29.

Half of Lynn screamed at himself internally, a battlecry lusting for vengeance. It demanded him to return and resume slicing apart Aurelius. Delivering hundreds or thousands of deaths to the monster. He longed to do so. To tear him apart, piece by piece. Over and over. Ripping off that deceptively pure colored scalp. His mouth salivated at the thought.

But Vivian held him back. He remembered the vision, over and over it seemed to play in the back of his mind, reminding him. Vengeance could wait. Aurelius was frozen to the spot. He’d be there for a while. Priorities.

But the question of priorities whirled in his mind. He wanted both. So he’d take both. He just needed to be smart. And he was smart. Nobody ever debated that fact about him.

At first he worried that he might not be able to find this garden with only a single direction to go off of, but his concerns were squashed as, sitting in the square only a few blocks away, were familiar faces.

Nyx crouched over Alexis, bandaging her and applying a vial of unknown liquid on top of the bandages while wrapping her in more gauze. The only reason Lynn recognized Alexis at all was because her face still remained unbandaged. It stared bleakley towards the sky, gaunt and sullen.

Beside them, a burnt corpse lay. The facial features charred from recognition. A sword, wedged into the skull, shined in the moonlight.

“Nyx, Alexis. Where is she?”

Nyx didn’t acknowledge him.

“Down,” Alexis spoke with a whisper carried on the breeze.

“Don’t talk,” Nyx instructed. “Need to brace your jaw.”

“With...Rin. Safe.”

Down. Alexis meant below them? He scanned the square, looking for stairs or a path to a basement. His eyes stuck to the trapdoor to a building’s cellar.

He raised his icy left fist. He wondered how long he’d be able to maintain the control he had. Already, only minutes later, he felt the power slipping from him. He’d be a cripple again in a minute. He needed to make this time matter.

Lynn took a step towards the cellar.

“I’m going to kill Rin and save Vivian. If I don’t come back, run. Get away from here. Warn Neo Regnum. Warn the nobles. Tell them- Mortium is coming.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he swore he saw the charred corpse twitch. He tossed the idea aside. No time to jump at phantoms.

Yanking the cellar open, he descended.

The tunnel trapped the cold exuding his body, dropping the temperature. But he barely even processed the fact. His mind focused on going forward.

Rin loomed over Vivian., muttering with his eyes plastered closed while his hair gleamed in the little light falling from above.

The room itself stank of death. Plants withered in on themselves, cocooning no more life within. Only four things still lived, Rin, himself, a tree that stretched skyward, and Vivian. Just barely, Vivian still remained alive though unmoving. Tangled in the tree’s roots and behind Rin, but still, alive.

Chilled white mist tumbled out of his mouth with every laborious breath as he stood. Lynn placed a hand on his left arm. The ice morphed, the fist melting down to a pointed shard. It dripped with the room’s condensation. An icicle of a forearm.

“Rin,” Lynn’s voice exited hollowly from his throat. “Step away from her.”

Rin’s eyes opened. “Lynn, I wondered if you might come. I suppose those two tipped you off on our location? We both know I can’t kill you, not with your mother’s blood in your veins. But I won’t let you take Vivian away.”

Lynn’s legs moved. Exerting an unusual amount of pressure on his left, he felt the ice crack under his weight but it still held. Lunging forward, he tore through Rin’s silk shirt and into his stomach. Rin didn’t raise a hand to prevent the attack, he simply continued standing and winced as the makeshift blade penetrated his skin. But Rin remained standing after Lynn ripped his arm back. Through the torn silk, Lynn saw only smooth gray skin. His shard of ice now dripped with blood in the place of water.

“Six hundred thousand,” Rin whispered, his words containing pain not inflicted by Lynn’s cut. “Lynn. You’ll have to kill me six hundred thousand times before I will permanently leave this world. And, even if you managed to accomplish the feat, Vivian will be gone. Please stop this.”

“You’re a monster,” Lynn growled. Six hundred thousand lives were taken by this creature in front of him.

“I know,” Rin’s voice was soft. “But you won’t be able to prevent this. Silvis just needs time to settle into Vivian’s body.”

That took Lynn aback. “Silvis?”

“My dear companion,” Rin said, his voice seeped in deep longing. “He’s the one that saved me.”

Lynn knew time was of the essence, but he couldn’t stop himself from asking, “He’s here?”

“In the tree, I sealed him in there. It will only be a few more minutes before Vivian will be dead and Silvis in her place.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m sorry. She was a good person. I wish I could have found another way but it’s been three hundred years and nothing else I’ve attempted has been successful. I’ve tried less powerful fire Mystics but Vivian is the only one since Silvis who contains the raw power needed to host him. I don’t ask for forgiveness but try to understand. He is my friend.”

“Kaylin Garnet’s disappearance?”

Rin looked away. “Another too weak as a host. She didn’t make it.”

Lynn knew what had to be done. Frost formed on his beard and his eyelashes stuck together every time he blinked. The icicle emerging from his left forearm cracked and its edge reforged serrated like a saw. Lynn knew he was over exerting his abilities. He struggled for a semblance of control. Each breath came painfully as his throat began to freeze.

Revenge whispered in the back of his mind. Reminding him. But that didn’t matter. Vivian mattered. Nothing else. He took a step forward.

“Lynn…no matter what blade you use, it won’t kill me any better. But do what you must. I deserve the pain.” Rin opened his arms and closed his eyes. Lynn could see him tense in anticipation of the expected blow.

Lynn stepped past him and quivered over Vivian Topaz.. His leg of flesh threatened to go out on him while the one of ice held steady, rooting him in place. He took as deep of a. breath as he could manage. He raised his blade over Vivian.

At that moment, Rin opened his eyes and spotted him.

“I won’t let you kill her! You’d really go so far out of spite, Lynn? That’s pathetic. I misjudged you. I thought you were better and cleverer than this. I can use my abilities to heal others instantly as well. You can’t kill her anymore than you can me. It’s pointless.”

“There’s one person you can’t heal.” Lynn swiped down on his right wrist. The jagged edges tore through the flesh. Then he whipped the blade back, bursting tendons and splitting the bones in his wrist. The cold numbed the wound to the point where Lynn barely even noticed his hand dangled off of his arm by a bit of flesh and muscle. Blood gushed from the wound, sending up warm steam where it landed. Vivian became covered in the gleaming crimson. A pool of red collected on the ground, coating Vivian.

“If what you said was true….” Lynn fought lightheadedness back. “My blood should nullify you.”

“No,.” Rin fell to his knees and looked at Lynn pleadingly. His deep blue eyes filled with anguish. “Stop Lynn…please. I need my friend. He’s my friend.”

Lynn’s blade of ice, stained scarlet, shattered. At the same moment, his leg snapped. Savirelet completely spent. Falling and wavering on unconsciousness, Lynn made certain his arm, still bleeding, landed on Vivian. A tear froze on his cheek.

“She’s my friend.”