Chapter 29: Demon With A Glass Hand
"In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed."
-William Ernest Henley, Invictus
Weakness.
So often, for so many. So much weakness.
When I came to this realm, I had expected to have to deal with it. I knew that sooner or later, I would find the proper subject.
But the men of the nation called Alterac surpassed themselves, in the worst way. The kingdom was built on fear, a fear that ultimately led them to treachery and their own destruction. But before those times, I came. I was discovered. And I saw the fear in my acquirers as I spoke to them, made my promises. Seeking someone worthy.
I did not find one, and the rabble wished to destroy me. I turned their fear to my advantage, warning that if I was destroyed, far worse would come to their nation. I had thought they might have tried to give me away, placing me in hands that, if not actually worthwhile, would lead me to those that were. Instead, they sealed me away, hiding me in a secret room behind a false door.
There I had to wait. Wait to take advantage of, or construct, the proper chance. But my efforts throughout the years were fruitless. Those that sometimes came to study me were unworthy, and in time the curiosity faded away, replaced solely by the fear. They carved warnings on the wall of me and left me there to gather dust. And so I waited.
The nation fell. A new kind of creature came to live in its ruins. But they too were unworthy. They had power, and potential, but not enough. What they did not have, in their simple minds, was fear, or at least, fear of the correct kind. So I reached out to them, allowed them to discover me. Allowed them to think I was their tool and servant. I granted my 'owner' greater power, and slowly worked to craft his mind into the best state it could be. Perhaps I did too good a job. Eventually Grel'borg realized I had far more independent will than he had believed, and realized in turn that I did not see him as my master, but my carrier. A tool of his only until someone with truly great potential came.
He thought that when it happened, he could have controlled the outcome. That I underestimated him. He did not realize just how out of his depth he was. His kind were all the same deep down, and the Crushridge Clan had long ceased to have truly independent wills by the time Grel'borg began to wise up. I could speak to them, any of them, and they would obey, none ever realizing it was not their own idea. Unable to. Even Grel'borg ultimately obeyed, knowing that the power he had obtained would not be possible without me.
Perhaps he thought he could eventually claim to be what I wanted. Maybe that is even true. But he never got the chance. Once the frost mage came, I knew I had finally found something with proper potential.
It's over now. He has endured all the tests I laid out for him. All the troubles I have arranged. He has slain the ogre magi despite all the advantages I granted Grel'borg. Now I am in his hands.
I will craft something truly magnificent with him.
As soon as we deal with the last loose end.
Picking her axe up again was a lot harder for Rielle than she had expected, but she managed it. Zackel had stuck his neck out for her, and she'd be damned if she didn't at least try and do the same.
Damnation seemed like a distinct possibility, though, as the Draenei only made it a few steps before collapsing to one knee, pain and exhaustion shooting through every cell in her body.
"Just…a little more…" Rielle whispered. Her body yelled back that it wasn't happening. The well was dry, and no matter how much she dug at the dirt, she wasn't going to find any more water.
Rielle coughed and lowered her head, a strong sense of vertigo sweeping over her, Maybe she should just stay down here. In her current state, she might prove to be more trouble than she was worth. Maybe she should just leave the mage to fight his own battles…
"…hah." Rielle said. And maybe next, she should go find Sargeras and punch his lights out. If her body didn't want to let her go, then it was going to have to do more than…
The chill wind that drifted through the door made Rielle's skin shudder briefly before recognition dawned on her. She hadn't spent all these weeks locked up with the mage without getting an inkling of his unique magical essence. Relief settled on her heart: she wasn't needed. Zackel had emerged triumphant in his own…
…his own…
The relief abruptly disappeared even as the deeper cold began to wash over Rielle. Something was wrong. Zackel WAS coming down the stairs, that she knew…but with every second the cold winds that preceded him were increasing in potency. Like he was emitting some sort of radiant field, though Rielle couldn't think of any logical reason WHY he would be doing that. It wouldn't help with injuries as far as she could tell, nor would it be the most effective way to put our fires. It might have been some sort of protective safeguard in case of further attack, but from what the Draenei knew of the mage, he'd probably have tried to hide such a defense instead of virtually shouting about it. None of it made sense. And if he was doing something that didn't jive with what she knew, especially with how much he valued logic…
The cold was becoming painful now, even as Rielle's ears heard Zackel's staff scraping on the stone steps. Finding a little more strength, Rielle dragged herself up and got out of the way of the open doorway, staggering over to what remained of their fire. It didn't much help, as the cold followed her, sinking into her muscles and trying to steal away what little remained of her strength.
Then Zackel entered the room, and her eyes went wide.
It was the contradiction that got her. Zackel's incredibly tattered robe and the traces of blood and soot on him spoke of a barely-survived struggle. But the way he walked, the certainty and calmness in his step, spoke of something else entirely. That would have been enough, but the aura of blue and white mist that was emitting and shimmering from his form put it way over the top. The calm, measured look he gave her as he entered, without a whit of concern, was the last straw.
She didn't see Zackel. She saw winter in a soul.
"Rielle." Zackel said, his tone so evenhanded that Rielle would have preferred it to be as cold as the forces Zackel was emitting. "You're all right."
The mage's eyes drifted over to Mug'thol's massive corpse. Rielle followed his gaze, which allowed her to see that the pool of blood spreading around Mug'thol was beginning to ice over.
"And Mug'thol." Zackel said, cocking his head at the sight. "So he followed in Grel'borg's wake and tried to take advantage. I apologize, Rielle. Despite my efforts, that was a crucial oversight. I am glad to see that you were able to defend yourself from his likely-vile intentions."
"Zackel…" Rielle said.
"Shhhhhhhhhhh." Zackel said, and Rielle felt the cold on her increase even more, like a clutching hand that wanted to rip every last bit of warmth from her body. "I need you to be quiet now, Rielle. Things have…changed."
Rielle had been too focused on other things to pay much attention to Zackel's arms. One had been holding his staff, but he'd had the other, his right hand, at his side. When he raised it up, Rielle realized it wasn't broken any more.
Then she saw the radiant crystal star in his palm, and her attention became solely devoted to that.
"I found our ghost." Zackel said. "And as it turns out, he was haunting a lot more than us."
Rielle said nothing, staring at the object Zackel was holding. Deep in her gut, screams of warning began to emerge. Whether it was just her, or the long, long time relationship her kind had had with the Naaru, Rielle KNEW that the artifact that Zackel was holding was anything but good. When she raised her eyes to look into Zackel's still-impassive own, she realized just how bad that was.
"This is the Star of Xil'yeh." Zackel said. "It was what was in that room. It had been sealed away there before the ogres found it, but what it ultimately was waiting for was for someone worthy to find it. That time has come. I'm the one it's chosen."
"…you?" Rielle said. "Why you?"
"Because, alien, some can recognize worth when they see it."
To Rielle, the voice struck in her brain with a wholly different and more virulent kind of cold. It was the cold of the innately obdurate, unable to feel, merely think, and do whatever was necessary as these thoughts deemed so, no matter what was required for it to be accomplished. It was the cold of the comforting void, a voice that promised answers so it could consume those that sought them. It was the cold of the manipulator, the chess master, the puppeteer.
It was, in a way, the most terrible evil many Draenei, even Rielle, could conceive of. Most evil was simple and obvious in its intentions. The Legion sought nothing but destruction, as did the Scourge. This sole desire was evident in every act, every mannerism, every expression and movement they made.
That was not the case for these types. This kind of evil so effectively walked and cloaked itself in what could be called good that even the wisest minds would be unable to truly decide where it stood. Hiding in the gray, before it brought the black.
"It couldn't just come to me, you see. Especially after the mess with the blizzard." Zackel said, continuing on like he hadn't even noticed the look on Rielle's face. "So it organized events. Spoke in the heads of the ogres. That's how they actually managed to dig their way here. It's also how the ogre child in the basement managed to avoid all my traps for so long: the Star helped guide it. To try and keep things that could attract my attention to a minimum. It's even the reason the ogres had put the poison on the crossbow bolt: they'd taken it off a dead rogue who came up here and the star put the concept in their head to help its judgment of someone worthwhile. When I came, well, tt couldn't stop the ogres from attacking us when they finally arrived, it wasn't that strong…but it believed I would overcome my enemy. That I had to do so, as a final test. And I did."
"The mage's potential is staggering. I could only do so much with the ogre, but with the clay I have now…the world can be changed, alien. It's what I have sought for so long."
"So, Rielle, as you can see, all this has been worth it. I don't know what this situation can offer you, but it's given me the possibility to have my wildest dreams." Zackel said. "I came down here hoping you will understand that."
Rielle stared for a second, even as the final pictures started to become clear in her mind.
"…Zackel…" Rielle said. "If the Star really wanted you to claim it, if you really are incredible potential it can help you tap…why didn't it just lead that ogre mage off into the storm to die, and then guide you to his corpse? And if it can speak in our heads as easily as it is now…why didn't it just contact you and let you know all this before?"
"…I was…at risk." Zackel said. "I was a fragile shell over a deep pit of psychasthenia. I needed to find enlightenment, to cast off my issues…and prove my strength. I have done so…"
"Oh really. So it was this Star that fixed all your problems? Or maybe it just wants to claim cre-"
The wave of cold nearly knocked Rielle over. The alien staggered, feeling frost begin to creep up her hair.
"Do not try and lay out the situation as you see it, alien. Your input is irrelevant." The Star said in Rielle's mind.
"…irrelevant?" Rielle said, feeling a spark of anger begin to bloom in her chest again. "From where I stand, I am the only one still making SENSE…"
The icy wind howled through the room, causing Rielle to almost fall to the ground in a fetal position to try and escape. This was incredibly bad. In her current state, she probably couldn't have beaten the mage in a fistfight, let alone in a straight up one.
"With the Star, I can stop the storm, Rielle. You can leave here as you wished so fervently to do." Zackel said, again in the same blank tone that hadn't seemed to notice what Rielle was saying. "What happens then is no concern of yours."
"No concern…are you THAT thick?" Rielle said. "Zackel, are you even listening to yourself…!"
"FALL SILENT, ALIEN." The Star said. Rielle did, though only because the crystal's voice was more like a blow to her head then words that time. "Stop acting as if you have a offer you yourself can make. All you have given the mage is grief, disparagement, and pain. He has gone above and beyond what you deserved, multiple times, and now you wish to deny him his boon."
"…..you're right." Rielle said, straightening herself out. "I did him…wrong. I took out my problems on him. If this was happening any other way…I would say I probably deserve to be walked away from. Or worse. But whatever mojo you're twisting his mind with, Xil'yeh, I'm not buying it. Maybe you can offer him the world, but I'll be thrice-damned if I let Zackel see it as a boon."
"AGGRIVATING TERMAGENT!" The Star said. Rielle felt the cold go from draining to life-stealing, and she fell back down to one knee. Panting, she looked within herself, trying to find a little bit of strength, just a little more, to save the idiot mage who'd snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Or, if necessary, even as part of her heart screamed in agony at the concept, do whatever else was needed…
"And so you show your true colors again, alien. When things do not go as you wish, you seek hostility and violence to balance the scales. To ensure you have control, that you have dominance!" The Star said. "It will not work this time, Draenei. I ensured that the mage would see you for what you are. That your true face was exposed to him. This will be the final time he needs to see it."
"…what?" Rielle said.
The realization was so strong that the draenei felt like she'd been struck over the head. All these weeks, when she'd reacted just too harshly, when her irrationality had seemed so tempting, when her pain had seemed just great enough to undermine her mind and her common sense and make her do stupid things…
Some of that had been her, that she knew. But with the Star's words, she realized that that fact was meaningless. It had also been the Star, peering into her mind, tweaking her thoughts, her feelings. Doing whatever it could to try and drive a wedge between the two of them. Isolate Zackel, so it would have a pliable pawn.
But even as Rielle realized this fact, she felt her muscles began to go numb. All her injuries mixed with terrible cold was finally proving too much. Despite that fact, she tried to open her mouth, to speak…
"Your part is ended, alien." The Star said. Rielle looked at the crystal, at the malignant voice housed within. She barely noticed Zackel's staff falling to the ground nearby for a few seconds.
She did, however, notice the unique ripple that spread across Zackel's muscles. It caused her to glance at his face.
She saw it in his eyes, and her heart lightened.
They were becoming exceptional once again.
And from the next muscle movement that happened, Zackel raising his other arm, Rielle realized that said 'exceptionality' had never actually gone away.
"…thank you." Zackel said, his tone no longer blank and neutral. "That's…all I really wanted."
"What?" The Star said, for the first time not sounding like it was in complete control.
"I wanted you to say it to her face. To confirm what I suspected once I started to really grasp what you were, Xil'yeh." Zackel said.
"What? Wintersoul, you understood…"
"So I…claimed." Zackel said. "The fact that you couldn't tell that I had lingering doubts, that I was able to shield them from you…well, it's like you said, Xil'yeh. Ogres are simple to control, to manipulate. Me…not so much. Maybe you're out of practice."
"…NO, mage! Do not read my intentions the wrong way! I was stripping away…"
"You were IN MY HEAD." Zackel said. "In my head, dredging up my deepest shames and fears, trying to use them to get into proper position…trying to make sure I'd be a proper servant. You want to know the real irony, Xil'yeh? If you'd just gone after me, it would have worked. But you went after her. You shouldn't have gone after her…"
"Do you think I LIED…?"
"Lied? No. But you couldn't let Rielle's own demons stand for themselves. You had to try and make them just a little bit more. Try and make sure that we didn't get close. Because together, we might just find something between ourselves that would make your offer seem a little less appealing. So you tried to divide us, to make sure we'd fall."
"Mage, my offers are not false. If you don't see what the alien is, that does not matter. I can still…"
"You've done quite enough." Zackel said, as he finally seized his wrist with his free hand. "I would thank you for any inadvertent part you played in causing Rielle and I to try and let go of the past…but you only did that by accident in trying to claim my future. Quite frankly, if I didn't want Rielle to know the whole truth without any doubts, we never would have gone down the stairs. But she does now. So now I will be free."
The black scream echoed in Rielle's head, nearly causing her to pass out, and it was clear that whatever she heard, Zackel was getting twice as bad. The cold began to whirl all around the room, tearing at the walls as it stirred up into a tornado of debris.
"Mage, see REASON! We can…"
"I saw…REASON…the moment I figured out you influenced me to pick you up. Unfortunately for you, you didn't see MINE. Reason, that is." Zackel said, a snarl of pain tearing from his lips as his hand thrashed out, the Star of Xil'yeh no longer seeming to be carried in it as much as it was impaled in it. "But you are done…haunting me…like I said…no second chances…!"
"I CAN MAKE YOU A LEGEND! I CAN GIVE YOU THIS WORLD…!"
"Thanks but no thanks!" Zackel yelled, and wrenched his hand around.
With a final, agonized shriek, the Star of Xil'yeh dropped onto the ground. The freezing gale died as soon as it left Zackel's grip, the crystal clattering to the ground. Zackel rasped air into his lungs, looking down onto the source of all the greater torments he'd had trapped in this prison of failure and regret.
"I already have a voice in my head." Zackel said, and raised his foot.
"NONONONONONONONONONO…!"
The sound of Zackel smashing the crystal beneath his boot was less crystalline than organic. The mage felt a rush of hot, malevolent air sweep over him before fading away, like it had never been.
"It might not always tell me what I want to hear, nor does it offer me all the answers. But it's mine." Zackel said, looking down at the broken remains of the Star. "And that's all I need."
The noise that crashed into Zackel's head sounded like a cross between a gurgling wound and a roaring bear, the mental barrage causing him to jerk back and place a hand on his head.
"You fools…you don't understand…it comes…IT COMES-!"
Rielle's hoof crashed down onto the Star's pieces, its final shriek cutting off like a switch as she reduced it to powder.
"Yeah, and when it gets here, we'll kick it's ass too." Rielle said.
Zackel recovered from the last mental blow just in time for Rielle's eyes to look up from the ground and back into his own.
"…are you all right?" Zackel asked.
Rielle had no response, save for a slow nod after a few seconds.
"…I'm sorry." Zackel said. "I had to play the fool there, like I'd been easily swayed by that…crystal…star…voice…entity…power…whatever it was. But when I picked it up, and when it started talking about destiny and tests and choosing…well, part of me immediately had a very bad feeling."
"Really." Rielle said.
"…Magic has always been one of the world's double-edged swords. It may let you accomplish miracles, but it's not without its costs. The whispers of the arcane…their seductive and addictive qualities…what they've caused is shown in the scars on the lands of this world and the placements of the waters between them. No magic teacher sets out these days, if they have any sense, without trying to teach lessons on guarding against such things. And no student with any sense thinks not to listen. Or stop listening. And I…I always have tried to be a good student." Zackel said. "Maybe that's what allowed me to hide my true intentions, let it think it had me under control. And when it began telling me about how it had spoken to the ogres, and all we'd experienced…I wanted you to hear it for yourself. So you'd know what it had done. To us. But to do that, I had to tell one last lie…maybe I should have just smashed it up there."
Rielle exhaled slowly through her nose, and then began making her way over to Zackel.
Her punch, all told, would have better suited a child.
"I'll collect the rest of the blow you've earned there later. With interest." Rielle said, before she collapsed into Zackel's arms.
"Rielle…!"
"It's okay…just tired…very tired…" Rielle said. "…scared…"
"Rielle…?"
"Scared…that I was wrong. That you were just like…all those other stupid mages in the end…scared I'd lost you…scared I'd have to…" Rielle said, as her clenching grip on the mage softened into a hug. "You're so stupid…but you're stupid for all the right reasons…"
"…heh." Zackel said, drawing back to put his face level with Rielle's. "Well…I do try."
"…try harder." Rielle said. Zackel smirked briefly, before his eyes trailed up.
"Oh…Rielle…your horn…"
"It's all right…it'll be all right…" Rielle said. "Just…stay here a little longer…okay?"
Zackel looked into the Draenei's eyes for a moment before nodding and closing his own, resting his forehead against the warrior's. The Draenei's arms slid down from around Zackel's shoulders to his waist, and for a small eternity the two stood there, finally alone and together for the first time.
Zackel sensed, more then saw, the Draenei's nose wrinkle.
"…And in the end, you still have bad breath."
Zackel found himself emitting a small chuckle despite himself.
"Grel'borg certainly thought so. But if you overlook that, I'll overlook all the blood you're getting all over my clothes."
"To be fair, most of it's probably not mine." Rielle said. "…Zackel? Please tell me what I feel in your chest is what I think it is."
"I'll try and answer that question correctly." Zackel said, stepping back from the embrace as he tucked his hand into his pocket and pulled out the second healing potion. "Sometimes, the odd things we find are just what we need."
Rielle's eyes went wide with longing, and she gently reached for the elixir. Zackel uncorked it and, just to be on the safe side, helped the Draenei drink it, also providing a shoulder for the alien to lean on as her body twitched and jerked as it went to work.
"…oh Light…I swear from now on I will tip every alchemist I do business with as much as I pay them for their wares. Maybe more." Rielle said a minute later, feeling so much better that she didn't have proper hyperbole to attach to it. She spent another twenty seconds stretching her muscles and joints before turning back to Zackel, who was standing in front of Mug'thol's still-present corpse.
"Mug'thol." Zackel said, Rielle joining him by his side. "He must have come up after I lured Grel'borg away."
"Pretty much."
"…too bad for him." Zackel said, reaching out a hand and calling back his staff.
"You would think a species so obsessed with eating would know when it had bitten off more than it could chew." Rielle said, looking at Zackel. "Well…now what mage?"
"…well…it occurs to me that we might need some new doors…"
How Mug'thol reached out and grabbed at Zackel's ankle, the mage never knew. How the ogre looked up, eyes boiling with anger and hate, Zackel really didn't want to know.
It was the last thing the ogre did before Rielle's foot crashed into his face and caved it into a gory mess. The ogre spasmed before his hand went limp.
Rielle twisted her foot before withdrawing it, wiping the salmagundi mass on Mug'thol's armor. Turning back to Zackel, she tucked a loose strand of hair back behind her ear like the event had been an everyday occurrence.
In that small gesture, Zackel realized that for all the Star had offered him, all it could have given him…it paled in comparison to what he'd chosen, and what he felt now, all the way true.
Yet despite it all, he did not speak the final truth. Not yet. Instead, he gave Rielle a wry look blurred into the hint of surprise he still had on his face.
"A little high strung, aren't we?"
"I prefer to think of it as lightning quick reflexes." Rielle said, giving a soft, yet wicked smile. In her expression, Zackel knew he wouldn't have had it any other way.
In her eyes, the same held true for her.
"It matters not how strait the gate
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the captain of my fate
And the master of my soul."