Whispers of a Dead Empire

I ran my tongue across my teeth, marveling at how they felt. They were utterly perfect. I pulled my gaze away from my face, feeling slightly uncomfortable at how beautiful I was. "How odd." My voice radiated from my mouth, and it still unnerved me with how it sounded.

"Mother, you look beautiful." Nyx crashed into me from behind though my body barely reacted to the force.

I smiled and turned my attention to her. "Thank you." I rested my hand against her head and gave it a soft pat. I wasn't expecting this level of change, but I'm glad that she accepted it.

"Come along, Mother. I wish to show you what I was working on." she giggled and nestled her head into me before she pulled herself away and grabbed my arm. Her fingers dug into my arm as she pulled me away from my bedroom with the gusto only a child could muster.

I sighed in defeat and pushed what just happened to the back of my mind. But I need to make sure I get back to training. This was a powerful upgrade, and I wanted to make sure that I get the most out of it.

Nyx led me back through my bedroom and towards her desk. "Look." She stopped, clambered onto her chair, and pointed to a set of papers. Each one was equally spaced from the other, and not a single notebook was out of place. It was picture perfect and honestly a far cry from my mess.

She reached out and grabbed a piece of paper with a strange set of runes written on its surface. "So, I've been doing a lot of thinking. The rune that you showed me facilitates destruction. The opposite is creation." She reached out and grabbed another piece of paper with the creation runes inscribed on it. "But that also means that there must be other functions that can be used. "With the utmost care, she put the piece of paper down and reached out to another. This time, a completely strange rune was drawn on the paper. "So, what I'm thinking is that I can use this to transform things."

I took the paper from her, looked at the rune, and tried to decipher it, but to me, it looked like a bunch of gibberish. But her words reminded me of something. "So, like an alchemist?"

She glanced up at me and tilted her head. "A what?"

Oh yeah, I forgot that there is some stuff that she doesn't quite know. But to be fair, that's expected in the sense that I was thinking of. "Well, they can transform the environment and change materials on a whim," I explained to her the meaning that I had in mind. However, it was more akin to an anime than anything else.

She pulled her gaze away from me and towards the stack of papers on her desk. Her face was scrunched up a bit as she was thinking through something. "This is very interesting. I will try to combine this with the rest of magic as well." She placed the paper down on the desk, turned her attention back to me once more, and wrapped her arms around me.

"Mother, I'm tired." She told me as a yawn split her lips.

"There, there," I replied as I gave her a pat on the head. "Would you like to go to sleep?"

She nodded her head as she rested against me. I felt a small smile across my face as I lay my head against hers. "You can sleep in my bed if you'd like."

"Will you be here when I wake up?' She asked through another enormous yawn.

"Of course. It will be just you and I for a while." I ran my fingers through her hair for a bit as she grew quiet. For a moment, I thought she had fallen asleep.

"Okay, good night, mother." She jumped off the chair and meandered off toward my bedroom.

"Good night, my little Nyx," I replied as she vanished behind the door.

I stood there for a few more moments and rested against her desk before I turned back towards her desk and looked at the paper that rested there. I really was jealous. She was so intelligent, and it showed more every day. It wasn't fair, but at the same time, why was I so jealous? Maybe it was because I wasn't pushing myself as hard as I could. Maybe if I did, then I wouldn't be left feeling like this.

I sighed and pushed away from her desk. Maybe it was time to focus on just me for a bit. Some meditation would do nicely. It's been a while since I've done it, and it was something that I needed to do more regularly. Better late than never, I suppose.

When I opened my eyes, I sat in my ki realm. The giant orb that rotated in its center pulsed in a strange rhythm. Sparks of vibrant gold clashed with veins of violet that rose and fell like a tide in the sea as the haze was pulled into its unyielding orbit. Lightning split the sky with such force that the surrounding earth trembled.

The haze that permeated the air was thick and felt a lot like syrup that clung to all of my exposed flesh. I took a deep breath in, and the haze rushed into my pores and seeped into my body. Well, fuck, I forgot how boring this was. Well, it's better than sitting in the lightning path and trying to rush through it all.

It felt like hours as I sat there, pulling the haze away and letting it rush up towards the embrace of the giant orb. The sky darkened, and the lightning roared as more power seemed to concentrate in the air. This was so tedious. It felt like I was clawing at water with no end in sight. Perhaps I was used to constantly making improvements, so it would make sense to be at a bottleneck.

I took a slow and heavy breathing through my nose as more of the haze kicked around me and got caught up in the gaseous orbit. The sky trembled again, but I felt no closer to breaking through. I felt stronger than before, but that was about it. Perhaps a few more hours in here would be good. If I didn't make a breakthrough, that would be okay because progress is still progress at the end of the day.

It felt like a lifetime had passed me by as I sat there, but I was still no closer to whatever the end goal was. Maybe I would see if I could hire a trainer when I visited the outside world. That would do me wonders, and maybe I could even pick up some tutors for Nyx. It would do her well to talk to some more people. However, I would have to have them vetted because I refuse to let anyone I don't trust near her.

I opened my eyes, sat back on my hands, and stared at the star that seemed to burn ceaselessly. I stared at it and felt so damn close to realizing something, but I wasn't sure what it was. It's really been a struggle trying to move forward. I had Kharon, but at the same time, I didn't want to keep relying on him. I want to forge my path.

At least Nyx doesn't have to struggle with that. She has all the resources we toiled for and all the trial and error it took to get here. I sighed again, feeling a little sad at my lack of progress. Maybe I should take a break from here and go to my soul realm. It's been far too long since I've been there.

It took only a second for me to switch realms, and much to my surprise, I saw Nyx, but she was curled up in the corner in her dragon form and looked to be fast asleep. Sometimes I forget she is my familiar. She is always so obstinate in calling me her mother that I had almost forgetten what she really was. I walked over to her sleeping form and gave her a gentle pat on the head. A gentle rumble radiated from her throat as I scratched the top of her head. She was such a beautiful creature.

I pulled my hand away from her, wandered back towards the center of the room, and sat down. It was time to work on my soul a bit. Out of all my skills, this one was probably the weakest. I felt around with my mind, trying to figure out how this all worked. Ki, for example, came from the body, but the power that fueled my soul came from the outside. I just didn't know in what capacity.

With carefully measured breaths, I began meditating, trying to draw power in from the outside. But it felt like a tap turned on the lowest setting. No matter how hard I tried to pull it in, it slipped through my fingers and rushed away.

I felt my frustration mount slightly as I sat back on my hands, opened my eyes, and stared into the night sky. The dragon constellation glimmered as my soul ebbed in a steady heartbeat. What was I missing?