Even after all of that, however, he did not immediately regain full control of himself. Between the ensuing merge with Kallmakk and the overwhelming ferocity that still consumed his physical form, it was all but impossible to not get lost in the mayhem.
He was battling the Mad Demon again. Of course he was. The object of Ettol’s ire. One of the greatest obstacles to his grand plan of Reemergence. The Child Trickster wanted nothing more than to have Koh eliminate this problem in his stead.
And Koh, therefore, wanted nothing more than to stop himself, but it was difficult. Instincts had taken over. The instincts of the Beast of Ardora: the monster that ever thirsted for blood and hungered for war.
The blessing and curse of his master.
To truly break himself free of these instincts, he would have to overwhelm his own senses. Blank his own mind. And along with it, probably everyone else’s as well.
He knew just the thing.
He used the merge. Leaned into it. Focused on its transformative effects on his body. Let them grow and radiate outward from him, flowing over and through everything in the area on a tidal wave of darkness.
And he howled.
So deep and sustained that it could have been a roar. The sound carried with it his soul, his aura, and all the torment that Kallmakk had been amassing for countless years.
It was a sound that rent the sky in two. Where before there had been a hole in the clouds above the battlefield, now there was a fissure all the way into the horizon. And the sea was no different. It parted like a great canyon, perfectly straight into the distance as mountains of displaced water splashed up and away from the immense divide.
The world shuddered and blinked. For a few fleeting moments, he could even sense beyond the Veil. He thought, perhaps, that he felt his master there, observing in silence, but that might have only been wishful thinking.
His body grew in size. It had already been enlarged by the power of the Darklight, but now there was even more to pull from as Kallmakk connected with that self-same power.
The feldeath’s instincts competed with his own, wanting to take over, but he couldn’t allow that, either. Duty and reason needed to win now, not instinct. Neither his nor Kallmakk’s.
And so the howl continued. Tearing the world asunder. Until everything but his own will was suppressed.
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Page 3815
He wasted no time in accepting the offer. Immediately, a change began to take place. A familiar verve flowed through him. Ancient and powerful. The inky blackness of the Darklight enveloped him, both body and soul.
As expected, it was ferocious and hungry, but that, too, was no great departure from his own spirit. Whenever he embraced the Darklight on his own, it felt just the same as this.
The only difference was intensity. There was more now than he’d ever felt before. More than he’d anticipated, even.
This Kallmakk had harbored greater strength than he’d realized. In their multiple days of combat, they’d apparently not breached the true depths of its power.
Intoxicating.
If he had not already been possessed of a single-minded pursuit, this would have almost certainly been too much to endure. It would have tempted him to all sorts of ends, no doubt. To take its power and run free. Do as he pleased, the master’s will be damned.
Perhaps it also helped that he’d already experienced such indulgences. Already seen what fruitless ends they amounted to. Thanks to Ettol’s interference.
Yet another lesson from the Child Trickster. Koh intended to remember it well.
This slowed space was a problem, however. The merge was being slowed along with it. In order to complete it within a timely fashion, it seemed he would have to release himself from this place.
And frankly, he was not entirely sure how to do that. Moreover, there was the additional concern of the cage’s suppressive effects on his mind. The cage had not actually disappeared or diminished. He could still sense it all around him, clear as day. He very much did not wish to rush headlong back into it.
So he had to break it first, then release himself from this strange state of consciousness.
Hmm.
He felt, perhaps, that he could simply wish for it, and it would be so. There was enough dormant power here now, even disregarding that of Kallmakk. Power all his own.
Power that he’d been holding back, subconsciously, for years now. Decades, maybe.
Yes. Storing and waiting. Biding his time until a day like today. Even under Ettol’s influence, he’d managed to keep something to himself.
He gathered it up. Let it pierce his soul and embolden it. And then he made his wish known.
The cage shattered. Time moved quickly again. And the rage of his body filled his mind once more.
As expected, it was ferocious and hungry, but that, too, was no great departure from his own spirit. Whenever he embraced the Darklight on his own, it felt just the same as this.
The only difference was intensity. There was more now than he’d ever felt before. More than he’d anticipated, even.
This Kallmakk had harbored greater strength than he’d realized. In their multiple days of combat, they’d apparently not breached the true depths of its power.
Intoxicating.
If he had not already been possessed of a single-minded pursuit, this would have almost certainly been too much to endure. It would have tempted him to all sorts of ends, no doubt. To take its power and run free. Do as he pleased, the master’s will be damned.
Perhaps it also helped that he’d already experienced such indulgences. Already seen what fruitless ends they amounted to. Thanks to Ettol’s interference.
Yet another lesson from the Child Trickster. Koh intended to remember it well.
This slowed space was a problem, however. The merge was being slowed along with it. In order to complete it within a timely fashion, it seemed he would have to release himself from this place.
And frankly, he was not entirely sure how to do that. Moreover, there was the additional concern of the cage’s suppressive effects on his mind. The cage had not actually disappeared or diminished. He could still sense it all around him, clear as day. He very much did not wish to rush headlong back into it.
So he had to break it first, then release himself from this strange state of consciousness.
Hmm.
He felt, perhaps, that he could simply wish for it, and it would be so. There was enough dormant power here now, even disregarding that of Kallmakk. Power all his own.
Power that he’d been holding back, subconsciously, for years now. Decades, maybe.
Yes. Storing and waiting. Biding his time until a day like today. Even under Ettol’s influence, he’d managed to keep something to himself.
He gathered it up. Let it pierce his soul and embolden it. And then he made his wish known.
The cage shattered. Time moved quickly again. And the rage of his body filled his mind once more.
Saturday, March 22, 2025
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