Their reckoning comes when the victims they had tried to crush, the innocents they had tried to slay, the others they had tried to end, when those people rise up and slay them, when they declare the immortals their enemy. The immortals declared themselves to be gods, to be untouched by death.
Now, their time has come.
***
Laidu awoke to a splitting headache. He massaged his head, then checked his hands. Good. They were normal again, the normal gold they had always been. Phew. He was safe. That... that horrible blood that had taken over him, that had turned him pitch black, that had made him nearly kill Kyra... it was gone.
"It controlled me!" He looked to his left. He was in his inn room, lying on the bed, and to the left, his table suddenly burst into multicolored flames. "It made me strange, gave me power back over this body, but it changed me!" Kasran's voice issued forth from the flames, and he could make out a face in the blaze. "We are not going to do that again, you understand me?"
The hallucinations were coming back, and this time, Laidu didn't even need to use the blood to prompt them. That worried him, but it was probably a result of him calling upon the wrong name.
"Yep, that's exactly what it is." He turned, feeling a pressure on his leg, staring as the small, golden dragon from his dreams rubbed against the covers like a cat or a dog. "You're hurting your mind. Well, you'll give us more room, more space to occupy, once you've beaten the immortal." Rhaem shifted. "Just do it after you've killed him. I don't want to be fighting the big grey beast and Kasran. And I wouldn't be fighting you, either. You're my friend, right?"
"What do you mean?" Laidu didn't think those words; he spoke them aloud. That was troubling; clearly, these things were hallucinations (The multicolored flames didn't consume the table, for one thing), yet Laidu interacted with them as if they were real.
"If this keeps going, which, with your record of name accuracy, it will, then you'll end up like us," Kasran said. He chuckled, and the flames rippled with his laugh. "My guess is that,should you mess up one more time, you'll just become one of us, or like us. We'll have just as much power and authority over this body as you do."
Laidu was stunned. That... that sounded like something that he had heard of when he was younger, something that had given him nightmares for weeks. His father had to assist with an exorcism, and not the kind where a demon was banished from a place. This one had possessed a woman.
He hadn't heard much, but the idea of another being inside someone had terrified him to no end. And, should he fail to name Rhaedra correctly, a similar and just as horrifying fate would befall him. Knowing Kasran, Kyra would be the first target.
"Of course. The Hunger Blood may have changed me, but it doesn't change the fact that she makes you weak. Once I get control, I'm going to remove her." He was about to say something else, but then the door opened.
Kyra walked in, and somehow, despite the various phantasmagorical visions and hallucinations surrounding her, she seemed more real than them, as if the mere sight of her was some lucid form that made the hallucinatory forms seem less real by comparison. Her eyes widened when she saw he was awake, and she quietly closed the door, before rushing to his side. "You're awake," she said, her hand cupping the side of his face. She frowned. "What are you looking at?" she asked.
"Remember the voices?" She nodded. "Well, for a while, whenever I used my power, they'd start to appear as hallucinations. Now, I don't have to use my power."
"Oh." She sighed. "I... I don't know what to say, what to do."
"Be with me," Laidu said. "That's all we can do."
She knelt by the side of his bed, resting her head against his chest. "Father caught you at the end of your... episode. He's convinced that you were trying to kill me," she said.
"And you weren't?" Laidu asked.
"I looked into your eyes. I knew it wasn't you behind those eyes." She grimaced, rubbing her neck. "Is that going to happen again?"
"Never. I promise you that. It will never happen again." Laidu stroked her hair. "I love you too much for it to happen again."
"I had to promise my father that we would leave soon," Kyra said, "return to our manor in the countryside. There are a few things I need to stay in town for," she explained. "But after that, I must go away."
"He hates me," Laidu said, "and I don't think I blame him."
She nodded. "But I don't. I love you, and that isn't going to change."
Kasran was incensed. "Let me kill her. Burn her! Don't you see what she's doing to you? She weakens you, and seeks to sap your strength and ruthlessness!"
Go away, Laidu said to him, forming his thoughts into a mental blow.
"He's being rude, I know," Rhaem said. "But I'm a friend. Once you kill Kazalibad, we can be better friends!"
You can kill him?
"Um... Rhaem paused. "Yes. We figured something out... but I cannot remember it!" He sighed. "I'll get back to you with that once I remember it."
"How long was I out?" Laidu asked Kyra.
"Two days," she said. "In that time, much has happened. Terrified of some demon haunting the manor, several of the Cydari staff came forward to the police. Both Lord and Lady Cydari are in the Noble's Prison, he for crimes against women of a carnal nature, and she for corruption and assisting her husband in his debauched crime. My father is the most powerful man in politics now," she said, "and he decided to stay here to control the political damage you do directly."
"He's in the other room, isn't he?" Laidu said. Kyra nodded. "What about the others? Thaen and Skaria and Karik'ar and Indra?"
"They're downstairs. They said they're keeping watch," she said. "So Kazalibad doesn't show up again, or something." She sighed, and moved in a bit closer. "I'm scared," she said.
Laidu held her closer. "I know," he said softly.
"You're afraid, you're weak, and that's because she made you weak!" Kasran snapped. Laidu glared at him, before returning his attention to Kyra. She didn't notice, or if she did, she didn't show it.
There was a knock at the door. Kyra rose, and for a moment, Laidu was left feeling empty as she left. Her presence was so welcome, so comfortable, so completing, that when she left, it felt like part of him had left with her.
She opened the door, and stepped back as Skaria walked in. "You were having a little moment, weren't you?" Laidu narrowed his eyes. If she was going to start poking fun at him, he was not in the mood. "Whatever. There's something you have to see. Get up."
***
The letter sat on the table, a thing with its own gravity that seemed terrible and profound. Even the hallucinations in his head had been silent in its presence.
"It's obviously a bluff," Skaria said. "I doubt that he can promise to end the lives of another city's populace."
"That was how he claimed his immortality," Indra said. "According to the legends, he has Skaria's power, and discovered that he could rejuvenate himself by ordering the life essences, the vitality of others, to become his instead. So he did it with one person, and then another. He didn't notice the corrupting effect it had on his flesh, or he didn't care. But no one person was enough to sate his greed, so he took the lives of an entire city."
"So it's within possibility," Laidu said,
"Yes. The first time he did it, it gave him immortality, but warped him into the abomination he is now," Indra said. "He is already warped."
"He's got nothing to lose," Rhaem said, curling around Karik'ar's shoulders. The Kai'Draen stood against a wall, seemingly unaware of the dog-sized dragon curled around his frame. Then again, why would he? The dragon was merely a hallucination.
"Well, we can kill him," Kasran said. "And then the rest of these parasites. They supplant your strength and ruthlessness, while they whisper honeyed words to you with their forked tongues." The tongues of multicolored flame clustered around one end of the table, behind Indra. Other shapes, all murmuring in their own tongues, their own words, populated his vision. Glowing shapes and strange creatures swam through the air, beneath the table, around people's legs, by their heads.
"This is ridiculous," Lord Solstael said. "You're treating a myth like it's real. This is obviously the work of a prankster, one who knows how superstitious you all are."
"I don't think you understand." Skaria spoke up. "I saw Laidu run a woman through with a sword, through her heart. She didn't die, but looked down at the blade, before ripping it out, and... that thing, Kazalibad, crawled out of her skin. I've seen bodies flayed from his work when he needed a new disguise to garb himself in. I myself am quite skeptical, but that thing has proven himself beyond a bloody doubt."
"But that's unreasonable!" Lord Solstael protested.
"And who told you that?" Skaria glared at him. "Some stuffy-nosed academic whose skin hasn't seen the light of day in years?" She paused. "Half the time, Karik'ar reads to me about what he calls 'urban theorists.' What are they?"
"They're professors and scholars who study urban spaces. They create all these elaborate narratives and theories about the way things like the interaction between the sexes works, why it works that way, stuff like that. They do the same thing with different races, like Vesperati family dynamics, stuff like that. Even some who focus on architecture." He paused. "Problem is, I don't think they've ever actually talked to someone in the city. Half the ones talking about the ideal woman according to men... when I hear them, I wonder if they've ever talked to a man."
"In other words, they're on the outside, trying to peer in on city life, except they're bloody blind," Skaria said. "These people can't even get facts about their own city right, and you expect them to get this right?" She rolled her eyes. "You pass laws for a living. This is what I do for a living. When I need an annoying ordinance passed, you'll be the first one I go to. In the meantime, this is our field of expertise."
Lord Solstael was quiet. "So," Kyra said finally, "what do we do? We can't just let Kazalibad make good on his threat."
"Of course not." That beast liked giving ultimatums, and holding others lives hostage. He did so with Tom, and now he did it with a whole city. And last time, Kazalibad had nearly killed Laidu.
But this time, he had something. Or the voices had. They kept talking of slaying Kazalibad, and seemed to know a way.
"Yes, we know. I just need to remember it," Rhaem said, looking up at Laidu. "This time, I can just tell that something will be different.
"We'll meet him at the fountain," Laidu said, "and then, once and for all, I'll kill him.
***
The nine of them (including Po Shun, Lord Solstael, and Mirsari) set out, and from the looks of everyone there, they all had the feeling like they were walking into a trap. Then again, they were going to be meeting an evil immortal in the exact place he wanted them to meet. But there was some grim business he had to settle first.
He motioned for Karik'ar and Thaen to step back, to lag behind with him so he could talk to them. "I need to ask you to do something for me," he said. It was an odd conversation, as one of the two he was addressing was vastly taller than him, and the other was vastly shorter. So, while he was talking to them, he alternated between looking up at Karik'ar and down at Thaen.
"What is it?" Thaen asked. Karik'ar had a worried look on his face.
"Some of the voices in my head are talking of killing you, killing KYra, anyone I know. That voice... it's convinced that love, of any kind, makes me weak. And if I fail at this, I could very well end up with him in control of my body." He paused. "Karik'ar, you should be able to tell, right?"
"Something that severe, I would definitely be able to see," the Kai'Draen said.
"If that happens, put me down." Thaen's eyes went wide. "I will not have any suffer because of my madness. I need you two to do it."
"You can't be serious!" Thaen snapped. "You're asking me to end your life!"
"No he isn't." Karik'ar studied Laidu. "You're not asking us to end your life. You're asking us to save Kyra's." Laidu nodded. "You trust us with the life of your beloved, because this vengeful madness would go after her first. You want us to stop it, to stop you, before it kills her." He nodded again. "I understand."
Thaen shuddered. "That...well. I don't... give me a moment," he said, walking away, leaving Laidu alone with Karik'ar.
"It is not an easy burden you lay upon his shoulders. Or mine," Karik'ar said. "But I think the heaviest of burdens has fallen on your shoulders."
"She trusted me." Laidu paused. "I had lost control, when I used a new power, and I nearly killed her. I choked her, and she trusted me. I nearly couldn't stop it, and I had to inflict a psychic blow upon myself to prevent that from coming about."
He stared ahead. "With this, I won't be able to stop him. If I fail, if she takes over, she'll still trust me, and I'll be able to do nothing."
"I understand," Karik'ar said. "And I will do what I can. You ask a very hard thing of me, Laidu Tsung, but I will do it to the best of my abilities."
"And mine," Thaen said, walking forward. His crimson eyes were shining, moist with tears. "I heard what you said, and I understand." He paused. "If I have to, I'll make it painless. I know how to do the deed in that way."
"Thank you," Laidu said. "I know it's hard, but-"
"Don't." Thaen turned away. "This isn't something I want to do, not something I ever want to do," he snapped. "I don't want you to resign yourself to this, alright?"
"Trust me, Thaen, I don't want to go through with this myself," Laidu said. "But I need to make sure that some of the things in my head never assume control. Not for my sake, but for hers." He looked over to Kyra. "I wouldn't be killing myself. I'd be defending the love of my life from a monster."
He looked around. They were near the spot where Kazalibad wanted to meet, the Founder's Fountain. A large building, with dozens of ornately carved spires, watched over the fountain, the gargoyles silent witnesses to this auspicious meeting.
The others waited by an arch, waiting for Laidu to step through first. Even his hallucinations stopped, almost reverent, before the entrance to the square. "So," Laidu said, "I guess it's time to get this over with." He went to walk through.
It was the gentlest of tugs on his garment sleeve. He turned to face Kyra, eyes glistening with tears. For a moment, they stood there, oblivious to the madness, oblivious to the others around them, oblivious to the cold world they moved through in. "I love you," she whispered, before he leaned down and kissed her.
Lord Solstael said nothing, but Laidu could feel the anger radiate off him. He let go of Kyra, and turned to face the fountain. He took a deep breath.
Laidu took a step forward, and went to meet his fate.
***
They waited for three minutes before the abomination appeared.
The others stood their distances from Laidu's vantage point at the fountain, talking with each other, all but Kyra and her father. That last one was kind of understandable, seeing as he viewed Laidu as a threat to his daughter's safety. Which, given what his newer madness urged him to do, he might have a reason for that.
The others acted as if they were in the midst of conversation, but their furtive glances turned towards every vaguely-suspicious passerby betrayed them.
Of course, when he did show up, he wore a familiar face.
A man, dressed in once fine clothes, stepped next to Laidu, staring at the fountain. "They say that the statues here are the heroes who defended a temple dedicated to the Coldspire against a horde of barbarians in times long past." Laidu turned to see that same nobleman he had abducted Kyra and Lord Solstael from -Lord Cydari, his name had been- staring up at the fountain. Odd, why was he here? Wasn't he supposed to be in jail?
"This time, I won't have a bunch of dirty mountain savages try to destroy the city. I'll do it myself."
At the moment Laidu realized who he stood next to, the hallucinations began to scream.
He threw a punch, but Kazalibad, wearing Cydari's skin, slammed his iron-hard fist into Laidu's stomach, causing the Ranger to crumple. "Kill him!" Kasran screamed, fire dancing around Cydari's frame. People stopped, staring at the nobleman slugging the monster, curious and a bit stunned.
"Last time we fought, you and that strumpet who fancies herself a warrior put up more of a fight." Laidu recoiled, and attuned Fever Blood's meaner, stronger cousin: Burning Claws.
He swiped his hands, sending a whorl of flame towards Kazalibad. He didn't try to dodge, instead letting it consume his skin, causing the pale flesh to crisp and burn to cinders. People screamed and ran, as they should.
Laidu grimaced as his hands shook. It was a struggle to keep them still, and the normally mental struggles of the wills within his mind became physical. He could feel Kasran's will straining against his, a physical pull on his limbs. "Well, that's new," Kazalibad said. "But give me a minute. Thanks to you, this garment is ruined and uncomfortable. Let me cast it aside."
He heard the horrified cry of Lord Solstael as the politician watched his long-time partner's head split, and the great, bulky grey form rip its way free. "There we go," Kazalibad said. Laidu released Burning Claws, and the pressure on his limbs faded. "You know, we were worried that when you and Rhaedra joined, when you fused and became one in form, that your sanity would cure him. It looks like our fears were unfounded, as it seems his madness has infected you. An act of providence, truly."
A thought struck Laidu. He had been juggling the memories that the voices had given him, the memories of Rhaedra's past. There had to be something there, something he knew. "To think, you were the child of an outcast noble," Kazalibad said, "and he was the child of a beast. His father sired Rhaedra to torment Rhaedra's mother, and to demoralize her father, who was set against him in war. And Rhaedra nearly slew his father, and reduced that beast into a pitiful state." He advanced, and Laidu drew his blade. "One half of you has nobility, the other is one of the greatest warriors in history, a king who overcame the horrors of his birth."
"And now look at you. Fighting with your own mind. I came to slay the girl, but you'll be nice too. I'll wear your skin, so she can look into your eyes when I kill her."
Laidu charged, swiping with the blade. For once, all the voices and hallucinations were united in wrath, in the desire to slay this monster. "Die!"
He knocked the blade aside, and with a grip like iron, picked Laidu up by the throat. Laidu tried to lash out with the fire in his veins, but Kasran tried to rip and tear at Kazalibad, trying to fight Laidu's control. "I told you," he said, "I can't. I've ascended to godhood. You, though you may wear the visage of a dragon, still have a frail mortal shell." He laughed out of one of the mouths on his side. "Take your own advice." With that, he threw Laidu through the fountain.
One of the hallucinations (probably Rhaem) had grabbed onto Laidu's power and attuned one of the other bloods, Armor Blood. He smashed through the statue, his blood as hard as steel, before crashing down amidst the crumbled statue, buried in stone. "Take her and run, Thaen!" he tried to yell, though it came out as more of a croak. He did see Thaen pull Kyra out of harm's way, through the corner of his eye. He couldn't focus, though, through the pain.
"I'll get to her," Kazalibad said, advancing. "You can die knowing she'll be following you into the void."
The hallucinations charged forth, anger and rage surging inside Laidu's mind. They were united. Now, he had a chance. Get the name right, and he might survive. Get it wrong, and he would become a monster even worse than Kazalibad.
Rhaedra was born a child of violence, a child of horror, an act of aggression to a mother who loved him anyway, with a fierce and undying passion, a love that was a war in its own right. He loved another, with the kind of zeal that would lead him to the front of war, to face the demon of his father.
It was that love and rage that was his crucible, the thing that defined him. Laidu saw, through the fractured and diseased shards of his personality, Laidu saw into the depths of the dragon's soul, and knew that the dragon stared back into his. They were brothers of the soul, the two of them, motivated by that same love, a love that was an endless, all-consuming fire, destructive and creative, life and death.
I name thee... "Rhaedra," he whispered. Rhaedra, a word that could mean battle fury. A word that could mean deep love. A word that could mean exultant joy. A word that could also mean vengeful rage.
Or, in the dragon's case, all of them. A love that reveled in the joys of life, a love pushing one to avenge his beloved, a love that called from the blood-stained battlefields or the quiet meadow.
Laidu waited for the pain to slam into his head, and to watch Kasran gleefully seize his body. It never came. Kasran was gone. Rhaem was gone. Every other hallucination vanished.
Instead, a small, mournful, but strong voice spoke in his thoughts. Yes, that sounds about right. I think I can remember now...
Everything went white.