Chapter 14
Aringing in my ears startles me awake. My eyes snap open and I look wildly around me.
There’s no bloody figure from the Lake. No threatening presence.
I sigh in relief. It was just a dream. A bad, bad dream.
“It wasn’t a dream,” a voice echoes in my mind.
I startle and suddenly get up. “Who’s there?”
“Are you alright, Nykander?” Elysand asks as he appears by my side.
I look around in confusion.
“I... I think so.”
“You will be among those standing in the back if anything happens. Don’t worry too much.”
“Alright.” I nod, still searching for the source of the sound.
With a smile, he leaves.
The voice doesn’t return. I ask questions, both silently, in my mind, and whispered under my breath. For hours on end, I question whether I’ve truly gone mad.
All indications point toward it. I’m hearing and seeing things. Is this a consequence of my fear? Of my powerlessness? I’m so terrified to be here, close to such monumental danger that I’m making up scenarios in my mind.
Rest does not come easy after that.
The hours pass, merging together until I am no longer aware of time.
I simply sit still in my spot, staring up ahead, terrified by every little sound.
The image of the bloody lady is ingrained in my retinas, and no matter how much I try to forget about it, I cannot.
What did she mean that there are three thousand years of misery waiting for me? That is a consequence of my own actions? What actions? That I was born? Is this still tied to the curse of my birth.
Was the bloody lady sent by my mother?
Terror ignites inside of me. Does my mother know where I am? Did she somehow find my whereabouts and instead of coming for me, is she devising of ways to torment me until I cannot continue living?
The two moons rotate in the sky constantly. Sometimes they’re close together, signifying it’s night, and sometimes they’re at opposite sides of the sky—the start of a new day.
The pattern continues until three days have passed. Even as new food was handed out, I could not bring myself to take any. My body shows signs of hunger, but I quench it, the fright much more powerful than my declining bodily functions.
Low tremors appear at the surface of the ground. At first, they’re barely perceptible. A sudden quake pulls me out of my self-recrimation. Elysand dashes to the shore, his focus knife-sharp.
“Get in positions!” He yells.
The ground quakes again, this time faster, stronger, until it causes ripples in the Lake.
The others scramble to take their positions as I finally shake myself and go to my assigned spot.
Small ripples give way to a big whirlpool at the center of the Lake. The water becomes a deep shade of red, the center of the whirlpool entirely black. And from that darkness, a figure rises.
Fear slams through me. I expect the scarlet lady to make another appearance, but as the water cascades over the body, it reveals a male torso.
It’s him! The individual who entered the Lake. He made it!
The shock of the revelation wears off quickly as Elysand quickly prompts us to get into our positions. In its place, a new type of fear appears: I am the only one without any strength in this lineup.
I’d tried to tell Elysand this, but he’d assured me I would be safe, that my presence was required only due to the nature of the artifact he was going to use against the Lake individual.
“Get in formation! Quick! Once he reaches land, surround him!” Elysand shouts.
Water still clinging to his form, the individual levitates over the surface of the Lake. As the last drops of crimson flow down his face, revealing his features, I note his empty look. He’s still not fully aware of what is happening.
I see why Elysand insisted on acting quickly.
There is a delay in his regaining consciousness.
Everyone takes their position. I’m in the back with a few other very low level colleagues. The six ones with higher levels surround the individual.
Elysand reveals a box from which he takes out a gilded amulet with a red ruby nestled within. Infusing his spiritual energy into the amulet, bright, fiery light erupts, surrounding us all.
The male has now moved into the perfect position, right in the middle of the formation. As the light from the amulet diffuses, red threads emerge from the ruby, winding up in the air and aiming straight for the male.
The threads surround the individual, transforming into strong red ropes as they attempt to bind him.
His eyes flutter open. Oh, no! He’s regaining consciousness!
At the same time, a ball of energy appears in his chest, fighting against the ropes.
“Don’t move, everyone!” Elysand yells. “He’s a level nine already. Any movement might break the formation.”
Everyone nods grimly, remaining in their positions. But even from my spot in the back I can feel the heavy energy coming from that individual. It weighs me down, and I feel my knees tremble. I cannot imagine what the people on the front lines must be feeling.
So this is the power of a level nine…
Since it’s my first time experiencing such strength in close quarters, I cannot help but marvel in awe at this feeling. Deep inside of me, my dreams of achieving such strength at some point resurface, as does the realization that I might never be able to.
I’m a lowly zero level who is not immune even to the common cold.
This… this is the pinnacle of power.
The males in formation are struggling with their positions. Their bodies tremble from the onslaught of pure energy unleashed upon them.
Elysand, too, is affected. Drops of sweat fall from his temples as he strains to keep his own position. Holding onto the artifact, he starts murmuring a string of foreign words.
What is that language…
After each word he enunciates, the artifact appears to react, flashing a bright red light. Elysand is preparing a new attack. But it’s too slow.
He’s still chanting while focusing his energy into the amulet when the Lake individual starts unleashing his power.
A chorus of pained groans erupts in the air.
The males in the formation start shaking from the pure energy released by the individual.
His eyes are now open, a deep blue that shines with awareness.
His jaw clenches, and his body tenses. His muscles strain against the flimsy bindings until some of them start to break.
“Keep the formation!” Elysand yells.
The mid-to-high level males in the formation struggle against the heavy aura of the individual, but upon hearing Elysand’s cry, they all gather their strengths to fight.
The ones in front and behind the individual summon their powers. One of them creates a shield to impede the onslaught of power, but that is shattered in a matter of seconds. He sways from side to side but manages to maintain his position.
Another tries to launch a fire attack toward the enemy, while the ones on the sidelines use their powers to bolster the blast.
A big explosion tears through the air. Dust particles permeate the air.
I close my eyes and rub the dryness away.
But just as I think the attack succeeded, the dust clears to reveal the individual standing tall in the middle of the formation, not one scratch on his body.
So that is the power of a level nine, I keep thinking with a mix of awe and fear. With all the power of our department and we can barely touch him.
The individual growls, and a blast of pure energy emanates from him. The people in his immediate vicinity bear the brunt of the force, swaying from side to side as if a mere breeze could push them down.
Even us, a distance away, feel the effects. My body is heavy, and painful. My lungs feel as though they’re at full capacity and about to explode if I inhale once more.
“Don’t move! Bear it a bit longer,” Elysand shouts.
I gulp down against the pain. I might be on the verge of fainting from the individual’s attack, but Elysand isn’t faring much better.
His face is gaunt, the veins in his body tense and almost bursting from pressure. Sweat falls down his face and neck. But he doesn’t give up. He maintains his focus as he chants that foreign language in a low voice.
“Don’t…” Elysand’s eyes widen.
A male falls to the ground, unable to hold on. The formation breaks, and with it, the last chains holding the individual in place disappear.
He lets out a loud growl before he moves to attack the remaining people. In a flash, Elysand teleports himself there, intercepting the individual’s strength with his own. As the most powerful amongst us, he is the only one who can do anything—but even so, his level is nowhere near close to ten.
I watch with anxiety as Elysand, weakened now from the first use of the amulet, tries to keep the individual within the middle of the formation. He manifests a sword that he uses to stop the first blast of energy the individual sends toward him.
Wow…
The clash of energy explodes in the air, making it hard for everyone around to keep still in their designated positions.
Strong gusts of air circulate all around us, and particles of destructive energy fly haphazardly, hitting some of the people in formation.
They grunt in pain, but at Elysand’s orders, no one moves.
As Elysand continues to parry with this dangerous adversary, he sneaks a glance back to the periphery—to us.
“We need one more person for the formation. Quickly!”
With the fallen male unable to stand up, the formation is useless. It needs someone else to fill in the spot—now while the individual is being kept busy by Elysand.
I look around, thinking that someone with a higher level than me would volunteer—even a level one would be better than zero. But no one does.
Elysand begins to struggle. If at the start he could keep up with the attacks, the difference in levels becomes more clear with each passing second. Soon, he’s going to be overpowered and the individual will escape the formation. When that happens… we’re all going to die!
With no one wanting to take the initiative, I instinctively step forward. After all, whether I die here or within the formation, the end is going to be the same.
Elysand notes me sliding into the formation and gives me a small nod. As I take my position, the individual’s movements become sluggish, more restrained.
This gives Elysand enough time to finish chanting the ritual. The amulet’s ruby flashes a deep red, and threads come out from inside the gem, this time thicker and much more powerful than before. They wrap around the individual’s body, reining in his power. But the result isn’t immediate.
“Just a bit longer,” Elysand says. “The ritual is almost done.”
I’m rooted to the spot, helpless to do anything but to watch Elysand’s attempt to subdue him. And just as I think he’s going to succeed, something else happens.
The threads struggle to get close to him, to bind him completely.
A strange light surrounds his body, making his form lose its materiality until it becomes mere particles.
“Oh no,” Elysand mutters. “Quick, everyone! Put on your eye masks!”
Everyone scrambles to put their eye masks on. I reach into my pocket to grab it, but my entire body is trembling. I manage to grab onto it, but my movements are slow and unsteady as I try to raise my arm.
Just a little more… I tell myself. I must force myself out of this state of pure terror otherwise it will be bad for me.
My arm moves, just a little. But before I can put the mask on, a blinding light erupts, detonating like an explosive just a few steps away from me.
It isn’t my body that hurts at first. It’s something else—something coming from within. It feels as though that light has permeated every cell of my body, sinking deeper and deeper until it reaches my soul, searching for it, trying to neutralize it.
A fear unlike anything I’ve ever known envelops me, swallowing my consciousness whole.
I am no longer a person. I am only atoms and molecules, made entirely of fear. I can’t see what’s in front of me. I don’t even know if I’m still in my physical body. There is only a quiet pain, spreading through every sense, consuming them.
There is a red river before me.
The water is red—red like the lake, and yet it is not the lake. My mind is fractured, unable to fully comprehend what I’m seeing or how to name it. Still, despite the similarity in color, I know with absolute certainty that this is something else.
From the depths of that crimson liquid, seven figures rise.
They are shrouded in darkness, their features indistinguishable. I don’t need to see them to understand what they are. They are dangerous. The aura I felt from the being in the lake is nothing compared to the presence of these seven.
Seven.
The word echoes in my mind. Seven.
Then, in the span of a heartbeat, they merge. The seven become one—collapsing into a single, roiling mass. A river of blood surges toward me, flowing downhill, intent on drowning me.
I gasp—for air, for breath. I don’t know if this is real, but it feels as though the entire river is pouring down my throat. The red floods me, staining both my body and my soul.
Marking me.
Rheus. Rhea…
A million voices whisper in my mind.
Rheus…. Rhea…