Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 815: Punishment Chamber ()
It took over an hour before Neveah finally got the tome to open. While turning it over, she accidentally cut herself on the thorns of the rose bind.
It made a hissing sound, sapping up the droplet of blood that got out. The blooming rose withered as the blood disappeared and all the vine binds fell away.
Neveah exchanged a look with Garron.
"Blood huh?" He muttered. "I should have tried that."
"But then again, I’m not a wolf-dragon hybrid with magic in my veins." He pointed out. "It might find my blood too plain."
Neveah ignored Garron’s antics. Being special was useful, but it wasn’t as interesting as it was made out to be.
"It’s written in a very strange language. A blend of various old tongues." Garron observed, flipping through the volume.
"Symbols, sigils, markers, ley lines..." He listed audibly. Then he stopped. "There. Runes!"
Neveah leaned closer. The pages were filled with awkward scrawls in a strange language. The only familiar thing were the drawings of what was unmistakably ancient runes.
The runes were nothing like the ones she had seen before. Nothing like what the academy of magic or the Fae used. Nothing like she had seen in any books.
These were older. From a time long before remembering.
"These pages... We have to know what they say." Garron muttered, already scrawling on his notebook.
"Can you translate it?"
Garron paused, "Barely. A sorcerer might stand a better chance. But I can try."
"A sorcerer..." Neveah murmured.
"There is one."
Garron glanced up at her.
"There is a sorcerer. Here. In Keep Skies." She got up to her feet.
"When I returned to the Keep from the Dunes, I was attacked by the dark fairy Celeste. Accompanied by a sorcerer of the Black Network."
"He wasn’t powerful, but he attempted a soul transfer. A magic spell unique to the leader of the Signe tribe. Kirgan says he must have been an aide of the sorcerer, Azkar."
"Imagor sentenced Celeste to death, though that ended up interrupted and she was rescued at Mount Edar. But for the sorcerer, he received a different judgement."
"Magic flaying."
It was the cruelest judgement for a magic wielder, the kind that made the death sentence a mercy.
Neveah had heard it could take months of continuous torture as the magic was being extracted from the being, perhaps even years depending on how powerful the magic wielder had been.
At the end, all that would be left was a shell. No traces of magic and depending on how deeply the magic had eaten into the soul of the wielder, perhaps only fragments of a soul would be spared.
For dragons, a judgement that carried on for years was nothing unusual. They lived long enough to see it through to the end.
Garron grimaces. "He might not have held on this long."
Neveah shook her head. "If he’s anything like his master, Azkar...he will."
---
Garron and Neveah arrived at the Rider Academy not long after.
She glanced around the familiar structures. She could hardly remember the last time she was here, but nothing had changed.
"Magic is not tolerated in Dragon Keep." Garron said as they headed in. "Judgements pertaining to it are usually carried out in the academy. For Magic flaying, the judgement is carried out in the punishment chambers."
"Your Grace!"
Neveah glanced up. Masters Malloway and Heather made their way to receive them.
Master Heather did. Master Malloway simply hobbled at a relaxed pace, with his characteristic unkind glare in his eyes.
Thinking back, she had narrowly escaped spending years under his tutelage. The thought made her shudder.
Master Heather bowed in greeting whilst Master Malloway kept his gaze trained elsewhere, looking like he was forced to be here.
"Master Malloway. Master Heather." Neveah inclined her head slightly.
"I trust you’ve fared well." She asked. Her question was directed at Malloway.
"Like the Dragon Queen has the leisure to care about smaller matters like the academy and its old masters." He grumbled.
Neveah revealed a guilty smile. "It is my oversight."
"Well? What brings you here unannounced?"
She exchanged a glance with Garron who nodded.
"We need to visit the punishment chamber." She said, her tone grim.
Malloway’s expression turned serious. "Why would you want to go anywhere near that dreary place?"
"There is someone remanded to the chambers recently. A dark sorcerer." Garron explained.
"I recall. I took him down myself." Heather nodded.
"We have to speak with him." Garron explained. "It is an urgent affair."
Malloway frowned slightly, but nodded. "Come along. Though I doubt he might be in any state to... speak."
He tapped his cane and then led the way, his pace agile.
The academy was desolate at this hour. With the rider council in motion and almost all twelve squadrons assigned to different parts of the stronghold, the riders were all summoned to duty.
They arrived at the restricted courtyard. Malloway led the way to the winding staircase that led up to the teacher’s tower, but instead of going up, they went down.
It was a dark and narrow, tunnel-like passageway.
The descent took a short time. The walls on both sides of the stairwell were lined with torches, light gems providing the dim lighting.
The lower they went, the torches became sparse. The darkness, more absolute.
Finally, they emerged into a cavernous entrance. It was wide and from the entrance, multiple other smaller cave openings stretched out in perfect rows.
It was a similar layout to the underground dungeons in Dragon Keep. Only, this was far older.
"This is the punishment chamber." Malloway announced gruffly.
"For condemned criminals of magic roots." He continued. "Each cavern houses the magic burning black flame."
"It is one of the rarest forms of dragon fire with the unique ability to burn magic itself. But the art of harnessing it is long lost. These were preserved from the first age."
"The dark sorcerer is at the end of this row. Beyond this point, only dragon blood can go further."
Neveah nodded and ventured further in with Garron. The moment they crossed the threshold of the entrance, a sweltering heat slammed into Neveah, so strong, she almost staggered back.
"The flame aura here is overpowering. Don’t fight the heat. Be one with it." Garron advised, placing a hand on Neveah’s shoulder to steady her.
She inhaled sharply and continued in. The cavern entrances lined either side of the narrow corridor, sealed by stone walls.
She carried on till they arrived at the entrance at the end of the row, as Malloway hinted.
Garron reached for the torch hanging by the wall, pushing it. A groaning sound cut through the eerie silence as the stone wall raised up.
Neveah stepped through.
The dark sorcerer was at the far end of the room, chained to the wall. But the chains weren’t made of metal, or any other material. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
They were thin wisps of pitch black flames, entwined to form a chain. The flames didn’t burn, they pulsed with an overwhelming fire energy. They visibly sucked the magic from his veins and it even seemed like they were feeding on it.
She had never believed there was anything worst than being remanded to Menarx’s district. But this... Menarx’s district paled in comparison.
Sensing their presence, he lifted his head weakly. His gaze was blank and dazed, his veins showed through his skin, blackened like ash from within.
She hesitated for a moment before she spoke. "Do you remember me?"
He didn’t respond. Just stared blankly.
"I need you to do something for me." She continued. "And I won’t promise you your freedom in exchange. Or any other bargain."
"But I can tell you, your compliance will save many lives. It will be the only chance you have to do some good in this world. It is up to you if you want to take it...or not."
No response. Not even a flicker of recognition in his eyes.
Neveah glanced over at Garron. He shook his head slightly.
She sighed. It had been worth the shot. She turned to leave.
"The wolf princess..." He muttered. "The woman my master won’t hurt."
"It is you who has forgotten... the debt of life you owe to My Lord, Azkar."
Neveah froze.
