Chapter 55: Graduation Day

Chapter 55: Graduation Day

The Dark Lords palm stood between master and student like an unfinished bridge.

Valdemar looked at the skeletal hand as if it were poisoned. He half-expected a soulstone or trap hidden between Lord Ochs fingers like a cruel joke, but he didnt see any.

Where? Valdemar asked, utterly dumbfounded.

To the Light, my dense apprentice, Lord Och chuckled. Come with me. The door will stabilize soon, but we will only have a short window of time to safely cross onto the other side.

Flashes of energy erupted from the portal. The veil separating the material world from the higher realm of the Light had grown thinner. The flying Pleromian glyphs swirling above it moved so quickly that Valdemars eyes struggled to keep track of them.

Do you understand whats on the other side of this portal, Valdemar? Freedom. Knowledge. Power! The flames in Lord Ochs eyes glowed brighter than the stars. All the hidden truths of the universe, spells that transcend the Blood! The liberty to wander into the infinity and beyond!

How can you ask me to trust you after what youve done?" Valdemar glared at his teacher and spat venomous words. "Youve manipulated me for months, put me through hell, beat my familiar half to death, and tortured me with lightning!

Please, as if Lord Bethor hadnt done worse. Lord Och waved his hand dismissively. Yes, yes, I understand how you might fear a trap of some kind. But then, why would I need to convince you to go along? You were at my mercy, my apprentice. If I needed you to cross this portal, I would have tossed your severed head through it. I offer you to join me because I believe you are worthy of the Light, my apprentice. Will you spit on my kindness?

Kindness? Even if the lichs offer was genuine, even if Valdemar ignored all the abuse he had personally suffered, there was one thing he simply couldnt forgive. Youve murdered Marianne before my eyes!

You would deny paradise for a woman? Lord Ochs calm tone rose with his anger. Do you know how many of them there are on this Light-forsaken planet alone? At least half a billion, if not more.

That woman has a name. The image of his lover falling dead on the floor would remain forever raw in Valdemars mind. Marianne Reynard!

You only care because the human half of your biochemistry is altering your thinking, Lord Och replied with disdain. Attraction, lust, love, are drugs. You are high because this is your first time, but trust someone many centuries older than you. I have loved and forgotten more women than the years youve lived through.

It would have been one thing if Lord Och faked sympathy, but the lich no longer felt the need to put on the charm. Marianne was right. If the Dark Lord ever had the ability to relate to someone else and his fellow humans, he had lost it long ago.

What about your murder of Hermann? Valdemar struggled to contain his anger. Or what will happen to Iren and Liliane once this portal destroys Underland? What about my friends who youre condemning to death? Do you expect me to abandon them to their doom?

Friends? People youve known for a scant few months? Do you hear yourself? Lord Och took back his hand. His back was stiff like an iron rod, his fingers trembling with frustration. You are an immortal being, a Stranger. You will live to see these small people all wither and die.

And that makes their lives without value?

Yes.

Then you are the height of hypocrisy, Lord Och! Valdemar raised an accusing finger at his mad teacher. You were not born immortal, you achieved eternal unlife through magic! Every single one of this Institutes Masters did the same!

So what? They will languish forever in the darkness, trapped between Ialdabaoth below and the Whitemoon above. Wouldnt it be more merciful to let them all rest? A rattle of frustration came out of Lord Ochs mouth. I do not understand why Im wasting my time trying to open your eyes.

Me neither, Valdemar replied, his eyes squinting at the lich. Why do you want me to follow you so badly?

My poor Valdemar, is it truly so hard to believe that I care for your spiritual health?

You have only known me for months, scarcely longer than Hermann. Valdemar frowned. He found it difficult to believe in the lichs goodwill after so long. By your own logic, my life should be worthless to you.

Lord Och let out a brief laugh.

Point taken, he conceded.

Is he acting? The lichs embarrassed reaction surprised Valdemar. He didnt detect any hint of falsehood or fake charm in his old teacher. No he sounds genuine.

Between us, I cannot explain it myself. The Dark Lord shook his head, his body language betraying his confusion. I thought I emancipated myself from such feelings when I embraced undeath. Yet I feel a certain appreciation for your person, perhaps because I see much of myself in you. I suppose you could call it

Lord Och put a finger on his chin as he struggled to find the correct expression.

Paternal fondness, he finally said.

As if Valdemars real father wasnt bad enough.

You have an odd way of showing it. Valdemar would never forget the pain of lightning coursing through his veins. All you have done since we first met is play cruel tricks and mind games on me. You tried to convince me to sacrifice my friends to this portal, mocked me for believing in a better future

I tried to cure you of your own foolishness and failed. Do you understand how difficult it was for me, you selfish brat?

Valdemar choked in indignation. For you?

Yes! Lord Och snarled back. The walls of the vault shook around them as if echoing his cold anger. You possess limitless potential, my apprentice, and yet you waste it on lunacy!

The Dark Lord waved a hand at the shining portal. The sun, the light you sought for, is right beyond this threshold! This is the crossroad that will let us reach Earth! So why wont you step through it?The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

Although the thought of using the Light to reach Earth at last was enticing, Valdemar held his ground. I have sought the sun too, yes. That was my dream. But I never desired it for my own pleasure alone. I wanted to honor my grandfather and free our people from the ceiling of stone above our heads.

What was worth the joy of watching an open sky, if nobody else could look at it with you?

If paradise does not exist yet, Valdemar argued, then we must build it.

How much time will last until human greed despoils it? Lord Och raised his chin, his expression hard as stone. I do not understand you, my apprentice.

On the contrary, I think you do. By now, Valdemar understood the weight on his masters heart. The gnawing root at the source of their endless debates and philosophical conflicts. If you were truly confident in your own words, my position wouldnt infuriate you so much. You would have nothing to prove to me or anyone else. Yet at every step of our association, youve tried to make me validate your misanthropy.

For the sake of your intellectual enlightenment, Lord Och replied, his voice soft as velvet.

For the sake of soothing your guilty conscience.

Lord Och did not answer. His shadow lengthened as the doorway to the Light shone brighter.

You could have severed my limbs and dragged me screaming into the Light, Valdemar pointed out. You did not, because you want me to come with you out of my own free will. It matters to you. Even after centuries of gloom and darkness, a part of you is still afraid of being wrong.

You know not what you speak of," Lord Och snorted and adjusted his tattered robes.

Deep down a small sliver of humanity wants me to talk you out of this madness. Valdemar gazed at the Light, at the vast abyss of the cosmos. A realm that offered unlimited power at the cost of ones humanity. Its why youve tried to crush my hopes each step of the way. You wanted to silence the best part of yourself.

Do you mean to pity me, Valdemar?

To his own astonishment, Valdemar did pity the Dark Lord.

Before him stood a creature miserable enough to take pleasure in others pain and failures. Disappointment fueled Lord Ochs cruelty. Bitterness nursed his disdain and arrogance. In his attempt to put a shield between himself and the awfulness of the world, the lich had given up on everything good in it.

Valdemar would never forgive Lord Och for his crimes but as they faced each other with the entire worlds fate hanging in the balance, the summoner realized he couldnt bring himself to hate the ancient Dark Lord.

Valdemar wanted to despise Lord Och the same way he had tried to find the strength to hate his grandfather, because it would have made it easier. But even if he tried his best to appear as one, the lich was no monster. He was no vicious madman like Ialdaboaths cultists, no cruel invader from another world like the Qlippoths, not even an unfeeling machine like Otto Blutgang.

In the end, Lord Och was only human.

My teacher, its not too late.

Now it was Valdemars turn to extend a hand to Lord Och. The ancient archmage glanced at his students palm without a word. He made no move to take it.

Stay with me. Help me make this world a better place instead of turning your back on it. Valdemar cleared his throat. Lord Och, you possess extraordinary knowledge, willpower, and wisdom. You command incredible resources and powerful magic. Harsh years have torn you up inside, but you are not alone in this fight anymore. I am with you.

Even after all Lord Och had done, it wasnt too late for him to get a second chance.

We cant wait much longer. The portal had become so bright that its steel had turned black as coal in comparison. The whole place will collapse on us.

Yet Valdemar waited. He said nothing as Lord Och observed him, judged him, appraised him. The ancient lichs ghoulish skull briefly betrayed a hint of doubt. His fiery eyes glanced at Valdemars hand with uncertainty.

For a moment, the Dark Lord truly considered Valdemars offer.

No, my apprentice.

But although a crack had appeared in this millennium-old ice, it refused to melt away.

I have gone too far, sacrificed too much, to stop here. The Dark Lords voice turned deeper, more sinister. I will not turn back while I stand at the very altar of enlightenment. Not for anything. Not even for you.

Valdemar lowered his hand, his fists clenched with resolve. Then the time for words is over.

It is. An earthquake shook the vault. Cracks spread in the stone ceiling, threatening to collapse it. The portal has almost stabilized. We must cross it soon or perish with this planet, Valdemar.

I reject these options. Valdemar shifted his posture and prepared to lunge at his master, his teacher his twisted mirror. I will close this cursed door before the unthinkable happens.

Valdemar had spent the whole discussion analyzing the situation. The phenomenon came from the portal using the Painted World as a conduit to create a resonance with the Lights realm. If Valdemar could disable the portal and safely disperse its energies, he would preserve the Painted World. He would save his brother and Hermanns legacy.

But to do that, Valdemar needed to achieve the impossible.

He would have to get past Lord Och.

I wont let you destroy this world. Blood particles floated around Valdemar, ready to fuel his spells. I will stop you here as you once stopped your own master.

The Dark Lords sinister laughter echoed in the vault. The man inside the lich had put on his mask of inhumanity. The Lord Och that stood before Valdemar was no longer doubtful. He had become the cold-hearted, cruel archwizard that cowed his apprentice into obedience the first time they met.

Foolish disciple. An electrical spark flared to life in Lord Ochs palm. I taught you well, but you still have so much left to learn.

Then consider today my graduation.

Master and student began their battle with the Light as their only witness.