Elery's stomach grew increasingly uneasy as the sounds of battle faded away. Misani returned to her, helping to replenish her aura as they ran, and with only Isandel beside her the uneasiness became knots in her belly. She hadn't imagined leaving her companions behind. Dakkan, half-blind, Vydel left to face a traitor and whatever allies he held sway over, and Nyph...
She shook her head to free herself of the worrying thoughts threatening to consume her as she continued down the dim stone tunnel.
Gone were the intricate carvings. The tunnel through which they ran was no different from those leading to Ortuna. The wide path could have accommodated Isandel if he chose to transform. Lantern stones embedded in the ceiling lit the way, casting curious shadows along the walls and floor that danced and swayed like changelings to the tune of gentle music.
The heat grew intense as they moved deeper and it wasn't long before she discovered why. The end of the path opened into a great chamber sooner than she was prepared for.
Her momentum carried her off the edge.
She gripped the stone and shrieked as a blast of heat instantly drenched her in sweat.
Below stretched a vast pool of lava. Hardened areas cracked open to form veins of vibrant gold that flooded the area with light. Heat rose up in visible sheets of shimmering air, distorting the scene around her so that even the walls appeared to be liquid. Her eyes stung against the heat, though she imagined the sweat dripping over her lashes contributed to that pain as well.
The mystmetal was helpless to maintain her body temperature under such extreme temperature. The persistent tickle of sweat rolled down the small of her back.
Isandel dropped to his knees and grabbed her arm. He yanked her up so quickly she shrieked again. Falling back with her atop him, he curled his arms around her. "Calm yourself, you are safe."
Safe was a strange term considering the circumstances. She breathed out heavily and pushed herself to her hands and knees, breaking from his embrace. "F-forgive me, I should not have been so hasty."
"I'd not expect you to anticipate a drop into a volcano." He stood and helped her to her feet.
Elery stepped forward and peered over the edge. Far below them draggats prowled the edges near the lava along with several other spirits she had no names for. The rising heat drove her from the edge as quickly as her curiosity brought her to it. She turned to look at the path which continued along the wall and said, "I suppose we continue down."
The lack of enemies was disconcerting, but given the terrain through which she walked she couldn't say it was surprising. Celestine would risk no harm to her desired vessel, even if it permitted enemies safe passage to her very doorstep.
Elery looked up, expecting that she might see the volcano opening, but it was well beyond her sight. The rock was covered in soot and curved upward to house smaller spirits on its ledges. They peered down at her but made no attempt to harm her or Isandel. She knew not whether they sided with Celestine, or whether they remained ignorant to the plight of the world around them. If Sylver could change her mind...
She dismissed the thought as she moved forward. There could be no more distractions.
The path led into another tunnel that came to an abrupt end after several hundred paces before a pair of large metal doors. The ornate golden décor winding through them resembled wings which spread from the seam between them.
Elery rested her hands on the doors and pushed forward as she steeled herself for what she would find within.
The doors groaned and scraped against the floor, stubbornly protesting but ultimately yielding to her as she moved forward and pushed harder.
Slowly, through the crack that grew ever wider, the vista beyond revealed itself. A cavern filled with structures sprawled before them and for a moment she stood in stunned silence. Her arms dropped to her sides. Have I come to some unknown entrance to Ortuna...?
A city lay before them, though all resemblance to Ortuna began and ended there. Many of the buildings were dilapidated. Some were so badly damaged from time they were uninhabitable. White flames burned in large chalices throughout the city, illuminating everything far more efficiently than lantern stones would. Their light was intense, so much so that shadows seemed almost non-existent.
"Phoenix flame," Isandel said. "It would seem we are not only expected but welcomed."
The city's architecture was reminiscent of that of Suthri's runic academy. Though left to degrade over time, the city looked to be created with great love and care. At the heart of the city rose a cathedral of particular decadence. Of all the buildings there, it alone was kept well-maintained.
Elery began down the path toward the main road leading to the grand structure at the heart of the city. Thick webs adorned the buildings they passed, draping like ragged tapestries, unchecked for countless seasons. Bones of unknown creatures were sparsely scattered like fallen leaves beside the path, but the path itself was clear.
She and Isandel ran with not a word spoken between them. There was nothing more to say. No more assurances to give. The cathedral drew closer with every step and Elery became more aware of the ache in her rapidly-beating heart. Misani's anxiety radiated through her. The sounds of their footsteps soon accompanied singing that grew louder as they neared the cathedral's open doors.
Isandel's footsteps faltered.
A glance to the side gave Elery a moment to see the pained expression that briefly flitted across his face before he hardened his expression.
The singing grew louder and the words, though foreign, were familiar. It was the song Isandel sung in Lyewryn during her final visit home.
Home...
The thought spurred her on. She gripped Isandel's wrist and pulled him forward, running toward the doors that beckoned to her.
The singing ceased as she crossed the threshold.
With a painful and unexpected jerk Isandel pulled away.
Elery turned to question him.
His hands were raised as if pressed flat to something she could not see. His mouth moved but there was no sound.
"Welcome!" Cylphi's voice rang out from behind her. "Welcome home, Elery!"
Elery turned around and rested her hand on her sword.
Cylphi—Celestine—sat atop a silver stone pedestal beside a large broken crystal. Phoenix fire shone off the irregular facets to give each face an iridescent shine. Rows of stone benches surrounded her in the circular room, some broken, others intact, while spaces full of rubble spoke of those that had worn away completely.
Celestine smiled down at Elery with such a familiar smile it broke her heart and enraged her all at once. The same firelight that shone off the crystal glistened off Celestine's green mystmetal armor to reflect spots of light onto the ground at Elery's feet.
"I had no doubt Isandel would deliver you safely to me." She leaped from her perch and opened her arms. "Such a perilous journey you've endured. So much heartache...Come, Elery. Rest with me."
Elery glanced behind her. Isandel slammed his fists against the barrier and she backed up several steps. She reached back, expecting her hand to pass through the threshold. Instead it pressed against a transparent partition.
"Why do you not speak?" Celestine asked.
"I have nothing to say to you." Elery sought to thread her aura into the barrier but there were no cracks. She pushed against it then turned, stricken by the hopelessness she found in Isandel's eyes.
"Nothing to say?" Celestine laughed. "You've come all this way and haven't yet found the words to speak to me? Will you not beg me to let your beloved dragon in?"
Elery snarled. "I can handle you myself."
"But can he handle what lurks outside himself?"
Isandel turned to look behind him and Elery's gaze swept the city beyond the barrier. Doors opened and knights stepped from within the buildings. Each showed so little damage she wondered if they were, in fact, corpses.
"You shouldn't turn your back on your gracious host," Celestine whispered in Elery's ear. Her arms curled around Elery's chest. "It's rude."
"Release me—"
Celestine's aura flooded over and around Elery in a chilled wave that paralyzed her with its intensity. Her vision dimmed. Pain radiated through body.
It felt as though she was having her bondmark removed all over again. She screamed and fought to pull away but her body would not respond.
The creature's aura was as vast as the sea. It threatened to not only swallow her, but to erase her being entirely. Tiny black fingers dug into her, plunging deep, latching in as tree roots in soil.
"Oh how I have waited for this," Celestine said. Her voice was full of glee, cutting through the screams that echoed through the cathedral. "This body is lovely but yours...With Misani's power I will have the ability to bring all of my children to life everlasting! Free of pain, free of death!" Her arms tightened around Elery. "You've killed so many...but I forgive you."
Isandel had begun to transform outside the barrier. As he swung his head to knock away the first knights his gaze locked onto them both.
She'd never imagined seeing such a look of fear in a mighty dragon's eyes. Even as soldiers swarmed him, striking at his flank with swords and spears, he could not take his eyes away from the barrier.
Darkness encroached on her vision.
Her aura rebelled, pushing out against the foreign invasion.
"You...f-forgive me..." Elery choked. She reached deep within herself. "Forgiveness...i-is not yours to give...!" She pushed back, raising not only her own aura but Misani's as well. The two bled together, as if one and the same, and pushed against the darkness flooding into her.
The pain was no less severe but her body regained mobility. She threw her head backward and Celestine screamed.
Elery slumped to the ground as her opponent released her. The sound of rapid footsteps filled the space.
The pain faded and Elery struggled to her feet. She drew her blade and pointed it toward the barrier.
Isandel responded to her unspoken command by turning and lunging into the collection of knights around him.
She then turned to face Celestine. The body thief was bent over with a hand to her face. Blood seeped through her fingers from a cut left by Elery's horn and tears sparkled in her eyes. It was a sight that both comforted and pained Elery.
"I see," Celestine said before choking on a loud sob. "I see I cannot take that body until I've crushed both you and that spirit."
Elery reached up to touch the crystal on her chest plate. She searched for seeds, for plant life of any kind, but the only aura she could feel was her own, Cylphi's, and Celestine's. It seemed strange until she realized Cylphi had far more experience with geomancy casting. She'd have neutralized any plant life hiding within the stone long before Elery had arrived.
The barrier was strong enough that she could not feel anything past it. It embedded within her a deep fear. She would not know if something happened to Isandel without risking a glance back, and should she do so...
A gust of wind threw Elery back against the barrier with such force she dropped her sword. Without moving, with no sign of the cast whatsoever, Celestine called forth a gale typically achieved by only the most skilled casters.
Old and tattered tapestries ripped away from the walls. The phoenix fire flickered but remained lit. Scraps of fabric blew off the floor and fluttered like massive snowflakes before settling again as the wind died down.
Elery fell to the ground as it trembled and heaved upward to slam into her stomach. Even through the armor the impact forced air from her lungs. She raised a hand and sent out a wind cast of her own, but it paled in comparison to the one that sent her sprawling.
Her casting had improved, but Celestine's was on another level entirely. In a fight between casters there was already a clear winner.
She called Misani out and fire swept across Celestine's armor. There was no hesitation in Misani's attacks. She held nothing back, going far beyond what would be necessary to harm Cylphi.
She was attempting to incinerate her.
The fire, however, was quelled as soon as it appeared. The tainted phoenix pulled her hand away from her stolen face to more clearly see the elder spirit. "As if fire could harm me. You assault me with what I am born of?" Celestine frowned and the phoenix fire rose higher.
Elery joined her attempts but fire could not reach Celestine's skin. Her ability to nullify each spark was absolute. With a loud groan Elery pushed herself to her hands and knees and crawled forward toward her sword.
"How much must it cost you to sustain her and Isandel in such a large form?" Celestine asked as the ground rumbled again. A broken piece of stone bench lurched upward and struck Elery in the chest.
The force threw her backward.
She was correct. Allowing Misani to separate took its toll on her aura, dividing it when she needed it most. With Isandel drawing so much, relying on her to maintain his size, it would not be long before she was left too weak to resist another of Celestine's attempts to possess her.
The gem on her chest shone brightly as she drew Misani back. "I need you more, Misani. Forgive me."
You need help! Misani cried.
Elery curled her fingers around the hilt of her sword and stared up at the grand ceiling above her. Stone vines wound around the pillars scattered about the room to form a peak from which a cluster of lantern stones hung. They were long-since burned out. Not even a flicker of light left within them. She released a burst of aura and shattered the stones to bring them raining down in a shower of dark gold.
Celestine stumbled back and covered her head. It allowed Elery a moment to move unnoticed. She rolled to her feet and ran forward, sword ready, her gaze locked on her opponent's throat.
Hesitation stilled her blade a moment too long as she drew near.
Celestine leaped backward, struck the pillar with a rough gasp, and spun to the side to put the pillar between herself and Elery.
The blade missed her throat by too wide a margin to excuse with luck on Celestine's part. Before Elery could right herself her opponent had already regained distance from her.
Shards sliced into Elery's cheek as the last few pieces of lantern stone fell. Blood dripped down along her skin and slipped under the collar of her chest plate as she ran forward to strike again.
The blade grazed Celestine's chest plate and sparks flew.
Please, Elery! A stronger caster can defeat her! Give me your permission and release me!
Elery shook her head.
You cannot save Cylphi!
The sparks lit and fire flashed across the metal.
It dissipated before it could touch Celestine's skin.
One of the stone benches launched from the ground and broke into pieces. As a testament to Celestine's power they were not launched by the force of stones pushing together. Rather they hovered in the air, much as the floating island had under Sylver's control.
Elery gasped as the rocks spun, then flew toward her.
The stones struck one after another, pounding against her side, her chest, her back, throwing her forward and back but not allowing her to fall. Not until one slammed against the base of her right horn.
Her vision grew blurry.
Large fragments of stone cut deep into head.
She fell to the side and her broken horn fell in front of her.
"I will not kill you," Celestine said. Her words were muffled. A high-pitched ringing sounded in Elery's ears and nearly drowned her words out entirely. "But if I must bring you to the edge of death, so be it!"
Blood streaked down Elery's forehead from the broken horn and the countless lacerations left in the wake of the silver stone bench. She struggled to keep her eyes open as she looked to the barrier.
Isandel fought with his whole body. He threw his weight from side to side, crushing anything standing against him.
But he was not invulnerable.
Scales lay on the ground around him. There were deep cuts visible on his flank and back. A blade protruded from his hip, yet still he fought.
Her vision dimmed further, blurring the sight of Isandel to a smear of red and black. She'd had her moment. One heartbeat sooner and the blade would have slid through Cylphi's neck.
Yet her body had betrayed her.
Her heart betrayed her.
She closed her eyes but the world was not black behind her closed lids. She was instead within a vast stretch of light. Though bright, unnaturally so, it did not hurt her eyes to keep them open. It grew no brighter or dimmer but strangely a new world began bleeding through the illumination. One of grass and trees. One filled with beautiful homes.
Laughter surrounded her. Not mocking, but gentle. Mirthful. She turned to look behind her and found herself faced with the unlikely visage of her parents.
Both smiled and reached forward. Each cupped her cheeks tenderly.
No words were spoken.
All she could do, all her addled mind would allow her to do, was stand in awe before the two.
The silence was broken with a sob. She squeezed her eyes shut and collapsed to her knees. "I have failed you..."
"No," a foreign voice rang out. The laughter stopped.
"No," her parents echoed.
Elery looked around as more people echoed that single word. They stepped forward and surrounded her. Each knelt in turn to rest their hands on her. People she'd never seen, those whose faces were vaguely familiar, they all reached out to her. Even those too far away, whose hands could not reach, she felt the kindness flow out from them.
The foreign speaker came forward and the group parted just enough to allow it forward. It was a being of pure light, far brighter than the phoenix fire which illuminated the ruins.
The genderless being, which looked very much like an aurel, knelt before her and rested its hand over her broken horn. She felt its intentions and emotions with startling clarity and the love emanating from it made her ache. She longed to pull closer to it.
Immediately she knew what she faced.
"H-have I..." Her voice died away in a low staccato as she stared up into its eyes. "Have you made a place for me?"
It smiled and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "The homeland gods make a place for all, young one. But your place is not here. Not yet."