TENTH INTERLUDE – STOW & SIMMER


    Patronalus finished his work on MagnaThora. Once he felt that the wounds of the war were resolved he began his quest for enlightenment. After completing the temple, it was clear to him that he did not know enough to be considered a god. He might have god like strength and ability enough to smack around dragons and construct wonders but that was not enough for him. He need to know more. He needed to know everything.


    His first stop was Mount Fire to inform the warden who he had locked in the cellar. Patronalus climbed into the Flame Eterna and aligned his being with Lorde Alphatross, fusing his essence with the Phoenix, merging entirely and assuming each other’s knowledge, memory, and experience. Patronalus learned what it felt to be infinite and the divine source within him, same as the Phoenix and the founder gods. That very same sliver found inside every human, animal and living thing on Magnathora, that of the Supreme Dichotomy.


    Patronalus now knew how the demigods were created and how the founder gods did it. The reason why they were created still perplexed him. In all the information from the Phoenix it was most subjective. It was a beast. It told him what it saw and neglected context. For that he would have to go to the gods who knew humans a little better, the great Grey Wolfe, Entehii and the Lorde Lion Magnanimous.


    In the ruins of Corinth Hall, lost within the Forgotten Forest, the wolf’s last den hid from all who knew the god. He no longer trusted his own kin. Ever since the darkness infiltrated the serpent and corrupted it into the dragon, his faith in his counterparts failed. Any of them could be compromised. But Entehii sure did love Patronalus, a humble champion of the human race, unassuming, gracious and eager to learn.


    They spent long nights in the woods and the Grey Wolfe shared his wisdom with the young god. He told him all there was to know about the Crucifire King and lords of old, their greatest triumphs and their biggest weaknesses. The Wolfe’s tales combined with the Phoenix’s memories rendered a complete picture of the past. Of all the lessons he learned from what the two gods told him, he took away one important tip above all, he needed to insure the future of the human race and his legacy of grace, this concluded in leaving the Crucifire Sword behind on MagnaThora.


    Once again, the man was given all the power in the world and gave it up without a second thought. He walked away from the same sword that granted his very divinity, the sword that gave him all his fire to fight against Dracobra. But then again, it was not the sword that defeated the dragon god. Patronalus now had no qualms with leaving the majestic firepower to be an instrument of the future.


    Patronalus’ final stop was the Serengeti where he met with the Lion Lorde Magnanimous. The kind and gracious golden hair host sat with Patronalus on the grass, the wind blowing through his glistening blond mane. He watched the lion’s hair. It almost sparkled. It looked the same as his fire when he spreads it around his body. Although they were different godforces, they were all made of the same kind, the spirit of MagnaThora.


    “What do you wish to learn from me that you have not yet learned from my brethren already, little lord?” the Lion said.


    “After everything I have learned I only wonder what drove you and Dracobra from the sea?” asked Patronalus.


    The Lion kept staring off into the horizon. He closed his buttery eyes. Even the fur on his eyelids looked softer than a plainsmere rug. The blond of the Lion’s eyelashes matched the hair on top of Patronalus’ head. He caught the Lion looking at it the same way he admired Magnanimous’ mane. But when cats look at people it always looks like they don’t care. All the same he thought for some time and then answered Patronlaus’ question.


    “It’s not something I’ve had to talk about, after all this time. Once the countryside became a better fit for me, everything changed, and it didn’t matter anymore. To answer your question the darkness drove us out. At the time I didn’t realize it, but it didn’t stop there.


    Legend of the Chasm


    The ocean depths make up the vast majority of the world. There was simple not enough for both the sea lion and sea serpent to cover. In one of the darkest depths outside the coast of the Atlas Mountains grew an ancient darkness. In the abyss there was a rupture where it was allowed to come through. It crept up on them and was able to gain a stronghold but identified before it could spread any further. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Together the serpent and the lion same down into the depths, careful not to get too close to the shadow. It was poisonous to the touch and spread quickly in the water. They had to do something. Dracobra swallowed the shadow and Magnanimous pulled a chunk from the seabed. The serpent churned the shadow into fire and spewed it out into the water boiling it and the chunk Magnanimous placed inside.


    The water surrounding the chunk evaporated, creating an expanding bubble. The fire melted the stone down and purified it, refining it, evening it out, making it round and smooth. The water cooked inside the stone, and they fused together into a cerulean crystal sphere. They created a vessel that could contain infinite darkness. Together they brought the gem of the abyss down to the deepest depths.


    The further down they went the weaker they both got but the two demigods kept going for the good of all MagnaThora. They worked together and in doing so it got them further than they could ever accomplish alone. Now the breach was finally upon them, having hit rock bottom. With all of their remaining strength the forced the gem into the rupture. It fit perfectly and locked in place. Both Magnanimous and Dracobra left parts of themselves behind to bind the locks between the abyss and the other side, hoping never to return.


    The day would come where the gem wouldn’t be enough. For all that it could contain it simply was too small in size to persevere. It was originally brought to their attention by the surface dweller, who saw the water churning from above, in a massive whirlpool the called the Chasm. And so together again for another crusade into the deep, the serpent and the lion swam. Little did they know it would be their last trek together.


    For Magnanimous he would never find out whether the darkness got to Dracobra during the initial drop and lock or if it was when they went back the second time. They returned to a place they had forsaken because the pressure had built up so much it was threatening to blow in a blast wave that would wipe out all life in and out of the water.


    In the final moments of the resurgence there remained one more option the serpent neglected to consider. They could have eaten the pressure the same way the serpent had eaten the shadow. Maybe that option was no longer available because it didn’t actually work the first time. Either way as soon as they got down there the shadow latched onto Dracobra.


    The darkness overwhelmed the gemstone and wedged it just enough to get a steady stream of blight through. There was no stopping what would happen next, so Magnanimous did the only sensible thing. He spirited away his precious blue gem of the abyss, the eye of the lion, the Ignaleos Cor.


    ● ● ●


    “In all that time, the Chasm has only gotten worse. It spreads and makes sea voyage impossible. Our charges as gods were failed long ago. I sit here and shine my divine grace on these humans because that is exactly what they have given me.


    “If you want to learn anything from me and my life, young lord, know this,” the goldy lion spoke softly over the grassy knoll. “The darkness is unstoppable. I award you for choosing an alternative to death but if you think you contained it, you’re wrong. The evil that dwells within the dark of MagnaThora cannot be contained.”


    “I have created an impregnable prison.”


    “I hope so. My sibling will not go quietly into eternity.”


    “Do I have to worry about your intervention?”


    “You will get no trouble from me, godling. I told you. My concern is to the West and the darkness ever growing in the Barren Sea. I help Entehii now and keep watch over here so he can stay where he is. It works for now. What do you plan to do with your godhood?”


    “What I am meant to do.”


    Patronalus left the countryside and the Serengeti for one final tour around MagnaThora. He wanted to see all the places he knew and loved before his departure. By disguise, under a cloak and a mirage of black hair he revisited his hometown. He was feeling nostalgic because he knew. Patronalus would never be returning. He used his newfound knowledge to complete his ascension. He now knew all paths and they led to the realm of the gods. Patronalus would voluntarily reseal the covenant between god and man. He permanently closed the realms off from each other with himself on the other side without checking beforehand what or who was there with him.


    Patronalus was never seen or heard from again.