The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage

WM [78] Destruction

“Son!” A thousand voices spoke in unison.

Bjorn blinked and he was back inside the corroded dream realm he had spoken to his father and mother through. The world was little more than a blank void of rolling clouds. Bjorn looked in the distance and saw the thousands of baleful lights in the sky. Each was one of the Queen of a Thousand Heads’ eyes. Her massive body was already perched in the distance as much part of the landscape as a mountain. She didn’t look as fully formed as before or as his father had looked. He then remembered his father saying that his presence corroded the dream space.

“Bjorn? What is going on?” Tanisha’s voice asked.

Bjorn’s eyes opened wide as he turned around and saw Tanisha standing in the void a few steps behind him. She appeared to him not as the cernunnos she had been since Lavi but as herself. As the wendigo girl she had been up until he changed her. Yet her form was unstable, shifting and flickering as though the dream realm struggled to interpret her presence. Tanisha’s gaze lifted, her eyes drawn upward to the multitude of glaring lights fixed on her. The murderous intent radiating from the Queen’s countless eyes was palpable.

“Tanisha?” Bjorn hissed and his voice escaped all of his heads at once. “What are you doing here?” 

“Bjorn, you can talk?” Tanisha said, her voice full of panic. “Are we dead? How did we die?”

Thousands of voices rumbled in the sky. “You are not dead yet, thief. No one invited you I want to speak to my Aki’al not some mortal. You may have saved Aki’al recently, witch, but that does not excuse you nor will it save your world.”

“Mother, please do not threaten Tanisha!” Bjorn growled. “I told you this is my world.”

“Aki’al That is no way to talk to me. I thought your father would have spoken some sense into you.” P̴̧̌O̴̟͒Ì̷̦S̵͇͂O̷̻̚N̵̖̍ said as the dream space shook. “That is not your world and that mortal is nothing more than a thief that stole you from me. If not for the tether you have with this thing I would rip it’s soul out right now.”

“Qu-Queen of a Thousand Heads?” Tanisha trembled but did not bow. “I am sorry for what happened with Bjorn—”

The void seemed to boil as P̴̧̌O̴̟͒Ì̷̦S̵͇͂O̷̻̚N̵̖̍’s rage rose which choked out Tanisha’s words before she could finish speaking.

“His name is Aki’al Hashemi!” P̴̧̌O̴̟͒Ì̷̦S̵͇͂O̷̻̚N̵̖̍’s voices rumbled soul deep. “You will do well to remember you speak before the Poisoner of Worlds, mortal. I am Lernaean Hydra. I am True Immortal.” 

“You are not My True.” Tanisha said defiantly though her voice nearly failed her. “I am cernunnos, I am Tanisha Scalebound. I bow to no one and follow only my True, Bjorn the Sonr Orma Eilífra.”

“Tanisha.” Bjorn said his voices pleading. “Please, you are not helping. Mother. Tanisha and I are bound, as you said, you called me here urgently, did something happen?” 

A long, tense silence followed. The Queen’s myriad eyes remained locked on Tanisha, a clash of wills playing out in the oppressive void. Bjorn felt Tanisha’s emotions through their bond—she was inwardly terrified, her mind racing with confusion, yet she refused to look away. Her resolve was ironclad and she would not leave Bjorn’s side even if she could. 

The Queen finally spoke, her many voices reverberating like thunder. “Something has happened, my son, but your thief cannot stay. Her presence is a stain on this place.”

“If you are just going to insult my family, I think you should let me leave.” Bjorn said.

P̴̧̌O̴̟͒Ì̷̦S̵͇͂O̷̻̚N̵̖̍’s voices cracked as the gaze that had rested on Tanisha shifted to him. “Aki’al, she is not family. She is a pet at most and I am your mother. You need to listen to what I say. Unfortunately I haven’t seen you in so long. So, I will not have my time cut short for this mortal.” She sighed and one of her heads lowered from the sky. “Fine, my little sweet boy. You can keep your plaything for now.” 

Bjorn looked over to Tanisha. She was still standing in place a few steps away from him although it didn’t seem to be by choice. She tried to walk up to him and even run but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t move from her spot  as if the void just extended in all directions around her and left her in the exact same location.

“What did you call me here for, mother?” Bjorn asked.

“The facility you are in. It is the Angels’ abandoned Extraction Site but it was apparently still operational. That means it most likely had been close to meltdown. Aether technology is not my strong suit but I have seen what happens when such things fail. Angels would use what they called Enriched Creation Core Bombs during the Last Great Aether War before the Sunderer turned their technology against them. The fools actually wasted so much Creation just to die in the end.

“The disturbance in that world has two causes. There is another True in your Plane that has used his influence to subtly nudge fate. I assume it was her original creator attempting to reclaim his lost little anomaly. I don’t know who her original creator was so I don’t know for sure.”

“His name was Ő̵̟D̸͚̐I̷̋͜N̴͚͋.” Tanisha offered.

P̴̧̌O̴̟͒Ì̷̦S̵͇͂O̷̻̚N̵̖̍ was silent for a long moment in surprise.“Ő̵̟D̸͚̐I̷̋͜N̴͚͋, of course it was him of all people. Then I am sure it was him. His tampering woke other slumbering Trues who are also in your Plane. They are weakened but still dangerous The Great Serpent Ả̸̞P̵͙̄͝Ọ̷̩̋P̶͕̀͝Ḥ̴̢̑̽Ì̷͚͍̃S̵̱͊ has sent an avatar to that site. It has coiled itself around what mortals call a warp. The destruction of the facility may be enough to open a gate to the Infernal Plane.”

Bjorn’s many eyes narrowed. “Wait. Destruction of the facility?”

“In three years, the facility’s critical systems will fail,” the Queen replied, her voices tinged with grim certainty. “Its eventual explosion will unleash the corruption it was designed to purify. The resulting devastation will annihilate everything on the continent and force open a gate to the Infernal Plane if it can pierce the Divide. Until then, it will continue to vent corruption into your world. I cannot assist you in preventing this catastrophe, Aki’al, but you must find a way to stop it.”

“Queen of a Thousand Heads I have a question.” Tanisha said and continued before she could deny answering. “Is the facility responsible for the current Mana Hurricane?”

“If that is what mortals have decided to call the Corruption of Creation anomalies, then yes.” The Queen answered amicably. “Now Aki'al, be sure to eat well and don’t talk to strangers.”

“Wait one more question before you go.” Bjorn said urgently and continued just as much for Tanisha to hear as The Queen. “I was just given the ability to evolve Tanisha again. I believe it would make her into a new species separate from the wendigo entirely. It has conditions though she has met four of them. What is this?”

P̴̧̌O̴̟͒Ì̷̦S̵͇͂O̷̻̚N̵̖̍’s mouths fell open, her many voices echoing in a rare moment of awe. “You can already create a mortal species?” Her tone was nearly choked with emotion. “Oh, Aki’al, that is marvelous. Your father will be so pleased!”

She composed herself quickly, her voices shifting to a more instructive cadence. “Yes, this evolution will sever the final bindings Ő̵̟D̸͚̐I̷̋͜N̴͚͋ placed upon her form. She will become yours in full—a greater bound to you, not him. This will also shield her from his fate magic. His influence will no longer touch her.”

Bjorn’s brows furrowed. “And how will it affect her mind? She’s already changed so much.”

The Queen hummed in thought, her voices intertwining in a melody of consideration. “It will shape her mind only as much as you permit. You are the architect of her evolution. For this first creation, allow her soul to guide your talons. Her first evolution was violent because she was unprepared. If you approve the prerequisites as she fulfills them, she will take part in crafting her new form. This will make the process less painful for her and more harmonious.”

Bjorn turned to Tanisha, his expression conflicted, but her response was immediate and unwavering. 

“Do it,” she said, her voice filled with resolve. “As soon as we get back, accept whatever you need to. You are my True, Bjorn, and we need all the power we can muster. I trust you completely.”

“As well you should, mortal,” P̴̧̌O̴̟͒Ì̷̦S̵͇͂O̷̻̚N̵̖̍ said her voice slithering through the air like venom. “My precious son has grown so much, but do not think that absolves you. I am coming for you and all those that stole from me will face consequences. Prepare yourself, Tanisha Scalebound.”

Tanisha met Bjorn’s gaze, her determination undimmed even as her form quivered with fear. Despite the eldritch presence, she had stood firm even as the oppressive void began to dissolve around them. Bjorn and Tanisha found themselves back in the same positions they were in before Bjorn’s mother suddenly pulled their minds into the dreamspace. There were so many questions Bjorn didn’t have answers to, like how did Tanisha get pulled into the dreamspace? How do they stop the facility from blowing up? How to stop whatever that Greater Creature is outside that was sent by the Great Serpent. What was fate magic?n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

He turned and looked at Tanisha who ran over to him, her body still shaking from the experience. She did just talk back to a being that for all intent and purposes could kill everyone on the planet. Not to mention that The Queen of a Thousand Heads did just threaten to rip her soul out. Bjorn turned to wrap himself around Tanisha comfortingly, leaving Aurelius and Fuyumi momentarily confused.

“Is everything alright?” Aurelius questioned. “Uh, I think we need to find out exactly where we are and figure out how to get out of the Chaos Lands before it is too late.”

Tanisha stood up and took a long breath to ground herself. “We can’t leave just yet. Bjorn and I just received a vision from a True. This facility is going to destroy the continent if we don’t stop it and that creature around the warp.”

Fuyumi stepped closer, her presence ghostlike and serene. “Are you… a priestess? Which True contacted you? Was it the Sonr…” she stopped, seemingly not wanting to butcher the name. “The Divine One you worship?”

“Priestess? I guess yeah I kind of am, but it wasn’t just him it was another member of the pantheon. There is a True, the Great Serpent that sent that creature around the warp. It is trying to open a gate to the Infernal Plane. The place that we are in is providing the power.”

Bjorn saw something he didn’t think was possible. The snow white yuki-onna just went pale.