105 - The Witching Road

It was natural - the most natural of things for Magnus to stand, he felt every part of the giant body respond to his command, no different from his own flesh and bones. The world . . the whole expanse of earth and sea below, the entirety of the sky and stars at eye level.

The whole world is too damn small!

An absolutely invigorating sensation filled Magnus - every inch of his giant body felt the elements - the currents of air, the soil beneath his left foot, his right foot in the sea.

In the earth . . deep within the ground - Magnus could feel something, a rhythmic beat - a pulse, like a heartbeat beneath his feet, from deep below the skin of the world.

A rush of knowledge filled his mind - the writings of several Alchemical tomes paraded themselves before his eyes. These are the ley-lines . . . the spirit veins of the world. Every world has them in some form - their purpose unknown, it was theorized that they had some connection to the Celestials, but it was never known.

Magnus felt them - like a hundred rivers stretching in every direction - calling to him. It was a type of instinct - the same urge that made him thirsty, that made him tired - the same primal urge for life itself that called to him from within the earth.

Instinctually, Magnus sent a thread of vigour into the ground - piercing into the depths and entering the closest ley line. It connected! In an instant Magnus felt the pulse of the earth itself - a resonance from the deep.

Calling to him . . calling to a deep down part of him . .

Magnus held up a vast hand - in his giant palm sprung the Sleeping Forest - every familiar tree and face, smooth rock and black water stream - a miniscule Dong-Geun sat dejected leaning against the tree with Sung Soo's face upon it.

The forest . . the trees . . there . . from the tree with Sung Soo's face on it, on one of its highest branches Magnus saw that a single red fruit grew - an apple, bright red.

The resonance from the deep called to Magnus - flowed through him to the forest on his palm - connecting through him. A light breeze begun to blow - from the earth, up through Magnus, up to the single red fruit - the lightest of invisible touches plucking it from the high branch and carrying it down, all the way down along the thread of Vigour and into the ley lines in the earth.

It has recognized me. The world has accepted me - Magnus felt it, felt as one - the seed of his forest buried itself in the fertile soil - all the energies of the ley lines flooded into the seed, filling it fit to burst - the accumulated energy of ten thousand years flowed from every corner into the seed, along the thread of Vigour and into Magnus.

The giant Celestial form shimmered - thick many coloured streams of light rose up through his soles, up his legs and thighs - filling the massive figure.

What a rush!

With the energy came a massive rush - a massive influx of energy. Magnus felt the strength of the earth pour into him - the might of oceans and mountains, the force of continents crashing together, the roar of magma erupting.

Power!

Strength!

This is what it means to be a Celestial!

Who can stand against me?

What man or beast is my equal?

Alchemists? Ha!

The Seers, the Martial Cultivators, the Alchemists, I'll devour the lot!

Ding!

A crystal clear ringing sound filled the air around Magnus.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Again and again - an intense ringing - Magnus cast a glance about, seeing all of Jute laid out before him - but no sign of the source of the noise.

Ding!

Ah! Of course - the Thousand-eye Net!

The Thousand-eye Net formation he’d cast on himself to remain hidden - with each ding! Magnus felt the formation fracture a little more, within a matter of moments losing a great portion of its strength.

Every moment Magnus remained in his Celestial form was accompanied by another ding! and the weakening of the formation - it would only take a few more minutes before the formation was sure to evaporate.

If the Thousand-eye Net were to break it would be no different from Magnus broadcasting his location to the whole universe - no different from calling down the Alchemists onto his head.

Magnus turned his face heavenwards, a fierce glint in his eyes.

Good! Bring them on!

Magnus! Danger! Quick! Down boy! Down!

Hob? Ha! What have we to fear, Hob? As -

Change back! Get down! Set a formation! Dig a hole - anything!

Above, almost invisibly, there moved a cloud - almost indistinguishable, but moving much too fast, much too low, and against the prevailing winds - its edges tinged with silver.

Hide? What the devil do I need to hide for? Ahahaha!

Magnus raised a mighty hand up into the sky, bringing it down upon the silver cloud with the force of a collapsing mountain but - but just as his hand rushed through the skies he froze in place.

Sorry Magnus!

Hob? I can't move!

Sorry! I didn't want to do this . . I didn't want to, quick!

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Before the Thousand-eye Net breaks! Change back, please! Don't attack!

There was a real panic in Hob's voice - a real fear, something that Magnus could not ignore. With a single thought Magnus abandoned his giant Celestial form - the shadowy giant evaporating into the night, leaving Magnus back on the ground in the middle of a giant foot print covering all of what was Kloster.

Who's that?

Hiss! Quiet! Do you want to die, Magnus? Keep still!

Magnus lay quiet - Hobs voice buzzing in his ears. Above him moved the cloud, this way and that. Around the cloud was a distinct and bizarre energy - Magnus had never seen the like - it felt like the patch of space around the cloud was somehow disjointed - not quite in sync with the rest of reality.

Finally, the silver tinged cloud did a wide circle of the whole area and vanished off to the south.

What was that? Was that an Alchemist? Why'd you make me hide, Hob? I could have taken him!

Don't be daft, don't be daft! That wasn't an Alchemist . . that was something much worse . . shit, oh shit . . oh shit . . why'd you have to transform into a Celestial, hey? Hey Magnus? Why?

You told me to!

Yeah . . yeah . . but I didn't know that was here! What the hells is a dog of the Seven Divines doing on this world, hey? Tell me that!

Hells . . I don't know Hob, what sorta question is that? What the hells is a Seven Divines?

It's not a thing . . gods, gods . . stay within the formation! Don't leave the formation, ye hells Magnus, what if he comes back? I didn't think . . hells . .

Who was that Hob? How do you know and I don't? I thought we were the same - I thought that I knew everything you did. Who was that?

. . .

Hob?

That was . . that was . . . remember what Kujata told you? About the war - between the Celestials and the humans of Earth? Well . .

That's one of them? One of the twelve who defeated the Celestials ten thousand years ago?

Yeah . . well . .

"They're still alive? After ten thousand years!?"

Shhhh! Quiet! Use your inside voice!

Yo!

Thanks for reading so far - hope you are enjoying it. Sorry for the wierd release schedule and delays - and thanks for all the comments and support - I'm a lurker at heart, so please excuse me if I don't respond much . .

The story of Magnus will continue for quite some time yet - I hope you all will stick around to the end!

xD