Chapter 109: Deceit


    A swell of white void wrapped around Lnd like a loop at the end of a fishing line. It hooked into him, dragging him far and away. He allowed the strange motion, no doubt knowing that if he wanted to, he could remain motionless. But why would he? He recognized a Lord’s call, the same beckoning and subtle whisper as every time before.


    He had done this before – swam the mighty diving ne. Every contract, every negotiation, he had been adrift here, waiting, listening, and yearning for his mortal wishes to be heard. But now, he was being summoned, unprompted, by <em>his</em> Lord – the Lord of Curses.


    Twice now he had been pulled by her call. The first, his Dream Ceremony and the promise of unique power and the standing of impressing his parents. The second, his first contract and the greed associated with barter. Now, his third meeting with his Lord, was a bit <em>perturbed,</em> at least with everything that happened only moments prior.


    Soul Fire and the utter decimation of the curse’s fuel source – a soul. A soul he ripped directly from the source.


    He’d killed people, yes, but this was different. This was<em> worse</em>. An attacking human has deathing, that was thew of thend and the mantra that adventurers lived by. It was a rough habit, one that often led to dark lives, but one needed for survival. Attacking a soul, however? That was pushing a realm of darkness Lnd was not prepared to near.


    A soul was innocent, in the grand scheme of the universe. They were attached to human consciousness long before and after the choices of the human are made. They are older than the Lords themselves and <em>needed</em> for the continued survival of all things. Destroying onepletely… that broke things, and not just <em>things</em> inside of Lnd.


    Suddenly he created his own definition for the title Cmity – a <em>soul killer. </em>If it was true, Lnd didn’t know, but he felt he was going to find out soon. Especially as a familiar skeletal forest came into view.


    This time, however, there was no fanfare or celebration. There was no grand showcase of magic or grandiose power. There was only an elderly woman, short, shrouded, and housing an obsidian ck crow on her shoulder. Her wrinkled skin and distant, hollow eyes told of her age and her withstanding from humanity. She was a Lord, as deceiving as her appearance was, a being so immensely powerful, they, as a collective institution, controlled the lives of <em>every single</em> human.


    She regarded Lnd with such <em>guilt</em>, however, that Lnd hesitated and forgot about everything. A cold gue whipped through his heart like seeing a child crying on the streets alone. He wanted to move to help her, he wanted to console and make sure she was <em>okay. </em>His mind felt numb and his legs wobbled with fret. But Lnd knew better. She was a wolf in an elder’s skin, no doubt another fa?ade to keep individuals like himselfcent. Lnd raised his chin, cleared the doubt from his eyes, and set his posture. He forced himself to remember – he had just obliterated a soul with her curse.


    “Why?” he finally asked.


    “I’m sorry, Lnd,” was the Lord of Curses response.


    “Why didn’t you tell me?”


    She shook her head silently.


    “After everything I went through to <em>unlock</em> the final primary curse of my Legacy, <em>this is what I get for my troubles?”</em> Thest bit of the question was said with a ferocious usation. “A curse that goes against everything we talked about when I decided to adopt your Legacy? You said you were <em>not</em> a vile Lord.”


    His words stung the Lord like a spear to the heart. “I’m not—”


    “Harbinger’s Halo?” Lnd seethed, interpreting. “Did you know Harbingers are what they call the Legacies of vile Lords? I didn’t.”


    “Lnd—”


    “And Soul Fire? I can still hear the <em>screams</em>.” A tear welled in his eye and for a moment the guilt invaded his sight. He twitched, the deathly calls the only thing filling his senses. His voice pittered out, “I can hear it pleading for me not to kill it… I can…”


    His words were smothered by a warm form. ck robes engulfed him, wringing out all his tears. He sobbed, the dam in his mind finally breaking. All of his stress rolled through his spine, even if it didn’t have to deal with the current epidemic. He was never going to progress, he had realized. Not with Soul Fire being the way it was.


    He was never going to cast it, ever again.


    “Lnd,” the Lord of Curses whispered, “before you decide anything, take some time and review your path.”


    Pushing away, Lnd set his ire back on the perpetrator of his turmoil. “Why should I ever listen to what you have to say? You lied. You lied and now I have to deal with—”


    “I have lied, yes.” The crow on her shoulder flew at Lnd, interrupting him, before sharply twisting up. “But not about what you think. I am no vile Lord, but I do share the same broad title, yes.”


    He recoiled at that, like a spring being flicked. “That makes no sense.”


    “Then let me exin.” With a snap, the Lord of Curses unearthed a stone table. It rose from a realm below quickly and without servant souls to carry it. “A cantrip, one you could learn.”


    Lnd scoffed, pulling out a chair.


    The Lord was silent for a moment, taking a seat as well, but eventually she started talking. There was no rhyme or reason for her starting statement or a general timeline of events, but slowly a narrative formed. She spoke of time before <em>most</em>, the time of the <em>First Lords. </em>She told the story like she had been a witness to the first ascensions, that she had <em>known</em> the beings who decided the naturalws of the world.


    There were <em>very few</em> Lords still alive from that time. Not even the Lord of Magic and all his estimated worship was the First, only the current. Yet as the Lord of Curses continued, Lnd slowly started to believe he was sitting before someone, or something, <em>different.</em> Was she lying? That was very much a possibility. Was he being manipted in believing a crazy story from a crazy person older than all mortal humans? Almost definitely.


    But it’s not like Lnd <em>didn’t </em>want to believe her. He wanted her to tell him everything had been a prank. That everything he had experienced was par for the course of some borate Lordly y. That those he’s killed were nothing more than puppets. That the soul he decimated was nothing but a prompt.


    But that was a falsity, and he knew it.


    “Then, I killed them all.”


    Lnd lurched at the statement.<em> What?</em> he coughed out in his own mind.


    “All nine hundred and thirty one First Lords, minus a few independents, dead,” she continued, but not before locking eyes with her Legacy. “In an instant. All dead from a single curse: Soul Fire.”


    “B-but that’s—”


    “Impossible? Unbelievable?” Again, her eyes went hollow as the fleeting age settled in her bones. “I don’t regret the decision. They were monsters, those I killed. They wished to treat humanity like an experiment. They wanted to start sick games orugh at the misfortune of the mortals.”


    “That can’t be?” Lnd found himself muttering. “Surely there had to be <em>some</em> good Lords?”


    “There were, but in their eternal wars, humanity almost sumbed. The mortals were sundered, and I just couldn’t take it any Longer.” The Lord of Curses once again locked eyes with him. “That’s my lie. I lied about who I was, how <em>old</em> I was. You are ancient blood, yes, but I exaggerated just how <em>young</em> of an ancestor I was.”


    “T-that doesn’t matter,” Lnd lied. Of course it did matter, but the thought of exploring that avenue made him nch. He sat a little straighter, not because he was suddenly afraid of the being before him, but because… well… he didn’t truly know. Respect, maybe? Dignity? Recognition?


    He forced himself to shake out the unneeded distractions. “Why did you say you were but weren’t, a vile Lord.”


    The elder sighed. “I am only in title, not in practice. A <em>vile Lord</em> is nothing more than a Lord who has killed another Lord. Of course, if no other Lord cares, then the title is not given. But in my case, and that of the Light Architect, others have cared.”


    “W-who set your title?” Lnd asked with bated breath.


    “Most recently? The previous Lord of Souls and Curses. But that was a pissing match on who got ess to Soul and Crow curses. They didn’t like that I have grandfathered-in Legacy abilities from before <em>Legacies</em> were truly a concept.”


    “So you killed them?”


    The Lord of Cursesughed. “No. No I did not. They said their words, yelled their arguments, but only to deaf ears. No one wants to go to war with the <em>Cmity</em>. No, the previous Lord of Souls and Crows died like any other Lord and someone took their ce.”


    “So the Cmity is you?” Lnd asked.


    “More or less.”


    “’More or Less?’”


    “That was a bygone era. I am not that type of person any longer. There is… no need for humanity to be protected by me any longer.”


    Lnd thought about that for a second. “Because your Legacies hunt the vile Harbingers?”


    “Yes,” the Lord of Curses lied.


    He took the answer at face value, however.


    The First Lord jumped at the opportunity. “Soul Fire is a stain on, well, everything. Obliterating a soul <em>should not</em> be thought of lightly. But against a Harbinger or even a vile Lord themself? A single soul for the torture of potentially millions of lives?” She gestured in a thought provoking way.


    “I don’t know…” Lnd muttered to which the Lord of Curses nodded.


    “It is your decision, my child. If you wish to never think about the curse again, then I will ept the path forward and never push for anything different. I only ask you to discuss it with those you trust before making up your mind.”


    “So you, what? Want me to be a hunter of Harbingers?”


    “No. Never such a dangerous practice. Other Lords have champions and the like for that.”


    “Then—”


    “Lnd,” she said in a way that made him think about his mother. “Your path through my Legacy is not set in stone. <em>You</em> make the final decision.”


    “But I don’t want to use Soul Fire. The screams are…”


    The Lord of Curses nodded. “I understand. I only ask you to discuss with those you trust. I suspect there are others in simr situations to you.”


    “You mean my parents?”


    She gave a subtle nod. “Not all magic is mana and talent. Hard work and sacrifice go hand in hand.”


    Lnd paused. He looked at the new circr tattoo around his Legacy crow. “What does—”


    “A surprise, one I hope you will enjoy.”


    Lnd’s face didn’t hide his dissatisfaction.


    “It is time to go back. Just remember, whatever path you choose, I and those who love you will support your decision. My Legacy is a dark and despicable history, but yours doesn’t have to be.”


    With that, the craggy forest faded away like a mop wiping up a stain and Lnd found himself drifting back to reality through an endless white void.