The moment Iskander's black light touched Cael, his eyes flared blue. Then, his left eye remained a vibrant blue, while his right eye turned a deep emerald green. In that instant, a simple thought echoed in the young man's head:
I want to be free. Uncaged.
Iskander's memories surged through Cael's mind, overwhelming him like a flood unleashed upon a man who couldn't swim. Knowledge, feelings, and information from the immortal's long life overloaded his spirit. He felt like a mere pebble tossed about by a deep, stormy ocean, drowning in the depths.
I was drowning!
Cael struggled to resist, to make sense of the deluge, to cling to his own identity and sanity. It was like being trapped within Iskander's head, thinking his thoughts, feeling his emotions, perceiving the world through his ancient eyes. He could smell what Iskander smelled thousands of years ago, feeling the emotions those scents evoked in the immortal's heart and mind. It was like living a lifetime in a single second - madness.
The more Cael absorbed, the more his rationality slipped away. He fought against the tide, but resistance only stretched time into an agonizing eternity. Those memories threatened to drive him mad. Bit by bit, he clawed his way back to a semblance of control, navigating the torrent of irrationality.
The answer was simple: I needed to choose which memories to see.
Or was it to know? And know what? See what? What is what?
His mind drifted between reason and madness, knowing and unknowing, being and nonexistence, until he began to grasp the reins. He slowed the influx of memories, regaining a sense of self as he focused on selected visions of the immortal's past.
Cael sought to understand how he could access Iskander's memories.
It was not the first time I'd done something like this, nor felt like this. Remembering what he did in the tomb and when he saw his parents' death.
He delved deeper, discovering the source of Iskander's one true power - the ability to control connections between all things. Iskander could forge or sever links with anything and everything, weaving metaphysical threads or unraveling existing bonds.
He named one application of his power "ChronoViewing."
Memories, etched both in the mind and in time itself, could be accessed through this ability. However, it required a condition: Iskander needed to absorb and contain the genetic codes of his targets and keep them within his body to pinpoint a target's position in space-time to get access to their time's memories.
Cael realized this mirrored his own ability to read time, though his seemed superior. Iskander had a theory about Cael's power. The boy was not bound by the same constraints, able to access the flow of time within a designated space without needing genetic material. He could pinpoint any mark in space-time within his reach and choose whose time he wanted to read, whether the mark itself or anyone who had ever occupied that space. He could even specify the exact moment in time and see the surroundings with a clarity the target themselves would not possess.
All it took was a thought, a will.
This explained his visions at the iron gate and his small home.
Cael's curiosity piqued; he wanted to know more about his power. His desire for knowledge triggered a shift in memory. He found himself reliving Iskander's memory of their conversation on the ship in The Isle of Whisper, where they discussed leaving Erathos together. Cael then knew that Iskander believed he had access to eight different powers and that the immortal was hiding secrets. One such secret involved a man Iskander thought he recognized in Cael's memories.
Was he thinking about the man I only saw? The man who appeared before the incident, the one everyone believed was a figment of my imagination. Cael considered reading his own time for answers, which he then did. However, he found no additional information; those memories were inaccessible. Perhaps they were only written in my mind, not on my own time! He theorized.
He concluded that he needed to return to Oakhaven; to the exact location on which he stood that day, to read the time of that space, to read the time of that man, to learn more, to uncover the truth.
First things first. What other secrets was Iskander hiding?
That desire for more information triggered another shift in memories. Cael glimpsed Iskander's past through the immortal's own eyes and mind. He began not only seeing, smelling, hearing, and sensing the world as Iskander did, but also knowing his thoughts and feeling his emotions, as if Cael's spirit inhabited Iskander's body. This time, the memories were clear. Even then, the thought dominating Iskander's mind was the same as the first one Cael perceived:
I want to be free.
He witnessed the immortal's unprecedented rage and contempt towards a man he called "Traitor." Iskander stood alone at the center of Elysium, surrounded by hundreds of corpses.
Elysium was his home.
Cael realized the immortal was the only one who could survive within that sphere. The Traitor's powers had poisoned it, condemning any sentient being who entered to a slow and certain death. He also discovered the true reason for Iskander's presence in Erathos; he was not merely stranded.
Iskander remained trapped, unable to forget anything, as was his nature. Alone and consumed by the pain of betrayal and loss for countless years, a hissing arose from the dark corners of his mind. Cael could not understand what it said, but he heard it multiplying, amplifying, and becoming a cacophony of noise that filled Iskander's head. It conquered his mind, negating his thoughts, becoming his sole perception.
The noise drove him mad; he lost his memories for the first time in his existence, along with his feelings and sense of self. He even lost the ability to form coherent thoughts, ultimately losing all sense of identity. Years turned into eons, and the immortal embarked on a desperate quest to end his life.
He tried every conceivable method, but his misery persisted. In every waking moment, he sought new ways to kill himself. He drilled into his head, tore out his tongue, and ripped out his own heart. He smashed his head against walls, decapitated himself, and drowned himself for ages. Nothing could end his suffering, silence the noise. For eons, he lived this existence, if it could be called living.
Then, the noise began to take shape, transforming into voices mixed with the memories of those whose time he had read. Hundreds, thousands of voices spoke at once, shouting, bickering, whispering, crying, laughing, regretting, and threatening. They spoke to each other and to him. He tried to ignore them, continuing his futile quest for death.
Eons more passed, and the voices became more than mere sounds; they came to life, each representing a part of him. He finally stopped resisting, realizing these voices were his own, or so he believed.
He abandoned his struggle to end his life. Iskander sat upon one of the eight thrones, listening to the voices, thinking, computing, and analyzing.
He began to talk back, embracing them and his transformed self, until a new King emerged. He lived as this new being for eons, accepting his metamorphosis while slowly piecing together his lost self, regaining his memories and identity.
However, the voices never disappeared. He still heard them, valuing their input, convinced they were his own thoughts. Until he no longer did. His will re-emerged, and he defied the voices, refusing to remain submissive. Then, Cael heard one voice that silenced all others. He wondered, Was that Iskander's voice? Or someone else's?
At that exact moment, a white-haired, armless, masked man appeared before the King. Anger clouded Iskander's mind, and everything went dark for Cael. He soon found himself witnessing Iskander wandering the white sands of a vast desert.
Was that man real? Or a figment of his imagination? And how did he leave Elysium?
Iskander continued wandering Erathos, consumed by rage. He understood the constants of existence, the mechanics of reality, but could not escape. He was furious at his ignorance of the use of primitive tools and the mortals' ability to live in a reality they could not bend to their will.
He tried to learn, but it was futile. He lacked something he never thought he would need the necessity and ingenuity to create tools of change.
Just as he was about to abandon hope, he found a solution upon encountering the first men of Erathos. The primitives!
Since I lack primitive thinking, I will make use of theirs, Iskander decided.
Cael, still struggling to comprehend what he witnessed, desired a deeper understanding. He did not know how, but remembering what he knew of Iskander, his intention triggered another memory shift. He saw Iskander commanding an army on a mountaintop. They brought down giant barrels and, upon his order, mixed their contents, creating a white smoke that killed them all except the immortal Iskander.
He then transitioned to the memory of the underground tomb. Standing where Iskander stood, he saw his past self through the immortal's eyes, reliving the moment they met.
He saw his own fear through Iskander's gaze, remembering when the King took his blood and read his time. He heard Iskander's chilling thought: I crave stimulus. The immortal valued freedom above all else, yet it disturbed Cael to understand how it fueled his will.
He continued observing, realizing Iskander was never certain of the outcomes of mortal choices, finding amusement in their lives. The thrill of the hunt, of observing his prey, making choices under the circumstances he created, hoping for surprises, was one of the many pleasures driving his will. After reading Cael's time, he set in motion the events that would forever alter the young shepherd's life.
Being inside his mind was terrifying beyond words.
He saw himself alongside Ronan, Astrid, Tamsin, and the Grave-Walker within the tomb, where Iskander lied about his promises. He could not bring back the dead, nor did he intend to. His words were meant to create circumstances, to influence their choices, to make them willingly follow him. He used them for his amusement until he achieved his goal of leaving Erathos.
I gave meaning to your lives, Cael heard him think.
Iskander was determined to sever all ties binding Cael to Erathos without arousing suspicion. He needed Cael to have a strong will to live, to survive the Apotheosis, so he could use him and eventually take what he possessed.
Ilya was the key. Her love for Cael and his reciprocation, combined with her powerful family's contempt for him, made her the perfect catalyst. If she disappeared and Cael was blamed, her family would enact their wrath upon his own.
Iskander decided to suppress the Anima within him, preventing leakage and hindering the activation of Cael's powers, rendering him blind to the truth. He made an exception when he allowed Cael to witness the events of his parents' murder.
Cael jumped to the memory of their arrival in Oakhaven after leaving the tomb, where Iskander set his plan in motion. He easily manipulated the curious Ilya into joining them, promising a world of discovery alongside Cael. He intentionally allowed her to eavesdrop on his conversation with the old scholar of Oakhaven, planting the seed of curiosity that drove her to follow.
He then saw himself buying the slave who served as their guide. He freed and paid him with precious gems, promising more in exchange for spreading the rumor that Cael had kidnapped, defiled, and murdered Ilya after she disappeared.
He knew the probability of the slave fulfilling his task was high, but uncertainty remained. The outcome, however, proved successful.
He relived the memory of Ilya stalking them, and Iskander's assessment of Ronan as a problem due to his intelligence and distrust, despite Cael's faith in his friend. When Ilya followed them, Ronan made a mistake by supporting her request to join them. Iskander was pleased, seeing it as an opportunity to shift blame and separate the two friends.
He let Cael decide, knowing the naive shepherd would make the wrong choice, leaving him untainted. He further ignited conflict and jealousy between them, solidifying his role as Cael's revered mentor.
After the murders, Iskander used guilt to isolate Cael. Ilya blamed herself, Elian blamed himself for his inability to stop the townsfolk, and Ronan blamed himself for supporting Ilya's request and his family's participation in the killings.
The King's plan was flawless. Yet, Cael was shaken by the way he had used Ilya as the catalyst for his parents' murder. He jumped to the memory of him asking Iskander to do the unthinkable, and the thrill it evoked in the immortal.