Third Deep: The Haunted Reaches
80th of Glade, Year 122 Steel
"This is it," Kaus said. "Set up a base camp."
"Yes, sir," Ceran and Indric chirped in reply. They were all so young, perhaps so foolish, but here they were. Kala was quiet for a moment as the dear mercenaries began to go about their business. They would be leaders eventually, but they were still more comfortable taking orders from the twins, and they always at least seemed more confident. Their native bond gave them both a silent well of strength that lent them an air of confidence. Perhaps if the lads bonded fully and had each other on such a fundamental level, they too would develop that confidence that would inspire their company.
Kaus pulled his longsword out of the aether, making sure he was capable of doing so. Since the reception and the magic-eating clouds, he liked to live on the safe side of that question. Kala let her senses expand. Maps, perserverence, and luck had gotten them this far, but this was a realm within the Warrens that wasn't well documented. Here on its fringes, but properly within its borders, the real dangers hid. But, of course, so too did their objective. She didn't know what the Monument would feel like, but the mysterious G had hinted that the next steps required the entity's guidance.
Soon enough, she was melting runes into the white sand packed hard here. Her scrivening encircled their small camp. Fire had chosen her, and so Fire she used. When the circle was closed, she poured Fire into it. Kaus poured his own element into it: Air. Then she added Earth, he Water.
"Ceran," she called softly. He looked up immediately. She pointed out runes that she had laid at what she felt were the cardinal points, though compasses were funny here. "When you two are on watch, if you need to activate our defenses, just pour aether into one of these spots and they will answer you. Some of them will be activated by anything seeking to cross them, but that way, you can bring them up fully."
He nodded gravely. "Understood."
When he glanced at Indric, he smiled, and the archer smiled back. While not a mage himself, he trusted his partner. Either she or Kaus would have to give Ceran further instruction, however. The Warrens had tested all of their skills already. There were some injuries, but nothing Kala couldn't handle with the skills she had picked up at the Tranquil Gardens—so far.
They were well equipped with weapons, magic, magical artefacts, and supplies. Indric's bow had brought down edible game. Even Kala had, though she had cheated, using Air to fly her arrows more unerringly toward her target. This helped prevent the early depletion of their supplies, and she had made sure with her Semblance that there was nothing poisonous about the things they ate, nor nothing magically afflicting, and so far, so good. From her supplies, she brought forth a small vial that glowed faintly, though more brightly here than it did at home. Crouching by one of the cardinal glyphs, she poured it directly onto it, and the scrivened geometry absorbed it. She had soul darts, too, as well as her various soul totems, as these things were more likely to be helpful here.
The ghostwine had been brewed with a soul totem made of illumite, and the runes took on a faintly golden glow. She could feel her shoulders relax a bit, and she could see the boys relax slightly as well. In this monochromatic grayscape, it was difficult to imagine hope or joy, but her little elixir carried the faintest warmth of the sun's glow even down here. This made her all the more determined to help any restless spirits she encountered find peace in the Shepherd's embrace. Places like this felt wrong.
She sat while Kaus helped the others set up camp. It would be simple, though she didn't know how long they would abide. The Fire in her wards also did something to mitigate the bone-deep chill of the air hereabouts, but she thought she would create a bit of a witchfire when it was time for the boys to take their shift sleeping. She wanted them to rest well so they could be effective sentinels when she and Kaus took their turn.
Ealain came out of her pack, the little silver figurine that Torin had runeforged for her. She liked that the silver lady looked like a dancer; she was flattered that he had thought of her as the Silver Lady while existing more in the Aetherium than in his own body. "Ealain," she said, and the dancer sprouted wings of air and aether and took flight from her hand. She closed her eyes as a flash of silver rose skyward. It was easier to see from her perspective without doubled vision. The boys were used to this, used to her scouting ahead rather than letting them fly first. Her bauble only had a range of two hundred yards or so, but she had learned to just skirt the edges of that limit. Her vision rose to its apogee and then began to descend in an ever widening spiral, always staying at the bounds of her range, then ghosting over the sand to rest in Kala's hands within ten minutes.
"Nothing," she said for their benefit, tucking her device away. "A wasteland of sand or bone. The Desert of Souls, I suppose. But it seems as though we could navigate to the other Hidden Reaches from here..." She paused. "But given how those explorations end, I would imagine it is not so simple as it would seem." The black sun and the pale mists seemed to distort things, both to the mortal eye and the Rune of Semblance. The Rune didn't lie to her, but there was so much going on here and not enough context to understand it.
Kala pulled out an old note from early last Ash and began to read.
"Lady Kala."
Kaus had read it before, but the other boys looked up. To their credit, they had agreed to follow their benefactors even here without a full explanation. But the time had come.
"It warms my heart to see that the daughter of Akshara has such respect for the history of our people. Such questions you ask! My Guiding Lady has given me leave to gift you with a token of Her wisdom. Treasure it well and use it to point your quest on the path you seek. The Doorway to the Skyborn future rests within the ruins of Sol’Valen’s Dreaming past. A heading that only a Monument can mark. -G."
She folded it up and put it away. Then she lifted her wrist. Saedene's relic gleamed in the strange light.
"When we first arrived in Kalzasi, before our Warren March, the Ara Saedene came to us at the Temple when we were paying our respects to our father's spirit. She gave us a hair from her head, which Talon Shinsei worked into this." She let her hand fall back down to rest in her lap. "The next time we saw her, she gave me a quest. I believe it is from the Crystal Lady. I began to research because she spoke somewhat cryptically... And then this note came from someone going by G, who apparently knows our mother. It seems to imply a connection with the Masked Queen, or at least with the Ara who has acted as Her herald, though it could be... someone seeking to stop us. I believe the Boundless Gate that Saedene bade me find was one of the Hytori Rift Gates, and I believe on the other side, we will find Her... and the women of our race. Avialae women with wings. The Monument, then, might guide us to it. But they say nobody can find it unless it wants to be found, that it can call to people in their dreams. I don't know that it has called to me or not, but I propose to take the first shift sleeping in case it reaches out through my dreams. We have come this far, so perhaps it will notice us."
They nodded, eyes wide. If they hadn't worshipped the twins before now, they certainly might now. A whole race. The mysterious Goddess who had helped their forefathers escape the bondage of the Gelerian Obelisk. A divine quest. For orphans, she had given them something like a family. And now she was speaking with Gods and monsters from fairy tales.
She smiled, then glanced at Kaus. He didn't need to speak for her to know that he would sleep soon, too.
Kala got up and laid out her bedroll, meditating with her eyes closed until her mind was calm and her body relaxed, and she slept.
.80th of Glade, Year 122 Steel
"This is it," Kaus said. "Set up a base camp."
"Yes, sir," Ceran and Indric chirped in reply. They were all so young, perhaps so foolish, but here they were. Kala was quiet for a moment as the dear mercenaries began to go about their business. They would be leaders eventually, but they were still more comfortable taking orders from the twins, and they always at least seemed more confident. Their native bond gave them both a silent well of strength that lent them an air of confidence. Perhaps if the lads bonded fully and had each other on such a fundamental level, they too would develop that confidence that would inspire their company.
Kaus pulled his longsword out of the aether, making sure he was capable of doing so. Since the reception and the magic-eating clouds, he liked to live on the safe side of that question. Kala let her senses expand. Maps, perserverence, and luck had gotten them this far, but this was a realm within the Warrens that wasn't well documented. Here on its fringes, but properly within its borders, the real dangers hid. But, of course, so too did their objective. She didn't know what the Monument would feel like, but the mysterious G had hinted that the next steps required the entity's guidance.
Soon enough, she was melting runes into the white sand packed hard here. Her scrivening encircled their small camp. Fire had chosen her, and so Fire she used. When the circle was closed, she poured Fire into it. Kaus poured his own element into it: Air. Then she added Earth, he Water.
"Ceran," she called softly. He looked up immediately. She pointed out runes that she had laid at what she felt were the cardinal points, though compasses were funny here. "When you two are on watch, if you need to activate our defenses, just pour aether into one of these spots and they will answer you. Some of them will be activated by anything seeking to cross them, but that way, you can bring them up fully."
He nodded gravely. "Understood."
When he glanced at Indric, he smiled, and the archer smiled back. While not a mage himself, he trusted his partner. Either she or Kaus would have to give Ceran further instruction, however. The Warrens had tested all of their skills already. There were some injuries, but nothing Kala couldn't handle with the skills she had picked up at the Tranquil Gardens—so far.
They were well equipped with weapons, magic, magical artefacts, and supplies. Indric's bow had brought down edible game. Even Kala had, though she had cheated, using Air to fly her arrows more unerringly toward her target. This helped prevent the early depletion of their supplies, and she had made sure with her Semblance that there was nothing poisonous about the things they ate, nor nothing magically afflicting, and so far, so good. From her supplies, she brought forth a small vial that glowed faintly, though more brightly here than it did at home. Crouching by one of the cardinal glyphs, she poured it directly onto it, and the scrivened geometry absorbed it. She had soul darts, too, as well as her various soul totems, as these things were more likely to be helpful here.
The ghostwine had been brewed with a soul totem made of illumite, and the runes took on a faintly golden glow. She could feel her shoulders relax a bit, and she could see the boys relax slightly as well. In this monochromatic grayscape, it was difficult to imagine hope or joy, but her little elixir carried the faintest warmth of the sun's glow even down here. This made her all the more determined to help any restless spirits she encountered find peace in the Shepherd's embrace. Places like this felt wrong.
She sat while Kaus helped the others set up camp. It would be simple, though she didn't know how long they would abide. The Fire in her wards also did something to mitigate the bone-deep chill of the air hereabouts, but she thought she would create a bit of a witchfire when it was time for the boys to take their shift sleeping. She wanted them to rest well so they could be effective sentinels when she and Kaus took their turn.
Ealain came out of her pack, the little silver figurine that Torin had runeforged for her. She liked that the silver lady looked like a dancer; she was flattered that he had thought of her as the Silver Lady while existing more in the Aetherium than in his own body. "Ealain," she said, and the dancer sprouted wings of air and aether and took flight from her hand. She closed her eyes as a flash of silver rose skyward. It was easier to see from her perspective without doubled vision. The boys were used to this, used to her scouting ahead rather than letting them fly first. Her bauble only had a range of two hundred yards or so, but she had learned to just skirt the edges of that limit. Her vision rose to its apogee and then began to descend in an ever widening spiral, always staying at the bounds of her range, then ghosting over the sand to rest in Kala's hands within ten minutes.
"Nothing," she said for their benefit, tucking her device away. "A wasteland of sand or bone. The Desert of Souls, I suppose. But it seems as though we could navigate to the other Hidden Reaches from here..." She paused. "But given how those explorations end, I would imagine it is not so simple as it would seem." The black sun and the pale mists seemed to distort things, both to the mortal eye and the Rune of Semblance. The Rune didn't lie to her, but there was so much going on here and not enough context to understand it.
Kala pulled out an old note from early last Ash and began to read.
"Lady Kala."
Kaus had read it before, but the other boys looked up. To their credit, they had agreed to follow their benefactors even here without a full explanation. But the time had come.
"It warms my heart to see that the daughter of Akshara has such respect for the history of our people. Such questions you ask! My Guiding Lady has given me leave to gift you with a token of Her wisdom. Treasure it well and use it to point your quest on the path you seek. The Doorway to the Skyborn future rests within the ruins of Sol’Valen’s Dreaming past. A heading that only a Monument can mark. -G."
She folded it up and put it away. Then she lifted her wrist. Saedene's relic gleamed in the strange light.
"When we first arrived in Kalzasi, before our Warren March, the Ara Saedene came to us at the Temple when we were paying our respects to our father's spirit. She gave us a hair from her head, which Talon Shinsei worked into this." She let her hand fall back down to rest in her lap. "The next time we saw her, she gave me a quest. I believe it is from the Crystal Lady. I began to research because she spoke somewhat cryptically... And then this note came from someone going by G, who apparently knows our mother. It seems to imply a connection with the Masked Queen, or at least with the Ara who has acted as Her herald, though it could be... someone seeking to stop us. I believe the Boundless Gate that Saedene bade me find was one of the Hytori Rift Gates, and I believe on the other side, we will find Her... and the women of our race. Avialae women with wings. The Monument, then, might guide us to it. But they say nobody can find it unless it wants to be found, that it can call to people in their dreams. I don't know that it has called to me or not, but I propose to take the first shift sleeping in case it reaches out through my dreams. We have come this far, so perhaps it will notice us."
They nodded, eyes wide. If they hadn't worshipped the twins before now, they certainly might now. A whole race. The mysterious Goddess who had helped their forefathers escape the bondage of the Gelerian Obelisk. A divine quest. For orphans, she had given them something like a family. And now she was speaking with Gods and monsters from fairy tales.
She smiled, then glanced at Kaus. He didn't need to speak for her to know that he would sleep soon, too.
Kala got up and laid out her bedroll, meditating with her eyes closed until her mind was calm and her body relaxed, and she slept.
