Yormgen left him with more questions than answers. He didn't doubt completely Judith's idea that the town had been an illusion by Phaeroh. Apparently, the first Adephagos seed that they fought in the Sand of Kogorh had been also. But something about Yormgen was different. Something about it bothered him, and the book and the box being there only made it worse. Maybe it was something more than an illusion, but what that was, Yuri couldn't quite put his finger on.
He wasn't exactly happy to be back at Phaeroh's Crag, considering that their last visit had been none too welcome, and he doubted they would be much more warmly so this time, especially after Phaeroh warned them about going to Zaude and Alexei unlocked the barrier anyway.
But they didn't find Phaeroh ready for a fight like he had expected. In fact, Phaeroh wasn't here at all.
"That's odd. I expected him to be here. And he's not answering my calls." Judith scanned the scorched stone pillars around them, and the sky even further than that, crimson eyes to the edges of the horizon for a trace of the fiery bird Entelexia.
"We can't just wait around forever!" Rita said and sighed frustrate.
"I'm sure that with the threat of the Adephagos, he's been very busy," Judith replied. "I suppose that we could come back later."
I am here, humans. The gravely voice of Phaeroh was followed by his shadow over them. He swooped down and settled on the boulder in the center of platform, folding his flame covered wings against his body and craning his long scarlet neck a little to look down on them.
"Phaeroh-"
What do you want? His tone was pretty much what Yuri excepted, harsh and unwelcoming. But that wasn't going to deter them.
"We need your-" Rita started, only to be cut off by Judith, who took a step forward.
"Phaeroh, are you all right?"
There is nothing wrong. Say your peace and be gone.
"Phaeroh..."
The Entelexeia shifted a bit, digging the obsidian talons of his feet into the rock. His head wobbled a little, although he seemed to try and straighten himself up. One foot slipped, and the creature came toppling down in a pile of flame and feathers. Judith was at his side first, kneeling beside his fallen head. The flames of his wings, once bright orange and red, were dim now. His chest heaved for labored breaths, and his once blue eyes now cloudy, lusterless, gazed at them.
"Phaeroh!" She reached a tender hand out, stroking the feathers of his face. "I'm so sorry, Phaeroh... please be all right."
He growled and tried to stand, tried to lift his head, but any movement forward was too much for him and he only crumpled back against the stone ground. He flapped his wings uselessly in a final attempt to moved, but nothing came of it. However, beneath the feathers and the scales of his form, Yuri could see something, deathly dark with glowing red edges. A wound, and a grievous one at that.
"I'm guess you got that when you played decoy for us at Zaude," he said.
Don't fool yourselves. This is nothing.
"It sure doesn't look like nothing," Rita said, moving to get a closer look, and Estelle followed her.
"I'm sorry, Phaeroh. I wish there was something I could- Oh!" Estelle jerked back from the wound, stricken with horror and disgust. "This is-!"
That got everyone, save Judith, who stayed by Phaeroh's head to comfort him, to come around to the side to get a better look at the wound. It was much worse, close up. Not merely a patch of blood or a terrible scar. This was living, it was writhing in the flesh of the Entelexia, gelatinous and dark as night. It crept out in long thin tendrils across Phaeroh's feathers, oozing in a way that was all too familiar. It looked far too close to the horror in the sky for Yuri's comfort.
"Phaeroh, all this for us?"
What's done is done. My fate is sealed.
"What is this, Judith?" Flynn asked.
She was silent for a long moment, weighing the truth as she continuing stroking Phaeroh's face. Finally she spoke, her calm and gentle voice cracking. "This is what becomes of all the Entelexia who absorb too much aer in too short a time. They are unable to properly handle it within their bodies, and they too... start to become one of the Adephagos."
A gasp from Estelle, and a pair of Rita and Karol, drew Yuri's attention for only a second, before he looked back to Phaeroh. "So how did this happen?"
"He must have absorbed too much aer in an attempt to correct the imbalance... He was trying to buy us a little more time."
No matter what good I could have done the fate of the world is set. We shall meet our end, duty unfulfilled. How unfortunate...
"You give up pretty quick for someone who fought tooth and nail for so long," Yuri said sarcastically. "We're not quite ready to give up yet." He said that, but did he really believe it? Was their plan going to work?
Zaude is lost and the Adephagos reborn. Our numbers dwindle and the powers of old are long lost to us. What hope remains?
"Don't say that. There is still hope! We have a new power." Estelle said, kneeling at his head also.
Rita charged up to stand next to Judith. "We want you to become a spirit-a being that can control aer at its very source."
"But for that, we will require your apathetia," Flynn added solemnly.
And if I refuse? Would you choose to take it by force?
"No," he replied. "We want only to protect this world. We won't sacrifice anyone to do it. We would like you to be a willing participant."
… You ask me to hand over my life... Your heart alone cannot save the world, but you must have the heart to save it... I am not long for this world... and I have failed.
With a circular rush of water, Undine appeared, standing beside Judith, looking down at Phaeroh. You mustn't give up all hope yet, brother.
Belius...? No... you are...?"
I am the spirit of water, Undine, born of the will of Belius through the power of these humans.
Phaeroh made a strange sound, almost like a strangled, desperate, short laugh, We have failed in our duty, sister. We were unable to do that which we were born to do.
Worry not, brother. There is a chance for redemption for our failure yet. What we did not accomplish in our first lives, we have a second chance in new ones. Hope is not lost. Trust in these humans, and like myself, you shall be born anew as a spirit, so that we may continue in our duty.
Redemption... He tilted his head a little to better look at the party, his milky eyes darkening. Quickly. Before this disease within me takes hold and robs me of my will. Do what you will.
"Thank you, Phaeroh," Judith said, pulling back from him as he began to pulse with a bright light.
Bright as a flame, the light suddenly died out, replaced with the shimmering of an apatheia as it fell into Estelle's arms. There was a long moment of sad, respectful silence for him before Estelle dried her eyes and moved toward the rock that had served as his perch.
"The krene here has long since dried up," Rita said, moving to stand beside her.
"I can feel it, though, deep within the earth. I think that I can follow the flow of aer back and use its power," Estelle said.
"Wait a sec," Raven said, moving from the edge of the cliff, where he had been standing. "What if he's not too keen about helpin' us after his transformation?"
Judith stood, so quickly that Yuri though she might have words in her fists for the old man, but she took a deep breath and calmly replied. "Phaeroh loved the world. It will be fine."
"Are you ready, Estelle?" Rita asked, opening the control panel with a swipe of her hand, eyes darting over the complex equations there the were lost on everyone else. "Our conditions look good. I can even see the traces of the krene now."
"Let's do it."
"All right, everyone... hang on." Rita summoned the arte field and Estelle started to glow.
Yuri felt the strength leave him instantly, seeping out of every bit of skin, driving him down with the weight and the pain. The sharp tingling in his nerves, the sensation of being crush forcing a small groan from his tightly closed lips. The others were faring about the same, having the life force pulled out of them in order to correctly guide the aer into the apatheia just as it had before. He hadn't like the sensation of almost dying once before, and it lingering like a ghost feeding off him now was maddening. But this is what they had to do. Phaeroh had given his life for the sake of the world, shouldn't Yuri at least be willing to pay the same price?
Before it drove him to his knees, the pressure dissipated and he could breath easy once more. Death's icy hand withdrew and the relief that filled his chest was warm and welcome. He got to live for one more day.
A pillar of fire erupted from around the stone perch, rising high enough to scorch the stone pillars of Phaeroh's Crag black, and a dark form writhed within it. As the flames died down, the fearsome creature stared down at them, blue eyes shaded by long, pronged golden horns jutted from its forehead. The red of its scaled flesh mirrored the flames, and with its massive arms it conjured more of this fire easily. At its rib cage, rather than a proper lower body, was a cage of another sort, golden bone protrusions grasping a glowing orb, before tapering down into a long tail, clubbed and spiked with more bone at the end.
It laughed, hearty and wild, lifting its arms and summoning more flames before fixing its gaze squarely on them again. Oh, I feel unlimited power!
"The spirit of fire..." Estelle murmured beside him, her emerald eyes lit up so brightly that it was hard for Yuri not to smile a little.
Undine floated forward, just out of reach of the flames to look up upon the newly reborn Phaeroh. Congratulations, my brother, on your spirit conversion.
My sister Belius, is now Undine. And I am no longer the Phaeroh that once was. I am reborn, strongly connected to this world once more, filled with more power than I could ever imagine. You who have reincarnated me. Give me a name to befit my new form. He didn't sound like he was going to take no for an answer. But Estelle was ready.
"A powerful, terrible flame... the blazing one, Efreet!"
Hahahah! Yes! Wonderful! He raised his arms once more, making the flames dance high for his amusement, but they ebbed much more suddenly than Yuri expected. Efreet swayed a little, his fiery mass almost touching the stone of the platform as he dropped.
"Are you all right, Efreet?" Judith asked.
The toll of my past injuries still weigh on me. I am not yet at full strength.
It will take Efreet some time to regain his strength. Once the blight of the Adephagos begins to growth within the Entelexia, it is impossible to rid ourselves of. But in this form, he should be able to overcome the effects soon, Belius explained. We will rest for now.
The two started to fade, but Karol called out. "Hey, wait! You're just going to leave us?"
Fear not. We are bound to you. Wherever you go, we are there with you. They vanished without another word, leaving the party there alone.
"Well, we still need two more spirits. Earth and Wind."
"Where are we going to find them?" Flynn asked.
"Ba'ul says that he will tell us where we might find the Entelexia who's help we will need next," Judith said, turning from her partner, who waited floating against the outcropping of the crag, back to the party. "He cannot guarantee that they will be so willing to help us, but right now it's all the we have."
"Do you think this is really going to work, Yuri?"
Estelle's hand on the back of his arm pulled his attention roughly to her, and he resisted all urge to pull away from her harshly. Had she sneaked up on him, or had she always been there? He couldn't tell anymore. But he was certain of one thing. He needed some sleep. The deprivation was getting to him. Even a few solid hours would improve his mood and reflexes. He couldn't go on like this. When was he going to get his chance to finally rest?
"Uh, yeah. It's worth a try, right?" It was half-hearted at best, but it seemed to appease her.
"Ba'ul says we need to head for a newly formed island north of Illycia. That's were we can find the next Entelexeia."
"A newly formed island?" Rita asked, tugging on her hair. "Oh, I wonder if he means that crystallization that has been occurring in the ocean. A krene could have possibly popped up there, so if that's the case, naturally an Entelexia would be there."
The scientific banter continued on the way back to the Fiertia and all Yuri could wonder was: When was he going to get his chance to finally rest?