Authors: V. Lakshman
There’s a type of beetle in the Shornhelm.
It rolls dung and then climbs inside.
When it emerges it is beautiful to behold.
-
Keren Dahl, Shornhelm Survivor's Guide
Y
etteje watched as Orion inspected a silver wing and the rents in his armor. To her, they already looked much better even though only a short time had passed since they’d left the failure of the Ascension. They had been walking some distance when the Watcher suddenly stopped. He motioned for them to wait while he moved a short distance off, his form silhouetted in the early morning sun as it rose over one edge of this island.
“He’ll heal,” the deep voice of Helios sounded from behind her. “We always do.”
She felt the Aeris Lord come to stand beside her. Yetteje didn’t take her eyes off the form of Orion, but she asked, “Who was that boy?”
“How can you not know of Ascension?” Helios responded. Yetteje watched as he took a knee beside her so they were of more even height. “You, who have bonded with Baast and are the envy of any Watcher.”
Yetteje drew her brows together in consternation. She could understand every word he used, but the meaning still eluded her, so she said, “You said that name before. Who is Baast?”
Helios smiled, his sunburst armor catching the morning rays to glint gold. “Little cat, that is your bonded partner. Unlike us, you are whole, as it should be.”
“Whole?”
Helios sighed, then said, “Had Orion bonded with Tomas in Ascension, he would have returned to the existence we were meant to have.”
Yetteje looked back at the silver-winged Watcher and said, “You’re supposed to be inside us?”
Helios smiled again. “No, more correctly we are one, and through each lifetime we live together, we grow in power. Once we were the wind and you the voice. We were the power and you the strength.” He held her with his gaze and completed, “You are the Will and we are the Way… but all that changed with the Fall.”
“The Fall?”
Orion strode forward then, catching the last question and answering, “When Sovereign fell to Edyn the world was forever changed. We should have been one, yet now we can only achieve such bliss through Ascension.” He looked meaningfully at Helios, then turned back to Yetteje and said, “Lilyth seeks unification through possession and we oppose her, but in the end we are all meant to be one within the Way.”
“And you do this through that combat test?” Yetteje looked at both of them, “I never tested like that.”
Helios stood up and shrugged. “Combat is but one way. It is not necessary to fight, only to sacrifice—a purity of need accepting our gift.”
Yetteje began to shake her head, but then the moment in Bara’cor when the king and his men had knelt in front of her and hailed her as Queen of EvenSea, came to mind. She’d asked for help, for strength, and felt invisible hands embrace her with strength and love. She gasped, her eyes widening. Had that been it?
Orion clasped Helios on the shoulder, then looked down at Yetteje, smiled sadly, and said, “It is rare, but think on how the first of us must have Ascended. It cannot only require the trial I suffered and failed, but must also be open to those pure of heart. It is a blessed event for you…” he trailed off lamely, his grief over the outcome of his Test still evident.
“Do not believe this is the end. Though Tomas failed, we will hold courage in our hearts and find other worthy aspirants,” Helios said to Yetteje, though his words seemed meant for Orion. He squeezed the Aeris Lord’s shoulder in commiseration. “Come, we must decide where to go from here.”
Orion took a deep, shuddering breath, then said, “Our choices are few. We can attempt the gate at Harmagedon.”
Helios nodded but cautioned, “Lilyth’s forces will be guarding that area. Still, we must risk it.”
“Wait,” Yetteje said, “you said ‘few choices.’ What else?”
“There are no other choices, little cat,” Orion replied. “Any other path means our demise.”
“Humor me,” she said obstinately. “What else?”
Orion looked uncomfortably at Helios before responding, “Lilyth would have a gate at Olympious, but that’s—”
“That’s where we’re going,” she stated flatly. When Helios seemed about to respond, Yetteje cut him off with a finger saying, “No arguments. I’ve faced her before and she doesn’t scare me.” She knew that wasn’t exactly true, yet there was an unfinished task she’d put to herself since stepping through the portal.
Orion said, “You can’t be serious. It will mean death for us all.”
Yetteje shook her head and then pointed to the scar on her face, “Lilyth
healed
me, so I doubt she would just kill me.”
There was a blinding flash and there stood Thoth, looking both angry and scared at the same time. “You go too far, Princess! The demon-queen will use you against your friends to force their obedience.”
“To do what?” Yetteje asked, recovering from the sudden appearance of the Keeper. When Thoth did not immediately answer, she said, “You promised to tell me what was going on.”
“You’re being unreasonable—”
Yetteje’s eyes flashed yellow as she took a step forward with Valor in hand and said, “You haven’t seen unreasonable… yet.”
Thoth backed up a step, Valor lighting his features in a white-yellow glow. His eyes went from Yetteje’s bow to the two Watchers standing by implacably. Finally, he seemed to fall in on himself, deflated. He raised a hand and said, “Very well, Princess. If things must be, let them be so without subterfuge.”
He motioned for her to take a seat, which Yetteje reluctantly did. Then he did so as well, lacing his fingers in front of him with his staff tucked horizontally across his thighs. He blinked a few times, as if organizing his thoughts, then began, “There is the war you know of, but the war is not with Edyn. It is between those who believe Ascension is the key to our survival and those who believe possession is the key. These Watchers—” his gaze took in Orion and Helios—“are part of a small group of Aeris Lords who believe the former. The rest follow Lilyth and seek to possess the people of Edyn.”
“Few?” Yetteje tried to sound confident, but it was hard to mask her sudden doubt.
Thoth nodded, “Each Watcher who achieves Ascension is lost to our ranks. Yet, while there is no limit to the myths from which we are born, the appearance of new heroes to hold the line alongside us
is
limited by faith.” He looked disappointed when he said, “Think on your gods… do you know their families?”
Yetteje shook her head, “No, the gods are the gods.”
Thoth smiled, “Exactly, and by that very broad stroke the gods are left with nothing. We Aeris lose children, lose families, lose anyone who falls out of favor with Edyn. Imagine a world where the deeds determine survival, not health or years.” He looked at her for a moment then said, “It is far from fair, a perversion of how things should have been. Because of this and many other reasons, Sovereign seeks to remake this world.”
“Who is Sovereign?” Yetteje asked.
Thoth’s expression was filled with remorse but he nonetheless replied, “There are two paths to Ascension. One is through the trials, anything that forces a person to sacrifice everything for a cause or belief. Great sacrifice bonds an Aeris to the one who demonstrates such conviction. You saw this with Orion, though it did not end in success.
“Another is through great need or purity of heart.” Thoth licked his lips, “Yet there is another… rebirth. Remake the world as it should have been and the separation of the people of Edyn from the Way will disappear. They will be unified, able to exist within the Way, as was intended before the Fall. Sovereign is the force behind this.”
“What will happen to my home?” whispered Yetteje, a part of her knowing the answer.
“Obliteration. A new world will be born and you and yours will be nothing more than myths, legends, tales… gods and demons in the new world’s lore. Olympious, Sovereign, Lilyth, even Orion, Helios, and myself— we will be the legends the new world remembers.”
Yetteje thought for a moment, her mind racing. “Then Lilyth fights to keep Sovereign from remaking the world.”
“Yes, but she condemns Edyn to possession by her people. Our Watchers are too few to stop her and as such will become slaves to her Furies.”
A sudden pit formed in her stomach. “What about Arek? She said she was his mother.”
Thoth looked down, and when he looked up Yetteje thought she saw real sadness in his eyes. “Arek is being used in a dangerous gambit against the highlord of the elves.”
He looked at Orion, who simply said, “The blackfire.”
Thoth nodded. “It can be the only explanation for what you saw.”
“Wait,” Yetteje said, “who’s this elven highlord?”
Thoth sighed then said, “I hope we do not regret being so forthright, but I made a promise to a man I respect greatly that the time for obfuscation is over.” He paused. “Your great grand uncle ten generations removed, Valarius Galadine. He has your cousin, Niall.” When Yetteje did not reply, he continued, “When Lilyth attacked the henge to recover Arek, it showed a weakness in her plan. She wants Arek here in Edyn but cannot let him fall into Valarius’s hands.”
“Why?” Yetteje asked, her agile mind cataloguing that Niall was now with a Galadine believed to be dead for centuries, and yet somehow she knew enough to remain silent. She understood at some deep level that only this would solicit the truth. Still, frustration rushed through her. Leave it to Niall to find the only dictator in this realm who was also family. A part of her also hid the nascent idea forming around a new objective.
“The boy was crafted for a single purpose,” Thoth said.
“The death of us all,” commented Helios dryly. “He can destroy us with a touch.”
“Perhaps,” answered Thoth, “but so can the elves. They have been imbued with the same hate Valarius has for all Aeris.” The Keeper was silent, considering something. Then he looked at Yetteje and said, “I think Valarius seeks to escape Arcadia, and to do so he needs a body. I think Arek was created for that purpose.”
“Why does he need a body?” she whispered, her mind grasping for an answer.
“Unlike Arcadia, an Aeris must have a body to exist in Edyn,” replied Thoth.
“Ascension gives us life in your world, a fair trade for becoming one with you,” Orion said. “Lilyth’s possession does the same, only it is you who do not survive the taking.” He looked at his companions, his gaze finally resting on Thoth. “If this is true, we cannot let Arek near Valarius.”
“You also must protect him,” the Keeper told the two Watchers. “If he dies here, it will release the blackfire and Arcadia will be consumed.”
“And why haven’t you sent us to rescue Niall?” she asked, as this last piece of the puzzle still felt out of place.
There was a pause, and Thoth looked away, his eyebrows drawn together. “What do you want me to say, Princess?” The Keeper finally said, spreading his hands. “That he’s not important enough to risk any of you to Valarius? It would mean death for our Watchers and you would become a captive, to be either used as bait or ransom.”
For the first time, his straightforward answer shocked her. It was delivered with the same flat tone the Marks used when reporting losses in battle to her father. He’d never reacted in a way that assumed their deaths were called for. It was clear Niall was a statistic to Thoth, not a real person. Yetteje remained silent.
Something that insane mage Duncan had said before leaving them at the gate had never left her. It was clear this place was different from Edyn, and if Valarius could go from being dead to leaving here, then so could others. The thought kept reverberating in her head. A path for which her entire reason for coming was based upon. What other task did she have except this? she asked herself. Silbane and the others could take care of themselves and she had no clue as to where Arek was, and Niall…
“—why we cannot go to Lilyth. Her command over Arcadia is nearly absolute.”
Though she hadn’t heard everything, something clicked. Yetteje took a breath, her thoughts falling into order. She looked at the three of them and said, “Yes we can. We will go to Lilyth and petition her aid.”
“Madness!” exclaimed Thoth. “This is why we don’t tell you things.”
“Be that as it may,” replied Yetteje icily, “you’re wrong about Niall not being important, and that means you’re wrong about other things.”
It was Thoth’s turn to fume silently, so she continued, “It is clear Lilyth is preparing to invade Edyn. I saw with my own eyes her mistfrights take over Bara’cor and the king’s last stand. Ask yourself, who will the land rally behind to withstand her might? Shornhelm, the other fortresses and their rulers, even EvenSea—” her voice broke at that—“are gone.” She looked at them all but her posture and attitude demanded no answer. “As far as I know, Niall is the rightful heir to Bara’cor. It is his flag that the land will rally behind and follow.”
Thoth shook his head, but Yetteje rose and said, “I will have my say with Lilyth and then we will rescue Niall and get out of here.”
“What can Lilyth give you, Princess, that we cannot?” demanded Helios.
Yetteje‘s amber eyes glowed in the morning sun. She thought about her purpose in coming, about the people she loved, and knew only one decision could be made.