Rowan's words hung in the air, the language he spoke was the same as what this strange man just used, and this language was one of the strangest he had ever heard before.
If a storm could speak, this would be the language that they would use.
The man being roasted above the fire smiled, "In the flesh, or what's left of it? Our father's fury is… magnificent. Yet I'm surprised how you understood my words. The language I speak has been dead for many Eras, I should know, I created it. So many mysteries to you…So… so… many, but you are beginning to go astray little brother, and I can no longer watch."
Rowan quickly collected all the information he knew about Caine, he barely had the might of a single consciousness pillar in his body and he had to make do with what he had.
Most importantly he could not really plan deeply and had to keep his real thoughts a secret and act more with his intuition because he suspected that this body he inhabited might be able to listen to his thoughts!
He was in grave danger and was still under a vicious time constraint, and every second he spent here, Caine was winning. This would be a mental chess match that would test him to the limits and the board was stacked heavily against him.
This was the individual who stopped the unceasing onslaught of a Primordial by thwarting the plans of Chaos. He had forged a pact with the Celestials and created a technique that devoured the Intent of Chaos.
Labaletai the Chaos Door had praised this figure, calling him the bravest and wisest of all the Children of Chaos, and if he was right, Caine was the reason why the last war between the Primordials ended and Chaos imprisoned for all of eternity.
Rowan did not understand when he fell into the sight of this figure, but if he were to guess, it would be when the Chaos Door devoured the Will of Chaos inside the consciousness he had placed inside Andar.
With his current knowledge of mysticism, he knew that for a figure like Caine, who was most likely a being who had transcended the Fifth Dimension, anything they created would have the touch of their Will.
Previously Rowan had thought that what was inside his body was Intent, and the Chaos Door had also played to his ignorance, telling Rowan that what he collected from his body was the Intent of Chaos, now he knew that Labaletai was lying to him or if he was not, that meant the Chaos Door was ignorant of the true dimensions of power, which Rowan felt was difficult to imagine.
Yet if that was the truth, that would reveal a deep flaw inside the so-called Travelers of The Blood, which was they escaped the clutch of one tyrant and fell into the hands of another. If a powerful creature like the Chaos Door had been deceived for so long, what hope did Rowan have of winning against this creature?
When the Chaos Door devoured the Will of Chaos, he had claimed to have destroyed it, and at that time, Rowan had felt that to be the case, but he knew this was falsehood. That was not Intent but Will, and it was not destroyed, but transferred… to this figure here… to Caine!
There had been a force trying to push his eyes away from the gross stomach of Caine, and he had to fight the urge to look away with everything he had before he could barely peek at this creature's stomach.
It was swollen and pulsating as if it was filled with a turbulent river or a struggling baby, but Rowan could sense something more… It was Will! The Will of Chaos, and in that short moment he peered at this horrifying sight, he had felt a wave of Chaos Will flow into the body of Caine and an equal amount of Will suddenly vanishing from his body, as if something inside that stomach was eating the Will of Chaos.
'No, whatever is happening here is important, but you need to return to your body, whatever happens, he wins the longer you remain in this place.'
Rowan's eyes glinted, he could still perceive vague snatches of the great battle happening in the forge, and his desperation was growing, and he growled to the figure in the fire,
"Caine, let me out of here."
The man arched an eyebrow, "I will have to admit, your disposition is quite… unflappable, even when you are reduced to the state of a mortal. Such stubbornness and clarity of mind are not normal, even among the children of Chaos. Do you perhaps understand that you are quite insane?"
"I do not care about what you think, you brought me here for a reason, speak your words, and let us be done. I request no aid from you, nor do I require it."
The man suddenly laughed before grimacing in pain as his stomach suddenly expanded and for a brief moment Rowan felt he could glimpse something inside it, but then it deflated and Caine gasped in relief,
"Let you go? Don't mind if I do, but before I do that, there is something you should know, where do I start? Oh yes, this is a good one, do you know of this saying, I believe it is familiar to you… and perhaps you alone would understand it."
"It goes like this: … a stone was cut from a mountain—but not by human hands. The stone struck the feet, completely shattering the iron and clay. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed and blown away without a trace, like husks of wheat at threshing time. But the stone became a tremendous mountain that covered the entire earth."
Rowan froze, but only for a short while, although it was a very brief motion, Caine had caught it and he smiled.
These words came from his previous life and were most likely known by millions of people, for they came from a religious text. Rowan was never a religious person and never placed any faith in a higher power, but with his consciousness pillars, he was given a perfect memory and he recalled these words.
This meant Caine knew about Rowan's previous life or he was fishing for information, either way, it meant that his fears were correct, while his consciousness still remained in this body, Caine could not just read his thoughts but he was actively fishing to access Rowan's memory.
This was the true intention beneath this entire farce.
