by Turtle Me
“We did have some additional entertainment lined up for you today, but—well—I can see how anxious you all are to find out why we’re gathered here, so… um… why don’t we skip straight to the announcement, eh?”
In the utter silence that followed this statement, the only voice to be heard was Tedry’s as he cursed. A few of the guards glanced our way, some grinning, others scowling, but it was Murtaeg’s murderous glare that made Tedry turn white as a sheet.
“Without—without further adieu, it is my privilege and honor to introduce the mighty retainer, Nico, who has just returned after a trip back to Alacrya with Princess Tessia Eralith of Elenoir.” The lord and lady Milview bowed and waved to the crowd, then stepped back out of view as two other figures walked out onto the balcony.
A cry went up from the elves standing in front of the stage as they saw Tessia.
She looked… stunning. Her silvery hair had been gathered up so that it fanned out behind her head like the tail of a peacock. Dark lines had been painted around her eyes and her lips were vibrantly red. She wore tight-fitting battle robes made of elegant silver plating and an emerald fabric that ran like liquid around her body and glinted like dragon scales.
Faintly glowing runic tattoos were visible on the back of her neck, and from the subtle glow of her arms under the battle robes, I guessed there were more there as well.
My mind felt blank and empty, my thoughts replaced by a swarm of buzzing fire wasps between my ears. I hadn’t really known what to expect, but seeing Tessia waving and smiling warmly down at her enslaved people, dressed like a warrior princess, certainly hadn’t been it.
And what were the tattoos? Something to suppress her mana, or control her somehow? I had no clue. I was having a hard time thinking at all… Should I rush toward the building and activate the medallion? I could take the elves and Tessia, but would I survive long enough to escape? Kathyln had somehow avoided teleporting Bilal with them, but was that intention or luck?
Now that I had her in sight, I realized I couldn’t hope to get away with her, at least not right there, surrounded by enemy mages…
Elijah—or Nico, as Silas Milview had called him—held up a hand, and the elves went quiet. The reaction from the Alacryans had been muted at best as they waited to hear what Elijah had to say.
“Today I speak to both my people of Alacrya and those of Dicathen. I speak to you as a child of both continents! Though I was born in the Central Dominion of Alacrya, I was raised and schooled in Dicathen alongside your people, including Princess Tessia Eralith of Elenoir, daughter of the late Alduin and Merial Eralith.”
A whimper went through the elves as Elijah said the late king’s and queen’s names.
Tessia stepped up, and Elijah wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close.
I stared at Tessia in shock, expecting at least a smidgen of anger or disgust to leak onto her face. But what I saw was a worried—yet genuine—smile.
Elijah continued. “Today is a new day. The war is over, and our two continents are made one in service of the Vritra. The High Sovereign wishes only that we put aside the animosity of our past and unite together under a banner of peace.”
A handful of polite applause came from the bleachers, but the elves were entirely silent. Most were staring at Tessia with the same confusion and betrayal I felt.
“Now, please give your attention to Princess Tessia.”
Tessia stepped to the front of the balcony. Her steps seemed shaky, and she quickly steadied herself by grabbing the railing. Despite her beautiful clothes and makeup, I could see the dark shadows around her eyes, the sunken, sharp edges of her cheeks.
What happened, Tessia? What did he do to you?
“My—my people,” she said, her voice trembling slightly. She shot a quick glance back, but continued after an encouraging nod from Elijah. “I know you are frightened, but I want you to know that—that I will always, that I have always, stood between you and the darkness. Don’t lose hope. Please listen to my words.
“I stand before you today to announce that I…” She hesitated again, her eyes flickering through the audience.
This time Elijah moved closer to her and rested a hand on her back. She stood a little straighter. “I, Tessia Eralith, last remaining member of the royal family… have ceded the right to rulership of E-Elenoir”—gasps rose up from the huddled bunch of elves—“and sworn fealty to the High Sovereign of Alacrya… legally giving him supreme authority over all lands once belonging to—to the race of elves.”
“No!” an elven slave called out.
“It can’t be true!” begged another.
“Traitor!” howled a third.
This outcry lasted several seconds before the guards stepped in and made threatening motions with their weapons, causing the elves to be silent.
Tessia seemed to lean into Elijah before continuing. “I have done this in exchange for your very lives.” My friend, though I could barely recognize her as such, smiled weakly down on the crowd. “You will be released immediately… and sent from this place to search out your friends and family… wherever they may be.”
Now it was the Alacryans who stirred while the elves stood silent and stunned.
“All elves will be freed and… and offered a place alongside the Alacryan people… as partners in a new world.” Tessia stopped for a moment, and Elijah leaned forward to whisper something in her ear. “We will no longer be looked upon as a lesser race, a-afraid to travel our own borders.”
I was shaking my head, unable to believe what I was hearing. The humans of Dicathen hadn’t always treated elves well, and some places in Sapin had still allowed slavery, but humans and elves weren’t at war. We hadn’t murdered the elven king and queen and put their corpses on display!
My fists were clenched as I glared up at Tessia, and for a brief moment, I swore I thought our eyes locked. There was no sign of recognition in her weary turquoise eyes.
She just didn’t recognize me in my disguise, I told myself through gritted teeth.
I almost wanted to rip off my hat and let loose my hair, but I didn’t budge.
No, I couldn’t… none of us could. Everyone present was frozen, eyes wide in fear as a pressure unlike anything I’d ever felt gripped every inch of my body.
Elijah and Tessia, along with some of the other Alacryan mages, were staring upwards, completely silent.
Something was coming.
325
Intervention
ARTHUR LEYWIN
It felt like the ascent had taken us ages. So much had happened within the three zones that, when the sanctuary came into view on the other side of the portal, I couldn’t help but smile with relief.
Even though I would be going back out into the very continent that Agrona ruled, at this moment, anything was better than the snowy wasteland.
“We really did it,” Caera whispered with a trembling smile as we exchanged glances.
The two of us quickly gathered up our belongings. I was storing them in my dimension rune when a sharp tingle spread from my right arm.
‘What was that?’ Regis asked.
I stared at the intricate rune carved on the underside of my forearm. I’m not sure.
“Is everything okay?” Caera’s scarlet eyes were laced with concern as she stood by the portal.
“Yeah.” Squeezing in the last of our scarce belongings, I headed back toward the portal to stand beside her.
I looked around one last time, realizing that I might never see Three Steps again. She was the only reason this ascent had been truly worth it. Her teachings and the improvements to God Step I had made with her guidance were worth more to me than every one of the Spear Beaks’ treasures combined.
Letting out a sigh, I turned back to the glowing portal. “Let’s get out of here.”
Caera grabbed onto my sleeve as we stepped forward, even though we both had a simulet, just to make sure we wouldn’t be separated.
Our short step through the shimmering portal felt anticlimactic. The sparkling white interior of the small room greeted us with a warmth that was almost uncomfortable after days of weathering below freezing temperatures. There was a sterile smell to the space, as if it had been recently cleaned.
A round pool dominated the center of the room and a low white bed rested against one wall. Past the bed, there was a closed door that undoubtedly would lead deeper through the Relictombs. The main feature of the room, however, was the second portal that took up most of the wall to my left.
While distorted from the water-like movement of the portal window, I could make out the second level of the Relictombs on the other side, the very floor where Caera and I had begun, alongside the Granbehls.
There were an unusual number of moving figures gathered in the plaza beyond the portal, but my attention landed back on my right forearm, where my dimension rune was burning against my skin like hot iron.
The once-dead relic that I had acquired from the old man that taught at Stormcove Academy practically leapt from the dimension rune into my hand. Its cloudy white surface was glowing visibly and emitting probing filaments of aether.
‘What the shit?’ Regis blurted, summarizing my own reaction as well.
“Grey… something’s wrong,” Caera said, her voice sounding from the portal leading back outside.
But my eyes were glued to the glowing crystal in my hand. The violet tendrils were coiling around my arm, and I felt a pressure… an insistent tugging from the relic.
“Just a second,” I muttered absently as the feeling grew stronger.
Caera’s voice carried a rare edge of panic as she said, “No, really, Grey, I think those are the—”
Reaching out with my own aether, I probed the relic, causing the countless tendrils of violet energy to intertwine with my own. My vision blurred except for the crystal.
At that moment, a single question, in a voice that was strange and distant and hauntingly familiar, rose to the surface of my consciousness.
‘Who do you most desire to see?’
With a single thought that carried the emotions and memories I had held on to for years, my vision plunged downward into the crystal’s many smooth facets.
A wide expanse of velvet clouds rolled by in the sky beneath me. Even as the clouds drew closer, I felt no movement, no cool wind rushing across my skin or whistling in my ears. All I felt was a sense of vertigo at the suddenness of the transition.
The clouds rippled apart so that I was staring down at blue water marred only by the occasional white crest of a wave. The ocean gave way to a shoreline, but the ground went by so quickly I couldn’t tell where I was until all I could see was a forest from horizon to horizon.
Elenoir, I realized. Why am I seeing the elven homeland?
My vision seemed to zoom into the forest, magnifying it until I could make out a small village surrounded by a ring of clear-cut trees.
I didn’t even have time to question the clearing of the magical forest, something the elves would never allow, before my vision settled on a crowd of people in front of a large wooden building. From their dress, it was obvious that these were all Alacryans, except for a group of dirty, half-starved elves who had been pushed to the front of the crowd and were surrounded by guards.
My attention was forcefully drawn to three young student-soldiers. Two of the boys were whispering back and forth and nudging each other, but the third was facing the Alacryan nobles ahead.
It was only when that third boy looked up that I was able to see under his visor.
That’s when I realized he wasn’t a “he” at all.
It was Ellie.
A flurry of emotions stirred within me as I saw her serious, matured expression: confusion and fear as to why she was there, dressed like that, heartache from seeing her sunken cheeks and hollow gaze, and overwhelming relief just from knowing that she was still alive.
But what exactly was I seeing? When exactly was I seeing? Aside from the fact that it had reacted to the energy within the keystone, I had no idea what the relic was or what it did.
The timeline was definitely after I was defeated, that much was clear. Beyond that, I had no idea if what I was seeing was happening now, had happened already, or was going to happen in the future.
Ellie was gazing up at something, and I followed her attention to a small balcony. Elijah—or Nico—was standing next to Tess. The vision I was seeing refocused on Tess as I became captivated by how she looked… and by the runes that lined her fair skin.
What had happened to her? What was she doing there? Why was she standing next to Nico? And why was my sister dressed like an Alacryan soldier?
What the hell is happening in Dicathen?
Nico’s entire body went tense and he rose suddenly from the balcony, flying up into the air and out of sight of the vision. Only when Ellie turned to look was I able to redirect the relic-vision’s focus to the sky behind the village.
The air was warped, rippling like melting glass. Though I couldn’t hear anything, Ellie’s face scrunched into a wince and she covered her ears with her hands, telling me some kind of tremendous noise was resounding through the village.
The air shimmered, bulged out, and burst, leaving a black scar in the bright blue sky. A portal.
Through the portal floated two familiar figures.
The three-eyed asura, Lord Aldir, came first. Gleaming silver armor covered most of his body, and he wore a helm over his white hair that left a gap for the third eye.
Behind him was Windsom. The asura was entirely unchanged from when I had first met him. His short, platinum hair was carefully swept to the side, his deep-set eyes gazing nobly from under permanently furrowed brows.
Unlike Aldir, Windsom had not come dressed for battle, but instead wore a simple military-style uniform denoting him as a servant of the Indrath clan.
Nico flew upward toward the asuras, and I wished that I could hear what was happening as he exchanged words with Aldir. Nico sneered, but the asuras were expressionless as they responded.
Their words made Nico go even paler than usual, and he drifted back several feet from Aldir and Windsom.
It was only then that I realized Tess had flown up from the balcony as well. She hovered awkwardly next to Nico, apparently having difficulty maintaining the flight, but the unsure expression she’d worn earlier was gone, replaced by something steel-hard and impossibly self-assured.
The expression was very unlike my childhood friend, yet oddly familiar.
Windsom shook his head in response to whatever she’d said, then held out his hands, which suddenly gripped a long silver spear. Almost as quickly, Tess’s sword-staff was out, and Nico’s fists were gauntleted in black hellfire.
Fear curdled deep in my stomach. No!
The asuras of Epheotus couldn’t attack Agrona’s forces in Dicathen. The only reason either side had agreed to any sort of truce, even as ineffective as it had been, was because the alternative would be the destruction of this world.
Nico and Tess were no match for an asura like Windsom, much less two asuras together, but the fallout from the battle would almost certainly destroy the entire town, maybe even more.
And considering what I’d learned about Clan Indrath in the Relictombs, I doubted the asuras would be mindful of the lessers below.
How many elves would die if they fought now?
Would my sister survive?
Why were they there?
This direct intervention was against the terms Lord Indrath had established with Agrona. After their failed assault on the Vritra, the asuras of Epheotus weren’t even allowed to contact Dicathen’s defenders. Breaking that truce—ineffective as it had been—could mean all out war between the Vritra and the rest of the asuran clans.
If the asuras went to war against each other, the entire continent would be destroyed…
And all I could do was watch f
rom the other side of the world.
I could feel my heart pound even in this disembodied state.
Windsom hardly moved, just a short, sudden cut of his spear, so fast the eye couldn’t follow. The shockwave carved a mile-long trench in the forest to either side of the village, sending up a cloud of dust that darkened the forest for as far as the eye could see.
A shimmering sphere of dark spikes surrounded Nico and Tess. Though the shield shattered and fell to pieces before dissolving, it had saved them from the attack, and not only them. Below, the village and clearing around it were untouched.
Ellie!
As I thought about her, my perspective shifted so I could see her again.
Ellie was frozen, rooted to the spot, just like the rest of the crowd. The full force of the asuras’ presence had been unleashed, and it was crushing them.
Run! Get out of here! I tried flailing my arms and yelling, anything to get my sister’s attention, but she couldn’t see or hear me.
My mind whirled with the options Ellie had available at hand. Even though I couldn’t do anything, she wasn’t without hope.
It was doubtful she’d be able to get far enough away to escape the battle even if she ran, but she might have one of the djinn’s medallions. Better yet, the phoenix wyrm pendant that I had given her might still be intact.
As fast as my mind searched for hope, doubt trickled in as well. Would Ellie even be able to use the medallion under the asura’s pressure? Even if she had the pendant, would it be enough to save her against the power of an asura?
Through gritted teeth and the sound of my own pounding heart, I forced myself to look back up at the battle.
Behind Windsom, Aldir had closed his eyes—except for the third eye, which never closed—and had his hands held out in front of him so they intertwined in a complicated gesture.
The very light bent around him as he coalesced power. I could see raw mana being channeled in through the ring he’d made with his fingers, up his arms, and into his third eye.
Nico responded to Windsom’s attack with a barrage of black spikes. They flew from his hands like javelins, each one unerring. I could hardly track the asura’s spear as he deflected one after another, his motions so fast and precise that he hardly seemed to move.
