Nesha was sitting in the shadows on a cliff above the ramshackle cottage, watching over the landscape. The path they needed to take was right under her, but so deep in the valley, that she'd either have to teach Cathy to glide or they'd have to walk all the way around, which would take them several hours.
Cathy... why did I bring her with me? If I went alone, I would already be there! What was I thinking?
But abandoning that little, helpless Asmodian wasn't an option. It might have been a mistake to bring her along, but it was already done. She had to get her to the rebels. But was it the right thing to do? The rebels were mostly Asmodians, a few years of Israphel's rule couldn't erase the centuries of war. Or could they? No, she didn't think so. Would they make her a slave in return?
A rustling sound behind her broke her chain of thought. Cathy woke up and anxiously clutching her blanket she was looking around the cottage. Nesha dismissed the shadows around her and jumped down to the plateau with the hut, startling the girl.
"Did you sleep well?" she asked.
Cathy stared at her for a moment and nodded. With the same empty expression she quickly folded the blanket and gave it back to Nesha, who stuffed it into her cube.
"Before we go, you need to learn how to glide," she said. "Flying would be good too, but we don't have enough aether for it here."
Cathy stared at the ground in front of her feet and nodded.
"You don't have to be afraid, we'll go only through the basics and this plateau is big enough for them. We'll start with summoning wings willingly."
Nesha tried to remember all the advice and techniques she was taught during her daevic beginnings, but it was all so long ago. Gliding and flying were as natural for her as walking. After an hour of practice Cathy was able to summon and unsummon wings at will and even slightly change direction while gliding. During all the time the girl was still silent, the only way she communicated was nodding, shaking her head and gestures. She didn't even complain about being hungry, which Nesha realised she must have been, when her own stomach growled. They sat down to have the skipped breakfast, the last of the meat bread and some vegetables. Nesha checked the supplies, they still had enough food for several days, but their water was low, they needed to refill the flasks soon. Unfortunately she didn't remember the map to such detail to know where rivers or streams were. And she hated relying on luck.
"Let's go," Nesha said and walked towards the edge of the plateau. "We'll need to glide down there, around this cliff. There's a bridge like that one," she pointed at the wedged jagged stones over which they came yesterday, "so ideally land in front of it. Also don't stay too close to the cliff, you could damage your wings. I'll be right behind you."
Cathy looked at the terrain below them and clenched her fists. Her breathing got faster and her eyes reflected a mix of fear and determination. The latter won and she jumped off the cliff, spreading her wings. Seeing black feathers on an ally put Nesha into discomfort. She was fighting against the Asmodians for almost sixty years, she had to remind herself Cathy wasn't responsible for any of it. She jumped and followed her. A blow of slightly stronger wind hit her and guided her up for several seconds. That wasn't unusual, she has glided in many types of weather, and this was one of the better ones. But Cathy, who was already a few meters below her, panicked and dismissed her wings early, falling heavily to the ground, then sliding about a meter down the slope. Nesha circled around, until she got low enough to land and immediately knelt beside her.
"Are you alright?" she asked, checking for any visible wounds. The girl had bruises on her arms, torn sleeves and trousers and she was trying to cast a healing spell on her right leg, which was strangely twisted. But judging from the tears in her eyes and the glow of the spell flickering, she was in so much pain she couldn't concentrate. "Let me take a look."
Nesha cut the trouser-leg up to the knee. Yes, her shin was broken, but fortunately the bone didn't pierce through the skin. She pulled some bandages and odella powder from her cube, mixed the powder with water to create a paste and gently wrapped it around the leg.
"This should ease the pain," she said. "Now I'll find something to fixate it. You can try healing it again after it stops hurting."
Cathy wiped her tears and nodded. Nesha looked around, broke some branches from nearby trees and bushes, until she found two almost straight stakes, which she placed on the sides of the broken leg and wrapped them, this time bit more firmly. Cathy tried to get up, but she put her hand on her shoulder, stopping her.
"No, you can't walk like this. I'll carry you."
~ o ~
In addition to the pain from the fall, Cathy was scared. With an injury like this she was completely useless. She didn't know why Miss Nesha took her on this travel, but she assumed she would tell her what to do. And if she couldn't walk, she would only slow her down. She has never expected those words. I'll carry you. Upon hearing them, she could only stare in disbelief. Grandma had used to say she shouldn't expect any kindness from the Elyos. That they always wanted something. But what would Miss Nesha want from her, if she couldn't even walk?
The Elyos woman folded the blanket to form a provisory harness and tied Cathy to her back. At first she walked slowly, carefully examining the jagged bridge before crossing it. After a while she settled on a steady pace, just enough to climb the steep mountain path without halting. They crossed another narrow pass and the weather changed dramatically. The further south in Beluslan they were, the colder it was. And especially around Kurngalfberg, an ancient city destroyed by an ice dragon more than a thousand of years ago, where the ice curse still loomed and not even the best fire mages were able to thaw it. At least that was in the stories Cathy used to hear before the war.
Miss Nesha found a ruined building that provided at least a bit of shelter from the wind and put her on the ground. After a moment of stretching, she pulled her coat from her cube and gave it to Cathy, along with a piece of dried meat.
"This area used to be dangerous, I'll scout ahead. Wait here," she said and disappeared into the shadows.
Cathy ate the food and some fresh snow she melted in her mouth to get water. Her leg still hurt. The odella paste from Miss Nesha eased the pain, but it didn't remove it completely. She started quietly humming a familiar melody. The aether around came to her and circled around her broken leg, inspecting and repairing the damage. The wound itself wasn't too much more difficult than the one Miss Nesha had, but the fact Cathy was healing herself made it a few times worse. Due to the splint the bone was aligned well, but it still left Cathy exhausted after repairing just that. The tissue around the bone had to wait, she needed sleep. No, she slapped her own cheek, she had to stay awake. In this cold she would freeze in sleep and... would she die? Or would some obelisk resurrect her? The guy from the fortress stayed dead, no? Or did he dissolve into aether after they left? His bow definitely looked like it was disappearing. She tried to remember details, but they were hazy. She focused on running away back then, and didn't pay much attention to anything else. Despite her efforts she started dozing off.
~ o ~
Leaving Cathy alone made Nesha a bit uneasy, but without her, even in the shadows she could move a lot faster and pick the best path. She heard some crazy stories about the area ahead, ranging from wild ettins on hunt to ice ghost possessions. There was nothing pleasant about the frozen city of Kurngalfberg. So it took her by surprise to see a patch of green trees that were not fully covered by the snow. Still hidden in the shadows, she came closer. Behind the trees, hiding under the mountains was a group of several houses with people walking among them. And all of them were Asmodians, no Elyos guards or supervisors. Why would they let a village like this unguarded? And why was it warmer here, than just a few dozen meters away? Would they be willing to sell her some supplies? She would like to observe them for a bit longer, but she didn't have time for that. There was only one way to find out. She left the shadows and walked towards the village. The inhabitants got immediately alerted and one of the adult men stepped towards her, while the others slowly backed away.
"Madam," he bowed his head. "Was there a problem with the taxes we sent?"
"I'm not here because of the taxes," she replied, examining the people.
"Then why..." the man started, but she raised her hand to silence him. It worked.
"I'm traveling south due to research. Unfortunately, my winter coat got damaged. Can I buy one from you?"
He stared at her, dumbfounded.
"And some vegetables would be nice too," she added.
"Yes, madam, I'll bring you a coat right away," he said and retreated into the nearest house. A few minutes later he returned with a sack of food and a thick coat that had certainly seen better days. "This is the best we have, madam."
Nesha inspected it for longer than she needed, just to make the appropriate impression. It was good winter clothing, a few times repaired, but well functional. She pulled several coins from her cube and gave them to the man.
"No, madam, it's an... honor to have you stop by, I can't accept that money..."
"Just take it, I don't want to give you an excuse to miss the next taxes," she pressed the coins into his palm, put the coat on and walked away, well aware of the stares at her back. Once she was far enough from the village, she stepped into the shadows again and followed the path towards the western gate of Kurngalfberg. After a quick scan of the nearest part of the frozen city, she turned around. On the way back she refilled her water supply in a small, but still running stream. From the path and stone constructions around she could see people from the village were using this stream a lot. Don't they have a well?
Cathy was still sitting on the same spot and sleeping. The bandage on her leg was gone and the wound looked much better. It was still swollen, though.
"Cathy, wake up," she shook with her. "You can't sleep like this. Can you walk now, or do you need more time for healing?"
The girl opened her eyes and blushed. After Nesha gave her some water to drink, she cast her gaze down and started healing her leg.
"You can talk with me, I won't hurt you," Nesha sighed and sat down. "Are you hungry?" Instead of a reply, Cathy shook her head. "Well then, let me know when you're ready."
After several more minutes Cathy stopped her spell and stood up. She was still hobbling, but she gathered up the bandages and nodded at Nesha.
"Keep it on, at least until we can fix those pants," the Elyos said.
They left the ruined house and headed to Kurngalfberg, avoiding the Asmodian village in a wide circle. The snow was still falling and slowing their advance, as well as dampening all sounds from the environment, making Nesha stretch her senses as much as she could. The frozen city was all but abandoned. The famous ghosts she used to hear about were nowhere to be seen. At first, the only tracks they found were of small animals being chased by packs of worgs, then in the center of the city they came across a trail of footprints belonging to a human figure. Nesha stopped and examined it, but due to the snowfall, she could only tell the person came from the eastern gate and headed towards the buildings in the south.
A high-pitched scream pierced the frozen silence.
~ o ~
Aielyn was scared. She stood in the former sacred orchard, next to the dead remains of the once-sentient elim Kasadrassil. With her body paralyzed with fear and her breath shallow and fast, she watched the person she once trusted coming closer and closer. Did she scream? She knew the fear was the result of his spell, he was specialised in mind manipulation, but even the knowledge couldn't help her resist it. Her longbow was lying on the ground where she dropped it, right next to her feet. If she could just take it... she didn't want to die like this. Tears rolled from her eyes and immediately froze on her cheeks. The man gently lifted her chin with his clawed hand, wiped out the tears and kissed her. There used to be a time when she would welcome this gesture. Not now. Something hit her back hard and she fell to the ground. A heavy weight settled on her back, making her unable to move, even as the fear spell wore off. She recognised the smell of his favourite earth spirit.
"I don't want to kill you, Lyn," he knelt in front of her. "So please, reconsider your answer."
"Are you going to torture me until I give up?" she spat.
"Neither of us has enough time for that, we both know you would sooner freeze to death than I'd be able to break you. Besides, I don't want to see you suffer. I still love you."
"Then let me go. Or just... forget Israphel and come back."
"You don't understand, do you?" a red glow flashed in his usually black eyes. "I'm tired of constantly living off someone's scraps. Not knowing if I'll have enough food or clothing or anything. I hate it! I hate that the only thing I can do... I'm allowed to do... is to check and refresh sensors and wards. Lord Israphel doesn't care if I'm an Asmodian. He can give me back my research, decent life and my dignity!"
"This isn't you, Carmir, please..." tears appeared in her eyes again. How could he change so much? And when did that happen?
"No, Lyn, this is me. This was always me. You are the only reason why I stayed so long. Because I love you. Now you have to be smart and come with me. Don't let Runa and Veille control you."
"So I should just let Israphel control me?" she tried to get up, but the spirit was holding her tight.
"No, lord Israphel offers us freedom. Come with me and see for yourself," he caressed her cheek.
"I won't serve him no matter what. And you know that."
"You have to leave the past behind, Lyn," he sighed and raked his claws through his black hair. "The obelisk here is rigged, you'll be gone. Forever. Last chance, will you come with me?"
"No," she shook her head. She didn't want to die. But facing this betrayal from the one she trusted the most, she didn't want to live either.
"I'm sorry, Lyn."
Carmir stood up, his hand traced a circle in the air and pointed at her. Immediately, the air was sucked out of her. She couldn't even gasp, there was no air even around her. Within the vacuum there was no sound either. She could only stare at him, realising the last thing she'd ever see would be his cold face. As her vision faded, the air suddenly returned to her with a snap. The earth spirit on top of her collapsed, but the weight of the dead stones and dirt was still enough to hold her down, while she struggled to retain her consciousness.
Why did he stop? Will he let me go?
Her sight was returning to her. At first, everything was blurred. Carmir was on the ground and another person walked towards her.
"Hang in there," a female voice said. The woman removed the stones from her back and helped her sit.
"Who... are you?" Aielyn asked, trying to focus her sight.
"I wanted to ask you the same," the woman replied. "But after what I heard it's quite clear. I'm Nesha and I want you to take me to the rebels."
"What?" Aielyn stared at her. She has never seen this woman before, she would remember someone like that. Light-skinned Elyos with coal-black hair were not exactly common. But those brown eyes did look somehow familiar. She just couldn't place them. She looked aside, as her gaze fell on a body lying on the ground. "Carmir?"
"He's dead, you don't have to worry."
"Carmir..." tears rolled from her eyes again and she crawled towards him on her knees, ignoring the pain from the injuries she received during their short fight, before he trapped her in the fear spell. A pool of blood was forming under his head and neck, his grey skin was losing its slightly purple hue and his eyes were wide open. He died too quickly for his body to realise it. "May Aion watch over your soul forever," she closed his eyes. "Why... just why would you do that?" she whispered for herself, as she searched through his clothes for clues. But he was very thorough, and didn't take any chances that someone might discover what his true actions or intentions were. She took his cube and clipped it onto her belt, then she carefully removed the aether-enhancing jewel from his wrist and stored it in her own cube.
Maybe Seritha will find something out from this. She wiped her tears and stood up. No time for mourning now. Later.
"Why do you think I can take you to the rebels?" she turned to the other woman, who was just standing there, watching her.
"He said you're being controlled by Runa and Veille," she nodded towards Carmir. "Runa's one of Lady Triniel's Wings and Veille's actions at the end of war are well known. You have the connection."
"And why should I do that?"
"I just saved your life. You could repay the favor. Plus you look like you could use some healing."
"Hmph, judging from how expertly you killed him, you don't know a thing about healing."
"That's true, I can't heal with aether," she smiled. "Cathy, you can come in!"
Someone moved behind her. Aielyn instinctively rolled forward to have both people in her field of vision, snatching her bow from the ground and aiming an aetheric arrow at the newcomer. As soon as she stopped moving, Nesha appeared behind her, with a dagger pressed against her neck.
"Don't," Nesha said.
Only now did Aielyn notice who came in. Young Asmodian girl in an oversized coat, looking curious and scared at the same time. A daeva. Aielyn dismissed the arrow and lowered the bow. Asmodian daevas were basically illegal. They could live only in special facilities designed to contain them. Every Asmodian, who has Ascended, was immediately transported to one of those. She allowed herself a quick glance at Carmir's body. Apparently, they could also become Israphel's agents to avoid being locked up.
"Fine," she hissed.
Nesha stepped away and Aielyn had to change places again to see them both at the same time. One of her braids got untangled, but she didn't pay attention to that.
"How many of you are here?" she asked.
"Just me and Cathy. You'd better take off your clothes and let her heal you before we go."
"I didn't say I'll take you anywhere," she protested. But she couldn't deny she would welcome some healing. The cuts from Carmir's magical wind weren't deep, but there were a lot of them and they did hurt. The smaller ones had already started closing naturally, but opened again, when she suddenly moved. "Fine, I can get you to Gelkmaros. But I'm not the one to decide if you can stay."
"Then get us to someone, who does, Lyn."
She blinked: "It's Aielyn."
~ o ~
Nesha couldn't decide if she should trust this Aielyn woman. And as far as she could tell, that feeling was mutual. She listened to as much of the conversation with the Carmir guy as she could, so she was certain the woman could lead her to the rebels. But would she? Several things were unsettling about her. Before they left the frozen city, the ranger had gathered some frost resistant herbs, which she arranged on Carmir's chest and sprinkled scented dust over him.
"Shouldn't we hurry?" Nesha asked impatiently.
"Yes. But we can't just leave his body here. Someone has to take care of it. And this is a... let's say a language that someone understands," Aielyn replied casually.
"Someone?"
"Someone whom I trust, don't worry."
"Yeah, like you trusted him?"
That earned her only a cold stare and silence, as Aielyn left the place. Cathy followed, but hesitantly turned and looked at Nesha with an unspoken question.
"Yes, let's go," Nesha sighed and followed them.
The ranger knew the path and led them from the frozen city through its eastern gate. What were she and the mage doing here? Scouting, sure, but the Elyos have all but abandoned Beluslan. The only ones left worthy to spy on were the Lepharists. Which, as she hated to admit, were now allies to the Elyos. So that was their target?
"Aielyn," she broke the silence. "What do you know about the village, north-west of Kurngalfberg?"
"It used to be a really nice village, which was afflicted by a really bad fate."
"Could you be a little less vague? Why would the Elyos let the Asmodians live there just like that?"
"Because life there is hard and Israphel doesn't want to risk something to happen to his faithful worshippers."
"That could be said about all of Asmodae. And yet both Altgard and Morheim have Elyos soldiers there."
"Yes, in the fortresses. Beluslan fortress is... well, the rift artifact keeping it together is barely functional. It's still working, somehow it's linked to the Abyss gate and can't be turned off, but... sorry, I don't understand how exactly it works. The point is, there's no crew to uphold the order in this region, the local Lepharists only care about their research and licking their Lord's boots, so... That and the village has really beautiful hot springs," was there a hint of sadness in her voice? "But someone poisoned them during the war. That's why it's warmer there, but the people have to take water from a stream nearby and that really sucks."
"Sounds like you were there," Nesha pressed her.
"Yes. My mother took me there when I was a child."
"As a child. You. In an Asmodian village. Right."
"Oh, you mean this?" Aielyn raised her hands and theatrically inspected her clawless fingers. "Well, my mom was an Asmodian and she was loved there," she nailed her bright green eyes on Nesha, who couldn't miss the meaning of the word was. "Any other questions?" Aielyn asked, her hand was, probably unconsciously, touching a flower-shaped pin in her blond hair. That pin did look familiar, but Nesha couldn't place it.
"No."
"Good. Over there we'll have a clear view on a Lepharist base. Be quiet, don't do anything with the aether and follow me."
They walked through snow, the path was barely visible, but their guide apparently knew where she was going. As she said, soon the view opened to a huge valley with several buildings and constructions. On the other side, hidden in the mountains, was a port for airships, from which Nesha could see only the tops of their masts and sails. She wanted to take a closer look, but walking in shadows required aether and it wouldn't do them any good if the Lepharists really had means to detect her. They passed the valley and rose into the mountains, still walking in silence. After a few hours Aielyn stopped in front of a bridge, this one clearly made by people instead of stones falling randomly, but it looked like it was last maintained quite a long time ago. Behind it towered a huge dome of snow and ice.
"That's where the Red Mane Mau live. We can't go there. We have to glide down," the ranger pointed into the chasm under the bridge. She turned to Cathy and asked: "Can you glide?"
The girl hesitantly nodded.
"She Ascended just a few days ago," Nesha said. "She can glide, but panics easily. This is too high."
"Well, we have to. The road around is too long and dangerous," Aielyn pulled a rope out of her cube. "Don't worry Cathy, I have an idea how to not let you fall."
She bound the rope around Cathy's chest, made sure it was tight enough, but not too constricting and gave the loose end to Nesha.
"Here, follow me," she jumped from the bridge, spreading her light grey wings a few seconds later than what looked safe for someone so young. Either she gained a lot of experience too quickly, or she was just reckless.
"Let's go, Cathy, jump on three," Nesha coiled the rope around her wrist. "One, two, three."
They jumped too and after about a minute they reached the bottom of the chasm, where Aielyn was waiting for them. The winds weren't as strong under the bridge as above, so Cathy was able to maintain her wings all the way down.
"So, this is Frost Spirit Valley. It's a really beautiful place, so don't get struck by its beauty. Also, don't bother the spirits, they don't really like outsiders," Aielyn introduced the area. "I'll negotiate with the Shugos. If you cause a mess, we'll have to pay more. And speaking of paying, I hope you have kinah, 'cause I don't have enough for all of us."
"Yes, I have some money."
"Kinah or Sanctum coins?"
"Both, actually. Why?"
"Because kinah is what Shugos use. Paying them with anything else could up to double the costs. Or not take us at all, if it were Pandaemonium coins. Ten thousand kinah should be enough," she held her hand out. "If it ends up less, I'll give the rest back."
"You want me to give you the money?" Nesha didn't like the idea.
"Either that or you can negotiate with them yourself," after a pause Aielyn sighed. "Look, I know you don't have any reason to trust me. At least not more than I have to trust you. But you have saved my life. And I don't want to be in your debt. So yes, I will take you to Gelkmaros. It won't be comfortable or cheap, but unless you can go through Pandaemonium or Sanctum, you won't find a better way. I already know how to talk with the Shugos. And they only talk with those who have money."
"Fine," Nesha counted the money, while Aielyn untied the rope from Cathy.
"Oh, and by the way, you should change those coats. An Asmodian looking better than her Elyos master is super suspicious."
"I thought the Shugos don't care about that," Nesha was surprised. "Only about money."
"Israphel just tolerates them, because they are essential to the economy and they don't cause trouble. But they're living creatures too, you know? He might decide the economy plummeting is not such a big deal, if he needs to get rid of them. So let's not get the Shugos into trouble, they might be helpful later."
As the ranger said, when they entered the valley, they were breathtaken by the sight. Ice crystals were sparkling in the faint light of stars and Elysea and wind spirits were playing among them. The falling snow gave the scene even more mystical sense. At their right side was a camp guarded by several Mau, Elyos, Asmodians and Shugos. All of them had one type of warm and practical uniform. After Aielyn stated they came to trade, they were let in and led into one of the snow-covered huts, where a group of beige-furred Shugos was discussing cargo and logistics of the next route. When they entered, the Shugos all shut up and watched them with suspicion. The negotiation was long, but apparently Aielyn wasn't lying, when she said she knew how to do it. Some logical leaps the Shugos made were quite unexpected, but the ranger didn't flinch and continued as if everything was natural. In the end they were led into another hut, this one had two rows of six simple beds, to wait for the ship.
"We're lucky," Aielyn sat on a bed in a corner. "The ship will arrive tomorrow, so unless they'll be unloading and loading too much stuff, we'll depart the next day. And we're also unlucky, 'cause the ship won't go directly to Gelkmaros, but it first goes to Black Cloud island. That will take about a week and something before we get there. But at least we'll have enough time to get to know each other."
"I'm not sure if I want to," Nesha frowned.
"Well, you can't just show up mysterious without saying anything about yourself and expect people will accept you," Aielyn shrugged. "Might be good if you had someone to vouch for you."
"And you're offering to do that?" she asked sceptically.
"Eh, maybe? If you're a decent person... Why do you want to go there anyway?"
"I..." Nesha didn't know how to answer that question. After her second fight with Clodias she was only reacting, running from the corrupted Morheim fortress officers. She wasn't sure if this was the right way to solve her problem, but she couldn't see another one. Everything has been a mess since she was removed from Miragent and she wasn't able to find her place yet. "I have some reasons."
Aielyn rolled her eyes theatrically and left the building.
~ o ~
Aielyn closed the door behind her and slowly strolled into the valley. She climbed on a rock in the middle of a cascade of small pools and watched the night slowly coming. This valley was where Carmir first kissed her, they have been together ever since. They would have had their second anniversary soon. But no good things last forever. She should have learnt that during the war. A cold wind blew around her, forming a small wind spirit at her right side. Most people would say the spirits looked all the same, but she knew this one.
"You miss him too, right?" she whispered and patted the spirit on its head.