Chapter 7: Cost of corruption
The moment he got pulled in, there was nothing,just plain darkness.
Aethelstan pulsed his magic softly and upon discovering the tainted magic around made him retract it just as fast.
Dangerous, the surroundings were tainted.
With magic so vile, so untrue.
"It's too early to see me like this, Aethelstan.''
It was a deep sophisticated voice and yet ,just like everything else, too familair. Aethelstan wasn't alarmed, the aura wasn't threathening. It was...just there.
"Adrian?"
The other lightly scoffed _yet_ didn't deny it. "Magic has a weird way of pushing is together. Even I ,in this state, couldn't escape it's grasp. Altough ,once more, it could have been my fault this happenend."
"Anyway it doesn't matter, Go back, Aethel. It's too early."
The moment the voice called him Aethel, it left no doubt in his mind that the person was in fact the supposedly five year old vampire running around the castle.
He trusted the other's instinct or words, more proof was the bond calmly brimming underneath his skin.
However he couldn't move and a strange sensation came over his hand as it lifted. Aethelstan couldn't move it, so he let it happen. It landed on a lean, muscular chest and the other hand got placed exactly on his own heart.
A strangly, foreign yet distinctively familair mana started to spread troughout his body, veins and ended in his core. It swirled in every cell but oddly enough he couldn't touch it with his own magic.
Yet they merged flawlessly together.
Beside that he felt his own mana flowing out, merging within the other aswell.
Having long since quessed it was a spiritual connection, Aethelstan pondered if the changes would happen in real life aswell?
"It's time to leave. Even you can't be here for long. It's dangerous."
"I figured as much.'' The answer amused him, Aethelstan could feel it and for just a moment he could feel the bond blooming more then it ever had. Before they got rudily interrupted as the ground started shake beneath them.
The sudden interruptance caused his core to go haywire, his mana lashed out in different directions. All but Adrian's.
Black, everlasting view around him got pulled apart by his mana, ruptures appeared left and right. An action that should have been impossible in Adrian's mindscape. A sacred place for every single person.
Yet here it was getting destroyed, ruptures he caused dripping a weird subtance. Dripping along with it was a evil, powerful aura. The stronger it grew, the bigger the holes became.
"Time to go!''
Before he knew it a dome appeared above him, lifted him up and his flickering form vanished.
A glint of blue the last thing he saw.
....
Groggily his eyes fluttered openened, confusion swimming strongly in it.
Gathering his bearings he pulled himself up, the small table a great help as he pushed up with trembling legs, wich quickly lost strenght as the softened cushion of the sofa met his back.
Dazed he looked at his roof, enchanted togther with the walls. It showed clear stars, the walls around him a forest thick of trees, glowing embers showing up and vanishing in between. The ground beneath him the same mudded path he had walked athousand times before. He immersed in the memory, forgetting for even just a second the happenings from before.
It wasn't until a shock of lightning arose from his core that he roughly awakend from the beauty of the past, it exploded in his brain and left a blinding whiteness in it's stead.
It was agony, his very essence felt like being burned in the hottest of fires. Just when he thought it was over, another took it's place.
His irregular breathing echoed around, feet slowly moving towards the door and with spasming muscles he unlocked it.
Pulloing up his mana was a grave mistake as pressure added up until a crack left him crashing down, just meters after he left the doorway. An explosion of energy washed over him, leaving him unable to move.
After all his years he had never experienced anything like this, is it because of the merging?
Risking it all he looked deep into his core, the round ball of silver glowed brightly at first. At a place where the crack resisided dripped the same aura from the ruptures.
Biting his tonque to try and bear the pain, he knew it was hopeless as all he wanted to do was curl into himself.
He couldn't, growing screaming at him to get to the five year old vampire. Two of them stronger together.
Hands slowly dragged his body up against the wall, one step after another forward while it felt like his limbs didn't belong. Shocks grew stronger and stronger as his arms slowly got numb from the pain and his legs started feeling like lead.
Every so often he stopped, gathering his breath and went on.
Time between each striking pain shorter and shorter, even the tear almost sliced his core in half.
"Almost...almost."
Dizziness caused his eyes to keep rolling back and forth, his vision was wavering.
"Just...little more!"
Reaching out his hand to the fading in and fading outdoor he dropped to his knees. His senses ringing and causing an overload. Swaying he expected to hit the ground any second now but instead he felt arms wrap around.
''Hey Aethelstan? Are you alright?"
Angesi. Her magic washed over him, trying to help but all it did was cause the unknown magic lash out. With a gasp he felt her pulled away. Concern evident in the way hands held him tight as series of shocks and bolts tormented his body and left him gasping for air.
"A-adr..."
He could he speak but everything started to fade away.
"A-adrian...need him."
Her confusion sparked in the air but before he know it he felt himslef getting picked up, hand carefully supported his neck before she dashed away. Tired he focused entirely on the wisps of sound he was hearing, the way her braided hair was swinging behind her and het feet hit the ground again and again.
It felt like eons but before he knew it he heard the shattering of doors.
"Angesi? What...is he alright? What happenend?"
Emiris. He sounded worried
"I..don't know. Where's Adrian?"
"In his room..why?"
Without waiting she moved and before he knew it he felt himself getting lowered on the bed
he didn't move...couldn't.
Even his eyelids where heavy, pain burning with every white flash.
He only felt relief as a tiny figure was moved closer to his heart, Dakaria protested yet he felt the aura of Angesi warning the others to stay away.
Extra feet hustled in but the only thing he noticed anymore was thick, warm and full of magical properties atmosphere that surrounded them.
It was suffocating, the silver and gold light burned heavily on his eyelids as they fluttered close once more.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone