Hunting for Answers [Closed]

[Hilana Chenzira]

The question Khyan posed about Arvaelyn being able to surveil them from so far away was an interesting one. But Hilana had faith in the Mask and Domina Varvara’s words about walking in shadow. From so far away, she didn’t think even the draconic heir of the Umbrium was able to keep tabs on them, but then again, he was marked by Her Argent Luminescence… either which way, the girl wasn’t chancing such things. She had done things that could be considered reckless often, but with this? Not so much.

“I’d rather you be sober than impaired while we were flying,” Hilana was amused at Khyan’s reaction to the appearance of the mead bottles. “I’ve had my share of drinking and riding accidents, true, and I’ve patched up many more… But if something happens to either of you out here, it’s my symphony that will get annihilated by your respective Amati,” she shrugged. “I felt it wiser to wait until we were on the ground.” Arvaelyn had made his warning quite clear in thunder. Æros’ own admonition was steel behind silk and starlight. She didn’t like the idea of angering either of them, much less both.

“He would be better off with getting his whole family out,” Hilana reminded Finn as he spoke of getting Khyan free. “As a servus, he is afforded food, shelter, and protection. Dominus Æros treats him very well. If Khyan is freed, he doesn’t return to Patrician status, only Plebeian… and then he is still dependent on you to look out for him, and your Amatus is incredibly possessive of you. Do you really think Arvaelyn wouldn’t get suspicious at the very least? Because he made it crystal clear to me the first day we met that he would happily feed people to dragons for looking at you, and he’s certainly got the connections to do it.”

She looked over the spread she had laid out. She had made plenty, as she didn’t know until that morning that Dominus Æros would stay behind for the dinner event. The chicken, lettuce, tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce wraps. Chickpeas and rice. Half a dozen types of different cheeses. Dates, figs, blueberries and blackberries from the greenhouse. Tomatoes and cucumber, both fresh and pickled. Pitas, both soft and fried into chips, along with other harder crackers, plus three types of dips. The stuffed cheese hand-pies. A wrapped tin of baklava. “It is better to get the whole family freed, and I’m hoping that if we are successful… then I can use this to get Her Serene Highness Princess Cithaera to see if there might be something she can do to get all three of them freed and restored to their former status.”

She added the tea to the little mesh ball and put it in the teapot, inhaling the fragrance of the spices before she set the pot aside so that it was no longer directly over the crackling fire. When he remarked about her getting them tipsy, Hilana made an amused sound. “Khyan doesn’t camp. This is probably one of the few times, if not the first and only time, that he is on a bedroll outside of the city in a tent. I’d rather he be comfortable and happy, and the mead helps with that. He might look like a lightweight, but I assure you he could drink most of this and be fine,” she shrugged her bare shoulders, reaching for a plate. But the offer to go and lure something else in for a fresh meal made her pause, and she blinked and lowered her hand from the wooden plate on the woven blanket where everything had been spread out. She was glad that Vorenus, Asher, Markus, and her other pack leaders had taught her to keep her mouth shut and her reactivity silent. It had served her well in Tertium, and it served her well now. There was a sharp note of offense in her symphony, even as Hilana tried to suppress it and force that back down. Maybe he had just spent too much time in the sun on this flight. Perhaps he was just trying to extend their stores of food to be thoughtful. Or maybe he liked the way she treated fresh-caught meat over the fire, because he’d experienced that regularly too. Her umbrage didn’t come out in her voice or tone, much less on her face, as she smiled at him. “If you’d like to, certainly. I’ll dispatch and dress it, and we can get it cooked. Just don’t go too far, because once you get out of range of the Mask, you won’t be able to find us by our symphonies.”

Mind your tongue, lest you cut yourself with it. Vorenus had warned her often as a teenager. She heard his voice in her head now.

[Khyan Nykara]

"Gratias..." Khyan sighed contentedly, as Finn withdrew his nimble, lute-playing fingers from taut flesh, eased by the minstrel's ministrations.

"For some of us, Hilana, sobriety is the impairment..." Khyan quipped, but pressed the matter no further. It wasn't as though her fears were unfounded. Æros, adoring as he was, could certainly be cavalier in his use of Mesmer and would have been within his rights to ply it upon Hilana as her social superior. The former patrician might have bade him against it, given the new senator's previous run-in with the Mistress of Chains and the Vastiana's apparent divine and draconic attention, but Æros could be impulsive and was wont to fixate upon that which vexed him. Founders save Hilana if she found herself the source of his confoundment.

He followed Finn with his dark eyes, cocking a brow at his offer.

"I'd not have expected you to seek me out. We only met the once, and... Well, we'll see. It is... politically inconvenient for Æros to emancipate me, at the moment and..." He glanced to Hilana, "As our squad leader observes, freedom in and of itself isn't necessarily to my benefit. I'm not sure whether I fancy the notion of becoming a plebeian if it meant I'd have to seek out so-called 'gainful employment'." He wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"And I fear I might lose the boons of House Sælyan's largesse if I were to circumvent the senator's influence in seeking yours."

"Now, that... is a sound plan. The Argenti will almost certainly pledge to the Luxian Crown, if they haven't already. To do otherwise would be political suicide. Given the complete upheaval caused by the rise of a concurrent Umbrian Court, the Nykara might find advantage with the support of the Draconic Crown... to whom we would obviously pledge our undying fealty unto the thousandth generation and all that." Another bite, another sip. Looking at the fair feast spread before them, Khyan chuckled and glanced to Finn.

"You're a strapping sort, but it would verge on gluttony to append one of Hilana's repasts. Please don't do any hunting on my account. I eat like the bird I occasionally become." He plucked up one of the pies and took a delicate bite. Swallowing it, before replying to Hilana's espoused scheme.

[Finn]

Dark eyebrows rose slightly; he hadn't known that Arvælyn was making actual threats, veiled or otherwise. He stifled a sigh. There wasn't a friend he had in the city that he didn't also share with his prince. He was loquacious on the subject of his feelings for his lover to the point where Prince Vrædyn had commented upon it, that it would seem false if he couldn't read the symphony accompanying it. Finn had even made efforts to befriend Arvælyn's family. The most successful friendship was with Raithen, but that was problematic as well as Raithen didn't see a reason why his half-brother shouldn't share his lover.

The storm brewed quietly behind a curious look as he listened to the both of them. Hilana had told him that Æros had purchased Khyan, but... well, he supposed he couldn't blame the eldritch elf for making a pillow slave of the pretty Vastian, and he couldn't blame Khyan for taking the path of least effort even if he was now stuck roughing it with them. In the end, he nodded, still a novice in the ways and means of Solunarian society. He would have to learn, however, if he was to be a help rather than a hindrence to the Princeps Draconum, if he was to become the Grandmaster of the Leh'anafel, if he was to become the Empyreal Lord that Aværys wanted.

"Well, you should do what you think best," he said finally. "Just know that you can call on me if you need aid. I can't promise I can help the way you might require—I have to think of Arvælyn—but I will do what I can."

Better that he not go hunting, after all. He sat down and availed himself of Hilana's bounty.

He smirked at one point. "If you think you shan't be able to sleep, my lullabies will drop you into Nod right quick. In any case, I can take half the watch, Kherdroth the other. Once he's back from hunting and his sand bath... And we ought to sleep early and rise early. We don't want to draw out Khyan's camping trip any longer than we must."

Finn chuckled. His Mesmer might be necessary after all. The Sceptre of Aværys meant a true night's darkness was nigh impossible.

[Hilana Chenzira]

They may have only met once, but so too had Hilana and Khyan. She understood the drive to try to keep an eye out and wonder about the young man, because she had done it too. The Vastiana had spent the rest of Searing and the first couple of days of Ash checking the Forums for him and his parents on a daily basis. And when Khyan had come and found her, she proceeded to pack a picnic lunch every couple of weeks in hopes of finding him down below. When Dominus Æros acquired his contract, she saw him far more regularly. Either because she was visiting or bringing something to Khyan’s new owner, or for lessons. Until the schism in which Æros and House Saelyan supported the Umbrian Court, they’d lived in the family estate in the Luxium, where Hilana had gone every couple of days for lessons with Æros’ cousin, Palaemon, in addition to her lessons below with Sentinel Ævril. But Khyan had been there often enough for them to keep in contact.

It was a strange draw the young man had, and Hilana didn’t entirely understand it, but she understood how Finn had wondered about him and felt concerned - she’d been quite worried herself. She hadn’t realized until she and Finn had gotten to talking about this trip after they had made the marshmallows for Arvaelyn to enjoy that they had known each other, else she could have told Finn earlier.

Once he sat down to help himself to the food, Hilana was content to fill her wooden plate and go to town. If either of them wanted tea, she would certainly pour them a steaming cup full before taking one for herself. It was good to have friends in high places, even if Khyan had preferred to be the friend in the higher position.

“House Argenti pledged to the Luxian Court of the Solar Sovereign,” Hilana could tell Khyan that much. “Pretty much immediately after it was announced. No choice but to, really, considering the Consul appealed to them to get your father’s position until there was a proper election... But now one has to wonder what will become of that with the divide in the courts. He loses influence either way.” Hilana had a bite of her chicken wrap. She wasn’t as delicate as Khyan, but the girl had also worked up an appetite. While she had avoided the headaches that told her she had had enough of what she was doing with Elementalism, it didn’t hurt to fill up now. She wasn’t much of one for politics, but even she knew that this was important to pay attention to. “So with luck... I can ask Her Serene Highness and there’s something she can do about it. That avoids getting Arvaelyn involved, too,” she glanced at Finn. “His hands can stay clean of political issues... and yours by association.”

She nodded in agreement to Finn’s suggestion. “Or divide the watch into thirds. I can take the first or second if you’d like,” she offered. “That way you can at least get a few more hours’ sleep.” But drawing out Khyan’s camping trip was probably not to their friend’s liking, even if Hilana had thought when she had met him that he did have some Wildness in him, too... But time would tell. He wasn’t doing too badly. Yet. “But you’re right. Early rest and early rise is likely our best bet. Our destination isn’t that much further, so we’ll have breakfast and be on our way. From there... A portal can be made to Solunarium if you don’t want to come with us to Drathera,” she smiled at Khyan. She wasn’t sure he’d want to, considering how horrible the orcani hordes were. But she had promised Finn, and she would see it through. She raised her tea to the two of them. “But I thank you both for coming with me, and seeing this through. Sit saluti,” she toasted them. To them, and to their health.

[Khyan Nykara]

Khyan nodded, comprehending and appreciating Finn’s position. It certainly wasn’t his intention to press the matter… at least not this soon. The matter had been broached and that was enough for now. Were his predicament more dire than at present, he might have had the drive of desperation lending urgency to the opening gambit. Such as this were, he was content to let it lie.

Hilana’s words were encouraging, as well. His spirits were encouraged enough that he didn’t even groan at the prospect of losing beauty sleep to take a sentry shift. He would do whatever the group decided, though he wouldn’t exactly volunteer anything beyond his wyvern-helming duties. As to those, he was eager to get back to them the next morning.

The weather was similar as they set off, though the moisture in the air became more apparently as they headed deeper into the West. The topography below would also begin to shift from open sands to low light shrubs and eventually a forest. As soon as they crossed over the tree line, something shifted. They had crossed outside the borders of Atraxia, where the Sceptre of Aværys cast no light. Behind them lay an opaque, black wall that rose higher than their eyes could follow.

The sounds of distant shrieks could be heard ahead, but the source remained unseen. Khyan would keep them moving forward in the dim, perpetual gloaming created by the now-visible eclipse, which couldn’t be seen in Solunarium. They weren’t far into the forested area when they would see as overt a landmark as one might find on any map.

There was a large, open clearing wide enough to be visible from on high. Like a crater in the woodland canopy, they would find a vibrant meadow… a flat but florid plain with grass of such a bright green that it seemed to glow, peppered with a panoply of flowers of many equally luminescent hues.

Hilana would know from her studies, and in her soul, that this was it. Khyan felt it, too… emanating through his Rune. Something potent had happened here. He would need to get closer to glean whether it would yield the intel they sought.

He glanced over his shoulder, as Kherdroth began to circle the area, awaiting further instruction.

[Finn]

Finn was well pleased the night passed uneventfully. Khyan didn't seem as though he wanted to stay abed, whether because their bedrolls were uncomfortable or for some other reason. Thus, they did take to the skies once more before the true heat of day befell them. The flight was pleasant; at least, Finn enjoyed flying wyvernback. It wasn't until they crossed the divide etched out by the Solunarian magi that everything began to go wrong.

Darkness before, darkness behind; this was the first time he had left the Atraxian Expanse since he stepped onto that quay in Tertium. For the first time in his life, he wished he were home—with Arvælyn, perhaps, though even the little things about Solunarium that bothered him (as well as the big things) suddenly seemed like a welcome change from this new reality. The world was washed in shadow. He could still see, but everything was off. The slipspace felt wrong. There were strange, unknowable jangles in the symphonies of his travel companions. He felt his brow tingle, and for a moment, he imagined it was Deus Aværys behind him.

He looked over his shoulder, and only saw the blackness.

"Ave Aværys, gratia plena," he whispered, and he could feel Aværys hear him.

When his eyes turned forward again, Khyan was looking to him. His own eyes were all that were visible, his veil raised to keep the wind from blowing aught into his mouth. His brow set in what he hoped looked like determination. He daren't use his Mesmer, not when it all felt wrong. He leaned forward and yelled over the buffetting wind.

"If this is the place, take us down!"

They were here on a holy mission. He could feel Aværys' presence.

"نَفْسُهُۥ ۖ وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ ٱلْوَرِيدِ."

They would land. Khyan would assist Hilana. Finn would be their Silver Sentinel, his blade guarding their backs. They would solve the problem and they would return.

[Hilana Chenzira]

The watch of thirds, it seemed, precluded Khyan - Hilana was perfectly content to let their pilot sleep, and watch was worked out between her, Finn, and Kherdroth. She'd done her best to make the ground and bedrolls accommodating for her friends, and the tea she had brewed went a long way to making her feel just that much more relaxed. She was up early after her brief stint of sleeping, but that likely wasn't a surprise to any of them by now. It gave her time to prepare for when the others woke up. A hot breakfast was warmed up for the three adventurers: jars of her farro pudding, which had been cooked to a similar consistency of oatmeal, and was swirled with cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and other warming spices and studded with chunks of dates, raisins, and toasted nuts had been heated by the fire and they were accompanied by tea and more fruit. Something filling, stick-to-your-ribs, and hearty. As far as Hilana was concerned, one couldn’t go wrong with it. It would do to start the day, and the leftovers from the prior day’s dinner could serve for a later meal when they felt the need to stop again. Of course, by then... they may well be able to append it with some sort of fresh game when the time came, but for now...

Everything was packed up and everyone was reloaded. Kherdroth was brought back into the protections of the Mask of Midnight’s Mother, and after a quick consultation of the Volumen Errantis, Hilana could tell Khyan the direction and get them on their way. Airborn, tucked behind Finn as she had been, she was able to offer further directions to them as to which way they needed to go to find where Israxa and Melindranovion had fought, and the small brown dragon had fallen. May it be that Khyan would have success with understanding the direction in which Israxa had departed so that Hilana could figure out her next steps.

When she saw that black wall, though, her lips thinned behind her mask and she steeled herself. This was what the sailors had talked about that Asher had mentioned. The darkness that interfered with the ability to use one’s Runes. She hadn’t known that the Sceptre of Avaerys would not shield them beyond the borders of their Kingdom, but they would just have to grin and bear it. It was a problem however, because as they found, Hilana was not able to fashion the block that she had the day before for them so that the wind did not bother them while they were flying. One thing was certain... something was going to have to be done about this eclipse before it came to Solunarium. The Sceptre had been fashioned, but how long could it last? How long could it hold everything at bay? How soon until it shut down most of the kingdom?

When they were over the field-like meadow of flowers, Hilana felt the spirits again, and she was glad of their company once more. It had been odd not to have them around her, whispering and feeling and playing. The wind settled around them, making conversation easier, and she confirmed that this was it. Everything in her soul told her that they had found it, and her Wildness sang loudly, the aether of the land causing it to almost reverberate through her seemingly-endless energy. “We are here. This is where Melindranovion and Israxa fought, and Melindranovion perished. This is it,” she confirmed, her eyes wide and bright with delight and excitement. When Finn bid them to land, she was asked the earthen spirits about dangers, and once they assured her all was well, she eased herself down from the saddle, landing neatly. They just needed to stay together as a group, so when Khyan was able to use his Semblance to determine the best spot, she would be right there with him. The exotic plants were safe, she knew that much, and she was going to fill one of her bags with them - soil samples, flowers, grasses, and all. It wouldn’t hurt to take it back to grow and study and see what could be found from them, because they were splendiferous samples of specimens.

[Pharaoh]

Far in the distance on the summit of a mountain peak in the Zalkyrian Mountain range to the North of the Solunarian capital, a golden figure lift His head and opened His eyes. His gaze of gold found the soaring Raithen scouting overhead, but His mind was drawn some distance farther… away from the warm blanket of the second sun forged in His name. His name and grace had been invoked, and seeing briefly through the sapphire gaze of his favoured charge, he regarded the fell darkness he’s last seen at Kaladon when, upon regaining his ancient power, he’d had immediate cause to use it against the creatures of darkness that lurked in the shadow of the eclipse. In distant Ecith, a surge of light would illuminate the Emblem that crowned Finn’s brow. It cast enough light to make the their already luminescent surroundings glow even brighter than the light cast by the foliage alone.

Finn would know that this light was his to summon, and he would feel his Cardinal Runes surge with greater power under its glow, as would those of Khyan and Hilana. But after that brief burst of light, He who energised it shifted His attention away and Aværys returned to His meditations. As the light faded from Finn, his companions would feel their Runes weaken. Bereft of the Light of Majesty, their Craft was diminished. The light glow of the plants peppering the clearing was enough to let them access their powers, but little more than that.

A sound like a whisper on the wind could be heard from shadows beneath the tree line, where the glow ended starkly as if obscured by a black curtain. Perhaps they would have the sense of soundless motion stalking only the lightless voids created by the canopy’s shadow.

[Khyan Nykara]

Khyan landed in the clearing. It was a perfect landing site, really. It was flat, open with plenty of space and, comparable to the grim darkness of the surrounding woodland, it was well lit. There were no overt signs of remains, Draconic or otherwise, and Khyan’s Sembling eye wasn’t able to glean more than the most cursory of assessments… little more than any of them could with their mundane vision.

“What is going on…?” Khyan had no reason to know about the effects of the eclipse as they presented themselves outside of Solunarium. The current affairs of foreign climes hasn’t been at the top of his priority list at the best of times, let alone now that was a servus spending the bulk of his time in the Umbrium where neither sun shone.

He blinked, eyes widening as Finn began to glow with radiance after uttering a Vastian phrase under his breath. That was new, he thought, admiring Finn in that moment with new appreciation… and an attraction that was augmented by the pull of his Mastercraft, as he recognised the presence of his liege God highlighting the already formidable beauty of the foreign human.

“Gods…” He whispered, but the moment passed too quickly and his Rune dimmed back to its former weakened state. He shook off the awe and regarded the open glowing glade, with a grimace.

“Can you do that again, Finn? My Rune seems to be mitigated, but whatever just happened unclogged the works. I don’t think I’ll be able to Semble anything helpful unless you can repeat your… what we that was.” He gestured broadly.

The sound of Kherdroth hissing drew Khyan’s attention back to the wyvern, which seemed to be fixated on something in the woodlands beyond that Khyan himself couldn’t see at this distance without more access to his Craft.

[Finn]

The subvigil was glad to know that they had found their target, and he smiled tightly, acknowledging what Hilana averred. That Aværys had answered so mightily was reassuring; he knew that the Deus wanted him to prove his own mettle, but a light against the unknown was appreciated. Khyan's reaction could only mean that he understood what he saw with his eyes and his Rune: Finn was crowned by Majesty Himself.

"I think so," he said. "But please... keep this to yourself."

He concentrated as best he could, and felt himself become a channel of grace. Finn struck awe in their hearts; even the wyvern took notice. The emblem on his brow glowed like a halo.

"Find what we came here for," he said to them, drawing his sword. "I will keep you safe." That said, he began to circle the clearing, eyes on the darkness, the places where things could hide. His music reached out to Kherdroth, songs of hunting prey. The wyvern would help him keep them safe, as well. And he kept his inner ear attuned to that which he couldn't see, seeking out whatever might stalk them. Kherdroth could sense it. Finn would too, and then they would dispatch whatever danger approached.

This was no longer the minstrel whose pacifism earned him a beating and a broken lute; the forges of Solunarium had made him something more. He had come this far to follow Arvælyn; he would not die on the edges of Ecith's jungles. He had a life to return to. He had a dragon prince to return to.

Kherdroth began to circle the clearing in the opposite direction. This would be new. He had only trained to fight from wyvernback, not in tandem with a wyvern on the ground. Thanks to Aværys' grace, however, he could vault from here to the wyvern's back at a moment's notice.