In the middle of a large throne room, a man laid motionless on the floor. In front of him was a flight of steps that lead to a large black throne made of an unknown stone. To his left and right 7-foot-tall, stone statues stood at intervals along the edges of the wall. Standing on pedestal's their hands clasped on the hilt of their massive broad swords their heads stared down at the floor.

The Throne was made of the same stone but what set it off from the rest of the room were the countless lines that crisscrossed it. Running up the sides and back the lines covered its many surfaces ending in a large circle that was inscribed on the backrest. Inside the circle, a weak pulsing light pulsed rhythmically almost like a heartbeat. The light was not overly bright but seemed on the verge of going out when it suddenly let out a flash of light that beamed out across the throne room. Upon reaching the man, lying on the floor the light condensed and took the form of an elderly man.

The elderly man stood there and looked down on the man lying on the floor. Finally, with a loud sigh, he rolled the man on the floor over, "For god's sake my first visitor here and he is in about as bad a shape as my soul." Muttering to himself he leaned over and slapped the injured man across the face several times.

“Wakey, wakey, Vizen needs to have words with you."

The man's eyes fluttered open dark grey pupils looking up at the man. "Hey, so you're still alive," Vizen remarked with a smile “Good”. The man's head lifted as he tried to sit up. Ah ah ah, no moving now or you will bleed out quicker, though bleeding to death is not you only worry. You’re being eaten away from within by a very nasty poison." Vizen put a finger on the man’s head pushing it back down. “I have not seen poison that potent for a least a couple of millennia"

Vizen removed his finger before placing his hand on the man's head. "Let's take a look at your memories shall we." The man's eyes suddenly narrowed in pain. “It would hurt less if you cooperated. Vizen said with a frown. Between the poison and the blood loss you probably only have several minutes left. At least allow me the curtsy of knowing who is dying on my floor. The man’s eyes narrowed further in defiance and Vizen’s hand tightened on his face. “Really I admire you strength of will but this is all unnecessary”. Vizen stated as his frown deepened. “You are fighting a losing battle. The only thing you are determining is the state you are when I am done.”

A dry rasp escapes the man’s lips and echoes through the hall. “Mine”

Vizen let out a sigh in resignation. “Very well.” Lifting lifting the man's head with his hand Vizen whispers several words before dropping releasing his grip from the man's face. A small pale strand threads out of the man’s forehead as his head falls back hitting the floor with a muffled thud. Gray eyes stare in confusion at the celling as Vizen cradles the strand in his palm. Vizen mutters several more words before tossing the strand into the air where it explodes in a silent burst of color and images.

“Well" Vizen remarked as he stood watching the streaming lights in front of him that were the man's memories "Thanks to you I don’t have much to go off of. Though from the looks of things you sure have been busy. You have my knack of pissing people off.” Vizen let out a quiet sigh "Well we all have things we could have worked on I guess." Vizen looked down at the man with what could only be described as a smile "Tell you what, I have a proposition for you." Kneeling back down on a knee he pointed behind him to the dimly glowing light in the throne. "In case you couldn't tell my soul is nearly about to extinguish. Once it goes out, I will be gone from this world forever.” Vizen’s face turned ugly. They foresaw quite well to that. On the bright side However, I can gain another couple millennium if I consume yours.” The man continue to stare at the ceiling with vacant eyes. “Oh, don't worry," Vizen, continued with a quiet chuckle at the lack of reaction, "I am doing you a favor." This way it will be quick and painless. Well, what do you say?

There was a quite pause as vizen waited for an answer.

"Huh," Vizen remarked to himself, "why am I giving you a choice. It’s not like you have much of a say in the matter” Vizen waved one of his hands in a circle and trail of runes appeared in the air, tracing behind it. They floated around his hand as he placed it on the man's chest. The runes circled slowly clicking into place, letting out small flashes, as the aligned in a vertical tower above the back of his palm. With a low humming sound they began to collapse in until they were compactly packed on top of Vizen's hand. Vizen let out a smile and began to lift his hand. The injured man let out a scream that reverberated through the hall as his back arched in agony.

“Oh,” Vizen remarked as the man let out a scream of agony “I thought it wouldn't hurt." The man continued to scream as Vizen paused for a second in thought. He shrugged looking down at the man with a satisfied smile “ah, well it seems I can’t remember.” Pulling his hand back with greater force the man's screams intensified. With a final yanking motion the man’s body went limp as it flopped back down on the ground. The man’s head lolled to the side all light gone from his eyes.

Vizen stood up and flipped his hand palm up. Suspended above his palm sat a glowing orb about the size of a volleyball. At the center of the orb a second jet black orb was suspended amid a myriad of colors that Swirled and twisted around it. The colors pulsed almost as if they were alive and they pulled the gaze of anything that stared at them towards that jet black core. Vizen gaze was no exception. As Vizen stared almost entranced by the swirling colors, he failed to notice that the statues were no longer looking at the floor. Now the stared at Vizen watching the soul he held, their V-shaped visors flickering with a pale blue light.

"What The hell,"

Vizen pulled his gaze from the soul he held in his hand. Reaching behind him he gestured with his other hand. A pale yellow soul was pulled from the throne. Floating through the air Vizen grasped it gently and held it up in comparison.

"Hmm..." Vizen remarked to himself as he compared the two souls'. "How is his soul larger?” Vizen looked at his own soul. Pale yellow and at least three times smaller, its core was a dark gray but was only surrounded by a pale green and white light. “How” Vizen thought to himself. “This throne has helped me extend my soul over a thousand years yet his clearly older than mine? How long has this man been alive?" Vizen let out a euphoric laugh “with this I could live for at least a thousand more, No a hundred thousand more. Still chuckling in glee to himself Vizen gently tossed his soul backwards and it floated back over his left shoulder.

Waving his other hand with a flourish Vizen began to chant his words echoing off the walls. His hand began to glow a pale white and he reached towards the soul in his palm. Puncturing the outer shell he pushed inward with a smile and made to grab the black core. The instant his hand neared the core there was a bright flash of blue light. Blinded Vizen felt something grab his forearm ripping it out of the soul and spinning him around. A second strike drove him to his knees and he froze as he felt something tickle against his soul. He knelt waiting for the blue in his vision to fade.

When the blue faded from his vision Vizen found several things demanding his attention. The first one was that he was suddenly on both knees facing the throne, which he was originally facing away from. The second was that the throne itself was visibly shaking. The lines inscribed on it now in a constant state of movement swirling across the thrones surfaces. The center circle now spinning faster than his eye could follow. The third and by far the most alarming, were the six broadswords held to his throat.

Six statues ringed him, their broadswords held with ease, mere inches from his throat. Standing next to the throne a smaller seventh statue stood this one's hands cloaked in a smoky, black mist. The mist poured from its palms caressing the soul that Vizen had been mere seconds from consuming. The mist curled around a massive hole, the work of Vizen’s hand.

Vizen glanced around him in horror. He had gone over every inch of this room and the surrounding ruins and had found nothing. No traps. No sentry’s. Nothing. In the thousands of years he had spent in this room honing his soul and spell craft there had not been even the slightest tremor or fluctuation besides his own. Nothing to indicate any magical or physical presence of any kind. How had this happened? Where did the seventh statue come from?

Without moving its sword, a fraction of an inch one of the statues turned head towards the seventh its booming voice leaving Vizen’s eardrums ringing.

"What is his condition Alpha?"

The short statue did not turn around its attention fully on the soul in its palms.

“It is not good Beta."

The statues voice echoed through hall though it spoke no louder than a mere whisper, "his soul has changed so much since then and it was due to this that I did not sense him earlier." Alpha's head turned towards Vizen locking onto him as he knelt still kneeling on the floor, neck surrounded by blades "his interference certainly did not help. Were we any later he would have been beyond our reach”

Vizen Gulped as six motes of light appeared in his neck as the swords moved a fraction closer at her words the solders visors burning brighter.

“I am healing his soul as we speak but his memories are fractured. Worse they are beyond my repair. I cannot make a coherent order of them and should I attempt it would do more harm than good.”

The blue fire intensified further and Vizen's boddy shuddered under their glare.

“At best, it could take years for him to fully remember and realize who and what he is. Alpha looked from Vizen to the statue known as Beta "Worst he does not remember at all. Also we both know that remembering THAT at an early state could break him. We would have to wait till his soul forms again before we attempt to help him remember. We can only hope this wont drive him into madness AGAIN." Beta looked down at Vizen and a loud growl ripped through the air

Vizen opened his mouth as he saw his opportunity “I have some knowledge of mind magic I might be able to…”

Six blades closed severing Vizen’s head from his body. It burst into shards of light as the floating yellow orb winked out of existence.

"Do what needs to be done Alpha."

Alpha looked back to the soul in her palms that was now slowly pulsing a blue fire now burning in the middle of the jet-Black core. Moving her left hand over the orb Alpha began to murmur indistinct words her quiet voice growing louder the words slowly turned into a haunting melody that echoed within the hall. The blue fire began move with the melody flaring and dimming with the rise and fall of the song. The melody echoed back on its self-growing as the echo rebounded through the room growing louder and louder before hitting a single high note. It was at this moment when the flame burned its brightest that Alpha gently thrust it into the glowing circle in the throne.

The throne shook as blue fire poured like liquid metal through the shifting lines, lighting the throne ablaze brilliant in a display of Light and Darkness. As the repeated echoes of the melody began to fade Alpha’s body began to change. The helm collapsed raising up and folding over the back as the chest piece split in two, moving outwards and hovering to the left and right. The legs and arms fractured into brilliant shards that hovered around a single orb that now floated in the center of a suspended chest piece and a whirling storm of shards. A bright light filled the air as a Humanoid form emerged standing next to the throne. As the last echoes of the melody faded in to silence the figure reached out a pale arm and gently touched the orb in center of the throne. Alpha's voice echoed through the chamber.

I Bid you to remember Kaliya Walker, High King of Afyniel, Ruler of the void, Sole Keeper of the Flame of Eternus, Leader of the Hand of Iron and Progenitor of the void walkers."

The throne glowed brighter as all of the shifting lines suddenly locked in place. There was a silent boom and the throne went dark save for the single soul held in the center. After several minutes, the silence was broken by the sound of Alpha's armor reassembling and once it had finished it collapsed to its knees. In a single motion the six statues went on one knee in front of the throne. Getting unsteadily to its feet Alpha turned to Beta

“It will be some time before he awakens. His throne should help with the process of remembering but it is far beyond my understanding. Until then start a rotation with two of us awake at all times for periods of no more than two years." Alpha turned away as the statue know as Beta pounded a fist to its chest in salute. "Resume command Beta. I must recover my strength" With a wave of its hand a black split appeared midair. Alpha placed her fingers together before stabbing through. Extending her arms the crack widened until she could walk through it, inky darkness on the other side. Alpha looked back

"Awaken me immediately if there is anything out of the ordinary or if our liege awakens.”

The sound of metal echoed throughout the throne room as six fists stuck their chest in salute. Four of the statues marched back to their positions lining the hall, Stepping with ease up on to the pedestals and resuming their earlier poses. The blue fire slowly faded from their visors. Beta and another statue took up positions on either side of the throne in the same position as their brethren. The room once again returned to normal the only difference being the flickering soul in the throne and the pale flickering of its guard’s visors.