The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 346

Chapter 346 A Dim Spark

My eyes took a moment to adjust to the sudden dimness as I stepped out of the ascension portal.

I sucked in a lungful of aether-laden air, and it felt like the first real breath I’d taken in weeks. The tension faded from my muscles, and there was a hungry jolt from my core as it reacted to the dense atmospheric aether.

I was standing on a small floating island. The portal had faded, leaving behind only an empty frame overgrown with sharp purple crystals. Dozens of other floating islands hovered at the heart of what appeared to be…

Regis let out an appreciative whistle. ‘Whoa.’

A few strides were all it took to cross the island I was on. I gazed down into the gloom below before looking up at the roof high above; the curving walls, floor, and ceiling of this cavernous structure were made of enormous purple crystals. Similar growths dotted the many islands as well, some the size of small bushes, while others grew into huge, jagged boulders.

It was like standing at the heart of an enormous, glowing geode.

Regis’s shadow wolf form coalesced next to me, looking down as he licked his lips. “Imagine how much aether is stored in all these crystals.”

My eyes focused on a black spire that rose from an island in the center of the zone. Augmenting my vision with aether, I could just make out the carvings covering the entire three-story structure. It was also the only thing in the zone that contained no aether. “What is that?”

My companion managed to pry his hungry gaze away from the aether crystals to take a glance at the black spire. “Beats me…but knowing the Relictombs, it’s probably going to try to kill us.”

“Reasonable assumption.” I nodded in agreement before turning to the archway shimmering with opalescent light on the far end of the geode. “At least the exit is within sight.”

“Seems too easy,” Regis said, sniffing around the edge of the platform. “We’re supposed to just play leapfrog from island to island until we reach the portal?” Regis sprang across the twenty-foot gap to the closest island, then back again to prove his point.

“Feel free to play leapfrog by yourself.” I began charting the aetheric paths all the way to the portal before shooting my companion a wink. “See you on the other side.”

Regis cursed as I started to God Step across the zone.

As I stepped onto the next island, however, the pathways began to shimmer before twisting and melting away in a fuzzy haze. The atmosphere trembled with a sickening vibration.

Suddenly dizzy, I stumbled to one knee.

“Wha—”

The howl of a rushing wind filled the entire zone. Clouds of purple motes flew from the thousands of glowing crystals, being drawn toward the obelisk at the heart of the geode. My instincts took hold and I forced the gates around my core shut, but it was no use; my reservoir was emptied, the aether I had collected since our training session forced out of me and drawn away on the receding tide.

A thin, strained voice cried out over the howling wind.

My eyes widened in horror at the sight of Regis, collapsed, his physical form rapidly dwindling as the aether that bound it together was forced away. The shadow wolf became a pup, then a will-o-wisp, before fading into a dim spark.

I reached out a trembling hand as the glowing strands of his black and violet form faded. My fist closed just as the final spark began to disperse, and his incorporeal form drifted into me, his mind dark and cold.

The wind faded, as did the horrible vibration, though the sensation lingered behind my eyes and deep in my aching core. Backlash sent spasms through my chest and stomach, but I resisted the urge to be sick, and instead forced myself back to my feet in order to figure out what the hell had just happened.

Every inch of my body ached as I moved. Dragons needed aether to survive; their bodies consumed themselves if they didn’t have enough—and my physical form was mostly asuran now. I couldn’t be sure how long I had, but it felt like even my blood had dried up into sand. And there wasn’t a single particle of aether left in the atmosphere.

Regis was silent, his minuscule spark floating near my empty core.

The zone had gone dark except for the obelisk. Now containing every mote of aether within the geode—including my own—the obelisk glowed like a neon light, burning with impossible power. I was stunned.

Even as my tired, aching mind had trouble focusing, my eyes were locked onto the glowing spire like it was an oasis in the middle of a desert.

But the obelisk continued to grow even brighter.

I cursed, pulling my gaze away and scanning the other islands. Most of them had crystal protrusions, but mine didn’t. If the growths had all been suffused with aether when we arrived, it made sense that—

I cursed again. The twenty feet to the nearest island felt a lot farther now that I couldn’t strengthen my body with magic, but there was no other choice but to make the jump.

Backing up until my heel was pressed against the quiet portal frame, I gathered all my strength before bursting into an all-out run. I hit the edge of the island at full speed and kicked off, hurling myself through the air toward the neighboring landmass, but my backlash-weakened muscles resisted, and I knew the moment I jumped that it wasn’t going to be enough.

My chest impacted the stony cliff with crunch. I scrambled for something to grab onto amongst the bare stone and loose dirt as I slid down the side, but failed. Just as my lower half swung out into the open air, my left hand closed around something hard and sharp: a knife-like shard of crystal growing out of the dirt.

I hung that way for the space of a single breath before the obelisk flashed. A sphere of aetheric fire burst out from it, quickly engulfing the closest islands. A pained yell ripped out from my throat as I heaved myself up—the crystal cutting deep into my palm—until I could kick one leg over the side of the island.

On pure instinct, I threw myself behind the large crystal growth and curled up in a ball, my back pressed against it just before the nova engulfed me.

Rather than burning my flesh, the aether was drawn into the crystal growth at my back. The explosion continued to expand past me, but the small area just behind the barrier was shielded.

I was able to watch from relative safety as the expanding sphere of light crashed against the distant walls, infusing them with aether and lighting up the entire zone again.

With no way of knowing how much time we had, I struggled back to my feet, each breath a pained gasp, and pressed my bleeding hand to the boulder-sized growth. My core hungrily devoured the aether stored within, and I was finally able to breathe. It wasn’t much, but enough to heal my hand and fortify my body to stave off the backlash.

I fought the urge to check in on Regis and focused on getting out of the zone. My stomach twisted and churned as I searched for aetheric pathways.

There was no path to the exit portal. At least, there was no path I could follow. The branching, interconnected points—which usually made a kind of road map from one space to the next—were tangled in a convoluted knot.

To make matters worse, I could already feel the nausea-inducing vibration building up again, trembling through every particle of aether in the zone simultaneously. _{freewebnøvel.com}

With no other recourse, I threw myself back behind the crystal shield and hoped it would protect me again. When the obelisk activated, all the aether in my core was ripped away for a second time. All I managed to maintain was a thin layer that I wrapped around Regis to keep him safe.

The pain was immeasurable. As my eyes rolled back in my head and my mouth opened in a silent scream, I focused every ounce of my remaining strength on staying conscious.

The second explosion rippled past me, a visible wave of dark purple fire that washed over the series of islands, lighting up clusters of aether crystals one by one until it hit the far walls. The cavern burst into light again.

I can’t die like this. There has to be something I can do, I assured myself over the sound of my teeth grinding against each other. My sluggish mind struggled to sort everything I knew and what I could potentially use.

The obelisk on the central island absorbed all the aether from the zone, then utilized it in some kind of explosive attack. I didn’t know what would happen if I was struck by the explosion, but with no aether to defend myself, I was sure it wouldn’t be pretty. Aside from whatever destructive effect it had, the explosion also redistributed aether throughout the zone.

The time between the first wave and the second had been different by several seconds, so it seemed likely that there was some randomness involved. Unfortunately, this meant I couldn’t rely entirely on timing to move through the zone.

But the crystal growths on the islands acted like shields due to their reabsorption of some of the aether. It was just too bad that they didn’t also protect against the part when my core was drained over and over again. If I couldn’t find some way around that, the backlash would kill me before anything else got the chance.

When my brain cells and the blood in my veins began to shudder again, I clenched my teeth and prepared for the worst. It had come faster this time by at least fifteen seconds, and I hadn’t even absorbed any of the aether from the protrusion I was sheltered behind to protect myself with.

This time, though, was different. The amethyst light playing within the clear crystals dimmed as the aether particles were drawn away, but I felt nothing. The tiny piece of aether I had held on to, wrapped protectively around Regis, had trembled with the vibration, but hadn’t been pulled away from me.

The puzzle clicked into place.

Knowing I would have to move quickly, I rose up to one knee, making sure my body was still entirely blocked from the blast that came shortly after. I was already absorbing the aether from the crystal barrier before the rest of the explosion hit the outer walls. Once I had absorbed the entire reservoir, I strengthened my body and sprinted to the edge of the island, clearing the twenty-five-foot gap with room to spare.

I barely had time to lunge behind a large, curved growth of the clear crystals before the warning vibrations shivered through my core again. When the stones at my back dimmed, and the walls released streams of amethyst particles, my own aether gave a faint tug but stayed safely in my core.

A shuddering breath escaped my lips.

“That’s it…” I gasped in relief.

By hiding behind stones still full of aether while the obelisk drew it in, then absorbing it for myself after the following explosion, I could jump from island to island while refilling my core and avoiding the djinn’s trap. The only variable became timing.

Before maneuvering to the next floating island, I turned my attention to Regis. It took a quarter of my aether reserve, imbued directly into the tiny wisp, to bring back any signs of life. A sluggish confusion leaked from him before quickly sharpening into panic as he flew into my core, drawing on the rest of my reserves in a rush.

Don’t take too much! I warned quickly. I need as much as I can if we want to get out of here.

Regis didn’t respond. Instead, I felt a cold, numb fear…something I’d never felt from him before.

You all right now? I asked tentatively. He hadn’t been this weak since he first formed from the acclorite given to me by Wren Kain.

‘How’d that even…I almost…’ Regis let out a resigned sigh. ‘That fucking sucked.’