THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 344: 344: PAIN

The moment Thazir vanished beyond the horizon, the mask began to crack. Sagiri remained standing atop Zaira’s head, but only barely. The crimson glow in his eyes flickered. His breathing grew uneven. Every movement of the beast sent fresh agony through his body.

The five relics were not meant to be awakened together and certainly not wielded by someone who carried the echo archive. They were greater in power than one person, and they had not learned to coexist.

The Archive had broadened too quickly. Too violent. Knowledge, power, memories, and authority had been forced into a vessel that should have spent months, perhaps years, adapting.

Half a year of meditation would have been the minimum. Half a year of isolation. Half a year of silence. Instead, he had gone to war with the South days after his awakening. To save Azir. To save his squad. Now the price has come due. Every nerve in his body felt as though it were being torn apart.

The markings beneath his skin moved without his permission, crawling across his flesh like living things searching for a way out. The relics fought one another within him. Ancient powers pulling in different directions. The Archive expanded and expanded, threatening to shatter the boundaries of his mind. Memories that were not his own surfaced and vanished.

Names of dead kings. Forgotten wars. Lost languages. Entire lifetimes brushing against his consciousness. By the time Zaira reached the deep desert, blood was running from the corner of his mouth. Sagiri fell to his knees and wretched blood spilling it on Zaira’s head. The beast needed to sleep, too. For months. It had grown overnight. The strain would catch up soon.

Sagiri barely made it into the cave. The moment his feet touched the stone floor, his legs gave out beneath him. He hit the ground hard and remained there for several breaths, trembling violently. The pain was no longer something he felt in parts of his body. It had become everything.

His muscles spasmed uncontrollably. Every heartbeat sent waves of agony through his veins as though molten metal had replaced his blood. His vision blurred and sharpened in rapid succession. One moment, the cave walls were clear. Next, they doubled and twisted. A ringing filled his ears. His stomach clenched so violently he nearly vomited. He tried to breathe, but even that hurt. Every breath scraped through his chest like broken glass.

A groan escaped him as he dragged himself forward. His fingers dug into the stone floor, nails scraping across rock. Then the pain surged again. Harder. Sagiri’s back arched.

A strangled cry tore from his throat. His hands clawed so deeply into the stone that fragments cracked away beneath his fingers. Blood appeared beneath broken nails. He barely noticed. Sweat poured from him in sheets despite the coolness of the cave. His entire body shook. The markings beneath his skin writhed like living serpents, shifting beneath flesh and muscle as though trying to escape. Memories slammed into him without warning. Faces. Names. Cities. Wars. Thousands of years crashing through his mind. He couldn’t tell where his thoughts ended, and the Archive began. Another spasm seized him.

His teeth clenched so hard he tasted blood. He wretched another mouthful of blood. The world narrowed into pain and instinct. Crawl. Breathe. Endure. Crawl again. Behind him, framed by the entrance, Zaira watched in silence. The colossal beast remained perfectly still, crimson eyes fixed upon its master. It did not move to help. It could not help its master this time.

This was a battle no creature could fight for him. Deep within the cave, Sagiri collapsed once more, fingers carving fresh grooves into the stone as another wave of agony rolled through him, stronger than the last, threatening to tear him apart from the inside.

The pain climbed higher. What had been agony became something beyond it, something so absolute that Sagiri could no longer separate one sensation from another. It felt as though every bone in his body was being cracked apart and reforged while his nerves were stretched across molten iron. His muscles locked so violently that his joints popped. Blood vessels burst beneath his skin.

The markings covering his body glowed and writhed, crawling across flesh like living brands. He screamed once. Then again. The sound echoed through the cave until even his voice began to fail him. His vision turned white. Black spots flooded the edges. Relief seemed only a heartbeat away. Unconsciousness finally reached him. His eyes rolled back. His body slackened.

Then the Archive snapped him awake in the next moment, together with the pain. Knowledge flooded into his skull like a hammer blow. He woke with a gasp and a fresh scream already tearing from his throat. There would be no escape.

Every time darkness tried to claim him, something inside him dragged him back. He passed out again. Woke again. Passed out. Woke. Over and over. Sometimes he wasn’t even sure if seconds had passed between them. His fingers clawed deeper into the stone until they left bloody grooves.

Fragments of rock littered the floor around him. At one point, he drove his forehead against the ground hard enough to crack the stone beneath him, desperate for any pain that wasn’t the one consuming him from within. It didn’t help. The relics were tearing through him. The Archive was expanding faster than his mind could contain it. Ancient memories crashed against his consciousness in endless waves.

Millions of voices whispered. Countless lives brushed against his own. Through it all, he remained awake. Forced awake. Every heartbeat was another eternity. Every breath is another battle. And somewhere between screams and shattered thoughts, Sagiri began to understand the true horror of his situation. The pain was still getting worse.

The moment Koru stepped through the gates of the War Fortress, he stopped. His expression, calm until now, hardened. N’varu felt it immediately. The old Sandshade slowly turned his pupil-less eyes toward him.

"You fool." Koru snapped, flipping N’varu to look at him. The words landed with enough force to silence everyone nearby.

N’varu frowned.

"What now?" He asked. He had seen the beast break through the supreme chief’s fortress roof. It carried the man. Zaira had then lifted Nvaru and Lira, and all three were first to be slowly lowered to the ground. They had not spoken then, but they all rushed to the square.

"What now?" Koru repeated. "The keeper is tearing himself apart in the middle of the desert, and you ask me what now?" The courtyard went silent. Banga looked between them. Kaka shifted uneasily. Lira froze, and N’varu’s face darkened.

"You think I don’t know that?"

"No." Koru took a step forward. "I think you knew exactly what would happen. You let him sacrifice for everyone, and now it’s killing him." The accusation caused several people to stiffen. "You knew what he was carrying."

"You know nothing about what he carries," Nvaru said

"I know more than you." The answer came instantly. The temperature in the courtyard seemed to drop. N’varu’s eyes narrowed, his pupils going white, but Koru matched him immediately

For several seconds, neither man spoke. Then Koru pointed toward the distant desert.

"You should have stopped him years ago." The statement shocked everyone. Lira’s head snapped toward him. Banga blinked, and even the Kai looked startled. Koru ignored them. "You should have forced him to stop."

N’varu’s voice became dangerous.

"He is not a child."

"No, he isn’t." Koru nodded. "That is exactly the problem."

The old Sandshade folded his arms.

"You spent years treating him like a warrior when he should have been treated like a disaster waiting to happen. You know the archive should not be repeatedly exposed to violence." The courtyard remained silent.

Koru continued.

"Every time he pushed too hard, you allowed it. Every time he refused guidance, you stepped aside. Every time he ignored his limits, you watched." N’varu’s jaw tightened.

"And what would you have done?"

Koru laughed.

It was not a pleasant sound.

"I would have beaten him." Several people blinked. "I would have chained him to a mountain if necessary."

Lira looked horrified.

The old Sandshade pointed toward the desert again.

"Now look where kindness has gotten him. He is right now in so much pain. I think that’s what you wanted, sandshade." Nvaru curled his fists, but he did not speak. Instead of being Sagiri’s protector, he had let Sagiri protect him time and time again.

Then Koru’s gaze shifted.

For the first time, he truly looked at Sagiri’s squad.

His white eyes moved from face to face. Something strange entered his expression. Recognition. The squad noticed it immediately. Then Koru spoke.

"You lot are from the North." The words hit like a hammer. Every member of the squad froze. Kaka’s eyes widened, and the Kai stared openly. Even N’varu looked surprised. The silence became suffocating.

Finally, Banga spoke.

"...How do you know that?"

Koru snorted.

"Because I have eyes."

"They are white," Kaka muttered before thinking.

To everyone’s surprise, Koru barked a laugh. Then he pointed toward them. "Your accent. Your posture. "The way you stand. like seasoned warriors. I assure you, even the kai is not fooled." He shook his head. "You might fool Southerners. You do not fool me."

The Kai did not debate, and it was clear to see he had known all along, yet he let them be. Well, he was the kai of the south.

Koru looked almost disappointed.

"The North breeds wolves." His gaze lingered on each of them. "And wolves always recognize wolves." The statement sent another wave of silence through the courtyard.

"You should get ready to leave. Northerners killed my master. I could have already killed you if the keeper hadn’t seen you as brothers. My grace will not last long." Koru snarled before he moved. In a second, he was gone. He was so fast it almost seemed like he was disappearing.