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UE Rewrite: B4 — 9. A Father’s Plight
🕑 Added 2024-10-18 22:38:13 +0000 UTCPoV:
1. Elinor (Our Cold Empress of Death!)
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Riding behind Ash on his pale horse, Elinor felt every sharp gust from the dying storm’s residual breath. An army of undead was raised behind them, clawing their way out of the muck and grime to join their charge. The remnants of the hurricane still howled, a ghost of the tempest, but nothing compared to the former wrath Autumn conjured.
Tonight, the division in the valley would be done with. If only she could have used her ability to channel a soldier, yet that week-long cooldown had been spent on channeling Quin to unite the clans under her.
Rain pelted her, thin lines of cold water streaking down her back as her father’s presence loomed nearby, silent yet alert—his keen eyes scanning the horizon for threats, ready to defend her at a moment’s notice as they raced through the jungle.
To her right, Quin swung through the thick branches, her massive frame nimble in the dark, the four-armed ape blending seamlessly into the chaotic rhythm of the forest. Grace carried Valentina above them, jumping from branch to branch, keeping an eye out for enemies within the canopy.
Camellia was out of sight to her left, keeping pace with Ash’s steady gallop, her sharp senses searching for signs of movement. The soft vibrations in the earth underfoot echoed through Elinor’s body. Through her fractured Nexus, she could feel the thélméthra burrowing beneath the dirt, breaking into the old, webbed tunnels.
Garu’s voice came through her mind, snapping her focus to the blurred treeline.
“I’m almost across the river, Empress.”
Redivert, she immediately responded. I want you to stay in the river and look for an underwater cave entrance. I need to block off every type of escape route I can.
“Understood.”
Be thorough, Garu, Elinor replied, her tone crisp while searching the dense jungle foliage in their passing and attempting to judge the distance the thélméthra drone was below the surface. Jennifer has support from Shade and her dead goddess. Listen carefully and cut off her escape routes.
“I should be able to follow the fish, attempting to escape the storm in calmer areas as a guide and keep you updated.”
She redirected her focus to the surrounding trees, many of which showed damage from the hurricane that had swept through it. Each movement of Ash’s horse fed through her muscles, a steady rhythm beneath her. The fatigue of her body reminded her of the distance they’d traveled without rest, but she couldn’t waste Death Energy to rebuild it until absolutely necessary or until Ash left her side.
A slight pressure to her left pulled Elinor’s attention toward Camellia, the spider’s voice was low and controlled through the Nexus. “There’s a large force coming our way, Empress. Slow-moving.”
Elinor’s gaze flicked toward the path ahead, where Famine rose on point, and her father immediately responded. “Check it out, Black. Be ready for an ambush.”
Black’s dark form blurred into the rain ahead of them, a shadow darting into the untamed jungle to vanish around the winding trees and sprawling roots. They were getting closer to Red, which meant the Xaltan settlement wouldn’t be far off.
Elinor’s grip tightened around Ash’s waist, her breath steady but her artificial body nearing its limit, and if this vessel collapsed, she didn’t have a phylactery to retreat into. The landscape rolled by in a blur of green and gray, the dark jungle alive with the pelting rain and weak thunder rolling overhead. After thirty seconds of tense silence in their solemn ride, Black’s voice returned.
“Red just made contact through the Nexus… He’s engaged in a heated battle. Against thélméthra,” Black added, the calm darkness in her voice cutting through the chaotic atmosphere like a blade.
Her eyes widened and her undead heart quickened. Living thélméthra? This could get ugly.
Camellia’s sharp inhale through the Nexus drew her gaze to her left, unable to spot the red-haired spider through the foliage. “Excuse me, Empress, but that is impossible.”
Black didn’t hesitate. “He is having trouble responding to me due to the ferocity of the battle. There is more than one… He claims it is an army that will soon spill out of the tunnels. The main one he is having trouble with is an elite.”
“An elite? No,” Camellia insisted, a shiver running through the unstable Nexus connection. “We do not take our own burrows. We destroy them to reform them in the Queen’s meticulous design. If they are here, then it is to purge the area, and an elite… If an elite is here, it means my aunt or one of her daughters are nearby,” she murmured, her voice laced with worry.
Elinor’s jaw tightened, feeling Black pause up ahead and report, “The large group—they’re the Roxim prisoners, not Xaltan.”
Stop them and get answers.
Her stoic father maintained the conversation with the quaking thélméthra. “Camellia, say it were your aunt or cousins… Could you negotiate with them or defeat the elite if it is alone?”
“Fight a Queen? Not unless I were fully grown, and finished training with my mother to become a Queen myself. A princess? Not in my current suppressed state, and that’s not only if she’s the eldest, like me,” Camellia flatly answered.
“If it’s a young princess, perhaps I could distract her long enough to bore her, given my experience and new, more nimble form, but against a Queen or an elite, I would definitely lose. Red should have been dead instantly if it were an elite…unless it has been told not to end the battle by a princess.”
The weight of that statement hung heavy in the air as Elinor’s eyes narrowed. Camellia was currently her strongest unit. Before she could formulate a revised plan, Black’s voice cut through again, this time with an unexpected twist.
“Empress, the Roxim have quite a few wounded and are seemingly escaping captivity. The witches are among them.”
We’re almost to your position.
“What about Red?” Ash whispered, his voice rumbling like the distant thunder to his sister. “Can he maintain a defensive position until we arrive?”
“He’s struggling, finding it hard to focus and respond to me. He just reported over five dozen thélméthra in total. However, it is the elite unit that is giving him trouble,” Black answered, her words steady despite the gravity of the situation.
“I’ll take them on!” Quin’s young, booming voice echoed through the rain, her bravado surging as she swung from the branches overhead.
“You’d be immediately eviscerated,” Camellia hissed, her voice sharp. “As I said, Empress, it is impossible for Red to be alive and to be facing an elite. Drones? Yes, he could run for a short time, but elites are on a whole different level.”
Breaking through the foliage, Elinor caught sight of the massive group of green, discolored ri’bot. She only spotted a few warriors amongst them, holding weapons, and relief came upon seeing the shivering humans in their arms. A slight edge of panic gripped the Roxim citizens as the sporadic flood of undead came into view, but the warriors were swift to calm their people.
Elinor’s mind was fixated on the options, though, adapting to the news she’d just received. No, Quin. Camellia is our expert on her species. Throwing ourselves at them would only weaken our forces. If Red can…
“Empress!” Red’s voice silenced all of them as his voice carried through thunder and rain, his urgency transferring to all of them through the Nexus. “The thélméthra are the Xaltan Xaria and elite warriors, infused into their corpses, giving them new life. They…they can’t control their bodies or senses that well, but are learning quickly.”
She caught Black’s narrowed eyes on their approach, one of the Roxim warriors beside her, carrying Rylee, the leader of the Gray Coven. If that’s the case, perhaps we do stand a chance. Ash…
Green flames surrounded Elinor before even giving the command, her Horseman of Death refilling her pool of energy from his reserve to rebuild her physical form. Chains split space, and gripping the lapis lazuli links, she launched off Ash’s horse to land beside the warrior carrying Rylee. Her father was already issuing orders.
Black, Ash, Camellia, continue to Red’s side and clear the way for us. Quin keep a lookout for Xaltan ambushes.
Rain slid down Elinor’s face as her boots sank into the mud, watching the horsemen race into the jungle, Death’s undead army lumbering after them. Her father dismounted to join her and she could sense his unease; he was likely concerned about leaving Tiffany with the Hag after her display of power. Grace dropped down from above to join them, setting the abashed tiger girl down from her princess carry.
“What happened?” she asked, seeing the relief on the toad people’s faces at her presence.
The Roxim warrior carefully set the trembling witch down, soaking wet and looking as if she could collapse at any moment. Lacerations and wire-like cuts marred his smooth body, yet he spoke as without a hint of the pain he should be feeling.
“Chief Zargoth went after Jennifer. Red had us escape with the witches…”
“Ahem.” Rylee cleared her throat, hugging herself, yet Elinor could see the anger and guilt in the thirty two year old’s face. “She manipulated our minds…into believing she was you or Queen Tiffany, Empress. I have no excuses. We performed rituals for her…”
She flinched as Elinor stepped forward, placing a soothing hand on her shoulder and taking note of the burned hand print under her armpit, much of her shirt torn away, leaving her exposed in the harsh storm.
“It’s okay, Rylee. There’s nothing to forgive or blame.” She smiled, knowing the woman more than likely could hardly see her in the darkness yet projecting the emotion with her voice to put her at ease. “I know you did your best and believe in the vision I have… How are the others?” she prompted, glancing at the Roxim citizens huddled together throughout the visible area.
Tears mixed with the rain, running down Rylee’s face, her brown hair a mess and plastered to her skin. “I know most of them are alright, but the last ritual was…intense. Jasmine, Sofia, and Felicia may have…complications from it. As far as I know, the twenty four girls in my Circle are alive. Empress?”
Elinor pulled her into a hug, making the witch stiffen before she sniffed and awkwardly returned it, her body quaking. “You did well, Rylee. You’re safe…”
Allowing her a several seconds in the pouring rain to collect herself, Elinor drew back. “I understand you placed the Xaltan warriors into thélméthra corpses. Is there anything of importance that you need to tell me?”
Taking a shuddering breath, the Colombian woman and former teacher’s face firmed. “Jennifer is after a hidden chamber, blocked off by the Thélméthra Queen. There is a salamander man that arrived on a floating platform which gave Jennifer the needed ingredients we needed for such a complex ritual… I didn’t talk with him but he had two other salamanders with him. I…believe they were nalveans.”
Elinor’s eyes grew cold, internally processing the information. “That helps… Warrior,” she said to the ri’bot who had been carrying the woman, “I will have Quin escort your people safely across the river. It should be calming down, but know that the humans with you are very vulnerable to elements. She will burn out a log that they can huddle in to cross it. Ally forces are closing in on all sides.”
“I’ll see them safely to the other side with my life, Empress,” he saluted without further comment, knowing the urgency to escape enemy territory.
She gave the frustrated Gray Witch’s arm one last comforting squeeze before turning to her father, already informing Quin of the new mission. However, she paused as Garu made contact and the Roxim prepared to move out again.
“Empress, I’ve found a tunnel… I smell a human, nalveans, and a several ri’bot who have passed by through the cavern inside. One has the scent left by the Roxim.”
Fingers curling in, she accepted her father’s hand, helping her mount his large black warhorse as he prompted the thélméthra to join the Ethereal scout. Chief Zargoth… Catch up to them. I’m sending a drone. We’ll be there shortly.
Just as her father turned the horse away, Grace stepped up, drawing her focus to the tiger girl and hare man. “Empress… A problem.”
“Hmm?” Pausing, she looked down at the pair.
Valentina held her elbow, unsure yellow eyes glancing between them as Grace held his typical lax and unbothered smile. His large ears tilted to the south, where his gaze shifted, staring into the dark jungle, rain pattering around them with the crowd of ri’bot passing around them.
“Enemies?” her father questioned.
“I’m unsure,” he hummed, left eye creasing with interest. “Winged creatures, flying across the canopy right toward us. Should Val and I handle it?”
The tiger girl’s hair and tail fur bristled but she remained quiet, an eager smile lifting her face at finally having something to do. Elinor peered past the veil of cold water falling from the heavens, quickly evaluating everything she’d learned thus far.
Jennifer and Shade are working together to obtain whatever Camellia’s mother left behind… It can’t be her sisters or her body, since she closed it off herself. Some treasure she’d found while burrowing through the valley? It’s possible.
And now the nalveans are involved. Klaus is still working on that angle in their capital city. No, Shade’s hand is likely involved with the nalvean. Either that or the Xaltan have been secretly forming an alliance with some of them… In fact, they could be mercenaries for all we know.
She turned her gaze to the canopy blanketing them, the gales creating a symphony of sound before staring down at the calm man, his arm resting against his sheathed, curved blades.
Is this Nungal’s direction? Grace typically doesn’t act on his own. He’s totally devoted to his goddess. Him volunteering Val and him to handle it is likely for a reason. Damn her and her games. I bet you’re up there snickering at me right now. I don’t have time to hesitate. Right now, action is required.
Elnor nodded. “Handle it and catch up when you’re able.”
Grace gave her an elegant bow before nudging the seventeen-year-old girl. “We’ll be moving fast, Stripes. Can you keep up?”
“You know I can!” she snapped back, cheeks darkening and making Elinor chuckle as the tiger glanced at her, clearly embarrassed at the question. “You just picked me up on your own before…”
“Happy hunting,” Elinor said, refocusing as the last of the Roxim filtered past them, heading the way they’d come from. “I trust you.”
She could feel the determination and faith rebound from the Tiger Beastkin as she nimbly jumped up onto a root to climb the branches into the canopy. “Hurry up, Grace, or I’ll leave you behind.”
Grace’s body shook with silent mirth while brushing back a loose strand of his long white hair, giving Elinor a mysterious glance before saying, “…She’s an ambitious one but a hasty one. She doesn’t even know where we’re going. Nungal likes her.”
“I bet she would,” Elinor mumbled, still not trusting the goddess who had killed her in all her previous lives. “Keep her safe.”
“Naturally.”
The storm’s intensity somehow grew worse after the brief respite as they resumed the ride, the hooves of her father’s massive horse carving a path through the drenched terrain. Ice formed beneath the horse’s galloping feet, leaving a shimmering trail behind them.
Elinor held on tightly to her father’s armored waist, her eyes narrowing against the biting wind. Even the air seemed to be at war with itself, much like the forces scattered throughout the valley, skirmishes likely happening underneath its dense canopy.
Quin met resistance, reporting back as a Xaltan group, most likely forced to take refuge from the relentless downpour engaged her. The Xaltan were regrouping, following the scent of bloodlust that hung in the storm’s wake. This war wasn’t one of giant armies on open battlefields but of small groups meeting amidst the undergrowth and vast branch network.
But Elinor’s thoughts were only partly with them. Her mind wandered to the man in front of her, sensing his emotions raging deep below the surface. The stern and silent presence of her father, who had tried his best to be her shield through every battle, only for her to keep him at arm’s length. She’d learned many harsh lessons in this unforgiving world and been forced to grow up swiftly to take leadership, to keep the humans who relied on her alive. Yet, there were many internal troubles that needed to be resolved.
Does he really think there’s nothing left of Mom in Tiffany? It’s hard to tell, even for me, using the Nexus. He’s sacrificed everything to protect me… But I’m more than his little girl now. I am running an empire. I’ve lived many past lives, becoming a goddess in at least one that I know about before coming to Mom and him. He never was good at dealing with change.
Dad. Her voice cut through the roar of the wind to his soul, piercing the silence that had settled between them. I need to know… Do you truly believe there’s nothing of Mom left in Tiffany?
There was a pause. His grip on the reins tightened slightly, and she could feel the cold radiating off his form intensify, though it wasn’t the frost that bit at her skin. His response, when it came, was carefully measured, his tone carrying the weight of old wounds.
“This isn’t the time for that discussion, Elinor.”
She could feel the hesitation, the way he seemed to want to deflect the conversation, but she pressed on. It’s never the right time, is it? I rarely have moments like these to speak with you. And she’s not here right now to say it, so I will.
Her arms strengthened around his waist as they leaped over a massive root, the force of the jump pulling a sharp breath from her lungs, not that that mattered to her.
You hurt her, you know. She may not show it and have put up a wall, but I feel it in her soul. Is it fair to judge her so harshly after everything Mom sacrificed for me? I…I see her in Tiffany, more than you realize. Is she the same? No. But there’s more of Mom in her than just her appearance, as hot as she is now that she’s returned to her youth, and you can’t deny that.
A low grunt escaped him, the icy exterior he presented cracking for a moment in a way only she or her mother could get past. “And you think I don’t see that?” he asked, his voice strained, the pain bleeding through.
“I loved your mother more than you can know, whatever you can sense through the Nexus… I still do. But…what she became, the things she had to endure… It twisted her. I do see pieces of her in Tiffany…of our Tiff…my wife. And that is the most painful part.”
The thunder overhead masked the brief silence that followed, but Elinor could sense her father’s unease, the way his grip on the reins loosened, then tightened again, the subtle shift in his posture that betrayed his inner turmoil. His cold, stoic exterior wasn’t impenetrable, and she had a way of finding the cracks.
Elinor frowned, her gaze searching the dim, storm-lit horizon ahead. I saw the way you looked at her weeks ago. You were working through that gap, reconnecting with her... What changed while we were in Kaspir? Was it because she followed my orders to stay out of the situation with the hag until it was necessary?
He paused, pulling them around a bank, water surging out in a stream that his horse jumped over. “It’s more than that, Elinor. Yes, I am more upset with you than her for that…but it did help me realize something about her…”
It took several seconds for him to continue, searching for the right words. “…Your mother would have never hid that from me… Never. That was what terrified me, Elinor.”
The statement made her shiver, taking her back to the memories she had growing up of her mother. He was right. Her mother always told her father about any trouble she had, only she had a way of doing it that helped her protective father understand her position. He wasn’t finished, though.
“The worst parts of your mother,” he continued, struggling through his emotions in the storm they rode through, “the parts she most hated and tried to work on, were amplified in ways that I can’t help but feel disgusted by. The things she would do if not for you holding back that darkness…”
Her father’s voice grew colder, a blizzard in a wildfire of loss and frustration at failing to protect his wife. “Sweetie, I don’t think you realize the heinous acts Tiffany would perform, not only to our enemies, but those you protect if she knew you’d allow it. You are the only thing keeping that small light in her alive. I am merely a relic of her past she feels physically and emotionally attracted to as a stabilizer… Yes, I hurt her. But not in the way you think.”
They slowed upon reaching a denser area, weaving through brush and roots. “…What I see in Tiffany isn’t the woman I married… And meeting the hag made me realize why Tiffany idolizes her so much. She’s not your mother, Elinor. And she never will be. But…”
He hesitated, his deep voice faltering as they swerved around a cluster of broken branches, the horse’s hooves striking the muddy ground with sharp thuds.
“When she interacts with you. There are moments…small glimpses, where I see her. Where I feel her. And maybe that’s what makes it harder. Because it’s never enough. She’s always…just out of reach. And now I know we can truly have her back… Of course I’m conflicted…because I fear this could backfire and even that small light will be gone.”
Elinor bit her lip, her own feelings conflicted as the sound of their horse cutting through the storm filled the void left by his words. “Maybe you are right, and I’m the only thing keeping that light alive. Still, I think there’s more of her left in Tiffany than you’re willing to admit,” she said softly. “She’s…still trying to be what Mom was. And that’s not just for me. It’s not perfect, but it’s something. And you loved her once. Isn’t that worth fighting for if she’ll be sharing a body with my Mom… To not be left behind and discarded like—”
Before she could finish, a flash of movement caught her eye—too fast, too close, too late. A projectile shot out from the treeline, aimed directly at her head. Yet, her father’s reflexes kicked in instantly, his armored hand darting up to intercept it, but the force of the blow was enough to partially deflect it. The sharp edge of the projectile grazed Elinor’s neck, slicing through her skin with precision, right where a major vein would have been if she were alive.
Eyes narrowing and focusing her mind, she maneuvered her body away from the direction it came, hiding her head using her father’s armor as a barrier. However, a cold fury that chilled the air enclosing them, a frosty barrier blocking the following thorn bullets.
“Don’t leave my side!”
I don’t see anyone…
“They’re somehow blending into the trees. I should be able to sense them.”
He wheeled the horse around, eyes scanning the storm-darkened treeline for the attacker. Elinor’s hand instinctively flew to her neck, feeling a sticky liquid that bubbled against her skin, eating away at the tissue.
A corrosive substance… We should dismount and take cover, wait for them to come to us. This doesn’t feel right.
Her father’s eyes flashed as he spotted their assailant and a heat rose in his chest Elinor hadn’t felt since she’d raised him. “Her…”
Elinor locked onto Xaria Dalria: the woman who had murdered her mother. The ri’bot stood out starkly against the faint light that managed to pierce through the dark clouds and storm-tossed canopy. Her dark orange skin gleamed, and the ominous crimson tattoo of a Scarlet Hand glowed faintly on her chest.
Yet, something was off. A grotesque third eye had opened on her forehead, blood leaking from its lid and staining her weathered face.
Well…that’s new.
Elinor could feel the swell of her father’s rage building, a cold fury she rarely sensed from him. His protective instincts screamed louder than the storm, and she knew he was seconds away from lashing out. Gently, she placed a steadying hand on his shoulder, her voice calm yet laced with steel.
Have faith in me, Dad, as I have faith in you. I’ll be safe. Her gaze never wavered from Dalria, whose taunting smile was twisted with arrogance. I know you want to deal with her, but also want to protect me. I’ll join the others. This is your battle.
Under the dome of translucent ice her father had summoned, there was a brief moment of silence, broken only by the howling wind. And Dalria’s voice slithered through the storm like poison.
“Speaking through your secret ways won’t save you. You’ll die tonight, Elinor,” she sneered, her gaze gleaming with malice. “I’ll see it through in the Eye of Revilla.”
Her father’s voice spoke directly to her soul, carrying a note of trust Elinor hadn’t quite heard before like this. Not from her overprotective father who had wanted her home before seven every day while growing up. A note of a resigned and proud father.
“You’ve grown into a woman faster than I would have liked… Your mother will be proud when she's purified.” His eyes, hard and focused, flickered with a rare blend of sorrow and reconciliation. “Go after Jennifer. Dalria may have killed your mother, but it was on Jennifer’s order. I’ll handle her…”
A cold, familiar cadence returned to Elinor’s voice, closing off the part of her heart she had briefly opened with her father. Without hesitation, she raised her hand, and a shimmering chain split the air, attaching to her palm. In a swift motion, she launched herself skyward, her body rising into the turbulent air and peppering rain.
Dalria spat a final barb after her, but before it could reach her, a massive icy dome materialized, trapping the ri’bot and her father within. Elinor whispered into the storm, her voice barely audible over the winds.
“Make her suffer.”
As she ascended, Elinor’s mind sharpened, focusing on the task at hand. Camellia was just about to reach Red, Black and Ash right beside her as they reported their position. Famine being the voice.
“There is a mine area just beyond the main village to the east. The first hole on the right… There is a giant chasm below it, Red is coming out of the… No! Red!”
“I will handle the elite,” Camellia interjected. “Take Red out of the cave, Black!”
Elinor’s gut tightened. Hold on, I’m coming.
