The Primordial Record

As much as Caine was surprised at the destruction of the Frozen Road, this event was not out of Primordial Chaos design, he blatantly left the weakness of his Grand Working over the Frozen Road, and any perceptive immortal would be able to easily find the connection between the heads of the Sirens to the Frozen Road below.

Primordial Chaos had made an obvious trap, one that should flawlessly capture any outside manipulation of the other Primordial forces in the higher realms. With his act of binding himself to the Gates of Oblivion, he had become the sole ruler of the Lower Realms, but that left him without any obvious advantages in the Higher Realms.

The only method he could use to counter this weakness was to create an enticing trap for anyone who would be standing against his interests, and before now, the only powers that he was worried about were other Primordial Domains.

Primordial Chaos was not worried that the Frozen Road could not be destroyed by any outside party, the World Stele resided in the Lower Realms for extended periods and he understood everything about its powers.

He had already made arrangements for when the Frozen Road would be destroyed, at that time its destruction would maximize his advantage and sow chaos on the Higher Realms even as he secured the Lower Realms.

However, Rowan had joined forces with the World Stele, and he made the impossible possible, he had broken the entire plans that Primordial Chaos had made, and no matter how much he raged, it was an unequivocal fact that this child had finally found his path to his Destiny, which freed the Primordials to finally be able to act against….

Whatever power that had aided Caine in understanding the mind of Primordial Chaos faded, or perhaps what he had gained was enough to give him the strength of mind to understand his purpose.

It was not as if what he had just learned would make him fear Primordials lesser. The small portions of the machinations of Primordial Chaos that he had just discovered were enough to terrify him, it fully displays the thought process of these beings where everything in reality were just pieces in a grand game, and victory and losses were simply two sides of the same coin.

The only thing that stabilized Caine's consciousness was a single person, Rowan.

Not because he thought that Rowan would ever be enough to stand against a Primordial. The only reason for his survival was simply because Primordial Chaos was wary of the other Primordials and he had set Rowan on a path where he would not draw their attention.

So it was obvious that despite Rowan's potential, he was still locked inside the grand cage created by the Primordials, however, and this was the point that Caine found to be critical, they could not control him.

This was the single greatest source of inspiration that Caine had obtained from this vision, the Primordials could not influence Rowan, and that gave him a chance, no matter how small it was to stand against them.

Caine knew the horror of being under the control of a Primordial, where your acts of defiance were nothing but an illusion created by a master so far above you that their touch was not even seen.

This inspiration was a small thing, but for Caine, it was enough.

"Your wish is my command, Father, when the time shall come, I will be standing there to run my blade into his heart."

He felt the shackles bounding him to the ground loosened and Caine slowly came to his feet as strength began to slowly enter his body and with a dull whoosh that he alone could hear, the flames of his soul came alit, as well as his Memory, Fate and Destiny.

From the verge of death and an impossible amount of pain to life in a single breath, Caine felt his resolve shake, but that faint inspiration he had unknowingly gained was the last anchor keeping any flame of defiance left inside of him.

Now that he was standing, he could not raise his head to look at Primordial Chaos, it was as if his spirit had been bound to the earth, never to rise again and Caine knew that he only had the presence of mind to contemplate his present existence because of that single glimpse of light in the darkness and so he did not fight against his slavery, simply accepted it as the fate of every living being.

Under the reign of Primordials, everyone was a slave, be they mortal or Old One.

"Changes are coming to the Higher Realms as the rest of your brothers and sisters will be released from the Gates of Oblivion, they shall hunt you, but they will not kill you, and at your lowest point that is when the opportunity would arise. Do not fail me Caine, the glimpse of the torture I sent you is among one of many and I shall keep the hand of death far from you until you have experienced all my rage in full."

Caine shivered as he bowed deeper, he felt the gaze of Primordial Chaos remain on him for a while longer before it shifted and he nearly collapsed to the ground even though he had recovered almost a percent of his entire power base.

The earlier blow from Primordial Chaos had stripped Caine of all his powers and there were a great number of them that would not return even with his full recovery.

Certain techniques required a long time to cultivate and some were tied to his Memories that were now lost, and by his estimation, when he fully recovered, his overall power would have shrunked by thirty five percent.

He knew that it could have been much worse, and he did not see it as a great loss if that was the price of enduring the wrath of a Primordial.

"Shamaran, my child, my Grand Work is incomplete, and this rupture needs to be fully healed. You are the thread that would keep this tapestry from fraying. A Guardian is still needed, Nemesis must return."

There was a silence for a few moments and Caine heard the voice of Shamaran,

"Your Will is my road, Father."

"You have served me well."

Caine could no longer raise his head anymore, but he felt the presence of Primordial Chaos vanishing and the feet ahead of him transforming into something bestial. His eyes turned toward Shamaran who had that moment was looking at him, and then she smiled.

There was a myriad of emotions and statements in that single expression, and his previous self, drunk on his ignorance and pursuing a path that had no end would have missed it, and now he could see a glimpse of his sister under all the barriers that they had all set up chasing their false dreams. He truly saw her for who she was, and Caine smiled back at her.

Something massive, resembling a humanoid bat slammed into her, tearing her flesh apart even as they were buried beneath the sand from the force of the impact.

Caine could no longer see them but he could still hear the sound of flesh and bones being chewed.