Aran sees Ava, Xanathe, one of the Sisters that stayed with them, and Sisters Seit and Noddlenoddle, who rode from Flamegarden with them, enter the temple grounds, “You made it. We should head back to Flamegarden.” Sister Amber steps in front of him, “You still need another day; I’m sure they do, too. At least think about your mounts.” Ava wants to run, but her body refuses. She says, “Sister Vosri headed back that way already to collect the Sisters that fell out.” I asked her to wait for us at the place we camped the first night out of Crossroads.” Aran looks at Sister Amber, “I guess we need to rest for another day, then we can head back.” Ava tries to hide a worried look. Aran asks, “What? You’re worried about something?” Ava looks at the Sisters she rode in with, “When I summoned Chomasuke, she told me that she saw Kara and Sasha at home.” Aran gets a smile, “That’s good, right? No, your expression is saying no.” Ava says, “Home for Chomasuke is Elysium. But she also said they went away.” Ava shakes her head before he can ask another question, “I don’t know what that means. Maybe they died and were brought back. I don’t know.” Ava hugs Aran, “We’ll find out as soon as we can.” Sister Amber says, “Inside, everyone. If you want to ride back tomorrow, you rest now.”
At some point during the night, Kara wakes. Shae has curled up in the fetal position in the corner. She eases Sylnoa over and sneaks from under the bed with just the blanket around her. She crawls to the doorway of the room, where two Sisters stand dozing in and out. Without a sound, she crawls around them as they doze and goes to the main hall, which is empty at night. From there, she goes to the temple, careful to look around every corner. In the temple, she finds what she is looking for: Gaelan.
Very carefully, she approaches the body. His armor and items have been removed. He is draped in the colors of Elirae. She stands there, at first just looking at him. Then she leans over him and kisses his forehead, “I love you, Gaelan.”. She holds up her hand and looks at the four rings: The Ring of the Sisters, The Ring of the Monarch, and her Wedding Set that Sasha gave her. She removes all four and lays them on the altar before leaving the temple in the night. Once she is deeper into Flamegarden, she starts talking to Fearless and asking him to come, but he doesn’t appear. She asks for Chomasuke, but she doesn’t appear either; the voice says, “See, you’re a burden, even they don’t want you.” Kara’s shoulders sag as she roams off down an alley. She thinks to herself, “I’ll find us a quiet place, and we’ll live in peace.”
Ka’Amas kneels on a rooftop near the temple, watching her. He connects to his Master, Malichi, “My Lord, she has left the temple. Alone.”
Sasha hands letters to Encarna, Casmos, Galga, and Bruthan, “Each says the same thing. When you see Kara, give her a letter and tell her I’m sorry, I was a fool.” The lack of confusion tells her Encarna has already spoken to them, saving her from having to recount it again. Encarna, Galga, and Bruthan all go to a knee and bow their heads. Galga looks up at Casmos, and he says, “What? I kneel to no one.” He looks at Sasha, “Princess, I don’t know your Kara. I’ve heard everyone around here say nothing but great things about her. We’ll find her and bring her home.”
Shae runs to the door, looking around. She looks at the Sisters on guard, “Where is Kara?” The looks on their faces tell her everything she needs to know. She bolts down the hall as the Sisters look into the room. Sylnoa is standing up when she sees the Sisters on guard and their auras; she takes off down the hall, too. One Sister starts running from room to room, looking and knocking over things in the process; the other Sister runs to Elra’s room; she doesn’t bother knocking. The words echo down the hall, “WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN SHE’S GONE!?”
Sisters come pouring out of rooms searching. Elra runs to the front steps; dawn is in thirty minutes, and she tells herself repeatedly, “She’s on the steps, praying, she’s on the steps praying.” She slides to a stop, no sign of Kara. Other Sisters come running out, shaking their heads. Elra says, “Check the vaults, the temple, the training grounds.” Sisters scatter. Sylnoa comes running out, and Elra shakes her head. Both turn to go back in to look when Shae walks out, looking at something in her hand. She shows them the four rings.
Kara sits behind some trash bins in an alley in the slums. She has torn a hole in the blanket large enough to get her head through and tied a piece of rope she found around her waist, “What now, dummy? Sasha doesn’t want to touch me; Fearless is gone, and even Chomasuke has left. I’m a useless burden to everyone around me. I release everyone from their contract with me.”
Their pacts appear within feet of Sylnoa, Ava, Aran, and Sister Maen and burn.
“I tell you I heards someone back here.” Another voice says, “We’ve been out all night. Can we just go get some sleep?” The first man replies, “We go back empty-handed, and the boss’ll beat the shit out of us.” The second man says, “It’s not our fault everyone is hiding since that fight.”
A human man kicks the bins away from which Kara is hiding behind, and she moves back on her hands and feet, “Leave me alone.”
An elf grabs her ankle. “Look, Wyn, a girl. Not bad looking, either. Maybe we can have some fun after all.” Kara kicks his hand, breaks his grip, and tries to run.
The human tackles her, taking her to the ground, “Ohs, she’s feisty. Bets she’ll squirm.” Kara elbows him in the side of the head and comes up running.
The human yells out in pain, “Grabs her Sorro.” The elf jumps at her, but she suddenly stops, causing him to overshoot and slam into a wall. She takes off again.
She comes out of the alley at a run when something hard hits her in the back of the knee, sending her sliding across the cobblestones and into a sewer opening. She bangs from one side of the tunnel to the other as she slides down, falling, the faint light from the opening quickly fading. She comes to an instant stop when her back slams into a rock floor, splashing up sewage. Everything goes black when the impact blows all the air out of her lungs.
Sylnoa reaches for the ashes of the contract but it singes her fingers. She looks up at Elra as Arden comes running out.
Ava had just awakened for her morning prayer when the pact appeared and burned, “ARAN!” She sees his contract burn as his eyes pop open, and he leaps out of the bed, reaching for his mace. Catching only a brief glimpse, “What was that?” She replies, “Our pacts with Kara.” The other Sisters are rising up. Seit asks, “What’s going on?” Ava yells, “Something is happening. We had pacts binding us to Kara, and they just appeared and burned.” Aran says, “We’re going now. The rest of you can stay. Ava and I are out of here.” Aran grabs his armor and shield, already headed for the door, with Ava on his heels. The other Sisters are snatching up their items, trying to follow. By the time the rest of the Sisters get outside, Fearless is waiting for Aran to mount while Ava pulls the straps of his armor tight. Manze says, “Don’t run them into the ground.” Indicating to Fearless and Chomasuke, “We’ll gather some supplies and try to catch up.” Seit and Xanathe say, “Screw that as they shove their armor into bags of holding.” They summon their marrowfang stalkers. Xanathe says, “I’ll dress later.” Aran swings up on Fearless as Ava, Seit, and Xanathe mount up. The four of them ride off in the dark, with the sun beginning to rise behind them. Ava uses the amulet again as soon as they reach the edge of Cragcall.
Ari, Ula, Rasome, and Tai take the steps four at a time as they run down and toward the exit to the temple grounds. Shae takes off after them. Arden looks at Elra, “Are you just going to let them go?” She looks up at him, “Ula, Rasome, and Shae are probably three of the best trackers within a hundred miles. Ari and Tai can support them with spells. The rest of us need a plan.” She looks at Sylnoa, “Any ideas?” Sylnoa shakes her head and looks at Arden, “She knows how not to exist. If we find her, it will be because she allows us to or through divine intervention.” Arden nods, “She’s correct. She will make herself as small and invisible. She knows how to survive on nothing.” Elra yells at him, “She’s pregnant, Arden; she may be able to, but what about the child?”
Other Sisters look at Elra; she yells at them, “I don’t know how this happened, and right now, I don’t care. As soon as the sun is up, I want every Sister out there to look and ask questions. Someone somewhere heard or saw something. I don’t care how small she is. Someone knows something.” Arden steps in front of Sylnoa, “Why would she do this?” He looks like a giant, and she starts to tear up, “I, I,” He kneels in front of her, “My daughter, Cyndra, has red hair, the same color as the streaks of red in yours. Maybe that’s why I trusted you the second I saw you; maybe it’s because I know you’re as kind, pure, and strong as she is. You know Kara.” He looks out toward the city, “I consider her my daughter too. I know some things are bothering her, and Fast,,, Veleris hinted at some stuff. Kara trusts you too; otherwise, she would not allow you as close as she has.”
Sylnoa looks at the blisters on her hands. Arden heals her hands. Sylnoa says, “Last night, Shae shared a dream with us, and I guided us so Kara wouldn’t have a bad one. Her brother appeared and said, “It’s time to say goodbye, Kara.” She went under the bed. It took us a little while, but she let us join her. I guess she felt safer there.” She looks from Arden to the ground, then back to Arden, “I looked into her mind as she dosed off. I saw images of her with Sasha, and then Sasha pushed her away. I, I heard a voice when I reached into Kara’s mind. It was Sasha’s voice; she said she was a burden on everyone she touched. Then, I caught a very brief image of Sasha realizing what she had done, and it ended. Maybe Kara doesn’t think anyone wants her.” Arden looks at Elra, “That’s what Veleris was saying when she said that she and Elirae may have messed things up.”
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Elra sits down on the steps; Arden looks at her as she closes her eyes and starts saying the tenants of Elirae. Arden joins her, and then Sylnoa sits between them. She takes their hands. She hopes they don’t mind. She shows them the memory of Kara sitting on the wall outside World’s End, as her smile lights the world when she sees Sasha approaching. She feels the touch of Elirae as the sun rises.
Kara coughs as she opens her eyes, thinking, “Did I hear something.” She hears a low growl echo down the sewer tunnels and something heavy wading through the sewage. She scrambles to her feet, looking around; there are several small tunnels. One erupts with a torrent of sewage. She can’t tell which way the creature is. She runs for another tunnel when it erupts. Whatever it roars, she goes to a knee, covering her ears. Then, she runs, and something big comes into her vision ahead; she slides to a stop, spins, and runs in the other direction. She hears it start running behind her. It roars again; this time, she feels its breath; it’s so close. She hears a voice in her mind, “Stop, come to me, you be safe and warm with me.”
She trips and slides, banging against a wall and sliding into a small side tunnel. The creature slides to a stop, snapping at the small tunnel and trying to dig in. It roars, and the small tunnel compresses and amplifies the sound; she tries to cover her ears but feels her vision fading as she slides deeper into the tunnel. Further inside the tunnel, she sees a wall of sewage heading her way. The light shines from above, and she scrambles up just as the sewage sweeps underneath her. Bracing her arms and legs against the walls of the vertical tunnel, she holds herself there until the sewage stops flowing. She looks up but sees nothing. When she tries to put a foot down, she slips and hits hard on her butt.
She rubs the back of her head; her hand comes away red with blood. Her back hurts. It feels like there are at least a few cracked ribs. She uses lay on hands, but nothing happens. She sighs, then laughs, “Fuck it.” She tries to cast a healing spell on herself, but again, nothing happens. She thinks to herself, “Not even Elirae wants to touch me now.”
The second prayer is over, and Sisters fan out. Elra, Arden, and Sylnoa go to the Temple of Bahamut. A priest greets them, “Welcome, Sister Stoutstorm.” Elra looks at him, trying to remember his name, but can’t, “Please tell me Leo is still here.” He shakes his head, “Leo left just after Karael visited. There are only two of us here now. Me and my acolyte. Is there something I can help you with?” Elra looks up at Arden and at Sylnoa, “Karael is missing. We don’t know where she went. Would you help us find her?” The priest seems to be listening to something or someone, and he shakes his head. “Karael has decided to leave. She must decide to return. We can not help.” Elra yells, “WAIT, YOU BUNCH OF DRAGON HUMP,,,” Arden grabs her and pulls her back, “Not the time Elra.” He looks at the priest, “Thank you for your advice, Daven.” Outside, Elra turns on him, “These bunch of holier than thou dragon humpers were on their knees worshipping her the other day; now they won’t lift a finger to search for her?” They return to The Temple of Veleris. Sylnoa says, “The Sisters were using divination to prepare for the battle, will that help.” Both Arden and Elra say, “Already tried.” Elra says, “I heard nothing.” She looks at Arden, and he shakes his head.
Ula and Ari are waiting for them on the steps. They run to them as soon as they see them, “We tracked what we think is her going into the slums. Several of us are focusing there. We found a woman who thought she heard a fight this morning and two men yelling about grabbing a girl.” Arden says, “Do the Bloodhoods run the slums here?” Elra nods, unsure if she wants to know where this is going. He continues, “If word has gotten from Cragcall, the Bloodhoods could be after her. She kind of destroyed their operation there.” Elra looks down and shakes her head. “This just gets better and better. She’s out there alone, thinks everyone hates her or has abandoned her, and now the Bloodhoods probably want her dead or worse.”
Kara moves as quietly as possible to the larger tunnel. She stops and listens for a while but hears nothing. Very cautiously, she eases out to the tunnel and peeks around one corner and then the other. She doesn’t see the creature. She steps out and slowly starts limping, looking for a way out. At each intersection, she slows and listens; at one point, she takes one step she shouldn’t have and goes down over her head in sewage. When she comes up, she hears something large moving somewhere. She thinks she sees light in a tunnel and limps as fast as she can; just as she ducks in, she sees something emerging from an intersection ahead. The creature stops there for a while like it’s waiting. Then it lunges down the tunnel it was headed like it’s after something. She sits down.
All the Sisters except Rasome, Shae, and Tai have returned by dark. Ula reports to Arden and Elra, “No one found any more signs of her, and the slums have gone quiet; even the Bloodhoods have withdrawn into the shadows, acting like they want nothing to do with this hunt.”
Ula says, “I told Shae we need to return, and she ignored me. I may as well not say anything.” Elra looks angry when Ula says, “She took off and lost me; I tried to keep up with her. Rasome and Tai are looking for her.” Elra lets the anger fade at Ula, knowing no one can keep up with or track Shae if she doesn’t want them to.
Kara hears her name and opens her eyes, “What?” Realizing she dozed off, she shakes her head and instantly regrets doing that. The pain nearly causes her to pass out. Her vision gets fuzzy on the edges and shrinks into a tight tunnel. She touches the back of her head, and a wave of pain so intense hits her that it causes her to throw up, not that she has anything to throw up. She slowly stands, bracing against the wall, and starts limping again.
Arden says, “I’ve cast divination so many times Veleris may kick me out again. I got back more questions than answers. “She must see that she is loved.” “Suffering will lead to the death of three or the truth. “She is beyond the site.”, “Magic can’t touch her.” blah, blah, blah.” Several Sisters look at him strangely for saying blah, blah, blah when speaking of Veleris. Elra’s head snaps up, “Magic can’t touch her?”
He nods, “Yeah. Does that mean something to you?” She says, “Maybe. When we were rebuilding Flamegarden, there were many magical runoffs of alchemical mixtures from some illegal operations and whatnot. That caused some creatures to mutate in the sewers, so the answer was to create an antimagic field that covered the sewers. Magic doesn’t work down there. Arden, there are miles and miles of sewer down there, and some of those monsters are still down there. Not even the Bloodhoods use the sewers to travel out of sight.” He stands, “Show me where the nearest sewer entrance is.” Sylnoa stands with him. He looks at her, but before he can say anything, she says, “I’m a mystic; I don’t use magic. I can see auras, too; she glows like a star. I’m going, either with you or on my own.”
Some motion in the sewage causes Kara to wake. Her eyes open to see an abomination unlike anything she has ever seen before, so close she could touch it if she wanted. It has no eyes; it’s just standing there like it’s listening. She doesn’t dare move. Very slowly, it moves forward like it’s stalking prey; when it’s almost completed one step, it stops and starts stepping back. She’s trying to breathe as softly as possible but can’t stop her heart from beating. It starts making a low thumping sound from within its chest, booming like huge drums, causing the sewage to vibrate. She looks for a small tunnel but sees nothing, knowing she can’t outrun it. A massive tentacle, covered in barbed spikes starts feeling around, just over her head.
She slides down as slowly and quietly as possible. The tentacle slaps the stone where her head was, leaving holes in it and pulling out tiny bits of it. Somewhere down the tunnel, something splashes, and the creature roars. The roar is so loud and intense that her vision fades out. The thing lunges down the tunnel. After a few minutes, she’s able to get her vision back. She doesn’t remember sitting down. She reaches behind her head, being very careful this time, but nearly makes herself throw up again. Standing up, she tries to take a step and comes close to going down. Her left leg refuses to support any weight. She places her left arm on the wall and takes short, lurching steps with her right. Ahead, she sees a light.
Riding hard, Aran, Ava, and Xanathe stop where they camped with Kara on the night of the snowstorm. All the other Sisters are there, plus Sister Vosri. They spend an hour eating and catching up. Everyone is proud of Aran, who made it without stopping. Aran pays little attention to the praise but hears enough to tell them he would have never made it without them behind him, pushing his and Fearless’ determination. They decide to rest here for the night and then make the ride to Flamegarden nonstop by the next dawn. All the Sisters cast every restoration spell they have on Ava, Aran, Seit, Xanathe, Chomasuke, Fearless, Cheese Eater, and Prowler.
Sylnoa turns to leave the table to grab a few things before they descend into the sewers, but she hears an unmistakable voice in her head. Judging by the reaction of others to steady her and help her sit, she’s not reacting to it well herself, “I have her; she is dead now, so don’t bother. Unfortunately, she put up a fight and didn’t survive.” She clears her head, looking at Arden and Elra, “Malachi says he found Kara. She put up a fight and didn’t survive.” She sees Elra’s temper rising. Sylnoa grabs her hand, “He’s bluffing. You don’t spend as much time in people’s heads as I do and not learn to distinguish lies.”
Sylnoa says, “This tells us two things. One, he is controlling whatever is blocking Sendings. Two, Kara is still out there. Let me answer him.” Arden nods to her. She says, “You were her brother, a trusted friend. How can you have done this?” Sylnoa asks, “Is there any way we can get into the sewers without being seen? I would imagine he is watching the temple. I have the cloak you gave me.” Elra nods, “Xiam and Amethyst can cast invisibility on us.” Arden says, “The Temple needs to react to his message. Other than those two, send the rest of the Sisters out searching again. Don’t say anything about the message.”
Kara makes it to where she saw the light but no longer sees it. There is another small tunnel across from her. Sitting down, she scoots across the larger tunnel when she hears the large creature charging down the tunnel in her direction. She lays on her stomach and starts pulling herself as fast as she can using her elbows and kicking with her good leg. Well into the small tunnel, she feels pain shoot up her leg, and something tugs at her, pulling her back. She kicks while looking back; the barbed tentacle has the bottom of her foot. She hears a deep voice of broken common in her head: "Come to me, I help, you rest, sleep.” She kicks again, pulling her foot free from the tentacle and leaving some flesh stuck to it. She hears it clawing at the opening and sees it reaching in as far as it can. The tentacle pulls out, then it roars, her vision fades out, and the stone around her shakes.
She doesn’t know how long she’s been out when she opens her eyes again. Her foot on her good leg is throbbing. She rolls onto her side to pull that foot out of the sewage and places a hand on her stomach, “I’m so sorry, little one. I just wanted us to leave the city and find some quiet place somewhere for us. How does a home at the base of a mountain overlooking a lake sound, or a beach with rolling waves and warm air? If I can find it, I know the perfect place. No one will ever find us there. It’s where I grew up. I can teach you about the jungle and show you how to fish. Your uncle loved to fish.”
Sylnoa asks, “How long have we been down here?” Arden looks at Elra, “What, why does everyone look at the dwarf when you want to know what time it is underground? Oh, all right. It’s evening, the day after we climbed down here.” Arden continues to look at her; she looks back at him, “No, I don’t know how many more miles of sewer there are. I told you there is a lot down here.” Arden says, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to smell anything but this again.”
Ava asks Xiam again, “Would you please tell me where they went?” Aran says, “She didn’t tell you thirty minutes ago or the thirty minutes before that. What makes you think she will tell you now?” Xiam says, “They are looking for Kara. I’m the only person that knows where, and I’m not telling anyone, by Sister Stoutstorm’s order.” Ava huffs, “What if they are in trouble and need help?” Xiam smirks at her and shakes her head, “High Priest Stormhaven and Sister Stoutstorm are looking with Sylnoa. If they need our help, then we don’t stand a chance. Now, go sit down, leave me alone, or find something to keep your mind occupied. No one leaves the temple grounds until one of them summons us.” Ava storms back to her chair and sits with authority, not that anyone pays any attention to her.