Legacy of the Dark Sage

Scenes of carnage and death streamed through Kyran's mind. They flowed like an old film reel where each frame depicted scenes of Vateeh and Gaduquar people getting killed. Though each frame showed different people, there was one person who appeared in all of them.

Kyran.

And in all these frames, he was the one killing them.

'Stop!' Kyran screamed but no sound came out from his mouth. He shut his eyes tight but it was of no use. Because these scenes were playing back on his mind.

It was strange.

The tragedy in the Vates plane had happened three years ago and Kyran had already come to terms on what he had done. It was his sin and he planned to atone for it by not making the same mistake, especially when saving his clan.  As a matter of fact, that experience prompted him to change, to stop acting reckless without a back up plan or the strength to support his actions.

Yet, why was he feeling guilty once more? The guilt weigh on him, making him fall into an empty bottomless pit.

No.

It was not empty but filled with water. Water that weighed a lot and tasted like metal.

Like blood.

"…Nar!"

Kyran took a sharp intake of breath as he woke up with a start. Then he coughed several times, spitting a mouthful of water.

No, not water. But blood.

"Nar… thank goodness!"

Kyran turned to his right and saw Cyneah kneeling beside him. Her lips and clothes were smeared with blood and even her mirror-like eyes had turned dark red.

"Neah… what…?" His voice trailed off after seeing her condition. The first thought that came to him was she got hurt. But then his focus shifted in the surroundings and realized that he had returned to the first scene after falling into Deception's illusion.

That was right, he was just inside an illusion. This place was not real and he had to escape from it.

"I heard you struggling. As if you are drowning," Cyneah replied, her voice cracked slightly, showing how worried she had been.

Kyran looked back at her with wary eyes.

"I…" Cyneah's voice trailed off. Suddenly feeling a little abashed, she took a deep breath before continuing, "… h-had to… re-resus— um. A-Anyway. I-It's good t-that you're okay n-now."

But Kyran could barely register what she was saying because he was busy staring at her. Why did it feel like she was not an illusion?  He then caught sight of the small scar on her cheek from when he had thrown the Void Knife and he frowned slightly.

"Nar?"

"You're not real."

Cyneah's eyes widened in confusion.

Seeing her expression only deepened Kyran's frown. Deception should only be an Exalted right now, but for her illusion to be this potent. How was she able to trigger such vivid memories, not to mention, depict people he knew to such extent?

'Master!'

Kyran looked up as he heard Zephyr's voice again.

That was right. He heard him too at the start. But wondered why he did not see him?

"Zephy?"

Kyran looked at Cyneah in surprise. The first time, she had also reacted to Zephyr's voice, which was why he believed she and Zephyr were part of the illusion.

"You can hear him?"

Cyneah looked at him and nodded, "Yes."

Kyran looked at her again. The reason why he was convinced she was an illusion was because Cyneah never looked straight at him. To be precise, her line of sight was a little off. But this Cyneah was looking at him as if she could genuinely see him.

'Please, master! Wake up!'

Cyneah's eyes widened at once, as if remembering something.

"That's right," she said and grabbed Kyran's arm. "You're right. This isn't real. Please, wake up!"

"You—."

"There is no time to explain. Actually, I don't understand it myself. But you have to wake up now!"

Kyran looked at her but did not ask anymore. He had felt something off from the moment she had appeared in front of him. But she never reacted to 'Ellys' when that girl appeared. Not even when Ellys called him 'Kyran.'

In any case, Cyneah and Zephyr was right. He had to wake up.  But the question was, how?

Looking up at the sky painted in red, he focused on the connection he had with Zephyr and called out.

'Zephyr.'

[Master! Finally!]

'I can't seem to wake up. What is happening outside?'

[It's pretty bad. A sovereign is trying to enter the Human plane. If this continues distortions will appear in other places and who knows where it will connect to.]

Kyran felt an incoming headache. He was getting a lot of those recently.

Distortions happened when a foreign magic forced its way into a plane. If the balance of power in the plane shifted, then more of these would appear. Frankly, distortions would close on their own even if left alone. But the real concern was not how to close it but where it was connected to and what or who was drawn to it.

Kyran could guess the sovereign trying to enter the Human plane was Deception. But why? As a matter of fact, what was happening to his body right now? And why was Zephyr able to communicate with him? He did not sense him earlier. Did he go to Noser? Why?

Kyran was just about to ask more questions but changed his mind. Those questions were unimportant right now. What he had to do was to wake up from this illusion.

He stood up surveyed his surrounding. It did not seem like Deception was actively controlling this illusion. Did it mean this space was not created by her?

Sensing Kyran stood up, Cyneah followed. Her sudden movement made him look at her again. He suddenly had a feeling that she knew how he could leave this illusion.

"Why do you know this is not real?" He asked.

Cyneah looked at him, not one bit surprised to hear his question. She replied, "Because I can see your silhouette more clearly."

Even her answer seemed real. This made Kyran somewhat confused. Why would the Cyneah in this illusion be this real? Actually, why was she even here?

This question made Kyran recall what he had read about illusions.

There were different types of illusions, and triggers. The most potent of all was triggered by real memories and emotions.

When Kyran fell into Deception's illusion, he failed to guard himself. At that time, he was only thinking of making as much noise as possible to get the Royal Family and the outsiders' attention. But the emotion he felt was probably similar to that time, before the tragedy in Vates plane happened. Which was why Deception's illusion revolved around it.

So where did Cyneah come into the equation? Because he was also worried that Deception had already taken her? Of course not. He had confidence in Zephyr. Besides, if they got in trouble, even if he was far from them, he would know. He had placed several safety measures on Cyneah after all. To be more accurate, he modified the token he gave her. If she was ever in danger, he would know.

Kyran shook his head. He really had no idea. In any case, seeing that she was aware this was not real, then maybe she might also know something to get out of the illusion. He did not know what she did, but she was the one who woke him up from the dream-like state he was in when he saw Ellys.

Kyran looked at Cyneah and was about to ask her how he could wake from this illusion when he realized how stupid he would sound.

"Nar."

Sensing Kyran's hesitation, Cyneah called out to him and reached for his hand.

Kyran looked at her, a little taken aback at the sudden contact. Her warmth and even the feel of her touch did feel real.

"Let's go home," she said and smiled.

And that was all it took, for Kyran to finally understand why Cyneah was here. The realization however, was something that caught him off guard. At the same time, he dared not admit. He could not. At least, not yet.

"Yeah," Kyran replied after a short pause. "Let's go."

Crack!

Cracks appeared on the red sky, as if it was made out of glass. The ground shook as fissures appeared. Soon, the glittering shards of the red sky fell down, while the ground fell apart.

But Kyran ignored all that and only held Cyneah's hand.

He closed his eyes, and the world was plunged into darkness.

*

Rawrgh!

Manti charged at Deception, but she easily turned into mist to escape from him.

She let herself drift with the wind and finally turned back to her human form after appearing on top of a building.

BAM!

"Tsk," Deception clicked her tongue in annoyance and looked at the sky once more.

The black figure was still punching at the crack in the sky, preventing her original self from getting in.