Chapter 37- Clive

There was as many groans and looks of disgust as there were of hope as Jurien informed his army of what had transpired in his conversation with Light.

The small army did well not to voice their opinions too openly as he explained that he would be accepting a bond with me, though he did have to field a few questions and he came up short a couple of times. Mainly around how we’d go about liberating Holse. He eventually turned to me to answer that question.

“To start with, I’m hoping that by us creating a Soulmate Bond, much of Holse will become allied and our Sphere will expand naturally. After that, it will be seeing what areas are still outside of our control and taking them by force. By the time this is over, I want no followers of Hakan on this planet and I mean to see that promise through.”

“Then I suppose we better get to the bonding immediately to see where it leaves us. Who knows how many lives could be saved.”

“What of those already bonded by Hakan,” Malinor asked. “Do you just intend to kill them?”

“Simple. I’ll put a shield over them that can cut bonds. Then you guys go in, reclaim the temples, drop Hakan’s shield and allow our Sphere to grow. I hope.”

Jurien’s expression shifted from impatience to worry. “You hope?”  

“Yeah, Jurien. I don’t exactly do this kind of thing every day you know.”

The Champion shook his lank golden-haired head. “Still. I hope  doesn’t inspire confidence.”

“Good. Because this is all dangerous as hell and we could all be killed tomorrow. We’re not doing this for shits and giggles. We’re doing this because it’s better than the alternative.

“Apologies,” he replied curtly. The faces of the soldiers were all ashen now at my mini rant. As well, they should be. I swallowed the bitter taste in my mouth. “Shall we make this official, then?”

“We shall,” Jurien replied. “You will have to talk me through it.”

“I’ll just form it myself. When you feel a tug on your core, let yourself go with it.”

The worry was back on his face in an instant.

“Don’t start panicking now, Jurien. If I wanted to Slave bond you, I could have done it at any time.”

He paused, looking thoughtful for a moment, then nodded to himself. “I suppose you could. It’s frightening how powerful you’ve become. I suppose we’re lucky that you’re decent, all things considered.”

“You definitely are.” Sania agreed with ferocity. “Clive is powerful enough to subdue all of the gods and take control of the entire universe if not for Hakan. Yet even without Hakan he would not. He would rather relax and spend time with loved ones. If only your Goddess had listened.”

Jurien nodded but didn’t respond.

“Never mind all that. We all want the same thing right now, which is to survive. Jurien,” I said making sure I had his full attention. “Among my strongest people, I’ve made teams to fight against what Hakan brings. They’re learning to harness their own powers as you will all have to. I pointed at the other three former Chosen of Light. Jurien was noticeably the most powerful at Level 487. Malinor was next with a level of 340. The others were all mid-200s. “If you four want to form your own team to fight alongside us I’d welcome that, but it means I’d have to make Soulmate bonds with you all. After we’re successful, we can break them again. The most important thing is that I can communicate with you all in a heartbeat. I need to be able to rely on you without question if you come to fight with us.”

“We will help and they will accept,” Jurien replied, glaring at the others.

“I’d need to take a vow from him that he will release Light once Hakan is dead,” Malinor replied coldly.

“I promise,” I replied swiftly. “And once you have the bond with me, you’ll know I speak the truth and if I don’t you can always just break it again.”

There was the usual mumbling and grumbling, as if the destitute fuckers actually had a choice in the matter, and then they predictably agreed.

“You ready?” I asked Jurien, paying the others little mind. He was the linchpin in all of this after all.

He grimaced. I suspect it was an attempted smile. “I Don’t think I’ll ever be ready, Clive. But no matter. Let’s do this.”

I snatched a tendril of his core with a deftness of touch I could have only dreamed about a month ago. With a tight hold, I pulled it gently toward me. There was a natural resistance, but I felt the moment Jurien accepted my efforts. From there, I was able to create the bond.

He gasped as it took hold, then focused on allocating points as his level had jumped up 3 to 490.

“See, it’s not all bad,” I said slapping his shoulder. “Nice little surge of bonus levels for your troubles.”

“Yes. I am grateful.” He shook his head as if from a daze. “You didn’t get any eves from the process?”

“Nope. Only if someone’s stronger than me.”

“So you would have become stronger if you bonded Light?”

“Nah, I would have become quite a bit weaker I reckon.”

His face scrunched up like he was trying to work something out. “You truly hate her don’t you?”

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to work out what he was talking about. “Yeah mate. I really do.”

“But you’re still willing to let her go to protect Holse and Falritas.”

“You bet your ass I am...”

I was distracted from saying more as the sensation of the Sphere Expanding tingled in my core. A second later, it actually swept over us. Considering we were deep in Cethain it came as a surprise. As did Joel’s voice bursting into my mind.

“You actually did it! You bloody genius! We took over half of Holse and most of Cethain, Clive. What did you do? Free Light?”

“No mate. I just Soul bonded Jurien. Seems that was enough, though I’m not sure how.”

“Could it be because he’s the Protector of the Heart?”

“Yeah. Or a descendant of Light. I don’t fucking care really as long as we’re stronger. Over half you say?”

“Aye mate. Prety much the whole bottom half of the county. That’s allowed us to swell into Cethain as well. Seem’s Hakan only has Erangral and a few of the cities in the north locked up tight.”

“Well stand ready, because I’m heading there next and I’m taking that half as well.”

“What about the Vemerak border?”

“You can feel the Sphere as well as I can Joel. Does it feel like the forces there are gonna break though anytime soon?”

“No. But what if Hakan shows up?”

“Then we’ll have to hope the Sphere’s still strong enough to hold him mate.”

I could feel the torment in Joel’s mind as he replied. “You think he’s stronger than you now?”

“Probably. Which is why we need to secure Falritas and keep work on developing ourselves. The Guardians should be able to help me get an edge.”

“To true mate. They know a lot. I’m benefiting from their knowledge, but I don’t know if it’ll be enough.”

My interest was twigged by his words. “How are you benefiting?”

“I was gonna wait until I saw you to tell you as it’s not super important and it’s not gonna help us fight Hakan, but I’ve gotten a few dozen levels following their advice. And a few amazing advancements in my building skills.

“Growth in that area had all but gone begging once we put the Sphere up and running. Seems I fell into a trap with the Sphere interface, thinking that was the best way to build, but the Earth Guardians and to a lesser extent the Stone Guardians showed me some fascinating shit.”

“Such as?”

“I can add my own Neuma to any building we have in the interface and doing so not only gives me the blueprint to make the building without the Sphere, but also allows me to make minor alterations on the fly. Reducing Ceiling heights, reducing the pitch of stairs or roofs. Expanding rooms, adding extra utilities. I know it probably sounds stupid to you, and like I say, it won’t make any difference to fighting Hakan, but it’s opened up my eyes, and my core.”

“You’re core?”

“Yeah. I know I channel mostly through you, but I boosted my Internal Connection with my new levels, and well, I can use Earth, Stone, Water and Light to great effect. Haven’t had much use for Gravity or Air yet, and Earth’s strongest, but yeah, feels good having the independence. Oh! and Neutral. I should probably tell you, Neutral is the perfect conduit for…”

“Go on?”  I pushed as he seemed to run out of steam.

“Not sure how to explain it, but I suppose a kind of electricity. It’s the key to the Alo-im technology.”

“You’re shitting me! You know, I’d never really considered how all of their technical stuff was run, but that makes perfect sense. Great work Joel.”

“I just listened,” he replied ruefully. “They showed me how to make the conduit for Neutral so I’m gonna experiment. Neutral is literally every-fucking where, so we should always have a solid supply. That’s actually one area I might be able to help with in the battles ahead. Not sure how, as it's early days and baby steps at the minute.”

“Nah, Joel, that’s fantastic man. You’re doing great. I was thinking about having you go to Vemerak to keep an eye on the defenses with the others and shore up the Sphere if we needed it.”

“You don’t now?”

“Hell no! Learn everything you can from the Guardians. Mal and the others can do wonders with shields so they can hold off any surprises until I get there.”

“Is Mal back from Talitus?”

“I… don’t actually know.” Though I searched his and Destruction’s bonds as I spoke.

“Fuck. He’s still there.” I scratched my head and became aware that Jurien was waiting to speak with me. With an extended finger, I held him off for a moment longer and continued with Joel.

“I should probably send someone check on him. He’s definitely still alive and his bond is as strong as it was when he first went, so that’s good, but they really should be back now. They were only supposed to recon.”

“I’ll let you go then, mate. And let me know if there’s anything I can do. Rest assured I always have one eye on the Sphere anyway. If Hakan wants in, he’s gonna have a fight on his hands.”

“Thanks Joel. Don’t know what I’d do without you mate.”

“You’ll never have to find out. Now go get us Holse, and find that wanker of a friend of ours.”

We ended the conversation and Jurien jumped straight in. “Should we start with the smaller cities first?”

“Too predictable,” I muttered as I pulled Malinor’s bond to me. The stoic Chosen grunted, but accepted in short order as Jurien replied.

“Not predictable. Sensible. Perfect our strategy on an easier target before we move on to Erangral.”

 I shook my head as I latched onto the next strongest Chosen, Olane, level 268. “It gives them time to prepare, which is the last thing we want. Erangral is a right fuck on to take. I should know, I’ve taken it twice and it was awkward.”

“Awkward!” Jurien spat. “Do you delight in teasing us even as we’re at our lowest ebb in Holse’s history?”

I waved off his rant. “Hardly. I’m just saying that we’re taking Erangral first, and then go in descending order of difficulty from there.”

“Will we go with only those here?” Sania asked.

I turned to face her. “I’m gonna bring Destruction’s team here with us because I think we’ll need the damage output. Devotion, Peace, and Life’s teams can stay defending the Vemerak border.”

“And Danivra?” she asked tilting her head to one side at the obvious omission.

“I’m gonna send her and the brothers to Talitus. Mal and Destruction haven’t returned, and I need to find out why. I figure that’ll be a perfect job for those three.”

“It will,” She said thoughtfully. I'm glad you’re delegating a little more. It’s important. You can’t do everything.”

“That’s why I’m doing it,” I agreed. “I’ll give them a half a day to report back or better still, return with them. If not, I’m gonna have to go myself. Which means the sooner we get this place tied up the better. You feeling up to it?”

“I am ready,” she grinned. “Kai showed us how to stay fully revitalized by cycling Air Neuma through our Meridians. I feel like I’ve just woken up after a long nap and a cold plunge.”

“Really?” I asked, already cycling Air though my Neuma channels. I shuddered in delight as a wave of energy and alertness passed through me. “Holy shit! That’s awesome.”

“Simple but effective,” Sania agreed. “She taught us a couple of other things too. I’ll talk you through them as we conquer Erangral. Again.”

I pulled her into a hug. “I look forward to it. Now to let everyone know the plan.”

“You have a plan?”

I grinned. “A very loose plan. We’ll work on it at Far Reach. First I need to check on Joel’s side project.”

She pulled back to give me a questioning look. This loose plan is sounding interesting.”

“Not really. I just want some failsafe’s in place if we’re going to do this.”