– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 15 –

Terry was nearly at the training grounds when the earth started to quake so hard that some of the surrounding pillars cracked.

Before he was fully aware of what was going on, Terry was already rushing back towards the large dome that housed Guardian management.

Initially, Terry was not sure why he was rushing back towards the place, but the closer he got, the more certain he was that the dome was the source of the quakes.

Others had arrived even before him.

“What the Wastes is going on?” asked an older Guardian instructor.

“The defenses have been activated,” said another. “The entrance has been sealed.”

“Why?! What is happening?”

The second Guardian was channeling mana into an inscription. “Can’t tell for sure, only that management has invoked protocol to defend the place.”

Terry felt a lump in his throat and panic started to well up.

“What could possibly get past everyone else to arrive directly in the dome?”

“Get this door open,” yelled Terry, without being aware of it.

“What? Who are you? Do you know what’s going in there?”

“Willow had asked to see Aunt Sigille inside,” muttered Terry. “There was another mage with Willow and I could sense some other signatures in the back room. My aunt told me to go train and if I see Dhruv, I should tell him to come immediately.”

“Willow?” The two older Guardians glanced at each other. The face of one of them twisted in fury while the other paled.

“Get Vhida here! NOW!” shouted the first Guardian. “I want this door open!”

“Where is Dhruv?!” the second shouted at a group of younger Guardians that had arrived as well. “FIND HIM! NOW!”

The first Guardian threw a punch at the reinforced door. “DAMN IT!” He frantically looked around. “Is there anyone else here that can attempt an inscription override?”

The quakes became more and more intense. Each rumbling shook Terry to his core.

“I hate this mana-forsaken outpost!” cursed the first Guardian. “I swear if this is one of the witch’s stunts, I’ll…”

“Calm down,” rebuked the other Guardian. “We don’t know if Willow is at fault. Perhaps something has attacked the two.”

“Or the Hammer has flown off the handle again,” interjected a third Guardian with a sneer. “Wouldn’t be the first time, would it?”

“I’ll show you how I will fly off the handle if you keep flapping your mouth without saying anything that gets this door open,” growled the first Guardian. “I’ve never seen Sigille pick a fight that was not justified.”

The other party sneered, but kept his mouth shut.

***

“How long since this has started?” asked Vhida, who was frantically channeling mana into the defense inscription to open the door to the dome.

“More than an hour,” replied the Guardian with clenched fists. “The quakes stopped maybe ten minutes ago.”

Vhida gulped and finally managed to open the door.

Everyone fell silent at the carnage that they could see inside. Dozens of people were lying dead on the floor. A pair of surviving followers of the Bright Lady were doing their best to heal some other survivors.

Willow stood golden and bloodied on the opposite side of the room. Anand, whom Terry had last seen standing next to her, was nowhere to be found.

Two large steps away from Willow, Sigille’s body was lying on the floor.

Terry could not sense a mana signature and felt his own heart freeze.

“HEALERS!” shouted one of the older Guardians.

“T-too late,” stammered another with unbelieving eyes.

“Dhruv is back!” an out-of-breath Guardian came running and stopped still in his tracks when he saw the sight inside the dome.

“What… What happened here?!” demanded Vhida. Her eyes were glued to the wounds on Sigille’s body. Wounds that had undeniably been inflicted by the outpost’s defense system. By the defense system that Vhida herself had set up. The more she thought about it, the more she felt like screaming.

An older Guardian was already next to Sigille’s body. “Healer… No! DAMN IT!”

“Sigille… attacked… us…” huffed Willow. Golden liquid spread from her elbow. The lower parts of the arm were missing.

“““BULLSHIT!””” reverberated the voices of several Guardians. Some were gripping the hilts of their weapons.

“There… is… a recording,” said Willow. The golden liquid was slowly shaping into the limb that had been missing.

In a daze, Vhida walked towards another inscription panel.

“Auntie!” echoed the quivering cry of Emily when she arrived together with Dhruv. She turned to her mentor. “Can she…?”

Dhruv shook his head. He did not blink, and tears were already streaming down his eyes.

“Dhruv, we could use some help here!” shouted one of the channelers that was healing the survivors. “There are injured Guardians, and some of them are beyond our abilities.”

Dhruv ignored him and continued staring at Sigille’s corpse.

“ANAND?!” shrieked Vhida. “You…” She stepped away from the inscription panel and turned towards Willow. “You brought Anand here?!” She screamed and charged at Willow.

A number of Willow’s allies had quickly positioned themselves in front of her.

The older Guardian next to Sigille’s corpse caught Vhida and prevented her from rushing into the group. “What’s going on?”

“Let me at her! I’ll…” Vhida took deep breaths and glared at Willow with bloodshot eyes. “You knew this would happen!

“That is why the recording was running from the beginning!” spat Vhida. “That is why you had so many people stationed here! You bloody knew!”

“I hoped… it would not…” Willow was still trying to regain her breath. “But… I feared it might… I hoped that Sigille… could see the bigger picture… but I had to take precautions… in case she did not.”

“What does this mean?” asked one guardian.

“As I’ve said before…” Willow was slowly getting back her stride. “Sigille has attacked me and one of my guests.”

“The bloody ‘guest’ was Anand! YOU WASTED BITCH!” spat Vhida in fury and disgust. “That mass-murdering monster has killed Sigille’s husband!”

“Anand?!” Dhruv’s rumbling voice caused everyone else to hold their breath. “Of all people, you brought Anand into this place? You had Sigille meet the murderer of her husband?! Without warning? Without so much as consulting with me?!”

“Even if you are the most senior Guardian present…” Willow held Dhruv’s gaze. “You are not part of management.” Her tone was dismissive.

“Well, I am!” arrived the shout of Lucas. No one had taken notice of his arrival. “At least I am supposed to act as the ministerial representative to supervise Guardian management.” Lucas shook his head in disbelief. He stared at the carnage in front of him. His eyes repeatedly drifted back to Sigille’s corpse.

“I did what I thought necessary,” insisted Willow. “We need Anand. Both for his abilities and for his intel. He is a valuable asset in the fight against the Wastes, against the deathcults…” She fixed her eyes on Lucas. “And against the stupidity that keeps us all from pushing back as required. I hoped that—”

“You cannot possibly be stupid enough to trust that man,” interrupted Dhruv.

“Seems that you cannot trust Guardian management either,” spat Vhida. She glared at Willow with disdain. “If the Bright Lady had any sense of justice, she would use her soul connection to kill you in your sleep.”

Vhida’s outburst seemed to incense many of the channelers present, and this was not limited to the followers of the Bright Lady.

“Spare us your blasphemy!” barked one of the channeler Guardians. “It was the Hammer that drew her weapon on her fellow Guardians. A despicable murderer that is who she is. She ought to—”

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“Hold your tongue before someone cuts it out!” growled another Guardian.

“Why?” shouted another. “Look around you! All these Guardians are dead because of her!”

“Piss off!” Yet another was glaring at Willow. “They are all dead because of that wasted woman over there!” He pointed at her. “They’re all her lackeys.”

“ENOUGH!” roared Dhruv. Magical roots lifted Sigille’s corpse up gingerly. The roots moved her body to Dhruv. “I will hold the wake for my departed whaka.”

“What? For the murderer—?”

“I’ve said enough!” barked Dhruv, and his aura rose.

“Then what about her victims?!” demanded one of the channelers.

Dhruv looked at the channeler. “Do what you want. I’ll have no part of it.”

“They fought to protect the Guardians,” said Willow. “They deserve honor treatment.”

“They fought against the only true Guardian present,” snapped a woman from the crowd. “And they ganged up to murder her.”

“Ridiculous! What kind of example does this set for the younger Guardians?!” interjected a channeler. “They only—”

“Screw you! I’m one of those younger Guardians. The example I see here is that cultist management is a scourge on the Guardians!”

“Damn right! The reason I joined the Guardians has been murdered by management and her henchmen.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Roots loudly smashed into the walls, which silenced everyone.

Sigille’s corpse was now lifted in front of Dhruv.

“I always feared I would be the last of us,” muttered Dhruv. “Tell the others to wait for me, Whaka Sigille.” He closed the eyes of his old friend and then left.

Vhida and the older Guardian with her followed.

“I know that Dhruv has sworn to protect this place,” said the older Guardian. “But I’m finding it harder and harder to find something worthy of protection here. It gets worse with every cycle that passes.”

Vhida just stared silently at the roots that were carrying Sigille’s corpse.

“Terry? Are you alright?”

Terry could vaguely recognize the shape of Emily’s face in front of him. Tears were streaming down her face. His own vision was blurry.

I should not have left her. Maybe if I… This can’t be happening...

He felt himself pulled into a hug.

***

Terry’s mind felt like mush. He could not think straight, and all he could do was follow Dhruv to a large room. Terry did not not dare to enter.

Terry dazedly watched Dhruv cast several spells to clear out all the furniture and prepare the room.

Eventually, the room was empty, with nothing but a small raised platform carved from beautiful wood and overgrown with grass and field flowers that softly radiated nature-aspected mana.

At the center of the platform, there laid Sigille’s corpse. She was still in her broken armor and while Dhruv had washed away the blood and covered the most egregious wounds, the marks of battle remained clearly visible.

While Terry could not bear to look at the wounds, he thought it was right for Sigille to be in her armor even now. At least, the Sigille he would remember had always been wearing it.

“There, my friend,” mumbled Dhruv. “I wish I could do more, but nothing I can do would ever bring you back…” He walked to a wall, sat down, and closed his eyes. Tears continued rolling down his cheeks.

Terry barely noticed others pouring into the room to take their own spots along the walls.

He did not know how long he had been standing there when he heard someone approaching in a run.

“Emily!” shouted Wallace, and his daughter quickly darted into his arms.

“Auntie is…” Emily’s words were stuck in her throat.

“I know…” Wallace patted Emily’s back and looked at Sigille’s corpse. “I came back as fast as I could. The others will come, too.” He sighed. “Maybe I should take you back? If even she wasn’t safe here, then...”

Emily pulled back from Wallace and shook her head hesitatingly.

“No harm will come to your daughter while I am alive,” said Dhruv with a trembling voice.

“Pardon me if I remain doubtful of such assurances at the moment,” retorted Wallace with a glance to Sigille and a glare to Dhruv.

“I…” Dhruv took a deep breath. “She was never one that needed much protection.”

Dhruv sighed wearily. “Protecting this place was the last request of my life’s chosen and I’ve done this to the best of my abilities for many years. Even during times in which I wanted nothing more than to leave.

“Now, Whaka Sigille has made her last request, and it is to teach Little Emily.” Dhruv stared at Sigille with empty eyes. “Until I have taught Emily everything I know, and until she has raised her own tree seed, I will never lose sight of her. Whatever tries to harm her will have to go through me.” Dhruv held Wallace’s gaze.

“Have her kids been informed already?” asked Wallace while hugging Emily again. “We should—”

“It’s true…” Amelia gasped and walked into the room. “How could…?”

Dargones followed Amelia with a grim look and clenched jaw.

“I somehow always thought that she would live forever,” muttered Wallace sadly.

“Is it true?” Amelia’s look turned cold and rested on Dhruv. “The rest that I’ve heard. Did the witch instigate this by bringing that piece of shit Anand here?”

Wallace quickly looked at Dhruv as well.

“Yes,” replied Dhruv. “Willow had her closest and strongest followers from the Guardians and the Lady’s Circle stand between Sigille and Anand.”

“That was not all that she did,” spat Vhida from one side. “The bitch used the defense system against Instructor Sigille. My wasted defense system.” She glared at the empty air in front of her with bloodshot eyes.

“We need to tell her children,” said Wallace. “Emaldine only went to the city, but Matteo could already be who knows where.”

“I can find Matteo,” said Amelia immediately. “But I don’t have a way to know of the location of Sigille’s daughter.”

“If she is still in the city, we will find her,” said Dhruv. “It is getting late, but we will reach her at the latest tomorrow.”

***

Cadence froze in the doorway as soon as she saw Sigille’s corpse.

After several breathless seconds that felt like an eternity, Cadence turned around and ran to knock at the door of Willow’s office.

“Glimmer Cadence.” Willow raised an eyebrow. “Greetings. If you are here to share some of the Lady’s mana to speed up my healing, then I appreciate the thought, but others of our circle have already been here and I am fine.”

Cadence stared incredulously while Willow simply turned her back on Cadence and returned to her desk to continue with some paperwork.

“Did you really bring Anand here?” Cadence’s question was almost a whisper. “The man that had Matteo possessed by elementals? The man that—”

“Yes,” interrupted Willow without looking up. “A mage with the ability to set up long-range dimensional gates is invaluable to our work. The same can be said about a mage with extensive knowledge of undead and elementals.”

Cadence opened and closed her mouth several times without speaking. “But that man has caused so much suffering already.”

Willow tutted and raised her gaze to look at Cadence. “Glimmer Cadence, even a bad man can do good.

“I do not care about that man’s past.” Willow spoke as if lecturing a child. “I care about the present and the future. I care about what he can do for us. I care about all the lives that could be saved from now on by putting his abilities to good use.

“There is a reason that the Bright Lady teaches that resentment is poison for the soul.” Willow smiled condescendingly.

“B-but…” Cadence stared at Willow, who returned the gaze calmly. “Why did you have him meet Sigille? Surely, this terrible outcome could have been avoided.”

Willow’s eyes narrowed at the question. “I can’t hide our guest and ally forever. I did not force Sigille to act like she did. She chose to attack her fellow Guardians out of a petty desire for revenge. I am not responsible for Sigille’s actions, Glimmer Cadence.”

Cadence involuntarily flinched at the pointed reference to her rank in the Bright Lady’s Circle.

“And speaking of terrible outcomes, I now have to somehow make sure that everything keeps going,” spat Willow.

“A new instructor for her classes, someone else to cover the dungeon pioneering in the coming seasons, not to mention all the classes and missions that were planned for her victims.” Willow emphasized the last word.

“And I need to increase the defenses to prevent this stupidity from getting worse.” Willow scoffed. “So if you’ll excuse me, I’ll have work to do.”

Cadence nearly spoke up a few times, but eventually, she turned around and closed the door behind herself.

***

Terry couldn’t sleep and left his room in the middle of the night.

Word had been sent out to Matteo and Emaldine.

Terry did not know how to face them. He did not even know what to think.

He noted that he could not remember the last time he had left his room without wearing his equipment.

Terry’s thoughts halted at the commotion he heard from the communication room. He saw a glimpse of the machine that he had used to call his family in Arcana.

Ma Isille… She doesn’t even know yet… Oh mana…

Terry’s stomach plummeted further while looking at the sight of the construct that now seemed broken.

There were pieces of a broken wine bottle and traces of its content everywhere. Going by the traces, there had been little wine left inside when the bottle was hurled against the machinery.

“Damn it all…” From the other side of the room, a wailing voice that was followed by sobbing could be heard.

Terry recognized the voice of Vhida, but he walked by. He did not know what he could possibly say to comfort anyone at this time.

Tears were running down his face and before he knew it, Terry was walking towards the room with Sigille’s preserved body.

He stared at her unmoving face.

His mind was blank.

He walked towards a wall and sat down to lean against it. He buried his face in his knees and cried.

At some point, Terry noticed footsteps and a mana signature.

Dhruv.

Terry did not look up.

“Don’t mind me,” said the dwarf. “Just coming to drink with old friends.”

Dhruv sat down on the floor and summoned four shot glasses, which he then filled with whisky. He raised one of the filled glasses to Sigille’s body, drank it in one shot, and immediately refilled the same glass again.

“You want a drink?” asked Dhruv.

Terry raised his head and shook it.

For a while, Terry watched Dhruv drink in silence.

“I shouldn’t have left her,” muttered Terry.

“Not your fault, boy,” said Dhruv firmly. “Dozens of experienced Guardians, advanced channelers, coordinated with healers, the outpost’s defense system, not to mention Anand, who is already a terrifying opponent on his own.

“If you hadn’t left, then you would be lying here with her,” stressed Dhruv. “Whaka Sigille told you to go because she understood that.”

Still… Terry grimaced in thought. Whaka.

“If anything, it is me that should not have left,” said Dhruv and poured himself another whisky.

“Unexpectedly, I was kind of looking forward to having a disciple after all this time.” Dhruv stared at the glass in his hand. “I should have at least waited with the druid initiation until more of the others arrived. Wasted hindsight.”

Terry felt like objecting and reminding Dhruv that it was not his fault either, but he did not find the voice to speak his thoughts.

They spent the rest of the night in silence.

***