Realms Beyond

The Final Balance

Then it cleared, and I looked down at my body, the dagger buried in my chest. My heart continued to try and beat, and I was thankful. If I had immediately died it would have looked strange. But after a few agonizing seconds my heart stopped and my blood ran cold. I didn't move, not letting my spirit spread out to scan the room, I pulled in on myself. I pulled myself as small and inconspicuous as I could go. Then I watched.

A single tear threatened to drop from Kaen's eye, and I begged him not to spill it. His emotions were swirling, but I dare not touch them. Then he drew himself up, his back straightening. He looked at his dark master, letting triumph show on his face. He waited and he watched, and I tried my best to see past the dark joy that covered his face.

His master was siphoning my energy, building it into a bridge. I could feel it trembling in the air, my energy hating the touch of the master, hating that anyone was shaping it other than me. In all senses, it was my energy. For years I had been storing energy in my gems, and it was that energy the master now controlled. It was mine, a part of me, and it was more energy than the master had thought me capable of holding. It showed how powerful I had been, and appeared as if it were every last bit of my life force.

None of them knew that I hadn't given them any of the stuff that mattered. The energy they controlled was nothing. As my body drained of life, I felt its detachment. I was free, and my energy was growing. I could feel it. There was no anchor to hold me here now, no body to return to. My energy was growing bigger and bigger the longer I was alive and not dead. I didn't know how, but I was glad.

Then I realised where I was getting the extra energy from. The master didn't have complete control of what energy had been left in my body. There had been a lot, more than he could hold. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't hold it all. Bits kept escaping into the universe, and I could feel the beads of sweat growing on his brow, despite being something generally incapable of such stress. He had never suspected it to be this hard to hold so much power, to shape it. He was quickly learning why I was so unusual.

He finally managed to create the bridge, and I saw an image of my sister, riding far on the back of the horse-like being I had healed. Then suddenly the huge crack in the realm opened, and she was gone, the animal's hooves thundering from air to grassy ground. What was left of my energy pulled from the master of dark with such a sudden motion that he fell to the ground in pain. It followed my sister, disappearing where people from this realm could not follow.

Then the bridge fell apart, all the energy sustaining it being pulled to the other side. I felt it shut, felt the absence of my sister and my energy from this world like a part of me had been torn in half and thrown through the gap as well. I guess in some ways that was true, since it was my energy that followed her.

As soon as the dark master was preoccupied gathering himself, for he had almost lost control of my energy, I carefully probed my body, assessing the damage. My body was dead, of that I was sure. But that was okay, because I had the power to fix it. I retreated quickly as the master stood. The other masters began to leave as silently as they came. There was no cheering, no words. They witnessed, they left.

Then suddenly another form materialized, and I shivered. It was Uran, the grand master's closest ally, and he was rather fond of me. He was in the shape of a creature the size of an elephant, yet closely resembling a bull. Sharp spiraling horns came from his skull, two long ones from the forehead, two short ones from above each nostril. His tail was long and whip-like, with a poisonous barb at the end. His eyes burned crimson with anger.

He had been incredibly fond of me.

He must have sensed the loss of my energy as I died, since I had so well hidden that I was still here. That meant Grandmaster had also sensed it, and thought me dead. The fact that Uran was here, in the heart of enemy territory, meant more than I could fathom. He was risking the balance, and I had no idea how to stop it.