The Chosen (18 page)

Seth reveled in his own glory, but the celebration was short lived. As his previous opponent was wheeled away, another cage appeared. Seth couldn’t imagine what new horror awaited within the cage, wondering how long they would continue this test, and what further they hoped to learn of his abilities.

The latest cage opened and Seth was momentarily relieved to see a small, humanlike creature issue forth from the cage. The small man was quite old, Seth imagined, as he hobbled more than walked and lean heavily upon a staff. He wore a russet brown robe with a deep cowl hiding his face, but issuing out from the cowl was a long white beard that tumbled nearly to the ground. All the form’s features remained hidden apart from his small gnarled hands with swollen, arthritic knuckles and age spots. Even the flesh upon the hands had an aged, sickly yellow hue to them. Seth was wondering what threat this old man could possibly be when, straightening his back as best he could, the figure lifted his staff to the sky. Shouting something, he brought the staff back down, slamming the butt of it into the ground. Seth felt a slight tremble, and then the earth beneath him began to buck and fold, splitting in two under his feet. Seth dove to the side just in time to recover and watch a huge chasm open up that was large enough to have swallowed him whole. As quickly as the chasm had opened, the soil seemed to roil forth from the edges and spread to again fill it in, and more impressive still, the grass itself mended back together revealing no trace that such a hole had ever existed. Seth knew now that he faced a mage of some sort.

Peering into his opponent’s life force, Seth witnessed another aura of a like he had never seen before. It was not a single color nor a single shade, yet it was not multicolored either. It appeared to change color from one to another with steady rhythm to the man's beating heart. Seth found it intriguing and wondered what god it was that the man-like creature worshipped. Knowing he wasn't likely to find out, however, Seth watched as the small withered man again raised his staff, and this time pointed the tip of it at the stone wall. Wiggling the fingers on his remaining hand, the small wizard gave some command and Seth stared as creatures, like some type of giant insect, took form upon the wall's surface. Growing in definition they eventually separated themselves from the confines of the stone. Each of the huge stone insects scurried down the wall carried by thousands of little legs, great pincers snapping at their heads. The insects pooled around the old, age-worn mage who pointed to Seth. Immediately the small beasts surged towards him in a mass of undulating stone bodies. Seth could end life, but it appeared this mage could create it. Seth thought that indeed this could be a prolonged battle if he wished it so.

Focusing his attention at the mass of small bodies teeming towards him, Seth noted something peculiar. Each of the stone minions had an aura as all living things did, but it was not an aura of their own. Seth traced each of the auras and found a small tendril leading from each of the small stone beasts, like the root of some plant, back to the withered mage. They were in fact not true living beings, but an extension of the mage himself, like some sort of puppet controlled by his mind.

Easy enough
, Seth thought, and, dozens at a time, he cut the link to their master. The small beasts vanished, not even bothering to leave stone carcasses behind. The lack of evidence remaining of the creatures confused Seth. Something here was not right. Deciding to mimic the mage, Seth tried to put the old being on the defensive. Releasing his power, Seth pointed his fingers to the ground and small pillars of his wicked yellow-green flame darted from each finger to pool upon the ground. As the fire danced around Seth he separated it from his body, and from each flame created a serpent of living fire. Each small serpent Seth sent slithering across the courtyard, leaving trails of burned grass in their wake. But before they could get very far, the old mage again lifted his staff. Twirling it above his head there was a loud popping sound like a cork from a bottle of wine, but much louder. Unable to control his natural instincts, Seth blinked when the sound erupted, and in that time something amazing had happened. Where the old mage had stood solitarily across the courtyard and where now Seth’s snakes of flame slithered, were now dozens of small withered mages, each identical, each moving in unison as if marionettes all controlled by the same strings.

Then Seth had it; the answer he was looking for, the source of the man's power. Illusion. The gaping chasm in the ground, the stone insects, and now the dozens of replicas of himself were all merely illusions. Seth actually laughed despite himself, catching the crowd above him off guard. Leaving each of them wondering if he had gone mad, Seth bowed to the elderly mage. He now realized the man was no real threat to him. Waving his hand Seth sliced through the tendrils controlling all of the illusional apparitions of the mage, extinguishing them at once. He too reined in his power to the flaming snakes and each one snuffed out in a puff of smoke. The grizzled mage bowed low to Seth, knowing himself bested. His opponent sparing his life, the old wizard walked cautiously halfway across the courtyard, and again bowing to his superior, he bent and placed his staff upon the ground. Standing and turning, the old mage of unknown race returned to his cage and sat down to rest his weary bones. Seth crossed half the expanse of the courtyard to the staff upon the ground and retrieved it. He was amazed to find the staff itself had an aura, removed from some tree of unknown origin. Covered entirely in carvings of runes and glyphs of some foreign language, the branch still lived, somehow clinging to life with no means of sustenance. Seth scrutinized his prize, momentarily pondering the possibilities, then raised it above his head to show all those who watched the prize of his victory.

Cheers arose from the wall and all but Vladmere stood clapping and shouting their congratulations, giving Seth a standing ovation. He had proven himself in more ways that he had originally planned. He had shown them he could kill, but he had also shown he had compassion and would not kill those who were no longer a threat. He had spared the life of the black grotesque beast who likely would have not shown him the same mercy, and he had spared the life of the old mage through his own cunning, forcing the outmatched man to submit. Though Seth felt overwhelmed by the attention and applause, he also felt exhausted and found himself in a bit of a predicament. Inside him he contained an immense pool of energy struggling to free itself from containment. As the pleasure of using its power receded, and as the adrenaline in his veins diminished, he found himself, straining to contain the power. Realizing the test had come to an abrupt halt, he had no way of using the power without appearing a show off. If he released it into himself it would alter him in untold ways. Seth began searching for a solution as the crowd above him began to make their way down to the courtyard to join him in celebration.

Seth could hardly restrain the power inside him struggling to be free. He was weakened, worn from using his own will to bend the power to his own desires, and now that very power threatened to overwhelm him. Seth began to panic.

The king was the first to approach Seth, who stood like a statue frozen in the middle of the courtyard, grasping his newly acquired staff so hard his knuckles had turned white. The king offered some congratulations but Seth could hardly hear him, the strain of containing the energy causing his ears to ring. The crowd gathered at the king’s back, none willing to interrupt their majesty, and amongst the throngs of people Seth spotted Borrik. Seth hadn't actually recognized the man as the priest kept his head covered by the cowl of his robes, but Seth detected his black aura, the same as his own. Mumbling something appreciative to the king, Seth managed to ask to be excused momentarily. Grabbing Borrik's sleeve as he swept past the throng that had gathered to congratulate him, Seth dragged Borrik with him out through the gate everyone else had just entered by. Rounding the corner, Borrik still in tow, Seth clung to the man desperately and in a pleading tone Seth managed to speak, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Forgive me Borrik for I know not the consequences of what I must do," Seth said.

Borrik, sworn to Seth’s service, only nodded, knowing not what was about to happen. Seth grasped Borrik's inner aura with his conscious. Creating a path between them he flooded the power contained within his own mind into the body of his faithful priest. Borrik gasped once, eyes lolling back in his head, filled with an ecstasy unlike anything else on the planet. The priest fell to his knees but Seth clung to him, holding the man upright as he continued to pour the vast energy conserved within himself into the man who served him. The flow of power seemed to be endless, and Seth could not find a way to speed the process, but as the transfer continued Seth felt the straining within himself subside. He disconnected from Borrik both physically and mentally and contained the remaining power within himself. There was plenty of it still inside Seth, but not so much now that he found it difficult to control.

Taking a deep breath, Seth waited for Borrik's pleasure to subside and for the man to recover. Borrik stayed on his knees, his chin on his chest, breathing heavily. The cowl covering the man’s head blocked Seth’s view. Wanting to know if Borrik was still conscious, Seth pulled back the cowl to see his servant’s face and nearly vomited, repulsed by what he had done to the man.

Borrik remained on his knees for many moments letting the ecstasy pass, knowing that in some way he had been transformed into something less human. He shook himself, trying to awaken his body. His blood flowing once again, he rose to his feet unsteadily. Reaching down to brush the dirt from his knees, Borrik stopped mid-stoop to stare at his hands. Seth too just stared at the man.

Where once was an average human being, now stood a hideous creature of a man, barely recognizable at all as human. His flesh had taken on a darkened hue somewhere beneath the surface layers causing his once pink flesh to take on an oily grayness. Beneath the surface the blood vessels stood now in stark contrast to the oddly colored skin. His face had been all but destroyed. Borrik's eyes were overly large and had a yellow tint where once they were white. Two giant canine teeth protruded from his lower jaw and his nose had shrunk, becoming nothing more than a bump with two slits in it. Borrik's arms and legs too had elongated slightly. Borrik appraised his new features as best he could, somewhere between the man he had once been, and the black orcs Seth had defeated less than an hour ago.

Not knowing what else to do, and hoping he still had the man's allegiance, Seth met the gaze of the man he had permanently disfigured.

"You need to return to the temple immediately," Seth stated coolly.

Borrik nodded his understanding, but before turning to leave looked Seth dead in the eyes with an inhuman look of gratitude upon his twisted face.

"Thank you, Master Seth," Borrik said and then stalked away from his master.

Seth shuddered at the priest's thanks, and still feeling as though he might vomit, he turned to rejoin those who had come to congratulate him. Seth stepped back through the gate and several people rushed to gain his attention. Sara was among them and immediately knew something was amiss by Seth’s expression, but as soon as Seth heard his brother's voice, his expression changed altogether. Finding his twin among the small crowd, Seth ignored all the others vying for his attention and swept past them to embrace his brother. Overall the embrace was awkward at best with Garret in full armor, but the two looked each other up and down, impressed with each other’s accomplishments. Seth noted his brother’s obviously increased muscle mass, just as Garret noticed that a life reading books had slimmed his brother down a bit more than was usual. Sirus stood beside the pair, as did Sara. Both looked on as the brothers greeted each other for the first time in weeks. Everyone in the gathering hushed and listened in as the twins talked.

"It looks like you need to eat more," Garret stated a bit concerned.

"Naw," Seth replied. "It looks like you need to eat less...people." Seth finished with a playful laugh. Several in the crowd snickered at Seth’s jest.

"So I guess the armor means you got your wish," Seth stated more than asked. Garret nodded before he replied.

"Seeing what I just saw, it appears you did not get yours," Garret said solemnly.

Seth shook his head, knowing full well what his brother meant.

"No, I didn't Garret. Try as I might, I was unable to choose the path I wanted and now I serve Ishanya," Seth said upholding his end of the bargain with the goddess.

"Yeah, but it looks to me like the path you landed on is a pretty impressive one," Garret said, the jovial note returning to his voice. Many others in the crowd nodded their agreement, and seeing them all listening in made Seth a bit uncomfortable. Looking around to see who else remained, Seth spotted the king and asked him a simple question.

"So what do we do now, your majesty?"

"First Seth, I should like to speak to you in private, and then I should like to address the rest of you as well,” the king responded.

With that the king took his leave of the courtyard, and others fell into step behind him. They all filed out of the courtyard and made their way into the palace and up the stairs to the king’s private meeting chambers where they gathered in the waiting room. Seth followed the group up, his brother right in front of him, filled with a hundred questions. But for the first time in ages he felt time was on his side and soon he would be able to ask his brother all the things he wanted. So Seth followed the group, his new staff in one hand and Sara’s hand in the other. They reached the top of the steps, and though the king had asked to speak to him alone, Seth kept Sara’s hand in his as he walked straight through the waiting room into the king’s meeting chamber and shut the door behind them.

Chapter 7

Desires and Desperation