The Primordial Record novel Chapter 1828

Chapter 1828: I Shall Not Keep Them Waiting

“Haaah….. Fuuuuh…”

Telmus took in long, deep breaths, and he had never felt so strong. The energy here, Ether… it was so potent that it was almost impossible to describe.

“Haaah…. Fuuuh…”

This enormous field of power that dwarfed anything he had ever known was everywhere around him, and he could not imagine what it would be like to wield such power effortlessly.

A subtle shift in the Ether drew his attention. The shimmering substance of potential around him stilled, then parted, as the immense form of Rowan, seated in the sea, turned its cosmic regard upon him, like a sunbeam narrowing to a laser point.

“It is time, Telmus.” Rowan’s voice was a truth that manifested directly in Telmus’s mind, calm and immense as the ocean he sat in. “The realm is prepared. Your crucible awaits.”

Telmus felt a tremor run through his chimeric form. The consumed essence of the Primordial Demon stirred within him, a coiled serpent of martial pride and ancient power, sensing a coming trial. “I am ready,” he said, his own voice a multi-tonal rasp that seemed crude in the harmonious air.

“Follow the path,” Rowan instructed.

Ahead, the very substance of the paradise began to change. The singing rivers of light diverted, the forests of silver-bark leaned away, and a staircase of solidified shadow descended into the ground. It was a path leading down into the foundational layers of the Origin Land.

Telmus turned to his daughter, Staff, who had been standing a few paces behind him, her form still holding a faint sorrow. Her face that had previously been stalwart now held anxiety.

“Father,” she whispered, her voice the sound of a wind-chime in a gentle storm. “Must you do this? Here, there is peace. We are safe. Why risk it all again?”

He reached out with his right hand, a rather clumsy gesture with his new, powerful form, and cupped her cheek.

The contrast was stark: his hand, mottled with stolen power and capable of shattering worlds, against her face, which seemed as fragile as spun glass.

“Staff,” he said, his voice softening, the many echoes within it quieting to a single, paternal tone. “This peace… it is a beautiful dream. But it is a dream built on a foundation that is still cracking. Rowan holds the line, but he cannot hold it alone forever. The things we saw at the edge of the void… they are still there. Pressing.”

He looked from her fearful eyes to the idyllic landscape. “I was given a power, daughter. A terrible, hungry power. I could use it to hide here, to be a guardian of this one, small paradise. But that is not what this power is for. It is a power of ascension. Of defiance. It is meant to grow, to evolve, to meet greater challenges. To hide it away would be to betray its very nature, and to make us hypocrites in this sanctuary.”

Tears, like tiny droplets of liquid sapphire, welled in Staff’s eyes. “I just got you back. After the Arena… after the possession… I thought I had lost you forever. Now you walk into another abyss.”

“This abyss is of my own choosing,” Telmus said firmly, though his heart ached. “The last time, I was a pawn. A vessel for a will not my own. This time, I step forward with my eyes open. This is my defiance, Staff. Not just against our old enemies, but against the very fear that would have me stay small and safe. I defy the notion that we must cower in the light. I will become part of the light that pushes back the dark.”

Telmus reached with his other hand and manifested his blade. With a twist of his Will, he transformed it into a staff.

“I don’t know why you picked the name that you did, but it represents your vision, do not change it.”

He pressed the staff into his daughter’s hands. “This was the symbol of my old life. My life as a leader, a father, a warrior. I give it to you. Keep it. Remember that man. But do not wait for him to return. The being who emerges from the deep… he will be something else. Something more. And he will fight for you, for this place, for all places, with a strength that old me could never have imagined.”

He pulled her into an embrace, his arms encircling her in a protective cage of love and resolve. She clung to him, her eyes flickering with grief and a desperate, proud love. “Come back to me,” she whispered into his chest.

“That is my only promise,” he replied, his voice thick. “I will always find my way back to you.”

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify