By the Chains that Bind Thee (Part 6) by Fantasy Weaver

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To those who have been waiting a long time for the snip-snip-snipping, you're in the home stretch: this is the last completely lore-only chapter. Next chapter, we will commence the great shearing. I will do my best to make it as hair-raising as possible. There are still some little lore things that will be added and discussed in the next chapters, so don't worry, there is still a story being told.

As usual, a reminder that this is a long story with a lot of lore and a multi-chapter event for the long-awaited haircut. So to those who don't like reading the whole buildup, sorry, this isn't for you.

Part six of "By the Chains that Bind Thee". Please read the previous parts for context.

-Fantasy Weaver.


Note

1: Some foul language ahead

2: Some adult themes ahead

By the Chains that Bind Thee

Part Six

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There was no pain. One would think that after the ordeal he had been through, one would wake up to a world of agony. Even if he was dead, Synn’s wrath must have destroyed his soul enough to be painful, even in the afterlife.

So, when he felt nothing short of serene upon waking, Shay wondered if he had imagined it all.

His eyes were functional, that much was obvious, but he didn’t recognize the ceiling he was gazing at. Firelight danced against the rough surface, reflecting off of rocky stalactites. Who would’ve guessed that being stuck in -what, was this limbo?- would involved being in a cave. Moisture glinted off the spikes above him, glittering with warmth from the source of light.

He was warm. A heaviness on his chest and arms suggested a blanket, and the softness beneath his body was indicative of a bed. Not a very comfortable bed, mind you, but a bed nonetheless. He flexed his hands under the covers, but resistance met his right one.

Something warm and unyielding gripped his fingers.

A sharp inhale from Shay’s right met his ears.

"Shay?"

That one word, said in that deep, rich voice, was what finally cleared the last of the cobwebs.

He turned his head sharply to his right, breath coming in hard and fast as the last events he remembered finally caught up to his still very living mind. Beside him, the comforting and relieving sight of Eleos, alive and well, met his disbelieving eyes. His heart ached at the sight of the man, his ebony hair disheveled as though he had ran his hands through it multiple times while keeping quiet sentry at his side.

"Eleos…" Shay tried, his voice barely above a raspy whisper. Finally, some semblance of discomfort hit him, from his sore throat -a testament to just how hard he had been screaming during the…

Oh gods, it had happened. He could recall with terrible clarity the calamity of the Initiation. His hand gripped Eleos’ own tighter, eyes watering at the terrible memory.

"It’s alright Shay, you’re alright-" Eleos was saying, not even bothering to wait for a sign that Shay wanted to be held. He closed those strong arms around his prone form, lifting the young man from the bed as his trembling arms found their way around the Dark Mage’s neck. And tremble he did. He shook furiously, despite the relative warmth of the room. He trembled and sobbed silently into the Dark Mage’s neck.

Eleos held him. For a minute. For an hour, for more? Time as a whole had stopped ever since the Initiation. Shay could hardly believe he had survived, but the strength of the man’s grip on him and the scent of skin permeated his overtaxed senses, and reminded him that he HAD lived, that he WAS alive, and that somehow, someway, Eleos had escaped death as well.

After what felt like hours, Shay finally managed to voice the one question that encompassed the whole of his feelings about this, and said it in a voice cracked with emotion and gasping for air:

"How?"

The Dark Mage had settled him back into the bed, had been placing a pillow at his back when the question was thrown at him. Eleos sat back and regarded the other with a serious expression.

Shay noticed for the first time since waking that Eleos was not wearing his usual dark clothing; A long woollen kilt covered his legs, and he wore a plain cream-coloured shirt, the cords at the collar loose and hanging. He looked a mess (though Shay had yet to compare the man’s looks to his own, no doubt terrible state) and heavy bags outlined his eyes. Golden eyes that had darkened with the question Shay so desperately needed answered.

After a long moment of hesitation, the Dark Mage started, his low voice barely above a whisper, "A lot of things happened. It may be best to let you rest a while before-"

"Please," Shay ground out, eyes pleading, "I want to know. I NEED to know. What happened after Sy- after he released me? The SunWoven mages, they looked like they had caught you."

Seeing as Shay was not backing down, the man sighed. "They did catch me. I was locked up in a cell after I came to. The High Mage came to give me a personal visit." His face contorted with disdain. "The old man has been corrupted by Synn for far too long. In any case, he tried to make me believe you asked to be Initiated of your own free will."

"He…he what?" Shay shivered, shaking his head to rid the scarring images of the ritual. "That bastard."

"It was a ruse. An obvious one at that, and when I called him out on that fib, he ordered the Elder Mages to have me killed."

"How did you get out?" Shay demanded, his mind trying to connect the dots and coming up empty. "If you were in a cell like I was, then you must have had your magic suppressed. I know you’re powerful, but even the strongest mages can’t remove Suppressors from themselves."

"Well, I had a little help."

Shay furrowed his brows in confusion. Just as he was about to ask who had helped Eleos, the echoing footsteps of someone beyond the cavern wall came to them then. The firelight illuminated a curtain of vines over what appeared to be the entrance to Shay’s recovery room, and as the footsteps stopped, the curtain flew open.

"Shay!"

For the second time since he had woken up, the young mage found himself immeasurably relieved to see a face he thought he might never see again.

"Oras!" Shay tried to sit upright in his bed in his haste to greet his friend, but his hissed in pain. Eleos helped him up just as Oras gave him a great big hug.

Shay laughed, confused and happy all at once. "You great idiot, I thought you had died!"

After a few minutes of incredulous words and more tears than Shay would care to admit on his part, something began to bother the young mage. He realized soon what it was, once Oras had released him from his hug, and got caught in strands of Shay’s hair.

"Whoa…" was all he could say.

His hair must have been at least six feet long by now, in the purest of platinum blondes. He could tell, even in the firelight, how pale it was, how soft and silken the strands were. Someone -he assumed either Oras or Eleos- must have braided the locks at some point during his coma, for they were falling out of the loose tress in wild abandon. Surely someone in a coma doesn’t move enough to make a braid THIS messy?

"Like I was saying…" Eleos finally continued the saga, observing Shay as he touched the newly grown strands.

Eleos went on to say how Oras had, much like when Shay had been imprisoned, helped him escape his bonds. It was during this retelling that Oras boasted about being one of three in the Mages of Stars capable of reversing seals only Elder Mages and the High Mage himself would have been able to undo. In fact, Eleos vouched for this as well, saying that among the mages in their circle, Oras is an expert on seals, arcane locks and barriers.

"So that’s why you were able to bring down the barrier in the library?"

"Exactly, my friend." Oras placed a log in the fireplace as he added, "Damn, I had to study that barrier for, what, three years before I was able to take it down for the first time?"

"That’s another thing," Shay said, glancing between Eleos, who held his hand by his side still, and Oras who stood up in front of the flames, "You’re a Mage of Stars, but how long have you been one? We both got adopted into the Order when were babies, so when did you…?"

"Actually," Oras looked to Eleos, who gave a nod, "Eleos had been undercover in the Order when he found me. Or rather, when we found each other."

Oras went on to describe how, when he was just seven years old, he had mistakenly stumbled into an initiation. No one had seen him hiding and crying in the large room, due in part by the focus being on the screaming initiate. However, Eleos, who had been masquerading as an Elder Mage, had sensed his presence, and taking pity on little Oras, had conjured an illusion to ease him. After the initiation, Oras couldn’t find him anymore.

"From that moment on, I swore I would fail myself as a mage. I didn’t want anything to do with the initiation." Shay watched as shadows crept along his friend’s usually bright features.

He continued to say that, much like Shay, he had spotted a mage of stars roaming around the village, and had decided against his better judgement to follow them around, eventually forming a kinship with one of them, a woman by the name of Leena.

"Who’s Leena?" Shay wondered aloud.

"The second expert on seals" Eleos answered.

"Who’s the third?"

"Her adoptive daughter, Hyacintha."

Shay scoffed, half-smiling. "Does she make a habit of adopting random kids?"

"Only the ones who wouldn’t leave her alone." The Dark Mage sent a sly grin towards a sputtering Oras, who tried in vain to defend himself.

"Anyways!" Oras huffed, and recounted how, in secret, he would bug Leena to get her to teach him magic which WOULDN’T get him initiated into the SunWoven Order. "I had to learn some magic somehow. I couldn’t just be defenseless when my friend was too dense to figure out we were being brainwashed."

"Hey!"

"Please finish your story, Oras" Eleos rubbed his eyes.

In the end, Oras wanted to leave the SunWoven Order and join the circle of Mages of Stars, having seen the potential he was able to unlock without being subjected to the initiation. Leena had also informed him of Musuni, and, when Oras was twelve, he undid the barrier in the library to see for himself if any of the words held truth.

"And all this time, I just thought you weren’t good at magic…" Shay muttered, eyes unfocused on the flickering flames of the hearth. "I was blind to everything you did. I didn’t know any of this."

"Because Oras was protecting you."

Shay’s eyes flicked to Eleos, who was watching him with those endless golden eyes. The young mage shook his platinum head, "W-what?"

"Eleos, he doesn’t need to know that yet," Oras pleaded quietly.

"No, Shay wanted to know, and he will."

His blue eyes darted from one man to the other, a sickening feeling welling up inside of him, causing a cold sweat to gather at his back. "Don’t talk like I’m not here. Please. What are you talking about?"

Oras bit his lips and looked away, unable to hold his friend’s imploring sapphire gaze. Eyes that were reminiscent of the High Mage’s. Eleos however, was staring at the young mage with serious intent.

Something clicked in Shay’s mind. Synn had spoken of a vessel. "Eleos?" he whispered.

"Shay…Oras told Leena about you. He said that you were a powerful mage for your age, certainly, but that he could see something in you, a…resilience."

He asked what he meant by that, and Oras answered him by saying that, one night, he had astral-projected himself into Shay’s mind while he was asleep, too intrigued to let the opportunity slip. "Your mind Shay, it’s…so hard to get into! It’s not like the High Mage, but just naturally well protected. And your own astral projection is strong, the link with your soul and the rest of your body is damn near perfect!" Oras stopped grinning. "When I told Leena that, she got pretty pale. She asked me what color your astral projection was and I said-"

"Gold and white. I know," Shay emphasised. "Everyone has a different color, what’s your point?"

"The point is," Eleos answered in Oras’ stead, "There are only so few perfect vessels with perfect astral projections out there that can house a deity, and you just so happen to tick every box."

"To house a deity." The young mage brushed the long strands of platinum hair at his side, staring at them unseeingly. "Like…Synn."

It wasn’t a question. But both Dark Mages nodded anyway.

"W-wait!" Shay let go of Eleos’ hand, carding it through the tangled mess of his hair, a movement borne out of nervousness and one he had always done since he was a child. "Is that why I didn’t vaporize in the astral realm when I looked into the High Mage’s -Synn’s- mind? Is that why I got possessed and I was initiated? Just to become the walking embodiment of that-that thing!?"

"Yes." Eleos shifted on his chair, his own hands carding through his tousled locks in agitation. "When Oras told us, we began planning to get you out of the SunWoven Order before Synn took notice of you. We didn’t plan for you to go through the ranks of the Order so quickly though."

"I tried to get you to slow down your studies because I knew what was going to happen if you went through with the initiation," Oras said fervently, shaking his head, "But Synn already had influence on you, even if the bastard didn’t know what you were. All mages feel him eventually, but you were really bad. You were always tired even before you saw what would happen during the initiation, but after that, I could see how much worse it was getting."

"The ringing, the headaches, the confusion and invasive thoughts are all a part of Synn’s influence," Eleos explained, though Shay had already figured that bit out. "So, with Oras’ approval, we planned to have a meeting set up so you could start rejecting Synn."

Shay’s eyes widened, glancing at the two mages. He flushed scarlet, pinning his friend with an accusing -yet thoroughly embarrassed- glare, "You planned for me to meet with Eleos!?"

The short-haired mage scoffed, grinning, "It’s not my fault Eleos just so happens to be your type. I didn’t know you were into men."

"Neither did I!" Shay covered his mouth, blushing features flicking to a chuckling Eleos, who, upon closer inspection under the firelight, was perhaps a bit pink himself. "Were you playing with me this whole time!?"

The laughter stopped, and an injured, angry look cast shadows in those golden eyes. "Of course not! Did you think I had planned on falling in love with you when all this started?"

"You…" Shay bit his lips, nearly forgetting that Oras was still in the room with them, "You’re in love with me?"

The soft look in those endless golden depths confirmed it. The moment was interrupted by Oras however, who cleared his throat. Eleos turned his head to the other mage, and they looked at each other for a long moment.

Shay watched the interaction, the stiffening of Eleos’ shoulders, the glares and passing looks on their features. Shay knew what the subtle body language meant. They were having a telepathic, PRIVATE, conversation. About him?

After five minutes of this, Shay began to open his mouth to protest being left out of their talk, but Eleos opened his mouth first, "Oras, I understand Shay is your friend, but there will be no sugar-coating this for him. Your part is done. Let me do mine now."

Shay stiffened. "What are you talking about? Why were you in telepathic communication just now?"

Eleos glanced his way, a guilty look on his handsome features.

"Oh, come on, give him a break!" Oras erupted. "He just got out of a coma. F***, you saw what he looked like when we rescued him, and now you want to put him through more suffering!?"

Shay stored his questions aside for another, more intriguing one, but he dared not forget to ask for answers. "How did you save me? You never cleared that up."

Eleos seemed to hesitate between the two conversations but decided to ignore Oras for now, who just gestured into the air despairingly. "Oras faked his death. We had other disguised Mages in the Order who knew of the plan and were ready to intervene. He placed you under the same illusion he placed on the Elder Mages of the Order, to make sure even you didn’t know where he went. It took longer than we would have wanted to get a coup organized to sabotage the initiation. I was afraid it might have been too late…"

Shay shivered at the terrible memory. "That would make two of us…"

"And yet again," Eleos continued, an impressed expression painting itself over his features, "You never cease to amaze me. Us. You protected yourself from Synn by entering Musuni’s realm."

He…what?

"Come again?" he blinked a few times, remembering the safe haven he had made in his mind. The memories he and Eleos had shared in the moonlight, and the stary sky that had led him to in his subconscious… "What are you saying?"

"I’m saying," Eleos turned his face to his own, gazing into sapphire eyes that were awash with confusion, "That you called out to Musuni, and she answered by protecting your soul."

Shay breathed once, shaking his head at the Dark Mage. Oras, from his place by the hearth, chuckled to himself. "Figures your mother would protect your lover."

Shay’s eyes widened. His heart skipped a beat as he looked into Eleos' face, saw the man’s features were as serious as ever. Had Oras just said what he thought he had? No, surely, he must have misheard-

But Eleos confirmed it when he said, "Mother didn’t protect my lover. She protected a human from being taken advantage of."

"Your mo- your mother?" Shay, confused and bewildered beyond comprehension, stood rapidly from the bed, head spinning and nearly loosing his footing on the cavernous floor. Had Eleos not caught him in his arms, he would have been on the ground.

"Hey, hey, easy. You’ve been in a coma for a week, you can’t just get up like that, Shay."

"You said your mother was Musuni," Shay said nonsensically, too tired to push Eleos away when the dark mage put him back on the edge of the bed, a long sleeping robe draped precariously over his quaking shoulders.

Eleos sighed patiently, "Yes. I did."

"Eleos is a demi-god, Shay," Oras added, which, now that Shay’s memory was jogging, he recalled what Synn had told him. He had his doubts when Synn had confronted him in the prison cell, but to hear it from someone else sent him reeling again.

"A demi-god," he repeated, eyes locking with the dark mage’s own. "Your mother is Musuni, and your father?"

"I have no father. Musuni gave my mortal mother a divine gift; a child of the stars. She birthed me and I was given my divine duty through my connection with Musuni."

"What divine duty?" Shay wondered, a hand racking through his hair.

"Releasing humankind from Synn’s control."

Every additional detail had the young mage’s mind spinning further. Had he truly been so blind all these years?

"I know, Shay, it’s a lot to take in. I feel as thought I’ve said that far too many times since we’ve known each other," Eleos said gently, his right hand caressing his forearm, "Anyways, I’m glad you called out to Musuni during the initiation. Had you not, we wouldn’t be speaking right now. I’m so relieved," the handsome mage whispered, pressing their foreheads together, "that you’re alive."

Oras paced the scant room, staring down at the rocky floor in reminiscence. "We didn’t think you were, when we found you."

Shay watched, fascinated to find Eleos…crying? For him? The man quickly wiped his eyes, pressing his lips into a firm line. "Shay, you don’t know what that initiation did to you. You’ve been unconscious for a week for a reason. All that sunlit energy focused on you, and Synn’s influence, his trying to posses you, it nearly did kill you."

Eleos went on to describe the scene in which they found him. While having to fight the Elder Mages and the delirious High Mage, Oras, Leena and Hyacintha worked on breaking the powerful seals placed on Shay. The other Dark Mages magicked the dome away from the sun while Eleos kept the other SunWoven mages at bay. When all was said and done, they found that the only way they could transport Shay away from the Order was by levitating him. Any pressure on his body would have him screaming. His flesh was nearly charred off his bones.

"Stop, stop!" Shay urged Eleos, not wanting to hear any more.

The man obliged, skipping over anymore gory details. "The healing mages did their best to stabilize you during the journey. We’re in a secret location underground, in one of the last remaining temples dedicated to Musuni. If we didn’t have this temple, I don’t think you would have returned from your state. We brought you to mother’s sacred spring, where her waters healed your body. It took three days. And then another four for you to wake up."

"Gods above," Shay swore, his breath coming out in slow bursts. It seemed like only yesterday when he had first met Eleos. When he had first sought out to pleasure himself with the mage’s image in mind. Now he was a fleeing vessel for Synn, nearly died many times in the last who-knows-how-long. He was completely disoriented. His life had been turned upside down in a matter of weeks. "Am I safe here?" he dared to ask.

Here, Oras finally decided to stop pacing and pin Eleos with a serious look. Before either Shay or the handsome man could say anything, Oras said "You said you didn’t want to sugar-coat it. So, don’t. But I think he has a right to rest before this."

Eleos lips twitched on a frown. "Oras there is NO choice. We have very little time before Synn tries to get his claws into Shay’s head again. We cannot let him leave this barrier-room without going through with it!"

"Again," Shay repeated, getting irritated, "I would like it if you both could stop pretending like I’m not here! What are you talking about?"

Eleos gave a pleading look to Oras, but the short-haired man shook his head. "Tell him. But he’s not going to like it."

Shay flicked his gaze to Eleos, a cold, creeping sensation running along his spine. He didn’t like the Way Eleos was looking at him. Or, no, rather…

They way he was intently staring at the long, braided mess of platinum blond locks on his head.

Shay licked his lips, almost afraid of asking. "Tell me what…?"

Eleos didn’t speak for a very long time it would seem. He just kept looking with that same, increasing intensity at the young mage’s hair. Then, "Shay, what is representative of Synn’s power?"

He thought the question odd, as they had all been witness to that particularity. "The sun, of course…" he answered uncertainly.

"And?"

"And…" Shay saw from the corner of his eye Oras shaking his head to himself. "Light?"

"Shay," Eleos pressed, hands clasping each other in a show of great restraint. "You of all people should know this."

"Well, I mean," the young mage went on, his mind trying to play catch-up, "What represents Synn? There’s the sun, sunlight and hair-oh my gods…"

Shay draped a hand over his mouth, eyes bulging from his head as realization struck him like a lightning bolt. His HAIR. The longer his hair is, the greater Synn’s influence.

He had six feet of hair. Six. Damned. Feet.

"Oh gods, oh f***," Shay began to panic, as a horrible thought entered his mind. "What if I’m under Synn’s control right now!? What If he’s inside me-!" He took fistfuls of his hair and, in a panic, pulled at his roots.

"Calm down, Shay, stop!" Eleos took him by the shoulders and shook him gently, forcing him to look into his terribly beautiful golden eyes. "You’re safe so long as you stay in here, alright? Breathe."

"Are you going to tell him now?" Oras snidely asked from his place at the foot of the bed.

"Oras, now is not the time!" Eleos kept his eyes focused on Shay, his poor little apprentice, and reiterated firmly, "You are safe. I will keep you safe, so long as you trust me and stay in here with me until we are done, alright?"

"Done with what!? What’s going on!?"

"Shay, breathe."

He did. He stared into those calming eyes and saw nothing but care and love and sincerity in them. He had to calm down. He hadn’t felt the ringing or the headaches since he’d woken up in this cavern -the temple, he imagined. And they had spoken of a barrier, something that no doubt was working to protect his fragile mind and keep Synn from guessing their location.

"Good, relax." Eleos released his shoulders, and, with a tenderness that nearly made Shay swoon, he untangled the young mage’s fingers from his hair, ran his thumb over the crisped knuckles until Shay relaxed his hands. "Shay, do you want to go back to the SunWoven Order?"

He flinched, "No! Why would I!? Are you mad?"

"No, I didn’t think so. And I wouldn’t let you even if you did." Eleos squeezed his hands in his own. "You realize you’ll be a Dark Mage now. Like Oras and myself."

"Yes, I know. I’m alright with that, now. I’ve seen the truth and I want to be here." And it was true. So long as he could be with Eleos, as well, he would be fine. Even if he was on the run for the rest of his life, as long as he was near, Shay was alright with that.

"But there’s a problem."

He sighed nervously. "What?"

Again, Eleos was glancing at his hair with that curious expression. The Dark Mage lifted a strand, spun the long silk between his fingers under the increasingly agitated stare of the young mage.

"My hair…?" Shay spoke, almost afraid.

"He’s not going to like it," Oras muttered under his breath.

Eleos stopped spinning the strand. "We need to get rid of it."

XXXXX

Ah! The magic words. Any guesses as to how it's going to go down?

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading.

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