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SAINT ILINA'S WARD

SECOND RING

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Tharia hastened in front of the perplexed guards with Annabelle in tow. The elemental swayed in place, a human-like face formed out of the fire and then gazed at the two women. Around it, there was a multitude of charred clothes-likes. The thing looked like Sisi but Tharia kept her guard up. This might be something else that just pretended to be the snarky sprite and the boy she dragged around.

“Wonderful. The moaning calamity and her silver kitten”, the flame said with a dramatic sigh. Nope, that was one hundred percent genuine flavor Sisi snark – bitter up front, really acidic in the aftertaste.

“Happy to see you too, grumpy”, Tharia said to the elemental and then pointed at the unconscious and terribly thin Ravid, “Just put him down.”

At that moment, Annabelle suddenly leaped forward. A golden light sparked and revealed the long Scythe in her hands. The goddess dashed directly towards Ravid, her beautiful eyes promising bloody murder. Tharia smacked her lips and then grabbed Annie’s wrist.

“On the ground”, the human woman added in Sisi’s direction while trying to calm Annabelle with her eyes. It took a bit but her love finally relented. The scythe disappeared into thin air, leaving a collection of rather dumbstruck guards staring at the spectacle. She returned her gaze to the man and pressed her lips until they were a fine line. Ravid was a symbol of humiliation to her. She had been debased and paraded around like a toy.

“You were meant to bring him away”, said Annabelle, glowering at Sisi. The living flame momentarily flared up but calmed down almost the same moment.

“Didn’t know you’d be here. Should have known when we saw the train jump off the tracks”, she sprite answered. It sounded weary.

Tharia stumbled as strong hands pushed her aside with little regard. The resolute Awitel forced her way through the crowd, handed out a broad collection of angry glares to everyone present and then started barking orders to her staff. Not for the first time, did Tharia wonder whether that lady had military training. She returned her attention to Sisi.

“The white sprite?” Tharia asked.

“Dead”, Sisi replied in a flat tone. In the background, strong people carefully approached Sisi and the boy. They were apprehensive of the flame but a small tyrannical woman shooed them inside of it. Tharia blinked, these men and women would rather walk into flames than face the wrath of that woman. The flames wouldn’t hurt them, not until Sisi wanted, it was still impressive to see them walk into it. Especially since Sisi’s sadistic streak kept taunting them with puffs of flame.

“That’s a bit low, don’t you think?” Tharia said with a sigh. The elemental looked at her and then shrunk in size, before sitting down on the two barrier chains on the ground.

“Just getting on your level. So what did you destroy this time?”

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Tharia felt small again. That wasn’t just because the desk was absolutely massive. It was rather the presence of Awitel. She leaned on the desk, exuding power and dominance with just her posture alone. Hundreds of paper sheets were strewn about amidst strange mechanisms the lithe girl had never seen before.

“The boy”, Awitel began and pointed a finger at Tharia, “Tell me, is he going to be trouble?”

She pondered on the answer and shot a glance towards Annabelle. The goddess kept silent, although she could see the jaw tense. Annie really didn’t like Ravid all that much. Maybe it was because of what he had done, or maybe it was a bit of needless jealousy. Either way, Tharia had no plans to feed into it either.

“We’re leaving before it comes to that”, Tharia said but Awitel cut her off.

“Don’t care about your history, only if he will be trouble for me.”

Tharia breathed in deep. Would he be trouble? He was the kind of ally so idiotic in his naivety, that she wished him upon her enemies. Awitel wasn’t an enemy.

“Is that such a difficult question?” the doctor asked while leaning forward. Tharia felt smaller still.

“No, I mean, no. It’s not. Without giving you the long run, he is a decent lad. Well-meaning and happy to help. Just keep him away from dangerous girls and open fire”, she answered. The doctor tapped a finger on the desk before nodding.

“Your opinion as well?” this time, the doctor’s gaze landed on Annabelle.

“He’s a pest”, was the reply of the goddess.

“Good enough for me. Half of my guards were former bandits and criminals”, the resolute woman said and leaned back. Her voice had a matter of fact tone to it as she continued.

“You’re leaving. That means I’ve got a message to relay.”

The doctor reached into her desk and pulled out a wooden cube with intricate decorations. She placed it on the desk in front of Tharia and the goddess but kept her hand on it.

“This is from a man I respect. When things looked bad, he discovered a way to remove the corruption from humans. Without him, we’d be dead. Color me purple, but when he just packed up and left a few days before you came with instructions to pick you up and give this to you, I was intrigued.”

She finally let go of it and pushed it towards the two girls. Tharia took one look at Annabelle and saw the subtle shake of her head. They were in agreement then. She reached for the cube when her hands touched the cube, she felt subtle vibrations inside of it. There was no need to open it. Only one man was gaudy enough to gift something like this – and look, he ‘accidentally’ found a way to remove essence. Obviously.

“Thank you, but no”, she said and pushed it back towards Awitel, “Tell him to get lost.”

Having said that, she then stood up and smiled towards Annie. They hugged each other and then nodded towards the Doctor.

“Thank you for your hospitality. You’ve had a profound impact and it has been great to finally help people. But it is best we get back on the road”, she said with a smile.

“You’re not even going to open it?” the doctor said and flipped open the box. A metallic cylinder with nubs on it jumped up. From the side, a metallic comb pressed against it and while the cylinder turned, music came out of it.

“No interest. I know you don’t care for the history of people. But a saint he ain’t.”

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They were back in the basement. Tharia felt the cold air on her skin, despite the thick clothes she was wearing. Annabelle too had a large coat on that only left the upper half of her face. Her snub nose was just too cute. She just had to tap a finger against it and grin.

“Smile, Annie. We get to freeze our asses off out there, that’s gotta count for something, right?”

Instead of an answer, her love rubbed her nose, smirked and then pushed a large bag towards her. The message was obvious, it was time to divide the load again. With a sigh, she slung it over her shoulder and then turned towards the door. She was ready to leave when a squeaky voice reached her ear.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Alright, alright, I’ll help you morons”, said Sisi. The elemental came out from behind a pillar. It was in the small sprite form and pushed itself off the ground to fly up towards Tharia.

“Everything is better than being stuck with a teenager. I tell you, the moment he saw my full shape, he started courting me”, the sprite added and then pointed towards two chains on the ground.

“Move it, pony”, it commanded while taking a seat on Tharia’s shoulder.

“I’m not a...”

“Well, Annie says it’s good to ride you, so a pony you are.”

Annabelle showed the broadest of grins on her face and gave her the thumbs up. Amazing, now the goddess was in on it. Tharia sighed and picked up the two chains. She absentmindedly began assembling them into the tell-tale staff.

“Well, it’s good to have you back. A portable fireplace sure has advantages”, Tharia shot back. Now it was Sisi’s turn to put its hands against the tiny waist.

“I’m not a...”, Sisi said and stopped. It actually grinned.

“Yeehaw”, the sprite then added and smacked her neck with a tiny hand.

“Onwards, to the horizon and beyond.”

Tharia heard Annabelle grumble into her wool-scarf. It sounded something like bloody absurd. Aye, that she could agree with. With one look towards the people present, she set foot outside the building with Annabelle in tow.

Stepping out of the cozy warmth into the frozen nightmare, was a punch into the gut. Despite the thickness of her clothes, freezing air found ways inside of it. It was a type of temperature that felt like it could cut the skin on contact. Sisi slid off her shoulder and then took shelter within the staff. A moment later, strong warmth radiated out of it, creating a bubble of roughly five steps in either direction.

This didn’t make it warm, but it made it bearable. It had the advantage that Annabelle moved a lot closer. Tharia glanced a look at her love for no particular reason. She was just happy to have her. With a soft press of her hand, they headed into the frozen wasteland of a once city.

The snow and constant ice had done a number on Valarn. Towers of ice had formed around the buildings and locked them off from the outside. Tharia found the image strangely beautiful. Snowdrifts had frozen mid-air to create stunning bridges of glittering ice in the air. With an elegant ease, the sky above them was filled with abstract ice sculptures amidst a pitch black, star-heavy sky.

She blinked. The sky.

“You missed it? The storm crashed the false star. Gave us back the sky. Although that only makes obvious the complete lack of a sun”, Sisi commented from the staff. The sprite sat on a couch, one hand held the tiniest of books and the other pulsed a small flame with great effect.

“The star is still there”, Annabelle interjected, “only grounded. I can feel it pulse.”

Tharia nodded. She didn’t feel it. There wasn’t much left to feel either way. She had attuned into her mother bone sight. There was a bright light for Annabelle, a tiny but red flame for Sisi and a whole lot of nothing in the frozen wastes around them. She set her sight on the observatory. Even down in the streets of Saint Ilinas ward, the structure loomed above.

As good a reminder as any to get moving.

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There was something incredibly mind-numbing about pacing through a city made of ice. Each corner looked the same. A tower of frost, some snow-drifts, and beautiful but dull ice sculptures – turn a corner, repeat. As with anything, the routine killed the appeal for Tharia. She stubbornly set one foot in front of the other.

“And by what I’ve heard, they actually had a child together”, she said. Sisi groaned. Annabelle growled. Tharia kept on babbling.

“That child grew up to be the first empress of the sky-people. The oddest thing was her pale skin, that’s because they had to import special water for her from the Turesai, she didn’t get the blue coloration of the sky-people. That’s how they found out it’s not some curse but rather just the water that dyes them funny. To think they waged war about it, right?”

Tharia sighed. It had gone on like this for hours. She needed something to do, anything. Just remaining silent allowed the chaos in her mind to brew. So they wanted to try and reverse the mess around them. Some would call that heroism, Tharia realized it was just pure selfishness. The best part about helping others wasn’t some fuzzy feeling in the stomach but the looks of gratitude and praise. While she saw the icy mess around her, she found another reason as well. This was no way to live.

“Oh right, Sisi. We decided to fix the world between breakfast and apocalypse. Do you have any idea how we could do that? Because, honestly, the sheer notion is just so absurd that I’ve got to try it. Tharia, goddess of the world itself. Right, Annabelle too. You too if you want, Sisi.”

The sprite didn’t join into her jovial mood. Rather, she was quite solemn in her reply and lacked the usual snark.

“Each cycle, the world ends and is reborn when someone believes they can make a better one. The early millennium leads to a golden age – and then it all falls down. Tharia von Verholden, Annabelle, listen to me. You can’t unbreak a world that wishes to die.”

Tharia mulled the words in her mind. She knew very well of the resentment born from untold eons. It lurked within her, waiting to be unleashed in one final blaze of murderous glory.

“We won’t save it”, Annabelle said and brushed her silvery hair out of sight, “I h-had no time to... prepare these... words but...”

“Come on, Annie. You did so well a few days ago”, Tharia tried to encourage her. Annabelle, however, pulled out a notebook from her clothes and handed it to Tharia. It encompassed detailed notes about how the conversation could have gone. There even was an option that included a wild night that hadn’t happened. With a grin, the human girl pointed towards it.

“That could have been?”

“L-let me speak”, Annabelle said and threw her hands up in frustration, “I mean to s-say. We lack knowledge. What if... I well, let’s say a world having a heart is wrong? Do we know?”

Tharia translated the fragments of words into something that made some kind of sense to her. She was proud of Annie for managing that many words without preparation. It was still a mess to piece together. Annabelle had posed a good question. No one really knew how the world was really supposed to be and maybe that was part of the problem. It could be that worlds weren’t meant to have actual hearts and minds.

She was about to nod in confirmation when her special sight picked up a small flame. It moved slowly but steadily through the cold.

“Later. You made a good point Annie, but we’ve got potential hostiles.”

They spread out. Annabelle moved forward in the direction Tharia had pointed. With quick gestures, the goddess armored up. The sprite had sneaked out of the barrier-staff and gained height. Frost immediately reached for Tharia but she pushed the discomfort aside. It was better to survive in the cold than to be dead in the warmth.

She put a bolt on her crossbow and then used the lever crank to make it ready. Her feet hurried her towards a snow-drift where she placed down and used the terrain as support for the heavy weapon. With Annabelle in front, Sisi up in the air and herself in position, they were ready for whatever was coming.

The flame approached steadily in a weird zig-zag pattern. It lingered here and there but always pressed on in the end. Her mind imagined all manner of monstrosities. It did a much better job than reality. Tharia burst out laughing when a single rat scurried out of a building and then gazed at all of them.

“Really, now?” Annabelle said and joined the laugh. Only Sisi remained silent. The sprite suddenly darted towards the ground, a thick cloud of golden dust enveloped the rat and just as Sisi pulled back up, intense fire swallowed up the tiny creature.

“I take it you hate rats?” joked Tharia. Her humor died when the rat walked out of the flame unharmed. Beady eyes had locked onto the sprite in the air. It stretched onto its hind legs and suddenly jumped into the air. Sisi squeaked as sharp teeth bit down on her. The rat landed back down in the snow and spat out the elemental. With tiny paws, it pressed down on Sisi and snarled.

“FOUND. YOU”, the rat growled with a tone too deep for an animal that small. Tharia cursed and aimed the crossbow at the rat, yet considered it too great a risk with Sisi that close. Annabelle was in a better position. The goddess approached quickly, like a silver-wraith her shape dashed through the snow before using the blunt side of the scythe to punt away the rat. Except that’s not what happened. The moment the scythe came into contact with the monster, the weapon evaporated, leaving the goddess to stumble forward with momentum.

“PESKY. FRIENDS. FOUND”, the rat growled. It locked its gaze on Annabelle, then back down on Sisi. Risk or not, she had to do something. She closed her eyes and focussed on the flame, instead of the body of the creature. Everything became a blur of shapes until the flame of the beast stood out clearly. Her finger curled around the trigger. Please don’t hit Sisi. The weapon bucked under her hands. With a thunk, the bolt pierced through the rat and nailed it to a wall.

“FIND. AGAIN”, the rat said with a final growl before the body broke in two. Instead of blood, it exploded into a patch of living wheat seeds. They burrowed into the ground, digging through the snow and stone with sharp teeth until they took root in the earth below. All that remained was a bleached skeleton, barely held together by leathery skin.

Tharia didn’t know whether plants could hold a grudge, but that patch of wheat growing in the middle of a frozen wasteland looked a lot like it.

“The golden fields?” said Annabelle and picked up Sisi. The small sprite looked shaken with visible rows of teeth marks on the tiny body.

“It’s been hunting me”, Sisi said breathlessly, “Ever since I torched a spot.”

The human girl watched Annie cover the sprite from the frost until it recovered. Well, the golden fields had been on their kill-list for a while. After they got rid of the observatory, it might be a good idea to take a detour and burn down some uppity plants.

“It dispelled my scythe”

“And my fire. Seems like magic won’t do it any harm”

Tharia put on her crazy firestarter grin and raised both thumbs. For some reason, both Sisi and Annabelle shuddered.

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End: Departure | Coming up: Trick of Light