I have a complaint to make about the sound direction around all the Exalted stuff: the shimmery noise they put in the background of the soundtrack makes me think that a fire alarm is going off somewhere in the distance, it's very disturbing to me.
37: The Golden City
They made it back to the main Pact camp without being attacked, and within hours Braham, Eir, and Rox were getting airlifted by copter back to the Silverwastes. Eir was both very relieved to be alive, and terrified that she'd never walk again. Caoilfhionn feared it would be so, but he had to turn his attention forward again, where his Wyld Hunt and Mordremoth's call and his own personal desires drew him.
Southwards, the jungle was growing lighter, less dense, with fewer yawning chasms and towering cliffs, and better weather. In fact, compared to the northern jungle, it was almost... gentle. Though certainly not for the dangers of flora and fauna, Mordrem or otherwise. They found more scattered Pact soldiers, and Caoilfhionn caught sight of Ceera of all people, but she hissed and glared when she saw him, so he turned abruptly and left her alone. He was almost surprised to see her still with the Pact after all this time.
But one of them, a Seraph soldier, had caught sight of Caithe heading east only a few hours before, so Annhilda rallied the guild, left the Pact to hold position, and set out in search of her. "You said there were some Priory in that area as well?"
"That's right. Spotted some ancient-looking golden structures, and... well, you know us Priory folks and old shiny things. They started lighting up just now, right after she ran through."
"Good to know," Annhilda said. "We'll keep an eye out."
The sun warmed the humid air as they descended the incline to the east, glittering off broadleaved plants as it filtered through the canopy. They'd been walking some time when Damara caught sight of something shining that was not just a reflection, and pointed.
"Hello! Glowy person!" Taimi cried, and Scruffy waved. "Huh. It disappeared."
"Teleported," Rytlock grunted.
"Well, obviously," Taimi said, like the snarky teen she was.
They pursued the figure through the forest; it never appeared for long before teleporting again. They passed the ruins the Priory had been talking about, tall angular golden arches surrounded by strange mirrors all with a magical glow about them. And there they saw the figure again, gliding through the forest, from the waist up like a Norn clad in strange golden armour, even to a strange, angular golden mask, and from the waist down simply a trail of white-gold energy.
"You there!" Annhilda cried. "Stop!" But the figure did not stop, though it also did not teleport this time.
Rytlock snarled and blinked forward, directly in front of the figure with his sword drawn. "End of the line, pal. Identify yourself."
"I'm in the midst of an important mission," said the glowing golden figure calmly. "I must follow the trail before it goes cold."
"What is your mission?" Annhilda asked. "Who do you serve?"
"I am Ruka the Wanderer, of the Exalted," said the figure. "We are charged with preserving life from the predations of Elder Dragons. Whom do you serve, Mordrem?" he asked, turning to Caoilfhionn and Canach.
Canach huffed, but Caoilfhionn stepped forward, a little defiantly. "We are Sylvari, not Mordrem. Our people have connections to the Dragon, but we are not its slaves. We are here to kill it."
"I'll vouch for Caoilfhionn and Canach," Annhilda said. "I'm the Commander of the Pact, and I'm bringing an army through to wage war against Mordremoth. Any crashed airships you've seen belong to the Pact... hopefully... and we're hoping to link up with them before making an assault on the Dragon itself."
"I see," Ruka said. "Good. As for my mission, I'm tracking an... object. These devices respond to Glint's legacy, which means-"
"Caithe and the egg, it must be!" Caoilfhionn cried.
"Did you say egg?" Ruka exclaimed – or as much an exclamation as his calm, even, sonorous voice would allow. "After all these years... I must go, quickly. I might need help. You may accompany me, if you wish."
"We sure do," said Phiadi. "Can you track it?"
For answer, Ruka set off rapidly into the jungle, forcing the remainder of the party – Annhilda, Caoilfhionn, Damara, Rytlock, Phiadi, and Canach – to jog to keep up. The Exalted was silent as he traveled, and seemed to be concentrating, or so Caoilfhionn guessed from the feelings he felt from him. The mask revealed nothing to him.
Annhilda stiffened, catching movement in the jungle ahead, and pointed. Rytlock craned his neck. "It's Caithe... and is that your egg she's carrying?"
"Quick," Ruka said, speeding up even more. "There is a darkness..."
Caithe was crossing a clearing, glancing around at the trees warily, heading for a cave on the other side. A voice echoed out of it. "You've done well, Caithe."
Caithe gasped and stopped short, peering into the cave with shock and fear. "Faolain?"
"Bring the egg to me." The voice was... not entirely like to Faolain's voice, but... they had not actually seen her die. On the other hand, how did she know about the egg? Eir would not have told her...
Caithe turned half-away defensively. "What? The egg? The egg is my Wyld Hunt, and I can only trust myself with it."
Something moved within the cave, something gigantic and angular – and a horrible massive creature like to a vinetooth crawled out, menace in its movements, and Faolain's face terrifyingly oversized upon its head. "We can all trust Mordremoth."
"Faolain? No!" Caithe screamed and turned to run, tripped, and the egg rolled from her backpack.
"Get in there!" Annhilda cried, jumping from cover, and the rest rushed after her.
"I need the egg," the Faolain-monster hissed, and sprang.
"Get the egg and run!" Rytlock yelled, casting a great spell at the Faolain-monster, making it draw back momentarily.
Caoilfhionn was the fastest, with his Air dash; he skidded between the legs of the monster, scooping up the egg before it could reach for it. An incredible power surged through him and he nearly stumbled again with the warm, crystaline presence in his arms. "W-what's-" But there was no time to exclaim about it, the creature was bearing down upon him, and he took to his heels.
"Follow me," called Ruka. "I can lead you to safety."
"I'm going with you!" Damara cried, tearing after him.
"Foolish creatures!" the Faolain-monster said, ignoring Caithe, who was still down, and Rytlock, who was belligerent, and it darted at Damara. Damara screamed and sprinted around a tree; the monster thundered on after Caoilfhionn. He'd lost track of Ruka, but all that mattered was getting away.
It gained on him with every step, and he was distracted by the feeling of bonding – but as if the egg could feel his rising desperation, he felt a sensation as if magical wings had sprouted from his back, and suddenly he launched forward as if he were Air dashing again, but for much longer. He was zooming along the top of a cliff, past little tumbling streams and startling flocks of brightly coloured birds, but the monster was still right behind him. And the cliff was ending-!
"Caoilfhionn!" Damara was at the foot of the cliff. "Jump!"
He had no time to pull his glider as he sprang from the edge; Faolain's claws lashed at his back and he felt them whoosh through the air just as those crystaline wings caught the wind, delivering him to the ground heavily but without injury, when he'd been expecting to at least break a leg on impact. He handed the egg to Damara. "Go!" She fled after Ruka, her pets at her side, and he ran in another direction. Perhaps he could be a decoy – but no, the monster was scuttling down the cliffside in a horrible uncanny way, eyes fixed on Damara.
Annhilda's glider whizzed overhead, and she kicked the monster in the face, giving Damara a few more seconds to scramble away; she, too, gained wings, springing high in the air, higher than any of them had ever jumped with a Zephyrite crystal. She landed safely and ran into a tunnel. Annhilda landed on a ledge nearby and ran in the same direction, and Caoilfhionn dashed after as the monster began to climb.
He caught up on the other side of the tunnel, as the monster skittered towards Damara; at the last moment Damara made a final burst of effort, throwing the egg to Annhilda. Ruka had reappeared, waving to them, and Annhilda dashed towards the Exalted, her long legs eating up the ground towards a tunnel too small for the monster to fit into easily. Faolain completely ignored Damara, bowling her over in her charge after Annhilda, pausing as she came to the tunnel and looking around for some other route through. Caoilfhionn ran after as swiftly as he could, gliding quickly over a pit in the ground, trying desperately to catch up even though surely his short legs were only falling behind.
But ahead, he could still see Annhilda running behind Ruka, heading for a cliff jutting out over a wide valley. She was preparing her glider as well as she could with one arm holding the egg-
The monster sprang upon her from the side, sending her rolling; she gave a cry of startled anger and grabbed at her sword. "No, you don't!" But the monster paid her no heed, eyes fixed upon the egg.
Caoilfhionn Air-dashed once more, right in front of that dreadful, huge face, seizing the egg and launching himself from the cliff behind Ruka, this time with his glider ready. Faolain screeched in rage behind him, but he was safe while he was in the air. Unless vines came to attack him...
No vines came to attack him, and he landed safely in the boughs of a large tree. He looked back, but he could not see Faolain. "Where is she?" He gasped for air, tried to control his breathing. She would be hunting him, and he couldn't give her any clues.
"She has retreated for now," said Ruka next to him. "We are close to a pylon, a protected space. We are safe for now."
He let himself relax a little, and felt the energy within the egg relax as well. He reached out to the leaves of the tree, calling his meagre Shaping skills to hand, and formed a new satchel to carry the egg in so he could have his hands free. He slung it on his back and hopped down from the tree, where Ruka waited for him. The Exalted turned and set off into the forest, and Caoilfhionn jogged to catch up.
"You could have tried to take the egg," he said to Ruka. "Why didn't you?"
Ruka turned to look down on him, gliding along easily as could be. "I don't want to possess the egg. I want to protect it. It chose you as its bearer."
"It chose me? How could it choose me?" Caoilfhionn stared incredulously, but the energy on his back gave a happy little lift.
"I can't answer that question," Ruka said. "It chose you – and your two friends who also bore it. I will support all of you."
"I don't understand," Caoilfhionn said. "At least I can now fulfill my quest. ...What happens now?"
"You must go south to Tarir, the city of the Forgotten. It's a safe place, built to shield the egg as it hatches."
Caoilfhionn gave him a skeptical look. "Why here?"
"Why not?"
He shook his head. "Sorry, but the egg was stolen from me, and I just got it back. I'm not taking any chances with it."
"Do you still not trust me?"
"The egg is so important. I'm not sure I trust anyone anymore – besides my closest friends."
"Trust yourself, then. Your instincts brought you here for a reason. But while you have the egg, every Mordrem alive will be after you. Get it to Tarir. And hurry."
Caoilfhionn looked at him a brief moment more. This strange, otherworldly being... conveniently offering an entire city built to shield this specific egg? On the other branch... Mordremoth definitely knew of the egg's location now, thanks to that Faolain-monster. And if anything, the Exalted did seem to oppose Mordremoth. And what he could sense from Ruka... it was strange, as if Ruka were not... truly... alive, and not... truly... artificially created. And yet, whatever passed for the being's heart was true and earnest. "Very well. Show me the way."
"Follow me," Ruka said, but then there was a shout from behind, and Annhilda and Damara came running. "Good, they were also chosen."
"Chosen?" Damara asked, panting, her spider clinging to her head like a very strange hat. "What's going on, Caoilfhionn?"
"I am going with Ruka to take the egg to his city, Tarir. I believe the Exalted will protect it as they say. It seems the egg has bonded with us as we protected it... I think."
"Aww, how sweet!" Damara said, patting the backpack on his back. "What a sweet little dragon baby."
"If the egg will be safe, that's one less thing to worry about," Annhilda said. "But I'll go with you just in case. I've lost track of the others, but they'll be fine, the monster wasn't after them."
"You are most welcome to come," Ruka said, and led them by gently sloping paths downwards, to a large double door in a low cliff. "Welcome... to Tarir."
The door opened at Ruka's touch, and all three of them gasped as they stepped forward. Everywhere they looked was gold, towers and tall buildings of gold, adorned with jade green plants. Before them in lines stood many more Exalted, and one at the back with a particularly fantastic helm. That one stepped forward and spoke with many voices, but primarily a woman's voice. "Welcome, egg bearer...s. I am the Luminate. You are most honoured guests. We have waited so long for your arrival. Welcome to Tarir."
"It's an honour to be here," Caoilfhionn said politely, feeling quite short among all these glowing giants.
"This city and we Exalted were created to protect the whole of Glint's legacy, including the egg."
"That is exactly what I have searched for," Caoilfhionn said. "I must know the egg is completely secure before we fight Mordremoth. What is this place?"
"Come and see," said the Luminate, gliding aside and holding out her hand to show the view. The three adventurers stepped forward and Caoilfhionn caught his breath.
The city was not tall above the trees; it sank deep into the ground, yet the gold that gleamed from every surface shown reflected light so that even the lowest part, as far below as the lowest levels of the Grove were from the highest, was bathed in golden beams. Large trees grew up through it, birds flew across it calling to each other, and everything seemed enveloped in peace and strength. "It's so beautiful." He couldn't help a smile, even a little laugh, and when he could tear his eyes away and look to the others, they were also smiling, their eyes shining with wonder as he knew his own must be.
"It is beautiful," Annhilda said, who rarely commented on such things. "This is the place from your vision, isn't it?"
"Yes," Caoilfhionn said firmly. "This is where I was destined to go."
"I love it," Damara said. "I can't wait for the others to see this."
"I can't wait to show Trahearne," Caoilfhionn said, and for the first time since the disaster, his worry did not drown out his awe. His hope was high, with this glorious place of safety before him and the egg on his back. One of his worries was gone altogether, and that made the other two seem all the easier. Even Mordremoth's whispers seemed dulled here, inaudible, insignificant.
"Centuries ago," said Ruka behind them, "the Forgotten magically erected Tarir to hold and nurture the artifacts Glint would leave behind. They also sought out mortals to become Exalted – ageless, enhanced guardians of the city and its contents. We who volunteered and passed the necessary tests were converted into pure energy and encased in golden armour."
"So you were mortals once," Caoilfhionn said, looking up at him. "So that's why you feel... the way you do."
Ruka made a slight bow. "We were once related to those you call the Zephyrites. But when all the preparations were complete, we began to go dormant, waiting for our noble duty to begin. Glint... died. Soon after, Tarir began to sir... and we Exalted awoke, mourned, and took up our duty once more."
"So this is all recent, sort of," Damara said, waving cheerfully at the ranks of Exalted still watching them.
"We have not been long awake, no," the Luminate said. "But come. Now you're here, and so is the egg. Glint's grand design can finally begin to unfold. A new portal appeared when the city became aware of the egg. Ruka will lead you to it."
"A portal?" Caoilfhionn asked Ruka. "To where?"
"Even we do not know," Ruka said. "But we believe to the safest place in the whole city. Please, follow me."
They followed the Exalted, down stairs, through vaulted halls, through little green courtyards full of flowers, down more stairs, and more stairs. "They seem really focused on Glint," Damara said in a low voice. "Glint, Glint, Glint. Do they never think about anything else?"
"I'm not sure they can," Caoilfhionn whispered back. "I don't quite understand them yet, but I think they're incapable of deception."
Annhilda shushed them. The 'city' seemed strangely small, and strangely empty. Perhaps at one time, large numbers of people had lived here, maybe the Forgotten, but all that lived here now were the Exalted, and they were not numerous, from what he could see.
They were still descending, stairs after stairs after stairs, until they had descended to the very bottom of the city, below the ground. "Here we are," Ruka said, as they arrived in a small, rather rough-hewn cave, with golden pillars and pedestals nonetheless. "I don't know what you'll find, but if I know the Forgotten, you'll be tested before you're allowed to proceed. Don't be offended, it's nothing personal. They never give anyone what they want without making them earn it."
"I'm offended," Annhilda said, not entirely seriously. "We're trying to give them what they want."
"The egg has chosen you," Ruka acknowledged. "But the Forgotten have their ways. According to the runes, this is as far as I go. Good fortune."
He gestured to the small platform at the back of the cave. Caoilfhionn took a deep breath and stepped on it – and found himself teleported.
They passed through three trials, each more tedious than the last, though Annhilda boasted that she could do it with her eyes closed. "Would they really be trials if they weren't annoying, though?" Damara said. He couldn't say he could see her logic.
At the last of it, they were teleported to one more chamber, this one so tall that to look up he saw faint clouds beneath its roof, where in the centre of a raised golden island was a golden pedestal encircled with stained glass wings. It was utterly beautiful, as they climbed up to it, staring about them, and Caoilfhionn took the backpack from his shoulders, discarding the woven leaves and carrying the egg gently in his arms to place it upon the pedestal. There it sat in majesty, the pinnacle of the chamber's beauty with its glittering, half-ethereal crystaline shape; a white-gold light pulsed out of it and towards the top of the chamber. He felt magic rise about them, wards settling into place, powered partly by the egg itself, and partly the ancient magic of the city surrounding the egg like a symbiotic cocoon. He breathed deeply, relieved at last of his burden.
Damara cooed. "Look at you, you're all safe now! Yes, you are! In such a pretty place, too!" She talked that way to her pets sometimes, so he was not surprised she spoke that way to this unhatched dragonlet.
"Looks good to me," Annhilda said, looking around at the chamber. "Decently defensible, with this cover and high platform, though if enemies can even get in through the magical wards about this place I'll be very surprised."
"I'm glad," Caoilfhionn said. That was one weight taken from his shoulders. He reached out to touch the egg, one more time. "Be well."
In an instant, he was plunged into a vision. A tiny seed pulsed with a heartbeat, like the still-beating heart of a stag. Branches and vines spread from it like poison through veins – was it the dragon's heart? With a shimmer of crystaline prisms the vision changed, showing Zojja's terrified face as she was swallowed by a giant plant, fading into darkness, surrounded by other, small, plant-made asuroid shapes – and then Logan came into view as if sleeping, bark creeping across his face and armour, spinning through space, separating and multiplying like oozes – his vision spun, faster and faster, disorienting him, and he was falling, falling, falling into the jungle-
Eyes. Screaming. Yellow eyes, hardly recognizable, wracked with agony as their bearer was torn in two – and in two – and in two – and Trahearne split and shattered, leaving only a stern-faced army of Mordrem Guard clones. Caoilfhionn fell past them all, towards the golden city, and Mordremoth's jaws closed about it-
He was back in the egg chamber, but he was still and cold as ice. Tears started into his eyes, and he swallowed and began to tremble violently. "No-! Trahearne!"
"Oh no," Damara said, and he felt her arms about him. "That was horrible! Breathe, Caoilfhionn, breathe. We'll rescue them. We will."
"You... saw it too?" he forced through a leaden mouth.
"I think that vision came from the egg," Annhilda said grimly. "How it knows, I don't know. But I think we'd better get back on track. I'll head back and gather the Pact forces. And I'd like to know that the rest of Hope's Legacy is all right."
"By Dwayna, yes," Damara said. "I hope that creature didn't double back on them when it lost us."
"You two stay here," Annhilda said. "In the city, I mean. If the Exalted are willing, this would be a good place for the Pact to regroup. And then I'll send out scouts to pick up the trail we were following earlier..." She dashed away, still talking through her to-do list to herself.
Caoilfhionn gave a sob and wrapped his arms around himself. What was he doing, enjoying himself while his beloved suffered so? "Trahearne..."
"Oh no you don't," Damara said. "I know that look. You can't run off by yourself to rescue everyone. Wait for the army. Come on. Let's get something to eat. You won't be any good to Trahearne as a horror-stricken shell."
He straightened. "No. I will not be a horror-stricken shell. Mordremoth will suffer before it dies. Everything it has inflicted upon Trahearne it will feel ten-fold."
"Oh boy," Damara whispered, and followed him from the chamber.