Iorrjaer

Chapter 45

Sorâth, Graphiel, Yophiel, Malka, and Barsabel seemed to be falling through a vortex. Their entrance into the ziggurat was not through the traditional door. They had to pass through a temporal dimension before they could properly enter the physical space the ziggurat occupied.

The experience was different for them, each had to face a part of themselves that they struggled to acknowledge. They had all gone through trials and tests as Kêdêmel spread his influence into the town, but he was also spreading the ziggurat's desire to have anyone near it, face themselves first.

Sorâth's test was simple: confronting his sister, Zâzel - the sister he had trapped within Kêdêmel's domain. He had to relive his decision to abandon her and consider that if he had not left and trapped her there, would the current events still be taking place?

Sorâth met each recall of events, thoughts, and consequences with the same stoic demeanour that he met everything else with. As everything washed over him, he made no emotional response. He reasoned that he knew that the ziggurat, through Kêdêmel, was searching for something, anything, to break his spirit. To cause him to question his decisions, and to put doubt into his mind. He had ignored and kept Kêdêmel away for the entirety of the journey; he supposed that now was as good a time as any to confront what Kêdêmel wanted to know. He was curious to find out what Kêdêmel could gain from knowing his side of the story.

He heard her voice calling out to him, asking him why he left her alone. That he should have trusted her. He should have brought her with him. They could have stopped Kêdêmel there and then, together.

You were not wanting to stop Kêdêmel. You were wanting to join him. Surpass and become him.

Father would have wanted me to join you. Father wanted me to join you. Father would not have agreed with your leaving me behind.

Father knew of your dark ambitions from the start. It was his plan for me to leave you in that domain. Trap you there as he set the trap for Kêdêmel.

Father wanted me trapped...

Yes. He knew that your ambitions were not for the benefit of the world. You coveted power and rule. Your ambitions for power exceeded knowledge and curiosity - you wanted absolute power. You wanted to bring the world to its heel.

I, we, were not going to let that happen. Father had already anticipated Kêdêmel's plan. You were a loose cannon, a liability, that he wanted to stop all threats to himself and to the world.

If father had let me join you,

The result would not have changed. Your hand in Kêdêmel's return would still be played. The only difference is that I would not have had the time to prepare.

Sorâth was the first through the vortex and the first to find himself in a small anteroom. He took a spot near, what he assumed was, the door that would lead further in and waited. He thought of his comrades and put his will into the air as a guide to help them find their way through their tests.

⸙

Graphiel was at his Paladin Trials. Standing before Mahrkus, Bne, the Paladin Eight, and his two competitors. They were all before the deity that they had chosen to pledge themselves to. One had gone for the obvious choice of Chami. She was gaining popularity and many wanted to be her champions as she rose. The other wanted to be a Paladin for Vettig, the God of Death.

Not because he coveted death or wanted to bring death to the world, he wanted to be an usher, a guide for those who had lost loved ones or for those who were struggling with their mortality. Being a Paladin of Vettig was a nobel choice and Graphiel admired his friend's choice to put himself aside and go for a deity that needed a true champion. Not one looking for ascension through proxy.