Autarchy: Session Three

 

Traveling in the Void was not easy for Xellous and his family. The constant howl of the wind in the blackness was extremely stressful. The horribly bitter cold was extremely hard to deal with. But they were not alone; the ship came with a crew to man it, captained by the elf Sven. Their songs, good cheer, and amazing food helped Xellous, Kora, Threen, Gerard, and Lily make sense of their new surroundings. But good company while adjusting to new circumstances only goes so far. Lily hardly slept, which meant no one else did. And as big as the heated cabin the elves had prepared for them was it mattered little; it still felt cramped.

So when Sven told Xellous that their first port, a monastery of gith, wasn't responding to the hails of the elves, and that they'd need to go and check out the monastery, Xellous almost jumped up and down with excitement. He immediately volunteered to go with the elves. He ran back to the cabin to tell an exhausted Kora the news. She was not amused. "The children haven't slept. I've not slept. I need help and you're wanting to go gallivanting about?

"But your mother-"

"I. Need. You."

"Sweetie, they need me out there for my aura reading." Kora's face softened with an emotion that most men read as coming around to their point of view. Xellous was no different. "There's something wrong about this place and I can help them in a unique way," he explained as Kora looked over at Pyra, her fire bow that could blow up trees, but then looked back at Xellous. She nodded. "Thanks honey, I'll be back as soon as I can." Xellous walked out with a spring in his step.

The monastery was built into an asteroid, with lots of windows, balconies, and porches looking out into the dark brightness of the Void.  But the winds weren't any less for most of the monastery being indoors. The place was littered with the yellow bodies of the gith. There was a lot of blood as well, Xellous noticed as he came near one of the corpses. They had leathery yellow skin, ears that reminded Xellous of the elves he traveled with, and bald yellow heads with goatees.

Wait, Blood...

Xellous got out his kit and got to work, collecting the blood all spattered around for later enchanting use. He reactivated the blood and got it into a collection bottle. 

"What are you doing??" Xellous jumped. Tyce had come up out of nowhere. "There may still be whatever killed all these monks about and you're out collecting samples from the dead? Why would you do something so stupid, nevermind disrespectful?"

Xellous's cheeks flushed more than they already had been in the beyond bitter cold. "Okay! Uh, you're right. Completely right. I just.. I wanted to do something that felt a bit more normal. And this will be useful for enchanting, for later. Their deaths won't be in vain, at least in some small way. This... this feels normal. Collecting specimens and all that. And normal is really nice right now. I know how it looks, although that... yeah this wasn't a good idea."

Tyce's eyebrows, about the only thing that could be seen in the heavy coat given the humans by the elves, lowered. "None of this is normal. You're right. I'm sorry for snapping. I've just not found a way to help me adjust. It was unkind of me to be rude about what you've found that works."

"There's only one Telos," said Xellous with a laugh.

"Absolutely! I've never seen him upset with anyone. He's always been so gentle. Have you ever seen him upset?" asked Tyce.

"I've seen him afraid, but no, never upset," Xellous confirmed. "But he always seems to be so troubled, so laden down, so restricted. I wish I could help him with that. Help him be free."

"I don't think he wants to be free," Tyce said thoughtfully, sitting down next to Xellous. "You don't want to be free of Kora. It's why you married her. I suspect it's the same for Telos." Xellous and Tyce sat there a moment, leaning on the wall next to the corpse of the gith, staring out into the starry beauty of the Void. They stood up, still looking at the bright stars that illuminated the Void like holes in a black-out shade.

As Xellous stood a yellow gith landed where Xellous had been sitting. Xellous jumped back, surprised, but the monk's aura took him aback more: the gith's aura had been drained, almost completely. Kneeling next to the fallen monastic Xellous took some of his own aura and set it in the gith's chest, trying to get the monk's own aura to begin regnerating on its own. Memories from the gith flooded into Xellous's mind. Monstrous things with three heads, eyes, arms, and clawed fingers had descended upon the monastery, draining monks of their life energy, ripping others open and leaving them to die in the halls of their home.

While Xellous was examining and helping the gith Tyce rounded a corner and went down a hallway. Xellous head shouts and screeches from where Tyce had gone. Xellous picked up the gith, who hadn't yet stabilized, and ran. Tyce was locked in battle with one of the creatures that had ripped the monastery apart. It floated in the air before Tyce, hissing out between jagged fangs. Xellous could feel its rage, washing off in red waves. 

It was communicating in aura, in rage. It. Was. SHARN. From Can't Remember Name. Removed. So much REMOVED. THARIZDUN. Took everything. Flame. In Heranyt. Man in Gold. Telos. Attacked. Hurt. Drove off. We lost. Hurt. ALONE. KILL TELOS'S FRIENDS. KILL THEM ALL ALL OF THEM DIE.

Xellous threw himself between the red waves and Tyce. "No, no stop! We don't need to do this! Maybe there's a better way. Maybe Telos didn't know about Tharizdun. Maybe we can talk to him."

The look on Tyce's face stopped Xellous's heart. Tyce knew. Tyce knew. Approved.

Kora's scream could be heard over the howling of the wind.

Come join the Facebook group!

Autarchy: Session Two

 

Two years after the events of The Giggling Dark Xellous went to find Telos. He did so, but also met Xalmantra, the man who had originally ordered that Xellous's family be destroyed in the first place. Xellous had looked for Telos in order to get advice on using an Angel Arrow to make a weapon that could protect his family, as well as journeying to get a power source for Ikuinen Lampo that would assure their safety. With permission to build the weapon and a deal cut with the elves of Heranyt to get a Void Ship, Xellous is almost all set.

Xellous was eager to get to work, but Telos took him aside. "Xalmantra couldn't track you before. He still can't."

Xellous nodded. "He said as much, yes."

"But just because you can't see a stone doesn't mean you can't track the ripples it made when it got thrown into the pond."

"So he knows where my family is?" Xellous asked, feeling a little sick.

"Wouldn't you be curious if you just saw a pond send up water, for no reason?" Telos dropped a few pebbles in Xellous's hand. "For whenever you want to come back to this planet." He turned to leave.

"Is there really nothing you can do?" asked Xellous.

"Who is the most helpless in the universe?" asked Telos. Xellous shrugged. "The one with the most power. With power comes obligation." Telos's golden robes were a whirl in the howling blackness. And then he was gone. And so was Xellous.

Xellous was back in his barn. The aura was all wrong; the whole world felt tainted. Xellous made his way out of the barn as fast as he could; nothing seemed unusual with the farm. The front door slammed against the house as Xellous rushed in. Threen and Kora's laughter greeted his ears. So did Xalmantra's. He put his cup down and stood to greet Xellous. "Welcome home, friend! I hope you don't mind, but I thought I'd come and meet the family. I hope that's alright! I didn't want to intrude on this idyllic scene." Xellous managed a nicety somehow, but all the wrongness in the whole world was coming out of this entirely sincere man. Gerard, Xellous's two year old son, came running up to Xellous and jumped into his daddy's arms. "Oh, he's adorable!" cooed Xalmantra.

Finally Xellous found some words. "Would you mind taking a walk with me? Old friend?"

Xalmantra practically skipped out the front door after Xellous. "You really have it all, young man, " Xalmantra gushed. "Truly! Power, a beautiful family," he tickled Gerard's neck with tenderness, who snuggled harder into daddy, "Fame, and on top of it all you deserve every last bit of it."

"Thank you," was all that Xellous could manage.

"You've done so much. I'd really like your input on things whenever you feel ready. After all, who's the most powerless in the world?"

Xellous felt a sinking in his gut. "Why don't you tell me?"

"Oh, those with the most power," said Xalmantra, with a sadness in his yes that was eerily similar to Telos. "Any help one such as that can get is invaluable."

"I... I honestly don't know what to say." That was true.

"Well, think on it. Please. I really could use your help." Xalmantra clapped Xellous on the shoulder and vanished.

Gerard wanted to play, but Xellous barely heard him. Walking up to Kora Xellous pulled her aside, leaving a disappointed Gerard with Threen for a moment. "We need to leave." Kora sputtered in confusion. "Ernzen claimed to be a member of The Cursed of Xalmantra. That's him. That's Xalmantra."

Kora was ashen. "He's the one who-"

"Who wrecked our family. He's the one who gave the order. We need to leave. He's... the king? Of this whole planet."

"Yes, now. Let's get out of here. Did you find Telos?"

"I did! He's living in a palace Kora!"

Kora's brows furrowed and some color returned. "... Telos. He's living in a palace."

"Yup, with cloth of gold clothes."

Kora laughed so hard  she almost dropped their daughter Lily. "He must look so uncomfortable!"

"He does! So much!" They laughed and laughed, with Lily looking at the both of them with a serious confusion that was amusing to her parents, all on its own.

"So Telos is the king of his planet?" asked Kora.

"He is. He shouldn't have been here at all. A war could easily start over Telos being here."

Kora's smile was devious. "So we're solar criminals. We're king smugglers."

Xellous opened his mouth and shut it. "I mean-"

"WE'RE SMUGGLERS"

Xellous sighed. "Yes, dear. We're smugglers." 

Kora giggled. And then regained her composure. "We should get going." Xellous was still shaking his head as they walked into the house to gather everyone together.

Kora's jaw dropped when she saw the golden palace. As Telos came out to greet them she called out "KING SMUGGLERS FOREVEEEEEEEER!!!"

Telos laughed as he embraced Kora. "You all were smugglers, of a sort." Telos saw them into his palace, nodding at Xellous while he cooed at Lily, who was fast asleep in her mother's arms.

Xellous refused to let the elves see his work until he'd finished it all; he didn't want them changing the deal and keeping him there. The elves wanted a few magical swords that they would use with certain races they deemed unworthy of being killed with elven weapons. Xellous made both items relatively easily and then turned to his pistol and the Angel Arrow. When he emerged a few days later Xellous proudly carried  the pistol to Telos. Telos held it with fear. "Xellous, you could rip a hole in the fabric of the universe with this. If you miss your target you could punch a hole in time." Xellous blanched. "You should only use this weapon once. Anything more than that and everything in the universe would come for you. I'm sorry but I... I can't advise you to use this even that many times. Even for your family. Don't use this unless literally everything rests on you doing so."

Xellous hid it away, profoundly shaken.

Become a Patron!

Come join the Facebook Group!

Autarchy: Session One

Xellous couldn't wait any longer. Two years of rebuilding, raising Gerard, caring for Kora in her second pregnancy, helping rebuild their homeland Khouria, training... all while look at it. The motherload. The arrow that the angel Raphael had left him. Xellous had been told that he would know when to use the arrow. And for the last two years Xellous had stared at it on his mantle, hoping the day would come when he would know.

So he brought Ikuinen Lampo, the star whose sponsorship made him a Celestial Knight and capable of the manipulating aura, the life energy of each and every creature. Kora came along as well, swaddled baby in her arms. "I want to use the Angel Arrow to power up this" Xellous told them, taking out the khen-zai pistol he'd lifted off one of their footsoldiers over two years ago. "With the Angel Arrow I can make this pistol capable of hurting gods. Gods. We would have the firepower to destroy anything that attacked us. The khen-zai are still out there and we have to fight back. And the pistol is only the beginning!"

Xellous was going to say more, bu the look on Lampo's face made him stop. "That's... that's blasphemous"she said, face screwed up in disgust.

Xellous was taken aback. "What do you mean? I'm trying to protect us! I want us to be safe."

"But this wasn't... this isn't just any object" Lampo stammered. "This is a gift from Heaven itself. It's not an object in the way you think of it. The Angel Arrow is a sign, a gift. Look at all the myths of Pyheeta about tampering with Heaven."

Xellhous thought through all the stories he'd heard about during his stay at Ikuinen Lampo's Observatory. All those people who had messed with Heaven, for whatever reason, wound up cursed. But this was different. Right? "You may have a point. What do you think, Kora?"

Kora shrugged and shifted her weight, holding the sleeping infant. "I'm definitely with Lampo. This isn't just anything, it's a gift. I understand what you're saying, where you're coming from, about wanting to protect us. It is warranted, given what's out there. The Angel's Arrow would certainly accomplish that goal."

Xellous nodded. "That's all I care about. But I don't want to be cursed either. Telos would know what to do with this."

"But honey, how would you do that? It's been two years. Telos is on another planet. It's not like we can walk to the next farm or anything!" quipped Kora.

"Ikuinen Lampo, you're always connected to your metal, regardless of where it is, right?" asked Xellous. Lampo nodded. "Well, Telos has a suit of armor made from your metal. And I can shift to where he is, courtesy of some modifications I made to my wedding band, courtesy of that khen-zai corpse we've been keeping around," Xellous said, brandishing the ring on his left hand. "I just need to know where he is." Lampo nodded. She focused for a few seconds, and then touched Xellous on the shoulder. "I'll be back as soon as I can" Xellous promised.

A few seconds later and Xellous was standing in a bright field. Before him loomed a palace of solid gold. The energy of the field was completely malleable and could respond to his thoughts, even without the aura bending. But the palace was completely immovable: a fixed aura in... whatever this place was. The golden gates swung open at the slightest of touch. The silence was only broken by Xellous's footfalls.

All of a sudden a man in plain robes appeared next to him. "Well hello there!"

Xellous turned to face him. "Hello!"

The stranger fell in beside Xellous and they began walking down a hallway of reflective gold. "I'm looking for Telos, how about you?" asked the man.

"I'm here to see Telos as well. What's your name?"

"Xalmantra. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Xellous, Celestial Knight."

Xalmantra. It had been a very long time since Xellous had heard that name. Years ago Ernzen, the man who had sent flammeous lads against Xellous's family, had identified himself as the last of "The Cursed of Xalmantra". Xellous had never found a lead after that and was more concerned about looking for Kora, who had been kidnapped by the khen-zai. But Xellous had never forgotten. "How're the flammeous lads treating you, Xalmantra?" he asked coolly.

"Oh, I've questions for you too," chuckled Xalmantra "But first: Telos."

"Right here, Xalmantra". Xellous and Xalmantra turned around. Telos could barely be made out in his reflective golden robes. His retinue were clothed the same way. Xellous finally noticed that all the surfaces  were totally refective: they all were standing in an ever-reflecting series of golden surfaces. He could finally feel the intended effect: floating in an eternal sea of gold. All of them, together, were in an ocean of light. And telos was the anchor point.

Xalmantra bowed to Telos. "It is wonderful to see you again, Autarch of Heranyt! It has been some time since you were last here and available to visitors."

Telos returned the bow. "Always a pleasure, Autarch of Pyheeta. Xellous here is one of your patrons."

"Ah, yes the intrepid young Xellous, Celestial Knight! Hero of Khouria, twice over! Friend of Angels, destroyer of Nameless! Enemy of the godless khen-zai" crowed Xalmantra. He turned to Xellous. "It's such a shame. Normally I can locate all life on my planet... but I couldn't find you, to lend you aid, while all these things were happening to you." While he was talking Xalmantra began to prod Xellous's aura...

Xalmantra was an aura bender.

That was supposed to be unique to Xellous.

"Like what you're seeing?" Xellous asked Xalmantra.

"Oh yes," Xalmantra said, a surprised delight on his face. "A fellow aura bender! I've never met another. That must mean you've made quite the impression on a star. I'm most impressed." Xellous suppressed a shudder. Xalmantra was many times more powerful than Xellous and could crush him like a grape. So he let Xalmantra poke around as he wished.

Xalmantra turned back to Telos. "He certainly couldn't have masked his aura from someone like me, no matter how impressive he is.Only another autarch could ahve hidden his movements so completely. It would have almost destroyed him to do so, but anything's possible. Still. That breaks so many laws of the Sopusoin System it makes my head spin." Xalmantra smiled a thin lipped grimace at Telos. "Know anyone who would fit that bill?"

"If I see any autarchs breaking Sopusoin Law I'll let them know" Telos responded icily.

Xalmantra threw back his head and laughed. "Right you are! What a notion, an autarch interfering with the domain of another! I suppose I'll just have to keep looking. And now I must take my leave." He turned to Xellous. "I'll be seeing you very soon."

Xalmantra vanished.

Telos shook his head. "That was... unpleasant. Unlike seeing you, my friend!" The two men embraced; one was in simple farm clothes, the other in pure ever reflective gold. Neither cared."What can I help you with?" Telos asked warmly.

"I need advice and a drink with an old friend. Maybe a ship to sail the Void. Nothing much."

Telos chuckled. "Oh, is that all? Such simple desires! What advice do you seek? I'll do what I can."

Xellous pulled out the Angel Arrow. A man in Telos's retinue gasped. "I want to use this as an antecedent," Xellous said.

Telos dismissed all of his retinue but the man who gasped. "That is not a conversation to be had in our halls. Let us adjourn elsewhere." They made their way, floating on solid ground. Telos tapped a reflection and it slide aside to a myriad of reflections right next to Telos, Xellous, and the man who came with them. "This is Tyce," Telos said. "He's my chief bodyguard."

Xellous could tell they were in a smaller infinity. A table and chairs radiated in all directions. Telos touched one of the seats so Xellous could sit there. "Now, what you're asking for is very serious. What are your intentions?"

"I'm horribly outgunned. The flammeous lads, the khen-zai, and now Xalmantra... I need to protect my family. I know I've not been attacked in two years, but it's coming. And we need to travel to that junkyard planet we had been told about to get a generator for Ikuinen Lampo. So that way we can bring the fight to the khen-zai and everyone else connected to them. And if I use this arrow as an antecedent... I can do that. And if that's not lawful, good, can you help me find something that does?"

"Did you not see that conversation out there?? I can't directly intervene. Other lives depend on my neutrality, no matter how much of a lie that neutrality is. But... but I can call on an old friend. Stay right here." Telos got up and walked into a newly appeared hallway of infinities.

After a minute of awkward silence Tyce said something. "I've heard a lot about you. Your kindness... nobility... but this?? This is blasphemous. Or, at least I think it is. Please help me. I want to understand."

"I'll try. Imagine if you were a chef. And one day you get an ingredient that could just end hunger, forever. Now, wherever you got that ingredient from, wouldn't you at least think about it? Why wouldn't you use it?"

Tyce's jaw worked. "That's a... terrible analogy! You can't compare an Angel's Arrow to... too..." Tyce sat back, speechless.

Telos came back a few minutes later with a man in a white robe. "My old friend, Raphael the Archangel. Tyce, let's go discuss how on earth he got past the help without a proper greeting!" They were gone.

Raphael radiated calm power. "I was told you had questions about the arrow I'd given you and how you wished to use it as an antecedent. What are your intentions Xellous, Celestial Knight?"

Xellous scratched his head. "The world around me is so much bigger than I thought. And I want my family to be safe I'm about to take them on something strange and unusual and I want them to be safe. They definitely won't be safe without me, but now they have to be safe with me."

"You don't care about the power this thing could give you?"

Xellous looked confused. "Well, of course I do!"

"What would you use that power for?"

"To protect my family!" Xellous was even more confused.

Raphael smiled. He clapped Xellous on the shoulder. "Go in peace. You're the first person to ever take the trouble to find me and ask in person. You have my blessing."

And Raphael was gone.

Telos and Tyce, who looked greatly chastened, re-entered. "Got what you need?" Xellous nodded. "Then we should get you the rest of what you need, like a ship."

"And a drink."

Telos laughed. "Twist my arm why don't you?" He pushed in another wall and they were looking out into a freezing, howling, eternal night. Glowing ebony-skinned figures tended ships with white wood, white sails. Telos walked up to one of the glowing midnight folks and had what was undoubtedly a friendly conversation. He came back to Xellous. "You won't let me pay, will you?" Xellous shook his head. "Well, I told them you were an enchanter. They'd like some items enchanted in the human manner. It will allows them to be more versatile in their eternal war with the Nameless."

"I'd be more than happy to! Now, how about that drink, before I get to work?"

"Have the last two years been that bad, that you have to drink them away?"

Xellous laughed and shook his head. "Well, you weren't there. A lot's changed."

There was a beat where only the wind made any noise.

"I can't go with you, Xellous" said Telos over the wind. "Xalmantra won't stop watching. I can feel his spies, waiting on the edges, to report anything they see. Tyce, however, isn't bound to the laws that I am. With power comes more laws, more rules, more things to restrain it. He'll go with you. Is that acceptable?"

"I... I don't think Tyce likes me very much"

Telos chuckled. "Oh, he's young. He's not seen what you have. Few have. This will be good for him. Besides: if I tell him to he'll go."

"Ah, the power of an autarch," Xellous said with a mocking twinkle.

"Power indeed!" Telos shook his head. "I don't feel particularly powerful, most days. That drink you keep talking about may change that, for just a little bit."

Become a Patron! 

Come join the Facebook page!

Autarchy: Session Zero

So this is a sequel to The Giggling Dark. If you're getting here fresh, I really recommend getting into that first. In it Xellous goes from child prodigy enchanter to the most promising Celestial Knight ever seen on the planet Pyheeta, fighting against the seemingly endlessly massive race of khen-zai. He also got mixed up in the khen-zai's war against the eldritch horrors known as The Nameless, earning the admiration of not just the very stars in the heavens but the celestial choirs as well.

It's two years later. Xellous and his wife, Kora, have had a child of their own. The region of Khouria is well on its way to recovering from the ravages of the Nameless and the khen-zai have not been seen since the appearance of Raphael the Archangel. And yet Xellous is not satisfied. The khen-zai are still out there. Xellous knows the day will come when the khen-zai will return; he did kill one of the top members of their race, not to mention humiliate another, personally.

So even though Xellous has relaxed he has not been idle. He has continued to practice the mysterious power of Aura Bending, an ability that is unique to him as a Celestial Knight. While the he known as the hero that saved Khouria he has tried to stay away from being the leader of the region with every last of energy that he has. Because he knows someday he will have to leave.

That day has come.

It's time to find Telos, the mysterious friend from another planet who helped him achieve his goals the last time.

It's time to get back to work.

Become a Patron!