Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 774: Something Unnatural ()

The silver streak lingered for a moment before it shot off ahead of them, as if expecting them to follow. It disappeared into the forest ahead in the blink of an eye.

"Okay. What in the world is going on here?" Kirgan asked in a low tone. "Why is..."

"Where’s Adrienne’s body? You laid her to rest... didn’t you?"

It was not uncommon for a Dragon Lord to pick out a private, untouched location to lay his bonded to rest. Usually, it was the same spot he would be laid to rest if...or more often, when the severing took him.

At his own time, before the Dragon Lord’s death, he would then reveal the location of his final resting place to someone trusted, and after the rites of honor were performed, his remains would be taken to that chosen location.

It was believed that only in this way could both be reunited in whatever lay thereafter. For this reason, Kirgan had not sought to know where Adrienne had been laid to rest.

In truth, he had hoped never to know. If Menarx lived through the severing, he would not have to.

But now, the question needed to be asked.

Menarx sucked in a sharp breath, and then he exhaled shakily. In just the space of a few seconds, his eyes grew even more hollow, his shoulders hunching with a weight of grief that rested over him like an unmoving shroud. "There is...no body, Kirg."

Kirgan’s eyes widened. "What do you mean..."

The words caught in Menarx’s throat, like there was a thorn too deeply embedded, that he would never be able to swallow down, but he forced them out.

"She was struck by Arcane magic. It didn’t just harm her physically, it ripped through her magic core, shredding everything that made her... Fae." He sucked in a sharp breath, fists tightly clenched at his sides.

Speaking about it was like reliving the agony all over again. The pain pulsed through his veins, stronger with each breath. It had only been days, yet Menarx felt as if he had aged centuries. And this time, he hadn’t escaped its effects.

"Veah’s magic was the only thing holding her together. Once it faded, she just..." Menarx trailed off, his voice hoarse.

"Emberscatter..." Kirgan completed. It was a term used amongst dragon lords, when one of their kind passed on without having left behind a physical form, but dissipated into embers entirely.

It was not unheard of, but it was rare, and dependent on many factors surrounding the nature of death.

A dragon lord that died by natural means would leave a body. While one slain by potent magic, or a specific kind of weapon (like pure adamantium), to vital organs, might cause them to dissolve.

For the Fae whose origins and roots were intricately entwined with Arcane, to die by Arcane would force their essence to unravel, returning to the magic from which they were formed.

It was a phenomenon that was not as beautiful as it sounded, because it essentially meant their souls would not be allowed a chance to pass on to the afterlife. They would simply cease to exist...

A death in body and soul.

It was considered a kinder fate to never have been born at all.

"How could she...to her own sister?" Kirgan asked in dismay.

Menarx shook his head slightly, blinking back the tears that stung his eyes. "The attack was meant for Veah. She probably...mustered all the force of magic she could."

Kirgan made to speak, but his mouth went shut again. And only after another moment did he find the words.

"Fate is...a hateful thing." Kirgan muttered

"Forgive me." He added quickly, realizing he had once again spoken out of turn.

"You didn’t say anything wrong." Menarx replied, his voice hollow.

Pain... the words were painful. Even breathing was painful. He had tried to ignore it, but talking about it now brought back the internal torture to the forefront of his mind.

The grief was alive within him, curling and churning, threatening to suffocate him if he didn’t grab hold of something. Now, it was seeking out that last strand of Adrienne’s magic, a purpose strong enough to keep him sane.

After this... what came next? He would have to find himself another purpose. And then another. How long could he endure this cycle? Until there was nothing left of him but an empty shell?

"Does she... know? The extent of damage she did to her sister?" Kirgan asked, still apaled.

"She didn’t stick around long enough. Who knows what she knows and doesn’t know?" He murmured. "Adrienne made me promise not to go after her."

"Will you..let her live?" Kirgan knew the answer even before it came.

Menarx’s eyes steeled, a murderous glint in them. "No."

There, there was already another purpose waiting eagerly for him to take it. And he would... promises be damned.

He had always been a man of his word. Only now did Menarx realize, he had just never faced pain great enough to break it. He couldn’t find it in himself to feel guilty...pain, it made the choice too easy.

"Good." Kirgan approved. "We should hurry up with whatever this is. If Veah gets hands on her first, you wouldn’t want to miss a second of it."

Menarx did not respond. The thought of Veah stirred warmth and light, and a taste of life was the last thing he wanted now. He had made peace with his fate. The severing was coming, and whatever it brought, he would bear it alone.

He had failed to protect his true bond.

He deserved it...fate’s judgement.

Menarx continued into the forest, Kirgan trailing behind him.

"Where do you think it’s leading us?" Kirgan asked Menarx.

"I do not know. But it is the only trace of her left. If there are scores to be settled, I will settle them. Only then can I...lay it to rest."

______________

The silver streak streamed across the air, weaving in and out among the gnarled, lifeless trees of the wood. No birds sang, no leaves rustled. There was only silence and the suffocating weight of decay.

The further in they went, the forest had become less of a colorful and misleading green grove filled with poisonous plants, and more a graveyard of trees, their bark blackened as if charred from within. A mist hovered close to the ground, a diseased fog that curled around their ankles in an unnatural way.

Kirgan wrapped his cloak tighter around him, but it was of no use against the disturbing chill that settled into his bones. It wasn’t even a chill due to the cold, it was something more sinister. "The air itself is potent poison," he muttered, glancing around. "Even insects cannot live here."

Menarx remained silent, his gaze locked on the silver streak as it moved determinedly. Whatever magic guided it was not swayed by the lifeless landscape. He clenched his fists, pushing himself forward. Every step fueled a building sense of unease.

And then the forest abruptly ended. Or was interrupted right in the middle, in a manner so conspicuous, it would not be seen from sky level due to the crawling mist.

Before them, the land was torn open in a monstrous chasm, wide and circular, as though the earth itself had been wounded, it stretched along like a pond, cut right into the middle of the forest. A black abyss churned below, the air above it thick with an ominous mist. The depths swirled in an unnatural current, a void that seemed to breathe, exhaling an icy dread. It bore an uncanny resemblance to the great canyon and the dark miasma beyond the Dune barrier.

Like a miniature version of it.

Kirgan came to an abrupt halt beside Menarx, his breath catching in his throat. "What in the name of the Ancients...?"

Menarx’s eyes narrowed as he surveyed the scene. The jagged edges of the chasm pulsed with a faint, sickly glow, traces of residual magic still hung in the air. The stench of something old, something foul, lingered in the back of his throat.

Runes, gnarled, ancient symbols, were etched deep into the rocks surrounding the chasm. They weren’t inscriptions, but burned into the stone, giving off a dark energy that made Menarx’s skin tingle.

Kirgan ran a hand over one of the symbols, his fingers barely grazing its surface before he recoiled, shaking his hand as if burned. "Dark magic," he hissed. "Not just any dark magic. This... this is old."

Menarx exhaled sharply, his jaw tightening. "He was here.""

The dark sorcerer. There was no mistaking it. The residues of his power still clung to the air, sour and suffocating. But what had he done here? And what did the abyss mean? 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Kirgan’s gaze shot to the silver streak, which hovered hesitantly above the abyss before vanishing into the shadows beyond.

"We need to have someone read these runes," Menarx asserted, voice hard with cold resolve. "Whatever this thing is, it’s no coincidence we were led here."