Chapter 2

Caprifexia stared sullenly at the small buzzing machine, turning it over it her hands. It was a delicate piece of arteficing by mortal standards, with brassy filagree surrounding a central burnished blue metal orb around the size of one of the bird eggs that mortals, disgustingly, loved eating so much. It had six diaphanous glass wings, and several little claws for carrying things that were attached beneath it. A drone of some kind.

"One of my best," said the shopkeeper, a blue-skinned maybe-villain. "For you, Lady Elf? Thirty Karshas, you won't find a better price!"

"I'm not interested in trinkets," said Caprifexia, putting it back and continuing on her way through the large market.

"Twenty five Karshas!?" called the merchant from behind her. She ignored him.

It was a month and a half since she'd left Nirn, and she'd spent her time wandering the Void aimlessly, working on her map, and visiting new planes. She'd seen some pretty amazing things: a world covered in a sea composed of liquid diamond above which giant whale-like creature's wafted on immense wings and soaked in the rays of the trio of overhead suns; an inverted world larger than anything she had ever ever dreamed of, which surrounded a star in some giant, incomprehensibly immense sphere, and was covered in seemingly uninhabited purple and orange and blue leaved jungle; and a world where the dominant lifeforms seemed to be tree-people who moved and reacted and spoke at such incredibly slow speeds that she'd only been able to tolerate listening to a single, hour long sentence before she got bored and moved on.

Her wanderings had eventually brought her back to 'EHPWBVMS,' or the 'Explody Horseless-Cart Plane with Weird Blue Villains and Mana in the Sky.' The locals called it 'Kaladesh,'but she liked her descriptive name better. She'd seen several of the blue villains, some with zappy sticks, some without, but she couldn't bring herself to care about thwarting their villainy.

What would be the point? No one would thank her. No one ever thanked her. They'd probably just put up even more posters, like the ones with a terrible sketch of her true form that said she was a 'Wanted Criminal' responsible for 'the deaths of over fifty members of the Counsulate's Enforcers, Massive Property Damage, and endangering the lives of countless civilians.' Ungrateful, the lot of them.

When she'd become a hero she'd thought it would mean that people might begin to give her the appropriate level of respect due to a dragon. But it hadn't. All it got her was lectures and anger and pain. She'd given everything, even her life, and no one had cared. No, she was done with being a hero.

Now she was-

She had no idea what she was. A lost daughter of the Titans? The last of her kind? A rudderless, purposeless young whelpling cast adrift into infinity? A girl who had lost everything she had ever cared about not once, but twice? That sounded about right.

She stopped at a book-stall and perused the tomes, which were mainly manuals on arteficing. That cheered her up a little, and she bought one. The shop-keeper, a dwarven woman wearing her hair in an elaborate brass-net, was a bit put off by the handful of Nirn Imperial that Caprifexia placed on the counter, but accepted them enthusiastically enough after she figured out they were real gold. She even gave Caprifexia another three books.

The marketplace was noisy. There was some kind of festival going on, and crowds thronged through the great plaza. Overhead immense skyships soared through skies filled with streams of magical energy, trailing bright banners that flapped in the bright sun. On the far side some kind of long, multi-carriaged cart pulled by a huge magi-tek engine coasted along purpose pulled up to a platform, disgorging even more passengers into the immense plaza.

It was all interesting, but Caprifexia wasn't feeling like investigating. That just got her into trouble, anyways. Like everything. She turned down an alleyway, and found a small cafe that smelled strongly of sugar and spice.

Apart from the owner, who bustled over as Caprifexia sat down and pulled out her new books, there was only a single figure from a race that Caprifexia didn't recognise: some kind of clay-coloured, almost featureless humanoid. It had two eyes, from which glowed blue light, and faint cracks covered its face and torso. She might have thought it a golem, if not for the way it lounged, reading a book and carefully turning the pages with a crack-covered, clayey hand. It felt very magical, not as magical as a dragon, of course, but certainly more so than most mortals she encountered.

"What can I get you, my dear?" asked the owner, a tall human woman with skin a few shades lighter than Caprifexia's mortal form's and hair going grey at the temples.

"Anything," said Caprifexia with a shrug. She'd found when travelling with Einar that you were expected to buy a drink or some food in exchange for using a cafe or tavern's tables to read.

"Chai?" asked the woman. Caprifexia had never heard the word, but her gift of tongues told her it was some kind of drink.

"Sure," said Caprifexia.

The woman bustled off, and Caprifexia was just about to open her first book when there was a shuffling sound and she looked up to see the golem had approached her table.

"May I?" they asked, gesturing to the table.

Normally, Caprifexia would have told them to leave her alone, but she was a bit interested in what they were. She'd never seen nor heard of a golem that read books.

"Whatever," she said with a shrug.

"You seem unhappy," they said, sitting down and steeping their hands on the table.

"What are you?" she countered.

"I'm Gunjana," they said. "What is your name?"

"Caprifexia," she said. "Some kind of Golem?"

"I'm an aetherborn. You haven't heard of us?" they said, cocking their head to one side. "Newly arrived to the city?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"I've never heard of elves with horns either," they said. "They do look rather dashing though, I must say."

"I'm not an elf, I'm a dragon," she said.

The cracks on the aetherborn's body glowing more strongly as they put back their head and laughed. Caprifexia didn't see what was so funny, but then again, there was a lot she didn't understand about mortals – weird golemish ones included.

"Well, my dragon friend, what's got you so glum?" they said, growing more serious. "So afraid?"

Caprifexia's head snapped up. "I'm not afraid of anything!"

"No? Then why do you feel afraid?" they said, cocking their head to one side.

Caprifexia bared her fangs. An empath. She'd read about them back on Azeroth; natural born psychics who could pick up on feelings and emotions of those around them. More subtle than true telepathy, there were ways to defend against their prying, she knew, although she'd never had the time to learn such a technique before her home had been sacked by mortal 'adventurers.'

They could be lying, she supposed, but it seemed a strange lie if it was one. She felt more angry than anything else, but was it possible she was at least… mildly perturbed? Her dreams had been disturbing lately, it was true, and although she wasn't an accomplished somnomancer, she knew enough to see that her dreams were clearly symbolically a preoccupation with her future…

She hadn't wanted to speak to anyone about it, since it would make her look weak, but what did she care if this empath thought she was weak? She knew she wasn't. She was a dragon, dragons didn't care what others thought. And she'd be gone from the plane in a day or two, she'd never see them again.

"I'm going to die," she said simply.

Gunjana cocked their head to one side. "Aren't we all?" they asked. "Some sooner than others, but in the end, the reaper comes for kings and paupers alike. You are young, surely, and elves live for hundreds upon hundreds of years. A veritable infinity from where I sit."

"I'm not an elf; I'm a dragon, I'm immortal," she said.

"Hah! If that is the case, then how do you know you're going to die?" they asked.

"Because I… created a temporal paradox, to defeat an evil villain," she said. "I wasn't strong enough to fight them as I am, so I got my future self to do it. Only, they-Idied defeating her, or, rather, repairing the damage she'd done to the world."

"You're a mage?" asked Gunjana.

"All dragons are mages," she said. "The greatest mages!"

"Hmm, well my friend, you may not want to say that too loudly in this city," they said. "Mages are not well liked in Ghirapur. I, of course, have no problem with your gift; but others may react… poorly."

Caprifexia shrugged. "I'm not scared of them. What are they going to do? Wave those zappy sticks at me? Those can't hurt me."

"I imagine, as a dragon, you wouldn't need to fear much," laughed Gunjana. "But to return to your problem, you created this 'paradox,' and you won, but now you know you will die? I have to say, I've talked to many people in my short life, but I've never heard anyone claim anything remotely like that."

"Why do you care so much?" snapped Caprifexia.

"People are so often boring," said the aetherborn, resting their chin on their hands. "They stick to the safe, well trodden path; they've never had an original idea in their lives; they never look up to see the sky, the stars. Their feelings are stale, plodding, pedestrian. I would sooner throw myself from a tower than waste what precious time I have on this world feeling their dull, stupid minds as they circle the same boring drain.

"You, however, are no swirling slurry. You feel are like a wildfire, surging with passion and anger and fear and rage. To taste is delicious, but to understand is divine. So tell me, why is it that you are so afraid of death?"

"Because I am a dragon," she said slowly, thinking through her answer. "Dragons are immortal, we… we can be killed, of course, but we- we shouldn't know we are going to die."

"Hmm," said Gunjana, staring at her intently. "I have never felt an elf like you… are you truly a dragon?"

"I already said that," she snapped. "Yes! Are you deaf? You don't have any ears…"

"Ah! Of course! You're the one from the posters!" they laughed.

Caprifexia growled, and smoke trickled from her nostrils. She had seen the – terribly drawn – 'wanted' posters for her true form. Apparently she had caused 'death, destruction, and mayhem' in her last heroic stint on the Plane when she had thwarted some of the blue villains; more proof that nothing she ever did was good enough.

"Oh, calm yourself my friend," they said, waving a hand. "My life is too short to care for the trifling laws of the Consul and their goons. So, you really are a dragon? And young? Hmm, I see. So you have grown up knowing you could live forever? What a remarkable thought."

They trailed off into silence, and the cafe owner emerged, placing some sweet smelling drink in front of Caprifexia. She tried it, it wasn't bad.

"I am an aetherborn," said Gunjana after a long pause. "You don't know what that means though, do you?"

"I already said that too," she grumbled. Didn't mortals listen to anything she said?

"I was born in the aether-founderies, a byproduct, formed from the raw mana and clay a little over eight years ago," they said. "From the day my people are born we know precisely how much longer we have to live; I know that I have a hundred and ninety seven days, three hours, and five minutes left to me."

Caprifexia grimaced. "That sounds horrible."

"To a being like you, I am sure it does," nodded Gunjana. "To us? Well, it is natural. Normal. And it gives us an impetus, a drive to live what short life we have one this world to its fullest. We live more in our nine or ten years than most others do in their lifetimes. Life is not about reaching a destination; it is a crackling fire, one that should roar and blaze without regret before it splutters out."

Caprifexia swirled her sweet, spicy drink. The idea of living for only nine years? That sounded truly terrible. She was only three, what she had experienced would only be the smallest, tiniest fraction of her life. To think that she might only have six or seven more years would be… terrifying.

"You say you die fighting a great evil?" said Gunjana. "I have always liked heroic tales; to me, that sounds like a glorious way to go out; a triumphant crescendo for your doubtlessly magnificent life!"

"But I don't want to die," said Caprifexia, sniffing. "I know- I know it's not for thousands of years, my future self was immense,but I don't- I don't want to die."

"None of us do, but for us, and now you it seems, that is not a choice we have," said Gunjana, standing up and throwing a few coins onto the table. "Come my friend, I have a prior engagement, and I believe it is something you shall want to see."

Caprifexia hesitated, before gulping down her drink and following Gunjana out of the cafe. It wasn't like she had anything better to do now that she was no longer a hero.

They moved down the street, away from the market, passing though alleyways, and across a park and a canal, before arriving at a large, grand house. Music was coming from inside, and though the doorway she could see dozens of people milling about. Some kind of party. Most of them were aetherborn, but there were also humans, dwarves, elves, and even some of the blue-villains.

Gunjana led her inside, waving to a few people as they made their way across that large room to a lounge, where an aetherborn that seemed to be more glowing cracks than clay was sitting on a couch.

"Aedi!" said Gunjana, reaching down to hug them. "How are you?"

"About to die," laughed the other aetherborn, before looking at Caprifexia. "Who's this?"

"My new friend, Caprifexia," said Gunjana, putting a hand over her shoulder and gently guiding her forward. "She's a dragon."

"A dragon? You're pulling my leg!" said Aedi.

"I thought so too, but feel her, the way she blazes," said Gunjana.

Aedi cocked their head to one side. "I suppose she does."

"I thought she might like to come along, I hope you don't mind," said Gunjana.

"I certainly shan't turn away a dragon!" said Aedi, carefully levering themself up and offering their hand to Caprifexia. "Welcome my friend, welcome. I adore your horns, they look spectacular. Regal!"

For a being that claimed they were apparently about to perish, the aetherborn seemed remarkably… cheery? It seemed perverse; didn't they know they were about to cease to exist? She took their hand delicately, careful not to crush the falling apart clay.

"You're dying?" she asked. "Aren't you afraid?"

"Afraid?" they laughed. "Oh, a dragon would say that, wouldn't they? They say your kind lives forever. No my dear, I'm not afraid. For this party will rage through the night, and then, as the dawn breaks, so shall I! I have no regrets."

Caprifexia frowned, but said nothing, trying to make sense of the mortal's incredibly odd behaviour.

Another guest came to speak to Aedi, and Gunjana led her away, getting her another of the sweet, spicy drinks, before showing her to a couch at the edge of the party.

"What is this?" she asked, gesturing around.

"My friend Aedi's Last Party," said Gunjana. "They have gathered their friends for one last send off. I thought, given your concerns, you might want to observe at life lived to the full, and which laughs in the face of the inevitable."

"It feels… twisted," she said, looking around at all the chatting, dancing, and laughing mortals. "To celebrate death like this."

"We're not celebrating death, but life," said Gunjana. "Watch. You'll see."

Gunjana moved off, and Caprifexia fixed her eyes on Aedi. Despite their impending doom, they spent the afternoon doing nothing but laughing, talking, and cheering on other mortals as they danced and cavorted in the centre of the room. People came and went, food was served, and time plodded on, the party becoming even more raucous as the sun faded in the west and lanterns were lit.

Gunjana came in to check on her occasionally, and a few other people tried to speak to her, but Caprifexia wasn't really interested in them, and they quickly gave up. The night rolled on, and Caprifexia noticed the cracks on Aedi's body were becoming more and more pronounced as the pre-dawn glow began to rise in the east.

Nineteen minutes before dawn was to break Aedi rose, or rather, was helped up, and a hush fell on the party as everyone stopped dancing and talking and turned their attention to the dying mortal.

"My friends, new and old," said Aedi, raising their feeble arms above their head. "Thank-you all for making my last party so truly spectacular!"

There was a cheer from the crowd.

"Today I am ten years, two hundred and four days old! Not a bad run, I say!" they said. "I've been told there are only a few aetherborn have lived longer, without resorting to becoming disgusting leeches that is! I was born with that power, and a few of you have asked me if I ever considered using it; if I ever considered prolonging my life at the expense of another. I will not lie; when I was young and frightened of what was to come, as so many of our kind are, I was tempted. But as I grew I realised that it was not the quantity of life that mattered, but the quality! And, my friends, the life I have lived has been one of quality!

"Four books, including the most comprehensive history of the rise of the Consulate ever written! Dozens of articles in literary journals! The most published aetherborn in history! If I have a single regret, it is that I won't live long enough to see my fifth work out in print, and to see the reactions of both my critics and fans. My dear editor did her best, but there is only so much time in the day – I shouldn't have added that appendix I suppose. Hah! Ah well, you will all just have to attend the launch in my place; I am sure it will be wonderful. Now, the sun is rising my friends, let's move out onto the terrace. One last sunrise for me; it looks like it is going to beautiful."

Caprifexia rose and trailed after the aetherborn as they were helped out on the room to a large terrace that looked out on a manicured garden. The aetherborn was seated in a large, central couch, and their friends stood around them. Capri kept her distance, still finding the entire thing deeply disturbing.

The band began to play, a slow, haunting melody as orange began to appear in the east. The attendies grew quiet, moving close and huddling together around the aetherborn, the closest placing their hands on his shoulders and arms.

"As you rise, I set," said Aedi, speaking calmly and clearly as the music grew soft, and the cracks on their body began to grow brighter and brighter. "Sands spill on shattered glass, my cup runs over; don't cry my dear, for I burned brightly; and with heart full, I do fade."

And then as the first rays of the new day between the towers to the east, Aedi slumped back into the couch. The cracks grew and grew until they reached some kind of critical threshold and then, all at once, Aedi crumbled into dust. Wisps of blue aetheric magic streamed from the pile of cracked clay, spiralling upward to rejoin the twisting cords of mana that arced through the sky which had birthed them.

And then they were gone.

Everything that this aetherborn had been, an author and a poet and probably much more, was no more. In an instant, they had ceased to be. But they had not run from it, they had not 'prolonged their own life at the expense of another' as they'd put it. They'd remained true to themselves, right to the end, and they'd faced their death with their eyes open. They hadn't been a hero, but all the same, they'd died brave.

Around the terrace the people clasped their hands and bowed their heads and the music soared, and despite Aedi's last wish, Caprifexia began to weep, boiling tears hissing as they splashed on the cool flagstones. It was silly, she hadn't known this mortal, and mortals died all the time, so why did she find it so confronting?

Had it been the fact that they'd had such a short amount of time? Or was it the parallels to what Einar had told her about how she was to die? He'd said she had died with her eyes open, smiling as she'd turned to dust, content to freely give her life for Nirn. She shivered, despite the sun's warm rays and the blazing furnace within her.

Dust, she thought, looking up with teary eyes. That was all they were in the end, wasn't it? Even Planeswalkers. Even dragons. Just dust.

A.N. Thank-you for all the nice comments, I wasn't expecting so many people to have jumped on the sequel so quickly!

For those wondering, this work is going to be more episodic in nature going forward, with small self-ish-contained multiple-chapter Arcs either dealing with a specific issue that Capri is working on, or written as some kind of mini-adventure, introducing new Planes and characters to flesh out the multiverse, making it a bit more dynamic, and setting up things for later arcs. Short arcs can be quicker and easier to write, punchier, and probably better suit the nature of online fanfiction self-publishing anyway. (There will probably still be pauses though, sorry.)