Rise of the Devourer

Book 2: Chapter 50 — A Long Entrance

Noah walked through the entrance of the giant castle, marveling at its construction. A giant staircase led up to the massive castle gates that shone under the light of the sun with a silvery glint, refracting light at its surface to create a glittery effect that gave the place an ethereal presence. Bun Bun and Tony flew around the area, sniffing and checking out various places around them.

“Man, this place must’ve taken quite some time to build,” Noah said, glancing at the swirling stairs moving all around the castle. He noted the skies above him changing at a far greater intensity than the movement they took would indicate, with clouds flying past far behind with each step.

“They built this castle as a gift to Ryugan. One of the few human Ascendant Monarchs of the time had it built in honor of Ryugan. He never liked the gaudiness of it, but there were no other monuments quite this well crafted in their magical capacities. When Ryugan created this realm, the castle had naturally formed an anchor for it,” Zax said, as they walked up the stairs. “You seem to have noticed the clouds, yes?”

“Yeah, not quite sure what’s happening there.”

“This pathway has a spell put upon it, the staircase extends space for miles. Given the nature of the Astral rift, reality is easier to alter, and any who cannot comprehend the spell will be forced to walk for weeks on end, before they ever reach the castle itself.”

Noah whistled, finding himself in awe. Only after Zax had mentioned it, did Noah’s senses begin to pick up upon the stretched layers of space in the area. Even with his Astralwalker path, Noah still struggled to look past the spell active in the area.

Zax smiled. “This is why you went to the trouble of freeing us. And though the cultists may have entered the castle, it took them many sacrifices to make their way through the place. Their insolence was not without a price.”

“Right,” Noah said, looking out to the rest of the Astral Rift. “I do wonder how my companions will be able to enter the castle though.”

“There’s plenty of entrances. Most do not have nearly as many obstructions as this main pathway does. Though each has their own traps and security measures in place, but with time and a lack of repair, not all remain functional anymore,” Zax said, glancing back at Noah. “We’ll be able to check in on your friends once we have arrived inside the castle.”

Noah gave the dragon a nod, taking in the scenery as they went. “You have mentioned Ryugan a few times. He was also a human, right?”

“Indeed. Though he was a peculiar one. Oh, did we ever tell you that he was an Outerworlder as well? One touched by fate, much like you. Though that’s where the similarities between the two of you end. Ryugan was meticulous, he liked being prepared, and he hated jumping into things without thinking them through. He was also somewhat paranoid,” Zax said, a smile upon the dragon’s face as he brought up memories. “One time, he was so worried that there was a trap set by his enemies that he managed to sneak into their encampment and capture their leader, just to ask him what the trap was,” the dragon said, laughing at the memory.

“Really? Dang, that’s kinda cool actually,” Noah said.

“Oh it gets better. When we told him that he had their leader, and would not need to fight against an entire army by himself anymore, he thought about it for a few moments and then said ‘but that would be an unfair match.’ And sent the general back so that he could beat the traps they’d set up fairly. They surrendered before he could try.”

Noah chuckled at the story, trying to imagine a war against a single man.

“This realm was built by him in his later years of life. Ryugan had tried to find ways out of Erandir, and found the way blocked. Something prevented him from returning to his world, and he had made it his quest to find out why. There were still Outerworlders who would arrive on Erandir, and Ryugan had found and gathered many under him to try and understand what prevented them from returning back the way they arrived here. And what it was in this realm that called them to its lands. Eventually, as he continued to gather people, they began to look to him for direction and support. This realm ended up becoming one of many of his projects to help the people who had no land to call home. Outerworlders for one, but also former slaves, many of them,” Zax said, looking at Noah. “Perhaps it’s fate yet again that you have arrived here then.”

“Perhaps. I don’t really believe in fate, but I met the goddess of Wisdom, Avera, and she told me something similar. That fate brought me to her. What does that even mean?” Noah asked.

“It means that your actions have predictable outcomes, Noah. Fate is merely the most likely path we take. It is not a predetermined outcome, but a deeper look at our reality, and an understanding of how things will unfold,” Zax said.

“Not sure I understand.”

“Let us explain it to you this way. If you take a rock and drop it, what do you think will happen?”

“It will fall?” Noah replied.

“How do you know?” Zax asked.

“Because… gravity? Because that’s what happens if you drop something?”

“Precisely. It is not that you could see the future, but that your understanding of the world allows you to know what path the rock will take. The rock does not know this, it does not know where it will go or what path it will take, but you can see the rock, see the world around it, and know that should you let go of the rock, it will drop. Fate, Noah, is just that. The ability to look at the world, and know how it will unfold.”

“That’s… an interesting way to look at it. It sounds an awful lot like calculating every variable involved to find out what the future would be. Are people really that predictable?”

“In some ways, yes. In others, not really,” Zax said, glancing up. “You coming here was fate. And perhaps you meeting us and freeing us was fate too. But what you will do from this moment? That rests solely upon your hands.”

“How come fate rarely seems to change?” Noah asked.

“Because people rarely change, Noah. How likely was it that you would have not tried to free us of our chains back then?” Zax asked.

“Well. I don’t know. I figured it was worth trying. And I didn’t have a way to enter the castle, you were stopping me,” Noah said.

“We were never stopping you. Merely preventing you from entering from the front gates. There are other entry ways Noah, and you could’ve chosen at any time to walk away and enter one of those. But instead, you went through weeks of grueling training to free us,” Zax replied.

Noah looked at the dragon, feeling an uncomfortable emotion rising inside of him.

“People rarely change their nature, Noah. We have seen it. They may slowly mature and shift directions, but their trajectories are much like a rock falling down, or a log floating in a river. It is the river, and the gravity, that decides their actions, not them,” Zax said.

Had he simply been drifting on a river? Unable to pick what path he would head towards? The thought made Noah uncomfortable.

“You have the Fate Touched perk, don’t you?” Zax asked, looking at Noah.

“I do, yeah,” Noah replied.

“Do you know what it does?” Zax asked.

Noah brought up the perk description.

[Fate Touched (Divine)]

You’ve been in the presence of someone beyond fate itself, and have been marked by them. Fate will struggle to take a hold of you, and unlikely circumstances, both good and bad, will find their way to you.

“That fate will struggle to take a hold of me, and I’ll have unlikely things happen around me,” Noah said.

“You are merely reading what the Astral script is telling you,” Zax said. “But that is not the whole picture. We just told you, everyone can change their fate. Then, if so, what does being Fate Touched mean?”

Noah frowned, thinking over it. “I don’t know,” he admitted, looking back at Zax.

“It means that you can see when fate changes significantly. Your fate was changed by someone else. And you possess the ability to do the same for others,” Zax replied.

“How?” Noah asked.

“You bring change Noah. You are an outsider to this realm. If this realm is a rock, moving in a fixed path, then you are the wind blowing its off the course. Your ability allows you to bring change to the fate of those around you. Think about the last time your perk activated. We felt it happen when you broke our chains. And as we said, that was your fate. But what was ours?”

“To be… trapped?”

Zax gave a grim nod. “To remain bound in chains, lamenting our choices and actions, unable to protect the memory of our friend, or his legacy. That was our fate, Noah. The path our choices had brought us to. But you altered it. Just by existing, you continue to change the fate of others.”

“That feels like a lot of responsibility,” Noah said.

“It is, but have you ever thought about what it means for your own fate? Your existence changes the world around you, your fate brings change to the lives of others, but is that something you truly wish to do? Is that a path you want to embark upon? Do you choose to change the fate of others, or are you merely flowing on a river of fate created by someone else?”

Noah stopped in his tracks, looking at the dragon. “I don’t know,” he replied.

“It is something to think about Noah. Think upon your path, on what your purpose is, and whether it is something you have chosen for yourself. When you alter fate significantly, your perk activates and tells you of it. Think of the last time that happened,” Zax said.

“When I broke your chains,” Noah said.

“What about before that?” Zax asked.

“When I met Hellion and gained her blessing, despite my ties to the Void. When I met an Ascendant Life Wyrm protecting its egg, but instead of killing us like bugs, it gave the sick child with us its scale, and let us go.”

“And in those moments, whose fates were changed? Was it yours, or was it theirs?”

“It was…” Noah paused looking into the dragon’s eyes as he understood what he meant to say. “It wasn’t mine. I… never changed my own fate.”

Zax did not reply.

“How can I?” Noah asked.

“That’s something only you know the answer to,” the dragon said, turning around and Noah realized they had reached the entrance of the castle.

“Welcome to our home, Noah,” Zax said, touching the giant metallic gates as they shuddered open, revealing a massive castle… covered in dark ooze and swirling creatures.

A voidling leapt outwards and was caught by Zax, who vaporized it in a second.

“Let’s go clear the vermin,” the dragon said, blue lightning crackling around it.

Noah nodded, putting the thoughts of fate behind him as he entered the castle. He had a Shard to find.