Moonshadow (Book 1 of the Torrent Skies Saga)

Chapter Twenty-Four: Savior, Pt 2

Byron sat cross-legged in front of the pedestal. Blood poured from one of his outstretched palms, and he watched as his ritual completed and the luxian he held in his hand turned to liquid and disappeared in a crackle of blue energy that flowed with an enchanting pattern. The Bloodstone pulsed a vibrant crimson, the long, glass tube in front of him glowing with energy for a moment before settling back into its dormant state. The combination of the Bloodstone and luxian ore was amazing. It took him far less time to accomplish his day's work. He looked at the cut across his hand as it sealed and faded with a shiver of pain, and he smiled to himself.

The space around him would seem like nothing more than a ruined courtyard to anyone else.

Even a fountain lay cracked and broken near the center of this underground chasm, unused for eons, forgotten by time, and given over to the area of myth seldom searched. He knelt inside a Reclaimer. One of only five in existence, it was a gigantic being. Not sentient or living once awoken, but that mattered little—as he would be the one to pilot it. He knew the amount of life essence he had to gather to awaken it was daunting, but that would not stop him. Along the far wall, a large glass tube stood, just outside of his vision unless it chose to glow. A console spanned the space beneath and around it. It was what he would use when this titan finally awakened. It would rise from its deep long-forgotten tomb and walk across the world once again, its footsteps spanning miles. It was said these Reclaimers could stand in the depths of the ocean and still tower over the tallest of ships.

The thought of it made him shiver—for the power it would offer him was world shattering. He sometimes wondered if these monstrosities were what once rendered this plane into its current state. If anything had the power to break the land, shift the oceans and change the cycles, it was the Reclaimer. He had searched for so long, to find one of these, and he knew that the only way to survive once it was awakened was to be standing on the inside.

He was so close—a little more energy was all he needed. He wanted it to be spectacular, special, something his goddess would approve of. Arnet had a number of pets with rare bloodlines, but Byron did not find them good enough. He wanted something rare, pure, something unmistakably special. He wanted angelic blood to give to his goddess. So few of them ever walked this plane. Walked any but their home planes, for that matter. Byron smiled.

He knew of one such being, and he knew exactly how to have him.

Byron had cut off communication between Anklestrap and O'siaris already, allowing no messengers to leave, and ignoring any that came. Panic would soon be useful, and he was close enough now that it was a chore that no longer needed doing. But he knew how Graiden would react. He was predictable as a snow storm in the winters. An odd trait, for a man who once stole his food and clothing.

He knew Graiden would send someone he trusted to check in and figure out why this lapse in communication had happened, and he knew they would not be just any soldiers. He would send someone closer to him, to keep his worries quiet from the men. There was a chance that Gregorio was not the one he would ask, but he had known Graiden for a long time. The man was simple and just. Graiden had his priorities in order, which meant if he could avoid sending Sahn-Raidar itself, he would.

People outside of their ranks tended to have more freedom and fewer cares about the consequences should they push their luck too far. He thought it poetically fitting that his self-named apprentice would help him, even unwittingly. He would so easily fall into this trap.

Graiden would send him the final piece of his salvation.

He took a deep breath, standing and straightening his armor. Soon, he would make the world scream. Give his goddess all the pain and suffering she desired, and he would be rewarded. He had waited so long to see the faces of those he loved, again. All he had to do was complete this task, and he could be with them again, and wipe away the terrible memories to replace them with vibrant ones.