Talj was not one for pointless fights. He never threw away his life for a lost cause. He would still face death bravely, but he would never accept it. To him, entering a battle with the intention to die was as senseless as it was wasteful. Victory was his only goal. He knew that his survival was the only thing standing between his loved ones and a future of absolute misery.
And that's why, unlike what Kroll had assumed, Talj didn't stay behind to simply buy Aklas time through his death. No, the blacksmith's objective was to delay Kroll as much as he could, meaning he had to stay alive for as long as he could.
And for that he had a plan.
Unfortunately that plan went down in smoke the second he leaped on his enemy. The High Lord, seemingly torn between amusement and surprise, raised his hand casually and a purple aura wrapped around the blacksmith.
Talj felt himself rise slowly in the air, losing control over his limbs. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move.
"Can't say I understood your game plan here." Kroll chuckled. "Did you seriously believe you had a chance against me?"
This isn't a levitation spell, or I would have preserved some mobility… Which means this is a telekinetic spell.
"Oh?" Kroll seemed impressed. "Very observant, Horsh. I see that Shaja's sharp mind honed yours nicely."
Talj ignored the fact that his foe just read his thoughts. The furnished inhumane efforts to avoid panicking.
"Well, as much as I love to entertain another conversation, I absolutely abhor lingering unnecessarily on a job. I believe I'll just kill you here and now." Kroll said.
Telekinesis needs a physical object as a target, which means that, if I try to…
Instinctively, Talj activated Ghost Burst, rushing towards Kroll with his spear thrust forward. The Dark Mage's spell broke instantly as the blacksmith suddenly felt his body become ethereal, changing into a pure bolt of energy. As he regained his senses, Talj turned around and widened his eyes in shock.
Kroll not only stood there, unscathed but he even dodged Ghost Burst instantaneous speed.
"Very impressive." Kroll congratulated. "Shaja trained you well. I'll make sure to find a useful purpose for your body when I'm done with you."
Trying to contain his surprise, Talj shot a lightning bolt at Kroll. The High Lord didn't even bother to move. The attack landed, but had no effects.
Talj called for Cloud Breaker, triggering a powerful gush of winds in hopes to shake his opponent's footing. Kroll's cloak swayed behind him, but he didn't even budge.
The blacksmith shot three shards of ice that dangerously darted towards Kroll. They melted before they even reached him.
"I won't deny that you're quite entertaining." The Dark Mage said. "But unfortunately, as I said, I hate stretching a mission more than it should. Goodbye, Talj."
The dark haired mage raised his hands. Talj could feel him rapidly channel an immense amount of power.
A distraction! Talj screamed to himself. I just need a distraction!
The Spearman didn't know if his foe sensed the danger behind him or if he read his mind again, but the High Lord spun on his feet with impressive agility and raised his hand again. Bolt and Tempest, who had tried to take advantage of the fact that Kroll was turning his back to them and attempted to attack him, got swayed away by an invisible force and hit the pile of rubble left by Aklas's spell in a painful thud.
Now!
Talj sent another wave of winds, but this time he put less power and more accuracy in his ability. His target wasn't Kroll, but rather the hooded cloak he was wearing. Kroll's earlier words gave him an idea:
"The only downside is that, when my hood is on it prevents me from using my own magic."
The cagoule violently covered Kroll's face, making him vanish from Talj's sight. Without wasting a second, the Spearman used his lightning control to hasten his stride and perform a powerful thrust of his weapon, hoping that the High Lord's surprise would scotch him in place long enough for Talj to land his hit.
He felt his weapon connect, but before he could rejoice a sudden explosive pain of his stomach stole his breath away before catapulting him into the tunnel's entrance. His weapon slipped from him during his flight. He felt one of his muscles rupture at the impact of the hit.
Did he just… kick me!? But his hood should cancel his use of magic! Unless that was his raw strength without enhancing it with mystical powers!?
"Very creative." Kroll appeared before him again, swiftly removing his cloak and letting it fall on the ground. "You are quite the resourceful, one, child."
He… He doesn't even have a scratch! How!?
"Hmm…" Kroll squinted his eyes and rubbed his chin, appearing to be deep in thoughts.
Seizing the opportunity, Talj summoned his spear back and charged it with Binding Light. He threw it at Kroll, already half expecting the High Lord to dodge or parry the attack.
His opponent did neither. Instead, the Dark Mage nonchalantly raised two fingers at the upcoming projectile. The blacksmith's weapon stopped in its motion, its lightning power started dissipating and got replaced with the same violet aura that wrapped Talj during his first attack.
Talj readied himself for any sort of attack. Kroll snapped his fingers. The black spear, still suspended to the air, flashed with a bright purple light before a detonation violently resounded inside the tunnel. Talj blinked, blinded by the glow, and fell back from the deflagration's force. His head brutally hit the ground, making his ears ring. He tried to regain his composure and shrug off the grogginess, but as he got back on his feet, he felt his heart sink to his stomach.
His spear, the weapon that defended him for half a decade, the token he forged with the little skills Blindri had taught him, the symbol that mirrored the same emblem on the Spear's banner to prevent him from forgetting his past…
Laid on the ground, shattered to smithereens.
"No…" Talj whispered.
The white haired man fell on his knees, too weak to keep himself steady. A nameless weapon, and yet one that carried a deep bond with its master. He remembered the day he walked out of his forge, proudly admiring his creation and impatient to show it to Xara.
"Interesting." Kroll muttered. "Very very interesting."
Rage followed stupor. Talj clenched his fist, his vision turning red. He glared angrily at his opponent who was bizarrely still. Kroll eyed him with a strange expression. His eyes were deep in focus, his brows frowned and his usual polite smile gone, replaced with a grimace that the blacksmith could barely decipher.
"Why..?" Talj muttered in his breath.
"Hmm?" Kroll hummed interrogatively.
"Why!?" Talj screamed. "You said your power could rival the Lightbringer himself! You said you didn't want to prolong this fight! It's clear that you could have killed me with a snap just like you did with my spear! So why didn't you do it already!?"
Kroll's eyes grew large with surprise. He waved away the question with his hand before replying:
"I'd rather avoid harming your body." Kroll replied. "You hold memories both with the Spear and the Darkness. Extracting them from you can be useful for the Darkness."
"Don't give me that bullshit!" Talj shouted back. "You just laid my life on me like it was some old granny's tale!"
Kroll didn't reply, his expression stuck in an incomprehensible rictus. Talj grunted, painfully getting back on his feet. The gears in his mind slowly started spinning again, allowing him to analyze the situation more thoroughly.
His eyes locked on the High Lord's face, reading its every feature to come up with a logical explanation. His slightly twitching eyebrows, his intense glare, his long breaths…
Is it just me or does he look… Frustrated? Talj frowned. Not just angry, but incredibly frustrated… As if…
"As if there's something you're missing." Talj said aloud.
Kroll didn't reply, but his expression tensed slightly for a second, just enough time for Talj to notice it. The blacksmith continued his reasoning, hoping to buy more time for Aklas:
"Since the beginning of the fight, you mainly stood there and ignored most of my attacks. You observed me with a growing look of wonder. Maybe you were going to finish me at first, but something stopped you. Now the question that must be asked is: What is it that made you pull your punches?"
Kroll frowned even harder as Talj continued speaking.
"You said it yourself." The Spearman went on. "Curiosity unanswered is a crime by your standards, and now yours is out to the test. Despite your arrogance and wickedness, you're still one of the most brilliant minds that exist. You cannot resist the call of knowledge, can't you? "
Talj could see the General's unsettlement slightly grow. Talj took it as an encouraging sign, even if he knew that the High Lord's rising anger could turn against him at any time.
"You're a maven. It's in your nature to find appeal in matters you don't understand. But right now, you hate that feeling, don't you? You're supposed to be Kroll! The charter that established the first laws of sorcery! The Savant, as you dramatically called yourself earlier. To be bested by a secret you cannot unravel should be beneath you."
Kroll's expression didn't change this time, but Talj felt the air stiffen with Dark Magic. He knew he struck another nerve.
"Tell me, Talj." Kroll said with a neutral tone. "What do you remember of your parents?"
"Wh-what!?" The blacksmith was disconcerted.
Talj frowned at the sudden question. Why did his opponent suddenly bring up his parents?
"Your parents…" Kroll said, apparently more to himself than to Talj. "None of them knew... And yet your spells are devoid of any traces of Dark Magic… Curious."
"What are you talking about!?" Talj barked, his confusion sharpening his headache.
"I knew your parents, Talj Horsh."
Six words. They were only six words. And yet they made Talj's world spin around him.
"What..?" The blacksmith barely registered Kroll's statement.
"Two desperate souls, wanting to provide a safe haven for their son in an unfair world. I remember when I met them, the same month you were born."
"I… You're lying!" Talj shot with defiance.
"Come now, why would I even need to lie?"
Talj opened his mouth to give an answer but, to his surprise, he had none. Kroll's information about him dated from before his time with the Spear or his life under the alias The Hammer. And Talj was already at his mercy. Kroll had no reason to make such an absurd claim. No apparent one at least.
"There are many things you ignore about your past, Talj." Kroll continued to explain calmly. "Locked doors that lead towards answers you wished you had all your life. Answers about who you are. I have the key to those doors, Talj. The mystery behind your birth, the dormant powers within you, the truth behind this war that you got dragged into…"
Dormant powers? The truth behind this war? What is he talking about!?
Talj was analyzing Kroll's words with utmost scrutiny. He didn't understand half of them, and the other half's veracity was questionable. Did Kroll really know about his parents?
"Let's pretend that I believe you there." He said. "Why would you wish to help me? Did you suddenly grow a sense of altruism?"
Kroll's gaze delved deep into Talj's brown eyes. The blacksmith held it without blinking, waiting for the High Lord's answer.
"There's a mystery that has haunted me for aeons. I thought I had eluded it centuries ago, but it seems I was wrong."
The Spearman raised an eyebrow, not following what his interlocutor was getting to.
"I have answers you need, Talj and you, believe it or not, have answers I need too. Within you lies an enigma, an equation that can tilt the will of even Queen Dallaam herself. I was only doubting it at first but now I can sense it."
"I'm not sure I follow." Talj retorted.
"Explaining it will take too long." Kroll replied, putting back his deceitful smile. "For now, know that I need you much less than you need me, and yet I am ready to extend my hand to you."
Talj pondered within himself before answering:
"Again, let's assume I believe you. Let's pretend that I can help you uncover some glorious purpose I don't understand yet. Now why would I want to help you? Because if you believe that I will comply just because you claim to have known my parents, then I'm sorry to disappoint you, old man but I'm out of the deal."
Kroll chuckled lightly.
"I could reply to you with 'because I could kill you where you stand', but I believe that won't convince you either." He said before sighing. "I can see the doubts that weigh your heart, Talj. You wandered across Ylbunish, hunted down by questions that you could never escape. Torn between the wish for a fulfilling life near those you love, and the duty of an order you would not have joined if not for ill circumstances. You don't know who you are, do you? Well, allow me to strip you from your burden. Talj, I can tell you who you truly are. I can tell you who your parents are, who you were meant to be! Help me, and I shall awaken your true self! I will free you from the chains that encaged your heart and trapped it with this unending waver."
Talj, lost for words, only stayed silent. He still didn't believe the General's words but a part of him wished they were true. He wished that he had the chance to finally find out who he is and put a halt to his endless wandering.
"I can see you're still hesitant." Kroll noted. "I do not blame you. Caution is a great ally to have. How about this: My offer doesn't extend just to you, but to everyone you hold dear. Your friend Kinfol, Xara, even your brother if he doesn't pose much problems. I can vouch for you all in front of Her Majesty and make sure you're all safe until this war is over. What do you say, Hammer? Isn't that what you've wanted? You do me a small service, and I ensure the safety of those you hold dear while you live a life free from the shackles of conflict."
As Kroll spoke on, Talj could feel a great sense of doubt grow within him. He didn't know whether to believe the General or not, but his words hooked to his mind and refused to let go. Kroll wasn't just offering answers about Talj's life, answers that could help him understand who he truly was, but he was offering a sound haven, both for him and for his loved ones.
A small voice echoed through his head, reminding him on the conversation he had with Aklas near the Magnum River:
"In total honesty, a part of me just wants to go back and live whatever life I'll have left with my close ones."
Talj closed his eyes, lost for words. On one hand, death. On the other, survival, answers and a promise of safety. The High Lord's bargain was too good to be true.
Too good to be true… Talj repeated to himself.
Like a dream fading out through awakening, the Spearman came back to his senses. He may have found a great appeal in Kroll's offer, but that sensation felt incredibly wrong. Like a poison that was perfumed with a sweet scent to lure in the naive souls that passed by it. He may have wanted to accept it, but he knew that it wasn't the right choice to make.
Another voice, stronger than the first, rang in his mind, repeating the words he had said in Anicla's cottage:
"I don't know who my parents were, or how my life would have been with them. But I do know that I don't care about that. What I care for isn't who I could have been in the endless sea of what ifs, but rather who I choose to be now."
The words stringed to his mind, shining a familiar light that chased away the obscure doubt that tried to settle in. Talj's mind was made up. He would rather die defending the continent than buy his survival as it burns. If he accepted Kroll's bargain, he'd condemn his friends to a life they did not wish to have, a life of pain and torment as they watch their homes crumble to ash, all to fulfill his selfish desires.
"So?" Kroll's voice was slightly insistent. "My offer won't stand forever."
Huh? Shouldn't he be able to read my mind?
Something felt off. During their confrontation, Kroll has been delving into Talj's thoughts freely, but ever since their conversation started, the High Lord seemed to have restrained himself from doing so.
The blacksmith rapidly replayed the conversation in his head, and now that he was a bit sobered up from pain and doubt, the General's words seemed odd to him. What did Talj have so important that he was ready to put his mission on a hiatus and make him such a generous bargain?
"The clock's ticking." Kroll impatiently said.
Talj ignored him, focusing instead on the familiar warmth that he felt. Where has he sensed that light before?
The gears clicked. A distant conversation he had, under the bridge near Kaelnah's gates. His own magic had been resonating within him, reminding him of who he was, urging him not to forget the reason he was fighting for. Talj called for it, seizing it with an invisible hand before channeling it with a gentle vigor through his body. When Aklas taught him the basics of Conjuring, he had given it the shape of a sphere. But now, the blacksmith knew exactly what he'd mold it into.
Talj smiled to himself before opening his eyes, the expression on his face giving Kroll a clear answer.
"My fault for not bracing for disappointment." The Dark Mage sighed. "I suppose the least I could do is give you a proper death."
The High Lord summoned a slim purple sword, its blade as long as half his body length. Kroll advanced towards Talj, the killing intent leaking from his steps. But suddenly, he stopped midway, a poorly hidden panic written on his face.
Not because he felt Talj's magic boil with a controlled resolve, not because the Spearman's summons were out of their lethargy and were now sneaking behind him…
But because the walls of the dimly lit tunnel suddenly glowed with a bright blue light, coursing through the mountain's fabric like arteries that irrigated it with power.
A power that dwarved even Kroll's gigantic magical pool and inhibited it.
Good job, Aklas. Talj thought to himself.
After seven years of slumber, the Sheath was now awake. And it was not happy to find an intruder in its abode.
𖤓─────✧✦✧─────𖤓
"HOW FAR ARE WE!?" Aklas shouted.
"Not so far!" Nyr assured. "The chamber is right beneath this stairway!"
The hunter has been coursing through the Sheath for more than two minutes now, jumping through corridors and tunnels under Nyr's hazy guidance. His side and feet hurt so hard he could almost hear them protest, but he didn't care. He pushed his body forward with all the strength his mind and magic granted him, infusing his willpower into his bones and muscles as he strided forward.
As he climbed down the cylindrical stairway, his eyes scotched the image of Talj disappearing behind the falling stones in front of him, feeding him the fuel he needed to exert his body to the brink of passing out.
The stairway ended, leading to a small corridor that was illuminated with two sets of torches hanging by the walls. Strangely, the fire was extremely bright, and its color was green and not orange as flames usually should be. Aklas didn't stop to ponder and rushed for the door that was already wide open, completely disregarding the two skeletons at its threshold.
Behind it, a wide circular room swallowed him, lit by numerous torches that reassembled the ones in the corridor. The walls were carved into immense shelves, holding all sorts of books and artefacts that somehow remained unscathed during the attack.
A large pillar stood tall in the middle of the room, mystical runes coursed through its length like a tapestry chiseled and painted on its surface. Its base rested on top of a pedestal and was surrounded with a unique structure whose sight made Aklas stop in his tracks.
At first glance, it looked like a very convoluted orrery table with layers after layers of gears and rings interlocking with each other, each connected to a various series of contraptions that completed each other in an intricate mechanical and magical assembly. Levers, mystical stones, intricate mechanical devices and many more artefacts beyond Aklas's comprehension woven together to form this complex structure that dominated the room.
Stirring out of his stupor, Aklas hazily climbed the stairs that led towards the pillar and asked:
"What do I do now!?"
Nyr, who was flying in circles above his head, replied:
"Head towards the Apparatus! You will find a gem ingrained inside the pillar's base. Put your hand on it and harmonize your magic with it! It should recognize you as a Spearman and heed your summon that will bring it out of slumber!"
Aklas complied and advanced forward. As he arrived in front of the pillar, he noticed the presence of two small stairways that climbed up and spread in an elaborate pattern, allowing access to the multiple components of the magical structure. In front of him, a grey gem was stuck in a diamond shaped hole in the pillar.
Commanding this thing must have required multiple people! How did it even shut down in the first place?
"I must warn you, young one!" Nyr said. "Rousing this machinery goes beyond even my understanding! I do not know what trial or constraint you'll face when you bring about its awakening! If you-"
But Aklas didn't care to listen. His brother was in danger, and the more they waited the higher the risk of his death. For once, Aklas didn't listen to reason and evaluated his options. Without thinking, he stuck out his palm and slapped it on the grey stone.
And the room instantly faded to black.
The obscurity settled with such abruptness that Aklas barely had time to react. The Apparatus, the pillar, the walls… Everything that surrounded him vanished in a blink, leaving him standing in a miasmic scenery where he could barely see in front of him.
Not that there was much to see, the semi penumbra had nothing to hide. Everywhere around, nothingness reigned. The terrain was flat -or at least it seemed to be- and weird to stand on. It felt as if the hunter stood on top of a very still lake but could never sink below its surface.
Aklas looked below him and, despite the darkness, managed to make out his feet's reflection in the ground, strengthening the illusion that he was standing on an unmoving watery ground in a never ending void ocean.
"Aklas Haddad, son of Blindri Haddad." A voice suddenly resounded in the darkness.
"H-huh!?" Aklas's own voice seemed to reverberate through the empty space, its echo bouncing off unseen walls and filling the vacuum.
"What purpose drives you forth?" The voice spoke again with an unshakable calm.
It didn't seem threatening, but it felt bizarre to the hunter. It seemed to come from everywhere at once and yet nowhere at all, and it carried immense strength. One that imposed respect and acknowledgement upon hearing it. It was as if hunter's interlocutor had a power that was as certain as it was crushing, despite having an invisible origin.
Just like the Crying Mountain. Aklas realized. An immense natural hideout for the Confluence that boasts great power but that is unseen by most of Ylbunish.
"What purpose drags you forth?" The voice asked again.
"Who are you!?" Aklas shot back.
"I believe I asked you my question first." It replied. "Answer it."
It wasn't an order, yet Aklas felt himself pressured into giving a response:
"I wish to awaken the Sheath again!"
"Hmm… You've responded with honesty… And yet, you are wrong."
"What?"
"Awakening the Rise may be your current immediate goal, but it is not the purpose that drags you forth." The voice said with absolute certainty.
"What… What exactly is going on!?" Aklas asked. "Who are you!? And what is this place!?"
"You ask question after question…" The voice seemed slightly amused. "And yet you've yet to give an answer to mine."
"Listen, I don't have time for this!" Aklas shouted. "My brother is out there-"
"Ah!" The voice interrupted. "Your brother is out there, fighting a terribly dangerous foe on his own."
"How… How did you-" The Spearman started.
"However." It cut him again. "Your bloodline doesn't suggest that you've a sibling."
Aklas stayed silent, too befuddled by the situation to come up with an answer.
"Talj Horsh." The voice continued. "A boy of many lives and yet of no origins. A riddle to behold! You care for him, don't you?"
"O-Of course!" Aklas replied. "He is my brother!"
"Oh I never said he was not. He may not share your blood but he is still your kin. The bond uniting you is a marvel, an inspiration to look up to. And yet… You disagree on numerous aspects, don't you? Two horses dragging the same carriage, but each one stubbornly sticking to their own path. How come you still show compassion for a man who would risk breaking the food chain in order to save both the predator and the prey?"
Aklas was stunned. It was the same metaphor Nyr and he used at Anicla's cottage, when Talj was still recovering from his burnout.
"I still care for him even if we don't agree!" Aklas answered. "He's still my brother!"
The voice chuckled before speaking:
"One does not choose his family, Haddad. One only accepts or refuses it. None of you chose each other, and yet you've accepted one another as brothers your whole life. A beautiful story to tell. If only it wasn't tainted with loss and tragedy… Anywho, what purpose brings you forth?"
"Stop asking me that already!" Aklas shouted. "I've already given my answer and you didn't like it! Now tell me how do I get out of here!? Do I have to go through some sort of challenge to awaken the Sheath!? Or is this it!? I have to answer the question correctly and you let me return to the real world!?"
"The real world?" The voice asked. "Do you believe that this is all a figment of your imagination? Giving it some thought, it is quite the devoid space indeed, fit for your lack of creativity-"
"That's it! I'm going insane! I'm going insane and my brother is going to die!"
"Well those are maddening times you're living through."
"Except I don't have time to go mad because, again, Talj is out there facing Kroll alone!"
The voice stayed silent this time, which only angered Aklas more.
"Hello!?" He shouted.
"You would die for him should you have to, right?" The voice suddenly asked in a rhetorical tone.
"What..?" The question caught the hunter off guard. "I… Yes, I would."
"Why?"
"What do you mean why!? Because he's-"
Aklas caught himself before finishing his sentence.
Because he's my brother. He thought, except he already said that sentence twice already, and every time the voice seemed dissatisfied with the answer.
"You're learning." It said encouragingly.
"Because I… I don't know what I'll do if I lose him again." Aklas finally said.
"Partly correct only, but still a better answer." The voice said. "Tell me, Haddad, what do you fight for?"
"For the peace of Ylbunish of course!"
"But why?"
"To… Protect the lives of the innocent?" Aklas said, unsure where the voice was getting to.
"But why?" It said again.
"Because life must be preserved and protected!" The Spearman replied vigorously.
"But why?"
"Because such is the way that life goes on! We must make sure that it continues!"
"But wh-"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Aklas snapped, on the verge of tears. "I… don't know…"
The hunter clenched his fist, trying his best not to break apart. His brother was out there, fighting the most dangerous Dark Mage in existence while he was stuck here, talking to an invisible philosopher in a miasmic void.
"Wrong." The voice said. "You do know."
"I… I don't."
"Your mother, Alice Haddad, taught you that the cycle of life was gift that must be protected at all cost. However, her teachings about the why fell into the blackness of amnesia when you steeled your heart in the wilderness. You were isolated for too long from everyone you loved, fighting so hard to preserve your life that you forgot why."
Alklas stayed silent, drinking the voice's words like sand beneath the rain.
"You strive to protect the 'natural order of things' as you bastardize it, but what exactly makes that natural order worth fighting for?" The voice asked patiently. "Why do you think that Talj Horsh wrestles in a battle he does not wish to undertake? Do you truly believe he wishes for the predator and the prey to live? He is mature enough to know that death is an inevitability. So, what purpose drives him forward?"
Aklas widened his eyes, finding the answer stupidly obvious:
"Love. Love drives him forward. Unlike me… Talj has everything to lose if he dies. A lover, friends, a home… He has spent much time and efforts to build the very little he has now. That's why I am ready to die for him. Because, on the contrary, I have nothing to lose. I have no one to care for."
"No one but him." The voice corrected.
"No one… But him." Aklas acknowledged.
"The natural order is worth fighting for because it's beautiful." The voice said. "It's a canvas where everyone can add a small stroke of their brush. Of course, one person's doodle may not look much compared to the entirety of the tapestry, but it's the intrication of small stones together that build an entire nation. You, however, have only guarded that canvas being painted from afar, like a soldier that was never allowed to rest. Your back turned to it, you forgot to gaze into what you're protecting, so you've no idea of the beauty that you're missing."
"Isn't that the purpose of being a Spearman? To forsake your life to protect the continent?"
"Is it?" The voice chuckled again. "Look at your brother, Haddad. You said it yourself: A lover, a home, a family… Horsh is still trying to protect this work of art while being a part of it. It's still one tricky endeavor, I'll admit. One second his right hand is on the tapestry, admiring and arranging it, and another second his face is turned away from it and his left hand must raise a sword to keep the enemy at bay from the other artists alongside him. If I were to use a more practical example, it's like a coach rider that must keep his eyes on the road but still wishes to engage in pleasantries with the passengers."
Aklas frowned, the image was somehow hard for him to imagine.
"You believe that he is trying to save too many lives, that he's endangering the whole canvas by making sure that every single painter drafts their lines correctly and without hindrance, and you're right… And wrong. He is enjoying his own drawing, but he's also making sure that everyone is also doing the same. Because it is precisely what makes life worth fighting for: Everyone's enjoyment as they make the tapestry more beautiful everyday."
"What if he fails?" Aklas asked.
"Alone he'll surely fail, but as we've established he's not alone. He has people to watch over his own lines as he shields everyone else's. People that make sure he stays... Him. And of course, happiness is a mutual trade where everyone gives and takes, such is how the cycle of life conserves its beauty. How did the saying go? He scratches their backs and they scratch his?"
Aklas stayed silent, pondering on the voice's words. He realized that, despite being on the road for months with him, he was only beginning to understand his brother. Or rather, understand what his brother actually meant to him. He's spent seven years on his lonesome, clutching on to survival without knowing why or what for. He was always on the lookout for threats, for sources of food, for enemies, for everything! Rest was not a privilege he could claim.
But that all changed when he found Talj again. His brother allowed him some respite, he looked over him when he needed to rest, he helped him hunt for food… Even the stupid laughs they shared around the bonfire replenished him with a strength that he had never experienced. With Talj, he felt… alive. But the feeling was so alien to him that he feared it instead of taking the time he needed to understand it.
He remembered his mother's face, gentle but just. His father, jovial and caring. He remembered what it felt like to be in their embrace, what it felt to love and feel loved.
After their death, he lost that love and forgot it. He became a guard dog that watched over a farm while its inhabitants shared the warmth of the chimney behind the door.
The natural order. Aklas realized how wrong those words were. There was no order in nature. Or rather there was no nature in order. Everything changed and adapted, shifting over and over to preserve itself.
"A predator may lose to its prey if its children are in danger." His mother's voice echoed in his head. "Its chances of winning may be slim, and its death may doom its children anyway, but that's a risk they take. And, strangely enough, the victim is usually crowned victor in such scenarios. Why? Who knows, dear. Life is a mystery that none can unravel, but that all must cherish."
"So, Haddad, tell me now: Don't you wish to add your own doodle to this masterpiece?" The voice asked. "Do you want to be the mere guard dog that watches over life out in the cold without any care for its pain and discomfort until fatigue kills you, or, like Talj, do you want to be a part of the canvas that unites all hearts? In simpler terms: Do you wish to fight for life or fight with it?"
Be peace's ally or be its subject. Aklas realized. To live my life on the edge until I strain myself or join this symphony where I play my part…
"What purpose drags you forth?" The voice asked yet again. This time, however, Aklas finally heard the question correctly, and could give a proper answer:
"I want to know how to love again. I want to admire the beauty of life. I wish to understand what I am fighting for, because while I have no doubt that my cause is a noble one, I don't comprehend it at all. I want to feel what it's like to care, to jump into danger irrationally for a reason that the mind ignores. But I believe I don't know how…"
Aklas suddenly realized that he was crying, but he didn't care.
"I wish someone -or people- could show me how to rest when I need to, and to take on the fight in my stead before I pass out. To show me how to admire the canvas like you said, and learn how to add my own art into it, while resting assured that they are behind me, shielding my back and giving me all the time I need."
Aklas choked in his breath before concluding firmly:
"I want to fight with and for life. I want to love and feel loved in that fight, to enjoy the road instead of following it blindly. But I fear I cannot do it alone. I want to kindle that feeling of happiness that I let go of years ago, but I'll need help to do so."
The hunter could somehow feel the voice smiling.
"Good answer." It congratulated.
A sudden light shone in the distance, its azure glow bringing warmth to the emptiness. Aklas could feel himself being dragged away from the mystical space.
"Wait, hold on!" He exclaimed "I still have questions!"
"Hah! At first you were in quite the hurry to leave, and now you wish to stay longer? Humans are such beautifully complicated creatures."
"Who are you!? And what is this place!?"
"Go, your brother needs you." The voice commanded. "Farewell, Aklas Haddad. I enjoyed this conversation."
"Wait!" Aklas shouted.
"Oh good!" Nyr's voice replied. You're finally awake and… Are you crying?"
The room suddenly materialized from the nothingness, forsaking Aklas back to the chamber that hosted the Apparatus.
"I… Don't worry about it." Aklas said with difficulty.
He realized he was lying on the ground with Nyr standing near his face. He got up and looked at the giant pillar. The runes upon it were now shining in a bright blue color that spread through the ground the mechanical gears, which were now spinning in a steady pace.
"Young one..?" Nyr asked.
"Let's go." Aklas said, turning away. "We have a High Lord to kill."