The Relistar: Rejoining Vol. 2

Rejoining | Ch. 15

XV.

Disaster

BURN THIS PLACE ASUNDER. MAY EVRA REPLENISH THE ASHES.

Fire. Brimstone. Ruin.

The Petal had collapsed. Stone fell into the world, forgetting what had once hid beneath that grandiose city structure in favor of void – colorless and colorful at once. The world above and below had become a gradient of every horrible and beautiful shade. Empty and full. Dark and light.

Some sections of flaming city still remained floating – chunks of stone steps and platforms all in disarray and disjunction, as though they'd been held up by some invisible matter, some otherworldly force that was now invading their plane. The rest of Calamon was safe – for now.

Serkukan stood two platforms away from Kogar. They were separated by about fifty paces.

But Serkukan's sleek armor was pulsating unusually. It was potent, full of esera. It was vibrant in that ruined section of Caloria. Vibrant in the hole of their world.

"Disaster." Kogar said.

"And Calamity, next." Serkukan answered. He knew the man's intent.

He couldn't reach his dragon form, for Cedric lay unconscious inside; his heart had stopped beating, but the raw esera would be enough to pump him back to life – so long as he timed the revival right. The same was true for Faunia and Marisol, who still lay on that platform with the dancers who hadn't fallen into the void.

SOME CANNOT BE SAVED, CEDRIC. THAT MUCH WILL EVER BE KNOWN.

He thought of Liara. He thought of Cromer.

I AM TAINTED BY YOUR MIND, MORE THAN ANYTHING.

Kogar vanished soundlessly. The sky flared.

BUT I CAN SAVE THESE FEW.

And then the two-tone angel reappeared above him, with his wings splayed out in golden radiance...

X

"That was a wicked thought you had, Cedric."

Cedric didn't respond. He couldn't see. Couldn't smell. He had no idea where he was.

"A wish for purity. A wish for all things to be razed and began anew."

Then he could see. That narrow alleyway, with the pale archways overhead blocking out the sunlight. Where Rithi stood across from him. He could see himself, too, stood at a distance from Rithi. Tears were in the eyes of his former self.

"I thought only of the possibility. Evra demands order–"

"Order has its own consequence." Akvum stepped into his view, down the alley. "Order would see millions of lives sent to death – have you any idea how many a single million is?"

He tried to shut his eyes but couldn't rid himself of the vision.

Akvum snarled, "If Evra is set free... you would destroy the world as it is."

"And what if it's better? What if through that... what if I could make a place that isn't hell?"

"Calamon isn't hell. But it desires chaos to function. It is a balance that must exist."