On day thirty five of the journey, as Riven began meditating as usual beneath the darkness of the night, he slowly closed his eyes and started circulating the remaining Aether inside his Soul Vessel through the four corner method, attempting to replenish everything he had exhausted throughout another grueling day of marching.
At first, nothing felt unusual.
The familiar warmth of Aether flowed throughout his body while his breathing gradually slowed, as with every completed circulation, the exhaustion weighing upon his soul vessel slowly faded away.
However, sometime during the middle of his meditation, something changed.
Riven felt his consciousness suddenly sinking, as for the first time in his life he felt as though he was no longer in control of his thoughts, as despite his conscious effort, he failed to pull out of that sinking feeling.
’What?’
He thought, as before he could even open his eyes, an invisible force seemed to grab hold of his mind and violently drag him somewhere far beyond his control, as the darkness in front of his eyes disappeared, and instead of it, the visions began.
.
.
The first thing Riven saw was fire.
An endless ocean of crimson flames stretched across the horizon, as entire mountains burned beneath a blood-red sky while rivers of molten rock flowed through the valleys below.
At the center of it all stood a single figure.
Riven could not see its face.
He could only watch as the figure slowly raised one hand, causing every flame across the burning world to bend toward its palm before gathering into a miniature sun, as although he could not understand the spell, he could somehow still feel the heat coming off the sun.
However, before the heat became too intense, the vision vanished, and the world changed.
.
.
A moment later, Riven suddenly found himself standing beneath an enormous mountain, as the Earth beneath his feet suddenly started to tremble.
RUMBLE
Entire cliffs tore themselves free from the ground while massive stone pillars rose toward the heavens, as somewhere beneath the surface, something impossibly large moved through the depths of the world.
BOOM
Suddenly, the mountain cracked apart, and from within it emerged the silhouette of a colossal creature covered entirely in stone.
"Shatter—"
The creature muttered, as immediately his vision disappeared and the feeling of being pressed down by enormous rock was suddenly replaced by bone chilling cold.
.
.
The next moment, Riven suddenly found himself standing upon the surface of an endless frozen ocean, as violent snowstorms raged across the horizon while every wave rising from the sea froze solid before it could ever collapse.
Far in the distance, he could see the silhouette of a woman slowly walking across the frozen surface, as wherever her feet touched the ice, enormous glaciers rose from beneath the depths of the ocean.
"Freeze—"
The woman muttered, as she slowly lifted one hand toward the horizon, before the entire ocean instantly froze beneath her command.
CRACK
However, before Riven could properly comprehend what he had witnessed, the frozen world suddenly shattered around him, as a blinding golden light overwhelmed his vision and forced him to instinctively shield his eyes.
.
.
When Riven could finally see again, he found himself standing beneath a sky filled with countless golden suns, as radiant beams of light descended from above and washed across an enormous battlefield covered with the wounded and dying.
Wherever the golden light touched, terrible wounds closed and broken bodies gradually repaired themselves, as countless soldiers who had been moments away from death slowly opened their eyes before climbing back onto their feet.
At the center of the battlefield stood a man surrounded by brilliant golden radiance, as thousands of soldiers knelt before him while staring toward his figure with reverence.
"Restore—"
The man commanded, as the countless golden suns above the battlefield suddenly grew brighter, forcing Riven to close his eyes against the overwhelming radiance.
However, when he opened them again, the light was gone.
And darkness had replaced it.
.
.
This time, an enormous city stretched before Riven, however every street, building, and tower had been swallowed beneath an ocean of living shadows that constantly twisted and moved as though they possessed minds of their own.
Something walked amongst them.
Riven could never clearly see its body, as whenever he attempted to focus upon the mysterious figure, the shadows surrounding it shifted and concealed its appearance from his sight.
’What is that?’
Riven wondered, as he instinctively attempted to move closer, when suddenly thousands of eyes opened throughout the darkness.
Every single one looked directly toward him, causing his heart to nearly stop beating, as he gasped and stepped back.
’Am I in danger?’
He wondered, when suddenly the world vanished once again.
However, this time, nothing replaced it.
There was no ground beneath his feet, no sky above his head, and not even the faintest trace of light surrounding him, as Riven found himself floating helplessly within an endless emptiness where distance itself seemed to have lost all meaning.
’Where am I?’
He wondered, as far ahead, something suddenly appeared.
A crack.
At first, it was thinner than a strand of hair, however with every passing moment, the strange fracture continued expanding while the darkness surrounding it slowly disappeared.
FSSHH
It was as though space itself was being consumed, as the darkness was slowly replaced in full, and Riven was thrown out of it without ever getting a glimpse of the being that controlled it.
.
.
Fire.
Earth.
Frost.
Light.
Shadow.
Void.
The images suddenly began flashing through Riven’s mind one after another, as the burning world, the colossal stone creature, the frozen ocean, the golden battlefield, the living shadows, and the endless emptiness appeared before his eyes in rapid succession.
Again.
Faster.
Fire.
Earth.
Frost.
Light.
Shadow.
Void.
The visions continued alternating faster and faster, as thousands of images tore through Riven’s consciousness until he could no longer understand what he was seeing or distinguish where one world ended and another began.
’Stop...’
Riven thought, as he desperately attempted to regain control of his mind.
’STOP!’
He screamed internally, as the visions continued accelerating until suddenly...
Everything stopped.
.
.
Silence.
For several long moments, Riven could neither see nor hear anything.
Then he opened his eyes.
And rain struck his face.
PITTERPATTER
Riven suddenly found himself standing somewhere completely unfamiliar, as cold rain poured from the heavens while the largest storm he had ever witnessed stretched across the world surrounding him.
Black clouds covered the entire sky while lightning continuously tore across the heavens, as violent winds ripped ancient trees from the earth and enormous waves repeatedly crashed against distant cliffs.
Yet despite the destruction surrounding him...
Riven could not help but laugh.
"Hahahahaha!"
The sound escaped his mouth before he could understand why, as although the storm surrounding him possessed enough power to tear entire forests apart, he felt neither fear nor the slightest desire to escape.
As despite its dangers, the storm felt oddly comforting to him, as he slowly raised one hand.
WHOOSH
Upon his signal, the wind suddenly changed direction, while with another movement, the ocean answered.
RUMBLE
Thousands of tons of seawater rose into the sky before spiraling around his body, as Riven watched the impossible sight with growing disbelief while something deep within him seemed to understand exactly what was happening.
Then he lifted his other hand.
CRACK!
Lightning descended from the heavens.
The bolt struck directly against his palm.
Yet Riven felt no pain.
Instead, the electricity crawled across his body before spreading outward into the storm surrounding him, as the wind, water, and lightning began moving together beneath the direction of his hands.
’They’re... listening to me.’
Riven realized, as he slowly raised both arms toward the heavens.
The storm answered.
The clouds began rotating faster.
The waves rose higher.
Lightning multiplied across the heavens until the entire sky became covered beneath countless flashes of blue-white light, as the destruction surrounding him intensified with every passing second.
For one impossible moment, Riven felt as though the storm was not merely something surrounding him, but rather an extension of his own existence that moved whenever he desired and grew stronger whenever he commanded it.
Then someone whispered behind him.
"Finally..."
Riven froze.
The voice had come from somewhere directly behind him, as although he could not recognize who had spoken, something about that single word caused an instinctive chill to travel down his spine.
Slowly, Riven began turning around.
However, before he could see who was standing behind him...
The entire world collapsed.
.
.
"HUAAAH!"
Riven suddenly regained consciousness with a violent gasp, as his eyes flew open while his body jerked forward and both hands instinctively clawed against the earth beneath him.
PantPant
His breathing came rapidly while sweat covered his forehead and his heart hammered painfully against his chest, as for several long moments, he could do nothing except sit beneath the darkness and attempt to understand what he had just witnessed.
Slowly, the ordinary sounds of the sleeping camp began returning to his ears.
The faint crackling of the dying fire.
The distant chirping of insects.
The quiet breathing of the children sleeping nearby.
Everything seemed normal.
However, Riven could still feel the cold rain against his skin.
He could still hear thunder rumbling inside his head.
And more than anything else, he could still hear that voice that had called out to him.
As he could hear the emotions that had came out behind that one word, ’Finally....’