Darkness shrouded Ethan and everything around him. He was no longer within the Gainsworth part of the ancestral realm. He was taken to another place. A more ancient and secluded space, existing within the bounds of the ancestral realm. He wasn’t alone though. There was another presence.
Calico Paradigm, his father’s former lover, was holding Ethan hostage, or so it seemed. She had been awfully quiet ever since kidnapping him. She didn’t try to harm him in any way, neither did she physically constrict his movement. In fact, she helped him get on his feet after he stumbled in the darkness. It was then that she illuminated the shadow, so that Ethan had better visibility and could easily move around.
Ethan looked around and saw it was only the two of them there. “Why did you bring me here? Do you plan to kill me to fulfill the curse you gave?” he asked.
“The curse given to the Anon royals and your father to become bereft of children, you mean?” asked Calico.
“Yes.”
“Do you know why that curse was given?”
“To avenge the fall of the Paradigms.”
“That is one part of it.”
“The other is your jealously for my mother, who you thought took my father away from you.”
”Is that what Edwin told you? Lies! Hear me now, child. I had nothing but respect for your mother, Princess Regal of the Anons. It is your father that I have problems with. We were madly in love with each other, until I made the decision to support my family, the Renegaders. It was a mistake, for my family was in the wrong. I apologized for it several times, but your father didn’t care. He married your mother just to spite me.”
“That may be how things started out but, in the end, no one loved my mother more than my father.”
“May be, but he too sided with the wrong people, for Princess Regal was one of the only good ones in the Anon royal family. The rest of them are weak and broken men who pretend to be almighty. In their quest to reign supreme, they have brought Areliam to the brink of ruin. I’m sure you saw an example of the destruction they caused in Ragonia.”
“I have,” said Ethan while lowering his eyes. An indication of the immense guilt he felt for his family’s role in destroying Areliam.
“So, what do you think about all this, and what will you do to fix it?” asked Calico.
“Obviously, it’s wrong, and I’ll do anything in my power to correct things,” replied Ethan.
“What of the Veiled Ones? Will you do everything you can to free us and return us to our former glory?”
“Yes, absolutely!”
“Why? How can a person like you, who has only benefitted from the new status quo, help us? What is your motive behind this?” asked a suspicious Calico.
“I…I realized the truth that no one can be happy by hurting others. Sooner or later, we have to serve the greater good, or we’ll lose what little we have. My father sided with the Anons against his own people. He got a lot of wealth, power, and stature in return. However, first he lost his wife, then most of the Gainsworths lost their powers, and now he lost his life. My uncles fulfilled the long held Anon desire to rule supreme, but they are annihilating the universe in the process. So, I just want to right all our wrongdoings and create a better world for all,” said Ethan.
“What if I tell you that the only way to create a better life for all is for you to die?” asked Calico.
Ethan closed his eyes, then smiled and said, “Kill me. I’m ready to forfeit my life for the greater good.”
Calico looked at Ethan with pity and said, “You have given up on life, bogged down by the sins of kin and father. Such a heavy burden on one so young! I’m convinced of your dedication towards fixing the things your family has broken. So, I’ll remove the curse I placed on your family. Not only that, I’ll even help you break the power-draining curse on the Gainsworths. However, you must save them first.”
“Save them? What do you mean?” Ethan asked worriedly.
Calico materialized three mirrors in front of Ethan with a snap of her fingers. Each of them showed a different scenario. In one, Leo and Leona were surrounded by an army of dead, in a fiery landscape. In another, Lore, Desdemona, Krayola and Ivan Renegader were stuck inside an ice dome that was under siege. The last mirror showed a group assaulting the protective shield around the Gainsworth ancestors.
“What is going on?” asked a panicked Ethan.
“All your allies are under attack. My grandmother is testing Leon to see if he is worthy enough to keep alive. Some of the Renegaders are trying to kill you and your sister to avenge their lost family members. On the other hand, my father brought some of his best fighters and a few Transenders to take down your ancestors.”
“Take down my ancestors! How is that even possible? You cannot kill people who are already dead. Not to mention, how did they get inside the Ancestral Realm in the first place? The connection was sealed off!” said Ethan.
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“They are Renegaders, age old rivals to Gainsworths. There isn’t a spell in the world made by a Gainsworth that can’t be broken by a Renegader. Given enough time, of course. Also, Leo’s constant journeys into this realm diminished the potency of the sealing spell,” explained Calico.
“All right, but there are far more Gainsworths than the attackers. They can take the few Renegaders and Transenders who showed up, right?” Ethan asked nervously.
“No, they can’t. Not when they all are extremely weak from Emanuel’s power syphoning and fighting against powerful enemies,” replied Calico.
“I want to help them. No, I need to help all of them! What can I do to help? Please tell me?” Ethan asked desperately.
“Decide who you want to help first. Then we can strategize about how to help them.”
Des and Lore are the safest for the moment. The ice dome is not showing any signs of breaking even after being attacked so fiercely. Leo seems to be in the most trouble right now, but I know he’ll figure out a way. He always does. However, if I don’t help my ancestors right now, all of them will be wiped out!
“We should help the Gainsworths first,” said Ethan after a lot of deliberation in his mind.
“You sure you don’t want to help Leo first? He seems in dire need of backup.”
Ethan smiled. “You don’t know Leon Hearth-Bringer the way I do. He can survive anything. However, my weakened ancestors don’t stand a chance. I need to make sure they survive!”
“Fine. Then you need to break the death-link connection of the Renegaders.”
“How do I do that?”
“See, death-link connections are basically out of body experiences where the spirit leaves the body to commune with ancestors. So, there are three ways to break a death-link connection. One is to successfully complete the ritual, another is to harm the body while the ritual is in progress. The last and the most difficult is to hurt the spirit strongly, so it automatically retreats to its vessel to heal. You have to use the third method, as the other two are not possible to accomplish right now.”
“Ok, let’s do it! Then we can go help the others.”
“Let me warn you, though; it won’t be easy.”
“I don’t think it was ever meant to be.”
***
Edwin kept looking at the cracking protective dome overhead. When he first opened his eyes inside the Ancestral Realm, he was furious! How dare Emanuel erect this barrier and syphon of energy from their ancestors without his knowledge!? He was the leader of the clan, it was his right to know. However, now he was glad it was here to protect them against the Renegaders and the Transenders.
Edwin casted a spell to illuminate the usually black areas outside the dome to pinpoint enemy locations. Isaac Renegader was out there leading a group of Renegaders and transformed Transenders. There were only four Transenders who appeared in their morphed forms. A dragon, a giant python, a huge bear, and a colossal spider. All of them were attacking the dome and breaking it apart bit by bit. However, the real problem was Isaac and the one hundred warriors standing behind him.
Isaac, a tall, lean black man with short hair and eyes that spewed venom, stood ready to strike. Thankfully, Edwin still had most of his powers. For reasons unknown to him Emanuel never syphoned his powers. The loss of power Edwin did have came from when he was alive. Out of all the Gainsworths, he had the best chance of surviving the enemy. So, he decided to fight them head on.
Edward too retained most of his powers. The rest, though, already had a lot of their powers syphoned. Beating the attackers in their weakened state was not possible. Luckily, Kendall was on his way to get help from the Hearth-Bringers. They just needed to hold on until backup from the Hearth-Bringers arrived.
“Father! I don’t think the dome will stand till the Hearth-Bringers get here. So, we must prepare to defend ourselves. Everyone, line up in accordance with your power levels. Those with the most power stand in the front. Those with the least will be at the rear. Everyone else with mixed power levels will stand in between, with the more powerful being closer to the front. Cursebinders on the left, Spellcasters on the right,” said Edwin.
Edward agreed with his son’s plan and stood at the helm of the Cursebinders. “Cursebinders, start casting curses to slow down their advances! Spellcasters, be ready with your barrier spells. Edwin and I have the most power left, so we will fight them directly while you all provide support. Is that clear?” asked Edward.
“Yes, sir!” replied everyone in unison.
“I will take the Renegaders. You take the Transenders,” said Edwin.
“Be careful! The Renegaders seem to have brought their most powerful fighters,” warned Edward.
Edwin nodded in reply and said, “I can still hold them off until the Hearth-Bringers get here.”
“Good to see you are finally trusting others!” remarked Edward.
“Say what you want about them, but at least the Hearth-Bringers stick to their word,” said Edwin.
“Agreed!” was the last word Edward said before the dome cracked open and the enemy poured in.
The Cursebinders were able to stop the enemies in their tracks for a few moments. That is all the time it took for Edward to take on the Transenders. Edward channeled his powers into long energy vines that spread out from him and bound all the Transenders. The vines sucked out their spiritual energy and cut them down to size. Then he hurled their stolen energy back at them swiftly. The energy hit them with a forceful impact strong enough hurt their spirits.
Their death-link connection was broken, and their spirits were returning to their bodies. However, Isaac Renegader intervened before that could happen. He sucked the energies of the Transenders into himself with his spirit blade, Spiritus Clepta, a weapon especially made to transfer the opponent’s powers to the wielder. Except, in this case, he used it on his allies.
“That was low, even for you. Could you have not spared your own followers?” asked Edward.
“Oh! That’s rich, coming from you. All I did was put these beings out of their misery. After the curse was enacted, the Transenders shapeshifted into their transcended forms to escape it. It worked, but eventually, many lost their consciousness as they continued to remain in those forms. Now most of them are no longer capable of returning to their original Veiled One forms. So, all I did was kill an animal and not an ally. You and your clan are the real sinners here. You are the ones that helped Anons destroy your own race!” replied Isaac.
“No one can change the past, Isaac. However, we still have a chance at rescuing the future. Drop your desire for revenge and work with us to save Areliam,” beseeched Edward.
“Now you want to cooperate when it’s your turn to be annihilated! You bloody coward!” yelled Isaac venomously.
“I’ll take responsibility as the former head of the Gainsworths. So, punish me all you want, but please allow your vengeance to end with me. Let the rest of the Gainsworths go, please,” pleaded Edward.
“Never! Your ancestral line ends today. I’ll devour the spiritual energies of every Gainsworth ancestor here, then use that to kill all the living Gainsworths. After that, I’ll destroy the Anons as well. None of you will escape my wrath!” proclaimed Isaac.
