Tale of Eldramir

Five figures stood around the seal of one of their brethren. The emptiness that ate away at both Ichor and mana rose into the air, creating a dead zone that none of them could survive in. An empty abyss that only a small number of beings could enter without consequence.

“Are the other sacrifices ready?” Radiant Chaos asked his fellow Broodmasters. The bodies of the possessed Broodlords shook their heads. “Then we will have to make do with what we have here. Willing members are more useful, but our old followers will be enough for this.”

Raising his golden arms into the air, several tendrils extended and wrapped around the necks of several dozen Cruor. Each of them was in a trance and showed the traits of the Fanged Brood on their bodies. More mutated than usual, their Ichor was far more powerful and corruptive than it would usually be. The ground beneath them sizzled as Ichor dripped from wounds that littered their bodies.

“Will this be enough? A true vessel needs more preparation than something fresh like these.” The Rotten Broodmaster’s question was ignored for the moment.

Instead, Radiant Chaos focused on the task at hand. Infusing his own Ichor into the bodies of the Fanged Cruor, all Legendary, and a few that belonged to the first generation, he melted them down and formed a cocoon next to the seal.

Rivers of Ichor flowed outward, ignoring the seal for now, but channels were still carved. They remained blocked for the moment yet could be opened in an instant.

Stepping up to the seal, Radiant Chaos placed a hand on the boundary. He remained still for several seconds, only for his body to suddenly vibrate and ripple. A strange whisper reverberated through the area.

“Our brother has confirmed the death of his Broodlord. We can safely assume that the Deep Lord is dead as well. With our consciousnesses out here, we cannot communicate with them like we did before. However, it seems like our Deep Brother has also lost contact with his lord.” Radiant Chaos stepped back from the seal. “For now, the body I am preparing for our Fanged brother will need time to grow and sacrifices to maintain stability. At least for a long enough time to open my seal, so that I can release you all soon after.”

The other Broodmasters nodded. As one, they moved away from the seal, leaving the cocoon to grow on its own. Their massive forms shook the ground as they walked.

“What shall we do about the others? Making bodies for our brethren will be difficult, since they will need to be protected in order to reach maturity. Even then, there’s no telling how sturdy they will be when finished.” The Blood Broodmaster looked over her shoulder at the cocoon before moving on. “Should one or two of us remain behind to guard it?”

“... That might be for the best. At least for now... We will have to wait until it hatches before we move on.” Radiant Chaos held a hand to his chin. His humanoid form taking on mannerisms that he hadn’t realized were affecting him. “Bones and Wyrm should remain here. Then, Blood, Rot, and I will go to the Empire. We need to harvest more resources for the other host bodies. We have enough servants, but they will need food to remain strong enough for the transformation.”

“I assume that your little Cult will be used to harvest the humans we need for the feasts?” the blood Broodlord spoke up again.

Behind her, the Bone and Wyrm Broodlords stopped moving. Instead of following along, they turned back and took up protective positions around the cocoon.

It slowly pulsed with a rhythmic beat that shook the ground. Thousands of Cruor of varying Tiers gathered around. Each of them was kneeling with their eyes open as they listlessly gazed at the seal. Their consciousness had faded once Radiant Chaos had infected them with his Ichor.

Perhaps, if they distanced themselves, or had Ezekiel there to aid them, this control would have lessened, but such a thing was unlikely. Radiant Chaos had already sent out a call. Just beyond the immediate vicinity, countless more Cruor were gathered. Split into groups, and under the command of their respective Broodmasters.

Only those whose masters were still fully sealed were not present. Instead, they were awaiting the awakening of their masters by their respective seals.

“The Cult that I created has already worked to gather up all the Void Mages on the western half of the continent. While we are traveling, we can expand our hold at the same time.” While they strode across the land, several bony Spines were picked up from a pool of Ichor where they were being cultivated. “The lack of Wild Spirits, thanks to our efforts, means that that side of the continent is already indirectly under our control. Except for that annoying mountain range. However, we can reclaim that later. After our Desolation has spread and there are no more barriers preventing us from moving in.”

The Blood and Rot Broodmasters nodded, and once Radiant Chaos had finished picking up several hundred seeds for the Ichorous Spines, forming new ones as he worked, the three set off.

Radiant Chaos’ golden figure floated in the air, his control of Radiant magic from consuming the first Ancient Radiance meant that he could fly through the entirety of the Desolate Land in minutes, but he held back. He needed to remain close to his helpers, since he couldn’t be certain that he wouldn’t be ambushed by Ezekiel.

“Once we get close, and our first harvest is made, we will head to the Winged one’s seal. That one is the closest and would be best for us to wait for the month or so that it will take for our Fanged brother’s host to be ready. In less than half a year, we will be ready to open the seals in full.”

Flying through the air, Radiant Chaos allowed his confidence to soar.

His fellow Broodmasters were too inexperienced to know what he was truly planning. Focusing solely on getting out of their seals as soon as possible. Something he would continue to use to his advantage, just as he had for the last several centuries.

While there were still concerns regarding what Ezekiel had learned from the Fanged Lord, so long as he kept himself going forward, he would succeed in ascending.

This world belonged to him, and only he had the right to master it. One day spread to the stars above as well. Spreading his Ichor and making all things one with him.

----------

Taking to the sky above the miasma of the Desolate Lands made travel fairly simple, if long. It was something that Ezekiel wouldn’t have been able to do if he had an entourage, but since he was by himself it worked out fine.

It was after they had passed the border of the Desolate Lands that he realized that the few months he'd been trapped in Eldramir’s Spirit Paths had resulted in massive changes around the world.

“This land wasn’t covered in Spores and Rot, was it?” Shine asked with a quiver in their voice.

Ezekiel shook his head. A frown marred his face, and his eyes narrowed at the site in front of him.

“We can spare some time... Let’s make sure that this won’t be able to spread any further outward. I think I see the impact zone. We’ll start from there.” He descended as a streak of white light toward the center of the most densely packed fungal growths.

Throwing his hands outward, a wave of force filled with [Nothingness] spread outward. It ripped the nearest fungi to shreds, and further disintegrated them, leaving nothing behind once the wave had dissipated.

“Any ideas as to how we can speed this up?” Ezekiel took to the sky once more, seeing that the effects of his magic had been large, but were far too slow for his tastes.

Not only that, but he could see the Umbral Beasts in the region rushing in to fill the now empty space. Within hours it was likely that the area would be covered in fungus once more.

Not only that, but the time it would take to continue tearing it apart would leave him far more weakened than he was comfortable with. Especially if he had to worry about possible spread if he failed to eliminate it all at once.

“If we could generate enough heat, then we could start a fire and [Enhance] it to the extent that this whole region becomes a blazing inferno... I don’t think the consequences could be much worse than they already are...” Shine whispered with a heavy tone when suggesting this.

However, Ezekiel just closed his eyes. He knew that this was the best way to deal with the problem. So, he telekinetically grabbed two large boulders, and by utilizing friction caused them to melt after rapidly spinning them against each other.

The molten rock was then used to light several fungi on fire. Which Ezekiel then infused with his mana. Imposing his [Understandings] as well as his personal [Logic] and [Rules] upon it, the fire quickly spread. It went well beyond his grasp, until it covered the entire region. This took several minutes, but was faster, and more consuming than his original actions.

“We’ll let it run its course, cleaning up any remnants, just in case.” Flying around in a wide arc, Ezekiel took the time to ensure that the flame killed off everything related to the Rot that was present. “That should do it for now. We can go to the edges of the forest, where the Rot didn’t manage to infect everything, and set off some [Reinforcement] and [Enhancement] so that the forest can grow back quickly.”

It had taken half an hour, but the fungal spread had been eliminated. All that remained were ashes that covered the land and would hopefully be filled with neutral minerals that wouldn’t cause side-effects when the forest regrew here.

Prepping the forest for regrowth, Ezekiel let out a sigh when he checked his reserves. He still had more than half his mana left, but he knew that he couldn’t afford to do this again if there was another region like this.

Sensing something in the distance, he turned to focus on it but ignored it when he realized what it was. He didn’t need the hassle of dealing with those kinds of things right now. Better to move on his own. It would be faster that way.

“Let’s go... We won’t be making any other stops like this until after we get to civilization, and figure out what the hell is going on, and how best to utilize our power to aid in the fighting.”

Shine gave a mental nod, and the two took off into the sky once more. They flew well above the clouds, ensuring that nothing would get in their way. It would be a little while before they got to the next closest city, so Shine took the time to begin searching through Ezekiel’s Spirit Paths.

Neither was hopeful that anything would be found, but there was no point in not trying.

Their current fight was more of a race at this point anyway.

----------

Not far from the fungal region that had slowly been spread across the land, several Hunters and a Mythical Spirit watched as Ezekiel destroyed the infection that they had been slowly losing ground against.

They stood at the edges of a makeshift camp. Walls that were rugged, but sturdy, surrounded it, and small mana cannons that could be deployed quickly and packed up just as fast were mounted all around it. There were also several formations cobbled together that kept it relatively hidden, at least from the more simple-minded Umbral Beasts that had sprung up from the fungal infection.

Had there been any actual Cruor nearby, then these formations wouldn’t have worked, but since there wasn’t any nearby, this setup was enough for their purpose here.

“It looks like Headren was right... Ezekiel really is back...” Invera, currently in her shrunken form, gazed into the sky where Ezekiel had departed. “Send word to the capital. Ezekiel is on his way there and will need someone to give him a rundown of what’s been happening so far.”

One of the healers, garbed in green Scholar robes, took out a Com-Slate and began speaking into it. The other Hunters, after Ezekiel disappeared in the distance, looked to Invera with confused expressions.

“If I may,” one of them mustered up the courage to speak, “why didn’t he come to meet us. While it wasn’t obvious, he did look in our direction. He must’ve known that we were here, right?”

Invera nodded. “That’s correct. However, you have to ask yourselves, could you keep up with him?”

The Hunters all glanced at each other. Some even looked to the ground and shook their heads.

The Lightning Mythic sighed. “That was not an admonishment. It was simply a question of facts. Even I am uncertain that I could keep up with him for long at this point. Outpace him, temporarily, sure. But keep up that pace for however long it would take to reach the capital from here? No. Even if he could simply have greeted us and asked for information, he needs to meet up with whoever is directing our forces. Only then can he confirm how best to be used in the fighting.”

What was left unsaid was the fact that she was fairly certain that Ezekiel didn’t care to delay any more than he already had. There was no doubt in her mind that he was only interested in finding his family and reuniting with them.

However, letting the others know this would’ve doused their spirits, and they needed as much moral support as possible, given the direction that the war was going.

“Come along. We can safely write off this battlefront and begin hunting down the Umbral Beasts that have been pushing past the border. Send a message to Strom. Tell him that, since he’s the closest, we’ll be heading to him to reinforce his hold on the central border line. From there, we will distribute our forces as needed.”

The Hunters and Scholars moved to do as ordered. Packing up what supplies they had at their makeshift camp. Within minutes they were ready to set out, and as one they moved. Their message having long been sent, and their destination clear.

Each of them had grim lines of determination marring their faces. Yet there was a lightness to their movements. One that Invera hadn’t seen since the first impact of the Rot Spores several weeks ago.

If she had lips, she would’ve smiled. Even if it wasn’t fully realized just yet, it brightened her soul to see hope fill her companions once again.

----------

When Ezekiel finally saw the nearest city, the capital of Quintessa, he realized that there were several people waiting outside it that were flagging him down. Alongside them were also a couple of Mythical Spirits. He recognized one as Brun, who had seemingly regrown his limbs from the last time Ezekiel had seen him at the Spirit Haven.

“Come down... We need to talk now that you're back.” Brun’s voice drifted into his ears atop the wind as he got closer.

Ezekiel could hear the strain in the Spirit’s voice as he barely whispered his words. Descending to the ground, Ezekiel walked up at a slow pace, cautious of any possible deceptions or ambushes.

He had already suffered as much from the Void Remnant within the Temple beneath this very city, after all. However, his actions were clearly noticed by those that were waiting for him. So, once he got to a certain point, he stopped and let them come to him instead.

How do you think they knew we were coming? Shine mentally asked, keeping their conversation secret for the time being.

I assume that it was the Hunters we left behind near the fungal region. I only noticed them when we got close to the still healthy forest areas; from when we kickstarted its regrowth. Ezekiel didn’t look away from the Mythical beings approaching him. I just ignored them since it was likely that they would’ve asked for our help in their mission. We couldn’t afford to be side-tracked any more than we already were, so I ignored them. By now, with them sending word forward, it’s likely that our presence is well known at this point.

Ezekiel tensed up when the others got close enough to speak. He was outnumbered, but even with only half his mana, Shine was close to full, and with their combined power, they would be able to flee with ease. The fact that they were a fair distance from the city itself meant that there would be little collateral damage if things did get violent.

There was still hope that things wouldn’t come to that, but he knew that he couldn’t rely on hope with how the world was right now.

“You look tense,” Brun smiled, like he usually did, with fangs glimmering in the sunlight. “Be at ease. We’re not so foolish as to act against you at this time. Not when things are so dire.”

Alongside Brun, there was a Firebird that had shrunk down to a smaller size. However, he was missing a wing, and several scars marred his body.

Ezekiel could also sense Ichor that was being suppressed within its body, but it had become deeply rooted in the Spirit’s pseudo-flesh. A Legendary being with those injuries would’ve mutated beyond recognition if they were so badly corrupted.

Next to these two Spirits was a figure that emanated an aura of Death. One that Ezekiel felt was familiar, but he wasn’t going to touch that subject right now.

Finally, there was a Cavern Hunter, Narok, from the fallen Empire. His presence here was the most surprising to Ezekiel, since he was certain that the Empire’s Mythics would be doing their best to protect their young Emperor from the danger of the current world. He was also partially corrupted but wasn’t suffering any physical injuries.

“Why the... Neutral welcome, then?” Ezekiel remained tense and ready to run at a moment’s notice. He wasn’t willing to fight these people. Not when they were already on the back foot. Not when all forces would be needed to ensure that humanity, and the Spirits, survived.

“Simply put, we need to know if you’ll be staying here for any length of time or setting off and doing your own thing.” Brun got straight to the point, which Ezekiel was thankful for. “Your family isn’t here right now, but we are being run ragged as the number of Umbral Beasts has been constantly increasing. As have the Hybrid beasts. Even with the Broodmasters not stepping into battle directly, we are losing ground. Especially with the loss of one of our own.”

Ezekiel could tell that Brun was specifically speaking of a Mythical Being fighting on their side. Only such a figure would be considered a peer that could be lost.

“Who did we lose?” For the moment, Ezekiel intended to fish for information, rather than give a direct reply.

“Talia, the Empire’s Life Hunter, was nearly ripped apart by the Rot Broodmasters. Her Spirit fell in battle purging her of the fungal corruption. Our most powerful healer and environmental controller has fallen.” Brun sighed, and his grin shrank while Narok frowned and looked away.

Headren and Roc, the Firebird, remained silent.

“... I’m willing to take action to ease the pressure being put on you all, but I can’t afford to waste time doing so. This war is no longer a matter of simply outlasting or slowly killing off our enemies. It’s a race to see who can achieve their ultimate goal first.” Ezekiel pierced each of the Mythical beings in front of him with his glare. “The Cruor seek to free their Broodmasters in full, not just have them possess weaker bodies. While I need to reach Tier six before that happens. Whichever side achieves their goal first will win. No exceptions.”

The others looked confused. They knew what the Broods were trying to do but hadn’t realized that such a thing was on a short deadline.

“Do we not have several years to do this? I thought that the seals would last for at least a few more decades. They have been strengthened by whatever you did wherever you were. So, we shouldn’t have such a short time frame to work with.”

This time Narok spoke up, his voice a gravely raspy hiss that could barely be heard.

At that point, Ezekiel realized that the man was suffering more from internal injuries than external.

“... The Broods are aware that, if I reach Tier six, they will lose. That is why they are speeding up their efforts to break free, even at the current cost to themselves, and the decimation of their Cruor, at the cost of maintaining bodies that won’t last longer than a year.” Ezekiel could feel Shine’s unspoken question but sent a reassurance for them to wait for now. He would explain when they were done here. “Radiant Chaos also has a plan that he can’t afford to put on hold. One that must be fulfilled within a year. I learned this from interrogating the Fanged and Deep Lords. They’re dead, by the way. Happy to be so as well, since apparently the Broodmasters were less than kind to them when they took possession of their allies’ bodies.”

The faces of the gathered Mythics relaxed momentarily. Relief flooded their bodies, and even Ezekiel relaxed, minutely, when he saw this.

“For now, Gather up your most corrupted fighters. I’m assuming your injuries are why you all aren’t fighting, so I’ll help you recover first. Then, get me a list of locations that need to be taken care of, as well as where the other Mythics are holding the line. I’ll pick a few to help out before leaving to find my family. I’m assuming-- What? Why are you frowning?”

It was only for a moment, but both Brun and Narok’s lips turned down when Ezekiel mentioned his family. He knew that that couldn’t be a good sign and leapt on it as soon as possible. Otherwise, they might have tried to brush it off.

“... Simply put, after going to the Archipelago to remain safe, of their own free will, they left for Tarquessa, with only those that had sworn loyalty to you going with them. We don’t know where they got to, only that they arrived safely, and that the desert is still relatively free of any large Cruor forces.” Brun spoke slowly, eying Ezekiel carefully, while Narok looked away once more, and Roc and Headren just stayed still. “We have taken no action against them, but they freely went off on their own. We don’t know where they are right now.”

Ezekiel took several deep breaths, infusing each one with [Nothingness] as a precaution against airborne drugs or poisons. No longer allowing himself to relax, it took him almost everything to not lash out. Only Shine’s reminder helped him hold back.

Keep calm and think about why Riley and the others would’ve gone to the desert.

Several seconds passed, and Ezekiel realized he wasn’t getting anywhere, because his vision was just going red. The thought of his family being lost was almost too much for him.

Luckily, Shine was able to keep a much clearer head. A memory of a map from over a decade ago flashed through Ezekiel’s mind.

Wasn’t there an entrance to the Ancient Legacy in Tarquessa?

Upon hearing his Spirit’s words, Ezekiel was able to slowly unclench his fists, and the pressure he hadn’t realized he was emitting was released.

If that was the reason Riley had gone to Tarquessa, then it was likely that his family was safe. The Broods wouldn’t be able to enter the Ancient Legacy anytime soon. Even if they did somehow find the entrances. With that in mind, he could afford to help a bit more here.

“Take me to your injured and get me a map. I’ll help for a month, and then I’m setting off. I can’t afford to wait any longer than that.” He kept his words to the point and started marching toward the city. “I don’t suppose I need to tell you how bad an idea it would be for you to try and screw me over while I’m here, correct?”

The assembled Mythics nodded in unison. Brun then disappeared in a gust of wind, while Narok and Headren fell into step behind him. Ezekiel continued to ignore the familiar presence of the Death Hunter. Given what he knew about the Remnant in Eldramir’s Spirit Paths, the true form of the Death Hunter wasn’t unexpected. Just strange, and an unwelcome reminder of what he’d left behind.

“You’re Roc, right?” he asked the Firebird. “It’s nice to meet you, now get over here and let me help get rid of that Ichor poisoning you’re suffering from.”

With a flex of his [Will] Ezekiel wrapped Roc up in his mana, and the Firebird reflexive squeaked before shrinking further into a more handheld size. Ezekiel held the bird to his chest like a plushy, and gently started nullifying the Ichor inside the Spirit's body with his [Nothingness], taking care not to harm or further disturb the Spirit more than he already had.

By this point, Ezekiel was so practiced at dealing with the effects of Ichor that the Mythical Flame Spirit was purged of the Ichor corrupting it by the time they finished walking to the gates of the city, roughly ten minutes later.

When he got directed to the comatose Wolken, however, he was greatly disappointed when he realized that there was nothing more that he could do for the man.