Epilogue

The Caustic Parasitizer reared up before Valtoris Blackstar. It was an extinction event. An eidolon of life corrupted into something putrescent. It laid eggs in people, converted them into servants, and then hatched its young from inside them. Or it would have, if Blackstar had not come personally to this world ahead of time. His armies were arrayed around him, marching across the surface of the planet in perfect harmony. Boots polished, weapons ready. His mages had already laid down the protective and enhancement spells that would allow his common footsoldiers to go toe-to-toe with the lesser eidolons that had broken through. It was only this particular eidolon that was liable to cause problems.

Fire erupted from Valtoris’ hand. He spoke no spell, made no gesture; he simply willed it to be, and it was. Slowly, painstakingly, he stretched out the flames, breathing more and more life into them as he shaped them, took aim, and unleashed.

The javelin of flame soared over the heads of his troops, past the ruined farmhouses, and ploughed deep into the gelatinous underbelly of the Parasitizer. At first, it seemed as though the flames would be smothered in its toxic swamp of a body, but his power always prevailed. With a flex of his fist and will, the fire within the eidolon exploded outwards. Flames blossomed up through its translucent form, popping the eggs within it as they came into contact and then finally slowing to a sizzle. All of its innards were sooty and blackened now, and while it may have tried to carry on, it was already beyond saving. He had killed it. It was just too stupid to know that it was dead.

“Report.”

One of his underlings stepped up rapidly, jaw still gaping open at the sights that she had just seen. “Planetary purge is underway, sir. We expect no remaining eidolon presence within twelve minutes.”

“Yes, I can see that.” He rolled his eyes and reached for a glass of wine that hung on a hovering tray beside him. “The other worlds.”

“Forty-six were hit in this incursion, sir. Purge protocols activated. Only eight remain unaccounted for. The rest have already declared an all-clear.”

He paused with the glass touching his lip. “The eight…”

“No reports of issues, sir.” She fended off any concerns. “Just difficult terrain to navigate to confirm the all-clear or delays in deployments.”

He took a sip of the wine and sighed. “There is a reason we have a drill schedule.”

“All signs show that the schedules have been followed, sir.” She was surprisingly chipper for a young woman on a planet that had just been on the verge of complete annihilation. “And every indication that the early warning system you implemented has been a great success, too, sir. We’re ahead on every metric.”

“Other business.” He snapped his fingers, and a second young woman stepped forward, this one with her hood being held off her face by a pair of horns.

“The dead boy you said wasn’t dead.”

That gave him a moment’s pause. “The gravity mage?”

“He isn’t dead.”

Valtoris sipped his wine once more. “What a shocking turn of events.”

“Some of our vault-hunters in Empyrean space have reported a sighting, but we’re getting some odd feedback from them.” She read it from the slate so there could be no mistake or misunderstanding. “They saw him practicing healing magic.”

“Which makes no sense.”

She continued down the page. “And they think he’s open to conversion.”

“Which makes perfect sense. If my predictions have all run true, I expect he shall join us as soon as he knows what we have to offer him.” He smirked. “Besides, the Empyrean really doesn’t know how to treat mages with a covenant. It’s all secrets and lies.”

“Entirely unlike the Dominion, sir,” opined the first underling, before realizing what she’d said and then looking as though she were trying to swallow her own tongue.

“Do you feel you have been deceived?” Valtoris turned to face his underling, and the full burning weight of his stare bore into her. “Were you bound to your eidolon under false pretenses?”

“No, sir.” She stared at her own feet intently as if they might save her.

“Then you are not as perceptive as you believe yourself to be.” He leaned in so close that the heat radiating off his skin after the display of magic began to burn her even through her clothes. “You are lied to constantly, daily, by everyone close to you. The idea that anyone could fully grasp the reality of the covenant bond without first experiencing it is laughable. All of us are deceived until we experience.”

The caustic parasitizer had lost its form. All of the horrific burns it had been dealt meant that it could go on no longer, and the protoplasmic shape of the eidolon drooled out across the farmland.

After only a moment’s consideration, Valtoris turned back to his underlings with a command. “If he is ready for conversion, deploy a team. Bring him to me. Let us see what fate makes of Sylvas Vail.”