Open Chronicles Shadow and Ash | Instability

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"I am blessed to be in the presence of such places," he said by way of reply. "Even if the words do not drift down the ages, their impression remains." Windows into eras long since past. The great Sanctuary was one such place, far to the north.

He nodded to her and fell in step beside her, maintaining a respectful distance. His eyes fell upon the images of the pantheon around them, and he smiled a bit at her question.

"Yes, Lady, they do." He closed his eyes and recalled the icy embrace of the Motherland. "We praise Her image in song and prayer, as do you. The only difference to note is that there are no images of the Lady, either in Her Sanctuary or elsewhere."

He had never really thought about it before. There was no injunction in the Law that said Her image was forbidden. It was just that no one had ever carved or cast Her likeness in all the years since the Founding.

"I ... have not been a part of such worship in a long time," he added. "Seekers do vital work to keep heresy from poisoning the faithful, but we are not often welcomed to the table as heartily as the choir or clergy."
 
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"That is... very different from us."

As they came to the plateau hidden behind the large statue, she paused there in the midst of it and turned to face him.

"To us, it is seen as a great honour for one of our Swords to join with the choir, or to join in prayer in the Temple. But then..." her head canted away, her eyes cast downward as her voice trailed off.

She started leading him down another grand corridor. This one seemed more dimly lit, and the embellishments more ornate. At the far end, there seemed to be a great wall of crystal, the same that seemed to be present all throughout this place.

"...we are all raised to be very much the same. Each of our castes are only... exaggerations of things we all strive to embody."

Just a short time led them down this corridor, and soon it became apparent that at the far end there was no wall of crystal. Instead, it was an enormous crystalline pillar, set in the midst of a tall and wide circular chamber. It was luminous, and there was a warmth in its light. She led him into the chamber, and stopped just after entering.

"It is customary for those of our kind who have been far from home to come to this place," her eyes turned up, "I... wanted to bring you here."

 
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"We are tainted by the sins of the past," he said simply as they walked. "The Seekers were used by men who did not follow Her ways, once. The...stain of it yet remains."

He was not entirely sure it was undeserved, either. There were aspects of the Order that even he was uncomfortable about. In fact, had fallen afoul of; he couldn't help but feel a feeble flame of anger as he thought of how the faithless could rise in the ranks and abuse the trust the Lady placed in them.

He had always thought the Seekers' sword was a blade of justice for any who violated Her law.

Even before he reached the chamber with its pure and gleaming pillar, he could feel a change in... In what? It was indefinable. For a moment, he thought he could feel an echo of the Lady. Here, a thousand miles and more away from the seat of Her church. His eyes traced the faceted surface, noting the way it caught the light.

"I am certainly far from home," he said in a gravelly whisper. "What is this place? I can almost feel..."
 
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"...comfort?"

She spoke quietly, her face still upturned, her eyes seemingly fixed upon the object in front of them. As magnificent as it was, surely she, one so familiar, was hardly so enamoured. Or wasn't she? Her features would tell what her lips did not, or at least not promptly.

"This is where the first of my kind came to. When nothing else was yet made here, this pillar stood, and in its presence we became what we are now. A people of our own, descended from the elves of old, when we still harkened to the ancestral city in the west."

She started forward, her eyes drifting back to him for a moment as if beckoning him to follow, and then she looked forward again, approaching the crystal.

"Stories from long ago tell of a great war, when the gods walked freely upon the land. The Lady you speak of may have been among them, perhaps she bore witness. The ending of this war meant the gods banishing their own selves from the world to save us from the Dark Ones, so that this world would endure.."

Drawing near to the crystalline structure heightened the sensations only a little, but the closer they became there was a more noticeable change taking place. Above, the lines of stone walls and up onto the ceiling became more and more vague, and before long all was replaced with an image of the night sky, as though all of it had fallen down to hang above their heads now. Stars even twinkled, and small streaks of light occasionally appeared and faded, looking like little more than small lines overhead.

She looked up, "it is said that they war with the Dark Ones, even now, amongst the farthest lights..."

Then, she looked ahead, and reached up with her hand and touched the crystal. As she pressed her palm against it, it thrummed and its light seem to intensify, just for a breath. And too, as though her hand were a single drop upon still waters, ripples appeared and danced across the face of the stone, slowly fading away.

"And that they left this, a gift for those who believed, to help strengthen them against the lingering dark that persisted despite their sacrifice. It is a blessing." she said, falling silent for a time, leaving her hand pressed against the crystal.

 
He said nothing for a long time, looking upon the crystalline edifice. He could feel the comfort she spoke of, the familiarity of the divine a radiant light coming from within. After a moment, he bowed his head. It seemed an appropriate gesture if they veil between the realm of the divine and that of the mortal were thinner here.

He did not reach out and touch the gleaming, faceted structure.

"A blessing," he agreed. His eyes swiveled briefly, taking in the lady and the stone. She glowed with an inner light that seemed to be enhanced by her contact with the stone. He could not understand how the stolid thing flowed as water, but where the divine was involved anything was possible.

Anything.

"Their sacrifice is nearly in vain," he said after a moment. He kept his head bowed a moment longer, and then looked up at her. "The dark will forever linger, for there can be no light without it. All must be balanced, light to dark. It is why we never shall lack for work in Her name."

He glanced at Anie meaningfully. "Darkness comes in many forms. But so, too, does Light." He regarded her and the crystal with equal reverence, as was the due of either.
 
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Her hand slowly fell to her side, and when she turned to face him it was clear in her face that she felt the same as he. There could never be one without the other. There could not be those bright lights in the sky without the vast dark in between.

Her hand reached up, and pressed gently against him, "so long as that Light lives on in you, and I, and those like us, then it is not in vain."

She edged closer to him, looking up with a pondering gaze, "you have lost much for it, as I have."

 
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Her hand was a fiery brand where it rest upon his chest. "It shines brighter in some than in others," he managed to rasp out. As she edged closer, he couldn't help but get caught in the crystalline blue of her eyes. Some aspect of the crystal pillar in the room seemed to...

Well, she had said they had sprung forth from it. However, where the crystal radiated light and peace and comfort, it lacked life. She radiated that all by herself.

Those eyes were ancient beyond his ken, but there was something in them that was both older and younger.

"I have lost a home and a life in service to the Law," he said, looking ever so slightly down into her upturned eyes. "I wouldn't change a single decision that led me to here, though," he added in a low, gravelly voice. Dangerous. It was best to keep the voice in his head, clamoring for his attention, at bay.

But it was hard. Maybe impossible, in fact.
 
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Her ponderous gaze shifted back and forth between each of his eyes, departing from the sense of wonder and settling into a more certain stare. She smiled up at him, briefly, before her hand fell to her side again. But for a moment more, she lingered, simply, looking up at him.

"You are strong, Erin."

Admiration flashed across her features. But before she could be given the chance to say any more, the sound of hurried footsteps drew her attention. Her eyes remained on him just a little longer before she turned away.

"Councilor," said one of the approaching elves, all clad in wartime attire, "we tried to reach out to you, but-"

She waved a hand at them, somewhat dismissively. Not important right now.

"Of course. We have discovered where the intruders found their way into the city. It can be sealed, but.. with so many absent, only your magic would be enough."

Ánië nodded. Most of the Aerai's most affluent sorcerers were embroiled in the fighting on the front lines, a fact she often lamented quietly to herself. She often thought she'd be better placed there as well, but her appointment meant that her place was here, despite anything else.

"Perhaps you could accompany me," she said to Erin, "in case any more... heretics," she grinned, "would like to try their hand?"

 
He held her eyes a moment, then nodded. It was not pride that made him agree with her simple statement, but pragmatism. Strength took many different forms, and he was strong in many different ways. There was no point in adding that those that lacked strength could not serve as Seekers.

In the same way that the weak could not be Councilors.

He regarded the retinue of elfin warriors with an amiable (if hard) mien. He did not speak, for this was not his place to do so. Invited or not, he was apart from these fair folk and their hierarchy. He turned to face them without stepping forward or back.

His eyes cut to her as she spoke. "It would be an honor," he said by way of reply. "In the case of such, I shall require my blades." He paused, eyes gleaming with an inner light. "If they did not learn their lesson last time... Well. The Lady believes in delivering her teachings to all."

Some learned harder than others, though.
 
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And so they returned back down into the city's lowest tier, and they were led to the place where the dark army's evil had prevailed on into their home.

Ánië looked upon it with an eye of disdain.

"Their witchcraft knows no boundary," she uttered.

Before them, near where the city's wall met with the mountainside, a dreadful spell persisted in its work. A cavity had been opened through the base of the wall, formed from some twisting dark. At its mouth - a couple of meters around - tendrils of black shadow whipped and wisped about, wreathing the opening in what appeared like slow licks black fire. Into it was darkness, but no doubt it led straight through to the other side.

And there, having been where the spell no doubt grew from, was where she'd need to be.

The other elves present whispered a few words between one another, clearly dismayed at the sight of these magics in their very home. Still, it was not entirely unexpected, and their whispers were prayers against the darkness.

"I must go to the other side, friend Erin. I suppose I may as well go through here."

 
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