Curselock

Chapter 171: Void Lord

“Ah. Hmm. Well, I can say this was expected, but part of me believed you were lying the whole time. So, there’s that. I’m glad you finally made it, however. I was getting worried.”

Leland spun at the voice, the white of the Void wrapping around him like a cozy blanket during winter. He found the source, Reflection King Harlen, standing idly among the devout homage of his Lord’s home. There was nothing around, exactly as it was meant to be.

But for some reason, Leland felt this area of the Void was more. He couldn’t describe why, but the whiteness surrounding him was deeper. Thicker? Maybe even dryer? He didn’t know, only that this small “island” as he decided to call it, was something of importance. Like a crossroads of sorts, maybe even a waystation.

“Wh—”

The word died in Leland’s throat. For all that had happened in the last few weeks, Leland had not once properly rested. Always on edge, always rushing from one battle to the next. Even when he slept, he didn’t sleep well, the threat of the Valley looming like a panther on the prowl.

But seeing Harlen, a friendly face, exhaustion finally took. He wanted to do nothing more than crash, to fall asleep for a month then wake up to eat a feast and fall back asleep for another month… But Leland had a goal to solidify, he had no time to rest.

Yet, in a way, he did have time. As he had already come to learn, time flowed much slower when he petitioned a Lord. He had returned in moments after riding on the back of the Lord of Erupting Skies, after all.

So, in the end, Leland accepted the reprieve with open arms – or rather, soft knees, because falling to his knees was much simpler than attempting to “sit” upon the Void. Then again, was “kneeling” all that different from “sitting?” Leland didn’t know and only knew that his mind would get distracted if he pursued this line of thought.

Instead, he turned his attention back to Harlen and said, “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you still be back in Ruinsforth?”

Harlen let out a kindly chuckle, his right hand swirling around the white for a moment before returning with an overflowing golden goblet. He sipped the liquid, then with his left hand he made a mimicked gesture, returning with a slightly less gold goblet. He offered it to Leland.

Leland accepted, slurping down the drink with impunity. Alcoholic or not, he didn’t care. Anything was better than water, especially lukewarm water, as that was the only drink he had drunk for the last few weeks.

“The Reflections ended a day after you, Sybil, and that Inquisitor disappeared. Thus, I and my kingdom were relinquished to our eternal home.”

Harlen extended his arms out for a moment, unleashing the Void behind him. For as long as he kept his arms open, the ghostly remnants of his kingdom sang. Some played horns and stringed instruments, others danced with each other through the streets of their ancient homes. It was perfect, it was pristine, it was everything and much, much more. A dead kingdom, but alive and thriving here in the Void.

Harlen pulled his arms back and his people disappeared. “I welcome you to the Void, Leland, but I feel odd with you here. The Void is no place for mortals to be. All life shall be within a domain, either of their own choosing, making, or where they were born. You cannot be here. Not for long, anyway.”

And Leland saw and understood his words. Just from kneeling as he was, the whiteness was nipping at his fleshy form. It was subtle, like grains of sand rubbing against him as he lay on a beach. But eventually those grains will weather him down to the bone. He didn’t expect to be here that long, so Leland didn’t worry about it.

“It is good to see you again, Harlen. And I understand your words. But I did not come to see you. I come seeking the Void Lord, and I will not leave until I am forced or until I speak to her.”

A bit rude, Leland knew, but he was working with many limiting factors, most of all the Void Lord being his last chance and the end of his pathway.

Harlen made a face. “And here I thought we were friends.”

Leland laughed at that. It wasn’t meant to be rude but rather a sarcastic way to ease the tension. And it worked. “We are, and one day I hope to speak with you as equals, rather than the hanger-on son of an Inquisitor. Next time we meet, I’ll have a name for myself, along with Jude and Glenny.”

A somber smile came over Harlen’s face. “Try not to speak so lowly of yourself. ‘Hanger-on?’ Not so much. I recognized you as the Son of the Calamity the moment I met your eye.”

Leland had forgotten about that if he was being honest. “Still, I was in that room due to who my parents are.”

“Perhaps.”

Leland hesitated at the silence. “I don’t know if you know what Sybil, Isobel and I have been through, but Sybil doesn’t have much time… Is the Void Lord available?”

Harlen laughed. Or maybe a chuckle was more appropriate. Either way, he laughed at Leland’s boyish tone. “Asked like a school boy needing to use the toilet.” He flexed his arms and chest, spilling his wine into the Void. “Be strong! Be firm! Confidence! No more ‘childish woe,’ you are in the big leagues whether you believe it or not!”

Leland blinked a few times. Yeah, he was, wasn't he? How many Legacies could say they’ve spoken to as many Lords as he? Probably very few. Probably none at his age. So he stood tall with his shoulders square. He was the Son of the Calamity. Champion of Curses. And the Harbinger of Good… Eh, he wasn’t too sure on that last one. Still, he deserved to be here, and it was time to start acting like it.

“King Harlen of the Void, I come seeking an audience with the Lord of the Void…” His voice lulled for a moment, but picked up when his train of thought caught up with his actions. “I come bearing the gift of conversation and heroic stories.”

Harlen smiled, dipping his head like a servant bowing to a noble. “She is just beyond this crossroad, Leland Silver. I wish you luck in your pursuits.” He held out his arm, gesturing Leland past the thick Void and into the thicker.

Leland moved without hesitation, passing Harlen with a head-dip of his own. He continued on for a moment, glancing back but finding only white Void. He would have no guide for what was to come, but that was fine in his book.

Leland moved forward through the thickness of the Void until instinct told him to stop. He had arrived. Still endless white, the Void stretched until his vision went blurry. It was deeper here, like standing in the shallows of the ocean versus floating within a dark trench.

“Hello,” a voice called, one of brisk fluid.

For a moment Leland tried to identify where the voice came from, but he quickly realized just how foolish the notion was. There was only one other being near him, of course the voice belonged to her.

She stood patiently, her arms draped in white silks and bleached cotton. She was average height, but an endlessness befell her attitude. She neither stood straight nor craned her back, opting to be in both states simultaneously. Two mirror images of her, perhaps more, stood together, each slightly different than the other.

One had her hands calmly placed in front, gripped together like a bystander watching a wedding, the other had her arms up a bit higher, closer to her chest. Regardless of hands, both versions stood in the exact same spot, their legs morphing together into physical neatness.

Leland tried to gaze upon her face, but a familiar veil lay loose across her nose. Only her deep red lips showed through the covering, that and a smile. One version was a prompt, but subdued, grin, like a mother watching their child walk for the second time. The other was a bit more reserved, more in line with someone who was meeting with a familiar business partner.

Leland didn’t find himself drawn to her lips, however. No, he was far more interested in the Lord’s veil. Three times he had met Archons, and three different, but similar, veils obfuscated their true bodies.

His surprise must have shown on his face because the Lord of the Void quelled his imminent question. “Yes, your thoughts are correct. The Archons belong to me, as I belong to them.”

He hesitated. But then, like an ember getting blown back into the kindling, a fire blazed and he remembered to be strong. He curated a question quickly, asking, “You’re an Archon?”

The question wasn’t quite what he wanted to ask, but it opened up enough avenues of conversation for him to be content.

One of her two versions of her lips smirked, the other frowned. “Not so much. Try again if you don't mind?”

Leland swallowed. Maybe the question was bad after all. “Did you create the Archon?”

The two versions of her lips inverted. “Closer. Again.”

He thought for a moment. “What are the Archon?”

Her lips mimed one another, a soft almost muted smile. “The Archon are like you or I. Just being within the Void.”

“But they—” He stopped himself. “What are the Archon’s goals?”

Both sets of lips fully smiled. “To search for habitable Domains and find all the different types of life they could support.”

“And when they want to leave?”

“Then their job is complete, and they return to me and their home.”

Leland frowned at that, which made both versions of the Void Lord frown as well. “But why? The Archons have been around for, well, no one really knows. Surely they already provided the necessary information you require?”

“A mortal’s opinion and question, yes. But in reality, no. The Void expands infinitely, and some worlds and Domains are filled with thriving life. Conversely, there are dying worlds and Domains. It is my responsibility to designate new realms for these dying worlds to join. For stability sometimes, other times for a complete evacuation. There are a few such worlds connected to your own, which is why you have knowledge of other Realms.”

Leland didn’t react much to a completely new understanding of some of the bases of magical history. Summoning beings from other Realms was something every learned mage knew of. Some Legacies, and in turn their Lords, directly used the powers of summoning to their advantage. True summoning, as well, not like the crows he could conjure on a whim but rather intelligent individuals from different worlds.

“But that is no concern of your own. For Archons have been completing what is required of them for far longer than you have been alive.”

That did not sit right with Leland. Not with the sapphire gem Archon they had spoken to. “But they are children?”

The question wasn’t accusatory or anything, far from it in fact. Leland asked like a confused student, although with a bit of firmness in his tone.

Both versions of the Lord of the Void smiled. “The Archons you have met are nothing but semi-sentient golems. A hive-mind of sorts in which a golem who has completed their task and returns to megains individuality and growth. They are not child slaves, if that is what you are thinking. Far from it, actually. Archons are beings of vast knowledge and magical know-how. What better way to learn magic than when they are still, in essence, embryos? A child, yes, but one with the knowledge to create and maintain habitable worlds and Domains.”

Leland did not know how to feel about this. Secrets that had been debated for centuries, all just laid out there with a few simple sentences. Alien life, hive-minds, genius children… It was too much. He didn’t come here for history lessons or to learn the facts about reality. While he did wish to learn more, there was a problem to be solved.

“While I truly wish to know more about, well, everything you have told me so far, people are relying on—”

“Say no more, my child,” the Lord of the Void said. “I understand your situation rather well. You and the girl, Sybil, have shown more compassion for one of my Archons than most do.” One version of her smirked. “Most run in fear.”

Leland said, “Oh I wanted to the first time we encountered one. I honestly thought it was going to be a big monster or a pack of wolves or something.”

The Lord chucked at that. “Tell me about your adventure in the Archon Valley, up to the point you petitioned me.”

And Leland did. He didn’t so much as make it into a story, but he did embellish some of his thoughts or a few of the battles. Harlen did say the Lord of the Void liked stories and conversation. Still, in the back of his mind a nagging sensation rolled around in its sleep. He was worried, desperately worried.

“And then I finally realized the pathway was leading me here. From the beam opening a tear in the sky to the Void, to Isobel being Isobel, I knew I had to come here.”

At some point the Void Lord had conjured a set of chairs for them to sit on. They were minimalistic wooden hunks, a far cry from anything comfortable but then again, the Void wasn’t supposed to be comfortable. The endless white did still nip at Leland’s skin.

In the end, the Void Lord said, “And thus you wish for a way to return to your home.” One version of her crossed her arms, the other touching her chin in thought. She hummed a bit, staring at Leland through her veil. “A proposition. A mutual exchange.”

Leland leaned in a bit.

“I offer you the spell Void Slide. While the name is hardly impressive, it describes its intricacies rather well. The spell allows you, or another, to slide between the Void and arrive at the location you wish. This can only be used once per year, exactly as King Harlen is only allowed to step into the realm of the living once per year. ”

“Just one person at a time?” Leland asked almost instantly.

“Yes.”

He swallowed. That was… usable. Not ideal, not by any means. But he and Isobel could easily travel home on their own. Sybil was the one who needed a quick recourse, not them.

He twiddled with his fingers as he thought. “And in return? You mentioned ‘mutual?’”

“Yes. For the right to Void Slide, you must guide the Archon now known as Sapphire safely into the Void.”

“Sapphire?”

“She has self-named after the first gem she found when she was born into your world.”

Leland mumbled, “How will I do that? I do not understand the magical mechanisms of the beam opening the Void.”

The Void Lord smiled, both sets of lips curling up as she spoke, “Just ask Sapphire. She will show you how.”

“This is agreeable as long as I can cast Void Slide before ensuring Sapphire escapes to the Void.”

For a moment two dim orbs shone through the Lord’s veil. They bore into Leland like those of the Undying Lord. He stifled a shiver, setting his spine. Inside his heart beat with auspicious fervor, fueling him to remain strong despite a crushing weight upon his shoulders and a flipping stomach. He had stood before Lords and their ire before, this was no different.

Eventually the pressure released and the Lord of the Void looked away. Or rather, one version of her looked away while the other stared on ahead. “This would not be a fair trade. You have every chance to ignore my request for your own. Why would I ever agree to this?”

The answer was easy. Leland almost scoffed at the disrespect, he didn’t though and instead said, “Because I’m not that type of person. I – we really – were going to help Sapphire well before I learned she was tied to you. Sybil needs to get home to her mother before she changes. You know this, and well, you hold all of the power in this negotiation. Why would I ever risk her to defy you?”

“Mortals do things for odd reasons all of the time. Just look at my Harlen. Why did he enter a deal with the first Queen of the Palemarrows? The promise of protection during his yearly stint on mortal lands? Foolish to waste such a gift.”

Leland frowned and said nothing. Both versions of the Void Lord frowned.

A moment passed. Both versions looked away. “I guess I should respect the Calamity’s claim on you. You are her first ever Legacy, after all.”

Leland sputtered to a stop at that. He didn’t show it, however. Not physically, at least. He was the first ever Legacy of Curses? That didn’t sound right… but then again he was Champion. A defaulted Champion, that was.

If the Lord of the Void noticed Leland’s internal strife, she didn’t comment on it. Instead she said, “Fine. The contract is set and agreed to. Goodbye young Calamity, and good luck.”

Before Leland could react, he was cast away from the Lord’s presence and toward his world.

Somewhere far away, the Lord of Curses eavesdropped on her Legacy’s conversation with the Void Lord. He was sent back with what he needed, which was a relief, but now he knew the one secret – well, one of a few secrets – that she was planning on telling him later.

Oh whatever, she thought, returning to the issue at hand.

She strutted forward a few steps, spinning around her finger a physical loop of twine with a key tied in . A cage the size of a moon rustled and shook beside her, but the little old lady didn’t seem to care much. She was antagonizing the Lord locked within, but that was purposeful. In fact, the key she twirled around was also to aid in that fact. It wasn’t even the true key to the cage! Ha!

She smiled for a moment, then remembered that Leland was most likely going to be annoyed the next time they met.

She sighed, and then cursed.