"Was it necessary? All this bloodshed?" she asked. The question lingered in the air as Dareth crouched beside Kaeloth's body.
"As long as the task is completed, it matters little," he replied calmly. "Now we proceed to the next step. For this one, understand there is no turning back."
A scoff escaped Fraye as she gave a grim chuckle, her gaze fixed on Kaeloth's corpse. Mana gathered in Dareth's palms, condensing before shaping itself into his staff.
"Breathe life. Devour death. Recreate and redestroy, Vorduun," Dareth intoned, spinning the staff. Energy spiraled outward, forming intricate glyphs that aligned with one another in perfect symmetry.
Lightning burst from the sigils. Flames coursed along their lines. Ancient script crystallized into frost while wind howled around them, growing fierce.
"What spell are you casting that needs this much mana?" she demanded, stepping back as sweat traced down her temple.
"A spell that will allow me to inscribe reality itself," Dareth answered. "It functions only when a pure-hearted soul ends the life of one steeped in corruption. The cost will render me powerless for two decades. However, with the mana crystal you embedded in his heart, the toll will be reduced to five years."
The elements converged into a radiant vortex of energy, pulsing like a living heart. Its color defied comprehension, shifting in hues that resembled a fractured rainbow.
"Why would you need to rewrite existence?" Fraye pressed, her voice rising as his lips curved into a faint smile.
"It is simply a safeguard. Incase if you are to alter my plans, I made sure you will never stop our plan in coming to fruition." he replied.
Understanding struck her too late.
Everything dissolved into nothingness, then reassembled into form. A surge of indescribable sound followed, a cacophony of countless voices and forces colliding.
And then life resumed. The world carried on as though untouched. Fraye and Volhcard lived quietly until that fateful day.
The accusation arrived without warning, abrupt as a blade drawn across the mind. No signs preceded it, only a sudden detonation of reality.
Inside the courtroom, Dareth addressed the council. Volhcard stood at the center while Dareth remained seated beside the judge.
"I hereby declare Volhcard Magnar guilty and sentence him to a life of isolation within the kingdom," the judge proclaimed, bringing the gavel down.
A punishment worse than death. To exist while being despised. To remain among the people yet regarded as a monster.
Perhaps, if Volhcard were to perish, the burdens placed upon him would finally be absolved.
Dareth could feel something in his stomach. An emotion that seemed to feel like a tight knot. If he could chosen another path, perhaps he could have. Yet, what the archmage was thinking at that very moment was forgiveness.
Would he be forgiven by the heavens? Would he be forgiven by his student? Would he be able to forgive himself?
Only time will tell. Were the thoughts that allowed him to barely keep himself from losing it. In the distance future, an angel, or even a deity would answer him of his multitude of questions.
"Oh, Volhcard, I beseech thee, my student to forgive me..."
No one heard him. Not even Volhcard because he had realized his mouth hadn't opened. It was just a sentence in his head that he wished to utter.
He turned his attention to a crying Fraye being held in the arms of her father. The Fraye he knew wouldn't do such a thing in public. She would have never done such pathetic motion in front of so many people, and especially not her father.
Yet, she did at that very moment. Only because she had no control of her thoughts, mannerisms, and words at the moment.
Everyone in the courtroom, but Dareth were only obeying the fate that was casted upon them. A spell that forced his ideas to happen without fail. All to make sure that Volhcard would be "safe".
If he could close his eyes at that moment he would. He wished he could cry, wished he could be human once more. To be alive, he deeply wished to find another way of saving Volhcard.
Dareth could do nothing but watch as his apprentice be taken away. He watched and heard him be ridiculed by the very people he loved. All because of a decision that came from love.
Clasping his hands together, he let out a silent sigh. As he closed his eyes, a bead of mana formed around his two eye sockets. They then shifted into water droplets, mimicking the act of tearing up.
Then, Volhcard opened his eyes and found himself staring at abyssal monstrosity.Its writhing limbs coiled around its own form as it regarded him and his companions.
"Theo, get everyone to safety. Especially Idol," he ordered, lifting his staff and gripping it firmly with both hands.
Theo stepped forward, wiping sweat from his brow. "What are you saying? We stand together. We fight together. We're friends, a crew of reckless fools," he said with a strained laugh.
When Volhcard turned toward him, sorrow filled his eyes, yet hope lingered within them.
"My friend, what I am about to do will doom us all if you stay. Go," he urged, his voice trembling as he faced the abyssal entity once more.
Raising his staff high, he began chanting in Ancient Dwarvish. Mana spiraled upward into the weapon. Theo hoisted Jae onto his shoulder and broke into a run.
"Damn it," he muttered under his breath. "Everyone, we're getting out of here!"
Yuni sprinted ahead, Aralia close behind. Idol, however, remained rooted in place, staring at Volhcard as he continued the incantation.
"Master…" Idol whispered, steam hissing from the seams of their bronze frame.
Glancing back, Theo saw the abyssal horror advance. He shouted, "Aralia, get Idol out of there now!"
He tore open a scroll with his teeth and activated it. Tendrils of blue mana shot forward, wrapping around Idol. Aralia skidded to a halt, then rushed back to pull them away.
"Volhcard, move!" Aralia cried as she dragged Idol with her.
Volhcard turned to her with a gentle smile. Tears streamed freely down his face.
"Damn it…" Yuni swore, halting briefly. She glanced at Sticky perched atop her head. The creature gave a low rumble, its meaning clear.
"Whatever he's about to unleash will cost him his life. If we stay, it will take ours as well. As much as I despise admitting it, he will die regardless."
"Please, go!" Volhcard called out. "Leave me. It has been an honor journeying with you."
He advanced toward the abyssal monstrosity and drove his staff into the ground.
The others retreated, Idol still struggling as Aralia and the spectral arms from Theo's scroll dragged them along.
"What is this sensation? I do not understand. What about Master, Sir Theo?" Idol asked, turning toward Theo, who clenched his jaw.
Tears slipped from his eyes as he met Idol's gaze.
From the abyssal creature, dark roots of mana lashed outward toward the fleeing group. A shimmering barrier sliced through them, intercepting the attack.
"It is only you and me now, wretched fiend of the abyss," Volhcard declared. "With the Almighty Glorious Life and the power of Atlas granted to me, I will ensure my friends and this kingdom endure."