Page 149 of The Ascended
As he walked away, golden light trailing in his wake, I straightened and let out a heavy breath. My hands trembled with rage or fear, I couldn't tell.
I found a stone bench nestled among flowering bushes and sank onto it, needing a moment to process what had happened. My heart still pounded against my ribs, adrenaline coursing through my system.
I reached for Thais through our bond. The connection felt stretched thin across the distance between domains, but I could sense her.I'm alright, I sent, not knowing if the words would reach her, but hoping the sentiment might.
Chapter 35
The Ruins of the Primordial
The portal torethrough reality with the sound of shattering glass, bleeding maroon light that cast our shadows in grotesque, elongated shapes across the sand.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked, watching as the tear stabilized.
Xül's golden eyes gleamed in the unnatural light. "To the ruins of the last Primordial War. Few still travel there. It is forgotten by most, and for good reason."
His voice carried a strange cadence I hadn't heard before—neither the cold command of the Warden nor the calculated charm he occasionally employed. Reverence vibrated beneath the words, and it sent a shiver down my spine.
"Why now?"
"Because of what just happened here. There are things you need to see," he replied, his expression unreadable. "Things that words alone cannot convey."
He extended his hand, not quite touching me but close enough. An invitation, not a command.
I stepped through.
We emerged onto a shoreline. The crimson sky had deepened to the color of spilled blood, edging toward black at the horizon. Even the air felt wrong—too thick, reluctant to fill my lungs.
"We'll need to travel by water from here," he said, gesturing toward a small boat tethered to a decaying dock.
I followed him to the boat—sleek and unadorned. "No grand vessel today?" I settled myself on the narrow bench.
"Some knowledge is best sought quietly." He took his position at the oars. “And I want you to understand what’s happening with your brother.”
"I know what flows through Thatcher's veins," I said, the words edged with defensiveness. "I've seen what he can do."
"You've seen a fraction." His eyes met mine, all pretense gone. "What your brother did to Drakor was barely scratching the surface of what's possible. Especially once he ascends."
"And that interests you." I studied the tension in his jaw, the intensity in his eyes.
"It fascinates me," he admitted. "And it should terrify you.”
The boat sliced through dark waters, leaving barely a ripple in its wake. As we moved farther from shore, the landscape transformed. The water beneath us changed, becoming sluggish and resistant.
I trailed my fingers along the surface, feeling its strange viscosity. "The water doesn't want us here."
"Nothing wants anyone here." Xül's gaze fixed on a point beyond me, somewhere on the distant shore.
I turned to follow his line of sight, and my breath caught in my throat.
On the horizon rose a vast crater surrounded by twisted mountains, their peaks bent and melted like candle wax left too close to flame. Colossal fragments of what might once have been structures jutted from the earth, half-buried in black soil. Strange crystalline formations grew from the destruction, clear shards with glimmers of violet energy pulsing faintly within.
My power responded before my mind could process what I was seeing. Stars erupted across my skin unbidden, constellations forming and dissolving in rapid succession. The light they cast was wrong—warped, the usual golden glow taking on an unsettling blue tinge.
"What is this place doing to my power?" I extinguished the stars with effort, unnerved by the alteration.
"Primordial resonance." Xül beached the boat on black sand that crunched beneath our feet like pulverized bone. "Even after millennia, the power signatures linger."
He led me deeper into the devastation, past formations that bent and twisted. As we walked, he pointed out features that told a story too terrible to fully comprehend—areas where reality seemed permanently damaged, places where nothing had grown in thousands of years, craters that seemed bottomless.
