“One Emerald rank? That is all it took to kill Ven’kal?”
Zalia shrugged.
“Yeah, she’s pretty strong and a defence specialist. It’s almost impossible to kill her as far as I can tell.”
“Perhaps this will be enough. If they can keep the Monarch’s attention while we deal the damage, victory is possible. It will be a risk still, yet much of the ante will be paid by us, not you.”
Zalia turned to Ember who was able to hear the thoughts she sent down their bond.
“Should I tell them about the God-trap?”
Ember shrugged indecisively.
“They seem trustworthy but they’re still Astar. I’m not sure how far we can trust them at this point.”
Undecided, Zalia held onto the information for now.
“What about the second half of the Monarch, will they be able to intervene?”
“Yes, though not as directly as they might wish to. While able to act more than one such as Nateysta, they will not be able to hurt us directly. The battlefield will be changed to disadvantage us greatly, however. We should expect the place of our combat to be infused with the Ascendant power of the Monarch quite thoroughly. I doubt Nateysta will be able to do more than keep other possible weaker defenders away. Gold rankers and the like.”
Zalia perked up. If they would be fighting in a place directly linked to the Ascendant half of the Monarch, all they would have to do is wait for them to manifest an avatar directly before using the God-trap. With the Ascendant half taken care of, the fight would go much easier for Hildebrandt and Het’jel.
“Okay, I think we can manage. This might actually be possible.”
Ember leaned forward, resting her arms on the table.
“I know you said that once the Monarch is removed from power, much of the problem facing Endaria would be dealt with but I think the council would like to know exactly what your plans are if we do succeed.”
Both of Het’jel’s heads turned to face Ember as she spoke.
“I will take the throne, of course. There will be those who rebel and a war will be fought amongst our own but we will prevail. If your council would go so far as to formally support us, I believe that many will fear fighting the alliance that managed to take down the Monarch. To use the method of control that the Monarch uses will be unsavoury, but a widespread change of culture will take time and patience. I might be a tyrant to my people but I will use the power to ensure that I will be the last.”
Zalia turned to Ember and Aylie, then back.
“We are not one of mind as you are, Het’jel. Would it be alright if we take a moment to deliberate?”
Het’jel nodded their heads and Zalia, Boreal, Aylie and Ember all got up. She walked with them back up the path around the lake for a distance before finally speaking.
“Thoughts?”
Aylie was the first to pipe up.
“There is something fundamentally different between these Astar and the ones that captured us in the town. That might be a good thing?”
Zalia nodded agreement.
“I noticed that too, their auras right?”
Aylie shook her head, looking thoughtful.
“Yes, but no. That is different but there is something about the way their souls interact with their bodies that is different. With the Astar we’ve interacted with so far, it’s almost as if their souls are at a disconnect with their physical bodies, despite being the same thing. Het’jel is different; they feel more connected.”
Zalia pondered for a moment as they continued up the gentle slope, making sure not to step on any of the hoard of intrigued crab things walking around.
“Might have something to do with how the Astar are made to cut off any and all emotion. In the few minutes we’ve talked to Het’jel I’ve seen sadness, anxiety, concern. You won’t find that on the expression of any normal Astar, though it might be a trick to draw us in.”
It was Ember’s turn to shake her head.
“I don’t think so. They feel genuine to me.”
Zalia turned to her giant feline companion.
“Boreal? Any thoughts?... and no we won’t be taste testing them.”
Boreal had looked excited for just a moment, but sullenly drooped her head as Zalia took tasting off the menu.
“If they can kill Monarch, yes.”
“Alright, that’s one for it and I’m leaning that direction too. Aylie? Ember?”
Stolen story; please report.
Aylie nodded decisively, while Ember’s agreement was a little more subdued.
“We take it to the council and let them decide. This is all assuming Hildebrandt survives of course but it does appear promising.”
Zalia waited a few moments but no one changed their mind, so started back to Het’jel and Nateysta.
“Decided then.”
They took their places at the table and Het’jel looked at them keenly.
“Alright, we’ll suggest forming an alliance to the council. Some of them might want to meet with you under similar circumstances to this, if you’d be willing.”
“Of course. Nateysta knows where to find us when you are ready.”
With that, the table and chairs dissolved even as the spheres of Nateysta’s power encompassed them. They were all taken from the cave at speed, the Astar zipping away in a different direction once they reached the surface.
The meeting hadn’t taken long and neither had the journey there. Their return to Nature’s Reclaim took a similarly short time and they were back home before they knew it. It had been a long day, not because a lot of time had passed but because a lot had happened all at once. Matthias had returned, Hidey had been freed and they had met with the Astar rebellion. Despite all that, it was still early in the day and there was much to be done.
Nateysta had disappeared the moment they landed safely and Ember soon took his example, letting Zalia know that she would check on Hildebrandt while Zalia told Faian of their meeting. Boreal went off to find her children, obviously excited to talk to them about their hunt earlier that day and Aylie followed along with Zalia.
They went to the housing that had been given to Faian and her soldiers, finding them all but ready to leave for the capital. She went over their conversation with Het’jel in detail, finishing the conversation with a strong recommendation that they agree to the alliance and form a proper plan with the Astar rebellion. Faian kept her eyes on Zalia with an intense gaze, obviously trying to catch every word and emotion that she showed.
Once she was done talking, Faian agreed with her assessment but stated that she wanted to meet with Het’jel, just as Zalia had expected. All of this, however, relied on Hildebrandt’s recovery.
Zalia had very specifically not told Het’jel about her injuries. If it turned out that they were working for the Monarch, she didn’t want to tell them that Endaria’s only proper defence was currently bed-ridden. Feeling no strong emotions either way from the bond with Ember, Zalia figured that there had been no change in Hildebrandt’s state.
She left the group of soldiers to their tasks and went back home. Just as she expected, Hildebrandt was in the same comatose state with no visible difference. Aylie’s gasp of surprise told a different story however.
“That’s really bad,” she said, walking up and staring seemingly through Hildebrandt.
“What?” Zalia asked.
“The power,” Aylie said, gesturing, ”It grew when we were gone. Not by an insignificant amount either.”
Ember cursed, staring at Hildebrandt as well.
“I can’t see that at all. Triage only allows me to see physical wounds while Emotional Soothing shows mental ones. The soul is completely out of my area of expertise.”
Zalia put an arm around her gently.
“I’m frustrated too. It feels like we should be able to help.”
Ember held her back as they watched Hildebrandt’s uneven breathing. The same thing was roiling around both of their minds; whether it was worth the risk to enter the Astral by Aylie’s power and attempt to deal with the magic affliction directly. It was a big risk should things go bad and the memories of prophecy left by the collective were quite unhelpful.
“I have to go in there,” Aylie murmured.
“Aylie.”
Aylie turned to Ember.
“Don’t you dare. Not without talking about it properly first.”
“I agree. While I do think we should go in and help, I think we really need to be prepared first.”
Aylie’s shoulders sagged.
“Fine, but you both know that if it gets too bad we’ll do it anyway.”
She left, Zalia and Ember stepping out of her way.
“She’s right,” Ember murmured.
Zalia pulled her into a proper hug.
“Yeah, I know. Hildebrandt is Endaria’s main hope, we can’t let her die without trying.”
Ember let out a deep sigh.
“Alright, we better prepare for the worst then, shouldn’t we?”
“Yeah, we should. In fact, it might be better to try take this thing on before it grows any stronger.”
Ember pulled back and looked at Hildebrandt for a long time.
“Yeah.”
Zalia watched over Hildebrandt that night, even though she had no way of discerning the state of her soul. Hidey, Faian and her soldiers left for the capital the next morning with Matthias in tow, having found him the night before. Zalia waved them off before returning back to the comatose Hildebrandt to keep watch. Aylie said that the power had grown again overnight and was firm in her belief that it would grow strong enough to kill Hildebrandt before the seven days of massively reduced defence that she suffered would end.
The next few days were spent in anxious preparation as the power only grew worse. Aylie and Zalia argued often to enter the Astral and deal with the power but Ember refused until the third day.
Zalia had spent much of the interceding time creating an ointment that was a mixture of Soulroot and Dodge-vine. The intended effect of the mixture was to provide extra defence for the soul, something that would help if they did end up going in. While initially intended for that use, she found that applying some to Hildebrandt every few hours helped to slow the growth of the affliction. It wasn’t enough, however.
On the morning of the fourth day, Aylie was insistent that they had to act now. Zalia had adaptive protection runes on her armour and had even changed the mobility increasing ones to be a soul protective specific one to double down on it. Making any kind of impact on the power at their lower rank might be hard, but it had to be done.
It was decided that Zalia and Aylie would go in, while Ember cared for Hildebrandt in the physical world. With their overlapping auras of Healing Presence along with all the defensive abilities Zalia had, they hoped to survive. It was Aylie’s powers over the Astral and soul that they were relying on to combat the power directly.
Both Ember and Boreal embraced them in firm hugs before stepping back. Zalia stared into Ember’s eyes as Aylie got closer to Zalia. She reached a hand out and grabbed onto something ethereal and invisible to Zalia’s eyes. With a tug, Aylie pulled aside the curtain of reality and draped it over Zalia and herself.
Their vision distorted and twisted, the experience much like that of the dreamscape Aylie could make when it moved. Everything settled once more to a cloudy world with vague shapes hidden in the mist. Before them a blue sun burnt, tendrils of power stretching into the distance with a few holding firmly onto the shape of a person. Hildebrandt was suspended by the sun, struggling against the bonds that held her yet making no impact on them.
With protections in place, Zalia and Aylie walked towards the distant sun.