CHAPTER 39: JUDGEMENT AND BETRAYAL

Veltharion gazed upon the Ashlands. He was one of humanity’s many great lords.

And yet, his dominion lay barren. Revolving heavily on importing food from Dawnhaven to sustain its populations.

The Ashlands were named as such because of the state they were in, fire, ash, volcanic rock. Little grew here that wasn’t already born possessing the traits of the Crucible.

And yet, for millennia their house had stood proudly in its tormented landscape.

Powerful, prestigious, grand.

All of these things were now threatened by the immediate threat before them.

An errant son gone berserk.

One who had in a moment of madness sacrificed his humanity, and in all likelihood his very life essence to gain revenge on his own bloodline.

Veltharion spat in disgust at the sight where his son, or the monster that consumed him .

A raging fire consumed everything in its path, as if it were a living being devoid of any thought or morality left.

Evidently, his action caught the beast’s attention as it gazed up at him. A living reflection of Valerius and his persona. But one made of flames rather than flesh.

The monster screeched at Veltharion, and surged forward.

Crashing into him like a meteor falling from the sky.

And yet Veltharion didn’t move.

A barrier of the Crucible’s light formed around him, quenching the flames of the monster his son had turned into.

He sneered in disdain at the spirit before reaching forward and grabbing its wrist, throwing it beyond the pale.

The spirit crashed into a volcanic mountain nearby. Burrowing into its depths, its flames melted away igneous rock and obsidian like they were paper touched by a flame.

Yet before it could scream and rage, a force of nature crashed against it.

Flames of a brighter hue caged the beast, pressing it down with overwhelming force.

It tried to reach through the pillars of fire that acted as a cage, while Veltharion hovered above it. Wings of molten stone burst from his back, like a crucible split open by divine wrath.

"Had I known you’d become such a monumental disgrace, I’d have smothered you in your cradle. But your mother held out hope... a failure I will now correct."

His eyes flashed as runes glared across his armor and face alike.

"Valerius, for scheming against House Ignarion and the Ember Court, for starting a war with Dawnhaven and framing an innocent man, for sabotaging the Siege Effort, wasting the House’s treasury, and obliterating our army through deliberate and malicious treason. I sentence your soul to death. May your spirit be scattered among the winds and denied entry to the Hall of your forefathers!"

Then the cage surrounding the spirit began to burn brighter, larger, faster, the screams of the monster that had once been Valerius continued to grow louder and more agonizing.

And yet despite the fire consuming Valerius inch by inch, his father did not look away. He continued to watch the brutal annihilation of existence with utter scorn and contempt.

In the end, not even ash or spirit remained of Valerius. His existence, and his soul were consumed entirely by Veltharion’s flames.

When the deed was done, Veltharion turned away, without remorse, without grief, without pride. And said nothing.

Valerius was dead; his name purged from the annals of history. And from House Ignarion’s records.

As swiftly as it may have seemed from an outside perspective, the way he went out would have from his own perspective felt like a lifetime of burning in a boiling pit of pitch.

---

Within the depths of Submareth, Thalassaria sat upon her coral throne.

She was in the act of reading reports about her war against humanity.

Waged in silence beneath the waves of the Shivering Sea.

Since she had declared her intent to ravage human shipping, over a hundred human vessels from the various Magi houses were sunk.

Its sailors dragged to the depths of the abyss and feasted upon by that which lurked below.

Naga did not particularly have a taste for human flesh.

But there were other monsters that dwelled in the deep that had such desires.

And those monsters were Thalassaria’s pets. In fact... she felt that perhaps those pathetic suitors of hers needed to be taught a valuable lesson.

Because of this, she immediately swam off her throne and headed towards the drop-off that lay at the edge of the Abyss.

It was a dark pit at the bottom of the Shivering Sea. How deep it went? Nobody truly knew. Nobody but the Abyssal knew such a thing. And Thalassaria.

Her own people dared not venture too close to its edge, whispers and myths of forgotten monsters, that their ancestors had once driven into the Abyss.

Only she had dared its depths, and whatever she unearthed there had not left her untouched.

Staring off the edge, she sighed heavily. The teal leylines across her body began to shimmer and glow.

A beacon at the edge of darkness.

And what it summoned was ancient and terrible.

"Mother.... I have returned...."

An ominous voice echoed through the waves, its soul malicious and ancient beyond reason.

"Hehehe.... Is that my errant daughter I hear? The one who turned on her own mother, and imprisoned her in this darkness? How many years has it been? A thousand? Ten? One seems to lose track when they cannot see beyond their own reach...."

Thalassaria sighed and shook her head...

Memories flooded her skull, memories she had thought were long expunged from her mind.

Thalassaria was ancient, having been born just after the Eidolon’s Exodus, or so most believed.

The truth was, she was even older. She had lived through the last days of the Eidolons, albeit was far too young to remember most of the details from that time.

Her mother... was said to have been firstborn. The first of her kind, twisted and mutated into a Naga by the Abyssal herself.

And her mother had never allowed her to believe otherwise.

She was just about to turn away from the Abyss, where her mother was imprisoned for all eternity, until she heard a wail.

"Wait! You’re not just going to leave me here are you? Didn’t you need my help?"

Thalassaria’s lips curled into a cruel and mocking sneer as she turned her head ever so slightly to its side.

"You mistake me, mother... I didn’t come here to plead for your forgiveness, or beg for your bargain. I came to let you know that unlike you, your daughter is capable of detecting treachery before it reveals its ugly head, and is capable enough to smother it in its infancy. Watch and learn how a true queen deals with the unfaithful."

Thalassaria then swam off as the voice echoed, shrill, and hateful.

"You vile wretch! I should never have laid your egg! When I get out of this prison, I swear I will eat the flesh from your bones as you watch with your last breath! If you truly think I’ve been idle down here... you’ve learned nothing!"