We exited the throne room, though not the palace. Instead Victoria led us to an unused section of the palace if the amount of dust on the floor was anything to go by. A lone door was at the end of the hallway, and it opened up into a stairwell that lit up as we walked down it. And down, and down, and down some more. The longer we walked, the more I noticed something strange.

High magic density area

You have entered an area of high magic density. Mana recovery increased by 50%. Warning, prolonged exposure to high magic areas can have detrimental effects to unevolved beings.

“I thought the magic was getting a bit stronger.” I mentioned when the popup informed us of the change in magic density.

“Teleportation magic takes a lot of mana, so we need to be close to the ley line. Even then, it still takes a good six months to charge it.” Victoria said, leading us deeper. Eventually we came to a large hexagonal chamber. Eternal torches burned in each corner, their flames changing from blue to green and back again in rapid succession. The effect left a strange glow, but that might have been the magic in the air. On the floor was a massive glowing mandala resembling a flower, each line was comprised of multiple runes interwoven in an incredibly complex pattern. Fully charged with magic, they were glowing a bright white. As I looked at it, my eyes unfocused and it almost seemed as if new petals would form in the middle before expanding outward in a bloom and falling away at the edges.

“None of that now.” Victoria chided, smacking my head with her staff. “You can get lost in the magic haze and ponder the mysteries of the universe on someone else’s time. Now, the both of you step into the middle of the symbol.” We did as she asked, turning to look at her when she suddenly slammed her staff into the apex of one of the petals. Then reality distorted.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Hurk.” I dropped to my knees and fought the urge to vomit as reality reasserted itself. I had been compressed into a dot and shot halfway across the planet in a fraction of a second, and nobody had been able to stop any turbulence.

“You alright there?” Someone asked, and I looked up to see a strange teenager. She had light purple skin, with two pairs of horns growing out from her forehead leaving the shape of an eye in the middle. Her clothes seemed of fine quality, but seemed to be designed to leave you guessing as to her body shape.

“Gah.” I coughed one last time, struggling to my feet and helping Elendria stand. “I’ll be fine, eventually. Thanks. Who are you?”

“I’m Evelyn, head oracle in Demonaire. Follow me, we have some things we need to discuss.” She said, turning and heading up the stairs. She spoke as she walked, “I suppose things turned out well in the Elven Kingdom?”

“As well as we could hope.” Elendria answered. “At least, for the kingdom.”

“Is there a more important view?” Evelyn asked.

“There is, depending on the person.” I said, pulling Elendria into a side hug. She gave me a wan smile and a small squeeze before continuing on. “Later tonight.” I said, getting an almost imperceptible nod from her. After that I followed Evelyn up and into a strange room. There were several outlines of people hunched over something, while someone else looked on. Each hunched person seemed to have their own cubicle separated by blue and green sheets, obviously magicked so that no sound could escape. I was just about to ask about them when I sensed it.

“You have three seconds to explain why I should let you live.” I snarled as I held a spirit blade to the throat of a young woman with inky black eyes and hair to match.

“I’m keeping Apophis in check.” She giggled, drawing a bit of blood that caused her divine presence to soar a bit. “Kill me, and he will win.”

“She’s right you know.” I heard Lokir say as I felt his presence appear behind me.

“So I should trust the Trickster god and one from Apophis’ own pantheon?” I asked, shaking my head. “Explain it to me just how you are keeping him in check. Cuz from where I’m standing, he’s been pretty much walking all over everyone else.”

“What makes you think I haven’t seen how this plays out?” She asked, winking at me.

“Because I’m immune to the sight of gods.” I replied immediately. “You may know the possible outcomes, but you don’t know what to say to get there.”

“Bah, you know more than I thought. Fine, I’ll explain.” She said, gently placing a finger on my blade and pushing it away. “Perhaps we could take a seat first? Evelyn, dear, take your seat so that we do this proper.” Evelyn sat down, though she looked like she was shell shocked at what was going on. Lokir sat to her left, while the other person sat to her right. Elendria and I sat across from them, with a large metal bowl in the middle.

“I am Duskene, goddess of foresight. At least I am on Beatha. Since this is my last avatar, if you kill me I will be forced to reform myself in our pantheon. Once I am there, Apophis will devour me.”

I waited a moment to see if she was done, then said, “That still doesn’t explain how you are holding him back, or how killing you will upset the balance.”

“Fine.” She sighed, “In order to invade and bring the full might of a pantheon, there must be a majority that call for war. This is by number of gods in the pantheon. Since there are just the two of us, so long as he can’t devour me the majority of Apophis’ power is locked away. Since he has the majority of the power in the pantheon, he can still choose to invade, but there are restrictions.”

“She’s telling the truth.” Lokir said, handing me an envelope. “I was told to give you this by Croea, our own goddess of foresight.” I took the envelope and noticed the seal on it turned from white to green just before it disappeared. Opening it, I read the short note.

Champion. You should be sitting with Lokir, my counterpart, and my last priestess. If that is all that is there, then the chance of survival is only at ten percent. If there is another, twenty-five. Alas, this is the best outcome I have foreseen, and so I place my hopes in your fortitude. Add your blood to the scrying bowl, and ask about your family. That is all I am able to say.

“Evelyn.” I asked, seeing her flinch. “Are you the last priestess of Croea?”

“How did you know that?” She demanded, looking around in fear.

“She told me in this letter. She also said that I should have you show me my family. Will you do that?”

“Of course. Such a thing should be easy, for any Seer.”

“You’ll need my blood, as I’m not just anyone. I’m a champion, and our ties are supposed to be hidden even from the gods.” Her eyes got wide at that, but she handed over a small blade that I used to cut into my wrist a bit and drip out some blood.

“Ties hidden by magic’s might, reveal your secrets to my sight. By the blood before me, freely given, I command you to become unhidden.” She intoned, and I saw her eyes blaze with magic as the blood swirled in the bowl. Her power was so focused at that moment that it was nearly palpable, and I saw Duskene shuddering in pleasure.

“Something’s not right.” She said, frowning as she looked back up at me. “You don’t have any active blood ties.”

“How?” I asked, confused.

“Can you follow the last inactive tie?” Elendria asked.

“I can, but it will take more blood.” She said, and I gladly refilled a bit of the bowl. This time she didn’t use any chants. She grabbed my hands and placed them on the side of the bowl, with hers outside mine. I could almost feel as she traced back along the weave, her power very similar to when Victoria had shown me her last vision. I could tell once she felt she had gone back far enough, then watched impatiently when her face went from confusion to surprise to dawning horror.

“What is it? What do you see?” I demanded.

“No! No, it can’t be!” She said, and I felt her go back one more time to watch again. Not wanting to be left out, I sent my own magic into our temporary bond and wrenched until I could feel the same thing that happened when Victoria showed me her vision.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I watched from above as my body drops to the floor and a white blur rises above it before shooting off through the ceiling. Seconds later my body rises from the floor and starts twitching and slowly stretching several muscle groups, as if someone is trying to get a feel for it. With slow steps that rapidly get more confident, I watch as I check in on my daughter one last time.

“ISABELLE!” I scream, but I’m just an observer here. No matter how I try and move, I am stuck watching my daughter sleep peacefully. The view follows as my body walks out to the kitchen and surveys the mess. Dinner plates are rinsed in the sink, awaiting someone to finish emptying the dishwasher before they can be reloaded. As my body goes about that task, a portal opens up and two beings step out. They look like scaled humanoids, and immediately focus in on my body.

“I’ll take the soul clone. You get the-“ he never finished, as a dart of light shot through where his head used to be. Quick reflexes had saved him, as they started to split to move around the island and flank my body.

“Damn, I didn’t think he would know magic.” One hissed, as the other decided to rush my body. He froze when he saw my body brandishing a kitchen knife, but it was too late. The second one had somehow silenced his footsteps and sped around the counter, keeping low and using the distraction from his partner to devastating effect. Before he could yell, the spirit in my body was skewered by a blade of darkness, straight through the middle of his chest. He tried valiantly to get the assailant behind him, but the attack angle was perfect and my body was rapidly losing strength.

“I’ll take the wife, you take the daughter.” The one who killed me said, “And be quick about it.” He slunk off as I started losing my mind.

“DANIELLE! ISABELLE! WAKE UP! RUN!” I screamed as loud as I could, but again nothing worked as I was just a watcher. I could only sit there and watch as my wife woke up only to be silenced with a hand over her mouth as a blade was shoved into her chest. It only took a few seconds for the light in her eyes to die out. As I saw her spirit start to rise, the bastard held a glowing hand into it for a second, and I shuddered as I felt the screams as a small mark was left.

“You’ll be some fine leverage once we see you again.” He hissed, chuckling as he walked back into the kitchen and stood over my body. “Pity the soul clone broke all ties with you. All this perfectly good blood is going to waste.” He shook his head and waited for his partner to return. After about five minutes, he was losing patience.

“Dorvan!” He hissed. “Get out here, it shouldn’t take that long!”

A few moments later and Dorvan returned, licking the claws of his right hand.

“Dorvan, what did you do?” His partner demanded.

“Our job, Corsic. Just our job.” He replied, but even I could tell he was lying.

“Lie. Try again, and the truth this time. It doesn’t take that long to kill a sleeping child. What were you doing?” Corsic demanded. When he didn’t get an answer, a black band shot from his hand and gripped Dorvan by the throat. “Speak, worm! And by Apophis, if you try and lie to me again-” He hissed, leaving the threat hanging.

“All. Right.” He croaked, and the band relaxed a bit. “I couldn’t help it! I went to mark the soul, and I could just feel the innocence! You’ve never felt one like that! Not on Beatha!”

“What. Did. You. Do?” Corsic repeated, and I could only watch in fear.

“It started out as just a taste. A nibble, ya know?” He whimpered. “Next thing I know, the soul’s gone and I’m licking the last of it from my claws.”

Life froze. I could see the barest hint of white on his claw. And I knew. Knew that my baby was gone forever. Gone and never coming back, no matter what happened. There are some things that even gods couldn’t do, but there was one thing I could do.

I snapped.

“BASTARDS!” My voice thundered as I grabbed the weave, feeling reality shake. “THERE IS NOWHERE YOU CAN HIDE FROM MY WRATH! BE IT THIS LIFE OR THE NEXT! I WILL FOLLOW YOUR SOUL FOR ALL ETERNITY UNTIL YOU HAVE PAID FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!” Lances of magic shot from me, striking each one in the chest and leaving a bright red handprint that went straight to their souls. From those hand prints, two threads shot out connecting to my own heart, forever linking us and letting me know where they were.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Elendria’s POV

“Something’s wrong.” I said, sitting up as I watched Sean and Evelyn looking into the past. As I watched, Sean’s soul started spiking, and the determined purple color went through a rainbow of colors before becoming the brightest red I have ever seen.

“EEEEHEEEHEEE!” Duskene started giggling as reality shook. “Oh my, to think he would forcibly alter the weave like that!” I swear she looked like she was in the peak throes of passion as Lokir was shaking in terror.

“SEAN!” I screamed, trying to break the link but the thin Seer’s body was surprisingly strong, and not even my strength was enough to overpower her grip.

“Bastards! There is nowhere you can hide from my wrath! Be it this life or the next! I will follow your soul for all eternity until you have paid for what you have done!” He thundered, and again reality shook.