by J D Franx
“I promised you. I will,” he said and nodded. Jasala vanished in a cloud of black smoke. A moment later, stepped out of the jump spell and met the first part of the demon army. As he stared, her words came back to him, but it was Akai’s voice he heard in his head. Words that Jasala had repeated dozens of times during the nearly two centuries they had fought together.
Join your control with the Tree of Life.
“Dammit,” Kael muttered. “I did that, Akai. What the hell am I missing?”
The tokens. Akai prompted. If the tokens are the control, putting them on the Tree of Life should work. Why hasn’t it? Think, Kael, think.
A loud explosion rocked the glade, and the barrier to Paradise fell away, giving him a hint. The Heretic angels followed Arreal through the breach.
Arreal’s fake tokens... like the others, they were just tokens—teeth, claws, and hair.
“Found you, little wizard,” the angel roared.
Kael ignored the Heretic but stared hard as the dilemma rolled through his mind. “Control is having the power… the magic… of all the afterlife dimensions. Dimensional doorways are opened by using magic…” he whispered. His voice trailed off as the answer finally dawned to him, and Akai screamed in his head.
Magic! Hit the tokens with your magic!
Turning back to the Tree of Life, Kael raised both of his arms and grasped his magic. Watching his tokens closely for a reaction, black magic rolled off his fingertips like oily black smoke, and he focused on the first dimensional token he received so long ago. He forced his magic into Rajazeye’s pendant, and it flared to life. Small vines grew from the bark of the tree and gently enveloped it while he moved on to the other eleven, activating each in proper order. The second his magic touched the last token, the snaking vines around the tree stirred from their slumber. Veins of purple throbbed within the tree and vines—like a heartbeat, a startling mockery of life.
The vines jumped and curled around his legs, quickly spreading up his body before they plunging into his chest through his deathflower. Overwhelming agony followed. only lasting seconds as a strange rush of energy entered his body. Identical to the rush that had helped him escape the demon queen, Kael opened his mind. The tree granted him knowledge he could not fathom. He smiled as a soul had been gifted to him by someone in the form of raw power, and it helped him push back the agony from the vines. At last, he knew how to get home.
The battle between Jasala and the demons echoed in his ears and he felt Arreal coming closer, but both meant little to him. He knew the Heretic angel would never reach him in time. A new arrival would ensure it. As the thought flit through his mind, Tydariel appeared on the field. She cut Arreal off, engaging him in battle.
The Tree of Life pulled Kael closer and his mind expanded further. Scenes of the past and future flashed through his mind faster than he could make sense of. A crack of magical power shook his body to the core. He saw the Arkangel, Seraphi, with her army standing at his guard. Her numerous soldiers split into two separate forces. Half followed after Tydariel and engaged Arreal’s Heretics while the others took to the air and dropped down on the demon hordes. He knew what would happen and he knew what Seraphi would say to him before she spoke.
“Stop, Kael. Please. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“No,” he snapped. “This time, I’m looking out for myself.”
“The consequences,” she said, trying again.
He was not interested in hearing it. “Damn the consequences. Goodbye, Seraphina.”
“Kael!” Seraphi screamed. “Never hand those tokens over to Salo.”
“I have to or Jasala—”
“—Kael, please, listen. Salo RedMaw is the Archdemon, Salotan. He was banished from hell for a very good reason. Please, trust me when I tell you handing those over to him will be the worst possible thing to happen to everyone, everywhere.”
“How can I trust you?” he retorted. “You said I’d be welcome in heaven. Your angels were worse than any demon. They used Jasala as a living energy source.”
“I am sorry,” she told him. “I truly am. There are heretics among the angels. My absence allowed them to grow stronger. I am so sorry. This was not supposed to happen this way.”
“But it did,” he told her. “The demons of hell have been more honest and trustworthy than you and any of your goddamn angels, so why should I break any deal with them?”
“I didn’t know, Kael. I have been tracking you through hell and to heaven and back this entire time.” She stopped talking and closed her eyes for only a second. “I am so sorry.”
Her emotions were legitimate as they rolled through his esoteric senses. “Then, I’m sorry too,” he said. “I will not sacrifice Jasala’s soul for you. She is the only one I can trust, and as long as her soul belongs to me, she can move freely through the afterlife and stay out of both your hands.”
“Then the Queen.” Seraphi gasped, trying one last time. “Only honor the Queen’s deal. Please! For the sake of all existence. Just the Queen’s. Please.”
Kael sensed that the tree would wait no longer so he shrugged and turned.
As he did, the Tree of Life dragged him inside.
“Please, believe me, Kael,” Seraphi whispered as a bright bolt of purple light rocketed from the tree up into the sky. It pierced the Void and disappeared. “Goodbye.”
The Tree of Life groaned under the pressure, and the trunk split from the ground up to the first branch and all the way to the twelfth—from the first tier of Paradise to the ninth hall of Perdition.
“Gods, no. That’s impossible!” Seraphi gasped and gently placed her hand on the tree. A liquid silver metal oozed from the cracks and wormed its way into the throbbing purple veins until both pulsed together, spreading throughout the entire tree. “That cannot be... what have you done, Kael? By the gods, what have we done?”
Seraphi stumbled away from the tree as the silver lashed out at her, continuing to spread. The Arkangel spread her wings and leapt into the air. Banking to the left, the Arkangel tucked in her wings and dove hard. Grasping Jasala by her hood, Seraphi jerked the DeathWizard into the air with her and flew away before signaling a general retreat of her forces.
A snap of angelic magic rocked the glade as both angel and DeathWizard disappeared back into Paradise with both the Heretic and heaven armies.
Chapter Fifteen
GODS
“Ever wonder where the gods came from? I am not a religious man. I do not pray and the closest I ever seem to get is when I take the name of numerous gods in vain, quite regularly. But have you ever really thought about where they came from? Or how they came to be? Why would they create this world and all the life within it? Like most other historians, philosophers, faithful, or minstrels, the thought has crossed my mind. Have the gods like Mylla and Dathac, or Lady Cortina always existed, or were they too created by yet another higher being? They created our world and yet they barely glance its way the past many thousands of years. There are dozens of myths and legends that talk of a time when gods walked by the sides of men and women. Perhaps they are just that—myths. I know not. Whether you are a devout faithful or not, the gods do not speak to us directly and personally I doubt they ever did.”
Garren Sallus, Excerpt from:
Myths and Legends of Talohna. Volume 1
THE ETHER
Kael opened his eyes to blackness—a blackness far beyond total dark. It was unlike anything he had ever seen or felt before. He had no spatial awareness or recognition of sight. It was as if he were a small part of the infinite black void of nothing. Blinking did nothing, and he realized he had no eyes to blink with, nor a body to feel with.
His unbound chuckle tumbled through the void around him. He thought to himself, What next?
You feel no fear. The gravely female voice boomed in the darkness, but he could not make out whether anything had changed in the utter black.
Because it isn't real. he answered back.
Expl
ain,
Danger is real, but fear is merely a product of the mind—a reaction to real danger. That makes fear a choice, and I've seen far too much to choose to be afraid of the dark. The worst dangers walk in the light of day.
Insightful—fear can be controlled with such beliefs. That surprises us. Mortals never see it that way.
You're not mortal, then? he asked.
We are... eternal.
Of course.
How did you come to be here?
Considering what I tried to do, I imagine I'm dead or god only knows what else...
God?
You don’t know what a god is?
Explain.
Kael sighed at the unusual demand. That’s a difficult request to answer. The simplest reply—a god is an all-powerful being who watches over a world. Often, they are credited with the creation of that world and may or may not interfere with it at their whim. Most don’t interfere from what I’ve seen. Benevolent or malevolent, a god or gods rarely seem to be interested in or concerned with their creations.
Understood. How did you come to be here?
I have no idea, he answered honestly. I have been somewhere similar before. No chatty megaphones there though.
You have died before.
It was a statement and not a question. Yeah, so they tell me.
Then, why are you here?
Cryptic, aren't you? Remind me of these three wraiths… never mind. I imagine I’m here because I did something wrong trying to return to life.
No. You are here because you broke through the barrier separating death and life.
I wasn't trying to break it. I just wanted to pass through it.
The barrier is a universal governance that applies to all life regardless of power or dimension.
Okay, he replied. If he had a head to feel with, it would have been spinning with confusion.
Why return to the living? the entity asked.
Call it unfinished business. Or I had it back when all this started.
Explain
There were people I needed to help... things I still need to do in that life, meaningful things, Kael offered.
What gives a mortal life meaning?
Loved ones, children, passions.
Then, why return? You have none of those in Talohna.
Enough! Kael barked. Hearing what he already suspected fueled the rage riding so close to the surface. I'm not answering your stupid questions. Send me where you will.
Enough? The voice thundered with anger. You violate the natural law and sanctity of life simply by being here.
Who are you, or what? Show me who I'm talking to.
We are the beings that have always been. Some leave, some return, most live, and very few die. Your word... god... it seems appropriate.
On instinct, Kael covered his eyes as a bright light blazed out of the dark. As it faded, he realized he could lower his hand. He found himself staring at the strange female being in front of him. She was shrouded in a misty white light and an all too familiar armor and mask set adorned her body.
“That mask looks familiar,” he said, unable to hold back the disgust in his voice.
An image from your mind. For your comfort. Strong emotion is tied to this appearance. I assumed the emotion was good.
“Not even close,” Kael mumbled.
My true appearance then, seeing as fear does not rule your heart or soul.
The Ri'Tek mask melted away, replaced by a veil and hood of black and white lace. The being slowly pulled the dark veil down under her nose. Solid black eyes stared back at him. Black vines crawled over her cheeks and forehead and cracks across her face began where they stopped. More intricate and delicate than his own, her vines were missing the barbed thorns that marred his entire body. Instead, long and wicked thorns burst from the cracks around the vines, protruding inches from her flesh above her black eyebrows.
Any other similarities between them ended there. The woman's face oddly resembled that of a young child. Smooth and soft, her marred skin held a sprinkling of freckles across her cheeks. Everything about her was youthful, but an extremely dangerous aura of black and gray wafted from her and mixed with the white mist. The contrast to her pale skin was disturbing as was her ageless aura.
Better?
“Better than looking into the face of evil, yeah. Where am I? Who are you?” Kael demanded.
You are in the Ether. If your dimension's true... creators... gods... were not long dead, they would defend your transgression. However, because of your connection to the Ether, you may speak on your own behalf. Without it, you would have already ceased to exist.
“What connection?”
Your magic. The vines and thorns growing throughout you are products of the Ether and of our kind. It puzzles me how that is. You are not of Kin. The weapons you carry were forged here... for Niis. She was Kin. Her and Treach left long ago to create your world. They are dead now.
He decided to test what Jasala believed. “I was told the Vai’Karth were forged by the Dwarven race of Talohna by sacrificing an angel and a demon.”
No. Both your power and weapons were born of the Ether. From here and from the energy around you. Can you feel it?
He had felt it the moment he regained consciousness. His awareness tingled with electricity and he felt amazing, yet comfortable and at peace. If it was a place to spend eternity, he would have been happy to do so. “I don’t feel it,” he answered, “it’s like I am… it”
That is the Ether, and it is you now. That has to be why the Vai'Karth accepted you even though they were forged for my kind. This is... problematic. Both tie you to the Ether even though you are not one of us. Does the spirit speak to you? Did it help you to arrive here?
Akai slid into the furthest reaches of his mind, as if hiding in response. “He didn’t help me get here, but he does speak. He’s awfully quiet right now, though,” Kael told her.
It knows its place among us and should not speak unless commanded to do so. That is even more problematic. In the hands of a mortal, the Vai’Karth could be cataclysmic weapons capable of destroying a world. The energy of each foe killed is absorbed by the weapons if the wielder so chooses. The weapon’s spirit increases in strength exponentially each time and this strength can be passed to the wielder. Even its personality can change.
“Jesus,” Kael breathed. “That explains his crap attitude lately. A literal soul-eater.”
An intelligent and proper analogy.
“How did he come to be?” he asked.
Kin Akai was formed from traces of exhausted—leftover… souls as you call them. Energy is the term we use. The weapons are not supposed to accept a mortal master. One touch should have killed you. It did not, so this creates a unique dilemma. Therefore, when not in use, the Vai’Karth remains here in the Ether. They cannot fall into the hands of a mortal being ever, again. Should we deem it so, you will return to your old life as more than what you were before death, and the weapon will come to you when called. The cypher—the word to call them for this “Sai.”
“Thank you,” Kael replied.
I would not. If we deem it necessary, you will cease to exist here, and the Vai’Karth will remain in the Ether where they belong. Your answers and what rests in your energy will decide.
“What the hell do you want to know?” Kael barked, losing his temper, again. “Huh? That I want to go back so I can kill every goddamn Ri'Tek bastard I can get my hands on? That I have nothing else to fight for because my wife and friends died over two hundred years ago? Or do you want to hear that I want to go back to try and help all the people who will suffer under Ri'Tek rule? Which one? Because they're all true after every goddamned thing I’ve gone through and everything I’ve lost since being ripped from my own world. You won’t stop me from returning!”
No. I will not. But the Ether itself may. It has shown you favor. You would not be standing here if it did not allow it, but that can change. Returning will make you immortal, but not in
vincible. It is rare for a god to walk from death. A mortal doing so is unfathomable. Do you understand the weight of what that means?
“Probably not,” he answered honestly.
You surprise me, again. Mortal minds are rarely so honest.
“If I lied, I’m sure you’d know.”
Your perspective is still refreshing.
“Thanks, I think.”
You could live for thousands of years while others age or die and the world changes around you. Life is a part of death. Death is what gives mortal life meaning—knowing that your life will not last forever, that each moment is precious and should be cherished before there are no more moments. It is what makes being mortal so special. Can you live a long life with no meaning? Possibly forever?
“I'll find a meaning, a passion.”
For a while, perhaps, but eventually you will understand. And once you do, you will never be happy, and it will be far too late.
“Being happy is not reality, anyway.”
Again, we agree. You will return to Talohna, much, much more than what you were before death. Exactly how much more and what you do with it will depend on you. Listen for the call of the Ether. It is a part of you and within it you will find your real power.
“I never wanted any of this power.” Kael sighed.
That is why it found you. True power should only make itself known to those with no interest in it, just like those before you—Niis and Treach—the true... gods... of Talohna. They died many aeons ago, so perhaps it is time Talohna had a protector once more. Someday... that may be you. Perhaps. But until then, I warn you, mortal. You must reconcile with the new energy that is part of you, before it forces you to. If that happens many may die.
Panic settled over Kael’s heart as he realized what the being meant, and his tongue refused to cooperate to offer an answer.
The Ether is now a part of what you are.
Forever.
The last word rolled over and over inside his mind until it felt like the words where pushing him head over heels through the Ether.
He groaned as the blackness shut him down.