Shortly after Ylrian brought her to the infirmary, Nesha lost consciousness. When she woke up again, her side still hurt, but the pain was dull, most likely from her muscles being frozen, and the bleeding had stopped. She couldn't tell if the poison was still in her body or if it was gone. There were clean bandages around her belly and she smelled odella paste. She sat up and her look was immediately drawn to her wrists. The aether cuffs were back in the place again. That would explain her pain, they probably bound her as soon as her life was out of danger. But why did they bother saving her? Did they think she knew something about the attack? What if they heard what Cerullon said? Would she be able to convince them she had no idea what he meant?
The door opened and an Asmodian dressed in dark leather armor with a longbow over his shoulder entered the infirmary. His eyes narrowed as he saw her, and although his muscles tensed, he didn't make any aggressive move. If he wanted to secretly kill her, he had a perfect opportunity.
"Get up and come with me," he said.
Nesha sat motionless for a few seconds, before she got off the bed. After she put on her shoes, the guy turned around and left the room, walking slowly enough to check if she followed him. She did, she didn't have any reason or will to show defiance. They exited the tunnel and he led her around the crater to the ramp leading up. They walked. She had seen people fly here earlier, but her aether-cuffs didn't allow her to even feel the aether. The place was silent and no one else was around. The crater looked abandoned.
"Where's everyone?" she asked without really expecting an answer.
"Up there. Keep moving," he replied. Sternly. Efficiently.
As they climbed up, the aether around changed, as if someone was casting some very powerful spell. The change was so big, she sensed it even through the cuffs. Outside of the crater was a crowd of all the people from the Shelter. They were gathered around something, or someone she hadn't seen. A lot of them were standing on the stone structures around to have a good view. The ranger led her to one of those. They climbed up and stayed at the back of the crowd. In the middle, there was quite a big space, only a wooden pyre with four bodies was in the center. Runa walked from one body to another, placing her hand on their eyes and saying something Nesha couldn't hear over the distance. This Runa looked and moved almost the same as the one she met in the cell, but something about her was different. She was the source of that powerful aether. Nesha realised she'd already met a person radiating aether like this before. It was during the ceremony, when Lord Israphel officially announced the creation of the Lightshade squad. But that would mean...
"Is she..." Nesha whispered.
"Shut up," the ranger hissed.
She didn't argue with him and instead watched the funeral. The not-Runa finished her prayers and stepped aside. Several other people came closer and placed trinkets and wreaths made of dry plants. Within them Nesha recognised only Darrand, former Wing of Lord Zikel, he placed a small bouquet of flowers to the hands of a dead woman. During the war he led the defense of Pandaemonium and because of that he was on the Lightshade's list. But before they dealt with the other targets, he disappeared, only to appear again in Gelkmaros and then in the middle of the desert. Nesha never understood what happened, Lord Zikel and the people around him were not known for running away from battles.
The people stepped away from the pyre and a white haired sorceress set it on fire. Some people in the crowd quietly sobbed. The sorceress intensified the fire and guided its heat with great precision and after several minutes there was only a pile of ashes. She almost collapsed afterwards, but Darrand caught her in time. The gathering wasn't over yet. The not-Runa walked again towards the remnants of the pyre.
"My fellow survivors," she started. Her voice was quiet, but everyone could hear her speech, as if she was standing right in front of them. "Most of you know of me, but very few of you have met me in person. I am Triniel, Shedim Lady of Death. I founded this Shelter in hopes that those of you, who wanted to be free, could live in peace. As the attack today showed, I was wrong. This is not a place to live. This is not a place to mourn those we have lost. This is not our place. It is time to stop pretending we can hide here from Israphel and his lackeys. We won't be hiding anymore. I need everyone to pack your belongings, prepare your weapons and take proper rest. We will take back what is ours. We will grow. And when we grow enough, we will make Israphel fall."
There was a moment of shocked silence, but before the silence became awkward, someone from the crowd shouted: "Yes!" and the rest joined him in cheers and pretty much everyone moved forward to make sure their Lady was real.
"Time to go back," Nesha's guard said behind her. Apparently not everyone was fascinated by the unexpected reveal.
"Does she really plan to attack Israphel?" Nesha asked. Out of all things in her mind this one sounded the least dumb.
"I don't know our Lady's plans. I follow her orders. Right now they say to take you back."
"Fine," she sighed and climbed down from the rock. They returned the same way they came here and within a few minutes they reached the bottom of the crater. But he didn't lead her back to the infirmary or the cell, instead they ended up in what looked like an improvised strategy room.
"Now we wait," he said before she could ask.
Nesha, still cuffed, sat into a corner and waited.
Several minutes later, Darrand, Engor and the sorceress joined them. Out of the four Asmodians in the room, only the albino cleric didn't look like he wanted to kill her. He walked over the room and crouched next to her.
"May I check on your wound?" he asked with his usual calm tone.
"Why do you bother with that, Engor?" Darrand grunted before Nesha could react.
"Because she's my patient and I didn't have enough time to do proper healing."
"I'm fine," Nesha said.
"Yeah, you're fine," Darrand snapped. "Unlike Anteia and the other three, who died today. Because of you!"
Because of me? How?
"That attack wasn't my fault," she frowned.
"Wasn't it?!" the templar walked over to her.
"Hey..." Engor protested, as he was pushed aside, but to no effect.
"How dare you..." Darrand caught Nesha by her neck, "...to pretend..." he lifted her up and pushed against the wall, "...you didn't have anything to do with it. That you don't know a shit about the attack you were part of! Anteia is dead and you expect me to believe you?"
"Darrand, that's too much, put her down," the cleric put his hand on his shoulder.
"Don't tell me what to do with a Lepharist spy!"
"I'm not..." Nesha was struggling for her breath. Her vision blurred.
"Let her go, Darrand!" Veille's voice sounded distant. The air around Nesha turned cold. She couldn't see anything anymore.
Suddenly the pressure on her throat vanished and she fell on the ground. She was coughing for about a minute, before she was able to breathe normally again. Only after that she noticed the room was silent. Everyone, including lady Triniel, was staring at her.
"Were my orders regarding the prisoner unclear, Darrand?" the Lady walked around the table and looked at the templar.
"No, my lady."
"And my orders about your rest, Seritha, was there something you didn't understand?"
"No, my lady."
"Then what was so important, that you couldn't follow them?"
Before Darrand could even attempt to find an excuse, Seritha said: "The Lepharists have exchanged one of our seals with a modified one that concealed their presence. I wanted to examine it. I thought it wouldn't take so much time, but I was mistaken."
"Alright, what did you find?" Lady Triniel's voice changed from scolding to curious.
"It was a very precise copy of my seals, including the aether enchantments binding it to the network. They must have gotten these from Carmir. But there was one extra enchantment, that was tied to the black hair woven in the seal. It was linked to locks of the same hair the intruders had with them. The warding seals around the Shelter work as an amplifier of everyone's aether signatures to make me able to sense them. But once I verify every newcomer, I ignore them, unless I specifically focus on that one person. And that spell made those intruders appear known. As if they were her," the sorceress pointed at Nesha. "It's her hair, they had."
Everyone turned their faces to her again. Darrand, Seritha and the ranger still looked like they wanted to kill her. Veille, Ylrian and Engor were shocked, almost disappointed. Only lady Triniel kept her stone cold expression.
"You still wanna pretend you weren't part of that?!" Darrand reached for his sword, but Lady Triniel's hand on his arm stopped him.
"Maybe, Nesha, you should start cooperating, if you want to stay alive," the Lady said.
"But... I... I don't know," Nesha was as shocked as the others looked. "I didn't know they were supposed to attack, I don't even know how they got... oh..."
"What is it?"
"It was Herlen, a daeva from Morheim. He was part goofy and part creepy, constantly trying to get me to bed, even though he knew I wasn't interested. He cut my hair just before I left, he said it was payment for some information I wanted from him. He led the group that was chasing us, but when we crossed the lava river, he just turned and left. I... I thought he gave up, but... it seems he didn't."
"So Israphel's elite operative let you go, while he was supposed to capture you, and you didn't consider it as important information to share?"
"He didn't look like elite anything," she frowned, but a memory of Herlen cutting a lock of her hair almost without her noticing crept into her mind. "I mean, he acted like a lazy idiot most of the time. And when he waved at us as goodbye, I just... it was suspicious, but after that we didn't get ambushed anywhere on our way, and he must have known our direction, so I just thought it was him being him."
"Being a lazy idiot doesn't mean you can't have skills," Ylrian commented. "Just sayin'."
"It doesn't matter!" Darrand slammed his fist into a wall. "She killed Kohbe and Shairun and now Anteia... and the others are dead, also because of her! And did I mention Mastarius?"
"You're going too far, Darrand," Veille stepped in.
"Am I? No, she went too far, when she killed them. And I don't care if she did it on purpose or because she's dumb as fuck. She's responsible and she should die!"
"Shairun wasn't killed," Nesha said, latching on to the only thing to stop her from replaying the day in Marayas city in her head over and over.
"What?! Do you think we're as dumb as you?"
"Darrand, shouting won't help here," lady Triniel spoke. "And you, explain what you mean."
"We had orders to capture her alive, only to make it look like she died. So we did. It was a very tough battle, she was Lord Zikel's Wing, after all. But we succeeded and she was put into prison in Teminon Landing. I don't know what happened to her after that."
"She's still alive?" Seritha's voice was trembling. "We can... see her again?"
"It is possible, but we can't know that," Lady Triniel said. "They could have taken her as a slave or as an experiment subject. We'll try to find out, but our first priority now is our own survival."
"Yes, my Lady."
"Phair, take her back to the cell, we won't execute her for now. Then send Aielyn here and check on the civilians and make sure they pack only the necessary things," the Lady gave her orders.
"Yes, my lady," the ranger bowed and led Nesha from the room.
~ o ~
Aielyn didn't have many things to pack, only some clothes, weapons and survival equipment. Most of her belongings stayed in her apartment in Kamar, which, after her parents died, she visited only a few times. She filled her cube and left the room she shared with several of the rank and file Elyos. Despite Lady Triniel's speech, everyone was worried. Sure, they didn't like living in the conditions in the Shelter and would welcome something better, but at what cost? How many will die? And what was the plan anyway?
She didn't have any orders, but didn't want to wander aimlessly and get in the way of those who had things to do, so she headed towards the infirmary. Surely Engor would need help with packing, even though their medical supplies were constantly low. But when she got there, instead of the main healer she found only Cathy sitting on a stool with a cube in her lap and two piles of things on the table next to her. The girl looked at her with helplessness written all over her face.
"Hi, what's wrong?" Aielyn asked, trying to keep her usual cheerful tone. "Do you need help?"
"Uhm..." Cathy looked at the cube. "Mister Engor told me to pack things into this cube, he said he reset it so I could use it, but... I don't know how..."
"You have to bind it first, to make sure no one else can take your stuff," the ranger pointed at some ornaments on the cube. "See these? Put your fingers on them and send a bit of aether into the cube. Like when you're healing, but really only a bit."
Cathy did as told and in a few moments her expression changed to surprise.
"It... worked?" she couldn't believe it.
"Yes, of course it worked, the Shugos make them really easy to use. Now when you want to put something in, just take the object, put it to any side and send a bit of aether into the cube. And when you want to take something out, just think of the item and again, give the cube a bit of aether. And that's it. Practice it a few times on something not fragile, like this," Aielyn took a package of bandages and gave it to Cathy. "I didn't even know Engor had a spare cube."
"It was Miss Anteia's," the Asmodian girl said quietly. "He said she told him how to open it, if something happened to her."
"Oh... um, I'm sorry. It was smart of her. She was quite smart. And very kind. I'll miss her."
"Yes, she was very nice, even to me."
Aielyn hugged Cathy and gently caressed her hair. The girl was clearly scared and didn't know anyone here. She wanted to help her, but didn't know what to say. She usually let others handle situations like this and disappeared, but in this case there was no one else. Quick steps sounded near and the Asmodian ranger Lonewolf appeared in the door she left open.
"Here you are," he said.
"Oh, hey, Puppy, what's up?" she turned around to greet him.
"Lady Triniel wants to see you, Lyn," he said, ignoring her nickname for him. "In the strategy room."
"Me? Why?"
"Don't know. Orders."
"Alright, I'll go. Cathy, I'll probably get some new orders, but if I can, I'll come back. Practice with the cube in the meantime."
The girl nodded.
~ o ~
"Let's proceed with the strategy. If we want to be successful, we need to act quickly. Our target is here," lady Triniel rolled out a map on the table and tapped her finger on a marked spot. The others held their breath for a moment. "Darrand, how many Asmodian daevas capable of battle do we have? Excluding me and Seritha."
"Thirty two."
"That will have to do. Seritha, where is the closest safe spot you can open a portal to?"
"What do you mean by safe spot, my lady?"
"We will have to transport everyone from the Shelter, including the injured and non-combatants. That's over hundred and fifty people, who will need to stay somewhere, until the rest of us make this safe," lady Triniel poked the map again.
"My lady, you want me to transport all the people from the Shelter through one portal?"
"Yes, is it possible?"
Seritha took a long, deep breath.
"It will be difficult and everyone will need to be disciplined to approach the portal quickly and in an orderly manner and leave the landing spot immediately... and the only place I'm familiar with enough to make it possible is down here," she tapped the map.
"It is a good place to hide the surge of aether that comes with such a portal, but if the non daevas are discovered there, it will turn into a deadly trap. Veille, Ylrian, you and the Elyos will stay with them as a defense unit."
"Wouldn't we be more useful in the attack?" Ylrian asked.
"No," Lady Triniel shook her head. "We intend to free the prisoners to help us keep the place in our hands. We'll have enough force. And the people from the Shelter will need someone to protect them. Even if no one attacks, they will need someone to keep them from panicking."
"Yes, my lady, I understand," Ylrian said.
"Darrand, you will lead the attack. You've trained these people, so you know what they are capable of. We have some bombs to open the gate, so make sure everyone knows what to do after that."
"Yes, my lady."
"And my job will be to ensure they won't rig the obelisk, like they did in Marayas, and free the prisoners. Prepare your troops and help the civilians, we're leaving two hours after sundown. Any questions?"
~ o ~
When Aielyn reached the strategy room, the other daevas were just leaving. She knocked on the door and entered. The Lady of Death was sitting behind a desk and preparing papers and ink.
"Uhm, my lady?" she bowed, not sure how to do it properly. "What do you need me to do?"
"Hello, Lyn, you'll go to Kamar to deliver this letter to Kahrun," the Lady said and started writing. The letter was brief, in a few minutes she handed the wax sealed paper to her.
"Yes, my lady. Letter to commander Kahrun. Should I wait for an answer, or head back immediately?"
"Ideally, stay in Kamar, until we send a notice of our new location."
"What? Why? I... I want to help you fight too!" Aielyn was shocked. She could fight. She could be useful!
"Lyn..." Lady Triniel sighed. "Alright, if you can get back in time and you're in shape to fight, you can join us as part of Veille's defense unit."
"Defense? But... yes, my lady, I'll try to get back in time," the ranger bowed. "Anything else?"
"No, that's all. Take care."
Aielyn walked to the door, but stopped before opening it.
"Uhm, my lady... was it true, what you told me earlier? That you didn't kill Lord Nezekan, but he died protecting you?"
"I didn't mention any names, did I?"
~ o ~
The man materialized in the middle of a darkened room, where only a few rays of light passed through the slits between heavy curtains. He quickly walked away from the teleportation circle and inspected the damages. Pieces of his armor were singed from the fire spells and the gun blast, nothing serious. But more importantly, he failed to retrieve Veille's daughter. Lord Israphel's plans to dissolve the rebels from the inside depended on her being here available and ideally cooperating, but confinement would work too.
The teleportation circle glowed and a woman with a broken nose appeared inside. She almost collapsed, but she had enough discipline to step aside and free the circle, before heavily sitting on the floor.
"So? Report," he said after a few seconds of silence. "Did you kill her?"
"She... doesn't exist..." the woman whispered and looked at him, terrified.
"Good job. At least..."
"No!" she protested, her voice shaking. "Runa... as a person... doesn't exist. She never did! It's... Lady Triniel herself! In disguise!"
"So you left the mission without finishing it?" he growled.
"I... she killed them in an instant. We never had the chance... I... had to report it."
The man walked across the room, grabbed her by the collar of her clothes and pulled her up to her feet.
"We already knew that! You three were supposed to be more than capable enough to take her out before she had a chance to access her full power. What the fuck were you doing?"
"We... Darrand appeared there after Malnas killed one of their healers. And then she got there. We... couldn't fight both."
"So you failed. You know what's the price of failure."
"Please, Master Cerullon, don't kick me out. I'll do whatever is needed, I'll go back..."
"Shut up. You'll get one more chance. One. And if you fail again, I'll personally deliver you to that pathetic excuse of an Empyrean lord," he dropped her and walked to the door. "Put yourself together and be ready for the next task. You're going to Gelkmaros in two hours."
~ o ~
The stars were screaming again. Desperate, sad, terrified. The hourglass was once again crushed by a giant shadowy hand.
Cathy woke up, someone was shaking her. She was sitting at a table, with a pile of bedsheets under her head and a blanket wrapped around her.
"Wake up, Cathy, we're leaving soon," Mister Engor said. "Are you alright?"
"Uh, yes, I'm sorry, I didn't want to fall asleep."
"Don't worry about it. Pack these and follow me."
"Yes, Mister," she nodded and quickly placed the sheets and blanket into her cube.
They left the infirmary and joined the huge crowd at the bottom of the crater. The sun was already set and the desert air got colder. The people whispered nervously, and a few children started sobbing. Cathy followed the Asmodian healer, until they reached the group of leaders. Lady Triniel issued some orders and sent a few daevas to arrange the people in the crowd into a single line.
"Cathy, come over here," Mister Engor stopped her attempt to find her place in the line. "Veille, this is Cathy, she'll be the only healer to stay with your group, please take care of her."
"Nice to meet you, Cathy," the Elyos woman smiled. "It's surprising you're leaving a healer behind."
"She has just Ascended, there's no way I'm taking her into a battle."
"As a healer, are you a cleric, like Engor here?" Mister Darrand asked her.
"I-I... I don't..." Cathy looked helplessly at Mister Engor.
"I think she's more likely a chanter. She's humming, when casting spells," he smiled.
"Hmph," the warrior looked at her and pulled a staff out of his cube. It was decorated with elegant carvings of leaves and blossoms and had a fist sized green crystal on its top. "Take this. It worked well for Anteia, so should work for you too," he pressed it into her hands and walked away.
"T-thank you..." Cathy said, although she wasn't sure if he could hear her.
"Alright, Cathy, stay near me," Madam Veille said and put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "You can put the staff into your cube, you won't need to fight."
"I... yes, I'm sorry."
"It's alright."
After Cathy stashed her new staff, they waited for several more minutes for the people to organize themselves. She looked at the cloudless night sky. The stars were bright and silent. They only screamed in her dreams, but the sight of them still gave her shivers. A dark-skinned daeva with white hair stepped in front of the crowd.
"I will open the portal," she said with her voice enhanced by aether. "First, lady Triniel and her group will step through to ensure the place is secure. Then, you will start walking through, one by one and when you get to the other side, you will immediately leave the space, so the people behind you can pass through too."
She finished her speech and started casting the spell. The aether swirled around her hands in streams of blue light. After several seconds, a shimmering ellipse hovering just above the ground formed in front of her. It was just big enough for one person to step through. Immediately the sorceress stepped aside, holding her hand on the edge of the portal.
"Start sending people after fifteen seconds," Lady Triniel said and stepped through, along with a handful of daevas. The next fifteen seconds were long. Finally Mister Darrand shouted orders and the line of people started moving.
"Veille, go now," the Asmodian sorceress said, when about one third of the people were on the other side. The former Elyos general didn't argue. She walked to the portal, gently pushing the girl in front of herself. For a brief moment, Cathy hesitated. Something on the other side was calling for her soul. Something familiar.
"We're... going to Gelkmaros?" she asked, before stepping through. Madam Veille nodded.
On the other side of the portal they were quickly ushered aside. The landscape changed drastically. There was still night, but the barrier above was shimmering with golden light, giving everything an otherworldly hue. Unlike in the desert, this place was overgrown with plants and there was even a waterfall nearby. The portal was located atop of stairs that resembled an altar. The entire area was surrounded by tall cliffs. Cathy looked around, several times, and turned to Madam Veille.
"How do we get out?"
~ o ~
The night desert air was cold. Aielyn was running as fast as she could to maintain the pace for a long time, but the sand was constantly slowing her down. Due to her Asmodian part, she could see decently well in the starlight, which made her travel only slightly harder than during the day. Although her senses were not as good as those of nighttime predators and she wasn't accustomed to orienting herself by the stars.
When she delivered Runa's... no, Lady Triniel's message to the Reian leader Kahrun, he didn't look even a bit surprised. Did he knew Runa was Lady Triniel, or did she omit it from the letter? He simply said: "I understand, I'll be awaiting further news. Best of luck to you all." He did call for his advisors, but Aielyn was dismissed. She was only a messenger and they weren't sending any messages.
Finally, she saw the outline of the stone structures above the Shelter and a faint blue glow from below them. It was more on the left side than she expected, she must have strayed from her path. She changed the course and stopped in her tracks. A rattling sound behind her got her attention. She spun around, readying her bow. Within a second she found the source of the sound and released three aetheric arrows in quick succession. The projectiles hit the carapace of a large scorpion, barely scratching it. The creature darted towards her. She avoided the sting by hair's width and shot another aetheric arrow from point blank range, this time hitting it in between the plates of its shell.
"Stupid thing, now I'll be late," she grunted as it turned around to repeat its attack. Aielyn steadied herself, drawing her wooden arrow with adamantine head, coating it with a thin layer of aether. She had to kill it as soon as possible, before the noise from the battle attracted other predators. As a ranger, one of the things she learnt was to find a precise moment, when to strike. At the previous attack, the scorpion had opened its mouth just before it hit. If she could shoot it at that moment... Just a little more... Now! She released the arrow and immediately jumped to the side. She felt sharp pain on her forearm, as she rolled in the sand, away from the creature's reach. She got up and aimed another aetheric arrow at the scorpion. Its body thrashed a few times and stopped moving. Aielyn waited for several more seconds, before she allowed herself to relax. She checked her forearm, there was a deep cut in her skin, which burned. She quickly treated it with odella-soaked bandages and strangulated her arm to slow down the spread of the poison. Then she inspected the dead scorpion, carefully cut off its sting without damaging the poison glands and safely stored it in her cube. She scanned her surroundings for other night creatures. She was tempted to run towards the Shelter as quickly as possible, but a quick glance at her wound was enough to make her slow down to walk.
As she got closer, the blue glow flickered and vanished. Wound or no wound, she ran the last fifty or so meters in panic. Was she late? Did she miss the departure by this little time? She glided down to the bottom of the crater and saw a small group of about ten scared civilians, one daeva with a spear keeping the prisoner on a leash and one with a longbow on her back kneeling beside Seritha, who seemed unconscious.
"What happened, Esumi?" she asked the kneeling daeva. "Where's everyone?"
"In Gelkmaros. Seritha created a portal for us, but it exhausted her, before everyone could go through," Esumi said. "Help me get her to the infirmary, there should still be beds. We'll wait for her to wake up and then decide what to do."
~ o ~
Cathy anxiously watched the stream of people going through the portal. The daevas at the sides have been very efficiently guiding them away and the people formed groups near huge plants and trees. Suddenly the portal flickered. Everyone turned their face to it. One more person stepped out from it and the portal collapsed. Panicked whispers spread across the refugees like a blizzard.
"Stay calm, everyone," Lady Triniel ordered. "We are prepared for this possibility. Maintaining the portal has exhausted Seritha, but she will send the remaining people once she gets some rest. In the meantime, we have a fortress to conquer. Everyone not part of the attack squad, stay here. In my absence, Veille is in command. Before the next dusk, everything will be settled." She waited for a moment and when the panic subsided, she smiled. "Make yourselves comfortable, as long as you don't disturb the spirits under the waterfall, this place is safe. Attack squad, follow me."
With her last words, about thirty pairs of dark wings sprouted from the backs of the daevas and they ascended above the waterfall and the cliffs.
"You heard Lady Triniel, right?" Madam Veille smiled encouragingly at Cathy. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll check on other people and if you need something, I'll be around."
Cathy nodded and sat at the bottom of a nearby tree. She felt restless. Watching Madam Veille going from group to group, trying to encourage and soothe everyone didn't have the same effect on her. Something wasn't right and she couldn't tell what. There was no one around she knew, Miss Aielyn was in Kamar, Miss Nesha was stuck on the other side of the collapsed portal and Miss Anteia... Cathy pulled the ornate staff out of her cube and studied it. Mister Darrand said, it has worked well for Miss Anteia, so she pulled some aether from her surroundings, there was plenty of it around, and tried it. The carvings and the crystal, although very beautiful, were not just simple decorations. They were guiding the aether and made it easier to manipulate it. After a few minutes the staff felt not like a separate object, but more like an extension of herself. Even though something out there was still wrong, this new connection to the weapon gave her a sense of stability and she relaxed a little. She didn't even notice, when she drifted off to sleep.
She was standing in the middle of the empty desert, with her new staff in her hands. The sand around her was already whirling. There was a sandstorm inside the hourglass and she was in the middle of it. The stars were silent this time, observing, judging. She was taking a test she knew nothing about. Should she stop the storm? Or let it carry her? What was on the other side of the hourglass?
"What should I do?" she asked the stars, but instead of answering, the sand got into her mouth. She coughed and covered her nose and mouth. I need space to breathe. She tapped into the aether around, surprised there was much more of it than in the Gelkmaros basin. She remembered a simple melody. With so much aether and the aid of her staff, she was able to create a shield around her. Tired from the effort, she looked around. The sand was still whirling around her, but now it was glittering with golden light, just like her shield. Unsure what to do next, she pulled a bit more aether towards her.
The time stopped.
For a few seconds she watched the motionless glowing grains.
Then a loud crack echoed through the space, the hourglass was shattered.
All the sand and glass shards darted towards her, hitting her and being absorbed by her body.
It hurt.
Every single one of her muscles and organs burned with searing pain.
She screamed.
Bright golden light blinded her.
When the pain stopped, she opened her eyes and saw remnants of burned leaves and stalks. She felt solid ground under her knees and palms. Her hands were glowing with soft, golden light. Sounds slowly returned to her, she heard lots and lots of whispers. She looked up, all the people remaining in the basin were staring at her with shock in their eyes. An Elyos man was pointing guns at her.
"What... happened?" she asked and coughed. Why is everyone afraid?
"The barrier... It shot down from the sky into you and you absorbed it," Madam Veille said and walked closer to her with a concerned expression. "Are you alright?"
"I... I don't..." Cathy's eyes quickly scanned the surroundings. "Did I... did I hurt someone?"
"No, everyone's alright," Madam Veille smiled. "You can stop glowing now."
"Glowing..." the girl looked at her hands. "But... how?" As soon as she asked, the glow around her subsided. Tears appeared in her eyes. "What... happened to me?"
"I'm not entirely sure," the Elyos man holstered his guns. "But to me it looks like you absorbed what remained from lord Marchutan's power. You're the Lady of Fate now."