Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 157: To Prove One's Soul

Toren Daen

I had heard heartbeats that sounded wrong before. With my sense of lifeforce, I could listen in on the heartbeats of the smallest insects to the largest mana beasts. They all had different, subtle inflections in that pulse. A jump here could indicate fear or anxiety. A resounding pulse could tell me of their passion and adrenaline. And maybe a slow timbre sang a song of sleep and slumber.

But Agrona's heartbeat was all of that. Every possible frequency and rise and fall and emotion and feeling and everything, all forced into a tiny singularity. But it wasn't a peaceful thing; made harmonious. It was as if the God of Alacrya had torn these emotions from the hearts of everyone around him and gorged himself on their discord. Agrona's lifeforce reveled in the chaos.

That horrible heartbeat throbbed in my head again, making my vision swim. Blood leaked from my mouth, dripping onto the small pool I'd hurled up not a second before. My limbs were heavier than stone. Heavier than iron. Heavier than lead.

Agrona Vritra's footsteps echoed out across the empty temple as he descended the altar, his hands clasped behind his back. He smiled in a friendly way as he approached, each footfall the ringing of an executioner's bell. Every step heralded the end of a world.

He stood not far away from where Seris clutched my shoulders tightly, observing us like we were pets that had misbehaved. I groaned, wanting to curl into a ball and hide. This was a nightmare. A figment of my fevered mind. I must still be in the shock of fighting Mardeth; in some sort of coma in a bed.

Seris' breathing hitched as the High Sovereign watched us inquisitively. I saw the tremble of her lips; felt the terror in her intent. Yet she stayed kneeling, clasping my shoulders like a rigid, steadying statue.

"Seris," Agrona said lightly, unclasping his gray hands from behind his back. "Move away."

I felt the Scythe's hands clench tighter around my shoulders where she held me. I looked into her eyes, silently begging, pleading that she stay. I didn't want to be left alone with this monster. I–I couldn't be left alone. I was so, so alone. Aurora had already fled, and–

Sensing the Scythe's reluctance, Agrona shook his head. The jewelry adorning his horns jingled lightly like chimes. "Seris," he said again, shaking his head as if she were a dog that had torn apart furniture. His tone lowered slightly. Became ever-so-slightly threatening. He waved a single hand dismissively. "Move."

The Scythe watched my eyes with her wide, onyx orbs, her arms shaking as they retreated from my shoulders. She haltingly stood, her movements jerky and unrefined as she stepped away. Her grace was gone, washed away in a tide of fear. Her fingers trembled as they left me, an unrelenting cold taking their place. The sole bit of warmth remaining abandoned me.

Agrona Vritra rubbed his chin as he stared down at me, the horrible, horrible discordant heartfire blocking out nearly every other sound.

But even as I stayed petrified on my knees, there was another presence in my body that refused to be chained. That hated everything the basilisk stood for on a fundamental level; that despised each and every decaying touch they left in their wake. That claimed the sky, and defied those that slithered across the wet earth.

Lady Dawn's Will surged, rising to the surface of my skin against my wishes. I saw orange, feathering runes run along my arms, tracing their way under my sweat-soaked shirt. The chain enwrapping my left arm glowed a powerful red light, banishing the darkness in the cathedral, and I knew my eyes glowed with the light of a star.

Only too late did I try and contain the raging power in my core. Too late did I realize what this would mean. Too late did–

Agrona shook his head, laying a palm vast enough to block out the sky on the top of my scalp. I saw as his fingers ran through my deep, fiery red hair, the Will inside roaring in contained fury. "When Lady Dawn threw her soul to the wind, I'll admit I expected something more interesting. For such a Discordant Note within the grand symphony, your power is... paltry."