57 Memories 3

"So it was Stardust?" Nikolai already knew the answer to his question, but staring at Petrov's twitching form he still couldn't believe it. Eyes rolled back, shivering uncontrollably but with an almost fanatical expression, Nikolai would have to be blind not to recognise the symptoms of fierce Stardust addiction. Especially with his own hands shuddering at the moment. Kazimierz had returned to his human form but without his silver mask. There was no point in hiding himself anymore.

"Yes." Kazimierz strolled to a desk lacking the ashen complexion of the rest of the hall, ignoring the almost comatose Petrov.

"He didn't deserve this." Nikolai whispered.

"Don't make any mistakes Master Morales. This man was already far gone, well before I came along."

That would explain why Petrov always refused any deep Magical inspection. There would have been no malady to discover.

"So he betrayed me for Stardust?"

"People will do a lot for an addiction." Kazmierz rifled through several items on the desk, placing what looked an old spell focus to the side in his hurried search. That wasn't really an explanation, but Kazimierz was indifferent to Nikolai's queries.

He turned away from Petrov, unwilling to stare at the man who would so casually poison him. Even if he'd been enticed by Kazimierz and his concoctions. Still, some part of him wanted to drag Petrov by the collar and get answers. Hear the words of betrayal from his mouth before he could believe it. The man had followed him on the campaign which cemented the allegiance of the Dragon Lords. Nikolai had saved his life. More than once.

Kazimierz barked an order and Nikolai grimaced as he was dragged to the ornate chair placed like a throne at the back of the hall. The red streak that was Zebreski's soul rose within the Anima.

"You recognise this place?" the feminine lilt seemed to indicate surprise. It was difficult to make out any emotion in the Anima, but the pulses in Zebreski's mirror worked both ways, bringing some of the sentiment of its caster towards Nikolai as well.

Nikolai wanted to refuse but the now familiar tug on his memories brought him to a time and place he'd hoped to forget.

[The orb had stopped glowing sometime over the last few days, but Nikolai stared at it as if it was his salvation. Which it was in a way. The attacks were getting worse, and they'd been pushed back to a small defensive ring bordering the southern wall. He'd lost count of how many strange new horrors and even squads of Nostrum's elites, they'd fought against. Every few hours a new rift would appear somewhere in the city, disgorging hundreds if not thousands of enemies. Nikolai couldn't stop the rifts, the Magic somehow tied to the barrier which trapped them. Desperate, Nikolai had set up a series of defensive formations at the cost of hundreds of his defenders lives as they held each of the focus points until his Magical defences gained power. All the spell foci scrounged from across the battlefield went into the formation but Nikolai knew this was a last gasp, the defenders spent. It wouldn't matter if he was out of supplies now.

Yet, the orb in his hand held their final hope, even if his allies didn't know it. In the brief interludes between attacks, Nikolai had studied it, believing Grand Master Shubukin wouldn't have guarded it so carefully otherwise. It was also the only thing to have survived the black flames. His belief was justified when the arcane locks crumbled under his Magical assays, a combination of standard Imperial lockbreaker spells which he'd utilised when his own failed. The Grand Master didn't care who got the orb as long as they'd passed through the Imperial War Academy.

Now that the locks were broken, Nikolai stared at the ancient Azokarri spell focus. He'd dealt with a few during his apprenticeship, his Master's escapades had gathered innumerable foci, although most were for far more innocuous purposes.The Azokarri had taken Magic to untold heights, contesting against the Gods and even more ancient beings. Their foci were therefore far more complicated, yet simple. He didn't need to decipher any of the spell structures, the focus would guide him. Its purpose was clearly emblazoned in a spiralling set of runes that swam lazily within the orb. It was a Soul Rending formation, designed to shred both the material and immaterial.

Both Magic and flesh.

The problem was how to activate it.

Azokarri spell foci followed a system which modern Mages just couldn't understand. Too much had been lost over centuries and millennia of wars and Divine conflicts which were now just myths. Nonetheless, there was an alternate method to activate it.

Gaining the semi-sentient foci's approval.

Nikolai wiped the focus with a tattered handkerchief and stared at the swirls of conflicting Magic out of the shattered holes in the buildings roof. Checking the few words on the slip of Arcane paper which would appear before his parents if he died, he closed his eyes and drew on as much energy as he could, drowning in the overwhelming power. An ancient word rose up in his mind as the focus responded to his might and he uttered it through clenched teeth.

The focus exploded with raw Magic, drawing his soul into its depths. Dismissive of the snarling Will within his blood.]

"Then what did you see?" Kazimierz loomed over Nikolai, his vaporous form boiling in agitation.

"I faced some trials." Nikolai smirked at the Anima, settling into the chair comfortably even though the guards were eyeing his every move. His grin expanded when Zebreski's mirror didn't activate. Glittering runes shone in his eyes, the memories of his time in the orb protected by the spell which bound him to the Azokarri focus. Even though it had been shattered long ago, its protection remained. He would have jumped in joy at being able to conceal something if his legs had any strength that is. Trying to stay calm as his memories were pulled out for the Anima's study was becoming increasingly difficult with each passing moment.

"As expected. Getting the information out of you will be difficult." Kazimierz returned to the desk, casting small spells that sent sparks of light across the room. The Anima's form blocked Nikolai's view, even using Sight, and he searched the room for anything he could use to escape. Or make his captors' lives difficult. They weren't taking chances though, having pulled down everything that had survived the war and piling them in a corner.

"You don't have much time. Why not stop?" Nikolai wiggled his fingers, pointing to the doorway. "I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement once you let me go."

"That depends on you knowing what I want."

"Information about the Azokarri, foci, or Soul Rending." There were only so many explanations for Kazimierz' questions.

"While that would make sense, there's a little more to it than that."

"Don't like being smoke?" Nikolai twitched at the churning Anima. Needling his captor like this wasn't prudent, but he felt buoyant. Whether from drugs, the spell or the thought of imminent rescue, he behaved as a far younger Nikolai Morales did: unabashed and insolent.

"Let me ask you something Master Morales." Kazimierzcollapsed into his human form, smoke curling carefully into the image of a smiling young man, curly hair swaying in the wind. Kazimierz came before the throne, looking up at Nikolai, head tilted in contemplation. "What do you think a Soul is?"

Nikolai peered down at the Anima, leaning back in the throne as he considered the question.

"No one really knows." He offered. "Anymore that is. The Azokarri did."

"The Azokarri thought they did." Kazimierz' gestured at the city through a shattered wall. "Your spell proved that. I doubt they considered the consequences of their actions."

"You?" Nikolai stared at suddenly freezing hands, trying to clench them through the spasms. The Anima had flat out told Nikolai he was responsible for his creation.

"Me. Us. Them." With each word, Kazimierz voice changed. "I wasn't a bad man."

"That's what you tell yourself." A hazy purple form leaked out of the Anima and hovered over his shoulder, deep voice echoing across the hall.

"Living under Nostrum's heel required compromises." Kazimierz' voice leaked pain, as if he'd experience countless horrors.

"That's what we told ourselves." The red soul of Zebreski coalesced beside Kazimierz and grasped his shoulder in comfort.

"They needed someone who could stay strong even if the whole world was against them."

"That's why you survived." Ten thousand voices burst from the Anima.

"So forgive me for this." Kazimierz pulled a small glass bead from his sleeve, delicately holding it before Nikolai like he was afraid it would crack under a sigh. The words were accompanied by a pulse of power, dormant veins of energy underground lighting up as the bead slowly rose into the air. Nikolai groaned as the hall was filled with Magic overpowering his senses and bleeding into his every pore. Kazimierz stood cradling the bead, struggling to maintain his human form as blasts of power ripped sections of his body to shreds. Multiple souls formed around the bead, chanting spells that made the Magical runes of Zebreski's mirror orbit the hall, growing ever more powerful. Streams of vapour from Kazimierz rose to form a spinning vortex of souls, thousands of voices chanting ancient words that Nikolai couldn't understand. The vortex pulled on the Anima, dragging even more souls into it. Kazimierz and his companions coalesced further as the vortex expanded, their voices gaining clarity, their forms becoming sharper.

Kazimierz threw the bead into the air where it hovered, pulling immense waves of energy from the ground. Nikolai felt the bead calling to him and he looked up. Under his gaze it sent a stream of power into his mind, locking onto the ancient Azokarri runes which protected his memories. Nikolai grit his teeth, bracing himself for the expected assault, but it never came.

Instead the Magic enveloped him.

Studying him.

Sensing him.

It was as if a thousand hands were rummaging through his body and mind, the sensation made him want to scream yet it was gone in a flash, the bead content with its newfound knowledge. Nikolai studied the spells which carried a trace of his essence and the Magical signature of the Azokarri focus.

"You can't do this." Nikolai begged, his voice a whisper, finally understanding what the Anima was after. Beams of light shot from the bead, reaching out to grab at shards throughout the city. Hundreds of spells were triggered, pulling the shards together and forging them. The familiar sensation of the Soul Rending focus pulsed within his mind as it reformed, the powerful Magic driving ancient Azokarri runes of rebirth. With each passing second, the chanting from the vortex grew louder, blanketing the hall with cries Nikolai was beginning to understand.

Cries for help.

And curses for Kazimierz.

Runes snapped into place, shielding the hall. If this spell was to work, they had to be isolated. Nikolai tried to search for weak points in the spells, flaws that he could sneak a stream of energy and break the flow. For a spell of this complexity, a single mistake would cause a chain reaction and cause it to lose coherence. Nothing stood out, the spells a marvel of perfection. Any other time Nikolai would have sighed in admiration at the masterful display, yet now there was nothing but despair.

Energy cascaded through the hall, shattering the soul forms powering the spells. They burst into a thick mist, turning into chaotic streams that whirled around the hall even as the bead turned to dust, leaving behind the final sliver of the spell focus. In a burst of turbulent light the ancient focus was reborn, lazily drifting towards Nikolai. Deep within, its spirit awoke, joyful at the reunion, ignorant of or ignoring the final moments of its previous existence.

"You have to finish what you started." Kazimierz' voice thundered in his mind.

Zebreski's mirror exploded.

The world disintegrated.

[The ancient wings hurled a storm of lightning at his enemies. Powered by the Soul Rending focus, Nikolai's Thunderform spell overflowed with incomparable might. He'd streaked across the battlefield, tearing apart Lich's, the Nameless and even a handful of Vilinian Master Mages who'd led Corps of spellcasters through the three permanent rifts which had formed. A pulse of Magic to the north drew his eyes, and he raised his hands by instinct to block the blasts of fire which ripped across the sky. He dropped, breaking into a mad dash the moment his feet touched the ground.

He ran over broken stone and through shattered buildings, making his way to what remained of his lines, gathering the few soldiers and civilians he'd found. The Galicians had eagerly joined the fight when the first of the Nameless appeared, ancient, mindless Demons that devoured everything in their path.

No one wanted to be eaten by a writhing tentacled beast.

A column of Knights charged down one of Galicia's thoroughfares, a stream of broken armour and drake wings scattering a formation of Vilinian heavy infantry. The Knights turned away from the retreating troops, galloping back to the small circle which was all that remained of their defences. Nikolai scrambled over the barricades, ignoring the salutes and awed looks as he released his Thunderform spell, gritting his teeth against the exhaustion which assaulted him.

He reached for one of the few remaining water skins piled up in the command centre and swallowed deeply. There was no point in saving their supplies. Either the Soul Rending formation activated, or they'd be overrun. Nikolai studied the broken hall which served as their 'command centre', searching for any way to reinforce his hastily created barriers. Nikolai had prepared three tiers of barriers, each more powerful than the last. The Vilinians were making constant assaults against their lines. Anyone with even a shred of Magical sensitivity could sense the immense draw of energy from the focus and they weren't willing to leave anything to chance. The only thing slowing them down were the Dark creatures Nostrum had released within the city. Those uncaring beasts attacked anything and anyone in sight, prowling the streets in hunger.

Nikolai felt the ripple which he now understood was a rift opening up, but this time it was too powerful. He spun, triggering the defences in his War Staff even as the sky ruptured. Black lines revolved into the familiar span of a rift, streaks of flame shooting through to batter their defences before it exploded with enemy troops. The quick shield he'd thrown up shattered, Demons pouring into their lines from every side as an enormous Nameless Demon grappled its way through the gate. Nikolai chanted to raise the secondary barriers, praying to the Fates they would last longer.

Flashes of power lit up throughout the command centre, streaks of light tearing through the sky towards the Nameless. The Thunder Lancers drew on every ounce of energy in their armour as they ploughed into the Demon, unleashing enormous bolts of lighting into the slavering black mass. With a soul shattering howl, the smoking mess of the Demon's corpse smashed into the earth, crushing hundreds, if not thousands of attackers. Ragged cheers rose from the defenders, defiant in the face of Nostrum's armies.

The city quaked under the assault of Vilinian Mages, gouts of flame and bursts of incandescent force crashing against the waning power of Nikolai's barriers. Stroking the scrap of paper with his last words, Nikolai summoned his War Staff, triggering the runes for his Thunderform. An ancient aura burst from his pores as the blazing wings unfurled behind him. Raising the Staff he sent gouts of flame and lightning into enemy lines, relying on the excess energy leaking from the focus to overpower any enemy barriers. A cloud of Evark's Disintegration spun into existence near a massive Legion Commander, but before it could cause any damage Nikolai snapped off one of Shubukin's counterspells. The Grand Master had designed a counterspell for almost every common Dark Magic spell they'd encountered.

War Magic flashed across the sky and Nikolai chanted rapidly, drawing on every ounce of Azokarri enhanced skill as he struggled to divert or break the Magical attacks. Radiant bursts of colour lit the black barrier. People and buildings disintegrating under collapsed Magic, errant flares of power stirring chaos and devastation. Energy currents spun wildly, a city under fire as Nikolai duelled with an entire Magic Corps.

A stream of rainbow light slipped passed his barriers, melting a great swath of stone and soldiers. Nikolai grunted as the light tore through one of his barriers, the backlash sending him reeling. Before he could right himself, the eastern barricade collapsed, a Vilinian brigade swarming through the gaps. Nikolai was forced to raise a wall of air to keep them at bay but a hail of Magical bolts peppered the street between the barricade and the command centre, opening the way for enemy crossbowmen to launch a barrage. Overwhelmed, Nikolai stared at the bolts tearing through the air. He gestured with a finger to slice the attack apart but the momentary diversion let a fireball hammer against his barriers, shattering the already thin dome like an eggshell.

Chen's armour was a blur as he appeared, smashing into the enemy advance, a handful of Thunder Lancers at his heels as they struggled to plug the gap. A wave of unbearable heat washed over Nikolai, the impact of the Thunder Lancers raising an inferno of Magic. The Flash Pendant burned against Nikolai's chest and Chen was by his side instantly, Lance spinning to catch the Shade which materialised from thin air with a burst of lightning, vaporising it instantly.

"To the command centre!" Nikolai shouted, huddling against his friend's armour as another, smaller wave of crossbow bolts was fired by the Vilinian survivors. Not many soldiers could survive in the face of a Thunder Lancer.Chen raised his hand to signal a retreat, and he stiffened. Nikolai glanced up and cursed. A stray bolt had somehow punched through the gap between the Lancer helmet and chest piece. The huge armour collapsed and Nikolai fell to his knees, yanking Chen's helmet off. Blood flowed from a gaping wound in Chen's throat, his eyes wide open in shock. Hands shaking, Nikolai took a deep breath and triggered the final barriers, his War Staff turning to ash as its powers were overdrawn.

The brief respite was all he needed. With a quick jerk he pulled the arrow free with one hand and slammed the other coated with powerful healing Magic down onto the wound. Chen twitched as the wound closed, sealing the flow of blood. Nikolai had no idea what the consequences of his rough spell were, but there was nothing else he could do to save his friend's life. A Thunder Lancer flashed to his side to gather Chen's broken body, they couldn't allow Nostrum to get his hands on Thunder Lancer armour.

Under any circumstances.

Nikolai felt a pull from the focus, and with a last glance at the broken defences he sprinted deep into the command centre, triggering every piece of War Magic he had left. He arrived before the focus, out of breath and on his last legs. His head spun and the iron tang of blood filled his mouth. The hall collapsed around him as his War Magic exploded out. Every single spell he'd learned randomly tearing throughout the city, but he didn't care whether the spells did anything. Only the focus remained in his eyes.

The hall was empty, every soldier and citizen somewhere along the lines. Commanders screamed for reinforcements in the distance and the howls of Demons ripped through the streets. The dull thud of impossibly heavy footsteps meant one of the Nameless was prowling nearby.

Nikolai slumped before the focus, reaching out to grasp it tightly in his fist.

It called to him.

It was ready to unleash its power.

He sank his consciousness into the focus, his awareness expanding to cover the entire city. He saw every creature that remained within the city, from Imperials to Vilinians to Demons. They were like flickering candles as far as the focus was concerned. Defensive positions were being overrun everywhere, the circle collapsing as defenders retreated. Seeing the lives of his soldiers winking out made Nikolai growl in rage. The Will of the True Imperial screamed as Imperials fell, demanding vengeance and justice.

Ancient Azokarri runes appeared in his eyes, turning the world into a sea of energy. His consciousness drilled deep into the ground, hunting for the veins of power which flowed deep within. The focus howled in triumph when Nikolai made contact. Overwhelming power flowed through Nikolai into the focus. A pillar of light soared into the sky, punching through the black barrier like it didn't exist and an Azokarri formation was etched into the earth in a flash, waiting.

Nikolai saw a hundred thousand enemies blinded by the power the focus hurled into the air.

The Will snarled and demanded justice.

Nikolai clenched his fist and delivered.

The formation spun, runes lighting up in an unfathomable arcane sequence.

"Rend."

The formation activated and in an instant a hundred thousand souls were shredded from their flesh.

Nikolai scrambled to his feet and roared in laughter.

Now they would live.]