Author's Preface
The Wanderer looked at Skida, and his gaze pierced beneath her skin.
He could see the pulses of her heart, the flow of her blood, her internal organs, and the seven mana circles spinning inside.
He traced the glowing threads of magic bleeding to her boots, following them down, down through the layers of soil until his vision pierced the deep crust of Avaris.
There was a massive mana vein running deep within the earth itself. Looking around, he found dozens of glowing veins webbed beneath the soil like the glowing roots of an ancient tree, stretching further into the darkness than his awakened sight could follow.
"This won't change anything," Skida said, but her voice contradicted the statement. "Your life ends here!"
The Wanderer turned his head back to her slowly. He stared at her for a moment before tilting his head. "You seem... different," he said calmly.
Terrified, Skida flared her remaining mana and conjured a massive volley of metallic spears, hurling them at his face.
He didn't flinch.
The spears evaporated before ever touching his skin.
Slowly, the Wanderer began walking toward her. With every step he took, Skida took a step backward.
"Your circles..." the Wanderer said curiously. "I can feel them."
He raised his right hand toward her and Skida’s mana answered. The seven circles around her heart began to vibrate, grinding against each other.
Skida screamed, her metallic skin fluttered, glitching back and forth between steel and flesh as she fell onto her knees in the dirt.
"Stop! What are you doing to me?!" she screamed, clutching her chest.
The Wanderer replied. "I wonder…"
He clenched his fist, squeezing her seven mana circles together.
The pressure shattered her defenses. Skida’s metallic skin vanished for good as she collapsed onto the ground, screaming in agony and rolling in the dirt.
Under his grip, her circles collapsed together until they were forced into a single massive circle.
The moment the fusion completed, the massive mana vein deep beneath the earth reacted to the vacuum.
A colossal surge of primordial magic shot upward through the bedrock, slamming into her single circle.
Skida’s body trembled beneath the pressure. Forced upright by the sheer force of the energy, she stood frozen on her knees, her arms thrown wide as the earth used her entire body as a living conductor.
Her skin began to crack, the mana pouring from each cut.
Her agonizing screams lasted for only a second before they were buried under the roar.
A massive pillar of pure mana erupted from the ground in her place, soaring straight up through the canopy and piercing the red sky.
The Wanderer lifted his head, watching the colossal beam of light touch the heavens.
And then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the pillar vanished.
Where Skida had been kneeling, nothing remained.
The Wanderer slowly lowered his head, staring at the empty patch of dirt. The terrifying blue aura around him began to recede, the grinding circles slowing down.
He felt a warm liquid dripping from his left eye.
He reached up with a trembling hand to find blood running from his new eye.
The sound of torn clouds grabbed his attention.
High above, the sky tore open once more. The second massive bird of flames was plunging straight toward the vulnerable heart of Valoria.
Driven by the urge to save Serenya’s home, the Wanderer moved between seconds. He hovered between valoria and the massive bird.
The phoenix scorched the air around it, its mana crackling like lightning as it closed the distance.
The Wanderer extended his single arm toward the approaching titan. "Dismantle."
The colossal bird shuddered, the phoenix collapsed inward upon itself and detonated into a torrential wave of water.
The cleansing rain cascaded over Valoria, sizzling against the wreckage and extinguishing the raging fires.
Down below, the glowing rivers of molten stone and lava began to hiss, cooling into dark rocks under the downpour.
But as the flames died in the city, a new fire ignited within the Wanderer. His left eye felt as if it were burning him alive from the inside out. The cosmic energy he had channeled was far too overwhelming for his fragile, mortal vessel.
Then, the clouds broke again. The phoenix appeared, diving in to fulfill its purpose.
The Wanderer stared up at it, his right eye straining as his vision began to blur and fade into darkness. He gritted his teeth. "Not yet..."
Against the protesting agony of his failing body, he forced his trembling hand upward, desperately trying to lock onto the bird. "Dismantle...!"
The phoenix’s descent slowed, its magical hull groaning under his grip. He grunted in pain, pushing his power past its limit.
But it wasn't enough, and the Spiral won't let its vessel perish.
It forced his left eye shut, locking the cosmic iris away. The sudden loss of control snapped his hold on the bird, and his body fell from the sky.
As the wind roared in his ears and the ground rushed up to meet him, he begged the entity inside him. “Please! Just one last time!”
Once more, his prayers went unanswered.
He hit the ground hard, rolling through the cooling rocks, struggling with everything he had left just to remain conscious.
He looked up, as the falling bird of flames reflected in his single eye.
Suddenly, a dome of crystalline light cast itself over Valoria.
The Wanderer’s breath hitched. He strained his neck, his failing vision catching a figure hovering high above the glowing shield. It was Serenya.
Her body was engulfed in a golden aura, facing the falling threat.
He raised a trembling hand toward the sky. "Stop... no..."
Serenya’s aura flared, emitting a series of blinding beams that shattered the crimson sky.
It was the last grand thing the Wanderer saw before slipping into unconsciousness.
"Serenya!" The Wanderer shouted, jolting upright.
"Easy now," Zeek’s voice came from a chair beside him. "You've been unconscious for a couple of days."
The Wanderer blinked his right eye, looking around the infirmary ward. "Where is Serenya?"
"She isn't here. She wasn't injured," Zeek said.
The Wanderer sighed in relief, the tension leaving his shoulders. Then he turned his gaze to the captain, who was wrapped in bandages. "How about you?"
"I'll live," Zeek muttered. "But my men didn't make it."
The Wanderer drifted in their memory for a moment, seeing their defiant faces in the clearing before the slaughter. "I'm sorry. They were good men."
Zeek nodded slowly. "They knew the risks, yet no one hesitated."
A small smile drew on the Wanderer’s lips. "Valorian devotion is something else." Then, his expression furrowed again. "What happened to Serenya?"
Zeek looked the other way. "The whole city saw her," he said reluctantly. "I was only able to get her a trial instead of an immediate execution."
The Wanderer jumped straight from his bed, ignoring the shooting pain in his body, and grabbed Zeek’s collar. "You let her get captured?!"
Tears ran down Zeek’s face as he looked down. "Valoria doesn't tolerate magic. The king can let mages live within the kingdom in some cases if they don't use magic. But she did..."
The Wanderer shook him violently. "She saved Valoria! You all would have been dead!"
"That's the only reason she is getting a trial," Zeek replied quietly.
"What about me, huh? Why am I here and not in a cell?" the Wanderer demanded.
"She claimed she controlled you and channeled her magic through you," Zeek said. "And the Mage Seekers confirmed her admission for what happened when they checked you for magic."
The Wanderer let go of him, turning on his heel and limped toward the door.
"Wait," Zeek called out. "They won't let you see her. Take me with you."
The Wanderer turned back to him, shouting in frustration, "Then move! What are you waiting for?!"
Zeek silently reached down and pulled the blanket away from his hips.
Both of his legs were amputated at the thigh.
He looked up at the Wanderer. "You will have to take me there."