Ashborn Primordial

Chapter 240: Departure

Vir wandered the strange chamber in a daze, mind reeling from all that had just occurred. The world with the floating islands. Ekanai, Maiya Theyd all disappeared. Had it really just been a dream?

Virs Artifact Chakram lay on the ground nearby, but the orb that had contained Maiyas soul was nowhere to be found.

Had she even been there in the first place? Or was the Maiya he'd seen a facsimile, like everything else seemed to be? It certainly appeared as though that entire world had been fake. Why not the characters within it, too?

Gods, what if it was real? What if Maiya What if shes

Virs breaths came quick and ragged, and his heart beat madly. He opened the Foundation Chakra, allowing its energy to flow into him, calming his addled thoughts.

Keeping it open for long taxed him, making him feel spent and weary. Hed wondered why demons didnt simply keep their Chakras open all the timenow he knew. At some point, hed simply fall over from exhaustion. Not physical, but of the soul.

For now, however, the Foundation Chakra cleared his mind enough to think. He didnt know if Maiya was dead or alive. Or even if it was the real Maiya whod been in that illusion. For all he knew, she could be completely unaware of everything. Initially, hed feared that possibility. Now? Now, he hoped for it.

I have to contact her.

He had a communications orb. An orb Cirayus had proven he could use.

The Demon Realm. We have to get to the Demon Realm.

Until now, there had been no rush. Not with the time flow difference in the Ash. Hed used the opportunity to grow stronger. Now, however, his top priority was ensuring Maiyas safety. He only needed to hear her voice, and all would be right again.

But what if I dont?

Whether the orb would function in the Demon Realm was anyones guess, but if it didnt, Vir knew what to do.

Hed turn right around and head back to the Human Realm.

Until then

Until then, Vir would focus single-mindedly on that goal. The Garga and the Akh Nara could waitMaiya came first.

Vir took a deep breath, clearing his thoughts, then surveyed his surroundings.

The room in which he stood was unlike any hed seen before. The floor was more a messy tangle of dark green trunks, resembling a wildly overgrown forest more than anything constructed by humans or demons.

Or, for that matter, anything built by the Imperium. Vir had been to their great city. Hed seen their architecture. He knew their style. Angular, tall, ordered, with a hint of the organic.

No, this feels different. Very different.

And yet, it somehow also felt familiar. Like hed seen something similar before.

Where have I

An inky black pool of liquid forced Vir to jump over it to reach the exitan oval opening that resembled a doorway.

Vir froze, then turned slowly back at the liquid. He knew exactly where hed seen this.

The Ink of Clarity.

It was the same liquid hed peered through at Saunaks tower, a year ago. The liquid that had shown him visions of faraway places.

Vir hesitantly approached the pool. Perhaps, if it worked similarly to the Ink...

Maybe itll show me Maiya.

Vir dreaded what he might see. What if it confirmed his fears? What if Maiya was

Shaking his head, he pressed on and peered deeply into the pool. Seconds passed, but the liquid showed him no images. Only darkness.

Vir breathed a sigh of relief, but the feeling was quickly replaced with dismay. The anxiety that wracked him would continue.

With a heavy heart, he turned away and headed for the doorway.

The door, as it turned out, was no regular opening. It was an Ash Gate. Perfectly stable, and just large enough to admit him through.

Peering through the Gate, Vir found far more familiar surroundings. Beautiful blue-lit Imperium architecture stood in stark contrast to the almost natural trunks of the room he was currently in.

Vir took one last glance behind him, then stepped through.

The Gate vanishedas if itd been created solely to admit him.

In the distance, he heard the rhythmic thumping of heavy footsteps.

Prana Current surged, and Vir melted into the shadows. The room hed entered was well-lit, but there were still plenty of exits from the Shadow Realm. Vir peered through the exits and found a very familiar figure.

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Vir left the shadows, sighing in relief. Youre safe? he asked, though he immediately regretted it.

Cirayus whirled and Balancer of Scales activated. Vir felt his weight multiply twenty-fold, but to his Ash-strengthened body ripping with Prana Current, it was nothing more than a mild inconvenience. It would be a different story if he had to fight Cirayus in that state, but there was no danger of that.

It was Sikandar he was more worried about. The gargantuan blade flashed with terrifying speed. Vir might not die from a single blow, but he certainly wouldnt emerge unscathed.

Vir brought his katar up to defend.

Cirayus eyes went wide in horror. Noticing his mistake, he canceled the ability and halted Sikandar just a hairs breadth from Virs neck.

Tossing aside the blade, which clanged noisily on the stone, he dropped to his knees before Vir.

I apologize, my liege. I should have identified who it was before attacking. I have no excuse.

Vir dismissed his apology. Cirayus had apologized several times to him over the past year. As they grew closer, it seemed like the giants deference toward Vir only grew. Or perhaps it was due to Virs growth. He couldnt say.

Regardless, he hated it whenever Cirayus acted this way.

The demon stood, then embraced Vir in a great hug. I feared for the worst, lad. I thought Id lost you.

Vir remained silent. He wasnt once worried for Cirayus safetyfew beings in the world could truly harm him. Again, his thoughts drifted to Maiya.

I-I see Shan made it out fine, too, Vir said, partially to distract himself. Where were you two?

I cannot speak for the wolf, but I was thrust into an illusion most foul. When I left that horrid place, I found myself in a room full of gnarled branches and an ancient tree at its center. Departing there, I ended up here. Shan found me soon after.

An illusion. Right. Of course, it was.

Thats pretty much what I went through, Vir said, feeling the knot in his stomach start to untwist. Do you know what any of this is about?

I wish I knew, lad, the demon replied. I take it you had a similar experience? Did you also meet with people from your past?

Kinda? Vir said. I met Ekanai. Reaper Ekanai, my predecessor, except in the flesh. And Maiya. She was wispy and ghostlike, though.

Cirayus stroked his beard. How very strange. I met my dead family. It was not a joyous reunion, to say the least. But a necessary one, I think. For me.

Vir couldnt imagine what Cirayus mustve gone through. If it was anywhere near as traumatic as Virs experience, he was sure the demon had suffered a great deal.

Cirayus, do you know if any of that was real? Vir asked.

Cant say, lad. In all my years, I've not experienced anything like this. I will likely meditate on these events for some time. Though, there was one oddity. In my illusion, I met a certain character. Someone who knows far more about the mystical arts than I. She suggested that though the illusion was not real, the energy giving form to the characters we met had to come from somewhere. As for where, exactly, your guess is as good as mine.

Do you think If someone dies in there, do they die in reality? Vir asked, feeling the knot tighten once again.

In my case, all those I met were already dead. Cirayus frowned in concern. Maiya?

Vir nodded. I dont know what happened to her, and its driving me crazy.

They took the next several minutes summarizing their experiences, and Vir realized that his own ordeal mustve paled next to Cirayus. To face down ghosts of his family whod died? Who bore grudges against him? Vir had no confidence he couldve made it out of that situation nearly as well as Cirayus had.

Vir once again had Cirayus try to activate the communication orb, but to no avail. Though the orb glowed with Cirayus prana, nothing else happened.

You did well to deal with that situation, lad. Im unsure if I could have opened a Chakra in that state. Good that you heeded the lasss advice.

Vir knew Cirayus was saying these things half to comfort him, but he appreciated the words, nonetheless. Cirayus was genuinely proud of the way Vir acquitted himself. That counted for a lot.

Reaper Ekanai was a formidable warrior, Cirayus said. Even with your newfound strength, with all of his bloodline arts and vast experience, it is difficult to say who would win.

Yeah, well Lets talk once I have a few of those tattoos myself.

Cirayus laughed. Thats the spirit, lad! Hmm, but yes, I see. Youll be wanting to head to the Demon Realm as soon as possible, then? To see if your lover is safe?

Vir nodded. Ive had quite enough of this place. Just your Artifact was supposed to lead us to an Ash Gate. Not some bizarre life-or-death illusion. Where even are we? How do we get out of here?

Cirayus held up a hand. You neednt worry about that, lad. I have already located the Gate. It certainly leads to the Demon Realm. As for where, your guess is as good as mine. Regardless, we should be able to use it to get through.

O-oh, Vir said. All the plans hed formulated for locating an Ash Gate went right out the window.

The Ash Gate floated just off the ground in the center of a nearby passage. As far as Vir could tell, they were now in the tunnel network hed spotted from the surface with Prana Vision. An Imperium tunnel network, by its smooth rectangular construction. Why the gods built this system, Vir couldnt say, though he'd felt the same about the great spires in Mahadi as well.

Vir and Cirayus took a few moments to explore the tunnelsit'd have been remiss of them not to search an ancient Imperium ruin for any Artifacts. Unfortunately, the passages either ended in cave-ins large enough that even Dance of the Shadow Demon couldnt get through, or they simply dead-ended. It was almost as if the Imperium had been constructing this place when their society fell.

Peering through the Gate, Vir found caked red soil. Whether it was truly red, or simply dyed by the yellows, oranges, and reds of the setting sun, Vir couldnt tell. He stood there for a moment, just taking it all in. This was his first glimpse of the Demon Realm. While hed experienced it in some of his memory visions, seeing it second-hand wasnt quite the same.

Cirayus stepped through the Gate first, crouching to fit. Shan bounded right after him.

Well, lad? What are you waiting for?

Vir couldnt say. To think the Gate was finally here, before him, felt unreal. Even disregarding the recent bizarre events, this moment was the culmination of almost two years of his life, though itd be considerably shorter than that to denizens of the other realms.

During that time, Vir had witnessed the Imperiums crown jewel city. He'd seen the very moment of their fall, millennia ago. Hed found a real, living goddess and experienced the Imperiums vast magic. Hed met Saunak and Shan and fought endless hordes of Ash Beasts, penetrating deeper into the Ash than anyone.

He'd struggled through it all. Hed grown. Physically, he doubted many in either realm could pose him a genuine threat. With the powers hed gained, to say nothing of his Artifacthe could now say with confidence that he was truly strong.

Yet despite this, his strength gains paled when compared to where hed developed the mostas a person.

Vir had entered the Ashen Realm as a boy. A demon raised in human lands, always ostracized, always wondering who he was and where he truly belonged.

He would leave the Ash a man. Forged not only through the endless hordes of beasts but by all the experiences hed gained along the way. Tempered by the burden of his promise to Ashani, which rang like a bell in his head each and every day. And, most of all, through Cirayus, Vir had learned who he truly was. Hed struggled with, and finally embraced, his calling. Now, he was about to return to the land of his people.

Having vanquished the demon in his head, whod tormented him for so long, hed matured. But had he matured enough to face the countless trials he was about to endure? Only time would tell.

There was a new world on the other side, and hed kept it waiting long enough.

Vir took a great breath, steeled his mind, and stepped through.

End of Arc Five & Book Three