Mikansia had sent a dragon into the realm of Dream, so that it would not destroy all those around it. When the dragon returned, Mikansia gave her life to defeat it. Her friend, Jabez, gave her the stone given to him after he had died. With this stone she was able to return to the land of the living. She promised Jabez to find his children that were conceived during his captivity in Elfharrow. And that's what she's going to do.
Two weeks passed. Decima had gone to Dream, where the dragon Mikansia and Marian had killed actually was and had crafted a suit of pearlescent dragon scale armor for Mikansia from the skull of the dragon. As an elf Mikansia already had a slight aura of light around her; it was only brighter putting on the bright pearl of the armor, shining into the gloom which was the new normal of the world. With the suit of dragon fullplate completed Mikansia went into Dream to cut into the spot she knew the first child to be: Argentum Reskartum, the capital of the Argentum Empire. Standing in Dream, Mikansia focused on the place and swung her sword, like all the times before.
The sword bounced off the air.
Mikansia tried again.
Sparks were her only reward.
Mikansia showed the new happening to Marian; her brow creased. "That's Golau's magic." Golau, known as the Lady of Light, was the Queen of the Undead. she'd been trying to conquer the Argentum Empire for centuries. With the long-running twilight of the sun Golau's legions of horrors could mount a real offensive. And that included protecting said invasion from incursions from Dream. "I could never hope to match Golau," Marian admitted with begrudging respect. "I reached the peak of my abilities a century ago, but Golau's growth is only limited by her malice. I could get Telos to break the shield, but that would alert Golau to you and I doubt that's what you want."
Annoying as that was, Mikansia had no wish to attack some human monstrosity at the head of a zombie horde. She knew there was a child that needed her help, horde and weird apocalyptic conditions be damned. Mikansia also didn't want to leave Decima, Ember, and Simone alone atop a random mountain without food. Nomi insisted on travelling with Mikansia, which meant what was left of poor Fish would come along. And Makirta was only just beginning to recover and it wasn't like Mikansia really trusted her anyway. Decima asked that they be returned to Vigilance. When Mikansia balked it was explained, very patiently, that the end of the world changed circumstances, and they needed to be in an area that had food and people around. Decima had nowhere else to go, which meant that Ember and Simone didn't either. With a heavy sigh, Mikansia returned them to the city that had exiled them; the place wasn't burning down, so that at least filled Mikansia with some hope.
Makirta packed up a sword from Decima's armory and followed Mikansia without a word. Mikansia and Nomi were surprised, but the only explanation given when they asked was "There are still things to be done". Mikansia cut them as close to the Argentum empire as Golau's shield allowed. And then they began to walk in the eternal gloom, two soft twinkling lights in the gloom of the earth, with a brightly shining star at their front and a gigantic, stinking, smoky hulk of darkness with gigantic, useless, wings following behind. Silence was as thick as the darkness; Mikansia and Nomi weren't great conversationalists to begin with, and Makirta never spoke more than a word at a time, regardless of the prompt. The land had begun to die. Grasses and bushes were brittle. The temperature kept dropping a bit more every day. The three elves didn't mind, impervious as they were to heat and cold, although the dying of the world lay heavily upon their heart, even Nomi's.
The second week, however, was met with resistance: Golau's forces were on the prowl in the quiet gloom. At first it was just squads of shuffling undead, led by tall humanoids with shiny fangs. Mikansia took these squads apart easily, by herself, with Nomi keep time to how fast Mikansia tore them apart. But then the numbers increased and Nomi, Fish, and Makirta had to get involved. Tens became fifties, and then fifties became a hundred at once. But not even a hundred undead with ten vampires could contend with the greatest swordsmen that Heranyt had ever known, equipped as she was. Nomi, Fish, and Makirta kept the hundred off of Mikansia's back as she took down five to six in a single swing. Not a single undead walked away.
But that fight did come at a bit of a cost: poor Mikansia was exhausted. So they found an abandoned farm and settled in for the night, making a campfire in the pitch black. Nomi went to care for Fish, as she usually did. That left Makirta and Mikansia, sitting awkwardly acrost from each other, campfire and their lives separating them. After a few minutes of silence Makirta opened her mouth, closed it, looked into the fire, and then looked back up. "You're... you're more than I had ever expected you to be."
Mikansia had heard that before, when she had been made a sword singer. Mother had said that with tears in her eyes. Mother had always believed in him, had always helped him over father's misgivings about his ability to live up to the family legacy. and now Mother was hugging her and she was hugging back...
Wait.
Makirta was holding Mikansia. Makirta. Not Jabez's mother. Mikansia jumped. Makirta flew back onto her rear, scrambling back into the darkness.
Mikansia held her head in her hands. That wasn't her memory, that had been Jabez. The stone she had been given by him to return her to the Waking Realm had blended the two of them. And Makirta mistaking... whatever Mikansia had been doing while remembering.. .was it really just Jabez a moment ago? He'd given her the stone, himself, after all. And the moment with Makirta, that had felt so right but she had been so startled and-
Blood curdling screech. A rush of wind from above. The butt of Sydanelma met the back of the head of- a boy. He was spinning away from the Sydanelma's hilt like a leaf in a hurricane. She hurried over and checked his pulse. He was alive, although he'd have a nasty bump on his head pretty soon from where she cracked him with the hilt of Sydanelma. He was probably fourteen or so. She tied the boy up, hoping that he would wake up soon. Mikansia ran outside, looking for Nomi, Fish, and Makirta. Nomi and Fish were where she'd left them, although they were up and looking around for the source of the screech. Makirta was nowhere to be seen. But no sounds of battle could be heard in the dark. So Mikansia headed back briefly to check on the boy she had knocked out.
She saw movement at his knots; there was a small shadow at them, which stood up. "Please... please don't kill my brother," piped up a little voice. It belonged to a five year old boy, who had picked up the sword the fourteen year old had been wielding. The little one's cheeks were wet and his lip quivered in fear. But he tried to stand with his brother's weapon held up at Mikansia, even as he shook like a leaf. The fear hardened into courage and his eyes grew hard. "Leave. Flavius. Alone." he demanded. The sword point hit the ground. Yelping, the little boy brought it back up.
Mikansia sighed and held up Sydanelma. The bright rainbow blade tugged at the boy's eyes; he resisted as hard as he could, but Sydanelma was too beautiful. The boy kept trying to resist, even as he wavered, eyes forcing themselves back to the glowing elf that stood before him. After a minute the sword point fell and the boy's eyes glazed over. Mikansia lowered the blade and the boy shook his head. "I don't want to hurt either of you," she said. "Your brother attacked me. I didn't mean to knock him out, but he jumped on me from a wall."
"You're not with... them?" Flavius had slipped out of the ropes and was massaging the back of his head. And then he did a double-take. "That's dragon-scale, isn't it?" Mikansia nodded. "You killed it with that shiny sword, didn't you?"
Mikansia felt a little embarrassed. "Well, yes, but-"
"This is perfect! You can help the Empire!" Flavius enthused. "You got this far by your skills and equipment? Then you're the answer the Flame gave. You're its Spark."
"I don't know about being the Flame's Spark. I didn't come here to rescue empires from hordes of zombies," Mikansia said as gently as she could.
"It's not just hordes. Something worse. There's a gigantic shadow of... something.. I can't tell... that goes before the horde, killing all in its path. My father died fighting it. You may be the only one who can kill it," insisted Flavius.
"And if I see it I will do my best," reassured Mikansia. "But seeking it out distracts from my mission and may very well be suicide, all on its own."
The little boy opened his mouth to cry; Makirta appeared out of nowhere, speaking to the boy in his own tongue, Old Imperial, with a fluidity that downright unsettled Mikansia and Nomi. Makirta hugged the crying child to her chest and kept talking to him softly, eventually looking into his red eyes and asking... something. Whatever it was, the child said "Remus". Mikansia couldn't help but respond with scorn.
A little while later and the boys were passed out by the fire. Makirta walked up to Mikansia. ""We can't leave them here," she declared.
Mikansia couldn't hold it in. "You're not going to leave them?? That's amazing of you."
The coldness (and familiarity) of Makirta's laugh jarred Mikansia. "You've no idea what actually happened, do you? Why I just vanished out of your life?"
"You were going to the Havens, to go into The Void. You were going to abandon me," declared Mikansia. "So forgivbe me for finding your insistence we not leave a child behind more than a little hypocritical."
"I wasn't going to the Havens! I'd no intention. I chose to conceive you out of hope for a future, unmarked by The Lone Keep. You really think I'd just abandon you??" Mikansia's face hardened. "They took me when I stepped out for a moment. The Agents of the Keep grabbed me in the garden, right outside your window as you slept. And they put me in that enchantment that kept the Keep floating! Most don't last seven years in that hellish place. I lasted seventy. Do you know why? So that you didn't have to suffer the same thing, you ungrateful bitch! I saved you from a living hell you can't even begin to comprehend." Makirta laughed bitterly. "Oh, you're just like your father. You could never understand."
"You. Have no idea. What hell was visited upon me." There was cold fury in every syllable of Mikansia's words.
"I've seen much worse," said Makirta in a mocking sing-song that was all too familiar. She turned on her heel, leaving Mikansia with a cold laugh hanging in the air.
Mikansia stared into the flames. When she looked up she saw her father, Krakeru. The smile on his face was identical to Makirta's, Mikansia realized. They were siblings, after all. "That was impressive," Krakeru told Mikansia. "But I'm not surprised. It's in your blood, after all."
And Krakeru was gone.
Makirta told Nomi she was staying with Flavius and Remus; Nomi told Mikansia. Makirta was not there in the morning. Flavius and Remus were there to say good-bye. Mikansia finally perceived Flavius's resolve. "Please don't follow us, Flavius," she begged. "Stay here. Protect your brother."
"You really think I can do that? We'll be dead in a week if you don't do something, either from a lack of food or from whatever that huge thing is that killed my father. If I'm going to die I'd prefer to do that on my own two feet, trying to get you to do what's right."
Those were almost exactly Jabez's words, right before he died defending Mikansia from Krakeru. And now Jabez's memories and feelings came back to Mikansia: fear, exhaustion, but the strength that comes from knowing your place in the world and what that demanded, even if it meant death. "That... I respect that," Mikansia and Jabez said. Not that Jabez could be seen, but there was something inside of Mikansia now that wasn't just Mikansia, but was Jabez as well, and he was talking through her too. "If I seek out this thing, whatever it is, and kill it, will you promise to stay here?"
"Absolutely," Flavius said, fire in his eyes lighting the gloom.
"Then I promise to do it."
Flavius said something in Old Imperial, with a smile in his brown face that Mikansia knew hadn't existed since the invasion and the dying of the light.
WOOT FINALLY IN THE 30 CLUB!
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