Noah walked through the entrance of the giant castle, marveling at its construction. A giant staircase led up to the massive castle gates that shone under the light of the sun with a silvery glint, refracting light at its surface to create a glittery effect that gave the place an ethereal presence. Bun Bun and Tony flew around the area, sniffing and checking out various places around them.
“Man, this place must’ve taken quite so ti to build,” Noah said, glancing at the swirling stairs moving all around the castle. He noted the skies above him changing at a far greater intensity than the movent they took would indicate, with clouds flying past far behind with each step.
“They built this castle as a gift to Ryugan. One of the few human Ascendant Monarchs of the ti had it built in honor of Ryugan. He never liked the gaudiness of it, but there were no other monunts quite this well crafted in their magical capacities. When Ryugan created this realm, the castle had naturally ford an anchor for it,” Zax said, as they walked up the stairs. “You seem to have noticed the clouds, yes?”
“Yeah, not quite sure what’s happening there.”
“This pathway has a spell put upon it, the staircase extends space for miles. Given the nature of the Astral rift, reality is easier to alter, and any who cannot comprehend the spell will be forced to walk for weeks on end, before they ever reach the castle itself.”
Noah whistled, finding himself in awe. Only after Zax had ntioned it, did Noah’s senses begin to pick up upon the stretched layers of space in the area. Even with his Astralwalker path, Noah still struggled to look past the spell active in the area.
Zax smiled. “This is why you went to the trouble of freeing us. And though the cultists may have entered the castle, it took them many sacrifices to make their way through the place. Their insolence was not without a price.”
“Right,” Noah said, looking out to the rest of the Astral Rift. “I do wonder how my companions will be able to enter the castle though.”
“There’s plenty of entrances. Most do not have nearly as many obstructions as this main pathway does. Though each has their own traps and security asures in place, but with ti and a lack of repair, not all remain functional anymore,” Zax said, glancing back at Noah. “We’ll be able to check in on your friends once we have arrived inside the castle.”
Noah gave the dragon a nod, taking in the scenery as they went. “You have ntioned Ryugan a few tis. He was also a human, right?”
“Indeed. Though he was a peculiar one. Oh, did we ever tell you that he was an Outerworlder as well? One touched by fate, much like you. Though that’s where the similarities between the two of you end. Ryugan was ticulous, he liked being prepared, and he hated jumping into things without thinking them through. He was also sowhat paranoid,” Zax said, a smile upon the dragon’s face as he brought up mories. “One ti, he was so worried that there was a trap set by his enemies that he managed to sneak into their encampnt and capture their leader, just to ask him what the trap was,” the dragon said, laughing at the mory.
“Really? Dang, that’s kinda cool actually,” Noah said.
“Oh it gets better. When we told him that he had their leader, and would not need to fight against an entire army by himself anymore, he thought about it for a few monts and then said ‘but that would be an unfair match.’ And sent the general back so that he could beat the traps they’d set up fairly. They surrendered before he could try.”
Noah chuckled at the story, trying to imagine a war against a single man.
“This realm was built by him in his later years of life. Ryugan had tried to find ways out of Erandir, and found the way blocked. Sothing prevented him from returning to his world, and he had made it his quest to find out why. There were still Outerworlders who would arrive on Erandir, and Ryugan had found and gathered many under him to try and understand what prevented them from returning back the way they arrived here. And what it was in this realm that called them to its lands. Eventually, as he continued to gather people, they began to look to him for direction and support. This realm ended up becoming one of many of his projects to help the people who had no land to call ho. Outerworlders for one, but also forr slaves, many of them,” Zax said, looking at Noah. “Perhaps it’s fate yet again that you have arrived here then.”
“Perhaps. I don’t really believe in fate, but I t the goddess of Wisdom, Avera, and she told sothing similar. That fate brought to her. What does that even an?” Noah asked.
“It ans that your actions have predictable outcos, Noah. Fate is rely the most likely path we take. It is not a predetermined outco, but a deeper look at our reality, and an understanding of how things will unfold,” Zax said.
“Not sure I understand.”
“Let us explain it to you this way. If you take a rock and drop it, what do you think will happen?”
“It will fall?” Noah replied.
“How do you know?” Zax asked.
“Because… gravity? Because that’s what happens if you drop sothing?”
“Precisely. It is not that you could see the future, but that your understanding of the world allows you to know what path the rock will take. The rock does not know this, it does not know where it will go or what path it will take, but you can see the rock, see the world around it, and know that should you let go of the rock, it will drop. Fate, Noah, is just that. The ability to look at the world, and know how it will unfold.”
“That’s… an interesting way to look at it. It sounds an awful lot like calculating every variable involved to find out what the future would be. Are people really that predictable?”
“In so ways, yes. In others, not really,” Zax said, glancing up. “You coming here was fate. And perhaps you eting us and freeing us was fate too. But what you will do from this mont? That rests solely upon your hands.”
“How co fate rarely seems to change?” Noah asked.
“Because people rarely change, Noah. How likely was it that you would have not tried to free us of our chains back then?” Zax asked.
“Well. I don’t know. I figured it was worth trying. And I didn’t have a way to enter the castle, you were stopping ,” Noah said.
“We were never stopping you. rely preventing you from entering from the front gates. There are other entry ways Noah, and you could’ve chosen at any ti to walk away and enter one of those. But instead, you went through weeks of grueling training to free us,” Zax replied.
Noah looked at the dragon, feeling an uncomfortable emotion rising inside of him.
“People rarely change their nature, Noah. We have seen it. They may slowly mature and shift directions, but their trajectories are much like a rock falling down, or a log floating in a river. It is the river, and the gravity, that decides their actions, not them,” Zax said.
Had he simply been drifting on a river? Unable to pick what path he would head towards? The thought made Noah uncomfortable.
“You have the Fate Touched perk, don’t you?” Zax asked, looking at Noah.
“I do, yeah,” Noah replied.
“Do you know what it does?” Zax asked.
Noah brought up the perk description.
[Fate Touched (Divine)]
You’ve been in the presence of soone beyond fate itself, and have been marked by them. Fate will struggle to take a hold of you, and unlikely circumstances, both good and bad, will find their way to you.
“That fate will struggle to take a hold of , and I’ll have unlikely things happen around ,” Noah said.
“You are rely reading what the Astral script is telling you,” Zax said. “But that is not the whole picture. We just told you, everyone can change their fate. Then, if so, what does being Fate Touched an?”
Noah frowned, thinking over it. “I don’t know,” he admitted, looking back at Zax.
“It ans that you can see when fate changes significantly. Your fate was changed by soone else. And you possess the ability to do the sa for others,” Zax replied.
“How?” Noah asked.
“You bring change Noah. You are an outsider to this realm. If this realm is a rock, moving in a fixed path, then you are the wind blowing its off the course. Your ability allows you to bring change to the fate of those around you. Think about the last ti your perk activated. We felt it happen when you broke our chains. And as we said, that was your fate. But what was ours?”
“To be… trapped?”
Zax gave a grim nod. “To remain bound in chains, lanting our choices and actions, unable to protect the mory of our friend, or his legacy. That was our fate, Noah. The path our choices had brought us to. But you altered it. Just by existing, you continue to change the fate of others.”
“That feels like a lot of responsibility,” Noah said.
“It is, but have you ever thought about what it ans for your own fate? Your existence changes the world around you, your fate brings change to the lives of others, but is that sothing you truly wish to do? Is that a path you want to embark upon? Do you choose to change the fate of others, or are you rely flowing on a river of fate created by soone else?”
Noah stopped in his tracks, looking at the dragon. “I don’t know,” he replied.
“It is sothing to think about Noah. Think upon your path, on what your purpose is, and whether it is sothing you have chosen for yourself. When you alter fate significantly, your perk activates and tells you of it. Think of the last ti that happened,” Zax said.
“When I broke your chains,” Noah said.
“What about before that?” Zax asked.
“When I t Hellion and gained her blessing, despite my ties to the Void. When I t an Ascendant Life Wyrm protecting its egg, but instead of killing us like bugs, it gave the sick child with us its scale, and let us go.”
“And in those monts, whose fates were changed? Was it yours, or was it theirs?”
“It was…” Noah paused looking into the dragon’s eyes as he understood what he ant to say. “It wasn’t mine. I… never changed my own fate.”
Zax did not reply.
“How can I?” Noah asked.
“That’s sothing only you know the answer to,” the dragon said, turning around and Noah realized they had reached the entrance of the castle.
“Welco to our ho, Noah,” Zax said, touching the giant tallic gates as they shuddered open, revealing a massive castle… covered in dark ooze and swirling creatures.
A voidling leapt outwards and was caught by Zax, who vaporized it in a second.
“Let’s go clear the vermin,” the dragon said, blue lightning crackling around it.
Noah nodded, putting the thoughts of fate behind him as he entered the castle. He had a Shard to find.
User Comments
0 comments from readers