Chapter 24 #2
“I received your message, so I understood that you wanted me not only to track Morien, but to also serve as the black magic barrier for the Celestial children when they begin drawing out the Celestial magic unnaturally imbued in Morien and Puritas. Given the severe limitations placed on knowledge of black magic usage, none of you are privy to the fact that I cannot simply draw magic from multiple corrupted sources directly into myself. Doing so would rupture my core. I need to construct a wall of sorts—a physical containment barrier—into which I pull all that unstable black magic. Only when it’s isolated, held there, and properly cured within that boundary can I safely absorb it.
Constructing that barrier requires significant energy.
Hence, I sought out additional black magic users—not to take in their corrupted magic, but to siphon the power around it.
Their life force, their essence. Enough to fuel the construct.
And in doing so, I also eliminated a few enemies for you—users not aligned with Puritas.
Stragglers from Corvin’s network, before his death. ”
Sylas scrubbed his hand over his face and muttered something about never being able to find Morien again, that he’d missed ‘his shot to take that motherfucker out’.
“You were severely compromised,” Ambrose reminded him.
“It wasn’t your shot to take him out. However, given that he fled when you broke free from the chair, it certainly served to strike very real fear into him.
And when the likes of Morien experience fear and a threat to their perceived apex predator status, they respond recklessly. ”
“And that is how we will gain access to him,” Remnant finished for Ambrose. “Not to mention, Cornelius’ strategy will duly assist—if not with Morien directly, most definitely with Gregor and Puritas.”
Sylas took their words in and released a weighty breath.
“All right?” Kai said, having been rather quiet during that exchange, just studying Sylas.
“Fine.” He gave Kai a look. “Or as you’re concerned about… I’m stable.” He grunted at his sparking power. “Mentally.”
“And emotionally?”
I saw him move to bite back, but then his gaze drifted to Velra and Lazriel.
A soft smile graced his lips. He winked at them, gave me a chin lift, then straightened, as he admitted to Kai, “It’s up and down. But controllable, nonetheless.”
“I have something that will take the edge off,” Ambrose announced.
In the next moment, he startled all of us as some of his power sparked and a ringing sounded that had me wincing. Not just me, as I realized when Remnant grunted and Kai slapped his one free hand to at least one ear. Lazriel even clutched at his ears too.
Not Velra, though.
She looked on in worry, yet unaffected.
And then Ambrose leaned in and without touching Sylas directly, due to his sparking magic, he whispered something into his ear.
That was what he’d done… made it impossible for any of us to hear what he was saying.
Kai because he was close.
Remnant and I because of our supernatural enhanced hearing.
Lazriel, too, because a one hundred foot distance where he stood with Velra wouldn’t impact that. But Velra didn’t possess enhanced hearing, and it would have taken a little time for her to cast an auditory enhancement spell, so he hadn’t included her within those impacted.
As Ambrose pulled back and he snuffed out the spell, the ringing thankfully ceasing, Sylas’ eyes went to Velra and he appeared utterly shocked—but in a positive way?
“What is it?” I asked.
His gaze dropped to her belly and he smiled. “All will be well.”
That was all he got out before Remnant snagged Ambrose’s throat and hauled him off the ground. “Do not do that again.”
“It was necessary,” Ambrose rasped against his constricting grip. “My, my, since you’ve actually allowed yourself to become a true father to your son, your overprotectiveness has become unmatched and truly ferocious.”
Remnant snarled up at him, tightening his grip.
“We need him unharmed,” I spoke, stepping up to Remnant.
“He can perform while enduring a little agony.”
“Dad!” Lazriel called over. “I’m fine!”
“I can scent your blood.”
I looked over and saw Velra turning Lazriel’s head this way and that, examining him.
He had that familiar look on his face of loving her attentions, more attuned to that than the brief pain of the black magic spell Ambrose had invoked.
“Just a little. My ears are already healed now. It’s done.”
Remnant took his words in, then hissed at Ambrose. “Is it done? Hmm?”
“Like I said, old friend, it was necessary. And, yes, unfortunate. But it is indeed done.”
“And whatever it was also worked,” Kai cut in, gesturing at Sylas now standing tall, his magic no longer sparking, eyes wide in surprise as he turned his hands over.
Remnant released Ambrose.
Ambrose made a show of adjusting his robes, although it wasn’t actually necessary, but earned a grunt from Remnant.
I turned from Remnant and walked to Kai’s side. “Let’s begin.”
Kai gave a nod, then clasped my hand and I called my power, my white magic enveloping him like a film. It flared brightly, before then fusing into him, disappearing from sight, the only sign of the Celestial shield I’d imbued him with being the glimmering white sparks over his skin and clothing.
“Thanks,” Kai told me.
I stepped off to the side, keeping my power live in preparation.
Remnant moved back so he was just a few feet behind Kai, prepared to withstand a possible detonation from Sylas once Kai completed the spell and teleported out of the way.
And Ambrose stood just to the side of Remnant, conjuring a ball of swirling black tendrils that he levitated before him, growing it as he turned it with his palms streaming into it from either side.
“If the worst comes to the worst and you do release Risen Reckoning, while Remnant provides me time for my magic to interact and fuse with yours, I will be able to warp it. As with Morien enabling Undead Domination to be used on beings who were not death-touched, I can use black magic to do something similar—have Risen Reckoning impact the environment instead of people.” He added pointedly. “For a time, Sylas.”
“Understood,” Sylas said, straightening and then moving to shrug off his hooded leather coat.
“Nah, no need to strip,” Kai told him.
“What?”
“I’m well aware just how much you live to titillate. But keep your fucking clothes on.”
I swung my head as I heard a possessive hiss from Lazriel. “Yeah… fucking do.”
Velra rolled her eyes and I heard her tell him, “Every procedure he’s had has been him stripped down, cut into in some way.”
“I know,” Lazriel murmured.
They looked out at me sadly and I gave what I hoped was a reassuring chin lift, before turning my focus to the spell about to start, needing to be at the ready.
“No cutting, no incision at all,” Kai told him. “In fact, this is gonna feel really fucking good. That’s where the power expulsion concern plays into it.”
Kai levitated the black metal box between them.
Sylas asked, “Are you certain you were able to isolate the thread that—”
“Yes.”
“What about fusing Corvin’s magic into the core to ensure the infection he afflicted me with will also be decimated the moment the core—”
“Again, yes.” Kai gave him a look. “Backseat spellcaster.”
Sylas sucked in a breath. “Right. We’ve been researching this in great depth for months, you know the ins and outs of it.” His lips quirked. “Almost as well as I do.”
“You really want to take a hit at my ego when I’m about to do this?”
“Please. You’d never hurt me, brother.”
I heard Lazriel chuckling, saw Velra shaking her head in amused dismay.
I gave a roll of my eyes. “Kai, resume.”
He called his rose-gold power to both palms, levitating the contents of the box out, raising it to chest-level between him and Sylas.
Sylas started, his power sparking on his palms again, as he took in the sight of the dark-red rectangular gem surrounded by vibrant-blue vines.
The portion of his necromantic core that Corvin had torn from him.
Kai gestured at the vines. “When the core is returned to you, these will be decimated by your reactivated power. But they need to hit your system first because they’ll lock onto that infection that is only not impacting you because of the three cores of other necromancers in your system counteracting it. ”
“You’re essentially using the infection against itself?” I asked.
“Pretty much.”
Highly impressive. Although, Kai most definitely didn’t need to hear that. His ego would already be communicating what a feat it truly was.
“As soon as this portion of your core locks onto the rest within, the three cores from the transplant will dissolve, your greater power transcending them. It will be all you, brother.”
Sylas gave a nod of understand and shifted his weight into a reinforced stance.
“Ready?” Kai asked.
“Ready.”
Kai’s power flamed on his left hand and he grasped Sylas’ shoulder with it.
With Sylas’ magic sparking, but my shield protecting Kai, there was no harm done, but there was some strain for Kai to maintain physical contact through it.
He grunted, then brought his other hand into play, guiding the core toward Sylas’ chest, his rose-gold magic flaming on his palm.
And then he thrust it forward, and it phased through into Sylas like liquid light, dissolving into him, sinking past skin and bone without leaving a mark.
Sylas lurched and grasped Kai’s shoulder.
And that was where my shield came into play, because Sylas’ power flared, sparking from his body, while Kai’s rose-gold glow pushed against his chest, directing the core within him.