Of Kings and Killers (Elder Empire Sea #3) - WIll Wight Page 0,55

number one: the world itself begins to crumble until I come along to erase it. That will destroy the current form of the Fiends, but not kill them outright, so they will eventually re-form. But doing so will cost them so much time and energy that it is the fate they wish to avoid at all costs.”

He folded a finger. “That brings me to fate number two: they escape through this crack in your sky. Those with enough strength could do so already, if they wished. But if they do…” He smiled theatrically. “…they meet me. Now, they could fight me or run from me, but eventually I would hunt them down and it would be the same as fate number one.”

He folded a second finger, leaving only one. “Fate number three is the one they’re seeking, and the one we are trying to avoid. They want to escape your world, their prison, into another world. Fiends are like parasites. Perhaps plague-bearers would be a better analogy. If they escape in the right way, they can spread to a perfectly healthy world, one that I would hesitate to destroy. Or one that I couldn’t destroy, either because it is too valuable or because it is so old and strong.”

Ozriel dropped the last finger and returned to his tea.

“How do they escape in the right way?”

“That’s a much better question than the others you could have asked. Well chosen. They require human…what you would call human Intent…in order to cross the Way Between Worlds with intention. So they will prepare human vessels for themselves, possess them, and leave their prison behind.”

Calder thought back to the behavior of the Elderspawn and Elder cults that they had found over the last few months. Preparing a vessel had to be more complex than just choosing a person to possess or they would have done it already.

“How do we stop them?”

Ozriel poured himself another cup of tea from the whistling machine. “Preparing a vessel is not a simple process. It’s very subjective and personal, much like…are you familiar with the Soulbound Vessels from your world? Good, I see you are. It’s a related process. The Elders need a personal connection with their subject, the deeper the better, and that takes time.

“They will be more powerful in a human form as well. As powerful as they would be if they had finished restoring their original physical forms. But they will not take over their human bodies until they are ready to leave the world behind.”

“Why not?” If their powers would increase, why hadn’t they taken human form already?

For the first time since driving off Urg’naut, Ozriel spoke seriously. “Because when they do, I’ll erase your world.”

He faced Calder with all humor gone, and only ancient sadness on his face. “I am sorry, but it is the least harm for the greatest number of people. If it looks like any Class One Fiends will escape in human form, I will remove your entire world from existence.”

It didn’t even occur to Calder that the man could be lying. He had felt Ozriel’s Intent, and his resolve was unshakeable.

Ozriel looked back to his tea. “In fact, I was sent to destroy you already.”

Back home, Calder was sure that his palms were sweating and his heart beating faster. But here in the world of Intent, he felt only a great pressure.

On the one hand, the Great Elders.

On the other, the looming threat of destruction.

“Why tell me this?” he asked. His Intent had weakened, so his voice came out softly.

“You think I like erasing billions—or in your case, millions—of lives if I don’t have to?”

The stained glass room shattered, each shard of glass evaporating. The teacup and massive refining machine vanished as well, as though it had all been a dream.

Now Calder and Ozriel drifted together in the void, looking down through a rift into the Capital.

“I can’t reach into your world without making the breach worse,” Ozriel said. “This is a problem for your people to solve. This crack in your sky is not a wound that was made once; it is being maintained by the combined efforts of your Great Elders. If you can seal or weaken their powers enough, your world will heal itself in moments.

“Alternatively, there is a way to rid yourself of the Great Elders forever.”

He drifted over the world, looking down into it like a father looking into his child’s crib. “Taking human form is risky for them because it binds them to the rules