Rise of the Devourer

Vor Ashen opened his eyes and realised he was dead. The realisation was immediately followed by an intense feeling of fury.

He reached out to his mirror-selves and found nothing. He strained toward the alternate universes that were his failsafe, ready to reform and smite down whoever dared oppose him…

Nothing. They were gone. He was alone.

He was dead.

“No! This cannot be,” he ranted, searching the roiling silver emptiness around him for any trace of his true self, any connection to his countless other incarnations.

He found none.

“How? That was only a lesser vessel, not a true binding! I have made preparations, I cannot be destroyed by a mere pre-ascendant, no matter how ancient!”

“Silence.” The whisper shivered through his non-body with a power that stilled even his racing mind.

“Master?” Reverent awe suffused his being, followed by abject shame. He had failed. He had failed! He didn’t deserve to—

“I have intercepted your relocation,” the voice said, cutting his self-recriminations short. “Our arrangement provides an opportunity and you are needed elsewhere.” Vor all but collapsed with relief. So he hadn’t failed. The loss of his Drakonias gambit stung, but even if every sub-ascendant incarnation he’d prepared was destroyed, his deeper self could never have been stopped by a creature of that level. It was unthinkable. Reassured that his assessment of their relative power levels were still intact, he hung on every word as his Master continued to speak.

“The ancient’s pupil is on a path that will bring him here. He must not be permitted to reach the Reaper.”

Vor’s nonexistent eyes widened in joy. “Oh!” he breathed. “Yes, Master, please allow me!”

“You may do whatever you wish with him, so long as he does not reach his destination. Once he breaks the touch of the Void, send him to me.”

Words appeared in his vision, blessed words he never would have dared dream of.

The Watcher has offered you a Path change.

Warning! This will overwrite all existing Paths.

Would you like to accept?

Yes/No?

“Yes, yes, yes!” Familiar mania bubbled through his non-body as Vor’s inner self twisted and reshaped itself around its new form. “I will not fail you again.”

“You have not failed me.” An echo of laughter danced through the voice, a hint of anticipation. “After all, what could be better than our enemies believing themselves untouchable until it’s too late?”

—

Noah shifted on Zax's back, adjusting his grip on one of the dragon's scales as another gust of hot wind buffeted them. The scale beneath his fingers, dusty and pale from the journey, was ridged like old armor plating, each edge catching the light with a dull, sand-scoured sheen, their usual depth muted beneath a film of grit that even the wind couldn't fully strip away.

Heat pressed in from the sun above and radiated up from the dusty stone below, and even the wind provided no relief.

You have entered a mana-depleted zone. Natural mana regeneration reduced by 25%.

The alert was a familiar one by now. The landscape beneath them had changed three times since they'd left Drakonias, growing progressively drier and settlements fewer and farther between. The lush tropical forests petered out into sparse woodlands, then rolling hills dotted with pale grasses where mana regeneration was reduced by 5%. Then 10%, as it transitioned to this endless expanse of cracked earth and rust-colored stone.

Now, hours later it reached this state as even cracked earth was left behind. All that remained beneath them was bare wind-swept stone stretching toward a horizon that shimmered with heat, making it hard to tell what part of the distant ridgeline was real.

Zax took a breath and a low rumble of vibration traveled up through the dragon's spine and into Noah's bones. He too felt the ambient mana growing thinner, and Noah could sympathize. He’d grown used to the familiar density of Drakonias and now he felt small and naked without the constant flow of mana around him.

Aurelia sat beside him, preoccupied with her own thoughts. Her silhouette remained rigid against the open sky, expression unreadable as it had been all day. Noah caught her looking back the way they'd come more than once. Her concerns, too, he felt in the absence of the others they’d traveled and trained with for so long. Snow and Seraphina, Erwest, Kaelan… Vion...

Noah pushed the thought aside. He wasn't ready to examine that particular wound yet. The party they’d expanded during their trip to Drakonias ended up shrunk back down to its core, and he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to feel about it. His chest felt hollow and empty every time he noticed everyone who wasn’t here, an inner ache he had no idea how to correct.

“Is this going to keep happening?” Noah called out, hoping to distract himself with anything else before his thoughts could spiral endlessly. “This mana reduction? At this rate, poor Tony’s gonna go dormant.”

“Tony will be fine, Master!” Tony protested indignantly. Then, a little sheepishly, “Tony realises that Master was making a joke.”

Trying to, at least. Noah wasn’t feeling particularly humorous these days. Tension from the gravity of what he was about to attempt, the absence of so many people he’d come to rely on, and the unfinished evolution pressed at him constantly.

“Tony will help!”

Noah smiled at that, briefly, before Zax finally spoke. "The land here was scarred long ago. Mana flows differently, accumulating in specific places and leaving others completely barren. The fluctuations will only grow worse the closer we get to the Valley."

"How much farther is that?" Aurelia’s voice came out dry with disuse. She had to pause to take a long pull from her waterskin.

“Three days.” The dragon tilted his head slightly, scanning the horizon. "But we'll reach Marrowhold by nightfall."

"Marrowhold? I've never heard of it."

"Few have. It sits on the edge of what most consider civilized lands and operates outside the laws of any other region. Those who need to know will learn of it, and the rest of the world has nothing to gain or offer from attempting to interfere. It is the last safe haven we will see from here until this is over."

Noah felt the weight of that promise, the unvoiced end toward which they raced. His end, hopefully temporarily.

"You've been there before?" Aurelia asked.

"Many times, across many centuries." Zax's gaze grew distant, his eyes clouded, and he turned away. "Death Valley has always drawn our kind. Power calls to power. Many of our kin chose to seek the secrets buried in that place. Few have succeeded."

Noah leaned forward, searching for the settlement, but the horizon remained as empty as ever. “So it’s a waystation?”

“Of a sort. Marrowhold caters to a very specific clientele: those foolish or desperate enough to venture onward toward Death Valley, and the few who survive and return.”

"Sounds charming," Noah said. Places catering to foolishness and desperation tended to profit from both. "Not ominous at all."

Zax glanced back at him. “It is the safest place to prepare for your descent, unless you plan to spend weeks on a detour. Do not provide anyone a reason to remember you and they will leave you be. It is a place of crossing paths, everyone will be consumed by their own affairs unless you provoke otherwise.”

“Okay, okay,” Noah grumbled. “I trust you, you don’t need to give me the whole sales pitch.”

“Are you okay?” Aurelia asked softly.

“I’m not sure. I think…” Noah took a deep breath, then choked on the dry heat and devolved into a coughing fit instead of his grand proclamation. His body wasn’t damaged in any way by the irritant, but hours of breathing in stone dust accumulated more than he’d realized during their long silence.

Aurelia passed him the waterskin. Noah took it with a strangled sort of growl as he tried to get his breathing back under control, irritated at himself and the world. Dry dust was never going to be his favourite environment, and it was rapidly climbing up the least-favourite list.

He gulped half the water down in one go, coughed a few more times to clear out his lungs, then passed it back. “Thanks.”

“Any time.” She took another swallow herself, then glanced sideways at him as she stoppered it and slid it back into her pack. “You were saying?”

Another question hung behind it, unspoken, the echo of Vion’s reproof. Don’t be a coward. But that wasn’t something he was prepared to broach. Certainly not now, when the departure from their other friends was so recent, so raw.

Noah shook his head and exhaled heavily. “I feel like I’m about to explode with all this energy, but it’s still not enough.”

“You cannot enter the Valley at C-Rank and expect to survive. That is why Marrowhold is our destination. It is built around one of the stronger pools of mana confluence, and the ascension chambers are one of the most well-guarded resources in the Stoneplains. There is no better place to perform your evolution.”

“Stoneplains, really?” Aurelia giggled. “How original. Let me guess, Marrowhold is built out of the bones of an ancient creature?”

“No. It is a place of trade.”

“Then why Marrowhold?”

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

“Monster parts are quite valuable. Local monsters are drawn to the mana knot within, which makes it a prime hunting spot for those eager to risk their lives without braving certain death.”

“Well, that’s a boring answer.”

Noah looked around for any sign of said monsters, but saw only midday sunlight reflecting from red-tinted stone. He could have used a little monster attack to break up the monotony.

“You will not find it boring when we arrive.”

Noah chuckled wryly. “Compared to the Stoneplains, I think I’d find a mud village interesting.”

“The cores from monsters there fetch astronomical prices. Rare materials, ancient artifacts, knowledge lost to time…all of it lies within the Valley, waiting for anyone brave or foolish enough to claim it. Assuming they survive the attempt.” He chuckled darkly, but Noah thought he almost heard a hint of pride in his voice, as if knowing the most dangerous places was something worth bragging about. “Marrowhold’s black market rivals any in the major kingdoms. Most of what flows through here would be illegal anywhere else."

“You’re right, that doesn’t sound boring. I wouldn’t say no to a few days of casual monster slaying.” Or not so casual.

“I wouldn’t mind training myself a little before we move on,” Aurelia admitted. “If we’re talking about reaching B-rank, I’m only at around level 230.”

Maybe that would help shake him back into shape. In fact, even thinking about spending the next day leveling up his rank and then fighting monsters instead of spending yet another day soaring over dusty stone and more dusty stone was enough to made him downright excited.

It’d been way too long since he got a proper workout. While Zax’s flight was incredibly fast, spending days on dragonback wasn’t great for training.

“Tony will help. Master needs to spend more time with Tony.” There was a vague hint of reproof in his symbiote’s mental voice, but mainly it was eager excitement.

Noah nodded at that. Going through two whole ranks in barely over a week’s time was messing with him. His abilities were growing too fast for him to keep up with. He was quite sure he’d applied all his powers far from optimally during the whole Drakonias debacle, thanks to being rushed from one fight to another day after day without a chance to rest and properly acclimate.

He had a hard time envisioning the power differential any more. By now, he was so far beyond human peak that any comparison he might make felt silly.

It would be nice to slow down and really get to know his new and upgraded abilities properly.

When the settlement finally came into view, it was an underwhelming sight compared to the cliff-wall that split the horizon, stretching out in both directions. Marrowhold itself was carved into the face of the rocky wall, tiny dots of light serving only to emphasize the massive size of the stone ridge that loomed above.

Noah couldn’t help but feel that it was meant to keep something in, rather than out. Though it might be a natural formation, something about it felt more purposeful. A city wall built by gods. Or a livestock pen.

Noah kept expecting them to reach it any minute, and kept being surprised by the distance and perspective. By the time they did arrive, evening was stretching on, casting them deep into the cliff’s shadow and making Zax look small.

“I’d swear I’ve seen smaller mountains,” Noah remarked as they finally began to descend.

Zax laughed but didn’t comment. The next several minutes were occupied with holding on as the dragon dove sharply down toward the shadowed stone beneath, which ended up with both passengers breathless and laughing as they slid off Zax’s back and he shrank back down to his human guise.

“Is this the valley entrance?” Aurelia asked.

Zax snorted. “Not even close. This is merely a stop on the way.” He turned and pointed away to the right, along the ridge and away deeper into the Stoneplains. “The Valley is another two days flight from here. Attempts have been made to establish settlements further in, but they rarely survive more than a week or two.”

The closer they drew to Marrowhold, the more details stood out to Noah, and the more clarified his impression of the formation became. Huge black pillars stood out in a row, each taller than the city’s highest windows, weathered and worn but still standing unbroken. They passed between two of these, which threw the whole thing into perspective all over again. A dozen dragons could have walked side by side with their wings fully extended and still not reached from one side of the row to the next.

“This used to be something else,” Noah murmured. “Something important.”

“Yes.” Zax sounded amused, but didn’t elaborate.

Abyssal Awareness screamed at Noah to be careful with this place. The ruins of whatever civilization stood here before humans claimed the remains, but a claim would not protect them. Death echoed from every stone and set all his senses on edge.

You have entered a less mana-depleted zone. Natural mana regeneration increased to -15%.

That brought his attention to another thing that made him twitchy and uneasy. The mana flows here felt dense one moment and absent the next, nothing like the clean currents he'd grown used to in Drakonias.

After several minutes of walking through these changing zones, they neared the pillar and he had his answer. Power gathered around the dark stone, drawn down in a twisted jumble, and disappeared down into the ground.

As they reached the pillar his mana regeneration jumped as the ambient strength steeply increased, then fell off again when they moved away. The symbols set into the pillar’s base were taller than Noah and Aurelia combined and the way they were shaped looked almost natural, though of course that was impossible. Something about them was deeply unsettling and equally alluring.

Noah hesitated, tempted to go look closer.

Master should not touch those! Tony’s voice was sharp with warning and an undercurrent of fear. Master’s hunger is ours, he added indignantly. The hunger of the stone would not do it justice.

Noah paused, his hand already half-raised toward the nearest symbol. There was power in them, power he could—

"Leave it," Zax said, confirming Tony's warning. “There is power enough where we are going and it is not safe to linger here as you are.”

Tony agrees with the dragon man, we do not need to disturb the hungry stones.

‘Yeah, fine.” Reluctantly he let himself be led away.

Two more massive pillars framed the settlement on either side, seemingly built right into the stone ridge, connected across the top in an archway that looked ready to crumble any second.

It was then that his intuition put the pieces together.

“An arena,” he whispered.

“Indeed.” Zax’s glance bore a hint of surprise at his deduction. “Among other things. The Pathkeepers have all departed long ago, but their memory lingers.”

“How big is this place?” The entire settlement of Marrowhold was carved into its sealed doorway.

“We could fly across it in half a day if we rushed.”

Noah looked behind them, thought back over how far they’d come today, and tried to imagine half that distance enclosed in one massive arena. His imagination failed him.

“If you need a place to test your new evolution before we continue, we can linger here for a time. Many creatures live on within that cannot be found anywhere else.”

“Hence the value of a trading post.”

Marrowhold gave him an ancient, vaguely archeological vibe. It reminded him of something out of a historical documentary about Aztec or Greek ruins, with its layers of structures carved into even older ones. Black pillars worn smooth from uncounted centuries stood between red stone blocks with crisper edges and signs of semi-regular repair.

At least from this far away, it seemed devoid of the usual signs of life. No clothing hung out of windows, no market stalls lined the road. Perhaps it would be better compared to a fortress than a trading post. If not for the lights glowing from a few dozen windows, he’d have guessed it to be abandoned.

As they drew closer, Noah noticed another monument of sorts near the settlement's entrance, a smaller block of dark stone covered in carved names. Hundreds, thousands, he couldn’t tell how many.

"What is that?" Aurelia asked quietly, her voice tight.

“A memorial for those who entered Death Valley.” Zax sounded vaguely disapproving. "Those names crossed off are the ones who returned."

Noah slowed so he could study the wall as they passed. Some of the names were worn away by time, illegible. Others were freshly carved, the edges still clean. He couldn’t help but notice that barely one in twenty had been crossed off, and almost half of those were in clusters of the same name several times. Most of which finally ended in being written as leaving and not returning.

"They say even gods have died in that Valley," an old woman called out. “Those who seek Death often come upon it before they’re ready.”

"Old Calesta," Zax murmured irritably. "She calls herself a seer. Pay her no mind."

Noah turned to see her sitting near the monument wall, wrapped in tattered robes that had been patched and stitched over enough times that he couldn’t guess what style they’d originally been. Her eyes were milky with blindness, but she seemed to look directly at him nonetheless. Or through him, as if staring into the shape of his soul.

Ancient mana attractors, fortress city built into the cliff that’s actually a massive coliseum, and a scary old seer lady to cap it all off. This could be straight out of a movie, really.

"Three Ascendants entered last century," the old seer’s dry voice continued, uncaring of Zax's dismissal. "They sought the heart of the Crimson, but they never returned. The Valley keeps what it takes."

"Is that true?" he asked Zax quietly as they moved past her. The way the old woman said ‘keeps’ made it sound personal, possessive.

"Ascendants have certainly entered and never returned. Whether they died or simply found something they preferred to stay with..." The dragon’s casual shrug somehow made it worse. “The Valley is not a place to enter lightly. It keeps its secrets, even from one such as myself."

“Well.” Noah coughed uneasily. "I think a few days vacationing in the arena of the lost pathkeepers sounds better and better." Facing anyone and everyone at all levels was one thing, throwing his life away carelessly was another entirely.

The settlement's main gate stood flanked by two statues of pale stone so weathered their features had worn away entirely. Whether warriors or kings, it was impossible to guess. Their hands were empty now, but the way they stood suggested they'd once held weapons.

You have entered a mana-neutral zone. Natural mana regeneration restored to standard.

Noah could feel the subtle relaxing of his body, no longer starved of the power levels to which it had grown accustomed. He let out a happy sigh. Everything was going well, wasn’t it? There was nothing to be stressed about. Just a few strata of overpowered monsters to carve his way through, and that was his specialty.

A moment later, the gates swung open.

The interior of Marrowhold was more alive than its exterior suggested despite evening casting the entire place in shadow. Adventurers moved up and down the narrow stairs, weathered people of various races with eyes that never stopped scanning.

Spice scented the air, competing with tanned leather and cheap incense, none of which quite concealed the underlying tang of metal and old sweat. Merchants hawked wares from cramped stalls, their goods ranging from the mundane to the deeply unsettling.

A preserved monster eye in one display slowly swivelled to follow him as he walked by. Tony popped out in his winged-eye form and flew over to peer at it himself, which led to the two of them moving first one way, then the other, as though in some kind of bizarre cross-eyed competition.

Noah laughed. “Come on, Tony, leave the poor thing alone.”

Tony flapped over to rest on Noah’s head. “Tony is a much better eye,” he said smugly into Noah’s mind.

“Tony is the best eye ever,” Noah agreed with absolute sincerity. “And arm. And full body reinforcement mutation.”

Tony nestled deeper into his hair, vibrating happily at the praise.

The cliff face towering overhead made the place feel crowded and close even when they reached the third level and the streets opened wide.

Or, at least, crowded anywhere Zax wasn’t. A bubble opened around them almost unconsciously, a few people stopping to bow or hurry away, but most just drifting out of their way as though stepping off the road for an oncoming fire truck before resuming behind them like nothing happened.

"They can sense what you are?" Noah asked quietly. The dragon hadn't done anything overtly threatening, he was just walking, but his aura was dense enough that in this mana-poor area it stood out vividly.

"We have a presence that's difficult to fully suppress. We've learned to mask the worst of it, but in a place like this, where people's survival depends on reading threats accurately..."

"They can tell you're dangerous."

The dragon chuckled. "They know we’re very dangerous."

They made their way through the settlement, climbing higher along carved staircases and narrow paths. The steps were worn smooth in the center by the passage of countless feet. The architecture grew older the higher they went, the ancient black stone becoming more prominent until they reached a section that seemed almost entirely untouched by modern construction. Here, the air felt colder.

An inn of sorts sat at the end of a precarious walkway. The Hollow Rest, according to a weathered sign that creaked in the wind. The building was carved directly into the cliff face, its windows looking out over the desolate landscape below. The drop beyond those windows was immediate and unforgiving, the kind that made your stomach tighten if you looked down.

"This is our stop," Zax said. "I've made arrangements. We'll have rooms, supplies, and access to the ritual chambers below."

"How do you have arrangements in a place like this?" Aurelia asked. “You haven’t talked to anyone.”

Zax's smile widened, the satisfaction of a creature that had been accumulating leverage for a long, long time. "Simple. I own it."