Ron fell behind him, Davos too, though the man maintained a cautious distance. Cleaned up, his face was left only with slight bruises and swollen features. Better than expected. A difference between a common man and a Blademaster, perhaps.
Jeseries was the same as him. Merrin wondered about the difference. One was pathetic compared to the other. Likely, it was a matter of training? The thought lasted the briefest of moments before the lording of the imperative.
Catelyn stood beside Ron, silent after the prior conversation. One pondered what went through that mind of hers. That mentation that rivaled a caster's. What did she see in the chosen course? He thought of asking her, to halt the procession for the needed advice. But no. He sealed the conflicting voice, stole a breath, and heard the pounding of hearts amongst his people.
Behind him, they were like a collective, bereft of any individuality. Just a singular whole, donned in strange hooded robes. A unique tessellation of flesh and man.
These were the people he led now. To safety, to peace, to hope. But first… he must merge the two into one.
And he marshaled the wind!
It howled like a beast, wailing defiance to his will. They shuddered, his people, made children to the sudden gale upon the world. Kill the fear. Merrin reared both arms, dust spinning in a webwork around him, snaking it. They must watch now in awed horror. At this power, miracle, and will, they gaped. Not enough, he thought as the air screamed, the queer weaves reeling to his wishes.
They bent, twisting, cloth, and hair fluttering in the mighty gust. It grew now, fed on his force at unpredictable heights. Would it become a true storm if he poured the entirety of his force? He reined in distraction, heaved a breath, and swung down.
A boom, and the wind tunneled into the rims of the door, shattering rock and dust. It quaked, soot bursting like a black, reddened wave. They ducked, shielding against the fumes; he didn't. He stood as the grit kissed his skin, staining his eyes. Resolute, arms forced to his sides. Soon, it calmed, becoming a dying wave of swirling smoke.
It was done.
Now had bled into the future, and the voices flowed into his awareness. Men, women, behind and outside the door, chattering on. They wondered: "What happened? Who is that? Is it a monster? Is it safe to check?"
Like bairns, they awaited another—for a source of higher control.
My control.
He stepped in, feet crushing soft stone and dust. It was silent, somehow; they knew, somehow, the awareness had descended into the world. How? Then came the song. A melody birthed from the throat, echoing out like the vibration of reality. They trailed with him, behind, humming the tones—unity made music.
Basked in it, Merrin channeled the air, wind blowing out the screening dust. It revealed the interior. A world was here. A vast oval space, curved walls, sleek black, light crackling red on the distant walls. They numbered beyond count, hundreds at the very least. Distributed in circles, heads bent in solemnity. Somber. Most were hidden in darkness, little more than a sure presence. There—everywhere… How was this the totality of his people?
A change roamed the assemblage at his presence. Quickly, they tore off shirts, draping them over their heads, a duplication of what his entourage had done. They watched him through the darkness of their improvised hoods, waiting for proof.
How long has he been gone? Now he returns. What does he bring with him?
Merrin quelled his trembling hands, ambling, observing the men. Some bowed, others watched, eyes beads of white within hoods. These ones were harder, stronger than the others. Caution, something of individuality yet existed in those eyes. Beautiful.
And I must now break it.
A ringed stage was ahead, dim light raying down from further above. A sole source of radiance outside the distant torches. So that's the place Catelyn talked about? Merrin advanced, knowing the warmth these people had felt. He concealed his expression, realized what lay at the furthest edges of the chamber.
Burned bodies, no froststones.
How long they would have prayed, cried, and screamed. Just for him. His gaze, his miracles, anything to relieve the horror they endured. But he didn't hear them. Voices too low to pierce the impossible. No one should have to endure this. No one should have to see such pain.
No one.
He moved on, his entourage, like something of exalted saints, seated themselves without invitation. They had a greater role in the eyes of these ones, a well of myths and legends about their sunBringer… A god they must all now worship.
Savior to god, what a progression.
Something caught his awareness: a man, dark-haired, centering a smaller group. Eyes met, the man bowed so deeply it seemed his nose touched his knees. Yeimen. Something of a priest to his people. Clearly, Merrin saw and discerned these things.
As he drew closer to the stage, a few stood, mumbling. "Stop."
"Who are you?"
Indeed, he was different. In the mines, a resemblance of the Ashman screened the known features, not now. What walked among them was a different creature. A man burned, harmed, and stoned. Pain forged into this.
He was not what they deserved, but he was what they had.
So he stepped atop the stage, light beaming down from overhead. Radiant. Holy in that artificial manner.
Then there was silence. They wondered, watched for what happened now… And though he stood, aware of what to do, Merrin found himself sealed from movement. Ah, what he did now, many men hungered for it, yet he… it abhorred to control others in such ways.
One broke the silence. A timid old man, swathed in a shirt as a hood. His voice croaked. "Who are you?" He said, "Who are you to stand where He is to stand?"
Merrin beheld him, "You will ask me that question?" He snapped. "What child asks the father for his identity?"
The man staggered back, nearly falling. Hands holding up his form.
Another spoke. "Prove to us that you are him. Prove to us that you are the one who controls the light and dreams; it is the only way."
"I AM THE WAY!"
They all stood, fervor channeling strength into the chamber. How divine they think of what they have built? It must be protected, saved, not perverted by any means. This was what they believed. This was why they resisted him.
How ignorant!
Merrin screamed. "What do you think happens now?" He paced over the stage. "THERE IS NO ONE IN THIS ROOM WHO CAN STAND AGAINST ME!"
They shuddered, more standing, piercestones clicking in their hands.
"YOUR WORLD, SOULS, AND BODIES TOLD YOU OF MY RETURN." He paused. "FEAR THAT MOMENT. FEAR THE LIGHT THAT TAKES THE DARKNESS YOU CRAVE AND SEE SINCE YOU WERE BORN TO IT. THE LIGHT THAT OPENS YOUR SECRETS, LIES, AND TRUTHS. THE LIGHT OF THE FATHER ABOVE."
And he stopped, turned to one, sauntering to the middle-aged man. Knees bent, he leaned, piercing his gaze into the man shrouded in black.
Let him fear! Let him wonder what the light reveals in him.
"You think you can ever be anything else?" Merrin whispered. "Anything other than a common thief caught on the bed of a brightCrown. You are afraid of that truth. Every day you try to change, repeating the same things, locked in a pathetic, mundane existence. But you pray for the One? Every day. But now I stand. And you wonder, what if I am the one, the savior to break your perpetual pedestrian life."
He stood.
"You dream of it. Your mother. Of the man you could have been beneath this black-veiled world. She died three years ago, and you think it your fault. Washed away by the storms, lost in the roaring seas. You watched it happen. Heard her screaming. You reached for her, but didn't. You feared your own death. You feared seeing red instead of the world's black. And as she sank into the world, you bore another name. Fashioned from the same old tongue taught to you by her… Vaelarith… The one who looked away. No… Your true name is Lor—the bond."
"sunBringer!" He fell to his knees, the ring behind following the path.
One whispered. "Kael'thureon."
Merrin walked to the center stage, watched another. "In your nightmares, your heart is devoured by the fallen and you think it the source of your dark thoughts."
"sunBringer!" They hummed as one, bowing, dropping down.
"I know your name, Kart." Merrin spoke to another, "You dream of pleasures and fear it makes you a sinner."
"sunBringer!"
Merrin circled the stage, "I KNOW YOU ALL. EVEN IN THE DARKNESS I—SEE—YOU!"
Yeimen stood above the lowered heads—eyes burning with something deep. A love for him. "sunBringer, what does your light reveal for me?"
"I see as I have shown you in your dreams." Merrin said, "Paradise. Freedom. Light."
He fell down, and the rest followed—the entire chamber bowing to one man.
"sunBringer!"
"Kael'thureon!"
"The light!"
They shouted titles as ludicrous as the one who now bore it. Ah, what creatures they had become.
"THIS IS THE THING I GIVE TO YOU. NO MORE REGRETS. NO MORE PAIN, RAGE, FEAR. GIVE IT ALL TO ME." He muttered. "Give me your sins. Your fear. Dump it into my heart and my soul. Taint me so you will remain pure. Stain the light. Reach for it, and free yourself of pain and sorrow. That is who I am. That is what I aim to give. I give to you my flesh and blood. My people. My chosen."
Screams like wails filled the chamber, trembling the very walls. It was as though madness had descended into reality. But it wasn't. This was another. A different kind of corrosion.
Today, the El'shadie took his throne.
And light shot out from him, harder than ever before. Melding like skin over flesh. White, radiant. He was a thing crafted of solid light, a godly thing. Alone, the chamber was brightened on all corners. No darkness, just him. A man with a desire.
A moment and something fitted into his awareness. Among the bowed heads, one was reared, watching, glaring… Moeash.
There was a need to ponder about the man-child, to rejoice in his safety… but… not now. Merrin looked away, lifting both arms, the wind descending to his will. Easier now. And he commanded them, smashing the far ceiling with a burst of tempest.
A boom and stone rained on the world below, crumbling against the webwork of spinning air doming the witnesses, all of them. Up, they watched in awe. At their radiant god calling down wind and stone.
The myth deepened.