Not pumping blood, but… energy.
“Mystic Heartis its rather apt name.”
Just below it were three gems about the size of my thumb, rectangular shaped with rounded corners, each one a different vibrant color—amber, turquoise, and fuchsia. They were levitating just below the heart, its golden streams enveloping them. Powering them.
“What are those?” I asked, unable to take my eyes off the entire stunning display.
“Necromantic cores.”
I jolted and spun to face him. “What?”
“Salvaged by teams of my magic-wielders and vampires working in concert. From three recently deceased necromancers.”
“Recently deceased? And necromancers… they’re so hard to come by as it is.”
“They are being hunted. Cassius has a spell sweeping the supernatural world for necromantic essence in a bid to locatea learned and highly experienced necromancer who could help Sylas with his illness. That spell has now located seven necromancers, all of whom have been found murdered.”
“Shit,” I uttered, shoving my hand through my hair. “So this is targeted, intended to stop Sylas from being able to get better, right?”
“There are other facets to it. But, yes, one reason for this murder spree is to prevent Sylas from being cured. To weaken him and ensure he is no longer a threat.”
Fuck… Sylas.I felt fucking sick with it, hearing about this obstacle to him being able to get better, the cruelty in it, the constant damage to him, how it had to be eating at him in so many ways.
I pulled up short from going further down that path, already feeling that twitch within that warned of an explosion of anger. And that wouldn’t help anything.
But understanding this that my dad was showing me now very well could.
“Why did you salvage their cores? When a necromancer dies, so does that part of them, right? At least on the living plane.”
“Very good. Yes, they do. However, not with this being a factor.” He gestured at the heart.
“Hold up. You’re telling me that this weird heart is powering the cores?”
“Infusing them with life would be more accurate.Andit was also able to revitalize them from death state.”
Holy. Shit.
“Do you feel it yet? It could be difficult given the shock you are in the midst of processing as well as the very personal nature of all of this to you, but attempt to focus. Do you sense the familiarity?”
I shifted my weight and stared at the heart, honing my senses for several moments, until something did break through.
“It’s Celestial.”
“Yes, essentially. It was created, shall we say, from Celestial power, which my researchers were able to fashion into this magical living form of a heart.” He ran his hand reverently just a couple of inches from the field itself. “During the Severance when many True Celestials landed on the mortal plane in a bid to prevent Ariana, Cassius, Ketheron, and their team from carrying out the spell, The Shadowed was already prepared and waiting. While they were engaged in battle, we extracted portions of the magical essence—a formidable spell to pull from so many as well, which was fortunately masked by that of the Severance.”
And the shocks just kept on coming.
“True Celestial magic and energy is so potent, that drawing a fraction from each one of those who ventured down to this plane went unnoticed by them and was more than enough for our purposes. Cassius, before he was Fallen, was able to tether Velra Nox and pull her from death state without any consequences to the Valley of the Dead itself. Ariana Martel, a True Celestial and arguably the most infamous one at that was able to forever sever the Celestial Plane’s connection to our mortal world. It is so very potent and also multifaceted in what it is able to do, and what can be fashioned from it, as well as what it can be fashioned into.”
“Taking advantage of the Severance spell like that—disturbing and darkly impressive at the same time.”
“We do what we must.”
“When I first came down here, you said you’d help me, you said The Shadowed was looking into Sylas’ condition andresearching viable solutions.You also mentioned that you needed him well for some sort of bigger picture reason.”
“All true. Yesterday we were able to stabilize the cores and revitalize them fully. It’s time. That’s why I brought you here today. We are missing only one more piece of the puzzle.”
“What’s that?”
