“Elgar, are you… you all right? You look… I don’t understand what you did here.” Balthazar’s gaze kept flickering from him to the dead man. “Is that… but it can’t be, because I… I killed him. Ikilledhim.”
Balthazar swayed, which had Christian grasping hold of him and steadying him.
“It’s okay, Balthazar,” Christian said. “He’s gone.”
“Yes.Again,” Balthazar joked weakly.
“He brought the Roan form back just as I did with the Harrows,” Caemorn said with another steadying hand on Balthazar’s shoulder. “That is all that has happened here. You did kill him.”
“I could well believe he could gaslight me into believing I had when I hadn’t, but… yes, you’re right. He brought his Roan Tithe form back,” Balthazar let out an uncertain laugh. “Good grief.”
“Yes, and this shows that he is not you, Grandsire. To use so much power simply to look as he once did with Master when it is not his original face and he can inhabit many forms? He does not even think of himself as such,” Elgar explained to Caemorn and the others. “He sees this face as his.”
“Elgar, you are trying to see light in this darkness,” Caemorn said.
“No, I am being quite factual. But you can see yourself, Grandsire. You can question him.” Elgar took out the ruby soul gem and offered it to Caemorn. “Christian will make sure he tells the truth when you do.”
The Kaly Vampire stared at it as if he couldn’t quite believe what Elgar was handing him. Caemorn slowly took it from him. He clasped it tightly before sticking it in his own pocket. Hekept a hand over it for a moment as if to make sure it didn’t disappear.
“You trapped him in a soul gem, Elgar?” Christian asked, brow furrowed.
“No, Christian, I have no such power. I made him do it to himself,” Elgar answered.
“Youmadehim?” Balthazar covered his mouth with one hand for a moment before dropping it. “And you also kept control of these two?” He pointed with his other hand towards Legion and Shaela. “All at the same time?”
“Yes, but this is only a slice of Roan. One of many slices, I think. So it was not as if I was holding Grandsire with my mind and them,” Elgar pointed out. “That would be… very difficult even for you.”
Balthazar gave Caemorn a sad smile. “Yes, I rather think it would.”
“This battle does not end our enemy. It merely takes out some powerful soldiers,” Elgar said.
Weryn felt Legion’s pride at being called powerful by a being who was clearly second to none except to Eyros himself. Weryn was not sure what he felt. He had not bested Legion in combat. He had not torn the War Childe apart. He had done little in this battle. Elgar had taken the lead and done it all.
What is left to do may be the hardest. Do I just kill Legion? End them?
“Yes, I didn’t think it would end so easily. Not that this was easy, I can see that, but… it's not over. ” But then Balthazar was shaking himself. “What am I doing? We came here to saveyou. Not question you when it sounds like there is a bloodbath going on out there!”
“There is,” Weryn said, shaking himself. “My creatures are keeping the undead at bay, but at great cost. We must… go.”
Forsworn is lost. Lost. Lost. But what is the cost to try and keep it?
No longer did the thoughts in his mind have different voices. No longer did they sound like two different people. There was only one voice. And yes, there was grief and loss and rage and pain in that voice, but there was also happiness and relief and love. Grayson was alive and waiting for him. His best friend was right there. He was connected to his Bloodline and the other Immortals in a way that he hadn’t been in so long. Maybe had never been.
“With Christian and Balthazar’s assistance, I believe I can break the Necrolyte’s power,” Caemorn said as he swung around to face Weryn. “It will be difficult, but if you can bear to sacrifice a few more of your creatures… for a few hours… perhaps a day or two or… We can break it. We can restore the land.”
This is Kaly? Yes, this is Kaly. But different. Just like I am different. He is willing to do whatever it takes to fix this.
“But at what cost?” Weryn found himself asking.
“The cost?” Caemorn clearly was confused.
“To you. To them.” Weryn inclined his head towards Caemorn and then to Balthazar and Christian. “There would be a terrible cost, would there not? To stop this? To even try? Say you are successful, the three of you would be drained at best and at worst?”
He studied Caemorn’s face. He was determined to do this. To sacrifice himself upon this altar. To do whatever he could to fix this. To make amends. And the others were willing to do it too. To help him. To get him back the city he had lost for reasons that were all his fault.
Are they doing this for me? For himself? For Daemon? Maybe for everyone. But I can’t let them. This is my turn to do something different. To protect instead of destroy. That is what a Soldier can do. Protect. I will protect these people.
“Yes, but if we do not attempt this then Forsworn will remain infested with the undead for who knows how long. The effect of the Necrolyte will spread and… it will be terrible,” Caemorn said quietly. “So there is no question that we must–”
