The Blood of Vampire: Chapter 24 - The Geas of Chancellor Hendry
As Jatex and Ryn neared the Mirror Lakes, they encountered a final, sophisticated defense. It wasn't Kael's spiritual warfare, or Vorlag's iron machines. It was an ethereal, subtle Geas—a political and spiritual trap laid by Chancellor Hendry.
The Geas manifested as a field of pervasive, psychic doubt. It didn't affect Jatex, who was shielded by the Gem's Stillness, but it struck Ryn with devastating force.
Why are you helping him? He is a monster. He will murder the entire capital just to end his curse. Save yourself. Betray him now. The voices were pervasive, inescapable.
Ryn stumbled, clutching her head. The psychic doubt was turning into physical paralysis. She saw Jatex, cold and still, and the whispers intensified: He is just an artifact. Abandon the artifact and save Syldavia.
Jatex, detecting Ryn's sudden, catastrophic collapse, paused. The Obsidian Compass stopped pointing west. His rigid face turned toward Ryn. The Gem's Stillness prevented the Thirst from reacting, but the Weave recognized the danger to his Comrade.
Ryn looked up, her eyes wide with fear and internal conflict. "I can't move, Jatex! His Geas... it's demanding I betray you!"
Jatex didn't speak. He reached out with his free hand, powered only by the Gem's Order and his sister's Will. He grabbed Ryn's wrist.
He channeled the Gem's Stillness—the power of absolute spiritual neutrality—directly into Ryn's body.
The psychic voices instantly cut out. The paralyzing doubt vanished. Ryn gasped, relieved, but also horrified.
"What did you do?" she whispered.
Jatex finally broke the silence, his voice metallic and strained. "The Gem forces Neutrality. It cut off the external spiritual interference. But..."
He pulled his hand away, looking at the intricate lines of frost forming on Ryn's skin where he had touched her. "The Geas is broken. But the Gem has consumed a fraction of your Doubt. It is now part of the Stillness."
Ryn realized the terrifying trade-off. Jatex had saved her mind, but at the cost of freezing her emotional complexity. She was now driven only by absolute, unambiguous Loyalty. Hendry's trap had failed to kill Jatex, but it had stripped Ryn of her free will, making her the perfect comrade—loyal, but devoid of all doubt.