Chapter 18
~Winter~
Stillness.
Quiet.
Weightlessness.
Nothing hurt here.
Not physically, especially.
And the rest… it was distant, like it was being held back. And there was a promise that it always would be.
So long as I remained here.
In the Veil.
No, not just this periphery area that was basically a void of nothingness, neither really dark nor light.
To be at peace, I had to cross over into the Valley of the Dead straight ahead, where the souls—spirits or specters—of the dead were barely perceptible behind a thick wall of mist that wove through the magical tree constructs.
The wall and the figures seemed to extend forever in either direction.
I remembered it from when Mom and Dad had astral projected me in here with them when I was younger, in order to teach me about it.
But being here for real was a whole different thing.
For other freshly dead beings, the figures here would reach out to them, urging them forward, to join them. Because of what I was, they weren’t doing that.
That didn’t mean I couldn’t go to them, though.
And taste that peace.
Just for a little while.
It wouldn’t harm the Valley if it was just for a while.
Even though they didn’t try to pull me in, the plane itself did, picking up on where my head was at, I figured.
It pulled at me so fiercely.
And it promised peace.
No pain. No shame. No grief.
Just pure peace.
I started forward.
“Stop,” a familiar voice resounded through the plane, stilling me.
I swung my head around, but couldn’t see the source.
“Dad?”
“Yes.”
“How are—”
“You can’t remain here, son.”
“I can for a little while.”
“The pull of the Valley shouldn’t be affecting you. You’re pained and weary, you’ve been through a lot. I understand. We’ll see to you, I promise. This pain you feel is just temporary, not your new normal. Trauma twists things. The weight of it isn’t insurmountable like it seems.”
“Dad… I’m tainted now. I wanted to—no, I want to—kill that bastard.”
“That’s a normal reaction to what he’s inflicted upon you. There’s no shame in it.”
“No. He said… he said he’d gotten into me… changed me. Forever changed me, Dad.”
“That’s not the truth, only him warping the narrative like he warps every other fucking thing. He’s reframing your justified rage as proof of corruption.”
“I… don’t know…”
“Listen, Zayn mentioned something about blackcurrant truffles waiting for you when you return to your loves? Is that a new food you’ve come to love?”
“Uh… yeah.”
“Hmm. You should also know that Evira is coming into her power from a leadership perspective. Cornelius has spoken to Kai about bringing her into his Inter-Realm Ambassador role. A great honor, especially for one so young. And Vaxan is being pleaded with by his people to become their sovereign. I think he could do with a little reassurance there from a gentle sort like you who could bring a valuable empathetic insight into the people themselves, something Vaxan has been taught and had ingrained in him not to register. He’s risen above that, but more assistance may be needed.
Do you think you could do that? Help him?
Stand beside Evira? Show Zayn how much you relish those special truffles he’s made for you?
He’s expecting you back any moment now. They all are. ”
“I… do. I do want to. But I—urgh!” I tugged at my hair and yelled out all around me, “Why are you saying all this? You can just force me out of here, right?”
“You know well that I can. In fact, I’m also being pressured to do that as we speak. But it’s important that you choose to overcome the pull of the Valley.”
“Otherwise I’ll be marked by it? It’ll have a hold on me, always wanting to draw me back?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll keep wanting to… to die?”
“Something like that.”
“Dad…”
“What do you want to do when all of this is over?”
“What? I don’t know… go back to Loxley… work with my new friends.”
“The necromancers who allied with you?”
“Yeah. There’s a kinship there and… never mind, it’s stupid.”
“It’s far from stupid. I love this for you.”
“You do? Well, I mean, except for Wesley, I don’t see the other five wanting to do what you do and become the world-saving-Last-Necromancer type, after everything they’ve been through. But I want to, Dad. To be that for you, for us, for everyone. So you’re not the Last Necromancer anymore.”
“You do, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess after everything, I finally do. I… like it. From our training and everything, you know?”
“Then you’ll be happy to know that I’ve found a way to prevent Risen Reckoning from ever being used on the living again.”
“You have?”
“Yes. So you wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. Others wouldn’t have to fear that from you either—however unfounded their fears are. But I do need your help to see to it. Wesley has also offered to assist.”
“Wesley? You spoke to him after you pulled them out?”
“Him and your other five new friends. They’re here with me right now and very worried about you, because you blocked my attempt to pull you out alongside them.
I should also mention that a certain fearsome Ifrit is currently down in Sanctus causing one hell of a fiery ruckus in a bid to get to you.
Vaxan is decimating the material aspect.
And Evira held back a volcanic eruption. ”
“Fuck… that’s… a lot.”
“You’re so dearly loved, Win. And you’re not alone in this.”
“Dad… what if I come out of here and they all see I’m not the same? What if they see I’m violent and vengeful now? When I hurt Ruxnoth earlier, I… I liked it.”
“As I’ve said, there’s no shame in a logical, very reasonable reaction to what he’s put you through.”
“You don’t think that’s who I’ll always be now?”
“Not for a single moment.”
“W-what if you’re wrong?”
“Then nothing.”
“What?”
“You’ll still be my son. Still be beloved and adored by Evira, Vaxan, and Zayn.
Developing and evolving doesn’t undermine who you are at your core.
They still see you, still know who you are, even if this was permanent—which I don’t think it is at all—it would only bring more care from them, through wanting to help you come to terms with it. ”
“Oh God,” I groaned as his words had me choking the fuck up, then tears were literally spilling down my cheeks.
“Are you crying?”
“Yes, you bastard.”
His chuckle wrapped around me.
“I didn’t know it was possible to actually cry in here.”
“Yep. Both me and your mom have.”
“What?”
“When I was entrenched in staying behind and sacrificing myself to the Valley, and your mom, Pops, and Father didn’t exactly take it well. Yeah, we were all choked up during that awful ordeal—Pops and Father on the outside, your mom and me in here.”
“Jeez, it just never ends, does it?”
“It will. All of this is the last verse in a song Morien started long ago. The Celestial Plane’s overreach also. We’ve just inherited that poison. But we’re flushing it out, and we’re almost done now. You can feel it, can’t you? How close we are?”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “I can.”
“But none of that works without you, Win. The poison won’t flush out without you. We won’t remain unbroken without you. And I really don’t think you want to stay here in your heart of hearts either.”
I stared out at the Valley in the distance.
I sucked in a stuttering breath. “It’s not meant for me. I… Dad?”
“I’m still here.”
“I want… I want to go back. I want to see you, the family, my loves.” I turned away from the Valley and stared at the fabric of the Veil, frowning when I couldn’t see a clear way through. I thought I was supposed to just walk closer and a door would open for me.
“Your lingering has caused some… confusion,” Dad explained. He must’ve felt it from me and the plane. He had some sort of hold on me.
“Dad, you’re death-tethering me? How?”
“Not death-tethering. I’m holding you steady through our necromantic link, as Zayn is now frantically trying to shock you awake. I’m supposed to infuse my power into it to ensure it jolts you the way that’s needed.”
“But you’re not? You’re holding off?”
“Until you were ready to make your decision.”
“That must be taking a massive amount of power for you to do over that distance, and between planes, and after you just death-tethered twenty necromancers and even mass-teleported them all too.”
“It’s… a little taxing, yeah.”
Jeez. “Do it. Infuse your power for him to make the shocks necromantic.”
“Yes?”
“Yeah. I’m… I want to go back.”
I heard the smile in his voice, and the relief he’d clearly been trying to hold at bay, as he said, “See you soon, Win.”
“Soon, Dad.”
In the next second, a violent eruption of crimson filled my vision.
And then everything was wrenched away.
I sucked in a gasping, wheezing breath, jolting violently.
Blinking, I opened my eyes to see I was lying on the stone floor of the Core Chamber with Zayn crouched over me, his hands hovering over my chest.
His magic and my dad’s crimson power were sparking all over his palms, and he was about to bring them down again.
I shot out my hand and snatched his wrist. “No. It’s done. You’ve got me. You’ve got me, Z.”
He jolted, eyes shooting wide. “Win! Shit, Win! You’re here!” He snuffed out the power, then gathered me into his arms, hauling me into a sitting position up against him.
Once I’d managed to stabilize my breathing, I eased back to look at him.
“That almost-violent pink hair of yours… always a real sight to wake up to.”
“Wake up to? As if you just took a fucking nap, Win.”
“Well, I kind of did, given my nature.”
“Stop. Seeing you like that—”
“Sorry,” I said, clutching him and holding him to me. “I’m sorry. I know.”
He sank into me, nuzzling into the shoulder of my hoodie, and I smiled to myself when I heard him sniffing me.
When I pulled back, I took him in wearing a pair of neon-pink zebra-print tight-as-sin jeans, and a metallic black long-sleeve tee that basically emphasized every hard ridge of muscle. “You wore that to battle, huh?”