Realm of Monsters-Chapter 611: To Be A Titan Part 2

Chapter 611: To Be A Titan Part 2

“You were lucky the first time the Astral Light ignited. If you’re not careful, and it ignites again, you could easily eviscerate your own body from within, resulting in a very excruciating death,” said Melantha.

Stryg swallowed hard. “Duly noted.”

“Now, tell me more.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Tell me about the dragonbane. Your powers fully awakened that night, yes? During our awakenings, our abilities are amplified to their limits. So I want to know what you did. How did you fight the dragonbane?”

Stryg closed his eyes and grimaced, the memories of that night flooding back. The blood of his mother on his hands as he tried to stop the bleeding. The feeling of helplessness and rage. “I don’t like to think about that night.”

Melantha touched his hand. “You need to try.”

“...I wanted to kill him. I wanted to hurt more than anything. I… I felt something, no I heard something, I think.”

“What was it?”

“A voice, it was whispering to me. It felt— happy? But angry, not at me. It was angry with me. I can’t explain it. I’ve never felt anything like it. I felt like it knew my pain.”

“What was its name?” she whispered.

Stryg slowly opened his eyes. “Svartna.” He glanced down at the black spear lying across his crossed legs. “How do I know that?”

“Do you know how orichalcum comes to be?”

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“A long time ago, at the dawn of the first age, the World Soul was born in this world full of insentience. Our world is a reflection of her in many ways. So when she breathed sentient life into the planet and created the eleven Elder Species, small slivers of her were left behind here.”

“Slivers?”

“Her blood. And within it her essence. Alierune is the Elemental Primordial, the eleven elements are her power, her essence. Chaos is the element of change. So when she transformed this world into something new, what element do you think was used most?”

“Chaos.” Stryg put a hand over his hearts.

“And when her blood mixed with the earth it changed it, transforming once ordinary stone into orichalcum. The Earth Elders, the first giants, discovered the orichalcum veins deep in the mountains. It was only much later that the Chaos Elders, our people, developed a way to manipulate and smith the metal. Alas, the secrets of our greatest smiths have long been lost, but their works still remain.” She tapped the spear.

“So my spear was made by titan smiths?” Stryg lifted Svartna in both his hands and admired the small symbols etched into the glass-like black metal.

“In the Age of Titans, yes. Only those who carry the blood of a titan, the blood of chaos, can connect with the sliver of Aleirune that is imbued in the metal.”

Stryg thought of Unalla and her orichalcum sword Votum. If she was the great-granddaughter of Stjerne it made sense how she could wield it. Even still… “Unalla had difficulty controlling Votum. The longer she held it the weaker she became. When I fought her it seemed like she could collapse at any moment.”

“Votum may have given her its name, but she was never Votum’s true master. Even if she was, Unalla isn’t a titan, like you or me. Yes, she has titan blood, but very little. She is mortal, unlike her father, Atlas. She’ll age slower than other drows, but she is more like a drow than a titan. Her children will be ordinary mortals no different than any other. Simply put, her body cannot hold the strain of an orichalcum weapon, especially one that does not recognize her as its true master. Svartna, on the other hand, chose you.”

“Why did you choose me?” Stryg stared at his own reflection within the spear.

“Each orichalcum weapon is different. Chaos is never the same. While not quite sentient, the weapons are alive and they are fickle beings. Each one reacts to different emotions, searching for a wielder they can connect to. My guess? Svartna reacted to your pain, your anguish, your rage.”

“That’s why it chose me?” he scoffed weakly.

“I’d imagine so.”

He didn’t know how to feel about that, but he was grateful to have someone who shared in his pain.

“In time I will teach you to connect with Svartna, but for now, tell me about that night.”

Stryg laid the spear back down on his lap and tried his best to recall the night of the siege without letting his emotions overwhelm him. “I felt strong. Stronger than I ever had. I fought the dragonbane without being pushed back. Even when he hurt me, I barely felt it.”

“Your body was regenerating at incredible speeds and your strength was several-fold greater.” Melantha nodded to herself. “Awakenings amplify our natural abilities significantly.”

“When I wounded the monster with my spear it had trouble regenerating. No, it didn’t regenerate at all. Somehow Svartna was stopping it from healing.”

“That wasn’t Svartna.” Melantha smiled, a knowing look in her eyes.

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“What does that mean?”

“I’ll tell you in a bit. What happened next?”

“We kept fighting, but my wounds were healing, his weren’t. He tried to fly away. I chased and I—” Stryg reached over his back and touched his shoulder blades. “I had wings. How did I have wings?”

“Chaos is the element of change, remember? Shapeshifting is common among our kind. The owl is our father’s innate shapeshifted form.” A pair of great silver wings unfurled out from Melantha’s back and stretched to their full length. “Wings are natural for us, as is the entire owl form. Wings tend to appear first before anything.”

“Can you teach me how to do that?” Stryg practically vibrated with excitement. “I’ve always wanted to fly.”

Melantha cracked a smile. “It’s in our nature to want to fly, we are owls in a manner of speaking. If you want to learn how to fly we can’t do it here. We’ll have to head to the shade wall.”

“The wall?”

“Mm. I’ll push you off the top. Ideally, it’ll kick in your instincts and your wings will emerge. If they don’t, then at least you’ll get a chance to train your regeneration.”

Stryg suddenly remembered Lunae’s ‘training.’ She had no problem shoving him off the cliffside. When he had fallen spectacularly Lunae had forced him to try and heal his broken body. He thought she was insane, but now he wondered how much of their interactions had been planned.

“Stryg…?”

“Sorry.” He shook his head to dispel the thoughts. “You were saying?”

“After your wings grew, was that when you ignited the Astral Light?”

“Yeah, I chased the dragonbane into the sky and then I felt this cold, burning feeling in my chest. I wanted to kill him so badly. I wanted to hurt him.” Stryg clenched his jaw at the memory.

“And you did, along with several other dragonbanes and dragons.”

“What?”

“You obliterated everything nearby. You don’t remember, do you?”

“No,” he admitted. “It’s a bit of a blur.”

“Well, we can at least confirm three Aspects you’ve inherited.”

“What’s an Aspect?” He heard the term before, but he wasn’t certain what it meant.

“Every titan is connected to at least one aspect of this world the moment they are born. Titans are a reflection of the world. When the world declines, so do the titans.”

“And when Aleirune suffers, so does the world…”

“Exactly.” Her expression darkened. “Now, listen closely. Titans are creatures of chaos, each one’s power varies greatly, few carry the power to rival gods. The ones that do are the titans who have endured through the ages. Like the wolf who dotes over you.”

“Wolf who— Lunae? She doesn’t dote over me.” Stryg frowned.

Melantha chuckled. “Wait, you’re serious? That woman would tuck you into bed if you let her. And she would literally go to war against the Queen of Titans for your sake. Actually, that’s exactly what she did.”

Stryg’s cheeks turned a darker shade of blue. “She was doing it to save the goblins in Hollow Shade.”

“Pfft. She did it for you. She loves you Stryg like the son she never had. I don’t know why, but she does. I’d be careful with that if I were you.”

“Why?” He stretched out the word.

“Because we’re gods, Stryg. And most gods don’t care about mortals. If a god thinks a mortal is standing in their way they’ll get rid of them. Imagine what Lunae might do if, say, Tauri hurt you.”

“What would you do if Tauri hurt me?” Stryg asked cautiously.

Melantha winked. “Now you’re getting it. I care about mortals more than most of our kind, but I would still kill Tauri if she hurt you. There’s too few of us left to not be overprotective of one another.”

Stryg wasn’t sure if that was supposed to make him feel better or not. Instead, he tried to change the topic. “So, Aspects?”

“Right. Aspects in a way are the powers that a titan possesses. Most titans only have one Aspect. Lunae is a powerful titan, a goddess, she possesses three. The Moon, the Wolf, and the Winter Aspect. Her primary Aspect is the Moon.”

“And Stjerne?”

“Our father is a Calamity. He has six Aspects, as do his siblings. His primary is Death.”

“And the other Calamities?” Stryg had barely heard anything about them. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he wanted to learn anything about his father.

“Desolation, Fear, Agony… and Hope. Hope has been missing for a long time, no one knows where she is. As for the others, it’s best if you don’t meet any of them. They are dangerous, Stryg. Dangerous enough that even the Titan Queen is wary of them.”

“Are they that bad?” he mumbled.

“Desolation and Death have never seen eye to eye. As for the sisters, Agony prefers to keep to herself, while Fear adores Death. The few times I met Fear I felt like my life was in danger. I think she hated me just because our Father favored me.” Melantha shivered at the memory. “Fear is sadistic. Trust me, you don’t want to meet her.”

“That’s comforting,” Stryg sighed.

She gave him a sympathetic smile. “Where were we? Right, Aspects. As titan hybrids we don’t have our own Aspects, rather we inherit them from our titan parent. However, just because we inherit an Aspect doesn’t mean we inherit its full potential. Unalla probably has a small sliver of the Aspect of Death. Whereas you have inherited it fully, I think.”

“How do you know?”

“The dragonbane’s wounds not healing? Your body is imbued with an aura of death. Wounds you physically inflict will ordinarily not heal.”

Stryg’s eyes widened in fear. “But, I bit Tauri a bunch of times!”

Melantha gave him a flat look. “I don’t need more details. As I said, ordinarily they will not heal. Your own chromatic spells will heal the wounds you inflict just fine. Powerful beings such as Ananta should be able to recover from our wounds as well.”

“Oh, that’s good.” He sighed in relief and settled down.

“Moving on. The Wings and your Dark Vision are both part of the Owl Aspect. Your Bright Vision is a part of the Star Aspect, the fact that you also have the Astral Light is a clear indicator that you inherited the Star Aspect in full. I wouldn’t be surprised if you fully inherited the Owl and Death Aspect as well. I’d wager you could command an undead sentinel right now if we brought one down here.”

“I’m terrible at necromancy,” Stryg admitted with a shake of his head.

Melantha wrinkled her brow. “What? No, I’m not talking about your chromatic black magic. Wait, have you been trying to cast necromancy spells?”

“Yes?”

She held her sides and laughed.

“What’s so funny?” He frowned.

“You, you actually,” she fell into another bout of laughter. “I’m sorry, it’s just. Damn, if Holo was here she would never let you live this down. We’re gods of death, little brother. Why in all the bloody Realms would we ever rely on dragon magic to command what we already do naturally?”

“I don’t get it.” He cocked his head to the side.

“Imagine a dog trying to run only using its hind legs like a human. Of course, the dog is going to struggle and fail miserably.”

“So you’re saying necromancy should come naturally to me?”

“No, I’m saying the power of the Aspect of Death should come naturally to you, not the pathetic excuse that chromatic mages call necromancy. How do you think Holo commands all the undead sentinels and shades of this city?”

“I never thought about it…”

Melantha stood to her feet and offered him a hand. “Necromancy is beneath us, Stryg. Let me show you.”