The advent of the Goddess of the night and the withdrawal of the Carradin army!

In this fourth day of the second month is celebrated the coming of a new Goddess, her place in our pantheon not yet official, but with so many witnesses and her arrival signifying the end of the war before it could begin, the time is nigh. The day of the Night of Day, as it will be named for now and forever, will be, as announced by our Emperor of us all, a day of official rest to be inscribed in the Empire law.

Defin, Archbishop of Ja, has announced that praying to the Night is praying for calm and peace, and that a temple in Gite, as well as a space in the Cathedral of Leïn, are already planned to welcome all believers wanting to thank the divinity that saved us all.

Journal of Leïn, N°224 of the year 128 after the war of the Firantes, p.1

“Oh wow. Where are we?”

Nay took a second to breathe before answering her friend’s question. The crystal door, now thousand of pieces melting through the calm sea of Trayx, had exhausted more than she had foreseen it.

“Welcome to the cam sea of Trayx.” She finally announced.

Trinne showed numerous amount of different expressions on her face, which basically could be summarized in a grimace.

“What joy. And so…what are we doing now?”

The two women were standing on a liquid, a mirror, and solid ground all at once. The sky was entirely dark, the surface blueish, and there was nothing else to see on all horizons.

Nay felt the slight anguish in her friend.

“We wait. I am certain that Trayx or Doria will come to meet us, I wasn’t discreet.”

And in fact, Trinne wasn’t able to answer as a middle-aged woman appeared just next to Nay. The Legio didn’t have the time to react that she was being held by the cheeks.

“Oh my, dear, are you all right? You’re not dying are you?”

The Legio blinked, but as she couldn’t feel any animosity in the giant Rreico of darkness and stars in front of her, she let herself be manhandled.

“Greetings Doria. I’m fine, just tired. I came here to ask your husband a few questions, well me and Trinne came.”

The woman from another era turned to face the redheaded woman.

“Oh my God, she’s so cute!” And seemingly, Doria forgot the existence of Nay and took two steps toward Trinne to catch her by the shoulders.

The Legio was slightly surprised to see her friend not move and accept the touch of Trayx’s wife. She even seemed tense.

“Well, more like magnificent. I would really enjoy painting you I think, it’s a new hobby I got into recently.”

The redhead seemed to relax slightly until she finally sighed and stepped back to escape the quite rude hands of the middle-aged woman.

“Doria isn’t it? My name is Trinne, Duchess of Gite, pleased to meet you. I would have enjoyed meeting you in different circumstances, but unfortunately, we are hurried by fate. An angel is on route to my city, and Gite barely survived the last incursion of the monstrous beast, I do not believe it is capable of handling another. Could we speak with your husband, the Go…” Trinne paused for a second, most likely remembering what Nay had told her about the couple. “…Trayx?”

Doria’s smile almost entirely vanished. “Ah, I see. I do not like those creatures, they should not be here. Let us go and drink tea together.”

And at that, the world began spinning, as if night was becoming day at a thousand times its speed, while the sea under their feet shuffled at unimaginable paces, the dark blue becoming almost white, then green and red, until finally, the world transformed into an apple orchard and a little stone house surrounded by a garden.

Trinne almost fell, and Nay had to put a knee on the ground. After the Door, this way of transportation had just given her the feeling of having her stomach in her neck.

“Oh, I apologize, I should have warned you. It’ll go away in a short moment. If we need to talk seriously, I just wanted to do it while enjoying a good drink.” Doria waited for Nay to get back on her feet, before walking toward her home.

The interior hadn’t changed, if not a bit messier than the first time Nay had stepped inside, and the living room was now more painting studio than a living area.

“Sit down, you are my guests.”

“Is…Trayx…will Trayx come?” Trinne insisted.

Doria turned to face her with a sad smile. “No, I’m sorry, but he will be very busy for the following weeks. He has to make sure all the surplus of souls will be comfortably installed. I will do my best to help you though, do not worry little Trinne."

And the woman of another era exited the room.

After a few seconds, Trinne swore. “Biach, we don’t have time to snack and she’s treating us like children.

Nay closed her eyes, trying her best to sit comfortably on her seat.

“Hani?” The Duchess of Gite asked, her tone becoming worried.

“Sorry. But unfortunately, a break of at least a day will be necessary. The Door exhausted me. And to answer your question, I think that from her point of view, there is no one alive in the world that isn’t a child.”

Trinne put her hand on Nay’s. “After the week we’ve had, and the number of times you had to use the miracle…I should have realized I was asking you too much. And no worries, I’m on edge, that’s all. It took a month last time for the angel to reach us, we’re not that much in a hurry.”

“Do you have a plan? Something you wanted to ask Trayx?”

“If I understood what you told me, the God of the hells can speak with the dead, and if that’s the case, he is most likely our best source of information that isn’t Hyn on the subject of angels. I know we can poison them, but I have no idea if my plan will work a second time or if they can learn from their mistakes and from each other. They speak, but I thought that what they said sounded strange, as if the words weren’t coming from the beast itself. The voice is unnatural, something like that should not be able to sound so normal.”

“In other words, we’re here to understand and learn about our enemies.”

Trinne nodded.

Doria arrived a few minutes later, with a plate filled with apple cake, and a teapot with three porcelain cups.

“Sorry for the wait.” She then served her two guests and sat in front of them.

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The cake was as good as in her memories, but Nay spotted Trinne not touching her own piece.

“Is Trayx’s absence due to the war?” The Duchess asked.

Doria seemed a bit taken aback, but just for a second. “Ah, so that was why… Yes, if there is a large influx of unusual souls, my husband becomes overworked and will not come back home for days. He said that this time, it would take weeks, maybe months.”

“There were only two battles. Maybe he’ll be back sooner. You didn’t know about the war and its end?” Trinne’s eyebrow rose.

The middle-aged woman gave her a half-smile. “I only speak very rarely with the dead, it is Trayx that usually tells me all that is happening, so my catching up with what is happening outside is always a bit late. But in any case, that is good news. Trayx told me that the crisis could take years, but if there were only two battles, then it means that the war ended fast, yes?”

“Correct. But the way it ended has baited an angel in my city.” Trinne explained with a dark look.

Doria sighed, wiping a clear spot on her porcelain cup with her thumb.

“You can’t evacuate the city?”

The Duchess grimaced. “In other circumstances, we could, yes. And if there is no other alternative, that is what I’ll do. But the angel is coming to find Nay, and if it stayed on the Plateau the last time, it’s because she knew that there were still survivors hidden there. What's to say it won't follow the escapees? And even if it doesn't do that, evacuating the whole city…Leïn is already overcrowded due to the civil war in Makaka, and if running away is the best solution right now, the cost will be high, and it won’t just be a financial one.”

“I see. I heard about what happened in Makaka and on…your Plateau? The Duchess plateau right?”

Trinne showed a prideful smile as she answered. “That’s its name.” But her expression turned back to serious and sombre. Nay held back her gigantic sigh at her friend’s antics. Weirdly enough, as Trinne continued, she met the Legio’s eyes for a second, as if she had guessed what the girl with cloudy eyes was thinking. “You understand then that in our current situation, we’ll take anything you can tell us about the angels, any story of the War about them, anything at all would be extremely helpful.”

Nay examined her friend. Why had Trinne reacted to the Legio’s internal sigh of despair? She had not shown anything, but her friend had clearly guessed that Nay was mocking her internally somehow.

The girl with cloudy eyes kept the information in the back of her head, knowing that it was important but that right now and then, it wasn’t the time to think about it.

Doria was now hugging and swiping her cup with both hands. “Yes, of course. I understand. There are rules though, and I need to be careful about what I’m saying. Give me a second.”

“Rules?” Nay asked.

“Yes. The dead and the living are not supposed to communicate. I have no idea what would happen if that rule is transgressed, but I believe, young girls, that you’re in enough trouble already.”

“Erm…” The Legio didn’t say anything else than that. According to Trayx, Doria was dead, so wasn’t she transgressing that rule right now? But then Trayx hadn’t said anything about such a rule before. No, that wasn’t totally true, she corrected herself. When a soul had come to meet the Legio, from the other side of the mirrored waters of the calms sea, the God of the dead had been very cryptic about it, which was probably related to that rule.

A few minutes passed in almost absolute silence, only cut once by Trinne exclaiming: “This cake is delicious.” until finally, Doria spoke again.

“To tell you stories of the War is dangerous, as I do not know if those stories are still amongst the living right now. Hyn has told you everything she knew about those beasts from another world, I suppose, but what you’re lacking is most likely the knowledge of the most prominent actor related to angels.”

“The Conqueror?” The redhead guessed.

“Rö, yes. He has disappeared way before this title was given to him, and I never saw him again after the War of the Firantes. But he, Hyn, and Vestigio came here to discuss the way they could use the angels to prevent the Leïns from using their magic."

Trinne’s whole body tensed. “Really? You were there?”

Trayx’s wife nodded simply. “I was. I didn’t really participate in the conversation, mind you, but I welcomed them as a good hostess should. Trayx never wanted to tell me what this magic the Leïns were planning to cast was, but I do know it was going to cost many lives, souls even, of children and innocents. Nonetheless, when I heard Rö explain what angels were and what they were capable of doing, I truly believed that summoning them to our world was a mistake. They did not listen to me.”

Nay couldn’t believe it. The most important decision of the War had been taken here.

“I will always remember what Rö told us.” Doria paused a short moment. “I never met any, of course, as those creatures are not welcome here. They shouldn’t even be in our world. Rö brought them here through one of his doors, so he never had true control over them. If they listened to him, it was because of a contract, a pact really.”

“A pact? So you can reason with them?” Trinne asked.

Doria grimaced. “I don’t know. I only know what Rö told me, and what Hyn said about the War after it was over. It is how I more or less know what they look like, I have a sketch of one somewhere, but it’s well hidden in a forgotten drawer, because, honestly, it gives me nightmares. Rö did say how important it was to make a pact with them, as it was the only way for those things to fight against the Leïns and not just unleash them on a killing spree against everyone. In his story, Rö described the angels as monsters and animals. Animals because they are driven by the usual animalistic desires: Sleep, reproduction, and hunger. Monsters because together they form a semblance of a mental web, that gives them their consciousness. Rö had tested a theory, don’t ask me how he did it, but he brought a single angel to our lands, all alone and disconnected from the others. Individually, it was stupid, according to him. Considering its size, its hunger, and the horrible claws, an angel like that would still be one of the deadliest things you could meet, but it would be very easy to trap and ultimately kill. Rö believed that he could bring only a few angels to our side through his Door, through this pact of his. He was adamant that as long as there weren’t too many of them, they would be smart enough to follow his orders, but not enough to become a real danger.

“How many?” Trinne’s question was dry, almost a command, but Doria didn’t take it personally.

“Thirteen? Maybe fourteen? That was the number he told us. And I think that three died during the War in total. To be sure you would need to ask Hyn, she most definitely has archives documenting it all. I can’t say more than that on the subject, I’m already close to breaking the rules.”

“All right. So, there are ten left, maybe even nine if my poison killed the Angel that was in Gite afterward.”

Nay stopped her. “Maybe less, it’s been a century.”

“Or much more, if they reproduced during all that time.” Trinne’s answer froze the Legio’s blood.

“Biach. They could be hundreds, thousands.”

Fortunately, Doria shook her head left and right.

“No. Rö said that those creatures live for a very long time, and were resistant to magic, but also that there weren’t more than one or two angels every decade. And that was in their place of origin, where there were a lot more of them.”

“Resistant to magic. Ah, yes, that was why Jarl was unable to harm the one on the Plateau.” Trinne nodded as she sighed.

“Ah?” Doria rose an eyebrow. “I said resistant. Not immune. Hyn told me that all the angels killed during the war had been eliminated through a combination of traps and Firante magic.”

“But then…Jarl?”

“That’s Hyn’s adoptive son, right?” Doria asked.

Nay had a little smile. “It’s also the current Emperor of the empire of Ja.”

“Really?” The old woman was unable to hide her surprise. “What about Hyn?”

“She abdicated.” Trinne explained.

Doria showed a victorious expression. “Hah! I knew it. Trayx didn’t believe me when I said we could trust her, and that she was going to give away her power sooner than later.”

“Angels and magic?” Trinne tried to return the conversation to its right course.

“Yes, of course, sorry. Jarl uses flames, right?” Anything else would have been much weaker or too dangerous for him to use against those things, right?”

“I think so.” Nay confirmed.

“Not a surprise that it didn’t work then. Angels live in a world of volcanos and lava.”

Trinne opened her mouth, then closed it, the cogs in her head spinning as fast as the wheels of the train in Leïn.

“Hani?” Nay asked.

Her friend did not answer immediately.

“Was I able to help you? I think I said everything I knew about the creatures. If Trayx comes back, I will ask him if I forgot something but…”

“No. I think I found a way. Because of you, Doria. You have my utmost thanks. I do not know how…”

The most powerful God-Touched Nay had ever met waved away the thanks with a shake of her hand.

“Don’t do that, if I helped save innocent lives, I have already been gifted much more than is necessary. But if you want, you can drop the polite tone with me, that would please me.”

Trinne smiled. “Right, thanks Doria.”

“Ha! Such a sweetheart, just like you said Nay.”

The Legio scratched her head, a bit shy, before turning to face the redheaded woman once more.

Who took a bit gulp of air.

“We know where the angel will be. We know it can be taken out with powerful magic, if it isn’t flames. And you’re here.”

Nay grimaced.

Doria intervened. “I understand that you are supposedly a very powerful God-Touched, Nay, but you would need to be as strong as my husband or Rö to be able to kill one singlehandedly.”

“Which is the case.” Trinne didn’t say more than that.

“Really? Well then? What’s all the fuss about?”

“I…I can’t control it…and I won’t use it in Gite. Nevermore.” Nay couldn’t believe the idea coming from the Duchess of Gite.

“No, that you won’t do, and I wasn’t proposing that.” Trinne shook her hand. “I wasn’t talking about Gite. I was talking about the Unbroken ones. If it’s like the first time, the angel will take approximately a week to reach the entrance to the Canyon of Sables.”

Nay hiccupped. Her head spun.

A week. The Canyon of Sables.

She now understood what Trinne was asking her to do.

Meet the creature of her nightmares head-on, at the entryway to the place where her nightmares had begun.

A week to control the uncontrollable.

A week to learn how to protect the city that had seen her grow up.