Elysian Vanguard Nasazura's Rest: Unexpected Arrivals

Tiko

Draconic Administrator/Mentor
Administrator
Mentor
Nexus GM
as written by Script, Dashmiel, Lobos, and Tiko

Another time and place...

The sound of battle filled the air, rebounding through the vaulted halls of the temple around the bloodied and battle-worn wardens as they ran. The vestibule was a scene of destruction; broken shards of statue were scattered across the floor, and the front entrance had been reduced to rubble where the enemy had broken through their defences. Now, the fighting had spread like a wildfire through the inner areas of the temple, no longer a single focused front but instead individual pockets of resistance. The barracks still held, as did the suhn’ra, but they’d suffered heavy casualties in the initial shock of the attack, and their assailants showed no signs of relenting.

Arrow wiped a smear of blood from his forehead before it could run into his eyes. His ears were still ringing from the impact, but there was no time to stop and examine the wound. They had to reach the Well of Souls before any more lives were lost.

An ear-splitting howl to their left drew his attention towards a section of wall that had been knocked through into the adjacent hall in time to see a towering shape being wreathed in an explosion of celestial fire from somewhere out of his vision. In the next moment, a figure swathed in gold barreled into it with a crash, a yell of ”Fuck you!” echoing back as they both tumbled out of vision. Arrow almost smiled despite himself; it was good to see that Aeryn was still alive and kicking. The fire, no doubt, came from Elante.

The distraction was all the more appreciated as they reached the sealed door to the inner sanctum. “Aeldric, get that door open!” he called, wheeling around to face their rear. He extended his hand to recall his bow and nocked it ready. They’d escaped pursuit for the time being, but it would only be a matter of time before they were found. “Everyone else, weapons ready to buy time if we need it!”

“Like you had to say that, Arrow,” Asher muttered, spinning on heel around to face the way they’d come. Raising his unique armament, a pair of unusually cast blades connected by a chain, one held in a middle guard, the other slowing hissing through the air in lazy circles. Glancing at his companions, the dark skinned native of Hafirjan caught his breath, trying to recompose himself after the carnage of the first wave.

"One does not simply buy time," Rolando added. "They take it - at the point of a sword," he finished as he slipped into a guarded combat stance with his rapier held at ready. His attire was tattered and blood spattered, but his face was calm and resolute.

"Do you ever contemplate your own mortality," Janina remarked dryly at their side. The young woman bore the regalia of a cleric of the Light, and she held a glowing pendant in one hand while her other was outstretched. From around it pulsed a faint rippling shield ready to be expanded to protect the group of five defenders.

A weary Aeldric stumbled his way away from the group, resignation clear in his face. He wanted to be above, giving his life for his companions if need be, but as always, the pull of the Light and the burden that often accompanied it were not something he could shrug off.

Aeldric approached the impressive door warily, his eyes scanning the myriad of runes and draconic symbology that were beyond his understanding. He did not try to consciously decipher their placement and how they might be tied to the wards upon the portal; that had never been his expertise. Instead, he whispered a short prayer to the light and wrapped his holy pendant around one hand.

Immediately it flared in an explosion of light, but rather than blind it shadowed. Wherever it’s light touched one of the wards, it dimmed. Quickly and without thinking about what could go wrong if he erred, Aeldric let his Light guided instinct lead his hand and as his hands flew before the door in a rhythmic pattern, the light from his pendant slowly waned until all wards had been deactivated.

“It is done,” he proclaimed before opening the doors and gesturing for the others to follow.

Before they could, another crash sounded at the far end of the vestibule. Another section of wall gave way, and Aeryn came flying through in a shower of stone dust. The golden light surrounding him faded as he arced through the air, and he hit the ground limply, one of the elemental bracers flung from his arm to clatter across the floor. In the hall from which he’d been thrown, a woman screamed his name. He wasn’t moving.

Arrow had taken a half-step forwards to go to his friend’s aid, but forced himself to stop. He clenced his fists, steeling his resolve, and though it rent his heart to do so, he turned away. “Come on,” he instructed as he advanced through the doorway, snapping the others out of any intent they might have had to go to Aeryn’s side. “We have to move.”

“But Aery-” Janina balked before seeing the look in Arrow’s eyes.

More would fall if they didn’t reach the Well of Souls.

“Well, I’ll take point. At least I know if something sends my corpse flying back, Aeldric’s big ass shield will stop it.” Asher jibed, moving forward to keep the others from seeing his own rage and anguish. But his strides were hard and jolting, the hiss of the spinning sword becoming a dull whine as it whirled faster.The man was obviously upset, but there was nothing more to do than press forward to the one thing that they all thought could stop it.

Straight across the sanctum’s interior they moved, none sparing much attention to the room that always had awed initiates. Down the stairs, into the networks of staircases and tunnels. Asher led the grim group through the paths almost by instinct, less of his focus on the paths he’d learned and more on keeping a wary eye out for more of the things that had struck the temple. After a few minutes at their swift pace, they were there.

“Now what?”

“Now, we pray to the Light that this is enough,” Arrow replied, dismissing his bow with a flash as he walked to the water’s edge. “Whatever you do, let nothing reach the well. I’m not sure how long this will take.”

He stepped forwards, the shimmering water rippling around him as he waded in a few paces before lowering himself to one knee. “Heroes of times past, we call upon you in our hour of need. The temple is breached, and our numbers thin. We need aid. I implore you, lend us your strength…”

Janina hung back near the entrance as the rest of the group began to fan out to get into position to defend Arrow. She had never laid her eyes upon the Well of Souls, and while it was simplistic in design - nothing more than a simple ring of polished stone encircling a small pool of azure blue water - she could feel the power resonating from within it. The salvation of the temple lay within those waters...

"It's marvelous..." Janina murmured.

The momentary distraction proved a fatal one though. As Arrow began his communion with the well, Janina stiffened and her eyes flew wide. A sputtering cough left blood dribbling down her chin as a clawed hand protruded forth from her abdomen.

The shadowed creature that stood at her back was a monstrous beast that towered over those present with its hulking form and gangly limbs. Its bony skeletal structure jutted out from beneath lean and wiry muscles, and thick patches of white fur grew haphazardly along its body. The amber glow of its eyes were filled with malice and scorn as it viciously flung Janina to one side where she struck the wall with the resounding crack of bone. An arc of blood flew through the air in the same moment - blossoming from the creatures forearm - and the form of Rolando now stood at the back of the looming creature, several paces from where he had stood moments earlier. The blade of his rapier glistened red but even his incredible speed had proven too slow.

"You will regret that," Rolando promised darkly.

Focused on immediate threats to Arrow left Asher’s attention elsewhere when the beast struck down Janina, though the sound of bone breaking drew his gaze swiftly. His mind didn’t need to process the scene, it just recognized a threat, his body drawing on muscle memory. His readied arm twisted and released, the blade at its end sailing like a ballista bolt that carved through the air for the center of the creature face while blood still fell from Rolando’s wounding.

Simultaneous to the throw, Rolando disappeared from his position as the creature twisted and swung a clawed hand for him, only to reappear in front of the beast. He smoothly twisted to the side as Asher's lighter blade glanced off the heavy bone, ripping a furrow along the side of the monster’s head before the Grandmaster jerked back with its twin in hand. Whirling on its tether to Asher, the cast of his red eyes echoed his fellow’s words silently.

“NO,” Aeldric’s roar of denial echoed amidst the surrounding stone as his divine suit of armor sprung into existence around him. He could only spare a short look of anguish towards his fallen charge, for despite his desire to aid his fallen student, the Light had other demands.

Grimly he hefted up his shield on his arm, and his will which was the same as that of the Light flared into position. The simple banded wood and rings of iron became infused with holy light, and outwards from them radiated bright lances of pure divine reckoning. He briefly raised his sword, intending to rush the monster and have his vengeance, but quickly altered his course.

To his intentions of revenge his blade gave no weight. It was not Light’s will for him to strike the monster down.

“How much longer, Arrow?” he roared as Asher and Rolando struck at the beast. He would have to content himself with holding it off from the well. Before the Light, his personal feelings came a distant second. Grimly, he moved to stand between Arrow and the beast, his shield radiating out the power of Light’s aegis around them.

Grimacing, Arrow shook his head. “I don’t know, I’ve not done this before,” he responded, doing his best to remain focused despite the fighting at his back. As he spoke, though, the water began to react to his plea. Its shimmering grew brighter, and a spectral mist began to rise around him.


Meanwhile Rolando followed up Asher’s attack with a second of his own. The jerk of Asher’s blade drew the beast’s face back to look at him with those burning scornful eyes as Rolando thrust his rapier up into the creature’s lower jaw, driving it up through the beast’s brain to protrude from the top of its cranium. The creatures toothy jaws split into a wide grin as Rolando swiftly jerked his blade free and skipped back several paces - too swift for the eye to follow - and fell back into a guarded stance. Laughter was not the response he had anticipated from a seemingly fatal blow.

Not willing to risk chance, Asher struck again, sliding his hand along the chain and whipping both blades in concert around him, pirouetting with the blades before lashing them both forward, channeling the powers of wind and fire into them to form a small vortex of hot, whirling steel. Lashing across the chamber, the weapons scored solidly on the beast’s upper torso, slashing into, and then through, bone, ripping meat apart where he expected a heart to be, before bursting through its back. Roughly yanking on the chain, the blade ripped back through the hole violently, tearing yet more damage into the beast before sparking across the floor to either side of the man.

“Walk that off.”

The creature took a staggering step forward before stumbling and staggering to the side and collapsing on the ground, its clawed hands twitching and spasming as the pool of blood beneath it began to spread.

Surely there would be more on the heels of this one though, and Rolando’s expression remained one of hardened resolve.

“Let us hope the spirits of the well aren’t deep sleepers,” he offered in grim jest.

It seemed as though their comrades’ sacrifices would not have been in vain, as the spectral mist continued to rise. It began to coalesce before where Arrow knelt into a humanoid form, taking on familiar features.

But just as the young knight smiled in recognition of Sylvire, a trickle of the creature’s blighted blood began to flow into the well. The effect was immediate. Darkness burst from the point of contact in a black flood, turning the shimmering light to a sickly, ominous aura. The rising mist warped, darkening, and Sylvire’s features twisted, becoming again unrecognisable.

The light fought back, a crackling power coursing across the darkened water, rapidly growing in intensity until the very air began to split. Arrow’s eyes widened, and he started to rise and back away from the centre of the pool, but before he could take more than a single step, the well exploded.

An unholy melding of dark and light magics burst out from the pool in a mighty nova. The explosion swallowed Arrow entirely, and slammed into Aeldric’s shield with all the force of the well’s magic destabilised and turned outward.

Aeldric had a split second in which to be confused in, as his pendant flared into a blinding point of light the moment the creature’s blood splashed into the well.

In the brief instant before chaos ensued, he got the strange but distinct impression that Light’s will had somehow been fulfilled. He could do no more but half turn towards Arrow before events quickly ran their course.

He saw his comrade be torn in a maelstrom of rampaging energy before the thought registered and he could take a single pointless step. The force of the warring energies against his shield of Light nearly caused him to lose his step and despite his bracing against them still pushed him several yards away before exploding through his shield.

The Light however, would not forsake its champions.

The force of the blast sent Aeldric flying a short distance through the air, but before he could crash to a stop against the wall his body simply stopped in midair as his armor dissipated away and his pendant somehow flared even brighter.

The holy Light of that conduit bathed over all that was left in the room as both the corrupting void and the ancient magic of the Well of Souls battled for dominance. Shimmering veils of rainbow hues surrounded the party of living companions and the corpses outside of the influence of the Well, and yet still the light became brighter about the chamber.

There was simply too much fundamental power unleashed, too much primordial essence in so little a space. Alone, the Light could easily counteract the powers of Void, but the energies of the Well of Souls, which were more pure in their intent and were of neither side twisted the natural course of events between the two.

The resulting explosion of power rippled not through the stones of the chamber but across all of reality itself, blasting those gathered through the folds of creation.
 
as written by Dashmiel, Tiko, and Lobos...

As suddenly as it began, so it ended. The Light projected by the conduit Aeldric wore winked out of existence, and he briefly crashed against the wall of the chamber before coming up in a roll with his sword in hand to battle the next threat.

He glanced to Rolando and Asher to see if they were ready for what he expected to be the beast’s friend behind it.

Rolando had struck the wall no less forcefully than his companions, but he too was quick to recover. He had already pulled himself to one knee and was using his left hand to support himself against the wall as he regained a sense of equilibrium. To his credit, his rapier remained clutched in his other hand.

Facing the wrong way, Asher was flung forward, the wall rushing to meet him head on. Frantically snapping at the chains, one managed to snag against something, and instead of striking a wall face-first his shoulder wrenched with a pop before his legs shot forward, then gravity deposited him on his back. With a groan, he sat up, rubbing his shoulder before flicking the chain to loose it from where it had caught the join in the floor.

The distant ring of battle that had spilled through the tunnels had fallen silent though. Eerily silent. Nothing but the sound of their own breathing, and the rustle of their movements filled the air.

Aeldric threw his friends a confused glance before turning his gaze towards the Well. It’s waters were placid and still. Of Arrow, he saw not a trace.
“I felt Light’s satisfaction a moment ago, and I don’t think I’m dead,” he voiced dazedly. “Do you guys...hear anything?”

Pausing for a moment, Asher listened, glancing around warily. “Nothing. Not a damn thing.”

Looking at the pool, he turned his gaze back to Aeldric. “Did it work? I wasn’t looking that direction, but I sure as hell didn’t expect explosions.”

“Where is Arrow?" Rolando interjected as he regained his footing and stood up.

Meanwhile as the group reoriented itself, a faint sizzling sound filled the air as the remains of the monstrous creature began to break down and turn to ash at the origin of its wounds. Bit by bit it crumbled away, releasing wisps of black mist that dissipated into the air.

“I...am uncertain,” Aeldric answered. Reluctantly but with no threat immediately apparent, he sheathed his sword and tentatively moved to stand next to the Well. “It exploded, and Arrow was right in the middle of it. I saw a glimpse of him before his body was bathed in the sheer power...and yet there’s not even a damned ripple upon it now.”

Confused, Aeldric simply ran his hand over one side of his face and sighed.

Rolando sheathed his rapier and knelt briefly beside the prone form of Janina. He placed a hand on her shoulder and rolled her lightly onto her back, but he needed not even check her for signs of lingering life. The gaping whole in her abdomen and the vacancy of her eyes told him there was nothing to be done for the fallen cleric. She was already gone.

"Perhaps the main temple will shed some light on the situation," he said as he stood back up. "If there are those who still survive above, we need to make contact quickly."

Aeldric grimly nodded, leaving the well behind and moving towards his fallen apprentice. With no time for mourning, he simply knelt by her and gently closed her eyes as he whispered a short eulogy beseeching the Light on her behalf.

“Let’s go.”

Asher nodded as well, twisting his wrist to trigger his wristband, the lengths of his weapon siphoning into the extradimensional space it contained. Sparing one last glance at their fallen comrade, the man sighed heavily before following the others.
 
as written by Tiko, Dashmiel, and Lobos...

The silence only seemed to become eerier as the battered trio made their way upwards out of the well of souls and into the inner sanctum.

“Wasn’t there a hole there when we were running in?,” asked Aeldric to no one in particular as he pointed to a piece of immaculate wall. “No dust or debris either, the whole temple was shaking to its foundations but now you’d never guess it.”

“Most perplexing,” Rolando remarked with equal parts thoughtfulness and wariness.

Glancing at the intact masonry, Asher nodded, resting his uninjured arm on one of his knives hilt. “Illusion, perhaps? Seems awfully well crafted if it is.”

The man reached to touch the wall as he walked, wincing at the throbbing in his shoulder as he did.

“I do not know what we can expect, but I’m anxious to see how our comrades fare,” declared Aeldric as he moved past his companions and strode towards the doors of the sanctum.

He could feel the low humming susurration that indicated the wards were active upon it, causing him even more confusion.

“Come my friends, it’s far too quiet. Let’s try to be so as well.”

It was Rolando who stepped forward from the rest to press his hand upon the closed portal to open it. Unlike entering from the outside, the door was designed to respond to any of the sworn Elysian Vanguard departing the room. In Rolando's case though, the press of his palm against it was met with only more silence.

“The intrigue grows,” Rolando remarked.

He removed his hand and pressed it once more, but there was no familiar hum of energy, nor did the door grant him passage.

“It isn’t opening?” Murmuring, Asher joined Rolando, attempting himself.

Frowning, and with an inkling beginning to take seed, Aeldric stepped to join his companions and was met with just as much of a lack of success in opening the door.

“We weren’t gone that long. The wards shouldn’t even have been restored so quickly, let alone turned against us. Even with the worst of Void’s trickery, this shouldn’t be…,” muttered Aeldric as he took a step back and considered.

“Prepare yourselves,” he cautioned as he withdrew his pendant from around his neck and focused his intent for the Light to provide.
 
as written by Dashmiel, Tiko, and Lobos...

Stifling an oath, Asher backed off the door quickly. The methods in which Aeldric called on the Light were unpredictable in their manifestation, and he felt a smile quirk his mouth as he stepped sideways into the man’s shadow before bracing.

“Your affinity to the Light has seen us this far,” Rolando replied. “I do trust it won’t see us come to harm now.”

Aeldric’s pendant flared to brilliant life, and his bearing as he forcefully stepped forward and brandished it towards the doors spoke the tale of his pain and rage.

An explosion of light lanced out of the conduit as Light’s will made manifest shot towards the barrier presented to It, a barrage of light that violently shimmered as it reacted with the door’s wards.

Suddenly and without warning, the doors began to slowly swing open, nothing but a sustained creaking marking the manipulation of their wards by the power of the Light.

As the doors painstakingly creaked open at an almost comically slow speed, Rolando snorted.

"One might suspect the Light of possessing a strange sense of humor," he observed. “Shall we?”

“I’d imagine so,” Asher remarked dryly. “Elsewise we find out it has just enough humor to let it hit us in the ass on the way out.”

He edged closer to Aeldric to move with him, figuring it would be the safest place to attempt to cross the threshold from.
 
as written by Script, Tiko, Dashmiel, and Lobos...

Elante was crossing the Vestibule with an armful of books that had been delivered that morning from Academia Celestia when hearing the creaking of the doors to the Inner Sanctum gave him pause. Curious as to who had been venturing into the temple's heart so early in the day, he turned to observe as the doors opened, curiosity shifting to concern at the unusual slowness of their movement.

As the first unknown figure stepped into view, the young mage's eyes widened, and he dropped the books to the floor with a clattering. A wave of one hand conjured an arc of luminous golden swords into being around him, blades pointed towards the strangers as they emerged.

"Stop where you are!" he called out, gesturing with his other palm as he did so. The air in front of him rippled as he formed a faintly shimmering translucent barrier in the air between him and them.

Rolando responded with equal swiftness and reflex. As the mage’s conjuration sprang to life so too did he. Something stayed Rolando’s hand though from unsheathing his blade. The man before him was both a stranger, and yet familiar all the same. The clothing, the tilt of his voice and the wave of his hand. His intellect had yet to piece together what his subconscious knew to be familiar, but his instincts told him this man was no agent of the void.

The sound of a single footfall on the stone directly behind Elante, and the scuff of leather against stone was the only warning that one of the intruders now flanked him.

"Do not harm them," Rolando warned, even as Elante voiced his own warning and the pairs words echoed as one.

The mage stiffened at the sudden presence at his back, but when words came instead of a blade, he held his ground and made no aggressive moves.

Asher’s eyes had widened, but the sudden appearance of blades was met with a twist of the wrist, and the rattle of chains sounded. Springing ahead of Aeldric as he noticed Rolando landing ahead, he stood in his comrade’s stead as the shield between friend’s and the threat, whirling both ends of his unusual weapon, the dark skinned man’s face serious.

“Who are you?” He snapped back, eying the golden swords warily.

Aeldric barely had a chance to register Rolando’s initial step, before things went south. Still holding his pendant on his sword arm, and with his allies already prepared to attack if needed, he instead took to trying to think the situation through.

Like Rolando, his subconscious also felt like something that should have been familiar was out of place.

As he raised his pendant before him in the direction of the familiar visage and received no response from it, he also concluded that they were not in the presence of one of the Void’s.

Slowly, so as to not aggravate the situation, he returned it to it’s place around his neck and tilted his head to the side as he regarded their adversary.

“Steady friends…,” he proclaimed as he took a couple of paces forward, stopping beside Asher.

“Y-you’re...a man?” he asked incredulously.

"Might I inquire into the peculiar obviousness of your observation?" Rolando asked Aeldric from behind Elante.

“I - what?” Elante’s readied retort to Asher’s question was derailed by Aeldric’s exclamation, his face a mask of confusion. “You’re the intruders here, who are you?” The swords hung static in the air, but with a subtle twitch of his finger, Elante extended his barrier around to cover his rear.

“I hope I’m forgiven, but sometimes even I wonder about It’s sense of humor,” replied Aeldric to Rolando, his tone flabbergasted. The seeming joke’s punchline only a matter of time away from becoming self-evident.

Catching the spinning blades after yanking their slack in, Asher lowered the wicked looking edges before taking a closer look at the man, his jaw dropping. “Elan...where did your breasts go?”

Before any further inquiries could be exchanged, Syvil entered the vestibule with purposeful and hurried steps having been drawn by the commotion. Her eyes flicked from the trio of strangers to Elante and back again.

“What’s going on here, Elante?” she asked.

Rolando's eyes shifted away from Elante to Syvil. Outwardly he remained a statue of calm reservation as he rejoined his comrades, appearing beside Aedric as swiftly as he had appeared behind Elante moments earlier.

"I don't suppose the Light left you a guidebook?" he inquired of Aeldric.

“If only…” replied Aeldric with a shake of his head. His gaze also shifted to regard the phantom’s, and roamed over Elante once more. Being better versed than his companions on the many facets of the Light, he thought he knew what was going on, though not why this turn of events would have been It’s will.
Once again, his personal wishes had to take a secondary concern in his life, for it was Light’s will that placed them here, and not in the aid of their friends as he’d hoped. A bitter sigh escaped his lips as he addressed everyone.

“I--” he began, but quickly shook his head, stunned as the enormity of what had transpired sunk in. The presence of these manifestations of their historied past could only mean a handful of things, and it pained him to think what they could have achieved in their own home had they not been turned from their purpose.

Gathering himself and standing straight, he began once again. “I am Aeldric Gunnarson, Grandmaster of the Elysian Vanguard, and Light’s Will,” he proclaimed, his statement punctuated by a flare of light from the pendant around his neck.

Rolando opting to follow Aeldric's lead introduced himself as well. "Rolando Alvarado Cabrera Elizondo, Grandmaster of the Elysian Vanguard,” he added with a flourished bow to punctuate the introduction.

“Asher Ja’ing, Grandmaster of the Elysian Vanguard,” The Hafirjan native tipped his head slightly.

“Grandmasters..?” Elante’s confusion only deepened, but it was becoming clear that though these were strangers, there was something amiss here far beyond simple deceit. With a baffled shake of his head, the mage waved his hand to dismiss the luminous swords. “I’m Master Elante Vadrillion of the Elysian Vanguard. Although you all seem to already know …” he hesitated, eyeing Asher and Aeldric in particular “... a version of me, you’re all strangers to me.”

“Yes...of course we would be…” murmured Aeldric. “As one facet darkens, we are turned to another to continue to shine Light’s will, is that what I’m supposed to understand?” he asked no one in particular.

“Perhaps we should be brought before the Circle of Elders, there’s obviously much to explain. Clearly the Void’s blight has not advanced that far here, but the Light would not have brought us without a reason…,” he trailed off, already lost in his own thoughts.

“Circle of Elders?” a woman's voice cut across the Vestibule where the robed figure of Rhea strode into view from its far end. “A curious request,” she added. At her side walked Arrow, the knight’s hand resting on the hilt of his weapon as the two of them approached. Elante flashed the pair of them a relieved smile before turning back to the newcomers. And they weren’t the only ones to be arriving in the Vestibule. A few other faces - some familiar to the newcomers, some not - were responding to the situation, emerging onto the walkways overhead or from the doorways leading deeper into the temple proper.

“Perhaps it would be for the better if we spoke in privacy,” Rhea continued, before casting a quick glance around the room. “Arrow, Syvil, and Elante, would you accompany us into the Inner Sanctum?”

Though phrased as a question Rhea moved to lead the way into the Sanctum rather than await answers. She had chosen them each with pointed intent. Arrow who wielded the sword of truth would be valuable in detecting any deceptions, and Syvil would provide a great deal of tactical support should the situation unveil any such deceptions. As for Elante, the trio seemed to recognize him to some level and their curiosity towards him was in turn a curiosity to her. His presence would perhaps help to unravel the situation at hand.
 
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as written by Script, Dashmiel, Lobos, and Tiko

Rhea led the group back into the inner sanctum, Elante falling into step at her side wearing a vexed expression. Syvil slipped forwards from the crowd to join them while Arrow allowed the group of newcomers to move ahead before he followed.

Once inside, Rhea waved the doors of the Inner Sanctum closed behind them, leaving the gaggle of observers in the vestibule to await their return. She took no regard of the available seats around the table, preferring to speak with the newcomers directly.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” she began. “My name is Rhea, Elder of the Elysian Vanguard. Your presence and your words are both a curiosity to myself," she continued. "This Circle of Elders you spoke of? Tell me, what do you know of it?"

“Know of it?,” stammered a puzzled Aeldric. His heart was still hammering from the mad dash away from destruction, and his hands still twitched with the urge to take some sort of action. Keyed up as he was, the seemingly mundane question brought him up short.

“I don’t understand what you’re asking. Your peers? The other Elders who together are responsible for the upkeep of the ideals of the order and the dispensation of our forces and resources?”

Rhea seemed thoughtful before she responded. "The reason I asked you such a trivial question is that the Circle of Elders you spoke of is a concept that does not exist. Curiously it is a concept that I have explored in the event that the order expands in size and scope to such a state as to require such organized leadership. Few know of it, which intrigued me. It would seem there is a great deal we need to discuss, but for now I'll hear your recount of how it is you came find yourselves in our Inner Sanctum."

A shiver ran down Aeldric’s spine and suddenly there was nothing more he’d like but to scream out. Whether from fury or anguish, he wasn’t sure. It wasn’t often in his life that he’d felt like the Light had made a mistake, or that it perhaps owed him an answer. But this was one of those times. He wasn’t guided to save his world, no. The home he knew, only the Light and the Void knew what it would become now.

“The short answer is that it wasn't supposed to be your sanctum,” Aeldric stated with a loaded look at his friends. He wasn't sure if they had grasped their predicament yet, but he felt he ought to explain their dire situation if only to hear it himself before he went insane.

“Perhaps it would be easier to start nearer to the beginning,” he said with a weary sigh.

“A short time ago, the Vanguard, our Vanguard that is, became aware that Valore was being caught in the grip of a persistent and widespread rash of instabilities. These instabilities took on all manner of effects, and affected everything from time and space, to the connections between our mortal planes and the astral planes of the various minor light divinities. I personally tried repeatedly to access some of their domains but to no avail.

“Whether the Void itself was behind these or merely took advantage of them quickly became a moot point, because its agents wasted no time and began to cause havoc on a grand scale and while the chaos hampered us greatly, it was nothing to the Void to lose its own as long as it also hurt us. It wasn't long before things took a turn for the worse and...and the temple became besieged,” Aeldric's words faltered and a pained and haunted look was clear in his features as he was reminded of all that transpired so recently, a world away.

So many friends and comrades dead, and here he was, safe, rather than at their side until the end.

“In the midst of prolonged and heated battle, we determined that our numbers remaining would not be enough to hold, in a last ditch effort, Arrow...our Arrow…,” once again Aeldric’s words faded briefly as he shot Arrow a pained look.

“The well of souls, it was to be our last hope, but the Void seemed to expect that. One of its spawn followed us, and its tainted blood defiled the well at its critical moment of activation. The intended... consequence was to be our deaths, as it took Arrow who was simply too close to the raging maelstrom of wild magic that detonated from it, but for the rest of us it seems the Light had other plans. What the Void can manipulate, so can the Light. I suspect It made use of the magical cascade around us and the weakened bonds between worlds to send us here, where I hope It expected us to work for It once more rather than simply it being an act of pity. But I am not yet certain, I'm merely It’s instrument of Will and await It’s insight. And thus we are here. My companions can corroborate,” he finished with a look at Rolando and Asher.

“I do believe you have effectively summarized the state of things far more eloquently than either of us could,” Rolando answered in reply to Aeldric’s glance.

For his light words though, there was a sadness that lingered behind his eyes though. If Aeldric’s hypothesis proved correct, then their world was lost. Their companions dead. Everything they had known and fought for, claimed by the Void. They alone remained.

“As Aeldric said. Chaos, death, desperation, and then boom.” Asher’s attempt at light humor sounded strained, his friend’s recounting driving home the pain behind the surprise.

Elante’s eyes went wide at the extent of the destruction described. The temple seemed so … safe, and impregnable, despite the dangers in the mountains around it. That it had been breached and everyone there defeated in this parallel world was… sobering.

On Arrow’s death being describe, he himself avoided reacting obviously – though there was a slight deepening to his frown. Being presented with news of your own death was bizarre, if nothing else. At his side, Oriel grimaced. The fact that his, Elante’s and so many others’ fates hadn’t been described left little doubt in his mind what had likely become of them.

“He spoke the truth,” Arrow said solemnly once Aeldric had finished, his tone grim.

Rhea’s nodded grimly, her expression having darkened at Aeldric’s explanation, and her lips tightening at the fate of Aeldric’s world. She did not doubt Arrows words, for the Sword of Truth he bore had never led them wrong in the past.

“It is with sorrow that I hear of the fate of your temple, for though your world may not be our world… it would seem that we shared common ideals, and a common purpose. Their destruction is a great loss to us all. But I believe your words, and share in your belief that your coming here was the Light’s will. Perhaps time will reveal more… ” Rhea frowned. “Our numbers have dwindled to a scarce few dozen in recent times,” she noted. “Should such a threat be upon the horizon, your arrival may very well have provided us the warning necessary to act.”

Rolando seemed somewhat perplexed at this revelation. “So few?” he inquired.

Even in their final hours, they had possessed dozens of Elders at their disposal and their numbers order wide had spanned into the hundreds in the days leading up to the end. The progression of the Void’s spread within this realm seemed far less advanced, so why so few Vanguard already he mused.

Asher had chewed over the information, pondering thoughtfully over the welcome distraction of remembrance. Glancing at Rolando as he asked a question, the dark-skinned man scowled slightly, thinking he might have stumbled on why the Well of Souls had spat them out here.

“How...many veterans are left here?”

“The Vanguard is still young,” Rhea answered, as Elante frowned in thought. “And our name does not carry the weight outside of Aelora that it once did. It has been only a few short years since the Sealed One’s defeat, and much of our number’s efforts have been focused on building a foundation for the order to rise again. Only in recent years have we begun to bring in new initiates to our ranks.”

“Sealed One’s defeat? I don't under--” Aeldric's mind continued to reel the further the conversation progressed, and the rigors of the recent past caught up with him as he half stumbled back, clutching his head.

His armor vanished in a silent twinkling of light, and the stalwart warrior looked very much like an old broken man standing suddenly in his austere robes.

“Forgive me, this is too much to take in at once,” he bleated wearily. “If possible, I'd ask to postpone any more discussion of this nature for a short while? My comrades and I were quite literally embroiled in a weeks long siege just minutes ago…,” Aeldric's voice trailed to a pained whisper as he recalled their arrival, and a pang of pain struck now that he no longer has the adrenaline coursing to dampen it.

“There's also...my student fell and her body still lays by the Well. I'd like leave to tend to that, and perhaps some rest and nourishment? I assure you we're your brothers in arms and we'll abide by whatever measures you see fit until you reach a more concrete decision,” croaked Aeldric, the plea directed at Rhea barely a whisper.

"Of course," Rhea answered. "All who find their way to our doorstep have our aid and support in times of need. You and your companions are no exception. Stay and rest for as long as you require. We can talk more later."
 
Later that evening…

It was pushing towards late evening when Aeldric, Rolando, and Asher returned to the temple, trekking their way down the winding pathway that snaked its way through the rocky terrain. The temple surroundings proved geographically the same as they recalled, with only minor variations to less permanent landmarks such as trees and plant growth. It was the same, well defendable bowl, nestled at the height of the Icy Peaks.

Their journey was a somber one, befitting the return of the impromptu funeral service they had held for Janina. The faint smell of woodsmoke still lingered upon them, from the pyre they had lit atop the mountain.

The sun hadn't yet set, so there was still some activity at play throughout the temple grounds, but people were mostly wrapping up their evenings and preparing to retire indoors for the night. A strict curfew outright forbade the temple students from venturing forth from the barracks after sunset, and even Aeldric and his companions had been advised that it would be best to remain indoors until morning.

They had been offered rooms within the temple dormitories - typically reserved for fully sworn members of the order, and rare guests - but they had yet to view them. Seeing to Janina had proven foremost among their priorities.

“It nearly defies imagination to see this view,” whispered Aeldric to his friends. “To think I took it for granted, as normal even, only a few months ago.” He shook his head sadly as the trio stood for a moment in their return indoors.

“It raises many questions though,” Rolando replied. “Much here remains the same, and yet so much is different. It will take time to determine just how different our two worlds have diverged.”

Asher grunted his assent, tilting his head to try and shake the disorientation from the view. Giving it up with a sigh, he shrugged. “I hear you both. I’d forgotten what the temple looked like before the seige, and trying to come to terms with it…”

“Twitching at shadows, nearly this whole walk. Probably be awhile before any of us can approach anything close to normalcy.”
 
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