Chapter Forty-Seven
Several tense seconds passed as brother stared down brother, than the ghostly elder sibling made his move, embracing the younger affectionately.
"It is good to see you again, and in the flesh unlike me." Rurik noted warmly.
"You realize I can't return the favor because I'd just go right through you." Coran noted, not that it would have mattered since his arms had not moved from his sides and didn't appear like there was any inclination to do so.
The elder prince turned grim quickly. "How is our father?"
"Mentally deteriorating at a rapid pace." Coran answered with apparent disinterest. "His grasp of reality is slipping to the point where he's gained complete tunnel vision towards the Charr while a world devouring threat rouses beneath his feet."
"What is your plan?"
A shrug from the younger brother followed the answer, "First and foremost, deal with the near and present danger. Once that has been settled, I'll address the issue of my father's degenerating mental health. I'd rather avoid a… mandatory retirement… but I will do so if it comes to that. I can't imagine the Lords and Dukes putting up too much of a fuss… not many of them were particularly fond of our father anyway."
Devona at that point stood and decided to join the pair, prompting Rurik to acknowledge her presence. "Devona, my friend, it's good to see you as well. I see you've found my wayward kin as well…" He paused momentarily and grinned, "I do believe it's been a while, but are you two still betrothed?"
Coran looked at his dear warrior, and she replied simply. "Yes, we are."
"Now, as much as I would love to continue chatting, my brother, we do have business to attend to in a prompt manner." Coran interjected, though he did pause one more long moment before adding, "I don't hold any ill will towards you or my father, if you were curious."
Rurik nodded. "I suspect we will have an eternity to catch up when your time on the mortal coil has passed." He slowly retreated, vanishing just as much as stepping back.
For all his words of comfort, Coran's posture and expression after the ghostly apparition of his brother vanished did not exactly exude good will, either. With a degree of annoyance, he said, "I suspect Vekk is growing impatient. Come along, my dear."
But at that point, Devona was no longer even aware of her betrothed's presence, her attention focused entirely on another ghostly hero that had made its appearance.
"My apologies, your highness, but I will not interfere with your mission. May I have a moment aside with my daughter while you conduct your duties?" Mordekai asked respectfully.
The old hero of Ascalon was astounded by the pair and how they had grown. Grenth take it, the last time he had seen Prince Coran the boy had barely been up to Mordekai's knee.
"I'm not the one that you should be asking permission of." Coran answered. Stepping away and yielding the decision to his companion as he continued his path towards Vekk and the testing equipment that had been set up.
His daughter… if the gods had taken the best parts of him and Allisette, the result would be near exactly the woman that was in front of him now. Mordekai choked up, flooded with regret that he never had the chance to see his daughter grow up and mature into the remarkable young lady that she had become.
Her eyes glistened with tears that she refused to let fall out of her warrior's pride, but she couldn't prevent her voice from betraying her. Giving up on speaking after three choked attempts, she gestured far to the north side of the arena floor where, judging from Vekk and Coran's placement, would be both safe from the explosion as well as out of the way.
They crossed the empty arena in silence, a nervous uncertainty that didn't stop once they reached their destination.
"My baby girl…" Mordekai began, phantom fingers tracing her cheek, but couldn't continue as the words wouldn't cooperate. "I'm so glad to see you…" He started as Devona shied away from him, her features ashamed and distraught.
"I've tried so hard to live up to your name." Devona admitted. "But… I know I haven't. I… shamed our family, and dishonored you."
Mordekai was aghast at that statement. "How could you possibly think you haven't honored me? All I did was fight some petty guild battles. I couldn't… watch over you… but I've heard. The stories the recently departed speak, if half of them are true, I should be unworthy of you! You've bested gods, for the love of Dwayna!"
"Obviously, you haven't heard all of the stories." She said morosely, and with a timid voice that could not have been less suited for her, relayed her humiliations to the ghost of her father.
Mordekai barely fought back a laugh. "My girl… do you honestly think I would have been more staunch against a foe that forced me to see what it wanted and plagued my mind with unholy nightmares? I could never had stirred the courage to walk into the home of my enemies after such an ordeal."
His hands dropped like a hint of a breeze on his daughter's shoulders. "Devona… you should never worry about disappointing me. Even if you had grown to be a seamstress like your mother and never touched a hammer or blade, I would have been proud of you. You are my blood, and could never shame me or our family. Don't use me as your measure of greatness. You have already surpassed my marks ten times over."
Devona sniffled, and whispered, "Thank you, daddy…"
And that's when the Mists themselves trembled, and the arena was bathed in angry white light moments before a deafening roar that would have caused Glint to cower assaulted the warrior's ears.
Mordekai turned his head to see a column of energy towering even the tallest of towers within the Hall of Heroes and extending to the highest reaches of his vision. Devona had whirled about, momentarily blinded by the flash, to see the fallout create a plume thousands of feet above. Her jaw dropped in awe, and as quickly as the brilliant inferno had flared to life, it dispelled into nothing.
"Now, of course, the explosion won't be so neatly contained in the physical world, without my hand to force it to behave." Kormir explained, "But I trust you gathered a good idea as to the effectiveness of the detonation?"
"Are you well, madam goddess?" Coran asked smugly. "You look somewhat tried."
"I am not too proud to admit that your machination tested the limits of my power to control. Inverted matter yields tremendous energy when introduced to its normal counterpart." The goddess muttered.
"That's putting it mildly. The yield was 118% what I had estimated. We might have to revise the equations if we can get any data from the real time blast and it returns similar over-production." Vekk declared, quite pleased with himself.
"We'll worry about the data after the present danger is neutralized." Coran retorted, and Devona could see his determined, steely features form as she closed the distance. "For now, we know the device works, and will do what we need it to do. Now, we'll return to the bay, build the final product, and put an end to the 'father' of the gods."
"And you question your courage." Mordekai said with a shake of his head. "I don't think I'd last five minutes with the motley crew you associate with."