Chapter 32

I opened my eyes to find myself once again before Zorl-stissa. She welcomed me with outstretched arms.

"My, my, how you positively brim with Source," she said. "No wonder, after all the adventures you have had; all the things you've had to do…"

When I recalled what I did so far, all I could think about was what happened only minutes ago.

"Why'd you stop me?" I asked her. "Those souls suffered and now they're gone! You forced me to let them die!"

Zorl-stissa's smile turned into a frown.

"If Rivellon is to be saved, there are sacrifices that must be made," she said. "Those souls' sacrifice will save the rest of the realm. You must realize this."

I prepared to fire back at her. But before I could, she shuttered so violently that she dropped to her knees. My anger disappeared as I kneeled to help her.

"It's okay, my child, I've no need of assistance," she said. But when I took a hold of her, I could tell from the weight of her arms around me, she'd have trouble getting up on her own. When I let her go, I saw that her body was getting worse.

"Please be honest," I said. "Are you really dying?"

Zorl-stissa winced in pain before inhaling deeply to regain her composure. She presented herself as the stoic goddess the statues and paintings portrayed her as.

"I refuse to entertain the possibility," she said with confidence. "Yes, the void is stronger than ever, but so are you!"

She looked down to my chest, as if seeing into it.

"I can sense the expanse of Source inside you. You are ready to learn the spell I've yearned to teach you: the spell you will need when we reach the Well of Ascension."

I raised my brows. I braced myself for what was going to happen next.

"I have given you the eyes to see the Source. Now I will give you the teeth to take it!"

She smiled at me. But when I looked closer, I noticed two cobralike fangs glistening beneath her upper lip. Moments later, I felt another gulf of magic enveloping me. When it finished, I felt something unnatural. Before, I felt my body could hold more Source than I ever could. But now, I felt a need to fill that empty space in my body. It was a hunger. A hunger for source. I looked at Zorl-Stissa again. She stood presenting herself like a concubine offering herself to a patron.

"Go on. I am here for you. Give in to your hunger!"

In my mind, I saw what she wanted me to do. I recalled the moment I used the purging wand on the shriekers at Fort Joy. I now could do just that with my bare hands. I raised my hand ready to do to her what I did to the shriekers. But my body shuttered. My arm shook. I forced my hand down and gasped.

"This…this doesn't feel right!" My body shook, trying to resist the sensation. "This hunger… it's… unnatural!"

"It is supernatural!" Zorl-Stissa said. "It is the ultimate lust for power. The true lust of a god!"

She now shouted at me.

"Go on. Devour me!"

The hunger in me surged, taking control of me. I brought my hand up and the same green beam that came from the purging wand shot out and pierced into the goddess's body. Shortly after, my arm pulled behind me and the beam was pulled out of Zorl-stissa's body. The beam returned to my hand. I gasped and kneeled from the sudden influx of something. I had pulled a wad of source from Zorl-Stissa. But even with the surge of source, there was still a large gap in me that needed to be filled. I looked at Zorl-Stissa again. She looked grimly happy; if a bit haggard.

"You cast the spell with brash ferocity, like I knew you would, my champion."

I stared at her with disbelief. When I stopped and focused on my body again, the hunger came back to me. Only this time, it felt… stronger. My body felt twisted.

"What did you do to me?" I asked her accusingly. "I…I feel like I want more."

"Of course!" the goddess said. "Do you still not see? Do you still not realize there will never be abatement. Let me tell you the one truth about what it means to be a god: it is to be the lion in a world of lambs. It is about power, and power is not given. It is taken. With your all-seeing eyes and your all-consuming teeth. You can see the souls of the dead. And now you can feed from them to your hungry heart's content. So feed, for you will starve until you finally feast upon the Well of Ascension."

I looked down at my shaking hands. The screams of the souls Ryker destroyed rung in my head. This was what it meant to be a god? My lips twitched and my body shuttered. I fell to my knees and hung my head.

"This…this is wrong," I said. "I-I'm not a m-monster. T-this is not a force of creation. It is a f-force of d-destruction."

"By all means, fast if you must," the goddess spoke even though I couldn't bring myself to look up at her. "But sheer hunger will soon trump your all too delicate feelings. Your soul must grow bigger still; your inner self become a vaster expanse so that it may house divinity. There are more Masters of the Source, more aspects of the Source to learn."

I felt the pull back to the real world on me again.

"The hunt continues… just you hurry!"

I saw a blurry outline in front of me. I blinked causing the tear to be expelled from my eye. My vision cleared for me to notice Ifan was looking down at me. I felt the senses of my body return. My body shook erratically, and my chest hyperventilated.

"It's alright. I got you," Ifan spoke gently. It was then I felt that he held me in his arms in a comforting embrace. The warmth of his arms around my shoulders and head allowed me to calm myself. I took deep breath after deep breath until my breathing returned to normal.

"That's it, you're okay," he said with a warm grin on his face.

The shaking slowed down and the panic subsided. I kept my eyes on Ifan while the rest of my mind caught up with me. But when it did, the memories came back. I remembered my encounter with Zorl-stissa. How she instilled a hunger for Source in me as well as giving me the power of a living purging wand. But what I remembered the most was something that felt like a dream between then and now.

In this dream, I stood in an open field. All around me, the bodies of lizards, humans, dwarves and elves lay dead. I closed my eyes. I spoke the words and opened my eyes. Standing over each body was the spirit that once inhabited them. One by one, the spirits looked to me. With their ethereal eyes on me, my mouth curled into a rather sinister grin. I raised my hand high into the air. A green light emanated from it. From every direction, the spirits started to scream as they tried to run away. But they could go nowhere. They were helpless. They screamed as their ghostly bodies were slowly torn apart and pulled into my hand. All I did was smile.

As I lay in Ifan's arms, my mouth twitched, and my breathing stuttered. The screams echoed in my head. I squeezed my eyes shut and nestled my head under his chin, pulling myself as hard as I could into him.

"I'm not a monster. I'm not a monster, I'm not a monster, I'm not a monster, I'm not-"

I mumbled the words over and over until the words morphed into sobs. Ifan kept his arms around me, holding me close to him.

"It's okay," Ifan said. "Take all the time you need."

He gently swayed back and forth. The warmth of his body seeped into my own. The sobs ran their course and slowly faded away. I took in my deep breaths and calmed myself. I relaxed my body back down into Ifan's lap.

"Feeling better?" he asked. I closed my eyes and evaluated myself.

"As better as I'll ever be," I said. Ifan grinned.

"That's good to hear," he said. "Feel like you get back on your feet?"

I took a deep breath, regaining control of my body. I pulled my muscles together bringing my body up. I put my feet on the ground and brought myself up. The Red Prince and Sebille were standing before me.

"What happened to me?" I asked.

"We thought you took in too much of the fumes," the Red Prince said.

"When we all came out of it, you were twitching on the floor like you were having a seizure," Sebille said. So that's what my body was doing when I had that accursed dream.

Sebille tilted her head and glanced over at Ifan.

"Luckily, you had a close friend to look after you," she said.

Her mannerism caused both Ifan and I to look at each other awkwardly. I looked away when I felt a rush of blood come to my face. I took a breath to regain my composure. I looked back at Sebille.

"I…I was unprepared for that last encounter," I said.

"Yes, we could defiantly tell," the Red Prince commented.

"Does she expect me to consume the souls of the dead?" I asked no one in particular.

"Well I'm not going to," Ifan said. We looked over to him. "I mean, it might feel uncomfortable not being full of source all the time, but we won't die if we don't constantly ingest source."

I took a moment to feel the gap in my body with all the source in me drained. It did feel very unpleasant having this hole in my soul. But I felt like I could just ignore it, at least for now.

"But if we don't consume source, we might be impaired in the more difficult battles that'll come," the Red Prince interjected. Both Ifan and I were about to fire back at him, but Sebille stepped in.

"Here's an idea," she said. "If you desperately need Source, there's plenty of Voidwoken to consume out there. Not to mention the Order has plenty of their soulless puppets walking around. No souls of people have to be destroyed, even if some of them have it coming."

I had a feeling she would have consumed Roost's soul if we had this spell at the time.

"I'm more than okay with that," Ifan said. He looked over at me. I remembered using the purging wand on the shriekers. They were soulless beings that needed to be destroyed. The silent monks were no different either.

"Yes. That'll work for me," I said. A much better alternative than what Zorl-Stissa told me.

We all looked at the Red Prince. He flinched as if he was being verbally accused of something.

"Oh, very well," he sighed. Would he actually consider consuming every spirit we came across, innocent or otherwise? "I think it's petty to think about the small souls who refuse to pass to the Hall of Echoes when our task is greater than their individual existences. But don't worry, I will abide."

That was enough reassurance we were going to get out of him. With our debate over, we turned our attention to Ryker's remains.

"Wonder what his deal was for him to try to kill us?" Sebille asked.

"I'll ask him myself," I said. I closed my eyes and opened them with my vision. Floating over the fractured corpse was a spirit with the same features as the body when it wasn't frozen. It sneered at me.

"Don't look so pleased with yourself," Ryker's spirit said. "You're too quick to act, too green still. Your bond with the Source may be strengthened, but you are hardly prepared for Divinity."

I cross my arms.

"Maybe," I say. "But before we leave, I have a question. Who are you sworn to?"

Ryker only contorted his face further. Looks like I was going to have to play rough. Thankfully, Brell had a visitor from the House of Dreams when I stayed with him. She taught me a charm that would be useful now. I put my hand through Ryker's ethereal chest and closed my eyes. I recited the charm. Almost immediately, I felt my scales tremble and my tongue go numb. The memories flowed into me.

I saw vivid images of Ryker's life as the caretaker of the cemetery. I saw him, old and haggard. He walked to an innocent spirit and reached out his wrenched hand. In an instant the spirit is gone. The wrinkled hand disappeared under a new layer of fresh skin.

I did my best to let the feeling pass. As soon as I did, a new memory came into view. One where Ryker was sitting at his desk looking at a parchment. At the bottom were the words "Black Ring". I pulled my hand away as my mind returned to reality. I gasped and looked at the spirit again. I regained my composure.

"As I suspected, the Black Ring," I said.

Ryker looked at me with a somewhat defeated look.

"There is but one promise I have ever regretted making, one deal I have ever sought to break. That tablet, the template to the Swornbreaker, it was the key to my freedom. Alas, I remain sworn."

"Well, you were going to kill us, so I had to act," I said. "I'm sorry it had to be this way."

Ryker snorted and looked away. He stared up at the ceiling, looking at nothing but the beyond he can never go to. It was all he was going to be able to do now. A small part of me wanted to use my new power to consume him so he'd be spared of this fate. But I'd made a vow to not consume the spirits of people, only voidwoken and meat puppets. I turned away from Ryker to the others.

"I had a feeling it was the Black Ring," Ifan said.

"Me too," I said. My eyes wandered to the desk with the tablet on it. Sebille took notice.

"You think we should hold on to that tablet?" she asked.

"Call it a gut feeling," I said.

"Oooooo," she said a smile. "A scholar who uses her head and her gut. That's rather interesting."

I chuckled. I walked over to the desk and scooped up the tablet and put it into my bag.

"Alright then, looks like we're done here," Ifan said.

Just then, I heard my stomach rumble.

"Perhaps it'd be a good idea to fill our bellies for our trip north," I said.

"I agree," the Red Prince said. "I will need my strength for what comes for me at the end."

"I believe we should take a few minutes and have our lunch in Ryker's luxurious dining room upstairs. I'm sure he's well stocked," Ifan said.

I looked to the piles of gore that once were his masked servants. If all the other servants were dead, I'd defiantly look forward to having a comfortable meal to relieve the stress of the events that happened so far today.

"Let's eat," I said. Everyone nodded.

We exited the chamber, leaving the unpleasant gore and smell behind us. When we emerged into the study, we saw two piles of gore stain the carpet and bookcases. When we exited into the living room, we saw three more stained spots around us. We truly destroyed the rest of the masked servants when we took care of Ryker. To our right, the dinner table was already set with an assortment of food ready for us to eat. To the side, the kitchen stood with an oven ready to cook. We walked towards the table. But I stopped when a familiar face crawled across the floor towards me.

"You go ahead," I said. "I'll join you shortly."

They nodded leaving me to kneel new friend's level. He hobbled over to me with much spring in his step.

"The servants are gone," Xiuh said. "That must mean the elf is slain."

"Indeed," I said. Xiuh reared his head back and snapped his maw, an expression I took as joy.

"Oh, Xiuh has waited for this day. Master Zara has been avenged. Xiuh is eternally thankful."

I reached out and pet Xiuh on the head.

"What will you do now that Ryker is dead?" I asked him. Xiuh glanced at the window before he answered.

"This land is not welcome to Xiuh," he said. "If it will not be a burden, Xiuh wishes to have a new master."

I raised my brows. This was a rather big ask.

"We're rather busy at the moment," I said. I looked over at the others while thinking to myself. "But I think I could take you with me after we finish something we have to do."

Xiuh hopped back onto his hind legs for a moment, expressing his excitement.

"Oh, Xiuh cannot truly express his gratitude," he said. I couldn't help but smile.

"Okay, as soon as we leave, I want you to follow the road along the coast until you see a ship anchored by the cove. Stay on the shore until I get back later tonight. I'll bring you aboard then."

"Xiuh understands. Thank you, kin. It is a great day for Xiuh. A great day indeed!"

I smiled and pat Xiuh on the head one last time before he returned to laying by the fireplace. I turned around and saw Ifan was serving plates of food to everyone. I took my place and we all dug into our meals. I felt the meat, fruit, bread and even slices of pie fill my belly and replenish my strength. Once we were finished, we cleaned ourselves up and head out the door. When we looked over the graveyard, we saw the spots of gore where the servants once stood. All except for one. The Lizard caretaker still tended to the gravestones. I could hear her still singing her tune.

"Should I try to tell her she's free?" I asked the others.

"No," the Red Prince said. "She's lost her mind. It's not worth it."

The others nodded. I nodded too. I looked behind me to find Xiuh following me.

"I'll meet you at the front gate," I said to the others. They walked north while I lead Xiuh to the south gate. I opened it and motioned Xiuh through.

"Just follow the road and turn left towards the ship when you see it," I reminded the salamander.

"Thank you, master," Xiuh bowed his head.

He turned around and walked down the road. With my new pet on his way, I jogged through the cemetery to the north gate where the others were waiting. When I arrived, we opened the gate and started walking up the path towards Paradise Downs.

Author's Note: What I planned for this chapter turned out to be longer than I anticipated. Thus, I've decided to split it into two chapters like I did with chapters 14 and 15. The next chapter will be up shortly.

As always, thank you for reading my story and a review goes a long way. See you next chapter.