The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 297

Chapter 297

My fingers ran over the arch’s frame, tracing the jagged, broken edges where parts of the large structure were missing.

Was this another challenge or just bad luck? I had hoped that crossing the frozen wasteland was enough to leave this zone, but clearly that wasn’t it.

I turned to Caera. “Do you see any pieces of the arch in that pile? It looks like there are at least four or five separate chunks that’ve been broken off, judging by the damage.”

She sifted through the large pile for a moment before looking back up at me and shaking her head. “There’s quite a bit to sort through here, but I don’t see anything else in the same white stone the arch seems to be made of. Maybe here under some of the bones...” She kept rummaging, but I wasn’t hopeful. Things were never that easy in the Relictombs.

Regis popped out of my side, landing on the platform and shaking himself like a dog, the violet flames of his mane flickering. He gazed up at the ancient structure towering over him before speaking. “Do you even need the pieces? Maybe that fancy new power of yours can just...fix it.”

“You can’t just fix...” The rest of my words died in my throat as I realized my companion had a point. Pressing my palm to the arch, I ignited the newly acquired god rune that sat latent within me. Repairing all of the mirrors in the last zone had given me more than enough practice utilizing Aroa’s Requiem, but the sensation still felt new and raw, almost foreign.

The rune glowed golden from beneath my clothes as aether circulated through it, and purple motes of aether began to swirl around my hand. The motes left me and flowed along the arch, concentrating where the broken edges stood out against the flawlessly smooth carvings.

Aside from some light scuffs fading away, nothing happened. I kept concentrating, imagining the missing fragments of the arch rebuilding themselves. The sparkling particles of aether had simply worked when I’d used the rune before, repairing the cracked mirrors and releasing the imprisoned ascenders with no direction from me.

But I had seen what to do in the vision of the future...

Maybe I needed more understanding of how to repair an item, or what its purpose was, to affect it with Aroa’s Requiem.

Or maybe that wasn’t it either.

Frustrated more at myself than the circumstances we were in, I let out a sigh.

“It’s not working,” Regis said helpfully.

“I can see that,” I muttered, withdrawing aether from my god rune. The purple motes flickered out one by one as the rune’s glow faded. “Try searching the rest of the hall for any pieces of the arch. Maybe if we can find them I’ll be able to repair it.”

“Maybe? I mean, I’m as much an optimist as the next guy, but ‘maybe’ sounds like—”

“Do we have any other choice?” I snapped, glaring down at the shadow wolf pup.

Regis’s ears drooped. “No, I suppose not.”

I sighed as my companion hopped from stair to stair and began sniffing around the outside wall of the huge space. Sylvie and I had never fought like this—but that wasn’t Regis’s fault. Sylvie had always been my counterpoint, providing me wisdom when I was being foolish, temperance when I was reckless, bravery when I was afraid.

Regis, on the other hand, was more like me, reinforcing both my strengths and my weaknesses. Was that why I was harder on him than I had been on Sylvie? I thought back to those first moments in the Relictombs, when I woke up alone and powerless—alone, except for him.

Without him, waking up in that sanctuary room without Sylvie, knowing she sacrificed herself for me...

Sitting down on the edge of the platform with my legs dangling down the side, I withdrew the rainbow colored stone that held my bond. It had been quite some time since I had tried pushing aether into it, but I could feel that I hadn’t grown strong enough yet. Despite everything I’d faced and all that I had learned since waking up magicless and broken in the Relictombs, I had barely scratched the surface of what was possible with aether.

I’m going to get you out of there some day, Sylv. I promise. When you meet Regis you’re going to—

“Another relic secreted away from the Vritra?” Caera asked as she slid to a seat beside me, my bedroll pulled tightly around her shoulders. Her navy hair fell in front of her eyes and she leaned down to inspect Sylvie’s egg.

“Not exactly,” I said, turning my eyes back to the iridescent egg.

“It’s beautiful,” Caera said, her words barely a whisper.

“Thanks,” I said, hurriedly stashing the egg back in my dimensional storage rune before she was able to study it any more closely.

I started to stand up when strong fingers gripped my forearm and pulled me back to my seat. I turned to make some excuse to Caera, but she was staring at me, flabbergasted. “What was that?”

My eyes narrowed. “I don’t think I’m obligated to tell you what my—”

“I’m not talking about the colorful stone,” she said, waving my words away with her free hand. “How did you do that? Where did it go?”

Nonplussed, I showed her the back of my hand and the dimensional storage ring that I wore. “In my—”

“No, you didn’t.” She shook her head, her usual calm demeanor replaced by a childlike excitement. “You didn’t activate the ring just now, I could tell. Wait, you can’t...” Caera’s eyes widened in realization. “Of course, how did I not see it before? You don’t have mana to activate the ring.”

My mind whirled for lies to explain what had happened: my ring could be another relic that didn’t need mana, the egg could’ve had similar powers to Regis, or some other convenient excuse...

But as I opened my mouth to speak, I hesitated...tired of it all.

What was the point of lying? Caera knew I could use aether. She knew I had at least one relic—which was already punishable by death—and probably assumed I had more. She’d even seen Regis talk and absorb aether but still chose to scratch him like he was just another household pet.

“I...” Letting out a sigh, I pulled up my sleeve and imbued aether into my forearm to activate the dimensional rune. “I have a rune—a spellform—that operates on a similar principle. The ring is just for show.”

“Fascinating.” Caera’s ruby eyes shone with intense curiosity as she stared at the complex runes engraved in my skin.

I felt a slight smile tug at the corner of my lips as I watched her inspect my arm like a child opening a brand new toy.

Catching myself, a wave of guilt forced myself to remember who this girl was. Caera had followed me and lied about her identity. She was not only an Alacryan but of the same blood as Agrona and the rest of his monstrosities that had wreaked havoc on my people.

A dark part of me reasoned that I could always kill her before leaving the Relictombs if I told her too much, but I also knew I was just making excuses. Being honest with myself, it simply felt good to have even that small weight of having one less secret off my shoulders.

A cold touch on my arm snapped me out of my thoughts, startling me.

Caera pulled her hand away. “M-my apologies! My curiosity tends to get the better of me at times, and I wanted to see how the rune felt...”

“It’s fine,” I said, clearing my throat.

I pulled my sleeve back down to cover the rune, but Caera was still staring at me.

“Is there something on my face?” I asked, cocking a brow.

“It’s just...Who are you, Grey?” Caera asked.

“Just a soldier that was mortally wounded,” I said with a shrug. “You should remember, you met me only shortly after.”

Caera narrowed her eyes as she stuck her lips out into a pout. “That’s a bit of an oversimplification, Grey. If you were to ask me, I’d speculate that you’re some sort of aberration of the Relictombs, conjured of aether to lure me into the deepest depths of the ancient mages’ endless fortress.”

“Lure you?” I scoffed. “Excuse me, but if I recall correctly, you were the one who somehow tracked me down and tricked me into taking you along.”

Caera stiffened before clearing her throat. “That, I admit, was a bit unbecoming,” she said, turning away.

“So...” I said quietly. “Isn’t it about time I get an explanation?”

Caera fidgeted uncomfortably, still unable to look me in the eyes as her hair fell over her face like a curtain. She raised a hand and pointed at my chest. “The medallion,” she said finally.

“The medallion?” I echoed, confused. “What meda—”

Realization struck me and I withdrew her brother’s bone-white dagger and gazed at the golden coin strapped to its handle. Etched into it was the sign of Denoir House: feathered wings spread out from a wreathed shield.

Of course.

“Can anyone track me with this, or just you?” My voice came out cold and collected as my narrowed gaze locked onto her. If Agrona or his Scythes were able to hunt me down with a magical tracking beacon, then I would be in danger as soon as I left the Relictombs.

Damn it. If I was still able to use mana, I wouldn’t have fallen for this.

“Only I’m attuned to the medallion,” she said hurriedly, turning to meet my eyes. “No one else can track it, I swear.”

She held my gaze for a moment, her ruby eyes sincere and unwavering until she dipped her head. “Again...I apologize.”

I held out the dagger and coin. “You said that you expected these back one day. Here, take them.”

She didn’t move to accept the offered items. “Grey, I—”

I set the dagger and medallion down on the platform between us, just loudly enough to cut her off. “You’ve told me how. You still have to tell me why.”

Aether leaked from me, rippling in the air to give a tangible weight to my emotions.

“What I said back in the mirror zone was all true,” she said, flinching slightly. “I could tell you were different and...I wanted to know more, to see for myself.”

“Then why not reveal yourself?” I asked icily. “Why go to all the trouble to disguise your identity?”

“No offense, Grey, but passing dogs can tell how standoffish and untrusting you are. Would you have really let me travel with you had you known who I really was?” she asked, raising a brow.

Surprised by the blunt response, I opened my mouth to reply, but Caera continued speaking.

“Besides, I’m always in disguise, no matter where I go.” She smiled solemnly, her hand touching one of her dark horns.

I stared at the Alacryan noble. Even after enduring two zones and a deadly winter storm, her posture remained poised as she sat across from me. But underneath that polished exterior was something that reminded me of myself when I had first wound up in the Relictombs. I could tell how alone she felt...

Letting out a sigh, I spoke once more, breaking the silence. “I want to trust you, Caera, but I can’t.”

“Then don’t, Grey.” Her gaze hardened as she swallowed audibly. “If I harm you in any way, impede your goals, or do anything to cause you to think that I’m sabotaging your purpose here...kill me.”

I remained silent, taken aback by her confidence and resolve.

Thankfully, the sound of little paws plodding across the silky stone floor drew our attention to Regis.

I slid off the edge of the dais we were sitting on, landing the ten foot drop with ease, before walking toward Regis. “Did you find anything?”

“Not a damn thing,” Regis muttered, shaking his head.

“Which likely means we’ll have to venture back out into the snow,” I added with a sigh.

I glanced back at Caera, who hopped off the edge of the platform as well, landing deftly before joining us. Tossing the bedroll that I had given her over her shoulders, she gave us a nod. “We should get going then.”

I shook my head. “The blizzard sounds like it’s getting worse. I doubt you’d last very long out there.”

Caera frowned. “While it would drain my mana reserves by quite a bit, I should be able to endure if I clad myself in my soulfire.”

“It’s not just that. The storm makes it almost impossible for me to see anything even with my enhanced senses. We should set up camp here for now and get some rest while we still can.”

Caera nodded, wrapping the thick blanket tighter around her. “That also doesn’t sound like a bad plan.”

I managed a faint smile before turning to my companion. “And Regis?”

“Yeah, boss?”

“You better spend some time gathering aether. We’re going to need you back at full strength.”

The little shadow wolf grinned hungrily before jumping into my body.