Page 32 of Destined to the Reaper

Nothing could have prepared me for the insane surge of energy that rushed into me when Pharos gave himself over. My entire body overflowed with Death Magic. I could see and feel things I never even imagined existed. Like walking at the very edge between the mortal and esoteric world, right on the thin line of the Veil.

Beyond the fleshy membranes, the luminous outlines of the abominations that lurked behind them now stood out clearly to me. I could even see the slight pulse of their heartbeats, and the purplish thread of varying length around them. For a reason I couldn’t explain, I instinctively knew it to be their life thread. Otherworldly whispers filled my ears, the voices of dark forces calling out to each other, warning them of the presence of the intruder that I was… of prey to be devoured. Even in the pool of blood, twisted blobs of energy indicated more creatures ready to surge forth.

I also realized I could drain all their life force with a mere flick of my hand. Despite the powerful temptation it stirredwithin me, I instinctively knew that I would never be able to contain all that energy. I would burst, destroyed by that excess of greed. So many sorcerers met their ultimate demise in comparable situations, too hungry to harness and exert power that was never meant to be theirs.

It took me barely seconds after Pharos gave himself over to me for all these thoughts to fire off in my mind. However, two forceful external tugs snapped me back to the dreadful reality of the moment. Although I had never touched minds with Cornelius, I instantly recognized his presence. Shock and anger emanated from him, like a slimy hand clinging to Pharos and trying to pull him back. And Pharos’s own body was also savagely clamoring for his return.

The instinctive jealous rage that swelled through me in response to those two tugs left me reeling. I didn’t want to give him up. Every cell of my being was screaming that he was mine to keep. For the first time in my life, I felt whole. The divine light of the Gods themselves filled every fiber of my being. Granted, the insane power holding him gave me would be addictive to any sorcerer in their right mind. But it was the beauty and purity of his soul that enthralled me. We were one, vibrating in perfect harmony.

We were meant to be together.

But even as those thoughts swirled inside me, I shut them down and began to remove the claws in Pharos’s body. I nearly wet myself when the Keres began to detach from the wall she was partially embedded in. Even with his powers boosting mine, I didn’t know that I could go head-to-head against a demon such as Grizelle. When Pharos asked me to use his necrosis on her claws leeching him, I wondered if he’d lost his mind. This would be a direct attack against her, overriding her offensive restrictions. And what if I burned the entire place down by invoking abilities I had no experience with?

But I intrinsically trusted Pharos.

Swallowing down the bile of fear trying to choke me, I expanded those foreign powers as weakly as possible to test the potency of their output. The ease and oddly instinctive way it came to me boggled my mind.

That my trust in him served us right was all that mattered.

No sooner did I use his necrosis than Grizelle screeched and retracted her claws. I didn’t get a chance to marvel at the fact that Pharos’s body immediately began to regenerate, as the Keres went on the offensive.

“You will regret this, human!” Grizelle shouted.

I felt faint as the eyes inside Grizelle’s skull hair exited their orbits to race along the walls towards the alcoves. I stood transfixed as the walking eyes settled inside the cyclops-like empty orbs of the Skarachs. Once more, I barely repressed the urge to use the Reaper’s powers, which bubbled inside me like a barely contained Tempest. It was too great for me to handle, especially in my current state of terror.

A second later, my wards went off, launching some of my blood darts at the first Skarach surging forward.

“Focus, Kali!”

If not for Pharos’s voice shouting inside my head, I might have remained frozen in a complete panic. I clamped down on the possessive rage that reared its head again. A horrible voice at the back of my mind was whispering for me to keep him, to run out of this wretched place, and blast his Death Magic at anything that would come at me. Even if I brought down this entire tomb, I believed his regeneration powers would keep me alive. But I would never do such a thing to anyone, least of all him.

Casting out such dreadful temptation, I leaned down and pressed my lips to his.

Although I knew it was only Pharos leaving me to reenter his own vessel, it felt as if my very soul was being torn rightout of my body. His own voraciously dragged him out of me. To my shock, even as I felt torn asunder, I perceived the brief but powerful maelstrom of emotions coursing through Pharos before our link was severed. Pain at being torn out, bliss at finally reconnecting with his body, but also a tremendous sense of loss at parting from me.

It turned me upside down to realize he had felt as keenly as I did how perfectly aligned our souls were.

Simultaneously, Cornelius’s outrage and disbelief stabbed through our connection before it snapped, permanently severed.

I straightened at the blood curdling screeches emanating from the Skarachs swarming out of the alcoves. They flattened themselves against the invisible wall created by my wards. A few of them were thrown back by its repulsion. Opening their mouths impossibly wide, they spit some stringy phlegm that I recognize as the fleshy substance that created the web-like membranes sealing their lairs. That too crashed against the invisible walls, making it sparkle as it quickly damaged the wards. With so severe an onslaught, my protections wouldn’t last long before they were overwhelmed.

Invoking my Blood Magic, I reached out to the blood darts my wards had automatically launched at the creatures. I could feel them dissolve inside their bloodstream, giving me an anchor to seize control of their organs. There were too many creatures to manage them all at once, but I could tackle at least half a dozen simultaneously. I could only pray that my wards would hold long enough for me to significantly dwindle their numbers.

But before I could cast the first spell, Pharos inhaled sharply, and his eyes shot open. I gasped when a blast of Death Magic emanated from him, spreading over a wide radius to the edges of the outer platforms. It passed through me like an icy wind. While it left me unscathed, every Skarach clawing at my wards disintegrated into piles of ashes.

“You cheat!” Grizelle screeched angrily.

Now fully detached from the wall, she flapped her bat wings to fly over us like a vulture circling its prey.

I stared in disbelief as Pharos’s body exponentially regenerated, undoubtedly from having completely siphoned the life force of all the creatures that had come out. His desiccated limbs and flattened chest filled up as the muscles beneath swelled. His withered skin stretched, losing its leathery and wrinkled appearance to take on a smooth texture with a healthy grayish-brown tone.

“I do not cheat,” Pharos replied.

He slurred his words a bit, likely from the disuse of his vocal cords and of him still being in the process of regenerating. Still, his voice was beautifully haunting, although it sounded a little strange to my ears now that it no longer had that disembodied echo.

“I’m weakened by centuries of you draining me. I’m allowed to feed off lower forms of life to heal. It’s only fair that your minions should replenish what you’ve stolen from me for so long,” he continued.

Grizelle angrily hissed. That she didn’t challenge his words confirmed the validity of his arguments. My heart soared that Pharos had found a clever approach to protect me. Now that I no longer hosted any part of him, I understood the extent of the power enhancement he had procured for me. Without his magic, I felt as weak as a novice.

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