you have one last chance to turn from the darkness. With your assistance we can hold back the armies of Them for a great while longer. Will you join us or will you join with Them?” The Keeper said as Oldrik laughed.
“It has become clear to me that the great decision we made many years ago was the wrong one. The powers that threaten our realm from beyond the borderlands are greater than anything we have ever faced. If we don’t shore up our power now, we may never be able to recover. It’s better to embrace the darkness that we know than to be unprepared for that which we do not.”
“I cannot express the disappointment that I have in you right now, Oldrik. The evils we face in anytime, in anywhere, whether now and then, or time and again, will always be the same. As a Keeper, you should know that better than anyone. I still cannot fathom how you have deluded yourself into believing the great lie. You once glimpsed one of the great Pillars of Truth in the multiverse, but now you have let your arrogance be your downfall. How ironic.”
Oldrik broke off the connection that The Keeper had made and instead merged with the mind of Them. Them now had full access to Oldrik’s mind. The great decision had always been known, but the particulars were what mattered. The secret had been locked away since the beginning, even when Oldrik had first betrayed The Keeper.
Now that the collector was destroyed, the only storehouse of power that remained, at least for those with a dark heart, was that which lay hidden deep within The City of Worms. Its method and its location were what mattered, not the city itself, which was already known. It was the location of the worms which held the power, and the method by which they stored and spent that power, that was important.
In every respect, Oldrik had given himself over to the darkness. He had one more transformation. The instant Them retrieved the knowledge, Oldrik’s body dissolved and melted away. It oozed off the cage and dripped to the floor. Only Oldrik’s non-corporeal essence remained. Black smoke stood in place of where his body once had. Oldrik was now a ghost of his former self. His followers watched as the smoke blew away through the cage and up to the surface above the sinkhole and out over the brutal desert. Oldrik was now one of Them. The black smoke vanished as Oldrik’s essence was consumed by Them. He was no longer an individual being, he had become part of the mindless horde from which Them were composed.
Back at the hospital, Dante’s room had emptied and he was alone with his thoughts. Images flashed in front of him, a memory, but just a snippet of one. He tried to hold on to it, but as he tried, it vanished. He closed his eyes and attempted to retrieve it, but it couldn’t be forced. He had to let it go for the time being.
The flash of a memory interrupted his train of thought. Dante had been pondering what his Uncle Jack had told him regarding the Fron battle, Everville, Zee, and now the collector. It was a lot to take in.
In spite of all the happenings, an urge had been growing in him ever since he’d awakened. It couldn’t be stopped; it was a force that Dante had always had to deal with and was a constant source of discussion between Anika and Owen. It was Dante’s stomach.
Feeding tubes may have provided Dante with the nutrients that he needed to survive, but his body was missing flavor. Anika or Owen would have brought him some food if his situation hadn’t happened so fast. Dante, however, was not so lucky. He would have to make do with the tray the nurse had left by his bed, which had since grown cold. Still, it was better than nothing, and Dante used the fork to shovel in the corn, mashed potatoes, and scary-looking meatloaf that rested on his plate.
Meanwhile, Cleophas had been at his home searching for answers that had now been resolved, but in the process he had uncovered something else. It had to do with the souls of those who had been
“It has become clear to me that the great decision we made many years ago was the wrong one. The powers that threaten our realm from beyond the borderlands are greater than anything we have ever faced. If we don’t shore up our power now, we may never be able to recover. It’s better to embrace the darkness that we know than to be unprepared for that which we do not.”
“I cannot express the disappointment that I have in you right now, Oldrik. The evils we face in anytime, in anywhere, whether now and then, or time and again, will always be the same. As a Keeper, you should know that better than anyone. I still cannot fathom how you have deluded yourself into believing the great lie. You once glimpsed one of the great Pillars of Truth in the multiverse, but now you have let your arrogance be your downfall. How ironic.”
Oldrik broke off the connection that The Keeper had made and instead merged with the mind of Them. Them now had full access to Oldrik’s mind. The great decision had always been known, but the particulars were what mattered. The secret had been locked away since the beginning, even when Oldrik had first betrayed The Keeper.
Now that the collector was destroyed, the only storehouse of power that remained, at least for those with a dark heart, was that which lay hidden deep within The City of Worms. Its method and its location were what mattered, not the city itself, which was already known. It was the location of the worms which held the power, and the method by which they stored and spent that power, that was important.
In every respect, Oldrik had given himself over to the darkness. He had one more transformation. The instant Them retrieved the knowledge, Oldrik’s body dissolved and melted away. It oozed off the cage and dripped to the floor. Only Oldrik’s non-corporeal essence remained. Black smoke stood in place of where his body once had. Oldrik was now a ghost of his former self. His followers watched as the smoke blew away through the cage and up to the surface above the sinkhole and out over the brutal desert. Oldrik was now one of Them. The black smoke vanished as Oldrik’s essence was consumed by Them. He was no longer an individual being, he had become part of the mindless horde from which Them were composed.
Back at the hospital, Dante’s room had emptied and he was alone with his thoughts. Images flashed in front of him, a memory, but just a snippet of one. He tried to hold on to it, but as he tried, it vanished. He closed his eyes and attempted to retrieve it, but it couldn’t be forced. He had to let it go for the time being.
The flash of a memory interrupted his train of thought. Dante had been pondering what his Uncle Jack had told him regarding the Fron battle, Everville, Zee, and now the collector. It was a lot to take in.
In spite of all the happenings, an urge had been growing in him ever since he’d awakened. It couldn’t be stopped; it was a force that Dante had always had to deal with and was a constant source of discussion between Anika and Owen. It was Dante’s stomach.
Feeding tubes may have provided Dante with the nutrients that he needed to survive, but his body was missing flavor. Anika or Owen would have brought him some food if his situation hadn’t happened so fast. Dante, however, was not so lucky. He would have to make do with the tray the nurse had left by his bed, which had since grown cold. Still, it was better than nothing, and Dante used the fork to shovel in the corn, mashed potatoes, and scary-looking meatloaf that rested on his plate.
Meanwhile, Cleophas had been at his home searching for answers that had now been resolved, but in the process he had uncovered something else. It had to do with the souls of those who had been
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