Crumbling Amid Ashes

2nd of Camince, 1485
 
I feel numb as I write this… Even as I sit here in Kurvajai, Egig Ero Fa is burning. By the hand of our own prince. I just returned from Alcarin, and I feel as though I’m in shock. The only way that I think I’ll even begin to make sense of this mess is if I recount everything that happened from the dinner last night. Yes… that will be best…
 
Apparently it is customary in these lands for men and women to have separate sleeping quarters… and not even within the same building. Odd, but the sentiment isn’t unwelcome either. I appreciate not having to listen to Inira and Dekar late into the night when I’m trying to meditate. I’m sure Inira is capable of at least dampening the sound around them, but… they are young, and their love is new. I suppose I shouldn’t begrudge them the solace they find in each other.
 
We got settled into our guest quarters, it was fairly comfortable. Secilia was looking at herself in the mirror and inspecting the new scars that seem to be linked to the humiliations that she is going through. I don’t think that she comprehends the level of things to come, she is pursuing a fool’s hope, and one surrounded by ill portents.
 
As we were talking, the sound of booted footsteps approached the tent. I called out, and the sound of a man clearing his throat was on the other side. Rhaego had come, asking for entrance to speak with Secilia. I allowed him to enter and he asked Secilia if she would to walk under the stars and speak with him. I tried to convince her to go, “if he’s anything like his cousin,” I whispered to her, “you should to speak with him.”
 
I was disappointed to hear her retreating footsteps as she ran out the back of the tent. Rhaego’s face fell and he explained that his intentions were entirely honest, he simply wanted to get to know her. I told him that I do not think Secilia has ever encountered a man with honest intentions before. I could see that he understood what I had left unspoken by the expression on his face. Shortly thereafter, he left.
 
The mood in the tent was rather subdued after that, not that we had been particularly celebratory beforehand. The quiet was interrupted a short time later by Secilia’s scream in the night. I ran outside, just in time to catch the sight of Grimaldus cradling his grandmother’s body as he was frantically chanting a spell. Secilia too was there, kneeling beside them, her hands pressed to the old woman’s body, light emanating from her hands as she aided Grimaldus’ attempts to heal his grandmother. Finally, thankfully, the elderly woman seemed stabilized. Rhaego came running up and Grimaldus informed him of what had just happened. Apparently a man disguised as Grimaldus approached the woman and spoke with her before sinking a poisoned dagger into her stomach.
 
Hasim listened to Secilia’s account (for she saw the whole thing), and then told us that it must have been the same man who had set him up in the past, the same man who orchestrated the death of Hasim’s wife and their mutual crucifixion upon the tree of woe, where Secilia had found him. He warned that this man was hunting Grimaldus, that a hit must have been taken out on him. And, Hasim continued, unlike most assassins, who will simply focus on and eliminate their target, this man would instead target everyone that Grimaldus cared about, hence the attack on his grandmother.
 
As Grimaldus, Hasim and Rhaego were talking, Inira approached and asked to speak with me in private. She hasn’t really spoken to me much since I shouted at her several days ago in Hatholdir’s camp, so I wasn’t sure what she wanted – especially when she asked if I had any spells that could ensure the privacy of our conversation.
 
I asked her what could possibly be so important that she was asking me to break the sacred laws of Kurvajai, those that don’t allow magic. (I’m sure an exception was made in the case of Grimaldus and Secilia healing his grandmother because of the violation of the attack itself.)
Inira asked me what we are going to do about the dragon, and if I think we will get what we are seeking from the djinn. I told her of course not, I’m not expecting to get anything we actually want from the djinn.
 
Apparently I said something that Inira didn’t like, because her tone was harsh when she asked what I think she’s trying to do.
She really didn’t like it when I told her I don’t know, and I asked her in return what it is that she is actually trying to do... she claims she is trying to help the world.
I don’t see it though… and I feel like there is a rift between us, we have never been close friends, but I do care for her, and with each bitten word, it feels as though the rift is breaking into a chasm.
 
Inira asked what I think she spoke about with the axiomyte. I told her that I have no idea, as I wasn’t there to hear it.
She started talking about the world is dying and the wheel is broken and there are parasites on it. Honestly, I didn’t pay that close attention to the particulars of what she was saying, she kept going on about there being parasites on the wheel. Then she said that her conversation with the axiomyte had revealed that one of the missing links is that there is no judge of the dead.
 
“What if I became judge of the dead and filled the hole?” She asked me, her eyes burning with fanatic intensity.
 
As I stood there, listening to her, and watching the intense expression on her face, it struck me… she has no idea that this would very likely put her in direct opposition with Dekar… is she prepared to deal with the fallout from that?
“Do you actually grasp what you’re saying?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t be myself anymore.” Inira acknowledged with a nod. “But it would fill the hole.”
“Are you willing to kill Dekar for it?” I asked bluntly. When she made no response, I continued. “Only one can sit on the throne.” She looked shocked. “Something you might want to think about…” I told her.
 
“I would sacrifice myself.” Inira told me. “But not any of you… I am disposable, none of you are.” Then she walked away.
 
Why can’t she see it? Does she not see the destruction that her path is going to lead her to? She is going to lose herself, lose everyone she loves, if she continues down the path of this goal. I could almost see it, see her and Dekar standing before a throne, both poised to fight the other for what they consider to be the best course of action, but neither having the foresight to grasp that this is a repeating cycle that they will not break unless they do something different… such an opportunity of power could drive someone mad… if they even make it that far…
 
As those thoughts milled about my mind, a sharp pain stabbed me in the temple, and I could smell ozone in the air. I saw a long, feathered cloak in my mind, and I heard a snippet of conversation in Elvish and Wakamatsu. They say “It’s there. If you’re not going to take it, someone else will.” I saw the woman with the feathered cloak walk away, and Princess Anastasia, standing there looking bewildered as she spoke with the witch of the east. The headache passed, and with it, the vision of someone else’s memory.
 
I decided that I would go home this night. I was talking to Meriwald, and he agreed that it would be best for me to go seek an audience with Prince Oberon to try and discern anything about the staff fragments, and see if there’s anything I can learn to help with the Princess’ afflicted state.
 
As I was talking with Meriwald, Hasim approached, asking me if I wanted to try and scry on the assassin. “When she gets back.” Meriwald informed him, completely forgetting that Hasim does not speak Elvish. “We have business.” Then, when he finally remembered that Hasim couldn’t understand him, he began taunting him, until I made him stop and told Hasim that I would be back by the morning.
 

- - - -

Meriwald and I arrived in Alcarin at the teleportation circle nearest to the palace. Everything was uncannily still, as though the forest itself knew there was something wrong and the air was issuing a warning. Yellow leaves fell from the many birch trees, for it was the beginning of autumn here. The leaves tossed about by the gentle breeze only fueled the uncomfortable melancholy.
 
I approached the palace, and after a brief conversation with one of the guards, was granted a short audience with the Prince. I was surprised to be granted near immediate entry. It seems as though no one has been allowed to speak with him, save for those who may have solutions to the Princess’ situation.
 
As I enter the throne room, Prince Oberon looked up from where he sat in his chair. The princess’ seat remained painfully empty beside him. It was the first time I’ve ever met the prince in person, as all of my dealings with our royalty in the past have been through Anastasia. The throne room was completely empty of guards. Even now, after speaking with him, I am not sure if it was because of his situation and melancholic lack of care, or if it was a testament to his supreme self confidence. Either way, I was grateful for the privacy, for the things that I planned to discuss were best kept away from prying ears.
 
I bowed low, unsure. Prince Oberon arched an eyebrow on his pale face as he stared at me. A short breath later, he spoke “If you wish for coin, I have none for you.”
 
“I have not come seeking coin, Your Highness.” I stated.
 
“All those who posed solutions sought coin but posed no actual solution.” His quiet voice carried through the whole chamber.
 
“I fear I might not have a solution.” I admitted.
 
“Then what are you here to give me? Hope?” His voice was bitter.
I just received word from Vlatrossi Melkinov as to what happened.” I explained.
“The snake.” He spat. “Oh course. And why has he sent you?”
“He has not sent me…” I told him. “I was supposed to meet with the princess shortly.”
“I’m supposed to believe that he didn’t send you after you spoke with him? Then again… you wouldn’t have mentioned him at all…”
“I…” I began.
“You’re Filandrel’s.” he cut me off. “She spoke fondly of you, I know who you are. That’s why we let you in.”
“I appreciate it… I don’t know how to say this…” I admitted. “But did she mention anything of what she’s been speaking to me about?”
“Yes. She said but two words before she succumbed… destroy it. Destroy it. And then she succumbed. I am not aware of where she sequestered it… likely with magic. Your master wants it. He feels it can save her.”
“He is…” I started to say, before the prince once again interrupted me.
“But why should I trust him, when she said to destroy it?”
“Forgive my lack of tact, I suppose… is this chamber completely private?” I asked, for what I was going to say was not for prying ears to hear.
“It is right now.” He stated.
“May I approach?” I asked.
When he bade me closer, I walked up to him. Odd that I would be able to approach so close without any guards surrounding him, or even watching from the sidelines. It was slightly unnerving.
“What else did Her Highness say?” I asked.
“She knew that she was short on time. She tried to take it north. The anvil was gone, it has been taken. So, we were unable to destroy it…” he said. “It seems to have been found by one, the murderer of Gaius Astoria. We don’t know where she is.” He admitted.
 
“May I ask you something personal?” I asked, hesitantly.
“Go ahead.” He wasn’t even bothering to hide the distress from his face or his tone.
“What is your relationship with my master?”
“He is my uncle.” The prince replied quietly. “Which is regrettable.”
 
I could smell a wood fire burning somewhere nearby. “What is that?” I asked, dread coiling in the pit of my stomach.
“Egig Ero Fa.” The prince said quietly, watching my face.
“What?” I was shocked. My gaze was drawn to the smoke rising through the stained glass window panes. “What is happening?” I demanded.
“My uncle is strongly suspect of treason.” He said calmly.
“So you’re burning Egig Ero Fa?” My voice sounded hollow, even to myself.
“Yes.”
“Why?!” I demanded. “Why blame the entire school for him?”
“There is evidence he attempted to murder my daughter.” The prince said quietly.
I could feel bile rising in my throat. “So you’re burning the whole school?”
“Either that, or the snake is playing both sides.”
“The snake is always playing both sides!” I snapped.
“Why would he tell us, though?” he asked. “He hates my wife. So, the snake, who hates my wife so much, somehow tips us off on the attempted murder of my daughter.”
“I am…” I began.
“And tells us…” Prince Oberon’s voice rose. “That your master, my uncle, was present when the dragon showed himself in the Empire. The dragon who seeks to end our very existence!”
“There is more to that…” I began.
“Right… of course you would apologize for him, that is his way…” he cut me off.
“Actually, I am not apologizing for him!” I interrupted harshly. “I have…”
“What does he want from you, exactly?” he demanded. “Because I know what he wanted from me… he wanted me to be a Prince.”
“I don’t know what he wants from me.” I admitted. “However, I have…”
“This is what he wants from you.” Oberon snapped. “You, standing here, finding some reason that he might be innocent.”
“Innocent of being the Pale Master?” I shot back.
“He’s not innocent of that, I don’t think…” he replied.
“He’s not.” I stated. “He told me so himself.”
“So you’re not siding with him?” he asked, seemingly surprised. “Or are you here to plead a case?”
“Would I be here if I was siding with him?” I demanded. Prince or not, this conversation’s line of questioning needed to end, and quickly.
“You’re either foolish or desperate.”
 
“I am…” I paused for a moment before continuing. For, as angry as I was, I had no desire to be banished, or worse… he was still the prince after all. “not very good a politics… I am not very good at people. I am good at one thing, and that is magic!”
“Then how do I save my wife?” he shouted at me, his voice reverberating in the rafters.
“I don’t know.” I told him truthfully. “I have come here to see if there’s anything I can do to help! And to see if I could meet…” words failed me for a moment, so I took a deep, steadying breath and continued. “I was going to be contacting her in the next couple of days to see if she would meet with me and allow me to take the staff fragments out into the East and attempt to destroy them out there… and perhaps use them to deal with the Decimator of Cities, or whatever the fuck that great black dragon is called who is currently wreaking havoc…”
 
My attention was drawn away towards a sundial in the center of the room, one that kept capturing the Prince’s attention. He kept looking back at it, as though every second of time was vital and he was afraid to miss it.
 
“I came to see if there is anything I can do.” I stated.
“Destroy it. You have to destroy it.” He said. “But where she hid it, I don’t know.”
“Did she say anything more about it?” I asked. “If there is any way to destroy it that isn’t with that anvil.”
“It would have to be destroyed, both parts… one inside the Dream, one outside the Dream.”
 
“This is what I was trying to ask her about…” I said quietly. “Is she… what is her state?”
“She’s unconscious. Resting.” He said.
“Is she… are you able to communicate with her through the Dream?” I asked.
“I’ve tried.” He admitted. “But the thing is, you never know who you’re going to get… thousands and thousands are in that Dream… I couldn’t find her.”
“Is there… forgive my lack of expertise on the subject… but she is in this condition because of the memories she should not bear, correct?” I asked.
He nodded. “And the witch, yes.”
“So is there a way to take the memories that she took out of the Well, and put them into a new Well?” I asked.
“If a new Well was created… you could use the staff to do such a thing, but she wants it gone… You can understand why this is a problematic situation for me…”
“I do not envy you.” I admitted.
“Other people do.”
 
“What about the rest of Egig Ero Fa?” I dared ask. “Why not just take it out on Filandrel instead of burning the whole school?”
“There will be different placements, there are other schools. And the eastern border is currently in trouble… we could use more mages there.”
“You want to send a bunch of students to another border conflict?” I asked, trying very hard to keep my voice civil.
“We don’t have a choice.” The prince stated plainly. “With the presence of the dragon, our borders must be secure.”
“What’s going on at the eastern border?” I asked skeptically.
“Madness.” He replied. “Alchemy. Treachery.”
“Treachery?” Damian’s lands are to the east…
“A turncoat imperial raising the dead, creatures born of alchemy, and somewhere in the dark, servants of dragons who are obsessed with the moon.”
 
He was silent for a time, as was I, for I didn’t know what to say. Finally, the prince broke the silence.
“My wife can be reached in the Dream… you have to find her. And pray that whoever finds you is sympathetic to your cause…”
“Have you tried?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“What have you encountered?”
“Thousands, wandering, questioning. A lot of opinions…” he paused for a moment and I felt as though he was scrutinizing me. “Imagine walking into a forest where three thousand lost individuals are all asking you why they’re there…”
“What did you tell them?” I asked.
“I couldn’t tell them the truth…” his voice broke. “that they were trapped within the mind of my wife… that that’s all that’s left of them… a shade… it must be hell.”
“Isn’t everybody who dies trapped?” I tried to make my voice as calm and soft as I could.
“If not one way, then another.” He admitted.
 
As we talked, I began to think… if the prince, Anastasia’s husband who is bound to her by love and magic, cannot find her in the Dream… what chance would I have? By myself, it would be like searching for a needle in the sands of the desert… but perhaps, if I could find a guide of sorts… a fey who might be sympathetic… something to think on later…
 
“I’ve conversed with her in the Dream before…” I told the prince. “And I just ran into the one called Kyoko.”
“The witch.” He spat.
“And she stepped aside to let me reach the Princess…”
“Do you think she’d be able to do it again, if you find her? She’s not very sympathetic to my wife…”
“She wasn’t very sympathetic to anything…” I commented.
“Do you know anyone who is?” He asked. “Sympathetic to the witch, I mean…”
 
“Sympathetic to the witch?” I asked.
Oberon nodded.
 
I told Kent that I’d met someone named Kyoko and she had asked me to tell him hello. I thought that he might be happy, and might even want me to cast the dream spell on him so he could go talk to his friend again. But, when I offered to arrange for him to go talk to her, he flipped out.
“What you’re saying is that my friend never found peace!” He shouted at me. “Even when Anastasia killed her, she wasn’t able to find peace. Her whole life, she never found peace because people misunderstood and misjudged her because of what she is, without ever taking the time to get to know who she was. If there was ever someone who was misunderstood, its Kyoko. If there was ever someone who was unfairly judged, it’s Kyoko. And… if there was ever anyone deserving of finding peace… it… would… be… Kyoko!”
 
“Yes…” I nodded hesitantly. “Kent, the grippli.”
“You wish to have a grippli wander the Dream in search of my wife and his friend? Do you think he’d be capable of doing such a thing?”
“I don’t know…” I admitted. “It would be worth a try…” Even though there is a good chance that Kent would simply leave if I ever brought up the topic again.
 
I cautiously studied the prince’s countenance for a minute, finding myself wishing that I wasn’t alone, that someone far better at reading people had accompanied me…
“Do you have any guidance on where I might even begin to look for the staff fragments?” I asked.
“She continued to say sequestered, but she didn’t say anything else.” He admitted. “Where? Sequestered where?”
 
I asked if she would have opened a demi-plane. He didn’t know the answer to that either.
Finally, I couldn’t help myself anymore. I blurted out what I had been trying to avoid for most of this conversation. “Did you really have to burn down the entirety of Egig Ero Fa?”
 
“My wife’s personal library remains untouched.” He said as though that made up for burning the rest of the school. Of course he wasn’t going to destroy his wife’s personal library!
“You may peruse it if you feel like it has clues. There’s a teleportation circle there as well.”
 
I thanked him and made as if to leave before he stopped me.
“Would you be willing to take on a new role?” The prince asked suddenly, halting my retreat. “For your people.”
“What type of role?” I asked, skeptically.
“The role taken by your master.” He said implacably. “I wish you to replace Filandrel… You have time to think on it.”
“I’ve done everything I can think of to distance myself from politics…” I started to explain.
“It’s not a role to be taken lightly. Take your time to think on it.”
 
I was quiet for a minute before speaking again. “How are you going to handle Filandrel?”
“I will give him what he deserves.”
“Which is?…” I asked.
“He tried to kill my daughter.” He didn’t have to elaborate for me to know exactly what he meant. If it had been my child, I don’t think I would even be handling it as well as he is, even though, Egig Ero Fa is proof that the prince isn’t handling it well at all. But, I am not a parent, so fortunately for me, it is a concern that I needn’t worry about at this time.
 
“I have heard rumor that he may not be an elf at all.” I said, studying his reaction.
“It’s a theory.” He confirmed.
“If not, then what is he?”
“Something old. Something that maybe was an elf at one point… I understand that there are three, such ancient elves… Filandrel, the Pale Master, whatever he is. The Feathered Woman, who goes wherever she likes… who advises kingdoms for an age and then disappears just as quickly. The third, the axiomyte, the ancient arms maker… You have met all three.”
 
“Yes, the axiomyte is fading.” I admitted.
“And the feathered woman seems to act less and less each day.” Prince Oberon continued.
“What does it mean?”
“It means our people are dying.”
Did he have to make it sound so final? Surely there must be another way, something we can do to stop the current trajectory. “Our people came here, is it possible that we could go make a new world? Find a different place?”
 
“It is possible. Unlikely, but possible.” He sighed. “I have matters to attend to, but if you wish to see my wife’s personal library, my guard will allow you access.” The prince wished me luck and I departed.
 
I was tempted to go to Anastasia’s library, but bile rose in my throat in time with the smoke and ash rising from Egig Ero Fa. I needed to be gone from there. I needed to think. So I did… I left… teleported back to the party. The hour was growing late, but most of the party was still awake. They must have been having a difficult time sleeping.
 
I tried to meditate, but the proper state of mind is elusive… all I keep seeing is the smoke rising into the air, and the only scent in my nose is that of wood burning to ash. It is as though I can feel the flames licking the ancient wood, hear the cracking of the foundations of the place that I called home for so many years… I must stop now… I need to get some rest for tomorrow…
 
Oh yes, I forgot to mention that tomorrow we are going to Ysgard… the plane ruled by the Blood Lord. I cannot believe that I agreed to this… but Grimaldus wishes to seek sanctuary for his grandmother and Rhaego in that place… and Inira and Frida are insistent on speaking with Shard in person. Dekar is surprisingly quiet on the matter, although he made it obvious that he wishes to go.
 
I feel in my heart that this is a mistake, possibly a fatal one. I do not wish to even set foot in that realm, but I also cannot abandon my friends. Inira, Dekar and Grimaldus were with me when I first confronted Filandrel, they stood by me then… can I really do less for them now? What would that make me? I may have my fears, but I am not a coward. And I will not abandon my friends, any more than I would abandon Ravlor to an ill fate. I only hope that I am wrong in all of this, and that it won’t spell certain disaster…