I know that Goblins are not everybody's darlings and honestly, I don't give a fuck about that and everyone who also loves them is my friend. This story does have some followers, I've seen you! Don't deny it. Show Rakash and Maera some love. A tiny little review would be much appreciated and a great motivation to keep this up.
Anyway, here we go... Enjoy!
XI
Maera opened her eyes.
She was lying in a dark corridor made of stones bigger than her head. Large black smears of soot covered part of the walls where torches lit it, creating deep shadows in the areas the light didn't touch. She stood up and walked in one direction, as there was nothing else to do. Her head hurt, and the muffled sounds around her told her that she must be in an inhabited place. After a while, the dark corridor ended abruptly and she was standing on a balcony. The view she saw there was... wrong.
Stairs, walkways, walls, towers, stoops, bridges, daises, all of those entwined in one gigantic open area, like an artificial cobweb made of stone and iron. The place Maera saw didn't look like something that could exist in reality. Some of the staircases and parts of buildings were upside down, others flowed through massive walls, and some bent in impossible angles. It was like seeing a large castle through a kaleidoscope, all covered in some glowing golden dust that floated the place and hid the areas in the background. It was confusingly huge.
Maera took a deep breath and smelled Amber in the air.
She realized that this might be the Atrium of Akenash, or at least some impressions of its complex architecture, back when it still floated in the sky. She had no idea where she was exactly, but she knew that she had to find Styx. Something deep inside her told her that he was here, somewhere.
She turned in a random direction and walked down a staircase to the left of the balcony. When she came around a dark corner, she heard heavy footsteps. Maera quickly pressed herself against the wall and held her breath. Two guards in leather and mail, armed with crossbows, marched past her without noticing. She had no reason to think that they were going to harm her, but all her instincts set warning bells ringing in her head. The guards had no faces, only empty grey ovals. With wide eyes, Maera waited for the guards to disappear, then glanced around the corner. She saw a large hall lit with chandeliers, with numerous staircases winding about from impossible directions. Roots thick as a dragon's neck wound their way around the place like tentacles, golden stripes glowing on their surface. Large red banners like the ones she had seen in the ruin of the embassy, decorated with the emblem of Akenash, floated from the walls and ceiling alike. A horde of armed guards in light and heavy armor patrolled the area, mindlessly walking on their paths like bees in a hive. Maera asked herself what they were guarding so sedulously, and if they even knew.
The rear end of the hall was shrouded in deep shadows, but right at the back there was some sort of gate or exit. She couldn't really see what lay behind that exit from her position, but beams of blood-red and golden color floated through the darkness, like there was some massive fire raging behind. Something drew her to that place, pulled her with invisible strings.
She had to reach it.
Maera carefully crouched around the corner and hid behind a crate. She waited for some guards to pass her, and for another one to turn around and look away, before she quickly sneaked past to cower behind some wooden closet. Everything she perceived was hostile, the light, the heavy footsteps, the sound of blades drawn from sheaths, the sound of her heart beating frantically in her chest. She had the feeling that nothing of this was real, but it still scared her and made her blood rush with agitation and her sensitive ears prick, like some dream that felt like reality. Was that how Styx had felt when he had moved around in this maze? With everybody and everything being a threat to him? Every torch, every candle, seemed to be there just to expose her to the eyes of the ever searching guards with their sharp blades. Maera stuck to the shadows, carefully and silently prowling forward. She was not used to this, for the life in the Library rarely forced her to find her way between hordes of enemies unseen. But even though, her short, agile Dragonelf body allowed her to move quick and nimble.
Without anyone noticing, Maera made her way to the exit of the confusing hall. It opened to a large bridge. Around her, the surreal staircases and upside down buildings vanished in the darkness, and the bridge lead to what seemed to be the burning center of this dizzying complex.
It was a floating tree.
All the glowing roots originated from that tree, growing into all directions like veins from an organ. It was larger than any tree Maera had ever seen, its trunk thicker than a castle tower. It had no leaves. As she walked closer to the tree, she could hear what sounded almost like a song, a faint echo in her head, as if the tree was singing. Maera also noticed that the tree oozed a golden glowing liquid dripping down into the abyss in thick streams, like a melting candle made of gold. The tree shone in the darkness like a blazing star. Was this the famous World Tree she had heard the Bigot talk about?
She reached the head of the bridge. There was an iron cage around the tree, to protect it, probably. The gate was locked, but she managed to squeeze between two twisted iron bars. Now she could see that the tree was wounded, with lacerations longer than her oozing the golden liquid as if it was bleeding. There were broken branches and large splits in the bark. The smell of spilled Amber was overwhelming.
The tree was dying, Maera saw.
When she approached it, she noticed a staircase that ascended to the crown of the tree. She climbed it, and when she did she glimpsed some creature on the top. She started to run. The creature was short, and walked in a slightly hunched way.
"Styx...?", she whispered. The figure came in sight. It had sat down on a branch slightly above the ground, and the branch lead to something that looked like a burning heart, pounding and glowing, pumping Amber into the tree's limbs. The creature did look like Styx from that distance, a Goblin with a dagger and a cowl, but as she ran closer she saw that there were differences.
That Goblin was older, much older, with a scarred, weary face, longer ears and a brownish mottled skin color. He wore a leather armor she had already seen on Styx, but he looked a little more straight and upright, and at the same time it seemed to Maera that he was weaker than Styx, at least from inside.
When he looked at her, she saw that glint in his yellow eyes that could only be described as utterly insane. He grinned, but it was a grin that lacked any kindness.
"You are not Styx", Maera stated.
The Goblin that looked like a disordered version of her Styx laughed. His voice sounded so much like Styx that she winced, but it was much raspier and very tired.
"Oh, on the contrary. Nobody is more Styx than I am. Not even the poor little wretch of a Rakash you are searching for. I'm the only one, that is", he answered.
"Who are you?", Maera asked him.
"I am Styx. I am an Orc, or at least, I used to be one."
"You are not a Goblin...?"
"NO! Those little rats I spit out to do the dirty work for me are Goblins, but I... I used to be a shaman, a powerful and respected member of a famous Orc clan... My goal was to study the World Tree, and the Amber that flows from it. With its help, I should have become such a powerful mage, being able to create my own slaves to fulfill my orders... But the Amber corrupted me, and the only chance to become an Orc once more was to get the heart of the tree. When I made the imbecilic mistake to grant one of my slaves, my Rakashs, a little more brains than the others, he ran riot and destroyed everything I worked for. Look at me!" His sudden anger made Maera take a step back.
"That Rakash set his stupid mind on killing me, and guess what, he cost me everything and destroyed the heart of the tree. He even cost me my own body! I'm just a vague memory, a fucking ghost buried in the dark corner of his pathetic brain. But if he thought that this little rebellion of his was enough to get rid of me, he was wrong. A patch of my soul still lives on in his mind, without him knowing. He has buried me so deep that I had a free hand, waiting for my opportunity to break free. And I will!"
"You are planning to take over Styx's body?", Maera asked carefully. This Goblin seemed so crazy that she feared for her safety.
"I AM STYX! The Rakash's body is mine by right. Back then, when he and that huge Orc warrior entered the mage's conscience, I almost reached my goal. I almost made him surrender to me, drive him insane, and then I would have had the chance to regain control. But that stubborn little vermin refused my generous offer, and I had to wait even longer... And now, with the power of Amber flowing in his veins again, my time has come", the other Styx said with a mad smile.
Maera thought as quickly as she could. This Goblin used to be an Orc, and Amber had given him magical powers and changed his body and mind, that's what she had understood. If he was telling the truth. And apparently, he was able to spawn other Goblins, and Styx was one of them...?
"What did you want St... Rakash to do for you, since you made him cleverer than the others?"
"I wanted him to carry out orders a little more complex than just jumping in the face of a guard and biting him to death. I needed one able to speak, to solve riddles, spawn his own clones and think creatively to some extent. He had to be able to find the key, the maps and me in the dungeon of Akenash, and so I gave him most of my own intellect, except my memories. Unfortunately, that was way too much. I lost control over him, and somehow he made it to cut the connection between us two. I guess one of those damned Elves helped him be reborn in one of their Amber cocoons", the other Goblin answered. "But now... My time has come. I will be the one and only Styx again."
"You fucking won't", Maera said with a sudden flare of anger.
"Hahaha! Oh, but I will. I created that little Rakash, vomited him from my very own entrails down in this accursed tower of Akenash. He was never supposed to leave this place, and only because of his damn luck he made it to kill my mortal body, survived, and forgot everything that happened in the Atrium. He may have been reborn in one of those cocoons, but I never lost my control over him completely. I gave him terrible nightmares to shatter his composure, to weaken his spirit. I offered him to stop his pain so often, tried to convince him to just let go, to let me take the lead. Stubborn filthy rat, he just ignored me for the most part! But now that he is filled with Amber again and his buried memories are overflowing his helpless mind, while his powers are leaving him, I will have an easy job of it. I will take over his place, and have my life back."
Maera's heart was pounding with rage and fear, but she knew she had to control herself. If she stayed calm now, she might be able to find out how she could prevent that nutcase from taking over Styx.
"Why did you not do it earlier?"
"As long as he's in charge of his own thoughts, I can't take over. Especially since about half a year, when somehow the nightmares I gave him proved less helpful than usually... Something or someone was helping him to stabilize. He was more grounded and balanced than ever. It was so hard to mess with his head... Once or twice, I almost made it, and he was close to giving up. Damn, there always was something that helped him to remain in charge of his own thinking. Luckily, the Amber that knocked him out is a charm. He is absolutely helpless now, just like I need him to be. This is a tricky situation, because my own powers only work as long as he buries me in his mind. If he should choose to embrace his memories, I lose my powers over him. If he decides to come to peace with his past, there's no hidden, dark corner left in his mind to shelter me. But with that pigheaded stubbornness, he will keep on repressing his past, and I can pull the strings from the shadows of his mind. Lucky for me." Suddenly, the other Goblin tilted his head and squinted at Maera.
"Wait... It's you who messed with my efforts to drive Rakash insane, aren't you? Ah, don't say anything! He has found himself a little toy. You were the one he was thinking about all the time! The damn shield he used against all my attempts to break his resistance. Don't tell me he actually risked his ass to save you? Adorable. No, really. What a pathetic try to stop me from taking over. He's clutching at any straw, is he not? Well, nothing will cause him to embrace his memories, not even you. He will never accept what I did to him, accept his horrible past. And this will help me to ultimately break him." The other Styx grinned maliciously.
Maera knew that if she would open her mouth, she would swear like a sailor, so she clenched her teeth and glared at him. Then she turned around and ran away. The other Goblin laughed nastily behind her.
"If you're thinking that you can save your disgusting little admirer, you are wasting your time. It's my turn now. And Rakash is dying in the same place he was born. Isn't that fitting?"
Maera didn't listen. She wiped tears from her face as she ran down the stairs, with the insane laughter of the other one at her back. She left the bridge, turning to a random corridor that departed from the center of the Atrium, not looking back.
She ran and ran until her legs hurt and her lungs felt like they were bursting. Apparently, Styx felt much, much more for her than he had ever dared to admit, she knew now, if she could trust the words of that mad Goblin. If he was telling the truth, Styx's liaison with her had helped him to fight back the mental poison his former self was spreading in him, which was something that both horrified her and also filled her with such a deep emotion that it almost broke her heart. She had to find Styx and wake him up, make him accept his memories to stop that insane twin of his. She had to save him. Finally, Maera couldn't run any more. Panting for air, she stopped.
Maera was standing in some kind of alchemistic laboratory, she noticed. There were distillers, burners and flasks, just like in her own, but all of the tubes and bulbs were filled with Amber, spreading a faint orange light. While she was trying to catch her breath, she pushed some stray dreadlocks from her face. She twitched when she felt the scar the Inquisition had cut in her left hand burn from the Amber she had wiped from Styx's lips. She ignored the pain as she heard a voice coming from the other side of a shelf and went closer.
An old human was standing in front of a condenser, skinny and stooped. He was dressed in simple brown linen, and his white hair was covered with a hood. He was quietly muttering to himself. When she carefully came closer, he turned around and squinted at some point next to her with wrinkly grey eyes.
"Manfred? Manfred, is that you?" He started to make some steps towards her, but then turned and waddled to a desk. He opened the lid of a storage jar and looked inside.
"Manfred? No, he's not there. I could swear I heard him coming." The old man lifted up the corner of a dirty carpet, peered inside a boiling kettle and rummaged around in his own pocket. Maera shook her head in disbelief. As she came closer, the old man still looked for this Manfred in the most impossible places.
"Oh, hello, young lady! Have you seen Manfred?", he asked when he finally noticed the Dragonelf.
"Uhm... No, I'm very sorry. Who are you?", Maera asked as slowly and soft as possible.
"My name is Querberus. I am the architect of this magnificent Atrium. And I am here to distill Amber, but somehow the experiment isn't quite working like it should..." Querberus turned around again and lifted up a book. "Manfred, you under there?"
"Is Manfred some friend of yours?", Maera wanted to know.
"Well, I guess he is", the old man answered in the most even minded manner while he took some ominous blue glowing mushroom from a box and put it in his mouth. Maera grimaced. "Manfred is not the tallest person. Actually, one could even describe him as very short, yes. Pretty ugly, if you ask me... And green. That's unconventional, is it not? I don't know why I remember him so vividly, you see, as my brain is a little unhinged. He told me to wait here, but he hasn't come back yet. But he knows that I have to work, I need to distill Amber for Lord Barimen!"
Maera remembered vaguely that the Barimen family actually had to do with the Atrium of Akenash, and also with some semi-legal Amber traffic, but what she interested most was the description of Manfred. She realized that the deranged old man was talking about Styx.
"Please, Querberus, you wouldn't happen to know where Manfred wanted to go when he left?"
"He probably wanted to get to the airships?", Querberus mused. It sounded like a question.
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking. Did he?", Maera asked back.
"I don't think so. What would someone like him want with an airship?", Querberus replied. Maera took a deep breath and massaged the bridge or her nose with two fingers. "Do you know where Manfred went?", she tried again.
"Oh, Manfred! Yes, he's a friend of mine. He told me to wait here for him. He wanted to go to the Amber Room, probably to find one of the relics. He likes those relics, Manfred. Have you heard of him?"
"Can you tell me how to get to the Amber Room?", Maera asked excitedly.
"Of course I can! I designed and created this tower, yes. Have you ever been to Akenash? My big Masterpiece, the Atrium! I know every little corner of it like the back of my hand", Querberus said, pointing to his knee.
"So, where is it?", Maera wanted to know, eager with hope to find Styx.
"Erm... I must have forgotten."
Maera sighed, one hand put on her face. Her right ear twitched.
"But I think I can take you there, young lady. I built this tower, you know?"
"Alright then, let's go! Quick!", Maera said with glittering eyes, took Querberus by his ragged sleeve and pulled him from the laboratory.
"Not so fast!", he complained. "You might not be able to tell by my look, but I'm not that young any more. We've got plenty of time. This way."
The old man led the impatient Dragonelf up a staircase that was entangled with golden glowing roots of the World Tree. They slowly ascended through the shadows and clouds of Amber sparks until they reached a massive stone wall. Maera was afraid that Querberus had led her to some random dead-end, but then he pressed a scraggy hand against a brick and the wall slid down. They stepped into a dark, simple chamber made of stones. The only object in it was a large glass tube standing right in the middle, emitting a soft golden light. It was filled with Amber up to the brim. Some ducts led away from it, and something was inside.
When Maera got closer she saw that it was Styx.
He was naked, floating in the Amber. Not making a move. With tears in her eyes, she ran towards the tube and pressed her hands against the warm glass. A terrible fear gnawed at her heart. She had no idea what she would do if he was already dead. When she looked Styx over with growing panic, she noticed that the tattoo on his shoulder shone brightly, and through the lids of his closed eyes she could see a yellow shine as well. When Styx slept, she knew, his tattoo and eyes didn't glow, and a faint hope inside her grew that he might be still alive.
"Oh, Manfred is taking a bath. How nice for him", Querberus remarked. Maera wasn't paying him too much mind.
"How the fuck do I get him out of there...?", she muttered more to herself, but the old man had heard her.
"Do you think that he has bathed enough? Yes, indeed. Staying in the Amber for too long is not good. In fact, he will die if he stays in there longer. You'll have to get him out, and quick."
"How do I do that?", Maera shouted desperately.
"You push this button here." Querberus put his hand on the tube, and it gave an audible crack that echoed loudly in the chamber. A heartbeat later, the tube exploded in a million tiny shards, and the Amber flooded the room.
"Styx!", Maera called, taking him in her arms. The old man started wading around as if all of this was commonplace.
The golden liquid oozing endlessly from the tube started to fill the room, the level relentlessly rising and rising. Maera desperately held the still lifeless Styx in her arms, fighting against the flood of Amber around her. Soon, it went up to her waist. The door had closed again and was not to be seen. Styx didn't move, and when she pressed her hand against his chest she felt his heartbeats, slow and irregular.
"Styx! You need to wake up, now! Or the other one will take over, and you'll be gone! Please Styx, wake up!", she begged, shaking him slightly. He didn't show any signs of life. Maera wanted to weep.
"Styx... I know all those memories of yours are so terrible that you just want to give up, but you need to fight this! You need to come to peace with your past! That way the other one will lose his powers over you! Please, Styx, be strong. Don't give up. If you allow yourself to remember your past, the other one will no longer be able to hide in your mind. Accept what happened, that way it won't hurt you anymore!"
The Amber rose higher. Styx didn't react to her, his heart still beating slow and unsteady. Maera had never felt so lost in her entire life. Pining away with grief and desperation, she kissed him on the lips, holding him close. Tears ran down her face and she felt like her heart was bursting with sorrow and pain. Maera pressed her Amber-burnt hand on Styx's tattooed shoulder and brought her face right next to his ear.
"Styx... You must be strong, you must. I need you. Because I love you", she whispered.
His tattoo lit up brightly under her touch.
Styx opened his eyes.
The delusion dwindled away in a chaotic maelstrom the color of blood and honey.
They woke up.