The heart was a wonderful bundle of muscle. Its construction was fretted over for ages by the Goddess. Its valves and its chambers, its walls and their movements. Kalyah had learned every thread and part of the Goddess’s bodies in her training. Some were more animal-like than others, but there was a general template to them all. “You cannot stitch what you don’t understand,” was a common mantra among the faithful.

At first touch she knew that Jonah was not crafted by Corpine. His differences were subtle, but present. She was quick to staunch his bleeding, sew up his severed limbs. It was providence that night, when they found him. Hearing his loud gasp and splash, the crew on the top deck went silent, then sprung into action. The air of celebration had quickly vanished and the Pixie elf was tested in her ability. Minor wounds, broken bones, and now she had a man without limbs. Her heart, half stalwart dwarf, half gentle and long lasting elf raced to mend him. Her casual clothing was soaked with sea water and blood as she tended to him. The news came over the radio, the princess was murdered and Blodwyn was freed. Pandemonium broke out, but she devoted herself to this damaged man. Kalyah didn’t leave Jonah’s side, others fetched her vestments and food for her for days. This brown skinned Traveler dragged out of the ocean and the horrible tragedy, it was a sign.

She had left her temple to start new clinics, to heal in countries resistant to Corpine’s light. When her heart had nearly pumped its last on a foreign street, she gave it up. Turned her back on those that had loved her for most of her life. She was close to being their equal, but she didn’t want to join the ranks of the other High Priestesses and Priests. Only a few were worried about her label, but they were enough to pack her bags then.

Her eyes closed now beside the back door of the hotel, she kept her focus on the hearts of the couple. They were so lovely, and she wanted to give them their privacy, clearing out her own room. She could tell so much from their hearts, if only she could get their exact location, she would join them.

The Goddess’ creation told Her followers more than rest and excitement. Kalyah could see every feeling, no matter how quiet. There were machines whose screens showed peaks and valleys to anyone. How useful, but also so simple. Each pump, each shift and beat told a story, as did the silence. Jonah’s heart was from another world, one where he believed that life was an accident, sludge crawling up from the ocean. His new world had torn at him, damaged him and all the Corpine healing had set him right, so he was equal in organs to his love.

That's what Kalyah saw most, each time they looked at each other, their hearts pulsed in a particular way. Peaks and valleys were sounds, machines did it now in medical centers not run by Corpine faithful. A devout of the Goddess saw the heart from all sides, every beat, every course of blood. A singular point in the middle of the chest, rippling out in all directions as the blood surged through it. Without true faith to the Goddess it was impossible to illustrate on a flat surface. It was always adorable to see the Acolytes gasp in wonder at seeing the image in their head for the first time.

These rippling beats were how Kalyah saw the couple's adventure from afar. Walking, Jonah using magic, worrying over it. She nearly rushed upstairs when Diana was in trouble and Jonah was worried about helping her. Then they beat together, calming down, deep love and understanding. Diana was angry, then they were calm and the princess was nervous. Then for hours they walked, hearts stressed in the cold. Some magic from Diana, then they were at rest, so close to sleeping. Diana started in panic, running, then her heart slowed unnaturally almost like she was bewitched asleep. Fear, such intense terror from Jonah. It only grew in him when Diana’s heart began her normal rhythm, though she was confused, stressed over something Kalyah couldn’t hope to understand. Jonah’s heart went running like mad, Diana’s soon joined him.

In the elevator, Kalyah closed her eyes, rejoining the new conflict as she rose. The couple was calming down in love, but a lingering fear had yet to leave their coursing blood. The Arch Priestess answered the phone after only two rings, and Kalyah told her concerns in the fastest elvish, not even acknowledging her greeting. Niae gave similarly swift orders to those in her temple.

“We will pick you up, dear Kalyah, you are not far,” Niae stated. “Oh, I should have sent a Dove to follow them. I did not think they would face any danger. I saw that they left, I see their rhythms now, oh Goddess forgive me if they are harmed from my foolishness.”

Phasing through the wood door of the gray room came a glowing white moth. Its wings were wider than Kalyah’s head, styled after the Master moth. It was known as an Infant Moth, and it had been years since she had seen one. The back of its head bore the simple symbol of the Goddess, a serene sleeping child.

“You had them under surveillance?” Kalyah asked, the conjured insect landing on her finger. The heavy wings flapped slowly, the fuzzy antennae twitching about.

“Only outside of their room, I did not wish to listen in on them. Can you conjure one, my dear?”

“No, I never needed to learn Cleric invocations,” Kalyah answered.

“Ah, I will tell you more in the vehicle, it is ready.”

“I’ll be out in the street.”

The car was a long crisp white rectangle with fat sturdy black wheels. There were trims and handles along the side for others to hang off and be transported wherever. The cabin and back were high, able to hold even a Grand elf laying or sitting. This however made Kalyah and her four and a half feet look rather tiny sitting next to Niae. One of the Arch Priestess’s many children was driving in the adjustable driver’s seat, she in the center, and Kalyah by the door.

“I have found them with a Dove, secure yourself, my sweet girl will be driving fast,” Niae said, looking down at Kalyah.

There was no color in the interior of the Trio Van, which was a far better name than Corpine Carriage. The horses took far longer to mobilize. Niae smiled at Kalyah’s mismatched winter clothing, as the Arch Priestess wore pristine white clothing. Her bulky chest still stood out under so many layers, her long golden hair covered by a fur trimmed cap with the goddess’s emblem.

They sped off, all of them holding as the fog and city blurred past them.

“Are they safe?” Kalyah asked. "I know they put their wards on at least."

“They are currently speaking with Ash Makers, peacefully,” Niae said. “There is only one man and woman, the rest are human adolescents. They are not interested in fighting, more protective of their secrets.” She slowly blinked her bright blue eyes. “I am proud of Diana and Jonah, they have the upper hand, but are still trying for peace.”

Kalyah nodded. “Why are you watching their room?” she asked plainly.

A small smile lit Niae’s milky white face. “Diana’s mother called, asking about her. She was having trouble sleeping knowing that her daughter was hiding things from her. I could not tell her what you or they have told me, I swore my confidence. Still, the Archdruid queen desired knowledge. I swore to watch over her daughter, so I sent Moths. As you know, moths can eat Flies, so I have also kept them safe from the wicked Fia’s surveillance.”

“Fia keeps trying to watch them?” Kalyah asked, sitting on knees on the plush seat.

Niae nodded in her subdued way. “The Goddess’s sweet bug has eaten several nasty creatures over the last few days,” she said. “They struggle to enter the room with your wonderfully drawn rune, but my sweets have picked up the slack. I have ones dedicated to that purpose following them. As their sole focus, they cannot track. Those two have swooped up countless ones.” Her large hand patted Kalyah’s shoulder, running a stroking finger across the air.

The action brought out a conjured insect hawk moth with the symbol on it as well. The fat bodied bug flapped its sharp wings, waving its antenna in a sort of greeting for her.

“The Witch is eager to find out what you three are up to, but I am equally protective,” Niae said, pecking Kalyah on the top of the head.

Then Niae sat up, rod straight, covering her mouth. “Oh no, it looks as if Diana is furious with the man,” she said quietly.

“What are they saying?” Kalyah wondered.

The Arch Priestess was quiet for a moment. “It seems that Blodwyn does not wish Diana harm, but… Oh Goddess, such anger. I will send my Dove to--” Niae jolted, freezing stiffly in place.

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“Niae, Niae…” Kalyah said, rising up and tapping the woman’s cheek. Her heart had slowed as Diana’s had before. As Diana’s had now, focusing on it. Jonah’s heart beat in dread. How?

The Pixie called her name, trying to shift her head around. Niae could not be moved, her muscles all tensed up, joints locked. Her four children came up from the back, struggling to stand as the driver was distracted as well, racing along.

The driver, a Night elf, suddenly stopped the car, brakes grinding. The action sent her siblings stumbling about. Through the windshield she almost flew through, Kalyah saw houses in the distance, faintly peeking out pink through the fog. At the very edge of Kalyah’s hearing, she heard a ringing sound. It had a strange effect on her, almost as if she were in a sleep paralysis nightmare. Her muscles moved as if they were in putty. She had earmuffs on, acquired from a smuggler for a favor and she pressed them down on her ears. Her hearing was keener than the other elves, mixed with a dwarven sharpness. The stiffness didn't fade until she decided to turn off her hearing altogether.

“Hey, don’t, stay right here!” Kalyah said, unable to hear herself as anything but deaf vibrations. They couldn’t hear the noise, she thought, and they weren't willing to listen. She tried to push the others in the extension back, but they were eagerly crawling over the high seat to their frozen mother. How could she explain in those handful of seconds what she didn’t truly understand? Especially when they were so panicked.

The driver didn’t listen, and she threw open the door. Instantly the driver froze up, falling like a statue onto the road. The elves in the back all toppled over like flimsy tent poles, hitting the seat's top and the side of Van. Their mouths were half open, their bodies didn’t have time to register pain.

She stared in horror at the gaping mouths and open eyes, all of them stuck in the exact position they had last been in. She observed them, long enough, waiting for the standard time for their eyes to refresh, they still didn’t blink. Their hearts beat at the same low sleeping rate. She closed their eyes, pushing their paralyzed bodies into the sheltered bed of the Van. Their joints were all locked in place, but her strength was enough to carry them, all except Niae.

She opened up the High elf’s top. Switching off the woman’s hearing. Her brief hope was dashed, nothing happened.

She pressed her hand against her chest, praying for diagnostics. Kalyah saw the problem wasn’t physical, the leylines had all been drawn tight, every last one. It caused a freeze to the mind. How could a sound do something like that?

An Ash Maker could rupture, but how could something hold them this tightly? They weren’t even around to see them. She understood poisons, chemicals, there were spells that could freeze up muscles. Never leylines. She tried to defibrillate, rush adrenaline, relax the muscles, nothing worked. While she was the oldest by far, the Arch Priestess was the most devout and richly infused with holy magic. It would be hard to kill her with experimentation. She apologized to Niae and prayed for her to get better. Leaving the heat on she locked up the Van and took the keys. Jonah’s heart was still beating normally and she had to find him.

In the frigid air, she saw children running laboriously through the fog. Their pink cloaks whipped aside to gray coats, and they held their heads in clear agony. A tall girl was leading them. She then stopped, holding out her hand, some device within it. Stomping her foot and swearing, the girl splayed out her fingers, causing the ground to crackle around Kalyah’s feet. Stumbling back into the hood of the Van. Guarding her face, she stopped herself from falling only with her low center of gravity, and her thick clothes kept away the bruises. When she put her arms back down, the girl and the children were gone.

Without the gift of hearing, Kalyah could still feel the rumble of a massive explosion through the ground. Like a good devout of Corpine, went running towards the danger.

A few thousand heart beats earlier…

The wind had ceased the second that the low screeching sound had started. Diana was frozen perfectly in place, her mouth open, her staff clutched. Aiko fell over like a taxidermy tiger, mid leap at Beth. The cloudy haired woman regarded the white tiger and its stiff body, seeing how sharp its claws and fangs were. The mists were starting to seep back into the world, prayers taking over the soundscape. Though the cotton fog was slow in the air and across the yard, as if waiting once again.

Ike picked himself up off the stone pathway, rolling his shoulders. “Thank the fucking gods that repair kit worked. They should, headquarters is so fucking stingy about them,” Ike said, pushing into his back. “Fuck, it’s gonna be long walk back.” He moved towards Jonah, not really looking at him.

Stuck staring at Diana a few feet away from him, Jonah did appear frozen against the tree he sat against. He thought the sound would have the same effect on him. The constant note had a penetrating dread, seeing it reduce his lover and her familiar to a statue. Why was it doing that? Why wasn’t it doing that to him?

When Ike got to him, he raised the gun, pointing it at the man. “What did you do?!” he shouted.

Ike raised his hands, stepping back with sheer terror and confusion in his eyes.

Beth gasped loudly, checking over the handheld device with a rattle of the parts.

“How the fuck aren’t you frozen?” Ike asked in a low voice. "You're not one of us…"

Still pointing the gun, Jonah pushed himself up to his feet. “Unfreeze her!” he barked.

“She’s stuck for at least ten minutes, and that’s after the sound goes away,” Ike said, gesturing to Beth. “Turn it off…”

“No, I don’t want to mess with this psycho again!” Beth yelled, jerking her head to Diana.

“She’s not a psycho, shut up!” Jonah snapped, glancing at her.

In that brief look, he noticed Ike take a step forward.

Slapping the lower grip, Jonah looked down the sight. It was a digital gray screen, a red outline showing up around the man in the center of it. “Let the kids go,” he said, his knees were shaking and he felt his heart beating in his teeth.

“Fly Beth…” Ike said calmly.

There was a whoosh of air and Jonah saw Beth rise in his peripheral vision. He gasped as she was flying in a high arch over their heads. Distracted by the sudden extraordinary sight, Ike closed the gap. Jonah’s panic was too intense and he pulled the trigger. Ike ducked, falling sideways as a solid round of plasma nearly took his right shoulder clear off. Instead, it only gored up his cloak, burning a semicircle through his gray coat, igniting it with flecks of neon red. The round didn’t stop there, punching through a tree opposite, splattering out on the other side. Within the metal bark, the inner core of the tree lit up. The children screamed, running away as Beth reached them. Thankfully none of them had been within range.

Holy shit, Jonah thought, I might know how the gun works.

His flash of realization was confirmed when the gun opened up four vents, two on each side, sucking up the magic in the air. There was a metal projectile forming from raw matter. On the side was a helpful: Metal Here. So close to it, having used it, he felt raw metal being formed into a copper tube. The air would be changed into explosive gas, then rushed into the tube causing it to launch out. There were a bunch of theories being connected through magic, but it worked. He saw pictures in his database, attempts of guns much larger than this. A bit of knowledge and willpower. He’d never be able to bring up the theories to string them together, but someone else had, now he was wielding it and he wasn’t going to give it up.

Ike had stomped his coat out. Compared to the tree, he had only got a sprinkle. He rose up, his one sleeve hanging off him as the shoulder smoked. His arm was rather aged and bony in his thin shirt underneath. “Just give me the fucking gun back…” he began, then he narrowed his eyes in disbelief. “What the fuck!?”

The gun was already half absorbed into Jonah’s arm before the Ash Maker stood. It wasn’t like the rest of the tech, this one was changing his arm as it grew into it. His dark blue limb was becoming grayer like the gun, taking on the angular cosmetic patterns of it as well. The takeover was like mixing paint, the metal moving more like liquid than ever before. Heat radiated through him, up into his bones and to his shoulder. A slicing pain went up his bicep and his hand went wild, rotating around on his wrist in circles. He gripped his fully changed right forearm, finally noticing his huffing breaths as they slowed. He flexed his new fingers as the pain faded, a numbness lingering in his organics up to his shoulder blade.

Jonah pointed his two fingers at Ike, his thumb raised. The forefinger and middle fused together, and at his fingertips opened a barrel. He had twenty rounds and because of it being shrunk, the shots would be much smaller. Still there would be so much power for what he knew was the size of a pistol round. All he had to do was aim, and within the screen of his thumb, there was Ike again.

“Do it, call her back!” Jonah commanded, his stance more sturdy, for now at least. The weapon was his, there was no taking it and he was immune to this man’s attack on him. Like the construction of the gun, his confidence felt strung together, not by magic, but twine.

Ike glared at him as he raised his hands once again.

Through the mists came a sound like a slamming door and bursting rocks. Both were momentarily distracted by it. Faintly, Jonah saw a small figure through the mists, something like a boxy car behind them. Kalyah?

“Well, everything is fucked a few steps further…” Ike said loudly, his expression was far more resolved now. “Cover your face kid…”

“Hey, don’t, don’t do anything funny, I’ll shoot--”

“Sure, you will,” Ike cut in sarcastically, laughing.

The Ash Maker whipped his hands up, splaying his fingers.

All six trees around Ike burst open, the once sturdy trunks bloomed out violently into thin strips of wood. The bowed lengths hit the grass, many snapping in half. Jonah turned his face away, covering it as bits of wood went flying towards him. Several little chunks hit him like golf balls in the back, he was sent sliding into the stone. He was saved torn forearms by his metal skin scraping along the surface of the walkway. His ears rang from the explosions, and he felt the vibrations of pounding feet through the stone.

Kalyah was over him, her hands glowing with white magic. She cupped his ears with her cherub face trying to smile.

“Don’t worry, I’m here,” she said when his hearing returned.

“How? Where?” he asked.

“Quiet, baby, please relax,” she said, and his eyes closed. All his confidence loosened and he nearly passed out. There was Diana toppled over, still stiff as stone. He couldn't sleep until she was able to move again.