Mando Monday: Chapter Fifteen

The Undertow: Session Thirty-Seven

 

The followers of Princess Zaina are now in retreat, thanks to a mysterious storm that ransacked the keep they were holed up in. Prince Alpertti was convinced not to abdicate the throne. And now all of Jabez's children are safe. That only leaves one last problem.

Lore Note: Vaeltaja (elves)  do not see themselves in terms of male and female, given how little reproduction happens in a vaeltajan lifespan. We decided that elves would instead classify themselves in terms of how much Grief a vaeltaja carried on their soul. To them the differences between even a Grief of B1 and B2 would be noticeable, although for simplicity's sake they'd stick to what we think would make four categories:

Grief B0-B3: mu (singular and multiple)/mul (possesive)

Grief B4-B7 dai/dail

Grief B8-9 ta/tal

B10, but not yet sailed into the Void tor/torl

Oh, and those who died? The good ones are referred to as the triumphant, both in noun and pronoun. The bad ones are the houseless, noun and pronoun.

 

Mikansia turned to Tyce, smiled warmly at him, and then punched him in the arm, laughing. "You just hand me the Sword of Uriel and don't tell me?? What's wrong with you?"

Tyce moved away, laughing. "I knew you'd figure it out event- OW! HEY NOW!" as Mikansia closed the distance. "Oh come now, it was funny!"

"Doesn't mean I'm not going to hurt you for it!" laughed Mikansia in mock grimness. After a minute they stopped goofing around. "Why did you come here, Tyce? Nice as it is to see you."

"A lot is about to happen," Tyce said sadly. "And I know you'll want to be in on it." Tyce held out Sydanelma to Mikansia, who took it with raised eyebrows. "Toivol got to the Grotto just a moment after you left with Sydanelma. The triumphant passed in peace."

"Triumphant indeed," Mikansia said, staring at the blade. "Not that I mind, but why did you bring it back to me?"

"Because Nomi is in grave danger," Tyce said seriously.

"Ta was fine when I left! What happened?"

"... a lot. Nomi needs you. There's more coming too, so we can't be there too long."

"Zaina," Mikansia whispered. Tyce nodded. "Let's get Nomi," said Mikansia, cutting a hole into Dream with Sydanelma.

Ta cut to Constantine's bedroom, only to almost step on Constantine's unblinking face. Mikansia drew back. There was blood sprayed all around like an awful painting. Despite talself Mikansia checked Constantine's pulse, but given the gash in his throat...

Fish was leaning against the door, stomach held together by his shaking arms. Mikansia ran over and helped the injured dwarf to his feet. "What happened here? Where's Nomi?"

Fish coughed up blood. "Cou... coup. Aloysius. Came out of nowhere. Nomi... down the hall."

Mikansia turned to Tyce, who had just appeared. "Help me get him up?"

Tyce nodded sadly. "I'm not here for him, but I am here for you." And they pulled Fish up. Mikansia opened the door... well shoved it open... to find dozens of human corpses littering the hall. Picking their way gingerly down the hall, they finally found Nomi leaning against a wall, surrounded by corpses, covered in their blood.

The look in Nomi's eyes broke Mikansia's heart. Ta ran to Nomi, wrapping ta in tal arms. Nomi had run out of tears; tal cries came in barking fits. "He's... he's gone. Constantine. Gone... gone... gone... gone..."

Mikansia's tears spoke for Nomi's dry eyes.

And then time froze.

Mikansia turned to Tyce. "Was that you?"

Tyce looked sick. "You missed it. Just now."

"Missed what-" but Mikansia could feel it now. Something was wrong with the world. Very very wrong. Someone was Yetekaida: the dark elf messiah, the one who would call the Nameless to devour the world. "Zaina. It's done. Zaina finally did it."

"That was always going to happen. Once the Lone Keep had fallen it was just a matter of time before someone used the information they'd suppressed. But this isn't just anybody, this is Zaina," said Tyce.

"What do I need to do?" asked Mikansia, not missing a beat.

"We can send twelve legions of angels, but that's the blunt hammer approach. We'd end creation if we did that.  This really may kill you to do, Mikansia."

That didn't make Mikansia pause. 

"There are others who we could find to do this," said Tyce. "Had it been six months ago this would have been suicide for you and I would never have asked. But it's not now. But that doesn't mean-"

"It's Zaina. I can't let that... thing... continue on like this. Not after killing Yngvar. And Santeri. And wrecking Kotae Mah. It's gone on long enough. I need to do this. It's my fate. What do we need to do?"

"You'll need to use the Sword of Uriel, which won't work with you, not without charging it up. The person who the sword will awaken for will not be here for a few more centuries yet. So we'll have to give the sword a boost. But first, we need to get Nomi and Fish somewhere safe."

Mikansia nodded. And Time returned. Nomi gave Mikansia an odd look. "What's wrong?"

"We... we don't have a lot of time. So you'll need to trust me." Nomi nodded. "You'll be needing this." 

Nomi batted Sydanelma away as Mikansia held it out to ta. "No. NO. What are you doing? If there's trouble you'll need that," stammered Nomi.

"Not where I'm going."

"What happened??"

"There's not enough time. And there's no one else I'd trust this to. No one else that is family. Just you." 

Nomi took a moment to reply, eyes filled with emotion. "It's nice to feel wanted."

Where do you want to go?" asked Tyce, as gently as he could.

"I.. I... take me to Anneli. Take me to my baby sister."

They were on a beach, black skies and water invaded by the warm glow of a camp fire. A spit hovered above the fire; meat was being basted by a human. Sitting acrost from them was an elf who resembled Olivia the Thunderer more than Nomi.

***

Mikansia and Tyce were in Dream, Nomi, Fish, and Sydanelma behind them. "So how do we charge the Sword of Uriel?" asked Mikansia.

"I apologize in advance." Tyce did not look happy, not one bit.

"For what?"

"I really can't prepare-"

Tyce didn't even finish before he shoved Mikansia.

Down.

Down.

Down.

This was a darkness that can never be explained. Only experienced. Mikansia could feel someone, somethings that were there but-

A flash of memories overwhelmed Mikansia. Facing the Creature from Dream.  Losing Ensio. And Dale. Failing to understand Akseli, holding the triumphant in tal arms until there was only dust. Being raped by tal father. Watching Yngvar fall to the ground, neck first. And more. And more. And more. Over. And over. And over. Mikansia was in each moment, all at once Through the horror and pain and guilt and anger and hollowness of drinking talself into a stupor in Elfwatch Mikansia felt that the Somethings were watching, enjoying the anguish ta felt, as if it was a play they were watching, as if they were completely unaware a real person was experiencing these things! Mikansia was an object for their amusement. The last thing Mikansia remembered was the Sword of Uriel being in tal hand, growing ever more heavy.

Mikansia found talself in Tyce's arms. Ta burned a bit, touching Tyce, having absorbed some of the fell energy of The Nameless. But Mikansia didn't care and snuggled into Tyce's arms, where ta was safe. Mikansia looked up: Akseli, Yngvar, Ensio, and Dale were beaming at ta. They helped Mikansia to tal feet. The Sword of Uriel was vibrating in pain, heavier than any sword had any right to be, causing Mikansia's arm to go numb.

Ta was breathing water.

There was an enormous Flame behind Mikansia, so bright that no shadow could ever exist near it. The Flame shifted and changed before Mikansia's eyes, calming and soothing ta, helping ta come back to a peace ta had only recently thought was possibly... and more. So. Much. More. 

And the fuligin sword hungered for its touch. That hunger ran up the blade and into Mikansia, a piercing pain that spoke of the loss of all that was good, peaceful, kind... but not hope. Hope remained. Always to hope for restoral in the face of complete loss, that was the Sword of Uriel's fate, until the end of the world, when all would be made new again.

Akseli, Yngvar, Ensio and Dale picked up the end of the Sword and helped Mikansia walk it to the Flame. The blade entered the Flame.

Mikansia found talself atop a mountain. The sky was blue once more, the sun beat down fiercely. Standing at the edge, looking down, was a young human woman... with gray skin and bleach blonde hair. When she turned around eyes hollow with pain greeted Mikansia. For a moment Mikansia couldn't recognize her. 

But Simone's chin had not changed.

"Mi... Mikansia??" Simone came up to Mikansia, dumbfounded. "Where have you been, after all this time??"

"I've always been here," Mikansia found talself saying.

Simone began to sob; Mikansia took her into tal arms. "I've felt so alone!" Simone cried. "I can't.. I've not been back to the Gate since you left and I... I..."

"Your time is not up yet. You needn't be alone," reassured Mikansia.

"Why did you leave???" came ripping out of Simone's fragile frame.

"Because it was my time. I had to protect you, protect everyone. I had to keep you safe. So I did what I knew I had to do."

"But I miss you," shrieked Simone. "Why can't you be here???"

"But I am. And you can come see me. You can come to the Gate. I'll be waiting," promised Mikansia.

"I.. I will see you again. Tonight." declared Simone, eyes red, body shaking like a leaf.

Mikansia stroked Simone's precious face, stained with tears. "Yes, yes you will. Go live. Please. I'll see you again."

"Pr-promise?"

Looking into those eyes Mikansia said only what ta thought to be true.

And Mikansia was back before the Flame. The Sword was light as a feather, shining with an intensity equal to the Flame before ta; Akseli, Yngvar, Ensio, and Dale were positively corporeal in its light. Mikansia held the Sword of Uriel aloft, marveling at it.

"Ready to go kick Zaina's ass?" asked Yngvar.

And they were now in the main piazza of Kotae Mah. Prince Alpertti lay before  Mikansia and-

-Akseli, Yngvar, Dale, and Ensio were next to Mikansia. Solid. Corporeal, in the flesh, bathing in the light of the Sword of Uriel. Mikansia laughed for utter joy. "What, you thought we'd let you do this part alone?" asked Yngvar. 

Standing before the injured Prince Alpertti was what... remained... of Zaina. Eyes glowing, skin becoming transparent. Shadowy impressions of tentacles glowing out of its back. "This... this this is impossible!" it said in a voice that reminded Mikansia of the sucking sound a boot makes being pulled loose of mud. The skies rumbled in time with the voice. Mikansia looked up.

It was an army of Nameless.

The Music the Nameless emitted should have been enough to tear the whole planet apart.

Silence. As a positive force.

The Sword of Uriel would not be denied in the joy of fulfillment.

Zaina charged and what was left of it howled with the Nameless.

"Zaina, this ends, now." The Sword swung once. Not even dust was left. For one second Mikansia realized that Prince Alpertti was gaping at ta.

Akseli, Yngvar, Ensio, and Dale rose into the air. They grabbed Mikansia. "We'll give you a lift. Sound good?"asked Akseli.

"Thought you'd never ask," said Mikansia warmly, overjoyed by Silence. This was how it was always supposed to be, what ta had always needed, but had never had the words. And here they were, around here. The time had come.

The inhabitants of Heranyt, to this day, talk about what they saw in that moment. A V-formation of light so bright it hurt to look at sailed against the hundreds of Nameless that had come to Kotae Mah. The first explosion was the first one talked about the most, because no single explosion could be seen after that. The Nameless nearest the Kotae Mah vanished in a blast of light that washed over the planet like the caress a parent gives to their child. And then the other Nameless went up in a series of gentle blasts that happened so quickly it was all one incredible, overwhelming, gentle light. Some vaeltaja say they saw Olivia the Thunder at one wing of the flying formation. For whatever reason nobody doubted it.

There was no shadow for three hours.

Mikansia, for the triumphant's part, floated in light. The triumphant watched as the Sword of Uriel fell, given that Mikansia had no solid hands to hold it with. 

The Sword fell.

And fell.

And fell.

Glowing with the friction of re-entry, The Sword of Uriel entered a well in the City of Vigilance, nestled in the northern Etranger Mountains.

It came to a ringing rest in an anvil.

Which rested atop Uriel the Archangel.

Who will remain asleep until the time comes for him to arise and fight the Arch-Demon Eous once again, in the Armageddon to come.

But that time is not here. Not yet.

But all times are now in the face of the Flame, which is ever the same and ever-changing.

Death is a Patient Master: Session Two

 

Aria, Ember, Galina, and Wiztiyc the minotaur went into The Beautiful Caves to take out a group of orcs that were sitting outside of Ilona. What they found instead was a cult of goblins, possessed by a rot god; Aria was possessed by this rot god, temporarily. Beaten and scared the group retreated back to the surface, only to find the orcs had been trying to besiege the goblins. An alliance was promptly formed.

The sun came up, as it always did. The orc sentries relaxed, even if only a little; goblins were afraid of sunlight. As much as orcs loved battle even they did not care much for their foe, for these goblins worked for the rot god. They were stronger, faster, meaner, more intelligent. With day the orcs could continue their scouting, which had been continuously interrupted by the falling of the sun. Their backs were turned when the goblins came pouring out of the Caves like fetid water out of a sewage pipe. The goblins washed over the surprised orcs, leaving blood and corpses where once were living bodies.

Ember, who was just waking up, heard the commotion. He blinked in disbelief; how were goblins out in broad daylight? The energy comeing from these goblins, which Ember could see with his arcane sight, was even stranger. Bits of Aria's aura were now in the eldritch strings that the rot god was using to boost the goblins. Looking at how the goblins were being strengthened by the rot god's aura Ember came to the realization that aura is a sort of language. Life is communicated in the way the object could best receive it. But what if one confused this language, confused the recipient? Ember realized he could do that. And so he did. He reached out to as many of the rampaging super goblins as he could and scrambled their ability to "hear" the rot god. He couldn't do it for long, but one doesn't need long for a group of terrified and confused creatures to be slaughtered. The eyes of the rot god were upon Ember; he could feel the gaze boring into him. No matter what Ember did he couldn't make the eyes go away. They hung in the air, as if they were purple smoke.

Galina and Aria had run up to one of the goblins who hadn't been slaughtered and-

It had Aria's eyes. Aria's eyes were staring back at her... and Aria found she couldn't see anything else. "What... what is this, Galina?"

An orc came running, scimitar out. Galina interposed herself between the goblin and orc. "No! Keep this one, for questioning! Back off! Go!" Growling, the orc went back to a campfire and sat down, kicking the campfire before him. Galina turned back to the goblin and looked at its aura; it thought of Aria as a mother! It looked at Aria with no small amount of adoration as it sat there, hogtied. Aria's revulsion was total. She'd hope the look on its face was-

"Aria... Aria...! Return to me" boomed the goblin. Who returned to his nervous giggling a moment later.

Galina and Aria stared, horrified. And yet fascinated.

Wiztiyc was staring at a fresh orc corpse. No one was looking. Galina and Aria were squabbling with some goblin, the orcs were driving off the rest of the goblins, Ember was just staring into space... the orc's arm looked so good. Just one nibble... it had to taste like chicken. Shaking, Wiztiyc picked up a severed orc arm. It loomed in his vision, blotting out all else.

The arm tasted like pork, raw.

No, that couldn't be right.

Wiztiyc knew orcs tasted like chicken and he'd had a hankering for months. There was a cooking fire just over there. Maybe, just maybe...

The orc shouts didn't matter. Not anymore.

The wind fled his lungs.

Just reach

REACH

"Mmmph.... chick- OOMPH!"

Ember didn't want to stop looking at The Eyes; he was scared they would become a face and the face would become a body and the body would come after him, if he so much as turned his back. But Ember could still hear things and there was orc shouting and Wiztiyc grunting in pain. Ember wrenched his gaze away.

And then looked back.

The eyes had not grown into a face. There was that much, at least.

Wiztiyc's grunts were fading under the thick thudding of orcish fists. The orc leader, impossibly beautiful sword strapped to his waste, appeared at Ember's side. He was watching with amusement, Ember knew.... maybe that could be turned, somehow. So Ember reached into the web of relationships in the orc leader's heart. Ember found the orc's relationship to Wiztiyc, which was... neutral, at best.. and forced it into the center of the orc leader's being.

Well, tried to anyway.

The orc leader's web was frozen into a hierarchical configuration. Forcing him to love Wiztiyc like a brother meant breaking and reforming that configuration. And the eyes were still watching, even here, even while Ember was deep within the orc leader's soul. Fright turned to fury; Ember pushed on the hierarchical web with all his strength.

The orc's eyes narrowed in the fury forced upon him. Running over to the pile of orcs and minotaur, he began breaking necks and ruining bodies. Pulling what was left off of Wiztiyc, the orc leader asked "You get in battle?"

"Well, yes," lied Wiztiyc.

The orc leader grabbed the arm from Wiztiyc. And took a big bite out of his fallen compatriot. The other orcs gawked in astonishment. with a gulp the orc leader clapped Wiztiyc on the shoulder and returned the arm to the minotaur. "Spoils sacred. Eat, friend, eat!"

Aria and Galina walked up to Ember and Wiztiyc, who was greedily chomping down the rest of the orc arm before the orc leader changed his mind. "I'm going back in," Aria declared. "I need to know why this... thing.. this god has done..." she gestured at the goblin in disgust and terror. "I would appreciate the company."

"Mmph. In a minute. Earned this," grunted Wiztiyc, as he pulled more flesh off his grizzly trophy.

The four returned to the cavern where Aria had been possessed by the rot god. The torchlight revealed more objects in the unreal feces. Everyone started collecting the gold they had found. But Galina was the only one to find anything other than small handfuls of gold: a chipped diamond, shining crooked rainbows in the light of her torch. 

Aria began to look at the chute she had seen before, where she knew that the rot god waited. She felt the pull again and... and...

The floor opened beneath Aria.

Darkness.

Darkness.

Darkness.

WHUMP

Aria grabbed whatever it was she'd bounced off of, even though her fingers tore. There wasn't time to think; she pulled herself up in a hurry. She was in pitch black, true darkness. Aria felt out the small island she'd found in this sea of fuligin she'd discovered.

"Why does it matter that I died?" asked Tonya's voice, without hardly a ripple in the darkness. "People die all the time, violently even. They're hanged, cut open, starve, jump off of bridges. Death is normal. So why does my death upset you so much?"

"HELP!" Aria called upward into the absolute darkness. "I'm down here! I'm alright, but it was a long drop!"

Back up in the cavern of shit and gold Galina, Ember, and Wiztiyc were standing by the new hole in the floor, trying to figure out a way down after Aria. They heard Aria calling out just as they were done splicing their ropes together. Ember looked down and saw the rot god's presence centered next to Aria. Terrified, he shouted down. "Hang on, we're coming for you!"

Wiztiyc went down first, torch in hand. The light could be seen by Aria who looked over-

-Tonya was hanging in the air, neck broken at a right angle, rotting eyes staring at Aria with a sight that she could not accept. She screamed and almost jumped off her island, heels in the infinite abyss.  Wobbling, Aria forced herself back to the island, facing the floating corpse.

"Why do I sadden you so?" croaked the floating Tonya. "Is that you think you caused it? You've had to kill others before, have you not? Is death acceptable so long as you're not responsible for it?"

Wiztiyc was there, torch in hand, rope around waist, reaching out. Tonya was gone.

A few exhausting tens of minutes later and Aria was back with the group. The rot god's aura had retreated a bit, allowing Ember a little bit of a breather; he could feel there were spells living in this complex, somewhere. And they were calling to him. "There is a spell I can find, if you'll help me. I can use it to help us in the future." Everyone took a moment, and then nodded. "Thank you," Ember said. Wiztiyc went to the passageway that led back towards the surface and threw their rope high, managing to catch it a on something in the gloom. 

The group pulled themselves up into the bright sun. The structures of an ancient civilization greeted them. Stone cubes with curious scrapings acrost the stone. But Ember didn't care to look. All he saw was the well; another way underground. The group, hungry and exhausted, lowered the trembling Ember down into the well.

The Eyes followed him.

The well broke off into a small room, covered in the usual shit, to Ember's right, and a rough shaft to Ember's left. After a second Ember could hear it: a low buzzing noise. It didn't stay low for long. Gigantic hornets, the size of Ember's forearm. But Ember saw the truth, even with the Eyes distracting him. These were what real hornets were imitating. This energy of rage... Ember could connect with it. He reached out, in his fear of The Eyes, in his helpless rage against them, and invited these hornets, the real hornets, into him. His soul. His very essence. Their energy filled Ember with warmth. The Eyes were still there. Ember was still afraid of them. But Ember didn't care.

They pulled Ember back up, out of the well. From beyond the ruins they heard the sounds of conflict; human and orc voices could be heard. Galina ran ahead... to witness what she hated most in the world: a nobleman leading. He sat atop his horse, full plate shining in the sun...

That's not what Ember saw. The man in shining armor, blonde-haired and blue-eyed, was an apparition, used to cover Ember's old foe, Lord Reynolds! Ember immediately hid himself in the crowd; if he was caught by his former mentor there'd be little he could do to defend himself.  

Galina, however did not hide from the prancing jackass she saw. "There's something worse under the ruins! The orcs were helping us fight it!"

"Something worse than orcs exists?" asked Lord Reynolds, incredulous. 

"A rot god, for one, you shiny fool!" spat Galina. The soldiers looked to their lord, but Lord Reynolds waved them off.

The orc leader came up to them. "We no enemies! Want rot god dead!"

"I see... I see..." Lord Reynolds rubbed his chiseled chin. "Would you be willing to come and help us eliminate this dark and heathen god?"

"Already trying to!" roared the orcs. 

"Then let us battle together!" cried Lord Reynolds, and all cheered except Wiztiyc, Ember, Galina, and Aria. They were in various stages of pain and exhaustion.

The orc leader strode up to Ember and Wiztiyc, clapping them on the shoulders: "Friends come! Kill rot god! We have numbers!"

"Yeah, I'd love to die today," quipped Wiztiyc. "No thanks."

The orc leader, shocked, looked to the others. Not one was able or willing. "Die for glory better than live as coward!"

"I dunno, I like living to spend my hard-earned cash, so you can keep the death, thanks," insisted Wiztiyc.

The orc leader was forced to like Ember and Wiztiyc, thanks to the spell Ember had cast on him. So he didn't have his orcs kill them.

Just beat them within an inch of their lives. And then left them there.

Somehow the quartet dragged themselves back to the town of Ilona, practically penniless.They found the town inhospitable, particularly as Lord Reynolds was clearly solving the problems they had not. Not that anyone was paying attention, as new visitors had come to town: a group of gith monks, said to come from the stars themselves. The week was spent ignored, injured, and trying desperately not to let their wounds become infected. Finally they'd had had enough. It was time to go.

Creditors followed Aria and Ember, yelling about unpaid debts that both swore they'd paid. Just as weapons were drawn, one of the yellow-skinned gith everyone had been raving about. "Will this cover them, friend?" asked the odd monk, holding out a few jewels. The creditor's eyes were like dinner plates. He left happy.

The monk drew near to Aria and Ember, who were stunned to silence. "There is a weapon in the Beautiful Caves that had killed Neizbezhnyy, the rot god also known as The Inevitable, once before. The goblins you've seen had originally brought it to kill Neizbezhnyy, but he had used it to enslave them. You will know it when you see it. Bring it back to this town and I'll find you. Your debt to me will be rectified then." Ember and Aria nodded, and went to talk to Galina and Wiztiyc.

Lord Reynold's white stallion came running up to the gate of Ilona, were the four stood, white fur turned pink.