Chapter Ashborn 390: Trial of The Iksana Bram (Two)

Maiya the bloodstained woman glared at Vir. In each hand, she held a head. The severed heads of her parents.

Apramor, grimacing, as if blaming Vir in his final moments. Aliscia’s beautiful face, her expression frozen in one of shock.

“You did this, Vir,” Maiya said darkly. “You killed my parents.”

Dropping their heads, she walked slowly up to Vir, her bare feet leaving crimson prints upon the grass.

“One after another, all who know you suffer.”

“Your father.” She gestured with her left arm, and Rudvik appeared, sanding proud, but hazy. A ghost. He neither spoke nor moved. How could he? He was dead.

“Our mentor.” Maiya extended her other hand, and another figure appeared. A beast of a man, dressed in elegant white.

“And even a princess.”

Tiyana appeared next to the others. Like them, her expression was blank. Dead.

“Even me. Even a goddess of the Prime Imperium. Some are already dead. For others, simply a matter of time.”

“That’s not true, Maiya,” Vir said, tears flowing down his face. “I will never let you die. Never.”

Ashani smiled awkwardly. “It’s not your fault, Vaak. You let me die, but it’s alright. I’ve lived long. My time has come.”

Vir shook his head. “No. No! You can’t be dead! I made a promise. That I’d show you the world!”

“Tell me, Vir,” Maiya said. “Do you see a pattern here? No? Then allow me to explain. In every case, someone close to you dies. And yet, you benefit. Rudvik gave his life so you might live. Tiyana help you save those captured demons, only to be betrayed. Riyan spent half a year training you, yet you abandoned him. He lost half his face, you know? And Ashani… ‘Tis yet to occur, but even Ashani will sacrifice her life. For you. All to give you insights into your power.”

“And you?” Vir asked, despite himself. He didn’t want to hear. Didn’t want to know.

“And me… Where would you be without me, Vir? Did you even bother to look for me when we were separated?”

“I had no leads, Maiya! I wanted to find you! Honestly. You can’t know how much it ate at me.”

“Excuses. Do you know what horrors I’ve been through, Vir? All because you abandoned me. And one day, I will die. Because of you. Collateral in a pointless war.”

“I refuse to believe that, Maiya.”

“Believe it or not, it is fated to be,” she said, walking up to Vir, placing a hand upon his chest. I will die. All because of this love I feel for you. So, I ask myself, why not end you now? Why not save my own life?”

Before Vir could react, something cold and wet bloomed in his chest.

He looked down, finding blood. Blood, and a dagger, piercing his chest. He couldn’t move. The souls of the dead bound his arms, pinning him in place. Tiyana, Riyan. Even Rudvik.

Vir touched his stomach. His fingers came away red. “Maiya?” he breathed. He’d never felt so alone.

Pain bloomed in his body, clearing his thoughts.

No.Maiya would never do this. She’d give her life long before she harmed me.

Clarity returned to his mind. Never. This was wrong. This couldn’t be real.

“Who are you?” Vir rasped.

Maiya’s face flashed. Changing. Only for an instant.

Through Vir’s clouded mind, he saw a face. One he recognized. One that filled his mind with bloodlust and rage.

“How dare you!” he roared. “How dare you take her face? You!”

Prana Current flared. Haste activated. Balancer of Scales laid down a suppression field no demon could dream to escape. And Prana Blade coated Vir’s katar.

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Vir pummeled the face-stealer. Pain blossomed in his chest, his shoulders, his legs. And yet, he attacked the false-Maiya. Relentless. Unyielding. Slicing his foe apart.

She attacked again, but Vir grabbed her hand, pinning her in place. With his other hand, he stabbed. Again and again. Over and over, until he’d punctured the deceived with a hundred wounds.

Slowly, the life left her body. Slowly, she slumped to the ground, and it took all that Vir had not to wail in anguish.

Maiya crumpled, and breathed her last. And when she did, the illusion faded.

For lying in a pool of their own blood was not Maiya, Vir’s beloved, but a demon he knew all too well.

“Nor!” Vir seethed, cycling Prana Current. “What is this?”

The haze that had fallen over Vir’s mind lifted, and he realized he was in a rectangular chamber of some sort. Alone.

Neither Ashani nor the wolves were present, leaving Vir with the Iksana, who was currently sinking into his shadow.

Vir Blinked over, but was too late to catch Nor before he slipped away.

That was alright. He could fight just fine in the Shadow Realm.

Slipping into the shadows himself, he looked around, finally finding Nor with Prana Vision

. The ghael was in the darkness, approaching a faraway exit.

Though, approaching wasn’t quite correct. There were no words to describe motion in the Shadow Realm, where motion was impossible.

As with the Yaksha back in Mahādi, Nor’s prana signature would remain fixed in position as long as Vir concentrated on it.

The moment Vir looked away, however, Nor would be gone, having reappeared somewhere else.

To this day, it made little sense to Vir. And to this day, Vir had never cursed his limited range as much as he did in that moment.

Without the proper tattoo, he could only use a fraction of the exits Nor could, and despite hopping from shadow to shadow, Vir knew he was losing him.

But that was alright. Because just as time stilled in this realm, distance mattered naught. As long as Vir could sense Nor, he could attack him.

If movement was difficult to understand, attacking someone in this unknowable space was even weirder.

Vir felt him launch his prana at Nor. He felt Nor take the hit—nothing could be avoided here, after all.

Which meant that when Nor retaliated, Vir took the demon’s magic head on.

Warrior Chakra assaulted Vir, but his Shield Chakra held. Somehow.

From there, the blows came in quick succession, but Vir knew he had the upper hand. Nor was severely injured well before entering the Shadow Realm.

Which meant Nor was the first to succumb, diving for an exit too far for Vir to reach.

Until something changed. When Vir exited the shadows and re-entered the shadows, a third presence had arrived. One that stopped Nor in his tracks.

Vir knew that signature. He sunk into the shadows once again, and emerge next to a heavily-bleeding Zarak’Nor who sat on his knees in a featureless, lightless chamber… In front of Raja Sagun’Ra.

“Disappointed,” Ra said. “Disappointed in you, Nor.”

“Disappointed!? You?” Nor cried. “I’m the one who should be disappointed! You welcome a calamity into our most sacred space! You have violated all the Iksana stand for! You don’t deserve to be a Raja.”

Vir’s anger flared as he took in Nor’s form with Prana Vision. He’d hurt the demon badly, but he wasn’t dead.

And now his chance was gone. There was no way the Raja would allow Vir to end Nor,

“I demand an explanation,” Vir said, his voice echoing off the chamber’s smooth walls. “What is happening here?”

“The ritual. You passed. Came back to your senses. Those who fail succumb. Unconscious. Yet Zarak’Nor interrupted,” Ra said. “For an Iksana, there can be no greater a crime.”

“Then kill him,” Vir spat, starting to unraveling the puzzle. He’d entered the Ritual of the Iksana Bram. The Trial of Illusions. Vir couldn’t remember exactly when he’d entered, but he knew he’d done so willingly. And because of the promise Ra had made.

“I cannot,” came Ra’s immediate reply.

“What do you mean? You said I would not be harmed.”

Fighting to keep his voice under control, Vir brought his hand to his stomach. It came away with blood. It was but one of the dozens Nor had inflicted upon him while in the Shadow Realm. Had he broken out of the Trial’s spell any later, Nor very well might have succeeded. It was both luck and sheer force of will that allowed Vir to activate his Shield Chakra in time. If he hadn’t—

Vir shook off the thought. He would live—his pranites were already working on restoring the damage, and Prana Current only amplified that. But that was besides the point.

“I placed my trust in you, Ra. You let this rat into the trial, and now you are telling me you will not seek justice?”

Nor sneered at Vir. “What do you know of our ways, outsider?”

Vir ignored him, looking at Ra.

“I will not kill him,” Ra repeated. “No justice.”

“Where’s the justice in—”

“You must kill him,” Ra said, handing Vir a dagger.

“What!?” Nor shrieked. “What are you saying—”

“Silence,” Sagun’Ra barked. Zarak’Nor obeyed.

“Sorry?” Vir asked, taken entirely off-guard. “You’re giving me permission to kill Zarak’Nor…”

“In truth, he should have died. After the Tournament. After the wolf.”

The wolf? Vir thought, frowning in confusion. Then that means…

Vir’s eyes bulged. “Norgave Annas Shadebloom!?You knew he tried to kill my wolf?”

Ra nodded. “Only after. Yes.”

Vir caught himself grinding his teeth. “And yet you spared him.”

“I spared him,” the Iksana Raja repeated. ”A mistake. I take full responsibility. So end him now.”

“What!?” Nor shrieked, struggling to get away. It was useless. Sagun’Ra kept a vice-grip on his arm, preventing him from slipping into the shadows.

“I won’t accept this!” Nor shrieked. “You’ll regret this, Ra! Mark my words. You’ll—Ngh!?”

Zarak’Nor never finished his sentence.

Few respected just how devastating Prana Blade was. Most of those who had witnessed it believed Vir needed a weapon to unleash the devastating edge of prana. But this was a misconception.

Prana could be made to form around most objects, protecting it, forming a sort of magical armor.

And, when necessary, a blade as well. An arm was enough.

Extending his fingers, Vir sliced the air… and decapitated the demon.

The scum who had poisoned Shan—who had worn Maiya’s face—would harm no one anymore.

Zarak’Nor was dead.