Hey, you haven’t forgotten about me, have you?

Yes it’s me, Myles Stalwart, or Zedd Darkstar for those of you who feel like I should appropriate the name now. You know what happened before the eclipse, I don’t. I was busy running through tunnels underground. I’d heard Raiya’s message before. She’d told me later that gramps was after me. So I tailed it, as fast as my leg could take me anyway.

Zoey’s been a great help ever since we escaped through the tunnels. But the place you’ve found at us now was quite puzzling, to say the least. We’ve been underground for quite a while now. There was no source of light around us, save for some luminescent fungi that grew on the ceilings of the caves we strode through.

We’ve reached a crossroads of sorts. By then, we were both hungry and thirsty. The explosions in the ground above have seized to reach us. I wondered what had happened, but I had no time to think of that now. Thirst was our first enemy. There was some dew on the different rocks or dripping from the stalactites above us. But it wasn’t enough. It was merely sufficient to keep us from getting completely dehydrated.

Then that seizure hit me out of nowhere. I’d never forget the feeling of all my muscles tensing up at once. I tried to move and warn Zoey but for the life of me, it seemed I’d forgotten how to speak or even move. I felt my back hit the ground then darkness engulfed me.

“Ah, you’re back!” Dif’s voice woke me.

“What? Where am I?” I asked.

“Snap out of it Stalwart!” Dif said. “I had to shut you down. I had to get your full attention, for the task at hand is extremely difficult.”

“What do you want?” I asked.

“I want you to remain calm and listen to what I have to say. Your grandfather’s gone and triggered the Holi Wars. I admire his resolve, really.”

“I never even knew I had a grandfather until three days ago,” I protested. Three days ago… That seemed like a long time since he came to visit Raiya.

“Be that as it may,” Dif said. “We don’t have time to talk about your long lost family, Stalwart. We have to talk about your first trial.”

“Trial?”

“Each Primordial chooses a champion to fight in the Holi Wars,” Dif said. “You’re a candidate for lord Minsec, remember? My lord is very choosey. He doesn’t like to bestow his gift to anyone without prior studying. You have your dear grandfather to thank for that.”

“I told you. I have nothing to do with my grandfather’s follies,” I protested.

“We will not judge you for your grandfather’s mistakes, Stalwart. Nor will we judge you for your fathers.” The old man materialized in front of me. “I know you like to have a face to talk to. So here I am. You can ask me all the questions you have after I explain what you have to do.”

“I’m listening,” I said.

I couldn’t help but think of my wicked family. We were all simply fucked up. My grandfather might take the winner’s prize though. After all, my father only wanted to save his beloved. As for me… Well, I remember being the cause of my family’s death. But that’s as far as I can go for now.

“As Lord Minsec’s candidate, you are to reduce the number of candidates for Lord Qil’Al,” Dif said.

“Wait a minute,” I interrupted.

Dif gave me an exasperated look, coupled with an equally exasperated sigh, but I didn’t care.

“I need to know who these people are,” I went on. “I haven’t been properly introduced to this world of magic you see. At least tell me what I’m dealing with here, please?” I added the last word so that the old man doesn’t shower me with knowledge I couldn’t possibly assimilate at once. It’d be better to hear it all from the horse’s mouth.

“I’ll give you the brief version,” Dif said.

“Couldn’t have asked for better,” I commented.

“Very well then,” Dif straightened up then started speaking. “There are eight lords that once stopped a calamity from ending the universe as we know it. They fought against two very powerful races: the Monarchs and the Scions. The Monarchs held wisdom and mighty magic, while the Scions had technology to their side.

“You’d think magic would win against technology, but you haven’t seen what the Scions came up with. For every Scion the Monarchs killed, a hundred of their own were lost. They had mighty weapons that could decimate entire planets.” Dif stopped, shuddered, and went on.

“This is when the Primordial Lords interfered. They couldn’t stand idly by and watch those two races destroy each other and the universe. They eradicated them all. When you die, dear Stalwart, your soul dies with you, unless it’s sent to the Well of Souls to be purified.

“The Primordial Lords refused to send these megalomaniacs through the reincarnation cycle. Instead, they destroyed their souls, which exploded into Fragments of different sizes. Each one of them contained knowledge of the Monarchs or Scions they belonged to, eons ago. Some even had spells incrusted in them, or the knowledge to create wondrous machines and come up with revolutionary technology. What you get now as a Fragment of power, is part of ancient souls that died fighting a war aimed to destroy all life.”

“But why give us the Fragments then?” I asked.

“You can assimilate a Fragment to become part of your own soul,” Dif explained. “Once you die, and go through the Well of Souls like everybody else, the Fragments of the Monarchs and Scions die out. Recycling at its best.”

“And that’s the point of these Holi Wars?” I asked. “I thought they meant the apocalypse.”

“Not everything went right with the process of destroying all souls,” Dif said. “The Primordial Lords failed to destroy two souls. One belonged to the king of Monarchs. The other belonged to a war criminal from the Scions, although war criminal is putting it lightly.”

“So?” I asked. “What happened to them?”

“They evolved,” Dif said. “We don’t know where they hide. By summoning the Eternal Moon, we hope to find the source of the Holi that are usually given to the summoner. We know one of the two lost souls offers a Holus to the summoner, but we don’t know which.

“What we know is that the Holus is an evolved form of the Fragment. It offers both immense knowledge and power, to the holder. If we don’t deal with the holder of the Holus in three months, the planet in which you live now will be erased from memory.”

“And my own grandfather wants to do that!” I said.

“Yes,” Dif answered. “He may be a madman, but he’s a powerful one. If he gets the Holus, your planet will die.”

“Okay,” I said. “I get that we’re all in danger. But can you tell me why I have to participate in a trial to win the graces and favors of your lord?”

“Stalwarts,” Dif whispered. “Minsec is also your lord now!” he said in an air of authority I could only associate with the Priests of the Church of Dhobor.

“Unless I fail in his trials,” I said. “I remember you saying there’s more than one.”

“Then make sure you don’t,” Dif said. “You’re my responsibility now.”

“What do I have to do?” I asked. I was getting tired of this conversation to tell you the truth. I’ve had enough things to mull over now.

“I’ll help you assimilate that Fragment of yours,” Dif said. “You’ll be able to use better spells and the Essence from the Fragment will strengthen your Conduits.”

“Your Fragment almost killed me,” I blurted out.

“That’s because you didn’t go through all the instructions,” Dif replied. “I specifically told you to do so.”

“You could’ve just told me how to do it,” I said. “It would’ve saved us time.”

“You wouldn’t have learned how dangerous tampering with power is, would you?”

He made a good point. I had to give him that.

“What do I have to do now?”

“You’ll have to absorb the first Fragment you got,” Dif said. “That woman who was trying to possess you, you’ve stolen a fragment of her soul, haven’t you?”

I nodded.

“You have three conflicting energies inside of you. I’ll lock the time Fragment from interfering with you now. I’m talking to you though it, by the way. You won’t hear from me unless you’ve completely assimilated her.”

“How will I do that?” I asked.

“The same way you’ve stolen it,” Dif answered. “Dig deeper into her memories, appropriate them. Make them your own. You might learn one or two things from her ordeals.”

“Will you contact me when I’m done?” I asked.

“You’ll have to eliminate the first threat first,” Dif said. “Your first target is a candidate of Lord Qil’Al. He’s a threat to our cause. Take the last tunnel on your left, follow the sound of water. You’ll soon bump into him. He controls death, he’ll be easy to find.”

“And I’m supposed to do that and assimilate Eva’s Fragment?”

“And you have a fortnight to do it. I suggest you wake up and get to work. You have all the information you need. Your time stop spell can’t be used until you complete the first tasks, understood?”

I nodded.

“Then wake up,” Dif said. “That woman’s dying of worry.”