Upon a Star: Karyana's Journey: Chapter 17

Shardfall leads to the ruin of one, the death of many, and the rebirth of a long-lost Chosen. Meanwhile, a son weeps his parents' parting.

Chapter 17

The night was desperately eerie, as Lady Asuna hid her face from the world. Even the stars seemed to shine dimly, like flickering candles, while heavy clouds threatened to cloud Medierth in darkness.

Legends spoke that on the nights where the moon hid from the world, Xelnos would appear in the gloom and try again and again to court her into shining her alabaster light upon him. Yet, these few nights never yielded result for the obsidian-skinned Planar-demon. On this night, people would sleep without rest, fearing that the Aspect of Destruction would lay waste and suffering upon them while they slept. The following day was entitled "Asuna's Rest", and was celebrated by most people as a day where every mortal race would rest, as a way for the Dreamweaver to infuse the people's wishes into a prayer for the white-haired Planar-maiden.

On this night, however, there was little rest for the weary.

Demyan wore the black robes of the griever as the celebrants prayed to the Planars for mercy and benevolence in granting those who died on this day. The young man could not hide his tears, even as the soldiers of Citadel brought the caskets where the charred and lifeless bodies of one of their finest, as well as his wife, rested.

The young man didn't have the heart to stop Chime from crying, its own tear-field mewling drowned by the prayers of the Hierophant and the slow, almost drumming tone of the participants' instruments. Even though the music was meant to ease the souls of the dead and help guide them through the Aether into the cycle of life and death to be reborn, Demyan's own soul still clung to the words spoken by the young boy in brass and cloth.

The fate of one would end the lives of many.

Pison.

Though he had heard of the name in the past, he had never seen the murderous creature before… until today. The burnt white cape, a relic of the cathars of old… the scars left in the earth where the half-demon had stepped… and the unholy flames that took his parents' lives from him.

As the Hierophant spoke in the ancient tongues, Demyan closed his eyes, not listening to the sermons of the aged priest. His grief darkened his thoughts, as ideas of revenge rose in his mind. Yet… he had no idea where the mercenary disappeared to, and with no way of tracking Pison, all he could do was pray, hoping that death would be swift and merciless to the killer.

"A word from the Viceroy before the final procession…" the celebrant spoke as the nobleman rose, wearing more elegant robes of the same black as those of the grievers, his crown and cape showing his status more than his seat at the right of the Hierophant.

The bearded aristocrat motioned the crowd who had filled the Mourning Hall to seat before placing his right hand against the celebrant's grimoire. A number of cantrips and spells were usually cast on the book and pedestal, which allowed the speaker to be heard by many in the crowd, even if the person spoke with a broken voice, and understood by all.

The Viceroy cleared his throat before beginning his own sermon. "People of Citadel, we have come here on this night of the Alabaster Sorrow to guide the souls of Ferix Mird and Valara Townsen." he spoke, referring to the grim night by its entitled name. "Ferix Mird was a symbol to the soldiers of Citadel: committed to his own and to his fellow men, steadfast and strong. Valara Townsen was the previous Magelord's maid, and was as dedicated to the late ruler, Lord Medai, as she was to her husband and to their son, Demyan, who must now bare the burden of the death of both parents. It is with sorrow in my heart that I say farewell to two of our most-honored citizens. May they be reunited in the cycle of life and death, so that their gracious souls be rewarded with the Celestial Rest, as guardians and watchers of the world's rest."

A heavy moment of silence passed before the Viceroy continued. "I would like the son of the late couple, Demyan, to come and speak." he simply added, removing his hand from the grimoire to motion the young man to advance.

Removing the cowl of his griever's cloak, the boy walked over to the altar. Before stepping over to the grimoire, he was stopped by the burly noble whose glare meant that something was disturbing him. "I advise that you do not speak of your… rank." the older man whispered. "You are still not of age, and are still unfit to take the throne."

Demyan let out a sigh, nodded and turned towards the crowd while the Viceroy sat in his chair. Placing his right hand on the open book, he waited for Chime to slowly strut up to him before speaking. "People of Citadel…" he began, taking a moment to wipe a tear that threatened to fall on the crinkled page of the grimoire. "Rather than share my pain with you, I wish to speak of how my mother and father have helped me, and all of Citadel."

The Viceroy let out a sigh of relief and smiled as the young man gave a heart-filled lecture of the merits and roles of his parents to raise the city's hopes and security. "He may not have the silver tongue of the previous Magelord, but he does know how to tug at the heart-string…" the aristocrat thought, looking at the boy who continued speaking of the fallen couple's hopes and dreams.

"Though the hand who ended their lives has not been found…" Demyan added, his words breaking from the pain of their weight, "…I hope that one day, the lives lost by that hand will rise in retribution to bring the justice to those who suffered, and guide those who weep to the Celestial Rest…"

As the participant choir began singing the first verse of the final procession, the young man removed his hand from the grimoire and turned away. "Pison… twice you brought death to me… and I will pay you back a hundred fold." he murmured, the words veiled by the celebrants march towards the sight of the couple's final resting place, under the pyres of Progeny's shrine.

----

Laurinya did not want to rest, even though her body was heavy, her eyelids closing over her emerald irises, her steps leaden. Still, even after setting her horse free out of spite for its poor state, she wished she had just done the trek on her own.

Marching with unsteady feet up the trail to Starfall, she felt as if every bone in her body was about to yield, which would make her collapse from exhaustion. Her dreams now obsession, she clung to her staff for balance, even as her stomach ached of lack of food.

The incline of the path was steep and her steps felt lead-weighted. Gasping from the ordeal, she stopped for a moment, pulled out a nearly-empty water-skin and drank what little was left of its contents before throwing the emptied pouch aside.

"It's all I have left…" she muttered, desperately trying to cling to her gnarled support against the rough slope. "I will have my freedom… or I will die without it…"

Her muscles could barely support her body, weakened by the cold winds of the pass. Before her consciousness had time to flee from her, she heard whispered voices and mustered what little strength she had left to step off the road, her tired form collapsing into a dry bed of mountain grass.

----

Kaina coughed dryly, clutching her chest with one hand.

Alban looked worriedly at the meek ranger woman. "You look pale… are you sure you're alright?" he asked, helping her up front the steep road up the slope to Shardfall's plateau.

It had taken quite the tour-De-force for the group to arrive as quickly as they did to where they were now. Not having stopped to eat until nightfall was something that they were used to do, but the brown-haired girl seemed almost sickly on this cloudy, almost starless night.

"I feel… cold." she replied, wrapping her cloak around her tightly.

"The weather isn't helping, that I know." Onyx replied, trying to keep the fire from dying out due to the downward winds coming from the plateau's top.

The brown-eyed girl tried to reply, but was cut off when Korgan placed his hand on her forehead. "She's feverish." he replied flatly. "The road must have made her ill… that, or that fall in the Brookfrost."

The Brookfrost was a small lake an hour's ride from Starfall, and was known for cold waters all year long. It was Turalyon's idea to cast a haste spell on the horses to make them run faster that ended with Kaina losing control of her mare and falling headfirst in the icy pool.

Alban shook his head. "Magic can't treat a cold." he muttered, before looking up the path. "And if we have to get up there, we'll all need to recover our strength."

Turalyon took a moment to examine Kaina. "Well, nothing a little fire won't fix, but I wonder… when did you get that scar?" he asked, pointing to a diamond-shaped cut on her forehead.

"What scar?" she replied, before feeling a slight burning sensation on her forehead. It was as if someone had pressed a white-hot arrowhead against her skin. "Ugh… I… I can…"

Everyone turned to look at the young woman who was pressing her palm against the scar. "I can feel it… Laurinya… she's in trouble!"

Korgan let out a frustrated sigh. "Her again? She's been nothing but a blight. I don't even know why we came here for-"

"Oh, shut up!" Turalyon replied, grabbing his staff before getting up. "If what I read from Vokram's notes are right, if that girl has some sort of link with her sister, if one dies, so will the other."

Alban picked up his sword with one hand and helped Kaina to her feet. "Come on. Let's go and find her."

Onyx was about to pick up his axe when he heard the loud crunch of dry grass being crushed, and noticed two disturbing things: a faded golden mane on the ground near the camp… and the sound of a score of feet rushing down the slope.

"Oh, we found here, alright… and we're not the only ones." Onyx replied, gripping his axe as a group of Dun-elves " dark-skinned elves with silvery hair and eyes glowing like tiny flames " slid down the slope towards them.

Turalyon waited until the small garrison moved to encircle the group before turning on himself. "Let's see, one, two, three…" he started to count as the rest of the group gathered around the collapsed Laurinya. "So there's eighteen of them, and four of us. I don't like those odds."

Korgan looked down at the wards he and the battle-mage had drawn on the ground around the campsite. "Yeah… they should have brought more." he commented with an amused smirk before bringing his war mace down on one of the runes, causing the ground to rumble as a heavy rock spike erupted from the ground, gutting one of the mercenaries before he could order a charge.

Kaina unsheathed her sword, which immediately grew into a flaming blade of mana-woven energy. "I can't let her die!" she shouted as she spun the blade around to make the arrows of the assailants burn in mid-air.

The elves quickly discarded their quivers and bows and unsheathed knives, swords and the occasional spear, charging into the fray, shouting curses and battle cries in a tongue that only Onyx understood, and the words would have made his ears burn if he wasn't too busy parrying sword blows with his twin-bladed weapon, retaliating by cutting at the ankles of his closest assailant, making the dark-skinned elf drop to his knees before the dwarf drove his axe's head " a spear tip cleverly forged onto the blade - in the throat of his now-slain opponent.

Turalyon slammed his staff against the ground, causing another rune to activate. Although his spell selection was not as straightforward as Korgan's, the battle-mage did enjoy the subtlety of the manaweave he had drawn into the ground as the stone under the feet of two of his attackers suddenly liquified, trapping them in a vat of liquid rock, which hardened in a matter of seconds. The two assailants barely had time to register the feel of the stiffening mud until it solidified back into stone, crushing bodies and making heads erupt as organs were squeezed out of like air from a forge's blower.

Whether it was out of fear or anger, the drow's attacks grew more vicious. Alban's armor wasn't solid enough to stop being sliced and stabbed, but the pain of being cut and hacked steeled his determination. Gripping his sword with both hands, he heaved it in a circular motion, which almost caught Turalyon's head in the swipe. "Watch where you're swinging that thing!" the battle-mage shouted, slamming the ground again with his staff, causing his nearest attacker to convulse as a bolt of lightning erupted the weapon, breaking it apart, and rushed through the nearby forces, stunning them long enough for Alban's monstrous slash to cut through heads, stopping its powerful strike in the neck of the third victim.

Kaina looked down at Laurinya for a moment. "Sister, please! Wake up!" she shouted, before her attention turned to the gash on her arm from one of the assailants' swords. The blow had cut against the bone, but the pain was still immense, causing the girl to scream, the result resounding almost like a battle cry as her blade ripped through enchanted brigantine and into Dun-elf flesh, searing it from the inside. The blade exited the wound almost as quickly as it entered before the roasted elf was kicked off the side of the slope by the now furious ranger woman.

Laurinya's eyes slowly opened as she felt her strength slowly return. Looking to her side, she noticed Korgan's rough hands on her thigh. "Can't believe I'm doing this…" he groaned.

The young woman's reaction came quickly as she moved her leg up to kick Korgan in the face. "And don't expect a thank you!" she replied before picking herself up, unsheathing her sword.

Kaina let out a sigh of relief as her sister rose from the ground, but the feeling was not mutual: Laurinya's expression was that of a wolf ready to bite the head off some poultry.

"I'm glad you-" the brown-haired ranger girl spoke, but was stopped by the blade of her assailant, who left a thin gash on her face.

"Stop sniveling and fight!" the emerald-eyed witch retorted, her scimitar having switched sheaths from its own leather one to the chest of a mercenary, whose blood was slowly turning to ice from the blade's potent manaweave.

Korgan shook off the kick, then quickly blocked the twin swords of one assailant with his mace, before driving his fist in a screw motion towards the chest of his opponent. The spell that the war-priest had invoked only had to touch the steel plate of the dark-skinned elf to explode into a stream of energy that send an intense shock through every metallic element of the armor, frying nerves, skin and brain alike.

Laurinya gripped at her staff with one hand and balanced her sword against it with the other. "I don't have time for this!" she jeered as the remaining drow encircled the group, making Alban's swings almost impossible without striking an ally. "Let death be your solace! Fade into oblivion!"

As the sorceress' staff struck the ground a blast of silver energy burst from under her feet and traveled like a cascading wall. Korgan barely had time to notice the spectrum of colors that rippled through the area, causing his eyes to hurt, but he could very well hear the shrieks and cries of the remaining garrison.

All but the still-blinded Korgan and the less-than-interested Laurinya looked on with shock, surprise and awe as the bodies of the fallen, and those that were still alive, slowly faded into ashes, as if eaten by an invisible flame. The few that were left turned to run, only to collapse as a leg or arm was caught in the stream of energy, withering the limb faster than a murder of crows could pick through a fresh corpse.

The sorceress waited for the winds to blow the ashes away before turning away from the group. "Lauri, wait!" Kaina shouted before cringing as she held her wounded arm, Korgan walking over to her to lay hands on the still-bleeding cut.

"I never asked for your help." she retorted sharply, unsheathing her blade. "I'm giving you this one last chance. Leave me be, or I swear that I will end your life!"

"Now, hold on just a-" Turalyon was about to say before Kaina stopped him.

"You're right." the ranger answered, sheathing her own sword, which surprised the others. "You never asked for my help, and I never truly gave it to you. All I wanted was for all of us to be safe."

Kaina looked at the warpriest who was tending her wounds, the cut on her cheek slowly closing. "Go. If you don't want my help, then do what you want. I won't stop you."

Turalyon was about to object when Laurinya gave a mischievous smile. "I guess you finally understood that I'm the better of us." she said, before walking away. "Once I have obtained my freedom, I might just let you live."

A moment later, as Laurinya faded out of sight, Kaina looked at the others. "I'm going after her." she said. "Feel free to follow or not; I won't blame you if you leave."

Alban let out a sigh before looking at the ranger woman who was marching up the slope. "If that sorceress is as deranged as she was… I don't think Kaina can do this alone." he thought out loud. "I'm going."

"I'm coming too." Turalyon spoke, following the two rangers. "The Order asked me to keep an eye on Laurinya, and I am not turning back without results."

Onyx looked back at Korgan. "You can always leave. It's not like your Planar-God will care, right?" he asked sarcastically, which made the war-priest grind his teeth, cursing under his breath as both followed up the path.

----

When Laurinya reached Shardfall, it felt like she had stepped into an open cocoon of azure crystal. The sight of the shimmering formation of ice-like spikes left her breathless. "This is… unbelievable…" she trailed on, taking in the view.

Looking at the marble-like ground, she noticed the uneven surface that coiled around the center, as if someone had carved steps into the crystal, leading to eight pillars surrounding a circular altar. "Starfall… Reveen's cradle… the key to my freedom…" she added, taking slow steps down the coiling staircase.

"Eight pillars…" she continued her monologue before noticing the splatter of blood on the altar and two crudely-shaped diamonds, each wedged into the circular brass bowls that ornate the pillars. "I guess the old rat was wrong. Eight stones are needed, not ten!"

Examining the ground, she noticed that, from the center slab, eight lines were carved into the crystal, each leading to one pillar. "Eight elements… I guess the fool before me thought he could make a wish on only two shards." Laurinya said, as if lecturing the bloodstains, not really giving much thought to why that blood was there in the first place.

Opening her backpack, the golden-haired sorceress removed the six stones she carried, then placed one in each bowl, one by one. As she did, her eyes caught the rough markings of runic symbols, each signifying a word in arcane scying. "So, only those who studied the Planar's writings can read these…", she mused, chuckling at the irony of the situation, "…if that old toad Scyens knew what I had planned, he would have never taught me the meanings of these runes…"

Laurinya grabbed her staff, turned around and trailed the tip of her weapon against the ground. "Cree!" she shouted. The trail lit up from the pillar to the middle of the altar where she stood.

----

Kaina hurried to Starfall as she heard her sister speak the words of invocation. "She doesn't know… I have to hurry!" she thought, grabbing on the ledge and hoisting herself up.

Already the first four words had been spoken: Cree, the symbol of earth. Tine, the word for flame. Gaoth, the aspect of wind. Uisce, the chant for water... The mousy ranger pulled out the two shimmering diamonds from her backpack, discarded the travel bag and rushed down the staircase, just as her sister, oblivious to her arrival, was chanting the remaining words: Cineal, the symbol of nature; Bais, the ancient word for metal; Miotail, the ancient inscription for death, and Beatha, the aspect of life.

----

"Planars, aspects of creation and destruction, rulers of eternity… grant me the freedom I so dream of!" Laurinya commanded, before closing her eyes, raising her staff to the sky, holding it horizontally with both hands.

Kaina didn't have time to shout 'Stop!' before the stones she had set in the pillars started to glow. Before she could take a step forward, the young woman noticed the winds start to churn as the manaweave became partially visible, like ghostly wisps swerving around her sister.

Laurinya felt the manaweave constrict itself, as if it was shaping itself against her clothes, skin and hair, then heard the snap of something wooden breaking. She didn't have time to look up to see her staff dissapearing, as if being sucked into the void, even as a booming echo resounded through the area.

"Chosen star, made flesh and divided…" the echo responded, as if a dragon was speaking in the common tongue, which made the plateau shake, "…you have no right to command the Planars into granting your selfish wish. Learn from your mistake!"

----

Alban helped Onyx up onto the platform before the bellowing voice shook the plateau. They had little time to take in all of the area before an immense ray of light shot straight down from the sky into the bowels of Starfall.
"It looks like our witch angered the Planars." Korgan said, looking at the beam of light with contempt. "I would have smitten her myself, but it's best that Raemu himself does it."

"That… was Raemu's voice?" Turalyon shouted over the sound of the rumble.

"Why do you think I came along to see this? That chaotic wench deserves what's happening to her!" the war-priest replied, folding his arms.

"Don't you get it?" Turalyon raged, the winds blowing in every direction, ripping the cloak off his shoulders. "If that spell destroys her, the manaweave disruption will tear Starfall asunder, and us along with it!"

"Kaina!" Alban wailed, slamming his sword down to keep his footing on the sleek crystalline floor.

----

Kaina could only watch in fascination and despair as her sister's body was struck with blast after blast of energy. Already the young woman's golden hair was changing color into a mystical spectrum of green and blue, her emerald eyes now completely devoid of its radiant color. Each burst of energy burned more and more of the witch's robes, leaving shock marks underneath.

"Laurinya, no!" the meek woman shouted before looking away… only to notice two markers on the ground.

It looked as if some of the lines were linked to each other not just from the middle, but from the outside by interwoven squares, creating a wider star pattern than the eight-point star that was carved in the ground.

Holding the two shards against her chest with her left arm, she unsheathed her sword and carved the lines, shouting the words as loud as she could, hoping the Planars would hear. "Gaoth, Uisce, Cree, Tine… Eillimint!" she wailed, before slamming a shard on the ground, in the middle of the circular altar where both girls now stood upon.

As she did, the winds grew in force around both, but the energy eruptions, which seemed to stall Laurinya's convulsion form into a sort of stasis, stopped even as the ray of light divided itself in a spectrum.

Kaina carved the remaining four elemental leylines together with her sword. "Bais, Cineal, Miotail, Beatha… Siorai!" she invoked before discarding her weapon and quickly placed the last crystal between Laurinya's cold hands, hers holding them together.

"Planars, I beg you! Spare her life, please!" the young woman pleaded. "Do what you want with me, but don't condemn her!"

The winds started to die out, which caused Alban and the others to kneel down " though Turalyon nearly collapsed from the raw force needed to keep himself from being blown away.

"Creation of fate, born of the stars and shadow…" the voice spoke, though with less force. "You wish to save this sinner… why?"

Kaina looked at her sister, who was on the verge of collapsing. "She and I… we are just the sides of the same coin. I just… I just want us to be together again…" she responded, tears slowly streaming down her face. "Please, don't let her die…"

A moment passed before a softer voice, like that of a child, resonated in the area, as if carried by the winds. "So be it… you will be together again… and your place in this world will not go unremembered."

The beam of light suddenly intensified, channeling immense energy into a single ray. Before the celestial manaweave struck, Kaina held her now-unconscious sister in her arms, both the sorceress' sword and the ranger's shard falling outside the circle.

----

It took hours before Alban and the group could see after the ray of light had created such a flash that they feared that their blindness would be until their end.

Wiping the last of the light from his weary eyes, the tall ranger looked around, then down at Reveen's cradle. "What in Medierth happened?" he wondered before noticing something gleaming down in the coiling pit where the two sisters were.

"I think… no. I definitely saw the light." Korgan answered, sounding both relieved and somewhat enraptured. "There's no greater sign for a priest than hearing a Planar's voice and seeing his judgment."

"Okay, who are you and what have you done to Korgan?" Onyx replied, finding the man's change of heart suspicious.

"I'm still myself, but…" the war-priest spoke. "I feel… different. It's like Raemu himself wanted me to come to this place and see this with my own eyes."

Turalyon got up, stretched to the point where he would nearly throw his back out, and looked down into the ritual grounds. "More importantly, what happened to them? And where are they?"

Alban unsheathed his sword and walked down the stairs, making sure that no residual energy would hurt him or the others before motioning them to hurry down. As they made it to the circular altar, there was no sight of either Laurinya or Kaina, or any of the diamond-like shards.

Onyx examined the ground and picked up a sword that lied amongst the crystalline debris of the floor. The blade seemed to shimmer like a shard of moonlight, though the shape of the blade looked like a cross between a scimitar and a b*****d sword, as the shape was mildly curved and the hilt made the blade look heavier than it felt.

"What kind of weapon is this…?" Onyx wondered, holding it to the sky, before noticing the faint glow of the moon in the morning sky.

"You should worry less about that…" Alban mentionned, pointing from the sword to the altar, "…and more about her."

The group encircled the altar, not sure what to say or do as they looked at a single woman, as naked as a newborn, huddled in a foetal position, her long black hair sweeping against the crystalline floor, her hands holding the fraction of what looked like a tiny star.

"Who… who is she?" Turalyon wondered, scratching his wind-blown hair.

Alban noticed the arrowheard-shaped mark on her forehead, and made an uneasy smile. "An old friend…"

Author's Note

Any and all comments, critiques and reviews will be accepted.