Interlude: Heavenly Transactions.

Lyr’Rael was conflicted. On the one hand, her entirely justified distrust of the Fisher’s Guild had been proven correct- filling her with the golden hue of vindication and glory. On the other, her embarrassment (and fury) tainted the outer edges of her core with pinks and reds. It had happened on her watch after all, and the gate had almost collapsed after that… aberration had murdered poor Tyrillel by ramming into the torn dimensional fabric of the gate wall.

She suppressed an involuntary shudder with a flick of her wings at the thought of being trapped in that dimensional limbo for eternity. Her quick thinking had been enough to stabilize the gate and save the others, but she was too late to capture the aberrant and save the one carrying it.

When I get hold of those scheming, bloated pus-sacks I’ll…

Her thoughts devolved into rage-fueled visions of fiery carnage before the presence beside her nudged her core with a light brush of immense power.

“Calm, Lyr. We are Emissaries of Heaven, and we carry their pride with us in our travels. We shall determine the truth of this matter and only then shall we act. Always in a manner befitting our station, lest we besmirch our mandate with our deeds.”

Chastened, she dimmed her core in acknowledgement and did her best to weed out errant thoughts. This was made much more difficult by the sheer presence of the Arch-Emissary beside her. She remembered her pride at gaining her third pair of wings on ascending to full Emissary- the increase in her strength exponential, allowing her to rip gateways into spacetime itself! She could barely imagine the power then of Ro’Mael, whose colossal six pairs currently sheltered their entire host on the pathway between worlds. The bands surrounding his almost blinding core shone with a luster more akin to platinum than her own quicksilver, and the runes engraved on them burned with visions of the Akashic from which they were transcribed.

The host accompanying her returning delegation numbered in the hundreds, and regardless of Ro’Mael’s words of restraint it was clear that if the Fisher’s Guild could not provide a satisfactory answer to his questions then there would be… consequences.

She allowed herself a small trace of vindictive pride.

Lets see them worm their way out of this!

-----------------------------

The gateway tore open above the river of souls with a thunderous crash. The shining host poured forth from the rift and quickly surrounded the Fishers gathered on floating rocks below. Ro’Mael’s voice slammed into them, driving their bloated bellies to the ground with force.

“One of the Host has fallen. Lost forever to the realms between thanks to an aberrant soul you provided. Summon the Overseer, Heaven demands ANSWER.”

A sibilant hiss rang out from the darkness far below.

“And one shall be provided, Lord Ro’Mael. Stay your wrath, and we shall reveal the truth we have learned.”

The creature that rose to meet the host was the most corpulent Fisher that Lyr had ever seen, the squirming belly more than double the size of its counterparts on the rocks below. It gave a crude imitation of a bow as it approached.

“The Guild welcomes the Host, as always. We only wish it were under better circumstances.”

Lyr felt her rage boil over at the beast’s sycophantic tone

“Better circumstances?! Tyrillel is dead because of your treachery!”

Her core burned as she readied herself to scorch the loathsome creature from existence before she felt her power forcibly dispersed. Her rage turned to fear as she felt Ro’Mael shift his baleful gaze on her.

“You will conduct yourself appropriately Emissary Lyr’Rael, or you shall be removed from your post. Do not embarrass your position any further!”

Ro’Mael turned back to the Overseer as she quailed behind him.

“Though she speaks out of turn in her passion, her words are not without merit. Explain yourself Overseer, and then we shall discuss the compensation required for this transgression.”

“Of course my lord, of course!” The Fisher responded, seemingly unphased by the events proceeding. “We have already determined the culprits, and apprehended them for punishment. They only await my Lord’s arrival to begin.”

Ro'Mael thrummed his core in assent before ordering most of the Host to remain and continue their vigilance. He looked again to Lyr's trembling form before sighing and speaking quietly to her.

"Heaven does not err, Lyr'Rael. Especially not in front of outsiders. Do you understand?"

She dimmed her core in assent and replied, "Yes, Lord Ro'Mael."

He gazed at her consideringly for a moment.

"You will accompany me with the Overseer. Conduct yourself in a manner above all reproach, and observe. There is much to learn here that will serve you well if you wish to continue your advancement. The Eyes of Heaven look favorably upon you, do not diminish yourself to them with impetuousness."

He swept along after the Overseer and she hurried to follow. Confusion tempered her excitement at Ro'mael's declaration of the Eyes' interest in her. What could she possibly learn from dealing with the Fishers?

Disgust quickly displaced all other feelings- though she was careful to keep it out of her aura this time- as they approached a larger floating island with two more Fishers on it. They had been mutilated; their limbs cut off, eyes put out and stumps were all that remained of their mouths. More disconcerting, they'd been completely emptied of souls and their deflated bellies sagged like disgusting, ruined balloons.

The Overseer bowed again as they approached. "These two are the ones responsible for this most unfortunate circumstance, my Lords. As you can see, a… thorough confession has been extracted from them."

He held up a crystal in one claw with a softly glowing worm writhing violently within.

"This, is a [Larval Abyssal Worm]. It begins its life cycle by latching onto souls lost in the void, forming a false shell around them in disguise. It will then wait- sometimes for thousands of years- until one of the greater denizens of the void swallows the soul. Then it will hatch and devour the new host from within, growing to truly monstrous size in the process."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

It waved a claw at the two disfigured Fishers.

"These two thought to try and skim excess fate off one of the souls scheduled for delivery to you. The soul was irreparably damaged by their incompetence, and they used a worm like this to hide their misdeeds."

Ro'Mael's ethereal grasp took the crystal containing the larva and brought it closer to inspect. Lyr'Rael hid her revulsion at the squirming thing as the Overseer spoke.

"The larval shell is completely indistinguishable from a true soul without penetrating it to test, a procedure long held to be unnecessary in our interactions due to the lengthy process involved."

"How then did they intend to get away with this? And how did this result in the death of an Emissary?" Ro'Mael interjected.

The Overseer seemed to wince as he replied, "That is where their plan failed. They knew that the larva could not survive passage through the wall and would discorperate, taking the soul and all evidence of their crime with it. Had it gone well, they would have blamed all fault to lie with Lady Emissary's gate technique."

Lyr struggled to keep her affront contained at the obvious slight to her ability. The creature paused for a moment, glancing at her and abruptly she knew it had been hoping she would lose her temper again. The realization that it was goading her- and probably had been from the start- did more to calm her than anything she could do on her own. I'll not let you win! Not this time you malignant vermin.

Disappointed, the Overseer continued.

"They failed to account for the death throes of the larva, and we believe that to be the cause of this most regrettable death. Upon entering trans-dimensional space the larva would have begun to disintegrate violently, tearing the soul apart as it perished. The young Emissary must have panicked from the larva's actions."

Lyr barely kept herself from speaking out. That's not what happened! The soul itself was corrupt. It had attacked Tyrillel, she saw it! She had briefed the Assembly before the Host had been dispatched here and she knew Ro'Mael was aware of the truth. So she was surprised when he seemed to completely ignore the obvious lie.

"Very well. You are certain the soul perished from this?"

The Overseer chuckled knowingly at Ro'Mael's question.

"Of course, my Lord. I've yet to encounter a soul that could survive being ripped to pieces!"

The reply appeared to greatly ease the Arch Emissary's concerns. His followup queries were almost… cursory.

"And those responsible? Is this the extent of their punishment?"

The Overseer chuckled, setting its hideous belly squirming.

"This? Oh no, my Lord. This was merely obtaining the confession. We have of course waited for your august presence to administer their true punishment. I think you'll find it… poetic."

The creature gestured to the side with its claws and several more Fishers came forward, their arms laden with dozens more crystals filled with larval parasites. Lyr watched, growing ever more disturbed as the Fishers gleefully infested their fallen brethren with enough parasites to partially refill the deflated sacks. The assistants stepped back and the Overseer made a grand gesture with his claws.

"And for the finishing touch!"

A gate formed at the Overseer's will, completely unlike her own light filled passage. It looked more a wound on the face of reality, bleeding inwards to a realm of infinite darkness.

"The Void. Where they shall be able to reflect upon their many failures as worm-ridden husks. If they're truly lucky they'll be eaten- in a few millennia."

A dismissive thrum came from Ro'Mael as the two former Fishers were cast into the swiftly closing rift.

"As they no doubt deserve. This does not absolve the Fishers Guild in the eyes of Heaven. The Assembly of Hosts requires evidence of your contrition before we will let this matter be."

Lyr'Rael couldn't believe what she was hearing. Contrition? This couldn't be what she thought it was. Her fears only grew as the Overseer replied.

"Of course, My Lord. The Fisher's Guild is prepared to reduce the rates on the next shipment significantly, that we might give face to the Heavens. Is thirty percent acceptable?"

"Thirty-five." Came Ro'Mael's imperious reply. "And we will require all future batches to be tested for these… worms prior to the arrival of future delegations."

This… What was this!? The Arch Emissary- commander of the Hosts of Heaven, Lord of the Assembly- was haggling like a mortal at market! How did this bring Heaven's justice to the Fishers?

She couldn't help but feel… sullied by the whole ordeal. The horrific punishment, the almost… routine way the Arch Emissary spoke to the Overseer.

This is all… wrong.

Disquiet gnawed at her, but she held her peace until Ro'Mael had concluded his business and the host was returning to the Heavens through the gate.

"You seem quiet Lyr'Rael. Was all not to your expectations?"

She wanted to demand answers from him. Unable to think of something that wouldn't 'besmirch her station' however, instead she sulked quietly until a soft sigh from Ro'Mael disturbed her.

"Lyr, I know this was not as you imagined. We did not come forth bearing the wrath of Heaven and vanquish the vermin for their treachery. How could we? Despite all this, we still need them to collect souls to champion for the gods."

He kept his tone gentle, his power preventing the sound from reaching the rest of the host.

"We were always meant as a show of force in this. To drive home the seriousness of this infraction and safeguard the pride of Heaven."

The words did little to assuage her feelings. Pride of Heaven? What pride, when the lives of the Host could be bought and traded like cattle for a percentage?

Rather than give voice to her insubordinate thoughts, she thought back to Ro'Mael's acceptance of the Overseer's lie.

"... What of the corrupted soul?"

She felt his gaze as he seemed to measure her for a moment before he replied.

"Such an accusation is more grave than you realize. It is also why we chose to arrive in such force. An awakened soul is a threat even the gods we serve will recognize. Had it not been infected by this parasite and thus perished in crossing, the whole of our Host would even now be hunting it. After of course we'd wiped out the Fisher's Guild for their negligence jeopardizing the safety of the Realms."

Lyr didn't bother to hide her fury at his words and responded acerbically.

"So one little corrupted soul is worth more than our lives, is that it?"

"Absolutely, Lyr'Rael." Came his quick response.

"For the chance to prevent an awakened soul from incarnating while it is still weak? I have no doubt the Assembly would happily sacrifice this entire host- including me."

Confusion and shock evaporated her anger.

“Why? What could be so dire to warrant such zealous measures?” She asked.

Ro’Mael only shook himself, as if to ward off unpleasant memories.

“Even gods can die Lyr’Rael. It is rare, thankfully. But I have seen them brought low by war, treachery or the foul machinations of the dark. But an awakened soul come into its power?

His presence diminished for a moment, his mannerisms nearly furtive for an Arch Emissary.

“They do not stay dead. I have watched one come against us again and again, a hundred times we struck it down. Each time it returned wearing a new shell, evolving its form to counter us.”

“But how did you defeat it then?” Lyr asked quietly.

“Eventually we gave it what it wanted, and it left. But not before it had lain waste to more than half of the Assembly.”

Ro’Mael grew quiet after that, reluctant to speak more on the subject. As for Lyr, she couldn’t help but think back to the fateful moment when the corrupted- no awakened soul had driven itself into the dimensional wall of her gate. She remembered the desperate way it had clawed together the dispersing pieces of Tyrillel and its own soul before she lost sight of it in the chaos that followed. Repressing a shudder she dedicated one of the most fervent prayers she’d ever made to that lost soul.

Please be dead.