Chapter 49

I gasped back into reality. I found myself in the middle of a room with just enough room to stand in. Before me, another barrier stood. Beyond it, a large, rectangular arena stood. I was in a release cage waiting to be let into the arena.

"So. It. Begins," the machine's voice echoed through the room. "The. First. Godwoken. To. Enter. The. Wellspring. Of Ascension. Becomes. Divine."

Beyond the arena, flights of stairs lead down to a series of decaying platforms. At the very bottom, before a large chasm leading into pit of lava, I could see a large alter that brimmed with Source. That had to be the Wellspring the machine talked about. But between the arena and the Wellspring were at least a dozen automations hovering around on patrol. It looked like we were going to have to fight them.

"May. The. New. Divine. Be. Worthy," the machine continued. "For. The Rest. May. She. Have. Mercy. On. Your. Soul."

The battle was about to start. I took my ready stance.

"To. The. Wellspring. Of Ascension."

The barrier dropped.

"BEGIN."

I shot out of the cage. Five long steps and I was in the middle of the arena. To my left and right, my three companions came together. On the other side of the arena was Alexander. Everyone took their stance next to me. When I took a moment to feel myself over, I was replenished with Source. The automation who brought us here must have replenished our Source for the battle.

"How do you want to do this?" Sebille asked.

I looked over at the path of automations guarding the way to the wellspring. Then I looked at Alexander. We could easily take him on together. But something in me told me that wouldn't be appropriate. I stood before the rest.

"You clear the way to the Wellspring," I said. "I'll take care of things over here."

Everyone looked at me with surprise.

"You want to face Alexander alone?" Sebille asked.

"We did decide I was to be the one," I said. "I figured it would be appropriate that we figured out who would be the best by having it be decided in a fair fight."

The Red Prince raised his brows.

"The honor of a duelist," he said in admiration. "Even my old self would respect such a decision."

I looked over at Ifan. At first, he seemed a little conflicted about my choice. But eventually his face grew a grin.

"Make his defeat as humiliating as possible," Ifan said clapping me on the shoulder.

"Don't worry," I winked at him.

Ifan and the others turned and proceeded down the steps to take care of the automations. That left Alexander and me as the only ones left in the arena. The young man locked his gaze with me with his staff at the ready. I held my shield in front with my wand in relaxed ready position. We started to circle each other.

"I wouldn't have expected you to throw away such an advantage while you had it, Sourcerer," Alexander said.

"Well, I wouldn't want to see you crying about losing when it wasn't a fair fight."

His right eye twitched in irritation.

"Your words mean nothing!" Alexander said. "Now, I will claim my birthright!"

His staff brimmed with energy. He swung it sending a ball of light toward me. I was already ahead of him, having just unfurled my wings. I hopped into the air, dodging the attack. When it missed, I banked hard to the left as the next attack whizzed past me followed by a bank to the right to dodge the third. After I came out of the third dodge, I sent the three ice shards of my Ice Fan at him. He raised his staff up at the last second before the shards exploded. When I landed, the ice dissipated. Alexander was still alive, but the ice encased him partially. In a flash, he channeled his Source to shake all the ice from his body.

"You will not be lucky the next time!" he said.

An aura of source surrounded him, creating a shield. It looked like he was channeling his Source to protect himself. A plan started to form in my head. Alexander raised his staff again sending another volley of projectiles at me which I easily dodged. But after the last one, he raised his staff height above his head. I knew what was coming next. I raised my head and let out my fire breath, melting the shards of hail he wanted to bring down on me. Before Alexander could do anything else, I dashed forward with my wings and ignited my whip. I swung it against Alexander, the tip slashing against his Source shield. I heard him gasp from the impact before I unleashed my lightning breath, covering him in the electrified cloud. Before I could do more damage though, a blinding light came through the cloud. I managed to jump back in time to avoid the brunt of the flash. I could still see good enough when I landed a good distance from the now glowing bishop.

"YOU WON'T BEST ME, LIZARD!" Alexander was now shouting. He still wore his Source shield over his body, but his stance was less composed now. He was irritated. That could either work in my favor by throwing off his focus. Or it could be a detriment if he chose to be more aggressive. I decided to take the former route.

"Tell me, Alexander," I said as we circled each other again. "Does your desire for Divinity come from Rivellon expecting you to be like your father?"

The bishop's eyes tightened. His teeth gritted.

"Shut up," he said in annoyed anger.

"Must be hard to hope to lead the world out of darkness when you can't escape your own father's shadow."

"SHUT UP!" he raised his voice to accommodate his rising anger.

"Tell me, would Lucian be proud seeing his son like this?"

"SHUT YOUR MAW, YOU SCALE SKIN WHORE!"

Alexander launched a glob of oil at me. Unfortunately, I leaned on my tongue too much and wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. I found myself slathered in the oil and stuck to the ground. I wouldn't be able to use my wings to fly away. When I looked up at Alexander, I saw him channeling large amounts of Source for a massive attack. But his concentration on that attack left me a small window to prepare. Thinking quickly, I decided to channel my Source and bless the oil I was stuck in. In that small moment, the oil was no longer was sticking to me. I was free. When Alexander unleashed his ultimate attack, I launched myself into the air barely escaping the Epidemic of Fire that erupted under me. As the flames raged below, I dove straight for Alexander. I took a huge breath and unleashed my frost breath onto him. His Source shield took the brunt of the attack. But it didn't last. Just as the last of my ice breath exited my mouth, his Source shield shattered. He stumbled backwards. He was out of Source. He was vulnerable. I ignited my flame whip. Before he could recover, I swung my whip around at him. The tip seared through his robes and made deep gash in his right knee. He wailed in pain, falling to the ground face first. He dropped his staff at my feet.

Alexander, the son of Lucian, was defeated.

"No," Alexander said banging his fists on the ground. "No. No! No! This is not possible!"

I deactivated my whip and picked up his staff.

"Of course, it is," I said looking at the glowing headpiece. "We had a duel and you lost. No complaining about how the match was unfair now. I did make it a fair fight."

"NOAUG!"

Alexander tried getting to his feet but the pain in his leg kept him from doing so. He panted and groaned when he looked up at me with a burning red face.

"I CAN'T LOSE! I CAN'T! I'M THE DIVINE'S SON. IT IS MY BIRTHRIGHT! IT IS MY DESTINY! THAT POWER BELONGS TO ME! IT'S MINE! MINE!"

I looked down at the groveling man with pity. I was right in not wanting to kill him. It would be too easy. He needed to see his mistakes and learn from them by being alive. I put both of my hands on the staff and smashed the headpiece into a thousand pieces. Alexander screamed angerly through his teeth seeing me destroy his weapon.

"Was it your destiny to have that power?" I asked him. "Or was it your destiny to save Rivellon?"

He only looked up me with his searing gaze. I dropped the broken staff before him.

"To be honest, I really wish I didn't have to become Divine to save Rivellon. I think I have more than enough power on my own."

I kneeled and looked deep into the bishop's eyes.

"But if becoming Divine is the only way to save our world from the Voidwoken, then I'm willing to make the sacrifice."

I brought my hand to my amulet.

"After all, it is my duty to protect the people of Rivellon from the cruelty of those who wish to harm them."

I stood up and walked away from my defeated opponent. When I reached the steps, I looked down to see my friends had blown through almost all the automations themselves. Nine wrecks of machines littered the stairs and platforms. At the bottom, only three remained. And I could see my friends about to engage them. I unfurled my wings and leapt into the air. I was about halfway down before I saw Ifan look up at me.

"CLEAR THE WAY!" Ifan shouted. All three of my friends engaged the automations. All their attention was on them, leaving a small opening straight to the well. I knew what Ifan wanted me to do. No hesitations. No stopping. I needed to get to the Wellspring and finish this right away. I leaned in and dove to the opening. I whooshed past the machines and hit the ground running. I retracted my wings and sprinted to the Wellspring.

This is it. Time to save the world. Time to ascend.

But when I was merely five steps from the Wellspring, I was suddenly thrown off my feet. I felt my back slam against the floor. When I opened my eyes, my vision was a haze and my hearing was muffled. Through my blurred vision, I saw two faces looking down at me. I felt two sets of hands on my shoulders and the back of my neck.

"-halia, are you okay?"

I was sitting up when my senses returned to normal. Ifan and the Red Prince were sitting beside me with Sebille standing behind. I was about to reply to Ifan but something caught my eye. Or rather someone. Someone who stood between me and the Wellspring.

"So good of you to come, Godwoken," Dallis said with a pleased smile on her face. Next to her stood her masked servant Vredeman. The mere sight of them sparked instant anger from within me. I immediately got to my feet and drew my weapon with my friends doing the same.

"What are you doing here?!" I shouted. "How did you get here?!"

Dallis responded with an almost mocking smile.

"Isn't it obvious? The Lady Vengeance is my ship."

A cold realization struck me.

"You know you are many things. But above all of you are… reliable. Reliable to the point of being predictable."

I gritted my teeth.

Gods damn it! How could I have been this stupid?!

"DALLIS!"

We turned around see Alexander limping his way to us, using his broken staff as a crutch for his crippled leg. His hands trembled and his face gritted with bitter rage. He stood to the far right of us.

"I BELIEVED YOU, DALLIS! YOU TOLD ME I WAS THE ONE! BUT YOU LIED. YOU BETRAYED ME! WHY?! WHY DO YOU WISH TO DENY ME DIVINITY?! WHY DO YOU WANT OUR WORLD TO FALL TO THE GOD KING?!"

Alexander panted in exhaustion and rage, his grip on his broken staff tightened as he leaned more heavily on it. Vredeman bore a very amused grin on his half-covered face.

"You are right, mistress," he said. "He is an imbecile."

"Not an imbecile," she sighed. "Just misguided."

She addressed Alexander directly.

"You see Alexander, I don't intend to let the world fall to the God King. But Divinity isn't the solution to the world's ills. It's the problem."

It was then I noticed she was holding something in her arms. It was the length of a staff but was wide and looked rather heavy. She held the device like a heavy crossbow and pointed the four-pronged tip straight at Alexander.

"I am here to fix that."

A beam of green light emerged from the device and hit Alexander square in the chest. He groaned with pain, falling to his knees and dropping his staff. He threw his head up and arms out. He screamed as his entire body was dissolved into nothing, all to be pulled into the device. The memory of seeing the Shriekers at Fort Joy crumble after I used the Purging Wand on them made me realize what that device was. The Aeteran. The object the Magisters dug up in the caves near the Black Pits. Dallis had used the Aeteran on Alexander. Now he was gone. His body. His Source. His soul. He was gone.

Dallis exhaled, expressing some satisfaction with her use of the device. She glanced at her servant.

"Now, keep the others busy while I do what needs to be done."

"Yes, mistress," Vredeman said.

She turned around and pointed the Aeteran at the Wellspring. Before any of us could do anything, Vredeman maneuvered his hands and his body glowed with energy. From above, a familiar sound emerged. My mind snapped.

"STAY UNDER THE DOME!" I shouted.

Everyone jumped over to me. I pulled my Dome of Protection up just as the meteors fell from above and slammed all around us. Through the onslaught of fire, I saw Dallis do the unthinkable. The beam emerged from the Aeteran and slammed into the Wellspring. I watched as the device absorbed all the Source that brewed within it. And I couldn't stop her. None of us could. With no Source left, the Wellspring crumbled to dust. She turned around to face us just as the firestorm ended and my Dome fell. My body shook in disbelief. Disbelief that transformed into anger.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" I shouted at her.

Dallis looked at the device in her arms.

"I've fixed a terrible mistake," she said. She then looked at us with a discerning look. "As for you four, you shall be little more than relics of a bygone time. And this place shall be your tomb. Goodbye."

I reared my head back and unleashed a fireball at them. But Dallis and her servant disappeared, leaving my fireball to fly harmlessly across the chasm. They got away. They got away and they took the Source of the Well of Ascension. Everything we worked for, escaping Fort Joy, finding the Source Masters and opening the door to the Council of the Seven. All of it was for nothing. The very thing we needed was gone. I couldn't ascend. None of us could. We failed.

"GAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGHH!"

The anger in me was incomprehensible. The pride the High Judge of the Divine took in turning Sourcerers into Silent Monks. The enjoyment Red Prince expressed when he described the slave scar. The revelation of Sadha's desire to merge the House of War and Law together. None of those infuriated me more than what Dallis did only seconds ago.

But I was going to have to throw my tantrum later. The chamber around us shook. The lava at the far bottom of the chasm began to rise. From above, boulders broke and fell from the ceiling, crashing all around us. The floor beneath us started to fall apart. Deep within my gut, I could feel the instability surge throughout the entire island. It was about to blow! With us in it!

"Run!" Ifan shouted.

All four of us turned around and ran as fast as we could away from the chasm. We climbed the stairs passed the remains of the machines my friends took care of. The floor started to crumble and fall behind us. We dodged falling debris until we made it to the top. When we stopped to catch our breath in the main arena, I watched as the rest of the stairs and platforms below collapsed fell, widening the chasm.

It looked to be stable enough here in the arena, but for how long? Moreover, how were we going to get out of here. When we looked around the arena, there weren't any doors or openings anywhere. Only the cages we were teleported into when we were brought here.

"Look for anything that can get us out!" Ifan said.

Everyone dispersed to start the search. But I only took a step before I felt my body freeze. I felt the anger in my body burn again. But this time, it felt different. Like my anger had formed into a physical entity. A physical entity that surged to every corner in my body. I hunched over and fell on all fours. The others took notice and rushed over to me.

"Mahalia," Ifan said. "What is it? What's wrong?"

I couldn't answer him. I panted and squeezed my eyes tight. I felt my entire body thrash around uncontrollably. I felt the others take hold of my arms and head, trying to hold me still. Inside my head, I heard a familiar voice sing a familiar song.

I called a hero from the chaff; I called her here to me. I called a hero from below, and she shall set us free.

"No. No. Stop! Stop!"

Hear and heed my call, my love, your hand is mine to hold; hear and heed my call, my love, I've secrets to unfold.

"Stop it! Get out! Leave me alone!"

You are mine, you are my own; your life belongs to me. You are mine, you are my own; my champion to be.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

I screamed and felt the anger burst out of me. I stopped thrashing and hung my head down. I panted with exhaustion.

"Mahaila. Are you okay?"

I looked up and my blurred vision cleared up to show the image of him holding my left arm steady.

"I-I…" I tried say I was okay. But my focus turned to a misty red orb floating before us. When I looked at it, I could feel the anger inside it splash against me like waves crashing against the seawall.

Just then, everyone around me, Ifan, Sebille and the Red Prince, all fell to their knees too. Their experience didn't seem to be as violent as mine. But that didn't bring me any comfort seeing them tremble like they did. Moments later, three more misty red orbs emerged from their chests. The one from the Red Prince floated to the one that came out of me and merged with it, becoming larger. The other two from Sebille and Ifan simply floated in the air next to the large one. The large one suddenly grew two misty tendrils that reached out and grabbed the remaining orbs. The orbs were pulled to the center and were consumed by the larger one. The remaining orb then morphed and expanded. It formed into the ghostly red shape of a female lizard. A female lizard with a pair of narrow, onyx eyes.

"My mistake," Zorl-stissa said with massive disappointment. "I saved you. I guided you. I blessed you. I built you into what you are. I made you. I asked much of you, but I gave you everything you needed to reach your goal. And yet you failed me."

I came to my knees along with the others behind me.

"Now I must do that job for which you were made. Now I must wield what's left of my power, and become the one god, savior of the kin and lord of Rivellon. Give me your body and soul. There can be only one now."

She held up her hand towards me, as if giving a slave a command.

"Give yourself to me."

I looked into her onyx eyes. They were the same onyx eyes she had when I first spoke to her in the Hall of Echoes. Only this time, I could finally see what lay behind them. A selfish being who let our world fall to the Voidwoken so she could be the one god when all the others had died. All this time she used me like the Shadow Prince used Sebille. Now, here she was ordering me to give myself to her. The anger in me started to swell again. I drew my wand.

"GO TO HELL!"

Everyone else drew their weapons. The Red Prince and Sebille charged Zorl-stissa. But with a loud stomp of her foot, they were launched off their feet. The Red Prince slammed into a pillar on the right while Sebille slammed into one on the left. Ifan brought up his bow and I pulled my head back. I launched a fireball from my mouth and he launched an explosive arrow from his bow. But with a wave of her hand, a shield of Source emerged, blocking the two projectiles. When the dust cleared, the shield dissipated into a cluster of Source in her hand. The ball shot from her hand and landed square into Ifan's chest, launching him back. I twirled around to see Ifan roll across the ground towards the edge of the arena.

"NOOOO!" I screamed seeing Ifan fall over the edge into the chasm. But I couldn't run after him. In a flash of energy, I was frozen. I fell to my knees and faced Zorl-stissa's ghostly form. She walked closer and looked down at me, her eyes full of disappointment.

"You never learn your lesson, do you?" the goddess said. "I gave you life."

She held up her hand directly at my chest.

"And now I take it away."

A red beam emerged from her hand and entered me. I panted erratically as the energy pouring into my heart. It creeped through my blood vessels, slowly taking over every limb in my body. I tried to move, but my limbs were no longer under my control. The energy soon creeped up my spine to the top of my neck.

My eyes were squeezed shut. As the energy creeped into my brain, I felt a rush of memories burn into my head. Memories spanning over the millennia. Memories of a goddess. Memories I couldn't begin to comprehend. All of those memories started to overtake my own. I felt myself start to fade. My existence. It was going to end. I could do nothing. She had absolute control over me.

But then it stopped.

I opened my eyes and gasped. I felt a small splinter of control return to my mind and body. When I looked at Zorl-stissa, she was stumbling back with an arrow in the side of her chest. I would have been so hopeful and relieved to turn my head to see Ifan hadn't fallen into the chasm. But I didn't do that.

Instead, my mind was focused on the last memory I could comprehend before the goddess was interrupted. It was only a small shred of the memories that were forced into me. But it was one memory that triggered something within me. The elements in my heart pulsed. The hold Zorl-stissa had on my heart was broken. The beam shattered and the ghostly lizard gasped in surprise. I felt my body return under my control. Not only that, I felt the elements in my heart surge through every facet of my body.

I got to my feet. The goddess looked at me in disbelief. I felt the elements manifest in three corners of my body. The fire emanated from my mouth. Lightning in my left hand. Ice in my right. Behind all of that, I felt a burning emotion fueling everything. It was more than anger. It was more than rage. It was… Fury.

I felt a loud roar boom from my throat, echoing throughout the chamber. Zorl-stissa stumbled backwards. She looked…afraid. She hastily pulled her arm back and summoned a fireball. Before it left her hand, my wings unfurled, and I leapt into the air. I hovered seeing the goddess looking at me again in bewilderment. She franticly sent balls of fire and lightning at me. But I dodged all of them with swift rolls left and right. She started getting desperate. When she summoned large attacks from the sky I couldn't dodge, I used the power in my left hand to encase an Armor of Frost over myself to take the brunt of the damage while my body was unharmed.

I unleashed balls of fire, bolts of lightning and shards of ice. All of them slammed into the ghostly lizard causing her to stumble in pain. She franticly fought back, but it was futile. I continued my barrage, tearing down her defenses. Soon, she was vulnerable. It was my chance. I dove straight at her. My body slammed into her, forcing her to the ground. I had her pinned under me.

A glowing orb emanated in the middle of her chest. It was her heart. I pulled my hand back and drove it straight into her chest. She screamed in painful fear as I opened my fingers within her semisolid form. I closed my fingers around her heart. I felt the powerful Source emanating under my palm. She looked up at me, her onyx eyes radiating with fear.

"Please…"

Her words seemed to echo in me.

She deceived me. She deceived every lizard. Every god deceived everyone. For millennia, it happened. But I knew the truth. The truth about her and all the other gods. Now she was begging for mercy?

No.

"YOUR REIGN IS OVER!"

I closed my fingers and crushed her heart. She let out an unearthly scream. A scream that no person, be it lizard, human, elf or dwarf was ever capable of making. I felt the Source drain out of her into me. Her body slowly faded away, all of it being absorbed into my fist. Her scream faded with her, only to echo in the chamber before disappearing into silence.

Zorl-stissa, the Goddess of the Lizards, was dead. And I slew her.

I felt the elements in my throat and hands recede. They flowed through my body back to my heart where they once again found their equilibrium. The fury that propelled me faded away. I exhaled.

"Mahalia."

I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders. I turned my head to see who it was. My heart skipped a beat.

"Ifan!"

I wrapped my arms around him. The image of him falling over the edge played in my head. I pulled him tighter, squishing his chest against mine and burying his face into my neck.

"Oh Ifan," I said digging my chin hard into the top of his head. "I thought you were gone! Oh gods, I thought you were dead!"

"I know. It's okay," he said. I felt him wrap his arms around me. "I'm here. I'm here."

His warm embrace caused me to ease my grip. I was about to cry. But a rumble brought my attention back to reality. I looked around to see the walls and floor of the arena start to crack. The both of us scampered to our feet. It was then I noticed Sebille and the Red Prince had regained consciousness and ran toward us.

"We got to get out of here!" the Red Prince exclaimed.

"But where do we go?" Sebille asked.

We still didn't find anywhere we could go in the arena. We were backed into a corner with no way out. But then I heard a buzzing feeling in my head. The buzzing slowly formed into words. Words that were spoken by a familiar voice.

Hang in there! I'm bringing the ship in!

It was Malady. Somehow, she was communicating to me. Above the chasm, a shining green light emerged. Seconds later, we saw a massive object appear out of it. It was the Lady Vengeance. The Lady Vengeance hovered above us over the chasm.

"How the hell did Malady get here with that?" the Red Prince exclaimed.

"Who cares? Just be thankful she brought it," Sebille said.

The Lady Vengeance descended to our level. It swung around to starboard, bringing the aft section towards us. At the wheel was Malady.

"GET ON!" she shouted.

When it was close enough, all four of us ran to the edge and hopped over the railing onto the livewood.

"GO!" Ifan shouted when we were all aboard.

"HOLD ON!" Malady shouted.

I felt the ship rattle as it turned around to face the portal. I grabbed the railing and pulled myself up. The ship slowly ascended towards the portal. The cavern continued to collapse all around us. We didn't have a lot of time left.

"HEY! HEY OVER HERE! HELP!"

A voice shouted from behind the ship. I looked down at the remains of the arena. I gasped.

It was Del. He was alive. He found his way into the arena somehow. Now he was standing at the edge waving his arms and shouting for help.

"STOP THE BOAT!" I pointed to Del. "WE NEED TO GET BACK DOWN THERE!"

Malady looked back at Del.

"THERE'S NO TIME!" Malady shouted shaking her head. "THE ISLAND'S GOING TO BLOW! WE NEED TO LEAVE NOW!"

I looked back at Del waving desperately as pieces of the ceiling continued to fall all around him. He was going to die if we didn't help him. But time was running out. If we didn't get through the portal, we were all dead.

Then my mind sparked. I looked down at my pyramid. It was a bad idea. But it was the only idea I had.

"KEEP GOING! I'LL BE BACK!"

Before anyone could say anything, I ran to the back of the ship and jumped off the railing. I unfurled my wings flew across the chasm as fast as I could. I closed in on Del. But before I could reach him, the rock under the ground he stood on gave way. The floor slanted under him and he slid off the edge into the chasm.

"SHIT!"

I folded my wings and dove right after him. The lava at the bottom grew larger and hotter as both of us fell. For seconds that felt like minutes, I gradually closed the distance.

"Gotcha!"

I wrapped my left arm around Del's body as I put my right hand on my pyramid. We tumbled closer to the lava as it grew hotter and hotter. I closed my eyes and put every ounce of my mental focus on the Red Pyramid. Moments later, I felt the heat of the lava and the rest of world vanish.


Author's Note: Whew. Chapter 49: done.

Chapter 50 is in the works and I'm going to make it the best it can possibly be.

Also, just a heads up, the rating will be going up from T to M next chapter. So, if you're a guest and don't have an account to be notified, just change the search filters to include M-rated stories the next time you visit.

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