Realm of Monsters - Chapter 628: Mortem Part 2
Chapter 628: Mortem Part 2
“Lesson number one, it will take more than a simple broken neck to kill one of mine. Your sisters will recover in time. Now,” Death crossed his hands behind his back, “Where were we?”
Stryg made sure Holo was okay one last time before he pushed himself to his feet and faced his father. “What do you want?”
Death cocked his head to the side. “I think the question you should be asking is what do you want?”
Stryg gave him a cold look. “I want to know why you’re here. After all this time, why come visit me now? What was so important to you, that you decided to appear and do this.” He gestured to his fallen sisters.
Death didn’t seem bothered by the sight of his daughters and instead stepped off the broken fountain and paced around Stryg in a wide circle, hands behind his back. “Thalia, your sister, the one who was meant to invite you to my home, told me you had declined the invitation. I had decided to respect your wishes, but then one of my sources informed me of quite a peculiar incident. An attack on Holo’s Shade, more importantly, the sight that appeared above the city. A light so bright that it was blinding, like a second sun in the middle of the night. It evaporated the clouds. The monsters and dragons caught in its light were no more.”
Death glanced at his son, a spark of pride in his eyes. “I knew it was the Astral Light the moment I read the report. But what caught my eye is that you survived. In all my years I’ve only had two other children who accomplished that feat and both of them in the end died using the Astral Light later in their lives. Despite having control over the ability, neither of them could withstand the full strain for long.”
“And you think I’m different? That’s why you’re here? Because I can potentially control the Astral Light?”
“No, I’m here because I’m your father. But what interests me about that night isn’t that you survived the Astral Light, but how. Your twin hearts.”
“Holo and Melantha told me you ran experiments. You tried to create a child who could control the full range of chromatic magic and a titan’s chaos magic.”
Death nodded. “I did, for many years. I had mostly given up on the process. Then I met your namesake, Stryga. Her particular, unique mutations interested me. You see, through the years several gods, myself included, have fiddled with the mortal species. In my case, I created several breeding trials throughout the Realms.”
Stryg narrowed his eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I had certain Houses created, others changed to fit my plans. Specific marriages to the right people, cultivating mutations and magical bloodlines throughout the ages. Stryga’s father was a member of one of those Houses. Honestly, I didn’t have much hope for his bloodline, it had fallen into ruin long ago. But when its last member fell in love with Alice Veres and had Stryga, something happened I never expected. A unique set of mutations capable of withstanding large, concentrated quantities of chaos.”
“What are the chances…?” Stryg muttered.
“Call it fate. As was your mother’s birth. The first prime mageborn in the Ebon Realm with the potential to become an archmage in the last three centuries. What’s more, she had inherited Stryga’s mutations. Her existence whispered a dream that I had chased for a millenium. You.”
“So, I’m just some project to you?”
“No, you are the solution. If you can exist, then it means chromatic and elemental energies can coexist even in large quantities. It means that there may be a way to save the World Soul without Ananta eradicating every chromatic species from the Realms.”
“What?” Stryg shook his head. “Wait, you knew about Ananta?”
“She is Love’s daughter and the last queen of our people, I recognized her the moment we met.”
“And you did nothing? You said nothing to anyone? She is trying to kill everyone!”
“Not everyone.”
“Oh, right. Just practically everyone I’ve ever known. So what if she spares the elemental species? Countless others will die if her dragonbanes are allowed to grow. And you’re telling me you knew and did nothing?”
“Ananta is not the monster you think she is. She has lost everything and everyone she has ever known. Everything she does now, every cruel, merciless act, she does it for the sake of our people.”
“So you’re okay with all of it? Everything she’s done?”
“Ananta is the daughter of a Primordial and the granddaughter of another. As I said, she is not the monster you think she is. If her goal was to destroy this city then all she’d have to do is to stop resisting the urges of Unildyr’s blood coursing through her veins. She could have killed all of you, but she didn’t. Ananta is always holding back, because she does not want to destroy the last fragments of her people.”
“Could you stop her? You’re a Calamity, the son of a Primordial, just like her. If anyone could stop her, it’s you. You asked me what I want. I want you to stop her.”
“Fighting her would lead to a war that would not end so easily and be unproductive to all our plans. Even if I did kill her it would simply have wasted time. Time we are running out of. Aleirune grows weaker every year. She will not hold out forever.”
Stryg’s eyes widened as realization hit him. “You don’t want to stop Ananta… That’s why you never said anything to Lunae.”
“Ananta’s plan has merit,” Death admitted. “There was a time I believed it was the only way to save the World Soul.”
“The beastkin… Melantha said you built them to make an army. I didn’t understand what for, but now… You’re just like Ananta. You wanted to eradicate all chromatic kind.”
“Stryg, if Aleirune dies then every living being on this planet dies with her, the chromatics included.”
“And you care so much about people, huh?” Stryg spat sarcastically.
“I am a Calamity, Stryg. I was quite literally born to bring death to this world, to all chromatic species. That doesn’t mean I don’t care what happens to the others.”
“Or maybe you just care about yourself? Are you afraid to die, Death?”
He sighed and shook his head slightly. “If Aleriune falls, I would not die. In fact, I may be the only one to survive the ruin of this planet. I’d have to live with that failure. If I’m being honest, that thought scares me. But I will not let it ever come to that. And if that means helping Ananta achieve her goal, then that is exactly what I will do.”
“You’re going to help her?” Stryg asked incredulously.
“I have no reason to at the moment. Your existence proves that there may be another way. I intend to find out, with you by my side, my son.” Death offered him his hand.
“So either I help you or you help my enemy?”
“No, Stryg. I will not force you to come with me. The choice is yours. I will continue to search for an answer with or without your help, but one day time will not be on our side, and I will be faced with the choice between saving my children or eradicating all chromatic kind. At that time, I promise you, I will do what a father must.”
Stryg stared at his father’s offered hand. “…I made a promise to Lysaila.”
“And who might she be?”
“A beastkin. She’s lived her whole life terrified of the spells you embedded in her people. If you want my help, then break the curse on all beastkin.”
Death lowered his hand. “If that is what you wish, then it can be arranged, but it is not as simple as it sounds.”
“But you can do it?”
“It’s possible. But why is it so important to you? The spellweaves are harmless while dormant.”
“A collar is still a collar, whether you can see it or not.”
“Hm. How aptly put.” Death smiled faintly.
“Why did you do it? Why put the spellweaves on them in the first place?”
“You care for them, don’t you?”
“Rhiannon is my tribemate, she is my family. If I can help her too, I will.”
“I don’t know this Rhiannon, but if she is a beastkin then I think it’s time you understand the truth, one that Melantha and Seren were too emotionally attached to understand. You asked why I did it? There is no spellweave of obedience on the beastkin.”
“What?” Stryg frowned.
“Only one being on this planet can truly create life and it is my mother, the World Soul. Only Aleirune holds that power. But I endeavored to defy that reality. I created artificial life. A beastkin may appear alive, but they have no soul. They shouldn’t have a conscience. The only reason they do is because I embedded a fraction of my power into their blood. It is that power that ties them back to me and through me, to Aleirune. That is why the beastkin are ‘alive.’ Their obedience to me is simply my power within them reacting to me. If I remove that power from their bodies, what do you think will happen to them?”
Cold sweat ran down Stryg’s back. He swallowed. “They’ll… die?”
“No, only a living thing can die and move on to the Soul Chasm. For a beastkin, they would simply cease to be. Their bodies would collapse and they would be no more.”
“Does Holo know?”
“Seren did not believe me. She was too emotionally invested in the first beastkin that she raised from birth to accept the fact that there was ‘hope’ for her ‘children.’ I hope you’ll see things differently now that you know the truth. But if you still wish for me to release the spellweaves that keep a fragment of my power within the beastkin, then I will do it. The choice is yours.”
“That’s not a choice, none of this feels like a choice,” Stryg muttered.
“Difficult choices never do. Isn’t that right, Auri?” Death turned around and smiled at the woman standing at the edge of the gardens.
“Ivory.” Aurelia glared at him.
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!
