Betrayal and Power

Edmund had been conflicted for an entire year. He knew Safrin had protected Torchline as much as she could. He knew that the devastation would have been so much worse without the Goddess' protection. And yet. Torchline was in literal pieces and Enzo was dead alongside so many others. It had hurt to feel his faith shaken. It tasted like betrayal on his part. A betrayal against Safrin and his mother. Yet, Edmund had come here. The fire that always burned in his chest had felt the pull of the newly awakened goddess and her children. It called to him almost. A hum in his mind that perhaps there was another way. That if Safrin, if the heralds overall, weren't powerful to protect his loved ones, maybe Dygra was. Dygra had saved the lives of the Ascended after all. She was clearly more powerful than the Voice. And the Voice had stood toe to toe with the heralds. Thus, the young Abandoned had made his choice after much contemplation and brooding. It would break his mum's heart and that alone was his one true regret. But he had made up his mind. He would seek out the bejeweled goddess for her blessing and power. So that when the heralds failed again, he'd have the strength to protect what was his. Entering the shrine, Edmund squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. Just standing in the shrine made the embers in his chest flicker to attention.  Walking over, he placed his offering in the basin. He'd brought her a bracelet of obsidian and rubies that he'd traded a hefty sum for in the market. "Dygra? Goddess? My name is Edmund. I'm the child of Safrin's chosen queen of Torchline, but I need your help." Letting out a shaky exhale, he continued. "It's been made clear that despite her efforts and the efforts of the other heralds, Safrin and the others aren't powerful enough. At least, not powerful enough to protect my loved ones. I...I can't just sit and do nothing. I can't just let her fail them again and not be able to do anything." Swallowing harshly, he steeled his nerves. "I need more power. I need to be able to step in and protect my family when the heralds fail again. So please. Please make me an ancient." Edmund closed his eyes and with a furrowed brow added, "Please." The cost was high, bloodlust against this very nature. But if he gained the power he needed, it'd be worth it. ~ Edmund offers Dygra a bracelet of obsidian and ruby and begs her to make him an Ancient. Edmund the prince of torchline

Dygra

"Your trinkets are worthless here, little dark one."

The voice that vibrates and rings through the walls of obsidian is deeper than one might expect; sensuality dripping with confidence and power, it will rumble right through to Edmund's bones.

"My children may be heat and stone, but they are more alive than any starwalker of Safrin," she continues, and within the bowl, the Abandoned will notice his offering beginning to melt. "We are passion and darkness, fire and blood."

Beneath his feet, through a crack in the ground, what look like rubies begin to bubble and spill to the surface. Forming a vague tentacle shape, they begin to coil around Edmund's ankles. "It is in you, too," Dygra observes. "If you would be reborn to me, I ask for no baubles or jewellery. You are enough of an offering."

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Edmund's eyes widened as Dygra's voice overtook his senses. He found himself swallowing harshly, falling silent as the Goddess spoke. Her presence was overwhelming, all consuming, making the fire magic in his soul bubbled beneath his skin in answer to her call. Passion, fire, darkness, and blood. Yes. As each word was spoken, Edmund felt his very bones resonate. He was fire and passion, had been since birth. Choosing to be here, choosing this, was acceptance of his darkness. For as bright were the stars, they were nothing against the darkness of the night sky.  That was where true power laid.  Blood? He may have the blood of stars, but it was time for fire to melt the very essence of them. Squaring his shoulders, Edmund drew strength from Dygra's confidence and the touch of the rubies against his skin. Eyes burning with determination he made his choice once more, "Yes. Make me more than I am now, please. Let me be reborn to you." He took a dep breath to prepare himself, unsure of what was to come. "What do I call you after, Goddess? What are your dark ones allowed to refer to you as?" ~ Edmund asks to be reborn to Dygra! Edmund the prince of torchline

Dygra

Edmund will feel the ground shift and warble beneath his feet, but surely that can't be possible; obsidian is not malleable in the slightest - and yet, he begins to sink into the blackness of it, even as rubies continue to crawl and spread up the length of his legs, tendrils of crimson gemstones snaking around him as if to clutch him close.

"You will be so much more than you are now." Her voice will sound as though it's pressed against his ear now, even though it still vibrates all around, and the haze of darkness begins to creep in on all sides, hazing his vision, filling his mouth and nose and ears. Down he goes, dragged into the stone, the magma, the heat.

If there is pain, it is only for a moment. If there's heat, it burns but for a fraction of a second before becoming something akin to euphoric. As Edmund plunges into the earth and back out again, he will find himself on the floor of a cavern with gemstones flickering all around. Soulfire Reach is changed from before; blood hangs heavy in the air, and the walls of crystal seem to shift and breathe.

Edmund, too, is changed, but the main thing he will notice is the Bloodlust singing in his veins, the urge to destroy, to unmake, to maim and kill.

"You may call me your mother, Edmund Ansel," Dygra rumbles all around. "Because that is what I am."

---

Edmund has become an Ancient!

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"Thank you." Then it begins. Edmund could never have predicted what the process to become an Ancient was. Being sucked into the ground should have been terrifying. The stone and heat were overwhelming and yet he was calm. The brief pain and discomfort were nothing compared to the after. His fire magic felt locked away, but it surged stronger than it ever had before. The new Ancient stands tall, running a tongue over his new fangs with a wide and satisfied grin. "Thank you, Mother." Then the bloodlust hits and it makes Edmund take a step back, sucking in a deep breath. "So this is what it feels like. I'll go kill something in your name." The grin turns dark, hungry, and oh so ready to spill blood. What should have been out of character for the young teen now feels natural and right. Maybe it'll hit him later, but for now, he lusts. With a final goodbye, the new Ancient takes his leave, eyes already scanning for his first kill. -{FIN} Edmund the prince of torchline