"Do you hear it?"
When Aiden alerted them, Cathy held her breath and listened. She didn't hear anything out of the ordinary, but Lonewolf got up, prepared his bow and stepped backwards, between bushes, hiding among the leaves, all that without making a sound. She heard deep voices, shouting, dampened by the vegetation. Then several gunshots blasted somewhere. Were those Ylrian's? Did he and Nesha run into trouble? The shouting sounded closer. Then cracking of branches and footsteps and two Balaur rushed out of the bushes. They were immediately hit by several Lonewolf's arrows and Tatran cast a wind spell around them that cut and disoriented them. A water spirit rose from the spring, attacking the closer one. The other Balaur got away from the spell's range, set his eyes on Cathy and charged at her. She was still kneeling and her staff was in her cube. By instinct she created a shield. That stopped the Balaur, but he didn't give up, striking the glowing barrier with his huge sword. The shield flickered. It held, but barely. A few more arrows hit the Balaur, just as he was about to attack again. He fell and Nesha appeared behind him, pulling her dagger from his neck. The other Balaur was also dead, with countless slashes over his body and mouth full of water.
"We have to leave," Nesha urged them. "There's more of them, Ylrian's distracting them, so we have to go. Now."
Cathy got up and summoned her staff.
"Lyn still can't walk," Lonewolf emerged from the foliage. "Let's go kill them instead. How many are there?"
"Eight," she looked down at the dead bodies and corrected herself: "Six."
Tatran dismissed the water spirit and an earth spirit rose under Aielyn again. He then weaved a thread of aether from the spirit around Cathy.
"You take Lady Cathy and the girl to the other side of the canyon," the spiritmaster turned to Nesha. "The rest of us will go kill the Balaur."
"Then I'll go with you," Nesha suggested. "We'll have a better chance..."
"No, someone has to get them to safety. There might be more of them around," Tatran insisted and followed Aiden and Lonewolf, who were already on their way towards the sounds of battle.
"Go help them, I can wait here," Aielyn stared after him, trying to sit without falling off the spirit. Was she worried about him?
"Let's go," Nesha ignored her. "Lady Cathy, follow me and keep close. Aielyn, hold onto the spirit."
"Are... Miss Nesha, are you injured?" Cathy asked as she trudged after her through the dense vegetation. The earth spirit followed her, half floating, half climbing over the obstacles.
"Just small bruises. Keep your strength for now."
~ o ~
Aielyn shifted herself to get a better sitting position on the spirit's probably-shoulders and sharp pain shot through her entire body. She bit her lip, waiting until the pain subsided and picking a few leaves from the spirit's head, which she stuffed into her mouth to get some aether. It wasn't much, but she was grateful for it. As it tried to go under a slant fallen tree, the spirit shifted and its tiny branches dug into her legs and side. She whimpered.
"Are you alright?" Cathy stopped and turned towards her. The spirit stopped too.
"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry," Aielyn groaned. You can't even sound convincing. "I'll be fine. Let's cont..."
The spirit dissolved into a fine glittering dust and she fell, hitting her back on the tangled roots. She yelped in both shock and pain. I didn't eat that many leaves! That was her first thought. The second, no, he wouldn't...
"What happened?" Nesha rushed back, her dagger ready.
"No... no, no, that can't..." Aielyn raked through the disappearing dust, tears creeping into her eyes. This could mean only one thing, her grandfather could no longer concentrate on the spirit. Just when he was finally nice to her...
"Cathy, hide here. What attacked?"
"It wasn't an attack," Aielyn sniffled as the last specks of the glitter faded away. "Either he really needs to concentrate, or... no, that's it, he's concentrating on something big. We have to continue."
She got up, her legs wobbly and more of her muscles and skin demanding her attention.
"We have to go," she wiped her cheeks and took a step forward. Then another and she had to catch a nearby branch.
"Take this," Cathy pushed her staff into her hands and propped her up under her shoulder. "Sorry, I know it hurts, I'll heal you as soon as... we're safer."
They crept forward, following Nesha, who chose the path carefully, but didn't look like someone who knew where they were going. Which Aielyn didn't know either, so she couldn't complain. And it was better to stick together.
Something roared above them. They didn't see it through all the foliage, but it sounded big.
Cathy next to her tried to push her to a faster pace, but it hurt. Every step was a new bolt of pain and she was still slow.
The roar sounded again. They were almost out of the forest and between the leaves they saw a dragon's body flying above the ravine.
"Tiamat," Nesha's voice quavered.
"The Dragon lord?" Cathy squeaked. "Herself?"
The dragon opened its mouth and breathed out a cone of fire on the forest. The top leaves and thin branches ignited immediately and the flames spread down, consuming more and more wood.
Nesha grabbed Aielyn and put her on her back, returning the staff to Cathy.
"Run!" the assassin shouted and raced through the remaining woods. Cathy followed.
Aielyn clutched Nesha's shoulders, trying to stay on her back, which was difficult, since Nesha held her with only one arm. Fire burned and bellowed around them. The smoke was getting thicker and breathing became harder and harder. Finally they passed the edge of the burning inferno. The ravine sloped up and its bottom was filled with stones, making them slow down.
Something fell behind them.
Nesha turned and let Aielyn see the huge dragon, who just landed. It had black scales and rich mane of white hair. Its wings burned like magma, as well as its neck, the heat seemingly coming from a lighter spot on its chest. Clearly its heart, but there was something more, something bright and adularescent with a faint tint of blue. But she had no time to study it. The dragon flicked its head and spat another blast of fire, this time directly at them.
~ o ~
Desperation almost overwhelmed Nesha, as the wall of fire rushed at them. Cathy screamed, her golden barrier springing into existence around them. The fire roared, the air inside was getting hotter and hotter. Cathy clutched her staff, beads of sweat rolled off her face as she poured more and more aether into the thin glittery curtain, the only thing separating them from being burned alive. How long did they have? Would they make it to an obelisk? Or would the fire destroy every single part of them?
Then the fire stopped and the dragon was gone. Instead, a silhouette of a tall woman appeared among the dying flames. Cathy fell to her knees and her barrier dissolved.
"Is this a joke?" the woman, Tiamat, walked closer. Her dress was dark red and gold, a large cape shaded her face. The round blue jewel on her necklace looked like it glowed from the inside. "You are the Empyrean lord my mages detected?"
Nesha set Aielyn down and stepped in front of Cathy.
"And here I thought it was Israphel snooping around again. Such a shame," the Dragon lady sighed. "But you clearly have the power, so let's make a deal, girl."
"We're not dealing with you," Aielyn spat. Quite bold words for someone who could barely stand without support.
"You will come with me and allow me to examine you," Tiamat ignored her. "And I will let these whelps leave. Refuse and I'll kill all three of you right now and take whatever relic will be left of you."
That was it, then. Either Tiamat would get an Empyrean lady to experiment on, or they would all die. Cathy couldn't possibly last long enough in a battle until Tiamat exhausted herself. And she and Aielyn? They didn't even count here.
"If... if I agree," Cathy said slowly. "Will..."
"No, Cathy, don't!" Aielyn interrupted her. With a simple gesture, Tiamat blasted her aside. She crashed into the ravine wall before hitting the ground.
"Will you let me heal them before I go with you?" Cathy begged, as she watched Aielyn struggle to move.
"Do you think you have any bargaining power here?" Tiamat laughed.
Her laughter was cut short, when a hooded figure appeared right next to her and grabbed her necklace. Tiamat lashed out, her arm instantly transforming into a claw, almost slicing the person's arm off. As he jumped back and drew a pistol in his uninjured arm, his hood slid off.
"So you were behind this, all along, Israphel," Tiamat growled, keeping her gaze at him.
Nesha risked a glance at the necklace, which flew aside and now dimly glowed between the rocks. If this jewel was this important, maybe there was something she could do.
"I just want Siel's relic, Tiamat," the Lord of Space said in an eerily neutral voice. "Lady of Fate is a sacrifice I am willing to make."
~ o ~
Aielyn slowly got up to kneeling. Everything hurt. She thought she could get used to the pain, but it demanded her attention with the same intensity as when she woke up. And some of the wounds Cathy healed earlier opened again. But there was Tiamat in front of them. She couldn't just lie on the ground waiting to die. She had to do something. The blue glowing necklace fell on the ground several steps in front of her, its adularescence mesmerising her. Siel's relic. That's what Israphel called it. Was it the same thing as Izith or Lord Zikel's sword or the barrier from Lord Marchutan?
"Lady of Fate is a sacrifice I am willing to make."
No. She couldn't allow Israphel to get hold of it. She ran. Or rather she made two steps before she fell to her knees again. Every movement meant pain.
"No!" Israphel teleported right next to the relic.
Tiamat began shifting back to her dragon form. A huge spirit that looked like thousands of blue flames materialised in front of her, grabbing her and pushing her back. It felt familiar.
Roots sprang from the ground and entangled Israphel. Behind him, at the edge of the burning forest was Tatran, injured, barely standing, his clothes were in tatters and his right arm was missing, the wound cauterized. He's alive. She almost started crying. The relic! She got up again, using the few seconds her grandfather gave her to jump and grab the necklace.
Tiamat finished her transformation, engulfed in the blue flames.
Nesha stepped out of the shadows and reached for the necklace too.
The moment both of them touched the necklace, the world stopped.
Israphel stood above them, reaching down, held in the middle of movement.
The cone of fire from Tiamat's mouth hovered in the air, as if frozen.
Cathy knelt nearby, terrified and still.
"What..." Aielyn stared at the glowing jewel. It changed its hue to more cyan. She looked at Nesha.
"It's... reacting to us."
"Is one of us the next Lady of Time?"
"I don't know. I'm not really..." the assassin looked puzzled. "Alright, let's concentrate, try to sense what it wants."
Aielyn closed her eyes and tried to feel anything other than pain. So, relic, what do you want? Warmth slowly spread from her palm throughout her body. The glow intensified and soon it took over all her senses. So this is how glow tastes like? Or is it the time?
The light split itself into all possible colours that slowly fell to the ground and gained paint structure. A rainbow in the snow, that was missing red. The air around turned cold. There was a familiarity in this moment, she remembered this. The red held in the air above the snow. No... Aielyn traced the red towards the middle of the rainbow. There was a body. Chroma. A giant sword stuck out from her chest.
No! This is too late! Please, relic, I have to save her!
Time snapped back.
No...
Herlen stepped over the still body and turned towards her. And stopped, staring at her, seemingly confused. I have to go! Aielyn got up, her whole body aching. What... The left side of her face was stiff and pulsed with dull pain. And she couldn't see with her left eye. I'm not back myself? Why...
"Will you surrender now, little Lyn?" the Lepharist regained his attitude and slowly walked towards her.
"No," she backed away, reaching into her pocket for the red bead she was saving for the right time. There will never be the right time. He was close, but she threw the bead anyway. He blocked it with his sword. The explosion pushed her back, she stumbled and fell.
"Get up," Tatran, whose face and arms had new cuts all over them, grabbed her arm and heaved her to her feet. She yelped in pain. He didn't show any surprise at her suddenly scarred face and dragged her back to the group. Mira stood there, urging everyone to go into the portal.
Oh, no! Not her too!
As Cathy and Darrand stepped through, Aielyn dashed. Everything still hurt and she was slow, but the time stretched for her and she flung herself in front of Mira. The gunshot boomed and new pain flared in Aielyn's back. Someone cursed somewhere. But the portal still glittered in front of her.
Good.
~ o ~
The sensation of the necklace disappeared from Nesha's palm and was replaced by a light blanket gently wrapped around her. That felt familiar, she had been here before. No, not just here. She had been now before. But which now is it? Two drunk men stumbled into the room. Not these guys again... She got up and strode towards them, wincing as pain shot through her right arm, which was suddenly out of the harness.
"You two, get out," she commanded.
"Eh, what? We just want to have some fun," one of them raised a half-empty bottle.
"People want to sleep here, this is the only warning you'll get."
"But..."
"Get. Out." She pushed them out of the door. "If you want to score with someone actually interested in you, go deal with the alarm first."
"What alarm?" the other guy looked confused.
"The unauthorised teleport."
"But there's no..."
A bright pale blue light shot up from the main plaza and illuminated the fortress. The roofs, stairs, railings and other details that during the day made the place look like a dream, cast now ominous glitter and shades, as if in a nightmare.
"How did you..."
"Come with me and find out," she rolled her eyes. "If it's an invasion, you don't wanna get caught with your pants down, do you?"
She ran towards the plaza with the two drunk guards in a tow. There was a smaller crowd than the last time, but it was filling fast, everyone was drawn in by the huge amount of aether radiated by Darrand and Cathy. She pushed through to find Ylrian, feeling surprising relief to see him alive. As she reached him, he just commanded some young guards to fetch Lord Kaisinel, Outremus and a healer. Healer? That's new. Unlike the last time around, Cathy wasn't hiding behind the other intruders, but was kneeling on the ground next to someone and healing them. There was also a blonde Elyos woman in a simple dress standing among them, whom Nesha didn't know. She already put down her aether-enhancing jewel and held her hands to the sides in a surrendering gesture.
"Ylrian," Nesha walked up to the gunslinger, whose hand was dangerously restless and close to his gun. "They're not here to fight us."
"The world is ending," he whispered without looking at her.
"I know. It's unfair that Izith... that he changed. But they're all injured and desperate. Let's keep this from escalating."
He looked at her in disbelief, blinked and took a deep breath.
"Right, we can't let things turn nasty," he said and stepped forward. Darrand and Lonewolf tensed, there was murder in their eyes.
"Please, do not attack," the Reian man raised his hands in a peaceful gesture. If Nesha remembered correctly, his name was Ortiz. "We don't mean any harm. We only wish to speak with Lord Kaisinel, it is... urgent."
"Yeah, he's on the way," Ylrian replied. "I also called for a healer, so you can... relax now. Sounds good?"
"Healer would be appreciated," Ortiz said.
A few minutes later the main fortress healer showed up, Ylrian explained the situation to him and he agreed to take care of the wounded. Cathy was clearly tired and it was a relief when the healer switched with her.
Several long minutes later, Lord Kaisinel arrived, followed by his Wing Outremus and general Versetti. The crowd gradually quieted down.
"What's..." the Lord looked over the group. "What is the reason for your arrival?"
"We offer you valuable information in exchange for safe passage through Inggison," the grey-haired man, Tatran, replied.
"What kind of information?"
"It involves torture chambers in Elysea, the Balaur and the death of Lady Ariel's Wing Chroma," the Asmodian phrased his words very carefully. Nesha caught herself whispering what he was about to say just a fraction of a moment before he did. Would everything happen the same as the last time? No, the healer finished with the treatment and walked over to Outremus to quietly discuss something. The Wing nodded and the healer's assistants brought a stretcher. As they carried the person to the infirmary, Nesha took a better look. It was Aielyn. And her face was scared and her hair cut... Nesha touched her cheek. Yes, the cut from Sparos's arrow was there. They turned back the time for everyone, except themselves? Why?
Like the last time, Darrand agreed with putting everyone into a holding cell and he and Cathy followed Lord Kaisinel inside. The crowd slowly dispersed and Nesha sought out Ylrian.
"So," he said the moment he saw her. "What do you think?"
"I thought you died. I'm happy it didn't happen," she smiled. Yes, he was asking about the incoming Asmodians and yes, it was important, but letting him know the world hasn't ended was important too.
"What?"
"If you're still up for it, we can go to Dionysia, after this is over."
"Are you... flirting with me? Now? You?"
"I'm bad at it, am I? I just need your attention for a moment. I need to tell you something important. Yes, it's related to this," she gestured towards the now empty teleport.
"You always have my attention, Nesh. What's on your mind?"
"Can we talk somewhere in private?"
"I was planning on getting a drink, but sure, let's find ourselves a cozy place."
"Oh, right, I forgot," it took her a lot of effort to keep her voice neutral. The last time around he also went to the bar and met the quartermaster there. What was his name? "Sorry, it won't take long. You'll still have time to meet with... uh... Garret."
"Wasn't planning to, but yeah, he'd also likely go to the bar now... wait, are you jealous?"
"What? No! It's... well, classified. Look, I know I'm not making much sense now. But it's important and I don't think Lord Kaisinel would believe me."
"Alright, my room then," he grinned. "It should be private enough."
The plaza was emptying, save for the night guards, but the hallways buzzed with whispers and gossip. Which was expected, Lord Kaisinel didn't grant audience to the Asmodians very often. Pretty much never. And the Asmodians had no right to have Izith. Except they do now.
Ylrian's room was a standard one for the lower officers, private enough for sensitive conversations, but no extra space for anything. He lit a lamp on the small table, offered Nesha a chair and sat on his bed.
"So? What is it?" he asked seriously, but with curiosity.
"A few moments before they teleported here, I..." how should she phrase it to make sense? Eh, fuck it. "I have returned from the future."
"How did you do that?" There were doubts in that question, but he was still interested in what she was saying. That was good.
"I'm not sure myself, but Tiamat had Lady Siel's relic and... It will be better if I start from today," she recounted the events of the previous timeline. It definitely sounded strange and it was a miracle he didn't interrupt her even once.
"Alright, three questions," Ylrian said a few moments after she finished. "First, are you and Aielyn, both the Lady of Time? Or how does it work?"
"I think none of us is. It looks like the power was used on returning us here and is gone now. But I can't do much aetheric introspection with this thing on," she raised her left hand with the partial aether-cuff.
"Uh, yeah, we'll get that removed. Second question, why is Lady Lumiel here?"
"I don't know, I haven't talked with her. She was in the VIP area, you can try going there and asking her."
"Third, what did the Balaur do in Gelkmaros? You mentioned we were in a hurry, but then we just left Gelkmaros to find you?"
"I don't know. You never mentioned them when we met again."
"That's strange. And that crater is quite concerning. Alright, let's go to Lord Kaisinel."
"Now?"
"Yeah, he'll skin me alive if he finds out I kept this for myself. No, don't look at me like that, Nesh. Even an illusion of being skinned alive is something I don't want to experience."
~ o ~
Darrand and Cathy followed Lord Kaisinel into the biggest building, while the others were led somewhere else. The fortress looked almost like a dream. The elegant shapes everywhere and stained glass windows were not something she had ever seen. Which felt wrong. She knew she had never seen it, but she felt like she did. Or maybe she should have? Did she see something like that and forget?
Lord Kaisinel led them into a fancy room with plushy chairs and a sofa. The pillows on the sofa were so soft, making the feeling of being in a dream even stronger. Was she dreaming? Darrand and Lord Kaisinel talked about what happened. It was strange to listen to, she wouldn't have believed it, if she hadn't experienced it herself.
"Lady Cathy, were you hurt?" Darrand was suddenly staring at her.
No, I wasn't, she wanted to say, but speaking aloud appeared so foreign, she couldn't remember how to do that. She shook her head.
"Good," he nodded and continued with the story. Yes, he wanted to protect her and he was beaten because of it. They started arguing. Because of the shield. The shield she gave him. Then they stopped and stared at each other in silence. After a moment they agreed on Darrand killing some Balaur in exchange for safe passage through Inggison and Lord Kaisinel called servants to lead them to their guest rooms.
As they were leaving, Ylrian and Nesha waited outside the room. Something was different about her, as if she was more real than before. Like Aielyn was when she fell out of the portal. Back then Cathy thought it was just her impression, because Aielyn needed healing, but this was something else. They were connected in a way she didn't understand. Nesha smiled at Cathy and followed Ylrian to meet the Lord of Illusions.
"Lord Kaisinel," Ylrian said just before the door closed. "My apologies for disturbing you. We have information about another relic."
That sounds important, maybe Darrand should know that too!
"Lady Cathy, don't linger," the templar frowned several steps ahead of her.
But... she wanted to tell him, had to tell him, but she couldn't? Why? She was speaking before, she should know how to do that! But she didn't. She lowered her head and followed him and the servants.
~ o ~
"I can't believe Lord Kaisinel took that seriously," Nesha said, after the Lord of Illusions dismissed them. He even unlocked her aether-cuff himself and ordered her to find what she could about the power the Siel's relic gave her.
"Weird things have happened recently," Ylrian shrugged. "Makes sense he's considering the possibility."
"Thank you for listening to me."
"Always, Nesh," he grinned and stopped. "Now that we have the life threatening things out of the way, I have one more question. Did we..."
"No, we haven't slept together."
"Ah, right, well, you're acting strange tonight. Nice. I... thought..."
"You're the one who's been acting strange, Ylrian. In addition to you acting like you wanted to die, first I found you in bed with Garret and a few hours later you tried to kiss me. Either is fine, I just wish you made up your mind."
"Uh, what?"
Oh, shit... "Sorry, that wasn't on purpose. Tomorrow, last time around, I knocked on your door and Garret opened. Naked, I think. But don't worry, I'm not gonna do that again, I'll tell Lorsa to find you herself."
"Hah, good luck with that. Was I hung over?"
"I don't know. I... It was awkward. And this is awkward too. I'd better go," she turned around, but he caught her healthy arm.
"Nesh, wait."
She stopped. They never hugged or kissed in this timeline. She wanted to experience that again, but they haven't reached that point yet. It wasn't... Ylrian stepped closer.
"Either is fine? I thought you weren't interested in me," he said quietly.
"I wasn't."
"Past tense?" his tone and expression were serious.
She looked into his dark turquoise eyes. Maybe they did reach that point. "Yes."
Without another word, he pulled her closer and kissed her. The warmth of his gentle lips was comforting, reassuring. His hand slowly caressed her waist. She gave in and with each passing moment, the kiss grew more and more passionate. She gripped his shirt. His arms tightened around her.
A jolt of pain shot through her right arm.
She pushed him away and took a step back. Her vision was blurred and for a moment all she could sense was the pain in her arm.
"Nesh? What..." he was confused. Understandably so. "What happened?"
"The arm..." she groaned. "It hurts... when pressed."
"Oh..." he reached towards her, but stopped in the middle of the movement. "Oh... Nesh, I'm so sorry, I didn't realise..."
"It's... It will be alright. Give it... a moment."
"Should I... accompany you to your room?"
That was a good question.
"If you want. But will you still make it to your date tonight?"
"Nesh, I don't... so you are jealous?" he laughed briefly, but turned serious again. "Jokes aside, Nesh, if I had a date tonight, it would be with you. Unlike the last time around, supposedly, you changed your mind."
"Yeah, I did. Sorry, it's the pain speaking."
"Do you need a healer?"
"No," she shook her head. "It's slow, but it's fading. Back to your question. Where did you want to accompany me?" she smiled.
"Anywhere you want, Nesh," he stepped closer again and gently touched her cheek. "Would you like to go somewhere private?"
"That would be lovely."
"Your room or mine?"
"Mine has six other people in it."
"Well then, only one place to go," he lifted her from the ground, one arm under her legs and the other under her back and carried her to his room.
~ o ~
Lonewolf woke up to the sounds of shouting. His back felt like it was on fire. He opened his eyes and saw Sigwyn, sleeping on the cot next to him, still under the effect of the blue paint from Chroma. Chroma... what even happened to her? Tatran said she died, but he was the first to go through the portal, he hadn't seen how. At least Sigwyn was safe for now.
"I had no idea the Abyss was fucked up. And it was your Lady who made that mess. You won't blame that on me!" Mira was furious.
"Don't you dare to speak of Lady Lumiel like that!" and Tatran didn't look any better.
"Or what? You will drag me into another portal? Oh, wait, you can't make one!"
"Can't you argue quietly? Some of us want to sleep," Lonewolf grunted and sat.
"Oh, you're awake?" Mira was surprised.
"Yeah, thanks to you two. Where's Ortiz?"
"They took him to a guest room," Tatran said. "Seems like they want to get friendly with the Reians."
"Any news about Aielyn? Her injuries were..."
"Who cares about that little shit?" Tatran rolled his eyes and frowned even more.
"I do," Lonewolf replied coldly. Sure, the spiritmaster hated the Elyos and he didn't blame him. But his increasing hostility towards Lyn was getting ridiculous.
"No news, you've been out for only a short while," Mira said. "They haven't even brought us food or water yet."
"At least we don't have to worry about Ortiz," Lonewolf sighed in relief. "And if we tell them Lyn's a Kamar citizen, we won't have to worry about her either."
"Or we could forget about her and focus on our own survival," Tatran spat. That sounded personal. "For what I care, she can die."
"Yeah, you very obviously don't care about her. I get that. She exists, get over it."
"The world would be better if she didn't."
"Why?"
The spiritmaster only frowned and didn't reply.
"I heard what you told her," Mira said. The two gave her a questioning look. "In Primum. I just found the tower and was on my way back to ask some of you for help. You yelled at her, I could hear it quite far. How dare you be alive when Laila is dead?"
"Who's Laila?" Lonewolf asked.
"None of your business," Tatran grunted and turned away from them.
"Look," Lonewolf got up from his cot, taking a moment to adjust to the pain in his back, and walked over to the spiritmaster. "We have to work together. And Lyn's one of us, so if you have a problem with her, let me help you solve it. Please."
"She's not one of us and there's nothing you can do. Laila was my daughter. And that brat is responsible for her death. She's my enemy."
For several seconds Lonewolf stood there, not knowing what to say. Probably nothing would be the best. Tatran was clearly hurting, there was no point trying to reason with him. He returned to his cot to get more sleep now that they calmed down. He'll have to talk with Aielyn as soon as possible.
~ o ~
Aielyn was floating in the void. Or at least it felt like it. She remembered being dragged through the portal, then shouting, aether and quiet. All that was too distant to see details. Possibly someone was trying to heal her. And she passed out. She lay on her belly and something soft was under her. A mattress. And a smell of cleanliness surrounded her. Was she in the infirmary? She opened her right eye, but saw nothing, as her face was turned with the right side in the pillow. The left side didn't hurt anymore, but it was still stiff and there was also another sensation. An ointment? She rolled to her side and forced herself to sit. Her head didn't feel right and she was dizzy. Someone had changed her clothes, she wore only a simple long linen shirt. This didn't happen the last time. Did she change the future? She hoped so. But if she already changed it, was what she knew still relevant? She looked around. The room was painted white and the curtain over the window and the bedsheets were pale violet. Bright light peeked through the curtain, which didn't look like Beluslan. Did she make it to Inggison? She stood up and walked over to the window. Or at least tried to, but with her first step her legs buckled and she fell, grabbing her blanket and taking it to the ground with her. Someone opened the door and entered the room.
"Are you alright?" it was a woman's voice.
"Uh, yes, sorry," when Aielyn got out of the blanket, she saw a tall woman with greying short black hair dressed in an Inggison guard uniform. "I... fell."
"Do you need help?"
"No, thank you," she replied and tried to get up. And fell again. Something must have numbed her senses, because instead of pain from her previous injuries she felt only pressure and pull in her muscles and skin. "Uhm, yes, please."
The guard helped her back to her bed and went for the healer, who was also a woman, but she looked younger than the guard. And they both were daevas, so their looks had nothing to do with their age.
"Oh, my, you look terrible," the healer said when she started examining her. "You gave the old man quite a headache yesterday. What happened?"
"I... I think I can't tell you. Sorry. Why do I feel no pain and can't walk?"
"The ointment has numbing properties, you'll be fine once it wears off and your wounds are healed."
"When will she be capable of questioning?" the guard asked. "Lord Kaisinel wishes to question her as soon as she's ready."
"She should have at least a full day of proper rest. Maybe more," the healer sighed. "How do you feel, dear?"
"Not in pain, so fine," Aielyn shrugged. There were only a few reasons the Lord would want to interrogate her this urgently. Either something happened in Kamar or he already knew about her return in time. Which meant Nesha probably remembered everything too and told him. "I can answer questions, no problem. But if I'm supposed to walk somewhere, sorry, won't do."
"We'll give you a leg massage and a crutch, you'll be ready in half an hour."
The healer and two assistants sort of put her together and even got her new clothes and as promised, after half an hour she was ready to follow the guard to the interrogation. She took the inventory of what she knew and it wasn't much. Would they just waste their time with her? The guard left her in an empty room save for one chair, on which she sat. A moment later the Empyrean Lord of Illusions entered the room followed by an attendant, who looked like a cheap imitation of him.
"You are Aielyn and you're a citizen of Kamar," the imitation said. "Is that correct?"
"Yes."
"And you have allied yourself with the Asmodians, despite having no ties to them. Correct?"
"You have allied yourself with Israphel, who's minions killed my tie to the Asmodians," she spat. But could she still blame the Israphel's minions, even when she knew it was Nesha? Well, she was his minion at that time. No, don't think of that now. Later, alright? Survive first. "Yes, that's correct."
Lord Kaisinel cast a spell she didn't know and she felt aether tingling all over her.
"How were you able to get here?" he asked when the spell ended.
"Short version, someone created a portal for us," she paused. "The others are here too, right? I wasn't the first to go through."
"That is not relevant, we want to hear it from you," Lord Kaisinel glowered. "Or would you prefer if I looked directly into your mind?"
"I... Would that be faster?" That probably wasn't the smartest idea, but Aielyn had no clue how to explain everything that happened.
Both men looked at her with surprise.
"Yes, it would probably be faster," the Lord replied. "But there is a risk of damaging your mind."
"I don't think I can describe what happened. I messed up. Everything was... wrong. So just... take what you need and make it quick. No need to waste your time on questions and hoping I'll remember something relevant."
"Very well, I'll search your memories directly. It will be less painful for you if you cooperate. For the beginning, focus on the moment when you first met Chroma."
"That will be a problem. I was drugged and don't remember shit."
"Then the first moment you remember."
"Ah, right."
Lord Kaisinel cast another spell, stepped closer and touched her forehead. She tried to remember Chroma, when she was still Stain and used the purple paint to neutralize the drug the Lepharists gave her. That memory moved forward to the Eltnen fortress, then Abyss, where she was singing the lullaby for Chroma. Then... So you're the reason why she died. The change of Tatran's expression from shock to pain to anger repeated over and over in front of her. Please stop!
She was back in the empty room, still sitting on the chair, but tightly hugging herself and the right side of her face was wet. Was she crying? She couldn't get Tatran's face from her mind. He was right. If she never existed...
"You should be at school, not on the battlefield," Lord Kaisinel said with disdain. Right, those two were still standing in front of her. Unlike the Lord, his imitation looked worried.
"They kicked me out," she sniffled. "Not Elyos enough."
"How did Chroma die?"
"You can take a look, no?"
"You're so untrained that if I do that, you will die. Answer the question."
"We got to Beluslan. Somehow. To the Lepharist base. Uncle..." she shook her head. "Herlen, one of their officers, stabbed her with a special sword. I think it was Lord Zikel's." She was out of red... red... like the glow in mygrandfather's eyes...
"And Lady Siel's relic? How did you get it?"
"I... I'm not sure. Tiamat wanted to kill us. Then Israphel was there, wanted to get it for himself. It fell on the ground, in front of me. So I took it. Nesha took it too. And it did something."
"What did it do?"
"It returned me in time. Us, probably. But not enough," she sobbed. "Chroma died again. I couldn't save her."
Someone knocked on the door. The attendant went to meet whoever was outside and didn't notice when the door failed to remain closed.
"I have urgent news for Lord Kaisinel," a deep woman's voice reported. "The Balaur are searching for something and they think it's here. Their army is coming to Inggison."