The first was a large Ogre’i, the same one he had witnessed speaking to that crown in the Underdark, the one the voice had called Neruul, its Herald. His head and body were covered in furs illuminated by the powerful golden glow emitted by the second figure, Helena.
Aziel’s mother.
“Seal the door!” she commanded as her pristine white-feathered wings unfurled behind her. A yellow mist formed around her outstretched hand while her other held on to a young boy. It didn’t take Aziel long to recognize himself.
A group of Ogre’i positioned themselves beside a massive boulder and pushed, their veins popping and muscles bulging as they pressed their bodies against it with all their strength. The boulder began to roll until it shifted heavily into place, sealing the opening with them all inside.
His mother, who had been releasing light mana all this time, swiftly weaved a series of symbols. The yellow symbols pulsed before shattering into tiny pieces of pure golden light. They flew and spun around the gate, imprinting themselves onto it until a complex circular pattern covered its face.
“That should hold them for now,” Helena said as the sound of an explosion came from above, accompanied by a light trembling of the room they were in. Dust, along with small pieces of debris fell from the ceiling as each race got to work.
Aziel surveyed the scene playing out before him. The Valkyrie were using their weaving to fill the walls with more of the same circular patterns his mother had created, while the Grauda and Ogre’i were moving rocks to barricade any possible entrance point.
They were preparing for a last stand, Aziel realized.
The people around him did not react to his presence, and the whole experience had a hazy feel to it, like a dream. Aziel knew this was a memory as he stepped closer to his younger self. The boy-Aziel sat atop a small outcropping of rock, his mother next to him, watching Neruul scribble a complex series of runes and lines on the floor with a length of chalk.
Aziel’s attention fell upon himself. He was so young, and Aziel could see the fear in his own eyes, the uncertainty. His mother gripped his hand tightly as she watched him with a gentle and warm smile before turning to Neruul once again.
“How did they find us?” Helena asked as two male Valkyries came to stand beside her, their plate armor reflecting the collective light emanating from their wings.
Neruul snarled at her question. “We face the World Seed and its agents, not some random faction. Understand the threat quickly, Helena, or you will not survive long enough to do what you must.”
“You said he could be hidden, protected,” Helena replied as she pulled the younger Aziel closer.
Aziel noted the anxiety in her expression and tone. It was a far cry from the warrior he had grown used to seeing.
His mother was frightened, shaken even.
“I was wrong, I didn’t expect them to be so forceful. This is madness.” Neruul’s words were underlined by another explosion from above, followed by even more dust and debris falling amongst them.
“You said—”
“I know what I said, Helena,” Neruul interrupted, his growing anger and frustration coating his words.
“You da—” one of the Valkyrie guards began to say, but stopped when Helena gripped his arm.
“It is fine, we are all feeling the strain,” she said. “What is our plan? Why did you bring us here?”
Neruul let out a long breath before settling on the ground, one hand rubbing his forehead.
“Hiding him in the Abyssal Paths will not be enough.”
Helena hugged Aziel’s younger self tightly to her side as her wing curved protectively around him. “Where else could we possibly hide him? I thought the Abyssal Roads were hidden from the Seed’s direct sight.”
Neruul shook his head. “Nothing is completely hidden from the Seed, not when its mark is as ubiquitous as it is here in Kadora. It will merely be harder for it to pierce the veil where the Nexus’s power is the strongest.” He paused, then seemed to speak the next words to himself. “I never imagined they would land their forces on the surface. The Overseers are usually content with the long-term manipulation of events. Using quests and rewards, pitting groups they need handled against one another. This… this is too extreme.” He again began chalking symbols on the floor.
“What about the other realms? You told me there were many. Can’t we hide him in one of them?”
“I checked already; the paths are blocked. The Seed’s influence has spread further than I could have ever imagined.”
“So what else is there? And what is it you are preparing?” Helena asked, her gaze roaming over the complex drawing.
“The final solution,” Neruul said without looking up from his work.
Aziel noticed his mother’s expression harden. “Sounds ominous.”
“It is,” Neruul responded quickly, throwing away a stub of chalk before pulling a fresh one from his pouch to continue drawing. “If the Young Master cannot hide somewhere, then we must remove him from existence completely. Disconnect him from the Nexus and the Seed.”
“What?” Helena asked. “You make it sound like he’ll be dead.”
“No, not dead,” Neruul said as he stopped what he was doing to watch Aziel’s younger self for a few moments. “A refugee, away from everyone and everything.”
Helena gasped at his words. “No, I won’t allow it!” she hissed, pulling Aziel back. The whole room grew tense as the Valkyries followed their queen’s lead, bearing their arms.
Neruul stood and glared at Helena, his teeth bared. He was tall enough to tower over her. The other Ogre’i followed his lead and growled as they fanned out in all directions, ready to fight at a moment’s notice.
Aziel watched the standoff in amazement. The whole situation had fractured so quickly. Only the Grauda did not take sides; instead, they moved to the edges of the room, hoping to not be pulled into any battle between these two powerful races.
This was the moment. He knew it with every part of him—this was the moment that had changed the course of his life. He watched with great anticipation: he wanted to see how it had been decided. He needed to see it.
“I never agreed to this, Neruul,” Helena said, pushing Aziel behind her. The other four Valkyries formed a protective perimeter around them, their silver armor and weapons gleaming. “You told me he would be hidden, not exiled. You told me it would be temporary, just until things settled. This… No, I won’t have it.”
“It is the only way!” Neruul roared. “If they find him, it will all be over. This realm as well as the others will stay under the Seed’s control. Need I remind you the cost to your own race? This is bigger than you or I.”
Helena glared back at the Ogre’i leader, the intensity of her gaze matching his. “I don’t care about that, I never did. How real is this place you wish him to live in, how long will you leave him in there, alone? He is a child. He does not deserve to be imprisoned.”
“He is the future Sovereign; sacrifices must be—”
“Then you sacrifice whatever you wish of yourself. How could you stoop so low as to ask a child to sacrifice for something he does not understand? To ask the boy you have built up as some sort of savior to endure so much? No. I won’t have it.”
Neruul shook his head, his powerful gaze softening as he glanced at the palm of his hand before closing it into a fist. “I intend to sacrifice everything. All that I am, my future, the future of my race if I have to,” he said, his voice somber, before meeting the Valkyrie’s gaze again. “He will live, Helena. Can you say that with any certainty if we don’t do this?”
Another explosion sounded, shockingly nearby, and Aziel wondered how many more this place could withstand before collapsing. The standoff continued as both parties glared at each other.
“How will he return? If you and I are dead, how will he come back home?” she asked, breaking away to kneel before his younger self, her hands on his shoulders.
Aziel watched his mother. The sorrow i
n her eyes. The tremble of her hands. Even in the face of her own death, she worried for him.
“The ritual will be precise. Once the Sovereign’s power within him awakens, the new realm will push him out. I promise.”
“How long?” Helena asked.
“As long as it takes.”
“That is not good enough, Neruul.”
“It will have to be, it’s the only chance we have,” he growled. “He will be asleep in a dream world. With this ritual, the Seed will have no power over him, none at all. It won’t even be able to track him. He can grow powerful without any of its restriction or interference.” Neruul looked down at his chalk drawing then back at Helena. “I beg of you, Helena, I wouldn’t do this unless I felt we had no other choice. I am trying to save his life.”
Helena exhaled. “My Aziel,” she murmured as she embraced him.
“Mother,” the young Aziel said as he returned the embrace. “I’ll be fine, so don’t worry. I trust uncle Ru.”
His words appeared to hit his mother quite hard, as tears began to fall from her eyes. “I don’t know what will happen, but even apart, you will always be in my thoughts. Never forget that. Never.” Her voice cracked as she pulled him even closer.
“You’re crushing me,” the boy-Aziel complained.
“Just bear it a little longer,” she replied, holding him firmly against her before slowly releasing him and standing. Her eyes narrowed as she met Neruul’s gaze once more.
“I am trusting you with what I hold most dear, Herald. Can you really do it?”
Neruul hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
What followed was a flurry of activity as Neruul guided the Grauda and Ogre’i to complete the chalk drawing, while the Valkyrie took over reinforcing the walls against the ever-increasing explosions from above—explosions which sounded closer with every occasion.
Soon, most of the floor was covered in complex curves and glyphs, at the center of which was a small circle where the boy-Aziel stood. His mother stood beside him, hugging him tightly one last time before she and the rest of the Valkyrie stood to one side by the door.
The Grauda and the rest of the Ogre’i, however, sat at specific points all around and within the complex chalk drawing, with Neruul himself just a few feet from the center.
“Don’t worry, Young Master. It might be lonely, but at least you will be safe.”
“Yes, Uncle Ru,” the young Aziel replied with a smile.
“What do we do from out here?” Helena cried. “I don’t see any spot for me or my Honor Guard.”
Neruul smiled at her. “You and the other Valkyrie must keep up the fight. Once the ritual is complete, you must escape and make the Seed pay as high a price as you can.”
Helena frowned at that, but didn’t argue.
“Let us begin.” Neruul closed his eyes and began releasing copious amounts of mana. To Aziel’s surprise, it was soul mana. Starting from the outer perimeter, the white chalk began to glow as the mana infused its lines, and a low hum filled the room. Aziel watched in amazement, then in horror as the Grauda and Ogre’i began to choke and violently shake—their bodies shrinking into dry husks, their vessels ripped from their chests. They were being Siphoned, and quickly.
As more of them succumbed to the ritual, a rotating orb of soul mana began to coalesce at the center of the chamber, right above his younger self. Seeing this, Neruul reached into his pouch and pulled out eight fist-sized crystals: one of each mana type.
Just as the Siphon began to affect him, he picked each one and tossed it into the rotating orb of soul mana. Each time, the orb expanded and changed color to correspond to the crystal it had consumed. By the time Neruul tossed in the last—a golden crystal—he had already shrunk to less than half his original size. His face looked as if it had aged a hundred years in moments. His right hand, the one he had used to toss the crystals, had shriveled to the point where it simply dropped off.
Aziel watched the Ogre’i as he struggled to complete the ritual, the strength and power he once had being quickly sucked out of him.
The now significantly larger golden orb hovered above them: a dense golden mist, with ribbons of light dancing within it.
“Uncle Ru?” Aziel’s younger self asked, his voice more fearful now as he watched Neruul waste away just a few feet from where he stood.
“It’s… it’s not enough…” Neruul said, struggling to catch his breath. He coughed, a gobbet of blood falling to the ground as he turned to Helena. “I’m sorry, a higher price is required,” he said—and just as his mother’s eyes widened, Neruul screamed, and the entire ritual space flashed a bright white.
Aziel heard his younger self cry out in pain, but he was blinded to everything that was occurring. When it all faded, Aziel was no longer in the cave, but in a painfully familiar desert of golden sands. It was the place he had been trapped in. Beside him was his younger self, clearly confused as he gazed around, his hands clasped against his chest as he took in the world he had been placed in.
Tears formed in Aziel’s eyes. It was if a long-forgotten chest had just been unlocked within him. Once-vanished memories flooded into his mind. Flashes of his childhood, his mother’s tender care and love. His introduction to races of all kinds and sizes. Grauda females hissing at him in frustration as they cleaned the many messes he had made whilst playing. Neruul hefting him above his broad shoulders as he ran through wide halls and open gardens. The joy coming through to him even from experiences long past.
Then came the training. Weapons and martial arts under a diverse set of masters. Aziel’s liking of the blade and the resulting focus on it. His mother chastising him for trying to skimp on his academic lessons. And finally, under the direct tutelage of Neruul, the nature of rituals.
The joyous parts of his memories did not last long, however, as after the care and love that went into the first short chapter of his life, came the lengthy chapter of isolation.
The time he had spent in this prison world.
Aziel looked up at the familiar sky, a false sky he had seen for most of his life. A sky obstructed by the individual grains of sand gliding through the air upon a gust of wind.
He watched as a young boy grew into the man he was today, traveling through a tiny world in exile, oblivious to why he was here or who he even was. He clung to a hope he did not even remember.
Aziel forced his eyes closed, not wanting to see anymore. He couldn’t bear it—the loneliness, the emptiness of it all. Forgetting his memories seemed a blessing now that he had seen what it was he had lost. His heart ached, and just as that same helplessness was about to take him, he felt a different kind of wind brush over him. He opened his eyes to find that he was no longer within his dreams, his memories.
He was back.
Chapter 20
It was twilight, and Aziel lay within a ruined stone room. Burns scarred its every surface. Other than a single melted candle with its flickering flame, the only source of light was the moon and stars which filtered through the cracks in the ceiling.
Aziel sat up on the small rock platform he was lying on. His mind was still processing the river of memories flowing through it. He looked at the ground, trying to find his balance, when realization struck.
Astrel.
He stood, frantic, before he remembered to focus and feel out her vessel. There. She was close. He ran, turning a corner into another candle-lit room of stone. He looked at her, his Grauda queen, sleeping peacefully on a similar platform. The other Grauda female lay beside her, also asleep.
Aziel let out a relieved sigh before remembering how she had been injured in the first place. More importantly—remembering who else was here. Dark thoughts churned as a sudden blazing wildfire of rage filled him.
Using his Nature Sense, he strode along the ruined corridors of the fort, before descending a set of stairs and into what must have previously been the large mess hall. There he was, alone, sitting on a pile of rubble with his staff leaning against his leg whi
le his hand held what appeared to be some sort of pipe. The figure raised the thin end of the pipe to his mouth, placing the tip between his lips and taking in a deep inhalation. He held the breath for a long moment before exhaling a thick puff of smoke.
“Neruul,” Aziel said, forcing the words out through gritted teeth.
The old Ogre’i turned in his seat, a strained smile on his face when he noticed Aziel’s anger.
“Young Master,” he replied with a slight bow of his head. “Sit with—”
Aziel threw his hands forward, a wave of nature mana rushing out of him as he willed the spell into existence. Massive vines broke through the rock to curl around Neruul, the old Ogre’i’s eyes opening wide as he struggled in vain to free himself.
“You,” Aziel spat, his rage overwhelming all else. “Do you know what you put me through?”
“Jar, don’t,” Neruul squeezed out, and Aziel ducked just in time to avoid a club from smashing into him.
He spun, avoiding another swing as Jar roared his battle cry. Aziel’s lips twisted in annoyance as he leapt back to dodge yet another swing. Even though the Ogre’i’s many injuries were still visible all over his body, the power behind his blows didn’t appear any weaker than Aziel remembered. Even so, now that Aziel did not have to deal with a debilitating numbness and pain, his Reflex ability more than easily kept him out of the Ogre’i’s reach.
Without another thought, Aziel unleashed a cloud of earth mana and forced it to follow his will, the spell snapping into existence before he added several empowerment symbols to it.
“Do not think me helpless as before,” Aziel said before tossing the empowered spell to the ground. “Entomb.”
Rock burst out of the ground to engulf the Ogre’i warrior. He swung his club, trying to break out of it just as the female Ogre’i had the last time, but these rocks did not shatter. His club hit the rock and immediately bounced back—the immense quantity of mana Aziel had pumped into it had turned the rock almost to metal.
Jar’s expression shifted from anger to shock as he tried to break free of the rock and failed once more. Realizing the hopelessness of the endeavor, he dropped his club and instead attempted to jump out of the trap, but it was too late. The rocks expanded and twisted around him until he disappeared completely behind them.
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