Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 781: Rune Pieces ()

~Fort Blazed

The halls of the Blazed castle were desolate at this hour. Enough time had passed since the last challenge, which meant the Black Sea would stir any time now.

Whichever beast would rise next would be something even more terrifying than a Hydra, and there was just one challenger left in Fort Blazed, strong enough to face what was coming.

A cautious, almost apprehensive silence hung heavily in the halls, the only sound, muffled footsteps as Jian strode down the winding stairwell, headed for the cellar deep in the heart of the castle.

The pieces of the anchoring rune had been spread out in the most unexpected places throughout the city. The homes of commoners, random shops, underneath a fountain.

Fort Blazed itself was a vast territory and it had taken too long to track down the runes. After a long and grueling hunt, they were down to the final piece which had taken the longest time to find.

Down in the very depths of Fort Blazed, etched into the walls of the cellar. How the Black Network had gotten access into the castle to carve the rune piece was difficult to tell. But Jian was quickly beginning to realize he would need to do more than be confident his fortresses were fortified and impenetrable.

And he would need to handle the Black Network, and every other enemy he had overlooked for the sake of the peace of the stronghold.

It was not long before he arrived at the wooden doors leading into the cellar, Kaideon stood outside, waiting.

He inclined his head to a bow in greeting as he sighted Jian.

"Starron and Cassian are inside with the mages. Orin and Ranjor will be here soon, with the boy." Kaideon relayed the status to Jian.

Jian did not respond, striding into the cellar, he found the group of five standing around a roughly scrawled marking on the wall, seemingly hidden behind a recently moved wine shelf.

As he approached, they parted to allow him a clear view of the rune piece, etched into the wall and Jian leaned down, eyes narrowed as he studied it.

Dark magic was consistent in the fact that nothing good ever came out of it and a deep loathing churned within Jian. He had done everything to erase it from existence, but it just would not stop haunting him.

Pretending it wasn’t there would not make it go away, he realized. There was only one way to do that, his father, Agardan proved it when he ordered the annihilation of the dark empire.

And it was again proven when the order to annihilate the witch race was given by Asrig.

Yet again, when he had his blade against Asrig’s throat.

Peace was never handed to anyone, it had to seized... taken. It was a reminder that had come through the most unfortunate means.

For something to truly be gone, it needed to be wiped from existence. Erased from history, so even the earth forgot that it ever was.

"There are five pieces, including the central part of the rune which the boy carries. All other rune pieces are moveable, but this. The mages will conduct the reverse spell here." Cassian reported.

He was not in a very good shape, his right arm was bandaged up, the injury from the tear in his wing. And he favored one leg, careful to lift the weight off the other where he had suffered another major injury.

There were bruises and cuts spread around at different points, but he would live. If they made their way out of this dimension in time.

Jian said nothing for a long moment. He just studied the rune, bringing his hand inches from the wall. A pulse echoed beneath his palm, faint, like a dying heartbeat. But it was there.

The rune was ancient, but freshly reawakened. And it reeked of the same foul energy that was characteristic of dark magic.

"My Liege shouldn’t touch it," Starron murmured, his voice grim. "It’s active."

Jian lowered his hand. "I can tell."

He stood, back straightening as he turned to the others.

"This is it," he said. "Once the reversal begins, we don’t get another try. That Black sea will stir any moment now, we either get it right before then or we rot here with the beasts."

"Orin and Ranjor will be here soon," Kaideon repeated. "With the boy."

The boy.

Jason.

A traitor and a coward. A stable boy the young Lady Starron seemed to have favored. A human who had sold out Fort Blazed to the Black Network.

It was truly unprecedented. That an entire fortress and all it’s people had been endangered by just one stable boy. For reasons Jian would neither ask nor bother to understand.

Jian had half a mind to rip the rune from the boy’s body with his bare hands, but the mages said the connection had to be unraveled, not torn.

The cellar lights flickered.

A warning, subtle signs that the Sea would soon awaken.

"The rest is up to you," Jian said quietly to the mages.

He turned away from the rune, toward the back alcove where supplies had been stacked for the ritual. Behind him, he heard Cassian sigh, bone-deep weariness in his exhale.

"We’ll only get a single tear in the veil," one of the mages said. "If we don’t move through it in time..."

"We’ll be flayed," Kaideon finished grimly. "Or worse, anchored here forever."

Jian didn’t reply. He knew what was at stake.

It was not a thought he was willing to entertain. Not when he had something... someone to return to.

"Just make sure you have everything you need." He murmured after a moment of silence.

"Items, yes. Sufficient magic source to draw from..." The mage trailed off. "That’s where the problem lies."

"We activated as many ley lines as we could possibly find. But there’s not many out there, and we didn’t get many chances to search with the constant challenges." Another mage reported.

"We will do our best, but if what we have is not sufficient..." The first mage paused. "We will need Your Grace to step in."

All eyes shifted to Jian and he heaved a quiet sigh.

Demevirld... he would have to draw on it again. He knew what was required, he just hoped it did not come to that.

A few minutes later, Orin and Ranjor entered. The boy, Jason was between them, wrists bound, mouth gagged, rune glowing faintly on his bare chest.

He eyes were sunken, haunted. But the magic etched into his skin still pulsed strong, like it fed off something darker inside him...or on him.

Jian was not even surprised. Not many understood dark magic as dragons did. If they would have known, they would steer clear of it without being told.

At least most of them. Asrig hadn’t.

Jason didn’t struggle.

He barely had the energy to.

"You remember this place, Jason?" Starron asked softly, though his tone bordered on something deadly

Jason’s eyes lifted, hollow and unrepentant.

"Good," Starron said. "Then you know what comes next."

He stepped back as the mages began to chant. Magic surged into the room, a deep, hollow whoosh that scratched at the inside of the ear...at least Jian’s.

The rune on the wall lit up.

The pieces they’d gathered, sword hilts, broken armor plates, a chunk of stone from the eastern tower, began to glow in tandem.

Jason screamed as the center piece of the rune carved into him lit up.

The rune was fighting back.

The cellar shook. Dust rained from the ceiling. A dragon roared above, bells tolling from the city walls.

"Something’s coming out of the Sea!"

Jian’s brows twitched slightly, hands clenched at his sides. His predator rose to the surface, eager to see what this ’something’ was.

Starron turned to Jian. "It’s too soon...you can’t face it. The spell might require your assistance."

"Hold them off," Jian growled. "No one answers the challenge...not yet."

Time... what they needed was time.

Something happened at this moment.

It began with a whisper in the walls of the cellar. A tremor, not the kind that warned of danger, but the kind that called to it. Jian felt it in the soles of his boots, deep in the jagged stones of Fort Blazed. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

He straightened, casting a glance toward the window.

"It’s raining... ash." Kaideon reported in bafflement.

The ground trembled once again.

A slash of light lit across the window, not gold or warm, but a molten red, like the eye of a volcano staring through time.

"Did you feel that?" Kaideon’s voice was sharp, almost hopeful, which was rare.

Jian didn’t answer immediately. He reached down, brushing his fingers across the ground. It was warm. Too warm. Magic pulsed beneath the soil. Familiar, old, and furious.

"...Neveah," he murmured, eyes wide.