Solus knew there was no way she could escape so she focused on dealing as much damage as she could until her freedom lasted.
“I need information, bitch, and I’m going to crack you open like an egg if I have to.” Solus triggered a mind fusion with the Librarian, but while she employed the telepathic defenses she had practiced with the Horsemen, Nes’hiah was flooded with memories of Solus’ life.
Sure, only sixteen years had passed since she had awoken from her slumber, but they had been quite intense. On top of that, Solus also poured all of the memories from Lith’s and Protector’s lives she had inherited.
‘You have to do much worse than this.’ The elf said triumphant.
Nes’hiah had learned the secrets of Verhen’s powers and everything Solus knew about the current state of the tower from the mind fusion.
‘Once I share this knowledge with the Tree they will-‘ Only once the Librarian came out of the telepathic haze did she notice there was no wand in her hand anymore.
She checked her newfound memories, discovering that during the fusion Solus had sent the living piece of Yggdrasill wood to the Bleed.
‘Do you want me to do worse? I’m happy to oblige.’ Solus triggered a second mind fusion and then a third one.
She kept protecting her own mind while flooding the elf’s with every beautiful and painful experience Solus had endured. By the time reinforcements arrived, Nes’hiah was broken.
“Where’s Lith?” She sobbed through her now-healed mouth. “I need to know that he’s alright.”
Solus couldn’t make a female elf fall in love with her but making Nes’hiah fall in love with Lith was child’s play.
Solus bombarded Nes’hiah with all her memories of him. She replayed every one of his nice gestures, romantic dates, and achievements while replacing all the women in his life with the elf.
By relieving Solus’ memories multiple times, it was as if Lith had been kind, generous, and loving to the Librarian for several centuries. Solus’ feelings for him infected Nes’hiah’s mind and the mind fusion cranked everything up to eleven.
“You don’t know?” The Mental Barricade technique stopped the host’s memories to protect Solus but it also prevented her from learning anything.
“Nobody does.” The elf knew they had only a few seconds before the cruel Chroniclers broke through the door so she used a mind link to share with Solus everything Nes’hiah knew about the recent events in the Hessar region and the Yggdrasil’s plans.
In her mind, Nes’hiah was doing it to defend Solus and let the love of her life retrieve the priceless artifact that the traitorous elves had stolen from him.
‘Release my fragment and my Librarian. Now!’ The Bleed was already doing its job and the World Tree needed sheer willpower to not quiver in agony.
“As you wish!” Solus said as the tower spat out the withered remains of the wand.
The Yggdrasill was enraged but they recovered part of their cool when Nes’hiah walked out of the tower. Her mind was filled to the brim with knowledge that the Tree could smell from a mile away.
One of the Chroniclers approached her, offering Nes’hiah their Yggdrasill weapon to restore her connection with the Tree. The Librarian accepted the spear gracefully and used it to stab the Chronicler in the heart.
At the same time, she unleashed all the spells she kept at the ready.
Nes’hiah weaved the most powerful spells with the largest area of effect she knew. She was aware that a mage wasn’t immune to the secondary effect of her own spells but that was the idea.
The heat, the shockwaves, and the freezing cold killed her along with two more Chroniclers.
‘Lith, I’m coming to you.’ Was her final thought, glad that now the Tree couldn’t pry the knowledge from her and use it to hurt her beloved.
‘What did you do?’ The Yggdrasill roared in outrage. ‘What did you do to Nes’hiah, Elphyn Menadion?’
“Since everyone keeps treating me like a cursed object, it’s only fair that I behave like one.” She replied, turning back the tower in its ring form the moment its energy reserves were full again and the taint in the Fringe had been spread further.
‘It should take the World Fucker two days to prepare my next host.’ Solus thought. ‘When that happens, I’ll use everything Nes’hiah taught me to escape. As long as the Tree don’t get their hands on my tower core, they can’t afford to kill me whereas there’s nothing keeping me here.’
***
Hessar Region, in the middle of nowhere, at the same time.
Nighttime was the worst for Derek. With no sun and no light, his hunger rose to heights that threatened what was left of his shaking sanity.
It was then that the spark of Chaos inside his body spread like cancer, forcing Ragnarök to go all out to protect its master. The bloody scabbard slowly turned black as the agonizing blade consumed the blood and life force accumulated during the day.
The life force was slowly fed to the Void, like a drip, to help him resist the hunger by taking its edge off. The blood, instead, formed an insulation layer that Ragnarök used to fight the Chaos from a safe distance.
The silver gemstone produced light to neutralize the Cursed Element while the black gemstone produced darkness to counter what escaped the silver gemstone. On top of that, the blade circulated different elements inside its Davross body to ensure its own survival.
It was a restless and painful endeavor that would have destroyed a lesser artifact. Only the Davross’ natural ability to draw in world energy, its regenerative properties, and the many crystals embossed on Ragnarök’s surface gave the blade the energy it needed.
Ragnarök knew it was a losing battle. The Chaos was insatiable, forcing the blacking blade to pace itself in a controlled retreat and give up on one milliliter of blood at a time to resist Chaos’ touch until the sun rose.
Then, Ragnarök would have to purge the accumulated Cursed Element, replace the lost blood, and start it all over again. It was a hopeless struggle but the agonizing blade could feel Lith’s presence inside the Void.
Ragnarök trusted its master to return. The blackening blade’s duty was to protect Lith and his baby daughter and Ragnarök wouldn’t give up until there was one drop of mana left inside its power core.
Derek was oblivious to his companion’s suffering, his mind already twisted by two conflicting feelings. On the one hand, he was still upset at the realization of how close he had come to be just like his Earth father.
A cruel monster who had no qualms about hurting others just to feel better about his pathetic existence. A mindless brute who only cared about his own instant gratification.
On the other hand, the hunger burned through his mind, making every other concern pale in comparison. The three thugs and their horses had sated his appetite, but only until the sun had provided Derek sustenance.
In the darkness of the night, there’s was nothing tempering the hunger of the Abomination side. The lack of nourishment caused him a slithering pain that grew more intense with every second he spent without feeding.
