It is when the Chosen of Fate awakens from his failure,
It is when five stand against all,
It is when the three reveal themselves as the true masters,
That is when the Demise shall begin.
Kestrel slowly opened her eyes lazily as the sun shone through the tent flap. Beside her, the still warm mattress that had recently held Catherine was empty.
She slowly sat up and stretched, and quickly dressed herself up for the day's activities. Right before going out, she stared into the mirror and smiled. Today was going to be another great day.
Kestrel pushed herself out of the tent and quickly glanced around for the person she was looking for. She noticed her at the top of the cliff and walked up to Catherine, smiling.
"Had a good night's sleep?" she snickered as she punched the Shield's arm.
The glare she received would've killed a lesser person. All it did was make Kestrel happier. "I did not, in fact," Catherine sniffed, and she turned back around as the sun began to rise over the horizon. "I had to spend an hour after waking up washing out your phosphor from my hair."
"It is just a prank, you know," Kestrel teased. "I read all about them in some books. They're supposed to build relationships."
"Well, I guess you can say it was a bit unsuccessful," Catherine replied dryly, and they both went back to staring at the horizon.
Catherine sighed. "The Halcyon Fold must be nearby, right?"
Kestrel shrugged and tugged off her scope. She gazed in the general direction in which they had been traveling in for weeks. "I can still see it, and it does look closer than it did last week." She placed the scope back into her pouch. "Honestly, a day or two doesn't make too much of a difference."
Catherine scowled. "Every day delayed in meeting with Julia's children is another day in which they could be hurt. It's of utmost importance that they stay safe."
Kestrel stared at Catherine. "Huh, you really do care about them, don't you?" She always wondered what had happened between Julia and Catherine before her flight.
What really happened, of course. Catherine seemed obsessed with something else entirely, and Kestrel had been carefully probing her for weeks.
"Of course," Catherine said. "And not only that, the Fold contains unknown amounts of power. Maybe I can find out why… no..."
"Find out what?" Kestrel asked. She was closer than ever to finding out what had preoccupied her friend for weeks.
But Catherine only shook her head. "I cannot say, I'm sorry."
"But why can't you tell me, Cath?" Kestrel said, careful to put in the right amount of frustration and hurt in her voice. "I saved your life even in defiance against the Stormqueen, and you can't even tell me one of your secrets?"
"I cannot tell you and I cannot tell you why!" Catherine said, but she looked torn. Kestrel knew just one more little push would do it.
"You know, I thought we were friends," Kestrel said, and deliberately turned her back on Catherine. Any moment now…
"Fine, fine, I'll tell you what it it!" Catherine said, and sighed.
It was important to not let the smile reach Kestrel's face. "So what have you been looking for this entire time, Cath?" She said as she turned back to face her friend.
Catherine seemed to look at Kestrel with a calculating look, then said, "I'm looking for h…"
Kestrel never figured out what Catherine was looking for. A deep rumble shook through her body, and her hairs instantly stood on end. The birds become silent, and Kestrel had never felt more unease than now. The rumbling soon stopped, but the unease stayed. It felt like something fundamental in her bones changed, and it felt wrong, as wrong as a loose bow in combat.
"What was that?" Catherine said, even as she began to draw out her shield.
"I don't..."
That was when the cliff beneath their feet exploded.
"Did you feel that, Djinn?" Idris said to the Seraphim behind him. Adagio had paused, with a frown on his face.
"Yes, I did, and it's quite strange," Adagio said. "I don't recognize it." He seemed deep in thought.
Idris shivered. Anything that could puzzle Adagio was something unknown to the higher powers. It meant an event of power and age that exceeded even the Seraphim.
Adagio soon shook his head. "It should matter little. If you want to get to your destination in time, we had better start moving soon."
Idris opened his mouth,
closed it again,
thought about it,
opened his mouth once more…
"If you have a question, speak it," Adagio said, sounding as bored as ever.
Idris still hesitated, and only spoke after a few moments. "Did you feel something… wrong with that tremor?"
Adagio's face rose in interest. "Whatever do you mean by that?"
"That tremor doesn't feel natural," Idris said. "It feels like it is out of harmony with who I am. It is..." Idris struggled to find the right words to it, then shrugged, giving up.
"No, I did not feel anything like that at all," Adagio said, and the thoughtful expression was once again on his face. "Aside from its uncertainty, it was just a rumble, nothing more."
Idris had decided to withhold the other feeling that he had experienced. That feeling as the Seraphim's fire and the Churn stopped fighting against each other for dominance, as they had retreated from their battle, as if in fear of what that rumble was. Whatever that rumble was, it had, without a doubt, shown dominance over the two most powerful forces in the world with just its presence, and that unnerved Idris like nothing else.
Adagio, seemingly becoming bored with the conundrum, began to continue along his journey. Idris had no choice but to follow, for the time being.
They walked without conversation for a long while. Idris still was amazed by the world outside of the desert, as birds flew over his head and a chorus of life rose in cadences around him. Still, he missed the comforting heat of the desert and the feeling of soft sand beneath his feet. It was quite strange thinking about serious matters while the river of life flowed around him. Like a rock in the desert, diverting the wind from its intended course…
"Hold," Adagio said, and for only the fourth time during their journey, his voice was spiked with alarm.
Unconsciously, Idris drew out his spear and reached his other hand behind him, where his pack and, more importantly, his chakrams, lay. He could feel it now. A sense of killing intent, a sense of darkness at the edge of his mind.
Idris and Adagio stood still, unmoving, as the feeling surrounding them oscillated with irregular frequency, rising and falling like the flank of a beast as it slumbered in a rich dream. Finally, after what had seemed like an eternity, the feeling faded away to nothingness.
Of course, neither of the two were so stupid as to let down their guard when the killing intent faded. They made a show of letting down their guard, Adagio dissipating the fire in his hands and Idris lowering his spear, even as Idris kept his hand near his chakrams. They then continued on their way, wary.
It was when they bounded a curve in a river, as the sun sparkled on the river and exploded into a million facets of shining light, did the two lower their guard and let out a sigh of relief.
"What a peculiar feeling," Adagio said. "Is that what you experienced before, warrior?"
Idris jerked in surprise. He hadn't considered that the two feelings may have been related to each other. "No, it did not feel like it," Idris said.
But when he thought about it, they had the same oppressive feeling, that feeling of inevitable power that was coming. The two events must have been related, and he decided to say so.
"Djinn, I actually have to say that the two feelings feel related," Idris said, and Adagio paused. "They are most likely connected in some way."
Adagio frowned. "Interesting."
Idris opened his mouth once more, then staggered as the killing intent suddenly returned and rose to an incredible height. It clogged his mouth in apprehension, and he knew moments before that it was here.
Out of the river sprung a massive beast of shadows, and it launched itself directly at the pair.
The last minion fell dead, and a dark vapor trailed out of its ears. Beside it lay a couple dozens of its kin, also dead. Lyra wiped the sweat of her brow. They had been surprisingly hard to kill, and she decided to keep her voice of suspicion in high alert for any more funny signs.
"Pests," she said, and continued along her way.
Eventually, the sight of the town came into view, and Lyra sighed with relief. Once there, she could enter a mage tower and project a meeting. That tremor through her being was most definitely not natural, and judging by what all the books had to say about important events in history, this constituted the beginning of a very big event, the kind that would be talked about with awe and fear for generations to come.
You could say it was kind of important to alert the authorities.
Lyra decided to take a rest beneath a tree on the side of the road. It was almost sunset, and anyways, those crazed minions had taken their toll on her. As she sat down with her back against the tree, idly tracing the patterns on her book, she began to think about what had happened today:
Reim yelling at her.
The news about Samuel near a Gythian town.
The tremor.
Lunch.
More thoughts about Reza, curse him.
Some bandits trying to ambush her (she just sometimes could not understand those kinds of people).
And now the minions.
Lyra sighed. It was a common calming practice to think back on the day's events to sort your mind in order, and to clear any confusion within yourself. She already felt herself grow more at ease, and she could almost already forget those strange minions.
Careful, said her inner voice of caution, always on the alert. No matter how important it was to be clear minded, there was almost no use in being lackadaisical. A woman had never won a fight or battle by being at peace.
Instead, she gazed at the distant Gythian town, the sun behind it washing the buildings in a brilliant golden color. Arching high above the roofs lay the Mage Tower, a brilliant structure of gleaming silver and gold metal, fused and arced together in unearthly beauty. She could observe the distinct Mage Platform at the top of the tower, a wide open windowed platform where, she knew, mages and apprentices practiced their magics in numerous fashions against numerous adversaries. It was not uncommon to see brilliant flashes of light pulse constantly from a Platform, even into the night.
something is wrong
Surrounding the tower was a town no less magnificent than its Tower, a gleaming example of Gythian architecture. Sometimes, Lyra could get lost in tracing the intricacies of the walls of the houses, or become captivated by the fluid and reaching structure of the wealthiest businesses, a style that screamed affluence to all. And although it didn't reach as high as the Mage Tower, the City Hall was still a shining behemoth that made represented the might and beauty of the Gythian spirit.
off not right
Even the trade roads leading to and from the town were a prime example of beauty, with snaking veins of silver hammered in the cracks between bricks of gold. There was a tiny whisper in Lyra's mind, urging her to follow the silver, to go to its source and find fortune and glory…
LISTEN BAD VIGILANCE
Lyra finally heard her voice of caution, and noticed all the alarm bells that her brain was ringing, the screams of wrongness that had just entered her consciousness.
Lyra frowned. What was so wrong, why did gazing upon the shining city disturb her so much?
The Mage Tower is quiet, her voice of caution said. There are no people upon the roads. A common Gythian town is not this wealthy.
A shock went through Lyra, and like a dream slipping away, her vision distorted, and the illusion fell away.
A plain Gythian city. A common sight to Lyra. How could she ever mistake anything else for it? What exactly was going on?
She jumped up, heart pounding. Her insides were screaming with panic, but she knew she couldn't let it loose. There was no time for panic, because something was very, very wrong.
Lyra ran up the empty gravel roads (there were no traders) through the empty entrance (where were the guards?) and skidded to a halt in front of the Mage Tower, the surrounding houses empty of the cries of children. Panting, she looked up at the Mage Platform (that, at least, was not only part of the illusion). Over the pounding of her heart and the sounds of her panting, she noticed that there was no noise. Only a terrifying silence.
The town was unblemished, and seemed to be functional in all aspects. But there was nobody left.
Lyra noticed something in her peripheral vision, and she looked up to see a slip of paper fluttering down from the Mage Platform. She slowly pushed herself upright, still breathing heavily, and reached out her arm to receive the slip of paper, hand stretched out. The paper softly landed on her hand, and she opened it. Inside was a nonsensical message, hastily scrawled.
CHOSEN HERE? PROPHECY OBSCURE. MARK OF THREE. BEGIN IN END.
Over the whirling confusion of her mind, over the trapped screams in her body, over the eerie silence of the town, Lyra only knew one thing.
Something was very, very wrong.
"Skye? You copy?" Ardan shouted into the radio. Dead silence.
Another boom shook the compound he was in, and he could feel his eyes rattling in their sockets. Although Baron had assured Ardan that the compound was impenetrable, Ardan doubted that the compound could hold under the attacks of an army.
"Skye! Answer me, dammit!" Ardan yelled again.
The radio continued its silence, and he cursed.
"Baron? What's going on?" Ardan yelled into another radio.
"Massive airborne attack," Baron's voice crackled from the device. "Don't yet know by who or what. Using technology I've never seen before."
"What do you mean by that?" Ardan asked, and he winced as something else crashed into the ceiling. He wished he could be out there and fighting. He wished.
"Lasers fired through crystals of perfect symmetry," Baron answered. "Power source seems to draw on what seems to be a star. Probably highly controlled nuclear fusion machines, unbelievable as that may be. Security system and the coats of those ships seem to utilize some strange black material I've never seen before, and it's surprisingly sturdy."
"What the hell!" Ardan yelled. "Well, once you take down those damned ships, try to leave their technology intact! Could lead to a thing or two!"
"I'm in the middle of battle and you're asking for extraction of marghhhh." Baron's voice cut off in pain, and the radio became static.
"Baron?" Silence. "Oh for Julia's sake, now there're two."
He glanced around the compound. Underneath the dimly lit dome laid a giant area the size of a dragon's nest, capable of holding five small airships. Scattered throughout the space was a clutter of useless junk, pristine and shining technology, and small animals who had made their home there. The few refugees who were hiding here were long gone into the lower parts of the compound, dug deep in into the granite foundations on which the compound stood on. Which wouldn't have been there if Ardan hadn't insisted upon more layers of protection, and if Baron and Skye hadn't decided to agree to the safety measure. They're not careful enough, Ardan grumbled in his mind. Hotheads.
His fingers twitched, as they always did whenever he felt compelled to fight. Ardan glanced at himself, and sighed. His suit was on and he was ready for combat, but they needed somebody to stay back and monitor the compound, and he was the only one trusted enough to do so.
Another boom. Couldn't just be the lasers, but Ardan guessed that Baron was simply more surprised by the lasers than whatever was slamming the compound.
His mind began to wander in boredom. He sometimes wondered how Celeste and Vox were doing. He was sure that they would be doing fine, since Julia's magic would certainly alert him if one of them were to come to serious harm. Still, he worried about the adventures that those two fools commonly found themselves in. Who knew what they would be involved in right now, it could be anything from destroying entire cities to participating in fashion contests. The horror.
"GAHHSTSTSTZST," Skye's radio broke out. Ardan quickly picked it back up.
"Skye? Are you okay?" Ardan yelled.
"Ships down… small army is he… need reinf… help us Ar…" Skye's voice crackled, and Ardan could hear the distant booms from the radio. He grinned.
"Glad you finally said that Skye." He was already getting up and charging up his suit as he said that, his body ready for fight.
There was a terrible ripping noise, and a chunk of the ceiling was torn out. Shadowy figures dropped in from ropes, guns held in front of them as they slowed turned and surveyed the room. Moonlight and starlight poured in from above, and the flames of battle flickered in the night.
One punch, and the brawl began.
"Catherine?" Kestrel called, crawling out from the rubble. Her whole body ached, and a quick glance over her body showed numerous bruises and scratches. Her vision felt oddly distorted and her eye itched, and she quickly guessed that some dust had entered her eye, and that it was also probably bruised.
"Catherine?" Kestrel called again, and panic entered her voice. She slowly stood up, even as her body shook with pain, and wildly looked around the rubble, hoping that Catherine's familiar voice called out. She was met with silence.
"Catherine!" Kestrel limp across the rubble, looking for any sign of her friend. The giant mound of rocks at the foot of the cliff were unyielding in their response, and Kestrel desperately thought about digging through the rocks to find her friend.
She heard a groan from behind her, and without thinking she quickly ran to the source. She saw an arm sticking out from a crack between the rocks, bloodied and bent in a wrong angle, but moving.
Sobbing with relief, Kestrel began to dig Catherine from the ruins.
Beneath the starlight shining on a Branch of the Mother Tree, Iyund gazed with hard eyes at the collapsed cliff, the ravaged riverbank, the ghost Gythian town, and the raging battle at the compound.
"Allies in sight, enemies behind blight," Iyund said sharply.
Go forth and fight, before they take flight, the Mother Tree softly whispered back.
The Branch stretched forward above a portal to the world, the world of heroes and villains, of magic and science, of gods and mortals.
And without another word Iyund jumped into their world.