SHORT STORY: His Siren - Part 4
Part 4 of Sienna and Immeral’s story is here! You can read the previous parts here: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Previously…
Immeral refocused on the monsters in the near-darkness and felt his shoulders droop a fraction. Now that he wasn't worried about hitting the mortal, he could finish this.
His magic began to spread over his body, warming him from within and lighting the room with a sickly green glow. I haven't truly let loose in a while.
The prospect thrilled him.
Part 4
Immeral let the magic flood across his body, revelling in the burning of his lungs that intensified with every breath. This agony was familiar—almost a comfort. His entire existence had been steeped in violence; this was no different. It was fitting his magic only worked properly in moments like this.
The masses of limbs screamed and continued to multiply, emboldened by his inaction. A stupid move on their part.
The first mass launched at him, and he planted his feet firmly on the ground right before it collided with him. It sank its claws deep into his shoulder, reeled back, and ripped them out. He grunted as black blood splattered the dirt, and the wound began to pulse—searing pain rendering him blind for a moment.
His eyesight returned as the creature began shrieking in pain as magic seeped into its limbs. It started from the hand that had attacked him and rapidly snaked its way up the arm and to the mass. The magic was becoming a part of the creature, lending it a sickly glow.
The command barely had time to form in Immeral's mind before the creature exploded in a shower of gore and green magic. Blood soaked his clothes and he smiled.
The other creatures rushed him at once, and Immeral focused on the pain in his shoulder. It fueled his magic and he let the—already slipping—rein he had on his power go. It began to flood away from him, filling the cavern.
Distantly, he could see the magic oozing into the cavern's dirt and tainting the cinder tree's roots.
Screams filled the air as the light contaminated the monsters. He could feel when the magic settled, having engulfed the entities, and then let it sunder them.
Over the sounds of their unearthly cries, Immeral could hear the tree's roots beginning to crack.
As the last creature burst apart, the roof began to shake and the air was choked with magic and bloody mist.
He flicked his fingers to dispel the magic, but nothing happened. With a panicked curse, Immeral tried again. Instead, all he could feel was his power spreading, increasing even as he tried to rein it in. It had moved even further into the earth and crypt, rapidly infecting the tree all the way to the tips of its branches outside.
His magic was draining fast and he had no control of it. A fleeting thought of, Hopefully, Sienna is far away from here by now, gave him only a momentary pause.
Immeral quickly Realm-Stepped out of the cavern. As he did, he felt the tether on his magic snap, and an explosion rocked the earth. He stumbled out of thin air just beyond the rotting fence of the graveyard and watched in fascination as the crypt and cinder tree were swallowed up by the sinkhole his magic had created.
He looked around at the graveyard and noted it was in even further disarray than what he'd expected. The explosion had turned the gravestones to little more than dust, and pieces of the tree lay scattered—red branches now a sickly green colour that faded rapidly, leaving them black. A sigh of relief slipped from him at not seeing Sienna's body amongst the rubble.
Immeral couldn't suppress his grin, relishing how his magic—normally buzzing under his skin in a way just faint enough to never ignore—had simmered down to a pleasant humming. His shoulder throbbed in pain, matching his slowing heartbeat. Just what I needed today.
He took one last look at the graveyard, steadfastly refusing to think about the consequences if the caeles of Nillioth that had been present earlier discovered that he had demolished the area. Then, he used the last of his magic to Realm-Step back to his house.
The moment he was inside, he tore off his now-ruined vest and got to work cleaning the wound on his shoulder. The last thing he needed was an infection from a creature made of dead limbs.
Once he'd wrapped his shoulder, he stripped off the rest of his clothes and sank onto his bed. It didn't take him long to fall asleep.
He was awoken only a few hours later by a banging on his door. Immeral groaned as his shoulder gave a painful throb in protest as he sat up—adrenaline now gone.
"Go away!" He called out, even though he knew whoever was on the other side wouldn't listen. Only a select few people knew where he lived, and none of them understood the concept of "personal space".
"Like fuck I will!" Was the response he received, and he let out another groan. They know. That was enough to get him moving.
Immeral stood and pulled on a clean pair of pants as another round of banging sounded from the door.
"If you don't let me in- "
Immeral cut the other man off as he swung open the door to find Tomir glaring at him—the man's one good eye glowing a deep red that matched the curling ram-like horns. "Relax, I had to put pants on—unless you'd rather see me nude."
The relicti stalked past him into the house. "Shut the fuck up," Tomir snapped, gripping his shoulder-length black hair in irritation.
Immeral raised an eyebrow but closed the door and followed his—usually affable—best friend into the sitting room. "I see you've picked up another of Sybil's numerous, charming qualities."
"Don't," Tomir warned as he began to pace around the small room. "Sybil told me she just responded to a massive explosion caused by celestial magic in a graveyard outside Aiova."
Immeral froze and tried to tamp down the unbidden panic that flooded his limbs. "You know," he started casually, "I'm sure whoever did it—"
Tomir cut him off and fixed him with a glare, "She managed to get there before anyone else and cleaned out the traces of your magic."
"How can she be so sure it was mine?" Immeral asked, still holding onto the hope that Tomir was bluffing—or that Sybil had somehow gotten worse at identifying magical signatures.
A scoff told him that it was a useless hope. "She's seen the aftermath of you losing control, remember?"
Wooden floors sticky with black blood, screaming, the roof collapsing, a rug dyed dark blue, crying, "How could you…", the rug, blood, the hand-woven rug, so much blood—
Searing pain jolted Immeral out of the disjointed memories and he glared at Tomir, who'd poked his bandaged shoulder.
"Don't go back there," his friend said, "The point is, she knew it was you, but no one else knows."
"Except you," Immeral murmured, still unsettled by memories he preferred to keep buried at all times.
"She's my wife, and we're your friends." Tomir sat down across from Immeral and continued, "What happened?"
Immeral threw his head back with a curse and told his friend about the crypt and losing control of his magic after the creatures were gone. He did, however, leave out the details about the woman who'd hired him. By the end of his explanation, Tomir's face was twisted in concern.
"I've never heard of such a creature," Tomir muttered.
"Me either."
"And you're sure they weren't uibixa?"
"Positive," Immeral confirmed, "I've seen enough uibixa to know the difference. They can get bad here because of the Aiova burial practices."
Tomir nodded, stroked his chin in thought, and then stood up. "I'll see if Sybil can discover anything about these monsters."
Immeral stood as well. "Why? They're dead now."
Tomir looked at him—a strange expression on his face. "Doesn't the appearance of something like that worry you? Especially when coupled with the magic of a death caeles nearby?"
"Should it?" Immeral asked. "Whatever's going on, it doesn't involve me."
His friend let out a disbelieving—bitter—laugh. "Right. I can't believe I'd almost forgotten your complete and utter lack of regard for anyone but yourself."
Immeral shrugged. He's not entirely wrong. "I've never claimed to be anything else."
"Fine. But I'm worried about it, so I'll see if Sybil can learn anything. Leta is friends with the Lorekeeper; maybe she knows something." With that, Tomir disappeared—leaving Immeral alone again.
Righteous bastard, he thought.
