The Beginning Ch. 32: Epilogue

"Very well, then," Nicolas grunted, cracking his neck, "follow me, son."

"Affirmative," Vince responded, drawing his spear as Companions began materializing all around us.

Vince was Nicolas' son? That certainly explained a lot!

Vaishnavi and Randal appeared next to us in a blink, dropping out of augmented states as their Companions appeared as well.

"I want answers once this is over," Randal stated, as they drew their weapons.

"We'll get them from his corpse," Vaishnavi snarled, the vitriol in her voice taking me aback.

"Stay by my side," Rayka said, gripping a dagger in either hand as Tesoro let out a piercing cry.

Nodding my assent, I drew my quarterstaff, widening my grip for more control and so that I needed less clearance. Nobody moved for a second. The next, everybody did.

Rayka and I squared off against a Bear-Bonded Wielder first, quickly narrowing my grip so that I could take advantage of my extended reach. The Dark astride the Bear was dressed in chainmail-based armor, with a slotted helm, and had a spiked mace as their weapon.

Tesoro blocked the Bear's blows while Rayka and I attacked the Wielder. She distracted them by flitting about and attacking them with her daggers, while I delivered augmented brute force attacks. It took us a couple of minutes, but working together, we managed to whittle the Dark's defenses down, till a shot from my quarterstaff shattered part of their chainmail, throwing them off the Bear. An overhanded swing with all my might caved in their helm, blood and gore shooting out of the slots.

Before we had a chance to regroup, we were rushed by a couple of Gorilla-Bonded Darks. While subtle, their Armor was still different from ours, though I thought that I could make out the remnants of the Greek Academy's insignia on their helms. The one attacking me tried to clamp a set of Inhibitor Cuffs on me, but I managed to dodge them.

All this while, the fire inside me had been raring to go, and now that I'd been separated from Rayka, I saw no need to fight a battle on the inside, as well as out. I let the flames roll over me, and while it was still wild, I did feel more in control of it all.

I ensconced the Dark and their Gorilla in a ball of flame, steading making it hotter as they tried to fight me with Water spells, the Gorilla's powerful blows sending waves of flames arcing out around us. The flames actually caught a couple more unsuspecting Darks by surprise, the impacts draining their shields and allowing the Light Wielders facing them to take them down.

"You okay?" I called, fighting to push the fire back down, the Gorilla disappearing as the Dark inside the ball let out their final breath.

Rayka wasn't there.

I couldn't see her in the fray, so I augmented myself and jumped in the air, looking for her or Tesoro frantically. I absently noticed that the Darks seemed to be winning, but any thought of that was wiped out of my mind when I spotted Vince dragging an unconscious Rayka by the hair. He was following Nicolas away from the fighting, and it looked like she had a set of Inhibitors on her wrists.

Roaring out my rage, I let the flames consume me fully, not even bothering to try and control them. I shot off towards Vince and Nicolas like a flaming arrow, my staff fully extended out before me.

Nicolas calmly turned around to face me, a fist of Air forming around him. He batted me out of the sky like a pesky fly, the fire flickering out as I hit the ground, a deep furrow tracking my ground-based trajectory.

"Take care of that," he commanded Vince as I shakily got to my feet.

"Gladly," Vince responded, letting go of Rayka's hair, her head hitting the ground with an audible thump.

Gritting my teeth, I tried to reignite the flames, but they wouldn't respond. As I tried to heal my broken arm, I realized that my magic was already healing parts of me. That fall and my subsequent skid had done a lot of damage, and by the time I was healed, I was running on fumes, my Power reserves almost depleted.

None of that mattered, though, as I watched Nicolas pick Rayka up and sling her over his shoulder.

I had to save her.

"Eyes here, pretty boy," Vince taunted me. "You want to save your little princess? You gotta get through me first!"

"Fuck you," I spat, drawing my sword as I tore my eyes away from Nicolas and looked at him.

"I've been waiting to put you in your place for a long fucking time," he spat back, hefting his spear.

I didn't bother responding, drawing on all my Power to augment myself as much as I could, and rushing him with all of it. I didn't even think to save some Power for my Armor. He just stepped out of my way, bringing his spear around in a lazy arc, the tip cutting through my Armor and opening a gash along my left arm.

"You're getting sloppy," he taunted, and it just made me madder.

I attacked him with a series of stabs and slashes, but he just sidestepped all of them, rewarding me with a cut for every attack. The resemblance to our sparring matches when I'd just begun training was utterly lost on me, blinded as I was by rage.

A slash cut off my pouch of Media, leaving me with no other spells to use. A stab through my shoulder rendered my left arm useless. A hit with the pole of his spear broke ribs, making me cough up blood.

A final thrust cut through my right ankle, leaving me unable to stand.

I fell to my knees, thrusting my sword into the ground in an attempt to stay upright.

"That's it," Vince gloated, shaking my blood off his spear. "That's where you belong: On your knees, bowing down to me."

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to keep from crying. That couldn't be how everything ended. It just couldn't!

I had to get to Rayka. I had to save her. I had to tell her how much I loved her.

There had to be some way.

Something.

But, the flames had died down. Only a drop of my magic was left. The voice had fallen silent.

That was the end.

I sniffled and opened my eyes, staring down at my sword through a watery gaze. I read its name.

Dharma. Duty.

A heavy name for a weapon that had been utterly let down by a Wielder who wasn't worthy.

I had failed.

I had failed my duty.

"Dharma," I whispered, the last trace of magic within my body somehow reacting to the word.

"What was that?" Vince asked, the tip of his spear poised beneath my chin.

"Dharma," I said, a little louder, watching as a glimmer of light flashed around my sword.

"Oh, I'd say you left your duties unfilled, Chris," Vince responded. "Any last words?"

I didn't know what was happening, but I knew I had to try.

I looked up at him defiantly, as I pushed the last bit of magic I could scrounge up into my sword.

"Dharma!" I yelled.

For a second, nothing happened, and Vince looked like he was about to start laughing. He pushed his spear forward, and I could feel everything as it slid through my flesh, and out the back of my head.

He yanked it back out, and I collapsed to the ground, warmth forming around my neck as the smell of copper filled my nose. Somehow, I managed to keep my grip on my sword, even as I felt the life leave my body.

Then, as I watched Vince's boots walk away, I felt like a leaf awash in a hurricane, as Power started flooding into my body from my sword. My wounds healed over instantly, even as more magic flowed into my body. The lake that was a representation of my Power flowed over, as even more of it continued to flow into me.

"How?" Vince asked, turning around as he heard me get to my feet.

I ignored him, fixing my gaze on Nicolas, who was bundling Rayka into a car.

"Why won't you fucking die?!" Vince screamed, rushing at me with his spear.

I blocked it with my left arm, the impact shattering the shaft of his weapon. He summoned his Bull, clambering on and charging at me. Infusing my sword with Spirit, I cleaved the Bull in half, completely destroying it.

Vince was sent flying but rolled to his feet, though it no longer mattered. I took a step towards Nicolas, and the ground shattered beneath my foot. I went to take a second, but found myself immobilized.

I realized that my body was filled with so much Power that it was no longer under my control. To my horror, I could feel even more coming into me through the sword. I scrambled, trying to stem the flow of magic, but it was too late.

Power continued to fill my body, the forces inside me feeling like they were tearing me apart. It was like every single particle that made me up was being ripped in different directions. I screamed in pain as I felt myself come undone.

And then, there was only white.

Epilogue

I groaned and blinked groggily, a fog obscuring my thoughts. Only the simplest impressions made it through. Cold. Dark. Pain.

Steeling myself with gritted teeth, I forced my eyes open wider, fighting to keep them that way. I could tell that my head was lowered, chin brushing my chest, but I didn't have the strength to lift it yet.

"Hard floor," I rasped, my throat hurting as it struggled to form the words. "Cold chains. Dark room."

"You're a soldier," a tired, masculine voice said from somewhere in the darkness, taking me by surprise. There was no echo, which meant that the room we were in was small.

"Maybe," I mumbled, trying to move my hands, but finding them shackled together above me. Inhibitor Cuffs, no way to access my magic. My feet were free, but with how taut the bindings holding me were, there was no way I could stand up or move.

"Which Academy are you from?"

"Indian," I responded, finally having the strength to lift my head and focus on my surroundings, as I could think a little clearer. There was something familiar about his voice.

"Don't struggle too much," he instructed, in Sanskrit. "Give yourself a few more minutes for your mind to clear. Slow your breathing."

I did as he asked, the instructions similar to what Ronaldji had once taught us to do, if we were captured.

"That's good," the voice continued. "As your mind clears, start slowly moving your head from left to right. There isn't much light in here, but if you blink quickly as you look around, your eyes should adjust to it faster."

I nodded silently, doing as he said. I turned too quickly the first time, and had to wait till the pain radiating out from a point towards the back of my head subsided. Eventually, I could see enough to roughly make out my surroundings.

The room we were in was indeed small, with no visible openings. A very soft, almost black glow illuminated the center of the ceiling, which gave us the barest bit of illumination to see by. I was in one corner of the room, and I could make out the silhouette of the man in the other corner.

"Good, good," he said, praising me as my gaze settled on him. "Now--"

Before he could say anything else, the room was flooded with light, blinding me. I shut my eyes with a hiss, managing to open them again after a while. I looked around quickly, confirming that I was shackled up in a brick room, and noting that the black light on the ceiling now glowed a bright yellow. And then, finally, I looked at the man opposite me.

"You," I growled, venom dripping off my words. "I am going to fucking kill you!"

"So, you're one of them, then," Byrav sighed, switching to English. "Please believe me when I tell you that I was not the one who wronged you."

"It was you, alright!" I exclaimed, struggling to get free even though I knew it was futile. "You and your fucking crony made life hell for Chris and me!"

"I have never met you before," he insisted, raising his head to look me in the eye.

He looked so sincere that it shocked me out of my rage, allowing me to get a good look at him, at last. The man sitting across from me looked more like a shadow of Byrav than anything else. His face was gaunt and weathered, and his Armor hung loosely on his frame. The skin on his shackled hands was wrinkled and hung loosely, and his beard and hair were matted and stark white.

His Armor sported a design that hadn't been used since the late twentieth century. He looked like he had aged decades since I saw him last.

"How--"

"Tell me," he interrupted, closing his eyes and resting his head on the wall behind him, "do you know someone named Vaishnavi?"

"The Agrayodhin?"

"She did it, after all," he murmured, smiling softly. "I always knew she had it in her. What about her children? How old are they now?"

"Rahul and Sneha?" I asked, and he gave me a weak nod. "They're sixteen now, I think."

"Sixteen," he whispered, hollowly. "I've missed so much. Their first steps, their first words..."

"How is that possible?! I've seen you so many times over the last few years."

"I was captured a long time ago," he answered, still whispering. "If the little ones are sixteen, I've been in this cell for a little over fifteen years."

"But--"

"I was captured by a Cell," he continued, "on what was supposed to be a routine fact-finding mission. These were mid-Tier Darks, but I had a hunch that they were up to something that would affect us all. At the same time, I didn't want to put anybody else at risk, so I decided to try and piece things together myself. I figured that if I was found out, I was strong enough to take them on my own.

"It turned out to be a trap. Nicolas was waiting for me, and while I was ready to meet my end, they wanted to capture me alive. Since then, I've been locked in here, feeding his damn spell."

"Spell?"

"A long-lost cloaking spell," he explained. "It would seem that his Bond to Darkclaw has given him access to spells that we have no knowledge of. This was one of them.

"I assume it was lost to us because of what it involves. Once prepared, the spell allows the caster to constantly maintain the appearance of the target, including their voice, mannerisms, and certain memories. It also draws on the target's own magic and lifeforce to feed itself, which means that the caster doesn't use any magic to maintain it."

"But if that's what Nicolas did, how was he able to get in and out of the Academy?"

"Nicolas wasn't the only one," Byrav said, sorrowfully. "There are tens-- maybe hundreds-- of Dark Wielders using that spell to pass as some of us. I assume the spell is powerful enough to fool even the Academy's protections, since they never had to take anything similar into consideration."

"Hundreds..." I whispered, the implications of what he'd said starting to sink in.

We sat in silence then, neither having much more to say. There was no way to track how much time was passing, but around the point where the numbness in my arms began to give way to coldness, the outline of a door appeared opposite me.

"Nicolas," Byrav greeted the person who stepped through, and I realized that he was who I'd seen on the beach. "What are you here for?"

"Vince," I growled, seeing the person who walked in behind Nicolas. "Or, are you someone else passing as Vince?"

"No," Vince responded, airily, "it's just me. And I have to say, Rayka, this vision of you is really doing it for me right now. Once you have this cell to yourself, maybe I should stick around and--"

"Just try it," I screeched, thrashing around and trying to get free. The fact that he was still wearing the Indian Academy's Armor further fueled my rage. His very presence sullied everything that Armor stood for.

"Such fire," he said, licking his lips. "I'll be sure to--"

"You will do nothing," Nicolas commanded, coldly. "Angering him would be unwise."

"Yes, father," Vince responded, meekly, his expression changing to one of subservience.

I couldn't help but shudder in revulsion as my mind raced through all the things that could have happened. Nicolas mentioned a "him". What was going to happen to me?!

"You have served me well, Byrav," Nicolas said, snapping me out of my macabre thoughts as he knelt before Byrav. "The game, however, is over. The others have been cleared off the board. Only you remain."

"What do you me--" Byrav began to ask, but was gurgling the end of his question, as Vince savagely ripped his throat out. I could only look on in horror as warm blood spurted all over the room and across my face, a waterfall of red cascading down Byrav's white beard as the life left his eyes.

"Get her up," Nicolas instructed Vince, pointing at me, as he calmly wiped his hands on a cloth that he then tossed atop Byrav's corpse.

Vince walked over and untethered my shackles from the wall, pulling me roughly to my feet. With a hand gripping my arm, I was shoved and tugged out of the room and into a dark, dingy hallway that seemed to extend to infinity on my left. A series of doors broke up the monotony of one side of the hallway, illuminated by braziers with lit torches that were placed on the other side.

To my right was a staircase that we ascended. It brought us to another dingy stone hallway, and we entered the first room there. A freakishly tall man stood in the center of the room, facing away from us. His head was bowed, but the back of his neck still scraped the tall ceiling.

He turned around as we walked in, and I could see that he was dressed in a flowing black robe that had no distinguishing features. His face was covered by a featureless, solid gold mask with mere slits for the eyes and mouth, the edges of the mask fading into the hood of his robe. I couldn't see his hands or feet.

"You are here," he stated, in a ghostly voice.

"Do you have it?" Nicolas asked, walking forward.

The man stooped lower and stretched out a pale hand that seemed to fade in and out, his fingers as horrifyingly long as you'd expect, tapering to sharp tips. In his upturned palm was a metallic disc, roughly four centimeters across. I couldn't tell from that distance, but it seemed to be covered in some sort of writing.

"The Lingual Seal," he said, as Nicolas moved closer to investigate it. "Your Master will validate its authenticity."

"There's no need," Nicolas disagreed, reaching out for it. "I can feel the energy radiating off it right now."

The man closed his fingers around it, not allowing Nicolas to take it. "First, the sacrifice."

"Of course," Nicolas agreed, turning to face Vince and me. "Kill her."

I didn't even have a chance to say anything before I felt a blade slice into my neck, warm blood starting to flow down my chest. I fell to the ground limply, steadily losing the ability to think or move.

"It is done," the man stated, handing Nicolas the disc.

"Are the others back with the weapons?" I heard Nicolas ask Vince, as the man turned his attention to me.

His hand darted into my body and ripped out a glowing silhouette of me.

"They should be, soon," I heard Vince reply, as the world around me started to fade away. "When's the interview?"

"In a couple of hours," Nicolas responded. "Have them reroute to--"

"Do not concern yourself with their affairs," the man said, his voice stronger and more whole now. "When you awake, you will remember nothing. Now, come, your next role awaits."

Everything faded away as I felt the last of my energy dissipate.

I was dead.

In those last seconds, I had but one thought: I would never get to tell Chris how much I loved him.

*****

"Can you hear me?" Ronald's voice asked, as sensations returned to my world.

I managed to crack my eyes open to see him hovering over me, a Greek Healer by his side.

"I'm fine," I insisted, a quick scan telling me that I'd healed any injuries, and that my Power reserves were still plenty full. "Randal and Mathias?"

"We've set up a Command Tent," Ronald explained, as I jumped to my feet, looking around me. "Vaish, it's bad."

"Where's Chris?" I asked, pulling my helm off. "Rayka?"

"I saw Nicolas take Rayka away," Fiona answered, walking up to us. "Chris went after them and then something happened."