AbyssalRoadTrip
patreon
Abyssal Road Trip - 304 - The key, the secret
🕑 Added 2023-07-05 03:30:20 +0000 UTCAmdirlain’s PoV - Outlands
Opening a scrying window to the coordinates of the key storage, Amdirlain saw an irregular corridor that curved out of sight. The walls appeared rough-hewn but of the same light grey stone as the Spire. Turning the window’s focus, she found the entrance from the Outlands was around a sharp turn. Anyone looking at it from a distance would see a shallow depression in the Spire. From the window it required a sidestep to peer out into the open sky. A few metres above the corridor’s ceiling were the clouds that marked the boundary to Judgement.
With the sound of security measures and more keys further down the corridor, Amdirlain teleported to the ledge. In the far distance, Amdirlain felt a chamber filled by columns with niches carved into them. The rough passage split into a maze of varying-width corridors ahead of her. There wasn't a speck of dust that might show the path others had taken, leaving Amdirlain indecisive about teleporting to the chamber or going on foot. Figuring there was a reason Gideon hadn’t given her the coordinates to the room directly, Amdirlain started inwards.
At a fast walk, Amdirlain followed the path she sensed through the maze. Here and there were subtle dimensional shifts, but her memory nudged her through the dance steps to navigate them. After a time, the walls narrowed in until they brushed against her arms. Though she knew it wasn’t the stone itself shrinking, the prickling of the dimensional energy made it unnerving. As she became hemmed in, Amdirlain shrank to match.
Repeatedly, the trail through the maze twisted about. The route took erratic turns, needing exact angles and heights to activate dimensional shifts along the path. Amid the maze of passages, the ever-shrinking space provided by the route she took was a signpost that she had followed it correctly. As she moved along, she listened to the security precautions in the chamber ahead and how they worked. The music within the controls hummed a welcome the closer she got to the chamber and chimed out options for her selection.
When Amdirlain finally reached the chamber, she’d had to shrink to barely thirty centimetres tall to proceed. With her height, the chamber’s ceiling towered far overhead, and rows of mountainous columns stretched into the distance. Adjusting back to her one hundred and eighty centimetre height barely eased their looming presence.
Orhêthurin set up so many alcoves. How many Eldritch monstrosities did she expect to end up securing?
Above the closest alcove, Amdirlain could see the engraving changed, the number reduced as she watched. While the maze’s floor had been spotless, in the chamber, thick dust coated nearly the entire place. The exception was a trail that followed the outer wall and appeared as if someone had cast Zephyr to sweep up. Faint lingering energy within the material made it clear it wasn’t the result of a Spell but an entity attuned to Destruction that had pushed the dust aside. Unsure what to make of it, Amdirlain concentrated on the notes alone, and a feeling of uncomfortable familiarity prickled up the back of her neck.
A whirling cloud of dust and lightning brought a name to mind: Alkibiades, the primary Aspect of Destruction. The memory of Orhêthurin crying from the spike piercing the darkness of the realm’s barrier rose again. Two entities—Alkibiades of Destruction and Theano of Creation—emerged from the event.
“Alkibiades, Aspect of Destruction, what are you doing amongst the keys?” asked Amdirlain, unsure what prompted the words.
At the mention of their name, the cloud of dust and lightning that her memory had provided appeared ahead of her amid the columns. A mini-cyclone of power whose very existence should have rent stone, but the music in the column shrugged the energy aside.
A voice came from within, erratically changing pitch as the lightning crackled. “Orhêthurin. My apologies, I hear you use Amdirlain now. I’m surprised you remember me, Mother.”
Amdirlain licked her lips as all the humidity seemed to disappear from the chamber. “Orhêthurin unleashed you when she and Nicholaus tapped into the dying realm”
“Indeed. A very thin side of a coin separates creation and destruction,” said Alkibiades. “Destruction has always been more your thing between the two of you. Nicholaus might be Orhêthurin’s father, but he likes to build too much to truly appreciate destruction. Yet, without my forces, where would life be?”
“The simplest chemical reaction is the breaking down of materials to form something else; the digestion of food is destruction,” admitted Amdirlain
“There you go. I knew you’d see it,” sighed Alkibiades. “Is that the science of that other realm you came from?”
“Yes,” replied Amdirlain.
“Are all your memories sealed away behind the barrier of reincarnation?” asked Alkibiades.
Amdirlain shook her head. “I remembered your name. How could that be the case if all my memories were gone?”
“I wondered if Gideon might have told you that as well,” replied Alkibiades. “You asked me what I’m doing among the keys. What are you doing here?”
“Checking timers. It seems like many are close to their release,” replied Amdirlain, and she nodded towards a timer that was a few decades away.
Alkibiades’s form moved closer to the timer before it swayed back towards Amdirlain. “I can sense the crystals in your possession, the shackles and the key. Everything moves towards Destruction, though you certainly slow much from that fate. What did Gideon tell you?”
“What should he have told me? I’ve checked on Eldritch prisons and found someone had released an Eldritch Whisperer. One that should have remained sealed for billions of years,” stated Amdirlain. “What shouldn’t you be telling me?”
“You know Torm’s never going to remember who he was, right? No matter what you do, returning him to a state where he regains his memories and loves you again isn’t possible. I appreciated the irony of your destroying everything you’d once treasured in him. Twice over.”
“You work with Nicholaus because the more he makes, the more you have access to destroy,” returned Amdirlain.
“And isn’t that obvious?” countered Alkibiades.
“So whatever you want to talk about won’t be for me; it’s just to further your goals,” snorted Amdirlain. “You want to press my buttons?”
Alkibiades hissed. “Do you think I’m lying to you?”
Amdirlain shrugged. “Ebusuku taught Gail how to lie with the truth. You’re likely skilled enough at destructive manipulation that talking to you about anything is a bad idea. Taking your word for any of it is likely worse.”
A discordant snigger broke free from Alkibiades’ whirlwind form. “I set it free, and I’ve still two more I can release. The three were my payment for freeing Torm and the others from my service.”
“You gained from their pain. I tried to get them to renounce their faith in you, but your attitude appealed to their wretched state, trapping them in a mire,” said Amdirlain coldly. Her gaze narrowed in rage, and she pressed her fists against her legs.
“It brought you here where I could cut some of Gideon’s strings,” answered Alkibiades. “Releasing three Eldritch beings will be just a drop in the bucket to what’s already loose in the realm. Since Gideon immediately knows everything anyone is planning or doing, what question must you ask yourself?”
“I can think of dozens, but there is one thing you should think about,” replied Amdirlain.
“What is that?”
Amdirlain sang some quick twinned notes before she spoke again. “I’ve revoked all authorisation for the keys. It didn’t need strength, just both sides of True Song and me.”
“What?!”
“You already took so much from me, I will not pay you more. No more keys for you. Since you could sense the decay of the crystals in the storage device, you should be able to tell I wiped the chamber’s authorisation links. Now that you can’t retrieve any more keys, you’ve got no legitimate business to be away from the Titan’s Forge,” snapped Amdirlain.
Alkibiades vanished, but Amdirlain got the impression someone had yanked them away.
Letting out a sharp breath, Amdirlain considered what Alkibiades had said.
Pulling the key from her storage device, she spun it in her hand, only to freeze. A crystal sphere the size of a basketball had appeared, hovering among the columns. The tiny facets along its curvature had her believing it was Gideon until she caught the protective theme of the outer layer of its song.
“Hello,” said Amdirlain.
The chiming she’d heard before with Resonance greeted her. “Hello. I’m sure you don’t remember me.”
“Sorry, no, I don’t. What should I call you?” asked Amdirlain, her gaze trying to trace the facets of the sphere.
“Usually just Custodian, though that’s more my role. If an Aspect shackles an Outsider, they bring the key here for safekeeping. My focus is protecting treasures, so I’m here and elsewhere,” Custodian advised.
Amdirlain frowned. “How can they shackle them?”
“Orhêthurin made tonnes of shackles after the Anar and Lómë quit contributing. They’re kept in a temporal vault to stop the crystals from decaying and only issued upon need,” chimed Custodian.
“How can aspects come and go from the forge?” enquired Amdirlain.
“Only concepts and things like souls and Essence can enter and exit the forge. Torm and the others you handed over got reduced to their Essence, then an aspect of Order brought them to the Titan,” explained Custodian.
“Gailneth saw a world being made when she was in the forge,” objected Amdirlain.
A giggling chime echoed in the chamber from Custodian. “They make the worlds at a conceptual level, and bringing them out of the Spire causes the concept to attract all it needs to create the matter it represents. Since an Aspect is part of a Concept, we extend our awareness—which is us—to the location in the realm we need to manifest. Which is fine until we get pinned like the two you rescued, and we can’t get back or manifest.”
“Okay,” sighed Amdirlain.
“Don’t let Alkibiades get to you, Amdirlain. For an entity that doesn’t have a true physical body, they can be a bit of a dick.”
“Destruction personified, after all. Why are they playing games with Eldritch creatures?”
“Alkibiades doesn’t care about your goals; they’re interested in the Eldritch contamination on various worlds. You mentioned that the more the Titan makes, the more Alkibiades has to destroy. That’s not the case if Eldritch entities suck up all the energy from the realm first,” explained Custodian. “Alkibiades doesn’t care if you’re ready; they likely wanted you stomping them into little pieces.”
“How many worlds?” enquired Amdirlain.
“They’re a worrywart, or maybe just greedy. Hundreds of worlds out of billions isn’t that much of an issue. Even if you look at those with cults present, it’s still not that big a number. In most places, the local pantheons know the issue and have servants holding the lid on,” offered Custodian. “But yeah, if you want to practice fighting with something weaker than Moloch, you can punch some of them in the nose.”
“Gideon said some are stronger,” noted Amdirlain.
Custodian floated down to Amdirlain and hovered at eye level. “Judging by the counters that reverted, you’ve repaired containment facilities for some that rivalled Demi-gods. That makes sense since it feels like you took a battering.”
“You can tell?”
A flash of pink washed across some of their facets. “I’m a minor Aspect of the Concept of Protection. Hard to protect something or someone properly if you can’t tell its state. Those who love you treasure you, which lets me know your state.”
“I don’t suppose you’d give me a clue about how I can learn about the Eldritch issue?” asked Amdirlain, trying to avoid the topic change.
A flicker of light showed on Custodian’s surface. “Why?”
“Paying for Torm and the others,” explained Amdirlain.
“Do you really think your father needs you to pay him?” queried Custodian.
“I’m not his daughter,” said Amdirlain, her voice softening to a near whisper remembering the notes of pain she’d heard from him.
“He knows that’s how you feel, and you still have the place reserved for your Human parents. Do you think that invalidates how his heart feels? Until every realm dies a final heat death and perhaps beyond, he’ll consider you his daughter,” advised Custodian.
Amdirlain bit off the urge to reject the news. “Why tell me?”
“I can be protective of his heart as well as yours,” explained Custodian, and they gave a soft chime. “You’ve already endured a battering, and I think the truth is better than games. Thinking about the situation, it’s likely why Alkibiades lured you here—so I’d spill the beans.”
“Seems an odd approach, for an Aspect of Destruction to want the truth revealed,” observed Amdirlain.
“Because Alkibiades is likely counting on the truth to destroy some of Gideon’s plans. Which doesn’t gain anyone much since Gideon has more plans than planets have atoms. Then again, maybe they’re counting on you being in the mood to squish the Eldritch to bits.”
“You’re not going into protective mode and wrapping me up in ignorance?” asked Amdirlain with a smile.
“Please!” scoffed Custodian in disgust. “The only thing ignorance does is keep you blind until your throat gets cut. Isn’t it healthier to want strength to create and protect rather than being driven by anger and pain? Orhêthurin did that, and it didn’t work well. The anger she had inside her stopped her from opening up to others that didn’t already know her secrets.”
“Until, in the end, there were only one or two she could talk to,” stated Amdirlain, and Custodian bobbed in the air. “What truth was Alkibiades counting on you exposing?”
“I can think of a few, so how about I tell you the ones I know about? First, Nicholaus is already working on Torm’s purification. He’s taking his time to ensure the best result. Second-”
“Where will Torm end up?” interrupted Amdirlain.
“That I can’t tell you. I heard his Soul is going to have to settle a while,” advised Custodian, and they floated close enough to give Amdirlain a reassuring bump. “Your treasuring of Torm let me learn more than I normally would.”
The gesture reminded Amdirlain of a cat, but she resisted the temptation to comment. “Soul, not essence; you’re talking reincarnation then?”
“Yep. But I don’t have all the information, so I can’t share what I don’t know. Two, Balnérith had thought the route to her old realm was through the wound in the Abyss. Her whole thing with the Sisterhood was getting lackeys strong enough to resist the Primordial and Eldritch energy around the wound,” grumbled Custodian. “Training to keep a specific form protected them from the distortion effect, so they can endure time down there working to open it.”
That news caused Amdirlain’s eyebrows to lift. “So she wasn’t just an authoritarian control freak. What happens if that wound opens?”
“Picture sticking a sharp dagger into someone that keeps spinning on the spot?” suggested Custodian.
The mental image of a giant gaping wound made Amdirlain wince.
“That wince sums it up pretty well. The original wound is now seeping from the scab being picked at, but it’s manageable. The situation has been creating concern within the Protection concepts,” explained Custodian. “A Primordial on that Plane might take an interest and seal it; though the possibility is slim, if it's opened, the Far Chaos would flood in and put their territories at risk. Self-interest is a prime drive for anything living in the Abyss.”
“Until eventually the realm gets flooded or bursts apart?” asked Amdirlain, remembering the icy feeling she got from learning Balnérith was hunting for something in the depths.
“Spot on,” agreed Custodian. “You cost her a workforce, but the damage isn’t healing. It will get messy once she regains a following and can resume work on her project. She spent millennia searching for what she thought was the route home; now she believes she knows its location.”
“Once she regains a following?”
“Demons commonly seek to shelter behind the strength of those stronger until they can stab them in the back,” stated Custodian. “She’s down but not out.”
Amdirlain scowled. “Why can’t the aspects patch up the wound?”
“The ones that can do healing can’t handle the Abyss at those depths, while those that can handle those depths cannot heal anything,” explained Custodian.
Sure, the wound wasn’t something she could handle with her present strength. Amdirlain sighed. The thought of hidden things resonated with Custodian’s nature, causing her to brighten. “Oh. I don’t suppose you know where Orhêthurin left the strength she discarded?”
“She put aside something she didn’t treasure, so I have no knowledge of it. Only one entity knows for sure, maybe two if Gideon told Nicholaus,” answered Custodian, and it buzzed merrily upon continuing. “Gideon’s telling me off for running my mouth, but I don’t have one.”
“Why are they telling you off?”
Custodian chimed in amusement. “Something about spoiling your goals. Oh, now they’re annoyed about that as well. Too bad, so sad, Gideon.”
“Hush, Gideon, you gave me a list, and I already figured out it was a roadmap. Between it and the Eldritch issue, I’ll push to improve. You better give me more information on their incursions.”
[Eldritch Incursion Status
Current Infected Worlds: 496
Worlds with Eldritch Cults: 17,296
Note: To get you in over your head?
Note: The whisperer is currently experimenting with some demons.]
[Eldritch Cults
Details: Certain forms of insanity open dreaming Mortal minds to the Far Chaos and the entities there exploit it. Promises of untold power lead them into madness-infusing worship that provides the Eldritch entities with a path into the realm.
Their Eldritch master’s nature is only partly translatable. They aren’t beings native to our planar wheel, nor was the framework set to contain them, and it only extends so far towards including them.
Once within, they aren’t bound by the rules that control Outsiders. These are being brought forth by dark offerings and rites dreamed up in insane minds. Madness allows these Eldritch abominations a channel to manifest directly on the Material Plane. If they choose not to manifest fully, they usually inhabit dimensions that most mortals can't perceive and use tendrils of madness to possess or influence mortals to gain further victims.
Note: Most of the infections are currently being driven out. Various pantheons, including the Formithian, try to keep a lid on it. Then again, even Tiamat’s priests and the chromatics work to oppose their presence in the realm.]
“You said the wound was only seeping; how do the Eldritch beings get in?” enquired Amdirlain.
“It’s a bit like scaling up a massive wall instead of the front door being open. It didn’t matter so much when it was first done—there was nothing to attract them to steal or feed off,” explained Custodian.
“Laodice told me Ori got her work list from Gideon. If any worlds have infections without pantheons, put them at the top of my list,” Amdirlain instructed.
When Amdirlain used Analysis again, two names appeared at the top of her list. They had also removed the work that she had already completed from it.
“My thanks to both of you.”
“Anytime. Please come back and visit when you can,” replied Custodian.
Amdirlain teleported to an Outlands glade and considered her conversation with Custodian. Their concerns about protection and anger had reminded Amdirlain of speaking with Mars and his struggle with his wife’s current state. Unsure if she was even the right person to give any advice, Amdirlain still considered the issue with the insights talking to Custodian had provided.
While Amdirlain’s thoughts churned over Mars and Anna’s situation, she worked on something easier: gathering information on Eldritch incursions. Analysis showed the first world was a developing planet similar to Votari. Though only a single sentient species occupied it: elven variants in tribal hunter-gatherer groups.
The second world was more complex, and further prodding painted a picture that surprised Amdirlain.
[World: Qil Tris
Age: 4.7 billion years
Sun: G-Type (yellow dwarf)
Landmass Type: Assorted-sized continents
Average diameter: 12.9 thousand kilometres (Earth-type)
Planetary Orbit: 391.4 days
Tilt: 15.7%
Environmental range: Semi-temperate to permanent ice packs
Status: Stable
Local civilisation advancement levels:
Cultural: Assorted City States, Kingdoms, and Alliances
Technology achieved: Steam and Airships
Magical advancement: Advanced magical metals & materials. Multiple Spell lists.
Local primary species (averaged population percentage of total sapient species):
Catfolk, local variants (89%)
Sahuagin, local variant (7%)
Dwarf, local variant (2%)
Other groups < 2%
Population: 1.17 billion
Incursion Status:
Outsider & Minor (Eldritch entities and natural elementals)
Local Pantheon Status:-
Classification: Rejected
Priest Types: None
Worship Types: None (Eldritch sorcerers)]
No pantheon or priests at all. What caused them to reject the deities? What’s under other?
[Qil Tris - Other species groups:
Frost giants (0.01%)
Orc (<2%)
Note: After an era of heated philosophical issues, the survivors ’cut out’ all religious activities.]
Alternating two sets of surveyors to seek Eldritch distortions, Amdirlain sent them through gates into low orbit above each planet. While she gave them time to complete a few rotations, Amdirlain began designing songs for the next phase of her efforts against Moloch.
Should I store enough water to flood his entire territory?
Putting the idle thought aside, she returned to the song to gather details on Oath-linked demons en-mass.
Pulling the surveyors back, she checked over the primitive world first. On it she found a desolate forest with a single intense distortion centred where a weird meteor strike had happened. In the middle of a vast forest of giant redwood-sized trees was an area where an explosion had obliterated a circle nearly one hundred and fifty metres across. From the flattened trees around it, a shockwave had radiated outwards from that point. In the decaying debris of those trees was an undergrowth of strange orange and black plants that were absent elsewhere.
The populated world presented a different incursion type with weak distortion points in dozens of cities.
Undecided about which to tackle first, Amdirlain remembered Mars’ comment about fighting by her side.
“Mars, I’d like to speak about your struggle to communicate with your wife,” stated Amdirlain,
A few minutes passed without a response before Mars appeared beside her in gleaming centurion armour. “Have you figured out how I can fix her? Or have you learnt where Athena is?”
“I’d like you to think about something and decide if you’re willing to put some time in,” said Amdirlain.
“I’ll try anything if it will help fix her situation,” replied Mars.
Amdirlain barely stopped her eye roll in time.
“First, I want to check a few things. Your early worshippers were the precursors of soldiers, weren’t they? They’d guard the fields day and night to prevent animals and bandits from taking the crops.”
“That’s right,” agreed Mars.
“If you are on the night watch, what do you do? Walk around with a flaming torch that ruins your night vision, or listen to the evening’s sounds?”
“Novices patrol with a torch. Better guards keep still and listen for anything out of place. What has this got to do with fixing Anna?”
“How does a scout gather information in the wilds?” asked Amdirlain, and Mars blinked in surprise.
“What do you mean?”
“When you visit Anna’s Domain, do you just sit quietly and listen, or ask her what needs to be done?”
“She won’t talk to me about anything,” protested Mars.
Amdirlain nodded understandingly. “Anna’s Domain isn’t yours, is it?”
“No, though I’ve still got guest rights,” insisted Mars, and he snorted angrily.
“I’m sorry if the questions are annoying. I’m trying to frame the advice in a fashion that suits the focus of your faith,” explained Amdirlain. “I just spoke to an Aspect of Protection and could see their concept’s involvement.”
“Aspects are strange entities,” noted Mars, as his frustration ebbed from his features as quickly as it had appeared.
Passionate fellow
“Let me run through this plan and see if you feel it’s worth your time,” proposed Amdirlain. “Don’t start on anything until we’re done planning the mission.”
Mars grounded his pilum and rested the spear haft against his shoulder.
“The situation with Anna is unknown, correct?” asked Amdirlain.
“Yes,” grunted Mars.
“So the first thing to do is gather information, but since she’s not talking, I’d suggest you treat it as night watch on a scouting mission. What the scout needs to achieve is information gathering. Send a weak Avatar in, sit near her, pour her a drink, and blend into what is occurring around her. Just as the scout in the field needs to report back to command, it shouldn’t act on anything it learns.”
“Why a weak avatar?”
Amdirlain held back a sigh. “Are scouts heavily armoured?”
“No, they need to move quickly and avoid attention,” replied Mars.
“If you send a strong Avatar near her, Anna is going to suspect that at any moment it’s going to leap up and take care of whatever she talks about,” stated Amdirlain. “I’m going to let you in on a secret, and you can figure out an approach to take.”
“What secret?” asked Mars eagerly.
“Sometimes, when a woman is ready to talk, it’s not about what they want fixed; they want to talk about what they went through or have already decided. They want someone who listens and pays attention to them, not the problem, especially if they’ve already dealt with it. It’s more about seeking commiseration with their struggle. If you’re there but give the vibe that you’re ready to run off and ‘fix things’, she knows that won’t be you,” advised Amdirlain.
“Humans are very different to elves in their way of thinking,” objected Mars.
Amdirlain gave a brilliant smile. “In my last life, I was Human and a woman.”
Silence initially greeted her pronouncement. “You were what?” gawked Mars.
“I thought you were a weird demoness who’d got converted from her ways somehow,” sputtered Mars.
“No, I didn’t become a demoness from my deeds. I got cursed by a jealous guy and had to hold off a demonic entity taking me over,” summarised Amdirlain. “I still remember being Human, and I only mention it to reassure you I know this from a Human viewpoint.”
Mars frowned. “I’d like to learn more later, but continue, please.”
“Imagine you’re telling a post-battle story, and someone kept getting up every time you mentioned taking a wound. Then you find they intend to slay the foe you’ve already killed and have interrupted your story. Would you feel they’re listening to you at all or wanting glory for themselves?”
“Oh,” grunted Mars.
“You’ve already tried getting her to tell you what’s wrong a few times. So does it help to think of this as long-term reconnaissance? It will take a while before Anna talks; if she starts, she’ll likely talk about other things first. Even if she brings up what seem like issues, you are there to gather information, nothing more. She might mention them to test that you’re there to support her and not your glory. Don’t look to fix anything unless Anna explicitly asks for your help, okay?”
“I just sit there in silence?”
Amdirlain tried her best to give him a reassuring smile.
“You could talk about things you have in common. Agriculture is about life and growth. Talk about the people and places that have had a good harvest of late,” suggest Amdirlain. “Maybe in a few weeks, ask what she’d suggest to improve harvests in places that haven’t done so well.”
“What if she’s wrong?”
His question had Amdirlain laughing, and she felt the laughter ease her physical tensions. “Mars, you’re not asking for orders or the best solution. Remember, if she answers, what you asked for were her suggestions. They might not be the best for you, but they’re hers and might contain aspects that would improve your tactics, even if you don’t like the entire approach.”
“How does that help me get her to tell me what’s wrong?”
“You’re building up trust and lines of communication,” explained Amdirlain. “If she’s not talking, we’re setting the cart before the horse.”
“I don’t know when we’ll speak again. What if Anna starts to talk tomorrow, and you’re off in the Abyss or on a different battlefront?”
“Don’t rush her, Mars. The most important thing is to be there for her if she talks; letting her pick her pace for years will not hurt. Be someone she can rely on to be there for her, guarding her back and listening. She doesn’t need you running off to deal with her already-resolved problems. You leave her alone, and it’s telling her other things are more important than her well-being.”
Mars froze and spoke in a whisper. “Oh, like Torm did with you? Your shield brother wandered off and left your back exposed, and his fall was a blade in your heart. He should have had your back, not been across the battlefield, flailing around for someone to save that might not be there.”
The words punched at the hollow feeling in her chest. With tears blurring her vision, Amdirlain gasped out a single word. “Yes.”
Mars’ gaze softened. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry; just listen to Anna. Torm’s loss hurts because I refuse to block it down. I’ll mourn him, extract a debt from those that hurt him, but that isn’t what we’re talking about now,” declared Amdirlain. “And for crying out loud, don’t do that with Anna.”
“Any last advice for someone trying to care for his love?”
“It’s likely she’s survived something painful. She’s a goddess of life, and death was all around. So pretend her thoughts and words are timid animals. If you startle them, they’ll take fright and alert more important confidences to stay away,” warned Amdirlain as she blotted her tears away.
“You couldn’t have said this before?” grunted Mars, and he tugged at the end of his beard.
“When last we spoke, I wasn’t in a place to give an example of protection,” admitted Amdirlain. “You’d already had issues with Minerva’s battlefield analogy, and mine wouldn’t have been anything useful for you to help Anna. My track record with relationships isn’t good. All the advice I can give you is how I felt in pain and what I needed.”
“Alright, I’ve sent an Avatar to her Domain; it will stay with her always,” stated Mars, and he raked his fingers through the edge of his beard. “Do you want to smash some more undead or demons to release some of your pain and anger?”
“That’s the other thing I had to talk about. I’m going to investigate an Eldritch threat,” admitted Amdirlain.
The beat of Mars’ song picked up, and his nostrils flared. “I’ve heard tales of them from other pantheons. Is that why you were fighting like one, so you could go head to head with them?”
“I knew little about them, but I’ve recently learnt they’ve infected two worlds without pantheons,” advised Amdirlain.
“They? Are we talking about dozens or hundreds?”
“Scans of the more primitive world of the two returned a lot of centralised distortion. However, I’ve no way to tell how many are present,” Amdirlain admitted before shrugging helplessly.
Mars gave her a wolfish smile. “Let’s go.”
Comments
Håvard
The new chapter is listed as road trip and chapter 41 of fluid was not unlocked. Other than that I will use the time to note I like the latest chapters of road trip!
