Chapter Eighty-Two: The Infinite, Part 2


    After I finally reach Zenyth, I walk up the steps to my room, my brain berating me for how I went about asking Jade to the ball. I know I was strange, but she said yes anyway. For some reason, it makes me excited. Maybe I do love her.


    No, it can’t be. We’re just good friends; it’s all we’ve ever been and it’s all we’ll ever be, and that’s a good thing. It’s better that way. She won’t stay in Magefell anyway so what reason is there to date her?


    Proud of my reasoning skills with myself, I don’t notice Xavier screaming at me before h’s in my face, shaking my shoulders.


    “Zade! You won’t believe what I found!”


    “What?” I ask, and he beams at me, his eyes wide.


    “I found more information on the Infinite!”


    “You did what?” I say, my face turning upwards. “That’s incredible. Where? What is it?”


    “Come with me to the library!” He exclaims. “Skai, Th’ul, and Sia are already there!”


    “So that’s what you’ve been doing in the library then,” I tell him. “You could’ve asked me for help.”


    “Didn’t need you,” He shrugs. “I was able to find it after all this time. And you won’t believe what I found.”


    “Right, because I know nothing about the Infinite.”


    “Not for long,” Xavier tells me, taking off. I follow him, my feet barely touching my ground as my anticipation rises. “And we were right, High Mage Aegon is involved. Well, sorta. He was alive during the time.”


    “Ugh. Can you please say it already?”


    “What’s the fun in that? Come on, it’s better if you read it.”


    The library stands wide, the door open for us. I’ve been here many times, but I don’t need it much. As a War and Necromancy mage, reading isn’t a necessity most times, and what reading I do need is in my book. There must be a lot of interesting books here, but I don’t have the time or energy to read them. Maybe when my life slows down.


    Just like Xavier said, my three friends are already there waiting for me. Skai looks tired, and I wonder what she’s been doing. She’s a Soldier now, but most of those only fight when the army is needed. So what else does she do during the day? She’s not always around Xavier. Sia looks excited and scared. Clearly, the information has created many emotions in her head. Th’ul, meanwhile, while unemotive, looks pensive, reflecting on whatever the information is. There is a book in the middle of the table they sit around, opened about a quarter of the way in. As I sit down, I open it and find the title: Book OfThe Damned.


    “I’m surprised you even read,” I remark to my friend.


    “Don’t act like Jade,” He responds. “She’ll always be infinitely funnier, and annoying. Now, I got to this book with low hopes, as I’d gone through over a dozen before. This one, at the beginning, offered me nothing, but then I reached this part.” He points at the page the book is opened to. “The book was published just last year, which makes sense, considering the content is recent.”


    “Can I read it, please?” I asl.


    “Sure, just giving you some context,” He replies, sitting back.


    “Prepare to be shocked,” Th’ul tells me.


    “Really?”


    “No,” he responds. “I guessed what it would be fairly quickly. Just another bleeding enemy.”


    I grab the book, and begin to read the page.


    Three fledgling associations began to grow during that time: the Immortal, the Isolated, and the Insane, each built on the same fundamentals, but differing in several points. While they were created inside of Zenyth, and were comprised of mostly mages, the offering of the associations were this: magic was not fair, and thus must be eradicated and worked on again. The organizations found that mages tend to abuse their power, and the Insane argued that no mage could use it for good. The Isolated thought that they should contain magic and eradicate it from the rest of the world, thus creating a perfect society and country of mages that was separate and unbiased from everything else, and they would do anything to bring their vision about. The Immortal had the same design, with one big difference: they longed for immortality, and did not envision a country of mages but a small circle of immortal mages that watched over and influenced the world. The Insane had that term dubbed from the other organizations but they kept it. They thought that magic needed to be completely eradicated from everyone, and then it must be planted into only those worthy of it. Slowly, these companies began to grow inside Magefell, and eventually, one in every four mage was a part of one of the companies. The three devised machinery and magic to be able to disrupt other’s magic, and for a while, their visions were heralded and loved. Then the three organizations began to fight with each other, starting a small civil war between them. To any non-mage, the war didn’t exist, and now no one shall mention it, but within the companies, the war was violent. Eventually, three candidates from each company combined the three together into one company, the Infinite. Their vision was simple: magic must be eradicated, like the Immortal wanted, but there were a few that must keep it, like the Insane and Isolated wished. After, the few remaining would kill themselves, expelling magic to somewhere else. To bring this about, they decided they needed to conquer the world, or else they would be stopped at every turn. One day, they disappeared, and for years, no one knew of them. Then the great explosion happened. Mages have tried to hide it, but in the field of Magefell, there was a massive explosion that lasted for days, destroying everything around it, and it is suspected the Infinite were trying some sort of ugly experiment that failed horribly. After that, there truly was silence from the Infinite.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    They had been damned.


    “I don’t get it,” I say when I finish reading it. “So, they’re mages who hate magic and think the world must be changed, and then they disappeared. What’s so bad and crazy about it?”


    “If they’re still alive,” Th’ul replies. “Then it does not bode well. It is possible that this new Infinite is an organization based on the old one, but if it is not, we are in danger, especially if they are behind the Horde. Where they got the Horde, I do not know, but they may have been creating horrible experiments, and now us mages are in danger, because they hate us.”


    “They can’t win then,” I say. “Leah and Dautha are more powerful than them, and they wouldn’t allow their followers to lose their power, especially Dautha. The Horde has no chance. The Infinite has no chance.”


    “You really think the Infinite’s only weapon is the Horde?” Xavier asks. “It’s ruled by mages, supposedly, so they would have magic, and who knows what they can do after years in hiding.”


    “I don’t see the import of this,” I admit. “The Horde is dangerous, that much is obvious, but maybe the Cult is more important, guys! How many Cultists have you fought or talked with in recent times? Zero, and that’s because they’re planning something. How can you be worried about this mysterious Infinite when a more powerful group wants to bleeding murder you?”


    “We have a lot to worry about,” Sia says. “We can’t focus on one thing.”


    “Right, because you would rather leave the Cult alone,” I snap. “Eva told me the Cult is planning something in my dreams yesterday.” I had a dream where the Cult had tied me down and tortured me, and then Eva had appeared and said Be careful, my child. I took that as a warning. “I agree that we can’t focus on one thing, but your version of that phrase is very different than mine!”


    “Zade! Sia is agreeing with you!” Xavier exclaims.


    “SHHHHH!” Someone screams from behind us, but we don’t listen.


    “She is not! Her words are twisted, and she doesn’t mean any of this. And you all agree with her, I know it. Sia said we need to talk, and I think this is the right time.”


    “I do too,” Sia whispers. “I just wish Jade was here. She would be able to calm you.”


    “What’s that supposed to mean?” I screech.


    “Take this bleeding conversation out of this bleeding library or I will gut you right here and spill your blood over my carpets, and when you have no more blood, I will cut you up and feed my cats!” A mage shrieks from next to us, and I jump.


    “Yes, ma’am,” I exclaim.


    When we leave the library, the argument escalates one more.


    “You shouldn’t have said what you said about Jade,” Th’ul tells Sia, interrupting our screaming. “But, Zade, we do need to talk. Out of all of us, I would be prepared to say I am the one most prone to violence when I want to.”


    “Out of all of us, I would expect you to agree with me!” I say, fully aware I am raising my voice more than I should. “And you, violent? You couldn’t make the right violent decision if it made out with your bleeding mom!”


    “Shut up!” Th’ul growls at me. “This is your problem, you refuse to talk!”


    I sigh. “So, what do you want to talk about?”


    “Stop with the feigned ignorance,” Xavier says. “You know why we need to talk.”


    “You’re all against me!” I gasp. “This is what it comes to, then?”


    “We’re not against you,” Sia says, gaze softening. I glare at her, but she stares at me lovingly. “We want to help you, and your lashing tendencies aren’t working. I understand that Astil’s death makes you want to murder the Cult, but you must understand not all of them deserve it!”


    “Them being there is a reason enough. Even the most innocent Cultist helps the Cult just by being there. If the Cultists began to protest what the others were doing, that would be different.”


    “And what if they are and we just don’t know it?” Sia asks.


    “Fat chance,” I respond. “You do know they would kill you if they could?”


    “Maybe, but not all of them.”


    “And, and how do you know? Did you befriend one?” Her look tells me everything. “Oh, so you’re fraternizing with the bleeding enemy now? You want to die? Because it certainly looks like it.”


    “Zade, please, you must understand,” She pleads.


    “No, they’re brainwashing you,” I say. “All three of you.”


    “Eva is brainwashing you,” Th’ul tells me, his voice low and menacing.


    “I don’t do all that Eva tells me,” I tell them. “If Eva told me to kill you,, I wouldn’t do it, but if she tells me to kill Cultists and I happen to kill innocents at the same time, I must do it.”


    “What’s happening to you, Zade?” Xavier asks.


    “I’ve seen the truth. I’ll never let anyone end up like Anni again,”


    “Oh, get over it, you bastard!” Th’ul tells me. “You don’t care about Anni as much as you say. When was the last time you bleeding talked to her?”


    “You must realize there are flaws in your own thinking!” Sia says. “You’re supposed to protect innocents, not kill them. If a Cultist could be saved, shouldn''t that be a priority?”


    “And isn’t the Infinite just as dangerous?” Xavier asks. “They’re invisible. They could be anyone, even you.”


    “Please, Zade, at least be reasonable,” Sia begs, her eyes pleading at me to give in, at least just a little.


    “Zade, you know the truth.”


    “Just try to listen, to be helpful,” Xavier says. “Can you please—”


    I don’t let him keep talking. I’ve punched him in the face, my fist flaring with pain, and Xavier’s head snapping back. The next second, I’m dashing away, leaving my friends, Sia, who is pleading with me to return, and Th’ul and Xavier screaming at me. I ignore them all, tears in my eyes.


    I know I’m right, but how could I do this to my friends?


    What the hell is happening to me?