The Beginning After The End

Chapter 423

Chapter 421: One Last Ruin

The noise and turmoil of combat filled my senses as I watched each of my companions carefully. Whining squeals of pain erupted from the horde of scurrying monsters, while Boo voiced his battle fury in a roar that shook the mana that made up this platform. Mica and Lyra shouted at each other in turn as they worked side by side to hold off the surge.

Although Ellie herself was quiet, she made the most noise of all.

Three explosions rocked the small platform as Ellie jumped backwards, away from the scything claws of a three-armed monster. Her attacker, and three more of the grotesque manifestations that had only been halfway on the platform, vanished in a flash of white light. When the light faded, Boo was standing between her and the source of the blast.

It had happened so fast I had to replay it in my mind, slower and more deliberate this time. As she dodged inward, away from the edge, she had dropped three globes of softly glowing mana. Tucking into a roll, she then immediately sent a pulse of mana through the tether connecting her to the spheres, causing them to erupt one after the other. The contained power was enough that she cleared that corner of the platform of enemies.

In almost the same breath, she sent a ripple of mana through the air to Boo. I recognized this as a command trigger for him to teleport. As Mica had rightly pointed out, relying on emotional outbursts to trigger the guardian bear’s teleportation wasn’t an effective battle strategy, so Ellie had been practicing its control over the last few runs. At the command, Boo had disappeared from behind her and reappeared in front of her, shielding her from some of the force.

This had happened in less than a second. But Ellie didn’t pause to catch her breath, because each monster we killed was instantly replaced by another in an endless cycle of conjuration and destruction.

Mica’s huge hammer spun around with the grace of a baton-twirler, crashing through groups of enemies at a time. I could feel the gravitational force of the hammer even from across the platform as it pulled monsters into its path only to pulverize them an instant later. With Realmheart active, I could both see and feel the careful balancing act of mana usage, with Mica actively engaging in Mana Rotation while simultaneously ensuring the efficiency of each spell she cast.

Although Mana Rotation had been instrumental in breaking the binding on her core, it was difficult for her to practice or utilize. All this fighting, though, had proven the perfect training ground. In just the short time we’d been training in this zone, her ability to conserve mana had increased several-fold.

Void wind shields appeared and disappeared in flashes like black lightning, warding off any creeping horror that got close to the others long enough for a stone spike, mana arrow, or hammer blow to fell it. As a retainer, Lyra hadn’t been trained in one specific role like a normal soldier, but she was a natural Shield. Her abilities took time to come out, but I saw them more clearly as her teamwork with the others improved. But she didn’t constrain herself to just defensive spells: scythes of cutting air-attribute mana and bursts of sonic force flew out from her in such quick succession. She hardly seemed to aim at all, and yet every strike found its mark.

Regis darted back and forth across the platform, driving like a wedge through any knot of monsters that lasted more than a couple of seconds, but like me, he held back his full power. He acted as a failsafe, preventing the others from getting overwhelmed as the front line while I studied their progress.

As I watched the shadowy wolf prowl outside the arc of Mica’s hammer, he suddenly spun, lashing his tail like a whip. The flames of his mane raced along his spine to the tail, flaring like a torch, and a lash of aetheric fire cut across two monsters that had jumped on Boo, sending them sprawling. Boo, in turn, pounced, ripping them limb from limb.

‘And they say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks,’ he thought to me, sensing my interest. ‘It’s got a ways to go before it’s as good as transforming into a winged, Destruction-breathing wolf-dragon, but it’s useful.’

“We must be doing something right,” Mica grunted as she unleashed a spray of stone shards from her hammer, slicing through several monsters before Lyra finished them with a sub-audible sonic blast, momentarily clearing the platform of enemies. “The general is smiling.”

I shook my head, realizing it was true. “Just pay attention—”

As I spoke, an abomination with skeletal wings instead of arms manifested above us, diving toward me like an overgrown bat.

I waited until it was nearly on me, then my fist blurred, and the monster’s chest burst apart, leaving a gaping hole all the way through it. The long, shriveled limbs cracked like dry sticks as it tumbled across the platform before finally dissolving into nothing.

I winced, shaking out my arm, which ached painfully from my knuckles to my shoulder.

Noticing that the platform had gone silent, I looked up to see my companions regarding me with confusion and shock.

“Were you able to catch what happened?” Lyra asked Mica.

“No, and I didn’t even blink,” Mica scoffed, her eyes tracking from my hand up to my face. “What in the molten-rock hell was that?”

“Something I’ve been working on. Just an idea,” I answered, but by then a new wave of the aberrant horrors were surging onto the platform.

Ellie, whose eagle eyes had been focused on the void instead of me, raced past, planting a series of disc-shaped mana objects as she ducked between the claws of newly forming monsters. When one fell toward her from above, Boo teleported beside her, knocking her out of the way as he caught the thing out of the air. His jaws closed over its eyeless face, and it dissolved into nothing. An instant later, Boo teleported again, shifting position only a few feet, and all the mana discs Ellie had laid down exploded one after the other. Pieces of several monsters flew in every direction before melting away.

I inspected their performance for a few more minutes, but it was becoming increasingly clear that they were a match for this zone. We had reached the end of what it could provide. “I think that’s enough,” I said aloud. “It’s time to move on.”

Sweat dripped from Ellie’s nose as she nodded in agreement.

We wasted no time shifting into our well-practiced procedure of moving from one platform to the next. It took a few minutes, but the tension had eased from the process. Ellie and I worked together fluidly, having honed the process to a rapidfire exchange. Learning to wield the tethered blade felt like trying to teach myself to write calligraphy with my off hand, and I wasn’t sure how viable it would be outside of this place, but the skill had proven essential for clearing the zone.

I stayed on the platform after Ellie and Boo went through the door, focused on nothing but me and the endless stream of enemies. Their claws raked against the relic armor, teeth gnashing and the occasional barbed tail stabbing like a spear, but they couldn’t touch me as I moved fluidly between their attacks, lashing out with fist, foot, and blade, always in the eye of the storm of monsters.

It was like a kind of meditation, almost peaceful after everything that had happened to us here.

I practiced my new technique a couple more times, but each strike left my limbs momentarily stunned and opened me up to attacks from other monsters. Still, it was a foundation.

The flow of attackers never ended, but after a minute or two, I was satisfied. Activating Burst Step, I crossed to the door and pulled myself into it with aether, focused on the very last platform, and began to cross.

***

My eyelids felt like lead as they struggled open. I couldn’t immediately make out my surroundings; my vision was sleep-stained and blurry. I blinked several times to try and clear it. A moan came from somewhere nearby, and I shifted to one side.

The tip of my nose touched something soft, and my sight, which had just started to come into focus, went blurry again. Warm breath blew across my face, and I pulled back slightly, still trying to get a feeling for my body.

Mica was lying next to me, so close that our noses had touched when I turned. There was a poorly suppressed smirk on her face, and she raised one brow. “I always knew you’d try something like this one day.”

Feeling myself flush, I tried to sit up, but the sudden motion made my head spin, and I had to close my eyes again. “What’s wrong with my body…”

“Uh, I’m starving…” Ellie said from right next to me. “How long were we in there? I feel like my stomach has half eaten me.”

Boo answered with a low, despondent rumble, communicating clearly that he felt the same way.

The rush of vertigo passed, and I was able to open my eyes again and stand. Mica had pushed herself up onto her elbows and was looking around. Lyra was curled in a ball on Mica’s other side, cradling her head, her face hidden behind a curtain of flame-red hair. Ellie had crawled from my side to Boo, shoving her face into his thick fur.

We were in a short, low-ceilinged hallway. It was plain white and unadorned, except for a series of flat, black rectangles along the walls, identical to the doorways we had used to navigate the previous zone. Our bodies had been left to lie on the stone floor while our minds were trapped.

“Is everyone all right? Any other side effects?” Of dying over and over again? I asked, purposefully not speaking the last words out loud.

“My head feels as though it might crack in two like an egg and give birth to something horrible,” Lyra mumbled from within the cocoon of her hair and arms.

“Maybe she’s been infested,” Mica said, wrinkling her nose at the Alacryan. “One of those ugly things is going to crawl out of her brain. We should put her down now before—” ????????????r????????????. ????om

Lyra unfolded and jolted up into a sitting position, glowering at Mica. “That won’t be necessary, thank you. I believe I am just dehydrated.”

Standing, I approached one of the doors. It was smooth and reflective enough that I could just see my mirrored image on the surface, but I sensed no aether or, via Realmheart, mana within it. When I pressed a hand to the door, it was smooth and cool, but it didn’t react. I could only shrug and turn away, looking instead for the zone’s exit portal.

At the far end of the hallway, a jet-black arch contrasted against the bare white stone. No portal was visible inside of the arch at first, but when I took a few steps toward it, the air distorted, and an opaque, oily portal shimmered into existence.

“Wake your bodies up. Eat, drink,” I suggested, glancing over my shoulder at the others. “After that last ruin, I no longer feel confident about what we’ll find in this one.”

My companions didn’t need to hear this twice, as they were all famished and parched. There was some chatter as they dragged out their rations, but only the sound of ravenous chewing—and the occasional creak of a stiff joint—as they devoured several days worth of traveling food in one sitting.

Meanwhile, I let the wheels of my mind turn, considering what might await us in the fourth djinn ruin. This, though, was more frustrating than helpful, as I could only hope that the last keystone was still in place, and its djinn guardian active.

‘What insight do you think the fourth keystone will contain?’ Regis mused, drifting around my core. ‘Let’s see…Aroa’s Requiem is aevum, right? The ability to turn back the ravages of time on an object. And Realmheart lets you see mana particles, which helps build an understanding of how mana—and aether, actually—works. So what’s the connection?’

I shrugged, then stretched my neck from side to side in response to the stiffness in my muscles. Honestly, I don’t see how the two fit together, or how either ability leads to an understanding of Fate. We’ve spent so much time in the Relictombs following Sylvia’s message, but we’re no closer to understanding why.

When my companions had finished gorging, they joined me one by one in front of the portal.

Lyra was the first, and when I looked at her inquisitively, she raised her hands defensively. “Fine, I’m fine. I suppose I am adapted to a certain kind of lifestyle, even at war, but my brain is not infested with monsters.” She tossed a chagrined look at Mica, who was stowing her remaining food back in her dimension ring.

“Not that you know of,” Mica said with a vexing smile, humming under her breath.

Withdrawing the Compass, I used it to fix the destination of the portal, ensuring none of my companions would be sent off into the Relictombs at random. Then, with a deep breath, I stepped through.

Expecting to step from one white hallway to the next as I entered the exterior portion of the fourth ruin, I instead found myself disoriented, standing amidst piles of collapsed and scorched wreckage. I hardly had time to take it in before Lyra appeared next to me, and then Ellie just behind her. In a moment, we were all occupying a relatively small clear space at the end of a blank hallway. In front of us, a pile of fallen stone blocked the way forward.

“This doesn’t look like the last one,” Ellie said under her breath.

‘Are those…claw marks?’ Regis thought, drawing my attention to one large piece of rubble.

I ran my fingers along three lines scored deep into the stone, wiping away a smudge of ash to reveal the white underneath. Looking up, I saw the familiar, sterile lighting artifacts. “We’re in the right place, but it looks like it’s been…attacked.”

Mica waved one hand in a slashing motion, and the obstructing rubble collapsed into sand, which quickly ran through cracks in the shattered floor. Collapsed sections of the walls and ceiling revealed a strange sight beyond: solid bedrock, which was in places marked by fire and claws.

Stepping carefully, I told the others about my experience in the second ruin, which had been failing when Ceara, Regis, and I reached it. Whatever had happened here seemed quite different.

“Do you think the dragons attacked?” Ellie asked, digging the toe of her boot into a deep slash in the floor.

“Can’t have, as far as I understand,” I answered, explaining that asuras couldn’t enter the Relictombs.

A moment later, we were grasped by the hall’s magic and dragged forward. The collapsed hallway vanished, and instead we were standing in a blank space before the crystal door.

It was in ruins.

Black crystal shards were scattered around the space, crunching beneath our feet. What remained of the door itself was an uneven, jagged mess, with clusters of crystals stabbing out of the smooth black surface. Every few seconds they would pulse, sending a little ripple through all the individual shards, like a heartbeat.

‘That can’t be good.’

Approaching, I pressed my hand into the portal. Before, the crystals had always shifted to allow me passage. Now, however, they felt rigid and immoveable. Sharp. Dangerous.

The godrune for Aroa’s Requiem burned gold as I imbued it with aether, and motes of aevum flowed over my skin to spill across the malformed crystal structure. More and more poured into it, filling every nook, then flowing away from the door to touch every individual crystal that had been ripped free of the portal.

As if time were reversing, the loose shards jumped up from the floor and flew back to the portal. The craggy, mutilated ridges smoothed. Fluid movement returned to the edifice, and my hand pushed into it. As the previous portals had done, the crystals rolled smoothly away to make room for my passage.

I looked over my shoulder. The others were watching me with a kind of uncertain awe. “Follow right after. Don’t linger.” Then I plunged into the portal.

Though I feared the magic itself may have been broken by whatever destroyed the outer chamber, my passage was unaffected. Moments later, I found myself once again surprised by my surroundings.

Ethereal walls, floor, and ceiling drew a loose representation of a room around me in misty white lines. Underlying this immaterial space was the expected structure: the central pedestal, its aetheric crystal floating above it, surrounded by orbiting rings that hummed with intense magic. I tracked the motion, releasing a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

“It’s working,” I said to myself, relief washing away the tension in my shoulders and behind my eyes.

One by one the others appeared. The instant the portal faded away after depositing Mica, who brought up the rear, I channeled aether into my fist.

The immaterial shell of the blank room faded away like tattered clouds on a strong wind, leaving us standing on solid stone bricks. Lyra clicked her tongue in disappointment, and I heard Ellie’s bow creak as she put tension on the string.

Mica approached the whirling rings, holding up a hand and closing her eyes. A curious, playful smile lit up her face. “It’s…singing.”

But my focus was elsewhere.

A strong aetheric presence was moving cautiously through the chamber, circling around us. It avoided coming too close, and when one of my companions would move, it would alter its course to keep its distance. I tracked it from the corner of my eye, ready to conjure a weapon if its behavior changed.

“So…what now?” Ellie asked, running her fingers across the crumbling stonework of one wall as she moved around the room’s outer edge.

“We wait,” I answered distractedly.

Mica and Lyra exchanged a glance, both tensing. A moment later, they jumped as the hidden figure coalesced.

“Don’t worry,” I said quickly, holding up a hand to stop them from attacking. I knew they couldn’t harm the projection but worried they might do something to interrupt the trial.

The djinn’s projection gave us a small, amused smile. His skin was a dull lavender color, and, like the others I’d seen, he was covered in spellforms everywhere except his face. The crown of his head was bald, with a curtain of white hair hanging to his shoulders below it. Even his bare scalp was marked with spellforms.

“I applaud your restraint,” he said after a moment. “Interesting, that you can sense me but your companions cannot. Then, you have the mark of the djinn upon you already. I am not the first remnant you have interfaced with.”

“No,” I said, offering him a respectful bow. “I have learned from three other remnants already, although one of those no longer had a keystone to offer me. I’m hoping you do.”

The djinn’s violet eyes flashed with some internal light, and it seemed to shrink. “I see. Your journey so far has been strange and…unfortunate. Let us not tarry, then, but proceed with your trial.”

The ruins dissolved into a blank white canvas, and my companions vanished. Even Regis, who had been safely hidden within my core, was gone.

The djinn moved to stand in front of me, his hands clasped behind his back, his stance wide. “You have been tested on your senses, reactions, awareness. Through circumstances I do not understand, you were even trained in combat by a rebel djinn’s bitter essence. Then, due to what can only be seen as a failure of the Relictombs’ design, an opportunity to further test yourself was taken from you. Most unfortunate.”

The djinn went quiet for some time, but his eerie stare never left my eyes. “The Relictombs, it seems, has failed.”

I started to protest, but hesitated, really taking in the djinn’s words. “You mean more than the loss of a single keystone, don’t you? But how has it failed? What was the purpose of all this?” I asked, gesturing at the blank background.

Expecting to hear the same refrain of, That information is not contained within this remnant, I was surprised when the djinn answered. “The creation you call the Relictombs is nothing less than our civilization’s combined knowledge in both mana and aether. It is a living library, a multidimensional encyclopedia containing all our insight. Everything we’d come to understand is contained within, and each chapter is intended to—”

“Chapter?” I asked despite myself, not intended to interrupt.

“What you call zones,” he said. “Each one is not a test as you see them, but rather designed to provide insight into some aspect of aether. One only has to move through the chapters to gain insight into the tools we used to write them. Even then, it was an imperfect solution, but such is the only way we could teach these skills to future generations.”

“For a nation of pacifists, the djinn have protected their creation pretty violently,” I pointed out, the memory of my companions' repeated deaths still very fresh in my mind. “If this place is supposed to be a library, why all the awful monsters?”

The djinn looked down and away, a cascade of different emotions passing over his soft features. “Much of the Relictombs was built as our civilization crumbled. There is a certain…darkness that crept from the subconscious of our people as they sought to protect this, our greatest and last work. We djinn could move through it safely, and we knew that whoever eventually claimed our knowledge would discover how to as well, or would be strong enough to bypass these protections.”

“But, your people…” I trailed off, unsure how broad these programmed memories’ knowledge really was.

“Are gone, I know,” he said. His jaw clenched, and he turned away for a moment. When he met my eye again, though, there was a deep sadness there, not rage. “The dragons couldn’t—wouldn’t—understand. And so they burned our civilization, attempted to scour us from the world. But a powerful descendant of the djinn stands before me, so they have not succeeded.”

Since this remnant seemed much more amenable to answering questions than the others, I pushed further. “I’ve seen the power of Kezess Indrath first hand. But with everything your people accomplished”—I again indicated the blank slate surrounding us—“I still don’t really understand how you were wiped out. If your knowledge was so important that you enshrined it in this…place, then why not fight to keep it alive in you?”

“The answer is not simple or satisfying,” the djinn said, sighing wearily. “Perhaps, though, this trial will help you understand. Or perhaps it won’t. You should know more than you do, have much greater insight. The fact that you have progressed so far while understanding so little speaks well of you, Arthur Leywin, but poorly of our design.”

Unsure how to respond, I stayed quiet.

The djinn smiled more warmly. “But do not despair. You are something we could not have foreseen. It is enough to give an old djinn hope. But I will not hold you back from your purpose any longer. Steel yourself. This trial will be unlike any you have faced in the Relictombs thus far. Let us begin.