The Ravens of Death (Tsun-Tsun TzimTzum Book 4)

by Mike Truk

  “I know now what I am.” There was victory in her voice, along with pain. “The first time, when Noah and my mother helped me accept my demon, I thought we’d won. But in truth what we did was simply deepen the bonds of trust and love between us. Something Alusz could never understand. So when my demon came forth at last, up above, I was able to forge that final bond with Noah, to accept his love in a way that… that… made my demon… powerless.”

  She smiled at me, a broken, helpless smile, without reserve or her customary coolness. Tears ran down her face, and in her eyes, I saw love and gratitude and joy. “Thank you, Noah. You saved me.”

  I swallowed the knot in my throat, only managing a nod, with my own smile as helpless and joyful as her own.

  “Thank you, all of you,” said Neveah, turning to regard the others. “For… putting up with me. For giving me the time I needed. My power has always come between me and real friends. I’ve never had equals. But you all. You are more than my equals. You are my friends. I… I love all of you, though those words still are strange to me, the concept… dangerous. Thank you. I promise. I swear to you all that I will never… never…”

  Emma moved forward and embraced Neveah, holding her tight. Imogen stepped in right behind her, then Brielle and Valeria.

  Neveah looked startled, then bowed her head, resting it against Emma’s, and closed her eyes.

  When they separated, Brielle sniffed and smiled caustically. “If you all are expecting me to open my heart and share how wonderful you are, keep waiting.”

  Emma laughed. “That truly would be one of the signs of the apocalypse.”

  “Seriously,” said Valeria. “What happened to your hair?”

  “Noah was about to die,” said Emma simply. “I was the only one who could save him. So I guess I freaked out and burst open Manipura and… Sahaswara, I guess?”

  Valeria raised her eyebrows. “You opened the seventh sanskara?”

  “Don’t be so impressed,” said Brielle drolly. “Given how you helped Emma and I just now, I’d guess you have, too.”

  “What?” Valeria took a step back, raised her glowing white hands as if to fend off an attack. “Me?”

  “Heavenfire,” said Imogen. “Only those in touch with Sahaswara can manifest it.”

  “But… I don’t, I mean…”

  Emma laughed and slipped an arm around the Valkyrie’s waist. “Heavenfire buddies!”

  Valeria still looked overwhelmed. “But…”

  “But what?” I asked. “You thought you were still without powers? Looks like you just jumped to the top of the class.”

  “Sahaswara?” Valeria’s face had gone pale. “Me?” And then her knees went weak and she would have fallen if Emma hadn’t caught her.

  “Help!” said Emma. “She’s heavy!”

  Aspara stepped in, and together they moved Valeria to the closest stone seat.

  “Why did you need help?” asked Brielle. “You’ve got access to Manipura now, right?”

  “Doesn’t mean I know how to use it properly,” said Emma, crouching before Valeria, hands on her knees. “You all right?”

  “I’m… yes.” Valeria rubbed her glowing hands over her face. “Just… I never thought…”

  “I know what you mean.” Emma took a lock of her white hair and scrutinized it. “A lot of changes.”

  Imogen crossed her arms and smiled fondly. “I remember a time not long ago when you couldn’t even access Muladhara, Emma. Now you’ve tapped it along with Anahata, Manipura, and Sahaswara. You’re a regular prodigy. Both of you. But don’t think you’ll attain such power levels again so soon. When a practitioner breaks through to a new sanskara, they often enjoy a huge boost from the Source. An unleashing of their power that is many magnitudes higher than what they’ll normally have. From hereon out, you’ll need to work hard to achieve those power levels again.”

  “So… I defeated that emperor guy so easily because… I broke through to Manipura and Sahaswara?”

  “And, I imagine, because you were so concerned for Noah.” Imogen considered her kindly. “You must have reached down to the very essence of your soul in that moment to manifest the powers that you did.”

  Valeria frowned down at her own glowing hands.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Emma softly.

  “I’ve spent…” Valeria’s voice choked off with emotion. She screwed her eyes closed tightly, then opened them with a gasp. “I’ve been such a fool. I’ve spent so much of the past few months feeling sorry for myself, feeling like a burden, that…”

  “That’s how you’ve come to see yourself?” asked Emma gently. “That’s who you’ve become?”

  “Yes,” said Valeria softly.

  “I know how that feels. I was there, as well.”

  “And now… now it feels almost… violent… to have to redefine myself. To think of myself as… more than that.” Tears filled Valeria’s eyes. “I’ve wasted so much time feeling sorry for myself.”

  “That’s behind us now,” I said. “And that path led you to where you are now. We’ve all made mistakes, me more than most. But everything we’ve done has been necessary to get us here. Understood?”

  Valeria sniffed sharply and then gave a sharp nod. “Yes. Understood.”

  “How are you feeling?” I asked Imogen. “You killed something like thirty bad guys back there and then dropped like a stone. You all right?”

  “Fine,” said Imogen with a warm smile. “And moderately delighted to have access to Manipura now.” She raised both hands excited little fists and rose to the balls of her feet. “I can fly now!”

  “Flying buddies!” said Emma, stepping over to high five her.

  “I feel almost sorry for Lilith,” said Brielle. “The sheer amount of giggly cheer we’re going to attack her with will surely ruin her day.”

  Emma stuck out her tongue.

  “Are we ready to go now?” asked Neveah, moving back to the Fulcrum. “Even though the Nithing-Lord is defeated, there’s no saying others won’t come to investigate.”

  I moved to stand before the Fulcrum. “Malkuth. Imogen? What do we need to know?”

  “It’s the final sphere,” said Imogen, adjusting her spectacles. “Its position means it cannot be understood as a reflection of any of the other spheres, such as how Gharab means an endless pursuit of meaningless victories once it’s deprived of the wisdom and understanding of Chokmah and Chesed, the positive versions of Ghogiel and Gha-Agsheblah. All the other spheres are related to each other, but not Malkuth. It stands alone. It doesn’t express a tenth quality of divine creation, but is rather the expression of all focused and manifested powers of the Tree of Death. It’s the concentration and materialization of all the preceding spheres.”

  Emma frowned. “It’s the sum of all the other spheres? As in, it contains all their qualities in one?”

  “Like a queen within her queendom,” said Imogen. “All the negative forces of the other spheres are condensed and merged in Malkuth, which is a culmination of all the demonic forces. Which is why it is Lilith’s realm, for in Lilith all forms of corruption can be found. It has been speculated that she is the realm, and the realm is her; that she cannot be defeated, for the nature of those demonic urges are universal and therefore eternal.”

  “Wait,” I said. “She can’t be defeated?”

  Imogen shrugged unhappily. “This is where endless scholarly research finds its limits. We’re dealing with hypotheticals now, the conclusions that philosophers and professors have derived from the lessons of the Tree of Life. Nobody really knows. But Lilith is said to be a universal force, a manifestation of entropy, or the personification of the worst impulses that have always existed within all of us.”

  “That, um, doesn’t sound encouraging,” said Aspara.

  I rubbed at my jaw. “Morgana said she was as natural as entropy, and thus undefeatable. That she was the natural endpoint of the universe, part of the endless cycle of birthstars. The Magus in the manifold said the
same thing.”

  Neveah’s voice was cold and certain. “She can be defeated. Her forces can be thrown back from the spheres, which, when reclaimed, will return to the Source and once more become the Tree of Life.”

  “Yeah?” Brielle examined her nails. “And how do we do that?”

  “I don’t know.” Neveah smiled apologetically. “But the very fact that the Source has blessed us, drawn us together, and sent us on this quest means it’s possible. We exist, and by existing, make her defeat possible.”

  “Then we’ll defeat her,” I said. “Though Malkuth sounds fucking awful. The combination of all the other Qlipothic spheres in one? Fucking hell.”

  We stood in silence, absorbing that idea.

  “Malkuth,” said Emma softly. “Back in Bastion, when this all started, it seemed so impossibly far away. Like something we’d never reach.”

  “Yet here we are,” said Valeria. “The end game.”

  “The end game,” agreed Imogen. “Fortunately for us, we’ve never been stronger. And with inexhaustible supplies of magic, it will take a formidable force to stop us.”

  “Agreed.” I rolled my head about in my neck, eliciting a few pops, and then rested my hand on Shard’s pommel. “Wherever Lilith is now, she knows we’re coming. And I’ll bet she’s scared.”

  “I don’t think even Pelleas was in as good a condition as we are when he reached this point,” said Imogen. “From all we’ve heard, he made it through, but lost companions and was weakened.”

  “That’s because he made the mistake of not having you guys as his companions,” I said.

  Brielle arched an eyebrow. “You know how old I was when he left Bastion? It would have been in questionable taste to ask me to join him then.”

  “You know what I mean,” I said.

  One by one, we oriented on that purple pyramid. Drawn as if by its own gravitational well, we gathered about it.

  “We ready to go?” asked Valeria softly.

  “Our reserves are full,” said Imogen.

  “Nobody’s injured,” said Aspara.

  “I could use a cat nap,” said Brielle, “and perhaps a bath, but otherwise, sure.”

  Valeria rolled her eyes. “Somethings never change.”

  “Thank goodness,” I said. “But yeah. I think it’s time.”

  We stared in silence at the Fulcrum for a while longer. I kept trying to imagine what a sphere composed of the worst essences of every Qlipothic sphere would be like and failed.

  My imagination simply wasn’t up to the task.

  “Well, here goes,” I said, and before I could hesitate further, placed my hand on the Fulcrum.

  It was ice cold to the touch. A jolt ran through me, and a moment later, a thin thread of purple fire emerged from its tip. Spearing out, it outlined a portal that came roaring to life.

  The portal was large and oval; its rim was composed of a dozen different hues, purple and black fire merging with crimson and noxious green. Copper and bronze were threaded through as well, along with lead and the darkest of blues. All of these colors merged, separated, and flowed over each other, but the heart of the portal was a nullity of depthless black.

  “Hold hands,” I said. “We’re not getting separated ever again.”

  Emma stepped forward to take mine and reached for Brielle’s in turn. Brielle took Imogen’s hand, who took Valeria’s, who took Aspara’s, who took Neveah’s at the rear.

  I stepped up to the portal, seeking some hint of what lay beyond in its depths, but saw nothing.

  No sign of the hellscape that awaited us.

  “Good luck, everyone,” said Neveah from the back, which struck me both as uncharacteristic and a sign of her growth.

  Emma leaned back to kiss Brielle full on the lips, surprising the princess. “Good luck,” she whispered.

  “Luck,” said Valeria, and I heard in her voice that iron resolve of old, that steadfast courage and determination to see the battle through.

  “Good luck!” said Imogen brightly. “Though I’m sure we won’t need it.”

  “Good luck,” said Brielle, trying for wry mockery, and failing completely.

  “Luck to all of us,” said Aspara quietly.

  “Good luck,” I whispered, and holding onto Emma’s hand tightly, I stepped into the final portal, leading us all into the dread realm of Malkuth.

  THE END

  Glossary

  The Sanskaras

  First Sanskara: Muladhara (moo-lad-hah-rah) is the center of stability, security, and our basic needs. Located between the genitals and the anus, it is the foundation and root of all power. When one connects to this sanskara, they feel safe and fearless.

  Offensive magics (Levenbolt, Fire, Heavenfire, Shadowbolt, etc)

  Stealth/Shadow

  Second Sanskara: The Svadhisthana (s’vad-his-thah-nah) sanskara is the center of creativity and sexuality. Located behind the navel, it is responsible for creative expression, especially when it comes to sexually bonding with others.

  Green Path

  Seduction

  Third Sanskara: The Manipura (man-ee-poor-ah) sanskara is the center of personal power, strength, and vitality. It is located between the navel and the breastbone.

  Flight

  Protean/Celerity/Fortitude

  The Fourth Sanskara: Anahata (anna-hah-tah) forges the connection between Matter and Spirit and is located at the heart. It is the middle of the seven sanskaras and unites the lower three to the upper sanskaras of spirit. The fourth is also spiritual but serves as a bridge between a mage’s body, mind, emotions, and spirit. The heart sanskara is the source of love and connection.

  Healing

  Wards

  Fifth Sanskara: The Vishuddha (vih-shoo-dah) is the fifth sanskara, located in the area of the throat. This is the source of verbal expression and the ability to speak one’s highest truth.

  Psyche-Imperium

  Sixth Sanskara: The Ajna (ah-j’na) sanskara is located in between the eyebrows. It is also referred to as the “third eye” sanskara. Ajna is the center of intuition, and allows the perception of that which lies beyond the mortal realm.

  Geomancy

  Oneiromancy

  Seventh Sanskara: The Sahaswara (sah-as-warra) sanskara or the “thousand petal lotus” sanskara is located at the crown of the head. This is the sanskara of enlightenment and spiritual connection to one’s higher selves, others, and ultimately, to the Source.

  Focused Mind

  Alchemy

  Glossary

  The Tree of Life and Death

  Kether

  Kether represents the first and purest emanation of the Source, the first moment of creation, and marks the moment of first motion, before that energy turns into form, self, or matter. It is the highest point that can be conceptualized, yet it cannot be understood by rational minds. It is the single point upon which all variations and aspects of reality converge, the crown of the Tree of Life, and final home to Bastion, where the followers of the Source seek to keep Lilith’s followers at bay.

  Ghogiel

  The realm of Ghogiel was once Chokmah, the male aspect of Kether, known as ‘the father’ and the realm of wisdom. It represented the overflowing of divine energy, the unshaped forces of creation. Chokmah could be seen as the point of origin of all dynamics and the beginning of perception. As Ghogiel, however, it is turned into a realm that is antagonistic to creative potential and motion. Its nature is defined by its tendency to block, to inhibit, and represents the death of the first seed of creation.

  Satoriel

  Formerly known as Binah, the ‘mother’ to Chokmah’s ‘father’. There the divine energies were shaped and balanced, given structure and form. Its opposite is Satoriel, which represents the death of creative energy in pursuit of endless, lifeless structure. It is a realm where shapes and forms cloud the true nature of reality, where the essence of things are lost and perception is twisted.

  Belial

  Belial was once Daath
, the sphere of knowledge. It stemmed from the union of Chokmah and Binah, and is why knowledge is called ‘the son of wisdom and intelligence’. There is much to Daath that provoked scholars, who debated its place in the tree of life, but it is said to have been the secret entrance and exit point from the first triad—Kether, Chokmah, and Binah—to the next three spheres in the tree of life.

  Similarly, its Qlipothic version, Belial, is the gateway through which Lilith’s forces assaulted the First Triad, the secret path that allowed them to slip past defenses. If Daath is knowledge, Belial is the blockage of such, making the pursuit of knowledge an end in and of itself. When the desire to learn becomes lust for information, when greed for knowledge overcomes all, one loses the ability to continue one’s spiritual journey and becomes trapped in the ivory tower of secret information. That knowledge is sterile, and Belial takes the value of knowledge—which should be a portal from one state of being to another—and turns it into a dead end.

  Golohab

  Golohab is the Qlipothic aspect of Geburah, where the universal forces of giving shape and form compressed to become the severity of a court of justice. As Geburah’s opposite, Golohab exhibits the mindless and merciless violence which judges according to biased standards, it is wrath and fury against life, a realm of judgement and merciless violence, a realm of anger and fire.

  Gha Agsheblah

  Gha Agsheblah is where the divine force that animates the world is spread too thin and represents misguided and unbalanced love which suffocates and ultimately kills the target of its affections. It was once Chesed, which reflected the divine love of the Source, its mercy, and kindness. Gha Agsheblah is the opposite of that. A land where love strangles and leads to cruelty and abuse.