The Garden on the side of the house was far more than just a garden as it was a masterpiece of formations, wards, and spatial folding that I had no hope of ever understanding, even if I lived as long as Alice. But that masterpiece turned what should have been a small field into hundreds of plantable acres that had soil bursting with vitality. It was a tranquil place, but I always felt out of place when inside and now, I was strong enough to understand why.While everything was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with vitality, the Chains of Order were shaping everything. I didn"t have a concept of this before, but as I shifted my vision to the new, enhanced form, I could see these golden chains and the name appeared in my mind as well as a distaste and discomfort. They were woven throughout the fields, around every plant, and even through the river and on the far cliffs. Although this place was thriving with life energy, I could never use it due to my Chaotic nature as these chains would put defenses against my aura.
Unable to suppress my curiosity, I knelt down by one of the rows of herbs and tried to touch one of the chains, but my fingers went straight through it. The golden chain shimmered brightly at first as I neared, but it dimmed after my touch and grew increasingly darker as my hand remained "within" it.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Yue called out as she jogged over.
I retracted my hand with a sheepish grin and apologized as I stood up, "Sorry, Yue, I was curious."
"It"s fine, the lines are repairing themselves now... Just what "did" you do?" Yue asked as she checked the silver tablet in her hand that acted as the focus for the formations and wards in the Garden.
"I don"t really know... I just saw the Chains of Order and wondered what would happen if I touched them."
"Chains of Order? You can see the laws of the formations?!?" Yue exclaimed.
I shrugged, "All I see are golden chains woven throughout this entire place. The name came to my head like the basic understanding of my powers."
"You couldn"t do this before, right? Did you make some gains after..." her voice died away as she gave me a sad look.
"Actually, I did. Although I can"t use the new true form, I have a new element which has greatly enhanced my senses even without being able to use it like my Chaos Lightning."
"What is it?"
I made a complicated face and replied, "Death... Corruption... I"m not quite sure of its full power, but if I unleash it without being able to control it, I could become something that kills all things just because they were within a certain range. Koken said I would become the embodiment of Death and, while I don"t understand that exactly, I do know I would have a kind of "aura" that will drain the life of anything near me, plant, animal, and human alike. "
"Death, you mean...?"
"That I died? Yeah and without Katye constantly channeling her Chaos magic, I would have stayed that way," I sighed.
"I"m sorry, Rebecca... If I had planned a little more..." Yue said softly.
I pulled her by the shoulder into a hug and said, "It"s not your fault, Yue. We"ve had some tough sc.r.a.ps before in the "Rift", but nothing like that. We were lucky to have made it out at all and minimize the damage as much as we did."
She rested her head against my shoulder for a minute before she sighed and pulled away. "So, why did you come here? You hate the Garden."
"For you, my friend. What all has been going on while I was unconscious and why are Alice"s "old" friends starting to appear now?" I asked.
"Come on, I can show you a video that will help explain a little," Yue said as she turned and headed further into the garden.
Yue took me to the platform that straddled the river which was now covered by a gazebo with swaths of sky blue fabric hanging down form the top. I sat down in a chair while Yue pulled out a tablet and brought up Youtube. I heard the news clip start before she handed it to me and sat down in the chair across from me.
Although the government was trying to hide the truth and claimed the attack was done Islamic terrorists, the joy of the modern age was that everyone had a camera these days. Numerous cell phone clips had been strung together in this particular video, allowing the truth to be seen from countless angles. Five men, dressed in black with sickly-green, full- masquerade masks, entered a large mall or some kind of shopping center in France and burned it down, killing hundreds, but there was no mistaking the vile green flames as anything but magic in our trained eyes. The most haunting part of the video was the sound of inhuman wailing that made my hair stand on end as I felt a deeper connection to it.
"Alice said there were a number of figures from the "Old Days" who used these Soul-Flames and none of them would bat an eye at releasing them on innocent people. She even went as far to say that this was likely a test as much as it was a way for their group to gain power. Her "old" friends know she was left as the Guardian of the "Rift", so they are probably trying to figure out the state of the "Great Ward"," Yue explained when I handed back the tablet.
I sighed, "Yeah, that fits with the tiny bit I got from her. How long ago did it happen?"
"Week and a half. Alice explained that the men were using the weakest form of Soul-Flames since their fires would darken with every life they consumed until they are pitch. This was only the first attack, more are likely to come."
My thoughts naturally drifted back to the freezing black flames in the skeletal pit I fought my way out of. I couldn"t help but link the two and, since I couldn"t use the power itself, I could only wait to ask Koken the next time I meditated.
"So, how are you now?" Yue asked after to a few minutes.
"Fine... even stronger than before," I said bitterly.
"What... what happened when you were...?"
I retrieved a beer from my ring then opened it before I explained, "I was in an empty, black abyss for what felt like a long time. When I finally saw something other than blackness, I was in a pit of black flames that were freezing to the touch as the bones of every creature I had ever killed rained down around me. I had to destroy the skeletons of them all until the energy rea.s.sembling them finally stopped and, once I did, I returned to my mental plane while my real body was recovering. Koken explained that if it hadn"t had been for Katye"s determination to not stop trying to heal me, my body wasn"t at a point that I should have survived."
"Becca, I"m sorry... I had given up on you and made Katye stop helping you, so she could stop Gustavo," Yue said quietly.
"By the point you did, my body was already starting to regenerate, but I don"t blame you. I was dead, literally. You needed to focus on those who were alive and keeping everyone that way when Gustavo went berserk."
"Still..." she sighed, looking more depressed than I had ever seen her.
"Yue, you made the right decision," I said firmly.
She gave me a weak smile and, despite not refuting my words, I could tell she didn"t believe it. A little later, a black and tan dachshund ran up happily and started licking Yue"s ankles before moving onto mine. Chuckling, I looked up to find Kiara and Katye walking up, both with a bit of dirt on their knees and hands. Before they could reach us though, Yue pulled out her tea set and started getting everything ready.
Kiara moved a little faster than Katye and took the chair on the side of the table with Yue, so Katye was forced to sit in the chair next to me. I silently chuckled to myself since I could see through her actions, even if they weren"t needed. Katye had flashed me a bashful smile as she walked up then sat down next to me. The four of us sat around the table and talked for a few hours, but before noon, a call came through everyone"s ear cuff.
"Gustavo has slipped again, but he"s locked in a sparing ring," Terri"s voice chimed through my ear.
I was a little alarmed, but the other three gave a tired sigh.
"He"s been having a lot more trouble keeping his clarity while he trains than you ever did. This is the eighth time this month," Yue explained.
"d.a.m.n, that bad? Are you having to tranq him?" I asked.
"No, I"ve been putting him to sleep with my magic. Even though it"s draining, there aren"t any of the side-effects that the drugs have, at least," Katye said as she stood up.
"Come on, we"ll need you to carry Gustavo if Lesedi didn"t leave her forge," Yue said as she looked at me and stood up.
I nodded and stood up while Kiara followed suit as well. The four of us slowly made our way out of the garden with Raz running around happily.