<div>


    <div>


    <div>


    THIRTY-EIGHT


    <h2 style="text-transform: uppercase">SARIEN</h2>


    <div>


    Sarien gasped as he was forcefully pushed out of the wayfaring and back onto the floor of the abandoned house in Nexus.


    Ein looked up from the tome. “Back, are you? What did you learn?”


    “I met Order, but I’m not sure how much help she’s going to be.”


    “She?”


    He nodded. “She agrees that we can’t imprison Wyndemir in the void. We need to gather the three cornerstones and some sort of vessel. She said that I’m one of the cornerstones. The other is on Maydian and the last is within our reach.”


    Ein looked thoughtful. “I suppose the Unyielding Resistance of Man is in Maydian. That would make you Absolute Order?”


    “That’s right. Order confirmed I’m her Prime flow, or I’m using her Prime flow. Not sure I quite understand it. She imbued me with more of her power.” Sarien looked around. “Where’s Kax? We have to get moving.”


    “He went out to find the students who helped us earlier to see if they were able to gather more allies. He intends to send them onto Maydian. Don’t worry, he took one of the medallions, so they can travel past Nexus’ barrier.”


    “Let’s hope Goslin is there to take them in. Those we met were very young.”


    His father gave him a look.


    “What?”


    “All three are older than you.”


    The comment hung in the air between them, then Sarien awkwardly shrugged his shoulders. He may be younger than the Wayfarer students, but he felt much, much older.


    Clearing his throat, he asked, “Did you find anything in the book?”


    Ein tossed it to the side with a disgusted grunt. “Nothing we didn’t already know. Hints and clues about the cornerstones, but nothing we can use.”


    “Nothing on what to do with the cornerstones once we collected them?”


    “Nothing. Order identifying you as one of them probably means we’re not looking for inanimate objects.”


    Sarien hadn’t realized that, but what his father said made sense. “Order said the cornerstones didn’t exist back when they dealt with Wyndemir last. Do you think she meant they weren’t born yet?”


    Daisy appeared out of thin air, sitting right next to Sarien. She hugged her knees to her chest and rocked back and forth. Her eyes were vacant and a deep purple. She mumbled unintelligibly.


    “Daisy, what happened?”


    She shook her head violently, a low growl emitting from her throat before her eyes returned to normal. “Sarien?”


    He took her hand. “What’s wrong?”


    His half-sister squeezed his hand tight. “It’s father. He’s stirring. Something is wrong. Chaos is not corruption. Whatever you’re doing, you better do it quickly. The portal is straining and his influence over your world is growing.”


    “What do you mean? Everything Wyndemir has touched becomes corrupted,” Sarien said.


    Daisy frantically shook her head. “You’re wrong.”


    “What about the monsters? The priests are turning into horrific creatures with his power.” It dawned on Sarien as he spoke. “The priests of Wyndemir. It’s them!”


    “I think it might be, but it’s too late to do anything about it now. Father is nearly in Maydian. A few monsters won’t mean much then.”


    “Vessel,” Ein said, staring at Daisy.


    “What?”


    “It’s her, son. Has to be. The unpredictable spawn of Chaos himself.”


    “Daisy?” Sarien said.


    “What?” Daisy’s head swiveled from Sarien to Ein and then back again.


    “A vessel is needed to deal with Wyndemir, either to imprison him or to banish him.”


    Daisy looked thoughtful as she unwrapped her legs and tilted her head to the side. “And you think this vessel might be me?”


    “We don’t know that to be true,” Sarien said, glaring at his father.


    “Sarien met with Order just now. She hinted at the vessel being within arm’s reach, but unpredictable. You are a spawn of Chaos, Daisy. It makes sense.”


    She pursed her lips and nodded to herself. “Sounds about right! We really should be going, though.”


    “Hold on a moment. We don’t know that you’re the vessel or what the vessel even is about. Let’s not jump to any conclusions,” Sarien protested.


    Daisy stood and brushed off her knees. “Guess we’ll find out. Let’s go!”


    Bewildered by her strange reaction, or lack of reaction, Sarien got to his feet. “We have to find Kax first.”


    “Then take us to him,” Ein said impatiently.


    Sarien gathered his gray flame inside him and reached out to his connection to Kax. An easy task that he has performed numerous times in the past.


    Only this time was different. Imbued with Order’s powers, instead of a small flame, a roaring bonfire engulfed his hand and shot up toward the ceiling, disintegrating it.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    He yelped and reeled in the flame. It diminished but was still far bigger than it should have been.


    “Careful, son,” Ein warned.


    Sarien tried again and linked himself to Kax. A gateway shimmered open, but what lay beyond gave Sarien pause.


    It was dark. Darker than the void.


    Ein lit his own flame, burning bright with color like the sun at dusk. He stepped through the gateway and was swallowed by the darkness. Sarien followed with Daisy close behind him.


    “Oh, it’s you.” Kax''s voice rang out through the darkness.


    “Kax? What is this place?”


    “It’s the barracks. Hold on.” An inky black substance fell away from one of the walls, revealing bare stone beneath. More of it dropped from the ceiling and onto the floor where it coalesced into a growing mound that slowly began to rise. Light filtered into the small space as more of the darkness slithered to floor. The mound of darkness grew into Kax, who stood there, grinning. “Neat, isn’t it?”


    Bodies littered the floor, men old and young lying in heaps. All were dead. “What happened here?” Ein asked, his voice shaky.


    Daisy kneeled by one of the men. “This one is still alive.”


    “Oh,” Kax said, sauntering over. Sarien saw Kax’s finger turn dark before his friend jammed it in through the soldier’s head. The man shuddered, then died.


    “You were supposed to find the students and tell them to head for Maydian,” Ein admonished, his stance wary.


    “I did. They’re already over there. Thought I’d thin the herd a little while we waited for Sarien.”


    “You slaughtered all these people?” Sarien asked.


    Kax eyed him darkly. “We’ve had the conversation about war before, Sarien. Where do you think these people would have gone? What do you think they would have become?”


    Sarien swallowed the lump in his throat. “Monsters.”


    “Monsters,” Kax repeated firmly.


    Sarien looked at Kax closely. “Are you feeling well, Kax?”


    “Are you hearing its voice?” Ein added.


    “I’m fine. Don’t you worry about me. Hey, by the way. I think I remember something about the cornerstone things.”


    “What do you mean?”


    “The Hamara Prophecies.”


    “What about them?” Ein asked.


    “Haven’t you read them? You’re one of the legendary heroes!”


    Ein scratched his neck. “I was going to get around to it, but it’s so long.”


    “About the gods and the heroes?” Sarien asked.


    “Right. You must have read it? It has adventure at its core!”


    “No copies at the Karm estate, as far as I know.”


    Kax sighed. “Uneducated bumpkins. Well, anyway, it mentions the cornerstones.”


    “What?” Ein and Sarien said in unison.


    Daisy raised a hand. “What are the cornerstones?”


    “Artifacts or people needed to deal with Wyndemir. Or, at least, we think,” Sarien explained. “I’m one of them, Order Absolute. The other two are The Living Darkness and The Unyielding Resistance of Man.”


    She glanced at an old standing clock by the wall. “Well, they’re resisting over there, that’s for true.”


    “They don’t use the word cornerstone anywhere, but it goes something like this,” Kax said, then started intoning like an old priest. “<i>Once the two are one and the pretenders have fallen, look to the three for salvation. Look at the three and the one. In the heart of man, ye shall find they who stand.” </i>He stopped, scrunching up his face. “How does it go again? Wait, I’ve got it. <i>Find they who </i>something something<i> stand guardian. Those who cower in the shadows will find no respite and…”</i>


    He paused again, then shook his head. “I was never any good at remembering stuff for exams. You should ask Goslin or Hart.” His face fell, “Well, Goslin, I suppose.”


    “The three and the one,” Sarien mused. “Cornerstones and Vessel?”


    “Didn’t those prophecies end with me obliterating the Halvgudar? Your mother read a lot into those texts, but she never said anything about after <i>the pretenders,”</i> Ein said.


    “It’s in the appendix or something, I think. I wouldn’t know the passage if Goslin hadn’t been so interested in the prophecies when we were children.”


    “Thank you, Kax. We’ll have to find Goslin once we stop the priests and the Council. Or should we find him first? I’m completely lost on what to do next,” Sarien admitted.


    “Stopping the Council must take priority. If we can destroy them, the priests will follow. Once we’re in Maydian, you can help the rhinn and our allied Wayfarers in keeping the gateway from opening further,” Ein said, slapping Sarien on the back.


    “We can try to convince Council members. They’re being misled by the priests of Wyndemir. Perhaps they might see reason,” Sarien said.


    Daisy went up on her tippy toes and spun in a pirouette, talking as she twirled. “I can’t return to Maydian for now and my presence won’t do you much good if you want to reason with mother and the others.” Without further warning, she blinked away.


    “Trying to persuade the Council is futile. We should raze the entire building onto their heads and be done with it. You saw what happened to the Slayers in Sanctum.”


    Sarien’s eyes widened. “The Slayers!” He opened a gateway and went through without waiting for the others. The storage facility where they found all the Slayers was empty except for a single person, a young man idly balancing on the back legs of a chair.


    When they appeared, he let out a yelp and lost his balance, crashing backwards onto the floor. “Ow,” he muttered, rolling around to stand while massaging the back of his head.


    “Where is everyone?” Sarien asked, as Ein and Kax followed through behind him.


    The young man answered in a sullen voice, “Did you expect all of us to hang around in this building, waiting?”


    “Ready yourself,” Sarien said, grabbing the young man by his tunic and hurling him through the gateway. He waited a brief moment to make sure the young man ended up where he was supposed to, on top of the wall surrounding Fyrie. Satisfied, Sarien blinked away, much like Daisy had done a moment before.


    The newfound ease with which he navigated the wayfaring allowed Sarien to gather and transport all Slayers in Sanctum with ease. Those moving around in groups were given instructions on where to go or what to do before he sent them on their way to reinforce Fyrie. The few loners, Sarien just transported through the wayfaring so they landed in places he assumed were of high strategic value in the defense of the city.


    He couldn’t see what was happening when he pushed people through, but he hoped they weren’t too late. Goslin wouldn’t lead the Eldians and their allies astray.


    Having bolstered the Maydian and rhinn defenders, Sarien returned to Kax and Ein, who waited for him in the storage facility.


    “What was that about?” Kax asked.


    “I’ve sent the Slayers into battle. Let’s go see the Council.”


    Ein manifested a small but powerful flame in the palm of his hand. “Lead the way.”


    “Let me try to talk to them first,” Sarien said.


    “Fine,” Ein grumbled, releasing his power. “Just be careful.”


    “I will,” Sarien said, opening a gateway back to the room where they faced the Council before. Now, they were armed with information. Not all, but enough that Sarien hoped that it would all come together sooner rather than later. They were out of time. All he could do now was take action.


    The room was empty.


    “Where are they?” Kax asked.


    “Hold on, I’ll look.”


    Sarien sensed all the Wayfarers in Nexus. Sarien only found three. With a little focus, he sensed that one was infirm and on her deathbed, one was barely young enough to walk unaided, and the third possessing a power so weak that the man may not know that he was a Wayfarer at all.


    “They’re not in Nexus. No one is.”


    “You might want to check back home,” Kax said.


    Sarien did. Not all the Wayfarers were in Maydian, but their home lit up like a bonfire in the wayfaring.


    Everyone on the Council was present, along with hundreds of Wayfarers, glowing brightly among the weaker rhinn travelers. Focusing, he found the council members’ location. They were amassing outside the wall, and they were far from alone. Thousands of monsters and other foes readied themselves for the final assault on Fyrie.


    Sarien hurried and opened a gateway to the Council. If he couldn’t talk sense into them now, it would be too late. The walls around Fyrie meant little once the Wayfarers joined the battle.


    He stepped out onto a blood-soaked battlefield.