Chapter 25: "Council of the Immortals"

The Eternal Whisper was the only one that reacted in time: transforming itself into a dragon made of black smoke, it carried us on its back and flew across the Nether Hollows, leaving Jix behind.

“It’d be better to go to Aurethys. There, we can fight without the land bothering us.”

Its size is still increasing. It’s like a mountain… an insatiable mountain.

“You will hand over the Feather; I don’t care if I have to obliterate entire cities to get it.” It said, with a deep voice born from the depths of its body.

The black liquid that it expelled ended up transformed into organs. Oceans of blood and corruption sprouted from it, while the number of bones and skulls increased.

Its nature is other… it’s gone. Now, it’s a red mass, repulsive.

Its mask was the only thing that remained unscathed.

The roots, bushes, or fruits that once formed it can no longer be seen. It’s detaching from its past self. What’s happening to it? What is that horrifying form?

“How can it be so monstrous?” Zera asked, frightened before the atrocity that was approaching.

“By being a World God, it has coexisted a long time with The Genesis inside it. That’s what corrupts him.” The Eternal Whisper answered.

Finally, we crossed the Nether Hollows, and the dragon landed on the edge of a cliff. From there, it raised a reverie landscape where nature and architecture seemed to melt into one.

Detached all over the place, colossal arches sculpted by forgotten gods pierced through the blue sky. The worn stone accepted vegetation as if it were the new owner of the ruins, leaving their majesty intact.

In the distance is Aurethys… What… No, this is no moment to distract ourselves with trivialities. A World God is chasing me for my head; I must focus.

Several floating islands circled the center of the city. On them, old constructions of the Cathedral of the Perpetual Order waited restlessly for the day someone would set foot on them again.

Jix rose imposing, emanating a macabre presence that cornered us against the cliff.

“Obeying The Primordial Eclipse is a grave mistake, but you won’t understand: you are humans. Life forms like yourselves will never reach our cosmic knowledge.” Jix yelled, angered.

It’s true… He never explained why he is so engaged in helping me on my way to kill Zenith.

“He is an ally, the one that guides us in this world, that I’m discovering with Darek.” Zera answered. “They have freed me from my prison in the mansion, and now they are accompanying me in my journey to find my parents. I would never doubt them.”

“He is using you: The Primordial Eclipse searches freedom. Like the Emissary of Silence, its nature forces it to annul everything. Not to destroy it like The Ruin or create it like The Genesis. Open your eyes, humans.”

We are his puppets?

The pure air melted with Jix’s exposed organs, muting into a dense, putrid mist.

“They are trying to fool you two.” The Emissary answered. “He’s a World God, he is greedy. He longs for the Feather of The Late Beginning and, with it, to unbind from The Genesis: to abandon the suffering that its consecrated element has caused during this eternity.”

“You wish to finish Zenith, bearer of the only element that surpasses your comprehension. In the end, you can only sentence the elements that were born during Creation.”

That means the Sacrum element… was created afterwards? How is that possible?

“Even if that were true, the Primordial Eclipse is imprisoned at the bottom of The Abyss of the Forsaken Faiths. Killing Zenith won’t break its seal,” I answered insolently.

But I still have the same question: why does it help me? What are its true intentions? What is it hiding?

When I met it, I accepted its company because my hatred towards Zenith blinded me. However, now I possess an artifact capable of rewriting the past and must bear the responsibility.

“You ignore the cosmos’ history, you have not survived The Creation. Nature controls deities: it’s an irrevocable instinct.”

What are the motives of The Primordial Eclipse? What is The Silence searching? Why does it need us?

The cliff waited for us, impatient.

And if it is using us for a greater plan, like the World God says? The Ruin also mentioned it: if the Primordial Eclipse is released, then it would be as well.

“The Silence was born from the ceaseless battle between The Genesis and The Ruin. Its only purpose is to extinguish your howls, providing harmony to these confines.” Jix continued, approaching even more.

“But, if The Silence will bring harmony with them, doesn’t that mean it will save this world?” I asked, confused.

“What greater harmony than death, human?”

Then the Eternal Whisper showed me the path to… destroy the world? No, if I kill Zenith, there would still be Gods capable of facing The Primordial Eclipse. What Jix says lacks sense.

“Darek, give me the Feather.” Zera said with a funereal tone, holding back notes of hatred, like one who knows it has been fooled.

Jix split its stomach in two, exposing a gap toward its guts.

“Zera… I don’t know either what’s happening, but it’s rushed…”

Jix advanced toward us, pressing us against the cliff.

“It’s the only way. Or do you want to be devoured by that bizarre thing?”

No… This can’t be the solution. There must be another way.

“Eternal Whisper, I’m begging you, do something! You are the only one that can confront him.” I yelled with despair, powerless before my human limitations.

“I barely could contain his powers at The Nether Hollows. Fighting against his element is impossible for me.” he answered, defeated.

Jix possessed truth by his side: I had gotten into a game that exceeded my comprehension, whose rules were dictated by deities that transcended mortality.

No… I can’t let Zera die. How did we end up like this? Because of my fault, for getting infatuated with The Feather. Does that relic actually justify sacrificing her life?

Zera walked determined towards the amalgam, grabbing the Feather with an unbreakable will. There was no trace of doubt, nor regret on her face: her soul remained unalterable, unscathed before death.

First Milo… and now Zera… Why couldn’t I do anything? I want, want with my whole soul to prevent her from leaving, but what can I do? In front of a World God, I’m no more than an insect, condemned to suffer my impotence.

“That’s it, human. Doblegate yourself before your mortality, hand it to me.”

Jix is right: I’m unable to alter what exceeds my nature. Never before has the reality of this world showed itself to me so mercilessly.

Ignoring my pleading, she entered the tangle of ribs and guts. Her skin dyed a dark, repulsive red. Her body melted with the exposed organs. Her eyes closed, her skin was absorbed and she stopped breathing.

Finally, her ginger hair disappeared. I felt as if my heart had been stolen from my chest: every beat was a hammer blow that collapsed my soul, reducing it to shambles. She didn’t give a farewell. Her departure was torture that knew no limits.

Birds stopped singing, the wind ceased, the volcanoes kept silent and the sun lost its glint.

I started all this… I was the one that took her out of the manor and decided to drag her with me in this journey. We explored the Garden of Thorns together… We liberated the sentinel of its vigil… and now… now her…

Is this what happens when I trust in people? I fear them for getting hurt… but it’s actually them who fall because of my fault.

Zera… Milo… I took your lives. I’m scum, I have no right to keep living. I hope this pain kills me, so I don’t have to bear this sin anymore.

Why? For wanting to take revenge on Zenith? For wanting to alleviate my pain by making her suffer? That’s what I feel towards traitors? A blinding rage? Couldn’t I have forgotten her? Couldn’t I have forgiven her, and like that avoid this end?

Then, the amalgam started to withdraw. Blood transformed into vegetal juices, the bones into roots, and the organs into shrubbery.

“What? What’s going on? Am I shrinking…?” he complained, surprised.

A ray of hope cruised the seas of sorrow in my soul.

Could it be… that she is not…

A gloomy light and a shiny darkness sprouted from his insides and started to tangle with Jix’s body.

“What you are observing, dear Darek, is the power of the Feather.” Explained The Eternal Whisper, adopting the form of a raven.

The Feather is absorbing him, it’s consuming him.

“What? No, impossible. This can’t be happening!” he yelled. “I am Jix, Sovereign of the Vastness. I can’t be defeated by a mere human. I’m a World God! I’ve seen the birth of the cosmos. Who do you think you are…”

He adopted a tiny form, the size of a porcelain doll. After that, the light calmed its intensity, wrapping around Zera’s arms.

“How is that possible? I cried your death, goddamnit! How is it that you…?”

“To use the Feather, it must know the origin and end of a story, right? And a life is a story as well.” She said happily, moving her feet out of joy, proud. “The Eternal Whisper told us his origin: he fought by the Genesis side.”

“But, how did you know his end?”

“Once inside him, I deduced it. It was pretty easy, to be honest.” She assured, smiling.

This girl is amazing. Not only did she trick a World God, but she was never afraid of dying.

“How dare you say it was easy, brat!” Jix squeaked, flying furiously over our shoulders.

“What did you rewrite in his story for him to look like this, harmless and… delicate?” The Eternal Whisper asked.

“When he met us, I noticed loneliness in his eyes, so I asked it to be our guardian. That’s why we can’t attack him anymore or separate from him.”

“What… How dare you, wretched human!” He said, with a funny excess of anger for such a tiny being.

“Who would have said that you have such a cute form, Jix the Sovereign of the Vastness.” Zera said with her characteristic mocking tone.

We all started laughing at him, celebrating the end of the battle.

Hopefully, life would always be like this. It’s been so long since I felt…

Suddenly, our happiness was interrupted: a shadow emerged from the ground. In a fleeting movement, it cut Zera’s arm, taking with it the Feather of The Late Beginning.

She let out a hellish scream, covering the wound in despair to withhold the pain.

Jix cut the bleeding, blocking the flow with an ivy mantle.

“Call the Intermediaries. Use your gift against them; force them to give you back your limb,” the Eternal Whisper suggested.

I unsheathed my sword and prepared for battle. However, it was in vain: as soon as it made its appearance, it vanished before our eyes.

Damn it! We lost The Feather! With the effort it cost to get it… We even challenged a World God for it. Although… its way of attacking, with a stealthy aura, that diffuse presence…

While the Intermediary was taking care of Zera, I approached the cliff, lost in my thoughts.

Your figure produced in me a bitter melancholy. We finally see each other again, master.

“We must go to Aurethys, immediately,” I ordered, decided to settle outstanding accounts.