GerryWright: Thanks!
I'm getting there everyone, it's a slow process with constant work (real life work), but I'm getting there. No promises on next chapter, but hopefully sooner than this one.
Chapter 942nd Day of Early Autumn 768 n.c
The cave entrance was wide, but fairly low to begin with. Smooth rocky floors stretched into the cave on either side of the stream, which rushed through it's narrow but deep path in the rock. I cast Dancing Lights and sent my balls of dark light into the cave ahead of us as we stooped down to enter. The cave continued into the mountain in a level fashion for a good distance before it opened up into a larger chamber. This chamber was tall enough that we were able to stand up and was quite wide on the side that we were walking, but narrower on the other side of the stream. The cavern showed definite signs of occupation, a fireplace of river stones and charred wood rested in the centre of the floor and a pile of furs sat against a wall. Various baskets woven from river reeds sat upon the floor filled with various perishables such as dried mushrooms, grains and even some dried meat. Somebody had lived here for quite some time, but all indications pointed towards a single somebody and not a possible invading army. Near to the sleeping furs sat some more personal items: a piece of wood with a crude picture of an orc burned into it somehow, a stone covered in red ochre and a wicked looking dagger with a serrated back edge.
"It looks like just the one orc, maybe an exile trying to survive away from the orc lands?" I offered as an explanation.
Karalin agreed as she looked at the source of the stream, "it doesn't explain where the orc came from, but there doesn't seem to be any risk of an invading orc army from this way at least."
I moved over to where she was to inspect the hole that the stream flowed from and noted that at points deeper into the tunnel the roof dipped down flush with the water level.
"It's possible that it came through this way," I suggested, "but I think the village is safe from more coming through if that is the case."
We had one last quick look around before we headed back out of the cave and told Janpul the good news. He seemed very relieved and quite eager to return home with the news and his treasure. We bid farewell to him and began our search for the black stone altar. It wasn't difficult to find, just south of the cave that held the mouth of the second daughter river, the altar was nestled in between two outcrops of rock.
There, sitting on top of the altar and kicking her feet against it in the perfect picture of boredom, was Shard. My heart swelled briefly, instinctually, before I realised that this still wasn't my Shard; though just like the other one she appeared exactly the same. She sat up when she spotted us, but did not move forward; instead choosing to sit there attentively and tense like a cat watching a mouse.
I got down from my horse and handed the reins to Karalin as I strode towards the large black stone block. I got to about ten feet away before she realised that I was looking at her and not the altar that was her seat and she hopped off to stalk towards me.
"You're… looking at me!" she exclaimed.
"Yes," I said simply, "would you like for me to explain how, or would you like to see," I added, offering her my hand.
"Oh, oh. You're an interesting one, you are indeed," she said with a smile and pulled out her athame from behind her back, seemingly disappointed at my lack of reaction.
She hesitated for a moment, holding back the blade, "you've spoken to one of us before, haven't you?"
"I love one of you," I said, placing my hand over my heart, "and she is stuck in here at present. Another has joined her to help bring her back to me."
"You feel familiar," she said, peering at me closely, "but not for that. Your… grandmother, and her mother and her's and her's and her's and her's going back for hundreds of years." Her words were so quick that they almost flowed together until the last three, "I know you!"
She jumped up and down, clapping her hands excitedly, "It's finally happening! My task is at an end!"
"What task?" I asked.
"The task given me when I was first placed here, to guide the eventual descendant into the embrace of our Mother of Darkness," she said excitedly, "and now you are finally here! There's only one final thing to do."
"What's that?" I asked.
"This!" she announced, as she turned almost translucent and launched herself at me.
I staggered back a step in surprise as she literally jumped at me with her hands outstretched as if she were diving into a deep pond. The moment her fingertips touched me, everything went black.
I saw her in the void instantly.
Shard.
My Shard.
My love.
She was standing in front of me with a smile of pure happiness.
"You did it, my dearest heart!" She exclaimed, "the others have agreed to sacrifice themselves to me and now I have sufficient power to at least speak with you here. More shards and my presence on Mithras will be restored and a few more after that and I should be able to bring the rest of the shards to me from all across the land."
I reached out to her and she extended her hand to me, but our fingers could not touch, my hand slid through hers and a flicker of sadness crossed her face.
"Soon, my love," she said, "very soon. Find the more shards and we will be back together again properly. Once we are, I have some important information to be shared, things I have learned in here and from the other shards, especially the last that you gathered."
"What imp.." I asked before she moved up a finger to my lips, lips that she could not touch.
"Not here, not now," she whispered.
"I've missed you," I proclaimed, wishing beyond anything to be able to hold her again.
"I know," she said sorrowfully, "it's been much easier for me than for you, but you should be able to feel our connection slightly more now, a reminder of my presence inside of you. I too, should have more awareness of the things you experience, rather than this empty void where I have pretty much slumbered."
She looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing, "you know about the altar on the island to the south?" At my nod she continued, "there are some more farther south and south west of that one as well as one to the south east. There are some in the orc lands, but I think that it would be best to wait until I can summon those ones to me. There are many more back in Carn, Kaz Sarion and the Irongap mountains though."
I committed this to memory and asked, "how much longer do we have here?"
"Not long," she said sadly, "I am just about to the extent of my power."
I reached out to cup her face and leant in to look her in the eyes, our noses passing through each other.
"I'll get you back," I breathed, "I promise you that."
"I know you will," she whispered back even as she began to fade out.
I woke up, lying comfortably on a bedroll that had been placed near the altar, to the concerned eyes of a worried Karalin. A fire burned merrily behind her, she had obviously set up camp while I had been unconscious.
"I think…" she began, "I think that you owe me an explanation."
I closed my eyes briefly and let out a sigh, upon opening them I confessed, "yes, I think I do."
"I told you how I had grown up in Easthaven? I first met Shard before I began my apprenticeship with the Wizard Malkarov. She lived in the forest behind our farm, linked to an altar similar to this one," I gestured to the now clear altar behind her, "we fell in love. She's… All of them are pieces of godspower, pieces of Tenebrae."
Karalin let out a gasp.
"I dedicated myself to Tenebrae, to be one of her chosen, to be her first chosen; in the presence of Shard and my Mother," I continued, "She took my sight for a tenday, so that she could grant me so much more at the end of it. I am a wizard and the chosen of My Lady of Darkness. When we attempted to close off the pass that the orcs were using to invade Easthaven, I used too much of my magic. Much too much. I… died. Shard, my love, broke her connection with her altar and connected herself instead to me. She sacrificed her power to bring me back. I knew of this altar here, because it is the altar that my grandmother prayed to, to allow her to conceive my mother. The altar in that temple, I had no idea about. But when I encountered the shard there, she chose to sacrifice herself to help give my Shard her power, to bring her back. This shard here did likewise. If I am able to find more, then my Shard will be returned to me. That's my quest."
Karalin was silent for quite a while and I said no more to let her work her way through the things that I had told her.
Eventually she said, partially wondering aloud, "but… you don't seem evil."
I smiled, "I'd like to think that I'm not. Evil and good seem to be merely differences in selfishness sometimes, differences in morality or just a difference in theology. Tenebrae herself isn't really evil as such. She's a bit selfish," I smiled and corrected, "quite a bit selfish. But with good reason. Near to the beginning, after Mithras was created it was only her and Mithras after all. She was happy, but Mithras was not, she wanted life; she wanted something else to care for. The creator formed Celestine, who was anathema to Tenebrae, to allow life to flourish on Mithras. As Celestine passed around Mithras, Tenebrae was only allowed to caress Mithras on the other side to Celestine. She's upset at this, but understanding, I think. Some of the priests of Mithras would say that I'm evil merely for loving another woman, even if Shard weren't who she is. Some would interpret their book to say that you are evil, merely for being born who you are. But do you want to know something interesting about that book?"
Karalin looked thoughtful and nodded for me to continue, "I'm the chosen of Tenebrae, which means that I have free reign to interpret Tenebrae's wishes on Mithras. Even if I go against her wishes, she cannot withdraw my access to her power, like she can a regular priest. She'd probably have something to say to me," I said with a smile, "but she can't sever the pact she made with me. The High Priests of Mithras wrote the second half of their book and the High Priests of Mithras have always been chosen." A thought struck me and I wondered aloud, "in fact, it wouldn't surprise me if some of the High Priests of Mithras weren't actually High Priests of Mithras, but High Priests of Celestine instead…"
Karalin looked horrified and I quickly clarified, "I don't have any proof of that, it's merely a thought. Mithras doesn't really have anything against Tenebrae as such, but Celestine is fundamentally opposed to her. It would explain some things if that were the case. If a priest of Celestine healed me, knowing who I was, they would likely be severed immediately. But I'm unsure if the same would happen to a brother or sister. Then again, I prefer Tenebrae's healing in any case."
Karalin blushed a little, "the uh… feeling of getting healed by you? Why is it like that?"
I smiled, "I'm not sure. It might just be Tenebrae's sense of humour, or more likely her uh… seductive nature."
Karalin let out a little laugh at this and then went back to her thoughts, I didn't say anything else for a while, I figured that she was probably a little overwhelmed with everything that I had already said.
Eventually she asked, "why are there bits of Tenebrae, sitting around altars all across Mithras?"
"Safety and security?" I ventured, "maybe a way to grow in power? It's difficult to understand why she does anything, the gods are just so different from us, with a different way of looking at everything and a perspective so unlike anything we know."
I wasn't sure where this view was coming from, Tenebrae's transfer of knowledge to me provided an understanding of a lot of things and perhaps that included a partial view of her perspective? Sometimes I got the feeling that I was also beginning to look at things from a perspective other than the one I was used to, with knowledge that I shouldn't possess. The thought of this concerned me less than it probably should.
She hummed and took a deep breath, "I think… I think that I shall continue to travel with you, we've had some success so far and love is, after all, a worthy reason to quest."
I smiled wider than I thought I could, "well, I'm very glad to hear that."
