Unbound

“Gabby,” he whispered.

She stood there, close to the Chthonic Star, towering over Felix by nearly a foot. Still, height didn't matter much when his blade was pressed against her throat.

Her wide eyes flickered to the blade, then back to Felix's face. She swallowed.

She's surprised.

"Gabby?”

Are you in there?

Before she could answer, a silver silhouette rolled up from behind his sister, leaning over her shoulders like a foul ghost. Siva's limbs reached out, three hands and too many fingers not quite touching Felix's blade.

She Is There, Nevarre. Buried Beneath The Weight Of Her Transgressions.

Through his peripherals, Felix could see Alister, Atar, Zara, and Tern. All four were bound to the floor by silver threads as thick as ropes, tendrils tugging at their necks.

I Can Kill Them All In An Instant. Silver cords tightened around their necks. Or Perhaps You Can Kill This Vessel. One of Siva's hands caressed Gabby's face, brushing hair from her forehead.

Another cord tightened, and Elowen was dragged forward, her body bound and her mouth wound shut with silver. Felix tensed. Will You Kill Your Sister, Nevarre? Risk Your Blood Just To Save Her? A Stranger?

"Strangers are worth saving, too," Felix snarled.

Say That To The Families Of The Mages You Murdered Today. Siva pouted, her four eyes gleaming. They Were Just Following Orders.

He tightened his hand on the pommel of his Inheritor's Will, and the blade drew a fraction of an inch closer to Gabby's throat. Siva’s grin widened.

Shit. With a clenched jaw, he lowered it. He wouldn't kill his sister.

Gabby smiled. Relief was there in her eyes, even if her Spirit was a blank canvas. "Find me atop the stars, Bumble."

What?

Gabby glanced down at Elowen. Silver shadow rippled the air around her, stretching like a dark pool around their feet and the Chthonic star itself.

Yes. Come And See The Final Act, Bondbreaker.

Come And Weep.

Stride of the King!

Movement before thought, Felix lunged forward.

You Cannot Have Her Back! Siva laughed, her power flaring across the many hazy hands that suddenly shielded Gabby's Body.

Luckily, he wasn't aiming for his sister.

Skein of Fate!

He severed the threads holding Elowen and his friends at the same time.

No!

The Theron Unbound tumbled free of Siva's grasp, just as silver shadow snatched them away. Siva was gone, as was the Chthonic Star.

And Gabby.

"Fuck!”

Skein of Fate is level 112!

…

Skein of Fate is level 120!

This isn’t how it ends. Not again!

"Felix," Elowen sat up, clutching at her neck. "You saved me.”

“How'd you sever those bonds?” Tern asked. “That was a god, boy."

"She was distracted." Zara walked to Elowen and helped the Unbound to her feet. "And barely here, besides; only a meager flow of her power was channeled through Imara."

"Gabby," Felix corrected.

"Gabby, of course." Zara stepped closer to him, but Felix held up a hand, stopping her. "It isn't your fault, Felix. There was nothing you could do. You made the right choice."

Tern slashed a hand through the air. "Why'd you bother to free us? The blasted creature took the Star! That is the worst of all outcomes."

Atar cleared his throat. "I, for one, appreciate being saved."

Felix ignored them all. He prowled forward, stalking over the space where Gabby had vanished. There was no trace of their presence. No sign of the silvered shadows that seemed to allow her to freaking teleport. He activated Skein of Fate, but there was nothing to see. Nothing to chase. The threads were gone.

No. No, wait. There’s something here.

There was a depression in the air; a divot where the world felt…punctured. He ran his hands through it, and when his flesh met the oddity, something resonated deep within his chest.

I know that hum. Felix turned inward, looking into his core space, and saw the Skill, Void Nexus, singing within the dark. He drew his hand closer to the oddness in the air, and the humming intensified. Could it be?Void Nexus!

It roused, unspooling within him, and suddenly, Felix could see the edges of a tear. It hung from nothing, a split in the skin of the world and almost invisible save for a miniscule ripple of light. But even as he watched, it was fading fast. He was running out of time.

Void Nexus is level 8!

He reached out, grasping it between his dark fingers, and he yanked hard. A rift opened into a dark, silver-shadow realm, absolutely chock full of thick cords of tarnished argent.

The Bindings Of Pride. Hunger lifted up within him, speaking with that newfound lucidity. Held By The Weaver At Their Very Center. A Spider Atop Its Web.

"Blighted Night," Atar cursed. "What's happening?"

"Brace yourselves," Felix warned.

"For what?"

Take Fate Into Your Hands, Scion.

Felix shoved his hands into the rift, and seized the cords, the nearest cords with his bare hands. Adamant Discord!

Lightning coursed across his arms, the pale blue lines around him syncing up with the Oath cords within the Halcyon depths.

Pull! Hunger roared.

Felix hauled back on the Oaths as if reeling in a fish. His Void Sanctuary groaned under the weight of his task, but despair and anger rattled against their cages, eager to be released.

A wriggling piece of pale flesh pulled through as the lightning intensified, fighting him for every inch he gained.

Adamant Discord is level 101!

It wasn't Siva, not exactly. None of the projections the gods cast were truly them, but it was a piece of their power. A sliver, like the Fathom in Khasma.

He hauled back, ever harder, until the piece of pale flesh burst into a thousand squirming hands. They clawed at him, drawing blood from his scales, but he didn't stop.

Adamant Discord is level 102!

…

Adamant Discord is level 111!

Void Nexus is level 9!

…

Void Nexus is level 15!

“Stars of the Sovereign!”

White flame burst across the goddess, scorching the writhing limbs and driving several back into the rift.

"Stop!" Felix reached back in and grabbed them once more, ignoring how they punctured through the back of his hand. "I need to pull her through!"

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"You're crazy!" Atar cursed.

we must back away!

They didn’t understand. It may not have been Siva, not in any way that mattered, but it was her power. He could consume that. Weaken her.

It was something.

She Is Flawed.

A Stolen Copy.

Though he could barely spare the split in his concentration, Felix glanced inward. Hunger was roused, and her darkness had spread up between his dual cores.

The Real Siva Is Hidden.

Listen, Scion.

Hear Her Fear.

Sound fell away from Felix, and he heard the echo of a great bellows, pumping vast amounts of air. It sped up, shallow and fast, edged by a sharp, nasal note.

Oaths Are Her Stolen Domain.

But Bonds Give Us Strength.

Bonds Of Fellowship.

Bonds Of Pride.

Bonds Of Hate.

We Can Take It All.

There, between him and the great, fearful bellows, Felix heard it. Saw it. Tasted it. A hatred so complete it eclipsed all his senses at once. A tarnished silver that arced beyond the Halcyon depths, through something else. A dark place, where mountains shredded the horizon, and the skies were charred black.

Adamant Discord!

Skein of Fate!

Emperor’s Vigilance!

His Skills spun within him, howling with a beat so fast that it was a screech into the dark. Siva's Authority flared, pressing against his own, and the silver cords tightened throughout the rift. Felix could see nothing, but something was approaching. Creatures, long as serpents, but malformed into centipedes.

Fateweavers.

They drew near, but Felix refused to close the rift. He dug deeper and came up against that resistance once more—a shield that blocked his sight. Felix bashed his Mind against it, prying the cords free one-by-one with his Emperor's Vigilance, Skein of Fate, and Adamant Discord.

“SKREEE!”

The Fateweavers burst from the rift, claws swinging for Felix—but they were ripped asunder by water, force, and burning white flame. Felix saw none of it through eyes streaming with blood. He could only flare the lightning that coursed along his arms, twisting strand after strand of pale blue among the tarnished silver—until he felt the gap. His Perception tangled within it like his fingertips clutching on a thin ledge far above the earth.

Seize Her!

With a groan of effort, Felix wrenched it open.

Emperor’s Vigilance is level 113!

…

Emperor’s Vigilance is level 119!

Adamant Discord is level 112!

Skein of Fate is level 121!

I see you!

The connection between them intensified beyond anything else as eldritch eyes locked with his.

Bonds Of Hate Can Be Turned To Our Purpose.

He latched on, pulling Siva back by the strengthened tether. She lashed out, those dozens of hands expanding and spreading across him like a plague of malformed flesh. They tore at him, cutting him to the quick, spilling not only his blood, but something deeper. A sense of himself was shed with each tearing claw.

WARNING!

Ouranic Law Binds The Gods To Their Prisons!

You Cannot Break Their Chains.

I don't need all of her! Just enough!

A radiant song erupted from his hip and head, a rousing concerto that tore across the space between his Mind and Spirit.

Authority Recognized, Inheritor!

Felix Nevarre, He Who Bears The Sword And Crown

The Chains Around Siva Are Loosened.

He fell back, resistance suddenly gone as Siva was pulled through the rift. This time, when pale flesh tore through, it was a vast, formless shape. It coalesced in the shadow of the rift, rising up before Felix like a wave of malignant flesh.

It was humanoid only by the kindest of classifications and it spread outward, its form made up of a thousand crossed arms writhing upon unnatural joints as a broad back burst into countless, miniature bat wings. Silver threads hung from each limb like the webs of a spider, tangling into a collection of knots where a head might reside, cut through by a single, enormous orb of gold.

You Fool. Siva laughed. The orb flashed with a strange power, and her Spirit dropped upon them, driving them to their knees.

All but Felix.

Title: The Call of Defiance Is Active!

+25% Willpower When Contested By A Foe Of Divine Or Greater Advancement!

You Have Summoned Me. Not My Shadow Or Splinter, But A Grand Portion Of My Might.You Have Loosened My Chains!

Siva lashed out with Oath threads, arcing them out toward his friends, but Felix moved.

Stride of the King!

He intercepted every one of the threads with his own body…and they snapped against him, unable to take root.

Title: Bondbreaker Is Active!

No Oath Can Hold You!

Title: Born of Will Is Active!

What Is Beyond You, If You Have The Will?

"Your whole thing is Oaths, right?" He asked, before unsheathing his sword. "You can't touch me with them, and I’ll damn well make sure you can’t touch my friends, either."

The air around the goddess rippled, and shadows spread from beneath her confusing folds of crooked limbs. I Am Not The Strongest Of My Siblings, Nevarre. But You Cannot Face Me And Live.

“Let's find out!”

Stride of the King!

Sovereign of Flesh!

Adamant Discord!

Felix ran, his body expanding with bone, muscle, and scale as lightning coursed across his outflung claws. He pulled, heaving on his connections to the goddess, and blasted off like a rocket. Godflesh met midnight scales and tipped them both over the edge of the tower.

They fell.

Sonata of Dominance!

The Skill was barely out of his channels when Siva slapped him with a dozen skeletal hands. All at once, his control over the Mana around them was ripped from his grasp.

You Fight Within My Reach, Nevarre!

This Mana Is Mine!

"Then have a taste of this!"

Astrum Ascendance!

Rain of Cataclysm!

Cold fire rolled through him, wreathing his claws as a virulent green poured through his palms. The fire caught, mingling with the acid Mana before exploding only inches away.

Astrum Ascendence is level 116!

Rain of Cataclysm is level 77!

…

Rain of Cataclysm is level 89!

The acid, supercharged by Astrum Ascendance, ran a riot in Siva's confusing body. Holes melted through her folded limbs, sloughing off to fly up and away from their battle and exposing a core of twisted silver knots, as if her bones were made up of Oaths themselves.

Siva unfurled her chest, hands combining into one enormous, pale claw that raked against Felix's chest. His scales split just as easily as his Garment, and crimson blood joined the trailing spray above them.

Empyrean Embrace!

Hunger rose up within him as he bit into the claw, yet all he managed to tear away was a finger. Siva melted from his grasp, evading his maw with frustrating ease. His Authority and his own Will weren't enough, despite his Titles.

A dozen hands reached up, wrenching at Felix’s limbs with immense Strength while others seized his neck. Felix spun, clawing at the goddess with his larger form and breaking free at the same time. His every attack tore flesh that simply repaired itself while her innumerable hands slashed his scales to ribbons.

You Are Strong. She pivoted, grappling Felix and twisting so that he faced the earth as it rose to meet them. Survive This.

They hit the fortress below, driving through a tiled roof and down into beams and stone slabs. Each level shattered beneath Felix's face, propelled by the writhing mass of a goddess. The lowest level exploded as they hit. Masonry turned to shrapnel as clouds of stone dust were hurled outward in an ever-expanding ring. It mingled and was lost among the column of Mana vapor rising from the Vent, now only a couple hundred yards away.

People scattered, and armed soldiers rushed forward, swiftly surrounding the collapsed structure. Felix, too, as he pushed out of the rubble, blood dripping from his face and chest, his body still ten feet tall and half as wide.

"Hold it there!" The soldiers thrust their halberds toward him, Skills flaring at their ends.

"Get back," Felix warned. "Run!"

It was too late.

Silver strands exploded in all directions, sweeping through rubble and soldiers with equal ease. They were sliced apart as Siva rose to her many legs. Her body lengthened, unnatural arms interlocking with one another over that exposed silver skeleton, until it was like she had never been wounded. Her golden orb swiveled to regard him.

You Are Alive And Healing Rapidly. The orb darkened. How Annoying.

More soldiers poured in from the ramparts around them, some almost glowing from protective wards and Skills as they brought their weapons to bear on the goddess.

Ah. You Give Yourself As Offerings. How Kind.

Her arms spread, and silver threads sprouted from them like rivers of argent. The strands grasped everyone around her before questing through windows above like on onrushing tide. Screams filled the fortress, and there was nothing Felix could do to stop it.

Skein of Fate!

His Skill was rebuffed, unable to overcome the greater portion of Siva's power.

The soldiers fell, eyes burning with silver before they rose back up, skin now filled with the silver veins where threads punctured them. They drew closer, walking with greater confidence on every step before raising their halberds once more.

"Ready, men!" said the slack-jawed lieutenant. "Fire on the monster."

Hundreds of Journeymen and dozens of Adept Tiers unleashed their Skills, not against Siva, but Felix. He hunched against the onslaught and opened his maw.

Empyrean Embrace!

He easily consumed the power as it flooded toward him. It was a meager bite, but it kept the energy at bay. He reached further, grasping at the puppets themselves—and grunted in pain. Like biting down upon a hard seed in a mouthful of bread, the silver threads jammed into his Skill and sent it skittering out of his control.

Shit!

More puppet soldiers rushed in from above, several leaping out of windows to land face-first upon the ground. They screamed, Skills firing off.

Siva laughed.

Felix fell back toward the edge of the Vent, the only direction where Skills weren't pummeling into him. He couldn't grasp the bonds that were holding them, and he couldn’t consume the bodies, but he could do something else.

Siva stepped forward.

So, Is This Your Limit? she asked, advancing toward him. Her movements were strange, her twisted hands forming insect-like legs that propelled her long form forward. The golden orb twisted and turned, regarding Felix from multiple directions. You Are Not So Fearsome As I Believed. Perhaps The Cardinals Could Not Be Reborn As They Were. She laughed. A Pity. I Could Have Used A Good Meal.

Felix stood at the edge. He couldn't break her Oaths, and he couldn't seize the Mana around them, but he could do something else.

With a shout, he lifted his leg and stomped on the ground with all the Strength he could muster. For hundreds of feet around him, the earth shattered and fell.

Into the Vent.

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