Existentially Bound: Part 2
Mist-i-call
The Temple of Kormir was a breathtaking sight, risen above the cavernous depths where two valleys met. It was bordered by mesas and rock vistas which extended far above the group high into the desert sky. It was a monument to the goddess Kormir, meant to aid passersby on their way through the treacherous desert which surrounded it. Even in the aftermath of both Balthazar and Palawa Joko's demise, their minions of Forged and Awakened, respectively, continued to roam the lands. And the desert hostilities had only increased with the recent activity of Kralkatorrik, the elder crystal dragon branding any creatures unfortunate enough to be in its wake.
Elona had changed, but then again, so had Emily Naja Thaljia. "Been a while since I was here last," she said staring up at the structure.
"Not since you and Demitra echoed your moans within," Valandra teased.
Ember rolled her eyes, then suddenly worried if the words were said aloud or in her head. At times it was difficult to tell where Emily stopped and Valandra began. The group's stare answered her question and the woman's cheeks frosted at the embarrassment.
Kimura cleared her throat. "I'll take a vantage point and halt or slow down any who may venture toward the temple while you all are doing," she paused, her skeptical lime-green eyes looking over Talhia, "whatever it is you all are planning."
Talhia smiled warmly at Kimura with hidden eyes. "If it is any consolation, I was told they are both doing fine. And, also, he is glad you've found something with her, cub."
If visible, Kimura's shocked expression would have given all the women pause. The thief fought back the tears that instantly formed, hearing the term of endearment her departed charr friend, Barox used to call her. "I… uh…" her voice cracked. "I should go." Without another word, the woman disappeared into the rocky landscape.
The mystic nodded, motioned for Ember and Paige to follow. "Up here ahead in the corner is ideal. There's a focus I may use to channel for the summoning."
"Summoning?" Paige asked.
Talhia said nothing more, came to sit upon an elaborately decorated carpet in a small room adorned with various magically attuned objects and various strategically placed sigils upon its wall and the flooring. She gestured gracefully to the open rug on either side of her, then began about placing various stones with runes upon them around her person. Similar runes were etched upon the rug.
"What are these for?" Paige couldn't help but ask.
"Protection," the whisperer said.
"I have my flame sword for that," Ember retorted.
"For now," came Talhia's cryptic response.
Ember's brow furrowed. "Wait, what the hell does that mean?"
Valandra laughed in Ember's head. "Isn't it obvious? An ice Djinn using a fire sword! You still have flames within, but how long do you think that will last? We become closer to being complete with each day."
"Emily… Valandra, would you both mind? We're here for a purpose, and hopefully we'll get some answers, but we must let the whisperer work her magic." Paige was irritable, disheartened from earlier, and now that they were on the brink of discovery, Ember interjected with a distraction.
Seeing Paige's expression humbled Ember, immediately made her regret the outburst. If there was a chance to summon her wife, Demitra, she should at least try. And, while the ice queen inside her and their merging was prominently on the woman's mind, whatever was happening to them was inevitable. A meek apology was uttered to allow continuation.
"What do I do?" Paige asked, her face filled with worry.
"While I feel the gloves are not the reason you were destined to come here, I shall attempt to use them as a beacon. Even if it is not the spirit which you seek, it should allow that which seeks you to come forth. Please, place them within the center circle."
Paige did as instructed, her eyes glued onto the bracers. It was the first time they had left the woman's side in so many months.
"Then let us begin the séance. It should not take long; this spirit has been reaching out to me lately in earnest."
"But Djinn are not spirits… So who is it?" Ember was a bit tired of having to figure things out - especially with Valandra's consistent banter in her head.
"It may not be Demitra, but if we can try to summon someone that knows something about her… maybe? Emb- Emily, please, let's just try!"
Talhia sprinkled an unknown powder around the bracers, ran her finger into the circle to leave runes upon it. "Viz? Viv? Vil? Val? Something… Her name eludes me, as she had only introduced herself upon our first conversation."
"Wait… Valandra? Are you speaking about summoning Valandra?" Ember asked exasperated.
"I am right here. Are you attempting to summon me?" Valandra said, also in earnest.
Paige cleared her throat raising an eyebrow. It wasn't the reason they were here, and while her gut told her to focus upon getting information about Demitra, she would be remiss not to see Ember and Valandra's predicament had been taking its toll on both the women. If there was a chance this mystic could help them in some way… "Miss Talhia; do you mean to say you can help separate them?"
Ember closed her eyes, a million thoughts running through her mind. While Valandra's presence was, in many ways, a distraction to her, it was also fulfilling. For the first time in a long while the two halves of both women seemed whole… Or at least, they were becoming whole. It had been a lengthy process, devastating her relationship with Paige as well as alienating her from the rebuilding of House Dejarin. Ember was alone for several months prior to answering Paige's call… yet, the woman wasn't alone. There with her, in her darkest times, comforting her when she needed it on those lonely pain-filled nights was her former adversary: the ice queen.
She let out an icy breath, wrapped her arms around herself and whispered softly. "I'm… going to miss having you inside me, even if you are a pain in the ass."
"Such a thing has not been… unpleasant," Valandra silently admitted.
Talhia finished her sigil writing, again took her seat. Her attention seemed to shift, having completed the design, allowing her magics to flow into it, and looked up, finally back involved in the conversation being had. "I do not believe it is your other half, Ember. She is not technically a spirit, as you say; she is a Djinn. And she is the other half to your whole."
Ember frowned, felt foolish for the heartfelt and unwarranted goodbyes. She shot a sharp glance to Paige, expecting the woman would laugh at her. What she saw staring back, however, were eyes of worry -not just for Demitra- but sympathetic eyes for herself and Valandra. Ember flushed with welled up apology. Despite their recent separation, one only had to look at those large hazel eyes and warm expression to be reminded just how much love was in Paige Dejarin heart.
Paige blinked a few times at Ember, mouthing the words, "I'm sorry."
After a moment of silence, Talhia began. "I shall need each to reach out with your mind as if beckoning the spirit forth. Invite them to speak with us." The mystic's arms began to wave in a rhythmically symmetrical pattern, which began to leave a wake after each passing movement, as if her arms were passing through water suspended in the air. "Spirit, see this display. See me! We are here to receive you, heed our beckoning!"
The space above the bracers slowly began to bubble like the surface of heated water until a teal light emanated from the other side, stilling the activity and calming the surface only slight ripples seen. A faint otherworldly wailing could be heard from the other side, as if many beings were calling out. They did not seem to be in pain, but rather, desperate for their voices to be heard.
"Voices from the mists," Talhia explained. "This is the sound I hear. Yet, once in a while, a voice calls to me louder than the rest. This was such a voice… Come forth now!"
The ripple contracted into a singular tear, then opened with a blinding aqua light blasting the room. The astral form of a woman began to coalesce through. Ember averted her eyes from the forceful brightness, while Paige peered into it. The light was blinding, but the woman could wait no longer to be reunited, or have some semblance of her lost love. Tears were already down her cheeks, as she squeaked the name, "Demitra?"
"Little One?" came the spirit's voice as the brightness began to fade. "Are you there?"
Paige's heart skipped a beat, the voice stirring something within, something from long, long ago. She couldn't make out the figure yet, her vision still adjusting from the fleeting brightness, but she knew she recognized the voice and the warmth and comfort from a repented soul could be felt in the words.
There, floating above them was a translucently teal spirit resembling Vivian, Paige's mother.
"M- mother? What are you doing here? I… I thought you were still in the Mad King's Realm?" Paige was quite taken aback. She attempted to stand but quickly stumbled backward barely catching herself by the palms. "But I… I told Father you were gone for good because you said you were! And, now you're here… How? How are you hear? Why? Why have you…" The woman's mind flooded with questions; it was all she could do to keep from speaking gibberish.
Ember's eyes were wide. "Is it… No! She was bound to the Mad King's Realm! How… It couldn't be!"
Vivian took a step forward as the ripples behind her closed and her bottom half coalesced into being. Her skin was a ghostly white with teal highlights surrounded by a light green aura. Her hair flapped in a wind that wasn't there and even though there was worry written on her visage, she wore a smile on her face at the sight of her daughter. "I was trapped there, within the realm of the Mad King. Though I secretly hoped I would see you again during those days of the next blood moon, I knew there was only a slim chance. I thought I would never see you again and never pass beyond while in his servitude."
"Is this why you came to me, spirit?" asked Talhia. "Do I have a connection to this mad realm as well as the mists?"
Vivian shifted her gaze to the whisperer. "Your name is whispered amongst the spirits as a caller. From the mists they can reach you and they speak of you; very loudly, in fact. We hear such in the the Mad Realm -especially when so many voices speak in unison. But no, I did not come to you directly from there. I came from the mists; your connection is with the spirit world, not the condemned and damned."
"You're famous!" Ember blurted, unsure if it was Emily or Valandra who did so.
Taliha looked seriously at the spirit's intense glow. "Then… how have you come to us if you were not in the realm which I can speak?"
"I crossed into the mists from the Mad Realm. The Dissipater of the Mists allowed this."
"Dissipator of the… Wait, are you speaking of the disturbances Kralkatoric is causing? I heard stories of it consuming parts of the mists," Paige offered an explanation.
Taliha nodded sagely. "It has been… noisy lately."
Vivian casted a slightly worried grin in acknowledgement. "With its ravenous appetite, the walls between the realms has been shaken and thinned. This allowed traversal. I was able to cross into the spirit realm, the mists, from the Mad King's domain; he no longer has a hold on me. But within the mists, I was told of what was witnessed by the spirits, and sought out the whisperer to bring a warning…"
"What was witnessed? What warning?" Ember asked, rising to her feet.
"The spirits whisper," the spirit of Vivian began, gazing into the distance at something only she could see. "They mostly whisper loudly and without meaning. Yet, there is one whisper not to be said too loudly…"
Taliha let out a breath shaking her head. "I have heard them grow silent when such subjects present themselves. Almost as if they fear that which isn't said. Tell us spirit," she said looking directly at the spirit beneath her covered eyes, "what warning do you bring?"
"The death of the undying heralds his return."
Ember blinked. "Undying?"
"What does that mean; whose return?" Paige implored.
Vivian seemed to continue with her recitation of the warning, as though it was a script upon a scroll, an incantation that couldn't be deviated from. "Once held between the veils of the realms, your names were spoken often by him: Paige, Ember, Valandra, and Demitra."
"The four of us?" Valandra or Ember puzzled.
Paige suddenly gasped. "Like four doors in the vault. All of us, and our artifacts…"
"It is what the Djinn said there; something about a weapon? And that we need to be ready," Ember recalled.
Paige was lost in thought, a dozen reasons and possibilities the warning could be referring to and their role in everything. It was only after Vivian told Whisperer Talhia she could stay no longer, that the woman made herself refocus. Vivian floated closer to Paige, reached out for her daughter with incorporeal hands and pulled away, the hurt clearly seen on her ghostly face. Talhia stood, raising both arms up and chanted an incantation. At once, the ghostly form faded a bit, replaced by the solidified form of Paige's mother.
"It will only last for a few moments," the whisperer explained.
"M- Mother?" Paige uttered in disbelief.
Vivian reached up and placed solids hand to cradle Paige's cheeks as she brought her head to her daughter's forehead. "I cannot watch over you from where I will be going, as I fear this is my final destination. But, I am absolutely certain that you shall overcome the coming threat. There is so much good in you, my Little One; you can travel along my path but keep that goodness within. You are a strong, confident woman. Dismiss the self-doubt and rely on those around you, as they rely on you." Vivian paused a moment, hesitantly reaching to hold her daughter. "And… I'm sorry Little One. I am so very sorry for all the pain I have caused you. I wish… I wish there was more time so I could have you forgive me."
Paige wrapped her arms around her mother. "I… I forgive you, mother. But, I don't want to lose you. I… don't think I can say goodbye again," she sobbed.
"This is not goodbye," Vivian said as her voice and grasp began to fade. "We shall see each other again in the beyond. I look forward to hearing of your miraculous deeds, and seeing the culmination of what kind of man your father has become. And, I shall see you again as well, Emily. And truly, I am so very sorry for your loss."
"Wait! What loss?" Ember exclaimed, but Vivian returned her attention to Paige and smiled softly.
"Goodbye my daughter," she said as she faded into nothingness.
Paige fell to her knees crying. Ember came to her side, knelt down and placed a hand upon the woman's shoulder. She tried her best to subdue the normally icy touch for her friend.
Talhia nodded. "I suppose I shall," she said resolutely after an unseen conversation had taken place.
Ember tilted her head to the side. "You shall what?"
The whisperer stood, dusting off her garb. "I was told it was not a coincidence you all came to me. I assumed this was due to Paige's mother reaching out as we just learned, but there seems to be something more. It seems my destiny is to come with you all; I am to find a lost soul."
Paige nodded, began to sober up. "Then, I think you should come. I… I don't even know where we should go from here."
"I do," Ember stated. "We may not have a direct lead on Demitra, but she's not a spirit, even if she was known by them."
"We all were, it seems," Paige said allowing Ember to help her stand.
"Yeah, and she's a Djinn. So, I say we go to them and get some answers. It worked before when Valandra and I went there. And, well, Valandra and I are now together…"
"And we are a force to be reckoned with!" Came the voice of the ice queen.
Paige actually grinned a moment at the confidence which exuded from within her friend.
"Well, at the very least, maybe we can learn a bit more how to use my (our) powers now. If there's a fight coming…"
"My mother came a long way to warn us of a threat. It's not 'if,' Emily, it's 'when'." Paige said looking beyond the temple, beyond the Riverlands, and into the Desolation at the floating Djinn sanctuary.
[To Be Continued...]
