"I'm sorry that I didn't quite meet your expectations, but yes, I'm Thoma," I said, returning to the conversation at hand. "What was that you said about a stupid fucking alternate?" I asked, vaguely recalling what Ardrin had mentioned.
"Ah, well, you see: Volzuk, or Nexis Pelantyr as it turned out, ripped my core out of my original body and placed it in my alternate. Still haven't gotten full control back since the incident, so please excuse any strange comments I make," he said, raising his hands placatingly. "How in the realms did he manage that?" Ysevel asked, examining him closely.
"I'm not entirely sure since my memories are still a little foggy of that time, but it had something to do with mixing his own mana with that of the Nethersong Mask," he replied briefly. "I see," I said, trying to wrap my head around the concept of having one's core torn from one's body.
"But it's alright. I just have to retrain my body to get it back to what it once was and get it back under my full control, shithead," he said, lightly smacking his face after the last word was apparently not what he wanted to say. "We hope you can," Ysevel began in an encouraging tone. "But I thought you hated alternates, Lady Kalia," she said in an almost questioning tone of voice.
Kalia sighed briefly as if the weight of what she was going to say next had already been a topic of great debate. "I've had a long-winded conversation with Irun about it, but he's convinced me not to kill him, as it wasn't entirely his fault his core was put into his alternate's body, to begin with," she began, jutting her chin out towards her disciple.
"However, he will have to come with us into the dome, as he will not be treated nicely since our hatred for them is deeply rooted," she said, observing a side conversation between Irun and Athar.
There's a lot more to it than that, isn't there? I thought briefly.
"Heh, I never would've thought he'd be so convincing," she continued, seeing Irun break into a small chuckle. "In any case, we should begin. Time is of the essence, after all," she said, inhaling deeply to dispel any other thoughts that might have followed. "Sabura, lead the way," she said, gesturing down the path in front of us. "As you wish, Lady Kalia," Sabura replied with a bow. "Irun, Athar, we're moving," I called out as Ysevel and I flowed in behind Kalia.
We walked down the same path as the previous day, though making a right at some point that led us into the heart of the city. Kalia's palace might not have been as grandiose as Coltend Castle, but it was certainly much larger than the fortress I grew up in.
Its walls were, like the ones that surrounded the city, built purely out of kataki, though how they managed to make such a large structure was still far beyond my understanding.
"It must have taken generations to build that," I said in awe, mostly to myself rather than anyone else, as I looked up at the towering palace at the end of the path. According to what Irun had mentioned when we first arrived at Kalia's home, it was apparently eerily similar to Harutian architecture, though it seemed it was much less worn by time and harsh winds than I imagined Harut would be.
"Indeed, it took more cycles than I care to admit to build it," Kalia began with a sense of pride in her tone. "You were there, my lady?" Ysevel asked curiously. "Of course I was," she said with a slight scoff. "But that's a story for another time, perhaps, as we'll be arriving shortly," she said, greeting the guards who stood near the entrance of the palace itself.
Just how old is she anyway? I sent Ysevel, though she could only respond with a shrug and a shake of her head.
We passed beneath the threshold of the gate, and I was surprised to see towering obelisks of pure kataki lining the main pathway before us, with intricately formed and sharply angled designs seemingly cut into them. They were humming like the sound of a distant waterfall as we passed by each of them, and I could feel the mana inside of them.
"What are they, my lady?" I heard Athar ask from just behind me. He'd been quiet most of the way, probably trying his best to not let out a sardonic comment. "They're storage units for mana not unlike those primitive crystals Ardrin uses," she began to explain.
I can almost hear the prideful smile beneath her face plate, I thought.
"These provide supplementary power to the primary obelisk that powers the protective dome of mana surrounding the entirety of Tason'Gareshe Numa," she continued, catching me off-guard entirely. "I didn't feel a protective barrier. Did you?" I asked Ysevel quietly. "I did, but that's probably because I'm more attuned to dark mana than you are," she replied quietly. "Eh, that makes sense," I said, admitting my own ignorance plainly.
We stepped into the palace, and I was, once again, reminded of how important strength was to Kalia and her people. All along the walls were trophies of creatures that I couldn't identify even if I had a bestiary in front of me. Some, of course, I recognized as being those of ochelons, addias, glicks, and daemons, but there were others that didn't look anything like them at all.
At the back of the vast hall lined with similar pillars to those out front, there was a single, massive throne built from the skull of an incomprehensibly large beast which was supported by thick stands of kataki.
Did she and Gravar kill that thing? I can't even imagine what that fight was like, I sent Ysevel. Me neither, but I can definitely see why you're still a little scared of her, she replied with a wry smile. I think fighting her would be just as bad as fighting my mother if she were to go all out, I said, recalling the times when I got knocked flat on my back because she decided to have some fun, as she put it.
Some days, I could swear my back still felt sore from those hits.
As we passed the throne, we turned down a hallway and descended a spiral staircase lit by mana-flame lamps that, from the mental map I was making, seemed to make its way beneath the throne room. Eventually, we came to a large, empty room with numerous octagonal rings carved into the kataki floor.
"Welcome to the dome," Sabura said, holding the large door open for us as we passed beneath its high arch. "This place is incredible for a dungeon," Athar said, immediately smacking himself again as the different tone in his voice suggested the alternate had taken over momentarily.
I could almost sense Kalia's killing intent from where I was.
"My deepest apologies, Lady Kalia," he said urgently with a swift bow. "You will have plenty of time to master your body and regain your abilities in mana. I pray that, by allowing you to train with us, you will not waste mine or Irun's time," she said, trying her best to withhold her anger.
"What about Sabura? Won't he be here with us, Lady Kalia?" I asked, noting she'd made no mention of his name. "I will be both here and not here, as I must serve as the aqueduct for the mana to flow into the obelisk properly. Lady Kalia will be able to adequately instruct you both on the ways of the Wraithborn in my stead," he began, putting his armored hand on the floor.
He pushed dark mana into the four-meter ring beneath him as it began to emanate a strong, violet hue. He rose to his feet and took a few steps back as the floor in front of him opened up, revealing a rising obelisk that nearly touched the ceiling of the dome.
Ysevel and I stood absolutely dumbfounded by the sheer size of it, and I could tell she was muttering a long string of elvish curse words that matched the surprise on her face.
"Lady Kalia, we are ready to begin at your command," Sabura said, placing his hand on the titanic obelisk, revealing a hidden opening within it as the kataki peeled away from his hand. "You may enter, Sabura," she said, giving him a respectful bow. He returned the bow and looked at Ysevel and I as he rose to his full height again.
"I hope that this time will prove fruitful for you both and that you learn much from Lady Kalia. Just know that while she may be a harsh instructor, she will turn you into being truly worthy of being called Wraithborn," he said, giving us both a nod of reassurance. "Thank you, Sabura. We'll do our best," Ysevel said, prompting us both to bow respectfully as he closed the obelisks' walls around him.
We could feel the mana immediately beginning to surge from the obelisk and radiate around the room, lighting the other runic rings with the same violet hue. As all the rings filled with mana, we saw a thick layer of it begin to crawl up the walls and meet up at the highest point of the obelisk, emanating a dense pulse of dark mana through our bodies.
"What the…?" I thought for only a half-heart beat before I could feel Kalia's mana begin to surge as well. "Well, then. Let's begin," she said, immediately drawing her sword and holding it out to her side in a challenging pose.
This is going to hurt, isn't it? I sent Ysevel as I was forming the kataki blade from the blackened wristband. Yes. Yes, it will, she said with an excitement in her voice that I'd only ever seen when we would train with Siraye as she formed her blade as well.
Let's do this, I thought as I got into my guard, returning the wolfish grin I could tell was in Kalia's eyes.