Of Clay and Meteors
The two walked south in awkward silence. The witch had freed Nokron from the troll's clutches, though he followed closely behind. Nokron could attempt to rectify his defeat, strike at the girl once more and retrieve his dagger. But it would not behoove Death so.
He would accept what had passed with impartiality. Even if he did recover the dagger, all that awaited him was a poor imitation of Death. It was a faint hope, but if the girl wished to oppose the Golden Order as she claimed, following her might bring him closer to Death than if he was on his own.
"You seem very keen on discerning fate from the stars, princess. Are you not disobeying the Golden Order with it?"
"Did I not just now find thee in possession of Erdtree resin?" the girl turned, pointing the dagger at Nokron. "Art thou now suddenly overtaken by faith?"
"I am only curious," Nokron said, lightly pushing the blade to the side with the back of his hand. While he was willing to follow her, he did not like seeing an artifact of Death in uninitiated hands. "The Erdtree makes what few stars there are almost impossible to see. Why would Carian royalty risk blasphemy for a relic of the past? Your father is, after all, a champion of the Golden Order."
"I suppose I have already said too much." The girl sighed as she looked ahead. "When didst thou last see the moon, priest?"
"Not in ages. It cannot be seen in these lands anymore. Not until…" Seeing the falling star and being dragged around by the princess had diverted Nokron's thoughts from the fact that he had caught a glimpse of the moon. A mere flash of the celestial body with a cold and dark aura around it. "Does that mean that the true loyalties of the Carian royal family are to the Full Moon? Your assumption into the Golden Order a sham?"
"Must I spell out everything for thee? Thou must have surely deduced by now that what thou saw wasn't the same moon this world knows. Mine is a cold and dark moon, and this journey is my own. For it is my fate."
"How can one have a moon of their own? And even so, what compels you to betray the Golden Order for it?"
The girl refused to answer. Nokron had little choice but to continue walking in silence. He could hardly blame the girl. He doubted he would've shared that information either.
They didn't need to walk for long before they saw the crater in the ravine and the destruction the falling star had left behind. A violet glow emanated from the area. Where it passed over the rubble, objects appeared as if they were suspended in the air.
"We must get down there with haste," the princess said, turning to Nokron as if the height of the ravine was his doing. "Thy settlement still possesses its river well, does it not?"
Nokron was shocked by the girl's words. The river wells were secret entrances into the ravines, powered by old magic, meant only for the Nox. After being conquered by the Golden Order, his people had little use for them, and he doubted they still remembered them. "How come you know of their existence?"
"Must we waste time on this? Your people still retain their settlement around the Ainsel River. Unlike the Nox here, their river well has been found and is guarded by the Golden Order."
It brought Nokron no comfort to hear of his people's further decline, but neither did it bring him unease. What else could he expect? With that in mind, Nokron walked ahead. "Follow me."
Nokron led the girl to a forested area close to the ravine. He had difficulty remembering the exact route, but his memories had not yet faded. They emerged before a marble rotunda with a domed ceiling. Despite the years of disuse, the river well had remained untouched by nature. Nokron pushed on one of the tiles, revealing a hidden door in the structure. The girl dismissed the troll and entered before Nokron. She was more lively ever since their arrival.
The inside was empty, save for a stone platform in the center. Its top was carved intricately, the design a catalyst for even more complex magic, now lost to the Nox. Even Nokron had forgotten it. Despite that, it would work just the same.
When both of them stepped on the platform, the carving glowed a light blue. The princess knelt in awe, investigating the now humming patterns below her. Nokron couldn't help but lightly laugh at the scene. It was amusing to see the princess' haughty pretense be overpowered by her youthful curiosity. The girl did not receive it well. She stood up with haste and made a dissatisfied huff as she turned her nose up at Nokron.
Shortly after, the platform shifted and descended, as if lowered by a gentle hand. There was nothing below the platform, hence why they called it a well. After some time, the narrow well shaft ended, and nothing surrounded them anymore. A small distance away stood the intricate web of dilapidated marble aqueducts, a relic of ancient Nox technology. The ravine was deep, but they eventually reached the bottom. When they stepped off the well, it ascended back up, carried by that same gentle invisible hand.
The girl spent some time observing the platform, then led the way again towards the crater. The star's impact site was on the further reaches of the settlement, inhabited by what was once a lower caste of Nox society. Its members excavated clay from the river bed and quarried marble for the settlement's constructions. But the true treasure they mined, were the silver tears embedded in the ravine. All that had come to an end with the Golden Order's arrival.
But even the Golden Order had not left behind such destruction. Everything around the crater was in ruins. The violet glow that surrounded it was no mere trick of light. Small stones and pebbles actually levitated off the ground.
Nokron heard a groan and turned quickly to meet it, while Ranni stood still, unabashed. A man, or rather what had become of him, was walking towards them. His body was covered in a hard stone casing, made flexible with the clay that filled its many cracks. One could see the clay and stone more than the man behind it. The river bed was teeming with others like him.
Nokron had not seen anyone like him before, and so prepared for the worst. But as one of the claymen approached, he saw that they had nothing to fear. The man's eyes were distant as he walked towards them, and the two might as well not even have been there as he groaned past them, his feet dragging on the ground. The princess hadn't even glanced at him.
"What happened to them?" Nokron asked, feeling pity for the claymen.
"Most likely a consequence of the falling star," she responded coldly. "We must move quickly. The Golden Order saw the star fall just as we did. They won't be long."
"So what are we here for? I doubt even the Golden Order would be interested in the destruction here."
Just as Nokron said that, a piercing screech emanated from the crater. "That, obstinate servant, will help us achieve my goals."
A beast in the distance revealed itself as the source of the sound. It possessed stone scales that were as dark as obsidian, not unlike the ones on the claymen. It had the form of a bovine, towering over even the tallest of men and its front were two large mandibles.
"And what do you intend to do with this beast?" Nokron asked, fearing what the young princess conjured in her mind.
"Art thou always so nagging?" she snapped back.
The girl raised her hand, and a gust of frost flew toward the beast. The creature was unaffected by the cold, but it got its attention. Even though it had no eyes, it turned towards them with unnerving precision before galloping to them as it once again bellowed.
"Since thou art so eager then, thou won't have any issues assisting me in capturing it," Ranni demanded.
"Give me back my dagger then! I will need a weapon if I am to fight the creature."
"Absolutely not," Ranni balked, putting her hand on it. "I told thou that this dagger belongs to Ranni the Witch now. We shall waste no more time on this matter."
Nokron couldn't deny the wisdom in those words, as the beast had come close enough that Nokron could see the numerous spikes on the end of its tail. The girl pulled out her bell. Nokron only readied himself in the ritual poses of summoning Ghostflame.
Rather than charge at them with its mandibles, the beast used its momentum to make an arc, dragging its tail on the ground, releasing a flurry of rocks toward the two. The princess rang the bell hastily, and the troll manifested before them, taking the blows meant for them.
The troll released a weak groan before it disappeared. But they weren't safe yet. The beast was now charging at them. The rocks had only been a distraction. The princess fumbled with the bell, adjusting it to ring for another spirit, but the beast was closing in on them.
Nokron acted first, producing the Mark of Death and slamming it to the ground. An explosion of ghostflame erupted, flame and spirits seeking the beast. Even if this creature came from the stars, it still knew to fear ghostflame. It stopped its momentum, trying to outrun the spirits that chased after it as it approached the two from the other side of the flame.
Now prepared, the girl rang her bell, and a knight with a great curved sword appeared. He instantly dropped on all fours and approached the beast with the ferocity of a hound. Nokron continued to summon further vengeful spirits from the Mark of Death.
It seemed the beast was now outnumbered, but it was too early for them to grow comfortable. It leaped up and curled into a ball, absorbing the impact of the spirits and avoiding the knight. Nokron thought it a defensive move, until it instantly altered its momentum and plummeted towards the two.
They only had a split second to jump out of the way. Nokron was pushed further by his spirits, while the girl only narrowly avoided the impact. The knight gave chase again. The beast did not continue its attack, instead, it bellowed loudly once more, moving its head rhythmically. The movements became too fast for Nokron to follow, but when it became still, he saw that it now had a bright green eye between its mandibles, which glowed a deep purple.
As the knight rushed to slash at it with his blade, and the girl tried to right herself and get away from the beast, it bellowed again. A white aura surrounded it, spreading out instantly. Rocks and debris levitated in the area around it, and soon the princess and her spirit were in the air as well. A single pebble rose mere inches from Nokron's feet. He was safe.
At that moment, he saw an opportunity. He could allow the beast to kill the two, retrieve his blade, and grant himself a death resembling that of the Rite. It would be easy to distract the beast with ghostflame if it didn't stop its assault.
But the girl had promised that this path would be one that serves Death. Nokron could accept any situation, but giving up on Death was not something he would do. He brought his hands together, conjuring the spear of ghostflame given to him by the Deathbird. Just as the creature was about to bring its head down, Nokron threw the spear. It struck the eye, shattering some of the stone casing around it.
The creature bellowed in pain, dragging its face on the ground to remove the spear from its eye. Nokron did not stop his advance. He circled the beast, tracing a hand on the ground as the princess and her knight retreated further away. Ghostflame erupted on the spot, trapping the beast.
"I doubt the creature is tamable," Nokron said, hurrying to the girl's side. "Whatever plan you had, we require an alternative."
"Thou hast already fulfilled the part fate had in mind for thee," the girl said, walking forward. The spear had disappeared from the creature's eye, but it was still wary of the ghostflame. "It simply needs something to remind it of the cold, lonely, and gentle dark it came from."
The girl raised her hand, and darkness surrounded them, making everything around them disappear. Nokron had not experienced the true dark of night in centuries. He was enamored, even if a bit uneasy. Eventually, he could no longer see the princess herself, or even the ghostflame.
Then, as if there was nothing to block its presence, the moon shone above them. The same one that had flashed before him as the star fell. That cold and blue moon, that illuminated the dark around it.
"Easy, beast of the falling star," the girl gently broke the silence. "Gaze upon the Dark Moon. Fate has proclaimed thee in my path, and me in thine. Let the Moon guide your fate, as it does in your home among the stars."
With those words, light returned to the world and the moon above them disappeared. Nokron couldn't take his eyes off the sky. Despite the cold and lonely feeling of its presence, he had felt such purpose gazing at the Dark Moon. Like his fate was his and his alone to conquer. At that moment, he felt as if he alone was destined to save his people. That he could have returned the world to the order of Death if he merely willed it.
Nokron shook his head, returning to reality. It was not as easy to restore his people, as it was to proclaim it fate. Perhaps through the Carian princess, it could be done, but that day was not here yet.
He hadn't even noticed that his ghostflame had dissipated. But there was no need for it any longer. The beast was lying down, seemingly made docile by the Dark Moon. Its eye had already healed. It watched the two calmly.
The girl rang the bell, and the knight turned into ash. "Thou hast my thanks, priest. The fates were true that thou would not betray me." She approached the beast, putting a hand on it. It huffed loudly but otherwise did not object. "This is the gift of the stars. This is the gift that will free us from the Golden Order."
Author's Notes: Hello once again. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as well. Posting them within the week is getting quite comfortable. Thank you for following Nokron's journey thus far. I'd love to hear what you think so far of our priest of Death, the references to the game, or my interpretation of a younger more naive Ranni. As always, the next chapter will be out within a week.