Chapter 83

The Amalgamate

Achlys watched the sky and Karthus watched her. Above them, wraiths by the thousands flew overhead, swarming for a Harrowing. Rivers of Black Mist moved towards the ocean where it gathered like an all-consuming tidal wave. Flashes of green lit up the sky as shadowy figures emerged from the Mist, their forms ablaze in balefire, only to rejoin it a moment later.

At one time, watching this ethereal procession left Achlys's eyes wide with wonder but now Karthus could see concern furrow her brow and make her eyes look yet more sunken. She did not feel the Harrowing's pull on her soul, she had assured him of that, but she understood how it pulled at those above her. He knew it troubled her. He wished she would focus on the liberation of souls instead; a few days of frenzy against eternity. He wished she could go back to looking at the Harrowing with the awe it deserved.

A shriek like rasping winds caught their attention. A massive phantasm like a howling head moved to join the Harrowing. It was not one awesomely huge wraith, but hundreds of weaker ones moving in unison. They were drawn to each other, either due to some shared conviction or perishing at the same time and used this unity to defend themselves from more predatory spirits and combat the living. It was not unlike how smaller fish formed schools for protection.

Karthus referred to these wraiths as amalgamates. Despite their tendency to be made up of weaker spirits, amalgamates could become overwhelming powerful in their own rights. The amalgamate known as Rasha the Sunderer was one such entity; a monument to all those who died in the first Harrowing and one of the Isles' most powerful defenders. Kalista was another such wraith. They took the appearance and name of the dominant soul, with them all being subservient to her. The intensity of their unity made her a rare case in amalgamates and contributed in no small part to her strength. It made it easy to forget that her form was made of many.

The amalgamate above them was nowhere near as powerful as those two, though it was still impressive in its size. Achlys blinked her eyes in surprise at the sudden flash of light it created as it emerged from the Mist. Once her eyes had adjusted, she continued to watch its movements across the sky. Karthus could tell from the intensity of her stare and how she began to run her fingers along the edge of her sea glass pendant that her mind was wrestling with something. He didn't have to wait long to learn what it was she was thinking.

"Can you talk to them?" she asked.

"Some of them." Karthus answered. "For some it is exactly like talking to another individual, whoever the dominant soul is. For others, it is like speaking to hundreds at once and all are trying to talk over each other. Others still, it is like a group conversation with different souls taking turns speaking with you. It all depends on the wraith."

"Huh."

"Is there a reason why you ask?"

"Yeah, there is. I think Katherine's sister is in one of them. We've been looking for years and haven't found her. I feel like I've worked with every wraith in her village and in the Botanist's home but she's not there."

"There are many in the Mist. You will find her."

"I know. I have forever to do it but that's such a long time. I want to find her sooner. I want to try talking to an amalgamate."

"Is there a reason why you believe she is a part of one?"

He was not opposed to her idea, but he wanted to know her reasoning. Amalgamates could be unpredictable wraiths and he did not want to put her danger for no reason. She kept her eyes fixated on the wraiths overhead as she continued to speak.

"Well, I heard Charis in my nightmares this last time. She sounded small. I think she was younger than me when she died. You said I can't die yet because I'm not strong enough, but if she was younger than me, how strong could her spirit be? It makes sense she might want to be with other weaker spirits. That and I know she didn't die in her village or in the cove. She was going to Helia. There were a lot people there when it all happened. She might be with them."

Karthus nodded slowly as she spoke.

"A plausible theory." He agreed.

Her reasoning was sound, he would not challenge that, but when it came to amalgamates, the phrase "there is not harm in asking" was not applicable. He knew that, even with him nearby to protect her if it turned violent, Achlys would be putting herself at risk by trying to interact with so many souls at once. A handful, no more than six, was the maximum number he had seen her be able to influence and calm at once. That was a far cry short of the hundreds she would have to speak to.

"So, we can try it?" she asked.

He could hear the hope in her voice, which made him regret was he was going to say next.

"When you are stronger, I think it will be a fine idea."

"Stronger?" Achlys whipped around and looked at him. "But I am stronger! Every year I get stronger."

"And you will continue to do so."

"When will I be strong enough? Katherine needs to find her sister."

"She has waited hundreds of years. She can wait a while longer. We have etern –"

"But during that time alone she said it was a lot of confusion and screaming. That sounds awful! If Charis is going through the same thing, I should be doing something about it!"

A gentle frown crossed Karthus's face. Part of him was annoyed she had cut him off, another was proud of the passion she held for her responsibility to the Isles, and a third part of him felt concern for her ever growing impatience. He tried to recall if he had behaved similarly when he was her age but that was such a long time ago that he struggled to recall. He believed he was about her age when he was taken in by the tally-men and he was introduced to Acheron. He must have been eager to learn the rites and songs, to learn to read, to repay those who had given him a warm place to sleep, to have the privilege of witnessing the dying moments of many.

"You are." He comforted her.

"It doesn't feel like it."

He could feel the frustration quivering off her soul. Powerless. Despite her holding more magic than most would ever know in their lives, she still felt powerless. But she was also scarcely over a decade old, and she was comparing herself to beings who had existed ten times or more over her brief time on Runeterra. It was far from a fair comparison. Not until she was over a century in age herself did he think she should do that.

"Small things add up. Many wraiths become a Harrowing." He went to her side, reached down, and took her hand in his withered one. "Many wraiths make up the choir. We will practice with them. When you can command one hundred of them at once, we will find amalgamates from Helia for you to speak with."

She squeezed his hand.

"That's fine, I guess."

He squeezed her hand back.

"Until then, there are several small amalgamates among the choir you can speak with. Let me introduce you to them."

A spark of excitement, fleeting but pleasant, bounced across Achlys's face.

"Really?"

"Yes. They are three brothers. The eldest of the three attempted to fight me to protect the others. Such devotion was admirable. I made sure the three remained together. It is his form the wraith takes the most. It will likely be to him that you are speaking, but the other two may speak as well. They are timid, but I will call them forth for you."

"Thank you. I'd like that."

Still holding Achlys's hand in one hand, Karthus held his staff aloft in the other and sent out a summons through his choir. Pale light shone from the glass jewel at the staff's top as dimly glowing wisps of magic sprang from it and coiled away until they were no longer visible. He wanted Achlys to know how this magic felt. It was not dissimilar to how she could call wraiths forth through the Mist, but as those of the choir were bound to him, he did not require the aid of a stream of Mist to summon them. In time, he hoped she could call the drakehound, and many more souls in the future, to her aid in this manner.

Approaching slowly to the summons, an orb of light the size of Achlys's head emerged from the gnarled wood outside the cathedral's yard.

"Take form." Karthus bade it.

It obeyed. The light grew and reshaped itself into the form of a young human man. His clothing was simple, its only embellishments being large buttons decorated with a serpent motif that had been popular in Bilgewater at the time of his death. His boots, which went almost up to his knees, were the only other article of note in his clothing. One had held the concealed dagger he had used in futile struggle to fight back against the Harrowing.

As soon as the humanoid shape finished forming, an inky blackness began to spread over it, springing from the back of the neck and draping over the wraith. It crawled up his back and spread up and over the head, obscuring the top half of his face. He grabbed the edges of it and pulled it tight around himself like a sodden cloak. The darkness undulated like waves and the faces of his similarly fated siblings would appear in the mass before sinking back into it.

Once it had finished forming, the amalgamate looked at the one who had slayed and summoned them. Karthus let go of Achlys's hand and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"My daughter wishes to speak with you." he said.

The wraith lowered his head towards Achlys. On the portion of the black cape that covered his face, six eyes of cold light appeared. Achlys blinked in surprise but showed no fear at the strange sight. She had seen far stranger in her lifetime.

"Hello." She said.

"HeeellLLLLllloohellooHe-OO-LLOOoo."

Three voices responded in unison, two coming from one mouth and the third forming lips out of the blackness to slip the word out. Achlys called magic to her hand and offered it out to the wraith. He reached out their hand as though he were pushing through mud and clasped hers. Karthus saw Achlys tilt her head curiously as she counted all seven fingers of the wraith's hand wrapped around hers. His other hand had eight.

"I'm Achlys. This is Acheron. What is your name?"

"Ro-ro-ro-rah-ro-" Only one voice attempted to respond, and he sounded as though he was choking on the name trying to get it out. "Ro-rah-ah-ah-ro-ron-ron-aargh!"

He let out a growl of frustration and shook his head violently as his jaw dropped lower than a human's should, revealing two complete rows of teeth. Achlys flinched back but didn't pull completely away. Karthus watched closely, ready to intervene if the wraith suddenly turned on her.

The veil of darkness drooped low as the amalgamate hung his head and enveloped it. When it pulled back to cover half the face once more, the lower half of the face had completely changed. Now it had a scraggly beard that had still been growing in.

"Big brother." He hissed before the dark veil enveloped the head again.

When it pulled back, the face of the first voice was visible again.

"I'm the responsible one." He spoke.

"This might take longer than I thought. Can you sit down with me?"

Achlys lowered herself to the ground and the wraith followed her.

For the next hour, Karthus watched as Achlys spoke to the amalgamate, leading them through a simple conversation. She almost made it look effortless to keep all three souls under her sway and converse with them, but he could see small beads of sweat appear on her forehead and shine in the light of her balefire. The wraith behaved much as Karthus hoped it would. He knew these were fearful souls who kept to themselves rather than venture abroad and never took a violent action unless provoked. They were the perfect match for Achlys to practice on.

Just once, it did behave erratically. A mass of the black shadow leapt from its back, stretching and trying to pull itself into a human shape. Distinguishable arms formed as it reached out, clawing at the ground to pull away from the rest of the form and a mouth appeared on a featureless head to let out a moan. Achlys reacted immediately.

"Hey, hey." She snatched up its hand. "What's wrong?"

"Go, need to go." The wraith hissed.

He continued to claw at the ground with the hand she didn't hold.

"Where are you going?"

"Aaaahh- away."

As this soul pulled from the others, the main form of the wraith began wail and pull the opposite direction.

"We're going to calm down, alright?" The glow from her magic intensified and ribbons of light began to run up the wraith's arm. "Calm."

All three souls seemed to shudder for a minute before growing still. Achlys's shoulders slumped with relief, but she did not lessen her grip on the hand. She rubbed her thumb in circles over the back of the hand.

"That's better. Now, you don't want to leave your brothers, do you? I can feel they don't want to lose you. Will you stay with them? Do you want to? Or do you want to leave them?"

Slowly the form twisted its head around to look at the rest of the amalgamate. He shook his head once.

"Noooo."

"I think you made the right choice. They would be sad without you."

Like a wave retreating to the ocean, the black melted to featurelessness and was pulled back into the cloak-like shape wrapped about the rest of the wraith. Once they were no longer pulling against themselves, the brothers looked at Achlys, all six eyes on the hood again.

"Together." Three voices said as one.

"As you should be." Achlys nodded.

She pulled her hands away and wrung them together. Then without further words, the amalgamate turned away from her, reducing back into a sphere of light as it did, and floated away.

"How do you feel?" Karthus asked.

"Tired but good."

"You did well. I look forward to seeing how your magic will grow. You must be excited as well. This is another step towards aiding your friend."

"I am excited."

"And I trust you now understand why I believe you need more time to practice before attempting to speak with a larger one."

There was a pause.

"Yeah. I understand."

Karthus nodded.

"We should warm your hands now. I know they grow cold when you use your magic for prolonged periods. Someday you will not have to worry about that, but today you should take care."

"Yeah."

Together they turned from the yard and ascended the ancient stone steps of their home. He watched Achlys crane her neck to take a final look at the looming Harrowing before turning into the shelter of the cathedral.