[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 260 – What Could Have Been

Sam tumbled to the floor and collapsed in a sprawl. The unsettling sensation that draped across his frame announced his return to the Dead Echo. It was a gripping, numbing feeling that stole over every inch of his body.

He wanted to lie there forever, unmoving, unfeeling.

It was the Lumanot, instilling him with vitality, that got him moving again.

That and Komachi’s small mewling as she came around, clinging to his arm.

A brilliant light lifted from Sam’s back and floated into the dark air. It settled gently into the housing designed exclusively for the Lumanot’s raw power.

The pinnacle of the Proving Grounds hummed with life and light. Designs that Sam had never noticed before lit up in blue and gold. The exterior of the pinnacle revealed a dim sky, as if day was just about to break but somehow never would.

Sam wasn’t sure what had happened. The memories came back in a jumbled rush as he stood up and checked on Komachi in his arms.

Komachi opened one green eye and gave him a tiny thumbs up with a dexterous paw.

The obelisk the lamia used to keep the Lumanot restrained was an ugly thing that Sam immediately destroyed with his Breaker bloodline.

Sam had no idea the Lumanot would seek out the nearest suitable vessel. He was still reeling from carrying the Lumanot inside him, though it appeared to cause no true harm.

In fact, all of his wounds were healed the moment it joined with his spirit. It towered over his own power like a colossus. Brief though it was, Sam was still in awe of so much power.

Komachi peered up at the beautiful Lumanot. “We made it back, Sam. And the Proving Grounds look better than ever!”

A nearby arch rose up from the floor. It was filled with a blue film that slowly resolved into an image of Zarishna and her abode within the undersea ruins he had come to call home.

“Two more,” Sam said softly to himself.

I don’t know if I have it in me for two more.

With doubt and guilt and loss weighing heavily on his heart, Sam held Komachi closer to his chest for comfort and returned to the Empress to see what changes he had wrought.

Zarishna was smiling when Sam walked in. It was the first time she looked hopeful since Sam had met her. Even talking about her home and husband had left her wistful.

This was different.

“Welcome back, Samuel Hunter. Once again, you have been successful in restoring a Lumanot to its rightful place.” She gave him a respectful bow. “The heart of our Worldshard has begun to beat again.”

Sam forcefully slammed the memories aboard the Wavedancer into a corner of his mind. He couldn’t handle the loss, the constant nagging questions of what his life might have been.

“Duty is heavier than a mountain, indeed,” Sam muttered to himself. Raising his voice to be heard, he said, “Already? I figured it would take all Lumanots to see a marked change. Does that mean you are no longer forced to stay behind?”

She studied his face with at first curiosity, and then concern. “That’s right. I can join you in the Proving Grounds. And I think you’ll have a much easier time with my presence.”

Sam nodded, straightened his bowed shoulders, then took a deep breath. “Then let’s be off.”

“Something has changed you,” she began. “Would you rather rest before continuing on?”

“What rest can I find here?” Sam shot back with more heat than he intended.

She smiled sadly at him, unbothered by his anger.

He took another deep breath and tempered his tone. “The sooner we can put things to rights, the better. Your people deserve to live. I have seen that firsthand. I won’t delay their freedom if I can help it.”

The error of his statement struck home, but Sam ignored it. In truth, he could stay in the Dead Echo forever. A day or a year was the same here. He could stay and process his grief and his sorrow for a thousand years if he wanted. It would make no difference to the people of the Empire.

Zahif would forever be trapped in that moment in the cove. Salii and Yulan would still be there between one heartbeat and the next.

Time passed while he ventured inside the Empire proper. Here, he could recover.

“Already, you’re our hero,” Zarishna said calmly, inclining her head. It wasn’t like her to be so respectful. He almost wanted her to be angry with him, and he wasn’t sure why. “I won’t refuse your wishes, like I did last when you needed training.”

You want to fight so you can expel your demons, a thought unbidden came to him. You know it’s not as easy as that.

“I am ready to go,” Sam told her. “What wounds I have will mend in time, but here there is no time. I cannot gain distance.” He pointed to one of the dim windows just barely showing signs of life outside. “Out there I can.”

For once, Sam didn’t want to hear about the changes caused by his meddling. Even if Zarishna could tell him the fate of a single ship in the history of her Empire, Sam didn’t know if he had the strength to listen. He had saved yet another Lumanot. That was all he needed to know.

If he never learned the fates of the Wavedancer, then it was like they were still frozen in that moment of time before the squall hit them. Before the ghost ships closed in.

He had faith that they were able to extricate themselves from the shallows and get back out to sea. His heart went with them.

Another life, perhaps, Sam thought to himself.

Zarishna bowed her head. “As you wish.”

True to the Empress’ words, she was able to accompany Sam to the Proving Grounds. He could have clasped his hands behind his back and watched as she demolished everything in her path.

He saw firsthand why the Immortals were so renowned, so feared.

No wonder Galbast thought I was an Immortal. They must be the stuff of legend over in the Empire.

Zarishna fought like a woman possessed. All of her fury and pent-up rage was unleashed on the unsuspecting monsters. He witnessed bestial magic unlike anything else he had seen in the multiverse.

The conjured tail of an umbral scaled dragon swept the huge automatons into piles, and the [Scorching Triple Bite of Cerberus] crushed and melted them into slag.

Sam joined her, more for the outlet fighting provided than any need. She was a force of nature. He often found himself watching her movements and memorizing them for later. Even if he studied under her for a decade, he wondered if he would learn enough to be her equal.

They reached the pinnacle in record time. Zarishna was intimately familiar with the traps and mechanics of the Proving Grounds. She thwarted them every time with ease, leaving Sam a clear path to the Empire’s past.

[Ouroboros’ Embrace] coiled a giant emerald glowing serpent within the walls of the final chamber, constricting upon the [Twinsaw Dreadnaught] that blocked the way.

Every scale lit up with electricity as Zarishna fused another spell into the mix. [Anvil Lightning] erupted into a booming shower that knocked even Sam off his feet.

When he got up, nothing was left of the [Twinsaw Dreadnaught] but ashes.

“Two more,” Sam said, standing before the twisting light. He looked over his shoulder at the Empress. “You’ll be home sipping kaf with your husband sooner than you think.”

Watching her hopeful grin, Sam stepped into the light. Into the Empire’s past.

This time, he was ready for the nausea and disorientation. He bumped into somebody’s shoulder and got a rough shove in response. Sam twisted on the balls of his feet and lifted his sword, only to realize it was a man.

A man who now looked with horror at Sam’s oil-stained blade rising to strike him.

“‘Ello!” Komachi said with enthusiastic friendliness, waving a fluffy paw. If there was anything more distracting than Sam’s sword, it was a talking cat.

The older man did a double take at Komachi. He seemed to war with himself for a moment, as if unsure what to do. “I–uh–I apologize for bumping into you, sir.”

Sam looked around, the sight and sounds filtering in as his mind struggled to grasp the context before him.

A city.

“Aloha!” Sam said jovially. He slid his sword into its scabbard and clapped the man companionably on the shoulder. “No worries at all.”

The man looked at his shoulder and then Sam’s hand, which had not let go of him. “Is there something I can help you with?” he asked resignedly.

“Mahalo! Very kind of you to offer. I am new to the area and would love a tour of your fair city. I will, of course, offer you recompense.”

The man frowned sharply as if he had seen Sam’s kind before, but at the mention of money his face reversed so fast that Sam thought it was a wonder the man didn’t pull something.

“Welcome to Al Dhorna!” the man said with a grin. “The jewel of the Empire. We are presently in the outer wards, where your kind and the citizenry often mingle and shop.”

“My kind?” Sam asked.

“Adventurers, of course!”

Sam nodded. He admitted he probably did look like an adventurer. Though he had heard nothing about them in the Empire until now.

Komachi rolled out a long meow. “Do…I look like an adventurer too?”

With her eclectic mix of jewelry, that floppy hat and the various instruments strapped all over her body, Sam was unsure what she looked like to a regular person of the Empire.

“You look like an entertainer,” the man told her. “Ah, but where are my manners? My name is Ahib.”

“Sam,” he said, extending a hand and grasping the man’s wrist in greeting. “This is Komachi.”

“Very good! An adventurer with a magical talking cat will do quite well in Al Dhorna!”

Komachi wiggled her rump excitedly at that.

“How do we get something to eat?” Sam asked. He hadn’t eaten since just before they ran the Wavedancer aground. Zahif had given him some bread slathered in a fish sauce that Yulan made and topped with a heaping of freshly caught [Razorfin].

And an entire pineapple cut into wedges.

Sam hoped the pineapple caught on here. After what the Wavedancer went through, he hoped that Galbast had managed to make a mint selling them to the capital.

“Ah, a man after my own heart!” Ahib said, guiding them through the throngs of people.

The entire city was loud and lively, full of fantastic smells and sights. Though Sam couldn’t help but notice that the city was sectioned into odd squares and rectangles with tall arches and heavily fortified tunnels with thick doors.

All the doors were swung open, admitting people, carts, and palanquins, but it still struck Sam as strange. He immediately recognized them as chokepoints but dismissed the idea as silly.

Why would you ever have chokepoints in a city this large with so many people?

Komachi turned around on his shoulder, distracted by the gates. “Is that…better than a wall against monsters?” She looked up at the clear, open sky. “Eh, maybe not against flying ones.”

Just as Komachi was saying that, their guide led them through a wide tunnel and out into another rectangular section of the city. This one was entirely encased within a vaulted stone ceiling that let in light through a massive cylindrical crystal housed at the center of the square.

Through the crystal, the light of the sun shone brilliantly and was funneled like water through faceted crystalline lines set into the tough brown stone.

“You were saying?” Ahib said with a smug expression. He nodded at fellow merchants as they passed. “So you can see, Al Dhorna is safe despite the occasional…bother.”

Sam once again noticed that all the shops had heavy, fortified flaps and shutters flung open. They were doing brisk business. Something he expected with so many people crammed into the city. The walls went up five stories with apartments or other businesses higher up.

Several people lounged on balconies looking down at the cut stone floor packed with people. There were even green spaces. Tiny fronded plants with fist-sized purple flowers gave a spicy floral scent to the market.

“Dang, the Empire has got it goin’ on,” Komachi said, drumming her paws exuberantly on Sam’s pauldron. Even that had a beat to it.

Somewhere in the distance, a horn rang out, followed by another and another. It sounded like a distress call to Sam.

He turned just in time to watch the natural light from the central crystal column wink out, replaced with a purple-red hue that cast a wickedly diabolical glow across the entire market.

People did not scream and panic, but there was a definite purpose to their strides now. Shops closed up and battened down their hardened shutters.

“What’s going on?” Sam asked.

Ahib spread his hands and gave a rueful smile. “An occasional bother.”