Intermission: The Bard.
As Ryu and Nina fell asleep to the music, and the camp was silent as the other slept well, were not able perceive the lute still playing all the time, but Breksta was not in the camp. She played, walking over the water until she reached the arm, and climbed it like walking on stairs in the air, reaching the palm, and sat, playing again.
x
Oh Celestia, queen of Angels.
Why did you have to wear the colours of sacrifice?
Intertwining your soul with a goddess for an instant was enough to change the world…
You gave us the gift of life in the middle of the coldest Ice Age.
There were wounded on your actions.
Eolos, who stood fast by your side every time… loved you how you were and mourns your passing;
But now… as your vessel also descend from Yorae, and are walking with his heir,
Your path will also let this world to regain life.
You are a different consciousness, unimpeded by the pass. Live.
x
From the hand a small aura appeared and materialized as a wisp in front of her. 'Asgardo, nice to see you. Your time there in Filgaia will come; don't be bothered by Asparia again; you did your part and are a legend already here. Everyone has the potential to become one'.
Breksta kept playing, as any dark cloud that would appear, or monster turned away from the campsite; until a moment, a note went off and she stopped playing for a moment, to perceive with the mind's eye a shadow with an evil semblance seemed to come from below the plateau they were in… hailing from the wastelands, it was a tracker, as far as she recalled, and a vicious one. She took her lute, and thought, 'Goodbye Asgardo, a pleasure to see you are undisturbed and faring well', and leapt to the water, stopping just on the surface and kept walking to where it ended as she started to walk towards the road.
Sleep well, descendants of Yorae, and companion. The other has her wyrd elsewhere, where shadows loom, but not being evil ones. This tracker seems it would be the last the other dark winged sent but would be the most vicious. Well, no one will hear its wail, nor perceive the disappearance. I, Anastassia, say so. The boy has been well taught, the song of Yorae as he sang it, is something that only exists where the people of his mother is, and he believes in her guidance.
Then, she started playing another song, with a much more aggressive stance, that made her radiate a white aura until her figure became transparent and shrank until she became as tall as a seven-year-old, spectral like white body covered in brown, blue, and shining black symbols and patterns, and anyone who could see the astral plane would have seen a white thin column of light descending from the heavens to it; they would only have seen if they were around the shore of the lake or the royal road.
Seconds later, some large transparent serpentine figure started to slither noiselessly for any living being around, at an impressive speed through the surface of the lake going in and out as if taking water, then when it reached the shore, went under the land, and surfaced near the royal road.
She could see through the eyes of the serpent, that a monstrous shadow hell-hound the size of a large carriage had been dispatched, but she knew it wasn't a match for her. The serpent now, visible as if made of mud, charged and submerged on the earth, swallowing the beast and making a crater. At the few second it emerges, mud dripping, sealing the crater on the royal road and chewing noisily for those in the astral realm to hear, but nothing heard around the encampment, not even by animals nor insects. Once the serpent swallowed with a noisy gulp, a beam of darkness went towards the envoy that at the same time was the serpent; it started turning grey, then white when it reached the envoy, absorbing that ray as astral power, who she sent back to the living earth.
Genevieve. You will not desecrate these lands, and the willpower of the one you are trying to assault is kicking you back. If I feel one of your envoys again, I'll hunt it wherever water flows. And take the astral essence of your creations for this world, and you will feel the pain your minion felt. Cross one of us, and you will sense the folly. No, you will not hear me… only feel the reprisal of the world.
I be… Ni Ryong. Protecting life and good food of this world be mine duty. Yorae-Kaiser… I hath arisen from my slumber.
While you roam learning more of this world, we will honour the covenant made to Asparia, the first Yorae... and she whose name has not awakened to this world yet.
Suddenly, the envoy felt her stomach moving a bit, until some gas came out as a very loud BURP! 'Seems like it was too much malice at once, and I was not accustomed. Well, another set of songs until dawn and a bit more, and back to the astral plane.'
- o -
- o -
Intermission: The Phantom Thief
x
The night was young, but the phantom figure had not relented. There had just been a ball in the palace of Wyndia, yes, maybe some trinkets and jewelry would be useful, but she did not care… She had gotten a nice, fat and juicy leak on a possible heist for her purposes, and it was now the precise moment, when the owner of the wyndian mansion would not be here. She had a reliable lead on the possible nature of the owner and preferred to avoid risks, even if she had an emergency backup, but the need to avoid using it was bigger.
She was lithe, trained to an extreme in the middle of a desert tribe who took her in, carrying only a dress and her pendant… a long dragon coiled within itself embracing a large crystalline stone, with two smaller crystals in two of the paws. This one looked always to the left of the left of the bearer. It was the only memory of a distant past she had, one that ended with demons attacking and her being transported far, far away. The jewel had been a gift of her mother,
Her abilities trained with a fanaticism almost unseen made her fade in the shadows, and invisible in the light, and by some reason dark blue wings had sprouted from her back when she reached puberty, and her strength and agility, had been immediately comparable to the ones of trained warriors, but she had resistance and stamina comparable to a normal adult. The wings allowed her to glide but served well enough for her purposes. Her frame was light but resistant and could jump very high after she trained and trained, and her speed at running had become something exceptional. Also, she had to learn the basics of magic, and a bit of the arcane theory, but that was not that hard; she also learned how to pick any physical lock given enough time.
The jewel yet it had saved her from yet another major demon attack, around eight years in the past, when a large swarm of demons with some dark armored soldiers started invading, and captured five girls, who she had known and played with: little and fiery Sanamo, dreamy and loyal Sesso, flirty Spoona, knowledgeable Synne, serious Saynie.
And the invaders had the nerve to interrogate by torture about two more: the grandma Gigli, and the strong reliable and gentle Sollo, but no one talked or knew… our would have talked if they knew. Took the captured ones away and started slaughtering the rest one by one, brutally afflicting pain, until someone confessed.
The leader of the assault, a large humanoid butterfly woman with claws instead or hands, eventually got tired of waiting, and sensed something different… some girl had a different stench from the rest of the humans, and seemingly pulsed with energy. She had not noticed this twelve-year-old, unremarkable save for the long blue hair, who was chained with some essence drainers, so she didn't fight. The girl had green eyes, and long dark blue hair. grabbed her by the neck and lifted her, showing the intent to strangle her. Too weak to resist, she couldn't do a thing.
Suddenly, Loud heartbeats was heard in the village, making all demons that remained tremble in fear for several moments… THU-THUMP! THU-THUMP! THU-THUMP! and were coming from her, and the strength of those heartbeats were making the demon-butterfly holding her tremble by some sort of shockwave, and when she stopped trembling, she lifted and swatted her against the ground, making the girl grunt in pain, making the jewel touch her hand in whiplash
At the mere contact of the trinket with the demon's hide... for her the time seemed to stop, as a the stone in the jewel glowed white, and holy white fire started incinerating the demon. But, the people who still were alive there knew what the jewel was, decided as one to willingly give their lives to increase the fuel for the flames of judgement. Or others who had decided to convert in energy reserve capsules for it.
The secret… is that it needed a certain amount of life essence, both from the normal realm and the astral realm. But it had to be given willingly. If a demon touched it, it would liberate power and consume the astral lifeforce of the demon, and at the same time damage the vessel in our world. But the amounts required, were the equivalent to ten adult humans. Only the persons who she lived with, last remnants of the long-lost fusion clan, had the required connection on the astral plane and their earthly vessels, to allow two lives of them, to take the one of a demon who touched it with intent to kill the owner, or allow their life essence and soul flaring to make the pyre larger..
The holy firestorm incinerated every demon that remained in the town, and when it vanished, she felt two things on her back at the level of the shoulder blades, emerging not without its share of bodily pain. 'Wings! Like mother had.'. Once they were ready, she felt the new limbs, and saw everything… no demons, but everyone who she learned to love again during the last seven years, either dead or captured.
Still, it was a massacre from what she fled, so her motives were clear: Vengeance, pure and clear; her enemy so large and vast, that she could be very well trying to fight a kingdom itself. And for that… she needed resources. Lots of them. The best way was to take money from the ones who played dirty to gather and gather wealth. Those were her quick thoughts when she was working through a normal safe; thanks to her basic arcane training she knew when wards were placed, and what type.
'So, here it is. Let's see… an open bond pre-paid and payable by the bank, no questions asked and not traceable, by thirty million zenny. And there is another for the Pazzuri holding, for two million. The first will be useful, for the resistance movement. I know the ones I'm after to see their downfall are guilty of everything, so, no matter the cost they will fall. And look at these three sealed scrolls. Let me see…'
She checked them quickly, noticed that one had no emblem on the seal at all. Then she closed her eyes and opened them, shining golden and seeing the emblem... a flame. Her eyes came back to normal, as she took the bonds, the three scrolls, and just in case some of the jewels, and even any fragments of the star-metal that she could take right now.
She left without being noticed by no guards, but before leaving by the way she entered, via a door in a balcony of the second floor in the back, she felt a trace of something, took her two daggers she had, did a backflip, and fell on top of someone who had been invisibly stalking her, she stunned him and stabbed as fiercely as she was able to, without feeling the need for yelling.
The thing appeared and looked as a human figure but made only of blackness. She moved the daggers in different directions. One of the daggers seemingly made some sort of stasis on the hominid not allowing it to move, and the other started to burn in white fire where it hit. She lifted the one on her right hand, a blessed dagger made of star-metal and stabbed the figure on where the face would be located, and twisted, hearing a scream of pain from it, as she left it there, retreating as the figure started being consumed in white fire.
'I see... definitely that apparently unbranded seal must have something interesting if the Tempesta… ahem, Greenwind, decided to put a demonic sliver to guard it, and it definitely is warded; maybe a friendly wizard can help me identify. Will have to check it later. Now we go taking some other valuables and go to cash out outside of Wyndia. Let's see if I find the traveling bank caravan to store safely things. Trusty ol' manillos who ask no questions if the money is right, thank Ladon for that… Smith & Smith Co. needs some funds now. And I need some food… I'm bloody hungry.'
Now, she left by the window, unimpeded, and went to pickpocket some drunk and distracted merchants or minor nobles getting out of the ball, without getting seen.
- o -
Intermission: Wyndia Ball.
x
It was a chilly night on Wyndia. A wyndian woman with light blue and white wings, wearing under her feathered coat, a dress whose fashion dated from the times of the Fou empire, it was slit at the right leg showing enough to be provocative, but not enough to be considered a harlot in the court she had entered by marriage some years ago. Lived a happy sheltered life, but after some years, she became a rich widow because her husband had died in a tempest at the sea, when he was on a trade voyage; and she wasn't really interested on being a mere ornamental wife, again.
The court had some implicit rules, some could be bent a little bit, but when the steps of the iron fist wearing court shoes were heard on the corridors coming to the grand hall. As they were coming closer, the noise in the ball diminished and it began to be the orderly event that the one treading in a dignified way, wanted for the three hours that she had scheduled, where she would enjoy some music, and talk some specific business pertaining to social issues, but not that made the crown lose some time, or so had been what told her on some occasions the one who was called as iron fist, but in very low whispers, sometimes even only immediately burnt written papers, the ice queen.
The blue-degrade-winged woman, even if other days she would have gone out of her way to greet the person who just arrived… her royal majesty, the queen of Wyndia. She came to preside the ball, and was seemingly in a bad mood, but this activity had to go. And not one wyndian in the ball pretended to be the first one to cause the queen to lose her temper. The memory of the cruel execution and banishment of a minor noble and the stupid relatives, was very much fresh in their minds.
They went for a simple trial case, but ended up in a spectacle of horrors, not to mention the yelling about the curse of the black wings, the laws abolished ten years ago. And cast out from the nobility, alliances and arrangements be damned, since now they were in control of the crown.
"Lady Marianne Tempesta," a richly dressed wyndian noble who had large white wings, bowed before her and took her hand, kissing it and holding it softly, "would you grant me this dance?"
"Of course, my good baron Guido Pazzuri," while letting herself be carried in the dance. Seemingly he had done his homework and knew the technique. "How is your shipping business going?"
"Our regular is all well, but I guess you would want to know about the special ones of your enterprise in the wastes, yes?"
Marianne noticed all the noise around, the chit chat, and felt confident to talk, but only on whispers, so, she started to dance much closer to him, as she answered to his ear, "Pray, maybe. It would be good to have news of it. Did the shipment arrive in good state?"
"Yes, I have delivered the document you requested to your butler before coming here", he replied in the same way.
"Thank you, I know your harbor services are dependable then. There may be several more such business in the future, especially if you have also some of the fallen star metal, the bigger, the better... do you get my meaning?", and then she nibbled softly on his ear to tease him, smirking at him.
"Lady Marianne… of course, of course", he said blushing… it was a court event, so since he was a married man, he couldn't be seen in scandals, even if Lady Marianne was known to be generous with some gestures of appreciation for business or friendship. "You only need to contact my agents in Wyndia, or myself if I were available here."
"Again, thank you. I will be taking my leave then," Marianne said and totally unexpected for him, gave a quick peck on his lips, touching them also with the tip of her tongue wiggling it a bit, leaving him proverbially petrified for several instants, as she left, him with both the excitement of such a lovely lady giving him a kiss… but hoping no one would take the rumor to his wife. But in any case, he had his own preparations. His study had a quite comfortable bed for those occasions he was at HIS home, but the domina of the manor said he could not sleep on his large bed with her, or he was too consumed by the work.
Then, Marianne was heading out, saw that the queen was looking at her, as if saying something. Marianne faced her, made a full curtsey, which made her majesty lift her lips on the hint of a smile. The queen waved her hand dismissing her, so she felt free to leave, finally.
She went her way through the richest wyndian sector near the palace but outside of its grounds, and when she arrived outside her house… suddenly felt a piercing headache, which made her cough some blood, and put one hand on the walls to avoid falling. That was one strong hit. She did not feel that some feathers had fallen from her wings.
'Shit! Someone killed a sliver of mine. The one in my house! And I can barely move… this really hurts, and my magic reserves are gone thanks to that death. I need to sleep… or a sacrifice to recover myself, and if the offering pleases my lord, just maybe… enough soul essence to create a sliver, even if I have still two more, and my life.'
She still tried to keep standing, but was about to fall, when a wyndian city guard came by and saw her coughing blood, and in need of help, holding the keys.
"My lady, is this your house?"
"Yes", rasped her voice as she coughed.
"Allow me to take the keys and carry you."
"Kindly, thank you, *COUGH* *COUGH*"
The guard took the keys opened the door, lifted her in his arms, closed the door, and awaited her instructions.
"There is the reception room, please put me in that nice armchair."
The guard did as was requested, placing her as comfortable as he could manage. Then he knelt beside her, waiting as she breathed to calm herself for some minutes, without talking, but once she was able to look at him.
"Thank you, guardsman."
"Milady, it's an honor to have been of service. Any other way I can help you?"
She looked him into his eyes, somehow making him feel paralyzed, then took his helmet off. "Yes, there is…" She licked her lips and told him. "Give yourself to me, and I shall send you to be the strength of our god!" in a lower tone of voice.
Then, her face changed making her mouth grow until it was literally from her ear to ear, her ears changed into horns, and her teeth became serrated and she bit him on his face and started sucking blood, and life essence on this world of the poor guard. Him not being able to react, since he had been paralyzed… terror only within his body.
She finished, left a fully drained corpse with no blood at all, stood, and chanted. "This soul I offer to the eternal grace of our god. Go to Evan! DEATH!", and a ghostly horror appeared over the body, an unearthly howl uttered, and from the body a white globe of light with some flame around it was extracted and then carried by the specter, which vanished taking the soul directly towards a certain point in the astral realm.
She had finished her meal, and went up the stairs toward her safe, and at the middle of them, felt something on the direction of the Maekyss lake.
'The hellhound! What did it find? It was supposed to track Cedric's blood in the stake and kill the children'. but suddenly she felt an incredible ripple in the astral plane, and then a mighty roar… that made her sliver and her tremble in fear.
She sent a telepathic message to Cedric, who should be on the Pazzuri estate, arranging shipping of the slaves, star metal and many other things found. "Lake Maekyss! Go there NOW!" she screamed in her mind.
She breathed, knowing that the ripple was something fully unusual, and if anything came from it, would be directly out of the legends. A voice whispered on her head 'Feel the reprisal of the world'.
Then, she started feeling pain. In every part of her body. She felt her bones being fractured, splintered and her whole being triturated, feeling immense amounts of pain, until she wasn't able to control her body and fell from the stairs. She lost consciousness as her neck ended up an an unnatural angle when she landed head first rolling down the stairs.
x
The next day, no one who passed by the outside could explain why there were both some loose opaque black feathers outside that house and some patches of a certain dried black fluid and some darkened dried blood, and the owner did not seem to be at her home.
- o -
End Intermissions.
Author's Notes:
2018-12-10
- Well… hope this explains a bit more.
- I must do Sten's backstory a bit decently before continuing. No ETA yet.
- Slow progress… but at least I hope nice to read.
Special Thanks:
- Ryusui, for his Retranslation.
- Lady 'Kestre Wynde'; thanks for reading my ramblings... and helping me to get some order and readability out of it.