"Percival?" Tom asked, staring dumbfounded at the Bone pointing a blunderbuss at Nagratek's head. "Is that you?"
"Hello Tom." Percival said, casting his eye over the group warily. "I hope you'll excuse me if I seem a little on edge, but your friend has some explaining to do before I lower this gun." He returned his gaze to Nagratek.
"So you're the famous Percival Bone." Nagratek said, crossing his arms. "Last I heard, you were missing. No one's seen you since the defeat of the Nacht."
"Who are you?" Percival asked. "I know Tom, Roderick, and Smiley. And judging from your outfit you must be Queen Thorn." He said, turning briefly to Thorn before returning his attention to Nagratek. "I don't know you. And I certainly don't know what the five of you could be doing out here."
"My name is Nagratek. Who I am is… complicated, to say the least, but the short version is I'm a friend and we're here looking for Fone."
"I overheard the name Mon'Yaran during your argument. Who is he, exactly, and what does he have to do with Lorimar?"
"Mon'Yaran is the king of the First Folk, and the only person Lorimar answers to. He plans to unify our reality with the Dreaming, extinguishing all life in the process. Agents like Lorimar are his most direct means of furthering his plans, though he has subtly manipulated events on a broad scale in the Valley for thousands of years."
"That about makes sense." Percival nodded, lowering his gun.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tom stomped up to him. "You're telling me you really believe Lorimar deceived us the whole time? You're buying this crap about her secret evil master and his stupid plan?"
"She tore the Queen of the Sky apart, Tom. Whatever she pretended to be, she was never our friend."
"What are you…?" Tom took a step back and stared at Percival. "She really did this?" He motioned behind him at the pile of scrap that used to be the Queen of the Sky.
"I'm afraid so." Percival sighed. Tom sank to his knees and stared at the ground, lost in thought.
"Why did Lorimar attack you?" Thorn asked. "What were you even doing here?"
"I have no idea why Lorimar attacked us. I came here with my niece and nephew, Abby and Barclay, to find their parents. After I completed my map of the Valley, it became apparent that Norman and Emmy had moved on. So I set off for the north, based on some advice given to me by a talking bug. We had been traveling a week when Barclay spotted the canyon system. Curiosity got the better of me and I took the Queen in for a closer look. When we got this far, those vines burst forth from the ground and pierced the side of the ship. As I fought with the controls, trying to land the Queen without crashing her, Lorimar emerged from one of the vines and approached me. She had a distant look in her eye. Without a word she wrenched me from the helm and knocked me unconscious. When I came to she was gone, and the Queen was in ruins."
"Where are Abby and Barclay?" Tom asked, standing back up.
"We've been holed up in what appears to be a primitive lab inside a cave at the end of this canyon." Percival pointed in the direction the group had been walking before they discovered the Queen. Thorn and Nagratek exchanged a nervous glance.
"That's the same place we think Fone might have gone." Nagratek said. "Have you run into him at all in the last few days?"
"You're the first visitors we've had since we crashed, but the cave is rather labyrinthine. It's possible he snuck in without us noticing."
"Listen, it's been nice meeting you." Nagratek interjected. "But we need to find Fone as soon as possible, and that cave is our best lead."
"I can take you there if you like." Percival shrugged. He turned around and began walking down the canyon, motioning for the others to follow him. "But I've been exploring the complex since we crashed and I've never found anyone else living there."
"It sounds like you've been here for quite some time." Thorn said as the group all followed behind Percival. "Why haven't you tried to leave yet?"
"More of a hunch than anything." Percival responded. "I get the feeling this is where my brother Norman was headed when he left the Valley. So until I find him, or we start running low on supplies, I'll stick it out."
"How long ago did you guys crash, exactly?" Tom asked. "You can't have been here all this time, can you?"
"We did spend some time traveling before we arrived here, but we crashed about a month ago."
"That doesn't make any sense…" Nagratek mumbled as they approached a sharp cliff face at the end of the canyon and, by extension, the small cave entrance at the base of it.
"What do you mean?" Percival asked. "We only left the Valley maybe five weeks ago, if that."
"It's been two years." Nagratek said, stopping just in front of the cave from Tom's dream.
"What are you talking about? Two years since what?"
"Since we defeated the Nacht." Tom replied. "You left the Valley two years ago."
"I…" Percival stared at everyone in the group. "You've got to be joking. That isn't possible."
"Normally I'd agree with you." Nagratek said, his brow furrowing. "But after you live three thousand years, you stop being surprised by the impossible." He swiftly turned to address Thorn. "Now that we're here, can you look at what's caused the distortion?"
"I can try, but I don't see what that'd accomplish." She responded. She closed her eyes and put her fingers back up against her forehead. After a moment, she opened her eyes and exchanged a worried glance with Nagratek.
"What did you see?" He asked tentatively.
"I didn't notice it before because the Dreaming's irregular flow hid it from me, but we're dealing with more than just a distortion. The cave is completely enveloped by a large ghost circle."
"What are you talking about?" Percival asked. "What's a ghost circle, some kind of séance? And what's all this about two years having passed?"
"A ghost circle is a place where the Dreaming and Waking worlds intersect." Thorn replied, eyeing Percival warily. "The Lord of the Locust used them to trap people when he resurrected five years ago. I don't know anyone other than myself capable of moving through them freely." Thorn placed her hand on the hilt of her sword.
"That shouldn't really be an issue." Nagratek said, stepping between Thorn and Percival. "Without the Locust exerting his influence, ghost circles are essentially inert. In theory, anyone should be able to move through this one unaffected."
"In theory?" Thorn raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean? Have you never seen an 'inactive' ghost circle before?"
"Truth be told, this is the first time I've ever seen a ghost circle, inactive or otherwise."
"Are you joking?" Tom threw his hands into the air. "You've never seen one before? I'm only twenty-five, and I've 'seen' more ghost circles than you have? Why are we even listening to you?"
"The Locust was imprisoned before I was old enough to swing a sword. And, since he's the only being who's ever successfully created a ghost circle unaided, I never got to see any in person. But the dragons taught Ven all manner of things, including the basic theory behind ghost circles. And she taught them all to me during the thousand years I spent keeping my brother contained. Unless something fundamental has changed about the Dreaming since I was last in the Valley, those teachings should still hold water."
"Even if that's true, we shouldn't just go wandering in on a whim." Thorn spoke, her attention focused on the cave in front of her. "It is still a ghost circle. The natural laws tend to break down inside them."
"You have a point…" Nagratek began staring at the entrance to the cave as well. "Something about this place has been bothering me for a while." He turned to Thorn. "I think I know what's going on here, but I'd like to run it past you first. You are our resident expert on the Locust." The two of them walked off to the side and began whispering in private. Tom, Smiley, Roderick, and Percival clumped together and cast a collective leery eye at the strange pair.
"So does anyone here know what's going on?" Percival asked. "That Nagratek guy has made at least five impossible statements in as many minutes. Did I hear him right when he said he's lived for over three thousand years?"
"You heard right." Tom sighed. "I'm not sure if I believe him, but I've seen him survive a fall from hundreds of feet in the air and go toe to toe with a lion made out of lightning, so take what you will from that."
"He bothers me." Roderick scrunched up his snout. "He smells wrong. The Hum Hum around him acts just like it did at the old rat creature temple before the war."
"Thorn seems to trust him though." Smiley shrugged. "And she knows what she's doin', so I'll follow her lead." Thorn and Nagratek seemed to reach an agreement and rejoined the group.
"What did you two talk about?" Percival asked.
"We think we've managed to piece together what's going on with this place." Thorn replied, walking past the group and up to the cave's entrance. "Something happened here long ago, and it distorted the flow of the Dreaming drastically. It even created a ghost circle separate from the Locust's control, which from what Nagratek tells me is all but physically impossible."
"Now, here's where everything becomes mostly speculative." Nagratek continued Thorn's speech as he joined her in front of the cave. "Ghost circles are capable of warping local reality, to an extent. Mostly of the time, this is limited to concealing an area behind a convincing illusion. But in this case, given the Dreaming is already being manipulated by another factor, it might be possible for this ghost circle to affect reality on a deeper level. This is a slim chance that this ghost circle is slowing the flow of time itself. This may explain why Percival has only spent a month here while two years passed in the outside world."
"So let me get this straight." Percival said, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "The entire cave is covered with an invisible 'ghost circle' made of some sort of mystical energy that's capable of warping time on a drastic scale. And you want me to just take all of this on… what? Faith?"
"That about sums it up." Nagratek nodded. Percival stared at him, mouth slightly agape, for several seconds. No one else spoke. "I'm getting the distinct impression you don't trust me."
"I don't make a habit of trusting crazy people." Percival shot back.
"I know what I'm saying makes little to no sense. Nothing about the Dreaming ever makes sense at first. But Thorn agreed it was a possibility."
"Slight possibility." She interjected. "If the Locust is even remotely related, there's no telling what we're walking into."
"Regardless." Nagratek continued. "If I am right, then we need to move quickly. For every hour we spend looking for Fone in there, a whole day will pass in the outside world."
"How did you calculate…" Percival began before stopping himself with a sigh. "You know what, fine. Questions aren't getting this done faster. If you really are telling the truth, then we need to get Abby and Barclay out too. And we need to find Norman and Emmy."
"Fone comes first. Without him we don't stand a chance against Mon'Yaran. I'm not going to stop you from looking for your family, but you do so on your own."
"We can't just leave people in there." Tom protested. "I know Fone is important, but if other people are inside that thing we have to get them out."
"No, we don't." Nagratek walked into the cave, disappearing in a puff of smoke.
"Don't worry." Thorn said, turning briefly to the group and giving a thin smile. "We won't leave without your family. You have my word." She too disappeared into the cave. After a moment's hesitation, the rest of the group followed her.
The hallway Thorn stepped into appeared virtually identical to the one that could be seen from the outside. In front of her stretched a short passageway with small glowing crystals imbedded at regular intervals in the ceiling. It ended in a fork forming two smaller passages that peeled in either direction. Nagratek stood in front of the fork, eyeing each choice hesitantly.
"As soon as we defeat Mon'Yaran, I'm punching you in the face." Thorn remarked as Tom, Percival, Roderick and Smiley all stumbled in after her.
"After Mon'Yaran is dead, you can kill me for all I care." Nagratek replied. "Until then, can we focus on the matter at hand?"
"I'd like nothing more." Thorn turned to Percival and motioned at the two choices behind her. He simply walked past her down one of the passages.
"Abby and Barclay are down this way." He said, not looking back. "I'll find them on my own. I've had enough of this crazy nonsense anyway." he disappeared behind the passage wall as it curved away from the group. Without a word, Tom and Roderick followed after him.
"I suppose we're heading this way." Thorn said to the remainder of the group as she began walking down the other arm of the fork. Nagratek and Smiley fell in behind her. As they walked, she put her fingers up to her forehead and began searching through the ghost circle with her Dreaming eye, looking for any trace of Fone. The group meandered in silence through various twists and turns until Thorn finally stopped as the passageway opened up into a slightly larger oblong cavern. Various sized holes pockmarked the walls.
"Why did we stop?" Nagratek asked. "In case you forgot, we're pressed for time, so unless Fone is nearby we need to keep moving."
"This place feels wrong." Thorn said, looking around. "Between the pressure of the ghost circle and the strange flow of the Dreaming, I can't see anything clearly. I need a moment to get my bearings." She walked further into the cavern and up to one of the larger holes in the wall. Most of the alcove was filled with a softly glowing blue crystal. She hesitated for a moment before reaching out and touching it.
As her hand made contact with the cool surface of the crystal, she slipped into an intense dream. She saw humanoid beings of various shapes and sizes, all made out of natural materials such as wood or rock. One was made of fire. They stood in a large, perfectly circular room connected to four passageways, one at each cardinal direction. All around them stretched tendrils of crystal connecting to a growth in the exact center of the room that dwarfed the figures in size.
The figures muttered to each other in a language Thorn didn't understand, but their body language made clear that they were distressed about something. Suddenly, a loud booming voice drowned them all out. They all ceased speaking except for one made of crystal. He had the same lopsided mouth and dead eyes as Shard.
"Havaki…" He began to say, projecting his voice clearly despite lacking vocal chords. This time he seemed to be looking Thorn directly in the eyes. She felt herself take a step toward him, though she found she had no control over her body. He stumbled back and began cowering, no longer looking Thorn in the eye. The voice that had quieted the figures earlier gave a snort, and Thorn began moving again. She walked up to the crystal growth in the center of the room and put her hand on it. Only her hand was not her own. It was made of crystal, with long claws instead of fingers. She saw her reflection on the surface of the large mass. Instead of her own visage staring back at her, she was greeted by two glowing red eyes imbedded in a nearly featureless mass of crystal that vaguely approximated the shape of a human head.
As she studied whatever she was, the surface of the crystal began to glow. It escalated in brightness until she could see nothing but white. She stumbled backward and turned away from the crystal before steadying herself. As her vision returned, her ears suddenly became filled with a low hum that steadily grew louder in volume. The other beings in the room became distressed. One of them, made of a patchy combination of ice and water, attempted to leave the room through one of the passages.
As it set foot through the threshold, it was suddenly thrown backward by a large black cloud. This cloud began surging through all four entrances, moving straight for the glowing mass of crystal. As the cloud drew nearer, Thorn was able to make out individual movements in the larger mass. The cloud was made of locusts. She turned around as they rushed past her, many colliding with her without making any attempts to change course. They covered the crystal completely, turning its surface black.
Suddenly, as more and more locusts closed in around Thorn, the mass in front of her imploded, sucking in everything around it. Thorn dug her claw-like fingers into the ground to keep herself from being pulled in. She barely held on as every locust in the room, and all the ones still flooding in, were drawn toward a swirling vortex forming where the growth had been. In the middle of the vortex was a bright, crackling line in midair, stretching from floor to ceiling. It shimmered and twisted as it levitated.
Just as Thorn's grip began to weaken, the line opened, forming a fissure in the air. Light and energy began pouring out from this fissure, blasting everything in the room away from itself. Hit with immeasurable force, Thorn was instantly dislodged from the ground and thrown against the wall, unable to move in the face of the pressure against her. After the initial wave of force, subsided, the locust began coalescing around the fissure. Once every insect that had survived was gathered up, another wave of pure force erupted from the fissure, this time directed straight up. It blasted through the ceiling and cleared a path all the way to the surface.
Thorn dragged herself off the wall and lurched forward as debris began raining down around her from the collapsed ceiling. She clawed her way toward the writhing mass of locusts. It began rising into the air, leaving the fissure behind to be buried by the incoming rubble. As it departed, Thorn heard a new voice thunder around her, cackling in a strange tongue. She reached out to it, her vision fading.
She snapped back to reality as Nagratek and Smiley pulled her free from the crystal. The three of the collapsed on the ground, Thorn breathing heavily and sweating across her whole body.
"Nagratek…" Thorn wheezed through strained breaths. "What is this place?"
"What kind of a question is that?" He asked as he and Smiley stood back up. "This is the Councilman's original lab. You knew that before we arrived. I thought you of all people would understand the danger that would imply."
"Are you alright?" Smiley asked, shooting Nagratek a quick disapproving glance. "You were holding onto that thing pretty tight."
"It wasn't by choice." Thorn said, her breathing beginning to normalize. "It had some sort of hold on me. It showed me things. I think they were memories, though I'm not sure of who or what. The… thing I was seeing through the eyes of was some kind of tall crystalline construct, with clawed hands and red glowing eyes."
"That sounds like the Councilman alright." Nagratek said, casting his eye over the rest of the alcoves in the room, all containing a single glowing crystal. "This is probably where he kept his records. Memories of every experiment he undertook at the behest of Mon'Yaran. Whatever you witnessed couldn't have been pleasant."
"That's an understatement." Thorn replied, wincing as she got back on her feet. "Although I think I've figured out what happened to this place. This is where the Councilman created the Locust. The Locust was so powerful it ripped a… kind of a… fissure in the air itself that tore the lab apart. Whatever that fissure was, I think it might have caused all this unnatural distortion."
"A passage directly into the Dreaming World." Nagratek sighed. "I was afraid of that. Without the Spark, we can't close that tear. Which means we need to get out of here as fast as possible." He looked Thorn over. She still appeared unnerved by what she experienced. "Are you good to keep looking, or do we need to turn back?"
"We came here to find Fone." Thorn stepped forward and put her fingers back against her forehead. "I'm not leaving without him." She continued onward through the far exit of the room. Nagratek and Smiley followed closely behind. After moving through several more empty rooms, they reached another fork.
"Where to now?" Nagratek asked, casting a glance down both directions. "Do you have any indication of where he is yet?"
"The distortion is still clouding my dreaming eye." Thorn said, closing her eyes momentarily. "But I'm starting to get a better picture of how this place is laid out. We should be heading this way." Thorn pointed down the right arm of the fork.
"That about makes sense." Percival said as he emerged from the left arm of the fork. "This just leads back to the entrance." He motioned over his shoulder down the path he had just come from.
"I take it you found your charges." Nagratek said as Percival rejoined the group.
"Tom and Roderick took Abby and Barclay back outside. Any luck finding Fone?"
"We're getting closer." Thorn said, taking her hand away from her forehead for a moment. "I feel a strong source of energy down this path. It could be Fone. It could be the fissure that caused all of this. I can't really tell."
"Only one way to find out." Smiley said. He stepped forward and founded the corner of the passage in front of them. Almost immediately after he disappeared from sight, a blast of fire erupted from the passageway, sending Smiley flying back toward the group unconscious. A humanoid entity made entirely out of fire emerged from around the corner Smiley had gone down. It flashed the group a wry smile with shadowy facial features not entirely distinct from the flickering form of its face.
"Nagratek," Thorn spoke as she drew her blade, "Is this another Nightmare Entity."
"Unfortunately not." Nagratek responded as he dropped into a fighting stance and began emitting the black substance from his back. "This is new territory for me as well. So, given your track record against intangible enemies, I'll follow your lead on this one."
"That's flattering, really. But we're as good as dead fighting in such a confined space. We need to retreat to one of the rooms, at least." She took a step back toward the room they had come from. "Percival, do you think you can run back to the entrance and alert…" She turned to face Percival as she spoke but trailed off as she took in the sight before her.
As Thorn turned, Percival's skin began turning into water. His entire body billowed into a mass of liquid in the basic shape of a human, adding several feet to his overall height and completely erasing any traces of Percival's features. As soon as his body was entirely water, his head crystalized into ice along with some of his limbs and part of his chest cavity. The water entity's movements began to mirror those of the fire entity.
"Well, I suppose it's finally time to stop playing with my food." The two beings spoke in unison. "No one shall interrupt the preparation of the catalyst."
Faldr and X'lish moved silently through the grounds of Camp Stalwart. They had split up with Nibet and Satranik a few minutes ago and now explored the enemy base on their own. This was their first moment alone together since Faldr had come back. Neither of them spoke until X'lish abruptly stopped in her tracks.
"What's wrong?" Faldr asked, turning around and scanning the area around them for possible threats. They stood in the middle of several deserted tents.
"Nothing's wrong." X'lish responded. "I just through this would be a good place to talk"
"X'lish we don't have the time for this." Faldr began moving again. X'lish didn't follow.
"Let me rephrase that." She crossed her arms. "You and I are going to have a talk. Now."
"We are in the middle of an extremely important mission." Faldr protested. X'lish didn't move. They stood facing each other for a moment, not saying anything. "Fine." Faldr sighed, holstering his sidearm. "What did you want to discuss?"
"Faldr, we left this life behind. We swore to each other that we were done. And I know you had your reasons, but that doesn't change the fact that you dragged us back into this mess."
"I had no choice." Faldr protested. "It was Glaian Nagratek. I couldn't just leave that alone."
"I know but now that he's dead you do have a choice. There's nothing keeping us here anymore."
"This war is the result of our negligence. If we had been more thorough, none of this would have happened."
"No amount of bloodshed was going to prevent this uprising. This was the result of decisions made by being much more powerful than either of us. And I am tired of fighting their battles."
"So you're just going to walk away? What about Satranik and Nibet? You expect them to finish this by themselves?"
"After this mission, I do. I'll see this through because I owe them that much but then I'm gone. The two of them can handle themselves."
"But-"
"I've already made up my mind, Faldr. I'm leaving for the Cartonal Islands the first chance I get. I just want to know if you're coming with me."
"I…" Faldr stared at X'lish dumbfounded for a moment before shaking himself out of his stupor. "Of course. Did you even need to ask?"
"After that stunt you pulled, I'd say so." X'lish smirked. She took a step forward and kissed him. They stood, embraced for a moment, before pulling apart. "It's good to have you back." X'lish chuckled.
"It's good to be back." Faldr unholstered his gun. "Now let's get moving. We'll have every opportunity to make up for lost time when we get home."
"I'm holding you to that." X'lish winked, unsheathing her sword and walking in front of Faldr. The two of them continued on a short ways to a large building resembling a warehouse. Several empty crates were stacked outside, and even more were strewn about on the ground as if those carrying them simply dropped the crates and walked away. The sounds of battle in the distance faded as Faldr and X'lish crept through the door.
"This looks like where they've been storing their equipment." X'lish said, closing the door behind her. The room in front of them was full of rows of crates bearing all manner of labeling, most of which belonged to Export Systems International.
"It looks like we've got a full day ahead of us." Faldr sighed. "Let's hope Nibet and Satranik can handle their task on their own." He walked over to the first crate and shot the lock off. He and X'lish then grabbed either side of the lid and hefted it off of the rest of the crate. As the lid hit the floor, they both turned to examine the contents of the crate. It was entirely empty.
"Damn it." X'lish sighed, stepping back from the container. "And her I was hoping this would be easy."
"Well, I suppose we should get this over with." Faldr said, gripping his pistol. He turned and began walking toward the center of the room, speaking as he moved. "You can show yourselves now. There's no point in drawing this out." X'lish pressed her back against Faldr's and walked with him, eyes darting around the room. As they drew near their target, Wunkhani stepped out in front of them from behind a nearby stack of supply crates.
"Very well." He said, cracking his knuckles. Faldr drew a second handgun from his belt and pointed it at Wunkhani's face. Almost immediately, two green dots appeared on the back of Faldr's head.
"Snipers." X'lish groaned. "You deal with them."
"With pleasure." Faldr smirked. Before anyone could react, he jumped and kicked off of a stack of crates, sending himself spinning around. X'lish dashed underneath him, sword drawn, as he shot both snipers between the eyes. He hit the ground with a roll while X'lish split Wunkhani's chest open diagonally.
"That was just pathetic." X'lish said, sheathing her sword. "He didn't even put up a fight."
"Well, Glaian's army is relatively untrained." Faldr shrugged. "It's no surprise they weren't prepared to deal with an actual assassin."
"I may not have had the same training as you." Wunkhani grunted, propping himself up by his arms. "But I'm more than capable of dealing with you two."
"Well look at that, he's still breathing." X'lish bent down and unsheathed a knife. "I'll take care of this." She lifted up the top of his head and pressed the knife into his neck. Before she could slit his throat, however, he grabbed her wrist. He sprung forward, slamming X'lish into Faldr and pinning them both against a stack of crates. The impact forced the knife out of X'lish's hand. Wunkhani grabbed it out of the air and attempted to stab X'lish with it. Before he could bring the blade up into her stomach, however, Faldr got one of his arms free and shot Wunkhani several times in the arm and chest. He let go of X'lish's wrist and staggered back, clutching his chest.
"Hopefully that's the last stunt he pulls." Faldr wheezed as he and X'lish regained their bearings. Wunkhani continued to stumble but stayed upright.
"I wouldn't count on it." X'lish grimaced, rubbing her wrist. "Glaian managed to take a mountain of punishment before he finally went down. I get the feeling this won't be much different."
"We don't have time for that." Faldr took aim at Wunkhani's kneecap. "I'll just cripple him." He fired. Instantly Wunkhani rushed forward faster than either of his opponents could register. He grabbed the bullet out of the air, shredding his palm in the process, and threw it through X'lish's leg. By the time Faldr realized what was happening, Wunkhani had closed the gap between them. He grabbed Faldr's hand and crushed it, gun and all, shattering several bones. Faldr raised his other gun and attempted to blow Wunkhani's head off. Wunkhani grabbed that wrist too and wrenched it away from him as the gun fired. Instead of bursting his head open, the bullet simply grazed his temple.
X'lish meanwhile propped herself up with her sword, fighting through the pain to regain her focus. As soon as she saw Wunkhani attacking Faldr, she lifted her blade and staggered forward, running it in between Wunkhani's bottom two ribs. The sword sliced through his liver and part of his stomach before bursting out the other side of his body. He howled in pain and took a step backward, releasing his grip on Faldr. Immediately, Faldr kicked him in the sternum, cracking two of his ribs.
"His ribs seem to break easily enough." Faldr said, snapping his fingers back into place. "If this is what fighting Glaian was like, I'm a little surprised it took you as long as you say it did to kill him."
"Trying to cut through Glaian's muscles felt like trying to cut kevlar with safety scissors." X'lish replied, propping herself up against a stack of crates. "But my sword cut straight through this guy just fine. It seems his only gift is moving fast."
"Glaian's power came directly from the Hollow Lord." Wunkhani spat. He began leaking blood from the corners of his mouth. "Mine is a pale imitation, recreated from studying him." He pointed at Faldr.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Faldr asked. "I'm no one special."
"Of course you wouldn't understand. Nagratek stole your heritage from you. He stole your power. But that didn't stop Archibald from recreating it as best he could." He removed the sword from his side. "My abilities are a small blessing. But they will be more than sufficient to defeat you." He threw the sword straight at Faldr's chest. X'lish stood up and attempted to shove Faldr out of the way, but the sword moved much faster than her.
Suddenly, as the sword was about to pierce his chest, time slowed for Faldr. The sword, which had been flying faster than he could react to, now barely moved. It hung suspended in air, inches from his chest, crawling forward at a snail's pace. Without thinking, Faldr caught the blade between his palms, halting its movement altogether. Immediately, his sense of time resumed its normal pace. X'lish stared, simultaneously confused and grateful that he was still alive. Wunkhani frowned.
"I…" Faldr stammered, staring at the sword still clasped in his hands in front of him. "I caught it…" Faldr murmured to himself. "Is this what-" Suddenly the sword lurched forward and pierced Faldr's sternum, running him through. He looked up to see Wunkhani's grimacing face staring back at him.
"It seems you haven't totally lost your gifts." He growled, his voice failing him as blood pooled in his chest and began to fill his esophagus. "Such a pity you will never put them to use." X'lish shoved Wunkhani aside as Faldr collapsed, eyes still locked in the sword handle protruding from his chest.
"Faldr!" She screamed. "Can you hear me?" He didn't respond. X'lish shook herself and slung Faldr's arm over her shoulders. "I'm getting you out of here. Nibet and Satranik can handle the rest by themselves."
"With any luck, your friends are already dead." Wunkhani sputtered. "Izaroth knew you'd come for him eventually, so he-" X'lish threw a knife into his throat, cutting off his speech. Dazed, he fell flat on his face, driving the knife further into his throat and out through the back of his neck. X'lish meanwhile began limping toward the exit, her leg still injured from Wunkhani's counterattack.
"Nemyunoi…" He muttered, the last of his breath escaping him as he bled out on the floor of the warehouse. "I did everything I could. I'm leaving Nagratek to you." He closed his eyes and lost consciousness. Suddenly, an explosion sounded from the direction of the main building. X'lish barely managed to keep her balance. She staggered and tried to continue forward, but another explosion knocked her off her feet, this one closer to the warehouse than the last. The building began to shake. Several more explosions followed, each louder and closer than the previous one.
X'lish grit her teeth and tried to stand despite the cascade of shockwaves, but quickly stumbled back to the ground. She and Faldr lay in front of the door. The walls and ceiling began to buckle. Suddenly, Faldr stood up and grabbed X'lish. His eyes were glazed over. He wrapped his arms around her and jumped backward, crashing through the wall behind him just as a missile struck the one in front. They flew through the air, the explosion close behind. Eventually, the shockwave caught up with them and threw them through the nearby tree line. X'lish passed out as they hit the ground, Faldr still trying to shield her from the oncoming blast.
Rankyne begins sputtering his last breaths as he lays dying in a field. Surrounding him on all sides is a barren wasteland sparsely dotted with the bodies of rat creatures, stick eaters, farmers, and his fellow Pawan soldiers, their bodies slowly being covered by the ash that overran the terrain when the Eastern Mountains exploded. What few trees remain outside Old Man's Cave lie on their sides, dried and withered.
Rankyne stares up at the same patch of sky he has viewed for the past week. A particularly brave farmer had pinned Rankyne's shoulder to the ground with a pitchfork just before the calamity struck. Rankyne lacks the strength to remove it, and now that his water skin has run dry he simply stares at the passing clouds, waiting for death.
Then the earth begins to break again. Rankyne lifts his head with the last of his strength to catch a glimpse of a massive plume of smoke beginning to break apart in the far south. As it does, a massive green object falls from the plume and plunges through the earth. Then the screaming starts.
Uncountable voices begin screaming in unison inside Rankyne's mind. Thousands of individuals cry out in pain as the world seems to shake itself apart. The experience is so frightening Rankyne begins convulsing violently, using up strength he did not know he possessed. His eyes roll back in his head as the screaming grows in intensity. Through the cacophony, he is only vaguely aware of the voice of his brother searching for him amidst the carnage. Rankyne tried to reach out, but his strength leaves him. As he begins to lose all of his senses, the myriad of screaming voices all coalesce into one.
"Unmade!" It shouts, louder than all the other voices combined. "Unmade! Cursed Princess! If only my eyes had not failed me so! Quickly, I must find… another. So there is another. One even my eyes failed to see." The voice quieted down, somewhat returning Rankyne to consciousness. As Rankyne regains his vision and hearing, he begins to notice a growing humming sound.
"Time is short. This one will have to do." The voice continues speaking to no one, but is drowned out by the growing buzzing sound. Rankyne begins to feel the grasp of a thousand tiny feet as locusts swarm his body. A sudden coldness begins to creep upon Rankyne as the locusts continue to crawl across him, dulling all of his other senses. As his mind fades into unconsciousness, the last thing he hears is the voice of his brother calling out for him.
"Caydmar…" Rankyne muttered listlessly as he roused from his slumber. "I had that dream about the field… again…" He sat up in his tent and looked around.
"You talk in your sleep." Ven said, startling Rankyne out of his cot. She stood by the flap of the tent with her arms crossed.
"Ven!" Rankyne shouted as he stumbled to his feet, his sheet hanging off his shoulder like a toga. "What are you doing here? What am I doing here? What happened to the cave?"
"Take it easy. You've been out for over a day. You lost your cool against Ronuba and almost got eaten. If I hadn't blasted her off of you when I did, you would have been."
"Are my people safe? Did you manage to free them?"
"It took everything I had in me to disrupt the crystals they were trapped inside, but I managed to free everyone I could reach."
"How many?"
"Sybron and his men are still busy exploring the cave system Shard discovered, but he's accounted for almost five thousand people already."
"Only five thousand?" Rankyne muttered. "What about the rest?"
"We still have yet to explore every cavern. Sybron and his men are working day and night, and we have no shortage of volunteers from Atheia, but you need to give it time. Between this and trying to resettle everyone Sybron has stretched himself and the Venu very thin."
"Resettlement?" Rankyne shouted, throwing his arms into the air and the sheet off of his shoulder. "We're still in the middle of a war and he's letting people expose themselves to the enemy?"
"Keep your voice down." Ven glared. "We need the refugees to remain calm. They've been through enough and if they continue to panic it will only make our enemies stronger. Sybron has several groups of men clearing out the towns in the north of any straggling Bones, and Delwin Curtiss and the rest of the council of nobles is overseeing the reconstruction of Atheia. As far as they all know, the war is over. And we need to keep it that way."
"If that's the case, then I need to return to my people." Rankyne began walking toward the flap of the tent. "They'll need me now more than ever."
"You're not going anywhere." Ven moved in front of him. "We still need you here."
"I don't care." Rankyne spat back, looking Ven in the eyes. "I don't owe you or your secret club a thing. I only agreed to work for you to because you could help me find my people. We did that. Now I have a country to run."
"Sybron and the noble council can handle administration in your place until the war is over."
"I am not leaving my country in the hands of a pack of southerners!" Rankyne shouted, baring his teeth. "And you will not keep me here any longer!" He slammed his forehead into the bridge of Ven's nose, sending her flying backward out of the tent. He rushed after her. As he passed through the tent flap, however, he paused.
Around the temple's central room, most of the refugees were gone, and in their place were several dozen rat creatures. Some milled about the tents, minding their own business. A few walked with Bartleby, all vying for his attention. What little humans remained in the camp gravitated toward Gran'ma Ben, who walked around helping with anything the remaining refugees still needed. As Ven flew through the air and Rankyne rushed from his tent, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at him.
The moment Rankyne stopped moving, caught off guard by the sudden attention, Shard tackled him to the ground and pinned his arms.
"Get off of me!" Rankyne shouted, struggling in vain to free himself from the crystal man's grip.
"Not if you're going to act like that." Shard replied, twisting Rankyne's arms behind his back and pressing his own knee into the small of his captive's back.
"Thank you Shard." Ven said as she stood to her feet. Briefly, she paused to set her nose. After that was done, she walked over to Shard and Rankyne.
"Nothing to see here folks." Shard announced to the on looking crowds. "Just move along." Reluctantly, most of the bystanders did. Except Gran'ma Ben, who promptly marched over to Rankyne and put her hands on her hips.
"What's goin' on over here?" She asked, looking at Rankyne but addressing all three of the others. "I've got people down there tryin' to put their lives back together, and you three are up here fightin' amongst yourselves like children. I don't care if you've got grievances, but air them well away from the people we're supposed to protect."
"Go back to running your errands, granny." Shard said, dragging Rankyne to his feet but still keeping his hands firmly secured. "We can take care of our own messes."
"I don't like your tone, young man." She narrowed her eyes and got right up in Shard's face, forcing him to take a step back. "If we're going to work together, you need to have a little respect for others."
"I was in this fight since before your ancestors were born, you senile cow woman." Shard responded, breaking eye contact with Gran'ma Ben and shoving Rankyne into Ven's arms. "Now do your job or get out of our way."
"What's with you today?" Ven asked, letting Rankyne go and turning to Shard.
"Nothin' some good, hard labor can't fix." Gran'ma Ben remarked, cracking her knuckles.
"Ven, can you do something about her?" He motioned over his shoulder at Gran'ma Ben. "If I'm going to get this stuff with Rankyne done, then I'll need some peace and quiet."
"I think the more pressing issue is what's on your mind." Ven grabbed Shard's shoulder. "You've not been yourself since the Crystal Councilman got loose. Whatever it is that's eating away at you, you can tell me. We're friends."
"Ven, I appreciate the gesture, but we have a very tight schedule. If Rankyne is as important as you think, then we shouldn't waste any more time with this."
"Waste any more time with what?" Rankyne asked. Before anyone could answer, he turned around. "Never mind, I don't care. I have to get back to my people." He began walking for the exit. Shard shrugged Ven's hand off his shoulder and grabbed Rankyne's arm.
"Kid, you are more important than you think you know." He said, tightening his grip on Rankyne's arm. "If you walk through that door, you are going to regret it for the rest of your very short life."
"Don't threaten me." Rankyne pulled his arm free of Shard's grasp. "I'm done with the cryptic nonsense and the half-truths. Now let me go where I'm needed, or I force my way out."
"You'd better walk back to your tent, kid." Shard balled his hands into fists. "Or I'm going to put you through the wall."
"Shard, this isn't helping." Ven grabbed Shard by the shoulder and pulled him back, putting herself between him and Rankyne. "We need to all calm down before we have a repeat of what happened with Fone."
"I don't know. I think Fone had the right idea." Rankyne said, eyeing the exit. "Walking out on this freak show seems very appealing right now."
"Will you get over yourself?" Shard shot back. "There's more at stake here than your sense of duty. We need to find out exactly what you are before it comes back to bite us in the-" Gran'ma Ben collapsed to the ground, cutting Shard short. Ven rushed to her side and helped her to her feet.
"Are you alright?" Ven asked, draping Gran'ma Ben's arm across her shoulder. "Can you hear me?"
"I'm fine." Gran'ma Ben spat. "I get this all th' time. It's th' camp we need to be worried about."
"What do you mean?" Shard asked, stepping back from his confrontation with Rankyne.
"It's th' gitchy feelin'. That terrible feelin' that makes your head swim an' your knees wobble. It's a powerful omen of bad things to come." Gran'ma Ben took a step forward and began looking around the cavern. "An' this one's a whopper. Somethin' bad's comin' our way. Th' gitchy feelin's never wrong."
"Did you catch any of that?" Shard asked Ven.
"I think so." Ven shrugged. She turned to Gran'ma Ben. "Listen, we need to get you to a tent before you collapse again."
"Will you both shut up an' listen?" Gran'ma Ben snapped back. "We're all in danger. We need to start evacuatin' the civilians before whatever's comin' gets here." She took a step forward and collapsed onto her knees. Rankyne and Ven rushed to help her up, but before they could the entrance to the cavern exploded, sending chunks of rock flying throughout the camp.
"How did she know that was going to happen?" Shard asked, still staring at Ven. "I thought precognition was a myth."
"If we survive this, I'll be sure to ask her." Ven said, standing up and leaping toward the source of the explosion. Shard ran after her, with Rankyne supporting Gran'ma Ben following as close as they could. As Ven landed at the hole that had been torn open in the side of the mountain, two bolts of lightning lanced toward her. She dodged both with little margin of error. The smoke cleared as Shard arrived, and Reina stepped forward into the cavern. Behind her, several dozen gray-tinged Bones limped their way toward the entrance mindlessly, their eyes glowing red.
"My my, what a cozy little setup you have here, Ven." Reina mused as she prowled back in forth in front of the oncoming force of Bones. Rankyne and Gran'ma Ben arrived as the first of the attackers threw themselves into the cavern. "I think I'm going to enjoy burning this place to the ground."