As he strode through the Wildheart's corridors, triumph thrummed through Major Veratrum's veins. Truly, that had been far easier than he could have imagined. The boy had been so focused on the battle he hadn't noticed Veratrum sneaking up on him. A single dose of sleeping poison, and the boy had gone out like a light.
Under normal circumstances, Veratrum would've needed several minutes to gather enough Levia for his elemental powers. But thanks to the enhancing spell the General had given him, he'd hardly expended any effort at all. Such spells were gifts directly from the Infernal Lord, few and far between. That the General had entrusted him with one made Veratrum's heart swell with pride.
And Veratrum hadn't proven the General's trust wrong. He walked faster, head held high. A soldier behind him carried the unconscious boy, while Veratrum held the boy's staff. The crystal at its tip was dim and clouded, but Veratrum couldn't miss the Levia pulsing in its core like the heartbeat of a slumbering beast.
Supposedly this was the Star of Miriel. All along Veratrum had thought it a mere legend, only for it to turn up in the hands of this boy from Earth. Well, it wasn't Veratrum's job to wonder. As it was, he had already more than fulfilled his duty.
At long last, he reached the central mirror chamber. He stepped forward, placing his hand on the door. His Levia hummed as the door recognized him, then it slid open without a sound.
Veratrum nodded at the soldier and they stepped inside. The soldier set the boy on the floor while Veratrum laid the staff beside him. That done, he approached the mirror.
His own reflection gazed back at him, pale and ghostly, but not for long. As he rapped on the mirror, a black diagram spread across the glass and the Infernal Lord's Levia hardened the air.
Though Veratrum could hardly breathe beneath its pressure, he got down on one knee and pressed his fist to his chest. Before long, a massive shadow appeared inside the mirror.
"My Lord," Veratrum said. "Major Veratrum reporting. As you ordered, we have brought you the homunculus knight's wizard."
The Infernal Lord's voice rumbled through the room. "I see. And the prince?"
"Still at large, my Lord. However, we expect to win this battle and have her within our grasp very soon."
"I see. Well done, Major. Wake the boy, and you may leave."
Veratrum's heart beat faster upon the Infernal Lord's praise, but he didn't quite feel the same spark as when the General complimented him. Perhaps it was wrong of him, but he didn't care.
At any rate, he had been given an order. So he knelt down beside the boy, placing his hand on the boy's forehead and preparing to summon the antidote to the sleeping poison. It didn't matter if he still had no idea what the Infernal Lord wanted with this boy. In the end, it wasn't his business.
Better to return to the General's side and help him win the battle. That was where he belonged.
~*~
When Theo opened his eyes, he found himself in complete darkness. Which made him wonder if he wasn't still sleeping – but if he was, his joints wouldn't feel like they were splitting apart. To say nothing of the Levia crushing his chest, driving the breath from his lungs….
As he blinked, shapes began to resolve out of the darkness. Something round in front of him...a large mirror? But he didn't see his own reflection inside.
Instead, there was a solid dark mass...no, a shadowed form. Theo could barely make out its silhouette, let alone its face, but he had the horrible crawling sensation that it was staring right at him.
Summoning all his strength, he hauled himself up by the elbows. Each movement stabbed like a knife. And he didn't get very far before the heavy Levia surged upon him, freezing him in place.
The shadow in the mirror shifted slightly. Then a voice rolled across the room, echoing as if coming from a long distance away.
"At last we meet. I am the Infernal Lord."
The Infernal Lord. No way. Where – how –
No time to think. Only one thing was clear: Theo had to get out of here. Fast. But no matter how hard he strained, tendons pushing beneath his skin and sweat matting his hair, he couldn't budge an inch beneath the Infernal Lord's power.
"Your efforts are futile. Now answer my questions."
The dark Levia lightened a little, loosening its grip on Theo's throat. Still not enough for him to move, but at least he could speak.
"Questions?" His voice came out a wheezing rasp. "What the hell...do you…."
"Who are you?"
The words, simple as they were, rolled through Theo's bones like thunder. With them came a wave of Levia that drove him flat to the floor. More than overwhelm him, this Levia was trying to compel him, to dig out the answer from inside his soul….
Theo clenched his teeth. He didn't know what the Infernal Lord wanted with him, but he wouldn't let the bastard have it that easily.
"Answer me. Who are you?"
The Infernal Lord's voice boomed louder; his Levia raked through Theo's insides like barbed wire. Theo ground his teeth together until his entire skull ached. 'Don't say a word. Don't give him anything.'
"You refuse to speak? Very well. I will simply force the answer from you."
With that, the Infernal Lord's Levia rushed upon him like a tidal wave. Theo tried to rally his own dawn light, but he could only gather a few sparks before the darkness engulfed him completely.
He'd thought it had been dark when he had first awoken; well, that was nothing compared to the sheer blackness surrounding him now. As he drowned in its depths, his senses faded away. Sight, sound, touch, one by one until nothing remained.
Not even his own mind. The darkness was working its way into his soul, leaking through the crevices of his weakened defenses. His own power retreated in its wake, the sputtering embers desperately seeking a safe place to hide. But soon, very soon, there'd be nowhere left.
No, no, no! He couldn't let it – he had to –
No use. The darkness crept deeper with every frantic breath. But he wasn't alone, was he? The Star of Miriel. At the very least, he needed to reach for it. Just send a few sparks toward its starry night sky….
But to his horror, he couldn't find a trace of it. The only light that existed came from his own Levia, dim as a cinder in this endless void.
As his power faded away, some vague part of him almost felt content. Like he was drifting through the Star of Miriel's cosmos instead of the Infernal Lord's darkness. And really, were they all that different in the first place…?
Something flashed in his core. Tiny and faint, but he couldn't possibly miss it.
Because this wasn't his soft dawn light. It was far brighter and stronger.
The Levia flashed again, swelling like a star in the darkness. For the first time, a pinprick of warmth penetrated the numb cold gripping his body.
He could see again. His tattered robes, his arms limp by his sides. Illuminated by the light pulsing inside his chest, slowly spreading through his entire body. Glowing pink, but a paler hue than his own Levia. Almost white.
The darkness remained, still holding him in its crushing grip, but now he had some kind of protection from it. However faint, however weak.
As the power swelled, wings of light unfurled from his back. Six of them, slicing wide arcs across the void. Their glow was a defiant challenge to the darkness.
The void shuddered. Its grip loosened, allowing Theo to draw a full breath, before all six wings curled around his body and locked him within a protective embrace. Feathers slotted together, weaving in and out to form a cocoon of protective light.
"Theo!" A voice pierced the silence, loud and urgent. Yet it brimmed with a warmth he'd never mistake. "Stay strong. I'm here to help you."
Theo couldn't speak, but it didn't matter. Now that the darkness had released his mind, his thoughts flowed freely again. 'Mom?'
"I'll do everything I can, but I can't do it alone. So please, Theo. Fight back with all your might. Don't let him have his way."
Right. It didn't matter how powerful the Infernal Lord's Levia was. Theo had sworn to resist him, and that hadn't changed.
Grabbing hold of his determination, he reached for his own Levia. To his relief, it pulsed in response. Weak, but still burning fiercely. Especially with his mother's help.
But beyond the cocoon, he could feel the void rumbling as if caught in a sudden earthquake. There was no ground here, of course. No, this came from the shock storming within the Infernal Lord's Levia.
"What? This Levia...it can't be." Even through the cocoon, the Infernal Lord's voice shuddered in Theo's bones. "Sarieva!"