Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Chapter 484: Ryun and Nayra

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Antaro led Ryun and Nayra into the fortress, then left them standing in front of a large double sided door deep into the mountain. Ryun's sense could get glimpses of things, but most everything inside was warded in a way that even he couldn't get through. Though, he didn't try to see, he was a guest after all. Still, he did feel impatient.

Every moment that passed made the prospect of finding Tali whole just a bit lessened. Ryun didn't want to imagine why they had taken her, but he assumed that the reasons weren't anything good.

He was angry, and he was having trouble focusing on anything but the desire to kill everything in front of him. Only his understanding that doing so wouldn't help Tali was holding him back from snapping. He had lived for long enough, and had gotten accustomed with his power well enough, to recognize when his power was trying to push him into a direction. The things that he had sealed into his skills were close to coming into a conflict, and it was straining him. His desire to keep his wordhe had promised to protect his people. And the part of him that was willing to cut down anyone in his way, the monster inside. He understood that sometimes, he couldnt keep everyone safe, that things happened outside of his control. But Tali he had saved her before. He had grown closer with her, he couldnt accept it happening again.

"Are you okay?" Nayra's voice pulled him out of his mind, and he turned his attention on her, but didn't outwardly move. She was staring at him from the side, with what felt great intent.

"I'm fine," Ryun said.

"Your hand is doing the thing," she added.

Ryun frowned, then looked down. She was correct. His hand had rippled into a clawed and elongated hole in the fabric of reality, a caricature of what it usually looked like.

"Ah," he just said and focused, his mind was the driving force behind his Soul, and his Soul was what granted the meaning to his entire being. His arm calmed and returned back to its usual shape.

"So, you are fine?" Narya asked again.

"I'm... Agitated," Ryun said. "We don't have time to delay."

"We don't know if Eratemus will even be able to help," Nayra warned. "You need to be ready for disappointment."

Ryun didn't react. He didn't know what he would do if there was no path for him to move forward. It's been a long time since he had felt as hopeless as he felt now. Memories of a hole in the ground came to him unbidden. A time when he was weak. He had promised himselfnever again.

The doors opened, and Ryun turned his attention forward. Antaro peeked out, and bid them to follow.

He escorted them through a long corridor and into a large room that was empty aside from the shelves on the walls covered with tools. There was another door on the other side, that was warded to the far greater extent than anything Ryun had ever encountered before. He was certain that he wouldn't be able to pierce whatever was behind it.

Antaro stepped to the side, and then the doors across opened. Even then, Ryun couldn't perceive anything beyond them, nor could he see anything past the opening even with his eyes.

A shape entered the room, a monstrosity of bone. It walked on six spider like legs, and it was twice as tall as Ryun himself was. From the center of the body rose a dozen limbs, each different than the last. Some ended in fine and thin digits, while others looked oversized and more akin to pincers, and others still ended in needles. On the back of the spider-like skeleton was a leather harness that held dozens of different tools.

Ryun could see that the center of the skeleton held a thick area enclosed by bone. With his perception and sight, he could tell that the center held a soul, and probably an artificial core, judging by the Qi moving through the center of the bones, animating them.

"Ryun, Nayra," a familiar voice sounded, coming from the construct but not from any type of mouth. Ryun identified the source as a formation on the bottom of the construct, near what looked to be a head analogue, though one that didn't have eyes or mouth.

Nayra blinked, then inclined her head. "Master Eratemus," she greeted.

"I didn't expect any visitors," he said.

"We apologize for coming unannounced," Nayra continued. "But we've attempted to call ahead, you didn't answer your Far-link Orb."

The construct paused, its limbs freezing in place for a moment, before half of them waved away. "Ah," Eratemus said. "I've forgotten. I've put it aside once I went in my sanctum. I didn't wish to be disturbed while I worked. I needed complete focus on this project, its importance is... That was my mistake, I should've left it with Antaro."

The construct took a few steps and got closer, so that it was looming over them. "What has happened? You wouldn't have made a trip all the way here for nothing."

Ryun grimaced, and then spoke, telling him everything.

Nayra closely watched Ryun as they moved through the fortress. As soon as Ryun told Eratemus what had happened, he lowered his bone abomination to the floor and Nayra felt his soul leave the vessel. Antaro then led them up, to one of the towers of the fortress where they met with Eratemus again, now in a ravzor body that didn't even look like it was dead. It had full fur, and aside from the glowing eyes, one couldn't even tell that it was undead.

Ryun was... Not good. His body was twitching, his Essence rippling on a micro scale that was hard to detect. Even Nayra just barely felt it. She knew enough to know that it was his emotions, the turmoil in his Soul.

Nayra was very much aware that Anatalien was one of his closest friends, and she couldn't even imagine what he felt now. She knew that he rarely made friends at all.

She didn't know what to do, how to help him, if she even could.

Once they reached the top, Eratemus approached a pillar that was embedded into the roof floor.

"I've made this so that it can search for the unique attributes of Souls across great distances. I have other relays placed all around the Settled Territories, it gives me a net that should be able to detect any Souls that I am familiar with," He placed his arms on it and she felt a surge of power expand outward.

She couldn't feel much, but she could tell that it had to do with the Soul.

A few minutes later, she felt it power down, and Eratemus stepped back. He turned and met Ryun's eyes.

"I'm sorry, I can't sense her anywhere," Eratemus said, and Nayra stiffened.

Half of Ryun's face turned to nothingness and rippled. Eratemus didn't react, as if he didn't notice it at all. Then again, he was undead, and had been for a long time. She didn't remember him ever really reacting to other's expressions that much. He probably didn't feel that much himself.

"That doesn't mean much," Ryun said, his voice low. "You didn't find her last time either."

Eratemus nodded. "That is true," he said. "But I've refined the process since then, exactly because of that. I've made adjustments that should be able to detect a soul that is even mutilated to the levels of being hard to recognize. I can even scan through the Ethereal. If she had recently moved through to the Ethereal... If I can't sense her, then..."

"She isn't dead," Ryun said. "They would have no reason to take her, they could've just killed her then and there."

Nayra didn't say what she was thinking, what she was pretty sure Ryun knew but was ignoring. They could've wanted something from her, and it had been a while since they took her. They could've gotten it and killed her while they were in the Afterlife.

"There are three possibilities," Eratemus said slowly. "Either she is dead and had already moved to the Afterlife, she has died a True Death. Or she is held somewhere where even my power can't see, which is the least likely of the possibilities. The Unchained are powerful, but they do not possess the knowledge or power to keep a Soul hidden from me. No one does."

"Not even the yeti?" Nayra asked.

Ryun's entire arm rippled into a grotesque wolf-like limb, then back to normal.

Eratemus tilted his head. "No matter how powerful or knowledgeable he is, there are limits. It is possible, I suppose," Eratemus said slowly. "But I don't want you to get any false hope."

"Can you find the Unchained then?" Ryun asked.

Eratemus shook his head. "I don't know them, I have never documented the signatures of their Souls."

Nayra stepped in before Ryun could speak. She could see him twitching, could feel the anger manifesting physically in his body.

"Do you know where we could find them," Nayra said. "Where their headquarters are? That seems like the most plausible location for where they would take Anatalien."

Eratemus tilted his head. "I have many agents across Settled Territories. Some have been working on gathering information about the Unchained, but it was never that interested in them. The High Rankers that they targeted were people that I didn't consider much of a loss."

"So, do you know where we could at least start searching?" Nayra said, and she noticed that Ryun had managed to get himself under control.

Eratemus seemed thoughtful. "I will need to check with my sources, but it is possible, that one of them knows something. I will need some time to reach out. An hour or more perhaps."

Ryun nodded. "Please do, we don't have much time to waste."

Eratemus nodded and the light went out of his eyes, Nayra blinked as the now clearly empty vessel sat down on the ground in a meditative pose.

They settled and waited in silence.