Indra Lichenwind.
30th light of Sextrand, 1492.
12:42 Pm.
***
"I'm so excited! I wonder how much everyone has changed! I bet their parties are, like, super crazy!"
"Yeah." Mary chuckled wryly and gestured around the woods to the few humans present. "Like ours."
"Druids rarely form large parties very quickly," Scarlett chimed without delay. "He'll understand."
"Is there any reason we have yet to depart? I asked, looking around the forest.
"We're waiting for someone." Came the simple reply. And so I waited.
Soon after, however, two humans appeared as if from thin air. Rangers, by the looks of it, and they were searching for something; or someone.
"This is the spot, yeah?" Asked a human woman with a husky, almost coarse voice and wild auburn hair.
"Yeah, hold on." The other one said, sweeping her thick braid around as she took off her pack and began fumbling inside. "I wanna try something."
Growing impatient, I looked over to Scarlett to inquire about their identity when the first one approached took a long look at Mary and approached cautiously. "Hello, little doe. Have you seen my friend?"
It was then that the little moth fluttered from my beak to land on the human's brow. "Hi Toni!" she beamed, though I doubted the ranger could understand her at the moment.
"S- scarlett?" The girl with the bag asked, clearly bemused by both the sudden appearance and her companion's laughter. "You know, when we said we wanted to travel together, this isn't what we had in mind." She pouted.
"Not to worry," I said as I transformed from a songbird to a giant eagle. In turn, Mary turned into a small monkey and grasped onto my back while Scarlett clung to her fur. Much to my surprise, though, the rangers took flight on their own power. And at great speed.
High above the clouds, they met with more of their kind. Thousands of them, from what I could see, all led by other classmates of theirs.
"Come on!" The small monkey on my back hopped in frustration, pointing to a few streaks in my peripherals. "We're falling behind!"
Speeding up, I cleared the borders of Ligin and looked below to see strange contraptions, as well as things that could only have been described as elven technology. Wagon-like constructs that flew on columns of fire, or... things filled to the brim with arcane energy.
We passed deeper into Vruria soon after, and a streak of lightning bolted up to the sky to take point in front of us. A little way more and streaks of dust could be seen far below, coming from the Mazi Council. And several more of those things could be seen in both Nevstan and Bakewia, converging toward the same point at the end of my beak: Shujen.
Unease crept up my spine when the region loomed into sight. How different it was. Every plant seemed to be charred black, as if a great wildfire had swept through the region. Yet grasses and brush were seen clearly beneath the clouds of thick smoke. Perhaps from some unknown effect or the virulent flowers themselves, glowing with arcane- and often holy energy.
As we grew closer, I recognized the peculiar vibrancy of the flora. Only after did I notice the stench of death that followed. Yet it poured not from the deep chasm found where Nydorden Halls used to be. It came from that holy blizzard far above.
There were many people standing beneath that whirlwind of snow; and a few- my brother and his cohort- standing beyond. Many students of the Bodhi Tree and what seemed to be thousands more who were not; all mingling around the shores of Shujen Bay, near a much different looking Champion and what could have only been his party.
Scarlett and Mary rushed to them at once. The former to Amun and the latter to a slender human with shoulder length locks, sitting in a floating chair. Edward Pascal, his name was. A Grandmaster Artificer.
'Curious.' I noted their embrace. Then turned toward Corym just as Amun approached, gesturing to his party.
"Blude." He pointed over to a Gerdian wearing a fine suit and an elaborate headdress, who introduced her companions as Redd and Sam; both dressed similarly, albeit with different colored tunics beneath.
A human boy with red and white hair and a metal or bone arm was introduced next; Wilson Koorb. The name rang a bell, but I could not ponder on it before I was introduced to a halfling with black veins sprawled beneath her tanned skin. Rickley Ravenbrook; and then to a curiously tall goblin in fine clothes, Leary, the faithful. And then…
"Reina Featherfall!" I stepped forward.
"Oh!" She turned and smiled awkwardly. "Hello, Lady Indra. It's... been a while. G- good to see you again."
"Good to see-" I stammered. "Last I heard, you all died!" The crowd grew silent and turned toward us, making me embarrassed, not with their stares, but how they turned back to their business without a care.
"Well, I was exiled and then murdered." She corrected with an eerie cheeriness. "By my parents! But before that," she then gestured to Amun and the few others who remained. "I made a pact."
"So then." I turned to Amun. "Those cursed woods was your doing?"
"The Duskwoods Reina spread before she left are not cursed." I heard a voice from above and gazed to see a familiar and different set of faces.
"Death, toxicity, and pestilence are nutrients to the Duskwoods. They act to purify tainted lands before dying, becoming nutrients so that nature may reclaim those lands. The Blighted Woods are cursed no more."
"Olga!" I gasped. She looked the same. But much younger and with a golden tint to her red hair. She had black- almost purple freckles dotting her cheeks and nose, and the same golden radiance found in one of Amun's eyes could be seen in hers.
The students, and even the ones who weren't students, began greeting her in a way that implied they'd seen her more recently than I have. And the same went for Doyle, floating beside her. His skin was pale, almost like a vampire's, the silver hair indicative of all Nimbuans was tinted the with that pale blue light, and his eyes had the same bestial glint like the wolves Amun kept at his sides.
"I cannot refute your words, I suppose." I sighed, meeting Olga's eyes. "Indeed, those… Duskwoods are no more. Life has already begun anew in the region. It makes me hopeful for your arrival in Redagh."
"Yes, yes." Amun sighed impatiently, waving the matter aside. "Now, if we're done waffling, we've got a schedule to keep."
"All of you cannot go to the Tree." I stepped in. "Only the graduates."
"Oh, you misunderstand, Indra." Amun chortled. "We're here on behalf of the Legio Noctis. I was invited by Zorrenor to join the Optimus Regni for the festivities."
"To be a guild master, you must have a deeply rooted divine tree and have a functioning core annex constructed." I turned to Corym, wh. "Has he-"
"He has not yet learned anything from us."
<<"Indeed!">> A pompous voice suddenly echoed our mother tongue from the whirling blizzard, inflected with the same tones and accent as our peer. <<"He learned it from us!">>
We all turned to see two drow appearing from the fog. Both held similar features to Abbot Eiriol, yet only one was dressed as a monk. And next to them was a… floating torso wearing a blue tunic.
One of Corym's fired upon the lead drow with no hesitation. An unruly display, to say the least, easily deflected by a monastic ability, though it was.
"That's my cousin you're attacking." Amun grimly stated.
"You consider all drow your family?" Corym sneered, his brow furrowed with the utmost indignation.
"Only those of House Za'Darmondiel. So, in a way, yes. I do."
"Y- you are of that house?" I gasped in disbelief.
"Confirmed from Lilith's own mandibles." He nodded as another figure loomed from the fog. "Well." He then shrugged. "Her avatar's mandibles. High Matron Etyl Za'Darmondiel is my aunt. My mother's baby sister. Or, to put it another way…"
"Telin's Champion, Amun Za'Darmondiel-Nox, is my great-grandson. One of many."
"Yeah..." The brooding knight of lightning, Toril, the Storm Thief, squinted hard. "I did think the likeness was similar. Huh, crazy." He turned back to his steed, chuckling in disbelief. A steed that stole the eyes of everyone present. Except Corym's, strangely.
"You met the Queen Demon Spider's avatar?" He gasped this time.
Amun corrected in the most casual tone. "I voided the Queen Demon Spider's avatar. Now, she's scheming to come after everyone and everything I hold dear. I suppose Caelarin can relate to his dear sister in that regard."
His face suddenly upturned in a way I hadn't seen in centuries. "And for good reason! Unicorn Slayer!" He childishly spat.
"Not so, brother." I said, and pressed on before he could continue. "The unicorn, Carbury, is friends dearly with Scarlett and Mary. Undead shadow or not, he spoke the truth to me. It was Scarlett, whom Carbury first spoke to, demanding to see the leader of her group, Amun. He lowered his horn to Amun and tried to run him through. There was no malice in taking his life. Only self-defense."
"Yet the life of a unicorn was taken all the same!"
"Look at that creature, brother!" I pointed beyond the knight, to the griffon of vibrant blue feathers greedily chewing on horse meat, charred brown from the discharge of electricity.
That is a creature born from a God of Nature! And so too are they!" I pointed to the many wolves surrounding him and the owls perched on his shoulder. And then to the druid girl standing beside her artificer boyfriend. "Her Druidic power comes not from your God, brother, nor the Marulean or Betrathian Gods, it comes from Him." I pointed at the champion. To draw your blade against him is to threaten the extinction of this new life spreading across the realms."
"I have nothing against Caelarin." Amun said flatly. "The Rharian Kingdom, however, is a different story, considering the son of your regent killed one of my citizens. Ranren was killed soon after, however. Thus, if it is your wish, we can bury the hatchet there. As it stands, I have no intention of fighting or making enemies when I come to visit you, Corym. My only aim is to learn and be gone."
"That is not up for you to decide." Corym sneered, and I couldn't help but notice the countless visages sneering at him in kind. Every visage, it seemed. Except one.
"Regardless." Amun sighed heavily, turning to me with rolling eyes. "I'll be coming to visit you soon, Indra. I'm eager to see what the Faewoods have to offer."
"And I'm sure They are eager to meet you as well." I shuddered at the thought, then assumed my giant bird form before he could question me. And though question me he still could, he took the hint and turned away from us, remaining behind with his followers while we took flight. Much to Corym's delight.
I kept my eyes trained back while we departed and swore I saw many- most of them disappear. Yet the clouds seemed persistent in keeping such things from sight, so I flew higher. Only for Abbot Eiriol to ascend next to me, rightly assuming we had questions.
She told us of what transpired in Nydorden Halls and the drow city below. Of how Amun left halfway through his monastic training to form his Troupe and how the one called Etan was birthed to be his teacher, and so he went with him.
She told us of how Lilith and her high priestesses attempted to ally the Champion with the Demon Spider. Of how they interrogated and tried to transform Etan, Amun's Champion, into a cursed abomination. She told us of the great battle between a dragon, devils, celestials, and drow that saw Zimysta's destruction. Of how every drow in Zimysta was forsaken by the Spider, only to be accepted by the Elven Devil, becoming his faithful followers, his dedicated legionaries, and the free drow of his empire.
Then she told us of the most important thing of all - a warning.
"Before voiding her avatar, he cursed the Queen Demon Spider."
"Not even he is capable of such things." Corym spat.
"You should know better, Corym. After all, you were there. You saw Amun, my great-grandson, speaking to the Emperor of Polaris before his ascension. You should know mortals and the stations they created for themselves matter little to him, for you have witnessed it. Thus, you should know that carelessness now applies to the Gods themselves.
"More importantly, you should know, our title, Elg-Horr, was not apt. If anyone or anything threatens Amun himself, he will have his fun. He will tease. He will fight. He will play with his prey. Until he gets bored.
"However." Her tone grew deeper. "If anyone or anything threatens those he holds dear, killing- destroying their very reality would be the most preferable outcome. So too is that the least likely outcome, however, because Amun will change every aspect of their reality; ripping, flipping, tearing it asunder, inside and out. And only then will they be allowed to die.
"But only in death does their punishment begin. Amun Za'Darmondiel-Nox speaks the language of Archdevils, Deep Abyssal, spoken with Zefroth's tongue. So yes." She turned her gilded violet eyes to Corym and nodded grimly. "He can."
Punctuating her words, she took a final look back to the former Shujen Kingdom, now conquered by forces of death and darkness that reached from the skies to the Darkworld, then turned radiant eyes back to us. "Make sure you tell that to the Faerie Courts. Not even they are safe from the power of change. Nor is Caelarin or Faenya. Much less you."