We understood where two of the remnants would be, one powering the barrier around Nelastra and another during our coronation ceremony. If we discovered the third one’s location, I could consolidate all three within an hour of each other before departing from this place.

After finishing my discussion with Aether, I spent my night speaking with the tribes. By now, my presence evolved from a mere disturbance into the coming of Nelastra’s fall. Kade disclosed my identity to the other villagers, yet despite the palisade’s kidnappings, the tribes revealed nothing of my presence.

They hid my identity with the will of martyrs. Of course, I’d killed many of the palisades kidnappers over the course of my stay here, but those caught resisted the torturous might of the palisade. They held onto hope.

That emotion brimmed in the eyes of every tribe I visited. My invasion of Nelastra required there compliance, so for the first time, I appreciated my reputation as The Darkened One. It manipulated these tribes into tools, though valuable tools nonetheless. The splintering tribes would follow the upper echelon’s path, so convincing the Bloodglacier, Dreadnought, and the Blackiron tribes took precedence.

Convincing the Dreadnought tribe required less than a few words. They craved any splinter of a chance for release from slavery. The Bloodglacier’s required a greater finesse since they were a young, fresh tribe in comparison with the others. They still held ties with some of the Nelastrians, even if they’d exiled them.

The Bloodglaciers were a clan of nobles who fell out of favor with the king after one of their daughters murdered a prince. They were wed to marry the next day, so the king lashed out in outrage, sending the entire bloodline to the outside of the barrier.

Over decades, they built up their society as the remnant’s energy stole their humanity. They clung to their noble lineage, practicing their newfound powers and keeping up their civility. Out of all the tribes, they received the best treatment, and they reveled in their standing. Still, getting them on my side only required a few choice words.

Their only Saint, Ara, had made mistakes that cost them any chance of returning to Nelastra. Despite their attempts of remaining civil, they could feel their minds slipping away as the years passed. In closing, I reminded them of the fate of the Blackirons and Dreadnoughts. Even though Solomon conquered and crushed more than any other, his tribe remained slaves. In a sense, that was all Solomon really was. A glorified servant, held at the mercy of his oh so pious captors.

In the end, I gained their acceptance, so a single tribe remained unloyal. Gaining any inkling of the Blackiron's trust would require a deft handling of more than just words, I needed cold, hard proof.

I skulked over towards Kade’s sanctuary of steel, curious of what was occurring. Instead of hiding, I walked in through their village entrance, the eyes of the others full of fear and an odd sensation. Despite my apt attention, couldn’t quite decipher what it was that laid behind their glances, besides a disturbing reverence.

The same shanty, hardly holding shacks met my eyes while the pits flared sparks and plumes of flames when a Ieaf or branch fell within them. The glowing, white moths gathered around the metal casted trees, their wings glaring with dark eyes on them. As I paced through, a congregation of the Blackirons followed behind me, but I kept cool headed. None dared near close after watching my fight with Kade.

As the wooden shacks turned to an iron fortress, I glanced closer at the iron construct. After many years, the metal was worn and weary, aged for hundreds of years, yet spots of new popped from all the old. As I analyzed the construct, the iron’s origin became clear.

This was the Blackiron’s ancestors piled onto every surface of the forest. Kade’s stronghold stood upon a foundation of literal corpses. From the thickness of his own armor, I guessed he would soon join them. It was a pragmatic use of their bodies. Morbid, but still pragmatic.

At of this smoothed mound of metal, I found Kade sitting upon his thorned throne. He leaned onto his hand, his broken and black armor thick around him. His face regrew the iron of before, but the scar from his ripped face flesh popped on his face. The uneven, jagged lines of the scar traced down the side of his jaw, exposing a portion of his human teeth. At the scar’s edge was the opening towards one of his nostrils, puffing air with each of his heavy breaths.

His silence never changed as I approached. He remained sitting even as several other Blackiron members neared me. I stepped within four steps of him before I said,

“No doubt you noticed, but I never exposed who poisoned the saints. Do you know why, exile?”

A small puff of laughter escaped Kade before he said, “Tell me then. Why?”

I replied, “I have a simple goal. I want what’s inside Gaia’s remnants. Our goals coincide.”

Kade slammed the edge of his throne, bending metal with a concussion of sound echoing around us. He shouted, his voice visceral, “You killed Macor. You deformed me. I bet your monstrous friends underneath the barrier enjoyed tearing Werquel and Maesop apart as well.”

I scowled as I spit, “They were no friends of mine. I’ve already eaten their remains.”

A lie, of course, but they would know no better. Kade leaned forward, holding himself up with his right arm on the throne as he hissed, “How am I to trust you after seeing what you’ve done?”

I took a step closer as I said, “Because there are ties thicker than blood. Do you know why your bodies are entrapped in steel?”

Kade leaned back as he said, “The sins of our ancestors have cursed us.”

I clapped my hands together as I said, “That is partially true, considering your tribes banishment started with the crimes of your forefathers, but that is not why you continue to deform.”

Kade’s eyes slit as he clenched a hand on the edge of his smashed throne. He suppressed a consuming curiosity, so he said, “What do you think then, Darkened One?” His last words rubbed right through bark, rough as a cobblestone road.

A sardonic smile crept up my lips as I said, “It is a result of a mutation from the radiation given off by Gaia’s remnants.”

Kade rolled his eyes, “Of course. There god cursed us long ago. Your telling us nothing new.”

I lifted an arm, popping each of my fingers one at a time. After finishing my four fingers, I said, “Imagine if this curse could be taken away.”

Kade slammed his words, “It cannot. We have tried every antidote, every potion and ritual. Nothing has freed us. We will remain this way until every single one of our children calcifies into blocks of iron. Until our children dance on our corpses.”

The despair in his voice grinded through rock before he flexed his hand outwad, bending iron as he did so. In reply, I spread my arms like a priest offering salvation as I said,

“I am The Darkened One.. I am here for one reason, and it is not to spread darkness.”

His eye twitched before he hissed, dripping spite in his words, “That’s right...The ender of all and killer of gods, right?”

I nodded as I said, my arms lifting, “I will kill Gaia and her most devout followers, the palisade. I will rip and tear and maim and murder those that steal your children. I will replace your darkness with light,” I leaned close, “But I have a task I need done.”

His voice disguised a slight quiver, but I detected his desperation as he said, “I’ll entertain the thought. What task would that be?”

The Blackirons behind us drew closer, their eyes hiding hope and a greed driven frenzy. They wanted freedom from their endless prisons. I popped my neck, turning my head till the liquid released in my spine before I said,

“Hold back an immortal.”