The Sewer King did not sit upon a throne. He was the throne itself.
When Ricos lantern illuminated that massive, wet mass, Kaelen felt his stomach churn at what he saw. This was not a machine. This was a living, breathing, throbbing tumor.
The King was a colossal mountain of flesh formed by the melting and fusing of hundreds of different humans, mutants, and animals. Countless arms, legs, and unclosing wounds covered his torso. His skin had become translucent under the influence of alchemical waste, making the purple veins and swollen organs beneath visible.
And the face...
The King had no face. Instead, where the ribcage should have been, there was a massive, vertical rift. This rift was filled with sharp teeth, and as he breathed, it opened and closed, exhaling a yellow, acidic vapor. Dozens of different human eyes upon his body moved independently, focusing on Kaelen.
THE ALCHEMISTS DOG...
The voice did not come from that vertical rift, but as a chorus from the throats of the victims fused to the Kings back, who remained alive. It was a wet, muffled, polyphonic growl.
VERRICK THREW YOU TO US. BECAUSE YOUR TASTE WAS FOUL. BECAUSE YOU WERE FAULTY JUST LIKE US.
The King raised a massive limb of flesh and bone. From the black water, hundreds of shapes began to rise. These were the Kings Pieces. Skinless, gilled, blind humanoids. All were connected to the King by an invisible umbilical cord. They were in pain, but they obeyed.
Kaelen gripped Grief with both hands. The sword went wild when it sensed this cursed blood. The metal grew hot enough to burn its scabbard.
Rico, Kaelen said, not taking his eyes off the heap of flesh. Get behind me. And no matter what, do not touch that water.
Giant... Rico gagged and covered his mouth. This smell... This thing is alive...
Unfortunately, Kaelen said.
The first wave attacked. They were creatures leaping through the water, with webbed fingers and sharp teeth. Kaelen swung Grief.
WHOOSH.
The blade sliced through the air. The torso of the first mutant split in two. And at that moment, the dam in Kaelens mind completely collapsed.
VISION 1:
A dark room. A woman is giving birth. A baby is born, but it has no skin. Its muscles are exposed. The midwife screams. Throw this into the canal! a voice says. Let no one see! The baby takes its first breath as it falls into the cold water...
Kaelen staggered. His fingers had turned white from gripping Griefs hilt. The searing of that baby in the cold water cut into Kaelens bones. But he could not stop. The second creature attacked. Kaelen turned and crushed the creatures head with the back of the blade.
VISION 2:
An alchemists assistant. Accidentally touches a mixture. His arm begins to swell. Verrick looks at him. The infection is spreading. Throw him below. It might be contagious. The man begs. Master, please dont! But they push him into the darkness.
Kaelen roared. Shut up! SHUT UP!
With every swing of the sword, a new life story, a new tragedy, a new moment of death flowed into his mind. His own memory and these foreign memories began to blur. Who was he? Was he Kaelen? Or was he the skinless baby? Was he the pushed assistant?
I... I...
He fell to his knees. He sank into the water. The creatures swarmed over him. Talons tore his armor. Teeth sank into his flesh.
Rico was shouting. GIANT! GET UP! THEY ARE EATING YOU!
But Kaelen could not get up. Because those thousands of voices in his mind were pulling him down to the bottom of madness.
DO YOU SEE? thundered the Sewer King. His polyphonic chorus made the cavern tremble. DO YOU SEE OUR PAIN? THE ONES WHO MADE US THIS WAY ARE ABOVE! WHAT UNITES US IS NOT OUR FLESH, BUT OUR HATRED! JOIN US! BECOME PART OF US!
The Kings massive, tumorous arm descended toward Kaelen. The water exploded. Kaelen was thrown meters away. His back hit the rock. Grief flew from his hand but did not go far. The sword pierced the stone and remained there, burning with a blood-red light.
Kaelen coughed up blood. His right eye was darkening. He was losing his sight. The Void was about to take over his body, but this was not a power; it was a consumption. He was dying. Crushed under the weight of memories, he would drown in this hell of flesh. The King would swallow him, and he would become one of the faces upon that heap of meat.
Just as he gave his final breath... the Voice came. This time, not from the outside. Straight from inside his heart.
...Kaelen!...
Elaras scream drowned out the voices of those thousands of dead. It was as sharp as a knife and as warm as a mothers affection.
...Do not let go! Do not surrender yourself to that darkness! Their pain is not yours! You are their vengeance, not their grave!
Kaelens eyes fluttered open. Within his blurred vision, he saw that tank at the top of the Silver Tower, the girl inside that water. The girl was pounding on the glass. Her hair waved in the water.
...Come to the tower... Wake me up, Kaelen... If you die now, I too will vanish with them. We are one. If you fall, I fall...
We are one.
These three words joined Kaelens fragmented mind like glue. He was not an ordinary mutant. He was not a victim of this cursed city. He was Elaras other half. He was the Key.
The fingers of Kaelens right hand twitched. Black veins climbed from his neck toward his face again. But this time, not as Verricks medicine suppressed them. Much more savage. Much more ancient. He did not rise from the ground. He crawled toward the rock where Grief was embedded.
The Sewer King laughed. A wet, squelching sound.
STILL? DO YOU STILL RESIST, LITTLE PIECE? MY CHILDREN! BRING HIM TO ME! I WANT A NEW ARM!
Hundreds of deformed creatures leapt upon Kaelen. They formed a mountain of flesh to bury him, to choke him, to tear him apart. Rico dropped the lantern and closed his eyes. Its over... he whispered.
But it was not over. From beneath that heap of flesh, a faint purple light leaked out at first. Then this light turned crimson. And then... to black.
Elaras voice echoed one last time, this time like a command:
...Break your chains, Kaelen. All of them...
From beneath the heap of flesh came a muffled but rising growl. A human voice mixing with the metallic scream of Grief.
ENOUGH!
And the cavern exploded with pure darkness.