Nessha carried her lord over to the intricate circle of symbols and gently set him down at its centre. “How long will he be unconscious?”
The Agrarian shrugged. “Probably until he has recovered from his injuries, in the meantime I would like to examine him so please get out of the circle.”
Nessha quickly did as she was bid then watched with interest as the markings of the circle gained a light green glow. The light intensified as the Agrarian continuously moved his arms in a ritualistic manner while he chanted, until finally a three-dimensional projection of Zendrius’ seal materialised in the air.
The Agrarian moved closer and touched one of the fractal spheres of the projection. The image evaporated, being instantly replaced by a dome the size of the circle’s diameter. Billions of runes continuously spiralled down the roof of the dome until the Agrarian waved one of his hands, causing the image to dissipate. “Well now, this is something, looks like this will keep me busy for quite some time. Nessha?”
“Yes, my lord?”
“I’ll allow you to stay here with my nephew while I work, but on the condition that you keep him occupied. Maybe show him how to control those flames of his? I don’t know, just don’t let him bother me until I call for him.”
“You are most gracious my lord, but I am afraid I am not sure on how to teach the young lord the control you suggest.”
“Oh right, of course. Well anger seems to be the catalyst to his flames’ intensity so work with that, now take him somewhere he won’t bother me,” said the Agrarian as he shooed away the unsure woman.
Zendrius ducked allowing the blade to harmlessly hiss through the air. “Hey I know you are taking it easy on me but you don’t have to make it that pathetically obvious.”
“I have neither increased nor decreased the intensity of my attacks, my lord. It is you who have been improving.”
“Well I suppose I should be happy to hear that,” said the teenager as he retaliated with three waves of flame.
Nessha dodged the attacks in a manner that would have shamed even the supplest Olympic gymnast. “We have been training for quite some time my lord, it would have been worrisome if you had not improved at least this much.”
“Thanks, that really fills me with confidence,” said Zendrius dryly as he recalled his flames.
That his flames were no ordinary fire Zendrius had known from the start, their colour had made it quite obvious, but he had also discovered that he only possessed a limited supply of fire to attack his enemies with. For although the sanguine flames never burned out, they had to be recalled or manipulated from their current position if he wanted to use them. It was a strange sensation, his flames were not just some lifeless natural element, but seemed as if they were part of his being, as if he had gained an extra limb.
“I think an increase in difficulty is in order, my lord,” said Nessha as she weaved the signs for accelerated speed.
“No you don’t,” said Zendrius as he quickly shot a ball of flame at his tutor. She had at first tried to explain the mechanics of basic magic to him but what seemed simple and common sense to Nessha would make physicists cry in a corner.
The ball of flame arrived a second too late as the winged woman dodged it in a blur of movement.
“Damn it,” cursed the teenager as the fire consumed one of the strange orange and gold tree-like plants.
“Nephew please don’t burn down my garden, these beauties are quite hard to create,” said the Agrarian as he patted the smooth texture of one of the plants.
“Uncle, I thought you have forgotten about me.”
The orange-eyed being scanned the surrounding devastation. “Hardly, I have just been busy.”
“So have you figured out whatever it was you were trying to figure out?”
“I discovered enough for now, more will be revealed with time.”
“Do you know why Lord Zendrius isn’t in his true form, my lord?” asked Nessha.
“Indeed I do. But it is going to cost you.”
Zendrius feinted injury. “Oh, you’re going to charge me, even though I am your nephew?”
“That’s that and this is this. Everyone pays for information, no exceptions.”
Nessha moved closer. “How much my lord?”
“Hmmm, well for everything I have discovered about Zendrius up until now . . . let’s say . . . a hundred thousand souls.”
“Where the hell am I suppose to get a –” started Zendrius when Nessha placed a cautionary hand on his shoulder.
“And how much for everything you know about my kin?” asked the concerned member of the Living Blade.
“I don’t know much but I am also the only one who has some clue as to what happened so let’s say . . . ten thousand souls and then I’ll throw in something for your young lord to wear since he seems quite fragile in his current form.”
“Do you even have that many souls?” whispered Zendrius worried to his companion.
“I do, but I will be substantially less helpful in any future conflicts, my lord.”
“I suppose we don’t have much of a choice, these are things we have to know.”
Nessha nodded. “Very well, my lord. I’ll pay your price.”
The Agrarian smiled before extending one of his hands with his palm outwards, Nessha moved closer before holding out her hand in a similar fashion. Their hands were inches apart when blue orbs, each the size of a man’s fist, started to emerge from Nessha’s arm. Wails of despair and pain filled the air as the blue balls of energy spiralled towards the Agrarian before submerging themselves within him. Zendrius moved closer to inspect the strange phenomenon and for a moment he could have sworn he saw a face contorted in agony in one of the orbs.
“Now with that behind us let us move on,” said the serpentine being as the last wailing orb entered his body. “First let’s start with my nephew, it would appear that you have been sealed within yourself, as strange as it might sound. It is a six part seal, think of each part as a locked door and behind each door is different attributes of your original being. Now here is where it gets really interesting, each door has three conditions which need to be fulfilled in order to release, or unlock if you will, the door. One of the six doors has already been opened, which is why your eyes turned from their human likeness to their demonic form, also you have now access to your genetic memory, if I am correct?”
“Yes, it started the moment I entered Los-Reinar.”
“That would make sense, you see there is an order in which you have to unlock each door. The first door’s conditions were as follows, you must experience intense rage then experience an instance in which you believe you’ll die and finally you have to return to Los-Reinar. From what I heard from Nessha, this all happened when she went to retrieve you from Earth.”
Zendrius nodded.
“I’m sure you have also concluded that each sphere on your chest represents one part or door of the six part seal.”
“I figured as much, do you know how I can unlock the rest?”
“Well I don’t know how to unlock all of them . . . yet, but I do know how you can unlock one of the doors.”
“Great, while I’m doing that you can figure out how to unlock the rest,” said Zendrius with a smile.
The Agrarian mirrored the expression. “As long as you pay for the information I provide. Listen carefully, the conditions are as follows: first you must consume the flesh of a durandal, then you must experience the accumulative wails of a million souls and finally you must drink the nectar of Eve.”
Zendrius just couldn’t suppress the juvenile grin on his face. “Wait, when you say drink the nectar of Eve, what exactly do you mean?”
The Agrarian looked both surprised and disappointed. “Oh? It would seem that your genetic memory isn’t a special case after all, you are just like all your cousins, you have only inherited bits and pieces of Persephone’s memories.”
“Persephone,” repeated Zendrius to himself. “Is that my mother’s name?”
The serpentine being looked shocked at Nessha. “He does not instinctively know his parents?”
Nessha only shook her head.
For the first time Zendrius saw his uncle worried. “Is there a problem?”
“No, you are just . . . different from what is considered normal among our young.”
“You mentioned cousins, but my memories tell me that there has always been only the Six.”
“Many of my siblings started experimenting with crossbreeding after Persephone mated with Mastema, for although none of us approved of her soiling our blood with that of a negna, he was still the only other being in Los-Reinar whose power rivalled our own and thus their offspring could potentially shift the power balance among us.”
“The Dannar sired children to maintain a power balance?”
“Of course, why else would we dilute our blood with that of lesser beings?”
Zendrius looked from Nessha to his uncle to make sure he wasn’t being mocked. “Ok then, let’s just move on. So about the nectar thing?”
“Let’s just say that you can only get it from me and that it is going to be extremely costly,” said the Agrarian with a smile.
“Whatever, is there anything else that I should know?”
“Just that your sealing couldn’t possibly have been done by the people of Juria, besides the fact that they rely on technology, their skills in magic are pitiful and limited to protective runes. This six part seal of yours is a work of art, even I could not duplicate such a feat. No, whoever did it has a grasp on magic and genetics that is almost impossible to believe.”
“You have absolutely no suspects in mind?”
“I have a few but it would be pure speculation and I don’t like to speculate.”
“Well then let us move on to Nessha’s info.”
The Agrarian shifted his orange gaze to the woman. “Here is what I know; one hundred and twenty-one cycles before you returned from Earth, the Living Blade fort was attacked by Uvall’s legions. However instead of his usual tactic of overwhelming the enemy with numbers, he only sent a small group of his most powerful retainers and from the way they acted I’d say they were given orders to be as covert as possible. They were almost at the rift when this strange oval-shaped being appeared. I have never seen anything like it and I have been around for a long time. Naturally everyone stopped and stared at the peculiar creature when all of the sudden a blinding white light erupted from it. When I finally regained my sight it was gone along with everyone else. As you might imagine I was quite curious as to where everyone went so I did a bit of digging and found that Uvall’s men where back in his domain. Apparently they just appeared, or so I was told. As for the creature and the rest of your kind, I have no idea where they are. I eventually decided they were all transported through the rift but since you didn’t run into them . . .”
“I see,” said Nessha worried.
“We did run into that weird creature though, it appeared while I was speaking with Father Warren and abducted an acquaintance of mine before escaping back into the rift,” pointed Zendrius out.
“So it went through and came back before I regained my sight? Extraordinary, I assume this acquaintance of yours was human?”
“Yes, an eighteen year old girl.”
“Tell me the details.”
“Only if you’d give me a discount the next time I buy information from you,” said Zendrius with a smirk.
“If nothing else Persephone, your decision to defy us and mate with Mastema produced a very peculiar and entertaining result,” thought the Agrarian before agreeing to the witty child’s proposal.
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