"You bastard!" I spat the accusation with as much force as I could muster. "You moon-damned fucking arsehole!" Fresh tears welled up in my eyes and rolled down my cheeks as I struggled against the magic that held me. I'd known Barrow had been driven mad by his attunements, we all had. The tutors announced it to us after he went missing. But I had always assumed they had found some way to comfort him, or at the very least ease his suffering. Now I remembered the truth that had been hidden from me for so long. It wasn't Barrow's attunements that had driven him mad, he'd always been so careful to manage them, it was the Iron Legion's bloody experiments. And even after the madness had taken him, the fucker had kept poor Barrow locked in a cage to study him. All my rage, grief, and struggling came to nought. The Iron Legion's magic held me tight and I sagged against it, watering the ground with my tears. "Bastard."
The Iron Legion cleared his throat. "Yes. Well, advancement is built on the back of failure. That young man's sacrifice paved the way for others to flourish. Most notably, yourself and Yenhelm. What I discovered was really quite fascinating. The absorption process is incredibly painful for the subject, and rejection occurs quite quickly, but if the subject accepts the Source dust within themselves…"
"How many?" I asked through gritted teeth. "How many of us did you torture?"
I glanced up just in time to see the Iron Legion shrug. "All of you, I suppose. Though torture really isn't a correct term for it. In many ways it was no different to testing you for attunements. Yes, there was pain, but the lasting benefits more than made up for any discomfort you felt."
"What lasting benefits did Barrow receive?" How could he not see it? How could he not see the pain he had caused? How could he not understand he was a fucking monster? "You didn't even put him out of his misery."
"Must we focus on the failures?" The Iron Legion asked, then sat up straight and glanced over his shoulder to where Ishtar approached, sword drawn. "That's far enough. Tamura, would you mind joining us?" Another stool grew out of the dirt.
Tamura sauntered over with a smile, glanced at the stool, and then sank down onto the floor, gathering his legs up beneath him. "Only a fool fears knowledge," the crazy old Aspect said. "But the knowledgeable often fear wisdom, for it is sometimes hidden behind the guise of foolishness."
The Iron Legion smiled. "It's good to see you, old friend." His gaze shifted to me. "I'm glad you found a suitable teacher, Helsene."
"Eskara?" Ishtar asked as she braved another step forward. I shook my head at her, unable to find the energy for words.
"Tell us about the Auguries, if you will, Tamura," the Iron Legion continued.
Tamura turned sad eyes my way. "All my fault. I didn't see the madness. Hard to see the ocean when you're drowning in it."
"It is not madness I suffer from, Tamura," the Iron Legion said. "It is purpose and an unshakable will to see that purpose brought about. No matter the cost."
Tamura ignored the Iron Legion and kept his eyes on me, an unfathomable sadness there. "I gave him the Auguries. I didn't see. All my fault. I'm sorry."
"Life and death, together." The Iron Legion shook his head at Tamura. "At first, I thought I would have to inject one subject with both Necromancy and Biomancy, but after my experiment with that young Photomancer…"
"Barrow!" I spat.
The Iron Legion shook his head. "Names really aren't important at this point, Helsene. I realised that forcing a body to absorb two Sources was simply beyond their physical limitations. We may be the descendants of Aspects, but we are also, for the most part, terran. But that's where you and Yenhelm came in. You shared a bond that went deeper than almost any I've ever seen. I admit, at this point I was relying a little bit on conjecture. No real scientific proof, only hope. I injected a Biomancy Source into Yenhelm, and a Necromancy Source into you. You might have noticed that you feel a connection to the dead even without a Source, and with a Necromancy Source inside your powers are amplified. As I said, benefits."
I sniffed, tears still dripping from my chin. With my hands locked by my side I couldn't even wipe my face. "If we were your prize subjects, why did you let us go? Why not keep us in cages like Barrow?"
"I couldn't. I simply saw no way to generate the conditions needed for you to fulfil the second and third Auguries while locked in a cage. And, of course, my brother's war made things difficult. He insisted that all our Sourcerers were put towards victory rather than my research. But don't think I didn't keep track of you. I kept an eye on all of my potentials. Except for Alderson, she truly has disappeared. I suppose it doesn't matter anymore. Young Yenhelm has fulfilled both remaining Auguries."
"You kept an eye on us?" I hissed the words. "We were sent to the Pit!"
"I know. I put you there."
What is there to say to that? I suppose I could have accused the Iron Legion of ruining my life even further, but honestly, he wouldn't have cared. Atrocities of even the most abhorrent kind were nothing to him, not while in pursuit of his research. I have never struggled to find enough hate to go around. Prig, Deko, the Overseer, the Emperor, Mezula, Prena. Silva. The list goes on and on, and I often find myself at the top of it. I think I struggled to hate the Iron Legion at the time. I struggled to comprehend the impact he had on my life. And still, I barely even knew the tip of it.
"Renewal," Tamura said, his eyes locked on me.
"Yes." The Iron Legion nodded. "Or rebirth. But those are only two words. The full Augury, Tamura. As you once told me."
"Confided in you. Secrets whispered from one lost soul to another. Terran kindness repaid and then betrayed."
"The Augury, Tamura." Judging by the sharpness in his voice, even the Iron Legion had limits to his patience.
"A resurrection. On the verge of despair, when all hope and love are lost, when betrayal and pain have stripped the soul clean. The flesh and soul are reborn together."
"Josef died down in the Pit," the Iron Legion said. "I have it by his own account, written by his hand. And yet the Biomancy I put inside of him reknit his flesh. Remade him. Dead and yet alive once more, renewed. Life and death together." He laughed. "Almost two of the Auguries in one. But of course, there is a third. The unity of purpose."
"Two forces, each separate, each mired in irreconcilable differences. Acting together, cooperating towards an uncommon goal." Tamura nodded sagely, a sly grin on his lips.
The Iron Legion spread his hands wide. "Your original escape from First Blade Neralis gave me the prime opportunity to create the circumstances needed for Yenhelm to fulfil the final Augury. I placed him with the Knights of Ten and gave them a purpose. You. Together, Yenhelm and First Blade Neralis hunted you across Ovaeris. And when finally they found you… the uncommon goal. One to cause death, the other to preserve life. I did not, however, expect Yenhelm to absorb a second Source, and in such an uncharacteristic method." The Iron Legion looked toward Aerolis.
"This was your experiment, Loran, not mine," the Djinn rumbled. "Just what are you hoping to achieve?"