In the Shadow of Elyos

by seinka

The Asmodian spirit is shattered. The Elyos in alliance with Israphel have won the war and their lords rule with an iron fist. The Asmodian slaves are expendable, as well as the Elyos, who question their leadership. The hopeful rumors about the Asmodian resistance are squashed. And if even the soldiers from Miragent aren't safe, who is?

19. 18 - You betrayed your own kin

"What... is this?" Aielyn stared at the blood and bones and red crystals covering not only the table, but also most of the walls. Are these... claws? And patches of fur?

"Looks like someone tried to combine a Mau with some sort of ice spirit and failed," Darillia shrugged.

"And the crystals?"

The grey-haired Lepharist tapped one of the crystals and sniffed it.

"Frozen blood, nothing special. After you're done here, and make sure everything's cleaned properly, I'll come to check it, return the stuff and wait for me in the mess hall. And don't get into anyone's way."

"Alright."

Darillia left Aielyn with a cart of cleaning supplies and a bloody room. There were pieces of metal lattice in the floor covering drainage ducts, but no water pump. No, she had to fill the bucket in the washing room, and carry it back to whatever this room was for. Before she started, she double checked that her hair was firmly held by the ribbon and hair net. The work was tedious and nauseating, some pieces of tissues were too big to fit through the floor grates and she had to gather them into a separate bucket to be thrown away outside. She rummaged through the pieces of bones, a few of them had sharp enough tips to be used in an emergency, although none of them were bigger than half of a common dagger blade. She washed them carefully and left them to dry while she finished the room. During that time she pondered, how could she carry those sharp sticks. Not in pockets, sure, not only could she stab herself, but Darillia would search her sooner or later. Maybe in her hair? No, that's gross and dangerous. She looked at her boots. They had a thin pocket on the inside for a small dagger, one of the bone shards could fit there. But bones weren't daggers and Darillia could search her boots too... Well, they expect me to do something, so why not? She hid her new parody of a weapon and threw the rest of bones into the waste bucket.

After she returned the cleaning supplies and threw away the waste, she strolled outside. The sky was clear, she could see the lights from Abyss and Elysea, and the air was freezing. Her clothes warmed her, but not enough to stay here too long. It was a short walk to the mess hall, but she wanted to take a look around, to get better knowledge about the space. The largest building, containing the main labs and prison, was behind her and partially in the mountain range. There were planks over one window, close to the ground, where Chroma blasted the wall earlier... Chroma, another person, who died because of her. And Mira was going to be next. She didn't know either of them well, but she couldn't let that happen again. She quickly strode towards the skyship port, passing around two warehouses. No one stopped her, now that she wore the uniform. She quickly surveyed the area and headed towards barracks, where the mess hall was.

When she got inside, she was frozen. She sat in front of one of the fireplaces and rubbed her arms to stop shaking. She was there for about an hour and Darillia still didn't show up. Did something happen? Or is this a test? Whichever it was, Aielyn grew restless. And people in the mess hall started giving her strange looks. When a group of Lepharists got up and headed towards her, she immediately left and hoped to find Darillia before someone starts asking her questions. The main barracks building was large and Aielyn knew only a part of it, only the mess hall and the path to the room she shared with several others. Darillia wasn't among them, so she had to search the entire building. And hopefully this one building would be enough. She tried to keep a focused expression, as if she was supposed to be there and knew what she was doing, but her hands were shaking and she didn't know what to do with them to avoid attention.

Just as she reached the second floor, she heard someone bumping into something hard and a painful yelp that sounded like Darillia. The door was half open and the woman was fallen on the floor, trying to get up and blood ran down from her forehead.

"Darillia!" she dashed through the door and knelt next to her.

"And who in Aion's ass are you?" strong hands grabbed her, lifted her up and one clutched her neck and pressed her to the wall. The man, whom she didn't notice before, looked angry. His eyes and hair were cold blue, like a glacier, which only made his anger more terrifying.

"She's new," Darillia coughed. "Herlen's pet."

"Did anyone ask you?" he kicked the woman on the floor while keeping his eyes on Aielyn. "So?"

"Uncle... Herlen... recruited me... I'm..."

"Uncle, huh? He might be pissed, if something happened to you, right?" he let go of her and she dropped on the floor. "But you interrupted my business and that can't go unpunished."

With one way too quick movement he slashed Darillia's neck with a dagger that wasn't in his hand just a blink of an eye before. The blood splashed on the floor. Aielyn crawled closer to help Darillia, but the man kicked her away and stomped on her chest.

"As I said, your action can't go unpunished. You can only watch until she dies. And then take care of her. Understood?"

Aielyn stared at him, her eyes wide with fear. Herlen was scary and terrifying, but this man was something else entirely. Why would he kill someone just like that? What was going on?

"Do you understand?" the pressure of the boot increased.

She nodded.

"New, indeed," he snorted. "I'll have to remind Herlen to teach you proper etiquette. We're done here."

He kicked her again and left the room. She waited until he was gone and crawled to Darillia. The lepharist woman wasn't moving, the blood stopped flowing already and her skin faintly glowed with aether. Right, obelisk. Aielyn wiped her tears. She... will resurrect naked, I should get her clothes. And maybe wash the bloody ones?Is this her room? She searched the simple bed and the small cabinet next to it, finding several pieces of women's clothing. She waited until Darillia's body fully dissolved into aether and collected her weapons and cube. She owned quite a lot of daggers. Would she notice, if I took one? Yeah, most likely. The smallest dagger had a carving at the base of its blade, a tiny berry surrounded by six petals and a halo. Lightshade. Why am I not surprised?

~ o ~

Sanctum was as beautiful as Nesha remembered it. The bright colours, elegant shapes and golden railings separating people from white fluffy clouds reminded her of happier times. But one look at the faces of people around was enough to bring her to the present. Their smiles seemed too polite, their eyes cast down. How could the city change so much in such a short time? She wasn't away for that long! She turned to Aiden, who, while smiling, was tense, ready to react. He gently led her through the Exalted Path to the Elyos Square.

"It will take me some time, but I hope I'll be back within an hour," he said. "Wait here and stay within sight of the shopkeepers."

"Are they your contacts?"

"Anyone can be my contact, if I ask the right questions," he smiled and handed her a small amount of kinah. "Buy some snacks to blend in."

He disappeared in the crowd and Nesha turned to the plaza. Despite the tension, the familiar sight of blossoming trees had a calming effect. She walked around, glancing at the merchandise, smiling at the shopkeepers. All while scanning the surroundings for potential threats. After going through all the stalls, she bought a pack of caramelised petals, sat on a bench and watched the people around. The pack had such a nice shape that she could tuck into the harness binding her right arm and have it easily accessible while keeping her left hand free. And these petals were her favourite snack, colourful, crunchy and sweet. While she wondered if they could also be made from the flowers in Inggison and Gelkmaros, a trio of approaching soldiers wearing official Miragent uniforms caught her attention. Especially the man leading them. His short dark brown hair with a slight cherry hue, sharp violet eyes and lean muscular body were very familiar to her. Holding her breath, she quickly turned her face away from them, hoping they wouldn't notice her.

"Nesha? Is it you?" the very familiar voice told her she was wrong.

"Hello, Sparos," she turned to her former fiancé, faking a smile.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in Morheim," he frowned.

"I have a task here."

"Where's your permission?"

"Permission? For what?"

"For being here," Sparos grimaced. "Half-breeds are not allowed to enter Sanctum, unless..." he looked her up and down. "That's Inggison outfit, where did you get it?"

"In Inggison."

"I am in no mood for being mocked," he glared at her. "Not by a half-breed who cheated her way into Miragent."

"I got to Miragent fairly and honestly. I passed all the tests and met all the requirements with my own skills and hard work."

"And you conveniently kept it secret that you're a half-breed."

"Who the fuck cares about that?"

"Anyone who doesn't want spies in the most prestigious legion in Elysea."

"What..." Nesha was taken aback, realising none of this conversation made sense. This is going to turn ugly. Aiden, you should hurry. "Fine, whatever. What do you want from me?"

"I want to know what you're doing here and I want to see your permission to enter Sanctum."

"Hey, Sparos," the armored white-haired woman who came with him stepped in. "Checking permissions is a job for the city guards. And general Gennaion is waiting."

"You're right, Simunai," Sparos sighed. "Go get the guards and have them arrest her."

"Yes, sir."

"You can't arrest me, I'm not doing anything illegal!" Nesha protested.

"You being here is illegal."

"You don't even know if I'm a half-breed or not! You're acting based on rumors!"

"If you can prove you're a pure Elyos, you can go."

Nesha scowled at him. Of course she couldn't prove it. And he knew that. He knew where she grew up, the possibility of her being a half-breed was always there. But unlike now, it didn't seem to matter back then. He always hated the Asmodians and she used to share a lot of his views, but she could never imagine things would go this far. What happened to him? She barely recognised the man she once knew.

"I didn't lie to you, Sparos," she said quietly. "Back in the orphanage nobody knew who my parents were, nobody could tell me. I had no idea I could be a half-breed until those rumors started. But even if they were true, I was always loyal to Elysea." Sort of, until Morheim...

"What's going on here?" the guards arrived.

"This person is a half-breed who refuses to show a permission. Deal with that. I will stop by later and I expect either a detailed report or her in a cell," Sparos said without looking at her.

"Yes, sir."

The Miragent trio left and the guards turned their attention to Nesha. She wondered if she could either stall them long enough for Aiden to return, or run away and wait for him in hiding. She might be able to get away from them, although her injured arm posed a risk, but even if she could, there weren't enough shadows for her to stay nearby. And they didn't agree on any meeting spot ahead. She sighed and agreed to go with the guards. Because she went voluntarily, and also because her arm was immobilised, they didn't handcuff her, only kept her between them. On the way they let her eat the petal candy. Occasionally, she let a few petals fall on the ground and hoped Aiden would take the hint.

~ o ~

Capturing the Soteria sanctuary was quick. Even though Cathy, the six Asmodian women and two Elyos technicians stayed behind, they could watch the daveas storming the place, Darrand and Tatran's spirits wreaking havoc in the middle of the Balaur defenders, while the rest shot them from afar. Soon it was over. The technicians started working on the flight transporter device and went ahead to scout. Cathy... didn't do anything. The only things she could do reliably were creating an aetheric shield and healing minor injuries, but no one needed that at the moment. Regarding her, they were only concerned about protecting her. Especially Darrand who, despite becoming a new Empyrean lord himself, insisted on charging into battle while leaving her behind, as safe as possible. Before, she attributed this protectiveness to the fact that as an Empyrean lady she was a valuable target for the enemies and, despite hating it herself, hope for the Asmodians. She just had to stay alive. That was the fact they told her. But why didn't it apply to Darrand? Wasn't his new power valuable too? Why did no one consider protecting him? Was it because he was capable of protecting himself while fighting? If so, shouldn't she do the same? Did it mean all her training was still useless? No, don't cry. Don't make them worry. She dug her claws into the boulder she was sitting on and forced herself to focus on her breathing. Breathe in, slowly, deeply. Breathe out... No, that's too fast. You're doing it wrong again. Breathe in...

Suddenly, she was among the stars again and the exploding Atreia frozen in time flickered in front of her. Fire burst from all around, engulfing both her and the world, but instead of the Balaur army, two figures appeared. One had a body made of shadows with light shining from inside, the other was its exact opposite. They reached for the flickering world...

"Lady Cathy, we're ready to go," Darrand's voice woke her up. Did she fall asleep again? Of course, those stars aren't real. "The scouts have returned and found the best path for us."

She nodded. "Are they injured?"

"No, they avoided any attention. There is a Balaur camp on the way and the Hanarkand gate is also garrisoned. We will have to take all of them down. When we get there, you and the women will stay behind until we're done."

"No! No, I can fight too!"

"No. This is the best strategic decision we have."

"But..."

"Lady Cathy!" the templar raised his voice. "Your most important duty is to protect the people of Asmodae. Your people. We have six of them with us and they need your protection. That's your duty now."

"Yes, of course," she lowered her head. "I'm sorry."

Darrand paused, as if he wanted to say something, but he turned and without another word returned to the gathering group. Cathy followed him. How could she be this stupid? Of course Niya and Banti and the others can't fight, so they have to stay out of battle! And someone must be there with them in case something attacks! You should have thought about that. You're really bad at this ladying. No wonder the people don't want you.

When everyone got ready, Lorsa hugged Ylrian, wished them all farewell and returned, using the repaired flight transporter. Darrand called for departure and the group moved. Darrand and Tatran were at the front, Cathy and the women went behind them and Ylrian guarded the back. Sigwyn and Lonewolf scouted around and ahead.

~ o ~

Aielyn sat next to the bed, where Darillia's body coalesced from the aether back to its physical form. When it started looking solid enough, she covered her with a blanket and waited. It was a long wait, the healers said it would take several hours. And since the person who gave Aielyn work was resurrecting, no one missed her. She could wait. Except she hated waiting and probably wouldn't last long. Maybe she should look around, find a possible way out for her and Mira. She was new here, after all, she could always claim to be lost. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. She stared at Darillia, replaying the moment of her death over and over. Did the guy know the obelisk could have rejected her? And why did Darillia protect her? If she stayed quiet, Aielyn wouldn't be able to figure out the right thing to say and she would end up here instead. But just mentioning uncle's name... No! He's not my uncle! He's a Lepharist, he was never my parents' friend, only a spy for Israphel. As if summoned by her thoughts, Herlen put his hand on her shoulder.

"Lyn, come with me. Now."

What? No little Lyn? She raised her head and looked at him. His expression was serious, almost worried?

"Did... something happen?"

"Not here. Let's go."

She nodded, got up and followed him out of the infirmary. He led her back to the main barracks building, to a room on the third floor, not too close to the ground and protected from the cold by another two floors above. It was big enough to hold a massive writing desk with a chair near the door and a large bed next to a wardrobe in a corner. The window was covered with a thick curtain to keep the cold out and an aether lamp glowed on the desk.

"Sit here," Herlen pushed her to the chair and paced back and forth.

"What happened?"

"What were you thinking?" he stopped and looked directly into her eyes. That felt very uncomfortable and Aielyn turned her head aside. "Messing with Cerullon in the middle of one of his fits! Why?"

"Who's Ceru... oh, the guy who killed Darillia?"

"Yes. The leader of Lightshade. Also one of the best spies I know and Lord Israphel's personal executioner. And he's more unstable than that loser Vaizel when it comes to his ego. So do me a favour and stay away from him. No matter what, avoid him. Is that clear?"

"Why?"

"What do you mean why? What happened to you and Darillia wasn't enough?"

"I meant, why do you care?"

"Lyn, we may not be related, but I've always cared about you. I don't want you to get hurt and I want you to have a happy life."

"Then why don't you let me go?"

"Don't push it. Or I'll come to the conclusion it will be safer for you to be locked in a cell."

Aielyn shivered. "So, you care more about being a good Lepharist than about me?"

"What kind of stupid question is that?"

"I'm not trying to guilt you, I just want to know your priorities."

"Oh, Lyn, of course, I care about Lord Israphel and his teachings. If you ever go against us, I won't have any mercy," he paused and then smiled. "But I won't have to do that, right? Now you're a Lepharist too."

"But I'm still me first!"

Someone bashed on the door and before Herlen responded, the door opened and the blue-haired man entered the room.

"What the fuck do you want, Cerullon?" Herlen grunted.

"New orders," the assassin smirked. "Directly from Lord Israphel. Tomorrow we're leaving for Tiamaranta and the latest prisoners come with us. Your pet included," he casually pointed at Aielyn without looking at her.

"She's not a prisoner, she's an initiate."

"Don't care. Everyone involved in that fuck-up goes to Tiamaranta. You better get ready. Oh, and I'm taking the sword, you're clearly not a fit."

"Don't..."

"Those are the orders. Complain to Lord Israphel, if you dare. And one more thing, stop fucking my subordinates, Herlen, it's distracting," Cerullon sneered and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

"You're really afraid of him," Aielyn said, both surprised and terrified of the situation.

"I'm not," Herlen snapped at her. "I can defend myself and get away with it. You can't. I'm afraid for you, because I can't protect you, if you keep acting stupid. So do me a favour and don't do anything dumb anymore. Go get some rest, Tiamaranta is dangerous."

~ o ~

Nesha sat in the cell for a few hours, when finally the door opened and Sparos came in. It reminded her of the similar situation back in the Shelter, when Ylrian had visited her. Although pensive and serious, he somehow tried to cheer her up and give her hope. But Sparos was a complete opposite. His face and posture seemed calm and neutral, but under all that anger was smoldering in him, waiting for a reason to be unleashed. He was unarmed, save for a knife at his belt, but she had no doubt he had at least his favourite bow in his cube. And even in the close quarters like this cell, he was ready to use anything as a weapon at any moment. He kept staring at her for several long seconds before he sat on a simple chair on the other side of the cell.

"What happened to your arm?" he asked in a disinterested tone. Hello, I'm trying to be polite.

"An accident with an aether-cannon."

"An accident?"

"It wasn't aimed at me and I had no intention of getting hit. So yeah, an accident."

"Was that in Morheim or in Inggison?"

"Neither."

"Fine then. Why are you here?" his voice became more irritated.

"Because you told the guards to arrest me."

"Very funny. You were discharged from Miragent for dishonesty. You were sent to Morheim and supposed to stay there forever."

"Things change, Sparos. I'm not in Miragent anymore, you're right about that. My task here has nothing to do with the legion or with you. So could you let me go? I'll leave as soon as possible."

He shook his head. "No, Nesha. You lied to me again. You're not going anywhere until we get orders to move you."

"I didn't..."

"You said you were always loyal to Elysea," he raised his voice. "And yet you deserted from Morheim and went to those Asmos! Did you think you could keep that a secret?"

So he found out. It wasn't that surprising, but she still hoped she could avoid this. What would be the right way now? Should she try to fight her way out? Or wait for Aiden to rescue her? She hated the idea of waiting, but with her arm unusable she had no chance of getting through Sparos. And there surely were more guards outside.

"So? What do you want?" she asked. "You clearly didn't have to come here. Just wait for the orders and someone will take me away."

"So it's true? You're not denying it?" he got up. "I didn't want to believe you could be a traitor, but clearly I was wrong. Why would you... You had everything in Elysea."

"And that everything was taken away from me."

The door opened and the white-haired woman, Simunai, entered.

"We got orders," she grinned. "We're taking her to Tiamaranta."

"We?"

"Yes. You, me and some commoners with supplies. I heard there's a lot of prisoners in the Stronghold. A big project and we'll be part of it. Isn't it exciting?"

~ o ~

They covered the entire way through Inggison in one day, which was quite an impressive feat. Sigwyn found an unused narrow passage into Silentera and they descended into the cover of the canyon, out of sight of the Hanarkand plains. They weren't out of any danger yet, but they desperately needed rest, especially Tatran and Sigwyn, who still didn't recover from their long stay in those labs, and of course the humans, who never had any training. They settled in an abandoned, widened passage, Ylrian took a watch in one direction, Lonewolf in the other. The ranger sat comfortably between the rocks, where he had a clear view, but could stay hidden from those incoming. They weren't safe, by far, but he still felt relief when they left the Elyos territory. About an hour into his watch, he heard raised voices from their camp. Were they attacked? He made sure nothing was coming from his direction and carefully returned.

"That's enough!" Darrand stood in front of Cathy, who shrank a little with every word he said. "We will continue according to the plan. Keep to the north and in Gelkmaros we'll go through the northern gate and Rhonnam village. That's the safest path here."

"I'm really sorry, I don't want to put anyone into danger, but..."

"I said enough. I don't care about those stars. Or flames. The sooner we get to the Gelkmaros fortress, the sooner you can discuss your dreams with Richelle."

"I... understand. I'm sorry," Cathy bowed her head and returned to her resting spot, sitting on a blanket and hugging her knees. Darrand paced around the area, checking both entrances and also sat down.

Lonewolf looked around. Sigwyn was awake, watching the exchange. Tatran sat against the wall, cross-legged with his eyes closed. The six women were soundly sleeping, huddled together, too exhausted to be woken up by the noise.

"What happened?" he asked. If these two Empyrean lords were arguing, he wanted to know why.

"Lady Cathy suggested we take the southern path through the canyon and Gelkmaros," Darrand said in a calm voice. "There's no benefit in taking that path and it's more dangerous to the civilians, so we're going north."

"Something is there," Cathy said meekly. "But I don't know what, it's big and... important. But Mister... Lord Darrand is right, we should try to stay safe."

"If it's important, shouldn't we at least scout it?"

"Are you suggesting we divide our already insufficient forces here?" Darrand grunted.

"I can go and be back before you finish the rest."

"And who is going to keep your watch here?"

"I'll do that," Sigwyn put aside her blanket and sat up. "I'm rested enough to sit and look around."

"Fine. We're leaving in an hour. Be back before then," the templar said.

"I'm going with him," Tatran opened his eyes. "I sent observer spirits around and the one in the south disappeared. Something is wrong there."

Darrand glared at him, but said nothing. The two daevas passed by Ylrian, informed him of their situation and continued through the maze of tunnels roughly in the southern direction. Both of them were only vaguely familiar with the intricate layout of Silentera, but they reached the large cavern known as Hope's Demise in less than half an hour. This was one of the few places where the Balaur guards were supposed to always be present, guarding an ancient temple turned into a prison. But as they neared the cavern, there were no sounds coming from ahead.

The large temple gate was open, smashed from the inside and the iron frame twisted. Charred Balaur bodies littered the stairs before the entrance, some of them still smoldering. There were no survivors. Those who couldn't run were burned alive.

"It's a spirit," Tatran examined the lingering wisps of aether. "It's angry, but I can't tell if it's gone mad or if its mind is clear."

"That sounds like something big and important. Should we follow it?" Lonewolf checked the bodies for signs of anything helpful, but everything was ruined.

"Yes. We have to know what it is," the spiritmaster nodded towards the broken gate. "I've heard rumors about this place and if anything is true and around, it will be a disaster for Gelkmaros."

"At least it didn't try to cover its tracks."

They followed the irregular row of burned bodies into one of the tunnels. While in front of the temple most of the dead were killed in a fight, as the distance grew, more and more of them died on the run. But still no survivors. Whoever or whatever pursued these Balaur, did the job thoroughly. After a while the bodies stopped. The two daevas paused in the middle of a small cave with a waterfall surrounded by tiny bushes reaching for the rare source of light.

"There, the moss is burned," Lonewolf pointed into one of the tunnels.

"Hm," Tatran nodded, transformed a part of the waterfall into a spirit and sent it into the tunnel. "How long before we have to turn back?"

"We've passed that time already. But it's heading north, we can find a shortcut later," the ranger shrugged.

They followed the now much fainter trail of the burning creature.

"There's one thing I still don't understand," Tatran said after a while.

"Just one after all this?"

"One in particular. You went to the lab in Heiron with Seritha, Ylrian and a guy from Fenris. All competent people. So why would you take someone like that... girl... Aielyn? She seemed quite incompetent. Amateurish."

"We have too few daevas to be picky. And for her age and experience she's quite competent I'd say. She got you out of that lab."

"Yes, I'm aware. And I'm grateful for that, but I hate owing my freedom to an Elyos."

"Well, she's..."

"She's half Asmodian. I know that already. Doesn't change anything."

"I wanted to say, not someone who would demand payment for helping you."

"That's... true."

Lonewolf stopped and glanced back at the spiritmaster, who looked not only tired, but also sad and angry at the same time.

"What are you trying to say? Is it because we left her in Beluslan?"

"Of course not. And we didn't leave her. She pushed me through the portal just before it collapsed. She could have made it herself, she chose... to stay."

"So? I still have no idea about what your point is."

"You said that mission was important," the spiritmaster said carefully after a brief pause. "But you took someone who's barely an adult with you. So what can we find in Gelkmaros? Do we even have a chance to survive there?"

"I don't know. But we're going to try. And even if we can't survive, we'll at least take Israphel and as many of his goons as possible with us."

Tatran nodded and they resumed their pace. He had a point, though. Leaving Aielyn and Mira in Beluslan rubbed Lonewolf the wrong way. It didn't help that Nesha offered she'd check on them, he didn't trust her. She was treated suspiciously well for a traitor. Maybe he should have suggested to question her before they left? Well, that didn't matter anymore. They were here now and the monster killing the Balaur was somewhere ahead of them.

~ o ~

Tatran followed the ranger through the Silentera canyon. Whatever the thing they were following was, they were getting closer. At least this place looked similar to what he remembered. Playing nice with Elyos after he was rescued from their lab was pure insanity. First the alliance with the sorceress. Then that brat... And Lady Lumiel willingly stayed in Inggison with them. Why? Yes, she looked exhausted, but sane! He even checked her for lingering aether from mind altering spells. There was no reason to stay there, especially when she could teleport herself out. Was Kaisinel slowly breaking her mind without him detecting it? No, he shouldn't doubt the Lady of Wisdom, she must have had a reason, a plan. But what kind of plan would require staying there?

The water spirit floating in front of them bubbled as the nature of the aether around them changed.

"Stop," he hissed at Lonewolf, who immediately froze. "It's close."

"What's the plan?"

"I'll deal with it myself. You stay behind and make sure nothing interrupts me."

"That sounds dangerous."

"That's because it is. This spirit killed all those Balaur, we don't stand a chance in a fight. The only way to remove the threat is to convince it that it doesn't want to hurt us."

Tatran instructed his water spirit to defend him if necessary and it followed him through the tunnel which opened to a spacious intersection with an opening in the ceiling and a clear view of the sky. The creature standing in the middle was of an amorphous black shape covered in flames of all shades of blue. And it was huge. At least twice the height of a regular human. Tatran sent a tiny wisp of aether towards the spirit, as he carefully moved closer. It lashed a flame at him which he deflected with his aetheric shield. He stopped.

"I come in peace," he reached out and sent his words in the aether as emotions. "I don't wish to hurt you."

The spirit floated closer and its flame touched his hand. It didn't hurt. Instead, after a few heartbeats, images started bombarding his mind. He was in the garden of a temple of unknown origin. And he was not one, he was many. The spirits were living in this garden. Then the Balaur arrived. Several spirits, those that were not him, perished. They were no match for the invaders. They needed to become stronger. Bigger. They fused together, creating a guardian to hold the attackers back. They were not enough. They were imprisoned. They were alone. After an eternity, they sensed a call of fate. And over the long time the prison was weakened. They pushed against their cage and attacked it with all their might. Finally, they were free. Finally, they got revenge for their fallen friends. But where is the peace?

"I know you're hurting," Tatran said, panting, forcing himself to focus on his own mind. "You were imprisoned, you lost your kin. I can help you return to the aether."

You are weak.

"I know. But I can find more people to help."

You can't be trusted.

"I assure you I always keep my promise. You can look into my mind, if..."

You betrayed your own kin!

"No, I never..."

Suddenly he was many again and watched his own memories from outside. He was in Pandaemonium, Laila just invited him to her wedding in Kamar. He refused. He disinherited her.

"No," he whispered as the echo of his words faded. Words he refused to think about, otherwise he might start regretting them. "I didn't betray her. She betrayed me. All of us."

The scene changed and he was in the Abyss, in the ruins of Primum.

"No! NO! She's NOT my kin!" Tatran pushed the spirit out of his mind. "She's not my kin."

We don't understand. Your words and your mind are not one.

"I can't unite them. It's... too much."

You're hurting?

"Yes, you're right. It hurts. And I can't ease that pain now. No one can. But I can help you with your pain. Please, let me help you."

How? How can you help us?

"I can take you with me. You won't be alone anymore. And when I find other people like me, we'll return you to aether."

We accept.

The spirit separated its fractured mind from his, folded its body and attached itself above his right elbow in a form of wide black and blue armband, burning away his sleeve. He screamed in pain. After a short eternity his mind was clear again and his water spirit and the ranger stood in front of him. He gestured to the spirit to cool his arm.

"What happened?" Lonewolf asked.

"I offered it peace and it accepted," Tatran replied, his voice still trembling.

"I heard you shouting. Are you alright?"

"Except the arm, yes. I will be able to continue in a moment."

~ o ~

Cathy wanted to scream, walk or at least tap her legs or fingers on something, but she forced herself to sit on her blanket and not move, unless someone needed her. She didn't want to make Darrand or anyone else upset by behaving inappropriately. She dozed off a few times, catching glimpses of the dream with the light and dark persons. Sometimes there were more of them in the background, but it was always only the same two who reached for the time-frozen Atreia. Sometimes there were Balaur or fire.

When the time for the resting was up, and Lonewolf and Tatran hadn't returned yet, Darrand cursed quietly under his breath and ordered departure. She followed. They met the two somewhere in the tunnels, Tatran was hurt, his arm was badly burned and he gladly accepted her healing. They reported only the temple, dead Balaur and the spirit, which meant the army that was supposed to be here was already in Gelkmaros.

They hurried forward. After another day they finally got out of the caves and entered a vast dry plain with a deserted fortress just right of them. From the elevated tunnel exit they saw the Balaur army moving in the south. A shadow fell over them. A huge vessel floated over the mountains towards the army. It stopped, there were several flashes of light and it returned back to the land somewhere above the canyon they just crossed.

"What did the dredgion want there?" Ylrian broke the silence.

"Nothing good. Let's move," Darrand said. "We have to get at least to Marayas before those Balaur notice us."

~ o ~

Either Tiamaranta was much less impressive than what Aielyn had expected, or the Lepharists have chosen the most boring area for their base. There were some plain trees, bushes and grass, beige and grey rocks and houses between them. As if someone took the most boring parts of Sarpan and drained half of the colours from them. Maybe it was for the better, she had no illusion about being treated well here, so at least there was no beauty to contrast with. They let her wear the lepharist initiate uniform, or more precisely, they didn't give her anything else, they just put a very distinctive partial aether-cuff on her left wrist to indicate to everyone that she was not free.

"Stay close," Herlen whispered to her before they stepped through the portal.

On its other side, in addition to the boring environment, they found a lot of Lepharists of Elyos, Asmodian and even Reian origins, who were all busy with something. Cerullon, as the supposed leader, approached the nearest officer to deal with the formalities.

"These two go to the crater, make sure they don't run away," he pointed at Aielyn and Mira, who was able to walk, but had to be supported by a guard. "And prepare accommodations for the rest of us."

"Hey, wait a moment, you can't put Lyn to the crater," Herlen protested, partially shielding Aielyn from the assassin.

"Everyone captured at the fuck-up goes to the crater, those are Lord Israphel's orders," Cerullon smirked. "If you want, you can join them. Otherwise there are orders for you too."

"What orders?" Herlen grunted and stepped aside.

"Good choice. Darillia, take them to the crater, make sure you'll get a good look at it and return back to the headquarters."

"Yes, sir."

Darillia grabbed Aielyn's arm, gestured at the guard holding Mira and led them away from the portal. Her hair was now brown and combed into a braid tightened around her head and she didn't talk unless she absolutely had to.

"I'm sorry," Aielyn said, when they crossed from the boring landscape to an absolutely barren one. "I didn't want to get you killed."

No response.

"But you defended me, even if you didn't have to. So, thank you. Really."

Silence.

"But I wonder, why did you do it?"

"Did what?" Darillia sighed.

"Why did you tell him that I was Herlen's pet? I wouldn't have been able to come up with a response and he clearly didn't beat me up just because of that."

"If I didn't, he would associate you with me and punish me for bringing in someone as undisciplined as you."

"What do you mean by undisciplined? I did what you told me to do."

"You were supposed to wait in the mess hall for me."

"I did! I only left when people started giving me weird looks for being there too long."

"And because you left, Cerullon found my connection with Herlen and ruined everything. Do you have any idea how long I'm trying to get away from him? Herlen had the power to do that. And now he doesn't. Because of you."

"I... I'm really sorry."

For the rest of the way Darillia kept her silence and Aielyn wasn't sure what to say. When did she start to mess up things so badly? Why trying her best wasn't enough anymore? She had to figure out how to get out of this place and take Mira with her. And without failing this time.

They finally arrived at a checkpoint and the view opened to a huge crater ahead. A few ruins at its edges was all that was left from Rancora fortress. The good news was, Sarpan was really close. The bad news were all the guards and fences around. And the grey haze in and above the crater didn't look great either.

"So, you, take one bucket each," after Darillia handed them over, one of the guards addressed her and Mira and gestured at a pile of buckets nearby. "And fill them with white and black crystals, like these," he showed them small glittery crystals of roughly a fingernail size. "After your bucket is full, you can climb up and have a break, where you get food. If you climb up without a full bucket, you will be punished. Any questions?"

"What is that mist?" Aielyn asked. "And what are the crystals for?"

"None of your business, girl. And the mist will kill you, if you take too long to fill your bucket."

The guards nudged them towards the edge of the crater. As she looked down, through the mist she saw a few people digging in the ground, trying to find anything to put into the bucket. Their movements were slow and jittery and when they noticed her, they recoiled in fear, before they realised she also had a bucket. She helped Mira and together they descended into the mist.