Arya stifled a chuckle, but Mira was quick to take over. “My youngest brother, Your Grace. He’s quite the character. Has a hard time sticking to one woman these days.”
“Ah, I see. Well, please, continue with your entertainment, I was just—” Unending tried to excuse herself, but stopped when she noticed their collective relief as she prepared to turn around and leave. “Actually, no. I’ve been meaning to ask… what happened?”
“What do you mean?” Mira replied, the crease between her eyebrows signaling a blend of disdain and amusement. I didn’t like it, and I doubted the Unending appreciated it either.
“My throne room is empty. None of you have come to speak to me in quite a while. You made me your Lady Supreme, yet you have forsaken me,” she said.
“Your Grace, we’ve been rather busy. The kingdom doesn’t run itself,” Kemi interjected, apparently offended by the implications. “It’s not that we haven’t wanted to come around, but our world is growing. It needs us.”
The Unending let out a sigh, bitterly amused. “Yet here you are, sitting and eating and drinking, joking about your siblings, while I sit in my throne room alone.”
“We’re not your pets,” Arya blurted. She seemed annoyed, but I couldn’t understand what had caused the change in their behavior.
“Excuse me?” Unending asked, her voice breaking.
“We all know you came here to heal your broken heart. But we’re not your pets. Not your companions, either. We’re free people, and we can do whatever we please,” Arya said, despite Mira’s repeated attempts to silence her.
“Your Grace, I’m sorry. Arya doesn’t know what—”
“No, no, she needs to hear this,” Arya cut her off. “She can’t rely on us to raise her spirits whenever she’s down. We’ve got more important things to do. Our kingdom, as Kemi said, is growing. We have cities to build, stories to write, roads to pave.”
“And how is that done from this table?” Unending replied dryly. “What is going on with you? Your traditions are failing. You used to bring me flowers and offerings every day. It’s been days since I’ve last seen any of you. Weeks since you’ve even asked for my counsel. I’m supposed to be your Lady Supreme, yet you don’t seem to need me anymore.”
Arya shrugged. Mira cleared her throat, taking over the conversation. “Your Grace, we were just eating and drinking before the day’s start.”
“Oh, enough with the coddling,” Arya retorted. “The truth is, Your Grace, we haven’t had much need for you lately. That’s all.”
“You once worshipped my wisdom,” Unending murmured, understandably taken aback.
“Well, they have mine, now.” A voice rippled through the garden. It was a familiar voice, at least to the Unending, because I felt the sudden rush of heavy emotions as she whirled around and saw the Spirit Bender standing mere feet away.
“What… what are you doing here?” Unending asked, her voice breaking.
“Wait, you didn’t know he was here?” Mira was clearly surprised by this unexpected turn of events. “He’s your brother…”
“My brother in death,” the Unending said, unable to take her eyes off the Spirit Bender. He smiled, bowing politely before her. “What are you doing here?” she asked again.
“I came to see you.” Spirit sighed. “It’s been a long time, my dear. I figured my carefully planted suggestion that your subjects enjoy their breakfast outside this morning might get you out of your throne room.”
“You lured me to the garden, then… How long have you been here?”
“A couple of weeks,” Spirit replied nonchalantly. “Pardon my secrecy, but I wanted to get a feel for your people first.”
The more he spoke, the more alarmed Unending became. “What do you mean ‘get a feel for my people’? What is this about, Spirit?”
He laughed, and the Aeternae watched in silence, still coming to terms with what had happened. I understood the events that had led to this moment, but they seemed to be taking longer to reach the same conclusion. The Spirit Bender had found the Unending here on Visio, but instead of talking to her directly, he’d been cozying up to the Aeternae, likely pouring poison in their ears—it was the only plausible explanation for Arya’s arrogance or their overall lack of respect for the Unending. He’d come between her and her people.
“I’ve come to talk to you, my dear,” Spirit said. “A few things have come to pass since we last spoke.”
Unending scoffed, shaking her head in dismay. “That’s a bit of a lie, isn’t it? Why come to talk to me if you’ve been talking to my subjects instead?”
“Perhaps I haven’t made myself clear. I only wanted to understand what you were doing here,” Spirit replied.
Mira gasped. “No, you didn’t. You told us she wasn’t fit to be our ruler, and that it would soon become apparent. It’s why you urged us to steer clear of her throne room, because it would prove how needy and vain she really is.”
“Ah. There it is,” Unending muttered. “Tell me, Spirit. What’s your endgame? We both know this isn’t a courtesy visit. You’re up to something. Did Death send you?”
He shook his head. “She did, but it’s more complicated than that. Hence why I wanted to talk. She did an awful thing to you, my dear, and I am here to help you avenge Erethiel. I am here to help you make things right in the universe again. For too long, Death has held us prisoner to her whims. It needs to stop.”
“Are you insane?” Unending asked, though it sounded like more of a rhetorical question. “Death sent you here so I could avenge Erethiel?”
“I’m the sanest of us all. And you’re not following me. Death sent me for a different reason, but I’m the only one who can see right through her. Who understands that she must be put back in her place. The liberties she’s taken with us—we can put an end to it all.”
It only took the Unending a few seconds to refuse him. “I came here to seek comfort and solace away from her. I have no intention of dealing with Death ever again. What you seem to be wanting is the complete opposite. It is also treason. I suggest you abandon this foolishness before you get yourself hurt.”
“Help me, Unending. Help me, and together we can put her away for good. Our society functions without her. She’s no longer needed. Death is obsolete with so many Reapers in existence!” Spirit insisted. “I care about you. I’ve always cared about you. This is our chance to work together. To be partners and champions for ourselves!”
Unending exhaled sharply. “Is that why you killed Erethiel upon her order? Because you care about me? Ridiculous! You’re insane. No. Go away, Spirit. Your vendetta is a fool’s game. Death is death, and she is unquestionable and indestructible, whether we like it or not.”
“Is she, though? Indestructible?”
Silence settled over the dining hall as Spirit took a couple of steps forward. Instinctively, Unending moved back. His presence made her uneasy, and she couldn’t quite figure out why. It wasn’t about what he’d just said. No. That wasn’t enough to make her feel wary of him, because they were on the same level in terms of power and abilities. There was something else, something in the way he spoke—it made her worry.
“You have a way to seal her away for good, remember? You told me about it, a long time ago. A thousand marks, a thousand runes to put her down and out of commission, forever. You can give it to me. But it’ll be much harder to do it alone. I need my fellow First Tenners with me on this,” Spirit added.
“No. No!” Unending said. “No. I’m not giving you the Thousand Seals. I made that spell because I could, because I was curious if I could actually come up with something so powerful against Death, but I never intended to use it! That’s not right or natural. Whatever my dealings with her, they concern me, not you. Whatever your problems with her, they’re yours, not mine. Death is absolute. She is our master and our maker. What you’re suggesting is worse than heresy. It’s a crime against the universe itself.”
“She had Erethiel killed!” Spirit snarled.
“I’m offering you a chance to be with me, to rule beside me over this endless universe, to pay her back for what she did to you! Brother and sister. Partners!”
“And I will never forgive her for it. But that doesn’t entitle me to take action against her. I see it now. My pride. My foolishness. They’ve led me here.” The Unending sighed. “The people I’ve given eternal life to are now rising up against me, ignoring me, forgetting where they started. I see it now—she was right. The living can never truly appreciate what I have. And I cannot, in good conscience, follow your lead on this.”
Spirit didn’t wait to be told twice. He’d come here with a plan, and he was already springing for option B. He snapped his fingers, and the Aeternae vanished into thin air. “Let’s get them out of the way first.”
No one even saw it coming. A split-second later, he flashed past Unending, and I felt the burn in my side. He’d cut her. I turned around just in time to watch him raise his bloodied scythe.
“What did you do?” Unending asked, suddenly alarmed.
“Don’t worry, your precious subjects are okay. I merely relocated them.”
“No, what did you do to me?!”
“Oh, Death taught me some new words and sub-words over the years,” Spirit said. “I’ve been experimenting with some new spells and seals. It turns out I’m really good at this death magic thing. So, if you won’t give me the Thousand Seals, I’ll get the spell out of you myself, one way or another…”
“Spirit, did you just put a seal on me?” Unending hissed, still unable to believe her own eyes.
“My dear, this is obviously not the first time I’ve betrayed you, since I killed your beloved. To be fair, you probably should’ve seen this coming,” he replied dryly, giving her a cold smirk.
Something inside me snapped, and my heart broke all over again. “I… I don’t understand,” the Unending managed, though deep down she knew exactly what Spirit was trying to tell her. She could feel it in her soul. “I thought you cared about me.”
“I do, darling. But I can’t have you messing up my plans. I’ve worked too hard to get to this point.”
A second later, Unending tried to hit him, but she was frozen to the spot as Spirit whispered a series of binding spells. I felt the chains come up all bright and golden as they latched around Unending’s neck. This was it. The dreaded moment when Spirit had bound the Unending to Visio. The story of how this had come to pass had always been vague, barely described in Kalla’s books. Nobody had actually witnessed it—or almost nobody, I realized, noticing a figure moving through the greenery. Arya had found her way back into the Garden of Enkil faster than everyone else, but she stayed quiet.
“Spirit, no…” Unending said, clutching the glowing chains.
“Oh, that ship has sailed, sister. I offered you a chance to be with me. To become a better, more powerful version of yourself. You’re now an obstacle, and I’m afraid I have to treat you accordingly.”
“You’re making a mistake. This isn’t the way. Whatever you have against Death, there must be another way to resolve it. This will only end in tragedy!”
“What’s truly irritating is that I just asked you to join me, and you didn’t even flinch. You didn’t even bother to think it through. It’s like I’m not worth your attention, if only for a minute, out of respect. That’s how little you think of me, and I have to say, it’s a bit funny… considering I’ve just bound you to this world,” Spirit said. “And to think we could’ve had it all.”
“You’re irredeemable.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, at least I know what I’m after. You’re languishing here, craving the love and affection of your people. You gave them immortality and look at them now. Not one of them is saying a word in your favor. Not a single Aeternae is standing up for you,” Spirit declared. Arya finally came out with her claws out, though not that eager to strike him—she seemed hesitant, though clearly distraught, so he just waved her away with a disgusted sneer. “A little too late for retaliation, though I’ll give you credit, young lady, you’re more resourceful than your fellow Aeternae to have come back so quickly.”
“You should stop,” Arya said.
“Be thankful I’m doing this. Trust me, she was sure to get bored of you all sooner or later. That’s the Unending. She briefly rebels against Death, toys with her own gift like a raucous teenager, but eventually she comes around and admits that Death was right. Had I not done this now, she would’ve stripped you of your immortality eventually. She wouldn’t want Death getting involved again.”
“What? No! That’s a lie!” Unending screamed, and it echoed painfully beyond the manicured trees and sculpted columns. It tore me apart to feel her like this. The chains burned into her soul and vanished, but she knew. She knew she would never leave Visio again. She could feel the seal nestled inside, a part of her now.
“Oh, please!” Spirit mockingly laughed in her face. “You would’ve let the Aeternae fantasy go on for a little while longer, just until Death sent one of us to warn you that she would take action. I thought I’d give you a heads-up and the opportunity to fight back while you still had the chance.”
Arya frowned. “What do you mean? I… I don’t understand.”
“Death has been telling me about Visio. About how you went ahead and gave an entire planet immortality after Erethiel. She asked me to come and warn you,” Spirit explained. “You see, I did come here in an official capacity, but I had no intention of going through with delivering this warning because I have plans of my own against Death. But it does prove something, doesn’t it?”
“She sent you here to kill my people, too?” Unending mumbled, unable to cope with it all, and I couldn’t blame her. Things were going from bad to worse in a matter of minutes.
“No. She sent me here to tell you that if you don’t undo your magic and make them mortal again, she will come to Visio herself and kill them all,” Spirit replied. “Seeing that you haven’t learned your lesson kind of pissed her off. This is what I mean, my dear. We could’ve risen against her for this.”
The Unending shook her head. “No. No. She’s right. I shouldn’t have done it in the first place.” Her statement drew a gasp from Arya. “I’m sorry, but I see it now, clearer than ever. My ability has caused nothing but trouble. I made you all immortal in a bid to fill the hole that losing Erethiel left in my soul. I am the one who caused the imbalance in our universe. I am the one in the wrong. Everything I’ve done has led to… this.”
Spirit cursed under his breath, clearly displeased with her conclusion. “You’re going down the wrong path, my dear. You’re giving Death too much credit, even now, after I’ve just told you she was going to kill everyone here.”
“She’s right! Immortality isn’t natural. Eternity isn’t natural. Not for the living, not when there is so much waiting for them beyond death!” she replied, increasingly angry and unable to act on it. The Spirit Bender’s seal was burning right through her, tightening its grip.
“Well, that’s out of your hands now,” Spirit said dryly. “I’ll let Death know you obliged and stripped your people of their immortality, but that you want nothing to do with her ever again. In fact, you were adamant that no more attempts to communicate be made from her part. It’ll keep her nose out of this place, at least until I’m done with her.”
He proceeded to whisper a series of chants, and I could feel Unending getting cut off from the rest of the world. Her telepathic connections had just been severed. She couldn’t reach out to anyone for help.
“Oh, no,” I murmured.
“You can’t do this!” Unending insisted, but Spirit didn’t give a damn.
“I’m obviously doing it.”
Arya just stood there, watching with a deep frown etched between her eyebrows, as the Spirit Bender enforced his first seal on Unending.
I didn’t even notice Valaine had appeared beside me. She was but a vision, unnoticed by the memory itself but clearly visible to me. There was a reason why
she’d forced her way into this moment. Spirit and Unending continued their argument for a while. Arya no longer bothered to defend her maker, and I worried she’d turn out to be a horrible disappointment. It all faded into the background as Valaine took center stage in my mind.
“That look on Arya’s face. I know it,” she murmured. “Bitter acceptance.”
The Unending dropped to her knees, defeated by the first seal. Arya’s lips turned into a fascinated half-smile, finding Spirit’s dominance intriguing. She could’ve tried to do something, I thought. But what could she do against a being as powerful and devious as the Spirit Bender? Did she even want to stop him?
“Do you think she could’ve helped you in any way? Where are the others?” I asked Valaine.
“Spirit teleported them to different places. It’ll be a while before they make it back here. Arya may have been the closest, but not by design. Either way, no… I don’t think she could’ve helped even if she wanted to.”
The revelation struck me like an icy wave. I froze, the implications rising before me, terrible and fraught with danger.
“That’s not what matters, Tristan,” Valaine added. “I remember the seals. I know what they are and how they must be broken.”
Just then, as the Unending finally succumbed to the first seal’s power and cried out in agonizing pain, I understood. We’d reached the end of the line here. We’d found what we’d been looking for, and the extent of the damage Spirit had done to Unending was clearer than ever. She glanced up at Arya. She’d been convinced by Spirit that Unending would take her immortality away. Unable to part with such a precious gift, she couldn’t bring herself to rise against the Spirit Bender. She would convince the others that this had to be done, too.
Unending became a prisoner of the world she’d thought she’d honored and blessed with her presence. The people she’d graced with life eternal had stood by and done nothing, allowing the Spirit Bender to set the stage for this precise moment.
Our fight for the Unending’s liberation had just begun. It would end in blood-drinking and Black Fever. This was the last I would see of the Aeternae’s better and brighter days.
A Shade of Vampire 85: A Shard of Soul Page 14