Chương 123: Chapter 122- The Promise

" … no no no…"" … just hold on…"" … going to hurt…" Elias gasped jolting upright with a scream of pain, he had thought his arm had felt as if it had been on fire before, but now it truly did as a ripple of searing heat scoured his nerves for a bare moment before going suddenly silent as the nerves died. A horrible throbbing ache persisted in its wake, and Eli struggled to sit up despite something weighing heavy on his chest.

He was laying on a cold stone floor, and a freezing wind whipped through the air around them, he could hear Astra speaking nearby the words muffled by the low roar of the air current." You can let him up Tia, I'm done now." The weight on his chest shifted as the wing membrane covering his face lifted, and Tia crawled off his chest as she fixed him with a worried gaze. How do you feel Brother?

He spoke in a voice hoarse from screaming, and shook his head as he cleared the wooziness left over from the pain, " Been better, Tia, but I'm still here." Astra was leaning over his left arm, pinning it to the ground underneath her, and as she heard him speak she rocked backwards off the limb, kneeling on the ground next to him.

Her face was coated in a layer of dust and blood, tears tracing paths through the grime, as she looked over at him with a trembling lip, a sense of overwhelming relief welling up through the tether. Eli went to reach for her only to wince as he remembered what happened. As no hand appeared to cup her cheek, he glanced down and looked at the seared stump that was all that remained of his forearm below the elbow.

He heard a single quiet sob as he felt a wave of remorse wash down the tether, and he glanced up sharply as silent tears poured down Astra's face." I'm so sorry… your arm. I… There was nothing I could do." He reached over with the other arm to pull her close, embracing her as he tried to send a wave of reassurance back through the tether." It's fine. You're still alive, and that's a worthy trade. One I would make every time."" We'll figure it out later, help me stand."

Astra ducked under one shoulder as she heaved him from the ground up on his feet, and as he stood Eli stared at their surroundings, " What the…"" Just how long was I out?" They stood at the edge of the ritual formation, the pulses coming so rapidly that they were nearly a constant stream, but they were no longer in a cavern underground.

The spatial explosion had ripped the cavern apart, and all that was left was a vast crater, rows of vineyard trellises hanging broken over the rim as large chunks of earth continued slumping inwards. The crater was outside the castle grounds, but close enough that the rim of the couple hundred foot wide opening nearly reached the outer wall, sections of which were crumbling into the far side of the crater as they spoke.

Eli heard a loud low groan and watched as one tower leaned precariously before slumping along the rim, scattering chunks of stone and rubble down into the cavern below as a cloud of dust billowed out washing over them. The dust cloud was quickly cleared by the driving wind and snow, he assumed the rogue mage was still at large as the blizzard had yet to be broken.

He turned back to Astra as she spoke, giving him a playful jab to the ribs, " Only a few minutes, it was very touch and go for a bit as Tia and I had a couple hundred pounds of dead weight to drag around while we were dodging the falling rocks." She turned to take in their surroundings, "The Viscount had buried this place deep, but apparently not deep enough."

Astra turned back towards Eli as she gestured towards Tia, " Once everything stopped crashing down for a moment and we had time to breathe, Tia helped hold you down while I cauterized your arm." She glanced down at the stump, a trace of guilt rippling across her face once more, " If Ms Farrier had been here we might have been able to save your arm, but I am no healer and sealing the wound was the only way to save your life." She glanced back up at Elias, " I am truly sorry, I wish there had been any other choice."

Eli sighed, " You have nothing to be sorry for, it was my choice, and I would make it again, every time." He gave her a tired smile, " You did great all things considered, but we just don't have time to dwell on it right now." He eyed the ritual, " Any change?" Astra shook her head as her and Tia joined him in staring at the ritual as it pulsed, over and over again." Just what you see.

After the eruption it healed itself again, it probably took dozens of pulses so we might have bought some time, but not much since by the looks of the current intervals it's nearly complete." Eli cast a glance over towards the castle beyond the rim of the crater, Astra caught his glance and gave a small shake of her head before speaking, " I have not heard from the men, but I suspect they may have evacuated in time. The sounds of battle, or at the very least we have not heard any since the eruption."

The trio studied the formation in silence over the next couple minutes, seeking any changes or weaknesses to exploit, but they swiftly ran out of time. The rippling pulses came faster and faster until they converged into one continuous stream of crimson lines. As the whole formation lit up at once, another groaning sound echoed outwards, this time not from the ground but from the air above the formation.

Energy streamed up from the ground and pooled in the center of the ritual, an enormous river of mana that dwarfed the dome that preceded the explosion, this time however, it took shape into an orderly weave instead of the chaotic bubble from before. The pool of energy grew deeper and thicker until it was visible to the naked eye, enhanced senses no longer required to see the well of power pooling just above the ritual.

As the mana condensed into a pool it shone with a burgundy hue, a deep sickly red reminiscent of the blood that was the source of the ritual's power. The flows condensed into a large orb that hovered no more than a few feet off the ground, a sphere easily a dozen feet across, and with another crackling pulse it crunched, compacting in a similar manner to Astra's orbs. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Sharp rhythmic thumps echoed through the still air of the valley as the orb condensed itself several times over. Once the orb had reduced its width to a fraction of its initial size, now a dense ball only a few feet across, a thin pillar of light erupted upwards lancing into the clouds above, a scintillating beam that shifted between the faint cerulean blue of pure mana and the pale yellowish white that Eli had begun to associate with the spatially aspected variety.

The pillar started small, a beam little more than the width of a single finger. Over the course of the next few minutes it rapidly grew, widening into a massive column of light almost a dozen feet across, as the crimson orb hovered in the center. The orb paused for a moment before descending to touch down and merge with the surface of the ritual once more, and as it did so a ripple shot downwards along the beam, one Eli was very familiar with.

It was the same ripple of distortion that coated his blade when he cast [Veilrend], and he watched silently as the ripple traced a jagged line downward from the clouds above into the sky below. The sound of breaking glass crashed through the air, echoing across the countryside around them as the air shattered and fractured, rippling downwards from the sky as it traced the jagged line of the distortion from above.

A heavy warm weight pressed into his left leg below as Tia leaned into him, and she watched on in trepidation, Eli's reached out with his right hand searching for Astra's before gripping it tight as they stood watching the sight unfold before their eyes. Eli heard a resigned sigh beside him as a ripple of mirth traveled down the tether as Astra spoke." I guess I wasn't a very good tour guide was I?" Eli laughed, " Are you kidding, you're the best! Who else could guarantee front row seats to the end of the world?"

Elias's mind drifted over his memories of the past few weeks, weeks which had been some of the most eventful in his entire life. He had died and he had lived, he had survived alone out in the dark in a strange yet beautiful new world. He had gained amazing powers, and met some wonderful friends. He had seen impossible sights of staggering beauty and mind numbing horrors, but he felt as if he had lived more in the past few weeks than he had in his entire life back on Earth.

The simple kinship he had found with another lost soul was wonderful, and as much as it was likely an artifact of the translation effect, every day Tiamat felt more and more like the rambunctious little sister had never had. And that was just the start.

The faces of the patrolmen flashed through his mind, the smiling face of Cooper as he told another terrible joke around the prep table, the mischievous glint in Sasha's eye as she slipped a treat to Tia, Franklin rolling his eyes at the terrible joke, and Astrid's long suffering sigh as Sasha was scolded once again. The cheerful laughs of the Hostler sisters joined them, as did the gruff old salesman in Emerald Grove, and so many more.

A smile bloomed as he remembered the quiet nights around the fire with Astra and Mira, the proud smile on Mira's face as she congratulated him on a well learned lesson, and the smirk on Astra's as she teased him about the ones he had failed at.

As he thought back to that first eventful night in the woods, watching from the canopy above as a strange woman laughed and spat blood into the face of her assailant, losing none of her strength and courage even when on the brink of death, a surge of warmth bloomed in his heart. Astra tore her eyes away from the spectacle before them to look up at him in askance as a wave of affection trickled down the tether.

He was struck once more by her beauty, even with the blood, sweat, and grime coating the both of them, the smile she gave him sending butterflies tumbling through his stomach, just the same as it had when they first met. Eli stared deep in her sky blue eyes as the wind whipped and howled around them tossing her crimson mane in the air, and grinned as she arched a brow at him." Just thinking that if this is the end, I wouldn't change a thing."

She smirked up at him before a grin of her own grew across her face, " No regrets, huh? You still have time to make for the tree line if you hurry." Eli scoffed, " Never." He smiled as he shook his head, " Where you go, I follow." A sharp spike of affection lanced through the tether, a wave tenderness that was so overwhelming it nearly made his own heart hurt as it skipped a beat in his chest.

The grin on Astra's face transformed into the brilliant smile he loved so much, and as he marvelled at the feeling, the impossible certainty in those words, as he knew from this moment on he would do anything for this woman, just as she would for him." Do you truly promise Eli? Together forever?" Her smile faded slightly as she arched a brow in his direction, " Forever can be a very long time, you know." Eli laughed, " Always." He gave Astra a warm smile, " I can't imagine better company."

He shrugged, " Besides, I already died once, how much worse could it be the second time around?" Astra rolled her eyes and reached to grip the sides of his face as she dragged him downwards, the strength in her arms as undeniable as cold steel, but the passion he found as their lips met was as warm as the sun on a bright summer day.

The song roared to life in their chests, time slowing as their songs wove together in a moment crystallized in time, the melody a joyous harmony that spoke not of the cold wintry blizzard that surrounded them at the end of all things, but of the joy of running free under a wide open sky. As Astra's scent filled his senses, he could almost feel the warmth of the sunshine and almost see the wildflowers, a brilliant meadow clear in his mind.

Their emotions twined together along the tether exultant and joyous as all the horror and despair washed away, and for a moment everything was right in the world, and everything else fell away. Elias had no idea how long he had lost himself in the bliss of their connection, only that he was startled when an errant gust of wind brought the whisper of a familiar voice to his ears from afar. Look to the sky… Eli pulled away, and as he broke the kiss Astra jerked awake.

A short pulse of frustration trickled along the tether in his direction as he interrupted the moment before giving way to confusion as she followed his gaze skyward. The crackling planes of distortion had begun to spread down from the sky, slowly still, but it was only a matter of time before the seam widened into a true fracture, but in the clouds above the swirling snows paused, shifting slightly.

The scattered drifts of flakes caught in the air shifted, as a single errant breeze drifting across the plain swirled past. Elias frowned slightly as he realized it had blown in the wrong direction. He glanced around as he noticed it was not the only one, and in the cracks and seams between the coursing currents of the blizzard surrounding the estate, he spotted dozens of small threads.

As he watched even more shifted, and pretty soon hundreds of the threads wove together, writhing across the sky, a dance of small motes of ice and snow that would have easily blended into the background if you did not know what you were looking for. The chaotic currents coalesced, weaving together and snapping into a pattern for just a moment before dispersing. The pattern was faint and nearly imperceptible, but absolutely undeniable in its familiarity.

For a single moment the drifting snow had frozen into place as if by an unseen hand, and writ large across the sky was a familiar image. A pair of skeletal dragon wings flanking a tall dark spire, at its peak the spire was capped with an icy crown, the subtle shifting of snow seemed to emulate the flicker of torchlight at the summit. For a single heartbeat the wind fell utterly still. In the next moment, the image was gone. Astra gasped in shock beside him, drawing in a sharp breath." … Mira…"