They were given birth from the same point, the same matter and shaped by the same Creator. Since they stepped out of the Link, these beings of light had an unbroken connection which transcends time, space and even their reality.
Love was a given, while loyalty only natural for them, and caring for each other, not even second in nature. As they were more than willing to give their lives for the other. Their name, of Ascended Beings, comes from a multitude of facets. From their bodies and light, to their minds and souls, all parts of their being were something more than those of the flesh beings. It was thus unfathomable for any of them that Orvus would kill his own siblings, and for them to have to kill him was something that even within all the hate they held for him, was an utmost painful prospect.
Salvete, however, accepted the pain and was willing to do what it had to be done. As soon as she was close to the edge of the forest, where it met with the lake, she was ready to assault Orvus. She knew she had to wait, but found it hard to do. The cold wind of the night approaching, the dark clouds enveloping the sky above the lake, and the signs of life all around her, seemed to stand in anticipation as she looked at Orvus.
Taller than before, his light a powerful, cold radiance, and all around him, the creatures of the night, ready to receive orders. His hair, while still short, moved in waves with the wind. She counted up to twelve, while the slightest sounds of breath around the forest suggested there were more. One aspect which the shadow lurkers had to give up, was their silence for disguise, as the lights attached to their souls caused a throbbing pain across their bodies and strained their minds. They were also constantly used by Orvus, until they either died from Orvus disposing of them, or exhaustion consuming their body. As terrifying the image of the dark creatures was, as sad of a picture it painted too.
“Less and less of them, means fewer opportunities to grant them eternity,” for a moment Salvete thought he was speaking towards her, so she turned behind expecting an ambush. “I don’t want to do this, not by these means, but what choice do I have, they won’t listen.”. Salvete understood he was speaking to himself all that while. He was some hundred metres away from where she watched, her control of the light granting her an almost invisible presence combined with her muddied and dirtied body. There was still the aspect of her light, which could be noticed by the likes of Eraanel more specialised in sensory abilities, but due to the hundreds, sometimes thousands, of metres tall trees, it was hardly a concern as long as she didn’t step out the treeline. Her issue was the perimeter set around him. He stood with his back at the lake, in an open area around the lake. There were trees closer to him, but those were better guarded, she noticed.
‘Unfortunately the night will make it harder for me,’ Salvete started to construct her strategy, while running between the trees, trying to figure better ways to either assault him, or at the very least target him from afar. ‘Those creatures don’t seem to move, only to react with slight twitches of their ears, like the one prior,’ she noticed, ‘they might be more female than male.’. She went around the lake, the darkness of the night enveloping the lands once more by the time she was done, and her siblings not too far once she returned to her original spot. ‘I will have no choice, but to approach once they’re here,’ Salvete was frustrated, even though it was the best she could do. ‘I would’ve liked to be able to hit him at least a few times before revealing my position, but given the precautions he took, and other ones which I’m probably not aware of, I should be lucky to get one good hit,’ while thinking of all of it, she cracked a smile. Only some moments after her deep thought, did she realise. ‘It still amuses me, the way he does things,’ she thought in honesty, her heart throbbing with pain, knowing what she’ll have to do. ‘It doesn’t matter though. All that we lived through, that we endured, must end here. Whether I live or die, I must ensure my siblings will get out of this.’. With her resolve steeled, and the lights of her siblings approaching the lake, she only allowed for small portions of her light to course through her. It was the absolute state of nonexistence she could accomplish. If she broke her concentration even for a moment, she would risk letting her light course through her like it should, which would shock her body and mind into being stunned. While not supplying the vital parts of her body with enough light, would mean any part of her body getting swallowed by the cold and needing recovery. It was a fine matter, which required of her a perfect balance between light circulation and control.
“How come that, despite knowing of the many traps I laid, you still walk so carelessly into one of them, brother?” Orvus’ voice resonated through the air, the shadow lurkers ready to flee in fear, only standing frozen in place due to the painful reminder. From the edge of the forest a dozen tall figures walked behind Vaalria, Hargitus, Bustomus, Gilaate, and Felemous. Around Felemous and Gilaate, Vaalria, Hargitus and Bustomus were forming a protective space, their wopede parasite shields showing their unique set of colours to their enemies, painfully thirsting to jump onto them. “Perhaps you wish to join my side, help me save the others,” Orvus loosened the strain on the shadow lurkers, in a way telling them to go back into darkness.
“We’re here to talk, that’s why brother. Given the way you speak, perhaps we have misjudged you, and you still want what’s best for all of us. Even though you did what you did,” Felemous’ voice resounded across the area almost as loud as Orvus’, trying to match it up. Salvete didn’t need any other signal, and started to run towards the lake, where she planned to swim from behind to attack Orvus. There was some open space between the last tree she could hide behind and the lake, in the time it took her to go into the lake, she could see their lights shining in the night. Her brothers and sisters, facing each other. Once underwater, Salvete manipulated the water around her hands and feet to ease her travel, she wasn’t good at it, so her muscles had to do most of the work.
“Then let us talk,” Orvus said aloud, the shadow lurkers going into the forest, as he stood up from the ancient log. “There’s much I’ve been thinking of, and I believe at least out of all of them, you Felemous will understand it the most,” Orvus waited for Felemous and his group to approach, his hands standing by the side, showing no malice or intent to fight.
Felemous gestured Vaalria, Harigtus and Bustomus to join him, while Gilaate stood at the edge of the forest. If need be, she could not only run away from all of it, but she could also save one of her siblings. While they seemed unprepared, they had found multiple places on their path which they could retreat to, Hargitus spotting no traces of shadow lurkers in those places. Manna was still on her way to the spot, having to deal with constant assaults from the shadow lurkers, while working on measures of offence of her own to take Orvus by storm. Felemous’ intentions were to see what kind of brother was before him, so he could decide whether or not he should kill Orvus or spare his life. From his first words, Felemous couldn’t tell of any remorse for not only what he did to their siblings prior to the hunt, but also after, when he sent the shadow lurkers after their group. Inside, Felemous was converting his light into lightning. It was a preemptive move he took, so if and when he needed to attack, there would be no amount of delay between releasing his light and striking.
Fifty metres apart, Orvus looked at them from above standing at eight metres in height, while Felemous and his group prepared their bodies and minds for what was to come. ‘The winds in the north are changing,’ Felemous noticed, Hargitus took notice even before Orvus, his ability cast all around. From within the ground, like small, odd weeds, his strands of lights were protruding in a three hundred metres radius all around their back. This was his ability used to the utmost extent, and was the most vital part of their plan in case they had to retreat. Vaalria’s role was to ensure immediate care for the injuries they may suffer, while Bustomus was to serve as an obstacle for both Orvus and the shadow lurkers. ‘The conditions are not ideal, but they’re about to become,’ Felemous looked at the looming clouds and felt the increasing speed of the winds with the tips of his fingers.
“Where shall we begin from?” Orvus asked, his cold glow ominous in the setting darkness. “Maybe the reason as to why I killed our brethren, and I mean to say those before me coming inside the forest,” they all looked at him clueless, all except Felemous. “You are able to put it together now,” Felmeous gritted his teeth, he didn’t want Orvus to say it, but there was no stopping it, “those I was supposed to take care of. I killed them all, so I can have their lights.”. While it wasn’t all true, Bustomus did what he knew best, and reacted to Orvus’ words, rushing forward, his ability making the light around his body glow a powerful orange. With each hurried step, the ground trembled a little around him. His ability allowed him to retain the light and condense it inside. It was a similar ability to that of Avaanel, the difference stood in its use. While Avaanel made powerful capsules of light, Bustomus used it in a more volatile way, acting as empowered weights. Using it into his fists and feet, his ability allowed for fast, powerful and painful strikes. Orvus knew of his ability all too well, so he decided to manipulate the light outside his body, forming a protective shell for the impact. Once Bustomus struck, it broke through his shell with ease, but was then met by a sudden burst of energy from where his fist was supposed to make contact. This blasted his hand away, Bustomus didn’t need to think long though, and reacted to Orvus’ adaptation to his own ability. First by letting go of the light inside his feet to further empower his next strike, with his injured left hand, then, as Orvus tried to counter his ability, he converted some of the light he condensed into a burst of energy, effectively nullifying Orvus’ burst of energy, managing to striked Orvus in his right knee.
In the matter of five seconds, the whole clash was brought to a halt, as both Orvus and Bustomus fell to their knees. Orvus had his knee shattered by the half empowered strike of Bustomus, while Bustomus suffered from his light being drained by Orvus. While he possessed the mental and body fortitude to resist Orvus’ attempt at stealing his light, Orvus was still able to weaken Bustomus’ light. “Enough Bustomus! We came here to talk, fighting like this will bring us nowhere,” Felemous cried from the back. Bustomus action was something Felemous was looking least towards. ‘We’re supposed to act as an unit, you fool of a brother,’ Felemous thought, preparing to rush towards Bustomus.
“You should listen to him,” Orvus told Bustomus, facing him at an almost equal height as he hunched over. “You can feel it can’t you? The light, what fuels our very being, drained by me,” Bustomus was infuriated at his own ineptitude. He wanted to bring Orvus down, at least make him suffer for what he did, even kill him. Bustomus looked behind, saw his brethren ready to come to his aid, then returned his look towards Orvus. He could see, inside those eyes swirling with light, a deep sadness. Tormented by their siblings’ last wishes, the lights which Orvus stole continued to punish him even after their death. For Orvus, that was a sign they were still alive inside of him, while for Bustomus it meant that Orvus had suffered just as much, and more, from killing their siblings. He didn’t want to accept it, but he was willing to listen to at least what he wanted to say.
“Very well, I will hear it. The reason you killed our siblings, and why you still fight us,” Bustomus said, standing up even weakened, making his way back to Felemous. Orvus needed a bit of time to heal his crushed knee, the pain of it slowly washing away from his face after a couple of minutes. Once Bustomus was more than ten metres away from Orvus, he felt his light empowering his body once more. ‘His body’s height in length, that’s about from how far away he can reach our light,’ Bustomus whispered the knowledge to Felemous. Felemous allowed his face to be surprised for a moment, then let it go back to its neutral form as Orvus stood up. Bustomus relayed the information to Vaalria and Hargitus as well.
Inside the lake, swimming towards the shore, Salvete was making her way up to the surface. As she was closing to it, she could feel the movement of another being deep below her. She wanted to see it closer, so she thought of looking into it before going back up.
Orvus looked at his siblings. He could sense their anger and confusion, the uneasiness in the air building up. It was strong enough, their animosity, that it made him take a few steps behind. He only stopped once he felt the cold water. He then reminded himself of the creatures he had under control, regaining his composure. He straigthened himself, enhancing his mind with the lights, allowing himself to think of all the things he should do in case none of them will join his side. After thinking everything through, he adjusted his voice, then started speaking. “It all began when I took over the first light. I could feel it all. Our sister’s experiences, thoughts and feelings she felt up until that very last moment. After she died, I took her light as part of my own, but it didn’t became completely mine. It still had a will of its own, not in regards to how it behaved, but what it wanted. ‘Live, I want to live,’ is all I could hear from her light,” they all watched him, even Gilaate from afar, as Orvus covered his face with his palms, sparks instead of tears escaping between his fingers. The scene of a lonely Lightborn, shedding his light in the dark night, preparing for a storm. “How could she die? How could I allow them to die? I tormented myself with it, asking those some questions time and time again, inside my light infused mind. It’s been months, inside my mind, until I came with an answer. A good portion of that time, I wondered before coming here, most of it though, while standing on this dead piece of life,” Orvus touched the ancient log, feeling its harsh surface and seemingly eternal nature. “I want to become something akin to this log, these trees,” Orvus gestured around, pointing at the colossal trees. “They have withstood the test of our Creator, and have survived for much longer than we did.”.
“We do that by standing next to each other, helping the other,” Felemous stepped closer, shortening the new distance back to the original one. “We don’t do that by killing our own kin brother. It’s together that we are at our strongest, otherwise we end up like that log. Alone and broken.”. Orvus placed a painful smile on his face, his eyes telling of a wisdom which he thought only he had.
“It isn’t that easy Felemous. While I compare us to trees, we are still so much different. Yes, we are strong together, but look at me. I’m able to withhold so much power, withstand so much more pain,” Orvus paused for a few moments, pointing at Felemous. “Then there you are, powerful as you are, think about it, how much stronger would you be with their lights as your own? Free of their individual will, you can guide them as we, the blessed amongst the Ascended, are meant to.”.
“Killing them isn’t guidance Orvus. It’s just killing, nothing more,” Felemous felt the discussion going a dark, twisted way. He could see it in Orvus’ eyes, an established conviction which words alone couldn’t shake, not with all that he had endured and felt. “Once you or I die, there is nothing left of us but our lights in this world. What we leave with those lights before we die, is not our inner selves, but the will before death, you should know this better than I do.”.
Orvus frowned, he was trying to retain his smile, but thinking on what he must do, it turned into an ugly twist on his face. Hargitus, Bustomus, Vaalria and Gilaate felt their bodies tremble at the sight of their brother, Felemous looking with pity at his mad brother. “I do understand our inner workings, I also understand that these voices and feelings I perpetually have inside of me, they’re the living conscience of our siblings. You, the ones alive, may not like it, nor those which are dead inside of me. But I promise you, even though I must kill you all here and now, there will be a paradise on this world that I will create. Once I do, I will bring all of you back to life through some way. And no matter how many times I fail,” Orvus closed his eyes, he was feeling the source of all the lights he possessed, all sixty six of them. He made his way between all the individual connections, those of his siblings and those attached to the shadow lurkers, there, deep within, something he kept hidden away from the eye of Eraanel in case he would show up, a strong connection to a powerful being. He then grasped at those lights he possessed. He allowed his body to grow in the four suns he had apart from his siblings, his flexibility in how he manipulated his light and efficiency, became thus accustomed to a higher intake and outtake of light than before. ‘It’s not adjusted for all the lights I have, but I’m able to make use of at least a third,’ he thought to himself, letting the lights course throughout his body and mind simultaneously. In the back of his mind, he had to concern himself with some far away threat, that of Manna who was killing the shadow lurkers faster than he could send them. “I will protect all of you,” Orvus promised as he opened his eyes, sparks flowing out of the corners of his eyes up, his body lifting off the ground a couple metres, while his skin casted a glow all around the ground. From the deep waters of the lake, the blue glow made its way to Salvete, who was trying to reach the surface, her eyes having a terrible fear inside of them.
“If killing us is your answer, then so is ours,” Felemous announced. Bustomus was first to go ahead, his shield in front, while his light was condensing in his hands, and more, in his feet. Hargitus felt many of the shadow lurkers leaving the forest, Vaalria placed herself between Bustomus and Felemous, and Gilaate and Hargitus. Felemous felt all the light he converted into lightning inside of him, ready to be expelled. “Now come and meet your judgement, Orvus.”. Orvus briefly touched the ground, his eyes glowing slightly stronger for a moment, then braced himself for what was to come.
Bustomus was the first to push forward, his heavy steps making depressions into the ground, Felemous standing right behind him, his body surging with electric currents, while sparks escaped from his eyes, transmuting into lightning almost out of its own accord. Vaalria kept at a distance behind Felemous, while Hargitus met with Gilaate, preparing their escape route. With a jump, once ten metres apart, Bustomus arched towards Orvus, Felemous running from below. Felemous took into consideration the range of Orvus’ ability to steal light, and with a sudden halt, he unleashed his lightning from afar towards Orvus. Orvus was surprised by it, the intensity not matching the little time Felemous had to practise on his own. Distracted by it, Orvus had to think of ways to intercept or avoid it, allowing Bustomus to come on top of him with his shield in his left hand, right fist high above his head. The unanticipated lightning allowed Bustomus to push his fist through Orvus’ skull, crashing him into the cold waters of the lake, the lightning following shortly after and lighting up a large portion of the lake.
Bustomus landed on his shield, Felemous releasing all the lightning he had stored. In a few moments, Orvus was floating above the water, his body not moving yet retaining the strong glow it cast. “We retreat, he’s too much to handle,” Felemous didn’t need much to arrive at the conclusion, seeing as his brother’s light wasn’t fluctuating in the slightest, his skull already regenerated and in place. Bustomus placed himself behind Felemous as they began to run away, hoping to reach the forest before Orvus could completely recuperate. Gilaate saw them running, and thought of doing the same, but, looking to her left where Hargitus was, she couldn’t see him anymore. That was because he was at her feet, she could see. His body was already cold and his light missing.
“I do not need to be near any of you,” Orvus spoke, running towards Felemous and Bustomus. “All I need is touch your light, and it is mine for the taking,” Felemous looked at Orvus, then in front of him, seeing what he meant. Bustomus wanted to turn around and fight him some more, but Felemous did it before him, leaping over his head and towards Orvus. Bustomus turned the very next moment, trying to offer himself as a sacrifice, to allow Felemous to retread. He couldn’t though, as Felemous didn’t hold use his light with efficiency anymore, letting it flow as much as possible, all the while converting it to lightning inside of him.
Orvus released a few rays of light meant to slow Felemous down, and while they tore his skin and flesh apart, Felemous rushed with the intent to kill. Orvus felt his heart tremble for a moment, seeing his brother displaying such ferocity, so he thought of releasing stronger bursts of light, but Felemous had his own tricks to play, even enraged as he was. So, with a release from his feet, he struck Orvus with lightning, freezing him in place for a few moments, allowing Felemous to enter his range and strike Orvus with his weaker, and only, limb into the face. Through natural instinct alone, the light which Felemous used to enhance the strike of his fist, converted into lightning in the very next moment, causing the initial force of the light to shatter Orvus’ cranium, then the lightning to destroy parts of his brain.
The lightning erupted on the other side of his head, as Orvus found himself scraping the ground with his body, pieces of his skin and flesh adorning the cold ground. “Our lives aren’t yours to play as you wish, Orvus! This-” before Felemous could let his whole rage out, as Bustomus caught up to him, his other arm went away from his body, as Orvus released a piercing ray of condensed light from his palm. Felemous fell to his knees, screaming in pain, Bustomus placing himself between him and Orvus. Orvus struggled to get up, the missing part of his brain hard to regenerate. Even so, he was able to release more rays of light. Some were missing, while some managed to pierce through the shield and Bustomus’ light enhanced body.
“Brother-up!” Bustomus managed, trying to regenerate the holes Orvus was creating in his chest, legs and arms. The pain was overbearing for both of them, but Bustomus managed to keep himself standing through causing greater pain, infusing his body with more and more light, while condensing it near the vital parts, effectively protecting his life from the powerful strikes. Vaalria came from behind, starting to aid Felemous and Bustomus at the same time. Even pushing her ability to the extreme, was barely enough to help them, as she had to reattach Felemous’ arm while trying to close Bustomus’ wound.
“Living is suffering, to live means to endure that suffering,” Orvus spoke with a heavy breath, “but with me, all that suffering can end. Just let me endure it for all of you, there doesn’t need to be thousands of us suffering, just one.”. Orvus walked slowly ahead, releasing bursts of light through the palms of his hands, Bustomus’ shield destroyed completely. Orvus looked at his brother, protecting his siblings with his own body from the danger that he was. “Must you suffer like this?! For what?! To live and die another day? Let me free you!”.
“This ends,” a powerful boom came from above. It wasn’t thunder, but the voice of their sister, Manna. “Your madness and this killing, it all ends here, Orvus,” riding giant feathered beasts, Manna, Eraanel, Manaam, Memgalla, Fulenta and many other Lightborn were coming out of the forest. Flying some two hundred metres above, Manna jumped off the large creature, and dropped her spear behind, letting it traverse its natural course to the other side. Orvus tried to brace for what she was about to do, but, as Manna let all the lights inside her surge through, they started to break her fall and, with a sudden halt, she released a powerful ray of light from the palms of her hands. More powerful and potent than the one released at the Frozen Passage, the ray of light became a column of sorts, swallowing Orvus whole and some ground around him. A cloud of steam, dirt and dust went up due to the column of light, the sky thundering after the strike.
Manna gently touched the ground with her feet, her twin headed spear falling shortly after in her hand. With a tap of her spear on the ground, and the Lightborn following her falling all around, she made her arrival known. Felemous saw his sister’s glow, despite the warm colour, it was a cold feeling he got from it. Bustomus fell to the ground, his wounds too severe to endure them any longer, while Gilaate came in a flash, carrying Hargitus’ dead body.
“He’s still alive,” Eraanel was able to confirm. Manna kept unleashing rays of light upon where his body was, instructed by Eraanel. Felemous waited for his arm to be attached back in its place, then some of his siblings helped with the healing process as well as they could, Bustomus was being carried towards north, where Manna and the rest of the group came from.
“We don’t have much time, the group had to deal with the shadow lurkers, so this is all I could bring along. We must deal with him here and now. Don’t let him recuperate no matter what! Those that can strike from afar, do so, those which can’t, prepare to carry any wounded. We must-” before Manna could finish, the scene on the Frozen Passage flashed before her eyes. ‘What is happening?’ she wondered in her head, as Salvete made her way out of the water.
“Run!” she cried, from behind her, the colossal tendrils of a creature broke the water's surface.202Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuw5sobWWc
