An Old Friend
Half an Astradim day had passed.
Elsewhere—
Approximately one pulse.
Here—
It felt considerably longer.
Astradim was quiet again.
Not the unnatural quiet that had greeted Ryu and Luto when they first arrived.
That silence had belonged to the world.
This one—
Felt like absence.
No arguing.
No explosions.
No distant voice yelling because Eralyx had apparently explained something incorrectly.
No second voice insisting that the explanation was perfectly clear and Ryu simply wasn't listening.
No fire accidentally setting something alight.
No lightning activating machinery that hadn't functioned in several centuries.
Nothing.
Eralyx decided he preferred Astradim before he'd remembered what company sounded like.
"...Idiots."
He stood within the summit crater.
A broom in one hand.
Not cosmic energy.
Not some forgotten Divine cleaning technique.
A broom.
Because apparently even former gods eventually had to sweep.
Small fragments of stone covered the crater floor.
Several weapons had been left slightly out of place.
One containment rack had been opened.
Another had somehow been dented.
And across the western side of the enormous crater—
There was a hole.
Not a crack.
Not structural damage.
A hole.
An absolutely enormous one.
Morning light poured through it.
The blast had punched clean through the colossal volcanic overwall, leaving behind a circular opening several dozen feet across.
Stone around the edges had melted.
Then cooled.
Beyond it—
Astradim's distant plains were visible beneath its hollow sky.
Eralyx stared.
Long.
Silently.
"...Idiots."
He swept another piece of debris aside.
The morning before their departure—
Ryu and Luto had somehow accessed the weapon hold.
Somehow.
Eralyx still wasn't entirely certain how.
He'd specifically sealed it after Ryu spent most of Day Two staring longingly at one particular cannon.
Apparently—
That had been interpreted as a challenge.
Luto had disabled the first seal.
Ryu had apparently convinced him it was for research.
Luto disabled the second.
Afterward, according to them—
Everything became complicated.
Eralyx looked toward the hole.
It was remarkably uncomplicated from where he stood.
Ryu had fired the cannon.
The cannon had fired through the mountain.
Then the brothers had very carefully returned the weapon to its rack as though the missing section of mountain somehow wouldn't be noticed.
Eralyx exhaled.
"The red-eyed one is a terrible influence."
A pause.
"...On the genius."
He swept.
"How does that even happen?"
The broom scraped stone.
Eralyx stopped near the hole.
Artificial warmth poured through it.
The mechanical sun was rising along whatever route Eralyx had programmed for it centuries ago.
He couldn't actually remember.
Perhaps he'd programmed sunrise.
Perhaps it merely drifted there because one of the guidance mechanisms had broken.
At this point—
Either was believable.
Eralyx rested both hands atop the broom.
"...Doesn't matter anymore."
He looked around the crater.
"I suppose I should finally—"
"You look terrible."
Silence.
Eralyx closed his eyes.
Not startled.
Not surprised.
Just—
Tired.
"...Of course."
He slowly turned.
A man stood behind him.
Large would've been an insufficient description.
He wasn't built like Vulkhar—
A walking wall of stone and armor.
His frame looked instead like something constructed by a lifetime of combat.
Broad shoulders.
An enormous back beneath travel-worn clothing.
A powerful chest narrowing into an athletic waist.
Thick forearms covered in scars.
His hands looked capable of holding weapons far larger than most mortals could comfortably lift.
Scars crossed nearly every visible section of dark skin.
Some thin.
Others deep.
One traveled from his collarbone toward the center of his chest before disappearing beneath fabric.
Another crossed the outside of his forearm.
Part of his right ear was missing.
Not cut cleanly.
Bitten.
Or torn.
Eralyx had heard several versions of that story.
None matched.
The man's hair was perhaps more recognizable than the scars.
Thick locs fell down the length of his back.
Long.
Heavy.
Dark.
Gray streaked through several of them now.
Not enough to make him look old.
Enough to prove that even Sovereigns were required to acknowledge time eventually.
And beneath them—
Orange eyes burned.
Not glowing.
Burning.
The unmistakable gaze of the Fire Sovereign.
Ignovar.
Eralyx stared at him.
Ignovar stared back.
Then Eralyx looked him up and down.
"...And you've gotten uglier."
Ignovar's mouth twitched.
"Good to see you too."
"Is it?"
"No."
"Excellent."
Eralyx resumed sweeping.
Ignovar began walking through the crater.
Every step carried irritating confidence.
He examined the volcanic walls.
The old training marks.
The sealed compartments beneath the ground.
Then—
His gaze reached the hole.
He stopped.
"...Was that there before?"
Eralyx kept sweeping.
"What do you think?"
Ignovar stared through it.
"No."
"Then why ask?"
"Because I wanted to hear how it happened."
"You already know."
"I don't."
"You know enough."
Ignovar folded his arms.
Eralyx sighed.
"Those two idiots got into the weapon hold."
Ignovar's eyebrow rose.
"The weapon hold?"
"Yes."
"The one you sealed?"
"Yes."
"Twice?"
Eralyx stopped sweeping.
Slowly—
He looked toward him.
Ignovar smiled.
"You told me about the cannon."
"I regret telling you anything."
Ignovar walked toward the hole.
"So which one?"
"The red-eyed brat."
Ignovar immediately laughed.
Eralyx pointed the broom at him.
"Don't encourage him."
"He's not here."
"You'll find a way."
Ignovar reached the hole.
Looked through.
Then whistled.
"He fired the Arclight Devourer."
Eralyx's expression flattened.
"Apparently."
"...Impressive."
"He missed everything."
"That's considerably more impressive."
"He was aiming at nothing."
Ignovar laughed harder.
Eralyx returned to sweeping.
"You're an idiot."
Ignovar looked back.
"Hm?"
"You sound proud."
"I didn't meet them."
Eralyx stopped.
"...What?"
Ignovar leaned against the wall.
"I wasn't in Fyr when they arrived."
Eralyx stared.
"You weren't there?"
"No."
"You knew they would eventually come to your domain."
"Yes."
"Then left."
"I had somewhere to be."
"You always have somewhere to be."
"Exactly."
Eralyx closed his eyes.
"...Rhazaan."
Ignovar's expression changed.
Only slightly.
Very few people alive knew that name.
Fewer still used it.
Ignovar Rhazaan.
A family name from before Fire Sovereign meant anything.
Before kingdoms.
Before territories.
Before entire civilizations learned his name as something spoken with either reverence or caution.
From Eralyx—
It merely meant he was being annoying.
"Don't start."
"You send two children halfway across existence seeking your help..."
"They aren't children."
"They're children to me."
"Everyone is a child to you."
"Correct."
Eralyx pointed the broom again.
"And then you aren't there."
"I trusted Seravynn."
"That isn't the point."
"Pyrrhagon liked them."
"One of them."
Ignovar grinned.
"Apparently very much."
Eralyx muttered something.
Ignovar pushed away from the wall.
"So?"
"So what?"
"What did you think?"
Eralyx frowned.
"Of?"
"The brothers."
Eralyx's broom stopped.
Ignovar watched him.
For a moment—
Eralyx didn't answer.
Then—
"...Troublesome."
Ignovar laughed.
"That's all?"
"Loud."
"Which?"
"Yes."
Another laugh.
"The younger one seems convinced that consequences are suggestions."
"Ryu."
"And the other believes every problem becomes solvable if he stares at it long enough."
"Luto."
"He is disturbingly often correct."
Ignovar smiled.
Eralyx's expression slowly changed.
"They're capable."
"More than I expected."
That got Ignovar's attention.
Eralyx leaned against the broom.
"They learn quickly."
"Adapt faster."
"The intelligent one understands systems almost immediately."
"The loud one..."
He paused.
Ignovar waited.
"...doesn't."
Ignovar frowned.
Eralyx smiled.
"But somehow reaches answers anyway."
Ignovar laughed once.
"Sounds frustrating."
"You have no idea."
Eralyx looked toward the hole.
"They're also nowhere near ready."
The humor disappeared.
Ignovar's expression settled.
Eralyx continued.
"Not for what's waiting in the Riven."
"Probably not even for the forces outside it."
"They're walking directly into a trap we don't understand..."
"...against enemies older than their civilizations..."
"...to retrieve a brother they haven't seen since childhood."
Ignovar's arms folded.
"You told them that?"
"Repeatedly."
"And?"
"They went anyway."
Silence.
Eralyx smiled faintly.
"At some point..."
"...warning someone becomes another way of wasting their time."
Ignovar looked toward Astradim's empty sky.
"You could've stopped them."
"No."
"You could."
"Physically?"
"Yes."
"Of course."
Eralyx looked toward him.
"But then they'd spend every moment afterward trying to escape me."
"And eventually..."
"...they would."
Ignovar knew that was true.
Eralyx sighed.
"They've crossed the point where deterrence means anything."
"It's no longer a question of whether they go."
"Only whether they have enough to survive going."
For several moments—
The crater remained quiet.
Then Eralyx chuckled.
"What?"
Ignovar asked.
"They reminded me of us."
Ignovar's smile vanished.
Not angrily.
Just—
Quietly.
Eralyx looked through the enormous hole.
"Unfortunately."
Ignovar said nothing.
Neither did Eralyx.
Old memories sat between them.
Different worlds.
Different wars.
Different names.
Three fools who had once believed they understood exactly how much existence could take from them.
They'd learned.
Eventually.
Ignovar broke the silence.
He raised one hand.
SNAP.
The crater moved.
Eralyx stared.
"Don't."
GRRRRRRRRMMMM.
Stone overturned.
Hidden walls separated.
Compartments rose from beneath the crater floor.
Mechanical arms unfolded.
Weapons emerged.
Cannons.
Blades.
Crystalline devices.
Experimental armor.
Ancient machines.
The entire weapons hold revealed itself around them.
Ignovar nodded approvingly.
Eralyx's eyes narrowed.
"...What are you doing?"
"Inventory."
"Inventory."
"Yes."
"Of my weapons."
Ignovar looked toward him.
"Technically..."
Eralyx's expression worsened.
"...don't."
"...they're mine now."
"Greedy bastard."
Ignovar grinned.
"I'm simply planning ahead."
"I'm not dead yet."
"Which is why I'm checking now."
"You could at least wait until my body finishes disappearing before stealing everything."
"I'm not stealing."
"You're standing in my armory counting."
"Our armory."
"Rhazaan."
Ignovar laughed.
And for several seconds—
It almost felt ordinary.
Then the laughter died.
Ignovar's eyes moved toward Eralyx.
Really moved toward him.
The faded robes.
The weaker presence.
The energy Eralyx concealed almost habitually—
Because letting it spread accomplished nothing anymore.
Ignovar's expression became still.
"...You're finished here?"
Eralyx knew what he meant.
His smile faded.
"Yes."
"Everything?"
"The facility is sealed."
"Records destroyed where necessary."
"Useful archives transferred."
"Temporal systems will continue after I'm gone."
Ignovar glanced upward.
"The sun?"
Eralyx thought.
"...Probably."
"Probably?"
"It's been temperamental."
Ignovar stared.
"It's a star-sized machine."
"Exactly."
"And you're leaving it running."
"Who's going to complain?"
Ignovar opened his mouth.
Stopped.
"...Fair."
Eralyx smiled.
Ignovar lifted one hand.
The weapons hold began closing again.
Stone folded.
Machinery disappeared.
Walls sealed.
Within moments—
The crater became empty once more.
Except—
Of course—
For the gigantic hole.
Eralyx looked at it.
"...I'm leaving that."
Ignovar nodded.
"Memorial."
"To stupidity."
"Same thing sometimes."
They walked toward the split in the crater wall.
Neither hurried.
They descended through the mountain.
Old stone pathways spiraled toward the facility beneath.
Their footsteps echoed.
For a while—
Nothing was said.
Then Ignovar spoke.
"...I couldn't find anything."
Eralyx kept walking.
"I assumed."
"I searched."
"I know."
"Ferrakai."
"No."
"Old healers in Celestium."
"Wouldn't work."
"Three Sovereign archives."
"Definitely wouldn't work."
Ignovar's jaw tightened.
"I even went to—"
"Rhazaan."
Ignovar stopped.
Eralyx continued another few steps.
Then turned.
"You don't have to list them."
Ignovar stared at him.
"I couldn't fix it."
"No."
The answer was simple.
Too simple.
Ignovar hated it.
Eralyx could see that.
The Fire Sovereign's orange eyes hardened.
"Banished gods have survived worse."
"Some."
"You should've survived this."
Eralyx smiled faintly.
"I did."
"For considerably longer than intended."
"Because of the tether."
"Yes."
Ignovar's irritation surfaced.
The air around him warmed.
"But you could've had more."
Eralyx said nothing.
"When a god is banished..."
Ignovar began, anger slowly entering his voice.
"...the Divine connection is severed."
Eralyx nodded.
"The immortal cycle stops."
"Yes."
"The body becomes finite."
"Yes."
"The Divine core doesn't regenerate what it spends."
"Rhazaan—"
"And every time a banished god uses the power that remains..."
"...they burn lifespan instead."
Eralyx remained silent.
Ignovar stepped closer.
"You knew."
"Of course I knew."
"You've known for ages."
"Yes."
"And the tether gave you more."
Eralyx's expression softened.
Long ago—
When Eralyx had been severed from Heaven—
His immortality had gone with it.
Divinity remained in scars.
Residue.
Fragments of a cosmic architecture his body could no longer replenish.
A banished god did not instantly become powerless.
That would've been kinder.
They kept what remained.
Knowledge.
Techniques.
Divine pathways.
Power.
But every serious use had a price.
No immortal cycle restored the energy afterward.
No Divine source renewed the body.
So life filled the difference.
Every miracle became time.
Every great technique—
Years.
Cycles.
Existence itself converted into fuel.
Eralyx had survived because he'd learned restraint.
And later—
Because Ignovar had tethered himself to him.
Not permanently.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
A Sovereign's immense living cosmic system lending stability to something Heaven had designed to decay.
Cycles became more cycles.
Then more.
Time Eralyx was never supposed to possess.
Ignovar's voice lowered.
"You could've lived longer."
Eralyx looked at him.
"Could I?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
Ignovar didn't answer.
"Five cycles?"
Silence.
"Ten?"
Nothing.
"One?"
Ignovar's jaw clenched.
Eralyx smiled.
"Exactly."
"That wasn't the point."
"Then what was?"
"What happened?"
Eralyx became quiet.
Ignovar stepped toward him.
"I felt it."
That mattered.
The tether.
However faint it had become across distance—
Ignovar had felt the change.
A massive drop.
Life disappearing.
Not naturally.
Spent.
"What did you do?"
Eralyx looked away.
Ignovar already knew.
Perhaps not the details.
But he knew.
And the moment Eralyx's expression changed—
The anger left him.
Not all at once.
But enough.
There was no point.
What had been spent—
Could not be returned.
Ignovar exhaled.
"...You gave them something."
Eralyx nodded.
"Yes."
"How much?"
"Enough."
"Eralyx."
"Enough."
Ignovar's eyes flared.
"You gave them almost everything."
"No."
Eralyx smiled.
"I kept enough to complain about you for another half-day."
Ignovar didn't laugh.
Eralyx sighed.
"They needed it."
"They needed preparation."
"They needed weapons."
"They needed a route."
"They didn't need your life."
Eralyx looked toward him.
"Same thing now."
"No."
"Close enough."
Ignovar stepped forward.
"Why so much?"
Eralyx stared at him.
Then—
"Because I watched them."
Ignovar said nothing.
"10 pulses crammed in two excruciatingly painful days."
"That's all."
"Two days of falling."
"Failing."
"Arguing."
"Getting back up."
"Trying again."
He smiled faintly.
"The intelligent one nearly worked himself unconscious because less than one second of concealment wasn't good enough."
"The younger one failed the same exercise so many times I stopped counting."
"And every time..."
"...he stood up angrier."
Ignovar's mouth twitched.
Eralyx continued.
"They know what waits ahead."
"Not completely."
"But enough."
"They know they might die."
"They know Onyx may not be recoverable."
"They know this execution is probably bait."
"And neither hesitated."
He looked down toward his hands.
Old hands.
Tired hands.
"What was I supposed to do?"
"Watch them leave with energy I had no meaningful use for?"
"You had a life."
"A shrinking one."
"Still a life."
Eralyx looked up.
"Rhazaan."
His voice softened.
"You know what the Divine are capable of."
Ignovar became quiet.
"We survived the Riven because we were lucky."
"We survived Heaven afterward because we were luckier."
"Those two don't have our experience."
"They don't have our power."
"They don't have decades to develop either."
"They have less than five pulses."
Ignovar looked away.
Eralyx chuckled.
"And despite what they apparently believe..."
"I'm not a god."
Ignovar glanced toward him.
"Not anymore."
"I can't make miracles happen."
"I can't guarantee they live."
"I can't guarantee they find Onyx."
"I certainly can't guarantee they bring him back."
He shrugged.
"All I can do is make the most of what I have."
A pause.
"And what I had..."
"...was energy."
Ignovar's eyes lowered.
"So I gave it to someone who could use it."
Eralyx looked around Astradim's aging facility.
"Better than wasting away in this dump."
A machine nearby sparked.
SPRK.
Eralyx pointed.
"See?"
Ignovar finally laughed.
Small.
Reluctant.
"...Have you always hated this place?"
"I built it."
"That doesn't answer me."
"I hate many things I've built."
They continued descending.
Eventually—
They reached the deepest portion of the facility.
Older than the laboratories.
Older than most of Astradim's functioning machinery.
There—
Built into the stone—
Was a circle.
Not the one Ryu and Luto had used.
This one looked simpler.
Ancient.
Permanent.
Its inscriptions had faded with age.
Some portions had been carved rather than projected.
Two anchors.
One origin.
One destination.
No concealment mechanisms.
No rotating coordinates.
No uncertainty.
Because this circle had been made for one journey.
Ages ago.
Eralyx stopped before it.
Ignovar stood beside him.
For several seconds—
Neither spoke.
Eralyx looked down.
"...Still works?"
Ignovar stared.
"You made it."
"That doesn't inspire confidence."
"It should."
"You've seen my facility."
SPRK.
Something exploded faintly behind them.
Ignovar looked over his shoulder.
Then back.
"...Fair."
Eralyx stepped onto the circle.
Ignovar followed.
The inscriptions awakened.
Not quickly.
One by one—
Ancient symbols filled with orange-gold light.
Warmth spread beneath their feet.
Eralyx watched it.
He remembered carving this.
Ignovar remembered why.
Neither mentioned it.
The circle had been prepared shortly after Eralyx's banishment.
Back when neither knew how long he had.
Back when death had felt much closer.
Eralyx had made only one request.
When his time came—
He didn't want darkness.
Didn't want Astradim.
Didn't want some forgotten tomb.
He wanted somewhere warm.
Somewhere beautiful.
Ignovar had remembered.
The circle ignited.
WHUM.
Astradim disappeared.
Warmth.
Real warmth.
Not mechanical.
Not artificial.
Not produced by a machine pretending to understand sunlight.
Eralyx opened his eyes.
Firelight painted the world.
Fyr stretched beneath them.
They stood high upon a steep mountain overlooking the domain.
Far below—
Volcanic valleys glowed.
Rivers of magma wound between black mountain ranges.
Great flying creatures crossed the heated skies.
Fyr cities burned with controlled flame.
And farther beyond—
The Palace of Scorching Vow rose.
Gigantic.
Ancient.
Its towers caught the light from distant volcanic eruptions.
Orange.
Crimson.
Gold.
The sky itself seemed permanently painted by fire.
Eralyx stared.
Then—
Whistled.
"...You did alright."
Ignovar frowned.
"That's your compliment?"
"Don't become greedy."
"I brought you exactly where you asked."
"Eventually."
"It took centuries for you to need it."
"Poor planning."
Ignovar shook his head.
They started walking.
Stone steps climbed slightly farther along the mountain.
And at the edge—
A bench waited.
Simple.
Wide enough for two.
Built from black Fyr stone that remained naturally warm.
Ignovar had placed it there.
Ages ago.
For this day.
Eralyx stopped when he saw it.
"...Really?"
"What?"
"A bench?"
"You asked for somewhere to sit."
"I was dying."
"Exactly."
"You thought that meant furniture?"
"I thought ahead."
Eralyx looked toward him.
"You know..."
They walked toward it.
"...if I weren't dying..."
Ignovar already sighed.
"...I might assume you had a thing for me."
Ignovar's face twisted.
"Oh, shut up."
Eralyx laughed.
They sat.
For a while—
Neither spoke.
They simply watched Fyr.
The view was ridiculous.
Beautiful in the way destruction could become beautiful when it wasn't destroying anything.
Volcanoes erupted in the distance.
Great rivers of molten rock glowed beneath dark clouds.
Dragon silhouettes crossed the horizon.
Warm wind moved across the mountain.
Eralyx closed his eyes.
"...Better."
Ignovar leaned back.
"Than Astradim?"
"Significantly."
"You chose Astradim."
"I've made mistakes."
"Clearly."
Silence again.
Comfortable this time.
Then Eralyx opened his eyes.
"Rhazaan."
"Hm?"
"If those boys actually pull this off..."
Ignovar immediately frowned.
"...No."
Eralyx hadn't finished.
"How do you know what I'm going to say?"
"Because I know you."
"Tragic."
"I'm not babysitting them."
Eralyx laughed.
"I didn't say babysit."
"You were going to."
"I was going to say look out for them."
"No."
"Occasionally."
"No."
"From a distance."
"No."
"Very far distance."
"Eralyx."
"Rhazaan."
Ignovar groaned.
"The only reason I became involved in the first place was Voidwrath."
Eralyx raised an eyebrow.
"Really."
"Yes."
"The boy's disposition was wrong."
"What I saw inside him was wrong."
"And then there was the vision."
Eralyx nodded.
"Nothing else."
"Nothing."
"You have absolutely no interest in the brothers."
"Correct."
"Especially not the red-eyed one."
Ignovar stared.
"...Why him specifically?"
"No reason."
Ignovar's eyes narrowed.
Eralyx smiled.
"You're a terrible liar."
"I'm an excellent liar."
"You become louder."
"I'm always loud."
"Exactly."
Ignovar looked away.
"I'm not babysitting reckless children."
"Fine."
Eralyx leaned backward.
"Perhaps someone else will."
Ignovar didn't respond.
"Another old friend."
That got a glance.
Eralyx smiled.
Then—
Something flickered near his feet.
Ignovar saw it.
A tiny particle.
Gold.
It lifted from Eralyx's ankle.
Then another.
And another.
His foot had begun fading.
No dramatic wound.
No pain.
No blood.
Just—
Existence loosening.
Ignovar's smile disappeared.
Eralyx hadn't noticed yet.
Or pretended not to.
Ignovar looked forward again.
"What old friend?"
"Hm?"
"You said another old friend."
"Oh."
Eralyx looked toward the horizon.
Then smiled.
"...Caelivar."
Ignovar turned.
Completely.
"What?"
That reaction amused Eralyx more than it should have.
"Caelivar."
"I heard you."
"Then why ask?"
"What the hell does Caelivar have to do with them?"
"A lot, apparently."
Ignovar stared.
Eralyx chuckled.
"The brothers mentioned their first master before they left."
Ignovar's expression changed.
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Still yes."
Ignovar sat forward.
"...Caelivar trained them?"
"For approximately ten cycles."
Silence.
Even the eruptions below seemed farther away.
Ignovar stared at Eralyx.
"Ten."
"Apparently."
"Cycles."
"That's traditionally what ten cycles means."
Ignovar ignored him.
"Caelivar."
"The same."
"He stayed with them for ten cycles?"
"According to both."
Ignovar looked toward Fyr.
Not seeing it anymore.
That wasn't something Caelivar did.
Not anymore.
Perhaps once.
Before everything.
Before the disagreement.
Before the three of them had become what time eventually made of them.
But ten cycles?
Training two children?
Protecting them?
Teaching them?
That meant something.
Eralyx knew Ignovar understood.
Which was precisely why he'd waited until now to tell him.
Ignovar's voice lowered.
"...Why?"
"I don't know."
"He never told them much about himself."
Ignovar became still.
Eralyx watched him.
"Interesting, isn't it?"
"You knew Caelivar was still alive."
"Yes, but not exactly."
"And didn't tell me."
"You knew Caelivar was alive."
Ignovar frowned.
"That's different."
"Of course."
"You spoke to him?"
"Not recently."
"How recently?"
Eralyx grinned.
"Look at you."
"What?"
"Questions."
"I'm dying and you've become Luto."
Ignovar's eyes narrowed.
"Answer."
"No."
"Eralyx."
"See?"
"Exactly like him."
Ignovar looked away with an irritated breath.
Eralyx laughed.
Then coughed.
Once.
Hard.
His body bent forward slightly.
Ignovar's expression changed immediately.
Eralyx raised one hand.
"I'm fine."
"You're disintegrating."
"Minor inconvenience."
The fading had reached his calves.
Tiny golden fragments drifted into the warm mountain air.
Ignovar stared at them.
Eralyx followed his gaze.
"...Oh."
He lifted one foot slightly.
Half of it was already translucent.
"Hm."
"That seems inconvenient."
Ignovar said nothing.
Eralyx looked back toward the horizon.
"Anyway..."
"Caelivar."
Ignovar's jaw tightened.
"Don't."
"You two haven't spoken since that day."
Silence.
"Which..."
Eralyx continued,
"...has been extremely irritating for me."
Ignovar looked toward him.
"For you?"
"Yes."
"You both decided to become dramatic idiots at exactly the same time."
"That is not what happened."
"I was there."
"You know what happened."
"I know what both of you claim happened."
"Which is?"
"That the other one was wrong."
Ignovar stared.
Eralyx smiled.
"See the problem?"
"No."
"Idiots."
Ignovar looked back toward Fyr.
Eralyx's fading reached his knees.
"So..."
"If those brothers survive..."
"And if Caelivar truly spent ten cycles preparing them..."
Eralyx's molten eyes softened.
"...perhaps stop being stubborn long enough to ask why."
Ignovar didn't respond.
Eralyx nudged him.
Nothing.
Again.
"Rhazaan."
Ignovar finally looked over.
Eralyx hit him on the shoulder.
Not hard.
Then again.
Then again.
"Ow."
"Oh, please."
"You're surprisingly irritating for a dying man."
"I've practiced."
Eralyx struck his shoulder once more.
"You're your own person."
"Unfortunately."
"I can't tell you what to do."
Ignovar looked at him.
Eralyx smiled.
"Think of it as a favor."
The fading had reached Eralyx's waist.
Golden fragments drifted sideways.
Several landed across Ignovar's shoulder.
Eralyx noticed.
"...Oh."
He reached over.
Brushed them away.
More replaced them.
"Sorry."
He brushed again.
More.
"...That's irritating."
Again.
His fingers had begun fading now too.
Particles scattered across Ignovar's shoulder faster than he could remove them.
Eralyx chuckled.
"I appear to be getting all over you."
Ignovar didn't answer.
"Rhazaan?"
Nothing.
Eralyx stopped brushing.
Ignovar had been staring straight forward for a long time.
Toward Fyr.
Toward the Palace.
Toward nothing.
A thin line ran down one cheek.
Then another.
Eralyx's smile disappeared.
He looked away.
No joke came.
For perhaps the first time in their friendship—
He didn't know what to say.
So—
They sat.
Two old friends.
Two survivors from an age that had taken nearly everyone else who remembered it.
No Sovereign.
No Banished One.
No titles.
No gods.
Just—
Ignovar.
Eralyx.
Warm stone beneath them.
Fire beneath the horizon.
And time finally running out.
Minutes passed.
Perhaps more.
Neither cared.
Eralyx's body continued disappearing.
Waist.
Chest.
One arm.
Then the other.
Each fragment became golden light before vanishing into Fyr's warm air.
Ignovar's tears continued silently.
He never wiped them.
Eventually—
Very little of Eralyx remained.
His shoulders.
His face.
Those molten-gold eyes.
The same eyes that had questioned Heaven.
Studied worlds.
Built impossible things.
Watched civilizations rise and fall.
Seen truths he shouldn't have searched for.
Been punished because someone, somewhere, had decided obedience mattered more than conscience.
And through all of it—
He had remained irritating.
Eralyx looked toward Ignovar one last time.
"...Rhazaan."
Ignovar closed his eyes.
"Hm?"
Eralyx smiled.
No sarcasm.
No lesson.
No cleverness.
"More than anything..."
His voice weakened.
"...take care of yourself."
Ignovar's jaw tightened.
Fresh tears ran down his face.
For several seconds—
He couldn't answer.
Then—
Quietly—
"Get some rest, old friend."
Eralyx stared at him.
There it was.
That familiar irritation.
That spark.
Even now.
Even at the very edge.
His smile returned.
"...Don't order me around."
Ignovar laughed.
Once.
Broken by everything surrounding it.
Because Eralyx had said those words before.
Many times.
To Ignovar.
To Caelivar.
To gods.
To commanders.
To Heaven itself.
Words that had been a joke—
Until they weren't.
A philosophy—
Until it became rebellion.
A rebellion—
Until it became banishment.
And somehow—
Even after Heaven stripped away his immortality...
Even after every miracle shortened his life...
Even after ages of hiding...
Eralyx had reached the end exactly as he'd lived.
On his own terms.
His face began fading.
The smile remained.
Then—
Gold.
A final scattering of warm light crossed the mountain.
The wind carried it outward.
Over Fyr.
Over the volcanic valleys.
Toward the distant Palace of Scorching Vow.
And Eralyx—
The Fractured Flame.
The Banished One.
Scholar.
Engineer.
Healer.
Historian.
Former god.
Friend.
Was gone.
No body remained.
Only an empty place on the bench.
Ignovar sat beside it.
He didn't move.
For a long time—
The Fire Sovereign simply watched the horizon.
Tears continued down his face.
His enormous hands rested loosely against his knees.
The wind moved through long, gray-streaked locs.
Far below—
Fyr burned beautifully.
Eventually—
Ignovar looked toward the empty seat.
His mouth trembled once.
Then steadied.
Two words escaped.
Quiet enough that only the mountain heard them.
"...You idiot."
Brothers Between Stars
Stars passed like rain.
Not individual streaks anymore.
Entire systems.
Worlds.
Moons.
Nebulae.
Great formations of cosmic matter drifting beyond the current in colors neither brother had names for.
The farther Ryu and Luto traveled—
The cleaner everything became.
Earlier portions of the cosmic current had carried them through crowded regions.
Trade routes.
Distant civilizations.
Artificial structures suspended between worlds.
Planetary systems layered beneath centuries of cosmic interference.
Here—
There was almost nothing.
No ships.
No stations.
No visible signs that anyone had touched these stars at all.
Just—
Space.
Pristine.
Ancient.
Beautiful.
And through it—
Two screaming idiots.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!"
The current twisted.
Both brothers spun.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!"
Then—
Everything slowed.
"...AAAAAA—?"
Ryu blinked.
Luto's scream gradually stopped.
"...Oh."
The cosmic current had widened.
Its violent pull softened.
Energy that had spent what felt like forever throwing them through existence settled into broad, luminous streams.
The brothers drifted inside it.
Still moving.
Still unimaginably fast compared to anything outside.
But—
Calm.
Ryu slowly straightened himself.
"...We're alive."
No response.
Ryu looked around.
"Luto?"
Nothing.
He turned.
"Luto?"
His eyes widened.
Luto floated several yards behind him.
Bent forward.
Hands against his knees.
His face looked—
Terrible.
Pale.
Sweating.
Eyes barely open.
Ryu's amusement vanished.
"LUTO?!"
He immediately pushed himself through the current.
"What's wrong?!"
Luto raised one finger.
"Wait—"
"What happened?"
"Ryu—"
"Did something hit you?!"
"No."
"Did the suit fail?!"
"No."
"Is it the tether?!"
"RYU."
"What?!"
Luto's cheeks puffed.
Ryu stopped.
"...Oh no."
Luto vomited.
Ryu screamed.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"
He threw himself backward.
Hard.
The current caught him.
Ryu glided nearly twenty yards away before stabilizing.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
Luto remained doubled over.
Ryu stared in horror as the evidence of his brother's poor decision drifted briefly before the cosmic current mercifully swept it away.
"THAT'S DISGUSTING!"
Luto weakly lifted his head.
"...Thank you."
"WHY ARE YOU THROWING UP IN SPACE?!"
"We aren't..."
Luto swallowed.
"...technically in space."
"THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE CORRECTING?!"
Luto closed his eyes.
Ryu cautiously approached again.
Very cautiously.
"You look like you're dying."
"I feel like I'm dying."
Ryu frowned.
Then noticed something.
"...Wait."
Luto's expression immediately became suspicious.
"What?"
Ryu pointed at him.
"Did you eat?"
Silence.
Ryu's eyes widened.
"YOU ATE?!"
"I was hungry."
"IN THE CURRENT?!"
"Yes."
"WHEN?!"
Luto thought.
"...Earlier."
"EARLIER WHEN?!"
"During the last stable section."
Ryu stared.
The last stable section.
He remembered that.
Luto had asked to stop.
Ryu had said no.
Because getting out meant figuring out how to properly reenter the current without being ripped in half.
Then Luto had asked again later.
Ryu had said no.
Again.
Then again.
No.
Again.
No.
They were already burning time.
Approximately two pulses had passed since they'd left Astradim.
Every stop mattered.
So—
Apparently—
Luto had decided the logical solution was eating while traveling through one of the fastest cosmic phenomena either of them had ever experienced.
Ryu slowly raised both hands.
"Luto."
"What?"
"Do you understand how fast we're moving?"
"Approximately."
"APPROXIMATELY?!"
"Without an external reference point, calculating exact velocity inside a cosmic current is unnecessarily complicated."
"YOU WERE EATING!"
"I was hungry."
"WE'RE MOVING THROUGH STAR SYSTEMS!"
"Hunger does not observe velocity."
Ryu stared.
Luto's stomach moved.
His eyes widened.
"Wait."
Ryu immediately retreated.
"NO."
Luto vomited again.
"STOP!"
Ryu pushed himself farther away.
"STOP GETTING IT SO CLOSE TO ME!"
"I am not..."
Luto coughed.
"...doing it intentionally."
Ryu covered his nose despite that accomplishing absolutely nothing.
"Oh, apparently your stomach observes velocity!"
Luto glared weakly.
"Are you finished?"
"No! Are you?"
Ryu pointed accusingly.
"You're selfish too."
Luto blinked.
"...What?"
"You ate and didn't offer me anything."
Luto stared.
Ryu held out his hand.
"What'd you bring?"
"...You're unbelievable."
"You've been secretly eating this whole time!"
"I ate once."
"Without me."
"You refused to stop."
"Because we're saving Onyx!"
"And?"
"And apparently brotherhood means nothing when snacks are involved."
Luto closed his eyes.
"...I hate you."
"No you don't."
Ryu moved closer.
"What've you got?"
Luto sighed.
One hand disappeared into a small opening beside him.
His pocket dimension.
He reached around without looking.
Grabbed the first object his fingers touched.
Pulled it out.
Then tossed it toward Ryu.
Ryu caught it.
Looked down.
"...What is this?"
"I don't know."
"You handed it to me."
"I grabbed the first thing."
Ryu turned the wrapped food over.
"You don't even know what's in your own pocket dimension?"
"At the moment..."
Luto swallowed.
"...I am concentrating on not vomiting again."
Ryu immediately moved farther away.
"Good concentration."
He opened the wrapping.
Sniffed.
Shrugged.
Then took a bite.
His eyes widened.
"...Oh."
Luto glanced over.
"Good?"
Ryu chewed.
Then deliberately turned away.
"No."
Luto stared.
Ryu took another bite.
"Terrible."
Another.
"You wouldn't like it."
"...Give it back."
"No."
"Ryu."
Ryu drifted farther away.
"Thank you for your generous donation."
"I hope you choke."
"Brotherhood."
Luto raised one finger.
Ryu laughed.
For the first time since entering the current—
They stopped fighting it.
Stopped training.
Stopped calculating.
Stopped thinking about the Riven.
For just a moment—
They floated.
The current carried them gently forward.
Ryu finished whatever Luto had handed him.
Then his eyes wandered beyond the translucent walls of cosmic energy.
The universe stretched around them.
A blue-white star burned in the distance.
Several planets circled it.
One had rings.
Another looked almost completely covered in ocean.
Farther away—
A red nebula stretched between systems like paint dragged across darkness.
Ryu stared.
"...Luto."
"Hm?"
"You ever think about how far we've gone?"
Luto remained bent slightly forward.
"Physically?"
Ryu looked at him.
"...Why would I ask you that?"
"You ask strange questions."
"I mean..."
Ryu looked outward again.
"From Terrosia."
That changed something.
Luto slowly straightened.
The nausea remained.
But his expression softened.
Terrosia.
Ryu watched another untouched world pass far beneath them.
"You remember that dravok nest?"
Luto smiled faintly.
"Unfortunately."
"We thought that was the most dangerous thing ever."
"It nearly killed you."
"It did not."
"It had you pinned against a rock."
"I had a plan."
"You were seven."
"I was advanced."
"Another time you painted yourself black and attempted to ambush a dravok."
Ryu turned.
"That worked."
"It smelled you."
"Eventually."
"It smelled the paint first."
"See?"
Luto stared.
"That doesn't help your argument."
Ryu laughed.
Then looked toward the stars again.
His smile lingered.
But softened.
"I was so angry back then."
Luto didn't answer.
Ryu's eyes followed the distant planets.
"When we lost Onyx."
The current hummed around them.
"I didn't understand anything."
"Arkann."
"The Executioner."
"Cosmic energy."
"Why Onyx stayed behind."
"Why we couldn't go back."
His fingers tightened slightly.
"I just remember being angry."
A pause.
"Really angry."
Luto looked at him.
Ryu continued.
"And powerless."
That word sat differently.
"I hated that."
"More than anything."
Luto's expression lowered.
"I know."
Ryu smiled faintly.
"Of course you do."
They'd both been there.
Two children thrown through a rift.
One brother left behind.
No way home.
No way back.
No understanding of what had happened.
Ryu exhaled.
"And now..."
He looked around.
Cosmic energy surrounded them.
Black suits traced with crimson and blue.
Bracelets holding the final gift of a man they'd known for two days.
Training.
Scars.
Over Ten cycles of growth.
"...We're flying through some giant invisible space ocean to break into a Divine execution."
Luto considered that.
"When you phrase it like that..."
"It sounds stupid?"
"Extremely."
Ryu grinned.
"Good."
Another system drifted past.
Then—
Ryu's eyes widened.
"Oh."
Luto looked over.
"What?"
"Lee."
"...What?"
"Lee!"
Luto frowned.
Then realization struck.
"...Your germon?"
Ryu pointed.
"MY germon."
"I know what Lee is."
"I forgot about him."
"Clearly."
Ryu looked genuinely horrified.
"How big do you think he is now?"
Luto thought.
"Assuming he's alive—"
"Why would you say that?!"
"I'm being realistic."
"Don't be realistic about Lee!"
Luto sighed.
"Germons grow considerably after adolescence."
Ryu's eyes widened.
"So he's huge."
"Potentially."
"Do you think he'd remember me?"
Luto looked toward him.
Ryu's expression had become unexpectedly serious.
Luto smiled.
"Probably."
Ryu nodded.
"...Good."
Then—
A terrible realization.
"Lady Destra."
Luto groaned.
"Oh."
Both brothers became quiet.
Ryu slowly looked toward him.
"...She's going to kill us."
"Probably."
"We've been gone forever."
"Yes."
"We said we were leaving the district."
"We technically did."
"We left the planet."
"Also true."
Ryu stared.
"That doesn't help."
Luto smiled.
"She warned us not to wander too far."
Ryu looked around.
At the stars.
The cosmic current.
The countless light-years between them and Terrosia.
"...We may have wandered too far."
"Marginally."
Ryu laughed.
Luto did too.
Quietly at first.
Then harder.
For several seconds—
They were children again.
Sneaking out.
Getting yelled at.
Trying to explain why whatever catastrophe they'd caused technically wasn't entirely their fault.
Ryu wiped at his eye.
"She must've been worried sick."
Luto's smile faded slightly.
"Yeah."
"We should go back."
Ryu looked at him.
"After this."
Luto nodded.
"After this."
Another name came naturally.
"Arkann."
Ryu's smile disappeared.
Neither knew.
The last time they'd seen him—
He'd been bleeding.
Fighting.
Trying to save them.
Ryu stared through the current.
"You think he made it?"
Luto took longer to answer.
"I don't know."
Ryu nodded.
No false certainty.
No pretending.
Just—
"I hope he did."
"So do I."
Then—
"Caelivar."
Ryu smiled.
"He's probably still mad."
"About what?"
"Everything."
"That's not specific."
"He was always mad."
"He was tired."
"Because of us."
"Mostly you."
Ryu pointed.
"There it is."
Luto smiled.
Ryu leaned backward, allowing the current to carry him.
"I wonder what he's doing."
Luto looked into the stars.
"...Probably reading."
"That's boring."
"He likes reading."
"Still boring."
"Or studying."
"Worse."
"Or sleeping peacefully now that you're gone."
Ryu gasped.
"Impossible."
Luto's smile widened.
Neither knew.
So they imagined.
Caelivar somewhere on Raezhar.
Complaining.
Reading.
Perhaps looking toward the sky and wondering whether his two students had managed to get themselves killed yet.
Then came others.
Seralyndra.
The Sylorae.
Vulkhar.
Seravynn.
Orin.
Lady Pyrrhagon.
Ryu spent considerably longer talking about Pyrrhagon than everyone else.
Luto noticed.
Ryu denied it.
They remembered Veltraxis.
Neonfall.
The people they'd fought.
The people they'd helped.
Those who had helped them.
Names.
Faces.
Places.
Yet somehow—
All of them had become pieces of the road leading here.
Two boys had left Terrosia wanting one thing.
Find Onyx.
They'd had no idea where he was.
No idea whether he was alive.
No idea what the multiverse looked like beyond their broken planet.
They hadn't understood cosmic energy.
Hadn't known Sovereigns existed.
Hadn't known Heaven could reach as far as it did.
They knew now.
Not everything.
Not nearly.
But enough.
Ryu looked toward Luto.
A strange smile appeared.
"...We're actually doing it."
Luto raised an eyebrow.
"Doing what?"
"Going to get him."
Silence.
Luto looked ahead.
The current stretched beyond them.
Toward somewhere neither could see yet.
Onyx.
For over ten cycles—
He'd existed mostly as a memory.
A voice.
A face.
A smile against a canyon wall.
Their oldest brother.
The one who'd protected them before either understood what protection cost.
Now—
He was somewhere ahead.
Not a memory.
Not a story.
Not a question.
Alive.
Waiting.
Even if he didn't know he was waiting.
Luto's hand slowly closed.
"Yeah."
Ryu grinned.
"We're getting our brother back."
Luto looked at him.
Then—
Smiled.
"We are."
The moment lasted exactly three seconds.
Then—
Everything felt wrong.
Ryu's smile vanished.
Luto's head snapped forward.
The current changed.
Not visually.
Not yet.
Something deeper.
Pressure.
The gentle flow beneath them shifted.
Their bodies moved.
Not forward.
Sideways.
Ryu immediately corrected himself.
"What was that?"
Luto didn't answer.
His hand was already moving.
A small projection opened above his wrist.
Coordinates.
Time.
Current displacement.
Estimated trajectory.
Eralyx's route data.
Luto's eyes moved rapidly.
Ryu looked ahead.
"Luto."
"Wait."
The current pulled again.
Harder.
WHUM.
Both brothers shifted several feet.
Ryu ignited a small burst of fire to stabilize.
Luto immediately grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
Ryu killed it.
Right.
Don't resist the current.
Especially here.
Luto's projection flickered.
His expression changed.
"...Two pulses."
Ryu looked at him.
"Since Astradim?"
"Approximately."
"That's good, right?"
"No."
Ryu frowned.
"Why'd you say it like that?"
Luto enlarged the coordinates.
Eralyx's predicted route appeared.
Their position blinked.
Then—
A second marker.
Close.
Very close.
Luto stared.
"This is the last stable section."
Ryu's expression changed.
"You sure?"
"You remember every time I asked to stop?"
"Yeah."
"And every time you refused?"
"Because getting back into this thing takes forever."
"Correct."
Luto looked ahead.
"Eralyx marked several calm regions along the current."
"This one was the last."
Ryu slowly turned forward.
The cosmic current began accelerating.
The peaceful stars stretched.
Light elongated around them.
The gentle hum deepened.
WHOOOOOOOOOM.
Ryu's eyes narrowed.
"...So..."
"Yes."
Another pull.
Stronger.
Their bodies lurched forward.
The current narrowed.
Luto immediately dismissed the projection.
"Compression."
Both brothers reacted.
Cosmic energy pulled inward.
Ryu's crimson aura vanished beneath his skin.
Luto's blue lightning compressed until almost nothing escaped.
Their suits responded.
Crimson and blue lines dimmed.
The tether between them tightened.
A pulse.
A presence.
Brother.
The current accelerated again.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The stars blurred.
Then—
The current ahead became visible.
Ryu stared.
Luto did too.
Neither needed explanation.
They knew.
Because there was absolutely nothing else it could've been.
Far ahead—
The cosmic current was broken.
Not severed.
Fractured.
The enormous luminous pathway twisted violently through space.
Sections folded across themselves.
Others split into smaller currents before crashing back together.
Spatial fractures floated throughout it.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Some small enough to resemble cracks in glass.
Others—
Massive.
Chunks of collapsed dimensional structure tumbled through the current like asteroids.
Broken space.
Dead cosmic matter.
Fragments of ancient matter.
Entire pieces of dead planets that no longer belonged anywhere.
They spun inside the current.
Colliding.
Separating.
Vanishing into fractures.
Reappearing somewhere else.
It looked like an asteroid belt—
If the asteroids were pieces of broken planets.
And the current carried all of it.
Fast.
Violently.
Unpredictably.
Ryu stared.
"...That's definitely it."
Luto looked toward him.
"Your observational brilliance continues to astound me."
"Shut up."
The current pulled.
Hard.
WHOOOOOOOM!
Both brothers shot forward.
Ryu's eyes widened.
"OH."
Luto grabbed his wrist.
"Stay close!"
The first massive fragment rushed toward them.
"LEFT!"
They moved.
SHHHHHHHK!
A broken slab of spatial matter screamed past.
Another appeared.
"DOWN!"
They dropped.
WHOOOM!
Something enormous rotated above them.
Ryu looked back.
"What even WAS THAT?!"
"DOES IT MATTER?!"
"YES!"
"No!"
A fracture opened directly ahead.
Luto felt it first.
"RYU!"
"I SEE IT!"
They separated.
The tether stretched.
A pulse.
Position.
Movement.
Intent.
Ryu twisted right.
Luto left.
The fracture passed between them.
Then—
Both pulled back together.
Another cluster approached.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
Ryu's eyes widened.
"...Oh, this is terrible."
"You wanted to keep moving!"
"I DIDN'T KNOW THIS WAS NEXT!"
"I TOLD YOU IT WAS!"
"You said unstable!"
"WHAT DID YOU THINK UNSTABLE MEANT?!"
"NOT THIS!"
The current roared.
Every remaining trace of calm disappeared.
Space twisted.
Cosmic debris collided.
Fractures opened and closed faster than their eyes could follow.
Their tether pulsed harder.
Ryu felt Luto.
Luto felt Ryu.
Position.
Direction.
Movement.
Distress.
Intent.
Exactly as Eralyx had taught them.
No shouting necessary.
Though—
They continued shouting anyway.
"RIGHT!"
"I KNOW!"
"THEN WHY ARE YOU GOING LEFT?!"
"YOUR LEFT!"
"WE HAVE DIFFERENT LEFTS?!"
"APPARENTLY!"
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The current accelerated beyond anything they'd experienced before.
Ahead—
The Riven Cut opened completely.
A violent corridor of fractured space winding into darkness.
Ancient.
Collapsed.
Barely functional.
And waiting.
Ryu pulled his cosmic energy tighter.
Luto did the same.
Their suits dimmed until only faint traces of crimson and blue remained.
The tether between them pulsed once.
Ryu looked toward his brother.
Luto looked back.
No fear needed explaining.
Neither did determination.
Somewhere beyond this—
Onyx waited.
Ryu grinned.
Luto sighed.
"I hate that face."
"You know what I'm about to say?"
"Unfortunately."
Ryu turned toward the Cut.
"Let's go get our brother."
Luto's expression softened.
Then—
The current seized them.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Crimson vanished.
Blue vanished.
Two brothers became indistinguishable from the cosmic debris surrounding them.
Carried into one of the oldest broken pathways in existence.
The Riven Cut swallowed them—
And they disappeared.