Chapter 516: Love (Patreon)

“My, oh my. Lin-Lu’s worries were right after all. You really are more than any of us could have imagined.”

Stryg turned to the voice. A pair of iridescent eyes were watching him from the shadows of the wreckage. A woman, no, a giant, stepped out from the shadows. Jade hair, almost as pale as snow. Warm brown skin. And curling pink lips

A capelet of black feathers hugged her shoulders and a dress of darkness was wrapped around her body.

Stryg couldn’t help but stare in mute surprise. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and yet he couldn’t help but feel terrified at her presence. He recognized those eyes, irises constantly shifting through infinite colors.

“You’re the Monster.”

She smiled wryly, “Oh, child. We are both Monsters.”

Stryg frowned. “You’re The Monster in the Dark.”

She took off her capelet and tossed it over him. On his small frame, the capelet of feathers was more of a cloak. “I am Ananta. I believe you and I are due for a talk.”

“What do you want?” he asked warily.

She ignored the question and looked around at the wreckage of the merchant’s house. “You certainly made quite the entrance. Though, I imagine if your powers hadn’t exploded in the sky the destruction down here would have been far more drastic.” She laughed, “You would have obliterated half the Villa District I reckon.”

Her words brought back fragments, flashes of silver-blue light, and a freezing inferno threatening to swallow him whole. He held his head in his hands and grimaced. “I… did that?”

“Oh, yes, it was quite the sight. You killed several dragons. Of course, you also killed three of my precious dragonbane in the process,” she muttered, then shrugged, “Not that I’m complaining. Kaleidrog was so stunned by your eruption that I was able to deal a fatal blow to him.”

“Kaleidrog?”

“Oh, he would have hated you, believe me. But you don’t have to worry about him anymore. All thanks to you. You and I make a good team, don’t you agree?”

As she spoke, Stryg searched with his eyes through the wreckage for Svartna. He spotted the orichalcum spear lying underneath a broken limestone column.

“Svartna,” he whispered. 

Nothing happened. He repeated the words. The ebon spear did not answer.

Ananta followed his troubled gaze. “There is no need for that. Did you think I was going to hurt you?” She laughed lightly, “How many times must I tell you, I am your friend.”

He furrowed his brow. “Friend?”

“Did you not get the letter I sent to you at Undergrowth?”

Stryg looked down and recalled the words. “If you are ever in need of a true friend, you need only look into the shadows,” he muttered.

“Signed, Your dear friend, Ann.” She grinned, “You do remember.”

“Why did you send me that?” he asked cautiously.

“Because I am your friend, of course. Though, I’m not certain you are mine,” she chuckled. “Nonetheless, I have been your friend ever since we met 4 years ago.”

“F-Four? The first time we met was in the Dark Fringe, that was two years ago.”

“So you do remember the Dark Fringe, that’s good, I wasn’t certain you would. That place devours everything, even such ethereal things as memories if you’re not careful. I hoped the awakening of your powers would restore your broken memories.”

Stryg narrowed his eyes, “What do you know of my memories?”

“But it seems not,” she said wryly. “Ah well, no matter.”

“Why are you here? Why are you attacking Hollow Shade?” He struggled to his feet. “What do you want?”

“All important questions. I’m not certain you are ready for all those answers.”

“You’d answer them if you’re really my friend.”

She smirked, “Well spoken. Hmm, I suppose we have some time. Very well.” Ananta walked up to him. 

Stryg unconsciously took a step back. She towered over him, he didn’t even reach her hip. Her mere presence reminded him of the dragonbane. Her aura was cold, almost lifeless, but it did not devour the magic in the air like the dragonbane, it was self-contained, like a predator watching its prey.

Ananta tossed her dagger aside. Votum clattered to the floor near Svartna and the two orichalcum weapons hummed with resonating power. Ananta lowered herself and sat in front of Stryg with crossed legs, even then she still was taller than him.

“You wish to know why I’m here? Why I kill these— people you deem friends?” she asked quietly, her iridescent eyes alight with interest.

“Yes.”

“Are you certain? You may not like what you hear.”

“...Yes,” he nodded somewhat hesitantly.

“Hm,” she smiled knowingly. “Our story begins before the Schism shattered the Realm Bridges, before the Nexus Age when the mortal Parathyan created the Realm Gates, before the scholars of old tried to put back the world in the Age of Memory…” Her eyes darkened for a moment, “Before the Sundering shattered the Realm into ten. Our story begins long ago, when the realm’s World Soul was still young.”

“Back then only elemental species and animals roamed the land. Conflict was common. The younger elemental species fought against one another for the small bits of land they had carved out and called their own. As for the rest of the land, well, most of it was claimed by the wilds, and the rest belonged to the elder elementals and they rarely shared anything.”

“But among the 11 elder elemental species, first of the World Soul’s creations, there was one that was different from the rest. One species who was not beholden to their nature, for their nature was ever-changing. Not even the World Soul could predict their motives, desires, and aspirations. They were wonderfully unique and the World Soul fell in love with these people, the Titans.”

“She loved them so much that she imparted a fragment of her own essence into an unborn titan child. And so the World Soul’s first and only child was born into the Realm. Her name was Love, for the fragment her mother imparted into her was the culmination of her love.”

“She sounds… powerful,” Stryg admitted.

“She was,” Ananta said warmly. “Love was the only being in the entire world gifted with the powers of the World Soul, powers far greater than any of her kindred. The titans considered her birth a divine blessing and they were most proud. Some of the other elder elementals were not so welcoming of Love. The Behemoths were distrustful. The Phoenixes outright hated her. While others such as the Sea Serpents did not care whatsoever and preferred the solitude of their oceans.”

“None of this stopped Love, of course. Like her mother, she cared for the titans, in fact, Love cared about all elemental species, not only the elder kind, but the younger and mortal species as well. Even as a child, she set out to protect them, fighting any beast or monster that tried to harm the mortals or their settlements. She inspired many titans in the wake of her achievements and soon enough, many began to follow her, not just titans but mortal elementals as well.”

“In time, Love would build her own territory around their lands, a bulwark to protect all who lived inside, mortal or immortal, it did not matter to her. And it was for that very reason that they adored her and crowned her their queen. From that day forward, she would be known to her people as the Titan Queen, Selyndra.”

Ananta opened her arms wide and smiled softly, “And so the Age of Titans began. For over a thousand years, the Vesir Queendom prospered under Love’s reign. They grew and developed, not only as a people, but in various fields; engineering, agriculture, architecture… magic. One day, her greatest scholars developed a way to pierce the Dark Fringe that separated our world from the Null and peer into the Null’s endless expanse.”

“Spurred by curiosity and the desire to connect, Love sent out a call into the Null, and she sent one out every day hence, for several decades. Until, one day, someone answered. His voice traveled across the Null, curious and soft-spoken.”

“Love was ecstatic and with the help of her scholars and her own immense power they managed to build a gate, a doorway for this strange visitor to arrive through the darkness of the Null. When he stepped through the gate the Titans were surprised, he was a primordial being like the World Soul, but unlike her, he was not bound to a planet. He had a corporeal form that could roam from one world to another. He was a quiet, curious— wanderer. He called himself Unildyr.”

 “Like all primordials, Unildyr was the progenitor of his own unique ethereal energy, or mana. It was far more aggressive than most, for his energy devoured all others. We called it the Dark, though scholars nowadays would refer to it as void.”

“Void mana…?” Stryg whispered in realization.

“Indeed. As its progenitor, Unildyr’s natural aura was so great that it was like poison to anyone who came too close. As you can imagine, many in the Vesir Queendom feared this power. Some held more resistance to his aura than others, but none could stay in his presence for long, save one, Love.”

“Love wasn’t scared of Unildyr, in fact, she was drawn to him. She wanted to know more about the vast sea of darkness that was the Null and the worlds beyond her own. Unildyr happily obliged, for he found her company soothing.”

“Unfortunately, he could not stay for long. He may not have been a bound primordial like the World Soul, but he was a primordial nonetheless, and he had obligations in other worlds. So, after a time, Unildyr left. He returned every so often, sometimes after a few days, other times after several years. And every time he returned, Love was there waiting for him.”

“The two quickly became friends and soon something more. One day, after Unildyr had left, Love discovered she was pregnant.” Ananta clasped her hands together and bowed her head, “Unfortunately, the blood of Unildyr ran through her unborn child and it carried not only her own power but her lover’s. The unborn child’s void aura was poisoning Love from the inside, and not even she was immune to its effects.”

“Her council urged her to not have the baby. But Love refused to give up on her unborn child. She desperately waited for Unildyr to return, but the Null was a place of boundless darkness, the fact that she had even managed to reach Unildyr the first time was nothing short of a miracle. Trying to send a direct message to him through the gate without some sort of direction was practically impossible. And so the months passed by and Love’s condition grew worse. Still, she did not give up, even when her own mother, the World Soul, advised her to save her own life. In the end, the Titan Queen passed away as she gave birth to her daughter…” Ananta smiled sadly, “Me.”

“You’re Love’s daughter?” Stryg whispered in surprise.

“I am.” She inclined her head,  “I am Ananta, last Queen of the Titans, and daughter of the first Titan Queen, Selyndra, and the Dark Visitor, Unildyr. Like you, I am a hybrid.”

Despite her imposing appearance and the nature of her tale, her words somehow brought comfort to Stryg. He shook his head at the thought. “Why are you attacking Hollow Shade? What does a story about your family have to do with any of this?”

“Everything.”

The look of sincerity in her eyes gave Stryg pause. Her gaze was deep, almost unfathomable, but he could see something at the end, for he recognized it within himself, pain. A pain that would not disappear, no matter how many years passed. “You lost your mother.”

“It seems so have you.”

He glared at her. “Because of your monsters.”

“It was never my intention to hurt your mother. I am sorry, Stryg,” her words were quiet, but they held no malice or mockery. “You must see me as a monster. I suppose I am, but this world sees me as nothing else. I only ask that you give me a chance to show you otherwise.”

Stryg tried to awaken the burning rage that had been consuming him a few minutes earlier, but whatever power within him had erupted in the sky had stolen what little feelings he had left. He was exhausted and he could hardly muster an ember of anger. 

“Someday I am going to kill you,” he muttered.

“I am certain you will try.”

Stryg sighed and sat down. “Your father… Did he ever return?” 

“He did, though I was already a teenager by then. I was raised by my aunt, my mother’s younger sister, an ordinary titan, untouched by the World Soul. Before my father’s arrival, when I was still but a toddler, there was another visitor to our realm, in fact, several, all at once.”

“After my mother’s death, my people did not send any more messages into the Null, my aunt forbade it. But the gate was to remain open, as per my mother’s last wishes. My people did not call for these new visitors, no, they found us on their own. They burst from the Null gate in a colorful display of fire. They shot into the sky and scattered across the land, like meteors crashing into the earth.”

“Some of our best warriors were sent out to investigate. After a week, they discovered a crash. But what they found was not what anyone expected. It was an egg. And from it hatched the first of the chromatic species in our world, a dragon.”