Unleashed

Tepin

Once again, chaos took over. The revelations of the archive had been too much. My strained emotions were sent into turmoil, and the surrounding mana answered my distraught mind. It threw me into an ocean of overflowing feelings, a storm screaming around me. It would have consumed me whole, and I had accepted it. Yet the tempest was calmed. Kaylin had stopped it, but it didn’t change the truth I had learned. Between my accident and my regaining consciousness, time had rushed past me. There was no telling how long I had been in limbo. The last entry in the archives is dated 300 years after my accident. After that silence for 72.949 years until the year counter hit the limit of the operating system. What had happened to my people? Was our culture, our history, forgotten?

I opened my eyes, blinking. They were creating an unrelenting river of tears that I had no control over. Looking up, I saw the reason that prevented me from losing myself to madness. My head was resting on her lap, her eyes closed humming a tune I didn’t recognize while stroking my hair. It did not take my pain away, but it calmed me. 

“I am lost.” I said. She jumped. “I am lost.” I repeated as she looked down at me. There was concern within her eyes; whether it was directed towards me or the worry that I could spiral out of control again, I did not know. I did not care. There was a strange calmness within me.

“This world, it turns out, is Eriphynia….” I began and revealed to her all I had learned. There was no reason to tell her, other than that I wanted to. Her eyes looking at mine, she stayed silent while I told her everything. Once I was done, silence embraced us once more. An emptiness started to spread within me, there was nothing else I could do anymore. My goals shattered. 

“There is nothing you can do but to move on.” She finally said. 

“Move on to where?” 

“That answer I do not have. But I know that standing still won’t change anything.” Kaylin said.

I closed my still leaking eyes. Who knows if she was right? Right now, I was content with staying like this forever. Just existing. My head was disturbed as Kaylin shifted. 

“I am sorry, Tepin, but we need to leave. The next shift might start soon. It won’t do us any good if people find us missing.” I stood up with her, not an ounce of will left within me, I just followed her. 

“Tepin, as much as I want to give you space, could you open the door?” Kaylin said, turning towards me. I looked at her and nodded.
“It is weird, but you haven’t stopped crying for hours now. How is that even possible?” Kaylin asked as I laid my hand on the console, I opened the door once more. With my other hand, I touched my still leaking eyes.

“Malfunction” 

“Oh… okay,” she said as the morning light flooded the hallway, blinding us. 

“Oh no, it is already morning!” Kaylin said. As we stepped into the light, we found ourselves in a deserted pit. Stepping further out, Kaylin looked around, tilting her head a little. 

“Where is everyone? The new shift should have started already.” She said, but it didn’t matter to me. 

“Come now, we cannot stay here. Let’s see where the others are.” She said, taking me by my hands, she led me out of the pit. 

I stared into the sky. Where had they gone? Could there still be another world out there that Kirin call their home? My eyes went to the tendril glowing above us that provided this world with light and mana. If there were still gates, maybe I could search for them? But what if every planet I visit is just as devoid of my people as this one? I closed my eyes, the emptiness within me spreading further. What was the point of holding on to hope just to be torn apart again? 

“W-what happened here?” A trembling voice beside me said. “T-t-this is…” Her voice broke off as she took in a sharp breath. Her hand tightened around mine. Opening my eyes again, I took a look around me. There was death surrounding us. The hired workers lay lifeless before us. There was not a single soul left alive. Just when I thought that my emotions had left me, a feeling of wrongness spread throughout me. How could this world be so cruel? Kaylin stumbled through the camp, with me behind her.

“S-someone attacked them. But who and why?” She said, looking around. “There is no one from Windbreak among the fallen. W-we need to get to the next village and report this fast!” She pulled me towards the edge of the camp. 

“Hey! There are some people left! Get them now!” We heard a gruff voice. I looked up, seeing a group of red-robed men run towards us. Unexpectedly, I found myself on the muddy ground as dirt splashed around me. Kaylin had attempted to flee while drawing me along, but my body didn’t respond. 

“No! Tepin, please get yourself together!” The elf screamed, but it was too late. The men had surrounded us, pointing at us with spears, tips glinting just centimeters away. 

“You elf, you look like you are from Windbreak! Are you both mages? Answer!” One of them said in a heavy accent, pointing at Kaylin. 

“Yes, yes, we are mages. W-what do you want with us?” She said. 

“You don’t get to ask questions. Up with you and no wrong moves,” he said. I didn’t try to resist when they bound my hands and pushed us into the forest. What was the point? 

As we were dragged along, they spoke with each other in a foreign language. I could feel Kaylin trembling beside me as we walked. They hadn’t bound her; instead, they were pulling her along by her hand. Having resigned myself to whatever fate would now await me, I followed. 

The trees parted before us, revealing a hidden camp. There were carriages with cages on them. The smell of sweat reached me as I noticed the trembling people within. Their cries disturbed the cold morning air. On the opposite side were neatly arranged tents. The area was swarming with the red-robed men. Some of them were dragging one of the prisoners out of a cage. 

“Move, mage!” One of them spat out. 

He was leaving a trail of upturned dirt as he pressed his feet into the ground, resisting his captors. Seeing this made the feeling of wrongness within me grow stronger. 

“Letto!” yelled Kaylin. He looked over at us, his lips were quivering in fear. 

“Stop, you don’t have to do this, please!” His voice echoed through the camp as he pleaded with the ones pulling him. But they didn’t relent and tied him to a magitek device in the form of a steel seat. His screams intensified as they started to ram needle-tipped cables into his arms. All I could do was watch, the sinking feeling within my chest growing. The empty calmness that had embraced me until now was being replaced by a sensation of heat spreading within my chest.
A new emotion made itself present within my already battered mind; anger. Was this what the world had come to during the thousands of years I was locked away? Sparks of violet mana shoot of the machine, Letto arched his back in pain, shrieking.

“What are they doing…” I heard Kaylin say beside me, looking towards her I saw her skin had turned pale. The heat within me grew. Looking back, I noticed that some sort of container was being filled up by whatever they were pulling out of Letto. His skin started to shrivel up, it looked like he was aging within seconds. “No” uttered Kaylin beside me as his body sagged. His roars gone from his lips, now devoid of life. My vision turned red, and a familiar sensation spread through me. Just hours ago, it had first tried to devour me. I let it in. If this was what my world had become, then I shall let the madness take over. 

Kaylin

My entire body was shivering as I watched horrified at what happened to Letto. There was nothing I could have done, right? My spells were weak. I am an archeologist, not a combat mage. Would I be next? I didn’t want this. Biting my lip, I glanced towards Tepin. She had been silent since we left the ruins. My hope that she would fight back had been for naught. There she stood silent, watching the horrid scene before us unfold. Her face blank, devoid of any emotions. I started walking towards my fate while one of the men pushed Tepin. 

“Spectacle is over; to the cages with you,” he said. They were Ampyrians, I was sure of it, I recognized the flag of their empire. 

“Hey I said move”, the soldier before me yelled. I looked up. They had pushed Tepin, not responding to their harassment, she just stood there swaying left and right. Fed up, they took hold of her arms. That’s when I noticed a familiar weight that had laid itself around me. I stopped dead, the soldier behind me bumping into me.

“What is the matter with you? Move!” he said, but my eyes were locked on Tepin. Tiny sparks of mana started to shoot off her as the surrounding weight increased. The soldiers had stopped holding her, taking a few steps back. As the soldiers raised their spears toward Tepin, the wind hissed. 

“She is succumbing to evil. Dispatch her now.” One of them said, and at once their bodies moved. Tepin’s armor could not resist the sharp weapons as they pierced into her. I jumped at the sight but realized that this would hardly kill her. Not that it matters, she was doomed, I doubt I could calm her a second time, not here. As they pulled their spears out with a wet sound, droplets of blood showered the ground. She continued to just stand there, not moving a single muscle. The smell of iron reached me as red steam started to rise from her wounds. My breath grew ragged as my chest tightened. I stumbled back, the pressure had increased once more. Her hands opened and closed as more lightning coiled around her, disturbing the crimson fog. Most soldiers had backed off Tepin, something was yelled in Ampyrian; one of them stepped forward piercing her again with his spear. 

In turn, more red steam escaped her as the bloodied tip of the weapon retracted back. I blinked, a rota sequence had appeared beside Tepin. A single clean line of light shot out from the spell and pierced through the head of the soldier before her. The camp fell into silence as the soldier stepped back a few steps before falling, the impact echoing through the camp. How? People don’t cast rota when they succumb to madness. That is what I thought at least. Multiple screams made my ears hurt as they echoed through the camp. The soldiers moved as one towards Tepin letting out their war cries. 

My eyes widened at the scene that unfolded before me. Dozens of spells appeared around Tepin as the air grew warmer around us. Each shooting its deadly light through the heads of anyone who dared approach her. I scrambled back further as one of the men fell before me, little droplets of warm blood covering my face. That’s when I noticed something shiny close to one of the fallen soldiers, keys! Maybe I could get the imprisoned out of here, I bit my lip when I noticed how close Tepin was. It was likely I would join the increasing sea of corpses if I tried getting them. However, this is the best chance to get the others out of here before she runs out of soldiers to kill. Slapping myself, I started crawling towards the keys, trying to stay low. The soldiers had stopped blindly running to her. Instead, they were now pummeling her with arrows, but to no avail, her assault continued. My crawling slowed as I took one last breath before the pressure would start suffocating me. Then my hands closed themselves around the cold keys. Not able to breathe, I scrambled away from her as fast as I could. To my amazement, she had ignored me. The madness was supposed to remove the line between friend or foe, yet I was spared. Once I was far enough away from her influence, I let out my breath, taking in the iron-filled air. Sweat rolled down my face as I reached the cages. With shivering hands, I opened the first one. 

”Thanks Kaylin,” said Dain of all people. He stumbled out of the cage together with the others, all thanking me as they left. I didn’t like the guy, but I was still glad he was safe. Enough had died today. I continued to free the rest. After the last cage was opened, I sank to the ground, watching them run away into the forest. 

Looking back to Tepin, I saw her standing alone among a sea of corpses. She had completely and utterly succumbed to the madness, yet she had only killed the soldiers.
Red mist surrounding her, she looked like a monster from a story. It made no sense, she clearly wasn’t conscious. Pure instinct should have taken over amplified by the mana running rampant within her. Yet she hadn’t attacked indiscriminately. It didn’t matter. Soon, there would be no mana left to burn, and her madness would turn to her body consuming it. Like snow picked up by the wind, purple dust was floating away from Tepin as her form diminished.
The pressure around me lessened as I sat there watching the wind carry her away. With a thud, her now empty armor fell down onto the bloody ground. A single tear rolled down my cheek, I hoped that wherever she now was, she would find peace.