CHAPTER 36: DIVINE SITES

The weapon chamber was a cathedral of death, and Jack its newest supplicant.

The air itself felt heavy, saturated with the residual magic of a thousand battles. Each weapon told a story written in steel and sorcery, and Jack could feel their weight pressing against his consciousness.

The enhanced senses that divine lightning had left him with picked up details that should have been impossible.

The metallic taste of spilled blood that no amount of cleaning could fully erase and the whispered echoes of final breaths drawn in the presence of these legendary implements.

At the chamber’s heart sat Aurelius, and Jack understood immediately why this man commanded the respect of kings and the fear of kingdoms.

He was beautiful in the way that apex predators were beautiful. Every line of his form spoke of lethal efficiency wrapped in deceptive elegance.

His amber eyes held depths that suggested he had stared into the abyss so long that it had stared back and found him wanting.

"Jack Kaiser," Aurelius said, and his voice was like honey poured over steel. "Welcome to your new life."

Jack forced his face into a mask of polite neutrality. Small sparks danced between his fingertips, a habitat that developed since waking up. He quickly clasped his hands behind his back.

’Lord Aurelius,’ he replied, inclining his head in what he hoped was an appropriately respectful gesture. ’Thank you for your... hospitality.’

The chosen one’s laugh was unexpected. "Hospitality. Yes, I suppose that’s one way to describe it." He gestured to a chair that had appeared silently beside Jack. "Please, sit. We have much to discuss."

Jack settled into the chair, noting how it seemed to conform to his body with uncomfortable precision.

"You’re wondering why you’re here," Aurelius continued, leaning back in his own chair with feline grace. "Why has the crown taken such an... active interest in your welfare."

’The thought had crossed my mind,’ Jack admitted, keeping his voice carefully neutral. Around them, the weapons seemed to shift in their alcoves, though he couldn’t be certain whether it was his imagination or some subtle enchantment responding to the conversation.

"You killed Spiralus with a single attack." Aurelius spoke like he was discussing the weather, but Jack caught the flicker of something.

respect? fear? curiosity?

"A disaster-class dragon. Do you understand what that means?"

Jack thought of the destruction he brought. ’It means I’m dangerous.’

"It means you’re invaluable." Aurelius’s correction carried the weight of absolute certainty. "In the past decade, exactly two disaster-class have been eliminated. The first required a combined army of fifty thousand soldiers and took sixteen months. The second was defeated by a team of chosen ones working in perfect coordination. The third..."

He paused, and for the first time since Jack had entered the room, something like genuine emotion flickered across the man’s perfect features.

"The third was Typhon, the king of dragons. And that was a fight we lost brutally."

Jack felt his mouth go dry. He’d known Spiralus was powerful, but to be compared to legends... ’And I killed one with lightning.’

"You killed one with divine lightning," Aurelius corrected, leaning forward with the intensity of a scholar discussing a particularly fascinating specimen. "The difference is significant. Most chosen ones spend decades learning to safely channel a fraction of their patron deity’s power. You summoned enough divine energy to obliterate an ancient dragon and somehow survived the experience. Do you have any idea how unprecedented that is?"

The sparks dancing between Jack’s fingers intensified, and he quickly pressed his palms against his thighs to hide them. "It nearly killed me."

"But it didn’t. And that, young Jack, is what makes you so extraordinarily valuable." Aurelius stood with fluid grace, beginning to pace around the chamber with the measured steps of a predator marking territory.

"The crown has invested centuries in developing chosen ones. Training, resources, and political maneuvering. all to create weapons capable of protecting the realm from threats that conventional armies cannot handle."

He paused beside a particularly wicked-looking blade. It was curved steel that seemed impossibly sharp. "This belonged to Sera’s predecessor. A brilliant woman, talented beyond measure. It took her forty years to reach the point where she could channel enough divine power to threaten a single Disaster class. You achieved something infinitely greater in a moment of desperation."

Jack felt his stomach clench. ’What happened to her?’

"She overextended herself during the Thornwall Rebellion. Channeled too much divine energy and burned herself from the inside out." Aurelius’s tone was gentle, as if discussing crop yields rather than a human life. "Sera found her three days later, catatonic and drooling. We kept her comfortable until the end."

The threat was delivered so casually that it took Jack a moment to process it. When he did, anger flared in his chest. Not the hot rage that had driven him to fight Spiralus, but something colder and more calculating. This man was talking about human beings like they were broken tools.

Aurelius must have caught something in his expression, because his smile widened. "You disapprove. Good. That passion, that fire. It’s part of what makes you so promising. The crown doesn’t want mindless automatons, Jack. We want partners. Allies. People who understand that sometimes terrible choices must be made for the greater good."

’And if I don’t see it that way?’

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees. When Aurelius turned to face him fully, Jack saw something in those amber eyes that made his instincts scream. The cold, calculating regard of someone who had made those terrible choices and found peace with them.

"Then you’ll learn," Aurelius said simply. "One way or another."

The silence that followed was broken only by the faint hum of enchantments and the distant sounds of palace life filtering through crystal walls.

Jack forced himself to breathe normally, to project calm while his mind raced through possibilities and calculations. Fighting was suicide. Even if he could somehow overcome Aurelius, there were two other chosen ones in the palace, plus guards, plus magical defenses.

Running was impossible for the same reasons. Which left only one option: playing the game until he could find a better hand.

’I understand the crown’s position,’ he said finally, hating how reasonable his voice sounded. ’But I have questions. About what happened to me, about the power I channeled. I need to understand it if I’m going to be useful.’

Aurelius’s predatory smile softened into something that might have been approval. "Questions are natural after such unprecedented events. Most chosen ones develop their abilities gradually, with extensive guidance and safety measures. You were... thrown into the deep end, as it were."

’I need to speak with my god,’ Jack said, forcing himself to meet those amber eyes directly. ’I have questions about what happened, about what’s expected of me. About whether I’ll survive channeling that much power again.’

The chosen one’s expression grew thoughtful, and Jack caught a flicker of something that might have been calculation. "Direct divine communion is possible, but rarely necessary. Most chosen ones find that prayer and meditation provide sufficient guidance."

’Most chosen ones haven’t killed disaster-class dragons,’ Jack pointed out. "I think my situation might warrant more direct consultation."

Hahaha!!

Aurelius laughed.

a genuine sound this time, without the underlying menace. "Fair point. Very well, let me explain how divine communication works in practice."

He moved to another section of the weapon display, stopping before what looked like a prayer altar carved from a single piece of white stone. Runes covered its surface, glowing faintly before shifting around.

"The gods speak to us in many ways," he began, his voice taking on the cadence of a teacher. "Inspiration during meditation, symbolic dreams, intuitive understanding during moments of stress. For most chosen ones, this is sufficient. But for more direct communication..."

He traced one of the runes with his finger, and it flared brighter. "There are places where the barriers between the mortal and divine realms are thin. Sacred sites, ancient temples, locations where great acts of faith or sacrifice have weakened the boundaries. At such places, a chosen one can achieve true communion with their patron deity."

Jack leaned forward despite himself. ’Are there such places in Elysium?’