Light orbs circled the room, illuminating the enormous source of water at the center. She fully expected to find a small army arrayed against her, bearing blades of lightning, and a wall of lightning closing off her escape. But there was only Serak, on his knees.
The Father of Guardians knelt on the hard stone, staring into his hands. They trembled, but with fury or grief she could not tell. Then Elenyr noticed a nearly invisible chain extending from his body to the source of water.
Her eyes widened as she understood. Guardians were either chained to a source, or left unchained. Chained guardians were more powerful and stable, while those on their own were usually quick to fall to madness. Serak and Draeken were exceptions to that rule, their power greater than their chained cousins. Yet here Serak was, shackled.
“Have you come to gloat?”
Serak spoke in a whisper, the voice of a broken man. Elenyr did not advance, her eyes searching the room. Even now, after all Serak had done, she remained wary. But there was nothing, only Serak chained in a way that even Elenyr could not break.
“I cannot blame you for your caution,” Serak said. “But you have won, and my creation has turned against me.”
“I have hardly won.”
He gathered the chain and stood, thrusting it towards her. “You don’t call this a victory? Here I am, caged like a beast. I sacrificed for ages, and this is my reward.”
His voice turned savage, his chest heaving, his eyes sparking with rage. The stone floor trembled and crackled, and the water source roiled, turning white as it churned. But Serak’s rage departed as quickly as it had appeared, and he grimaced.
“Where did I err?” he whispered. “I planned for every contingency, every possible turn of events. But never this.”
“We made the same mistake,” Elenyr said. “We both thought Draeken could be tamed.”
His eyes snapped to her. “You.” The word was like gravel from his teeth. “It’s your fault the fragment of Mind pushed Draeken out.” He advanced upon Elenyr, his features contorting. “I planned on a Draeken with the fragments intact. He was supposed to retain the influence you had created. Instead my master was left alone.”
Serak reached out and clenched a fist. The walls of the corridor smashed together. Unharmed, Elenyr remained in place, the stone passing through her ethereal form. Serak opened his fist and the walls opened—before smashing together again, and then again. The Father of Guardians screamed as he sought to destroy Elenyr, the very mountain quaking as he feverishly crushed the corridor.
Elenyr didn’t move as the stone turned to spikes that pierced and shattered through her body, only to reform and attempt to crush her anew. His chest heaving, Serak brought his hands together, cleaving the ceiling apart and pummeling Elenyr, the stones grinding through her, cracking and parting from the pressure. Then he collapsed to his knees with a roar of primal rage.
“YOU STOLE MY VICTORY!”
Elenyr took a single step out of the blocked tunnel. “You sought to kill my sons.”
Her voice was cold, and she turned her sword outward. Serak’s eyes lifted to the blade, and the pain in his gaze elicited a measure of pity. But not enough to spare Serak’s life. Not after what he’d done.
“So you’re here to kill me?” he asked.
“I am, but I’d rather have your help.”
Serak released a rancid bark of laughter. “You think I would help you? I’d rather die.”
“I think you would rather see Draeken destroyed,” she said quietly.
“HE IS MY CREATION!” Serak charged to the end of his chain, his face just inches from hers. But he did not reach for her again. His eyes blazed, his chest heaved, but his expression conveyed an ache.
“He is going to destroy everything,” Elenyr countered.
“Then kill me,” he sneered. “Do what you have sought since the moment we met.”
“No.”
“Draeken would have killed your sons,” he snarled. “I would have caused their end.”
“Dying will not end what you have begun.”
He stared at her, the anger gradually melting from his features, to be replaced by shame. He turned away and took several steps, his trembling fingers rising to his face. His shoulders hunched, he spoke without turning.
“You helped kill my beloved Elsin,” he whispered. “You destroyed her attempt to protect Lumineia, and now you come to destroy mine.”
“Draeken has destroyed your plan,” Elenyr said. “I would have, given the chance, but Draeken has always been the foe you did not see. Even if he possessed my fragments inside, the darkness of his soul would not be suppressed.”
Serak shook his head, but his silence spoke volumes. Serak could not disagree with her statement because he’d seen the truth with his own eyes. He’d failed, and to his utmost shame, his creation would use his plan to destroy everything Serak had wanted to protect.
“I have hated you for ages,” Serak ground the words out. “Hated you for what you did to my Elsin, and the guild of Verinai. I will not help you.”
“Then your shame will last an eternity,” she said.
He finally turned and met her gaze. His eyes were hollow, his features shattered with guilt. Anger could not hide the truth, that by bringing Draeken into being, Serak would be the destroyer of Lumineia.
Elenyr’s features hardened as she advanced to him. “Draeken will obliterate the kingdoms. He will kill the people, slaughter soldiers and innocents until nothing remains but his fiends and his slaves. This free world—the only free world in the Krey Empire—will be left desolate.”
He retreated from her ethereal form, wincing at her words. She did not relent, her voice rising as she proclaimed his guilt, laid bare his greatest failure, and with every word Serak stumbled away.
“You will be known as the creator of this holocaust,” she said, “and until my dying day, I will make certain the people know how you created Draeken, and all of the blood on his hands—will be on your hands. I will erect monuments and pillars with the tale, I will write it on walls of stone and paper, in books and in memory. And if Draeken destroys them all, I will invite the Krey Empire to Lumineia, and help them destroy Draeken and his army of fiends. Then your failure will be remembered in the Empire, and your shame will be eternal.”
Serak retreated and reached to the stone, the floor rising into spikes. But this time they were pointed at himself. She turned corporeal and slashed the spikes, shredding them as quickly as they formed. Serak bellowed and tried all the harder.
“Let me die!”
“Your shame will remain!”