Chapter 19

The Corrupter

“You know me.” It was a statement. There was little doubt in what Krysta meant. She followed it with a question. “How do you know me?”

“I believe you know that full well, my dear,” Alexander’s staff pushed in on Golbrucht’s neck, causing Lumen to spasm, clasping at his own. The old man rose an eyebrow, intrigued by what the young one was going through, but not letting up. Golbrucht attempted to move, but his arms and legs flailed as though chained to the ground by weights. “And I don’t mean the moment we met in Adversa. Though I’ll admit I was surprised to find you there. I suppose like the Fiends, you, too, can exist in both places without adverse effects. That was your folly this whole time, wasn’t it, my young protégé?”

“Protégé?” Torry and Floyd asked, but their question went ignored by Alexander. In fact, their entire existence seemed to be ignored by the older man. It wasn’t like before, where his vessels attempted to destroy them. Now that Krysta was here, they might as well not have existed at all.

“Splitting souls and tying yourself to one. What a fool you’ve been, Golbrucht.”

“Hah, you’d know all about that, old man.” Golbrucht’s grip was weak, but he managed to dislodge the staff from his throat. Alexander didn’t like that, removing it with a spin and striking him in the chest with light. Lumen dropped, but recovered when Golbrucht was suddenly bound in shining chains and tossed inside the library.

“Come, my dear. We have much to cover, and so very little time.” A flick of his white robes, and Alexander walked back inside the large building. Krysta resisted a moment, but soon walked forward, pulled by some inexorable force. Every one of Torry’s instincts told her to stop the girl, but her strength and reflexes were not enough after their battle with the Fiends. She couldn’t prevent Krysta from moving forward, so she turned her eyes to where they were entering, noticing the differences between this place, and the Priscus that remained in Adversa.

The library was bigger here, serving as the very center of the city, and attached to it was the large tower. Only now that Torry knew this was where Alexander kept residence did she wonder the true purpose of the building. Floyd wondered more than that.

“Why should we follow you?” he asked, storming in after Krysta. Unlike Torry, he had the strength to push her back at the threshold of the library. Alexander looked back at him, dismissiveness scrawled on his downturned lips. “You attacked us the second we got here!”

“That is what one does to parasites.”

“Parasites?” Their collective inquiry caused Alexander to roll his eyes, fed up with them and their continued presence. He clacked his staff on the ground, causing Golbrucht to be thrown against a bookshelf and locked upon it.

“Humanity has long shown itself to be parasitic. They rely on the Lifebloods for their blessings, and even when they do not, their whims cause the Lifebloods to drain, corroding the very force that sustains this world. What did they think would happen when that benevolence and goodwill would run out?”

“Goodwill?” Lumen was recovering, his body no longer feeling the effects of his soul. His eyes trailed up to Atrum, his own soul, and he flexed his fingers. Those same eyes locked back on to Alexander. “Aren’t you a Fiend, though?”

“Does it matter?” Alexander’s question was pointed, but no one could answer. All Torry could say to herself was that all of this felt wrong. The man in front of them, the ground they were standing on, all of it was wrong in one form or another, but she could not place how. “I did my duty. Someone had to safeguard the light, and that is exactly what I did from the very beginning.”

Once again, the old man only had eyes for Krysta, and she was forced to hold a similar attraction to his words. The question tumbled from her lips, “How?”

“Tell me. You existed for more millennia than even I have, my dear. Long before the Cataclysm that turned me from a lowly scholar to the Fiend that I became. You know Priscus, and you know what it must be. How do you think?” Krysta shook her head, leaning into a slight defensive stance, but not one Torry believed would ever be committed to battle. Alexander sighed, glancing upwards and behind, towards the tower, no doubt. To Torry, it felt like he was looking at a clock, and would have interrupted with her own questions if she thought she’d get more answers. “Your soul, like many other Lifebloods, was sealed in crystal of sorts to maintain the flow of this world. Upon the first Cataclysm, that order began to break down, and the Lifebloods waned in their strength.

“Now, perhaps it is because light is the primordial element, but you were the first whose powers waned. I needed to separate you from the roots of this world, find a way to keep your power safe from Golbrucht’s machinations. So, from some shards of crystal, I fashioned you a vessel, and sealed your soul inside. Though judging from the state of your body, it was not compatible. It makes me wonder how a crystal could hold you at all.”

“That shouldn’t be possible! You and Golbrucht… You can’t have the power to control my soul! Or any of ours!” Krysta looked to be in pain, and her eyes reflected a yearning for something. It could have been the revelation pouring upon her, but from the way her eyes were darting all over the place with madness, it had to have been something else.

Torry wanted to hazard a guess at it being Priscus, itself.

“How you forget, my dear.” Alexander tapped his staff again, and in that moment, the sight of Priscus wavered. Rather, the Dimidian Priscus wavered. Adversa was bleeding over again, showing a more ruined library with the bookshelves toppled over from their previous battle on the other side. Alexander snorted, but other than that, did not heed its existence. “I am a Fiend, born of the first Cataclysm. Yet, as a human, I would have inherited Soul Magic, that power to twist normal souls. When my body met my soul, twisting together, I inherited that magic, just as Golbrucht did, and better yet, I appeared to have a tie to the light. Your light.”

“Because the Fiends are filtered through the Lifebloods. It’s like a Blessing, but in reverse… But then, what was the Cataclysm?” Torry’s hypothesis and investigations no doubt irritated Alexander, but for the first time in the conversation, the man endeavored to actually answer the question. He tightened the struggling Golbrucht’s chains before he did so, even as threads snaked out to try and throttle them.

“The Cataclysm is nothing less than the moment the cycle broke. An interruption of souls,” Alexander explained, leaving more for Torry to puzzle over. There was something more to it, but every sense of danger was impeding her way through rationalization and forming further hypotheses. “Though, it is irrelevant for humans such as yourselves to know. You would only abuse the information. That was what led to the splitting of the world in the first place.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Walter had taken his own instincts farther, his spear out alongside Charles’s twin blades. Their bodies looked to be sagging, but they maintained a firm grip at Alexander’s words. “Are you trying to say humanity is what split the world into Adversa and Dimidia?”

“Not directly. But humans have a propensity towards war and violence. Tip the scales in any direction and they will ensure that there will be senseless slaughter. Magic reaped human souls like genocide, causing such pain. Is it any wonder that Crea then split the world in two?”

“Oh, please, like some goddess could split a whole world!” Floyd countered. His hands were rattling on his daggers, while a breath caught in Torry’s throat. The more Alexander spoke, the worse it all was. Only Krysta continued to appear entranced by the Fiend’s words, which didn’t bode well for any of them. Torry took a step forward to pull her just a little away, though she resisted the hold.

“Is it truly beyond the imagination? Look at your friend there. Ripped apart, body and soul, the latter existing as a corporeal form.”

“Yeah, but you’re talking about an entire world, manifesting some…some soul realm as an actual physical space on the other side. And over two thousand years. That’s insane!”

“It is a self-replicating process.” Alexander was sounding bored, and more than just a little bit irritated. The constant flickers of the library in Adversa likely did not help matters. “The beauty of the structure between the Lifebloods. Now, enough. I have no more time to waste explaining this to insignificant humans.”

“We’re not insignificant!” Lumen shouted. He was recovering from the pain inflicted by his soul, but his standing tall was enough to make Golbrucht stop what he was doing and look down at the boy he had manipulated and planned to use. Alexander was unaffected, as he had been the entire time. “If Crea split the world in two to prevent further violence because of magic, then she did it because there was a love for humanity and protecting them! We have to believe in that principle!”

“Hah! Ahaha!” Golbrucht’s laughter drew greater annoyance from the old man below, but he did not tighten the chains. He kept his eyes solely on Krysta. Torry moved to push her further back; she didn’t like the way he was staring, as if about to make a move at any time. “Benevolence? What about we Fiends is benevolent? What type of system that rips the soul away is to protect the people?! Even the old man knows this! He’s just determined to keep the flow of souls on its course as long as he can, right up until the end.”

Lumen didn’t know how to challenge Golbrucht’s claims, and no one there could offer anything to console him. Some of it sounded like religious tripe; Serotin had never had a rooted faith in the goddess. The rest of it was…illuminating. Like things slotting into place. Regardless of all of that, Alexander appeared to hate how much time they were wasting, and finally turned to face Golbrucht directly.

“You never did approve of that idea, did you?” His staff tapped, and was then thrust forward. Golbrucht was pulled back and then slammed back against the bookshelf. It threatened to topple over, but at times looked like it already was. “Yes, always looking for a way to free yourself. As soon as you found out what would happen at the Unification, you took it upon yourself to end that cycle. Ironically it turned you into even more of a genocidal maniac than you believed my plan was.”

“Don’t try to absolve yourself of any sin, old man!” Golbrucht’s foot found the bookcase and he strained, the chains clinking and groaning. Alexander’s free hand clenched, attempting to tighten the chains, but his opponent tried to fight back with greater strength. His remaining power pulsed, causing cracks in the chains as his strings found their weak spots. “You were just as involved in the war. Or was it not your idea to usher the Lifebloods along? Tired of waiting for almost fifteen hundred years or more?”

“The war? Are you saying Alexander is the one responsible for the war, not you?!” Walter demanded. He gave a palpable fury, but did not act on it. He wasn’t the only one, with Charles baring his teeth and the newfound implications. Torry didn’t know what to think, her age betraying her knowledge over the war, but feeling their pain as it was amplified within the moment.

“He was the damn architect of it all!” Golbrucht screamed. One of the chains broke loose, flying through the air and disappearing into light. He was still bound, however. Alexander began to repeat his process, but when Walter and Charles took a single step to engage him, he was forced to split his efforts. “I had no compunctions with the lives taken to meet the ends I had planned, so I served my role as the instigator quite well. But Alexander…oh, you always believed your best intentions somehow made you better. Or was it your affiliation with Little Miss Light?”

“War was necessary, and you did not refuse it. Though even then you tried to subvert and betray my every move, didn’t you? Useless boy.” Another chain snapped off, but Alexander changed his strategy, summoning a light to the end of his staff and piercing Golbrucht through his shin. Lumen collapsed, but the Fiend did not care. “Then again, I suppose that’s the issue with protégés. They always start to think they know more, or have a better plan. This is why one needs equal allies, but you and the other Fiends ended up being little more than tools.”

“I defied you!” The final chain broke, and Golbrucht flew down, free of his prison and unhindered by his wounded leg, or any of the other damages that Terrill had caused to his body. Torry backed up, out of the line of fire, as a black, bloody claw met the shining staff. “You would see this world rendered to ash, letting the cycle run on and on.”

“And you would see all humanity erased from this world.”

“As if you care for the humans that remain at all!” The two broke off, but Golbrucht was faster. Though clearly more ancient, Torry could see that Alexander’s age was nothing against the younger body he was up against. She wondered if Golbrucht had done it for that specific purpose.

“Humans have very few uses, but some are intellects. In either case, they serve as fuel for the cycle. I need them alive for that. Blessed, even.”

“I’ll not let you! You’ve held reign over that power long enough!” Golbrucht slipped underneath the staff, his claw aiming for Alexander’s chest. A small shield interceded, pushing him backwards, but the King was relentless. “I know you’ve sealed the Lifebloods’ power. Why? To prevent them from dying? Is that what you did to her? You’re the worst of them all, Alexander!”

“Oh, do be quiet, boy.” His staff whirled around, striking Golbrucht and sending him crashing through the bookshelves. “You’ve been nothing but annoying gnats. You with your experiments and Clay with his constant interferences. The man didn’t even have Soul Magic and still he thought to toy with me. This could have all been over if you’d just stuck to the plan.”

“And what plan was that?” This voice was right next to Torry’s ear, and she felt herself shoved aside, Krysta stalking forward. Her body was glowing, and Alexander appeared amused at the crystal lines traveling up her body. Torry was frozen, remembering only one other time the girl had showed such fury. “Was it the war? You planned to exterminate human life just like that?”

“I needed to move things along. Golbrucht simply moved them even farther, though they were far too imbalanced.” Alexander leaned on his staff, watching Krysta approach, but Torry knew he wasn’t defenseless or injured or even filled with any sort of fatigue his advanced age would suggest. He was a greater threat than anything, yet welcomed any attempt. “I had to seal you.”

“You changed the course of this world, you and Golbrucht both!” Krysta brought light to her hand and fired it, singeing Alexander’s white hair before it struck the far wall of the library. Golbrucht was stirring. “You took parents from children! Destroyed families and lives! Ripped the very foundation of this world off its hinges, and for what?!”

“Ultimately? To avert fate. And to do so means it has to reach a point of no return. A tipping point, if you will.”

“I have had enough of it!” Her rapier became a flail that whirled around until it struck upon Alexander. He blocked it with his staff, but even he underestimated the brunt of an enraged Krysta, his body bending just a bit. “I will not stand by while you continue to wreak havoc. I will not see another Eric North so long as I can help it.”

Krysta had gotten close to Alexander, and with a scream, jabbed her rapier straight through his torso. He flinched, light pouring from the wound, but was otherwise unaffected when he grabbed her wrist. His face came close. “Is that what’s been haunting you, my dear? Such a pitiful and insignificant creature as Eric North.”

“Humans are not pitiful!” She kicked, separating them. Torry saw her stumbling, and Alexander’s hand reaching for her once more. The mage acted, creating a wind that pushed Alexander back and allowed Torry and Floyd to reach Krysta. The girl was beyond livid. “Eric gave his own life to save countless others.”

“A waste, really, though I’ll admit he put a major wrench in the plan.” Alexander was looking tired, and just a bit rattled, by Torry’s estimations. This was confirmed when the ground grew darker, as if the crystal beneath them was dimming with the overlapping of Adversa. “Just like your friend, Terrill. I never understood why Golbrucht decided to use someone so dull and uninteresting. If it wasn’t for his Blessing, he’d have been nothing but another human. Completely baffling.”

“You certainly seemed to pay attention to him!” Floyd countered. His dagger was held before Krysta, shielding her, though Torry worried more that they’d have to restrain her.

“I only paid attention to him insofar as how it would affect the Lifeblood.”

“She has a name! It’s Krysta!” Torry shouted back, hoping to add her own defiance to throw Alexander off. He showed his age by not caring one whit.

“And I care not for it. Whether it be a name she chose or one from her past life, it mattered little. As for Terrill Jacobs,” Alexander paused to give groan of frustration, “he was an element I could not predict, so I had to make him work either way. If he left, further damage would be averted and Golbrucht would lose that piece from the board. If he remained in Adversa, however, I knew it would propel you to fulfill your duty, my dear.

“Why else do you think I intervened and protected you at every possible moment?”

“Protected me…? Protected me?!” Krysta’s blade converted to a single source of energy, one that Torry and Floyd knew they could not stop. Alexander brought his staff to the fore, and when Krysta fired the harsh beam, he split it with his staff. “You stole my soul from its vessel, and made me watch as the people I loved suffered! And now you’re saying you protected me for what? To assume my old form and be put back in a prison of your making?! If I do that it will be my choice, not yours!”

“There is no choice you can make that is your own. I already told you: we have a connection of light between our souls, and we are bound to that light, even unto a new world that casts aside the old. You are mine.” Before Alexander could finish, Golbrucht leapt back into the air, his blackened claws becoming razor sharp. The old man turned the back of his staff upon his former protégé, but the Fiend ripped through it, snapping the staff in two.

“You think you own the Lifebloods, old man? I’ll rip them out of you and destroy them!”

“I have no more time to play with you, Golbrucht.” What was left of his broken staff was turned around on Golbrucht, shining with a radiance that forced him to recoil. Lumen let loose a scream, garnering just one look of pity from the old man. Krysta’s attack faded, her entire neck now crystallized. She was fading fast, and there was little option left. Alexander knew it, too, though he was distracted by Golbrucht powering through and tearing a hole in his abdomen. Alexander remained standing. “You’ve always been such a child. Throwing temper tantrums. It’s no wonder the other Fiends went along with you. They all lacked vision save for Clay. The reason for your chosen vessel is obvious, but I’ll tolerate you no longer.

“Little time remains! I have sealed the Lifebloods that pour forth from this place, protected by the nexus of this world, but Adversa and Dimidia will merge. There is naught left that can be done to prevent it, save for one thing. You must retake your form and bless all who the other Lifebloods no longer have the strength to reach.”

“Why would I ever help you?!”

“Because for all our protests, my dear, there is still an element of humanity inside us,” Alexander answered. He tossed his broken staff aside, flinching from the pain, but when his hands clasped together, more chains surrounded Golbrucht, holding him in midair. “You do not want the flow to cease, nor humanity to end. If you intervene now, then you can save both. That is the purpose for your being here! Become one with Priscus, whose hallowed ground is the remains of your immemorial vessel! It is the only way to save them and yourself!”

“Save…myself…?” Her hand clasped to her crystalline skin, the meaning behind Alexander’s words palpable. And Krysta struggled with the notion, no longer as clear-cut as defying the old man.

“Your body is incompatible and will break down. Just the same as a human body would strip you of that power. This is the only way to protect it. Join with it and become the Lifeblood once again!”

“No! If you do that, you will forever be a slave to the fate of this world!” Golbrucht shouted. Krysta did not listen to him, her gray eyes going dull. Torry grabbed her alongside Floyd, hoping to pull her back while their enemy shouted. “You will always be his if you go down that road.”

“Fate…? I wanted to…sever fate…” Krysta’s hands flopped to her side, ready to give up. “But how can I…?” She looked up to Alexander, managing to restrain Golbrucht with all of his effort. “The sealed souls, and the nexus of my power. Maybe I can…”

“There is no more running from fate. You cannot reason with it, and cannot prevent it. All you can do is bring it to the edge, unify it all and split it all away. Allow me to demonstrate. Soul Seal!” A flash later and the chains that had surrounded Golbrucht began to snake their way inside. With an opposite pull of two hands, the chains began to clank apart, and Torry watched on with horrific fascination at the display of magic she could never know, and would always escape her.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Lumen’s scream was so curdling and filled with pain, everyone took their eyes off of whatever Alexander was doing. The boy was writhing on the ground, Walter and Charles attempting to help him but doing little to stop the pain of a soul being forcibly ripped into.

Though, Torry reasoned, ripped apart was the more correct phrase.

“You stitched yourself together, boy, but I can make you two separate vessels once again. Now, fade, Golbrucht. I’ve no more use for you.” He tore his hands apart and the chains broke off, producing two figures. One was Atrum.

The other was a man bedecked in obsidian armor and red eyes, glaring with hatred at Alexander, now separate from the vessel he had long worn.

Not that Atrum looked in the best shape, both he and Lumen collapsed on the floor. Floyd took a step towards him, but the room began to shake, the crystal beneath pulsing with a sickening light.

The world and the Lifebloods were starting to reach their end, heralded with a crash through the roof of the library.