Ambrose held up his hand. “One I couldn’t explain without further research, which is why I didn’t inform you immediately.”
“Fuck!” Sylas bit out, stepping back and pacing back and forth. “The second you even suspected those missing necromancers weren’t actually dead as we’d all determined, having not heard or felt a single thing for two fucking decades, you should have come to me!”
“With what? A feeling? Not knowing where they were? How they’d survived without detection all these years? Or how they were precisely connected to a disturbance to the balance? With just fearmongering? Would that have served any of us well?”
“It would have set off alarms, Sylas,” I said. “You would have launched your own investigation.”
“And with Winter being connected to necromantic issues, you would have done so rashly,” Ketheron agreed. “Not that Icould blame you for that. No one would.” He smiled. “It’s just more proof of how dearly loved Winter is.”
As Sylas scrubbed his hand over his face, Ambrose looked at Ketheron. “Your knowledge of Ruxnoth, treasure?”
“He holds True Celestial status. He began practicing a warped version of it, where he twisted the power so dearly that he managed to sever the tether the Celestial Plane had to him. He was once friends with Cassius, given their common belief that the Celestial Plane held too much control over the mortal world here. Ruxnoth’s concerns were about his own desire for power, though, not for the people here. He abhorred the restrictions the Celestial Plane forced upon its soldiers. Before Cassius was marked as unsalvageable due to his alliance with Ariana Martel when he was supposed to be her Guide, Ruxnoth was marked for Fallen status. But Cassius’ defection was prioritized. Before Ruxnoth could be stripped of his status, the Severance happened. I now believe he came down the same time as Cassius and hid his presence on the mortal plane here under Cassius’. When the Severance occurred, he somehow shielded himself from everyone. No one knew he was here and he’d broken his tether to them, so he wasn’t sent back up to the Celestial Plane with the rest of them who tried to prevent the Severance.”
“He managed it through creating his own pocket dimension, which are beyond detection,” Ambrose filled in. “Then, when Morien began targeting necromancers, he offered them refuge in return for their help.”
“Their help with what precisely?” I asked.
“In creating much more than just a pocket dimension. A metaphysical construct fueled by True Celestial power and Necromancy.”
I started.
Ketheron took an uneasy step back.
And Sylas choked.
Ambrose went on, “Essentially, it’s a warped, parasitic dimension grafted onto the edges of death itself. Unlike the Valley of the Dead which has neutral balance, this is decidedly unnatural and an abhorrence when it comes to the balance of nature. Nor can it be sustained.” His grave expression passed over each of us. “It needs access to life—this plane, the realms—and the construct requires eternal necromantic architecture.”
“You’re saying Ruxnoth means to bring this construct onto the mortal plane to cement its legitimacy and use Winter’s everlasting nature to forever sustain it?” I asked.
“That is what my investigation suggests, yes.” He told Sylas, “And this is why you cannot perform the Blood Trace. You cannot break the Death Seal either.”
A snarl escaped Sylas. “You’re asking—no,telling—me not to go after my son?”
“I’m telling you not to do it this way.”
Sylas started for him and I burst between them, pressing my hand to Sylas’ chest, having to forcibly hold him back. So long as he didn’t invoke his magic. I saw Ketheron’s same concern as he watched with emotion he was barely keeping in check.
Sylas continued snarling at Ambrose, grinding out, “There is no other way to—”
“We need that link to remain. Should the worst come to pass. Say we extract Winter today, within the next few hours, that doesn’t mean he’s safe from Ruxnoth’s corruption. And if he’s turned and Ruxnoth is able to achieve his goal, the only way to stop it and to safeguard the very fabric of reality, let alone the balance, will be to use that link.” He took a moment, then said, “To use your power, the generational connection in the Death Seal between Winter, you, and Morien to override Winter’s necromantic power at its root.”
“No,” Sylas rumbled.
“You’re suggesting Sylas essentially unmake his own son,” I warned Ambrose.
“If the worst befalls us and Winter, then that’s our fail-safe.” He looked between us, particularly Ketheron. “Can you tell me you see any other solution?”
Ketheron winced and shook his head, then looked away.
“Transmortalisis what Ruxnoth calls Winter,” Ambrose informed us.
“Beyond death,”I uttered.
“Yes. So you see his stance when it comes to Winter?”
“I do. However, it won’t come to that,” I told Sylas who I was still holding at bay. “Winter won’t succumb to corruption.”
“I hope things play out that way, too,” Ambrose said. “Believe me. That boy is such a gentle soul and he deserves better. Your family deserves peace. But we must maintain a fail-safe, regardless.”
