Intermission #12 Etana
Etana meticulously pressed her divinity through the runes engraved on a piece of leather. The grooves began to fill with a gentle blue light, yet she sensed a resistance, as if the runes possessed a will of their own. They fought against her efforts, refusing to be activated. Frustration boiled within her as she pressed harder, her determination intensifying with each passing moment. But instead of yielding, the rune snapped, releasing the energy in a burst that left behind nothing but an empty void in the material.
Sighing in defeat, Etana let the ruined leather fall from her grasp. Her eyes drifted to the portal ring, a device she knew held numerous protections crafted by her mother. Destroying those runes in a similar manner seemed impossible. The last time she attempted to engage it, the backlash had been agonizing as it forced her own divinity back into her.
Her thoughts wandered to Vina, seeking a sliver of solace. Etana checked the travel logs, her heart tightening at her sister's most recent entry.
Vina Esca has exited portal ring 31135 in the Southern Randar Expanse
She never received a notification to approve travel for her sister. For some unknown reason to her, she only saw notifications when Vina left a portal ring that had not yet been converted to blood. This one was just under a day old now, but it gave Etana some concern. She had seen many of the Watch’s troops move through that portal ring. Clearly her sister had traveled there of her own volition from Halos, so she wasn’t in distress. Why Vina would deem it to be a good idea to meet with The Watch made no sense to her given her bounty. As if on cue, a world notification blinked into her vision:
World Notification: World First Feat. Oyna, A Blood Collector, has destroyed the first assembler near The City of Halos. Oyna has earned the title Disassembler. This is a stacking title.
Etana blinked in surprise at the sudden notification. "Oyna?" she murmured, perplexed. Scanning through the travel logs, she found nothing. "They've never traveled through a portal ring?" Etana's mind raced with possibilities. She realized Oyna must be one of Vina's Dedicated. They had found a way to destroy the assemblers. "That's why she's seeking The Watch. Vina wants a truce, showing them she and Oyna possess the power to end them," she whispered in realization, feeling a surge of relief.
With renewed determination, Etana approached the portal ring. "Time is slipping through my fingers," she reminded herself. Past failures weighed on her, but she refused to be deterred. Setting aside the sting of previous setbacks, she began channeling her divinity into the portal ring once more. This time, she did so with calm determination. The energy reservoir slowly filled, and with bated breath, she initiated the dialing sequence. The runes resisted, but she remained unfazed, maintaining her composure. As each destination rune illuminated, her heart swelled with anticipation until, finally, the portal ring burst into life.
Knowing Vina was safe and had a plan allowed Etana to focus her mission: find their mother. Alora believed Norimor's Committee held the answers she sought, so Etana dialed to the destination connecting Norimor and Vasuk. Leaving her research tools behind, she stepped boldly through the portal, ready to confront whatever awaited her.
~~~
Etana continued to methodically place books onto the wooden shelves in front of her, her movements mechanical and devoid of thought. She grumbled to herself as she reached for another book, not bothering to glance at the title. The man standing beside her interrupted her monotonous task.
“This is one of my favorites,” said the man standing beside her. He gently patted the book before he slid it into a separate and different bookshelf beside hers.
Etana glanced at him momentarily, recognizing him. “Vasuk!” she exclaimed, though her aspect of names failed to fill in his name. She sighed and resumed her task, feeling a sense of frustration building within her.
“I’m here,” Vasuk replied casually, selecting another book from his stack and placing it beside the one he had just shelved. “I’ve always loved it here. I wish they had never sent me to Randar. I don’t think I was ever happy there.”
Etana shook her head, attempting to clear her thoughts. “Where are we?” she asked, trying to focus.
Vasuk stood up straight suddenly as his eyes scanned the room quickly before relaxing once more. “Far north on the western continent,” Vasuk answered with a smile. His smile seemed to irk Etana, and she threw her next book at the shelf in frustration.
“I used to do that too,” Vasuk remarked calmly, picking up another book and beginning to read it.
“I don’t have time for this!” Etana exclaimed, but she dutifully walked over and picked up the book, slamming it onto the shelf next to the others.
Vasuk snapped the book shut and handed it over to her. “We always make time for the things that are most important to us.” He gestured for her to look at the cover.
First Love - The Racing Heartbeats of a Young Romance by Vasuk Fasel
Etana gave him a strange look. “You’re an author…”
The man laughed and pointed at her stack of books. “Aren’t we all?”
The world seemed to blur and Etana blinked to try to clear her vision. Her eyes seemed to swim as she witnessed dozens of people surrounding them. Each of them were dutifully sorting through the books in the library she found herself in. She bent down and picked up a book at her feet as well, inspecting the cover.
A Fractured Sisterhood - What to Do When Your Hopes Will Not Come True by Etana Esca
Etana stared at the cover as tears came to her eyes. She wiped away the first one to fall and looked at her book shelf. “This one…” she whispered. A moment later she placed it gently on the same shelf Vasuk had done earlier, at a level she could see every time she passed by the shelf. Slowly she looked at the books she had already placed and realized their locations were wrong. She sorted through the titles, placing each on their proper shelves this time, until Vasuk interrupted her focus.
“Yes. That’s how it’s done,” he said encouragingly.
She nodded slowly in agreement, taking a step back and seeing how much improved her shelf had become. Blindly she reached for the next book, still admiring her accomplishment. Then she looked down at what she held.
Becoming Trina - A How-to Guide by Etana Esca
Despite looking at her nearly empty bookshelf, Etana wasn’t sure where this book went. She held it in her hand loosely, almost letting it dangle as she stared intently ahead. But her focus was interrupted when someone slammed into her with a scream and the world blurred away.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
~~~
The snowstorm unleashed its fury upon the landscape, a relentless assault of swirling flakes that obscured everything in its path. Etana, her features etched with determination, pressed on through the blinding tempest, her senses honed to the woman she pursued. The figure ahead, barely visible amidst the chaos, seemed to hold the key to all the answers Etana sought, driving her forward with unwavering resolve.
As the chase continued, Etana's breath mingled with the biting cold air, each exhalation of breath was a renewal to her relentless pursuit. Her focus remained laser-sharp, despite the swirling maelstrom around her, every fiber of her being attuned to the elusive quarry ahead.
Then the woman's voice cut through the storm,”Just stop! I’ve already told you everything!” Etana's resolve only strengthened, however. Ignoring the desperate voice, she closed in, her outstretched hand mere inches from her target before the woman leaped into the unknown abyss below.
Etana cursed under her breath, frustration coursing through her veins as she watched the woman land on a distant ledge. With steely determination, she retraced her steps, then launched herself off the precipice, braving the bone-chilling impact below. As she rose to her feet, the woman was already fleeing into the distance, and Etana resumed the chase with unwavering determination.
Minutes stretched into eternity amidst the relentless onslaught of the storm, yet Etana pressed on, her tenacity unyielding despite the harsh conditions. With every near-miss, every evasive maneuver from her quarry, she recalibrated her strategy, knowing that anticipation was the key to success.
At a treacherous pass, Etana sprang into action, anticipating the woman's next move with uncanny precision. With a surge of energy, she intercepted her target, pinning her against the icy rock face.
Their breaths, visible in the freezing air, mingled as they stood face to face. Etana, feeling triumphant, gazed into the woman's weary blue eyes, taking in the fresh wound that marred her weather-beaten face.
But the woman’s response shattered her sense of victory. “You’ve only caught yourself!” The woman shouted back at her. She struggled against Etana’s strength, and after a moment broke Etana’s grip despite the strength benefits of her Destroyer class. She pushed Etana back with extreme force and ran again.
Etana gritted her teeth, lashing out with her aspect of air as she fell back. The woman screeched in pain as air sliced through the back of her clothes and cut into her skin. She staggered, brought to her knees. Etana closed the distance between them once more.
"I said I caught you!" Etana's voice echoed through the storm, but the woman's bitter laughter pierced the air.
“I heard you!” The woman shouted back at her. “How many times do we have to do this!”
“What do you mean?” Etana asked, still breathless.
The woman laughed bitterly. "You still believe this is the first time. That this is the only chase!"
Confused, Etana tried to grasp at fleeting memories that seemed to evade her. "What do you mean?"
"Every time it ends, it begins again," the woman murmured. Her voice sounded distant, her gaze fixed on something far away. "But you won’t catch me next time. It’ll have to try killing me in a different way." The woman closed her eyes in frustration as she began to speak quickly. “Who do you think I am? Why are we here? What do you want? Where are we going? How…”
~~~
Etana tossed another log onto the crackling fire, her movements sluggish, weighed down by exhaustion and cold. She huddled close to the flames, their warmth a feeble comfort against the icy grip that clutched at her extremities. As she stared down at her pale, numb hands, she felt a pang of fear gnaw at her insides. The wet chill of her soaked dress seeped into her bones, freezing the edges and sending shivers through her weakened body. It was then she realized the gravity of her affliction.
You are afflicted with mild hypothermia. Your extremities are numb, your stamina is reduced by 20%, you have a 10% chance to become confused for 10 seconds every 30 minutes. You are shivering.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the gentle touch of a cloak settling on her shoulders. Looking up, she met the gaze of a woman with piercing blue eyes, her face marred by a fresh wound. Etana felt a surge of gratitude mixed with curiosity as the woman silently tended to the firewood. Bloodstains marked her back.
“Rest,” the woman urged softly, her voice carrying a hint of compassion.
But Etana couldn't rest, not with questions burning in her mind. She moved to join the woman at the pile of firewood, her lips parting to speak “W…Wait…” Etana muttered, her jaw chattering with the attempt to speak. “D…d… did…” she started to ask, but the woman whirled around and quickly placed a hand over her mouth.
“No questions,” the woman cautioned, her eyes reflecting the gravity of their situation. “Only statements.”
Etana nodded, her mind racing with fragments of memory that slipped through her grasp like water through her fingers. With every attempt to think, she felt her thoughts escape her as her focus returned to the immediate moment.
She started again when the woman removed her hand from her mouth. Without thought, Etana too reached for a small piece of wood with her cold, numb fingers. “I… I did that to your…b… back,” she stated flatly.
“It’s about time you remembered something. You also did this to me.” The woman said, pointing at her face. “If you know your name, I’ll talk with you.”
Etana gave her a hard look as she clumsily picked up a small hatchet. “I’m E…Etana. I don’t know your name,” she suggested through her clattering teeth, careful to not ask any questions. A thought passed through her mind, and she had a bare moment to realize The Aspect of Names was not telling her who she was speaking to. She slowly, numbly split the wood, stacking the kindling beside her. Her numb fingers weren’t listening, and she slipped more than a few times. The hatchet, however, failed to cut her fingers due to her high health.
“I’m Calida.” she said with a nod at her, then she grabbed a nearby axe and started hacking the bark off of the log she held. “You’re dressed like Trina, but I’m relieved to find out you’re not actually her. Even got her necklace, I see. I was hoping that one of your aspects could help us kill whoever is doing this to us or maybe escape this place.”
Etana finished with her piece of wood before answering. She felt the priority of finishing it above Calida’s unasked question. Then she took a step forward, activating her aspect of travel simultaneously. Sudden dread filled her heart. She knew she could travel if she wanted to, but something within her warned her of dire consequences in doing so right now. She frowned as she tried to communicate the problem to Calida. “I could leave, b..but I’d leave behind s… something important…” her voice trailed off as she tried to find the right word.
“Yeah.” Calida agreed as she peeled away the last of the bark off of her firewood. She set down the hatchet and grabbed a larger axe with a wide head. “It’s got a hold of something and you only get pieces of it back when it is too tired to hold on to it anymore. That’s why you’re remembering now I bet.” She brought the axe down onto the log and split it with a single strike. She struck the split pieces twice more and began to stack them neatly into the already massive pile by the fire. “My aspect seems to be protecting me.”
Etana grabbed another small piece of wood and began to break it down into kindling. “I c…can’t think… W… why am I here?” She furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to force herself to remember her purpose.
“I don’t know, but you kept screaming out your questions while you chased me.” Calida said. “This is the Committee’s headquarters. I don’t know where your mother is. I don’t know what happened to your sister. Something is killing us off.” The older woman turned to her. “I just issue missions based upon leads I find about where your mother could be. They don’t tell me the results.”
“I barely remember a… anything,” Etana said shakily, distress rising within her at feeling trapped.
Calida shrugged. “Barely any of you seem to remember what is happening while we’re trying to kill each other. It’s only during downtimes like this that you all seem to gain clarity.” She gestured around the room and Etana looked where she pointed. They stood in a grand hall consisting of four fireplaces, all now lit up to keep the place warm. Dozens of injured people huddled around the fires for warmth, while others were meticulously cutting and splitting firewood. “You all also seem to be hyper focused on your immediate surroundings. You don’t see each other unless I point you out.”
Etana swallowed hard. Seeing people injured and trapped scared her like she had never been before. Despite her searching eyes, she did not see Vasuk. With the moment of clarity Calida provided her, she chose to restrict all portal travel to this location. Even if she didn’t manage to escape, Vina would never be able to follow her here. But soon her focus returned back to the task at hand. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”
Calida laughed, a happy tone that broke Etana out of her monotonous processing of kindling. “I’m sorry to laugh. It’s funny to hear that from someone I’ve never met who just tried to kill me six times.” Calida patted her shoulder a minute later. “It’s okay. I tried to restrain you, but you have some ability to burn through ropes. I had to lead you outside to exhaust you instead. That’s why you’re so cold. The snow sure slowed you down, but you still managed to catch me a few times.”
Etana stared at her in surprise. That’s why she was so cold! She wanted to be angry at her circumstances. She wanted to escape this situation, to hit something. She wanted… to split this wood. So she did. Then she stacked it neatly beside the larger pile. She returned and started to do the same thing again, but Calida stopped her.
“The fire is already going. It will still burn for a long time. We need to keep it strong through the next round, when whoever is doing this wakes again. Why don’t you cut the larger logs?”
Etana nodded slowly, seeing the wisdom in her suggestion.