The Primeval Era

While his beast form dealt with the surreal situation unfolding across the delegation of beasts, Damian’s human body flew across the skies beside Serala toward the Covenant of the First Stone.

He was checking the state of his existence again. It kept surprising him, which was a sensation he was still getting used to, and he wondered whether he truly remained within the parameters of his designed Second Doctrine. He was building his own stage of power as he went, deciding when it would begin and when it would end, and the power he had reached right now seemed to exceed even someone like Tiaret’s father.

He clenched his fist.

He still didn’t know whether it was enough.

What he was looking forward to was an ideal scenario where his access to the Primordial Tongue left him leagues above the power the Murderous Saint and the Demons had accumulated across decades, maybe centuries. That was the goal. He had to keep measuring their power, and his limitations, and so far he hadn’t found any real limitations at all.

Below them, the landscape continued to change.

They were crossing the southern edge of the old Threshold Lands, where the border between Damian’s transformed paradise and the untouched stone beyond became a visible line. On one side, the verdant sweep of his Cradle still bled into the horizon, crimson Acacia giving way to golden Baobab, rivers running clean where no rivers had run before. On the other side, the old Threshold returned, dry earth and cracked stone and the occasional stubborn growth clinging to rocks that had never known Mana in any useful quantity. Further still, the land began to rise into low ranges of dark hills where old beasts hunted and empty tribes could be seen.

When he looked up, the cloud was still with him.

Five miles of it, just a section, stretching across the sky behind their flight, white and blue-threaded and moving at exactly their pace. An extension of his own body, his consciousness woven through every droplet, trailing him the way a long cape trailed a walking ruler. It would stay with him as long as he wanted it to, and it would respond when he needed it to, and it was simply part of him now the way an arm was part of him.

He still found it entertaining.

Serala had been very silent throughout the flight.

She flew beside him with her white-gold and verdant wings carrying her smoothly through the warm air, her expression focused inward, her eyes fixed on the horizon ahead but clearly not seeing it. She seemed to be trying to grasp something herself, something she hadn’t yet fit into words, and Damian let her work at it while he turned his attention back to his own existence.

Then, in the quiet of that flight, he called out.

"Exelissomai."

HUUM!

Verdant flames flared and wrapped around his body. His skin glinted crystalline green for a heartbeat, then settled back into its usual tone, the flames sinking inward and disappearing into the tattoos that pulsed along his arms.

Information bloomed before his eyes.

|The Letter of the Primordial Tongue, Exelissomai, has been utilized upon the wielder.|

|Your existence has received a Minor Evolution Boost.|

|You have successfully advanced to a higher state of refinement within your current Lineage.|

|Refinement Tiers are denoted in the language of the Amadlozi, ascending from lowest to highest as follows:|

|Mvelo. The first refinement. Meaning origin, the seed from which greater forms grow.|

|Sithunzi. The second refinement. Meaning shadow that commands respect, presence that begins to hold weight.|

|Nkanyezi. The third refinement. Meaning star, a being whose light is seen across distances.|

|Nyanga. The fourth refinement. Meaning moon, a being whose influence shapes the rhythms of lesser existences.|

|Langa

. The fifth and highest refinement. Meaning sun, a being whose presence reshapes the conditions of everything around it.| |Your current state: Mvelo.|

|Continued utilization of Exelissomai upon your existence will progressively elevate your refinement through the higher Tiers, culminating in Langa. Diminishing returns apply.|

|Upon reaching Langa, your existence will undergo another major change in Lineage, transitioning from a Primeval Viridis Lifeform into another unknown Lifeform.|

...!

Damian’s eyes shone.

He could continue to use Exelissomai freely for endless elevation. He could climb through Mvelo into Sithunzi, and from there into Nkanyezi, and beyond, and when he reached Langa, his Lineage itself would change and the climb would begin again in a new shape. He didn’t yet know the ceiling. He wasn’t sure there was one he would find in any reasonable span of time.

Persevere healed and reinforced and made stronger. Exelissomai induced ridiculous evolution and empowerment. And there were more letters waiting down the line, each one a new letter of his power, each one another surprise the Primordial Tongue hadn’t yet chosen to hand him.

With these two, and whatever waited beyond them, he expected to achieve his promise.

He expected to rescue his mother’s soul.

For now, though, the focus had to stay on the Covenant and what it could provide him. Information, allies, an understanding of how the Three Pillars had been shaped and where the cracks in them ran. He needed all of it before he could make his movements toward The River of the World.

He turned to Serala.

She was still focused on what might lie ahead, and he found himself studying her profile for a moment. What could possibly be going on in that pretty head of hers? Was she apprehensive about what they would find at her home? Was she worried about meeting the Hallowed Voice with her expanded frame and verdant tattoos and eyes that burned white-gold and green at once? Was she bracing herself to explain any of it?

As he thought this, she turned and looked at him.

"I’ve been thinking about it," she said, voice careful, eyes searching his face, "and it’s really hard not to be like all the others in thinking of you as an Ancestor. Did you inherit the power of an Ancestor? Are you an Ancestor returned to life?" Her wing-shaped pupils caught the sun. "How do you do...what you do?"

...!

Damian stared at her.

This was what she had been thinking so hard about this whole time?!