Chapter 267 - From the Ashes Rises a High Elf
Katherine Evenhart:
We were in the courtyard, watching the men disperse. But my mind was elsewhere, on someone I needed to see more than anything. My son. The weight of longing squeezed my chest with every passing second he didn't show up.
"Is he still in the dungeon?" Margaery asked, her voice full of concern.
"Yes, he is. He positioned the stone woman's golem at the door so no one can get close," Martha answered.
I sighed, a mix of relief and restlessness coursing through me. The fact that the golem was still active was a good sign. We knew Nathan was fine, especially considering the chaos he had left behind. The bodies of the Ten Fingers... Their state spoke more than any word could.
It's my fault, Nathan. All of this... The thought suffocated me. Because of my weakness, you've suffered so much.
"My nephew must be really angry," Margie continued. "Nikolaus Wolves is already a dead man, though I wanted to take out some of my hatred. But that's Nathan's right."
"A little of your 'hatred'? Those nobles will crap their pants every time they hear the name 'Evenhart,'" Hugo said with a smile. We laughed, but it was a laugh heavy with exhaustion.
Cylla was hidden in the forest, out of sight, following my request to try and shrink her size.
That's when everything changed.
BOOM!
The castle shook violently, swaying as if it were about to collapse from its foundations. Structures began to crumble, and cracks snaked across the walls. Soldiers ran in a panic.
"What's happening?" Margaery shouted, as a soldier rushed toward us, panic evident on his face.
"We don't know, lady! The entire ground is emitting shocks, and lightning is exploding somewhere inside the castle!"
My heart raced.
The ground vibrated, the air growing heavier by the second.
KABOOM!
The sky erupted in thunder, and dark clouds swirled above us.
"What's going on!?" Hugo shouted, trying to be heard over the howling wind. The sky, which had been clear, was overtaken by dark clouds that seemed to consume the white ones, gathering directly over the castle.
Suddenly, a purple lightning bolt ascended from the ground near the castle, striking the clouds. They glowed intensely and began emitting purple lightning, as if they had been imbued with that strange energy.
"I don't believe it!" Margaery exclaimed, irritated. "Why is Nathan doing this? He was forbidden from using this spell!"
As soon as she spoke those words, the recognition hit me like a blow. My heart froze.
"No!" I shouted, trying to run toward the castle, but Margaery held me firmly by the arm.
The castle began vibrating even more violently. Fallen shields on the ground started to be drawn toward the walls with force, sticking as if pulled by a magnet. Soon after, swords began to be sucked in with the same terrifying speed.
"Get away, idiot!" Margaery shouted, summoning a gust of wind that pushed the soldiers away from the pull of the force. Everything around the castle was being sucked in, and some soldiers began ripping off their armor as they ran for their lives.
"We better get back!" Hugo shouted, pushing us forcefully.
"Shit! Damn!" Margaery exclaimed in frustration, but she relented, agreeing with Hugo. "If that boy dies, I swear I'll find a way to kill him again!"
A silence took over the sky. Then, a violet light cut through the darkness, followed by a purple lightning bolt that descended at high speed, striking the castle with a devastating crash.
KABOOOOOOM!
The impact was deafening. The purple light shone with such intensity that I closed my eyes, but even so, the brightness still pierced through. A wave of air swept across the area, throwing us to the ground with brutal force. The glass of nearby buildings shattered in sync with the impact.
A buzzing echoed in my ears as I tried to recover. When the brightness dissipated, I saw that part of the castle had collapsed, falling into a massive hole that had opened in the ground. The dungeon's foundations beneath the castle had been destroyed. Nearby houses had also sunk, and the ground seemed deformed, with parts of it raised unevenly.
A deep pain gripped me. My heart felt heavy, as though it might tear through my chest.
"Nathan!" I screamed, frantic, getting up and running toward the castle.
In the sky, I spotted Cylla flying at high speed in the same direction. The feeling of loss and fear consumed me as I ran, unsure of what I would find ahead.
Hugo Riverclimb:
We ran past the area, leaping over the debris. The destruction was evident. Katherine and Margaery led the way, moving in desperation. I struggled to keep from tripping, as the terrain was treacherous, with stones and wreckage scattered everywhere. The ground was cracked and fragmented, and part of the castle had collapsed, falling into a huge hole that had opened up in the dungeon area.
A powerful spell... a banned-level spell... the kind considered so dangerous that even a mage from the kingdom could end up in prison for using it.
We walked toward the center of the chaos, where a crater had taken the place of the ground, which had sunk into the dungeon area below.
Katherine and Margaery descended in despair, and Cylla, in her dragon form, was crouched over something at the bottom of the crater. She raised her head and let out a roar that made the ground tremble. In desperation, she lowered her head again, frantically digging through the ground.
As I approached, I saw the young master, Nathan, unconscious. His body was covered in wounds, completely covered in soot. His clothes were torn, and part of his arms was raw, with the skin exposed. The fingers on one of his hands were completely broken, the bones out of place, leaving him in a critically alarming state.
"ROOOOAAAR!" Cylla roared in desperation, her agony evident as she looked at Nathan, unconscious.
"Please, help me, Martha!" Katherine cried, holding Nathan in her arms, trembling in fear.
Margaery, trying to stay calm, created a ball of water and began to clean his face while checking to see if he was still alive.
"Help my nephew!" Margaery pleaded desperately.
"Calm down!" Martha shouted, taking Nathan from Katherine's arms. "He needs to stay flat." Placing him on the ground, her hands began to glow as she used healing water to surround Nathan's body.
"How is he? Please, tell me!" Katherine, panicking, couldn't take her eyes off him. Margaery, anxious, nervously bit her nail.
"It's bad. Very bad," Martha responded, evaluating him carefully. "Everything inside him is a mess. One of his lungs stopped working, and other organs are failing. His heart is slowing down... The spell used his body as an energy conduit, and he couldn't handle it."
"Nathan is dying..." Martha completed, her voice heavy with concern.
"ROOOOOOAAAR!" Cylla's roar echoed with desperate fury, as she pushed us away with her massive head, driving anyone attempting to approach Nathan. Katherine tried to calm her, but the dragon persisted, forcing us back with uncontrollable strength. I was thrown aside, unable to resist. Martha, determined to continue the healing, tried to return, but before she could get close, Cylla opened her mouth and unleashed a torrent of flames directly onto Nathan.
We froze, terrified, not understanding what was happening. The flames surrounded Nathan, and as they appeared, Cylla began to shrink before our eyes, her powerful flames dwindling as she returned to the dragon size she had when she was in the cave.
When it finally ceased, the fire disappearing into the air, we all stood stunned. Nathan was completely unharmed, not a single burn on him, his clothes intact, as though the flames had been nothing more than a breeze around him.
Immune...
He really is immune to her fire.
Nathan had always warned us about this, and although I had seen Cylla spitting small fireballs at him when she was just a little bird, I never imagined his immunity would reach this level.
Martha quickly ran to reevaluate him.
"He's healed..." Martha said, surrounding Nathan with healing water. "Everything's fixed, inside and out."
Cylla lowered her head and gave Nathan a gentle kiss. Shortly after, her body glowed with an intense radiance, and within seconds, she returned to the form of a small phoenix. She flew slowly to Nathan's side, gently landing beside him and fainting.
Martha placed her hand over her. "They've both passed out completely, exhausted all their mana. They're in a critical state with their reserves. Their bodies shut down. They'll be sleeping for a few days."
Katherine and Margaery, a mix of relief and despair, rushed to embrace Nathan, carefully placing the small red bird in his lap.
"My son..." Katherine whispered, tears streaming down as she held him lovingly in her arms.
"You only give me trouble..." Margaery murmured, her eyes welling up as she stroked Nathan's face.
He was completely covered in soot. Sifu appeared beside me, descending into the crater, probably having witnessed the destruction from afar while escorting the nobles out of the fortress region to their homes.
I stared at the young master and then at the destruction around me.
Who's more dangerous? Him or the dragon?
Margaery and Katherine began cleaning him up, creating a water bubble to remove the dirt covering his body. He was soaked in soot, and as they cleaned every detail, a small unexpected glow began to appear in his hair, catching our attention.
"It can't be..." Margaery murmured, incredulous.
"What is it?" I asked, approaching with the others.
We formed a circle around Nathan, watching carefully to see what had changed.
"The hair..." my wife said, shocked.
"Completely silver," Sifu affirmed, his voice firm, yet also surprised.
Nathan's hair, once dark, now shimmered like pure silver, not a single strand of any other color. The white-silver tone was so clear that it reflected the sunlight with a softness almost ethereal, as though he himself emitted a subtle glow.
The contrast between his silver hair and pale skin accentuated his striking appearance even more. Each lock seemed sculpted by nature itself, giving him a mystical presence.
Looking at Nathan now evoked a sense of fascination, similar to the effect Adrihna used to have on people.
"Get me a cloth! Quickly!" Margaery shouted, hurriedly. "We need to cover his head so no one outside sees him."
I doubt anyone would have the courage to tell anything we asked to keep secret...
Martha, without hesitation, fiddled with her bracelet and pulled out a towel.
We were all surprised by her readiness.
"It's a servant's duty to always be prepared," she explained practically.
Margaery quickly covered Nathan's head with the towel. "I've had a full day. First, I hid a war, a massacre, and then the existence of a dragon. I can't handle anything more today."
"We need to get Nathan out of here. I want to take my son to an infirmary. He... he's never drained his mana like this before..." Katherine said, her voice filled with concern.
Margaery nodded, sharing the same urgency.
The limbo state was a dangerous stage, where a mage completely exhausted their mana, falling into an uncertain sleep. In extreme cases, this state could lead to death.
I stepped forward and offered my help. "I'll carry the young master and the little phoenix. Did we manage to get a carriage? It'll be nostalgic. After all, I brought this boy to the castle years ago just like this."
Nathan Evenhart:
Fire... It holds countless nuances of power and intensity. The most common is the orange flame, but fire can be molded, elevated to a higher level, where its color transforms. A skilled fire mage can reach blue fire, a stage where the heat doesn't just burn—it destroys.
And what if this principle was applied to lightning? That's what occurred to me. After all, nature already shows this phenomenon. The interaction between positive and negative charges causes the electrical discharge that generates lightning, but under extreme conditions, it can reach a purple hue. A lightning bolt that exceeds the limits of heat and becomes something greater, something devastating.
Purple lightning is a rare phenomenon, where the temperature of the electricity becomes unbearably high. Similar to blue fire, but infinitely more chaotic. This intensity creates an explosion within the structure of the lightning itself, distorting its composition and forging its purple hue. However, to achieve this, it was necessary to create a boiling point for the electric energy.
The problem? The lightning is unstable. It dissipates before it can even be molded. The purple hue is not the result of something that happens afterward, but rather an event that occurs before, at the very instant the electricity surpasses any known limits. I needed a vessel capable of containing and concentrating the electricity until this point of rupture.
Then, I looked inward. To my own mana gem.
The mana that flows through this gem is the basis of everything. It travels through the body, adopting the elemental property. What I did was dangerous. I concentrated all the mana in my gem, forcing it to align with the electric element and amplifying its intensity. I didn't just channel the energy—I forced it to exceed its own limits while still inside the mana gem.
When I released that energy to strike the clouds, the atmospheric phenomenon reacted. The clouds were attracted and contaminated, transforming into storms of purple lightning. However, magical energy of such magnitude is not something that can be freely controlled. It always returns to its point of origin like a magnet, just as a lightning bolt always strikes down, attracted to the ground. And the point of attraction? It was me.
My body became the conductor. To transfer this electricity, I had to touch it, but the price was high. The spell consumed me from the inside, cooking my flesh and destroying my body. It was cataloged as banned, an extreme power, but self-destructive.
I knew this. I've always known.
When I first used it, as a child, I nearly died. My organs were cooked, my blood was boiling. It was as though parts of it were evaporating. The pain was indescribable. This spell is not something you can train with. Each use takes a piece of me. And now, here I am again, paying the price.
But... why am I remembering this?
Ah... I understand now. I'm in limbo. That's why everything is dark. The Aspect of Life has finished its effect. My mana has been drained to the extreme, and my mind now drifts through this eternal darkness, where time seems to not exist. Or is it... that I'm dead?
The darkness... it seems alive. It pulses. It whispers... it calls me, inviting me to become part of it.
How much time has passed? Days? Years? Or was it just an instant? Who am I? What is this around me? Why was I thinking of lightning and its colors? I no longer know anything.
Am I dead? Will I be like this forever? Just a voice in the darkness?
And if this is my fate, can anyone hear me?
"I can…" a voice echoed in the darkness, soft yet cutting. My eyes desperately searched for its source, but there was no one visible. The presence, however, was unmistakable. Someone was there, watching me. Even from a distance, that gaze weighed on me. Suddenly, the voice ceased and, like a fleeting shadow, it disappeared.
Then the pain hit me. Not a common pain, but something deep, tearing at my mind and soul. All my memories returned at once, overwhelming, relentless. Images of two lives intertwined before me, each with its beginning, its distinct paths. One life had ended, while the other had persisted. Familiar faces began to emerge from the abyss of my memory. I remembered their names, the feelings I held for each of them, the weight of each connection.
"Nathan Evenhart…" I murmured, focusing on the sound of my own name as if rediscovering it after an eternity. "I understand... I still exist. This is me."
With that certainty, I felt my physical body reforming in the void of limbo. I began to fall, an endless drop in that unfathomable darkness. When I finally hit the ground, it was as if the entire impact had been absorbed by the void. I felt no pain. I was conscious, completely awake.
I'm conscious in limbo... this... shouldn't be possible.
My entire body shuddered as I looked up. I was being watched. Two pairs of giant red eyes were fixed on me, hovering like flames in the dark. Before I could comprehend, another pair of eyes appeared next to them, and then another. Three pairs of crimson eyes stared at me, each pulsing with an overwhelming presence.
The darkness around began to dissipate, revealing what was once unimaginable. Three giant figures emerged, larger than a castle. They were dark entities, seated on equally massive thrones. Their faces, carved like ebony statues, seemed frozen in intense emotions: the first, marked by sadness, had a sculpted tear that would never fall. The second face emanated an inextinguishable rage, as if each line was a contained scream. The third, right in the center, displayed a disturbing smile, a reflection of distorted happiness that seemed to mock those who stared at it.
The air around trembled with their presence. It was as though reality itself was being tainted, poisoned by something primal and deeply evil. I remained still, trying to comprehend these presences.
What are these figures?
"They are demons…" a deep voice whispered beside me. I turned, only to find the orange glow of the eyes of the massive serpent that inhabited my soul. "That's what the 'Illuminated' really are. They are not gods. They are demonic beings."