Chapter 72

Nayali

Betrayal

Fury, rage, and betrayal. Those were the three emotions that Nayali felt the most when she awoke from purging the seventh and final pillar before awaking to find Lykan missing.

She had been left alone, defenseless where any number of monsters could have attacked her. Never mind the fact that those same attacking monsters were going through the same metamorphosis as she had been and were thus also passed out during that same time. No, she awoke to find Lykan missing.

At first, she feared the worst had happened. She feared that something had attacked him while she was passed out and that there was nothing, she could do to save him. Only after she awoke did that Aren girl make herself useful, by pointing out that he had left.

She still had doubts about Aren and her reason for following Lykan. She claimed to have knowledge of Lykan’s mother. However, when she was pressed for details all she did was give glances towards Nayali, indicating that Nayali wasn’t to know of the truth. Now neither Nayali, nor Lykan knew the truth allegedly. Also of interest, this lack of knowledge changed nothing; Lykan still left, and the details of his dead mother still mean absolutely nothing. Wait, I hope she is still dead? The thought filled Nayali’s mind as she followed Aren who was a surprisingly talented tracker.

She managed to easily find Lykan’s week old trail and follow it through the wilderness. As she went forward, Nayali let her mind play out over the events that had happened.

Nayali knew Lykan felt betrayed by Octavia. The fact that she had forever severed off his connection to mana was hard to take. Even though it was a mistake. After the details came out Nayali felt guilty for her part. She had let Octavia feel her emotions of being jealous of the person who Lykan had true feelings for, while somehow still manging to hide that it was Octavia that he had those feelings for. Octavia acting impulsively sought to punish Lykan by doing a merge cleansing that would take care of both his corruption that had been killing him at the time, along with her newly bonded dragon Florijma.

The only problem was that such a merging process only worked if both had completed meridians. Not that many people go around with damaged meridians, most apparently die shortly after such an event occurs. This knowledge only gave further credence to just how determined Lykan can be.

Then there was the way that Lykan changed.

After the second pillar, he became unstoppable, at least when it came to clearing pillars. Normally there was a bit of a surge of power that would overwhelm the person who interacted with the pillar. After Lykan had his meridians permanently severed he managed to stay upright, even after dedicating the different pillars to the great forest spirit.

With each dedication, Nayali felt her connection to the great forest spirit grow and blossom. After the sixth pillar a seed appeared in Nayali’s hand. This of course was odd, as she was not the one interacting with the pillar but was still receiving the benefits of being part of the group that helped to dedicate each pillar to the great forest spirit.

The seed itself was one that Lykan recognized almost instantly, stating that it was a soul seed, one that could be used to grow a legendary weapon.

When Nayali offered the soul seed to Lykan he hesitated. A look of fear crossing his eyes, as he began to take deep breaths to try and calm himself. She knew from his stories that when he lost his first soul sword the act nearly killed him. Had it not been for a string of events that the gods themselves must have put into place, he likely would have been crippled for life. As it was, he managed to survive, though he did suffer grave injuries from the event.

In the end Nayali convinced him to try taking the seed. He raised a slightly trembling hand, and almost looked relieved when the seed failed to react to his touch.

“See that, the faint glow that was there is now gone. It seems that my severing of my meridians means I cannot get another soul seed to bond with me.” Lykan said.

Nayali wanted to protest, to say that he was lying. But as soon as he pulled his hand away the seed slowly began to glow again. Worse, it took a while for the seed to finally get back to its original brilliant glow. After seeing the change in the seed both before and after his touch Nayali couldn’t argue. It did appear that whatever cursed blessing he had received from the gods to survive made it so he would not only never be able to interact with mana again, but also that nothing could bond to his soul.

For a moment she wondered if Lykan still had a soul, but quickly abandoned such thinking. That line of thinking led to much crueler thoughts. That line of questioning would also make her question the very nature of the gods.

Then another thought filled her mind; now that she had actively taken up the mantle of being a priestess for the great forest spirit, what did that mean about her relationship with the other gods? Did that mean the other gods would offer her cruel mixed blessings as well?

So far her reception had been well received, as her blessings from the gods were far more than what Aren originally noted that she had received from the gods.

Blessing Bestowed: Cleansed.

Cleansed (Epic): You were part of a land that had all seven pillars directed solely to improving the land. This monumental feat has been witnessed and awarded by the gods. As you were part of the group who finished clearing the final pillar, the rarity of your blessing has been increased to Epic. Reward: All attributes +3. Special reward, you have been recognized as the official maintainer of the area you helped cleanse. Once per month you may draw upon the power of the land to enact one miracle.

This was of course the seventh and final blessing for the pillars. She had received other blessings along the way, Longevity for both herself and her progeny was the reward for the fifth pillar. During the sixth pillar, in addition to the soul seed, she became a full priestess for the great forest spirit. She was still trying to understand what that meant, but she was being able to understand more as time went on.

The more she learned about her new role as a priestess for the great forest spirit the more she saw how the great forest spirit sought a balance in all things. It was a great philosophy, one where humanoids and monsters were meant to live together as two parts of the same whole.

There was also another benefit from becoming a full priestess. Not only was the Mark of the Heretic fully removed, meaning the five-attribute deficit that she had been suffering through for some time was now completely removed. But she also got a blessing from the great forest spirit that then added more attributes. The blessing from the great forest spirit was small, just a +1 to all attributes but it was a start.

A sigh left Nayali’s lips as she thought about the removal of the Mark of the Heretic, for that was something that she and Lykan could also relate to. When Lykan lost his soul sword he was hit with a far greater penalty. That was a seven-point attribute wound, one that still never fully healed. Instead, there was just a giant scar on his soul where the attachment to the great sword once sat.

In fact, that was part of why Nayali felt so angry at seeing that Lykan had left when he had the chance. The fact that he left was no real surprise, he had felt hurt and betrayed by Octavia. Someone who he didn’t even want to hear about, when Nayali tried to tell Lykan about Octavia’s feelings for him he would raise a hand and walk away towards the next pillar. He would only stop if she promised not to talk about Octavia.

Then she was just about to get him to finally open up, when Aren tracked them down. That is when she spoke of being part of a special secret order of mage hunters, one that Lykan was a direct descendant of. The whole thing seemed fantastical, but then again Lykan himself was fantastical. Part myth, part stubborn jerk who wouldn’t listen.

Feeling confident in her ability to follow Aren, even while distracted she pulled up her own status screen to see the changes that had happened.

Name Nayali Northstar Race Human Class Oracular Shaman -> Oracular Priestess Age 22 (Longevity) Attribute Base Plus Modifier Total Strength (8 + 14) 22 Awareness (7+14) 21 Mobility (8 + 14) 22 Intelligence (8 + 14) 22 Power (9 + 14) 23

In all Nayali was surprised to see that she was now more powerful, if barely, than she was when she originally dueled Lykan. Part of her wondered how she would fare now if they were to duel again. Then the memory of her striking out at Lykan with a death bolt, there was no other name for such an attack. The death bolt struck and nearly killed Lykan. Only through his intense will and perseverance did he survive.

Thinking about wanting to duel Lykan again caused guilt to flare up inside her. She would want to duel him again in the heavens, swords clashing as the morning sun rose over the horizon. The whole event had been romantic in its own way. Thinking back to that time, through the few moments of clarity she had of that time she felt truly alive. That battle had been the best she had ever had. The fact that she lost was nothing, she had seen the future. She knew that losing would always be a possibility. She also knew that if she used the death bolt that the world would go into darkness within the next seven years, as the golden bubble that had been blocking most visions of the future would suddenly blink out.

That of course didn’t happen, the golden bubble managed to stay. Until… A chill ran down Nayali’s spine as she realized that the future she had feared had started. At least there were a few warnings that were prevalent in all the bad futures, that were now coming to light.

“No, no, no…” Nayali muttered to herself as she tried to focus. She went from mild musings about what was happening, to thinking about what might happen.

Pausing for a second, she stood completely still as she forced her mind to focus on a path of the deep future, any future.

Darkness.

Shaking herself she refocused her will and tried again.

This time she followed chains of events, letting the time slip by quickly. She could see lights of the future playing out, evolving naturally, then darkness.

Sweat began to trickle on the back of her neck, causing her to involuntarily shutter.

Aren had noticed the way Nayali no longer clobbered about loudly in the woods. Even her psychic dragon paused to look at her with confusion.

Finally, after a few minutes of trying and failing to see beyond the darkness Nayali let out a deep breath and she was back in the present.

“What happened?” Aren asked.

Hearing her words, Nayali was lost for a second. “The future. It is all broken, and it is all my fault.” Nayali said, as she collapsed to the ground. The weight of her actions and the chain of events spiraling forward to this moment, right here, right now. This moment when she realized she broke the future.

So many possible futures, so many divergent points and she forced this set of consequences.

“What do you mean?” Aren asked, still confused.

Nayali turned to focus on her for a second, before she managed to regain her bearing. “I broke him. I broke Lykan, and now the future is unknown.”

Hearing that Aren paused trying to understand what she was saying. Oracles were always tough to understand, particularly right after they had their visions.

“Are you sure you aren’t drawing conclusions? The gift of prophecy is always tough, and a lot more interpretation of history than of predicting the future.” Aren said, her voice being one of the skeptics. This was a common view of most people, though one that was never spoke. At least it was a point of view that was not spoken in public.

Hearing the words Nayali looked shocked, but then realized her disbelief likely had something to do with being a member of that weird order that she wanted to talk to Lykan about. She cocked her head to the side looking at Aren in a new light. She was half tempted to see her future, but then decided against that course of events.

“No, I am fairly certain of what I saw.”

“And what did you see exactly?”

“I saw darkness.”

“Darkness?”

“Yes, darkness. The future goes on. Then after seven years complete darkness envelops the planet, and no further predictions are possible.”

“So, you are scared that you can’t see past seven years? Isn’t that a long time for an Oracle? One you should be proud of.”

Shaking her head Nayali tried to think of how she could explain this.

“No, it is not like that.” Nayali said exasperatedly.

Hearing the frustration in her voice and seeing how neither she nor her dragon were moving Aren sighed and then realized she would likely be staying here for a while.

“Perhaps you should take it from the top.”