Fragmented Perspectives

It was late by the time they returned to Pruzonia, the sun in the kingdom dipping low behind the trees in time with the one back in Springfield. And everyone was drained. Kiera and Teri both fell asleep the moment they had gotten into their cars once talks with the Order and the Baz clan had drawn to a close and were still out of it when they reached home.

Not that home was calmer. The long time away had caused some of Teri’s friends to gather at the entrance and Gryit was quick to jump at them when they came through.

“We really need to have Teri give us some language lessons,” John muttered as Gryit accosted him as he had taken it upon himself to carry Teri. Even with the language barrier, he could tell she was concerned with Teri’s well being.

Carefully, John passed Teri off to her clan members, vaguely recognizing them as the ones that had come to help when Bill had ambushed him and Brenda. Then he turned his attention to Gryit. The lean goblin was staring at him with an expectant look, like she was waiting for him to debrief her.

“There was a fight,” John said slowly, miming with his hands up and balled into fists. “We won. No harm, just tired.”

A thumbs up, followed by leaning his head against his hands like he was resting seemed to get across what had happened. Still, she looked a bit miffed even as they began to head to the village.

“You did well there,” Verida said as she approached the group. She looked as worn out as any of them, a clear sign that her manifestation translated strain back to her body. “I think she got the idea.”

“If we could get like one week without some major thing happening, I’m sure I could pick up conversational Goblin,” John remarked before turning back to everyone else. “Okay, I know this is going to sound crazy, but we need to talk.”

“You are crazy,” Aeolia flatly said. “After all that back and forth with the Order, you still want more talking?”

“Do you want them to just steamroll us and do everything?” John asked.

“Fuck no. What’s the plan?” Aeolia asked, a vicious grin on her face.

“I’m curious about that,” Vivian interjected. “I’m all for not having to rely on the Order or the Baz, but it’s not like we have much to go on.”

“You did give the Order that bit of metal,” Beth added.

At that Senka let out a laugh. “And he played them well.”

“I’ve got another nine we can use,” John revealed. “Enough to use to try and track down this demi-goddess, or at least the person she’s chosen as her herald.”

“You lied to them?” Verida asked, then her expression turned pensive. “No, you just never said how many you received.”

“Pretty sneaky,” Estelle chimed in.

“I’m not sure if being sneaky is a good idea, but I can’t say that being too dependent on the Order is a great idea either,” Vivian said. “And they didn’t press on how many you got.”

“I kind of feel bad about leaving the dwarves out of it,” Anita spoke up. “It’s kind of their people’s thing, right?”

“Yeah, it’s not great that we’re leaving them in the dark,” John admitted. “But I don’t know if letting them know we can try to work independently from the Order could come back to bite us in the ass. Us working on our own gives them the chance to keep working with the Order without having suspicion on them. They’re the ones this Forge guy is after.”

“We could frame things as us finding an alternative method,” Estelle put forward. “Might be hard to do, but it could give us enough deniability that we pulled a fast one on the Order.”

“I think we’re putting the cart before the horse here,” Vivian cautioned. “I think we need to ask ourselves if trying to find a way to use the shards to find this scion is a good use of our limited time and resources. Let’s be honest here, the Order has the resources to spare.”

“They still missed Phantom Reach doing all their killings,” Aeolia interjected. “If we hadn’t given them the tip, they’d still be in the dark.”

“Yes, but now they are aware. Their seer did get a vision at the time of the attack,” Vivian countered.

“During, not before,” Estelle chimed in. “I’m all for believing the Order can pull off the search, and they already are on the path to finding the one Rowan’s connected to. Splitting their focus between both probably isn’t going to make them work faster.”

“And we have no way of knowing if whatever is hiding the use of these powers from us is going to muck things up,” John added. “Given what Gep’Kes Ani said, it might be another member of that group, using their power to keep the whole charade from everyone else.”

“Many hands make light work,” Senka counseled. “If we’re working on it at the same time the Order, Martius, Harker and Lynn are as well, it increases the odds we can make contact.”

“Better to ask forgiveness than permission,” John said. “I don’t think we’re in the position to keep whatever we manage to find to ourselves. We definitely don’t have the ability to go and look for them if they aren’t in the general area.”

“So we give it a shot, and if we get a hit, we bring it to the Order and clan and go from there,” Beth said with a shrug. “Works for me.”

Vivian shook her head. “Going behind our partners’ backs is not something we should get into the habit of doing, even if it’s the smart move. Okay, now, how do we do this?”

“I think we need to rest up first,” Estelle put forth. “We’re all a bit ragged, and Kiera might have insights given her repeated mantling of someone connected to the Forge.”

“Probably is best to tackle this with clear heads,” John said. “I’m sure you’re one spell array away from chucking things into a fire.”

“I can’t say I wouldn’t do something rash,” Vivian admitted, her cheeks gaining a faint blush.

Everyone laughed a bit, but the sentiment of being done with the day was one shared by all. They lingered for a bit, casual conversation about anything that didn’t relate to the events of the day peppered between safe and comfortable silence. But after not much time, sleep claimed all of them.

Kiera was falling. Or sinking. It was a bit hard to tell. There was no water or other material she was moving through, yet her movement was slow. At first, there was only the sound of her breathing and heartbeat, then sounds began to slowly creep in. The crackling of flames, the striking of hammers, the heavy footfalls of armored boots. In an instant, Kiera knew where those sounds came from, recollection from her repeated mantling of the woman commanding the ash golems ingrained into her.

It was odd, as usually faint echos from the people she changed into would fade quickly. Her magic wasn’t mind reading; she could not put those sounds to prior events, but the feelings, the emotions were coming through. Emotions of fear and rage along with sensations of burning pain began to run through her, unseen hardships playing back through her.

But something more had changed. This wasn’t dim echoes playing back. This was new; a faint and tenuous connection stretched through the Abyss. In a way, it reminded her of when Harker had connected to her. But now in reverse and far more unstable.

“Please,” a woman’s voice rang out, one Kiera knew to be Rita’s, “please. Let me right my wrongs!”

“And how do you intend to do so?” a rough, old male voice asked. It was like gravel against Kiera’s ears.

“I will chase them down!” Rita cried out. “I will burn them to cinders and bring the ashes to the Forge to fuel its glorious flames!”

The ancient voice hummed in thought, and Kiera could feel the tension rising from Rita.

‘Is this what Teri feels all the time?’ she wondered as the silence stretched on.

“I think that’s a path you can walk,” the man said ominously. “Know it will be a path of the sole spark. If you falter, you will fade into the darkness alone.”

“I will not let you down, my lord!” Rita exclaimed, zeal burning in her voice.

“There is one thing I require of you. A token for you to carry that will help to focus your mind on the task.”

Silence fell, then a scream of pain and burning heat assailed Kiera’s eyes. And she woke with a start. Her breaths came in pants as she shot up in the bed she had been laid in. Night had long since fallen, the calm night in Purzonia quiet save for the soft hum of insects and even softer breathes of everyone else deep asleep.

Almost everyone, she mentally corrected as Verida reached out to her.

‘Kiera?’ the goddess asked in a sleepy voice. ‘Is everything alright?'

‘I don’t know,’ Kiera answered. ‘I think I had a dream. Or, more like some of Rita’s memories bled over to me. She wants to find and kill us. And I think some leader did something to her. It’s kind of getting hazy. There was pain and fire.’

‘Don’t force yourself to remember,’ Verida counseled. ‘It’s enough to know they aren’t going to relent on attacking us. Gives us the knowledge that we need to prepare.’

Verida then let the early discussions filter to Kiera. How her experience with Rita’s aura might be a way for them to track down the demigoddess of the Forge.

‘I think I can help with that,’ Kiera thought after a few moments of reflection. ‘I might not have Rita’s aura, but I remember how it felt. I might be able to help tune the thing.’

‘I believe that was the idea,’ Verida remarked. ‘But that is work for later. Now, we have to rest. Today was too long.’

Kiera felt Verida’s presence grow, the sensation of warm and caring arms cocooning her. The comfort of the phantom cuddle was almost as good as the real thing and Kiera found herself drifting back into a dreamless sleep.

The meeting space was as cold as ever. There was no need for warmth when it was all in the mind. Roltin Shan still marveled at the construction of the mental plane, even if it was simply a black void lit only by the light of his mental projection, a dim red flame. But that was to be expected when it was anchored by the Pillars, kept in place with only a small cost of power. It was worth the loss in order to keep the peace between them after Dantioch was forced to seal that impulsive elf Gylsen away.

“I knew I should have pressed to keep the key,” he muttered as he went through the ritual to call his counterparts. “This whole mess wouldn’t have happened if Dantioch hadn’t given the sword to some vassal to keep safe.”

“Considering, at the time, I believe you were advocating using its connection to Gylsen’s Pillar to syphon its power back to us, I think in the long run, we were better served,” a drawling, condescending voice filled the space, along with a faint green light.

“Would that have been worse than some infant running around, spilling blood and threatening the balance, Volodimeru?” Shan asked.

“You know if the power flowed, then greed and envy would have slowly eroded our concert,” Volodimeru said. “Can you say that you’d trust some of our party’s heirs with more power?”

“They were fools to cling to their mortality,” Shan answered venomously. “The power could extend even someone with the weakest magic to live for millennia, and they squandered it.”

“Some aren’t meant to burn as long as we have,” Volodimeru remarked. “Can you imagine if Tashe was still with us? Or Gel-Ocea? Their minds just weren’t fit for more than a few centuries. We should count ourselves lucky that their heirs have been competent enough to not break things too badly.”

“High praise from the vampire lord,” a smooth voice joined the chorus, accompanied by an orange glow.

“Viktor, you know you’re the least disagreeable of your generation,” Volodimeru said. “Your business is doing quite well, is it not?”

“I’d rather not talk shop,” Viktor answered. “If you’re summoning us, then something large must be happening.”

“I’m sure it’ll be quite the surprise,” Volodimeru said. “As much as it being you, Roltin, to call it. Find some odd sharp in a bit of metal?”

Shan growled. “If you must know, my followers enacted an attack against a splinter faction of our enemies. But found themselves set against some interesting foes. Ones that upon closer inspection, bear the taint of Dantioch’s magic. I’d recognise it anywhere, and even another thousand years from now, I would.”

“And you think his sword is out in the wild, making problems,” Volodimeru added.

“You’ve felt the Sleeping being more active as of late,” Shan said. “And I doubt our actions are the cause.”

“You know I prefer discretion,” Viktor remarked. “But I wouldn’t put it past our missing pair to rock the boat.”

“Well, you know what they say,” a slinking, velvety smooth voice spoke up in time with a violet light filling part of the void. “‘If the boat’s a rocking, don’t come a knocking’. But my boys and girls haven’t been doing much beyond their own abilities recently, so don’t go blaming us for things going, hmm, pear shaped. What has happened anyway?”

“Dantioch’s key is likely being used, Carmine,” Shan curtly answered. “Used in ways that the Sleeping had to obscure. My acolytes encountered some who were touched by it.”

“Sounds like it's time for some fun then,” Carmine purred, his voice dipping low with desire. “Can’t have something like that running around without someone, hmm, responsible keeping an eye on it.”

“And you think that’s you?” Volodimeru asked, amused.

“It can be a group effort, darling,” Carmine said. “I wouldn’t mind getting a crack at that dark and brooding exterior of yours. Or maybe work on thawing that chilly lieutenant of yours.”

“Please restrain your vices for a moment,” a dull voice accompanied by even duller off-white light interjected.

“Like you’re one to talk, Ichiko,” Viktor said. “You drain some poor salary man of his apathy for this persona?”

“It is my prerogative to wear the right costume for the occasion,” Ichiko flatly answered, the lack of emotion in her voice ever suppressing her accent. “It is rare for all of us to be assembled.”

“Indeed it is. We need to reach a consensus on what to do about this breach of our secrecy,” Shan said in an authoritative tone. “Any suggestions?”

Author's Note: I will be taking a three week break. Next Chapter to be released August 7th.