Sasha grabs Anya and pulls her under the massive table, quickly removing and crushing a glass sphere, casting a spell that creates a Globe of Force around them. She looks up just in time to see Kara lift off the floor and swing Misery in an arc, shattering the ceiling. Then Camiella and Kara vanish as the ceiling, walls, and everything around them get sucked out into the firestorm, along with all the eldritch horrors.
Nexus shakes with the force of a civilization-ending quake. The roar is deafening. She stares into the burning sky, where she last saw her wife. The tower containing their bedroom gets ripped away, torn apart in the whirlpool of flame above them.
Anya has a death grip on her, with her arms wrapped around her neck and her legs wrapped around her waist. Sasha looks at her. She has never seen her afraid of anything. She has her eyes clamped shut, repeatedly screaming, “I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die!” Sasha places a hand on her forehead. Anya opens her eyes. Sasha very calmly says, “We’re not going to die.” Anya focuses her mind on Nexus. She feels it touch her mind. She directs it to start forming walls of force in front of it to slow and guide Nexus. She has it create blasts of energy to slow it further.
There is a loud BOOM as a shockwave reverberates through Nexus. The table collapses and rests entirely on Sasha’s protective sphere of force, pinning her in place. She can’t move without ending the spell; if she does that, the table will crush her and Anya. What was meant to protect them now traps them in place. She looks at Anya; she is deep in concentration and focused entirely on everyone’s survival.
Sasha suddenly feels crushing despair. She starts crying, completely unable to hold back the tears. She doesn’t know why. She has never felt this. Kara has survived literal Hell. She has learned not to worry about her. Why does it feel like she just watched her die… No. Their empathic link is strong. Kara is in pain, Gods no… Camiella just died.
Outside, Gunthar holds on to Galga’s arm as tight as he can with one arm and the railing outside the main hall with the other. The maelstrom is doing everything it can to rip them into its maw. A gargantuan eldritch horror has its claws buried in the ground, inching toward them. Galga is yelling at him. He can’t hear her over the roar. He imagines it’s some stupid orc barbarian honor thing about “Let me go.” He smiles at her. He sees she understands that if she goes, he goes too.
There is a flash as Khive flies through the thing with Seven Deaths in front of her. An edge so sharp it can slice even water into its base elements. Khive vanishes into the maelstrom with a smile on her face. He remembers her hugging him this morning. She said, “Goodbye.” She never says “Goodbye”. She always says something like “Later” or “Tomorrow.” She always said that she knew exactly when and how she would die and that she would die when she unsheathed her blade, “Goodbye my friend.”
He closes his eyes as he strains to pull Galga close. He feels her lock her arms around his shoulders, and then he and her grab the rails. There is another BOOM and a shockwave as the two momentarily slam into the ground, then it tries to rip them away again. Around them, they see others in the same peril, holding on or hiding under something for dear life. The roar grows louder and louder.
He looks in each direction where he last saw the Chain Breakers and the Six. Both groups are gone.
Sasha holds Anya as tight as she can. It feels like Nexus is coming apart around them. The roar is so loud she can’t hear anything else. Immediately after the next shockwave, she feels the table lift slightly, then slams back down, cracking in half. She pushes on Anya, shoving and trying to move her so she isn’t under the table, too. Anya fights her, at first not wanting to let go because she is afraid, then when she realizes she is being pushed to safety, she fights harder, shaking her head.
Everything goes deathly silent for just a moment.
Then it feels like what she would imagine would be a very pissed-off Kara hitting her full force in the chest with Misery as Nexus slams into the ground.
Just as her spell ends and the world goes black, she sees Anya hurl across the room and slam into the far wall like a ragdoll.
Through very fuzzy eyes, she sees Anya lying against the wall, twisted. Then the world goes black again.
She hears someone calling, “is anyone in here?” and stones shifting. Anya is still lying there as the world fades out again.
Her eyes slowly open, and her perspective has changed. She is looking at some floppy-hatted elf. He is pouring a potion into her mouth. A succubus is standing over him. She coughs most of the potion up as she points toward Anya. He says to someone else, “The potion isn’t working.” She tries to look toward Anya and catches a glimpse of some gnome kneeling over her, casting a spell. Then, the world fades away again.
She opens her eyes again as she is being carried. She looks around, and it doesn’t make sense, “Why am I in a rubble pile?” Gunthar is carrying her. The floppy-hat elf says, “Healing isn’t working on her.” The world fades out again.
She is sitting in an open field with Kara next to her. The children are playing with Chomasuke. The smell of the flowers is the perfect mixture of bitter and sweet. Kara says, “See, I told you this world was perfect, Babe….”
Her eyes slowly try to focus. Kara smiles at her, “Are you gonna sleep all day, Babe? You’re usually the one pulling me out of.” Her vision clears, and she sees Anya: “Thank Raveneth. We didn’t know if you were going to wake up.”
She tries to sit up and instantly regrets even thinking about moving. Anya says, “Lay still. For some reason, potions and magic were barely working on you.” Several people move around her. The succubus goes to a knee, “Your majesty.” Everyone gives the succubus a strange look. Then she realizes not everyone sees the succubus, at least not in her true form.
The gnome growls at everyone, “Stand back. Give her some breathing room, you idiots.” Anya glares at him. He grins at her, “That means you too, little girl.” Sasha says, “It’s okay. Anya can stay.” The gnome begrudgingly says, “Very well, but don’t crowd me.” Anya wipes her forehead with a cold towel that feels amazingly good, “We thought we lost you. You saved me by pushing me from under the table.”
Sasha very softly asks, “How bad?” Anya lowers her head, slowly shaking it, “It’s bad.”
The floppy-hat elf pulls the succubus up, “Why do you keep bowing and graveling Shyless?” She never takes her eyes off Sasha, grinning ear to ear, “You idiots, you don’t feel it?”
The gnome turns to her, “Feel what?”
Shyless looks so excited she can barely contain herself, not that succubae try to control their emotions, “She’s divine?” The floppy-hat elf says, “Yeah, she’s pretty.” Shyless looks at him as if he’s lost his mind, “No, you idiot.” She points at Sasha, “She is a goddess. You seriously don’t feel the power coming from her. Her connection to the divine.” She grabs the floppy-hatted elf on both sides of his face and looks him in the eye, tears streaming from her own, “She is a Goddess of Life and Death.”
Trying to change the subject, Sasha takes the gnome’s hand and asks, “Who are our saviors, and where are we?”
The gnome says, “My name is Darious Gimble, but you can call me Mr. G. My floppy-hatted friend there is Xerealias, and the girl looking meaningfully into his eyes is Shyless. He or we rescued her from the mine just to the west of here. We were in there when you decided to crash your castle here. The rest of our companions are outside helping in the rescue effort.”
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Sasha sits up and grabs her head when it suddenly feels like a war maul hits her. Mr. G. says, “I said stop moving around,” placing a hand on the back of her head and easing her back onto the pillow. She says, “My people.” He says, “Your people are being pulled out of the rubble. The Laughing Ogres, that’s us, and your people are doing everything they can. Xerealias and I are entirely tapped for spells; we’re not precisely the dig-through stones type. However, we have a goblin with us who used to be a dwarf, and she has forgotten more than we’ll ever know about tunneling and rescuing buried people. Her name is Grilk. We’ve got a big half-orc out there, too, helping. His name is Vadok.”
He gently pushes her head back down to the pillow, “Stop trying to get up. If we must chase you around to keep you from collapsing, then we can’t be helping your people.” Mr. G. whispers a prayer to Liriana, the Keeper of Secrets, and casts a Light spell on his fingertip. He leans over her and looks into each of her eyes. “Good, your pupils are reacting to the light.”
Anya says, “Listen to him, Sasha. He may be a rude, old prick, but he is correct.” Mr. G. huffs at Anya, “Of course I’m correct. I’m always correct.”
Xerealias steps over with Shyless at his side. She starts the bowing thing again. Xerealias looks at the succubus, “Why don’t you go out and help? You have a talent that would aid in searching under the rubble.” Shyless pouts, then turns and leaves. Xerealias says, “Before we tell you where you are, why don’t you tell us where you’re from? That would, at least, give us some perspective.”
Anya stands up and turns to him, “This is Nexus, as for where we’re from. That’s far more difficult to explain. Here’s a simple explanation. Nexus was built on an asteroid that floated over a rift to the Far Realm in Wild Space. There was a battle. We created a portal large enough Nexus to travel through and ended up here. There is more, but we can tell that later. Cut any unnecessary details and tell us what world this is?”
Mr. G. says, “The name of the world is Veniethea.”
Anya and Sasha both look at him, stunned. At the same time, both say, “Kara’s world.”
Sasha winces when she remembers the crushing despair that hit her shortly after Kara and Camiella were ripped out. She takes Anya’s hand, “Anya, something happened. I felt something inside Kara break. I don’t think, I mean, I think Kara is alive. It feels like I would know if she was dead. But it felt like I,,,” She stares at the ceiling for a moment, “I felt the same when someone close to her perished once before. This was far stronger than anything in the past. I don’t think Camiella made it. I need to Send to Kara. I need to know.”
Anya, Mr. G., and Xeraelias all shake their heads. Anya says, “It may be several days before you can cast. You nearly burned yourself out in the fight, protecting us before the crash. Plus, whatever happened that kept healing magic from working on you also seems to keep your grasp on it weak. But since you’re still alive, that must mean she is, too. That may be the reason it’s so difficult to heal you. The two of you share life, so when one of you is hurt,,,” Sasha snips, “I know, I know, when we’re apart, we share injuries on a psychic level.” Ayna says, “Yes, so that means Kara is alive.”
Sasha starts to sit up slowly. Anya reaches out toward her, but the glare freezes her in place. Sasha says, “Help me up and out. I need to see it. The people need to see me.” Mr. G. “humphs,” “There are several others in better shape than you who don’t need to be up and walking around.’
Xeraelias asks, “I’ve got another big question. What did Shyless mean when she said, “You are a Goddess of Life and Death?”
Anya and Sasha look at him and simultaneously say, “Me?”
The door bursts open, and Galga runs through, looking at Anya, “We found a pocket of people who made it into the Undercroft beneath the smithy.” She looks at Sasha, “Thank the goddess. You’re awake.” She scans the room. Xeraelias winks at her and blows her a kiss. She growls at him in a somewhat confusing way. He doesn’t know if she wants to gut him or grant him a wonderful bardic death. Then she’s gone.
By the time they turn back, Sasha is standing but wobbling. Xeraelias takes her arm. She looks up at him and begins to say thank you, but he speaks first, “Maybe this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.”
She shakes her head, “No matter what world, plane, or dimension I visit. There is always one constant. Bards are insufferable.”
He winks, “But,,,” She says, “But nothing. Thank you and your friends for coming to our aid, especially since you could have taken anything you wanted from us. I can’t repay that. I will warn you now of a few things. First, your girlfriend said I’m Death because my father is a demigod of Death, a Raven Knight. I don’t know about the Life part. Second, I’m married, and my wife could and probably would snap you in half. She is the jealous type, and I have eyes for no one else. Clear?” She places a finger on his chin, guides his face down to her so her mouth is next to his ear, and whispers, “Third, I know what your girlfriend is. Make sure you keep her under control. I assume you have a contract?” He nods.
She holds a hand out for Mr. G.: “Now, if my two protectors will help me, I want to see what happened. If anyone asks, I’m fine. Clear?” Anya smiles at the question, which reminds her of Kara.
Outside, most of the buildings are rubble. The Main Hall and the Portal Control Library walls stand, but the roofs are caved in. The tower that housed her, Kara’s, and Anya’s rooms are gone, broken off less than a quarter of the way up. The Infirmary is in place, and there is a buzz of people around it, along with the Arcane Library and the Library of Knowledge. All three buildings are being used to tend to the wounded.
The Stables are gone, but the Smithy, Temple, and Alchemy Lab still stand. On the other side of the road, next to them, the Commander’s Tower, where Camiella lives, is nothing but rubble. She sees Ugly inside, helping people find a place to sit or lie down. The World’s End Tavern has some holes in the roof but is primarily untouched.
Seeing the destruction, Sasha’s legs start to give out. Xeraelias catches her. He begins to say something but stops as she shakes her head and finds the strength to stand. She looks out where Wild Space would be and where the rest of Nexus should be, where they spent the last eighteen years pulling it together. Anya says, “It’s all gone. I could only bring Nexus Proper with us.”
Sasha looks at her with a question in her eyes. Anya continues, “Anyone who was out there is gone. I’m sorry.” Sasha places a hand on Anya’s neck and pulls her in to hold her, “We did our best. We evacuated everyone who wanted to go. The rest knew the danger. They died with honor, defending the Prime Realms.”
In the direction of the Infirmary, a piece of the hill rumbles and then lifts as people jump away, fearing another collapse. Under the boulder, she sees Charlie, her alchemy pump glowing red as she lifts the massive rock.
Charlie screams, “HELP! THERE ARE PEOPLE TRAPPED DOWN HERE. Sasha is half running, half dragging everyone else as she approaches. A big half-orc, Galga, and Gunthar run down and help take the weight as Charlie’s legs start to give, and several hoses on her alchemy device burst. Vadok’s, Galga’s, and Gunthar’s, all massively strong, legs nearly buckle from the weight when little Charlie releases it.
Laying just past Charlie, she sees Saturno lying unconscious and others kneeling over her. Charlie says, “We made it down there just before the portal, then everything collapsed. Saturno was burned by acid from one of the horrors as she blocked the passage, trying to stop it. I was able to stop the acid, but I couldn’t heal her.” Some people start to pick up Saturno, and Charlie yells at them, “Get a gurney, and only touch her left side.”
Sasha kneels next to Charlie and can now see that she is nearly one big bruise, where her muscles ruptured from pumping enough strength enhancers into herself to kill a giant. Charlie says, “I’ll live.”
Others place braces around the entrance and help Charlie, then start helping everyone else.
She stands and touches the hands of each person as they pass. All in all, 53 people come out of the underground chamber.
A goblin with blonde hair peers into the darkness, then with a heavy dwarven accent, she says, “Wait here. I’ll go see if anyone else be in there.” Galga and the half-orc, Vadok, follow the goblin in.
Sasha stands quietly, staring into the darkness until they return, shaking their heads. Vadok says, “There's a big dead something down there and a few,,,” Galga grabs his shoulder, shaking her head. “It’s one of the eldritch horrors. It looks like Saturno and Charlie gave it hell. You should go rest, Princess.”
The goblin stops next to Sasha, “Ye should know. It doesn’t look like they went down without a fight.” She takes Sasha’s hand, “I’m sorry.” Sasha smiles at her. The goblin says, “Grilk, Your Highness.” Then she walks on past, looking for the next place she is needed.
Sasha looks down in sorrow, then starts walking toward the triage area. There are more wounded than anything else. Those who can move are helping those who can’t. The dead are covered in blankets near the Library of Knowledge. There are too many of them. She thinks, “Maybe we should have…” Anya interrupts her thought, “We all voted on it. We, as a whole, decided to stay and fight. Any other decision would have been the end of everything. No second guessing yourself.”
Everyone lost someone in this. Sasha looks around again, proud to see everyone helping each other, still saddened by the loss.
Her vision grows dark around the edges. She hears people yelling. Mr. G. looks down at her.
She suddenly sits upright and leans over the side of the bed. There’s not much in her stomach, but what little is there ends up on the floor. Someone pulls her hair back and holds her forehead. Avvaran says, “Try to relax, Your Highness. You passed out. Being sick is expected. You took some hard hits, but your body is healed now.” Sasha looks up at her, confused. “I thought we had expended all of our healing resources?”
Avvaran sighs, “You’ve been out for three days, Your Highness.”
She coughs, “What?”
Avvaran says, “Three days. You fainted while checking on your people. You should not have been up walking around with your injuries.” Sasha asks, “Where is,,, is,” Avvaran says, “Anya is in the next room, hopefully sleeping. She sat next to you until she passed out. Those who can are doing what they can. Anya sent Charlie with the people who helped us, the Laughing Ogres. Charlie can check out more of this world and see what resources we can gather. She has a Sending Stone with her.” We found Ambriel and Encarna in the chamber below where you were; they’ve since recovered. They didn’t want to leave your side, but I convinced them they served you best by helping outside.
Sasha opens her mouth to say something but stops to wipe her tears away. Avvaran says, “No word one way or the other about Kara or Camiella. Those two are as tough as mountains. If anyone could survive, they could.” Sasha shakes her head, “No, I don’t think Camiella made it through this one. She deserves rest. This is what she has always wanted. Her pact has ended.”
Sasha thinks, “She knows Camiella and Kara would have sacrificed themselves for each other, hells for that matter, anyone at Nexus.” She smiles at Avvaran, “You’re right, Avvaran.” Her stomach tingles, and Sasha places a hand over it. “Is there anything to eat? Something light.” Avvaran leaves to find some food for Sasha.
A few minutes later, the door opens, and Anya peeks in. Sasha says, “You’re supposed to be asleep.” Anya walks in, climbs into the bed, and then lies beside Sasha. “She’ll be okay. I know she will. Even though I can’t feel her or the other Guardians, Kara will be okay.” Sasha says, “She’s survived worse.” She hears a faint snore and looks down to see Anya sound asleep.