235: The Reaper’s Wish (Part One)

NOTE: Start of a four parter to finish Arc 5! Will want to hear all of your thoughts once we're done! :D

Pure, unbridled fury burned Vir’s veins as if they were on fire.

Vir’s leg may have been broken, but in that moment, nothing could stop him from chasing Ekanai into the Shadow Realm.

He hadn’t paused to consider that following Ekanai might’ve been impossible. Or dangerous. He simply acted.

Without understanding how, he felt Ekanai’s presence in that Realm and gave chase.

Ekanai, however, wasn’t restricted by the same limitations as Vir. In the time it took Vir to traverse twenty paces, Ekanai had gone a hundred.

Vir remained undaunted. He jumped right back into the Shadow, intending to catchup.

He didn’t even notice it, at first. He felt no pain—the Shadow Realm prevented such things. There was only a strange sensation from the pit of his stomach.

Huh? Vir stared blankly at the blade that had pierced his body in a realm where nothing was supposed to move.

Nothing did move, and yet, Ekanai’s katar had penetrated all the way through Vir’s torso. Ekanai himself wasn’t there. Only the weapon.

For now, it didn’t feel like anything was wrong. Yet, Vir knew exactly what would happen the moment he left the Realm.

Oh grak. Oh grak!

The rage fled from his mind, replaced by terror. Cirayus’ warning echoed in his head.

Exercise extreme caution when fighting in the Shadow Realm. I would not dare trade blows with an enemy in that nonsensical space.

Vir wanted to laugh.

Well, Cirayus? Joke’s on me, I guess.

Only five counts remained until the shadows ejected him. There was only one thing he could do.

Bracing himself, he chose the farthest exit he could locate. Farthest away from Ekanai.

He knew it was pointless—the demon could find him anywhere—but he had to do something. If only to retain what little control he had over this situation.

He felt the cold steel first. Only after a few seconds did pain bloom in his body. Ekanai’s katar remained firmly lodged within his abdomen, stopping the bleeding, but it was also perilously close to his spine. Just barely an inch away.

The pranites did what they could, but Vir had to remove the weapon to truly heal.

Bracing himself, Vir pulled as much blood from the wound as he dared, then activated Toughen, which sent another wave of pain exploding from the wound, nearly blacking him out.

He clenched his teeth, closed his eyes, and yanked. The weapon came free.

The blood in Vir’s body surged into the cavity, the pressure forcing it out of his body, making him fight to maintain a stranglehold on his prana—and thus, his blood. It was the one time he was thankful that prana was bound to blood by its nature. Only with Prana Current did it decouple.

He was sure to keep that ability off during this process.

The pranites went to work healing Vir’s wound, though the act of healing was even more painful than the injury itself.

If it was just physical pain, Vir could’ve dealt with it. But to his horror, a wispy white substance began to flow out of him. Just as it had with Maiya.

This was pain on another realm entirely, and Vir immediately understood. This was Chakra. A metaphysical attack that pierced his very soul. Vir could scarcely believe Maiya had endured this without screaming in pain. If screaming didn’t hurt so badly, Vir would be bellowing right now.

It wasn’t the pain that worried him the most, however. If Ekanai had returned…

Vir skin turned pale as a gangly, demonic hand reach down and picked up the fallen katar. The orb that contained Maiya’s soul glowed brightly on a small rock nearby, and in Ekanai’s free hand, he contained another. An empty one, into which Vir’s essence drifted.

“I must admit, I never thought it’d be so easy. With your soul in here, I not only gain another weapon, I’ll have your body to do as I see fit. A body that can survive Mahādi! I’ll—”

Vir didn’t wait. He immediately activated Dance of the Shadow Demon, fully aware of the danger. It was his only choice.

Risking no time within the Shadow Realm, Vir chose an exit. Far below.

Vir plummeted from the floating island, falling faster and faster to the ground nearly a mile below.

With his mangled body, repositioning himself to absorb the fall was impossible. He couldn’t even brace for the impact.

Vir activated Light Step, pulling prana from his back—which collided with the ground first—and surged into his own shadow, before choosing a pitch-black cave to exit into.

He shot into a natural tunnel with his momentum intact, tumbling end over end until he finally crashed into the far wall with a sickening thud.

Vir never felt the bone-shattering pain. He’d already fallen unconscious.

— —

Vir awoke to a body that was battered and bruised. And without Ashani’s pranites working furiously to repair the damage, he’d have died long ago.

He lost track of time as he dipped in and out of consciousness.

Hours passed as Vir lay inside the cave in a daze. He didn’t even have the mental capacity to wonder why Ekanai hadn’t already ended him.

Sprawled out, unable to even get up, forced to look at black nothingness, and trapped in his own thoughts.

Never in his life had he felt so helpless. So… utterly defeated. Not in Brij. Not even after Tia. Not ever.

The heaviness that weighed upon him made Balancer of Scales feel like a tickle in comparison. For it was the weight of failure. Total, abject failure. He’d failed the one person in all the realms he absolutely couldn’t.

The battle replayed in his head, stuck in an endless loop from which there was no escape.

It was a self-imposed torture, but one that kept him sane. Focusing on the fight stopped him from falling into the bottomless pit of despair he knew was waiting for him.

If only I’d planned my attacks better, one voice said. No, there was no beating him. I should’ve fled the moment I saw him, the voice of reason countered. But that would’ve been pointless. He would’ve followed, a third voice whispered.

No matter how much he wracked his brain, Vir saw no solution. No way he could’ve saved both himself and Maiya. Nor even a way to save Maiya at the expense of his own life. Against an opponent who could see the future, who wielded such almighty power, what chance did he have?

Excuses won’t bring Maiya back, a voice rang in his head.

The worst part was, Vir didn’t know what had become of Maiya. Was she still alive? Was there a way to save her? To think she’d ended up that way protecting him… The emotions threatened to make his heart explode. They consumed him, preventing him from thinking about anything else.

Vir began to hyperventilate, and his vision blurred. Desperate, he tugged hard on the Foundation Chakra.

The violent storm of emotions quietened. His mind cleared. For some reason, it was not a mountain he thought of, but the Godshollow. What was a lost battle to those eternal trees? They had weathered worse and would weather this, too.

Except, Vir didn’t want to simply weather it. He wanted to fix it. To undo the wrongs he’d wrought.

In typical Maiya style, she’d fought to the bitter end. Even if he held no feelings for her, even if she wasn’t the most precious person in his life, he’d do anything to repay that debt.

Calmed somewhat by the Foundation Chakra, and his body healed enough to move again, Vir sat up inside the cave.

Overcome your fear, she’d said, indicating it was the key to defeating Ekanai.

That didn’t make any sense, though. How would that save Maiya?

No. I can’t save Maiya on my own. I have to accept that.

Vir didn’t have an inkling as to the true nature of what was going on. He didn’t even know if this entire cavern with its floating islands was real, or some elaborate fake. Though, as time went on, he found it harder to believe it was a deception. No matter how advanced the Gods were, how could they create such a perfect facsimile of Maiya?

He’d seen Ashani craft a perfect illusion, but he doubted even she could pull people from Vir’s own mind.

But admitting he couldn’t save her was easier said than done. Every instinct and emotion he had urged him to try. That perhaps, like with Ashani’s orbs, he could find a way.

There’s a better way, though. Ekanai. The gangly ghael had the answers. He clearly knew what he was doing when he captured Maiya, though Vir found it odd that a warrior such as him had such advanced Thaumaturge knowledge. It was as if Ekanai and Saunak had somehow melded together.

Nevertheless, the path forward was simple. Vir simply had to defeat Ekanai, and  then force him to restore Maiya. Vir had seen her prana himself—she wasn’t dead. The process could be reversed.

He would believe that until his dying breath. He had to.

Maiya had not only saved his life, she’d given him the key. Or at least, she believed so, anyway.

Fear. It was true, Vir felt many things toward Ekanai, even with the Foundation Chakra helping to calm his emotional turmoil. Spite, confusion, but above all else, fear.

Hadn’t it always been that way? Of all his predecessors, only Ekanai had commandeered Vir’s body to assert his own will.

Vir thought back to when Ekanai had first taken over in the Godshollow. He had nearly died fighting the Knight Scout’s bandies until Ekanai had intervened. The demon saved Vir, killing the bandies… And then, he’d sworn to kill Maiya, labeling her as dead weight.

The memory made Vir’s blood boiled. Despite the erosion of two years of time, he recalled the details as clear as if it’d happened only yesterday.

The experience had scared Vir, though he’d been more confused than anything. He’d managed to stop Ekanai back then. He’d thought he could control the demons in his head.

Then, at Riyan’s place, Ekanai had taken over again. Vir realized it was then that his fear of the demon had solidified. Being forced to watch as Ekanai commandeered his body and marched to their bedchamber—intent on slitting Maiya’s throat as she slept—was too much for Vir to bear.

It was why, when Riyan had sent Vir on his mission to Daha alone, he’d almost been thankful. That way, he wouldn’t have posed a threat to Maiya. Because he knew at that moment. He knew that he wasn’t in control.

That’s it, isn’t it? Vir thought. I can’t grow past the person I was until I confront him. Until I vanquish him.

Vir had entered the Ashen Realm as a moderately capable warrior, but as someone who remained unsure of his identity. Unsure of his calling.

He’d since grown past that. Both in strength, and as a person. But Ekanai loomed over him like a dark shadow. How could he help the Garga—who was he to save others—when he couldn’t even vanquish the demons in his own head?

Until he defeated Ekanai, there would be no progress.

Not like Ekanai will be taking over again, Vir thought in an attempt to lessen the dread that grew within his chest. Not after what Shardul said at Mahādi. It’s why he’s going to such lengths, isn’t it?

Ekanai’s presence was the single most glaring piece of evidence Vir had that none of this was real. Maiya’s presence, unfortunately, served as a perfect counterpoint.

Vir found his mind drifting once more, and so he tugged on the Foundation Chakra to refocus. Likely because he hadn’t fully mastered the Chakra, it was only limitedly helpful for that purpose.

How exactly does one get over a fear, though? Vir wondered.

There was, after all, a very good reason behind that fear.

Like all other fears, I suppose. By confronting it, a voice chimed in his head. It was Maiya’s voice.

Except that was impossible. Maiya saw that battle. As a capable warrior and mejai, she knew how impossible it was. No tactic or strategy in the world could overcome that vast chasm of power.

Had she been mistaken?

Vir rejected that idea immediately. She would never have been so sure of herself if there was even a chance of that. No, her words must’ve contained some other, hidden meaning.

If I only knew what.

A wave of fatigue hit Vir. The endless days of fighting already had him running dry, and now, after all this, he wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and sleep for a century.

His mind drifted off, thinking of Ekanai, and, almost unconsciously, he reached out to the Foundation Chakra.

A surge of energy erupted from the base of his spine. Right before Vir blacked out.