Chapter 171 Shattered Memories

Chapter 171 Shattered Memories
Serafina

I opened my eyes. I stood within what seemed to be an endless void.

It stretched beyond sight in every direction, vast enough to swallow kingdoms, silent enough to drown even thought itself. There was no horizon, no beginning and no end.

I was alone.

There was no ground beneath my feet, yet I did not fall. No sky arched overhead, yet I somehow knew I was looking upward.

"Azerath?" I called softly.

My voice drifted away before the emptiness swallowed it whole.

No answer.

I took a cautious step forward.

The darkness rippled beneath my feet as though I had disturbed the surface of a perfectly still lake.

Another step.

Far away, a single point of golden light flickered into existence.
I walked toward it.

With every step, another light appeared. Then another. Then dozens. Hundreds. Thousands.

Soon they surrounded me, drifting silently through the darkness like stars scattered across a moonless sky.

Then they began to whisper. Not one voice. Thousands.

They overlapped one another until they became an unintelligible chorus, as though an entire lifetime had been spoken all at once.

The tiny lights slowly expanded until each became a jagged shard of shattered glass, turning lazily through the darkness. Images flickered within every fragment like memories trapped beneath crystal.

Azerath's memories. Broken into countless pieces.

One drifted close enough for me to touch. The instant my fingertips brushed its surface, the darkness vanished.

A young dragon, no larger than a horse, soared through brilliant blue skies, his joyful cries echoing as he chased a silver dragon through clouds bathed in golden sunlight. Together they darted between mountain peaks untouched by civilization, weaving effortlessly through the wind as though the world itself existed only for their amusement.

The memory shattered into glittering dust.
Darkness returned.

Another fragment drifted toward me. I reached for it.

A magnificent city floated among the clouds.

White towers gleamed beneath the moon while waterfalls poured from marble terraces into the endless sky below. Dragons circled graceful spires, their scales glittering like living jewels, while Celestials wandered broad avenues laughing among friends. Children darted between fountains as though fear had never existed.

Then that memory dissolved as well. Another shard floated before me.

This time I found myself watching a young teenage boy sitting cross-legged upon a stone floor. Beside him lay several dragon scales that glittered red, sapphire and emerald in the light.

Carefully, he stitched them together, weaving them into a brown leather satchel.

"My rider will never want for anything," he whispered proudly as he held up the finished bag. "All he has to do is think about what he needs."

"Son." The voice came from behind him. "What have I told you about assuming a human form?"

The boy quickly hid the satchel behind his back before turning toward the towering crimson dragon standing in the doorway.

"Mother," he protested, "shifting into human form helps me understand mortals."

Ignara lowered her enormous head until one golden eye filled his vision. "Or perhaps it is your way of finding a mate?" she teased.

He groaned.

"I understand if you do not wish to choose one of your own kind," she continued, amusement lingering in her voice. "But a mortal? Son... what good will that do?" She paused before smiling. "Enough. Get some sleep. Tomorrow is your Naming Ceremony, and High Celestial Althea tells me Elias can scarcely contain his excitement."

The memory faded before I could hear his reply.

Every fragment vanished almost as quickly as it appeared, never lingering long enough for me to understand everything I had witnessed.

Then realization struck me. The Veilbreaker had not erased Azerath's memories. It had severed the threads that bound them together.

His entire life had become thousands of shattered fragments drifting through an endless darkness.

I reached for another shard. The world changed once more.

Palace Aetheria stood before me. Its white walls gleamed beneath the afternoon sun.

A broad-shouldered man with fiery red hair stood before another man crowned in gold, who cradled an infant in his arms.

Kade. Even before I saw his face, I knew.

Behind them, an obsidian dragon descended from the heavens before shifting into Azerath.

"Elias," Azerath called urgently as clothes appeared around him. "Don't." He hurried toward his rider. "I'll kill Kade and every soldier he commands. I'll make you Emperor."

Kade calmly drew a dagger from his robes.

A woman screamed.

I turned.

Two soldiers restrained a beautiful woman with long white hair tangled across her tear-streaked face.

"I will kill this child before you can even move, dragon," Kade said evenly. "And the ballistae upon Aetheria's walls will kill you, your precious rider, and the woman he calls his wife."

Elias lowered his head.

"No," Azerath whispered.

Slowly, painfully, Elias began to kneel.

"Elias, no!"

His knee stopped inches above the stone. He turned toward Azerath.

"You have always known how much I hated my father for abandoning me," Elias said quietly. "Now that I am a father myself... I finally understand him." Tears filled his eyes. "My son comes before my pride. And Azerath..." His voice softened. "As your oldest friend... I must protect you as well."

"There has to be another way," Azerath pleaded.

"There will be." A faint smile appeared through Elias' tears. "But I am afraid I shall not live long enough to witness it."

He turned back toward Kade. Then he knelt.

"May the gods hear me!" His voice echoed across the palace courtyard. "May my father grant me one final wish."

A pillar of brilliant white light descended from the heavens.

"Take my immortality..." The light consumed him.
"...and let me live as a mortal in the Age of Men."

Within the radiant pillar, a violet light slowly rose from Elias' body before disappearing into the heavens.

The memory dissolved. Darkness returned.

Then I heard it... a sob. So faint I almost mistook it for the wind.

I turned.

Far beyond the drifting memories, another light flickered. Unlike the others, it did not move.

I walked toward it. With every step, fewer memories drifted past me until they disappeared altogether.

The darkness grew heavier. The sobbing became clearer.

Not loud though. Simply, hopeless.

Eventually, stone formed beneath my feet. A narrow mountain path stretched before me. Cold wind howled around the cliffs.

When I looked up, the darkness had vanished. Mountains surrounded me beneath a brilliant blue sky. Across that endless sky floated countless images of me.

Smiling. Laughing. Training with a sword. Flying under the moonlight. Every memory Azerath still possessed of me drifted overhead like living paintings.

The path ended at the edge of a cliff.

There stood Azerath.

He wore the familiar black tunic and trousers I had come to associate with him. His long dark hair stirred gently in the wind while his shoulders sagged beneath the unbearable weight of centuries.

"Azerath."

He did not turn. "You've come again," he whispered.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You've come to torment me again." His voice was empty. "Stay away."

Slowly, I approached. "I'm not here to torment you."

"No." A sad smile touched his lips. "You're only a memory." He looked toward the abyss. "I've imagined this conversation countless times."

"I am not a memory."

"You are." He closed his eyes. "The happiest one I have left."

My heart broke. "Please..." I whispered. "Look at me."

He shook his head. "I cannot." His voice trembled.
"If I look at you..." He swallowed. "...you will disappear again." He lifted one foot toward the edge. "I cannot endure losing you twice."

Only then did I understand. He had come here to die.

"What are you doing?" I asked, horror filling my voice. "This isn't you. This isn't the Azerath I know. The Azerath I love. The Azerath I would give my life for again and again."

"What does it matter?" He never looked away from the darkness below. "She is dead." His voice cracked. "My mate. The love of my life."

"I'm not dead."

"I heard her last breath."

"I am standing right here."

"She died in my arms."

"But Blink saved me—"

He continued as though he had never heard me.
"Everything else..." His trembling fingers pressed against his temple. "...is gone."

The wind carried his words across the mountains.

"I don't remember the stars." His breathing faltered. "I don't remember who I am anymore. I don't even remember my own name."

The Veilbreaker had broken him so completely that even his identity had been torn away.

"The only thing I remember..." He closed his eyes. "...is watching her die."

Tears blurred my vision. "Azerath, please. Listen to me. I am alive."

"What is life," he whispered, "without the one soul who gave it meaning?" His foot moved toward the edge.

"No!"

I ran.

As I reached toward him, a familiar voice echoed through my mind.

Moriath is here.

Blink.

"Moriath is here?" I repeated as my hand reached for Azerath.

His eyes flew open. "What did you just say?"

But his footing slipped and he fell.

I caught his wrist.

The instant we touched, violet light erupted from my hand while brilliant gold burst from his.

The two lights intertwined, spiraling together until they became a single blinding radiance that swept across the mountains.

Every shattered memory ignited like a newborn star.

The cliffs trembled. The sky fractured. The darkness split apart.

Azerath stared at me with wide eyes. "Serafina, it is you."

But the force became too great. My fingers slipped.

"No!" I gasped.

Cold stone slammed into my knees. The icy mountain air vanished, replaced by the damp chill of the Penitentiary. The mountains disappeared. The memories were gone.

I was back in Aetheria.

"Blink?" My eyes searched frantically around the prison cell.

No answer came. Instead, something cold pressed against my neck.

Confused, I reached up. Metal.

A binding collar.

Around me, Helga, Ryven, Jehan, General Kraven—every one of them wore the same silver collar.

My gaze found Azerath..He lay motionless upon the stone floor. The golden light that had always burned within his eyes was gone.

"It's not possible." My voice barely escaped my lips. "Azerath can't be dead."

Vaelric stepped forward and nudged Azerath's shoulder with the toe of his boot.

There was no response.

"He is dead," Vaelric said calmly. He looked toward the soldier standing beside him. "Your Veilbreaker pushed him over the edge. Do you still feel him within your mind?"

The soldier closed his eyes for a moment before shaking his head. "No, Your Majesty." A trace of disappointment crossed his face. "I can no longer sense him."

"What a shame." Vaelric merely shrugged. "The dragon is dead."

Laughter spread among them. Then it stopped.

A scream echoed through Aetheria..A second, then a third.

Within moments, countless screams rose together, spilling through the palace and across the city until they became a single chorus of terror.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

Something had happened.

And whatever it was, it had only just begun.

I fell to my knees beside Azerath.

"Azerath, wake up. I need you!"