Validar stood in an empty field, seething with rage. His tracking spell had lead him to this exact spot-in YLISSE of all places!-but there was no sign of his children anywhere. He'd found Ashira's grave several leagues behind, but couldn't care less about his wife: the twins were the real prize. Unable to contain the emotion any longer, Validar howled and cast a fire spell at the nearest tree, leaving it a smoldering pile of ashes.
"Great Fell Dragon!" he screamed, shaking his fist at the heavens, "Why do you not help me?! I seek your rebirth, yet you will not guide me to your vessels! What have I left undone?!"
"It is an act of great foolishness to demand something from the Fell Dragon."
Validar whirled and saw a cloaked figure, resting in the shade of a lone tree, seemingly unconcerned.
"And who are you, to tell a Grimleal priest how he should inquire of his Lord?" he demanded, his fist enveloped with fire magic as he said it. He was answered with a sudden laugh, loud and mocking. The cloaked figure straightened and stepped into the sun, still chuckling.
"I suppose I have changed since you saw me last," the cloaked figure remarked. "But you still should have recognized me; I am the only one who could truly know Grima's will."
Validar paused, the magic flickering out. It couldn't be...no, it was not possible.
"You presume correctly," Grima answered, still not lowering the hood that cloaked his face. "I am the god you cried out to in anger, but not from this world. I have only inhabited this mortal frame to better search this realm for the vessel I once was. It appears that this world is very different from the one I came from. Twins."
It did not take clarification for the Grimleal to understand. There was only one Fell Dragon. He had two children. There could only be one.
"Which survived?" he asked. Grima mused over the question longer than strictly necessary, if only to infuriate Validar even further.
"It is a two-faced question," the Fell Dragon answered at length. "For-in a way-they both have. The river of time is not easily swayed, so it has split into two separate streams. In one, your son survived, in the other, your daughter."
"But which in this time?!" Validar snapped. Grima or not, he was getting impatient with this aloof attitude. An icy silence followed for a long moment as the Grimleal priest realized his mistake. "Forgive me, Master Grima. I am bound by the mortal constraints of frustration."
"As are all your kind," came the dry reply. Validar bowed his head in silent acknowledgement, wisely holding his tongue. Satisfied, Grima continued.
"The tear in your world simply hasn't affected you yet. When it arrives in, oh a moment or two, all your memory of one child will cease to be, along with any memory of meeting me here. My vessel will suffer a similar amnesia, but the severity may be more intense due to a proximity of the tear. I-of course-will suffer no such effects."
Validar's head was suddenly pierced by a sharp pain, as if it were being cleaved in two. He doubled over, clutching his head as if it would ease the agony that beset him.
"Oh, here it is," Grima commented, not bothered in the slightest. "Two worlds for one, huh? This'll be fun. I'd wish you luck, but you'll all be dead in the end. Ah well. It's much more satisfying if lives are on the line at every turn. Farewell Validar. I'll be seeing you soon."
Validar opened his mouth to reply, but was swept away as if by a great wind, unable to do anything as his thoughts and memories blurred in and out of focus. For the briefest of moments, the man could have sworn there was another of him, but the faint image was gone before he could properly see it. When the pain grew to be too much, his world grew black.
"Lord Validar? What's happened? Are you alright?"
The Grimleal priest opened his eyes, seeing one of his acolytes bending over him in concern. Where am I? he wondered for a moment. Then he remembered: I'm at the Dragon's Table. I was imploring for Lord Grima's strength at the altar and then...
His memory after that was a blank hole. Validar tried to pierce the strange fogginess in his mind, had no success. There was the faintest sensation that it had something to do with his missing child, but he couldn't be certain.
"Get away," he snapped at the young acolyte, rising from the ground in the most dignified manner he could. "It is no concern of yours what has occurred here. Leave me!"
The young Gimleal frowned, but retreated anyway. Validar turned back to the altar, feeling unsettled. Something had changed in the world. Something fundamental. Sighing, he put aside such thoughts: they were matters to be sorted out by the gods, not men. All that mattered was finding his child, Robin, and returning the Fell Dragon to the world.
The end was coming, and nothing could stop it. The yoke of destiny cannot be cast off.
A/N: This was another one of those chapters where I'm not entirely sure what I wrote, but it made sense to me. I'm trying to wrap this fic up so I can go onto other projects I'm working on, so as a result, the quality of my writing can go down and plot holes might begin appearing. If this needs any editing-or if you're still confused by what just happened, shoot me a PM or review and I'll try fixing some of these shenanigans.
Again, apologies for and egregious errors or plot holes. (I haven't gotten a lot of sleep since this school quarter is coming to a close.)
