Eternal Emerald Dragon

Warmth. He had taken it for granted. He had taken a lot for granted. After living for so long and experiencing so much, he had thought nothing could affect him any longer, but he was sorely mistaken.

He had been surrounded by powerful warriors. They had faced wave after wave of Fiends. They had only been Divine Realm but the one controlling them was on their level. The sheer numbers did the rest.

Overcoming all the traps and dangers were but one more peg in a long life of war. He had faced the fearsome Fiend in the dark space outside the holds. He had seen how he killed and shivered but did not waver.

He had been injured and knew healing would take millions of years if he did it all alone.

All of that had given him a false sense of security. As if even faced with the monster again, he could simply slip away again and be safe.

Reality was never kind, it just was.

The doors had vanished and then the slaughter began. The shadowy figure seemed to shrug off any and all attacks. Losing a limb did not even slow it down!

He saw figures wither in a blink of an eye while others were splattered on the wall as if they were mortals! Fear had finally filled his heart but he did not stop.

If he stopped, he was certainly dead!

His white gold energy condensed into shields, weapons, or anything he could think of. He was a living armory! He also used the artifact Lind had made for him. It laced his conjuring with his harmony and that did have an effect.

The Fiend dodged them rather than take the chance. Still, it was all for naught in that brief hope.

He drained the artifact dry and then the nightmare began for him.

He watched in slow motion as the white orbs stared down into his soul and laid bare the truth.

{You cannot stop me.}

Goldthorn thought he was prepared to die. He thought he could accept the end if it still found him even as an Eternal Realm, but the Fiend was not so kind as to grant him death.

Instead, dark metal clamps slammed into his limbs and pinned him. His body was invaded by Fiend Qi, just enough to stop him cold. He then was forced to watch and experience being opened up.

The pain was excruciating but his Eternal Realm foundation would not allow him the release of death. Blood flowed like rivers and his regeneration kept it going as organs were removed and pinned to the table.

He knew he was screaming but it was like he heard it as someone else. There was no gloating nor any joy on the dark figure. It was just a normal day for him! That fact broke him.

He finally understood what Lind Frey had been trying to tell them all. The Fiend, they were nothing more than a Qi stone or elemental crystal. They were just a piece of resources that was needed to advance.

Had he ever cared if the beasts he killed felt despair? That they might have understood he was after their cores, fangs, and other body parts? Goldthorn felt his grasp of his sense of importance shatter.

Cultivators were so arrogant. They believed that since they defied Heaven and Earth, they were special. They were above the natural laws of life and death. It was a lie, of course but Goldthorn only realized at the end in horror that he had never believed he could die.

He had always assumed he could slip away or trick his way out of death. It would never truly find him and now he faced the most horrific death known in existence.

Finally, almost blessedly, his final organ was held in the dark ash gray hands.

[You think this is the end? Interesting. There would be not much point if this was all I did to you. You have been frustrating.] The vile voice was calm but Goldthorn wailed in his mind. He was going to be inside that monster forever?!

He wanted to move but his body was empty. It was still alive too. He could still feel it!

A strange smile spread on the face as a sparkling sphere appeared all of a sudden.

[Oh I want to refine you but that is not your purpose. I need your recognizable body. You will be going in here for now.] Something broke with ease. He felt like his body was getting far away but it was still there. It was just on the periphery of his senses.

He could not see as his aura no longer worked but he was aware. It was like he could see the energies in a new way. He finally grasped how to parse his Path from his Harmonic Core but he was not in his body any longer.

He then felt the true horror. He could hear them.

The wails crying for pity, release, or just to bring an end to their torment. They screamed about darkness and the feeling of falling apart. He also felt a being that seemed like a patchwork.

They were all one being but there were pieces that did not quite fit. It was like they had been forced together!

He could not keep any of it out and it only got worse. He was still aware of his body. He could feel when someone prodded it or scanned it.

He wanted to scream at them to run. He was being used as bait! It was all just to have his preserved body as bait!

A dark laugh filled his existence.

"I almost got them. He will–" Goldthorn felt the change. Something had latched onto him and forcibly extracted him. He heard the impotent scream of the Bastard but it brought him no comfort.

Nothing did. He felt like it was all pointless until his body came back to him. Light and sound returned like a storm. Voices called out to him in joy that he was alive but they were wrong.

He was not alive. He was just whole. He had just returned from hell. As he took in the horrific room, he saw him.

Lind Frey stood in the center and his emerald eyes saw the truth. There was no joy there, only acceptance. There was also an unbreakable will to endure.

Goldthorn had always felt like he was slightly superior to the Eternal Emerald Dragon. He was older and had seen more, yet now, he felt hollow.

[What is with that look on your face?] A very familiar voice reached him but he only looked up into the wrinkled visage of Violet Cloud and he could not summon his usual sarcasm.

Something passed over her eyes and he could not put words to what he felt seeing it. It was not pity from her or understanding, but it was like he had the same name as the man who knew her but he was no longer that man.

He was something else that had taken over.

He wanted to speak, to smile, or to just be grateful to be away from the Fiend, yet he could not do it. He felt like he had lost something that could never be restored again.

A gentle hand touched his shoulder. He looked up into the beautiful visage of one of Lind Frey's wives. Her golden blonde hair seemed to glow but her gentle smile was the first real thing to him.

[I cannot pretend to understand. You have no time to heal either. You do have to choose, however. Will you continue, or will you end?] Her voice was gentle and it was not pitying him. He could tell she was sincere and his comment that she had nothing to contribute when they set out came back to him.

Lind Frey truly understood what they had been walking into. Warriors were not enough. If they survived a confrontation with the Fiend, they would be revealed to the truth. They were nothing.

They were just resources.

Tears formed but he knew his own truth. His path had come to an end.

He would not give up there, but he would never ascend. He could not see it anymore. The revelation when he had been extracted meant nothing to him now.

Lady Qing seemed to see something and firmly squeezed his shoulder. She turned to Lind and they had some kind of conversation. He looked at Goldthorn briefly but then nodded.

Violet Cloud looked concerned but then the group began to clean up the room. The corpses were incinerated and all the while, the 2 women stayed near him.

[Well?] Violet Cloud looked like she was trembling but Qing only looked at him. He slowly took a breath and stood up. His body felt wrong to him now. It was like he was piloting an artifact.

It only settled his choice.

"My journey is over. I will still fight but after that, I think I will rest." He spoke aloud for all to hear. He did not hide his intent. Violet Cloud went gray but Qing only nodded slowly at him. The former seemed to have many things she wanted to say yet it was not the time or place.

Lind Frey did not stop his actions but he slowed briefly. Even though his wife had warned him, hearing it was still hard. Many looked at him in confusion until they understood.

Goldthorn had never thought the day would come. He had thought he would go on forever. He had seen his true face and knew he had been clinging to an impossible dream. The point of going on had been snuffed out but he had one more thing to live for.

It was to see the Bastard die.

His spirit was broken but he was too stubborn to lie down until that happened!

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