Chapter 14 #3
“After what Kai reported, you can’t be physically present. No Celestial magic for that fool to siphon,” Remnant told Cassius, before looking at me. “If you will, he can form a temporary link to you, so you can channel him should you find yourself needing a boost.”
Cassius added, “You certainly are now equipped to decimate a vast area, but sustaining that could still prove taxing. You are one being pulling on the vibrational resonance of thousands.”
“An inspired fail-safe, thank you.”
He smiled. “Of course. Ruxnoth can’t siphon Ketheron due to his Polygenus makeup, but Ketheron is best suited due to his bond with Ambrose to fuel him should he require it when he floods Sanctus.”
“Understood.”
Sylas told Lazriel, “You’ll be taking point with The Shadowed. And the shifters that your mom is going to deploy alongside them from Vyrn Hollow Shifter Habitat.”
“Right up my alley.”
“All right,” Sylas said. “I need to fill Ry in on all of this. Even in the draft stage before we obtain the missing intel from Winter, with how taxed the Guardian Movement is, Ry needs notice.”
“Reach out to Kai as well,” Remnant told him.
“Already got it on my list—we’ll have him use a variation of his Sunveil spell to temporarily imbue your vampire members in case all this goes down during the daytime. You won’t have to tax your magic-wielders, then.”
“Very good.”
Everyone started to get up to leave to see to their respective tasks.
However, we were all pulled up short as the amber gemstone started to pulse.
“It’s happening!” Zayn cried, drawing closer to it held on my palm.
Evira reached out just shy of touching it, her eyes lighting up. “I can feel him.”
The pulsing gave way to a controlled eruption of warmth, then rose over the table, forming an amber-hued hologram of Winter himself that had a collective gasp sounding through the room.
It sharpened and came into crisp focus, albeit rippling every few moments, a signal that the connection was a strain for him to maintain across planes.
“Winter,” Evira breathed, her breath catching.
“Shit,” Zayn rasped, leaning forward in a bid to draw even closer.
“Little death.”
We all studied the hologram. It looked like he was sitting down, his form only visible to just below his torso. He was wearing one of his hoodies, his head tipped back a little against a wall. He looked weary, but there was a smile on his face as he took in everyone around the table.
“So many of you gathered,” he spoke, his wondrous voice rolling through me. “Good timing, then.”
I cleared my throat and told him, “This gemstone creation was inspired, Winter.”
“Well, where there’s a will, there’s a way, right?”
“Are you well, baby boy?” Velra asked, pushing out of her seat and drawing closer like Zayn was.
“I’m good,” was all he said, and Sylas caught my eye, the both of us frowning.
I wanted to ask more, and as I glanced around the table, I saw the same impulse playing on the expressions of so many of them.
But that weariness in Winter’s eyes… it wasn’t the right time to push for details in that area.
In fact, it could prove dangerous if he was hanging on by a thread as it seemed.
“Win, we have an awesome surprise for you when you get back,” Zayn called out.
Wonderful boy.
That was a great move.
Evira and I grinned at one another.
“A surprise? Really, huh?”
“I know you’re not usually a fan, but—”
“I am if it’s from the three of you.” He swung his head suddenly, eyes wide, looking at something we couldn’t see, something outside of the hologram’s visual purview.
“Winter?” Cassius queried. “Are you all right?”
“Tiny god,” Ketheron whimpered, and grasped Ambrose’s hand to steady himself.
I saw Remnant reach out to Lazriel, obviously feeling his anxiety surging.
“Yeah,” Winter replied. “Fine. I just… I need to make this quick.” He squeezed his eyes shut and the pain when he opened them had my stomach twisting. “And I don’t want to.”
“We’re coming very soon, getting you out of that hell place,” Sylas rumbled. “We just need you to—”
“You need to know the size of this place. And where to direct what I assume is gonna be Ambrose’s black magic to fuck up the construct? It’s not gonna be enough, there’s a material element to it too.”
“I’ve got the material element covered,” I told him. “I have my people’s vibrational resonance infusing me.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Fuck, that’s… exactly what’s gonna be needed to deal with that part of it. Wait, how many of your people?”
“Why?” Sylas asked. “How large is Sanctus?”
“The size of a fucking realm, Dad. A whole realm.”
“The Dracoryn Realm?” Evira asked.
“A little smaller—the Dark Fae Realm, would be accurate.”
“Oh my God,” Velra breathed.
“It’s okay, little death, I can see to that. I promise.”
He nodded. “Okay… that’s… really good.” He swung his head again and then called out to someone. “I’m in the pool! I told you to respect my privacy! Do we need to rehash the other day? All right, good. Ten more minutes. Fuck, Ruxnoth. Then go. Now.”
To say his words, of which we could only determine his side with the nature of the connection, sent a rolling shock through the entire room, really didn’t begin to do it justice.
Sylas, Remnant, and Cassius smirked, then Remnant addressed Winter, “You’ve countered his puppet mastery?”
Winter blinked and returned his attention to us.
“Don’t worry, he can’t sense this. None of them can.
I’m using my illusionary conjuring ability to mask it all—thanks for that by the way, Dad.
It’s really coming in handy. And as for your question, Grandpa, let’s just say I’ve positioned myself as untouchable. ”
“That’s quite the accomplishment,” Ambrose commented, looking concerned.
Yes, for good reason.
Winter achieving such a thing… he would have needed to conduct some deep psychological manipulation, likely employ heavy-handed threats. And that wasn’t our gentle sweetheart. Curses, this entire situation was… altering him.
I just… we had to hope it was temporary, that he was resorting to doing what he had to in order to keep his head above water down there all alone in the den of a madman.
Winter didn’t speak to it, and informed us instead, “Sanctus is powered by something they refer to as a Fuel Core. Once I bond with it, that’s where you’re gonna need to send your magic, Ambrose.
But not just send it. The bonding involves lifeforce, not just magic.
You’ll need to temporarily reroute the Fuel Core’s intent of fueling the realm to eating itself. ”
“No,” Sylas rumbled.
“Dad—”
“You bond to it with all that in play and you’ll die. Ambrose will need to drain you entirely so Sanctus can be fully “eaten” magically.”
“Death boy abomination here. I’ll resurrect immediately.”
Sylas pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s not just about death itself… it will be excruciating.”
“And deeply traumatizing,” Velra added.
“A small price to bring this fucking thing down, don’t you think?” Winter countered.
“Win—” Lazriel started.
“Look, trauma has already occurred. That’s just done. It’s done, okay? So I’m finishing this either way.”
“He just wants it to be over,” Ketheron spoke quietly to us. Then he called out to Winter, “Tiny god, Ambrose will need you to send out a pulse when you’ve bonded to the Core. Do you remember how to latch onto his magical signature?”
“It had to be him who brought Dad back. I’ll go through my necromantic link to him, and pick up on the residue of Ambrose’s that will still be in his system—for a few more days, right?”
“I death-tethered him, so yes,” Sylas told him. “That normally wouldn’t be the case, Win, due to my immunity,” he warned, clearly worried that Winter had overlooked that.
“Right, yeah, sorry.” He rubbed his eyes. “I’ve got it… just holding this communication steady is mentally taxing.”
“Are you unharmed, though? Physically?” Remnant asked gently. “You’ll need to be at full power to bond to this Fuel Core that’s normally upheld by a True Celestial.”
“I’m no longer harmed, let’s just put it that way and leave it at that for now. Back at full strength.”
I grimaced, Evira mirroring my reaction, and Zayn grasping my hand to temper his.
“Dad, you’re gonna death-tether the necromancers?” Winter asked.
“You have my word.”
“Thank you.”
“We’ve also found a way to imbue you with a replication of the living warmth. Permanently, Winter. It will be in your full control. No addiction similarities, just a stable constant.”
For the first time, Winter’s eyes brightened. “Really?”
“Yes, son.”
“I… about not telling the family—”
“No justification needed, we get it.”
“Dad, with you able to do that… Rex is being spelled with something similar by Ruxnoth to heal his mind. He’s clear-headed down here and fully cognizant, but it requires constant…
Ruxnoth calls them treatments… can you see if there’s a way to help him as well?
You saw my notes about the necromancers, right? ”
“Yes, I know who is assisting you, those who are trapped, and those who are willing accomplices to Ruxnoth’s madness. I also figured out that it was Rex’s magic that helped you send your research to your mom. We’ll find a way to help him, heal him permanently.”
“Thank you.”
“Winter, your research to eliminate Ruxnoth suggests pulling him into the Valley of the Dead. That can’t be done yet,” Sylas warned him. “His ability to warp magic is a threat to the fabric of the plane. We’ll focus on Sanctus first, then turn our efforts to him afterward.”
“Sure. Understood.”
I frowned. He’d agreed to that rather easily.
I saw Evira and Zayn picking up on it, too—and Ketheron. The others were deep into strategizing the mechanics of this complex operation.
Winter informed us, “I need to bond with the Fuel Core ASAP. I’ve already held him off long past what he’d wanted.
He’ll push back soon. Even though I’ve positioned myself as untouchable, the necromancers here aren’t—and neither are any of you.
” His eyes flicked to Sylas, and I saw his first acknowledgement of Sylas’ death.
It was clear why Winter had been avoiding it until now—it had to be extremely triggering and actually part of the trauma he’d confirmed had infected him.
“Tell us when, and we will make it so, and coordinate accordingly,” Remnant spoke.
“Tomorrow at sundown… if you can. I just have one more thing I need to do tonight before all this goes down.”
“One more thing?” Evira and I asked in unison.
Winter lifted a shoulder. “Just… shore up my focus, that sort of thing, get Ruxnoth moved into place.”
No. He was lying.
The chance to pursue it was lost to all of us in the next moment as the hologram began shuddering, the film sparking erratically also.
“Gotta go. Love you all.” He smiled sadly. “So much.” Then he forced a smile. “See you really soon now.”
I shot out a burst of my citrine magic, and then Evira and Zayn joined me with their own, the three of us attempting to bolster the connection, to hold it here a little while longer.
Sylas moved to assist, but then pulled up short, just a moment before the hologram dissipated entirely and its magic was drawn back into the gemstone that glimmered once then settled into its prior state.
“He cut it purposely,” Sylas explained, as to why he’d pulled up short on assisting us. “If I’d pulled with my power, it would’ve hurt him.”
“Cut it, why?” Zayn asked, looking around at everyone. “Why? He said he didn’t want to make the conversation brief.”
“He was upset, trying to hold it together,” Evira soothed, reaching behind me and stroking Zayn’s hair.
Zayn sucked in an unsteady breath. “It won’t be long now.”
No, it wouldn’t.
I saw my own quiet insistence to myself to maintain focus on what had to be done, on the operational aspects, and not… the rest, mirrored around the table, Winter’s family trying to swallow down the emotion of that communication.
It took a few moments, but then we all began to move to prepare for our respective tasks before the operation tomorrow at sundown.
The operation to decimate Sanctus.
To remove a severe threat to us all.
To destabilize a fool who thought himself a god.
To bring Winter home.
Our gentle sweetheart.