Chapter 458 (2/2)
“The Legacy,” I said without hesitation
“Yes, her” Oludari said it like a curse “The Legacy—a spirit that carries its potential frorowth bound into one being Agrona theorized that such a being could harnessthe bounds of both lesser or asuran ly rare Only one has ever been recorded in the lifetirona needed to bring her here and ensure she would cooperate”
I nodded, knowing the rest “So froacy, he learned how to absorb mana directly from his own people But that still doesn’t tell me why?”
“I already said it,” Oludari answered simply “The concentration of power There are layers to this universe, folded over one another like the place where the Relictombs rests”
“And Epheotus,” I probed
“H “Not exactly Epheotus is…soer here, but it is not entirely there, either A projection of the physical world housed within another dimension Perhaps the same one as the Relicto, but you have, without knowing it, spotted the connection”
“What do youresigned “I don’t know everything—Agrona has proven quite adept at distracting and co—but I will tell you what I can After you release me and help me escape this place Take , and you can push him to allow me back into my home I can be useful to the other basilisk clans, I can—”
“No,” I interrupted, taking a step back and turning around to stare into the sround river
“What?” he asked incredulously “But why—”
‘Charon is on his way,’ Sylvie sent at the sa
Once again in his huon swept down the tunnel left by the escaping Wraith and landed lightly in front of ht into the dim cave “I would have preferred you wait to speak with the prisoner until I arrived,” he said without prea after hiround with a whisper, and he n
“He desperately wants to be taken to Kezess,” I said Windso, “Which is exactly on’t be doing that”
Windsom scowled and looked at Charon for support The scarred asura was frowning, but he didn’t immediately counter ons of the Indrath clan?” Oludari snapped, spitting on the ground in his anger “Truly you are a pathetic lot—”
Windso the words froet what he wants,” I continued That was only half the truth, of course Really, I didn’t want to give Kezess any additional insight into Agrona’s plans until I was certain that knowledge would be shared, or at least until I had ed to acquire it myself first
“That isn’t up to you, boy,” Windsom fumed “Oludari Vritra is too valuable a prisoner to be left here where hein more attacks andfor Charon to take personal authority over safeguarding Oludari Make hiet to be worth the trouble, or even better, parade his body around and clairona’s elite forces, while they attempted an incursion into our continent”
Charon took a morona’s spies will report the Sovereign’s death…and we dragons are able to present this as a victory to the people Clever And where will you be?”
“Windso to take lared, first at Charon, then at me “I knehen I first met you that you’d be an obstinate creature But a life in the spotlight of this lesser continent has given you the false belief that the entire world—the universe, even—revolves around you The truth is that you are a very se entirely on your every aze at the asura
“Fine,” he said at length, standing up straight and brushi+ng dust off his unifor you explain these decisions to Lord Indrath”
After sending sois, both of ould be staying behind, I repeatedthat no ered—then bent down in front of Oludari “I would suggest trying real hard to re by the tiain, Vritra” Finally, I stood and regarded Windsom expectantly
Windsom looked back and forth between me and Charon, irritation carved into every line of his face He let out a huffy scoff “Come then, Arthur It would seem I have been reduced to ano more time, he withdrew a round, flat object and set it carefully on the floor Drawing a drop of blood froer, he let the blood fall onto the disk The disk expanded, projecting a coluo when he first took ht to Sylvie Charon’s still acting the role of reasonable leader, but I don’t knoe can trust his intentions yet Read the latest chapter at /
‘You too,’ she thought back ‘Things are progressing rapidly now, and there is still soa deep breath, I stepped into the portal
The air grew cool as I appeared atop the mountain, just as I had the first tinificent and o with a thousand sparkling gee spanned the two peaks as before, and a light breeze blew through the swaying pink petals of the trees covering the ht here the first time, I had been filled with a sense of otherworldly awe Now, though, the cold fire ofexcept the desire to get this over with
Windsoe, not even looking back I followed but reic that writhed over and through e of precious minerals
We reached the front door, which Windsoh, the expansive hall beyond twitched uncoin a et s, an aetheric sword already clutched in er with s
The orn Path of Insight dominated the center of the tower chamber
A powerful presence clamped down on the aether in my fist and expelled it by sheer force “There won’t be a need for that here,” Kezess’s voice rang through the roo hi suddenness, he was standing on the opposite side of the circle worn in the floor
He was playing a ga to unbalance rip over arding hih “Do you already knohat happened?”
Kezess cocked his head slightly, sending a wave of ht-colored hair “Windsom has explained some of it The rest, he said you would tellhave I already been here? Surely you understand the importance of my expedient return to Dicathen”
He exa at ht hter and Oludari of Clan Vritra with you”
I let only a sh on uaranteed that the conflict between the asuras wouldn’t spill out into the continent, but I have just coround that left over two hundred Dicathians dead, and I have no idea how ees before that How can I trust you with Sylvie or Oludari if you aren’t going to hold up to your end of our bargain?”
“Yes, the Wraiths and their attack… an attack you warned Charon of days ahead of tiht ae of a sword “That was one point Windsom wasn’t able to clarify forto attack Etistin?” Read the latest chapter at /
“Don’t change the subject,” I countered “I need your assurance that the dragons supposedly guarding Dicathen will have their priorities set straight We have no use for soulless figureheads”
Kezess’s nostrils flared, the only sign of his irritation “Soulless figureheads? What’s next, will you snipe at ain? I told you before, Arthur, I won’t hesitate to sacrifice one lesser life for the greater good, or even two hundred, and neither will my soldiers But then, you understand this well Was it not you who said you wouldn’t kill millions of Alacryans to save thousands of Dicathians? You’ve done the moral arithe barbed words, despite having plenty of choice ones stored up,” I said after a few seconds of silence “Whatwhat you pro you know I sa Charon and Windsos They knew more than they wanted to let on”
Kezess’s posture softened as he relaxed “You are right Your insight into aether will be of little use to rona to learn everything I know, or even what I guess at, and so I have insulated you from certain information I will continue to do so, but I can see now that there is a need for certain things to coainst the wall, relaxing slightly “Maybe you can start by telling s to come this far? You could have washed Alacrya away in a tide of blood centuries ago An arrona left Epheotus with his entire clan in tow, yes, and that was part of the problem And not just the Vritra, either, but soan to walk slowly around the worn circle that was the Path of Insight “This action was an existential threat to all lessers and asura alike A conflict of that scale on your world would have been devastating”
“The lessers, yes, but for the asura as well?” I frowned and shooko to war,” Kezess answered, staring down at the path as he walked its slow circle “His clan and their allies had been placed very strategically to ensure that any battle would almost certainly result in the destruction of your world”
I was careful to controlscoff “assuainst the world’s dorona but not when the djinn—”
“Everything!” he snapped, hisI’ve done has been to keep this world alive, and it would be wise for you to place that firmly at the forefront of any further assumptions you make about me”
In the silence that followed Kezess’s unexpected outburst, remembered words echoed back to me from the last keystone trial He told the djinn that their use of aether was a danger to the world And Lady Sae-Areu that prompted them to search beyond the borders of our world, but what had that been?
Despite the desire to press Kezess further, I kept hts to myself I needed to understand, but I had to be careful
Kezess stood taller, his back straightening The tension seean his pacing again “Instead of fighting a cataclysardless of our ability to win, I sent assassins, as rona proved ined hat I’d been told before, but the words of Sae-Areu rona really want, in the end? What has all this been for?”
Kezess ceased his pacing and faced me “Let me share with you a bit of our history, Arthur, so that you ht better understand
“When Epheotus was still a third continent in the ocean between Dicathen and Alacrya, the asura were much like the elves of Elenoir Our ancestors were a people beholden to the natural world around theh constant struggle, growth
“Such was our growth that our ic surpassed the limits of our physical forms When this happened to the djinn, they adopted the use of spellfor their connection to h runic tattoos But for the asura, it was quite different
“We sought out new forical ability that we had honed over on and the haes, those traits evolved to be an inherent aspect of our races, which drew apart fro more unique with ti both ic and the natural beasts, creatures faryour Beast Glades And then, as our resources ran dry and our constant eagerness for growth expanded, we began to subjugate each other The wraiths—not Agrona’s lessuran soldiers, but an ancient branch of the asuran family tree—were the worst offenders They were a race of war, and they built themselves up on the bones of those they conquered Eventually, every race, every clan, was drawn into a war that scoured the world clean, sinking continents and burning seas We forgot that we had once been in balance with the land as conflict pushed our reater devastation
“It was only when the very last of the wraiths fell that the rest of the asura sahat they’d beco my reaction
I carefully considered the layers of his story “Is this history or allegory?”
Kezess gave me an amused smile “Both, I suppose This is what happened as told by our records, but I aed for himself a nation entirely beholden to him He has eliminated any rival in Alacrya And with his aracy—he seeks to subjugate your world, and then he will corona wants: to take what your people and mine have built, to conquer our worlds and claim them for himself He wants to rule all, to control all, at any cost”
I nodded in understanding,doubt Oludari had been clear in one thing: Agrona was seeking individual strength, depriving hih , it was imperative to understand the importance of those you surround yourself with And if what Oludari suggested was true, then even the Legacy was rona, but a tool for hirona had shown hi every situation to his advantage And I realized then that I had always beenessential to any victory in war: understanding
The very thing that Kezess hi me from Read the latest chapter at /
I carefully considered his lies as rateful s honest with me, Kezess"