Reaper(Cradle #10)(82)
[It is I, the mighty Dross! I have shed my weak former self, emerging from that chrysalis as a spirit with no rival!]
Eithan groaned and sat down. “Oh no.”
“Dross, what happened? Why did you…change?”
Dross spun out into the real world, and now he wore a tiny, spiked black crown on his head. [I needed to reach beyond myself, for greater power, but I was pathetic and small. So I became a spirit of true power!]
Dross’ boneless arms curled into fists and shook at the sky.
A knot formed in Lindon’s stomach. If Dross had been forced to his limit and decided to change himself, he may have done irreparable damage to his own structure.
“So this is what true power sounds like, is it?” Yerin asked. She sounded weary but amused, like this was one of Dross’ usual jokes.
Eithan traded looks with Lindon. He understood.
[Every word I speak is the word of supreme dominance! Have you ever heard of a spirit that could converse with the Dread Labyrinth itself?]
Lindon gingerly extended his perception into the point of his spirit that anchored his connection to Dross. Sure enough, the structure of Dross’ spirit was twisted differently. Dross had bent himself into a new shape, and his spirit, body, and mind were one.
“Pardon, Dross, but I’m afraid your new form might be too…intimidating for me. Could you change back?” Lindon tried to stifle his own dread and hope so that Dross didn’t feel them.
Dross eyed him coldly. [Evolution, once made, cannot be reversed. And why would I wish to return to inferiority?]
Lindon sank to the ground. Yerin grabbed him and looked into his eyes.
“Is he…” she didn’t finish the question.
Lindon shook his head, and she crushed him in an embrace.
“It’s not him,” Lindon whispered. “And even if I were twice the Soulsmith, I don’t know if I could do anything about it.”
The longer the changes lasted, the more they would become the true Dross. He didn’t know Dross’ exact structure, and even if he did, he wouldn’t have the time to change him back.
Do you remember how to defeat Reigan Shen? Lindon asked Dross silently. At least there may be some upside to this transformation.
[Why would I need such tricks?] Dross sneered.
Lindon’s heart crumbled further.
Eithan pointed to the wall. “Far be it from me to dangle a flimsy hope before you, but it’s possible we may be able to bypass Reigan Shen and still accomplish something down here.”
Lindon raised his head and looked over Yerin’s shoulder. The weathered map, lightly scratched into the wall, had been further obliterated by the battle. But he could still make out the X marking the bottom of the labyrinth.
“Ozmanthus’ Soulsmith inheritance,” Lindon said aloud. He perked up. With the Soulforge and a Soulsmith inheritance of this level…
“Could we fix him?” Lindon asked quietly. But of course the volume of his voice had no bearing on whether Dross could hear him.
The dream-spirit swelled up to twice his size. [Do not test me, human! I do not need fixed any more than the moon needs polished! How do you fix that which is already perfect beyond your comprehension?]
“I’m certain it could be…used to that effect,” Eithan said carefully. “But I am concerned about potential changes to your mentality if you inherited his legacy. He was not a kind man. Though not so concerned as I am about Reigan Shen getting it first.”
Lindon shivered as he thought of the Monarch falling down the shaft straight toward where the inheritance waited. Would he even care about such an inheritance? He was a legendary Soulsmith in his own right.
Then again, if it was valuable to him, then they were about to face a Monarch with the absorbed memories of a weaponsmith who had ascended to become known as the Reaper of Worlds.
That did assume that they were going to continue in the labyrinth.
[Of course we are!] Dross declared. [He has thrown the gauntlet, and we are not the sort of cowards who would fail to pick it up!]
“Pardon, Eithan. But I need to know something first.”
Everyone conscious looked to Eithan, even Dross. Eithan seemed to know what Lindon was going to ask, because he planted his hands on his hips and beamed. “You want to know about my Icons!”
“If you don’t mind.”
“The Icons that almost formed in my fight with Reigan Shen!”
“Yes.”
“The very Icons that, when manifested fully, would have made me into a Sage!”
Yerin’s red eyes narrowed. “Those shoes’ll get dirty if you keep dragging your feet.”
“It’s very simple: I’m waiting for another Icon.” He glanced around and shuddered. “Besides, I don’t want to advance here. The circumstances of your advancement can affect your relationship to an Icon, and these tunnels are so…dirty.”
Dross scoffed, but Lindon was caught by the first part of the statement. “What Icon are you waiting for?”
“The Joy Icon.”
Yerin groaned.
“It’s real!” Eithan said defensively. “It’s just not…very common. To be frank with you, I’d take any number of Icons, just not anything Ozmanthus manifested. I don’t want to end up as he did.”
“Famous?” Yerin asked. “Powerful?”