned about the talons. The basic defenses that the Lumen provided when he was connected to it was enough to keep him from getting killed when attacked by them. The breath was the most dangerous weapon. The first time he was hit by it, Gawain nearly lost consciousness, regaining it just in time to escape the maws of the wyrm. If he could only get the dragon to strike the Lumenar fragment...
Thinking quickly, Gawain dismissed the shields he had summoned and slammed both his palms onto the wall forming the exterior of the tower. As he had thought it would, the wall gave way and Gawain slipped away from the talons and into the interior of the tower.
The dragon roared in response and lashed with its tail against the wall, crumbling whatever remained of it.
Gawain needed to move quickly. The dragon was burrowing into the tower to try and catch him. Flying through several corridors and blasting away when he reached a wall, Gawain flew out into the open once again from the other side of the tower. He turned around and saw that the dragon was still in pursuit. It was slowed down a little, as it had to destroy more of the tower to make room for its large body.
Gawain started flying towards the fragment, which was presently attacking some of the skeletal mages that had gotten close to it. Amadeus was pummeling it with magic as Gawain watched.
He seemed hardly wounded
at all, while the fragment was being weakened with each passing moment.
Gawain heard the unmistakable flapping of the dragon's wings behind him.
He quickly launched the crescent of light towards the incoming dragon. It wouldn't hurt it much, but it would aggravate it into using its strongest weapon. And it came. The creature opened its mouth wide as it hurtled towards him. Gawain's entire visual field was filled with black as the breath poured out and flew toward him in cascades. Gawain summoned a narrow shield that was just enough to protect himself alone. Barely.
Perfect. He turned and saw the black breath strike the Lumenar fragment.
Just as he had thought it would, the fragment turned its full attention to the dragon. It lunged at it with its scythe held aloft and met the dragon just before it could reach Gawain.
The scythe met the gigantic maw and stopped the dragon in its tracks.
This was where Gawain needed to be careful. He had to put the large dragon in between himself and Amadeus. The Lumenar fragment preferred physical combat with its scythe to casting spells. Gawain couldn't move too far away otherwise he would attract Amadeus's attention.
Finding the best position he possibly could, Gawain began casting. If it were interrupted, it would be a complete waste of his energy. He had only ever cast this spell during practice. He had theorized that if he ever needed to use it in battle, he would summon shields to protect himself, but there was too little time for that now. All appeared well as he saw the fragment continue the battle with Irith'arcana. They were a tangle of bones and armor, of black and gold as they struck and tore at each other brutally.
Gawain looked up and saw Amadeus floating a short distance away from both the dragon and the fragment.
No! He had seen what Gawain was doing.
Amadeus had a wicked smile on his face as he prepared to release his corrupted lightning. The spell would be enough to break Gawain's casting sequence. Gawain focused, intoning each cant and aligning it with the ever-changing nature of the Lumen. Amadeus was still casting.
This would be an extremely powerful strike, thought Gawain as he tried to maintain focus. Amadeus released the lightning as Gawain braced himself.
Gawain saw a blur in front him. Rhaen. She blocked the lightning strike. Her arm was exuding smoke and was covered in black sparks.
"Foolish girl! Step aside!" shouted Amadeus as he spread his arms and began casting.
Gawain knew this spell. The black pillar of light that he had first used when Gawain had brought up Iothen's name. He hoped that Rhaen would be able to defend against it for a few moments. That was all he needed to complete his spell. Rhaen was summoning Lumenar shields to absorb the strike.
No! They were too thin! Gawain wanted to scream out a warning, but he was getting too distracted. The flow of the Lumen had changed again, and he had almost missed the changes to the Alekh. Cursing himself, he focused. He had to trust in Rhaen to protect him. She had seen what he was doing and had put herself in harm's way so that it could be done. Once the dragon was incapacitated, he would be able to focus his full energies on Amadeus.
It was done.
At the same time, Gawain felt the massive build-up of necromantic energy as Amadeus brought both his outstretched arms together. The pillar of black light was released. It ripped through Rhaen's shields and struck her square in the chest. She was hurled into Gawain's body as the force of Amadeus's spell sent both of them tumbling from the air. She groaned in pain. Gawain held her as they dropped from the sky in free fall.
Gawain saw five gold discs appear in the sky. The crucifixion was underway.
Irith'arcana was at the center of the discs. In a flash, each of the five discs released a large spear of golden light, impaling the skeletal dragon from all the directions. The dragon roared in pain as the spears ripped through bone and black energy, pinning the dragon mid-air. However strong Irith'arcana was, Gawain knew it would be powerless for the duration of the spell. It would give them enough time to focus on Amadeus.
"It worked..." said Rhaen weakly.
She was trying to maintain her balance, but she was too weak. Gawain held her and swung his hand in an arc, forming a golden dome just in time to intercept another pillar of light from Amadeus.
"Can you stand on your own?" asked Gawain gently.
Rhaen nodded in response.
"It's time to finish this," said Gawain as he released her to stay afloat using her own magic.
The Lumenar fragment had wasted no time in turning its attention back to Amadeus. The impaled dragon was motionless and suspended in mid-air. The creature would remain in stasis for at least ten minutes.
"Well done, keeper," said Amadeus, laughing. "I have never seen this variant of the Lumen before. Temporary, but effective for this moment."
Gawain flew up and stood opposite him. He was subconsciously calling upon the Lumen to replenish his magical energy. He noticed that more of the skeletal hordes were now on the towers. Several of them had mounted skeletal winged steeds and were taking flight and heading toward them.
Before Gawain could speak to her, Rhaen sped in the direction of the approaching hordes. Amadeus's spell had wounded her, but she should be able to hold off most of the minions, thought Gawain.
He cleared his head as he prepared to face Amadeus. He could not afford to worry about Rhaen now. He had once chosen her as his successor. With good reason. He had to trust that she would be able to take care of her opponents. Amadeus seemed to be doing the same thing. Gawain noticed that their magical auras were on par with each other. The black shroud had gotten darker and had expanded around him to three times its original size.
The purest form of the Lumen, as with many elemental spells, was raw energy. In almost all schools of magic, the visual manifestation of a spell served a purpose beyond mere intimidation or vanity. The main purpose was to lend stability to the spell being cast. There were words in the Alekh to describe basic shapes. These shapes were also easy to visualize—orbs, arcs and even shapes of real objects such as swords. Releasing a spell in the form of raw energy was often exceedingly hard even for the most accomplished mages. Absent shape, it was hard to describe the form that the caster wished the spell to take.
Unless they were fluent enough in the Alekh that they could describe and control the various formless shapes that they saw.
Younger mages were often taught to use the shapes they knew best. There was one small disadvantage with this. Shaping the raw energy for release led to losing some of that energy—a minute portion of it. In schools, mages were taught never to bother too much with refining the shaping process, and to just accept the loss that came with it. The amount of energy one lost while shaping was not large enough to make a difference to the strength of the spell. Unless you were dealing with abnormally large quantities of energy, in which case the amount that was shaved off during the shaping process was quite significant.
At this point, the amount of energy that Gawain was pulling into his own body from the Lumen exceeded anything he had ever done before. Even casting the simplest shape would lead to the loss of enormous quantities of Lumenar energy. To truly use the Lumen, he would have to release everything that he was drawing in.
Amadeus seemed to have finished his preparation and spread his arms for his signature spell. The pillar of darkness. Gawain knew that Amadeus had been storing large quantities of energy from the necromantic plane. Gawain knew what would happen when Amadeus brought his hands together.
Gawain too brought his hands together. What erupted from his fingers was a golden river of pure Lumenar energy, bursting at its seams into formless blobs as Gawain struggled to adapt his chanting to its flow. It met the pillar of darkness head on.
The plane of necromancy was the polar opposite of the Lumen—the magic of the gods and thus the magic that forged life. A swirling orb of black and gold formed as the two mages clashed once again.
Chapter 54
It took a few moments for Lorian to realize that
he was conscious. The bright light had blinded him and slowly faded away. He didn't know long he had just been lying in the chamber. Except for a feeling of complete weightlessness, he didn't know if the infusion had been completed.
The chamber was still completely dark. He could feel nothing.
He tried moving his arms. They felt weightless. Had he gone blind? He didn't remember the chamber being this large.
He took a couple of steps forward and banged his face into the door. Cursing under his breath, he swung his leg and kicked open the door to the chamber.
His eyes began burning as the light from the laboratory entered the chamber. Covering them with his hand, he made his way outside the chamber. He removed the hand and tried to observe his surroundings.
The room was exactly as he had left it, save for the broken door of the infusion chamber, which had flown all the way to the center of the room.
Had he gotten stronger?
Lorian stretched his body and found that he could move without any hindrance. And he didn't feel the need to retch as he had been doing ever since he was freed from the runic circle. On the contrary, he felt hungry.
As far as Lorian could tell, the only difference he could see was a slight change in his physical strength. And his eyes. He had to blink much more often to prevent them from burning. He would get used to it, he thought.
Magic. That was the next step. Would he still be able to cast spells?
He raised one hand and narrowed his eyes to prevent them from burning as he concentrated. As he thought about the incantations, he could feel a thin strand of connection to the elemental plane of fire.
That was good, he thought, smiling to himself.
The second step now. He slowly uttered the incantations to draw the fire into his body. The fire began flowing in.
Now for the third and final step—the release.
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