Legend of Ransera

Glade 5, 124 following Eye of the Storm

And with a blink, Norani opened her eyes, gasping as the sun that returned to the world blinded her. She fell backwards into the mud, the soil there firming up to catch her better. Her eyes darted around wildly, scrambling backwards on hands and feet, her breath staggered and rapid. The world around her was bright, the sky blue, the soaked lands green, already rapidly recovering from the deluge of the last year and a half. There, floating on the gentle winds was the feather given to her by Arcas, singed and burnt from being held in her fearful grasp for so long. All power in it had been drained, the smallest bit of support in what should've been a hopeless prison, and now it disintegrated into ash and dust carried by the winds away.

Norani lay there in the water and mud, taking it all in around her. The sky was clear, the sun was returned, the rainy season had ended. Imogen and Destyn had succeeded. They must have. There should've been relief there upon her face, there should've been a smile of joy and elation for their success. But there was just... nothing. Emptiness. Deep, dark, nothing.

She sat up, elbows on her knees, looking around her, wondering where she was. It was certainly North Ecith, that much was sure. She was about to call to Ooshi, to ask the spirit what had happened with Agst'rasera, with Astrid, but she kept the name in her throat. She instead asked the local winds where the big mountain was, as the winds of North Ecith loved it. All would know it. And they answered, a playful pull to the west.

Norani needed to report to the Senate, to tell them what had happened. To explain why she hadn't called upon their armies. To tell them why she did not carry the Warhorn of the Chieftain. She hoped it was still safe with Vomi Vani at least. She looked up at the sky, where the sun was, softening the light that shone upon her so as to not harm her eyes. Her mouth thinned into a line. The placement suggested it was early spring. Normally rainy season wouldn't even be over now, except in the driest of years. Strange. It had been late spring when she had lef...

Her chin fell to her chest as she looked at the murky water between her thighs. How long had she..? She shook her head, stuffing that thought down, deep down. Get to Drathera, give her report, and find Juno. The fear she saw in her friend's eyes, that moment when Norani's impatience led her straight into a trap, one with her friend as bait, was seared into her eyelids. Norani stood up slowly, her stomach grumbling in the first time in forever. She hadn't needed to eat wherever she was, hadn't needed to sleep or relieve herself.

She looked up at the sun once more, feeling its warmth upon her skin and a name came to her lips. "Yeva." Had she made it back from the Astral Sea yet? Would she be in South Ecith where she had disappeared? Norani wasn't even sure how to get back to there, and she had no more sands to travel along Agst'Rasera's roots. Was her dear friend safe? Was she okay? Fear was growing within the Orkhan lass, and worry, and with that, she launched from that water, shifting into the wind as she flew toward Drathera.

Some days later...

Norani swooped in upon the Summit of Drathera, landing at the foot of the Senate. She was not wasting any time. For the days she spent flying here, she tried to figure out just what she would say. She didn't know what happened to Destyn or Imogen, she had nothing to say about that, but clearly they had accomplished their task while she had failed her own. She started up the steps toward the great doors of the Senate building when a sharp whistle caught her attention.

She looked to her left for the source, and saw one of the largest figures in Ecith, a man all knew and revered, and one that had spoken to her when she was here last, Consul of War, Achaka Lonelyblade. He watched her with his serious, unyielding gaze as she slowly walked over to him, her gaze cast upon the polished stone floor. [color=#FFFFF]"We've been wondering what happened to you, Windwalker." [/color]He stepped forward, a smile growing upon his draconic visage, "It seems you were successful after all. I grew worried when the Call of the Warchief never came, more so when the rains never cleared. That is, until five days ago, and the sun returned to our lands once more." He reached out, to clasp her on the shoulder, and she flinched back, avoiding his touch.

His eyes showed confusion, immediately followed by caring scrutiny, "What happened?"

In a soft voice, "How... how long have you been waiting on me?"

The concern on his face grew deeper, "Nearly a year."

The silence from her was deafening. After a long, uncomfortable moment, "Have.. has Yeva Bleu returned?"

He nodded, but his frown did not grow into smile, "Yes, the Seers have reported that she's escaped the Astral Sea. We've dispatched a Charadin to go and find her. She's in the Northlands."

She should've been elated, ecstatic, racing off on the winds to the north as well, to find her friend who was returned to the world. But there was just... nothing. And from that nothing, a guilt grew because she didn't feel what she ought to feel.

"Norani, let us walk. Tell me what happened to you."

She shook her head, "I need to address the Senate. I saw it. I saw her."

Achaka cocked his head to the side, "Juno was there, with the Unknown. I saw them."

At this, the man's eyes grew wide. "You saw the Unknown?"

She nodded softly.

He didn't ask whether or not sure was sure. He knew her to be one of truth. And he knew of Juno, from the last time she was here at the Senate. "I will call together a session on your behalf. Will you accompany me to the Unseeing Temple? I need to see what you saw."

Her eyes snapped up to his, fear shining through, "You can't, please."

Achaka's gaze softened. He didn't need to know the details to know what had happened to the young woman. Just as he and so many other soldiers were oft to do, she stepped into hell and was forced to see it without being allowed to look away. And just like a good soldier, she did not wish to inflict that on anyone else. "I must, and you know it, Windwalker. You know what this means to the people of the Commonwealth. If you can be brave enough to show it, I must be brave enough to bear witness." He looked up at the great doors of the Senate. "We all must."

Some time later...

Norani sipped at the stew she'd been given, sitting in the balcony garden of Achaka's office. She, Achaka, and Keliya, High Priestess of Galetira's Temple had just finished speaking before the Senate. It was easier this time for the Orkhan lass, saying these things to the Senate didn't scare her any longer. Keliya shared the memory she had Seen from Norani allowing the Senators that were present to see exactly what had happened. There were collective gasps though, for they knew what this meant, this memory, this verified proof that the Unknown was simply more than an unfortunate phenomenon, that Juno was not the trickery of a malevolent spirit. Many applauded Norani's attempt to free Juno, but Keliya stopped the memory after the trap had closed. There was nothing to be gained by sharing a year's worth of repetitive pain here, now. Any who wished to see it, could access it in the archives.

The Senate stated that they had much to deliberate on this and that nothing would be determined in this session. They thanked Norani for her heroic service and the session was called to an end. And she and Achaka walked to his office where he had food waiting for her.

As she ate, he spoke. "You don't feel like a hero do you?"

She shook her head silently.

"Because you failed at your mission."

She nodded into her soup, the cold numbness growing.

"Because you failed to save Juno, because you didn't rescue the seasons, Ghoron."

She was still now.

"Look at me, Windwalker."

She cast her gaze on him, his eyes fierce and fiery, "Stop being so damned selfish."

Her own eyes widened in surprise. "You failed yourself, not the mission. You discovered this problem, you sought wisdom, you found strength in allies, strength in yourself, and the mission was a success by the hand of those you brought to complete it."

She wasn't sure what to say to that. "The Commonwealth owes you and companions a debt we will never be able to pay. Once for your mission and another for witnessing the Unknown and coming home to tell us."

He cast his gaze out to the wilderness extending out from Drathera, her eyes dropping back to her stew, "You were a casualty, a sacrifice you were willing to make, but you did what you thought to be best."

He moved and sat down across from her, "You're going to be a leader one day, Windwalker. And you will need to make more impossible decisions, suffer more defeats, and make more sacrifices. It is a painful, grueling, impossible path to follow."

She looked up from her soup again, "But you never walk it alone. I will help you. Friends will help you. The Commonwealth will help you."

A bare whisper, "Juno is walking alone... Yeva has been walking alone for a year..." More.

He reached out, one large scaly hand to rest on her own. She flinched, but he snatched it, holding it firmly but not painfully. "And you've been chasing them ever since. You've made it your mission for them to know that they aren't alone either."

He squeezed her hand like a father would, "Your power will make you a good leader, but your heart will make you a great one."

He let go of her hand, "But you need more training. You're impulsive, reckless, and your emotions dominate your mind. I will work on that."

She looked up at him quizzically, "You're being reassigned, Windwalker. You will undergo missions directly from me."

"But the Unkno.." He held up a hand to silence her.

"I will not be stopping you from this. It means too much. No, I will be training you so that when you come across the Unknown next time, you will not fail."

"I always fail."

He reached across the table, tipping her chin up to find his eyes once more, "Good. Then you have plenty of wisdom to learn from. Now eat. Rest tonight. But tomorrow, you're back in training."

And before she could speak, "And when we find Yeva Bleu, when she returns to Ecith, you will be the first to know."

Norani nodded quietly, pausing for a long moment. "Why weren't there any Chieftains at the Senate hearing?"

A small sigh, "Because the Senate exiled Chieftain Boraba for allowing you to be initiated into magic as a child, and all the Chieftains are protesting the Senate in solidarity."

Fear flashed again, "But the family-around-me! Ounokt Nora! They will be defenseless!"

Achaka shook his head, "They are with Boraba still, traveling with her in her exile. There's no safer place for them than in her protection."

Norani started to rise, "Sit. Down."

Norani paused, then followed the order.

"Stop acting without thinking. You are a soldier of Ecith and you have a duty to all of the people here, to the land, the sky, and the waters. You are the Shield between us and the Unknown. You need to start acting like it, or you will get yourself and so many others killed."

He softened his gaze and his tone, "Trust in me. Everything you've shared with me is important, none of it is forgotten. But I am your chieftain for now. Trust that I will lead you as you need to be lead. Do that, and you will find yourself unyielding in the face of failure, unbending to Suffering, and unwilling to go into the darkness again."

A long silence.

"Okay."

Talon felt an itch in his right wing. He looked up from the schematics strewn across his table, silver eyes turning south. It was feint and small but it was there. A gift he had given that had vanished from all places he could see over a year ago. He felt the final stirrings of the feather that he had gifted to Norani Windwalker on that fateful day when she, Imogen and Destyn had gone to fight against the corruption at the heart of the World Tree. As the last vestiges of his feather dissolved, he could almost feel the void left behind in its absence. He furrowed his brow as he concentrated on that empty sensation. He struggled at first but after a moment he thought he felt the brush of fingers on his chin turning his aethereal sight toward where it needed to focus.

Thank you, brother.

Talon pushed through the darkness and found what he was looking for.

Norani, dirty, fearful, and wandering. His first instinct was to go to her but he felt a hand on his shoulder. As he felt that hand he understood. Some darkness needed to be experienced, to be processed, to be withstood. Going to Norani in that moment would have overwhelmed her. He had no idea what he had been experiencing in the year of her absence but he could tell that it was something dark. The hand on his shoulder squeezed. He sighed internally and he thought he heard a soft chuckle in the back of his mind.

He would go to Norani but he would let her process a few things first before doing so. He could almost see his brother shaking his head in the back of his mind.

---

Talon had never been to the Commonwealth. Not in his current life and only briefly in a prior one. The vague outline of memories danced on the edges of his consciousness but even those would not have fit with the current circumstances of Ecith. He knew that there was a southern clan of Avialae distinct from the Kathar and Synnekar but he had never met them. From what he understood, they did not venture far from Ecith and now that he was seeing the Commonwealth for the first time he could understand why. There was a great beauty in the tropics. He realized that this beauty was a reason why Arcas had fashioned his divine realm to look similar to it. What Arcas had never been able to see in his living years, he forged for himself in the realm of spirits. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he had hesitated in coming to it for so long. Some part of him was afraid of what he might find there. Still, there was someone in need of what small hope he had to offer. He stood quietly, waiting for Norani to finish speaking to the dragonborn man.

“My apologies for interrupting but…” Talon stepped forward. He wore what many would now consider his mortal guise. Midnight black hair with an undercut and a ponytail that reached his waist. The pale skin of a Siltori elf accented by the violet-blue witchmarks of his birth. What could not be hidden however were the mercurial silver eyes that marked him for who he was and how the light always seemed to seek him out. His wings were hidden in order to make him a little less conspicuous.

“Norani Windwalker? Are you accepting visitors?” He offered a kind smile.

Norani looked up when she heard a voice she did not know. The face didn't look familiar either. He was very pale, so he certainly wasn't from here in the south. He was a stranger. That is until her eyes found his own, and she saw the same ones that looked at her from the flames in Atraxia and from beneath the boughs of Agst'rasera. Shame washed over her at the sight of the god that had come to her in a time of need only for her to fail. At his smile, her eyes were again, cast back down, nothing like the confident woman he had met last time that treated a god as though he were any other mortal.

"Yes."

What does one say to a god they failed?

"Thank you for the..." She couldn't finish saying it. That feather of his was the only thing that managed to keep her sane in that dark hell she had stumbled into. Should she apologize for letting him down? However, somewhere within her was something, a bit of a glimmer of the exuberant lass from before, one who spewed questions and curiosity and eagerness.

"Do.. Do you know what happened to Imogen and Destyn? Astrid and the spirits? Ruvaf? Will Agst'rasera recover?"

Her eyes were pleading, wishing that they had not gone through what she had. She wanted them to be alive and healthy and happy, all of them. If only she saw hell, that would be fine with her, if they were okay. Please, let them be okay.

Achaka turned, a brow ridge raised in curiosity. "I'd heard you were back. You never were one for resting too long." This comment was accompanied by a slight upturn at the very edge of the Dragonborn's mouth, one that would stir some memories of Arcas. Memories of them fighting side by side across the ages. A memory of Achaka screaming as Arcas was cut down by Shaeoth. Even a memory of a prayer spoken by Achaka as Arcas' body was entombed.

He looked over at Norani, watching her reaction to Arcas. He knew of Arcas' involvement from Norani's accounting of events. This young woman was gaining a lot of attention for one so young. It was a dangerous and deadly path, one that Arcas himself would know too well, from the other vantage point. Where gods collide, mortals die.

Achaka stayed silent for now, watching and listening.

"I... I... am not worthy of the Light you gave me." She thought back to that moment with Juno. "I thought I could save her... All of her memories returned to me, everything... I knew it to be real, absolutely real. I tried to..." She tried to put it to words, maybe he would understand. He knew what happened in Atraxia. Her voice dropped to more of a mumble, fidgeting in her seat. "I tried to free her from the Unknown's corruption like we did in the desert with Aetu and Imogen." But she didn't have the Dawnfire, she had tried to do it with her own strength, her own power. Foolish hubris. Her eyes were bouncing around the room, looking anywhere but at Arcas. "But I wasn't strong enough, wasn't fast enough, wasn't wise enough."

Her throat and chest tightened, but the tears wouldn't come. Not a single one had been shed since she stepped out of that darkness.

"I'm sorry."

“Imogen and Destyn are alive and well. They successfully purged the heart of the corruption from the World Tree, thanks to the distraction you provided.” He stepped more fully into the room, hands coming to rest at the small of his back. “Astrid and Ghoron have welcomed their son and daughter into the world beneath the canopy of a healing Agst’rasera. A surprise for them but a welcome one. The spirits are alive and working steadily to revitalize what they can in the ways that they can. As for Ruvaf, I believe your companion would be eager to see you soon.”

His voice was soft and gentle as he considered Norani carefully. Opening his eyes up to the flow of aether around him, he could see that there were some very deep scars now embedded into her aura. While there was a glimmer of who and what she once was, it was overshadowed by her most recent experiences. His attention turned to the dragonborn. Memories, distant though they were, presented themselves. He inclined his head with a slight smirk to Achaka. As Norani explained herself and what she had been through, Talon thought carefully on what he wanted to say. Her situation was one that he could empathize with. He silently thanked Vicis for her elegant weaving for placing him in Norani’s path. He understood Norani’s dilemma all too well.

“The legends always seem to forget that Shaeoth is my older brother.” He turned his head to look into the nearest patch of shadow. He could always feel his brother in them. From their tearful reunion, Talon knew very well that of all the mortals, spirits, and deific powers in Ransera, Shaeoth had made it clear that his interest was reserved for a very choice few and he stood highest in that regard. So much so that Shaeoth had begged him to leave Ransera behind and travel with him to another world, abandoning everything here. In the end, Talon had managed to convince his brother to stay.

“Stolen by the remnant of a bitter and twisted evil, I spent over ten-thousand years fighting to get my brother back. I was killed by him. I was tortured by him. We fought and battled causing tragedy and miracles in our wake across this world’s many ages.” Talon’s gaze grew distant, his eyes becoming ancient in their depth. Thousands of years of memories, hardships, victories and defeats played across his mind. He blinked away the momentary distance, returning his attention to Norani.

“In the end, I could not do it by myself. I needed help.” He stepped forward and knelt before Norani, dipping down so that he could meet her gaze.

“Even gods need help sometimes, Norani Windwalker.” He smiled softly. “I know nothing of what horrors you faced in the clutches of this Unknown. There are places that even my gaze cannot pierce.”

He extended his hands to her.

“What I do know, however, is that you are alive which is a victory in and of itself. Because of you, now this Unknown has become Known. And that makes you the only one poised to face it.”

A gasp escaped her chest, a breath held captive without her knowledge. They were all alive. They were all okay. They had completed the mission, doing what she could not. But still, the girl did not cry, did not crack a smile. The gasp was all she had managed to find within her. The heart that burned bright, burned hot, loved far and wide and overwhelmingly was as dark and muted as that damnable moon that helped carry this curse upon the world.

A soft muttered, "Thank you," was sent Arcas' way.

And wave after wave of shame washed over her anew, knowing that she was not acting how she should be, how an Ecithian should act, how a lover, a friend, a member of a family should act at hearing such momentous and wonderful news. And as Arcas spoke, she listened numbly, closing her downcast eyes. When he brought himself to her level, a movement she felt as the winds parted for him, as the stones he stood upon strengthened so as to not allow him to stumble, only then did she open her eyes, looking into his own.

His words were true, and she knew it, she could feel it reverberating as he uttered them. It must be why she appeared here, closer to home, and not in some far away land or back on the beach from whence she'd departed from originally. She was here because she needed help, and she knew it.

And she was glad that he could not see what happened in there, she wished that no one else need gaze upon it.

But as his hands reached out for her, fear raced through her veins, and her instinct took over. He would be able to see the lightning conjuring deep within her, empowering her with its speed and power. She smacked his hands away and she fell to the ground before him. The lightning within grew, forming a protective sphere around her as her mind was overwhelmed by memories.

Gazing upon her aura he would see her reliving the touches of the entities in the darkness, of hands and of tentacles and of things no mortal should ever know. And he would be able to hear her hyperventilating as she squeezed her knees into her chest. She was not in Ecith anymore, she was back there.

Achaka stood from his desk, approaching Arcas, a firm hand upon the God's shoulder. "We will care for her, that is our role as the country-around-her." He moved to Arcas' side, sliding down upon the stones of his office balcony. "Sit with us for a while. She will return. This happened a few times earlier today."

Achaka offered a hand to Arcas, to guide him to sit before Norani and wait with her.

"You have always had a way of finding the absolute best of us in this world we walk." He side eyed Arcas hard now, but kept his face toward the searing ball of lightning surrounding the Windwalker. "And the worst of us always seem to find you as well."

"What has been happening in this world? Your brother ascends and yet it feels as if there's something else in the winds, a shadow of a shadow." He shook his head. "A god's ascension does not pull the Unknown from hiding. The Unknown has seen dozens of gods ascend and fall without a single seeming care. What is it that lurks behind the seams of this mortal world? I can feel the hunger, a pair of eyes sizing us up as we limp along."

"What more do you know?"

Achaka shook his head, "I fear what it means that this young woman has run into our greatest enemy twice now. And I fear whatever it is that can catch its attention."

He turned toward Arcas now. "It's the scent before a war unleashes. We're not ready for another. And I don't know if I have it in me to watch another generation of these young, love filled people of ours disappear to the darkness of death." He looked back at Norani, but his words remained for Arcas, "Are you?"


Several minutes passed...

Norani's aether depleted enough to drop her shield. She smelled loam and crisp mountain air and she raised her head, to see Achaka sitting there. "You're safe again."

She nodded tiredly, "I'm sorry. Did I hurt anyone?"

Achaka smiled, "Not for a lack of trying. But that's okay. Healing isn't always the easiest thing, yet we do it anyways."

She looked around to see if Arcas was still here.