Kara waits for everyone to enter the room, then closes the door, “Hopefully, tonight will be quiet, and we can all get some much-needed rest.” Ava says, “How about a story about Nexus we don’t know?” Kara looks at Persi, “I think Persi would better tell that. He’s been at Nexus longer than I.” Persi thinks briefly, “This is about Anya, and you didn’t hear this from me.” Aran, Ava, and Kara get excited about this, and all three sit down on the floor around him. Shae gets up on her table to list.
Persi thinks about the story he is about to tell, trying to remember as many details as possible, “Shortly after I arrived at Nexus, the Chain Breakers were a whole different group. They were a little more roguish, no offense. This means they did things the way they wanted to do things. Don’t get me wrong; they were a good group. They were still getting to know Sasha and hadn’t really accepted her as their Monarch.” He looks at Kara, “No offense, but she gave them every reason to.” Kara smiles, knowing how her wife can be at times.
He continues, “Anyway, they went to a world looking for an artifact called The Soul Forge. This world had been involved in a war against chaos ten thousand years ago. The world was dying.” Ava feels chills, which sounds similar to what happened in her world. But remains silent. “The Soul Forge had been activated. After much searching, the Chain Breakers found themselves exploring some ancient catacombs deep beneath the city that they determined to be the source of some strange happenings. They first found this room with another adventurer in a cage. They started to let her out, but she started screaming for them to leave her. Not to open the cage. But it was too late. The cage opened. They heard a sound like a jar with a rusty lid unscrewing. Then they saw it.” Shae yells, “WHAT?”
Persi traces an arcane rune in the air. The light in the room instantly dies. He traces another rune, and a stone in his hand lights up. He holds it under his chin.” A chthonic doll. All of them looked like Anya, only small. Not much larger than my hand.” Aran says, “What?” Persi’s smile turns ominous. “As the dolls swarmed out, they exposed rows of needle-like teeth. Hundreds of them began to climb, jump, and run everywhere. They swarmed the room, covering the Chain Breakers. They fought like demons. The dolls crawled into their armor, biting and gnawing, screaming like hollow, undead things. When it was over, the Chain Breakers stood victorious. They saw the remains of the other adventuring company. Not eaten, just chewed and rechewed until nothing was left but ground meat. The adventurer they found had closed the cage door. She was huddled in the center with her hands over her ears, shaking. They had no choice but to leave her, telling her they would return later to take her home.”
Persi pauses, looking around to make sure everyone is paying attention. “They continued. Deeper into the catacombs. The next area they entered was a large open room, the far end vanishing into darkness. A ballista bolt slammed into the wall beside them when they stepped out. Then another hit Ithalad as he pushed Alhindri back into the hall. The Chain Breakers spread out, rushing in the direction, as another hit Bor, knocking him back. Birdbrain was returning fire but could not see what to shoot at. Rowan nearly ran off a ledge, dropping into an abyss. Then, they stopped as suddenly as they started. She could see three ballistas pointing straight at her from where she was. She had nowhere to go. Then, a face appeared in one of the murder holes. She was staring at herself. Then another next to another ballista, then a third. Then, the wall in front of her lowered. Four Rowans, only much younger looking, walked out and looked at her. The rest of the Chain Breakers assembled around her, unsure what to do next.”
Aran and Shae both say, “What in the fuck, fucks?” Persi continues, “The young Rowans walked to the Chain Breakers, reaching for Rowan saying things like, “She’s here.”, “The sister is here.”, “The destroyer has arrived.”, “The mothers will be proud.”. Not understanding what was happening, they began asking them questions, but they couldn’t get anything from them besides the same cryptic words. The Chain Breaker entered the area where the young girls who looked like Rowan were. They found a bridge passing over another abyss, leading to an older crypt. As they approached the older crypt, a voice called out, “You little bitches better save some of that meat for us. If any of them are men, bring them alive. Granny needs a man.”
Kara says, “By the grace of The Dawn Bringer and the vengeance of Raventh. I haven’t heard this story. I’ve fought many things, but undead, hags, and whatever that was. I know how Rowan’s sisters, Ash, Rose, and Ziri, came to Nexus. This is not that story. Please tell me that was not them.”
Persi smiles at Kara, “I bet you haven’t heard all of that story either.” He winks at her, “There they found a coven of hags, using The Soul Forge to consume the souls of everyone on the world that died. It wasn’t allowing any new life to begin. After a long battle and getting split up into three battle fronts, the Chain Breakers slew the hags and stopped the ritual with the Soul Forge that was draining the world's life. Ithalad had flipped the Soul Forge off the table and onto the floor, breaking the ritual. They gathered up everything and brought it back to Nexus. When they returned, I saw that the Soul Forge could be used to make potent potions and elixirs, so I asked for it. A few days after that, strange things started happening around Nexus.”
Kara, Ava, and Aran have all scooted up close now, and Shae has gotten off the table and joined them, listening intently. This is something Aran and Ava haven’t heard. Kara had only heard what Anya had told her about how and when she arrived at Nexus and about being alone in the dark for thousands of years, but she never told it like this. Ava says, “Wait, back up. What about the Rowans, the young ones?” Persi says, “Oh yeah, Boom, Dats, Niz, and Um.” Ava leans forward, “Seriously, the changeling sisters? Why did they,,,” Persi interrupts, “They were the children of the hags. You’ll understand soon.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Persi continues, “It started as little things. Someone would see something out of the corner of their eye. A guard would see something move and then not find anything when they went to investigate. Then, one night, I was sound asleep, and for some reason, I awoke. I had my back to my lab. For some reason, I was covered in chills, and I knew something was behind me, standing there and waiting. I slowly turned over and saw this ghostly little girl standing and looking at the cauldron. I, of course, thought it was a dream, and then she was in my face. “AAAAAH!”
Narri appears from the shadows, making Persi jump. He laughs and waits for everyone to get comfortable before continuing. “The guards burst into my room. But when they got there, there was nothing to see. I spent a few days being made fun of. I convinced myself it was just my imagination. But the potions I created using that cauldron were far stronger than they should have been. When I say far stronger, I mean a regular healing potion was like a supreme healing potion. Sasha just thought I was getting good at my job. No one was complaining. Then a young cleric came running out of the infirmary screaming that the dead were rising.”
Narri yells, “Undead are an abomination.” All four jump at Narri’s sudden outburst. She looks around, “Well, they are.”
Persi smiles at Narri, then continues, “The Chain Breakers were at Nexus at the time, so they went looking. They didn’t have to look far. Sasha yelled for them. They ran into the Portal Control Room. The girl was in there. She was manipulating Nexus. She locked eyes with Rowan, Screaming at her, “How dare you replace me.” The girl looked just like the changeling sisters and a young Rowan. She had tormented the changeling sisters, driving them nearly insane. They started taking on her appearance. She waved a hand over the runes, and then every door on Nexus slammed shut. She said, “I will kill you all and play with your souls forever.” No matter what they did, they couldn’t touch her. Nothing was affecting her. I was locked in my lab. All doors slammed shut wherever anyone was, and the magical lights and fires died. They couldn’t touch her, so they started trying to talk to her. Back then, Anya wasn’t in a talking mood. She wanted to kill everyone.”
Persi looks at Kara worriedly, “You know about the previous Monarch of Nexus, right?” Kara nods, “Yeah, Mazinall. Her soul was split, and my and Sasha’s souls were created. The gods wanted to make sure Mazinall could never be reincarnated.” Persi nods, “Maybe I should have checked with you before telling this story.” Kara says, “It’s okay.” Everyone looks at Kara. She says, “Another story, for another time.”
Persi says, “To shorten that story and as a prepper for it. Mazinall sacrificed Anya to the Soul Forge 10,000 years ago to complete the ritual. Anya was not happy about that. She was less happy about being sealed away in the dark and left alone for 10,000 years. When Sasha stepped forward to speak to her, she focused all her anger on her. She saw Mazinall in Sasha. She saw the source of her pain. Anya began collapsing the atmosphere around Nexus. With no other way out, Sasha went full-blown Phoenix Sorcerer mode. She burned a hole through stone and steel from The Portal Control Room to the front of the Main Keep. She blasted her way into my lab. I mean, wreathed in flame, horns like a crown on her head, bat-like wings. It was scary. I had never seen her like that. She was pissed. She grabbed the Soul Forge and carried it to the edge of Nexus to throw it into the void.”
Persi nods and says, “Yep, it was going to go. I was chasing her, trying to stop her. Just when she was about to heave it off, Anya appeared. Pleading with her, “Please don’t, I’m sorry. It’s been so long since I had the company of others besides goblins and hags. Please don’t throw me into the dark again.” Sasha stopped. She no longer saw the undead spirit, she saw a sacred little girl. Anya continued to beg her not to throw the Soul Forge into the void of space. She would start to heave it out, undecided, and Anya would make another promise not to bother people. The doors opened, and the atmosphere started returning to normal. Finally, she promised to return to the Soul Forge and never come out again. She sat it down on the edge and made her swear never to hurt Nexus or its people. From then on, for the next few weeks, she would appear and talk to people, and everyone started learning who she was and what happened to her. Even Sasha began to understand her. It turned out that Rowan’s father, her creator, made Rowan in the likeness of Anya. He even gave Rowan her memories up until Mazinall murdered Anya. We learned that her father was a prominent figure in a war to contain the Chained God ten thousand years ago. He had to become a lich god to gain enough power to save the Prime Realms.” Narri hisses.
Persi bows his head to her, “The Soul Forge was the key to the process, and his daughter had invited her into his laboratory when Mazinall had sent him away on a pointless mission to retrieve an item she said would keep him from having to sacrifice his daughter. She had lied to him. Mazinall had asked her if she wanted to see the Soul Forge. Of course, she did. At seven years old, she had already mastered more magic than most wizards who spent a lifetime studying it. Mazinall pushed Anya into the molten steel from which the Soul Forge would be cast. After the war was over, he couldn’t find his daughter. He grieved that she was killed in the war. But he was determined, so he kept trying to find her, never knowing she had become a part of the cauldron he used daily in his research. She could see and hear him but not communicate with him. Over the centuries, she learned nearly everything he knew about the arcane and necromancy. Eventually, though, he moved on. The Soul Forge was forgotten; she was left in the dark and the depths of the catacombs. Occasionally being found by this or that until the Chain Breakers brought her to Nexus. She despised the living. She learned to manifest outside of the Soul Forge. She would make games of driving the living insane.”
Kara says, “Then?” Persi says, “Then it gets interesting. We hadn’t had any celebrations on Nexus. The morale was getting low. Sasha was getting frustrated after several weeks of studying how the portals worked and not figuring out anything. Rowan could open them to Mis’Tornel, Oakvale, and Veniethea. But that was it. She wanted to create a portal to High Throne, her true home.” Narri bows, saying, “Raven Knight Cinderblade.” Persi nods, “Then, Anya appeared next to her. At first, it was tense. Then, as if nothing had ever happened between them, Anya showed her how to create a portal to High Throne. Suddenly, the universe and the Prime Realms were open to us. Sasha invited her mother to Nexus. Everything was prepared for Queen Dana Cinderblade to visit. All the pomp and circumstance. Banners, feasts, music, dancing. You name it. Then the day came. Her mother came with a company of shadow elf Death Guard, court advisors, and so on. As the visitor of honor, she sat on the throne of Nexus. Greeting everyone, accepting gifts. Then Anya stepped up to the throne—the Queen of Death with a little undead girl standing before her. We didn’t know what was going to happen. Sasha stepped up to try to calm the situation. But there was no need. Queen Cinderblade stepped from the throne and kneeled beside Anya. The Queen touched Anya’s forehead, but her finger didn’t go through her; it actually touched her. Anya hugged her, then Anya turned and ran from the Main Hall, leaving tracks in the confetti that had been scattered and by Sasha, rippling past her dress.” Kara says, “No way.”
That night, everyone sleeps peacefully, and Narri keeps watch.