Nightblade (Darkest night)-Chapter 151: Synchronization

The six youths sat quietly around a campfire in silence.

Cassius played with a small piece of stone, meticulously shaping it with his claws.

Strangely enough, Lucian was seated with Amanda, the two of them staring silently into the fire.

Talia was lazily shining Hawk and Echo with a small rug she’d salvaged from the store room within the sanctuary.

For a brief moment, Morgan and Emily’s minds had synchronized, allowing the Talented girl to peer into his memories and his thoughts.

And while it was embarrassing, that kind of synchronization was the last thing that Morgan wanted.

It made him vulnerable.

"Stupid sanctuary..." he inwardly grumbled.

" Who knew what kind of thoughts she had about him now?"

Frankly, he had his fair share of secrets, but who knew that she’d been keeping a lid on so many things as well.

That left both of them in quite a unique position.

But of course, he’d have to first see how she’d react.

Emily was a really sbaer girl after all, so he trusted she’d make the right decision.

At least he hoped she would.

Morgan stared at Emily in silence for a brief while before quickly turning away.

The dark-haired, Talented girl had been unusually quiet since the sanctuary’s unlocking.

" Well, it’s certainly awkward."

Morgan himself wasn’t sure why she hadn’t shared the rest of what she’d seen, but at least he had an inkling of how unbelievable the story sounded.

And she didn’t have the luxury of having a Drayghar stuck in her mind to conveniently explain everything.

From the look of things, it seemed they’d tacitly agreed to keep a lid on some of the things they’d seen.

And what Morgan had told the others wasn’t exactly a lie.

Just not the whole truth.

Because the truth behind what they’d seen and what he now knew as a sanctuary of Knowledge, would likely break up any fragile hope they had of getting back to the Earth.

Not to mention the risk of escalating Amanda’s hysterics further.

Morgan lay down, curling his feet up next to himself and getting as comfortable as possible on the stone tiles of the sanctuary.

Within a few moments, he was sound asleep.

Morgan didn’t dream; instead, he found himself back in the Void World.

The mysterious place within him was just as he remembered it.

A thick veil of darkness stretched for as far as the eye could see.

A dark, starless sky loomed out of his reach.

Letting out a weary sigh, he closed his eyes.

"Concentrate..."

Focusing slightly on his bond with Sarenus, the towering Drayghar materialized out of the darkness, softly padding towards him.

Sarenus came to a stop before him, nodding his large head approvingly.

"Well done. I can see that you’ve conquered your first sanctuary successfully."

"

Morgan scoffed, throwing his hands up into the air.

" Is that it? The altar just...dissolved, and then I saw all these weird visions, with Emily.

Sarenus stared at him, his whiskers twitching slightly.

"Emily, the dark-haired, green-eyed girl who’s been following you around? "

Morgan nodded, taking a seat across from him.

"Yeah, when the sanctuary unlocked, I guess, she got into this weird trance and then just waltzed right past us and placed her hand on the altar, then boom, her eyes lit up..."

Sarenus stared at him in amusement.

" Is she still alive?"

Morgan nodded, giving him a quizzical look.

" Of course, she’s still alive, why wouldn’t she be?"

Sarenus let out a sigh, palming his face with one of his massive paws.

"The people of this era are really oblivious of how these things work, huh."

Facing Morgan again, he spoke.

" She’s really lucky to be alive."

Morgan frowned slightly.

" And why is that? Stop speaking in riddles and get to the point."

" The sanctuary only accepts the person who unlocked it. While it was the girl’s power that we used to finish off the Bretnar king, it was actually you that finished off that creature, and so it should be you that placed your hand on the altar."

Morgan’s eyes widened in disbelief.

" What happens if someone attempts to take over a sanctuary that they didn’t unlock?"

Sarenus grinned, raising a colossal claw and gently slicing through the air.

" Death. Instant annihilation."

Morgan’s eyes widened in surprise.

" Ah, crap! That doesn’t even make any sense. I mean, even though it was her ability that killed, it was you that intervened..."

Sarenus stared at him in seeming amusement, canine grin forming on his face.

" Don’t you get it, Morgan? I’m a part of you now. This is your Void World. And I’m here at your behest, so it was actually you who killed that creature. My power is yours to command."

Morgan stared at Sarenus in shock, his eyes narrowing then widening. Countless thoughts ran through his mind, maybe different possibilities.

His eyes glazed over as he tried to fathom the ramifications of this knowledge.

Sarenus let out a low chuckle. A torrent of darkness swirled around him, stirring a ghostly wind in the empty void, and for a moment, a small cub sat where the mighty Drayghar had been.

"Of course, that’s provided you can command it. Mind you, it’s not that simple. Even though I’ve been asleep for all these years, I still wield a considerable amount of power. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be the Lord of the Drayghar."

But I’ve tapped I go your power before, and even used it in combat..." Morgan started confidently.

"Up to this point, all you’ve been able to wield is a tiny fraction of my power."

Morgan stared at him silently, his mouth falling comically.

"As you are now, using my power at its full potential could injure you or even worse, kill you. Your body hasn’t yet adapted enough to handle this much power."

" So what you’re saying is I’ll be able to manipulate different energies like you, at some point..."

"Of course."

" And coat, weapons in umbralis and e eb throw them without touching them..."

Sarenus nodded, casually twirling a paw through the air.

Morgan silently contemplated the knowledge in shock.

" How do I even explain this to Lucian and the others?" He thought

Sarenus scoffed, shaking his now ts aller head in amusement.

"For now, I think it’s best to keep this to yourself. Can you even imagine how you’ll sound?"

" Oh, hey, I’ve had this voice in my head ever since I fought this shadow wraith in the temple and blacked out. Oh, this voice also told me there are these places called sanctuaries, blah, blah, blah... Would you trust you if you started bubbling over like this?"

Sarenus stared at him seriously.

"Can you trust them with your life? "

Morgan stared at the small creature in silence, mulling over what Sarenus had said.

" He’s right, I’ll probably sound like a loony."

Turning back to the now stretching Drayghar, he let out a sigh.

" Are there others like me?"

Sarenus stared at him silently in amusement.

Morgan shook his head tiredly.

" Fine, I guess, what I wanted to ask was if you’ve met any others like me..."

Sarenus nodded, licking a paw lazily.

"Of course, of course..."

"Then how come you’re with me instead... How’d you end up in the sanctuary..."

" Well, for the first question, your Void World is a little different, you could even say unique."

The small drayghar grinned, white flames of fire leaking out of its small maw.

"You could say that you’re the first Void World wielder that I’ve met in millennia that could contain my power. It’s a little shocking, especially given your age. It’d take an especially gifted and adept Void World wielder, but I guess you’re something of a freak."

"And for your second question, that’s a story for another time..."

Sarenus yawned again, stretching languidly.

" Well, I guess, it’s my nap time. And I think it’s also time you woke up, you’ve got a long journey ahead of you after all."

Morgan stood, stretching slightly.

A torrent of darkness shrouded the small drayghar, gisung it from sight.

" Wait!"

The torrent of darkness shifted slightly.

A moment later, Sarenus’ voice reverberated through the darkness.

"What is it?"

" You said this is my Void World, right?"

"Of course..."

Morgan’s eyes narrowed questioningly.

" Does that mean that I can affect everything that happens in here?"

Sarenus went silent for a moment.

" Well?"

Silence...

After a few moments, he spoke.

"I’d say yes, for the most part. I don’t have a Void World myself. But from the encounters I’ve heard with Void World wielders, it shouldn’t be impossible."

Morgan grinned.

"Right."

In the next moment, he closed his eyes, inhaling slightly.

The mass of darkness shifted fluidly

" What are you trying to do?"

A moment later, Morgan’s voice echoed in Sarenus’s mind.

"It’s better to show you."

A palpable wave of energy rippled through the Void World. Stirred into existence, a gentle wind began blowing across the lightless plain.

The dark surface where they stood trembled, then grianged, shifting slightly.

Morgan grunted slightly, shutting his eyes tighter.

" Come on..."

In the next instant, a myriad of stars appeared in the distant sky, illuminating the dark void.

Morgan opened his eyes, smiling slightly.

"Well, I find that this is much better."

In the next moment, his eyes fluttered open.

He was back in the sanctuary.

" Let’s get this show on the road."