Chapter 44
The Journal of Celestial Mage Kadmus Castro
TEPHRYN ALEMEDES
Eleventh Sun, Fourteenth Cycle, Twelfth Age
I stole Kadmus’s journal.
I needed to read the truth for myself, in his own words.
He really did it.
He turned himself into a monster.
A reaper.
And he’s not the only one. They’re spreading like wildfire all across Elverdine Isle, the temptation of magic too strong for so many of the shallows, who have longed for power their whole lives.
But more than that, now that they’ve had a taste for siphoning, they can’t stop. Their addiction is only growing, with them stealing ellixen from mages, from creatures, from other shallows.
They’re even stealing it from children.
Killing children.
It’s—It’s—
“Evil” is too tame a word.
We’re doing what we can to capture as many as possible, imprisoning them in the Underlock—a warded prison the fabricator mages have constructed deep beneath the mountain.
The reapers are too strong to contain anywhere else.
They’re also fast, and heal much quicker than they should, making them unnaturally difficult to kill.
I thank the Elders that they seem unable to use the magic they siphon in any practical way—once a shallow, always a shallow, at least when it comes to stolen ellixen.
Kadmus is the sole exception, most likely because he was a mage before he became a reaper, and he continues to have his own stores of power.
Mage. Reaper. Mage Priest. Reaper Priest. Reaper Lord…I don’t know what Kadmus is now. What he’s become.
My heart has never hurt this much. But despite my sorrow—or perhaps because of it—I knew I had to help stop him.
His strength, his speed, his power…it was nearly impossible for us to seize him, and even then, unlike the other reapers, the Underlock’s warded cells weren’t strong enough to hold him.
But we also couldn’t risk executing him, not with so much stolen ellixen inside him and the deadly magical surge it would cause if released. What he siphoned from Zeranthe alone…
If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, watched her glorious scales fade as her life drained away, then I never would have believed it.
Kadmus loved me, I know he did.
But his bond with his beloved dragon—there’s nothing more sacred.
So we did what we had to do.
I did what I had to do.
Kadmus couldn’t be contained, and he couldn’t be killed, so we did the next best thing.
We ████████
His strength was such that it took the combined powers of three healer mages, two enchanter mages, and my own alchemical elixirs to restrain him as he fought us magically and physically right until the end. But finally, he succumbed.
He’s not dead—but he also won’t be able to harm anyone again.
Ever. We’ll ensure it by returning him to the mainland, entombing him somewhere deep and forgotten, hidden from anyone who might seek to aid him.
It’s a peace many believe he doesn’t deserve, but I’m relieved.
Despite what he did, what he chose, he was once good.
I want to remember him that way, not as the monster he became.
With Kadmus no longer a threat, our attention must turn to the danger all around us—and on the horizon.
Because try as we might, we haven’t been able to hunt down all the reapers, and their numbers are growing daily as more shallows succumb to the temptation of siphoning.
Here on Elverdine, this is a worry, but it’s an isolated one.
If, however, any of the reapers were to make it to the mainland…
The consequences would be catastrophic.
Kadmus was wrong when he theorized that the wards around the two other Hallow Streams are what prevent mages and shallows from siphoning from the natural world.
It’s not the wards—it’s runes etched by the Elders themselves, powerful mental enchantments that make anyone who attempts to steal ellixen believe it’s impossible.
It’s a safeguard to protect all living creatures, one I’ve never understood the need for until now.
If Elverdine’s reapers make it to the mainland, the runes preventing siphoning will be ineffective, because they already know it’s possible to steal magic—and how.
Not only would they have a near-endless supply of ellixen-rich beings to siphon from, but they could also teach the shallows there to push through the mental enchantments of the runes.
The sheer numbers of shallows who might be tempted to steal power, especially if it meant they could take it from the mages who have governed them throughout the ages…
The reapers cannot be allowed to leave Elverdine Isle. Because if they do, they’ll siphon, and keep siphoning, until there’s nothing and no one left.
Only death.
We can’t allow that to happen.
We won’t allow that to happen.
The lives of every human and creature in this world are depending on us.
We must find a way to protect them—before it’s too late.