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1indigoisles · 6 months

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Chapter 4 - Excerpt 1

“Oh, Scarlett Raynott, you are about to deeply regret your life decisions,” Jolene said, lowering into a fighting stance even though she had no weapons.

The Shadow was huge and ghastly in it’s size and girth, bigger than any I had ever seen, which wasn’t very many, sure, but still. It towered over all of us, so much so that we needed to lift our heads to see above its neck. The room itself was just high and spacious enough to encase the Shadow, floored with cracked, dusty cement and crumbs hither and tither. It contained a number of boxes and crates stacked upon each other and pushed away to the sides, leaving a bare middle where Scarlett stood, pale and gaunt as a black-and-white painting, wearing dark jeans and a black tank top with thick straps on the shoulders, looking positively minimalistic stationed right in front of her Shadow. And strangely, they both kept carefully within the bounds of the wide circle of shiny charcaol-like substance.

“Where the hell did you get nightglass from?” Jolene asked, jabbing a finger at the boundary, which I now knew what it was made of.

“It was the only thing I could think of,” Scarlett said in a restrained sort of tone. “And look around you. This is a storage room for nightglass. The Chambers, they’ve been lying to us. Said that there wasn’t much of it left. But here-”

“Not now, Scarlett,” Rowan interrupted, eyes scanning the rest of the room. Jolene kept her eyes trained on the Shadow.

Nothing in the room suggested the existence of the aforementioned element, however. No marks, signs or large banners that said ‘NIGHTGLASS’ existed where anyone could see them. The crates so messily pushed to the sides could contain anything from air to poisonous snakes kept under sedation to any other witchy element exclusive to these parts for all they gave away. One of the crates closest to the witch-circle was half open, its lid sticking out, balancing unevenly and dangerously to indicate where Scarlett had gotten the nightglass from.

I latched my line of sight back on the Shadow, fully expecting for it to maim a surprise attack.

But the Shadow didn’t do anything except hover behind Scarlett like a pet behind its master, its head even a little bent towards the ground, as if expressing submission. Scarlett stood arrow-straight in front of it, intimidating in her stance, unwavering. The expression on her face could have been ice or stone or iron, or all three. The master and her pet. But no, they both were trapped within a circle of dark crystal, slaves to it. The Shadow was no longer the largest thing in the room. Scarlett wasn’t the largest thing either.

The nightglass was.

“How did this happen?” I asked, directly addressing Scarlett.

Jolene glared menacingly at the other girl and crossed her arms against her chest. “Yes, Scarlett,” she said, “tell us.”

“Well, fuck if I know any more than you do,” Scarlett replied. “This,” she gestured expansively behind her, “wasn’t exactly a prearranged tea-party.”

“But it’s morning,” Rowan said, puzzled, “how could it even escape? Scarlett, you need to tell us if there is something-”

“Is Desiree all right?” Scarlett cut in, obviously trying to steer the conversation away from Rowan’s question.

“Desiree can lick her own wounds fortunately,” Jolene snapped, “no thanks to you.”

“You think I wanted this to happen?” Scarlett snarled. “It’s a Shadow. It’s my Shadow, sure, but it still does what it wants, so I don’t know what it’s doing here in broad daylight. And why did you bring him, Jolene?” She jabbed a finger in my direction, not bothering to grace me with even a glance. She took a sharp breath. “If you want me to tell you why this is happening, I can’t.” She gave me a once-over. “But I can fucking guess, and so can you.”

Something hot as molten lead shot through my system like a bullet, lighting a fire deep inside my chest, burning my ears and my thoughts. Ash gathered in my brain. The tips of the flames licked my throat. Anger.

I glared at Scarlett. We were there to help, I was there to help, and already I was reconsidering my decision to come along with Jolene and Rowan.

“Hey,” I said firmly, addressing all of them in part, “stop pretending as though I’m not even here, and say what you have to say to my face. Also, do not assume to assign me blame for your mess. Apart from a crackpot prophecy written hundreds of years ago, you don’t know the first thing about me, so all of you, stop acting like you do. I have no part in this, and even if I somehow do, well, I can’t control it better than you,” I looked at Scarlett, “can control your Shadow, so please, save yourself the hypocrisy.”

Scarlett levelled an infuriatingly cool gaze at me, as if absorbing my anger and putting it in the freezer, and asked somewhat randomly and curiously, “what’s going on over there, Teigen?” She was looking at the hand I’d recently punctured, which hung loosely at my side.

My mind stuttered to a stop for a moment before I looked down myself to find a small ball of light swirling in the gap between my index and middle fingers. Rowan and Jolene stared. I stared too; I hadn’t even noticed the strange sphere forming there.

I raised my hand, inspecting it with some curiosity. It was white, bright, and hurt to look at for too long, like the sun, although that was more in comparison to the pitch-black background that was the Shadow than a nod to it’s actual glow. I then looked past the thing, at the Shadow, wondering.

I arched my arm back.

Rowan, seeming to catch up first, interrupted with some alarm, “Kenneth, don’t do it.”

I lowered my arm a fraction. “So what do we do, exactly? We can’t just wait around and expect the thing to vanish on its own, or do Shadows just do that if you leave them alone long enough? Because if so, I have to say it didn’t seem to be the case when they came for me.”

“You’re going to make it angry,” Rowan said, ignoring my sarcasm. “And if something happens, and it gets out of the circle, it’s game over for us. The nightglass binds it to where it is, and it knows; that’s why it isn’t struggling. But if it gets out... either it kills us or it escapes with Scarlett or both. We need to be careful.”

“Back to my first question, Rowan,” I answered, still not completely lowering my arm, still aiming to fire. “Enlighten me, would you?”

Rowan pursed his lips. A moment passed.

“Thought so too,” I said. “I’m not-” I stopped, unsure whether what I was about to say next was entirely true or not. “I’m not acting unreasonably. My... power or ability or whatever killed a Shadow. Now, I may not know much about this town and these creautures and you people, but I do know that that’s supposed to be a big deal. And this,” I held up the still-swirling ball of light, “is nothing in comparison to what I did a few days ago. Best it’ll probably do is just tickle.”

“This thing isn’t something to be experimented with, Kenneth,” Rowan said, frowning. “There is a way to subdue the Shadow, but Scarlett here,” he glared at her, “has made that impossible.”

“What exactly is it that we would need to do?” I asked.

“We would have to get the Shadow to come out of that hell-space, and we would have to fight it off long enough until we could push it back inside Scarlett,” Jolene answered for her brother with a sick look on her face, as though the words had tasted like bile in her mouth. “The Shadow comes out when it wants to, and up until now, we’d assumed that it came out only at night. Obviously, it has somehow gotten stronger.”

But I was no longer listening. Suddenly, I could feel the ball of light, more than I’d felt it before, as an actual weight between my fingers. It was taking my concentration, begging me to let it go and see what happens.

I didn’t know what I’d been expecting. As the ball hit the Shadow somewhere off the center of its chest, I thought the worst possible thing that could happen would be a contact-explosion, a burst of white light that would be sure to wake up everyone in Knightville, like it had some days ago. The implications of that possibility were just hitting me then, and I felt like an idiot for not listening to Rowan. It was an annoying feeling because the rational thing to do would have been to follow Rowan and Jolene’s lead, but I had completely overlooked that choice and instead put all of us in a dangerous and life-threatening situation.

But that feeling soon evaporated as the ground began to shake steadily, like an earthquake. It was clear and precise and terrifyingly real. The ball of light had disappeared and lost its way in the cloudy expanse of the Shadow’s body, and the Shadow crouched due to the impact, looking surreal in its existence.

What was not surreal was the terror. Rowan and Jolene looked deathly scared and at each other, eyes wide, breath shaky, reacting in the most teenager way that I had ever seen them do, feeling something akin to surprise as I watched them. It was then I realised how much had changed already, just for knowing the truth. For knowing differently. Because before they told me, they’d seemed normal enough; almost everything had seemed normal at the time. But when three days ago happened, and then they had to, it was as though nothing much could touch them; they’d been scornful of my confusion, because that was how they’d been raised, born without the right to be scared. And I’d thought that that was how they really were.

It was also then that I realised how much they hadn’t dealt with at their age, and how much they had.

And right now, they didn’t know what to do.

There was a crash. The lid of the box where Scarlett had gotten the nightglass from had already been dangerously teetering, and now the shaking ground had made it choose to fall directly on top of the nightglass circle, disturbing one-fifth of it in the process.

A wide door.

The room suddenly stopped shaking, and before I could open my mouth for a shout, the Shadow made a sharp, terrible sound like cackling and whooshed out in a dark mass, twisting, turning, forming, promising black things. It rang in my ears, the sound it made, along with the terrible words, your fault.

Scarlett, who’d been standing still as a statue all this time, standing as if a twitch of a nerve could set everything rocketing into hell, existing with the restraint of staying still, immediately darted out of the circle and ran to the corner of the room, where the normal shadows were the darkest.

Darkness manipulation.

Although how Scarlett’s powers could help in this situation I didn’t know, since light seemed to be the Shadows’ repellant, and darkness their friend. I didn’t wonder for long. The Shadow was the problem, and while Scarlett Raynott had the potential to be a bigger, more particularly annoying problem, this was obviously first priority.

I felt power rush through my veins, and explode out of my palm as I held it up and bolted my feet to the floor. I gripped my arm with my other hand to keep it straight, and felt as a beam of brilliant white light hit bullseye.

The Shadow had been lunging for me, but now it was thrown back as the surge of light hit it right in the middle. I squinted. Something was wrong. I didn’t feel the immediate give that I felt a few days ago, when I’d killed a Shadow with my bare hands; rather, I felt an immense pressure, a hard and persistent push. As far as I could see, the Shadow wasn’t blasted across the room – it was stuck mid-air, trying to fight against my light, my power. The only effect it seemed to be having was in holding it back, which was worrying. I later wondered exactly how powerful Scarlett’s Shadow was.

I heard Jolene shout something at me, but I couldn’t hear it over the ringing in my ears. Nor did I even turn to look at her and Rowan, keeping my focus solely on the Shadow. I had absolutely no idea what they were doing.

I could not tell how many minutes had passed since locking myself and the Shadow in this position – our forces seemed matched somehow – and it was like pushing a wall. I wondered how long I could stay like this, a beam of endless light, an extension of my self, protruding out of my hand and in an arrow-straight line, direct and unmoving.

I didn’t have to wonder for long. The Shadow, with a sudden surge of energy, gave a loud push as it moved forward sharply and in a flash, catching me completely off guard and skidding me off-trajectory, my beam of light flying helter-skelter before disappearing entirely.

I hit the ground on my right arm, sending a prickly, bruising pain all over it because of the crumbs of cement digging into my skin like rough pebbles on the ground. I didn’t even give myself time to think or be surprised before shrugging it off, and immediately trying to get back on my feet. As soon as I did, however, the Shadow extended a large, black, taloned hand a little more than two-thirds my size, and swept me aside with an inhuman sort of strength, making me fly into a couple of large crates stacked next to each other, some sitting on top of others on the ground.

As I crashed into the whole structure, my head banging and my limbs knocking, I saw dark spots dance in my vision. My body shoved some of the crates off their pedestals with successive crashes as I landed on two of them, slipping and sliding on my back, my arms and legs and sides throbbing and my head hanging. The pain struck like lightning in what felt like every square inch of my body, terrible and forbidding and impossible to shake. I felt like lying there and letting myself lose consciousness in the blackout I knew was coming, but no, there was still things left to do, and I couldn’t just forget that, as much as it felt like I needed to. I forced my eyes open (I hadn’t even realised how close I was to shutting them) and while it hurt the back of my neck to lift my head, I did anyway, and I tried to regain fine motor control in my limbs. Clumsily, I got down from where I laid, barely being able to keep my balance as I tried to stand, leaning on the crates as I did. The Shadow was coming at me again, claws outstretched, but I barely registered it. I barely felt any fear either, despite looking from my angle like it was the end of the line for me. I was in no shape to fight, I thought, as the clawed hand, instead of tearing me to shreds, twisted around my leg and gripped it tight, as if meaning to fling me across the room like a rag-doll.

I gasped at the feeling of the Shadow’s hand on me. It was the cold air on a winter night in December when the clock had just struck twelve, it was like a vacuum that would take whatever it could get, it was like slow poison, draining my life and energy. I could feel it sucking at my power like it was a mosquito an I was a blood-bag. I could feel my vision beginning to blur around the edges, darkness waiting to claim me once more. But the feeling of getting the life sucked out of me didn’t last long, since my own body instinctively rebelled too, a flash of bright light erupting on the leg encased in the Shadow’s grasp. Light escaped in slits between the Shadow’s fingers as it immediately jerked back, like it was burnt. I couldn’t tell at that exact moment, but I was pretty sure I was grinning at it.

Not even a second had gone by standing in that position, however, when Scarlett Raynott leapt out of the shadows, clutching a long, simple blade like a sword. The blade was made of a smoking material darker than night, and somehow I couldn’t help but think that Scarlett had created it herself, out of nothing but shadows.

She was running to the Shadow, the lower half of her top whipping around her frame as she did. When she was close enough, she slashed straight through the cloudy part of it’s body, although what good that would do, I didn’t know, since the only defined parts of the Shadow were the head and arms, and striking there seemed smarter. Regardless, the Shadow seemed to recoil sharply, or an inhuman, ghastly version of the action anyway.

Scarlett continued swiping viciously at it, slashing and nicking and stabbing, twisting her body into a fast-paced dance as I struggled to be of use. Scarlett was going too fast for me to be able to properly track her exact movements, but it seemed to me like she was trying to confuse the Shadow, trying to make it knot itself up instead of directly killing it, which confused me.

But the Shadow was getting angry at Scarlett’s toying. In a fit of rage, it swung wildly around, half-twisting it’s body, and while I wondered what exactly it was trying to accomplish by doing this, I had no time to figure it out, since one of it’s hands swatted my aching body aside like a fly.

I skidded off-balance once more and landed on my hands and knees, my face missing the ground by mere inches. Pain shot through my palms as the rough, crumbled ground dug into my skin to get at the blood underneath. I felt the breath get knocked out of me once more as I tried to get up, to forget the pain, to do something, but my body simply refused. I was in a crawl, and my hands stung so much I was positive I would see blood if I turned them.

But I didn’t turn them; instead, I looked up. Above my head existed the still-glowing light bulb, whose existence I had entirely forgotten about, emanating its steady gold-yellow light, bathing the ground that I was scrawled upon with it.

And I looked at the light beseechingly, questioning, wanting, looking at it as though it was hope, asking it for something although I didn’t know what it was, just filled with the desperate yet unmistakeable need to fight back. Otherwise... otherwise I feared we would die, and I didn’t want to think about what would happen if we did.

And as I lay there, looking at the ground, not really seeing anything, I felt something form underneath the palm of my left hand.

Light manipulation.

I held it up. It was a short sword.

It looked ethereal in my hand, although it felt solid enough. It had a very basic design, as though crafted by a beginning blacksmith, but design wouldn’t be needed to make it noticeable. In stark contrast to Scarlett’s blade, the core of mine was pure white light, with yellow and gold framing the sides. Looking at it, I somehow couldn’t shake the feeling that I had created this myself, out of nothing but light.

I got to my feet in an instant and turned back to the fight.

Now it seemed the fight had flipped itself. The Shadow was toying with Scarlett as it tried to back her up against a wall. She was trying hard not to falter, trying not to let pain or exhaustion show, but it was evident that she couldn’t hold it for much longer.

If I was weaponless, I would wonder where the hell Jolene and Rowan could possibly be that was keeping them for so long. But I was not weaponless; I had something that had a sure possibility of working, and while at any other time I would be slightly bemused at having to wield such a medieval and dangerous thing, there was no time to worry about it now. I ran at the Shadow from behind, and instead of directly stabbing it, I slashed at it the way I’d seen Scarlett do, diverting its entire attantion from her to me.

It turned one hundered and eighty degrees, bending its head to look discompassionately at me. Maybe it was the lack of facial features that did it, or maybe it was the fact that it was a demonic creature trying to squeeze the life out of the two living beings in the room, but it suddenly looked ten times more dangerous to me than it had before. Fear gripped at my stomach, forcing me to take a step back. The Shadow raised it’s black hand to make a killing strike.

But it never came, because Scarlett had attacked again. She had taken a deep swipe at the Shadow, and it flinched as if stung and half-turned to Scarlett. I retreated another step.

“Raynott,” I called, grateful that my voice was still steady, “what do we do?”

Scarlett went at the Shadow again. “You,” she replied, swinging her long, pointy blade at the Shadow; it flinched again, “are going to stay,” she swirled and slashed away the Shadow’s attempts at a counter-attack, “out of my way.”

The very first thought that formed in my brain after her command was, Rude.

I glared at her. Now a part of me just wanted to follow her clear instruction, even if things get bad, just to spite her. But I ended up tracking her movements instead, trying to figure out exactly what it was she was trying to accomplish. Scarlett looked like she was circling the Shadow, trying to get it to hover in a particular place, and I saw the particular place being the curve of nightglass.

Then it clicked.

Of course,I thought, how did I not see it?

Now, I didn’t know what this nightglass-thing could do – I didn’t even know if that was how it was even spelt, but one thing I knew for sure was that the Shadow obeyed it. When Rowan, Jolene and I had first walked into the room, it had seemed trapped within the circle, carefully making sure the very fumes from its cloud-like figure were kept away from the element. It had seemed, at least the closest definition of it for something like itself, scared of it.

The nightglass wasn’t a trap; it was torture, and it could hurt and maybe even kill Shadows.

I still had the short sword in my hand.

Well, Scarlett Raynott may not want or appreciate my help, but then again, she couldn’t tell me what to do.

I ran at the Shadow, which had it’s back to me and turned just in time for me to get a good swipe at its arm, and although I suspected I was wielding my weapon poorly, it got the job done.

The forearm of the Shadow, including the elbow, separated itself neatly from the rest of the arm and fell to the ground, but just before it could hit, the arm fell apart and dematerialised itself into thin, fine, black smoke.

The Shadow let out a feral shriek meant to tear the skies. Behind it, I could see Scarlett, gazing glassily into space and swaying a little as though I’d chopped off her arm too, which I didn’t understand at all. She didn’t seem to even be present in the current situation, like she’d been caught in a bad daydream.

There are some Shadows that form... attachments with particular Diaforians.

But how?

“Scarlett?” I called, not fully returning my gaze to the Shadow.

Scarlett seemed to snap out of whatever daze she’d just been in. She levelled me a furious glare. “What part of ‘stay out of my way’ don’t you understand?” she snarled.

It took a certain amount of self-control not to snap ‘you’re welcome’ right back at her.

The Shadow seemed to be vulnerable now, now that it had lost a limb. It was shrieking and shrinking to our size and holding its body together in a huddle as if finally willing to accept defeat, and it was hovering close enough to the nightglass that one small push could mean the end of it all. Just a small action.

But I wasn’t taking my chances, and neither, it seemed, was Scarlett.

We both ran to the Shadow at the same time, locked gazes, came to an understanding, and pinned the Shadow right to the ground on top of the nightglass, our blades piercing either shoulder.

The Shadow stopped moving entirely for a second as though it was surprised, and gave one last shriek before disintegrating entirely, head and neck and shoulders and all, into a feral black cloud, twirling slowly around Scarlett’s skin, her arms and legs and upper body, into her eyes and ears and nose. It then enveloped her completely, such that I couldn’t even see Scarlett for a few seconds, before it seemed as though her skin had absorbed the Shadow entirely, while still looking entirely pale and bloodless as ever.

We’d been standing in a crouch; we straightened now, our weapons hanging loosely in our hands.

But then, as if it understood that its purpose had been fulfilled, my short sword gave a short tug as it flew out of my hand and went back to its source, dissolving into shimmering light on the ground. I didn’t even have it in me to twitch a brow as Scarlett's blade did the same, only it was the shadows that the weapon retreated back to.

And then it was over.

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belafujoshisdead · 2 years

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(Please Don’t) Fly Me to the Moon

In which Asaau suffers the indignities of spirit-based air travel.

(Continuation of The Edge of the World is a Cold Blue Ring)

“You’re going to haul me through the sky like air freight, aren’t you.” “We can pretend you’re my navigator if it makes you feel better. Now do you – ” Her mouth twisted. He knew she was trying not to laugh. “D’you want to be carried like a bridegroom or a grainsack?” “No,” said Asaau, wretchedly.

“Open communications,” Ilare said weakly to the machine above. The luxtruder pressed out a bright, blank panel of light and floated it down to them. “Ilare the sixth, head of House Tehariel, first among Key-Bearers and Warden of the Third Satellite, requests an audience with Her Wisdom Virieh, sixth of that exalted name, Venarch of House Tauhrelil and all bloodlines suppliant, Sage of the Red Chambers, Lady Regnant of the Nightglass Tower and Keeper of the Deepest Vault.”

Virenina made an impatient cranking motion with one hand – go on, go on.

“...And inform my venarch that this concerns her niece’s campaign in the Opaline City.”

The panel hovered just above one end of the glass tabletop, so that all three of them had to half-turn to see it. Light rippled softly across its surface with each word Ilare spoke, before settling into a slower, more rhythmic shifting – a waiting-pattern. Finally the whole panel darkened to pure black, save for two lines of glowing turquoise, one over the other: the bottom line spanned the screen unbroken, while the one above it split sharply upwards into twin tapering tines. The Tauhrelil insignia.

“Tehariel. Speak.”

The voice that gave the order sounded a great deal like Virenina’s – full of easy authority as only a lady bloodroyal’s could be, and possessing a certain raw-edged depth – but where Virenina’s voice was bold and lively, this one was tempered with cool restraint. At the sound of it, Ilare placed her fingers delicately on the tabletop and touched her forehead to the glass between them. Either she was driven by some courtly survival instinct, or else Virieh could see them, even if they couldn’t see her.

Asaau lowered his eyes in polite deference, if only to be safe. From the corner of his eye, he saw Virenina lean forward.

“My lady Virieh,” Ilare started –

“Auntie,” said Virenina, sweetly. The way she spoke made Asaau picture a shark sidling up to be petted as if it thought itself a housecat. Ilare started up from her bow, looking as if she couldn’t believe her ears.

“Nina,” said Virieh’s voice, in tones that reminded Asaau of much the same thing.

Across the table, Ilare now looked at Asaau with a tinge of desperation, as if he were the only sane person left in the room. Asaau kept his eyes averted, grateful that Virieh’s presence gave him an excuse to do so – otherwise, Ilare might have caught a glint of amusement. Don’t you simply adore dealing with Tauhrelils, Lady Ilare?

“I’m in the middle of a rather…temperamental experiment, my dear.” The Tauhrelil insignia glow-pulsed on the screen in time with Virieh’s speech. “So tell me – quickly – why you’re on the Ring instead of in the Opaline City. Is the First Spear with you?”

“He wants to take us both into the Shattered Lands. Lady Ilare is afraid to permit it.”

Like Vene – like so many Tauhrelils – Virieh had taken augmentations for her eyes, that they might better serve her in the laboratory, and had the glowing scarlet pupils to show it. Even the warmest of looks from a Tauhrelil who’d given her eyes to the knife still felt rather like being targeted by a laser sight. Though Virieh was thousands of miles away – though her family’s insignia hid her face – Asaau felt those eyes trained on him now.

“First Spear Seket. Explain.”

“My lady Virieh. I’m sure you remember the incident with the trial chamber.” Your family’s accountants certainly do, at any rate. “Yet Virenina must be tested, one way or another. I’m sure you understand.” He let the words hang between them for a moment. “Had there been any other op – ”

“Is this necessary for my niece’s campaign?”

We interrupted the Tauhrelil family head mid-experiment, Asaau told himself. Count yourself lucky that the only cutting-off she’s doing to anyone is the verbal sort.

“It is, my lady.”

“Then go. Was that all?”

Asaau opened his mouth to speak –

“Just don’t make Lady Ilare pay for it if I die.” This time it was Virenina who cut him off. Asaau closed his mouth, ignored the feeling that rose unbidden of being slighted, reminded himself that her right to address Virieh outweighed his. “She had no part in this until Seket and I dragged her into it.”

“Very well, you have my word. Let the record of this conversation be my oath.” A pause. “And Nina?”

“Yes, Auntie?” Virenina grinned at the faceless screen and sat up straighter, head cocked, hands clasped between her knees in a mockery of schoolgirl attentiveness.

“Do try not to die.”

With that, the Tauhrelil insignia blinked out, and the panel faded away to nothing.

“There!” Virenina said brightly, and turned to look at Ilare, who rested her forearms on the table as if it were all that kept her from sinking through the floor. “An oath on record, two witnesses bloodroyal – now she can’t punish you for letting us in even if I really do get killed.” She rose, smiling, spear in hand. Asaau rose with her. “That should help you sleep, right?”

Ilare didn’t look up.

“You are – too kind. My lady.”

As he took his first step into the Shattered Lands, Asaau waited for the same fear that had found him on the Ring to seize him anew.

Virenina waited several yards ahead. She’d strode in as easily as if this place belonged to her family, too, and had only stopped when she’d realized Asaau was lagging behind. Asaau closed the distance between them, bracing himself all the while for the same cold, breathless sub-panic he’d felt before. For worse. After all, he’d felt that earlier fear at the borderlands, and now they were inside – it would happen now, or perhaps with the next step, and if not that one, then surely the next…

By the time he’d caught up to Virenina, Asaau was still waiting. Of course he was afraid – but what he felt on this side of the Ring was lighter, sharper, closer to unease than true fear.

He knew, now, another part of why the Ring had unsettled him so deeply. He’d known it had looked wrong, but only now that Shattered Lands air had thoroughly filled his airways with the scents of rain-damp earth, of stone and sea, of flowers and decay, did Asaau realize – the Ring had even smelled wrong.

Did it have any scent at all? he wondered, and felt suddenly, briefly, as if his lungs would never be full. He breathed in again, and again, as deeply as he could manage without making noise; this was one thing he couldn’t stand to have Virenina needle him over, not now. As Asaau’s lungs drank in the air, his eyes drank in plants and sky and the glow of living things. The Shattered Lands, despite their danger, were a relief to his senses. They had crossed over into the great wound on the face of Tei Ura, the charnel-pit of the gods, and somehow Asaau’s heart rate was actually coming down.

Mercifully, the lands didn’t strain his mind up close the way they did from afar; it was easier when he could only see what lay before him. Asaau noticed as they walked that Shattered Lands grass felt no different underfoot than grass anywhere else on Tei Ura. You are wearing shoes, though. He felt a sudden, absurd urge to sit down and remove them, so he could truly know whether grass felt the same on both sides of the Ring –

“Did we have to do it like that?” Virenina’s voice stopped him mid-thought.

“Do – what?”

“Lying to her,” she said. “Scaring her into doing what we wanted.”

Tehariel? Asaau nearly stopped walking. Why in the world was Virenina worried about her? Virieh had sworn on record that she wouldn’t punish Ilare, even if Virenina died. Should anything happen to Ilare, her blood would be on Virieh’s hands, not theirs.

“You’ve never had a problem with intimidation before,” said Asaau.

“Yeah, when it was opponents,” Virenina shot back, “or practice kills, or people who were really asking for it – ” She broke off and ran one hand through her hair, as if trying to comb through her own thoughts. “They all signed up for it. Or at least deserved it.” Virenina pointed back the way they’d come. “She didn’t.”

“But she did.”

Virenina stared at him.

“She’s a Tehariel,” Asaau said. “Born into a vessel house. And you, bloodroyal twice over – firstborn daughter of the Throne Refulgent, niece to one venarch, granddaughter to another – it is her place to fear you.”

“I gave up that throne when I took my father’s name.” Virenina’s expression was stony. The rings of Ai Naa’s anchor clinked. They were walking, Asaau reminded himself – they were walking, the ground was growing rougher – “It’s Orineimu’s now.”

It was – the least important part of what he’d said, but the Shattered Lands were no place to hold an argument. Besides, Asaau told himself, you should have known better than to make so much as a sidelong mention of Orisai. Not here. Not now. Virenina’s unshared secret burned brighter in his mind with every step they took. He would not risk her willingness to tell him, not after they’d come all this way.

“We should discuss something else.” The thought of her secret reminded him, and Asaau was only too glad to turn to another topic. Being next to Virenina had begun to feel a bit too much like being near a gathering stormcloud. “Where – ”

“ – Are we going? Where am I showing you?” A certain sharp-edged humor crept back into her voice. “I know what kind of place we need. But finding it – oh, you’re going to love that part.”

Yes, Asaau thought wearily, I’m sure to love it almost as much as one loves the smell of corpseflowers in full bloom.

“For now, just keep up with me,” Virenina was saying as she led them further in, through thickening green and gathering mist that clung thin and wet-glittering to all it touched. Water soon pearled upon his armored gloves, on Virenina’s chestplate, in her hair, even in Asaau’s eyelashes. “We need open air, stable ground.” She pushed aside a heavy, dripping veil of lacelike fronds and waited for Asaau to pass before her. “So we’re going to have to go some place higher up, I mean – just look at this shit, right?”

She gave the hanging fronds a demonstrative tug, and was promptly doused in a shower of collected mistwater. For a moment, Virenina just stood there, her lone eye covered in a fall of sodden hair, one hand still frozen mid-pull among the leaves. With her free hand, she pushed back her hair and looked Asaau full in the face, grimly, as if accepting some bitter fate.

And then let go of the leaves. Another downpour hit her as they bounced back into place.

“I know you know me well enough to pthfthh,” she said.

“Yes, of course,” said Asaau while Virenina finished spitting out water. “I could never pthfthh if I didn’t know you as well as I do.”

“I know you know me well enough to know this already,” Virenina started again, voice now dripping sarcasm in place of rainwater, “but that was so totally, completely intentional of me. Also? Shut up.” Her lips had been doing their telltale trying-not-to-smile twitch; now she broke into another grin. “Just for that, I’m dragging us back to that thing I said you’d love a second ago. You figure it out yet?”

Why must I be the one to say it? Asaau glanced briefly heavenward. Very well, Seket, just give her what she wants. It’s easier that way.

“You mentioned high ground,” he told her. “That alone makes me suspect it’s exactly as I feared. Especially since we haven’t the time to climb an entire mountain, or to scale a stone table…” Asaau gave a small sigh. “And, of course, you love to amuse yourself by injuring my sense of dignity.”

He paused a moment, if only because he wanted so dearly to be wrong.

“You’re going to haul me through the sky like air freight, aren’t you.”

“We can pretend you’re my navigator if it makes you feel better. Now do you – ” Her mouth twisted. He knew she was trying not to laugh. “D’you want to be carried like a bridegroom or a grainsack?”

“No,” said Asaau, wretchedly.

“Backpack?”

“I think what I’d really like is to kill you for making me think about this.”

“I could try carrying you over both shoulders, you know, like a mantle or something – ”

“I’m curious,” said Asaau. “Is this you trying to help, by coming up with more options? Or are you simply enjoying this?”

“I don’t know,” Virenina replied with an open-handed shrug. “Both?”

“Just – ” Asaau touched one hand to his brow. He knew there was no dignified way to go about this. That didn’t make accepting it any easier. “Pick whichever way you think you’re least likely to drop me,” he said at last.

“Alright!” Virenina said brightly, and then scooped Asaau up in her arms almost faster than he could blink. He kept forgetting that she wasn’t just taller than him now, but stronger, too. Stronger than she has any right to be, Asaau thought. She lifted him as if he weighed next to nothing, so suddenly that he let out a startled, indignant noise entirely against his will. For a mercy, Virenina ignored it.

“Put your arms above mine,” she said as she jumped onto Ai Naa’s anchor, which had moved itself to hover, waiting, a few inches over the ground. Asaau expected to feel them both bob up and down when she landed on it, if only slightly. Instead it remained as solidly in place as if somehow nailed into thin air. “And hold onto me tight, you hear? Rather have you strangle me a little than fall.” The spear rose slowly through the air, and Asaau’s concerns of dignity fell away behind it. He clung to her.

“But don’t worry,” Virenina said, and pushed his head down against the front of her armor. Her hand on the back of his head was almost gentle. “If you fall, I’ll catch you.”

Then she accelerated.

Asaau pressed his eyes closed and his face against her as the world vanished in a rush of wind. He didn’t want to see how high they were. He didn’t want to see the terrible speed at which Virenina flew. He didn’t want to see an ocean of empty air, and he especially didn’t want to see how the only thing between him and it was the shaft of a single spear. In fact, he didn’t want to so much as think about those things, and so instead Asaau held onto Virenina tight as he could and filled his mind with the last thing she’d said before taking off.

I’ll catch you. I’ll catch you. I’ll catch you.

#writing #science fantasy #fantasy #ocs #original fiction #tei ura #my writing #okay to rb #(please don't) fly me to the moon #virenina ii tauhrelil #asaau iv seket

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studiolapsus · 1 year

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EXPERIENTIA N°0089 _ NIGHTGLASSES

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luxmaeastra · 1 year

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Keella screamed as the doors to Lunar shut. The meadow around the mountain thrummed with her life. How could he not understand? How dare he not even ask? Her body hurt from where Eythos had dragged her out and thrown her here.

They knew who the thing was when it began to grow in her. The fear they'd felt for their older children, for themselves...what other choice was there?

There had been so many stories of Asteri or Elementi who raised them. They all ended the same - ashes, bones, and death.

She raised her head seeing Hanan run to her kneel by her side. He cupped her face his claws just barely poking into her skin.

"Are you alright? Are -"

---

Eythos looked down at them, and back to Nyktos. He was too agitated to be polite, to ask him what he was willing to do.

"Get them out of my court."

Nyktos smile was sharp and he reached for the his Nightglass daggers. A gift for his Ascension as a High Lord. Eythos had found a vein of wyrdstone to made and forged them.

"Gladly."

Eythos let him work, he really did. But he didn't like the idea of standing by why the Elementi fought for him.

He was not that type of Asteri.

Nyktos tisked and stared down at the couple. He ignored the way Hanan snarled, the claws digging into the dirt now.

"Are you two done saying goodbye?"

His children and kin had begun to swarm. But these beasts would not die so easily. Hanan barred his teeth reaching for his blade.

"Shall we fight the fae way Nyktos? Pretty daggers but we know those won't pierce my skin. He lunged their blades echoing in the valley.

Keella called to the beautiful waters, the life that thrummed here. She would have it aid her, she would not die this easily.

---

Embris appeared before Eythos wide eyed but dressed for a fight - but then did he ever not wear his armor?

"What's happening?"

Eythos cut through one of the beasts supports and looked to his brother. His face grim as he kicked the body into a nearby lake.

"They gave Cennan away to Telemachus ilk. They say they would have been hunted but was my protection so meaningless? They were cursed and shunned Embris! I will not have them soil my lands!"

Embris rolled his shoulders back and reached for his Solar Lightglass sword. The gold veins in forged from a much older vein of wyrdstone. This one said the blood was from remnants of silver flame still trapped in the rock.

He turned to his Elementi.

"Help Nyktos, I want them out of Prythian and not seeking refuge anywhere else."

His Elementi grinned, a feral smile. Eythos fought to not recoil. It was moments like that that reminded him why his brother kept such control of him.

"Are you calling a Hunt Embris?"

Embris lips thinned into a line but he nodded. His Elementi dissapered into a swirl of light and the whistle came a moment later.

---

Keella tried to do more, but the pain of coming so quickly after delivering the creature. Of not knowing where her children were. She was just - she was not up to this yet.

They paused as Nyktos looked to the mountains. The Firetipped arrows poised at their bodies. They saw Holarax beamed at them and twirl his staff light twisting through the air. She could feel the heat so many yards away.

She began to raise herself from the ground but Hanan spun to push her away. She hissed at him the fury and confusion making her hesitate. He smiled at her, his lips trembling.

"It was worth it Keella. All of it, always. It was all so worth it."

"What are you -"

The power slammed into her shoving her back. She landed in the soft reeds, the ground cushioning her. The others had been slammed to the ground. She couldn't process what she was seeing, the buzzing in her mind wouldn't work. She saw Eythos get to his feet. His face determined as he stepped through what remained of Hanan to get to her.

She saw nothing but yawning black. She began to laugh, and dropped her magic. Coiling it in her core, in her voice.

"I curse you Eythos. I curse you to never know the peace I won't. You took my heart from me and your court will never have one again not till he is avenged."

She stepped toward him, the way he'd frozen. The way all of them now held their breath. His boots were still flecked with Hanan's blood.

"I curse your greed to magnify ten fold. Your children, their children's children will tear this court apart with it. I curse you to live long enough to watch that all happen...now give me my fucking children."

He finally broke free and snarled lunging for her. He gripped the back of her head. He pulled her hair taught and got in her face.

How quickly the facade of nicety fell away when the males were threatened.

"After that? After everything you just said you think they'd be good with you. I wouldn't dare -"

"Give them to her brother."

Eythos spun shoving her away. She caught herself on a tree. They both looked to Embris as he slowly picked his way to them.

He avoided her Hanan's blood and gore. He moved to grip Eythos's shoulder.

"You remember what we went through. Let her have the children -"

"Mama was good! Mama was kind and virtuous! She is a snake! A -"

He spat at her barely restrained by his brother.

"She is unfit. No."

He could se the unbridled beast within his brother prowling as he allowed the anger and the rage fester, as he allowed it to continue to feed him and push him forwards. As much as he understood why he felt the way he did, Embris also recognized the further costs they could face. The costs of what they would pay beyond those curse, a curse which could mean the end of their family if they did not tread carefully going forwards.

Grip tightened, his hand maintaining a string hold on his brother as he turned and looked to those who were under him. He knew the pull, he knew the desire for blood and chaos. But denying a grieving mother her children, they would not go to the level some would. They would not tear a part families.

“Find her children and bring them to her, then make sure they leave Prythian. None of their blood will be allowed back here.” He ordered. He did not even consult with his brother, he would not allow him to make this choice at this time. If he did and he denied it, he knew deep down guilt would fester as much as the anger. Eythos would never admit the guilt, but it would be there. Taking children from their mother.

He stepped back, pulling his brother with him. A shadow moved swiftly forwards, forming into the shape of Bryaxis as she finally joined the fight. “Nyxia has already gathered the children, they are already on a ship about to leave the land,” he eyes narrowed as she looked to the creature before her, the female who was the cause of this strife. “Go now while they are being merciful, but return and my kin will enjoy tearing your all to pieces.”

#Muse | Embris #Muse | Bryaxis

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canemnecredite · 7 years

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nightglass.

date: 24 december 2017, approx. 11:00 pm location: the middle of some fucking wolf-infested woods parties: adriana caninii & jackson karavadra

synopsis: Adriana drags Jax out into the woods in the middle of the night to murder him (jk not really-- OR DOES SHE??). Nah, she doesn’t lol. Enjoy some backdated Christmas Eve fluff in the midst of all this death.

@avadakaravadra

“You ready?” Adriana turned to Jax as the door to her side opened and the son of Discordia stepped out. The Christmas Eve Gala had ended nearly an hour ago now. The guests and performers had all gone, leaving the staff to handle whatever needed cleaning. She had lent Jax some of Renzo’s clothes. It was attire appropriate for hiking in the cold. This time, Adriana wasn’t going out at the risk of freezing. Most likely, anyway. “Here, take this as well,” he was handed a gladius that had been pulled from the family armory. “We’re headed about a mile outside of camp, so keep that handy.” The daughter of Mars pulled on the ends of her scarf to tighten it around her neck before she headed in the direction of the exterior gardens. They could slip down to the lake from there, then trek around the body of water onwards toward the distant woods. Throwing a glance over her shoulder, Adriana smirked. “Not nervous, are you?”

For Jax, it had been a bit tricky to convince everyone to leave him at the Caninii’s house. Nearly everyone had questioned his motives for sticking around, and he’d given them all similar implications to get them to leave him alone. Now, as he stood in Renzo’s clothes, he shifted a bit uncomfortably, not quite liking the feeling of wearing something that wasn’t his. “Ready,” he repeated, arms thrown wide to show the clothes. Jax hefted the sword in his hand, testing its weight. Then he was following after Adriana, and sending her a rather curious look. “Nervous? No. Just concerned whether or not your idea of a present would be taking me out to middle of nowhere and trying to murder me.”

“If I intended to murder you, I wouldn’t have handed you a weapon,” Adriana stated rather matter-of-factly. No, her intent was far from murderous. There was considerable danger, of course: monsters, carnivorous wildlife, simply trekking around in a remote stretch of Californian forest in the black of night… But they were individually more than adept at protecting themselves, and having one another’s back was basic military programming. As they slipped down to the lakeside, Adriana peered across the water’s glossy surface, measuring the brightness of the moon. It was waxing, but the crescent hanging above them only represented a third of the moon’s light. Enough to lead the way, though the details would not be as clear as she liked. The silver light that filtered through her eyes caused them to appear almost as if they were glowing, the green enhanced by the same effect. “And it’s not the middle of nowhere. Not to me, anyway. There are parts of it you might even recognize, but-- most people forget.”

“You never know. Maybe you want me to have the semblance of safety so you can really get me by surprise.” Perhaps joking about murdering one another wasn’t the most typical conversation for two people who were sleeping together... but it seemed to work for the two of them. It only made sense, seeing as they had similarly dark and shady pasts. Nevertheless, as they came upon the lake, Jax’s gaze instinctively turned towards the sky, searching for the stars he’d grown rather fond of over the years. Their reflections danced in the water, making for a rather lovely effect. Tonight, Canis Major was rather bright, and Jax couldn’t help but wonder at whether it was simply coincidence that he was in the presence of a Caninii. “Aren’t you a special snowflake,” he teased, though he was genuinely curious about where it was she was leading him. The strength of the moonlight didn’t much matter to Jax, as his practically perfect night vision courtesy of Nox helped him avoid any rocks that might try to trip him along the way... as well as anything more sinister. Though he supposed it did bathe Adriana in a rather flattering light.

“Maybe. Not that I’d inform you either way.” Adriana rather liked their morbid sense of humor. True, it would have been odd for most, but it was the darkest elements of their natures that had bonded the pair of them together as confidants, and teasing that reality was both a reminder of the very fact and a slight balm to the sins that might have otherwise haunted their conscience. While the atmosphere was beautiful, she wasn’t paying it the admiration that she normally would. They had a place to be, and Adriana wanted to get there well before the rise of the sun. “Special is a matter of perspective,” she shrugged and picked up her pace as they neared the opposite bank of the lake. “Now keep up, will you? We’ve got a ways to go yet.”

In the twenty or so minutes later that Adriana and Jax had reached the camp’s border, she paused to turn around and regard him. “You trust me?” Her eyes searched his for an answer, but honestly, she already knew it without having to seek for it. Asking merely reinforced her confidence. “Stay close. Keep your senses open. There’s a lot of activity in these woods at night. A single lapse in guard could get you killed.” A grin flashed at him. “Personally, I think it adds to the thrill.”

“I would hope not. You’d have me questioning your abilities in a heartbeat.” Jax continued after Adriana, his steps making only the slightest of sounds, his movements nearly completely silent as he continued onwards. Such was another added perk of being a descendant of the night, he was nearly undetectable during it. He was once again tempted to look towards the sky, as he always was when beneath the shining stars, but he knew this not to be the time as dangers were becoming more and more of a threat as they neared the camp border. “You do realize I was making fun of you, right?” For a moment, Adriana’s question threw him. It was always a shock to remember exactly how much he trusted the daughter of Mars when trust hadn’t been the most prominent sentiment in his life. Not when Jefferson had taught his children that danger was lurking behind every smile, including his own. It was a fact that Adriana was only below his siblings in trust... though Cat’s had been rickety as of late. “Would I be here if I didn’t trust you?”

His words had been sincere and meaningful, but his tone quickly turned to annoyed as Adriana spoke her warning. “Please tell me you haven’t gotten amnesia and suddenly think I’m some probatio that’s never been in the forest before, or held a sword in their life. Don’t insult me to imply that I’m anything less than constantly aware. Save that for your Legionnaires.” But his features softened in the slightest as her smile shined once more. It was becoming quite a problem the effect such a sight had on him.

Trust was an odd phenomena. For most individuals, it took years to build; but, for a rare few, it could be determined within moments of meeting a person, an instantaneous sense that went far deeper than logic. Adriana could have said that her trust in Jax had stemmed from a near lifetime of familiarity-- which was true, though not the source of her faith in him. He had been one of the few. They had met so young, and yet, she had always felt, for some inexplicable reason, that he was worth sticking to. So when he answered in the way that he did, that his presence would be ridiculous if he didn't trust her, she couldn't keep the little smile off of her face.

His defense against her warning coaxed the slightest chortle from her, with a teasing smirk to match. "Ooh, are you sure? Because it's my recollection that thus far, every instance of our newfound activities was at least in part triggered by my insults toward you." Slowly, she backed up past the treeline, her smirk growing in a taunting manner. The activity she was hinting at wasn't remotely her intention for dragging him all the way out here, but it could be fun, couldn't it? Just frustrating him with the thought. It was a powerful new angle of trickery that she was all too ready to explore. "Unless you've already changed your mind, but something tells me that's not the case." Her fingers dropped to drum on the pommel of the sword at her hip, a restless quirk that spoke of her alertness as she continued to move backwards into the shadows.

Jax couldn’t very well remember a time when he hadn’t known Adriana. Their meeting had been young, and she had simply been a staple of his growing up as well as life. Perhaps that had been why it’d hit him so hard when she’d refused to complete her Cult task, resulting in her being banned from their shared underground organization. Suddenly he’d been seeing much less of her, and it quickly became apparent that he didn’t enjoy such an arrangement. Her smile garnered one of his in return, yet another thing that was becoming the usual between them.

“Newfound activities? Is that what we’re calling it?” he said with amusement. “You make us sound like a summer camp or something. Last time I checked, fucking like rabbits wasn’t an approved camp activity.” Had she brought him out here just to screw him under the night sky? To be honest, he wouldn’t be disappointed in the least with such a thing. But she’d already said at the party that such a reason wasn’t her true one for bringing him out here. Though... there was a part of him that was wondering how negotiable that term was. The shadows of the forest already seemed to be reaching for Jax, wanting to be joined with one who stemmed from a, quite literally, dark heritage. Who was he to deny them and Adriana? “But by your logic, that means that I’m supposed to jump your bones now, doesn’t it?” He made a playful dash towards Adriana, as if trying to catch her.

"And since when have we really followed the rules?" A smirk plastered itself on Adri's face as she waited for Jax to join her, but there was one little thing stuck on her mind-- more of a word, actually. Us. Sure, in mention of their relationship as friends, co-centurions, or merely in general, that word was nothing special. However, their relationship was much different now, and Adriana had to wonder if the context of 'us' had changed with it. His dash had come at the perfect time.

In alignment with her childhood moniker, Adriana took to the forest like a young deer. All demigods possessed a faster, stronger nature than your average mortal, but the children of Mars were made to be warriors -- stronger, quicker, swifter -- the latter an edge in which Adriana was particularly gifted. Jax may have had the advantage in sight, but she was light on her feet and she knew her way along these paths as well as the halls of her own home. She let the rush of the run wash over her, let her thoughts fade as muscle memory took hold. Whether or not Jax recognized their surroundings, these were the trails frequented by Lupa's pack. Adriana had used them many times, often alongside the wolves when she wasn't fleeing from them in a drill. As the Fates would have it, a howl broke out in the distance, then a chorus of them, and as the silver light of the moon lit the way, she flashed a grin to herself.

"Remember these woods at all?" She called back at him with playful curiosity, her pace unwavering. "Lupa loves to run her pupils here. Most of them never returned, understandably. But-- I rather like it. There's quite a few attractions out here that you wouldn't expect."

The connotations of such a weighted word had flown entirely over Jax’s head, as he’d only been speaking the way he always did with Adriana. Candidly. She was the single person he was most free to speak with however he might like. Though his siblings were, of course, another two he trusted most in the world— it wasn’t entirely the same. With them, he had to think about his responsibility to them, his responsibility to the family. And things had only grown more complicated as of late, what with Leo’s support of the Greeks and Cat’s past poisoning. He hadn’t been able to voice his mind as easily as he wished he could, but the exception had always been Adriana. She’d seen almost all the parts of him, understood better than most what it was to be in a family such as the ones they’d been born into, and yet she’d never made him feel as if he needed to be anything more than who he was. When almost all of his life had been spent trying to live up to others’ expectations, Adriana’s company was refreshing, somewhat of an oasis in the midst of it.

And as he sprinted after her deeper into the woods, he found himself wishing his distant Mercury heritage was a bit closer to the bottom of the family tree. Perhaps then he’d be able to overtake her after her bit of a head start. But as howls filled the air, Jax could barely believe his ears. Instantly, he was transported back to a simpler time. Certainly, some might not look back on their days with Lupa fondly, and easy was certainly not a word that should be applied to them, but Jax hadn’t minded his time with the she-wolf’s pack. Having waited an entire two years alone at home, without Cat or Leo to keep him company after they’d gone on to join the Legion hadn’t been the most happy of days, as was to be expected when one was the sole child in the house of someone who demanded utter perfection. He’d been placed under the microscope that was Jefferson, and been determinedly taught exactly what was expected of him, day after day, month after month. In addition, he’d lost the only people who’d been there to bear their father with him. Cat and Leo.

“Of course I remember them!” he called out, as memories of sprinting through them either for survival or leisure came rushing towards his mind’s eye. For a moment he felt the same as he had then. Not happy, but content, an improvement from what he’d been without Cat and Leo in his father’s home. Though Lupa hadn’t been kind, she hadn’t been cruel, simply practical. And the she-wolf’s rules had been much less convoluted and easier to follow than Jefferson’s, rules of fighting and survival rather than the mind games the Karavadra patriarch was so fond of playing. And for the first time since Cat and Leo had left, he’d truly felt a part of something. Perhaps something should be said for having preferred a wolf’s den rather than his father’s home at the time, but he didn’t think on it. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but feel as if this was somewhat of a reunion. He was one of those that hadn’t returned, but that was simply because he hadn’t seen the point in trying to go back to something that should be left in the past if he wanted to make something of the future, as well as knowing that even if he had made an attempt to frequent the forest things could never be truly as they’d been, though with Adriana running just in front of him— it felt as similar as he imagined it could have. After all, were they not in a way part of a pack? They ran in such similar circles, and paired with his trust and comfort with her— it’d only make sense to feel such a similar sensation of camaraderie with her to that of when he’d been with Lupa. “So are we following the rules tonight?” he queried in her direction, his long legs still propelling him at an impressive speed after her.

Lupa was a staple in the life of every legionnaire. No one made it into the ranks of the Legion without first passing her trials-- ruthless ones, often. Adriana did not doubt that Jax remembered his time with Lupa; his memory of the woods, however, she had felt it necessary to question. He remembered them. But did he remember them or did he know them? Though she couldn't say for sure, Adriana had a feeling that Jax hadn't been back here since he had been welcomed into Camp. He was a practical person, and a practical person would have no reason to come wander about a wood where wolves and monsters roamed freely.

Certainly then, that said something about Adri. Whether it was her descendancy from Luna, her uniquely familiar relationship with canines-- even as a child --or another instinct entirely, some natural force within her had drawn her back to this place time and time again. Lupa and her pack had been everything Adriana had ever wanted at the formative age of eleven. A family. One that continued to challenge her growth as a warrior yet allowed her to roam freely and explore her place and identity in their world, rather than confining her to strict expectations and future roles. Lupa was by no means cuddly, but the daughter of Mars was convinced that she cared about the young ones who came to her house -- at least those who arrived with the intention of accepting her training. Lupa had raised Romulus and Remus, not only the founders of Rome, but Adriana's historical siblings. She had taken the girl as a young pup no differently than the rest of her pupils, and that inclusion had made her hesitant to leave the pack she had found.

She had a new pack now -- her cohort, her small circle of trusted friends and family. Though, none of those connections were as natural hers to Jax, what with all the dark secrets and lifelong familiarity they shared. "I don't know," she glanced back at him with a grin. "That depends on how soon we reach what we've come for." A bit of airy laughter tumbled from her throat. The moon was a good week from full, but bled just enough light through the canopy that Adriana's nocturnal vision had no issue watching for hazards in their path. She knew this route by heart, as untouched as it was; however, one couldn't trust the forest to remain clear and static. Thankfully, the few fallen trees and animal encounters caused them no issue, and within minutes, their destination was in sight.

Adriana came to a sudden stop at the edge of a cliff, extending an arm to catch Jax just in case he wasn't quite as prepared as she was. Down below, fed into by a small stream on either side, was a cave nestled around the bend from their current spot. "Alright, we're almost there," she turned to him with a well restrained shimmer of excitement in her eyes. "But, before we continue, I have one condition-- you have to keep your eyes shut. No peeking. Think you can handle that?"

They came up onto the edge of the cliff faster than expected, but Jax’s perfect night vision was more than enough for him to see the drop off that was fast approaching, and for a moment he had the ludicrous thought that Adriana might not stop. A brief flicker of panic went through him. Though he knew it ridiculous to think she might launch herself over the side without guarantee of a safe landing, he couldn’t help but be worried, not when she’d grown to mean so much to him. But then she stopped with her arm outstretched, and he too came to a halt just before her arm. The realization that he’d been ready to jump off the cliff after her startled him. Did he truly trust Adriana that much? Or had he been devising a way of trying to save her should her jump go wrong? The fact that he’d be so ready to run after her without a fully formed plan was… disturbing. He’d never been an impulsive person, but adding Adriana into the mix always seemed to throw him for a loop.

Nevertheless, his lips turned upwards into the beginnings of a smile as she turned towards him, the excitement in her eyes all too endearing. “I knew you brought me out here to kill me.” Was all he said before closing his eyes. He’d already proven he was foolish enough to trust Adriana entirely what with the cliff situation. “Just do me a favor and give me one last kiss before you push me over the edge. I deserve to have something sweet on my lips as I fall to my death.” he teased.

“Well, I didn’t think you would submit so easily,” Adriana teased in return, glad to play along. There was a long hum that passed through her lips, as if she was contemplating whether or not to grant him his kiss, but finally, because of his obedience to her order of shut eyes, she puffed out a sigh. “I suppose I can grant you your last wish, but only because you’ve been so compliant.” Stepping forward, she found his hand and held it, pressing down on it and up on her toes to plant a short, light kiss on his lips. It was broken by a faint giggle in advance of her pulling back, but despite their separation, she kept his hand firmly in her grasp. “There. Now keep those eyes shut or I’m really going to abandon you out in the cold to die.”

In no time at all, Adriana was leading him down a narrow path on the cliffside, guiding him over the small stream, and dragging him with her into the pitch blackness of the cave. Well-- not entirely pitch blackness. It took a few minutes’ descent through the tunnels before the pair stepped out into a great cavern. On either side of them, the two streams from outside fed into larger pools. The sound of trickling water echoed from there and the occasional drops from the stalactites above tapped upon the craggy ground. About twenty feet in front of them, a thin sliver of moonlight broke through the ground and cave roof above. This was the spot at which they paused. However, the real surprise remained concealed in the darkness, and it would be her instruction for Jax that truly revealed why she had chosen to take him out so far beyond the border.

“Alright,” Adriana dipped down to pick something up off the ground, opening his now formerly held hand to place the object there. It was roughly palm-sized, cold to the touch, smooth yet uneven, the edges sharp, though she was quick to warn him of that feature. “Don’t squeeze. These are wicked sharp and I would much prefer not having to stitch your hand in the wilderness.” Carefully, she moved around him and settled her hands on his shoulders, urging him forward a step. “On my word, extend your arm and open your eyes. Preferably in that order.” She was nervous now, chewing on the inside of her cheek as her mind flooded with questions of whether or not he’d appreciate it, if it was too trivial, or something he saw as nothing new, but it was too late to go back now. With a final release of breath, she peered around his side in preparation to observe his reaction. “Ready? Okay-- now.”

The completion of the action that she had given him placed the object in his palm just at the edge of the ray of moonlight. The face was already angled, and thus proved the perfect mirror to direct that light towards the darker cavern walls ahead of them. A scattered deposit of volcanic glass reflected the silver in a million tiny specks, transforming their surroundings into a radiant sea of stars that, although artificial, made it appear as if they stood at the center of a galaxy. Gently, she removed the shard of obsidian from his hand and set it in a little nook in the ground that she had fashioned to preserve the illusion and allow them the freedom of movement. “I know it’s not material,” she approached him with bashful, quick words on her tongue, “but I’ve been in awe of this place since the day that I found it, and I’ve never-- you’re the first person I’ve brought here. I usually come alone whenever I need to get away for awhile. So, I thought you might be able to make use of it as well.” Adriana fiddled with her fingers near her waist, swallowing in anticipation. “What do you think?”

Adriana’s hand was a welcome feeling in Jax’s and as she pressed a kiss to his lips, he was more than pleased that Adriana had indulged him. As always, part of him simply wanted to live in their kiss, create a home there where he and Adriana could stay for quite a while— away from the world and all its demands. But her kiss was fleeting, and a sigh of disappointment left him. A moment later, her giggle had him feeling the strongest urge to open his eyes. He wanted to see the smile that went with such a laugh. Instead he was obedient, somewhat pouting that he hadn’t gotten to see the grin he’d become so fond of. Still in a flirty and teasing mood he replied, “But I could never die of cold after your kiss just warmed me.” It was purposefully disgustingly cheesy, either designed to make her scoff or laugh… or both.

The walk most likely seemed longer than it should have with his eyes closed, though soon enough Adriana was speaking once more. He followed her directions carefully, his brow drawing together as he tried to discern what exactly it was that she’d handed him. It felt like some sort of rock, thought he couldn’t be sure as she’d warned him of its sharp edges. But then certainly it must be a rock? The entire thing was rather mysterious, and Jax was eager to open his eyes when Adriana gave the word. As he did so, he flinched slightly in shock as bright lights danced over his night-attuned vision. But then, as Adriana affixed the rock to its place, and his eyes adjusted to the light, a look of wonder came over him. As a young boy, he’d had dreams of being an astronaut, before duty and the words of Jefferson had banished such foolish thoughts from his mind. Only his family had known of his secret wish, and he couldn’t help but imagine this was what it might be like to actually be amongst the stars— his dream fulfilled. The fact that it was a private place for Adriana only made it all the more special, and his eyes flit to her, trailing the faux stars that were dancing across her features.

A large smile had worked its way across his features as he went to her, going to take her writhing hands in his own to calm them before trying to bring them to join behind his neck. “It’s— it’s beautiful.” Perhaps it was an overused word, but the word to best describe his own state was most appropriately… starstruck. He was rendered somewhat speechless in awe, a feat in itself, and he couldn’t help the warmth that seemed to be stemming from his heart as the realization of Adriana wanting to share this special place with him took hold. “And it’s perfect.”

From the look of wonderment on his face, Adriana presumed that her short expedition had proved an appropriate Christmas gift; but, it wasn’t until he came to take her hands that the wave of relief washed over her. Her hands secured themselves behind Jax’s neck and a smile, though smaller than his, lit up her features. “Perfect,” she reiterated, moving a half step closer to him. Like before, she stretched up on her toes to compliment the surprise with a gentle kiss. A few of her fingers slipped into his hair and remained there, scratching and curling harmlessly even when her feet rested flat on the ground once more.

“I’ve been coming here for years,” she told him in an almost whisper. “I was looking for a place to lay low during one of Lupa’s survival drills. I never expected to find anything like this.” For a few moments, her sight diverted to admire their surroundings in slightly greater detail. “This wasn’t the only thing drawing me back, though…” The last line slipped out as an afterthought, perhaps triggered subconsciously. However, with a blink and the dart of her eyes back to his, it was temporarily stowed away. Her smile returned. “So, what now?” She tilted her head as a curious glimmer flickered in the corners of her polychrome gaze. “It is your present. It’s only right I permit you to choose how the rest of your time here is spent.”

Jax wondered briefly if he’d ever get tired of Adriana’s lips on his own, but it seemed that the answer was continuously doubtful of such a thing happening. He hadn’t even had to ask for a kiss this time, apparently she’d known well enough that he wanted one, and he had been preparing to give her one himself, but she’d beat him to the draw. Not that he was complaining in the least. The hand in his hair was something that relaxed him tremendously, it being one of Jax’s favorite feelings in the world, and he responded by tracing the little constellations that were made by the moon and the rock on Adriana’s face with the pad of his thumb.

At her offer of him choosing their next activity, he could only guess that she’d be expecting something of the usual from him, along the lines of a rather risque and suggestive request. But he surprised himself as well when he instead loosened the arm around her waist ever so lightly, and went to shift one of her hands from the back of his neck to his shoulder before moving to take the other one into his own hand. “It seems like a lovely venue for a dance, don’t you think?” He said with a smile, remembering fondly how he’d asked her something similar when New Rome had, quite literally, been burning to the ground.

Adriana had always been a quick learner. Although she hadn’t been studying the subject consciously, she had adopted the instinct to press her lips to those of the man in front of her whenever the atmosphere was correct. Their intimacy was quickly becoming second nature to her, yet she wouldn’t dare recognize it. People like them weren’t supposed to get attached… but maybe if she told herself this was nothing, that rule wouldn’t matter. At least, not tonight.

The gentle brush of his thumb resulted in a smile, which subsequently completed their kiss. She followed the constellation he traced on her cheek for the short time it lasted, then lifted her eyes -- the green in them particularly striking against the silver light -- back to where they had been in anticipation of his response. Had she been expecting a risque answer from him? Perhaps. The request of a dance wasn’t entirely new; nevertheless, as he repositioned their stance, that smile of hers grew ever so slightly. She remembered the last time he’d asked for her hand. They had shared a moment of peace against a flaming horizon before she had tripped and fallen into him due to injury. It was about time she made up for that blunder. Her hand folded softly in acceptance of his own. “I do.” With a small step backward, she ushered the pair of them into motion. “But let’s hope I don’t lose my footing this time.”

#nightglass.#[ docs. ]#jax.#f&gwriting #[ moon & stars ]#[ xmas. ]

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laramarry · 4 years

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What are gaming glasses & What do they do?

This guide is going to show you actually what are gaming glasses and how they work?

All of you know how the whole world has become more digital and they are working on mobile, computers, and tablets such as digital devices.

That's really good but when it comes to your health, emitted lights from these digital devices are very dangerous for you and your family.

When you play games or work in front of computers, emitted blue lights from these devices and other harmful lights like UVB ( short-wave ultraviolet B) and UVA (long-wave ultraviolet A) can affect your eyes and as a result, you can’t see clearly and you get headaches or eye strain.

And that's the point where gaming glasses come into play. Gaming glasses can help you to prevent blue lights and block all harsh lights. These are major benefits of it.

Now you are thinking about what are gaming glasses and does it really work against these lights.

Let’s know about everything basics.

And that's the point where gaming glasses come into play. Gaming glasses can help you to prevent blue lights and block all harsh lights. These are major benefits of it.

Now you are thinking about what are gaming glasses and does it really work against these lights.

Let’s know about everything basics.

What are gaming glasses?

As I maintained above, gaming glasses are glasses that help video game players do what they love for longer periods of time by protecting their eyes from getting digital eye strain and improving their power of vision.

As gamers and e-sports, competitors spend several of their time in dark rooms, the blue hue of the screen flashing into their eyes so eye protection is a must.

Gaming glass is nothing as they are simple as other normal glasses but due to their lenses and their stylish frame, many people or gamers love them.

These glasses are not made only for gamers but normal people also can wear them.

These also can use as night glare glasses.

#latestglasses #glassart #syghtglass #glassforsale #glasses #eyewear #sunglasses #prescription #nightvision #nightglass #latestglass

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aunditillman-blog · 4 years

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#night #glass #nightglass #stained glass

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ryanshiy · 5 years

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#nightglasses #nightvisionglasses #glassesnight https://www.instagram.com/p/B2alxhuF-3d/?igshid=1dtjaye9iws0r

#nightglasses #nightvisionglasses #glassesnight

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o-lookeyewear · 5 years

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Night Vision Driver Sunglasses www.olookeyewear.com E-mail:[email protected] WhatsApp:+86 18968888828 Wechat: O-LOOK Skype: OLOOKEYEWEAR Key Contact: Mr Kevin Chu #sunglasses #chinasunglasses #sunglass #optics #eyewear #eyeglasses #nightvision #nightglasses #driver #yellowlens #sportssunglasses #polarziedlenssunglasses #uv400sunglasses #sunglassesformen #sunglassesforwomen #sunglassesforkids #childrensunglasses #fashionsunglasses #retrovintagesunglases https://www.instagram.com/p/B0pwVunBhUe/?igshid=3th3phe09mfc

#sunglasses #chinasunglasses #sunglass #optics #eyewear #eyeglasses #nightvision #nightglasses #driver #yellowlens #sportssunglasses #polarziedlenssunglasses #uv400sunglasses #sunglassesformen #sunglassesforwomen #sunglassesforkids #childrensunglasses #fashionsunglasses #retrovintagesunglases

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dragonbookhoard · 7 years

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Nightglass

Author: Liane Merciel

Series: Pathfinder Tales

Publisher: Paizo Publishing, LLC

Rating:

Goodreads Summary:

In the grim nation of Nidal, carefully chosen children are trained to practice dark magic, summoning forth creatures of horror and shadow for the greater glory of the Midnight Lord. Isiem is one such student, a promising young shadowcaller whose budding powers are the envy of his peers. Upon coming of age, he’s dispatched on a diplomatic mission to the mountains of Devil’s Perch, where he’s meant to assist the armies of devil-worshiping Cheliax in clearing out a tribe of monstrous winged humanoids. Yet as the body count rises and Isiem comes face to face with the people he’s exterminating, lines begin to blur, and the shadowcaller must ask himself who the real monsters are...

My thoughts:

Nightglass is one of those rare books that I’ve read more than once - twice so far, to be precise. Both times, I enjoyed it. The descriptions are well-written and gorgeous - as well as horrifying. Liane Merciel paints a vivid picture of the Dusk Hall and Nidal, a country ruled by pain and fear and yoked to the will of a mad god. To date, she is still my favorite of the two Pathfinder Tales authors that I’ve read in terms of description and atmosphere.

Her characters in this book aren’t quite as fleshed out as in her other two novels for the series, but I didn’t dislike any of them. Isiem, the main character. Occasionally comes off as slightly bland at times but I still like him overall. I loved the mystery surrounding Helis, and Ascaros’s bluntness. I do wish there’d been more time to develop Kirii, though, and that she’d been given a more active role. Velenne was also wonderful and delightfully devious. I would’ve loved to see more interactions between her and Isiem.

There were, however, two things that bothered me. The first was the sudden, almost jarring shift between “Book 1: Monsters” and “Book 2: People”. Several years are skipped and Isiem is no longer a student but a full-fledged shadowcaller on loan to the neighboring country of Cheliax. The second thing that bothered me was the names of the strix. “Kirii” is fine, but the others have names like “Red Chest” and “Owl Dream”. It was only a small irritation, but I felt it worth noting.

Overall, I enjoyed the book - it’s easy to read and the descriptions are amazing and really bring the world to life (it’s also a great resource for writing/running anything set in Nidal).

Warning: The main warning for this book (aside from violence) are the descriptions of torture on kids - the actual torture isn’t shown, but the aftermath is described in some detail.

Where to buy: Paizo, Barnes & Noble, Amazon (I recommend getting it directly from Paizo)

Things I like:

Setting

Beautiful writing and detail

Helis and Velenne

Things I didn’t like:

The dramatic shift in tone

Isiem is a little bland (but I still like him)

Would’ve liked more with Kirii

The Strix naming conventions were...odd

#dragon reviews #book reviews #reviews #pathfinder tales #pathfinder rpg #liane merciel #nightglass #isiem #strix

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avntures · 6 years

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there’s something so inherently hilarious abt the combo of vadrans being taller than therin people + stephen being a captain in the nightglass.....................imagine getting the dressing-down of a lifetime by your captain and the whole time you have to stand on ur tiptoes to meet his eyes bc he’s That Damn Tall..........................what a power move for one capt. reynart honestly

#stephen in the middle of yelling at an officer : LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU #them : HOW #( &. ) out of chara » is there any tea on this spaceship?

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belafujoshisdead · 2 years

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The Edge of the World Is a Cold Blue Ring

In which Virenina and Asaau visit the Ring, view the Shattered Lands, and ruin a scientist’s day.

(Continuation of Concerning Tauhrelil’s Finery)

“Open communications,” Ilare said weakly. “Ilare the sixth, head of House Tehariel, first among Key-Bearers and Warden of the Third Satellite, requests an audience with Her Wisdom Virieh, sixth of her name, Venarch of House Tauhrelil and all bloodlines suppliant, Sage of the Red Chambers, Lady Regnant of the Nightglass Tower and Keeper of the Deepest Vault.”

“Tauhrelil, how are we getting there?” “You already said it.” “I’m afraid I don’t follow you.” “I’m a Tauhrelil,” she told him. “We’ll go in through the Ring.” Finally, finally, she turned her head and looked at him. “Can’t believe you want to test me in the Shattered Lands, by the way. I mean, that’s just insanity. Are you trying to get me killed, Seket?” As far as Asaau was concerned, there was no truly plausible excuse to enter the Shattered Lands, but he supposed Virenina’s came closer than most. And after that disaster in the trial chamber… The other six candidates had all passed through it. Asaau couldn’t present Virenina alongside them untried – as her sponsor, it would destroy his reputation. But if you came back from the Shattered Lands alive, he thought, then no one could say she hasn’t walked through the pyre. Au Melai’s smoking mirror, only a Tauhrelil would think of this. And the Ring belonged to the Tauhrelil family. If any of the seven houses bloodroyal were mad enough to accept the idea of using the Shattered Lands as a trial ground, it was them. “Why, I thought this would excite you, Tauhrelil,” Asaau said. “But if you don’t believe you can handle it…” “Come on, Seket, even I can tell that that was bait. Now you’re just insulting my intelligence.” She was grinning again. “Hey, can I insult you back? Make it even?” “You must be nervous, if you’re actually asking my permission before insulting me.” “Can I insult you twice?” “You could, but it would be more useful to decide where on the Ring we’re going.” After all, the Ring was not once place so much as a constellation of them, all held together by a single name – a great circle-chain of research stations at the edge of the human world, Tei Ura’s shield against the Shattered Lands and the strangenesses they bred. The seven greatest links on that chain were known to most as the Satellites; they held the Ring together, and were held together in turn by the substations, those many smaller links that bridged the gap from one satellite to the next. “The Third Satellite is closest,” Virenina said. “We’ll get on the vacrail, take a private car, then once we’re there – ” “The vacuum rail?” Virenina looked over at him. “Oh, sorry, that too common for you? Seats haunted by the ghosts of too many unroyal asses? Look, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of places at the Ring where you can sterilize yourself after, get rid of that nasty people-born-without-a-pedigree smell.” “That’s not the issue.” Actually it was, more or less, but she’d made him feel too ridiculous to admit it. “I simply – teleporting would be faster, that’s all.” “Yeah, I know,” Virenina said, and came to a stop. “Come on, Seket, you think the vacrail would be my first choice? Think I love the idea of spending a couple hours in a little metal capsule shooting through an airless tube?” “Well, I imagine you’ll at least enjoy the part where we travel at thousands of miles an hour.” “I won’t even be able to feel it!” “Very well, you’ll experience a safe, stable transit at several times the speed of sound with minimal risk of injury or death. I’m sure this will cause you no shortage of agony.” “It really will. So glad you understand. And teleporting would cause me worse. If it’s a choice between that or the agony of safe transit, I know which one I’m picking.” She gave a brief toss of her head, as if throwing the whole argument behind her. “You can’t visit the Ring unannounced without a Tauhrelil to get you in. I can hardly show up for a training mission without my instructor. You can’t fly, I can’t port over. And that means our fastest way of getting there is…?” “The vacuum rail,” Asaau sighed. “Hey,” Virenina said cheerfully, “at least we’ll both hate it.” She turned once more to the door, stepped towards it – “Tauhrelil, wait.” Asaau felt almost guilty seeing Virenina’s frustrated, full-body twitch as she stopped in place yet again, but even so: “Your spear regalia,” he went on. “You won’t be unveiling it to the public until the finalists’ tournament. If we’re going anywhere, you should change first.” Asaau looked down at the long, layered skirts of his own distaff regalia. “We both should.” He turned to go – “Seket, wait.” Now it was Asaau’s turn to startle and stop. He could feel annoyance showing itself on his face as he turned to look at Virenina, and so he expected her to be grinning. Instead, she looked serious. “Bring dark lenses,” she told him. “Or a veil. Something to shield your eyes.” Asaau’s distaff regalia – what he wore for his public appearances, for his clients, for bloodless work – was yards of layered, trailing silk skirts in his family’s colors, cool violet and night-deep blue, with black and gold to round out the palette. He typically wore it with his knife, gold jewelry, and little else; in the Opaline City, with its rainforests and its bath-warm air, bare chests and skirts were the fashion for women and men alike. Now, though, he traded it for something more practical. Not his spear regalia, which belonged to the arena; instead Asaau chose a plain, dark durata silk shirt and pants, armored gloves, and grip-soled boots. Over the shirt went a vest lined with impact gel. Durata silk could easily stop a blade and would be armor enough for most of his body, but it would do little against crushing force. Should he fall, or worse… Asaau put the thought from his mind and went to meet Virenina, who, for her part, had changed into a plainer approximation of her spear regalia. She’d swapped out the dress for a sleeveless top, and the molded, blue-black armor marked with her family’s sigil for standard-issue chitin plate in a dull, dark grey. In place of her regalia’s full-leg boots, she wore a pair of normal combat boots, along with more standard plate over her calves and thighs. Ai Naa’s anchor hovered at her back, as always, its shining blade just visible behind Virenina’s head. Stepping off the vacuum rail and into the station, Asaau was glad he’d insisted they both change before going. Though night on the Ring was nearly as warm as in the Opaline City, Asaau felt a chill…but as he and Virenina left the rail station and entered the Third Satellite proper, Asaau realized that the chill had little and less to do with cold. From venule to vessel to bloodroyal, it was every noble house’s duty to cultivate beauty, to return their wealth to the world. The Third Satellite was overseen by House Tehariel, one of the seven vessel houses sworn to the Tauhrelil family…and yet, no matter how long he looked, Asaau’s eyes could find nothing in their surroundings to love. The lines of the buildings belonging to the Third Satellite were cleanly drawn, but relentless in their uniform straightness. Every surface was cut and ground to flat perfection. The lush, rain-jeweled colors of the Opaline City were gone, replaced by moon-white stone, bright naked metal, broad planes of flawless glass…and, underlying everything, the endless cold blue hum of the Ring’s luminous edge. Had the Ring been simply ugly, perhaps Asaau wouldn’t have found it so unsettling, but ugly was the wrong word; empty came closer. The Ring was bereft of adornment, lunar in its sterility, a place of pure purpose. It glowed against the night like a dead reef in a dark sea. The Ring was inhuman. Yes, and the Shattered Lands will be worse, Asaau told himself. Whatever awaited them beyond the Ring, lingering here wouldn’t make facing it any easier. He drew in a slow, silent breath, then turned to face Virenina. “Well?” “Atrium,” she said, and tilted her head: over there. Asaau’s gaze followed hers across the pale, empty courtyard, to a building that stood like an envoy before the rest. The two of them had barely started forward before its doors slid open, releasing a lone figure in black skirts and a white lab coat who approached them as quickly as dignity would allow. Asaau would have waited for them to close the distance, but Virenina had already begun walking again, clearly intending to meet them halfway. Asaau followed, if only to preserve the fiction that he and Virenina had planned this excursion together. With seven feet still between them, the other noble sank to one knee and raised her opposite hand in a single, smooth motion, eyes lowered. She had to have been from a vessel house; a venule would have gone to both knees, while bloodroyals knelt only to gods and fellow royalty. “Blood of my venarch,” the woman said to Virenina. “You honor us with your presence, yet we have failed to honor you in turn. We beg your forgiveness for this poorest of welcomes.” Asaau stood beside and just behind Virenina, waiting. Though the Third Satellite was overseen by House Tehariel, it belonged to House Tauhrelil…and Asaau was a Seket. For him to speak before Virenina here, in her own family’s domain, would have been a grave insult. “We should be asking your forgiveness,” Virenina said. “We didn’t exactly give you a warning.” Asaau bit back the urge to correct her; a bloodroyal had the right to survey her own territory whenever she pleased. Virenina took the woman’s upraised hand in one of her own and lifted it gently. “Rise, Lady Ilare. A greeting from the head of House Tehariel and Warden of the Third Satellite is more than enough honor on its own.” Part of Asaau wished he could have seen the mad scramble their arrival must have set off. Everyone! The bloodroyals are coming! Quick, send out the highest-ranking official we have! “You are too kind to this humble vessel,” said Ilare, even as she rose and finally met Virenina’s gaze with her own. Up close, she revealed herself to be a tall, spare woman with sun-starved olive skin, pale blue starspots, and a lean face animated by quick, dark eyes. Her hair, tied into a businesslike knot behind her head, looked as if it would gleam slate-blue under brighter light, the same way Virenina’s did teal, or Asaau’s violet. “I pray you will tell me if I might in any way assist you during your visit,” she went on. “Your word is my command.” “Words are exactly what I want,” said Virenina. “Where can we speak privately?” She took half a step back on the we, aligning herself with Asaau, and Ilare’s eyes slid over to him for the first time. The look in her eyes never wavered, but Asaau recognized a certain tension in the skin around them, and for a moment he almost pitied her. An unannounced visit from two bloodroyals, one of them her own venarch’s niece, would have taken years off anyone’s life. “Of course.” Ilare’s voice remained admirably steady. “My quarters are but a short distance from here. Please, this way.” Asaau didn’t know whether the walk to Ilare’s quarters felt so long because it was spent in silence, or because there was so little to see along the way. Despite their different shapes, every building still managed to look the same to him. The spaces between them should have overflowed with fountains and gardens; they should have glowed with lanterns and captive light. Instead, those emptinesses stood untouched. Something cold and heavy settled in Asaau’s stomach as he realized that, since they’d arrived at the Third Satellite, he hadn’t seen a single bird or bat or dragonet. Not even so much as an insect. He might have wondered why, but their surroundings were all the answer he needed: there was no place for them to live. Beside him, Virenina seemed unbothered. Asaau would have paid dearly to know what she was thinking. Was he letting himself fall victim to his own nerves, or did this place feel as wrong to her as it did to him? Maybe others could have guessed – people paired with greater spirits, able to cultivate the right powers – but, like most bonded spirits, Asaau’s hadn’t even been strong enough to survive pairing and earn a name, let alone fuel any abilities beyond human. Useless – Something nudged his side. Virenina’s elbow. She was offering him her arm; Asaau must not have been hiding his discomfort as well as he’d thought. It shamed him that she’d sensed his weakness, shamed him worse to acknowledge that weakness by taking her arm, but he found himself unable to refuse…and somehow, with his hands on her arm, it was easier to breathe. The night was sweltering, yet in that moment, Virenina felt like the last warm thing in the world. At last, Ilare brought them to a building that, even to Asaau, stood out from the rest – a three-sided, glass-striped column tall enough that anyone at the top would see all the Third Satellite spread out below, and a fair expanse of the Tauhrelil pillar lands besides. The tower faced them on a point; the broadest of its sides faced the Shattered Lands themselves. Only after Ilare had led them inside could Asaau finally let go of Virenina. The Satellite’s buildings turned out to be just as coldly designed on the inside as they were out, every bit as empty of life and color, but it was easier to bear indoors – perhaps because it didn’t threaten to send his mind spinning the way it had under the open sky. By the time they’d reached the uppermost floor of the tower, Asaau felt as if he’d regained control of himself. Below them he could see the whole of the Third Satellite, in all its pale desolation, but so too could he see the dark forests stretching far beyond it. Ilare’s quarters were at the back of the tower, along the side that faced out upon the Shattered Lands. The wall there was one great window, and as Ilare closed the door behind them, Virenina cut straight across the room to stand before it. Asaau joined her, and for a moment could do nothing but stare. No two stories could agree on how the Shattered Lands had come to be – only that they had existed since the time of living gods, when rivers ran red and stars fell as petals from the heavens. Some said the lands were a wound carved on the face of Tei Ura during the last battle between gods. To others, it had been only one god, the same one who had cracked Tei Ura’s moon in two. Still others said it had been no god at all – that it had been a meteor, a disease, a long-forgotten weapon. Asaau’s own family held that the Shattered Lands were the work of Ane’ai Ket, the cauldron from which he’d raised hosts of monsters and plagues, that he might seize the throne of the Many-Colored Palace from his sister Au Melai…but as Asaau looked down at the Shattered Lands, every story he’d heard of their origin fled his mind. None could ever have prepared him to look down and see. It was as if some divine fist had caved a pit into the world’s surface and set a fire inside, stoked it until the broken pieces within had twisted and melted together, and then finally sown fresh life atop the ruins. Great black tables and blocks of stone leaned this way and that; where their edges touched, they ran together like wax, tying the lands together in a dripping fretwork of stone arches. Greenery covered the stonetops like mountain snow, frothed and flowered down the sides, and spilled curtains of vines into empty air, down to the waters welling up between the worldshards like blood beneath a half-healed scab. Above the water, mountains split abruptly into crooked cliffs, which leaned drunkenly together into deep caverns, which reopened to the skies as canyons, which crumbled into islets, which amassed and arose from the waters as mountains… There were too many shapes; it was as if his brain were about to be sick. Land simply didn’t work that way. Asaau stopped trying to make sense of it before he could be sick in truth, looked over at Virenina instead, and was fully unsurprised to see her lone eye gleaming with excitement. That said, it seemed Asaau’s tolerance for looking at an expanse of land that defied all physical sense had run out at about the same time as Virenina’s tolerance for standing still and not talking. Already she was turning away from the window to face Ilare, whose smile told Asaau that their reactions were far from new to her. “Of course, I should have offered you both refreshment first,” she said, “but most visitors gravitate towards the view. I find it much ruder to interrupt a novel experience than to wait a few moments before offering tea, don’t you?” Asaau wasn’t certain he agreed – the choice between tea or sensory terror was, to him, an easy one – but Virenina looked as if she agreed enough for both of them. “We have no servants on the Ring,” Ilare went on, “so I’m afraid bottled drinks are all I can offer, but there is tea, at least – I have sunpeel, bluelace blend, dragonsblood – or water, if you would prefer. No alcohol, sadly…” More’s the pity, Asaau thought. “The bluelace, if you please,” he said. To his side, he heard Virenina ask for water. Ilare showed them to a broad glass table, then seated them beside one another and set their chosen drinks before them. Only after she’d made enough of a show of hospitality did Ilare finally sit down herself, facing them across the table with the Shattered Lands at her back. “My lady Virenina,” she said, and gave a brief, gentle bow of her head. “First Spear.” Asaau received a shallower nod. “What is it that brings you on such a sudden visit to the edge of the world? Forgive me for asking so gracelessly, but my curiosity is a torment.” She gave a small, drily helpless smile. “You wished to exchange words with me. I confess, it has become a shared desire.” “Seket.” Virenina turned to Asaau. “Indulge her, won’t you? Seeing as this was your idea.” It was your idea to pretend this was my idea. And Asaau had agreed to it – more fool him. Of course he understood why they’d agreed to do it this way – as the actual Spear and Virenina’s instructor, he had to be the one to actually propose this madness to Ilare – but really, Virenina was enjoying pretending to be the sane one far too much. “Do forgive me,” Asaau said, without returning Virenina’s look, “if I have some difficulty deciding where to start.” He folded his hands just so on his lap. “My lady. You are a busy woman, I know. Warden of the Third Satellite is a heavy title to bear. Though the role I play has little in common with yours, I know what it is to have lives hanging in the balance of one’s work. Pulling you away from yours is not something I do lightly.” Ilare looked on wordlessly as he spoke, her dark eyes shining with interest. Had their situation allowed it, Asaau might have smiled. Your curiosity torments you, does it? How kind of you to tell me so. “But a question for you first, if you would,” he went on. “How closely do you follow the selection cycle?” “The making of a new Spear affects all of Tei Ura,” Ilare replied. “I’d be a fool not to follow it as closely as time allows. Especially this cycle – ” At that, Ilare cut herself off and dropped her gaze. Asaau could guess exactly where she was trying not to look. “Go ahead. Say it.” Virenina leaned in towards Ilare. “No? That’s okay. I can say it for you.” Her grin was utterly mirthless. Light gleamed against the blades of her teeth. “Vene V Tauhrelil should have died on the Heavenfacing Court. Instead he murdered the Spear tasked with serving him mortal justice. That he managed to vanish afterwards is just salt in the fucking wound.” The curse fairly ripped its way out of her mouth. Asaau saw Ilare flinch. “My father’s actions will taint the name of House Tauhrelil for generations unless someone steps forward to purge the rot. Everyone knows what he did, Lady Ilare. I’m trying to set it right.” Asaau was almost horrified, until he saw what Virenina was really doing. Of course – a vessel who feared angering the blood of her venarch was a vessel who didn’t ask too many questions. Did you have any concerns about my candidate’s sincerity, Tehariel? About the nature of our mission? You’d best voice them carefully. “Forgive us, my lady. I’m sure you didn’t intend to stick your fingers into an open wound.” It was Asaau’s turn again, and he poured the words on like a salve, soothing and smoothing Ilare’s frayed nerves. “But it is that same wound that brings us here. Tauhrelil hopes to fill it by replacing the Spear her father took from us. Never has she given me cause to question the strength of her conviction, nor her aptitude for the red art…but I cannot yet declare her truly ready, even though the selection cycle’s final act is close at hand. If Tauhrelil wishes to restore her family’s honor, I must be certain she is not too much like…” Vene, he thought, and kept his face still and pleasant in spite of it. “Like her father,” he finished. “To do that,” Asaau went on, after the briefest of pauses, “I must see her in – well, in peril. I must see how she functions in the worst of circumstances, with no allies and no aid. Only then will I be able to see what she is truly made of.” “Of course,” Ilare said. Asaau watched her swallow faintly. “Of course. I believe I understand. You – you wish to test her in the Shattered Lands.” Her eyes met Asaau’s for half a heartbeat, even darted over to Virenina, as if hoping one of them would tell her she’d guessed wrong. “We ask a great deal, I know,” Asaau said. “Please believe me when I say that I have exhausted every other option. Regular training was never designed to push candidates to such extremes. The risk, you understand – to ensure their survival, we have always saved the worst of it for simulated training. However – ” He pressed his hands together. “Tauhrelil breaks the simulations.” “Breaks them,” Ilare repeated numbly. “That is, she’s broken the trial chamber,” Asaau said. “Not intentionally, and not even through any fault of her own, truly – but simulated training is meant to force a candidate to draw out their full potential, both in physical combat and, if one is capable, in channeling. Tauhrelil has tremendous raw ability as a channeler. Though it makes her a strong candidate in the selection cycle, it also means that she’s capable of channeling enough vaara to overload the chamber’s feedback circuit and cause a meltdown…and if Tauhrelil must restrain herself to avoid causing one, it defeats the entire purpose of simulated training. There is no place for restraint in a simulation, my lady. How can we truly test a candidate who still holds part of themselves back?” “Is there no place else you might go?” Ilare asked. “I mean no disrespect, please, but – the Valley of Teeth, the Whitestone Labyrinth, the ruins of Dimerinan – Tei Ura has no shortage of dangerous places, surely you could…” “I considered them all, and more,” Asaau replied, “but Tauhrelil suffers from teleportation sickness, and only the Shattered Lands may be reached by vacuum rail. The time it would take us to reach the others…the eye of the public is as ardent as it is fickle. Frivolous as such a concern may seem, the fact remains that disappearing now, as the selection cycle nears its peak, would be career suicide. Tauhrelil has given too much of herself in this for me to risk throwing away her hopes over such a careless mistake.” “There is no way you might – test her yourself, somehow? Or – or hire someone…?” I’ve just told you she can channel enough vaara to destroy a mechanism built expressly to contain it, Asaau thought, would you care to imagine what she can do to a human brain – but Virenina saved him the trouble of having to hold his tongue. “Your anchor is connected to you. With you all the time,” she said. “It might not be part of your body, but it’s part of you, right?” She drew the prayer spear from where it rested behind her, against the chairback. Asaau readied himself, fully expecting her to slam it to the ground, but Virenina brought it down quietly. I suppose she feels she’s already scared Ilare enough. “This is mine,” Virenina told Ilare, and tipped the blade gently sideways, set the rings beneath it chiming. “How can I fight with any other weapon, when I have one that’s a part of me? You might as well cut off my hand and stitch on someone else’s.” She relaxed her grip on the anchor, but kept it before her – leaned it back against her own shoulder, rested her cheek along its haft. “You heard the First Spear. No holding back, he said. No restraint. Hire someone? Fine, but we might have to pay their descendants reparations instead of them a wage – it’d be a miracle if I didn’t kill somebody.” That vicious challenge of a grin was long gone; now she was grave-somber. “I’m aiming to become Seventh Spear, Lady Ilare, not a murderer. I will not stain this blade with undeserving blood.” “Of course,” Ilare said, looking at her hands, and said nothing else for several long moments. At last, she looked up at them. “If you die,” she said quietly, “the venarch will kill me.” “Only if it comes as a nasty shock,” Virenina said. “Come to think of it – my lady aunt is the one backing my campaign, isn’t she?” She tapped a finger to her chin in mock-thoughtfulness. “I think my patron really should know if I’m doing something like this. Has the right, more like, after everything she’s done for me. Be awfully ungrateful of me if I died out there without even giving her the courtesy of an advance warning. Why don’t we call her right now? She’ll probably answer if she thinks it’s the head of House Tehariel.” Virenina was grinning again. “She’ll definitely answer once she knows it’s about me.” If you’re so certain Lady Virieh would approve, why didn’t we contact her first? One of these days, he and Virenina would need to have a serious talk about planning before acting. Another one. Perhaps it might actually sink in this time. Yes, he thought, and perhaps afterwards Au Melai will descend from the moon and bring you to the Many-Colored Palace herself. Ilare was looking at Virenina with something like horror – probably at the prospect of having to deal with three bloodroyals in one day – and Virenina was still talking. “Lady Ilare. If it’s royal retribution you’re afraid of, just let me talk to her.” She leaned past the shaft of her spear and pressed her gaze to Ilare’s. “Listen – even if I died in the Shattered Lands, it wouldn’t be your fault. I chose to go on this mission, and that’s nobody’s fault but mine. You know that. The First Spear knows it. I know it. Let me make sure our reigning venarch knows it, too. Otherwise, if anything happens, all she’ll know is that the last place anyone saw me alive was the Third Satellite.” Ilare blanched. “Exactly,” said Virenina. After one last moment of hesitation, Ilare raised her hand and waved it like a limp flag of surrender, drawing Asaau’s eyes for the first time to the ceiling-mounted luxtruder glinting overhead. He hadn’t noticed it till now simply because its presence was scarcely more noteworthy than the ceiling itself. Captive light was the Ilisaf family’s gift to the world, used near everywhere on Tei Ura, and devices to control and shape it were plentiful as threads in a tapestry. “Open communications,” Ilare said weakly to the machine above. The luxtruder pressed out a bright, blank panel of light and floated it down to them. “Ilare the sixth, head of House Tehariel, first among Key-Bearers and Warden of the Third Satellite, requests an audience with.” She swallowed. “With Her Wisdom Virieh, sixth of her name. Venarch of House Tauhrelil and all bloodlines suppliant, Sage of the Red Chambers, Lady Regnant of the Nightglass Tower and Keeper of the Deepest Vault.”

#writing #fantasy #science fantasy #ocs #original fiction #tei ura #my writing #reblogs appreciated ♥ !#the edge of the world is a cold blue ring #virenina ii tauhrelil #asaau iv seket #ilare vi tehariel

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