As it turned out, that dark thing was an Aeon, an ent.i.ty summoned by strong mages whose Essence is pure enough to access the Primordial Lake. That thing refused to answer further questions though. Although it was foreign to our world, and how humans made deals, it was quite strict about following rules to the letter.It cleared the way for me to move forward and exit the underground building. Despite most of the pillars collapsing, that thing managed to keep the building intact. What it devoured from the banshee allowed it to grow slightly stronger and keep the structure from falling apart. I can"t claim to understand it all, but I managed to get out of that place just fine.
Talk about luck, huh?!
I managed to climb upwards quickly enough. By the time I reached the base of the necromancer"s tower, I realized I"d come from the opposite way Eli and I took the first time. The tower somehow survived our earlier carnage. I suspected Lemien had something to do with it.
I extended my senses to look for Eli. My last session with Eva brought me closer to complete a.s.similation. My Essence grew stronger, and I could extend my senses even father. I knew more about the empress" morbid past. Don"t expect me to tell you all about it though. It"s a secret I promised to keep. It was the deal I had to make, in order to gain full access to her memories.
I found Eli somewhere above me. His energy readings were extremely low. By the looks of it, or rather feel of it, he was on the verge of death. I cursed inwardly. I reached for my sword and clutched it tightly. Although it was useless against the undead, I felt safer with it, and stronger. I wanted to make that necromancer pay for hurting my friend.
I didn"t bother climbing the rocks anymore. There was no need to sneak around. Lemien was nowhere around. I couldn"t feel his presence, nor could I feel his undead.
He had foolishly partnered with a dangerous G.o.d, no wonder Qil"Al didn"t allow him to use the Fragment completely. From what the darkness told me, the death Fragment had much more powerful spells in store, something far greater than raising corpses to fight for you.
I reached the tower"s main door and extended my senses once more. Lemien was definitely gone. His mission had reached a critical turn by then. He"d lost the banshee, and was at the verge of losing Tao Zhar"s support. I doubted that the mad G.o.d would easily give up on a puppet like Lemien though.
I turned away from the tower. It wasn"t time to explore it just yet. I had to save Eli first.
I ran in the cells" direction. Eli"s energy emanated from there. The place was empty, no wandering undead, no guards, nothing. That only meant Lemien had gone for the final showdown against the Sebyan – sorry, Children…
I reached the cell in which Eli was held. He was badly injured. Lemien must"ve beaten him up pretty badly. I remembered the brute the necromancer had as jailer, and shuddered. I broke the door open, using my Essence, and ran to my friend. His pulse was weak. His life force was rapidly leaving him. I broke the chains that bound him to the wall and slowly lowered him on the floor.
"Eli," I whispered. "Hey, can you hear me?"
He groaned in response.
"He"s too weak," Eva said.
I opened my bag and took out the miraculous potion Nag had gifted me. Only half of it remained, but Eli was in danger. He was the only person to ever help me without asking for something in return. I opened the bottle without hesitation and held it to his mouth.
He groaned. His lips were split in half, probably some hard blow that broke his tooth and injured him in the process.
"Drink this," I urged him. "It will help you recover."
"Just… leave me…" he said. "I can"t… take it… anymore…"
"Dammit Eli!" I yelled. "Just drink! Then die if you wish, okay?"
"So much suffering…" he said. His voice was croaked, he could barely breathe.
I held the bottle to his mouth and emptied it. I closed his nose and mouth to force him to swallow the thing down. There was no way I"d allow him to die. He gulped it all down, then sighed.
"Why save me?" he asked. "I"ll just get in trouble again…"
"That"s not today"s problem," I said. "Why did he keep you alive?"
"He said… he"ll kill everyone in the city…" he whispered then started coughing.
"And?"
"Don"t force it out of him," Eva said.
"I just need to know. I"ll let him rest after this."
"He"ll come back and show me the result… before he kills me too…"
"Why did he torture you?" I asked.
"He…" Eli stopped right after that word. A coughing fit took him. He seemed unable to continue speaking.
"Don"t talk then," I said. "Just nod if the answer is yes, don"t move if it"s a no, understood?"
He nodded.
"Did he want to know about the secret tunnel?" I asked.
Eli nodded weakly. His face contorted into an ugly grimace. I saw tears stream down his face. He wasn"t the kind to give up easily. What did the necromancer do to break him this way?Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.
"Did you show him?"
He nodded once more.
"Has it been long since he departed for the secret entrance?" I asked.
Another nod.
"s.h.i.t!"
"Will you… save them?" he asked. He brought his hand to his mouth then started coughing. Blood seeped out of from it after the coughing fit subsided.
"If Lemien"s already reached them, I"m afraid there won"t be anything to save," I said.
"Please…" Eli reached out with his trembling, bloodied hands and held my arm. "Please… they don"t deserve this…"
"Let"s get you out of here first," I said.
"No…" Eli protested. "There"s no time to lose… you came back for me… please do the same for them…"
"You don"t really have a choice," Eva cut in. "We have to dispose of that necromancer."
"Do you think we"re up for it?" I said. "With an army of undead Children, our chances of survival are almost null."
"Have faith in your new found strength," Eva retorted. "I really hope you get to learn some spells after this."
I couldn"t agree more. Spells would have saved me a lot of trouble against the necromancer. All I needed to do was burn the puppets.
I stood up. "I"ll do what I can," I told Eli. "If I don"t come back, then we"re all doomed old friend."
He gave me a weak smile. Two broken teeth presented themselves to me, amidst a bloodied mouth.
"I believe in you…" he said, weakly.
"Rest for now," I said. "The potion will help you recover. Find a safe place to hide while I deal with this."
I left the cell and headed for the necromancer"s tower.
"What are you looking for here?" Eva asked. "Shouldn"t we get going?"
"Not until I finish something here."
I went up the stairs and soon found myself in the anteroom. Bony furniture presented itself to me. I looked in the library near the stairs for the book I suspected was Lemien"s secret weapon. I activated my senses and let them guide me to the book ent.i.tled: "Sebyan: A History."
It was the book I touched by accident when I first visited this place. The voice that spoke to me then was the same as the one that invaded my spirit before the darkness rampaged the entire lower floor.
"This is the key," I told Eva. "I just don"t know how to destroy it."
"It"s a book," she said. "Burn it."
"Do you think Lemien wouldn"t have thought about it?"
"What if he did?" she retorted. "He"s not that bright. Protective magic against the elements requires years of practice. Even with Tao Zhar"s help, Lemien wouldn"t be able to achieve it."
"You"re probably right," I said. "How about we destroy this entire place? Lemien certainly didn"t count on me coming back."
I busied myself looking for flammable objects. It pained me to burn all the books in the tower, but they were probably of a dark nature. The world was better off without them. I collected torches from corridors and put the entire library on fire. It started to spread pretty quickly. I had to leave before I got buried underneath the resulting rubble.
"LEMIEN, YOU STUPID OAF!" I heard Tao Zhar"s steely voice boom. "I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE SOME OF YOUR MEN HERE!"
"He didn"t think I"d survive," I said, grinning, then stormed out of the anteroom and down the stairs.
"YOU!" Tao Zhar"s voice was now inside my head. I stumbled as I ran down the steps, two at a time. My Essence was in shambles once more and I had fallen down the crooked stairs. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?"
My back hurt like a motherf.u.c.ker. Those stairs were as sharp as steel. I inspected my back and my legs, no fractures, no critical injuries. I sighed in relief.
"ANSWER ME, MORTAL!"
My head started throbbing. I could feel the fragment of time stir within me, ready to launch its a.s.sault. "Nothing personal," I said. "Now, burn in peace and leave me alone, will you?"
"I"LL GET YOU FOR THIS!" Tao Zhar screamed. "LEMIEN ALREADY KNOWS YOU"RE HERE!"
"Get out of here," Eva urged me.
I didn"t need to be asked twice. I tailed it.
I headed down the tower and toward the secret tunnel. I didn"t know the other way to the city"s main gate. It was my only way to reach Lemien and get rid of him, once and for all.