The Revelation of the Vine: Graft

Chapter 34: What is, What was, and What is to Come

   A wild moment of chaos ensued, as my body struggled to break free of Jurgen's iron grip. I crashed against the walls inside my own mind as I was tossed around. I saw Vhalrin's eyes start to waver as he stared at me with Jurgen behind me. "But I'll kill you too, J, I can't. You're all we have left." He said, letting his sword fall a little. "Don't bloody worry about that shade," he screamed. His voice was right next to my ear, but still sounded far away, "We'll all be together again in the Core. Now do it!" Vhalrin raised his blade and began to charge forward, a fierce cry emerged from his mouth. I thought it was all going to end, but my body lifted its legs and kicked Vhalrin in the chest, sending him sprawling back across the room. He slid toward the cross section of the energy pillar, as his sword scattered away from him across the floor. Atreios and Rahlix were there to catch him before he slid over the edge, but his sword was halfway across the chamber. "Where did you get this strength?" My body roared as Jurgen wiggled around on its back. "I got it from the Core, you empty hole," he screamed right back, trying to deaden his weight and force the body to stop jerking. "Virgil," a still voice called out through my mind, I recognized it but couldn't remember how. "Virgil, I am with you." The voice began to comfort me with each word. "The time has come. Do you remember?" I suddenly remembered the Voice, it was the Mender. It was the one I heard in the dream while the Seeds were still being Sown, and the Voice that we all heard in our Rest; the Voice in the colors. But it didn t carry any ethereal form this time. It was just calm and small, and it brought with it the memories of my forgotten Rest. It had been a vision of what was about to come that I saw in my last Rest. The Mender had explained to me everything that would happen up until now, including the fact that I would have to forget this knowledge until the end. It was hard to question the Mender. He always seemed to have the answer prepared before the thoughts even arose. We would all be dead right now if I hadn't forgotten. It was the hidden sense that kept me going, that kept the Corruption from fully absorbing my mind until now. I also knew what would happen next, and it put me at ease. "The door of the Shadow lies before you, but do not be afraid; you will emerge into restful Light, and I will still be with you." I suddenly felt calmed, and warm again; I no longer focused on what was happening outside of my body, in the world where it rampaged against my friends. "A change is coming to the Transition, and the Light shall anoint the last Lemniscata." "I remember everything, Mender. Thank you," I said, as the battle outside continued. My body had broken free of Jurgen's hold, and they battled ferociously around the chamber. Vhalrin had collected his sword and the rookies huddled around between the stairwells. "Graft," The Voice said, and the word echoed around me without end. The cages of my mind fell down, and my head suddenly filled with Light. My body stuttered for a moment in the midst of the battle as if weakened. I saw Jurgen, who had received multiple new stab wounds during the fighting, take the opportunity to reach around and grab my body again. "Do it now, Vhalrin. I'm getting weaker!" Jurgen's voice came out hoarse, between large breaths. The world swung around as Jurgen wrenched my body to the side, and Vhalrin's fiery, blue eyes blazed in the distance. His sword was gripped with two hands, and he held it perpendicular to his ribs pointed toward us. I saw his visage change as he Vine Shifted; a black void, and then a brilliant white light filled it from within. Witnessing it for the first time under this new circumstance, I understood more about what Kivan had been trying to say, as the memories from my Rest filled in the missing words. About us not being what we thought we were. There was light and darkness in our forms. We were still part of the Transition, while the Corruption had come from the Shadow Realms. It suddenly made sense. We were Knights of the Transition. We weren't strong enough to face the new threat of the Void-Lords. All this time we had been fighting the All-flesh, which were just living remains of human beings. And the Soulless, which were just reconstituted DNA. They were all part of the Transition. It made sense that we were able to fight them, but now that the Void-Lords had come, we had to become stronger -- they had to become stronger, and that meant they needed all of the power of the generations to themselves. Vhalrin stood across the chamber in front of the new knights. My body didn't struggle against Jurgen's hold anymore, as the light that was shining from Vhalrin and from within was strong enough to stun it. A strange sensation crossed my mind as Vhalrin began to rush toward me; somehow, I knew that what I was seeing right then was the past, present, and future. The sword came down, and my vision split, as his blade struck my head. The last things that I saw were Vhalrin's eyes curl up into the back of his head, the light that shined from him faded, and he let go of his blade then fell from my sight. The light around me shattered, and I felt myself spiral outward, as if being sucked through a vortex. I saw my body slump down as it stared through one eye looking up, and the other was looking down at a close up of the floor. The knights rushed past the left eye that looked up, and I heard their voices fade as they screamed for Jurgen and Vhalrin. The lights went out, and I left that horrible body.