I…was fine. I survived?

  Question or fact? It was a fact. At least, I thought it was.

  There was no pain, no smell, but my mind worked. My World was intact. Both of which shouldn’t have been possible. It was great, and I should probably be happy, but really? A sacred beast’s advancement to the Guardian Rank was not something I could do in the middle of a fight. Or before a fight–with hundreds of Guardians and dozens of Overlords.

  But had it really been a fight?

  The tsunami struck in an instant. It should have killed me on the spot. Instead, it washed over me, past me, and…embraced me. It flooded me with energy until there was no corner left, no cell in need of any more life. Yet, the energy continued to pour into me. It surged into the weave until it was overflowing, then it drowned the Gates, filling them anew.

  At last, it tried to drown me and my World.

  But it stopped. The energy froze as soon as my Soulkins erupted, ready to fight alongside me. It reached out to the bonds, the core, and the soulshares, starting with Aureus, and it hesitated. Was that the right term? I couldn’t tell at this point. Too much happened in too short a time.

  Volix tore through the energy, flooded my body, and annexed the liquefied life-attuned ether in my stead. Phoenix fire of the highest grade came to be, or so the Elemental Phoenix declared, as he burned me from the inside out, aiding the breakthrough of mind and soul.

  It ended even before it really began. After preparing myself for the worst, I was almost disappointed by how anticlimactic the whole ordeal was. Almost.

  No one–well, almost–liked pain. Neither did I. Still, the wave of ether did not pass through me unscathed. It skidded me backward and filled my body to the brim with a type of energy I had never seen or felt before. The life-attunement was obvious, but what I felt was not just liquefied ether. It was more than that.

  My mind went into overdrive in an attempt to analyze the energy, but that turned out to be a foolish decision. Even if there hadn’t been any pain, a massive upgrade had been forced upon it only a minute ago. Focusing on something intently was all it needed to enter a state of overflow. Heaps of information flowed into my head without warning until it felt like my skull was about to burst.

  “No more thinking…” I cursed, wiping the blood from my orifices.

  That won’t be an issue for you.

  Aureus teased, but the relief in his voice was apparent.

  The World was as strained as the mind should have been. Talking to the Earthheart was painful. Yet everything healed at a visible pace; the energy that had threatened to drown him before now kept him alive. It healed him.

  A glance at the surroundings showed that the beasts were still present. Hundreds of creatures stronger than I was. However, there was no more threat from them. Their ill intent evaporated with the tsunami of life. But the beasts still stared at me in anger. Or was that…envy?

  Uncertain, I turned back to the tree, listening to Aureus’ nervous chatter. Whatever it was that attacked me, it stopped. The energy froze before it could drown me. It could have done that. Kill me. Just like that. Volix wouldn’t have been able to do anything to protect me.

  I was at someone else’s mercy. Again.

  Come here.

  An unknown voice thundered in my head. It was high-pitched, female maybe, and it had an edge to it. A coldness that didn’t quite fit the comfort and warmth of the life ether circulating through me at this moment.

  The first thing I did was close my mind and the World. However, the attempt failed miserably as the shell protecting my mind shattered as soon as it formed.

  Halt your pitiful tricks and come here.

  The voice thundered in impatience.

  It wasn’t Volca speaking through Volix. The voice was yet another being with powers I could only dream of rivaling one day. First the Rulers, then Volca, and now…that. Whatever that was.

  The Elemental Phoenix shrank to a regular eagle’s size and landed on my shoulder, his confusion joining mine.

  I don’t think you have much of a choice. Go.

  He said apologetically.

  There was nothing to apologize for. If anything, Volix used all he had to help me earlier. That meant a lot.

  Still hesitant, I took a step closer to the tree. The beasts snarled at me but moved to the side, creating a pathway that led straight to my destination: the cloud-piercing tree.

  The first step was the hardest. My heart tightened as a skytrain-sized cheetah hissed at me, its power as an Overlord crushing down on me. Yet it didn’t stop me in my tracks. My body tensed and my mind reeled as the power descended, but the life-attuned ether swirling through my body stopped the Overlord’s presence before it could affect me.

  My path continued, my heart a thunder of a thousand war drums. The ether density kept increasing until it felt like the ambient ether was no longer gaseous. Before I realized what was happening, my body opened up to the ambient ether. It was almost like I’d never absorbed ether. Like my body had been dying of thirst for ether for decades. It absorbed the ambient ether in large gulps, consuming enormous amounts within seconds.

  A familiar nuance returned. A mixture of greed and addiction. Power flooded my veins, and I wanted to make it mine. So I did just that. All recently absorbed ambient ether flowed into the weave, where it was picked up by fiery streams of ether as soon as the Blazing Gates’ circulation system was set back in place.

  Annexing the perfectly purified ether masses was not instantaneous, but it was fast enough to redirect the flow to the remaining 2-Star Blazing Gates shortly after the ether entered my core. Keeping track of the system was the only distraction intense enough to void the pressure weighing down on me. Hundreds of beasts strong enough to tear me apart with ease surrounded me. The scent of their envy was strong enough to scare me witless–if not for the distraction.

  The fear of the unknown was stronger than ever, but the power flowing through my veins helped me stay rooted. It guided me to a semblance of calm composure, accompanied by short bursts of euphoria as the dense ether masses flooded the first Blazing Gate. As the mass entered the Blazing Gate, it changed. An enormous amount of energy erupted, filling the wick representing the empty Blazing Gate. It seeped into the wick, setting it ablaze as it grew into a mature, fully fueled Blazing Gate within minutes.

  Before the descent to the cloud-piercing tree, I was left with two empty 2-Star Blazing Gates. No more than fifteen minutes later, I stood before a massive maw representing the entrance to a hallway embedded into the ginormous tree’s base. By then, the 2-Star Blazing Gates were filled, and the dense ether mass flowed toward the 3-Star Gates.

  The maw opened to a hall of the impossible. Moss sprawled across the floor like carpets in lush gradients of emerald, releasing a slow pulse of power with each breath of the hall itself. Vines coiled along pillars and archways made of thick, dark roots or branches. Leaves of all colors grew from the vines, broad and luminous, veined with a faint golden inner glow.

  No matter how much I wanted to understand this place, it didn’t feel like a work of wild growth. It was deliberate, cultivated by forces that knew exactly what they were doing. The air hummed with the same potency I could feel in the ether flowing through the weave. It was the kind of power the Blessed needed to transcend their limits. There was no doubt the Rulers would be exhilarated at the prospect of nurturing their might in a place like this. They would do everything in their power to claim this place, all of it, as their own. Not even the death of their comrades would scare them off. That was not the case with the Elemental Phoenix, and it certainly wouldn’t be different here.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  It was hard not to get excited by the sheer quantity of ether of the highest quality surging toward the Gates, but the threat of the unknown kept me rooted.

  Enter.

  The unknown ordered once more.

  My heart raced faster as the word cut through my mind, and I entered the hall within the tree.

  Shallow ponds lay scattered throughout the hall, vivid colors flowing over their edges. Volix detected dense and radiant liquid ether within them before I could inspect them myself. But as my eyes and senses locked onto the ponds, my body tensed. As shallow as they were, they outshone even the Pyrosh, their brilliance softer yet seemingly infinitely deeper. The ponds were saturated with life rather than flame.

  Where droplets spilled onto stone, life bloomed instantly–flowering and fading in moments, unable to contain the abundance poured into it.

  It was almost as if the ponds breathed. They expanded and constricted, as though the hall itself drew sustenance from them.

  Done staring, primate?

  The voice cut sharp once more, yet a softness I hadn’t sensed earlier shone through its hard exterior. Even if the softness was clearly not directed at me, I welcomed it.

  Suspended near the opposite end of the hall were chains–ethereal, translucent, and impossibly fine. They did not clatter or strain against the insides of the cloud-piercing tree’s base. They floated instead, emitting slow cascades of golden motes that suffused into the tree like… almost like soul energy. Within their bindings sat a creature, its form obscured by light and shimmer, contained not by force but–

  Honestly, I had no idea what I was looking at. The chains felt ancient, powerful, absolute in a way that defied explanation.

  The light faded slowly, my feet carrying my stiff body closer to the creature. A transcendent beauty was revealed. A woman reclined against a vine-wrapped throne, her posture loose and unguarded, taking a sip from a porcelain cup as if all of this were the most ordinary thing on Razarn. She had flawless, sun-baked skin, sharp yet gorgeous features, and bright emerald eyes that only further highlighted her beauty.

  Curled golden hair cascaded down her back, but it did not hide the woman’s pointed ears–not that it looked like she wanted to hide anything. Her skin was covered only by thin layers of vines and leaves that did little to shroud her figure.

  Heat rushed to my face, but I didn’t look away. Instead, I studied her every feature, be it the spots of bark on her cheeks and spread across her body, the vines that seemed to grow from her brilliant hair, or the antlers that looked just like branches.

  She turned with a calm expression, glancing at me–no, next to me–with a smile. It was as if she didn’t notice me at all, my presence completely disregarded as the woman’s lips curled upward.

  “What an honor.” She stood, the cup in her hand dissolving into golden motes, a mocking smile gracing her face. “To be in the presence of Volca’s Voice. What brings one of you here after all this time?”

  A snort escaped her lips, but she slowed, brows furrowing. “Where is Garus? I sensed him–part of him–earlier.”

  Even though the woman still didn’t look at me, the pressure within me increased. A trickle of power reached into the deepest parts of my being, searching through the World, yet it found nothing. The Elemental Phoenix screeched angrily, azure flames erupting from his plumage just as the trickle reached the soulshares.

  “No. You are not Volca’s Voice. But his authority rests within you. You were his Voice for a long time, but he… freed you? That does not sound like Volca.” The woman tilted her head and glanced over, regarding me for the first time.

  As our eyes met, it felt like the cloud-piercing tree crashed down upon me. The pressure was unlike anything I had felt before, and there was nothing I could do to escape it. The woman had me in her grasp, yet she looked like she couldn’t care less about me or my existence. I was insignificant. My life or death didn’t matter.

  Vines burst from the ceiling and the walls, and roots shot out of the ground in an instant. It all happened so fast–too fast to even dream of realizing what had just occurred.

  One moment I stood on a moss carpet, trying to put the puzzle pieces together, and the next I was hurled into the air, roots and vines pulling on me from all directions, keeping me suspended in the middle of the hall.

  “Let me ask you one thing. Why is that here?” She glowered, turning back to the Elemental Phoenix. “You know as well as everyone else that we should never have allied with those primates, yet you dare to bring one of them to me? WHY?! Did you bring him here to force me into submission as well? I would rather die than end like Garus!”

  As well?

  The woman looked positively terrifying, her emerald eyes oozing with hatred. She vanished in a blur, the ethereal chains clattering as she reappeared before me, a blade made from pure ether pressed against my neck. But as soon as she tried to cut into me, a scream escaped her lips, and a viscous reddish-brown substance trickled down from her neck.

  I felt like I was about to die, but I was unscathed. The woman was injured instead, a nick gracing her neck. A moment later, the chains went taut and pulled her in. She was hurled backward, the ether blade dissipating.

  Volix screeched frantically, wings flapping as he positioned himself between the woman and me, his voice ringing in my head.

  You don’t understand. This is all but a big misunderstanding.

  “Misunderstanding? You forced your way into my domicile with this primate, carrying a World with the means– Are you making fun of me, Volca’s Voice? No, you are no longer his Voice. Did you act against Volca, or did he sever all ties to you to act in the shadows? To make me his?” She screamed, all composure lost. The cloud-piercing tree above trembled. Roots shot out from the ground, branches swayed around, and a cacophony of chaos unfolded outside.

  I couldn’t see them, but the mixture of terrified screeches, yelps, and despair painted a clear picture of the situation beyond the hall.

  “We should have never come to Razarn. Dying alongside the Primal Spirit would have been honorable. Everything would have been better than fleeing to Razarn. Even if we had no choice, we should have killed them all when we had the opportunity, when Razarn was but an ordinary realm too large for those primates, yet too small to contain mankind’s endless greed.” The woman deflated.

  Thyria… You know the Primal Spirit would not have wanted that. He wanted unity, not only among the Spirits but among all races. To fight the Devourer, we need them all.

  Volix spoke, his voice ancient once more. I had only heard him speak like that a few times, and none of those times had been since he formed a bond with me.

  Regardless, the Elemental Phoenix remembered something, and I could only hope he had the means to calm down that crazy, beautiful woman.

  “I don’t want to bind you or anything. We just…stumbled into this place by chance. First we–”

  Vines coiled tightly around my neck, swallowing the explanation whole.

  “Silence!” Thyria thundered. “Your kind cannot be trusted. Your kind betrayed us once, and you will do it again.”

  The human race did not betray us. The Primal Spirit decreed. Some betrayed us, and they were killed or exiled. Others asked for forgiveness. Even though they did nothing wrong, they asked for forgiveness and accepted the Pact.

  Volix reminded Thyria.

  It seems in the millennia of your exile, the line between the truth and delusion blurred. Did you forget that we were not innocent either? Our actions led to chaos. We forced our way into Razarn to seek protection and by doing so we shattered the Veil that prevented others from following us. As if that was not bad enough… we captured them.

  The Elemental Phoenix tapped into memories of his former lord and master, the pain in his voice not his own, but painful nonetheless.

  It was hard to tell where to draw the line between Volca’s memories and the Elemental Phoenix’s memories, yet the disgust seeping into Volix’s voice made it easier. He was not at fault. Not directly. Yet the Elemental Phoenix was part of Volca. They were one, and as one, they acted.

  We raised humans as livestock, forced them to grow their Worlds to devour them so that our strongest could grow stronger once more. Anyone would have retaliated if given the opportunity in the human race’s position.

  The Elemental Phoenix approached Thyria, his blazing frame levitating before her, judging her…and himself.

  “I did what had to be done, and I would do it again,” Thyria growled, and the tree creaked above us in approval of her words. “Our enemies were too strong. We needed more power, fast, and those primates were the best source to grow our Essence. To protect our people.” She stared intently at the Elemental Phoenix. “Volca may not have agreed with my actions, but he did not do anything to stop me either. You remember how he felt after devouring the primates’ mature Worlds. The Essence reaped from their Worlds was delicious, was it not?”

  She barely glanced at me, baring her teeth. “His World is interesting. I understand why you did what you did. To devour him, he first needs to nourish his World. Help me, and I will give you everything you could have wished for once I break free!”

  Thyria was an odd woman. She seemed almost normal at first, but she had a screw loose. Probably two. No, a few dozen loose screws sounded more fitting. Who else would be stupid enough to talk about eating someone right in front of them? Only a madman, or madwoman, would do something like that.

  Unfortunately, the madwoman was not only insane, but mad strong as well.