Aran and Ava spar on the training ground with Lines, Sylnoa, and Sister Maen sitting on a retaining wall watching, along with several other Sisters. Lines asks Sylnoa, “What is your take on Kara?” Sylnoa looks at him and asks, “What do you mean?” He says, “She seems rather “focused” on wanting to kill her brother. Will she hold it together or go off the rails?” She says, “That’s an odd question. She just wants to stop him, and that thing is not her “brother.” She wants to protect us from it and is willing to risk herself and her child to do so.” He says, “Sorry, I mean, what if she has another mental break in the middle of fighting him, and it leaves us exposed?” Sylnoa glares at Lines, “You don’t trust that she can do it, do you? Why are you bringing this up now?” Lines shakes his head, “No, no, it’s not that. I trust her. It’s just the track record concerning him. I mean, Night Talon isn’t stellar.” Aran sends Ava flying across the sparing ground with a pulse from his shield. She lands on her backside and then uses the maul’s weight to return to standing.
Sylnoa says, “Drop it Lines. I don’t want to talk about this right now.” Lines shrugs. Ava charges back in, only to have Aran use his shield to draw her toward it. She slams into the shield and hits the ground again. Aran yells at her, “What gives? I’m throwing you all over the place today.” Ava throws the maul down and walks over to Sylnoa. Sylnoa hands her a water skin, “It’s okay, Ava, you’ve got this. He’s used the shield twice. He’s only got one more use.” Ava rinses her mouth and spits out blood, then takes a drink, “I need Dawnbreaker back.” Lines says, “I think it’s because of what happened last night.” Ava throws down the water skin and walks off. Sylnoa glares at Lines again, “Why in the hells would you remind her of that?”
Sylnoa hops off the wall and runs after Ava, “Ava, Ava, wait.” Aran picks up the maul and walks over to Lines and Sister Maen while watching Ava leave with Sylnoa chasing her, “What’s her problem?” Lines shrugs, “I think last night put her off her game. It makes me wonder if she’s up to this task.” Sister Maen glares at Lines and walks toward the Temple. Aran says, “Now, what am I going to do?” A Sister carrying a sword and shield walks over, “I’ll give you go.” She’s a muscular half-orc who, for some reason, looks familiar. A human Sister with blonde hair sits down next to Lines, “I prefer the art of casting spells over bashing in skulls. What about you?” She smiles at him.
Sylnoa catches up to Ava and tries to take her hand, which Ava smacks away before realizing who it is, “I’m sorry, Syl. I’m just off today.” Sylnoa smiles and reaches for Ava’s hand again, “It’s fine. You have every reason. We can’t be one hundred percent every day. Come on, let’s see if the bath is occupied.” Ava blushes at the mention of bathing together. Sylnoa leans against Ava, “Maybe you can show me what Caylee showed you?” The two of them start walking, leaning against each other. Ava says, “I think I want to take things a little slower than that; I need to know we mean something to each other.” Sylnoa starts to say something and then thinks better of it. Instead, she says, “I can understand that. But maybe you can show me in your mind?” Ava chuckles, “You’re hopeless.” Sylnoa smiles and gives her a peck on the lips, “I know, but you love me for it.”
Elra removes a ring from her desk and hands it to Kara, “Put this on.” Kara looks at it and smiles at her, “I didn’t know you cared. I mean, I’m already married, but.” Elra glares at Kara, “This ain’t the time to joke. All Sisters wear these rings; they allow us to track each other to find each other when we need help. If you get pulled away by him, we need to be able to find you fast.” Kara places the ring on a finger. It fits itself to her. Elra says, “Don’t you dare take that off.” She hands another to Shae, “The same goes for you, and you’ll let me know if she does. Right?” Shae quickly nods as she slides the ring onto her finger. Kara says, “We’re not going to move for a couple of days, at least. I don’t plan on leaving the temple grounds until we’re ready. I want Night Talon frustrated and ready to ambush us when he hears we’re roaming around town.”
Aran blocks and attacks. He can tell the Sister is going easy on him. She drives the point of her sword into his shield, pushing him back with the power of a mule’s kick. She casually blocks his mace, seemingly not even looking to see where the blow is coming from, “Is this how they teach warriors to fight where you come from?” Aran swings with everything he can; she blocks it again, spins under his shield, and stops with the point of her sword resting under his chin; she smiles at him. Aran jumps back, alarmed at the ease with which she did that, “Show me how you did that.” She stops, tilting her head curiously to the side, “Why, you would have little use for that with a mace? But, okay.” Aran attacks again; she blocks and parries, hitting his shield with blows that make Ava’s maul feel light. He sees an opening and attacks, and then she’s under his shield again, this time closer, with the flat of her blade resting against his ear. She kisses him, barely more than a peck, “Did you see how I did that?” Aran tries to kiss her, but she’s gone, “Nope, not that easy. If you want me, you better get under my shield. How about a little game?” Aran asks, “How do we play.” The Sister says, “You manage to kiss me, then we go find someplace a little more private.” Aran gets a very determined grin as he lunges in.
Ava and Sylnoa find the bath, but a few Sisters are in there, laughing and talking. When the Sisters see them look in, they try to leave, but a Sister says, “Come on in. You’re two of the ones who returned with Sister Stoutstorm, right?” They step into the bath area and both of them nod. Ava says, “Yes. We’re sorry to interrupt. We’ll leave you, Sisters, alone.” Another of the Sisters says, “Nonsense, get your clothes off and into the bath. The water is extra hot.” Ava and Sylnoa look at each other and shrug, then begin disrobing. Ava towels the sweat off from sparing with a bowl of water; Sylnoa watches her a little too closely as she gets in the tub; one of the Sisters pokes her backside. Sylnoa jumps and looks at the Sister as she motions toward Ava with her chin and winks.
Sylnoa smiles and nods. Then, she takes her time trying to get into the water. As promised, it’s very hot. She’s still trying to lower herself in when Ava gets in and submerges to her chin with a relaxing sigh. The three Sisters and Ava watch as Sylnoa slowly tries to lower herself, “I don’t see how this doesn’t cook you.” Ava says, “It feels so good.” Ava looks at the other three Sisters, an elf, a half-elf, and an earth elementi with green skin. Ava says, “I’m Ava. My tender side here is Syl, Sylnoa.” The elf introduces herself and the other two: “I’m Ula, my half-elf Sister is Siet, and my pretty little green Sister is Ari.” The other two stick their fingers above the water and wiggle them as Ula says their names.
Ava says, “Thank you for inviting us, Sister Ula.” Ula says, “Just Ula, we’re in the bath, no formal Sister stuff here.” Sylnoa slips and goes chin-deep and starts thrashing, trying to stand. Ava slides against her and wraps her arm around her waist, causing her to stop thrashing, “You’ll get used to it.” The three Sisters sit against each other, watching Ava and Sylnoa. Ari asks, “How did you two meet?” Ava pinches Sylnoa, making her squeak, “She tried to kill me.” Sylnoa says, “I did not. I tried to miss you. You jumped in front of my blade.” Ula says, “Now you’re lovers? Interesting, maybe I should have tried to kill these two. It took me forever to get them in the sack.” Ava turns red, and Sylnoa is already red from the heat. Ava looks at Sylnoa, “Well, we’re not “lovers” yet. We’re working our way there.”
Ava changes the subject as Sylnoa finally relaxes and puts her arm around Ava, “So, are all the Sisters clerics and paladins?” Siet shakes her head, “Oh no. We’re all different professions, and we all serve Veleris. Most of us had pretty bad lives before, and the Sisters of Veleris either got us out of where we were trapped, or we got out and found our way here. A few of us didn’t come from our own hells but were called to serve by Veleris. Either way, we’re all Sisters. What is it you two do?” Ava answers, “I’m a Paladin of Elirae, but I also serve Galathor.” She looks at Sylnoa. Sylnoa hesitates. Ula says, “It’s alright. No one is elevated or looked down on here.” Sylnoa answers, “I’m a mystic. I can see auras, see into minds, and such.” Ula smiles slyly, “Okay, what am I thinking?” Sylnoa relaxes and closes her eyes. Then her eyes pop open, “Oh my, Oh. Oh wow, that’s how, oh.” Somehow, she manages to turn a deeper shade of red.
Stolen story; please report.
There is a hard knock at Elra’s door, “ENTER!” The door opens, and an acolyte stands there. Sister Stoutstorm, your presence is requested in the vault.” Elra asks, “Is there a reason girl?” The acolyte says, “Sisters Xiam and Varsk cannot continue transcribing the book you sent to them.” Elra stands, as does everyone else. Kara tells Shae, “Work with Sister Amethyst, see if the dimension stepping stunt works, try as many times as you can. I’m going with Elra.” Shae says to Kara, “But Shae is Kara’s protector. Shae should go with Kara.” Kara replies, “Shae, Kara is in the safest place. Shae is protecting Kara by working with Sister Amethyst.” Shae gets a big smile and nods.
Elra and Kara leave. Kara asks, “What do you think the problem is? I think my handwriting is decent.” Elra shakes her head, “Who knows with those two? I keep them down there because everything upsets them. I read part of it, and your handwriting is excellent.” The two walk down several flights of stairs to where Kara thinks they are at least fifty feet below ground and stop next to a door with a lock and a latch. Elra lifts the latch but doesn’t open the door, then inserts a key in the lock; she turns it three times counter-clockwise, four clockwise, half turn counterclockwise again, drops the latch and then removes the key. The wall to Kara’s left slides up. Kara says, “Impressive.”
Elra says, “If you open the door, it leads into a room with a gargantuan horde mimic.” Kara nods, “Fought one of those once. They’re nasty things. But once you kick their proverbial ass, they’re interesting to talk to. They relate everything to food.” They enter through the secret entrance. Kara sees a large stone room with walls covered in runes, and several rows of shelves, all tightly packed with items in crates, bags, and even jars, and each item has a tag hanging from it. Kara sees one tag, “U89M0H7,” And asks Elra, “What’s with the cryptic numbers on the things?” Elra says, “Everything is contained in a container protected with antimagic; the tag matches the item’s name and description in a catalog stored in another vault. It makes finding anything specific harder for anyone who makes it this far. We keep things Sisters could use here and things we don’t want to get out.” Kara nods, “We had the same thing at Nexus. I guess crashing into a planet proves we need to improve it. The room always gave me the creeps, so many intelligent items, and artifacts.”. Elra points at suits of armor along the wall, ten in total. Those are iron golems. If you enter here without one of our rings, they attack. The ring must be attuned to the Sister by me.” She continues to walk while she explains. They walk out into a well-lit area lined with books and tables. Books are lying all over the place, some opened, some closed. It has two tilted desks sitting side-by-side with oversized, comfortable-looking leather chairs. The two Sisters in question are sitting beside the wall, and both seem upset. Elra barks out, “Sisters, what seems to be the problem.”
Sister Xiam stands and wipes her eyes, “We’re sorry, Sister Stoutstorm, but this journal you gave us to transcribe is very upsetting. We cry every time we get a few words in.” Kara places a hand on Elra’s shoulder, “How do you think the girl who wrote this felt? The suffering she had to endure, both awake and asleep. Yet she recorded this for future generations after she was gone so she wouldn’t be forgotten. Hoping we would learn from her experience and not allow something like this to happen again.” Kara looks to see where they are. They are transcribing Cyndra’s torture. “Sisters, I see that you are at a very rough point. I think you will find that this part concludes with a very happy ending, but it is way later. I also see you are not drawing the pictures. Karael, along with being a warrior, was also an artist, and the pictures she placed in her journal had a lot of meaning. Just skipping them or going back later and adding them will leave her journal incomplete. The meaning will be lost, she will be forgotten, and I don’t think any of us wants that, do we?”
The two Sisters shake their heads. Elra says, “We’re going to do it, and do it correctly this time.” Kara says, “Read it completely before you begin again. Another thing, “Karael used charcoal for the writing and drawing. That way, if she made a mistake, she could erase and rewrite it. The ink was hard to use in the field all the time. It would spill, get wet, and run. Do them with charcoal. Writing in her journal was Karael’s happiest time, and her life creed was, “Memories make us who we are now.” Enjoy reading it. She would enjoy knowing someone read it and learned from it.” Sister Varsk says, “You speak like you knew this Sister.” Kara says, “I know this girl; I knew her when she was tiny. I’m learning who she is again.” Sister Xiam looks at Kara as it dawns on her, “What is your name, Sister?” Kara looks at Sisters and Elra, “This journal is a copy of the original. Elirae gave me the original. It transcribed my life experience. When I gave the original to Sydra, I had to rewrite it. Personally, I think writing it myself helps me to reflect. I’m only telling you two this because I want this properly done. My name is Karael Vala Elyslynn Proudshard Cinderblade.”
Kara smiles at Elra, “To hells with it. I hate secrets.”
Both Sisters sit there, stunned and staring. Elra starts to speak, but Kara holds up her hand, “Sister Xiam, Sister Varsk. Cyndra is one of my best friends. She is a Godmother to my children, Lydria, Gaelan, and Phyrra.” Both Sisters stand and go back to the journal. Sister Xiam closes it and reopens it from the beginning. Kara looks at Elra, “I think I’ll stay here for a while and answer any questions Sisters Xiam and Varsk have concerning my entries. If that’s okay with you? Plus, I need to reread it myself.”
Elra pulls up a chair, “I want to hear about this original journal and the full story of how a green dragon got it from you.” Xiam and Varsk say, “We can listen while we prepare.” Kara looks around, finds a pitcher of ice water, and pours herself some before sitting in an oversized, comfortable chair. “The journal was given to me by Elirae when I tried to kill myself after Arden cursed me. It’s not the type of journal you write it. When I picked it up, my entire life flashed before my eyes; it recorded everything in its pages from the moment I was born. I, I never had the courage to look back in it before I gave it to Sydra. You didn’t just read this journal like you do that one. If you opened it to an entry, you would experience it through my eyes. It recorded my every thought, action, what I’ve seen,,, every pain."
Kara realizes her hands are shaking. She grasps her hands together to stop. She sees that Elra has noticed, and she smiles at her, “I’ve told Elra a little of this. We had gone to Varin Drumth. We were chasing information on the Cult of the Dragon Queen. While we were there, the king called us into his private chamber. He explained that his prospectors ran into some kobolds and were chased off. He made it sound like the prospectors were running for their lives. We searched for days. I was beginning to thing we were going in circles. East was west, and the mountains behind us were in front of us the following day. Even the sun was rising in the west and setting in the north. Nothing made sense. Then, there it was—a crevasse in the ground at the base of a mountain. Large ropes descended into darkness. We climbed down, and before us, we saw a castle buried for millennia. We found the kobolds in the castle. Stupid us instantly jumped into a fight with them. I saw that they were just trying to defend themselves from us. I called for everyone to stop, but Malachi killed one. I surrendered to them. My brothers nearly freaked out. They took us to a dwarf they claimed to be their queen. The dwarf turned out to be a green dragon. A very old one at that. Her name was, no is Sydra. Sydra the Seeker."
She lets go of her hands. They aren’t shaking anymore. “Sydra’s actual lair is in the Fey Wild. In her world, the seas are bright green, the sky varies through the entire rainbow of colors, the plants glow, and some even seem to have sentience.” She sees Varsk writing down everything she is saying. “The Library of Sydra the Seeker is magnificent. It’s difficult to tell if it was built or grown. From the outside, it’s about four stories tall; the inside seems almost endless. Her real self, the dragon, and she sleeps on the fifth floor. Sydra appears to be, and is in, several places at once. All of them were doing research, reading, or talking to someone, mostly her kobolds. Each one is her, she is fantastic. Books, tomes, manuals, scrolls, and types of recording devices I’ve never dreamed of are everywhere, and she seems to know where each is.
Kara looks around the room at all the items cataloged, “Sydra has so many magical treasures. It would make this collection and what Nexus had look like a street vendor. That is where I found the Girdle of Trials with The Dawn Bringer’s symbols. She told me I could have it if I could give her something. All I had was my journal. I showed it to her. Suddenly, she was like a child, giddy with excitement. I didn’t think my life was near the worth of an artifact like the girdle, but she wanted it.” Kara looks at Elra, “You reminded me of her when I gave you that journal.” Elra says, “Don’t write that.” She asks Kara, “You said you want to go to her lair, so you know where it is?”
Kara shakes her head no and says, “Yes and no. I don’t remember where it is, but I feel like I can find it. Her lair is protected by a glamour that makes it impossible to navigate. To tell the truth, I don’t know how we found it. I know we started in Varin Drumth. When we left we walked out of the forest, outside of Gastulin.” Xiam says, “Gastulin is weeks away from Varin Drumth.” Kara answers, “Exactly. I don’t know how it works. I don’t even know for sure that Sydra is alive. We were told The Cult of the Dragon Queen found her and murdered her. I don’t know if my journal is still there. It frightens me to think some with less than good intentions has it.”
Elra stands and turns to the door, “I’ll send Sister Silentstar down with some food for everyone.”