...Empyrean Chess...

"Leap too soon and you'll fall too far."

I had relatively little to do for the next week, more out of the blatancy that I was not myself rather than any kindness from Relee. All the better, perhaps, since I can barely recall that time. Danna found me to be poor company, confessing weeks later that I hardly spoke with any enthusiasm if I held conversation at all. I know this to be true since, when the shugo did arrive with my letter, well, I hardly recall. Something of that import should have left an impression on me but I can say very little on the event. There was no tremor of anxiety or thrill when I opened it to see I had been confirmed as a talented cleric, my military rank raised. The templar who ran my trial had decided that, while I was green in aerial battles and grew emotional, I followed through and tried new strategies. He had no criticisms about my groundwork, saying I had been a positive member on the team. All of Bloodwings was elated, and I have some recollection of the party that night. Namely of my father's brief presence, the food, and being slightly drunk that I curled up on the couch with D'ni. He came to congratulate me and catch up. Danna said he left when I fell asleep on his shoulder.

I guess I should also mention Kveer, my new pet. All daeva that Sanctum deems of notable skill are awarded a grypho egg. In many towns, there are retired daevas with a faithful gryphon by their side. It's funny to look at Kveer since it will be many decades before he grows into his beak, feathers to change to red and for his wings to fully develop. He's noisy and selective of his diet, but gryphos are very keen to twinges in aether and can alert you to nearby Asmodians. Squee wasn't sure what to make of the addition for a few days, but the two ended up bouncing around my room and would curl up together on the bed each night.

It was a long while before I felt like myself again. The new influx of mission requests was a help. Sanctum was relentless with using me that I could barely find time for myself anymore. Caring for people made me jump back into being a cleric and left little time to muse on Sirrus. There would come moments that I was reminded of him, like when an assassin popped out of hide to kill me and I worried for the first second that it would be the general. The worst was when I woke up in a cold sweat, my throat pained as if the dream dagger had left a real wound.

Missions were long and intensive, and reprieves were cut short by emergency call-to-arms when the chantra dredgion would attack our fortresses. On the off chance I had no groups to assist, fortresses to defend, Asmodians to hunt or any of the other things I was constantly doing, I was allowed to spend my time reading classified documents. The mark on my legion cape denoting my rank would permit me to pass the guards of the Sanctum Library. In there were documents from before the Cataclysm, of theories, prized pieces of literature or information considered dangerous if made public knowledge. I found texts about the first explorations of the Abyss, when we first dared to seize the fortresses there and learning about the artifacts used to defend them. There were books newly published, sitting on the shelf without dust, going on for pages of how one of the dragon lords had harnessed Siel's power of time, and charting the elite teams that explored this balaur-infested future that was named by the author as, Dark Poeta. Beside it were books of the other dragon lords, followed by an empty shelf since Rudra Stormwing was still breathing.

With my new missions, I met a wide range of people, from other brigade generals to experts on all things Asmodian or Balaur. One of which was Pilomemnes. Quite the awkward fellow, but Sanctum took advantage of his infatuation with the Balaur that he was an expert on their history. It was he who was cited in the current volumes on Stormwing because it was his knowledge of Balaur rites that broke Isbariya's seal. I don't know his own history, but he must certainly be old, because I came across his name elsewhere in the library. It was a small book with yellowed pages, but it spoke of the raids to capture the Abyssal fortresses for the first time, of exploring the depths of the stone and routing the balaur out. It was a dreary text, but it was so short that I managed through it, and I must say it was perhaps the one piece of literature I needed. In his explorations of Siel East and West, he came across these metal pieces that no one else had paid any mind to. Being fascinated as he was by our enemies, he refused to let anything be discarded, and realized that they were meant to be together. His theory was supported when Elyos captured Roah, and another piece was cast in the same metal. There were inscriptions on the metal, but only the Siel's pieces connected directly; he was certain rebuilding this artifact was important. The book ended with the first successful raid on Krotan and his guess that each fortress had a piece. I asked him about it next I had a free moment in Ingisson, and he was quite enthused I had found that journal. When I asked what ever became of the artifact, he said those were the only pieces ever found. Sanctum had decided the war with Asmodians and Balaur was enough. Pieces of metal that might be in each fort were of lesser priority. He suspected that the other pieces were in Asmodian possession since they were the ones to initially capture the other fortresses.

Perhaps it should have ended there, but my mind was now plagued with the mystery of the relics. Even Sirrus' midnight terror was pushed aside as my mind kept going back to the journal. I dreamed of some weapon with a glowing inscription. It was different each time I dreamed it, but the sometimes-mace-sometimes-staff was always immensely powerful because of the engraved words. I told Danna, perhaps the first enthused conversation we'd had since my trial. She sat quietly, thought about it, and said that while it was interesting, it didn't help us at all.

A letter was received at the legion house, and Relee announced to all of us that Sanctum was planning an attack on Divine Fortress. Quite the embarkation, considering it was the one stronghold of the balaur that we have never made a dent in their forces, much less conquered. It was central to all of the other fortresses, but the balaur had created a shield around it and you died horribly if you so much as touched it. They had managed to find a weakness, forcing part of the shield to stay open. The balaur tried to close it again, but even the Asmodians saw the benefit and defended our contraptions. Suppliers of all kinds were being put to work as Sanctum rallied all of the legions to siege. Cubes were stocked with healing potions, scrolls, arrows and kisks. Relee and Shan went to a meeting with the other legion leaders as Sanctum organized the units and designated raid leaders. As a cleric, my job rarely changes, but specific groups were assembled to be anti-caster, ranged or stealth specialties. I remember massing at Teminon Fortress, the air charged with anticipation as the scout teams were sent to our upper strongholds. Each artifact was armed, the leaders accompanied by the fastest fliers to signal when artifacts were to be used. It was a huge operation, and I am once again reminded of chess as the Seraphim lords sat back and moved us where they pleased. The Shedim lords must have been doing the same thing because the Asmodians came up against us. Bold Elyos movements had tipped them off and they massed an equally large force. Whole legions were diverted from Divine as they engaged in combat to defend artifacts and teleporters. Relee had us secure Hellfire with another legion. We kisked and left them there as we joined the main push into the fort. The balaur on top were either dead or being cut down, blood and the occasional daeva body on the floor. We charged in and the work began. A shout from behind and it became a pincer attack as the Asmodians came on our tails. Danna ran out there and I followed to help as she cut them down. The Asmodians retreated and my group pushed in to the large chamber to see the balaur general there. He crushed Elyos and Asmodian alike, swatting them from the air and killing several at a time. We were injuring him, cutting through his armor, but the Asmodians were persistent and kept at our backs. I remember looking back at the sea of red eyes and black wings, of seeing just how outnumbered we were and I knew, they had planned this. You cannot simply mobilize this many people - they were waiting for us to attack the fortress, using us as their pawns to do the grunt work and exhaust ourselves. Saev was cutting down whoever stood against him as he worked his way to Danna, trading blows with her and shouting to be unaided. I saw him strike her down, how he held her as she died and released to the kisk. I was so distracted by his behavior I was struck down easily by a ranger. The legion had a nasty surprise waiting for them at the kisk - Asmodians instead of Elyos. They were just waiting like hungry monsters, daggers flashing to send us back to our obelisks. It was so disorganized then with us all rushing back to the Abyss. Divine finally fell, conquered by the Asmodians with their underhanded tactic. They had it fortified to the teeth by the time we were recovered and ready to launch. Long battles ensued after that, days on end until the brigades gave up.

Sanctum was unhappy, of course, but life picked up the usual routine. Asmodian patrols were more frequent in the Abyss, so there were more small scale battles at the Shard teleporters, but overall nothing had changed for us white winged daevas. Not much had changed for the black winged, either. The day after Solorious, Danna went to meet with whoever they decided to send. She came back with little news. From what our fellow Age reported, Divine had a strange door in the artifact room. The door was made of aether and ice, and more puzzling still, it had no key. How do you open a door that has no key? Danna laughed, telling me it really made no difference if we had taken it - we were just as lost as they. There really seemed to be no benefit to control of Divine. The shield around it could not be changed, so even the Asmodians would die unless they took a very long path from Primum Landing. Why the balaur had defended it so strongly was yet to be seen.