The Nekromancer - 110. Chapter 110

Two doors stood before Jakun, one small and unassuming, the other tall enough to allow even Ivris to pass through. Between them stood an armoured Greycloak, sheathed longsword on his hip.

“One final choice lies before you, Jakun Amurrun,” the Greycloak said. “Beyond these doors is the end of your Trials. One leads to a final test, before you may achieve your goal of godhood.”

He motioned toward the giant door.

“The other leads back to the Material Plane. By reaching this far, you have proven yourself to be a hero beyond compare. If you wish to return to your life, you may do so, and you shall be richly rewarded. Treasure beyond your wildest dreams is yours if you choose mortality.”

A mountain of gear and gold appeared beside the smaller door, enticing Jakun with the shine of wealth.

“I have come this far already,” the amurrun said. “I cannot go back.”

“If you return, none of this would be held against you. You would forget your actions, forget the test-”

“Jeremy’s death would have been for nothing. No amount of gold could bring him back,” Jakun said sharply. “I will not shove my victory in Amnor Sen’s face. My time on the Material Plane is over.”

Beside the smaller door, the catfolk noticed the adventurer from before, his wounds apparently sealed. He approached the man, who looked up with a grim smile.

“I want to thank you for my life. Without my gear, I wouldn’t have made it this far. But there is no chance I can survive the final trial,” the man said. “I would like you to take my gear. Perhaps it can aid you in your deification.”

“No,” Jakun said, sitting beside the man. “I know this is my imagination, that nothing in here is real.”

“I would not say that,” the adventurer denied.

‘If there is a chance that this is real, that you are real, and will return to the Material Plane once I am gone, I would like you to take the gear you offer me, and give it to my friend instead, with my sincerest apologies.”

“Your paladin friend?” the man asked. “What use would he have of the gear? He is currently seeking a life of peace, retiring from adventuring.”

“What use would I have of a holy sword?” Jakun countered. “He could make better use of the gear than I could. And I wish to pay for the kindness he has shown me. I know this won’t even scratch the surface of what I owe him.”

The man nodded, reaching out to clasp the lich’s arm.

“It shall be done as you say. I wish you luck, Lord of Summons.”

Jakun stood up, feeling a rush of energy returning to him. He approached the larger door, casting one last look at the mountain of gold, before pushing against the heavy barrier.

Darkness took him instantly, his body leaving the ground. Jakun floated in the middle of nowhere, his sight useless.

"Like you, many have begun the trials of the Starstone. Yet few have come this far."

A figure faded into view, an enormous serpent with scales that constantly shifted colour, blending into the darkness before changing to a fluorescent pink before taking on a desert camouflage, no reason or pattern to the flowing colours. Jakun had only heard of this creature in an obscure text, a keketar protean, one of the harbingers of true chaos. It seemed to jump from point to point, a cloud of swirling symbols the only constant other than a pair of glowing violet eyes.

The darkness began to fade, ground appearing as chaos spread, randomness ruling creation as Jakun watched. There was no destruction, but no order, and Jakun found himself entranced by all the possibilities of the realm.

“Even now, the multiverse makes room for you, grants you a realm of your own amidst the swirling energies of the Maelstrom. You are no mere mortal, but neither are you yet a god.”

The protean’s symbols brightened, an ever changing name entering Jakun’s mind, the amurrun realizing that this was true chaos, there were no absolutes here until he named them so. This realm of Aether, this land he could see stretching around him, it was his, but not his, a paradox until defined by the being before him.

“I am the first of those who may follow you. Yet before I give you my allegiance blindly, you must prove yourself worthy of the chaos, the truest state of all the planes. This is a fight to your death, either as a mortal, or all together.”

A ray suddenly shot from the serpent, blinding green and deadly. Jakun couldn’t move, yet he suddenly found himself behind the serpent, his mind adjusting to the rapid change. He cast his own spells, armour on top of dexterity, tigers snarling as they launched themselves at the protean, the catfolk adjusting their energies to morph into random cats as the protean attacked. Chaos was what this beast craved, and Jakun would provide, would prove himself worthy. This was a fight to either his death or his ascension, the final battle.

Fireballs launched from his hands, crashing into the protean even as the creature blinked out of the blasts, burns appearing before being replaced as fast as they came. The space around them crackled with arcane and divine energies, pure chaos flooding the lich’s mind and body.

There was no way Jakun could follow the battle, even as one of the only two combatants, and the amurrun didn’t even try, casting spells instinctively, willing them to strike at random. No order, no thought save for motion and strike, a series of spells going off in no particular order until the protean flashed out of sight.

A laugh filled the air, the serpent appearing around the lich.

“Such chaos like none I have seen in a mage… You have truly shown yourself worthy. Go forth, let your energy sculpt this place. Here, you may be free from all restraints, even those of death.”

Jakun felt his body falling apart, the amurrun realising there were no rules binding him. Death, undeath, race, form, nothing mattered save for his thoughts. He was everywhere and nowhere, and the new god felt elation strike him in full force, enjoying the absolute freedom of true chaos before he settled. His trials were over, though his work was only just starting, and the god let himself revel, celebrate, before he began working on his new realm, his new reality.