At The Source

"Arthen. Arthen, wake up."

The templar groaned as he was being shook awake.

"Arthen, come on." It was Innes.

Finally, the knight opened his eyes to see the red head standing over him.

The mage sighed. "About time. Tina is awake now."

"She is?" Arthen sat up and forced himself awake. After a moment, he noticed that it was midday and he had overslept again. It had to have been another restless night.

"Yeah," Innes continued. "She woke up this morning."

"Thank you, Innes." He told him.

The mage nodded and dismissed himself as Arthen got up out of bed.

The knight stretched and rubbed his eyes before finally slipping back into plates of armor. Afterwards, he stepped outside and made his way over to the medic's tent where he found Tina awake and sitting up in her cot.

Tina leaned back against pillows propped up behind her and her hair was messy.

Arthen smiled.

"Arthen..." She started when she saw him, "I'm really sorry.."

His smile faded. "Sorry? Why?"

She shook her head. "That shouldn't have happened, and I worried you..."

"That's nothing to be sorry about," he continued, "It's my job to protect you and I failed. But I promise you that I will never allow for it to happen again."

Tina smiled when she realized the seriousness in his voice and in his eyes. "Thank you," she told him. "But you don't need to worry about me. I'm strong."

"I know you are," he told her.

Her gaze fell down at her bed.

"Hmm?" The templar looked at her questioningly.

"I had the strangest dream," she told him.

"A dream?"

"Yes," she continued. "I had a dream that I was in a dark cave underground. And when I was there, I found this strange light..."

Arthen's forehead wrinkled in thought. "Interesting."

She sighed. "But that's all that I can remember. And there was a voice, but it was foreign and I couldn't understand what it was saying. It was unlike anything I have ever heard before."

"That is strange." Arthen added.

"I don't know," the cleric told him. "Maybe it's just the atmosphere here. Everything is strange."

"Hmm.." Arthen began to wonder if that was the reason behind his trouble sleeping.

Tina frowned.

"So you guys are also sensitive to the flow of aether, I take it?" It was Sophie.

Arthen turned to see her behind him.

"Gelkmaros and Inggison are not like other places in Atreia," she continued. "The aether flows differently here where it is present. It's not known why." She paused. "It must be uncomfortable for you."

"A bit," Arthen stopped. "You must have overheard us talking. Do you know anything about the dream?"

Sophie shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't know anything. You'd have to ask an interpreter."

"Hmm." Arthen turned back to Tina. "How are you feeling?"

"Great," she told him. "A little dizzy, but fine."

The knight smiled. "You think that you can come with us back to the fort so we can report back to Richelle and possibly get you a real bed to rest in?"

"I think that I'll be fine. My energy is coming back to me." She told him. "Just a little soul sickness is all."

"If you say so," Arthen told her. "Can you stand?"

She nodded. "I think so." She paused. "Just give me a few minutes to get dressed and get my things, and I'll be right out."

The templar nodded and slipped back outside.

While waiting on the cleric, Arthen noticed that there were decorations being set up and the cooks were extra busy preparing food and nice aromas filled the air. It smelled of roasted creslitch and sweet ginseng root. Then he remembered that this village had festivals every month and today must have been the next one.

Sophie laughed. "I forgot to tell you. You guys are free to join us if you want."

Arthen turned to see her behind him again.

"We decided to move it to tonight to celebrate what you guys did for us and the village." She paused. "Even if not directly, but you pushed back the balaur who threatened to terrorize this village." She smiled. "And for that, we are thankful."

"I see," Arthen told her.

"Will you stay?" She asked.

"I think that we can be back before this evening."

"We can," Innes interrupted. He came up behind the two. "There is a direct flight transit between here and Gelkmaros fortress, so we can."

"That's great!" Sophie exclaimed. "There will be music, and games, and food of course!"

Arthen smiled.

"Are we ready?" It was Tina.

The templar looked at her who had just stepped out of the tent behind Sophie. She looked a little pale, but otherwise fine.

"You sure you want to come along?" He asked.

"Don't push yourself," Innes told her.

Tina nodded.

Alright then," the templar said.

The three headed to the northeast side of the camp where they used the aetheric flight device to fly their way back to the fortress where they met with Richelle again.

Richelle saw them right away as they walked in. She lit up, her pale blue eyes filled with expectation.

"We sabotaged the balic drana growing devices and replaced them with aetheric generators with Farbin's help." Arthen told her.

"That's good news," The general started. "We've extended Asmodae's reach with your efforts. I am impressed. Vidar chose well."

Arthen said nothing.

"But..." She continued, "Some of our generators still aren't working for some reason." She paused. "Could you look into it maybe?"

"We could." Arthen told her.

She nodded and sighed. "The only lead that we have is that the generator just north of here is the most affected. It doesn't seem to be producing much aether at all, but we can't figure out what might be causing it."

"We can check it out," Arthen said. "We'll let you know if we find out anything."

Richelle smiled. "Thank you. I would have sent someone else but we're short on asmodians to send out on this sort of thing. But here." She handed him a small cloth satchet full of coins. "Your payment for aiding us."

"Thank you," he told her.

She nodded and glanced back at Tina and Innes. "The generator is just north of here if you follow the path. There is an encampment by the waterfall and the generator is close by. I have a feeling that there might be something around there that is affecting it. Our research team is stumped."

Arthen nodded.

"Report back soon." She told them as they were dismissed.

As they started to head back out into the open area of the fortress, Arthen looked over at Tina. "Are you sure that you're feeling alright?"

She smiled. "Yes, Arthen. You worry too much."

"Yeah.." He laughed. "I know. Sorry about that."

"So," Innes butted in. "Are we going to check it out now or later?"

Arthen paused for a moment. "It's not too urgent so I think we can wait a bit. Plus Tina still hasn't gotten her full strength back so-."

"Okay, cool." The mage rushed off to the aetheric flight kiosk.

The templar sighed.

Tina laughed.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to spend the rest of the evening at Rhonnam and head out tomorrow." He looked at the cleric and smiled.

Tina nodded. "Sophie will be expecting us to be there, so I think that we should."

His smile faded. "If you want to rest, I think that you should," he told her. "I think that you'd be more comfortable here at the fortress, actually. You might be able to rest better in a real bed with proper care."

"I'd rather be where you are." She told him.

Her words caught him by surprise. He hesitated to speak. "I can stay."

"No, don't do that." She told him. "Stop worrying so much." She smiled.

"I see.." He paused for a moment. "Let's go then."

The two headed off finally behind Innes to make their way back to the refugee village. It had been a few hours since they had left and when they had arrived, Sophie greeted them again.

"You're just in time!" She told them.

They had already started and there was already the upbeat melody of a flute in the air while everyone was eating and drinking and having a good time.

It wasn't much longer until the sun was starting to set and candles and hanging lights were lit. When the night came, a beautiful waxing moon hung clearly overhead the trees and creating a truly beautiful sight.

At the same time, things were starting to quiet down.

Tina didn't have the energy to participate much in anything, but she enjoyed the food and the music.

Sophie brought Tina some roasted Stria and ale and sat next to her by one of the camp fires.

"Thank you." Tina smiled. "I don't know how you can do this every month."

Sophie laughed. "Fun isn't it? We normally wait until the moon is full, but this month was an exception for you guys."

"That's amazing," Tina told her.

Sophie smiled sweetly. "I hope you are feeling better."

"Much better," she told her. "I think that after I get some sleep tonight I should completely recover."

"That's good." Sophie said as she took a few bites out of her food. "So that dream that you had," she continued. "Have you been able to remember anything else about it?"

"I haven't." Tina told her. "I haven't really thought about it. I didn't think it was important."

"You never know," Sophie told her. "It might be some kind of message. I hear about stuff like that all the time."

Tina looked into the campfire and exhaled. "I was just underground somewhere. It was dark and cold, but I heard a strange voice and I followed it. It ended up leading to a strange wall with light emanating from it. When I touched it, it grew brighter and the voice was louder, and then I woke up."

"That is strange." Sophie's dark eyes narrowed in thought. "I've heard of tales from the Reians here about similar things like that."

"You have?" Tina looked over at her.

"Yes." Sophie frowned. "But the things I have heard have been rather terrifying."

The cleric listened.

"People talk about forbidden things. Tales about Aion's secret and stone giants that protect it. Most are just tales, though." She paused to take another bite of her food. "No one has actually seen anything like that."

"I see." Tina's gaze fell back to the ground.

"Even the balaur believe in such tales, and it's said that is why they are here in Gelkmaros looking for it. Whatever it is."

Tina remained silent in thought, trying to force herself to remember more but it was futile. The more she tried to remember, the more she would start to forget it seemed.

"I don't know any interpreters personally. You could possibly asked some of the natives around here. Perhaps they might know something."

"I might do that," Tina finally said. "I am interested now after you shared that with me."

Sophie nodded.

"Hey." It was Arthen.

Tina looked up when she saw the templar walking over to them.

He seated himself on the other side on Tina and smiled. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"You're not." Tina told him. "Where is Innes?"

"No idea," Arthen replied. "He was feeling sick when I saw him last. He probably ate too much."

"I see." Tina smiled.

Sophie also smiled and pulled herself up to her feet. "I'll leave you two."

"Thank you for telling me all of that," Tina told her.

Sophie nodded and hurried off.

Arthen raised an eyebrow in curiosity but didn't say anything.

"We were talking about my dream," she told him.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I'm thinking about asking around about it to see if it means something." She told him.

"I'm really curious about that, myself." He told her. "Let me know what you find out."

She smiled but didn't say anything. She was starting to really feel tired and didn't really have much to say. "I think I'm going to go to sleep." She told him.

"You should." He said.

She nodded and stood up. "I'll see you in the morning, Arthen."

"Sleep well." He watched her for a moment before turning back around. His gaze drifted off into the campfire.

"Just great." Vince groaned and let out a heavy sigh as he threw his weight against a nearby tree.

The sun was setting and he was in the middle of nowhere in what he was sure was Elyos territory. His only chance of making it back home would be through some kind of rift.

Atreia was a hollow planet. Asmodae and Elysea resided within on opposite sides held together by a sacrifice that froze space and time. Balaurea was the land outside of this world. This meant that unless he was lucky, he would be stuck here.

And as a daeva without an obelisk to bind his immortal soul to, the danger was far greater.

Vince stared up at the sky for a moment before continuing through the woods. He had no idea where it might lead him. He only followed the source of the strange vibration he was receiving, hoping that maybe it would lead him to safety. The farther he walked, the more his fatigue started to vanish.

Vince froze at the sound of plants rustling behind him.

He turned and sighed to see that it was only a little animal. There seemed to be more creatures the farther he went as well. He wondered if he was on sacred ground.

He kept going until he came upon what looked like a clearing.

Vince stopped to look around. He heard the sound of crashing water in the distance, but what caught his attention more was the great tree before him. It was tall, beautiful, ancient, and definitely sacred.

Vince stared at the tree in awe before being startled by a voice shouting in a dialect alien to him.

Vince turned to see a young man with pale hair, eyes, and skin. He was clad in chain armor and wielded a wooden staff in his hands.

The boy shouted at him again, as if he were challenging him.

Vince wondered at first if he was an elyos. He looked like one. However, Vince didn't hesitate to draw his weapon, the balic scimitar he'd salvaged on the dredgion.

When he did, the boy's eyes widened at the sight of it and dashed off into the trees.

He's running to get help. Vince thought. The assassin gave quick pursuit after the boy to stop him.

"I'm not letting you get away." Vince chased him through the trees as fast as he could. Branches and thorns tore at his skin as he followed recklessly while the boy was agile and familiar with these parts.

Just as the scout started gaining on him, an arrow shot the assassin right in the shoulder, sending him stumbling to the ground.

Vince swore when he looked up and saw that other hairless humans were standing over him.

They wasted no time removing him of his weapon and apprehending him.

Vince felt helpless. He wasn't going to be able to get out of this one either.

They brought him to what looked like a small encampment, a village.

The assassin realized right away that all of these people had pale hair and colorless eyes.

These weren't Elyos.

The people of the village stared in fear and disgust when they saw him.

When they arrived, his captors tossed him forward into the ground before them.

Vince tried to pull himself up but it was useless to try. His head and body throbbed with nauseating pain.

For a moment, they exchanged words in their language. Their words were soft and even archaic sounding.

Finally one of the men from the village approached him.

Vince stared up at him wearily.

"Why are you here?" The man asked him in perfect asmodian.

Vince sighed and answered honestly. "Looking for a way to get back home."

"You a spy?" The man inquired again.

Vince shook his head. "I'm not.. a spy." He tried to pull himself up again.

One of the other men spat and kicked Vince hard in the chest, sending him spinning back to the ground.

The scout grunted and whimpered in agonizing pain.

The other man spoke again. "You wear the armor and weapons of our enemy. You were seen in Taloc's garden. Do not lie to me."

Vince couldn't move. Some kind of poison was coursing through his veins and the blow to his chest only served to make it worse. The assassin tried to speak but only found himself coughing up blood.

The villagers stared at him and at his armor. They must have thought that he sided with the balaur.

Vince finally picked himself up again and spoke. "I was captured and brought here by the balaur. They took away my weapons and my armor. I used what I could to escape. Don't be deceived by it. I'm not your enemy."

The man listened to him. "The balaur is your enemy?"

Vince nodded.

He grimaced and remained silent for a time before speaking. "I believe you."

Some of the villagers exhaled with distaste and disapproval. One of them being the boy from before.

Vince, however, was relieved.

The man studied him for a bit longer. "Asmodians are not our enemy. We will not involve ourselves in whatever rivalries your kind bears. If you are not an ally to the kin of the drakan, then you are not our enemy."

The assassin said nothing.

The man continued. "I will send someone to take you back to your homeland. You are not wanted here."

Vince nodded. "I understand." He hesitated. "Thank you."

The man turned to the others and spoke to them in their language.

A few of them acknowledged him and left his side.

The man turned back to the scout. "You can rest here tonight, but you must leave in the morning."

Vince smiled a half smile but said nothing.

Minutes later, the others returned with food and proper clothing and cleaned his wounds.

Vince felt shocked by their hospitality, but he was thankful. However, he said nothing.

"Zihark." The man turned.

The boy responded.

"You will leave with him in the morning. Take this asmodian to the other side."

The boy strongly detested. He shouted angrily in their language but was swiftly silenced by the other man's piercing glare.

The man turned back to Vince and said nothing and walked away.

The assassin sighed and forced down what food he could. He couldn't remember when the last time it was that he'd eaten.

It was late and soon, the night started to set in.

Vince continued to get odd stares from the people there. It was more than clear that no one approved of the man's decision.

Vince wondered if maybe he was some kind of leader. He also realized that the boy bared some resemblance to him.

The assassin continued to conjure all sorts of unanswered questions about this place.

However, though he was lost earlier, he felt like something had been guiding him. He remembered that tree. Was it possible that could have been it?

He remained silent and asked no questions. After he'd eaten and clothed himself, he kept to himself.

Vince stared up at the sky at the bright near full moon overhead. He wondered if Tina might be looking up at it too.

Maybe we'll meet eachother soon, he thought.

Hours passed as the night sky still loomed overhead.

Arthen couldn't sleep.

The uneasiness in the air plagued him again as he tossed and turned in his cot, eventually forcing him to remain awake on his back, staring up at the ceiling of the tent.

Innes, however, was fast asleep in his own bed against the other side of their quarters and snoring loudly.

Arthen sighed and sat himself up for a moment and dressed himself. He got up and left outside for a while to relax.

The village was quiet and serene now. The only sounds were the chirping of insects from the trees and the footsteps of patrolling soldiers.

The templar ventured outside the village gates down the path heading east through the forest. The sight was beautiful.

The path wrapped around a pristine pond of water with lilies floating on the surface. Giant moonflowers bloomed at the water's edge and illuminated the ground with an iridescent glow.

Arthen continued on down the road through the trees. He stopped now and again to look around him.

Giant Mamuts, creatures with large legs and a large trunk for a nose stood on either side of the path, sleeping with their young standing beneath them.

Other little creatures scurried across the ground as the knight headed down the path.

Arthen ended up coming to what looked like a large stone gate at the end of the path guarded by some of Asmodae's most elite soldiers.

They paid him almost no mind as he passed through.

The templar continued on exploring down the trail and gazing at the animals and the plants all around. He kept going until he heard what seemed like the sound of a waterfall. He had remembered seeing some flying back and forth between the fortress and the village and wanted to get a closer look.

He followed the sound which indeed lead to a giant waterfall. Water poured down from the hills that overlooked the forest. The waterfall flooded across the path and over another ledge and crashed down into a small canyon below. The templar walked over to the ledge and peered down.

The aether was rich here and the atmosphere felt almost normal.

Relaxed, Arthen leaned forward and stretched large ebon wings and flew down over the waterfall.

It was beautiful. The water ran down over the rocks and flooded the canyon's cavity.

Arthen flew lower until he noticed a small island in the middle of the water. On the island was one of their aetheric generators.

The templar flew over and landed by the device to get a closer look. He wondered if this was the generator that was having problems, though it seemed to be working fine.

He ran his hands over the generator's surface when he noticed something strange.

It definitely wasn't producing much aether. However, it had to have stopped working recently.

Arthen looked around him for a moment, studying the moonflowers and other creatures scurrying about, though he saw nothing that could have caused it to malfunction.

Ksellid turtles eyed him curiously from the water as he stood there. Their backs were covered with strange mushrooms that glowed the same iridescent glow as the flowers.

Arthen spread his wings again and flew up high onto a ledge overlooking the generator to get a better look around. The ledge winded up and around. Trees and moonflowers grew freely where he was standing.

The templar started to feel tired again and wondered if he should start to head back. There was no telling how late it was now. He sighed and leaned back against what looked like a giant root that had sprouted up from the ground. Arthen looked around but he couldn't see what it could have belonged to. He figured that it was the remnant of some ancient tree. There were several places where they came up from the ground.

He stood there for a moment until he heard something rustling in the bushes near him and he turned to see what it was.

He gasped when he caught the glimpse of a strange blue toned creature sprinting off further into the trees. It didn't look like anything that he'd ever seen before. It was small with a rounded head and a tiny body. It had pale azure tendrils for arms and legs.

Curious now, the knight chased after it. He followed it up the ledge and through the wood before it disappeared into the trees again.

Arthen paused for a moment to look around when he felt the ground beneath him give.

He found himself plummeting into a hollow chasm. The shock of the fall quickly faded into agonizing pain when he crashed into the surface beneath him.

What the...The templar couldn't move. He gazed up at the strange azure creature standing over him as his body became overcome with weakness and his vision faded to darkness.