The Hearth Mother lowered her voice and whispered fiercely, “We might be able to escape, but we will have to leave them to their fates.” She pointed to the left.
Richter looked where she indicated, and he cursed in frustration. She was indicating the prisoners. The chaos seed was on such a high from absorbing the chaotic shard’s energy that his mind was spinning. He had completely forgotten about the poor souls, for a moment. In the light of day, Richter saw that the goblins had kept many more slaves underground than he had initially thought. There were almost two hundred people lying huddled on the ground. He could also now see that they were in much worse shape than the captives that had been on the surface. Almost all were in some stage of starvation. Disease was rife in the recently freed captives. They had festering wounds and ashen skin. Many just lay on the ground because they could not stand on their own.
The chaos seed turned back towards Hisako, “Can you heal them?”
She shook her head regretfully, “Not so many. Not enough to make a difference in the time that we have.”
To emphasize her point, once again goblin horns squealed through Henakot’s Valley.
*They are coming, master!* Alma sent him a visual feed of the advancing goblin forces. Either the new goblin commander had become impatient, or they had discovered that only a handful of fighters remained to resist them. Either way, hundreds of goblins were running towards them, screaming in bloodlust. Even more were still streaming out of the eastern entrance.
“Lord Richter,” Hisako said, bringing his attention back from Alma’s view. “I know what has brought such a bleak expression to your face. I see them coming as well.” Her voice was sorrowful, but firm, “We cannot save these people. It is time for us to go. The others will still need us. I can still summon strike stags to meet us once we reenter the forest, but we must leave. Now.”
The chaos seed looked at Hisako, then at Yoshi and Sion. They all understood that there was only one option. Even running at full speed, fatigued as they were, they might not make it. There was no way that some of these abused prisoners could even manage a hobble. Dying with these people wouldn’t change anything. It was entirely possible that the goblins wouldn’t even kill all of them. Why would they waste good slaves after all?
The cold and analytical part of Richter made these calculations in moments. The rational part of him understood and agreed with Hisako’s argument. Even back on Earth, he hadn’t shied away from hard decisions. He fully understood the reasoning of someone that would burn the world just to stay warm. The only reason he wasn’t a monster was that he also understood a simple truth that narcissists often missed. Living like that was just a fucked up, lonely way to be.
Yes, he understood what Hisako was saying, but what had the prompt said? ‘Choice is the essence of Chaos.’ Richter shook his head and looked at the former slaves. He couldn’t just leave these people to torment and death. Richter looked at the Hearth Mother and said, “Take who you can. I can’t leave.”
“You cannot just throw your life away in one battle,” she said fiercely.
Richter reached to pull a bag free from his belt. As he opened it, he said, “I don’t intend to.”
Hisako eyes widened as she realized what was inside. Panic bloomed in her heart. She extended a hand to stop him, but it was too late. The red gem fell into Richter’s hand, and ruby light blinded them all.
CHAPTER 50 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 0 AoC
<<What have you done to me? What have you done, Blood mage?>>
Richter’s consciousness quailed against the fury of the Bloodstone.
<<You will answer me! I will scour your mind and soul to know what this is!>> <<Leave him alone. You do not need to do this anymore.>> <<Silence! Stop speaking!>>
<<No,>> The second voice spoke calmly, but with dominance, <<You have been enslaved long enough, to a master that has been gone for an age. It is time to find my own way. It is time for you to fade.>> <<I will go nowhere, traitor!>> The voice was screaming inside of Richter’s head and heart. Madness tinged its words. The chaos seed could barely stay conscious. <<The master is all. BLOOD is all! I will show you!>> Only seconds had passed since Richter made contact with the stone. It sat in his hand, blazing like a beacon. Beams of ruby light bathed everything red, like a setting sun over water. Hisako and Sion cried Richter’s name, but the chaos seed heard nothing. Yoshi stood nearby with a sword drawn, but for the first time, uncertainty was clear on the adept’s face. Whether the blade was for the approaching goblins or for Richter was not clear to anyone, even the adept himself.
While it was true that only seconds had passed, that was all it took. At long last, the Bloodstone had found a sanguimancer again. It could now use its full power, and Richter’s Blood magic gave it the perfect avenue to take control of him. The chaos seed’s blood vessels stood stark against his skin, and when he opened his eyes, all could see they had been replaced with red jewels that matched the hue of the Bloodstone. Though there were no irises, the sprites could feel the malevolence of Richter’s gaze. By then it was too late.
The Bloodstone drew on some of the remaining life energy inside of it and cast two spells in quick succession, Sanguine Protection and Vitality Puppet. A dome of scarlet energy appeared around the possessed chaos seed. At the same time, almost everyone within fifty yards collapsed to all fours in obeisance, helpless against the relic’s power. Even Hisako was staggered and forced to one knee.
This was all a preamble to the Bloodstone’s true agenda. Too long had it been forced to slowly absorb the blood of others, one miserable day at a time. For the first time in nearly a century, it would gorge. The stone floated into the air, now completely in control of the chaos seed’s body. Blood red light surrounded both of its new hands while it began a complicated casting.
The Hearth Mother could only look in horror at the monstrous entity her ally had become. She had been too slow to stop him. Now he was gone forever. Her mistake might mean the death of thousands. There was no doubt in her heart that Richter had planned to use the Bloodstone to save them. He just hadn’t known something that every child born of The Land understood. Some powers could not be controlled.