Reunion

  Everything around her seemed to slow down and stop in mid-motion. Her mind and thoughts moved at speeds far beyond what ordinary people could achieve; her intelligence attribute was so high that when she truly let it affect her, it was as if she lived in a world that moved at a glacial pace.

  The shade before her looked the same as he did in her memories, when he was alive. The same he did on that day when she saw him last. He wore his old armor, the one Erdania gifted to him. It had been an ordeal to convince him to take it and use it. Such was his determination, his desire to grow stronger on his own. He was far weaker than they were, and he had never been able to accept that they didn’t care.

  She could tell that his armor wasn’t actually real, or at least it wasn’t the one that they had gifted to him. The Essence was a copy, but not real. He had carried the real one when he died, he was burned with it, but his Soul had carried a copy into the Ethereal. His crossing over into the Real Realm had caused that Ethereal copy to be formed by the Framework.

  His body, his flesh, all of it was a copy, despite looking and feeling as real as the body she watched burn. She was aware that her mussing was her mind’s way of distracting her from the turmoil of her emotions.

  Perhaps it was good that she couldn’t reach Ryun and Erdania, because what she was feeling right now would’ve sent them both into panic, and she didn’t know what they would’ve done.

  The storm within her was so intense that she didn’t even know what to think, what to feel. All of her senses were focused on the shade before her, looking for any sign of a trick, and finding none.

  She had come to terms with Terland’s death long ago; her love for him had faded with time, become a fond memory wrapped up with sadness and acceptance. All of those emotions rose up inside of her now, and she didn’t know what to do.

  What could one do in a situation like this? Her old love returned from the dead, part of an enemy force attacking her home. She wished that she could believe that this was just a trick, but she was too powerful to be fooled in such a way.

  Her skill, |I Saw Truth| confirmed it for her. This was Terland; he was a shade. He had never reached the afterlife like she believed. He had wandered the Ethereal Realm for who knew how long. There were ten rings in his eyes, telling her everything she needed to know. Her grief rose up again. She had known that she had failed before, that she let Terland convince himself that he wasn’t enough, which led to his death. Now she knew that she had failed him twice over, for he never found rest in the Afterlife.

  The shades around her noticed her arrival; the force of it threw everyone nearby away. So slowly, they turned to her, jumping ready to attack.

  Her authority touched all Essence around her. She couldn’t erase it in the same way Ryun could; she couldn’t reinforce it like Erdania could. She created things that last, things that carried a legacy; she manipulated and held dominion over a concept that touched nearly everything that endured and carried a legacy.

  She released her Qi into the air, the Legacy of the Lindwurmar she had inherited from Laqruud—fire and blood. With her authority spread through the Qi, with her will and skills, she used {Lifeblood Forging}, shackles caught all the nearby shades and spirits and chained them to the ground, her authority reached into their power and forced it to sleep, cutting them off from their legacy.

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  The battle raged around her but she could not bother with it. All of her attention was on Terland. She saw the moment when his mind caught up to what was happening around him. When he truly saw her and took her in.

  She saw no recognition in his eyes, and that felt like a hot knife put through her heart. She looked different, true. Her skin was a different shade, covered in scales; her horns were a different color as was her hair. But still she hoped that someone who knew her, who loved her, would know her.

  She knew that she shouldn’t compare, but she was certain that no matter how long, that no matter their state, Erdania and Ryun would’ve known her. Even if they weren’t bonded. It wasn’t a fair thought, they were so powerful, they didn’t see with eyes alone.

  He gathered Qi within his body, roaring with power, but oh so sloppy, so unrefined. It was brute force alone. His Aspect, Kinetic Force, cycled through his body, enforcing him as he used his technique. Selia saw just how inefficient his technique was. His Path had never been powerful, but now when she had advanced so far it looked even worse to her eyes.

  More shades and spirits stepped through the portal, and behind them came the empire, their mechanized suits stepping through, power thrumming through the metal wires spread through their bodies.

  The chaos of the battle was too much, it interfered with her already burdened thoughts too much. She reached inside of herself and used her domain, Library of Creation. She summoned it into the real world and pushed with her will, excluding from its pull everyone present other than Terland.

  One moment they were on the ground, and the next they were alone in a library. They were in a large open space, with shelves looming in the distance, filled with plans of all her creations and constructs. Legacies she had inherited from Laqruud could be seen in the far distance beyond, massive mountains each carrying the dreams of an ancient being.

  Terland froze for a moment, looking around in confusion. Selia didn’t know what to do or say, so she just waited. The shade of her old love blinked, his Qi wavering for a moment. Then, his eyes fell on her once again, narrowing.

  She could feel him moving Qi again, so slowly. Before he could attack, she stepped forward and spoke.

  “Terland,” she said.

  He paused, his head tilting to the side as if he was remembering something. She saw the moment when he recognized her.

  “Selia,” he said slowly, his lips turning up into a grin that was far too wide. “Love, I’ve found you at last.”

  She cursed her eyes, her senses, her skills and power. She could see his entire being. She could tell how twisted his Soul had become. She had often heard it spoken that the shades were no longer the people they were in life. That the Ethereal changes them in a way that was irreversible.

  When she had first seen and recognized him, she had hoped that there was someway to help, to reverse what had happened to him. Now she knew it was impossible. She had knowledge that stretched before the Infinite Realm, she had suspicions of why things worked the way they did.

  She saw the fraying of his being, what used to be his Soul. She knew so much more about Souls now that she could see pieces of him missing. It was familiar to her, and now, that she had a moment to actually look at him, she knew where she had seen it. It was similar to how Anatalien’s Soul looked. Lesser in some ways, but… Like her, there was something missing of him.

  Ra’azel was the oldest shade in existence, and even he was still insane. No sane person would continue with their blind obsession after all this time. After learning and knowing so much.

  Still, she wished to help him. Perhaps she could force her way into an Afterlife, send him there. Perhaps Nayra could. Now, she knew she couldn’t… Pieces of conversation of speculation with Ryun slid into place. And she knew what the Terland before her was… a shade. Such an apt name, the Framework had reasons for everything.

  “I did it,” Terland said. “I am strong now. I told you I would… I… I… you are different?”

  He was looking at her, blinking rapidly. “Are you Selia?” He asked. “No, no, they promised. I came back to you, didn’t I?”

  It broke her heart to see the struggle, the madness in his eyes. It hurt more because she could sense his Soul, because she was familiar with them so much more. Because she could feel the Legacy of his entire being.

  This was not Terland. The pieces of him that could grow, that could change, that could learn, those things were no longer here. They had passed beyond this realm, into what lay beyond. The place of True Death. Ryun was right about it, about everything. All that was left of Terland was a shell. It was just a remnant, it was just a… shade. And the best thing she could do for him was put him to rest.