Chapter 21: Coming Back to the Light

However, he also said that there might be another, someone else who might be a Child of Destiny. Maybe someone who could take your place as the Third Child, or perhaps even a Fourth Child. I never learned the identity of this supposed Fourth Child. Even now, the knowledge is hidden from me.

Amelia held her knees as she tucked herself away in a corner of the room made of light, trying to stay as far away from the Light Wielder as she could. Memories kept flooding over her. Memories of happy times spent with Cornelius intermingling with her time spent with Eramar. Memories of her breaking Cornelius, torturing him until he agreed to be her pawn. And then, he left. He found a way to escape her, found a way to leave the coven. She had no idea how. His contract should have forbidden him from leaving her side. Though she was fuming with the other Mages, a part of her envied his flight, and an even deeper part of her was relieved that she wouldn’t have to torture the man she loved anymore. She heard that he became a Space Pirate, using his reputation as a Mystic to garner a considerable following in the underworld.

She expected the High Mage to send her to track him down, but he had other plans for her. Shortly thereafter, she was installed at the Ministry of Fire as Doctor Amelia Wilson, a Fourth-Level Healer. A whole new identity was crafted for her, one that she found she preferred to her actual identity.

And then she met Eramar. Sweet, sad Eramar, with his brooding looks and his wounded soul. She heard he endured great suffering at the hands of a creature known only as the Demon, him and his students. She didn’t know much about this Demon, only that Eramar’s encounter with it cost him his left eye, his left hand, and his left foot. Not many people realized that he had prosthetic limbs as well as a prosthetic eye; his armor usually kept the artificial hand and foot covered, and he always wore black gloves whenever he wasn’t in uniform. He even bore some terrible-looking burn marks across his back as if his flesh had been peeled off.

Amelia never understood why he didn’t get those scars completely healed. With technology being as it was, and the added benefit of Elemental Healers, removing those scars should’ve been a simple matter. But Eramar told her that he kept the scars as a reminder, a reminder of his weakness ... of the failure that he would never forgive himself for. Whatever it was, he never confided in her the details, and he occasionally woke up in their bed at night screaming the name of someone named Billy. As much as her curiosity compelled her, she could never bring herself to read the official mission report. Not many Elementals were old enough to remember the incident, so she never feared someone telling her accidently. She wanted him to tell her. Wanted him to trust her enough to tell her. Why did she want his trust so much?

The Light Wielder worked diligently over the walls of his dimension as if it were a computer keyboard, typing in numbers and formulas so fast that she could hardly keep track of his hands as they moved at superhuman speeds. As Zand’s Light Elemency manifested, it took on a form similar to holocomputers as white-glowing math equations and numerical symbols buzzed around his hands. It was baffling to her. This was Light Elemency, a power based in the supernatural, not science. Why was his power manifesting itself like a computer screen?

“It’s just the way his mind works,” said a female voice near Amelia.

Amelia flinched back when she realized that the wolf spirit was sitting on its haunches barely a foot away and staring right at her with those hauntingly intelligent eyes.

“He was a scientist before he became an Elemental. In a way, Elemency is the original science. Simply the redistribution of energy and mass into different forms. When Zanderius does complex spells like this, his constructs of Light Elemency always take on the form of intricate mathematical equations and formulas on a computer screen. I’ve always found it fascinating myself.”

Amelia huffed in frustration. “Would you mind not invading my thoughts? I already feel violated enough just being in the same room with the gods of my mortal enemies.”

The mystical canine put a paw to her mouth as if embarrassed. It was a peculiar position as the bone structure of the quadrupedal beast didn’t seem appropriate to accommodate such an action.

“I am so sorry,” the spirit wolf apologized, and actually sounded like she meant it. “I sometimes have trouble distinguishing human thought from the spoken word. It is difficult for me to know for sure when you singular lifeforms are speaking to be heard by others, or if you are simply conversing with your inner self.”

Amelia raised an eyebrow in annoyance. “Well, can’t you tell when we’re talking? It usually happens when our mouths are moving.”

Green-Eyes shrugged as her ears cocked to the side. “That just looks like panting to me. I keep forgetting that you prefer to breathe through your noses even when the temperature is high. Just a quirk of taking on a more efficient canine form I suppose.”

“At any rate,” Zanderius said from across the room, his back still towards her as he continued to work. “You should know that we are not ‘gods’ as you think of the word, not even Green-Eyes. In fact, with all I’ve discovered about the universe, I should theorize that there is only one God, and he doesn’t make the kind of mistakes that I do, so we are all the better blessed for that fact.”

“Although cultures have tried to deify me over the years, I have done my best to discourage this practice, of course, no matter how flattering I often find it,” said the wolf spirit musingly.

Amelia scoffed. “And I suppose you consider the Lord Caretaker to be your God?”

“Caretaker is just one of the names he goes by,” said Zanderius distractedly without turning. “He has others ... on other worlds and in other realities, he is known by countless names. Although, he did not create this specific universe himself. Simply directed its creation. The creation itself was done by others ... one, in particular, who bore his power and the powers of the Light Realm itself.”

This was something new, not a well-known tenant of Light Monk doctrine. Amelia had never heard any of their kind speak of creation like this, or that one seemingly devout follower of the Realm of Light would entertain the notion of multiple universes.

“Other worlds. Other realities. You believe in these kinds of things. Not even our best scientists have been able to completely confirm multiverse theory. No one’s even tried since the experiments into dimensional traveling and time traveling were made illegal.”

“There are infinite universes, each with its own version of the Caretaker watching after it. He is one being, and at the same time, he is many beings. He is in each of these universes while simultaneously existing in our own, or at least connected to our reality through the Realm of Light that seeps into the entire multiverse. I know this because I have seen many of these universes for myself. Though they are kept from interfering with our universe as per the Laws of Balance.”

Zanderius paused a moment, throwing Amelia a cautionary glance before going back to his work. “Be grateful for that. Interdimensional travel creates more headaches than you can possibly imagine. It’s almost as bad for the space time continuum as temporal incursions, or time travel in the layman’s terms; which is why my power automatically destroys most beings crossing into our universe from other dimensions. And if any fool attempts time travel in our universe, I usually erase their existence before they cause irreparable damage to reality.”

Amelia heard the Light Wielder muttering under his breath angrily about some Doctor and another fellow named Rick Sanchez. His vehemence against those traveling between dimensions and time showed a colder side to him that contradicted his usual gentle nature. Although she wasn’t particularly paying attention to him anymore as she was trying to wrap her head around what he said before. The Caretaker and the Realm of Light connected to infinite universes, simultaneously existing and not existing in each. She decided to dismiss the idea as she focused on another thing the Light Wielder mentioned.

“What about this ‘other one’ you mentioned? The one who created our universe with the Caretaker’s power? Who or what is this being?”

She heard a slight whimper from Green-Eyes as the Spirit Wolf lowered its ears and walked away from her only to lay down at the Light Wielder’s feet.

“Others,” corrected Zanderius as he regarded her behind his spectacles. “There was more than one being involved with the final formation of our universe. You know them as Celestial Spirits, or Sacred Animals. Sometimes even called Cosmic Beasts.”

Amelia put a hand to her mouth in astonishment. “You mean the four spirits that are bonded to the four Grand Ministers?”

Zanderius nodded and smiled approvingly in that teacher-like fashion of his, adjusting his spectacles as he spoke. “There are more than those four roaming the universe, but yes, you’ve got the right idea. The Celestial Beasts formed the planets, stars, and nebulas; created matter itself from their essence. But one was responsible for the greater part of creation itself. The one who seeded the planets with the potential of spawning sentient life using the most ancient and pure form of Elemency directly from the Caretaker himself.”

“And this being’s name?” asked Amelia impatiently, crossing her arms.

The Prime Minister glanced down at Green Eyes whose ears drooped sadly for some reason. “I’m sorry, but that’s a personal matter for beings like Green-Eyes.”

Amelia looked to the canine and couldn’t keep herself from asking, “What exactly is the wolf spirit anyway?”

The Light Wielder smiled warmly. She found herself despising and loving that smile at the same time. “I knew you had an inquisitive mind. You wouldn’t be much of a doctor without some notion of scientific curiosity.”

The Light Wielder knelt down to Green-Eyes and patted her white fur affectionately. “Green-eyes is, well ... complicated.”

The wolf spirit licked his hand and then turned to Amelia, her ears perking slightly. “You know of the relationship between Elemental Guardians, Light Wraiths, and Shadow Wraiths, do you not?”

“Well,” Amelia said, rummaging through her memories of what she knew from her studies with the Mages. Interestingly, she had little understanding of the subject when she thought she was only a doctor. “The Guardians were originally Wraiths from the Realms of Light and Shadow. According to ... to the excerpts from Mage history, the Guardians journeyed from the Realms of Light and Shadow to the Physical Realm in order to escape the conflict between the two Spiritual Realms.

“Unlike the Angels and Demons who were descended from the first Light Wraiths and Shadow Wraiths to enter our universe, the Guardians came to our reality using the power of the Celestial Spirits whom they would swear loyalty to. They often use the shapes of animals to honor the Celestial Spirits. In so doing, they became something that was neither Light nor Shadow; neither good nor evil. So as to maintain some presence in our realm, they took on traits of various elements like fire, water, earth, and the like while also making contracts with the Elemental Ministries. They reside in special caverns within each Ministry, acting as watchdogs for important objects of power and being sustained by a steady stream of Sun Gems. I also hear they have some part in the reproduction and mining of Sun Gems. Eramar and I encountered some of them in the catacombs when we...”

When I led that Cthulhu to the Core and betrayed Eramar, thought Amelia to herself. I was in contact with the High Mage before Eramar left. The Mages knew he was coming for them. Oh, dear God. It goes against my training ... my beliefs, but I hope Eramar makes it back okay. Though, if he does, the first thing he’ll do is kill me ... and I won’t blame him in the least.

The wolf spirit walked forward on all fours and sat down in front of Amelia. She was vaguely aware of tears on her face that Green-Eyes licked gently off her cheeks. “His love for you is greater than you think. I don’t believe things will end as you imagine.”

Amelia tried to turn away, but those strangely intelligent eyes held her gaze as if entrancing her. She wanted to tell the dog to stay out of her head, but couldn’t summon the words as she felt her lip quivering.

“And you are correct in your explanation,” continued the wolf spirit. “The Elemental Guardians were indeed Wraiths once, but now have become something different. Not as powerful, but perhaps purer as they no longer have any agenda other than simply existing. The troubles of our realms are almost meaningless to them now. In any case, I am a lot like the Guardians. I am not a Light Wraith, but I have the power to travel to the Realm of Light and maintain myself here in the Physical Realm. You could say that I am a Guardian that has chosen a side. Though many whom serve the Realm of Light are flawed, I ultimately believe in its mission. That mission is to create a free and safe universe in which everyone prospers ... in which sadness and sorrow are eventually eradicated. When that day comes, people will no longer need governing as each person will be mature and wise enough to govern themselves. To that end, I, like my master, Zanderius, am searching for the Grand Solution.”

“The Grand Solution,” sniffed Amelia, drawing back a tear as she glared up at the old man. “That old wives’ tale extolled by the Monks? I was told you were wise, Alastar, not one prone to believe in idealistic nonsense. The universe is what it is. You and I can’t change that any more than we can change our own natures.”

His warm smile was as infuriating as ever as he turned his back to her and continued his work. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. There’s no way to know for sure unless we search for it. But believe what you will, Amelia. In this life, we all must make our own choices. Each one of us must decide who we are and what we believe in. I, for one, would rather choose to believe in a universe that has the potential for hope rather than the bleakness of a random reality without meaning.”

Amelia scowled, cursing herself for getting sucked into a philosophical discussion with the Light Wielder and his pet, the antithesis of everything she’d been brought up to believe by the Mages. She wished that they would just kill her and get it over with. She couldn’t imagine any other use they would have for her now that they got those translations from the Grave Tome. To think, the Mages’ most sacred text was in the hands of their mortal enemy. The High Mage himself would’ve given up what remained of his limbs and suppressed his Shadow Elemency, rendering himself a helpless cripple for life, just to get a glimpse at that unholy relic. She dared a glance at where the Grave Tome sat on the nearby white crystal dais and dismissed the idea of trying to steal it. Not only because it would be impossible to escape from the Light Wielder, but also because of what happened last time she touched the thing.

“How long before we get out of here, anyway? Before we can return to Corinth Monastery?”

And before everything I love in my current life is ripped away from me as it was in my previous ones.

“Not much longer,” replied the Light Wielder, though his voice lowered slightly, sounding worried. “I can only hope that we’re not too late. If he knows that I’m trapped like this, there’s no telling what he could do. There are some threats that neither the Monks nor the Elementals are equipped to deal with.”

Green-Eyes let out a distressed howl. “You don’t think he’ll...”

“Attack Tarrus?” said Zanderius, pausing a moment as he considered. “No. He’s not ready yet. Besides, my defenses on the planet itself are too strong, and the Light Wraiths securing the borders would prevent something of that scale. But there are some things he can do, or rather, a few of his minions. Now that I know the Undying Berserkers are involved, I can guess who is pulling the strings here. There are only four individuals who can control those beasts besides him.”

A savage growl erupted from Green-Eyes as she bared her fangs. For a moment, Amelia could feel the wolf spirit’s anger as if it were palpable, and it made something in her head wince in pain.

“The traitors! I should’ve known they’d be involved! We should have destroyed them for daring to step on the sacred grounds of Tarrus!”

“And that would’ve been a declaration of war that we ourselves are not ready for. Not to mention a breach of the Laws of Balance. Besides. Their very existence is punishment enough. Because of the choices they made, life itself is pain for them. The shadows that now sustain them also cause them constant suffering because of who they once were. In any case, I think I can guess their plan. Because of their near transgression against the contract last year, they themselves cannot set foot on the planet of Tarrus, but there are still ways those four can cause damage. A lot of damage. We can only hope that we make it out before their ambitions can be realized.”

What are they talking about? thought Amelia, the Mage part of her still desperate to attain some kind of advantage in this situation. Wait! Could they mean the ancient ones? The Fallen? They who possess the bodies of mortals and transcend time? Come to think of it, the High Mage did mention the Fallen several times. The script he wanted for the sanctum was from an ancient dialect of the Shadow Realm that even I didn’t fully understand. Could it be that the ritual sacrifices were for...

“Exactly,” finished the Light Wielder without turning to her. “I suspect that the Mages in your former coven have been gathering souls for the last five years at the behest of the Fallen.”

Amelia sighed. “Between you and the wolf, am I not going to get a moment to myself?”

“I would think that you would like to escape yourself at this particular stage in your life. But if you do not wish me to continue, then I won’t.”

Lowering her eyes leaning back to the wall in defeat, Amelia said, “You know my weakness for knowledge, Light Wielder. So please, continue.”

“As I was saying, the Fallen yearn for a high amount of energy to complete their spells. One spell, in particular, is their greatest weapon and requires the harvesting of many lives. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t be able to cast that spell within the confines of this solar system due to the protection of Light Elemency. But if they had the Mages gather souls beforehand over the last five years, and if they managed to get me out of the way for a short period of time, via our current predicament...”

A grim smile crept up the corners of the Light Wielder’s mouth. It seemed an angry smile somehow. “I must admit. My old friend has outdone himself this time. Spun quite the little web of horrors in this tragic affair. I doubt the spell they were preparing was meant for the capture of the Children of Destiny, but it seems that they have molded it to suit their needs. As always, the mind of my opponent is far too agile to suit my liking.”

“And what is the nature of this spell that requires so many sacrifices?”

Zand lifted a chin towards the Grave Tome. “I imagine it’s very similar to what you and I experienced just a short while ago. It’s a spell to summon the Shadow Realm into our plane of existence.”

An uncontrollable shiver went down Amelia’s spine, and she drew her legs tight to her chest. “It’s almost insulting,” she muttered, mostly to herself. “I give up everything for that coven ... my life, my very soul, and even then, they kept secrets from me. In the end, my life really counted for nothing, didn’t it? Worthless as both an Elemental, and as a Mage.”