Within the Seal

A soul was placed in front of her. With innocence and curiosity, it dared to touch the writhing mass of her fury and her hunger.

She seized upon it without mercy, unable to contain the monstrous tangle of emotions at the core of her soul. She tore him apart, and he tasted of terror and confusion.

She grieved and grieved again as she could not cry.

Master Craftsman Perkay

Every breath was agony.

The sound of air sucking in or bubbling out with every breath made the reason apparent.

Perkay tried to take another breath and again found himself coming up short. The air wasn’t there. The taste of the mana in the air didn’t help. The dark mana made him feel heavy and slow. The light mana lit up his nerves, only increasing the pain of his chest wound and making it harder to breathe properly.

The breaking of the first barrier had pushed a considerable amount of ambient mana into the chamber, and it still floated in the air, aiding the quick casting of magic. The dark mana he could use. And so could Nolsa.

The light mana was all Darisen’s.

But all that mana was making things very hard for Perkay right now.

“As I said, insufficient,” said Darisen. His voice sounded so far away, as if he was speaking from a great distance instead of standing just across the room.

Perkay gathered his dark mana in his seed, grunting as the heavy lump made him feel even heavier, but at least the mass in his belly didn’t worsen the wound in his chest. His nerves were still on fire from the lance of light. Perkay groaned as he put the dark mana to use, wrapping his chest in tight bands of mana that would hopefully keep him from bleeding out too quickly.

Huddling behind the shattered remains of his wooden barricade, Perkay tossed aside the empty spellgems and pulled two more from his pouch. His hand shook as he socketed another fire-charged gem and another dark, earth and water-charged gem. It was harder to place the gems as he coughed with pain and shivered at the cold. He’d lost more blood than he wanted to think about during Darisen’s rain of light and dark. And while he couldn’t hear the air from his chest wound anymore, it was still difficult to breathe.

Perkay’s abilities should have decided the fight in a place made of living wood, but Perkay had overlooked something particular to the tower and the sealing chamber.

The floor was densely packed with the enchantments that maintained the seal and the barrier. Perkay could play with the top layer of the floor, but he knew it would eat him alive if he went deeper. This meant Perkay had a shortage of material, and what he did have was harder to use.

“Gather tight, a point of light!” Darisen’s voice called out.

But there was a type of material that he could use better than anyone else. He was going to die with his wounds; Perkay had no doubt. It was just a matter of how long he could hold on. Perkay reconsidered the fire gem and slowly replaced it with his last wood manipulating gem.

“Uuslumin, God of the brilliant sun, guide my light and purify this evil!”

Light rippled from the edge of Perkay’s vision as the Grand Elder cast a spell of pure light mana.

Darisen was distracted. Perfect. Perkay gathered what little concentration he still possessed, and pulled.

Perkay dragged wood from the floor, gathered the shattered remains of his barricade, pulling in every piece he could feel. The wood creaked and groaned as it slithered along the floor; it popped and crackled as it bounced and skittered towards him. The sound of moving and growing wood filled his ears as Perkay gathered everything he could find around his body. He gathered it to him and gave it life.

And all the while, he forced more mana into his seed, jammed in as much mana as he could spare. Fed it earth and water from his gems, and dark mana from the air around him. The pain of it caused his arms and legs to twitch, caused his breathing to seize up, made his hands spasm.

The red gem fell from his hand, pinging quietly as it struck the floor.

Perkay knew wood, and because he knew wood, he knew the moment his seed had sprouted. He didn’t stop, feeding the seed more mana, and received more mana in turn. The seed grew, tendrils spreading through his belly. The flowing mana changed, and Perkay knew the seed was feeding him earth and water mana as well. Once that happened, he knew he was past the threshold.

As the seed within sprouted, tendrils of wood forming Perkay’s magical armour pierced his flesh to match, roots taking hold in his nerves. At this point, the pain had started to fade, the agony seeming like a silly memory.

Another wave of mana washed over Perkay, pushing against him, but failing to move his armoured body around. Perkay stood and turned to see the same thing Nolsa was seeing, what Darisen was seeing.

The eye-watering sight of the black shadow floated up from the pedestal with Tal staring up at the thing.

“What?” Tal asked, confused as he stared at the unlight.

“Tal!” called Nolsa, her voice choked with worry and pain. She went from lying on her side to climbing to her feet and scrambling towards Tal with worry in her eyes.

“No!” Darisen shouted with pain and fury, waving his left hand to dispel a spear of darkness that had run its way through his right arm.

In one moment, the thing from the pedestal floated above them. In a blink of an eye, it flashed, smashing into Tal’s stomach and knocking him to the floor.

Perkay shifted forward, placing a hand on the floor in front of him to help him stand up. He turned to face Darisen, expecting the old bastard to be preparing to make trouble, and he was.

Tal lay unmoving on the floor, staring at the ceiling as whatever was happening to him… happened. At the same time, Nolsa climbed fully to her feet and unsteadily wobbled towards Tal. Darisen was once again gathering his mana for another spell.

Perkay shifted his head, the wood at his neck creaking as he moved. The glittering red fire-infused gem lay where he’d dropped it. Perkay sent out a tendril of wood to snatch up the gem, pulling it to his hand where it sunk into his palm. Perkay’s gauntlets had become one with the living armour.

Gathering his focus at his hand, Perkay formed the image he wanted in his mind, weaving dark, fire, earth and fire together into one.

It was so much easier with his seed growing, the expanding core causing his mana to gather itself of its own accord, Perkay barely even had to try. It probably would have been a problem if he didn’t know what he was doing, but Perkay had the advantage of experience and understanding, allowing him to guide the mana with relative ease. He felt his mouth twist into a smile. It was a shame about the side effects.

While the mass in his right hand went to work, Perkay flung out his left, throwing shards of wood at Darisen.

The darts of wood mostly missed, except for one spike that dug into Darisen’s leg. The blunt end of the spike split open as the wood tried to wrap itself around Darisen and burrow deeper.

“Uagh!” Darisen shouted as he looked down. His right hand wreathed in black, he grabbed the writhing twigs trying to bury themselves in his flesh as if his robe wasn’t even there, and he ripped it off his leg with another pained shout.

Perkay threw another round of darts at the Elder, only for Darisen to pluck his staff from the floor and sweep it upwards, throwing a rippling shockwave of dark mana in Perkay’s direction. The wave wasn’t enough to hurt Perkay with his armour, but it halted his slow approach and scattered the darts before they could find their targets. Following the wave came a barrage of bullets that deflected off Perkay’s armour, knocking slivers and fragments loose wherever they struck. Perkay felt his armour filling the resulting cracks and pits.

Darisen’s face shifted to realization, with a hint of fear. “What have you done, Perkay?”

“You know exactly what I’ve done,” Perkay replied with gurgling voice. He could feel the blood rising in his throat from the puncture wound in his chest. He’d actually forgotten about that, about why he felt tired, even with all the mana gushing forth from the growing seed in his stomach.

The Elder grimaced. “So be it. There is still enough mana in the air for me to deal with a rampant seed.”

Perkay braced himself as the Elder started building his next spell.

[“I suppose I can do something about that.”] Tal’s voice rang out, with another voice overlapping his own, a woman’s voice.

Darisen’s eyes snapped open wide, and he turned away to face the young Human, raising his staff. “You’ve released it! The Devourer!” Mana gathered around the point of his staff and lanced out in an unsteady beam of white and black.

Only to find Nolsa first. She’d made her way to Tal and now interposed herself between the young Human and the Elder Erlkin. She raised a thin barrier of mana that seemed as if it would never hold. It cracked, then wavered.

Then Tal placed his hand on Nolsa’s back. The barrier healed itself and formed up thicker and more robust. Perkay realized the dense mana floating about the chamber had started to gather and draw inwards towards Tal.

“You will regret that decision!” Darisen shouted. “She should not have been released!” He pushed his left hand into a pocket of his robe and pulled out a large spell gem glittering with white and black.

“Regret it?” Tal replied. “Yeah, probably.”

[Not that he had much of a choice,] the second voice added, giggling.

Taking advantage of the distraction supplied by Tal and Nolsa, Perkay hurried his step, the spell in his right hand becoming heavier in his grip.

Unnamed Talkarn, moments earlier

Tal curled around himself, his arms held tight to his chest.

A hand touched his shoulder, followed by a concerned whisper that Tal distantly realized to be Nolsa.

The fragment of Alexan burrowed its way into Tal’s stomach. It felt just like when she’d dug her hands into him earlier, like cold, biting claws digging their way through his flesh. But where before the claws had ceased to be as they reached for his seed, this time the mass came to a rest as it bumped up against that permanently empty core of his.

[Mmm, cozy,] Alexan cooed.

The pain receded as quickly as it had come, Tal’s vision slowly returning through teary eyes. He pulled the darksight goggles down, unable to see through the fogged lenses.

“Tal?” Nolsa whispered.

Tal looked up at her to reply and couldn’t speak. The shadow above her head was gone. Tal wondered if she even knew. The worry in her eyes seemed to be only for him.

“Uagh!” Darisen shouted with pain.

“I’m fine!” Tal whispered at Nolsa. “But we aren’t safe yet!”

Nolsa’s face hardened. She nodded and climbed to her feet.

“What have you done, Perkay?” Darisen asked. His voice sounded off.

“You know exactly what I’ve done,” Perkay replied. He sounded even worse. His words did not come out clean, as if he was speaking through a mouthful of liquid.

Tal looked at Perkay only to be hit with another surprise. The old craftsman was wearing strange armour of dark wood that looked like it should have been a statue. Only Perkay’s continuous movement proved it to be more than decoration.

“So be it. There is still enough mana in the air for me to deal with a rampant seed.”

[Ooo, this is your moment to shine Talkarn,] Alexan jumped in excitedly, speaking in Tal’s head. [Follow my lead, I’ll help you draw the mana in, help you rob Darisen of the chance to use it.]

[You don’t have a purification seed, though?] Tal asked. His voice shook with doubt. Tal still didn’t fully believe what she’d told him, even if he knew she couldn’t lie.

[No, but I’m very familiar with eating.]

Tal pulled in a deep breath and spoke, [“I suppose I can do something about that.”] He jumped as he realized Alexan had somehow placed her voice over his, adding her presence to his words.

The reaction from Darisen was immediate. His head turned, and he glared at Tal with wild, fearful eyes. “You’ve released it! The Devourer!” His spell came moments after, a lance of light and dark mana twisting together to strike Tal.

Alexan’s mind guided Tal, instilled in him the feeling of gathering. A feeling he knew, but from her, it came with greater knowledge and nuance. It was the experience of a true mancer, a person who had mastered magic beyond his understanding. Tal pulled the mana to himself, pulled it through himself, dragged it down into his core.

Nolsa had acted first, her defensive barrier ready to go before Darisen had attacked. Tal flinched as Darisen’s mana scattered around them, the beam digging into Nolsa’s defence. The beam flashed brighter, and Nolsa’s shield cracked.

Tal continued to pull, and as he remembered from all those times before, he couldn’t hold it. The mana hit his seed, and instead of balling up, it scattered into his extremities.

[Hmmm, not bad,] Alexan commented, [But you can do better, I think you’ve got the foundation for it. Try it like… this.]

Guided by her thoughts, Tal placed his hand on Nolsa’s back and shifted his concentration. With the shift in his focus, the flow of mana changed. The dark mana he’d been pulling down into his core passed through him and to Nolsa.

Tal had never channelled mana before. He’d only ever shared aether.

He could already feel the initial tug of dark mana building up in his veins.

But it was working.

Nolsa stood a little straighter, and the barrier between the two of them and Darisen thickened and healed, the cracks fading from view.

“What’s wrong?” Perkay’s voice called out, gurgling around whatever was in his throat. “You’re so very distracted today. Let me show you my last creation.”

Darisen’s attack blinked out, and Nolsa shifted her shield to see what was happening.

Just in time for them to see Perkay take his last step. The old craftsman reached up and grabbed Darisen’s shoulder, then jammed something into the elder’s stomach.

“Gogh!” Darisen grunted with pain, his eyes and mouth wide with shock.

Then it got worse.

The thing in his stomach exploded with fire, but it didn’t scatter haphazardly. Burning tendrils burst out, wrapping themselves around Darisen’s middle, spreading the fire and holding tight. Darisen grabbed Perkays hand, trying to pull it away, but the armoured fist refused to move, protecting the ongoing spell. The tendrils wrapped around Darisen’s hand and pulled it to his body.

The Elder started to scream.

Tal let the flow of mana go and collapsed to his knees as he watched the Elder burn. His right hand throbbed again, reminding him of the slivers in his hand. That led to his other cuts reminding him of their existence. He felt so drained.

“Tal?” Nolsa asked, turning and crouching over him.

“We have to save Perkay,” Tal said, realizing Perkay was burning just as much as Darisen.

Darisen writhed in Perkay’s grasp, unable to pull himself away from the hand on his shoulder and the mass of burning wood expanding at this stomach. Perkay uttered not a sound, nor did he move.

[It’s too late for that,] Alexan whispered mournfully, [He’s already gone.]

“Gone?” Tal asked, “How?”

Nolsa’s head turned back and forth between Tal and Perkay; then realization lit up her eyes. “He overfed his seed!”

“I’M NOT FINISHED!” Darisen’s voice thundered.

A shattering sound filled the air, and light flashed from Darisen’s burning hand. Staff still in his right, he smashed the end of his focus into the floor of the chamber. The wood shook and cracked.

“The enchantments are all gone!” Darisen shrieked, “The wood will not hold, and you will not escape!”

[Oh well, that’s not good,] Alexan commented.

A massive crunch sounded out as the floor split right down the center, and more cracks immediately spiderwebbed out.

Tal pushed Nolsa as hard as he could away from the split, then the floor underneath him gave way.

“Tal!” Nolsa screamed.

End Chapter