A Dream of Empire Ch. 010

No, no, she has to be here. His adrenaline fueled him, his fear would call for nothing but hope. He stumbled over dislodged marble, and checked the opposite side, scanning left and right with no Casiama in sight. Hopeless, hopeless, dust to dust. She was not here. Nor was the other.

Talos glanced towards the sky, haplessly shielding his eyes from the pillar of swirling flame above him. It arced towards the western sky, towards a moon barely visible in the blue-green of day.

'What do we-' Talos began to shout, turning towards his frightened love. Alanna huddled next to him, shaking her head.

She's gone, Talos! she truthfully said. Yet, he didn't believe her; not entirely.

As suddenly as the flame erupted from the emerald, it died away, the last of its energy flinging into the sky. It hadn't exploded, roared, or burst in the end. Just a middling 'pop', which separated time into two halves. One with Casiama, and one without. Talos was frozen in place. Tatiana was nearing him, a ward cast over her head to combat falling rocks.

"Talos! We need to-"

The flame returned to Dun Aysla in an instant, from the opposite direction. From the heavens. The golden rod shifted imperceptably to catch it, returning a swirling vortex of eerie green flame to the emerald. It roared once more, humming louder as more energy was returned to it.

A glove of black on Talos' chest saved him from his idleness. A sudden rush of courage, a sudden rush of hope.

What do we do, Alanna? he thought. All Alanna gave was a pointed finger towards the exit and a grimace of worry. At first. The black glove met Alanna's chest next.

We have to stop it! she courageously thought instead.

She nodded towards the humming green stone. No simple way to dislodge it; it was sitting on a thick base of metal and marble. And if the howling flames weren't destroying it, nothing she could cast would be capable of doing so. Perhaps if they could divert the energy? The golden rod? No. Too high up. Too destructive.

Could they divert the vortex...?

Alanna shook Tatiana's shoulder, wide eyes meeting wide eyes. She had a middling ward cast between them and the emerald, shielding them from the brunt of its aetherial winds. They still could not hear. Alanna tapped a forefinger against her temple, a wordless command to the sorceress beside her to release her mental shield. It was gone in an instant. The stone hummed louder.

Alanna could not communicate directly with the sorceress. That art took an established familiarity with the one she was talking to, after all, and she had only just met this mind. The enchantress, now, could only ideate, then project that ideation onto her target. Alanna did this, and received a hurried, pouting nod from Tatiana. A black glove met Alanna's shoulder, while Tatiana's other hand pointed to the outside world above them. She pointed at Talos next, and thought of the white walls above the pools.

Right. Alanna nodded, then grabbed Talos' hand. They fled from the chamber while Tatiana stayed in place. They flew down that hallway, through the door, down the next, all while the vortex of flame screamed into the stone. Which hummed louder.

"Stand atop the western wall! Face west!" she cried, squeezing his hand for courage as she herself ran out another door.

Talos ran down the final hallway alone, bounding through the door to the courtyard. A simple sprint past statues and fountains of a time long ago, then a climb up the white-stone walls. He wasn't thinking at all. Adrenaline fueled his strides. He lifted himself to the top of the wall, his jaw dropping from the sight that befell him.

That roaring arc of energy was as clear as day in the morning sunlight. It ripped straight through the blue-green skies, from the green moon towards the ruined tower in a steady, swirling stream. It would be visible for miles and miles around.

The moon was green.

The moon was green. How many souls were looking at that very moon at that very moment? How many could see the vortex? They needed to get out of here. Why had Alanna told him to stand atop this wall in the first place? And what in all the hells is happening?

As if to answer him, a shimmering window of darkness opened up before him, dancing purple flames framing a portrait of void. Nothing came out of that teleportation portal for a second or three. Then everything did.

The green vortex tearing through the sky was joined by another, flowing straight from the portal in front of Talos. It arced off into the west, howling just as proudly, but away from the moon. Hopefully nothing was in it's path. Talos exhaled, realizing the sorceresses must have found a way to divert the energy away from the emerald. He stood in shock for a moment, just glad that someone had a better plan than him. He hated himself for wanting to run.

Talos turned away slowly, hoping the portal wouldn't turn with him. He sighed with relief when it didn't. He soon descended the white walls to return to the remnants of the citadel, after watching the collosal stream of energy for another mesmerizing minute. Talos wasn't capable of more than an adrenaline-soaked stride as he ventured back to the ruins. He reached out to Alanna, finding himself returned to the emerald chamber in an instant...

The enchantress ran towards the sorceress in black. Tatiana had both her hands suspended above her head, and an intense look of concentration and misery was evident on her face. Above her - and above the humming emerald - was a swirling portal of black, ringed by a band of dancing purple flames. The pillar of flame flowing from the moon was roaring straight through that portal, through it's paired portal at the western wall, then continued on to the uninhabited west. Away from the stone.

Alanna stood behind Tatiana, wrapping her arms around the beleaguered teleporter. The chamber was awash with magical power, power which Alanna felt flowing through her veins, through her being, but it couldn't possibly be enough to keep that portal in place. The enchantress focused on the aetherius, acting as a conduit for Tatiana to ensure the portal would remain.

Be strong, Tatiana...

Talos returned to the howling emerald chamber in due time. He saw the sorceresses huddled together on the far side of the stone, and knew better than to interrupt them. The portal above the stone was still cast, though the vortex appeared to be waning. The emerald was humming with far less intensity, as well.

He diverted to instead examine the circular, ruined chamber. All of it was clearly illuminated, and there was no sign of Casiama or Faranya anywhere within. He remembered the sparks of light when the elves had disappeared. Had they been taken by the stone? Had they teleported elsewhere? They couldn't be dead. Surely they weren't dead.

Talos still futilely checked under every large stone, while the swirling pillar of flame slowly lost its power above him. Tatiana was shaking and crying on the far end of the hall, but her portals held in place. The emerald's hum grew dimmer over time, until eventually all was silent.

Tatiana collapsed to the floor, panting for air, groaning in pain, when that stream of energy finally died off. Alanna fell on top of her with a worried visage. She pressed a hand against Tatiana's forehead, producing a jolt of white energy which did nothing. Talos lept over a stone, running towards them as the emerald in the center of the hall cracked into two on its own accord.

"You... did it," Talos muttered, glancing at the shattering emerald. Alanna frowned but nodded, holding the other sorceress close.

"She's really weak," Alanna replied sadly.

"She'll... survive?"

A hesitant tilt of her head. "Yeah."

"Good... good. Cass?"

"She's... gone, Talos," the enchantress said brittly. "I cannot sense her."

Talos pointed at the stone. "Maybe she's... in there?" he asked, feeling confused and desperate. Alanna shook her head, glancing towards it. She commanded her mate to take Tatiana in his arms so they could leave. There was no way she could walk out of here on her own.

"The stone's inert. There's nothing alive within it," Alanna explained morosely.

Talos knelt over the sorceress in black without thinking, taking her legs in one arm, her back in his other. She hung limply in his grasp, muttering nonsense as her eyes fluttered about under her lids. Talos rose and carried her towards the exit, but not before he asked Alanna to take a piece of that dormant green stone with her.

"What just happened, Alanna? What did you see?" he asked Alanna waiveringly as they made their way out of the fortress. She exhaled, first and foremost.

"Just... you telling Cass to leave. Then Faranya screamed. The stone sort of... zapped with energy. Then... Cass... screamed. And it zapped again. Then..." she trailed off, wiping away a tear.

Chaos. Talos thought of nothing but Casiama. He could not will otherwise.

"Any ideas what happened to her?" he asked. Alanna sniffled, shaking her head sadly.

"Up," Tatiana murmured in his arms. "Up in flames..."

"She's not... dead," Talos said wobbly, more for his own sake than anyone else's. He needed to speak with Tatiana when she was feeling better. Whenever that might be. "We'll head back to Catriona. Figure it out there."

Tatiana squirmed in the man's arms. He tightened his grip on her, and shifted her head to lay on his elbow. "No... no..." she whispered with eyes shut. She dreamily scratched at him with one hand, her fingertips slowly running down his chest to fall limply once more.

"Talos... if Cass isn't... um," Alanna sighed, "then the answer might be here."

"This island's about to be host to a legion or two. Imperial investigators. Palatial sorceresses. We cannot stay here, Alanna. We'll be tortured, and then killed for aiding an elf. Did you see that moon?"

Alanna nodded, grimacing. "Yeah."

"Gods... whatever... that was, you two did your part. But there's nothing here for us now," Talos assured his lover and himself as best he could. He nodded towards the trellis gate when they reached the courtyard. "Get what you can out of our packs. Coin and food, especially. Then meet me at the boat."

-=-=-

Talos and Alanna did not speak a word after they had set sail from the island. They did not think directly to one another, either, but they did swim in each other's thoughts. Their shared pool of misery. Alanna leaned against the rudder wheel, but she wasn't particularly paying attention to the horizon. Talos worked the sails to keep his mind off of things. The sails could not help him.

He realized just how desperate things had become. The vulnerability of life came rushing back to the fore. The world had reminded him, again, that he and everything he held dear were just chaff unto harvest. Nothing more.

Casiama had held most everything Talos owned in her off-world plane. She held his weapons, his gear, his coin. He didn't even have a blade anymore; the only one he owned now was his blunted training sword. In Catriona.

All of that, while concerning, was of little import to the man compared to Casiama's fate. His mind had shut out the possibility of losing her for good, and only focused on saving her from whatever diety had stolen her from him. Talos' mind of two hours ago could not bear to grieve for her.

Tatiana, laying atop a pile of furs against the railing of the deck, finally stirred from her slumber. Her eyes fluttered open, finding Talos diligently working the linen sails in front of her. She thought to herself for several minutes, keeping quiet, and cast several restoration spells on herself to provide an inner calm that wouldn't come naturally. Talos only noticed that she had woken when she broke into tears, the spells failing in their duty.

He had a thousand questions to ask of her, as neither he nor Alanna had any idea what had happened on Dun Aysla. Talos ignored those questions for now, and instead only strode over to that crying sorceress and knelt beside her. Sympathetically, he somewhat understood what Tatiana was going through. He'd wanted to do the same two hours ago, just after they had left the island.

Talos also knew that he could not cry. If he could not show strength now... how could he ever ask the same of his friends?

Tatiana looked up at him with her wettened, moon-shaped eyes and curled her knees against her chest. Talos placed a hand on her knee for support. They were silent for several minutes until she calmed down naturally.

"Talos... Talos, where are we?" she asked hoarsely.

"Halfway to Catriona, or thereabouts," he replied softly, and as calmly as he could.

"No, no. We can't go... there," she whispered.

"Why not?" he asked, again as soft as possible.

"The port, Talos. It will be monitored by inquisitors."

Talos' heart dropped for the third time in a day. "Inquisitors?"

"Yes. They're, um, sorceresses in the Emperor's employ... who root out elven power within the Empire."

"We'll, uh... go out to sea," Talos replied with a grimace, already feeling Alanna spinning the rudder wheel, "find another port for now. Tatiana, what's this about inquisitors? I thought they'd disbanded."

She reached out to him with open hands, requesting a lift. Talos slowly helped the sorceress to her feet, though she stumbled when she found them. "Perhaps in the west, Talos. There's still a dozen or two in the Demesne, powerful sorceresses all. I... almost joined them, once," Tatiana explained, hoarsely and seriously. "A long time ago. They would port to Catriona immediately upon hearing the news. As would a legion. We wouldn't be safe there."

Alanna walked down the aft steps when she had found a decent enough wind to take them out to sea, joining their conversation. "We would be safe from sorceresses, Tatiana. We're all shielded."

Tatiana shifted her gaze to her fellow sorceress, pointing at Talos. "Yes, even him," Alanna continued, "that's... actually how we met."

Tatiana shook her head. "Cass wasn't. And, if I were an inquisitor, the port of Catriona would be my first stop. After the island, of course. I would question all incoming ships, especially from this heading. If an inquisitor comes across a vessel with three shielded people, Alanna, they'll..."

Talos nodded, placing a hand on her back. "She's right. They won't stop because they can't read us." Not according to the stories he had read. "Probably would make us more suspicious."

Tatiana gave a half-nod. "In the meantime, I would dream of all vessels that had departed in the past few days. Eventually I would find one that had an elf aboard. One who wasn't shielded."

The swordsman without a sword pondered the implications of this silently, looking out over the waves and their shifted heading. With the sun soon on their backs, they would soon be sailing into the deep sea.

"Talos... our child is there," Alanna said after a moment, looking at him. "We're not abandoning him."

"Agreed," he nodded. "Dear gods, though, inquisitors? I can't say he's in a worse position than we are, Alanna."

"Sounds an awful lot like abandonment," the enchantress tearfully retorted.

"I can teleport us in without being detected. Not..." Tatiana wobbled from a crashing wave, causing Talos to clench her shoulder tighter. "Not today, though. Soon. But you couldn't stay."

"Why not?" Alanna asked worriedly.

"They'll eventually make the connection between you and Cass."

"Because... we were on the ship?"

"No. Because they could trace her steps back to your home. Back for an eternity, if they needed to."

"But that means..." Alanna muttered, looking towards the deck, "nowhere's safe."

"Well... yes. And no. They cannot look forward with any certainty," Tatiana softly reassured her.

Talos finally released Tatiana's shoulder after another squeeze, then paced about the deck for a moment. He felt the fear rising in his chest again, but wouldn't dare show it.

"Sounds to me like the ship isn't safe," Talos said, his back turned towards them. "Everywhere else besides Catriona is fine, assuming they don't stumble upon us somewhere. A couple dozen sorceresses? They couldn't cover the entire Empire. They would eventually have to give up the chase, and that's if they chase us at all. Plus, if the ship never returns to Catriona, we can just... pretend we were somewhere else, right? Hesperia, maybe."

"Where's your child?" Tatiana asked hurriedly.

"With her sister," Talos nodded, turning around.

"They will undoubtably question her."

Talos grimaced. He hadn't thought of that possibility, and Alanna had surely spoken of the island to her... how many sorceresses had she told the story of Dun Aysla to, as well?

"My whole life is Catriona..." Alanna muttered dejectedly, shaking her head. "I can't..."

"You won't. It's temporary, Alanna," Talos reassured her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She would know he hadn't a clue how long their exile would be. "Besides, you'll have me. And you'll have your son, soon enough."

She looked up at him with wide, sad eyes. Talos consciously told himself to show her his courage. "And raise him on the run? He'd be better off with... with..."

"He could be used as leverage if he stayed. I won't let it come to that," Talos replied softly, squeezing her shoulder. "I'll get you out of this, honey. Trust me."

Alanna leaned into him, pressing a hand against his chest. "You better... because I'm blaming you for all of this," she declared through her tears.

"Honey..."

She clutched both of his shoulders, glaring into his eyes. "What were we doing there when we have a child, Talos? What purpose did that serve?!"

He shook his head. He didn't have an answer for her which would have justified the outcome. Alanna eventually released herself from him, shaking her own head sullenly.

"You truly are impossible, Talos."

"Fine," he replied with exasperation, "perhaps I am. And you can blame me, Alanna, if you believe I knew that would happen. Right now, I just don't give a damn. I just need to find..."

He groaned. One overriding objective clouded his mind, making the immediate future seem almost like a footnote in its wake.

Tatiana gently cleared her throat. "I have an idea. You two can come stay with me. In Redstone," she offered. Talos lifted his gaze from his glaring lover.

"Ah, that's... generous. Really," he said hesitantly, "but I'm not letting you get mixed up in this."

"But Talos, I'm already mixed up in this. Plus, it's perfect. I have a warded and soundproofed tower all to myself. I don't have many friends besides my family. And I have sisters, and a really great mother, who could help you raise the child."

"I don't need... help, Tatiana," Alanna frowned. "I know how to raise him."

"But you will assist Talos, yes? To search for Cass?"

Alanna gasped, bursting into tears in an instant. "And then there's Cass!" she cried, pressing her face into Talos' shoulder. He gave her a minute of hand-patting sympathy, but could spare no more silence.

"I suppose that brings us to topic number two," he said gruffly. He wasn't sure how to maintain his necessary level of confidence after broaching the topic of Casiama's disappearance.

"What the fuck just happened?" he asked, looking at Tatiana. "Did you see Cass teleport out of there?"

"No. I only saw the stone's... energy. Same as you."

"But she could have been in that?"

She shrugged, pouting at the ask. "I... suppose she could have been."

"And she could come out unharmed somewhere else?" he asked optimistically.