Tale of Eldramir

It was nearly a week after Ezekiel had successfully destroyed and purified the island of Naramoor of the Rot that had infected it. Much of the land was destroyed, but unlike the explosives he had previously set off, the side-effects of his purging of the Cruor meant that the natural biomes would recover much more quickly than he previously feared.

Which was somewhat of a delight to wake up to. Even more so than finding out that he and Shine had managed to successfully breach the barrier to Step nine and reach the peak of Tier four. All while Ezekiel was still in his early twenties.

“Are you listening to me?” Riley pouted when she saw that Ezekiel seemed to be lost in his own world once more.

“Sorry.” He smiled sheepishly. “I’m still just trying to process everything. It’s just... things were going so bad for so long, and now we finally get a win without crippling or otherwise unrecoverable casualties.”

Riley smiled as well. He knew she was just as happy as he was at the ultimate result of their purge of the Rot. But there was a tiredness in her eyes as well. But that was only to be expected. She had been forced to help with the clean-up that followed the final battle, after all.

“Well, just so long as you’re ready to finish up here, I guess you can daydream for a bit longer.”

Riley leaned in to give him a kiss as he continued to recline in his bead. He’d only been awake for a few hours, and while he felt better than ever, having recovered from the fight, he was told that he needed to stay in bed for at least one more day for observations.

“Thank you. I’ll be ready to help out as soon as I’m given a clean bill of health.” Ezekiel grinned at the thought of leaving. Even with their wins, he still felt stuck, and wanted out as soon as possible.

Riley stepped back before turning and heading out of Ezekiel’s medical room. After she left, he turned to look out the small window in the room that he had been provided. Sighing wistfully, his eyes narrowed as he held out his hand. Shine flew into his grasp a moment later from where they had been leaning on the wall.

“Who are you, and what do you want?” He was nearly growling as he leveled Shine directly at the corner of the room. A barrier had sprung up the moment he had laid his hand on Shine’s hilt. No one outside the room would hear what was happening. “Speak up! Or do we need to take this elsewhere?”

A second barrier wrapped around the room, and Ezekiel was prepared to [Jump] them well outside of the city limits in preparation for a fight. Something that the figure hidden in the room seemed to be wary of.

“Please wait!” The shadows receded, and the outline of a Hunter wearing their Spirit Armor seemed to step into the room. They were completely covered, and their body displayed no discernable features that could be used to identify them. Even their voice was utterly neutral. “I’m not here to fight! I’m here on behalf of the Church of Ten. Specifically, what remains of the Church on this island, after the Cathedral was destroyed along with the capital port city. I was sent to give you an update by the request of one of the Grand Scholars.”

Ezekiel lessened his glare but didn’t lower his sword. While he wasn’t worried about being attacked himself, he didn’t like the fact that Riley had been completely unaware of the other figure’s presence. The lack of apparent security disturbed him.

“I’m assuming that you and the Scholars managed to find the Cathedral’s vault?” Ezekiel figured that this was the only reason they would’ve reached out to him.

As one of the major allies, and affiliated Hunters, of the the Church of Ten, as well as his peak Legendary power, it was obvious to him that the Church would want to keep him in their good grace by keeping him updated. Though, why they thought that this needed to be kept a secret was unknown.

“That is correct. Specifically, we need your assistance in opening the vault.”

Ezekiel raised an eyebrow. “Why is that? Wouldn’t the Grand Scholars have the necessary keys to open it themselves?”

The Obscure Hunter shook their head. “Usually that would be the case. But whatever Relics were used to keep it secure were damaged by the Rot’s attempts to break through them. We’re hoping that your unique spells will be able to get through where the Scholars failed.”

Sighing in exasperation, Ezekiel finally lowered Shine to his side where they were laid on his bead. “Fine. I’ll be there tomorrow when I’m officially discharged. Expect me sometime in the afternoon. Now, was there anything else?”

He felt a push on his barrier, an attempt by the Obscure Hunter to leave without replying. Raising his eyebrow once more in amusement, Ezekiel couldn’t help but smirk at the Hunter in front of him as they shifted from foot to foot. Obviously unaccustomed to this treatment.

“... Not at this time. Thank you.” The Hunter forced themself to say. “May I leave, please?”

Ezekiel just waved a hand as he relaxed back into his bed. The barriers both disappeared, and the Obscure Hunter immediately disappeared into their shadow to leave.

But, just to tweak the Hunters nose, Ezekiel reached across space, and used his mana to basically flick them on the head once they were just outside the medical center. Sensing the figure stumble into a wall made him chuckle.

‘Deserved.’ Shine chimed in from their side of the bond between them and Ezekiel. ‘Are you really going to help them for free like this? It’s not a life and death emergency.’

‘It just means we’ll be here for one more day. Besides, perhaps we’ll find something useful inside.’

‘Useful?’ Shine pondered for a second, wondering what Ezekiel could be looking for. ‘Like what?’

‘Well... I’m hoping that they stored a few extra Com-Slates in there. Specifically, one or two with ties to Sanafalls.’ Ezekiel closed his eyes. Intent on resting for a little while longer, but also falling into meditation to focus on his recovery. ‘It’s a long shot, but you never know.’

‘Okay then.’ Shine agreed that it wasn’t likely, but there was no harm in trying. ‘Any ideas on where to go from here?’

Ezekiel didn’t answer right away. He knew that his Spirit wasn’t talking about their next destination. But rather, they were talking about what to do, now that they were both peak Legendary, and how to proceed to the Mythic Tier.

While the sheer number and size of the ordeals they had both experienced were staggering, it was apparent that breaking through to Tier five would be difficult. More so than anything they had ever done before. Even if they did have several people they could speak to about the process.

‘How confident are you about taking that step?’

Previously, Ezekiel and Shine had both assumed that, with Shine’s progress nearly matching his own, that the Void Spirit’s soul had grown to match Ezekiel’s. But after breaking through, it was apparent that it was not. While he had managed to cross what they assumed was the boundary, Shine’s soul was still just a tad smaller. Enough to make them have doubts that it would be enough.

This was made apparent when thoughts and intentions to break through flashed a warning in their senses, but only in regard to Shine. Ezekiel felt no warning when he flexed his mana, or made his intentions known. That instinctive knowledge had thrown a wrench in their plans to start attempting a breakthrough.

‘I’m not. But I think this might be necessary.’ Shine replied after a few seconds of thought. ‘If we break through in the same way as everyone else, then we won’t know if humans will be able to reach that level on their own.’

‘... you know, the world doesn’t need to depend only on me for pioneering breakthroughs for Mages.’ Ezekiel knew what Shine was getting at. Since he had been the one to prove the theory of Mage breakthrough to Legendary, without the need of a bonded Spirit.

‘But if you breakthrough on your own, then you won’t fall down if something happens to me.’ This was the topic that Shine was most worried about. The fact that a Mythic Hunter fell back down to peak Legendary if their Spirit died.

‘Let’s talk about this later.’ Ezekiel decided to stop the conversation before it could go to places that neither of them wanted it to. ‘For now, we’ll focus on recovery, and prepare ourselves to head out in the next few days.’

Shine fell silent, and Ezekiel felt a quiet sense of agreement from his bond. Taking a deep breath, he fell into a state of deep meditation so that he could focus purely on recovery.

Thought of Tier five left his mind, and he forced himself to keep his mind centered on the here and now.

----------

Walking through the broken ruins of the city that was once covered by fungal growths, Ezekiel admired the view as he and Riley followed the Scholars that had greeted them.

“I would like to thank you again for your assistance in this matter.”

Nodding to the Grand Scholar as they approached their destination, the Hunter duo observed the damage to the area they were in. It was surprisingly intact, considering the sheer amount of damage that had been down to the city overall.

“This way. We sealed the entrance when we first discovered it.” The Grand Scholar, a Glacial Mage, as was the norm for most of the Archipelago, led them to a cleared-out area where a large opening leading downward was prominent. “It’s just down here.”

Seeing the hole, Ezekiel’s hackles immediately raised. If it wasn’t for the fact that he had done his own investigations, he would be almost certain that this was a trap. But it was too obvious, and the Church of Ten had long since taken additional precautions to ensure that none of their Scholars were members of the Cult of Light.

It seemed like his reaction was noticed, and the Grand Scholar smiled sheepishly. “I will lead, of course. Please follow as needed.”

Waving his hands in a very obvious manner, the Grand Scholar muttered the necessary pass phrases to open up the seal protecting the entrance. There was a flicker, and an invisible barrier of solidified air shimmered and disappeared.

The Grand Scholar took the first steps into the descending staircase, and Ezekiel and Riley followed, after a few seconds of observation.

‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’ Shine sounded worried as they asked Ezekiel.

‘Less so now, but that’s why we made those waypoints while flying here.’

Thinking back to the devices that they had left hidden on their way to the ruins, Ezekiel was confident that they would be able to get out of there without many issues if things went wrong. But they hadn’t gotten any sense of danger just yet, so hopefully they wouldn’t be needed.

They were just on the edge of his senses, but since he needed to know where he was going when he couldn’t see his [Jump] destination, they would have to be enough for now.

‘We’ll need to work on making better ones later.’ Shine lamented the lack of preparation. ‘It’s not like we’re not already working on more complicated magic.’

Ezekiel nodded as the group stepped onto the bottom of the staircase case. In front of them were several open vault doors, and several that were closed. The enchantments on most were damaged, and it seemed like the ones that were open had had their insides destroyed.

‘As you can see, we’ve been having some difficulty getting access to our protected Relics and Artifacts.’ The Grand Scholar moved to the side while Ezekiel stepped forward to more closely examine the runes and enchantments. ‘We are hoping that you will be able to do something with your Void magic to get through without activating the contingency measures. Usually, we’d be able to get through with the keys we have, but the enchantments that allow access were the ones that were most easily damaged.”

Humming in understanding, Ezekiel looked over the closest vault. He had already figured out how to gain access. The problem was whether or not he was willing to make anything more than a half-hearted attempt.

‘I don’t think it’ll be any worse than what they’ve already seen.’ Shine had a point, and Ezekiel made his decision.

“Riley!” Ezekiel called out from the end of the corridor he had slowly walked down. “Is the ship that will be taking us to Sanafalls ready to depart?”

Riley nodded, even as the Grand Scholar sighed in disappointment. They had said that if there was nothing they could do, then they would be leaving right away.

“Tell them to delay an hour or so. It should only take a few minutes for me to finish up here, but I want to see what’s left before we head out.”

The group looked shocked at Ezekiel’s declaration, but didn’t have time to voice their disbelief, as Ezekiel reached out and allowed his [Nothingness] to utterly disable the enchantments protecting the vault closest to him. Only Riley was unsurprised, as she just turned and left, to get things ready for them to leave.

The Scholars looked gob smacked as they stared at Ezekiel as he slowly walked down the corridor. His mana unlocked each and every vault he touched. While also removing the contingency formations that would destroy the insides.

“Don’t be so surprised.” He didn’t even look back as he unlocked half the vaults. “I can only do this due to the nature of the enchantments. I’ll leave some notes on how to better protect these things later. Besides, a couple of Void enchantments would stop me in my tracks. If they were powerful enough.”

In truth, this was much more tiring than he was making it out to be. But he knew he needed to focus, so he didn’t let anyone see how his actions were affecting him.

Though he could see that they still had doubts, Ezekiel could tell that most of the Scholar’s worries were dispelled. Given the damage that was already present, it wasn’t too shocking that a peak Legendary Hunter could do this. Especially since he was using magic that no one else had categorized.

You can’t defend against something if you don’t know it exists, after all.

Coming to a stop at the end of the tunnel filled with broken vaults, Ezekiel turned, and began trekking back toward the entrance. The vaults on the other side opened at his touch. By the time he finished, over three quarters of his mana had been used up, and his soul was tired from exerting his [Will] as much as he had.

‘That was exhausting.’ Shine complained as Ezekiel laid them against the wall as he fell onto a step to rest.

The Scholars began sorting through the vaults, taking out and relocating several texts that were sealed in their own protective enchantments. As well as carefully carrying out Relics and Artifacts that Ezekiel either hadn’t seen before or hadn’t bothered to concern himself with.

“Legend Ezekiel.” One Scholar approached with a large stack of books in her hands. “I’m sorry to say that we don’t have any Com-Slates for Sanafalls on hand, but we do have the logs detailing the last several months of communications. The ones prior to the Rot’s arrival, and the destruction of the Cathedral, at least. If you’d like to peruse them, please feel free.”

Ezekiel felt a pit of disappointment fill him, but while he sighed, he still thanked her and took the books. He took the chance to look through them as she walked away.

‘Well, that’s a shame.’ Shine tried to lighten Ezekiel’s mood. ‘But at least we’ll be able to know what we’re getting into when we get there, right?’

‘True enough. I’m sure that nothing too bad happened while we were gone.’ Ezekiel continued to read, even as the sinking feeling in his gut grew stronger.

It was only a few minutes later, when he had gotten to the most recent entries, that a massive pressure filled the area, and all the Hunters, Mages, and Spirits in the surrounding area were forced to their knees. Even the Legendaries that were standing guard stumbled and fell.

“Get the ship ready. Now!” Ezekiel’s cry echoed through the vaults and stairs leading upwards. It filled the city with worry, even as the forces accompanying Riley scrambled to work faster. All while she darted back toward the vault to find out what was wrong.

As he marched up the staircase, Ezekiel’s face was as if it was carved from stone. His neutral expression didn’t match his eyes, however, and there swirling depths of space and stars made all who looked at them feel a hungry emptiness inside them.

Only Riley moved forward to embrace him, asking what had happened.

“They hurt my family.” Riley nearly threw herself away with how quickly she reared back in shock.

At that moment, even as suppressed as his emotions had become, there was an anger in his voice that spelled death to all who heard him.

The boat that was to carry him and Riley left within the next few minutes.

----------

Elsewhere, Ezekiel’s boat wasn’t the only one to leave Naramoor. When he and Riley had first arrived, several ships filled with Hunters were sent out to the nearby islands. It had been difficult for them to get past the Deep that were still nearby, but not impossible.

This led to a number of parties learning about Ezekiel’s survival. Even though it was still weeks after his return, meaning that no word would get back to him before he made landfall at Sanafalls.

“So, the kid’s still alive.” Wolken muttered as he looked over the message brought to him by his sister. “I suppose I’ll need to head out earlier than I thought.”

He pointedly ignored the glare his sister was sending him. “Oh? So, you’re just going to abandon your duty to Quintessa? After all the effort we put into getting you healthy again!”

“Yes.” Wolken didn’t show any of the fear and referral to his elder sister that he had before. “It’s not like I became an Exalt for Quintessa’s sake, after all.”

Lady Wilma glared, and her mana flared as she brought her [Will] down on her brother. “After everything we’ve done for you, you would simply leave?”

“I never asked for any of the things you and the others gave me!” Wolken moved to confront his sister. “You forced those things onto me, after you fell in Tier, because you could no longer do as you wished as a Mythic Hunter!”

Wilma looked away, but didn’t lessen her glare, nor did she deny Wolken’s accusations.

“All that I’ve ever been is a tool to you, and it’s a shame that I never realized it before now!” Wolken was nearly screaming at this point, and it was only when his Spirit gently hissed in his ear that he calmed down. “You care for Quintessa and its people and are willing to sacrifice everything for its betterment. But by forcing others to do the same, all you do is breed resentment.”

Wolken backed down, turning to leave as Wilma bit her lip in anger and shame.

“I’m not abandoning Quintessa, by the way.” His sister turned to stare at him in shock. “I’m just following up on an investment, to ensure that we get another Mythic in our ranks.”

He held up a hand to stop Wilma from speaking. Her face split in a grin at the thought of Ezekiel joining them in full. “However, this means we’ll need to properly support him. Which means not leaving him to rot like we were planning to before. Not that you’d be able to. The Temple’s Void Remnant won’t back you if it finds out you forsake one of its maker’s chosen, after all.”

Wilma shivered at the thought. Wolken grinned in delight.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go help our dear Void Hunter exterminate a worldly faction.” He didn’t wait for Wilma’s reply, taking to the skies and heading southwest at his top speed. Donning his Spirit Armor and disappearing above the clouds in seconds.

All while Wilma stood on the ground, her hair and clothes disheveled from the wind. The future was now uncertain, and the fate of Quintessa, and herself, unknown.

----------

Deep within the hidden chambers of the Cult of Light’s many headquarters, the Lights of Radiance were discussing their plans once more.

“We need to destroy that damned island right now!” Lana, one of the usually calm Lights, was nearly frothing at the mouth as she demanded Ezekiel’s death. “We cannot allow him to regroup and take action against our forces again. We have no way of knowing what secrets he acquired from the Ancient’s Legacy!”

“Agreed. The Anathema needs to die. His mother and surviving sister can be used as leverage to destroy him. He won’t be able to fight us if we take them into custody. One was already taken. The last two won’t be a problem.” Peri voiced her support for this endeavor, knowing that Quintessa would likely be next after Ezekiel took action in Morathi.

Surprisingly, Erkan and Typhos were the least responsive in this conversation.

“Given the way we’ve stretched our forces so far, and the losses in Quintessa, we really do need to decide how we will dedicate our forces.” Erkan muttered as he thought about how best to take hold of this situation. “I can’t say that dedicating more forces to killing the Anathema is a bad thing, but we will need to concentrate our efforts.”

“It seems like we’ll need to give something up in order to get what we want.” Typhos leaned back in thought. This wasn’t missed by his peers.

“Typhos, do you have any ideas?” The Speaker asked as the others fell quiet at his silent command. “These two have their desires, even if they don’t have any ideas.”

Lana and Peri sheepishly looked away.

“... I think we need to give up on Quintessa.”

“What!” Peri screamed as she rose from her seat. “How could you-”

“Silence!” The Speaker prevented her from continuing her outburst. “Explain. Your idea is abnormal for this situation. I must say, I can’t fathom how giving up on an entire half of the continent is a good thing. I’m half considering dismissing this idea out of hand.”

Erkan interjected as the first to speak. “Actually, I think that Typhos is onto something.”

Beside him, Amelia nodded in agreement as she thought things over for herself.

“Indeed. After spreading our forces thin, the best thing to do is to consolidate.”

The Speaker hummed in contemplation. “Give me the details.”

Peri slumped in despair, knowing that Typhos had support from two other Lights meant that she was likely going to lose her territory.

“Simply put, by pulling the forces we have in Quintessa, we’ll be able to take action against the Anathema more directly and solidify our hold on the western half of the continent. Maybe even taking control of the Fjorya much more quickly than our current projections indicate.”

The others thought about Typhos’ words, and even Peri had to agree that, if they could take out the Anathema before he reached Mythic, then it would be worth it. Especially if it meant they could take full control of the Morathi Alliance, and the Fjorya, in the process.

“Perhaps you’re right.” The Speaker didn’t dispute anything. “Endaria, how quickly can you get to Morathi?”

The Green light, who had remained silent until this point, turned to face the Speaker.

“Do I need to! I really want to stay and kill that bastard that made that damned mushroom lady eat my flowers.” She still vividly remembered the defeats she faced when fighting Wolken months ago.

If it wasn’t for the fact that the Cruor had pushed a massive army into Quintessa, forcing the man into a healing coma as he fought both the Rotting Matriarch, and the King of Fangs.

“If you go, it’s almost certain you’ll get to fight him again.” Peri interrupted. “Word has recently come to me that Wolken had left Quintessa to aid the Anathema.”

Each of the Lights grimaced at the thought. “Then it is even more apparent that we will need to go all out in destroying the Anathema here and now. If he is given the chance to regroup in Quintessa, we will never be able to get our hands on him.”

No one disputed the Speaker's words this time. Each of the Lights of Radiance determined what they could contribute to their new cause. Soon, armies of Radiant Followers would flow to the west, and the Anathema would be embroiled in war once more.

----------

All around the world, different forces and people were quick to learn that Ezekiel and Riley had survived. Some were ecstatic, like Shari and Noren, who were reestablishing both their families and their personal power in the cities where they had settled in Quintessa.

Others raged, and ranted, while plotting his death on the western corner of the world. Bright candles flickered ominously as the Kindled family reached out to move up their plans for his sister.

Hope and despair mixed together in many people, as many prayed for his swift support, and more prayed for his ultimate demise.

But it was on Sanafalls, where Ezekiel’s remaining family were recovering from the attack that had broken them, that the most expectant people were waiting for him.

Now, finally, it was only a matter of time before their reunion was at hand.