Daniel knew what was happening as soon as the darkness appeared, though that didn’t change the hundreds of questions he had or the lingering dread of what the named monster had done to him. He’d intended to ask Cloak, but the god had preempted him by somehow coming to this random island. If the god could teleport, he’d been seriously holding out. Not that he was being given a chance to comment, and the god had muted his initial reaction to his appearance.
The sphere of illusion around them closed in, the darkness filling the space for a second before it flickered into a projection of another place. Daniel and Willow found themselves in the meeting space where he’d first encountered Soraso, though it appeared Tlara and her whitespring had been screened out of the effect. Other people were appearing in the hall as well, including the Commander who had come in clipping into the central table.
Soraso was standing at the head of the table with his sword drawn, staring at the dramatized version of Cloak. Half a minute after they’d appeared themselves, he spoke. “Well, it seems we can take you at your word. I trust this region’s defenses aren’t being compromised by this impromptu meeting?”
“You have done all you can for now,” Cloak replied. Both were being far more formal than he’d experienced before and it didn’t seem like either would break from it here. The mystical apparition Cloak was cosplaying as walked to the table and put a hand against it. Daniel was surprised to see he had collision in this space and knew then something bigger was happening than he’d initially expected. Supreme domain control or not, there was no way Cloak had managed to grab people from every active settlement in Threst at the same time while being in Aurus.
“What favor have we earned to be visited by an aspect of the Octyrrum itself?” Soraso pointedly did not put away his sword, and his tone was guarded. Other people seemed like they wanted to comment on this, or how they’d been brought here, but didn’t dare to speak in the god’s presence.
“Your region is under direct threat by one of the fell intelligences of the Crest, which has assumed control of a portion of the monsters here,” Cloak replied, specifically avoiding the fact that he was talking about an enemy god. “It is one of the perils the Octyrrum faces that has prompted this state of emergency, one you are unprepared to handle. As today shows.” He extended one void hand to where two heavily injured Blessed were barely standing, keeping themselves upright only off of the weight of this meeting.
“Regent, the lord of illusion speaks the truth,” one said. “The monsters broke through our defenses. We were ready for their numbers, but not their ferocity and coordination. We have lost at least three hundred lives, not counting those taken.”
“We have reinforcements on the way,” Soraso assured, but Cloak cut down any reassurance from that.
“By this point, any who are taken should be considered dead. This form of monster is capable of long-range teleportation. You were successful in destroying the ones assaulting this city fast enough, and in one case the ability was disrupted before it was fully channeled.” He indicated Daniel and Willow. “As most of you are now aware, the purpose of this attack was to steal mortals for use in the creation of monsters, though it is worse than that already profane act.”
“These creatures will not last a day. We shall scour them from Threst no matter where they try to hide!”
“They have already departed the region.” Silence filled the room after that proclamation as everyone worked out what he meant by that. A Cleric of Hammer was the first to break it.
“Forgive me lord, I do not wish to sound ungrateful for your presence, but what of my master? We have a Proxy of our own, but she has not had a glimmer of the lord of transmutation since Rikendia fell.” It seemed like asking this took all the courage the man had.
“The enemy has chosen to focus on Hammer’s Realm,” Cloak answered with what Daniel knew was a direct lie, if only because of the vision from the Origin Beast he was hazily remembering. “He is managing defenses elsewhere. I have directed my attention here in his stead once the movement of our enemy became clear. The Crest looks to break this region, and those they have taken will be their vanguard.”
“How?” Soraso stiffly asked. Daniel looked for Murdon in the crowd to see if the draconoid was reacting to how his friend was behaving, but neither he nor Quala were in the room. Honestly, with all he’d just been through he kind of got it.
“The life forms the Crest sent specialize in the twisted magic of that place. Those who were not rescued will be slowly converted into agents of the enemy, and these resulting monsters will benefit from their former souls. You could consider them elite among monster kind, fully comparable to a mortal of that level with balanced attributes.” Cloak summoned an image of the surrounding regions, a creeping blackness representing the Crest beginning to infiltrate both Aughal and Threst. The illusion appeared independent of the table, which was capable of its own projections. “You’re fortunate to have several Fates in the region. They’ll be necessary to monitor for aberrant monster activity. Any with the Regional Log power will be crucial to your defense.”
What about my friends? Daniel wondered internally. Silora had been looking for them as a side project but had been as successful as Padri had been responsive to his attempts to reach out. Knowing that a Fate was looking for them, and that Murdon would sense if anything had happened, had helped to put his mind at ease. The refreshed worries took him out of the conversation, which mostly dealt with Cloak explaining how his church was going to help coordinate the information he was allowed to share.
Willow tapped him on the shoulder, whispering to him as quietly as she could. “Why are we here?” The two of them had practically been ignored, though Daniel knew exactly why Cloak had included him in this meeting. He hated that Willow didn’t.
“The captain was busy,” Daniel answered back, thinking on his feet. Now that Cloak was revealing himself to the public he might allow Willow to know about how he’d followed them from Aughal, though that would contrast with the story he was weaving here. “It sounds like the other horde leaders teleported out while ours was still being killed. He needed someone to come here and report on what was said.”
“So you should be paying attention?”
He coughed and pressed his back to the side wall he and Willow had moved to before stumbling through it. The illusion was flawless, though as he passed through the wall he briefly caught sight of the outside world. Another Cloak was still here, maintaining the effect while hunters above mopped up the remainder of the horde and began shuttling people back to Pinion’s Point.
Talons pulled him back into the illusion as Willow rescued him from the wall. He’d have expected that exchange to have drawn attention, however several other side conversations had sprung up along with others dipping in and out of the walls to keep an eye on their surrounding. Those with high enough levels or specific powers might have been able to see through it without doing so, but even with Keen Sense Daniel couldn’t defeat this one while within it. How was Cloak doing this?
“What of the pre-Collapse ruins the Regent located?” Someone else asked a good question, though with the various factors at play here Daniel couldn’t identify them.
“Ruins?” A stately voice asked from above. A figure flew into the room and from the sound they made on contact, Daniel could tell they were really there. “Lord of illusion, regent, Aurus is safe. Apex flight has secured the high altitudes from any lingering threat.”
“Sir Talongleam. There’s hardly a reason to concern ourselves with that matter considering the topic at hand,” Soraso replied bruskly, as if he’d found a fly in… whatever it was air gestalt ate.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“Admiral Talongleam, Regent,” the bane of both Daniel and Soraso replied with equal vindictiveness. “Lord of illusion, it is this humble servant’s opinion that if this gathering has been called to share information, then anything relevant to the defense of Aurus should be discussed. For the sake of us of all, as much as I know it goes against your tenets, I must ask that we rid ourselves of secrets.”
“Pre-Collapse ruins?” Cloak asked thoughtfully, stroking his not-chin. “I’m afraid I have no knowledge of these either. Anything built before the Collapse would be thousands of years old, and my Realm is one of the farthest from here.” He sighed as if he wasn’t yet again blatantly lying, though only Daniel could see through it. “I’ll have to ask Hammer when I have the opportunity.”
“All the assembled need to know now is that they are dangerous. Preparations to explore it met with several setbacks,” Soraso explained bitterly. The stakes of the conversation were too high for him to ignore the topic or divert with humor. From what the Commander said, he was on shaky ground and this ‘admiral’ was just the person to unseat him if he gathered enough support.
“If remnants of the Octyrrum of old wait for us to claim them, then in our hour of need I must insist that-“
“Thank you, admiral, perhaps we shall discuss that later,” Soraso spoke over him, almost literally cutting off his words. Daniel knew Soraso was level 4 to Lagori Talongleam’s 5, and for a moment it seemed the leader of Apex Flight wanted to lean on that disparity before he let it go.
Kahvin’s a dangerous idiot, Daniel thought to himself. But he’s just dangerous. I don’t think he’s using any powers, but he’s still putting Soraso in a rough spot.
The image around them flickered, and in the next moment Cloak held up a hand. “I’m afraid my presence is needed elsewhere. While Hammer’s Realm is a focal point in this war, it is not the only one.” With that, the image fully disappeared and left them on the island. Daniel was surprised to find that the mysterious figure that had come to them was Callister, or at least his body.
“Do you have a mana potion by chance?” he asked wearily, without any of the gravity or faint echo from before. He almost wondered if Cloak had managed to jump into another Proxy to leave Callister, but there was a brief look in the man’s eyes that told him otherwise. He’d seen what had happened to Daniel’s Spoke just like how he’d read the change in attributes, and like Daniel was waiting for a good time to talk about it.
“Here.” Daniel offered a level 1 potion from supplies he’d replenished. They’d gotten more expensive since he’d bought them in Aughal, but it was still worth it. Most of the healing potions they had were with Willow, Khiat, or Khare, who could use them despite their different body structure.
Willow wasn’t oblivious to their sudden guest, but she had taken some time to inspect them. “Have I seen you somewhere? You’re a Cleric in Cloak’s church, right?”
“Yes,” the old intelligence in the young man lied. “It was like you said, by the way. I was sent after Captain Esket Marrow originally, you just happened to be a good second option. I heard he was the one who sent the first warning.”
“How did you get here, and do you need help getting back?” She looked to Tlara, perhaps fearing what a direct representative of a god would have to say should he figure out either her sister’s situation or her history.
Cloak just nodded amicably though as he finished the potion. “Our church has its ways, but I would appreciate some help on the return trip. Humans just aren’t built for this region.” He said it like a joke and Daniel was stunned by the brazenness of the act. The guy was talking to Willow like she was the typical Threst supremacist, and worse, he knew what that would do.
“Oh, no it’s no trouble. Tlara can fly you back.”
“You’ve named your wyvern? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised with a specimen this fine.”
This is Cloak, right? Daniel thought as they prepared to go, the god both throwing him an inside joke while continuing to fluster Willow. He’d never been like this before, and it didn’t seem to be a complete act. Was it just relief from finally getting his church to recognize him? “Will you need me to give you any info on what happened today?” he asked, keeping up the act.
A seriousness he recognized came over Cloak as he climbed onto the wyvern that was currently contemplating biting him in half. “Yes. We should talk later.”
…
The calm sea was changing. Hunter had seen a pit form before, but that had been the work of something acting upon the reflective ocean. Its edges had been jagged and repaired before his eyes, whereas now it seemed the world he was inhabiting was shaping itself. The evenness was broken, the surface now gently rising and falling. It got worse every day, and while it was slow, Hunter could tell the average ‘height’ of the floor was lowering.
“It’s waking,” Grave commented, running a hand through the reflective surface. Remembering his name had sharpened his form and mind, but granting the spirit to Willow had had the strongest effect. There was now a consistent nature to his outline, even ghostly hair that sometimes waved in an absent breeze. Grave did not have any further definition than that, and his mind still slipped on occasion, but he was otherwise as different as the surroundings were compared to when Hunter first arrived in the Astral.
“What do you mean? What I felt with Daniel, is it related?” Hunter wasn’t sure what to think about the incident himself. The tether representing his bond hadn’t been severed, but it had changed briefly in a way he couldn’t describe. As it turns out, neither could Grave as he shook his featureless head.
A reflective ripple was sent out as he flicked his fingers out of the ground. “The Astral was sealed from the Octyrrum after I died. I was responsible for it. I still am,” he said somewhat distantly, looking at his hand. A few drops still lingered on his hand, and Hunter could make out himself in those small shards. Grave let them fall from his hand after a moment. “This land has gone untended for so long. Here it was simply negated, but outside of the Octyrrum’s reach, in the Crest, matters have gotten far worse. That horror you defeated is only a minor symptom of that problem. But something’s changed on the other side. They can’t have found a replacement for me, I would know. Hmm…”
Grave tapped the ground with his foot in several places, watching the ripples intently. Hunter still couldn’t make the sea dance like that. Between his memories, original personality, and influence on the Astral returning, Hunter was quickly becoming outclassed by what he’d once considered to be an inferior. He wondered if this was how Daniel felt. Though, it had to be said Grave still refused to directly fight any other horrors they’d come across.
“A dozen powerful spirits traveled through this space recently,” he remarked after some thought. “They had no class. Monsters, it had to be. It is another Collapse, but even so, why reintegrate the Astral?”
“Collapse?”
Grave seemed uneasy as he replied. “Yes. I have been meaning to-“
“I am a person,” Hunter declared.
“Yes, but it is complicated. Where do your loyalties lie? This is a time when your kind assaults mine relentlessly. Do you feel their call?”
Hunter stared at where the eyes would be. “The hatred? No. I will never be controlled again. By anyone. I just want to get back to my friends.”
“Have you ever killed a mortal?”
“I kill anything that tries to hurt the people I care about,” Hunter replied evenly, trying to conceal as best he could his activation of the hunt Archetype. He’d figured out he could only use one at a time and while he couldn’t sense any obvious sign that he was using it so long as he didn’t move, Grave could be an exception.
“Spirits. They are like incomplete souls. When I was alive, I and my people would shepherd them, tend to the Astral and try and prevent any horrors at all from forming. It… they are what they are because of us. Because I couldn’t stop them,” Grave lamented, not going where Hunter was expecting him to. A chill ran over his fur as Hunter got the sense Grave was looking at him, though not with any fake eyes or the appearance he had in this strange world. “Your existence is a sign of my negligence. A failure, but one extraordinarily rare to have found a path alone.”
“I wasn’t alone.”
“Of course. What I am saying is that you are not like the others. A dozen powerful spirits under the command of those who hate my kind came here, and I fear the havoc they wrought. If you have any sympathies-“
“I do not!” Hunter inadvertently growled, offended. “Sides. I see no sides, only friend and enemy. Assuming one is another because of how they look is how you get killed.” His tail lashed as he grimaced. “It is one way to. If they attack Daniel, Tak, or any of the others, I will kill them. It doesn’t matter if they do it with fangs or a sword.”
It seemed to be the answer Grave was hoping for, and yet there was a disappointment in his voice Hunter wasn’t sure was entirely directed at him. “It shouldn’t be this way. In the beginning, we tried to… to…” his voice faltered as one of the ghostly hands clutched his head. “No. It’s still gone. The end, and the beginning. I still can’t recall either clearly. Brothers, sisters, I feel you still. Why would you reintegrate the Astral without me?”
“Why is that bad?” Hunter asked, again taken aback by a rapid shift in topic.
Grave indicated one of the nearby depressions. “The Astral will begin manifesting in the Octyrrum, growing stronger as this continues. Those classes bound to me have been released, but without my church they will be directionless against the threats that will appear. Those wolves will just be the start.”
“It sounds like we both need to go back,” Hunter commented leadingly. He hadn’t asked this next question in a while since it could cause Grave to blank out, but he was hoping he’d regained enough of his mind to finally answer it. “Do you know how we can?”
A long moment passed, Grave turning to face the deep purple to black that was the sky. “There might be a way.”