On the southern edge of Flood's End, overlooking the artificial lake, the red crystal mushrooms were devoid of buildings, instead crowned with a bushy mane of trees. Down in that park, the Crimson Drakes Fighter Demonstration Squadron had set up a small airfield. Felix could see thousands of people packed around the tiny airfield, watching the military parade and the airshow. Four airplanes flew overhead, in a diagonal line formation, slowly entering into a gentle roll.
Felix stood behind his chair, facing the fine windows of the Dragon's Suite. The suite was the crown jewel of the Dragon's Lair Hotel, the finest and most expensive establishment in the entire city. Ambassador Carbrey stood near the doorway, frantically issuing commands to a gaggle of red-haired servants as they hauled a giant glass bottle of some amber liquid. Princess Astrid sat at the head of the table, with Elvira on her right and her brother Kai on the left.
The Ambassador was extremely tall and bald, with a huge beard and a disarming smile. "Princess Astrid, please accept this gift. A demijohn of our finest meads, sealed and undisturbed for two-hundred years, from the cellars of the Red Dragon." With a flourish, the servants advanced and began to pour the mead into Astrid's crystal goblet.
"Two hundred years? That's a long time for you mortals!" Astrid observed.
"We would never delude ourselves into believing that we could ever satisfy your refined tastes," the Ambassador replied. "On behalf of Quaria, we want to make certain that you are comfortable on your visit to the capital city. All of our luxuries are at your disposal, as modest as they are."
"It is refreshing to encounter a civilization that is so... civilized." Astrid said.
The Crimson Drakes looped around in the pattern and began to form into the diamond formation. Felix absentmindedly took a sip of the mead. He rarely, if ever, drank alcohol, so his tastes were not exactly refined. It was sweet, thick, and smooth, with a strong floral flavor that he assumed came from the flowers foraged by the bees in centuries past. It was not an unpleasant experience, especially when paired with the diamond formation roll in the sky.
With a flash of magenta light, Alice and Shane appeared in the chamber.
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The tall Quarian man looked disturbed at Shane's arrival.
"A foreign delegation?" The man cleared his throat. Then he started speaking in Rilnese: "Yes, of course. Please enjoy your visit to Flood's End, Chief of Chiefs."
"Thank you," Shane said. He did not know who the man was, but from his stature and his clothing Shane assumed the man was a local government official of some sort. The chamber looked and smelled like money. The Purple Dragons sat near the head of the table, sipping on what appeared to be a demijohn of gold liquid, most likely honey-wine. Felix stood with his back to the table, watching airplanes fly in formation outside.
"Shane, dear," Astrid said. "I do hope that your journey was uneventful."
Shane bowed deeply to her. "Almighty Dragon, I have seen wonders on this day that I never thought possible."
"Yes, the Little Planets of the Plane of Heaven are remarkable, are they not? Alice, dear. Be sure to try the mead. It is a beverage that I believe a woman like you could appreciate."
Shane shuffled over to the window and stood beside Felix. Outside, a single red airplane was locked into a dogfight with another airplane that was painted blue. Long plumes of dark blue smoke obscured the crimson streams of exhaust on the "enemy" airplane.
"Felix, I'm jealous," Shane said.
Felix did not look convinced. "Why is that?"
"Princess Astrid gave you the easy job. Look around you. The people in the streets love their nation. The economy looks to be in great shape. At least there is something resembling a government up here in the north."
Felix shrugged.
"Maybe we should speak outside," Prince Kai said, standing. "I doubt the refined ladies gathered here share our passion for politics."
The three men left the room through the balcony door and stood in the wintery air. Astrid did not seem to object to their egress.
"I'm not smart enough to fix the south," Felix said, continuing the conversation. "Also, my hair isn't blue. So that means it's your job."
"That's fair," Shane said. "Sometimes I feel overwhelmed, but I don't want to ask Astrid for help."
"I would be happy to help in her place," Prince Kai said. The Purple Dragon cleared his throat and then, in a surprisingly-skillful impersonation of Astrid, he said: "Shane, don't bother fussing over the peasants."
Felix chuckled.
Prince Kai continued: "There are, after all, a large but finite number of bad people in the world, and it is a simple matter to make them disappear. It is best to be quick about it, because the bad ones have the most children, and so the problem gets worse over time. If you find the task unpleasant, then simply delegate the gruesome details to an underling. And by the way, I distinctly remember delegating this particularly unpleasant task to yourself, so be about your labors and stop bothering me!"
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"Almighty Dragon!" Shane replied. "How can I justify the murder of innocent people?"
"You are stronger than them."
"Certainly, 'might' doesn't make 'right?'"
"Don't be ridiculous," Prince Kai said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Retainer Shane, you have it completely backwards. 'Might' doesn't make 'right.' No, right inspires might! There will come a time in your mortal life when you discover that you are surrounded by ignorant brutes who would be better off with a pair of powerful jaws crushing their throat. This revelation will inspire you to make yourself as powerful as possible."
"Prince Kai, what do you think?"
"I think you should allow the Church of the Lady Ghost to spread. Vaska designed that religion specifically for situations like this one."
Shane sighed. "How can I expect my nation to follow a religion that I don't believe in?"
"I've read the holy book," Prince Kai replied, holding up one finger. "Technically everything in that text is true. The history of the Binding of Ashe is accurate, the physics of this Elemental Plane are correct, and souls here are, in fact, reincarnated upon death. And also, you qualify as a Prophet in that religion, because you have actually seen the Lady Ghost yourself. You don't even need to convert."
"Perhaps," Shane said.
The balcony door opened and Brigid slipped outside. "Shane, come with me. Felix, you may join if you wish."
They both knew better than to argue.
She led them upstairs, to an ornate antechamber where two red-haired servants waited. "Light Elementals," Brigid said. "Forgive the bonds with the Shadow Hunters. Pass the bonds to these two servants. Where we are going, Dark Elementals are not permitted."
The two pairs of wolves appeared and trotted over to stand beside the servants. Brigid continued through the vestibule to the stairs at the far end. Further up they walked, all the way to a conservatory on the roof. It was warm and damp, and the plants looked healthy in spite of the deep winter.
"Shane," Brigid said. "Princess Astrid is displeased. She gives no warnings, and she makes no threats. I understand that you and your brother are curious, but I recommend that you cease these experiments."
"Experiments?" Shane asked. "Oh, I know. I discovered that I am still bonded to a Fire Elemental."
"A meaningless discovery. Princess Astrid has priority over your Elemental. She has ordered the thing not to follow your commands."
"That is how she can read our minds? Is it possible for an Elemental to speak with her voice?"
"No Elemental would ever speak with the voice of another," Brigid said. "She reads your thoughts through her Blessing. You are wasting your time with such research, and you put yourself at risk."
The squadron of four red airplanes was flying overhead when the door to the conservatory opened. Brigid led them out onto the empty rooftop, and she stopped just short of the guard rail. With a flash of deep blue light, a huge Elemental appeared. The color of the sea, formed from overlapping sheets of water, the Elemental stood nearly twenty feet tall. She was also equipped with a huge sword that appeared to be made of pure, nearly-transparent ice.
"That thing bothers me," Felix muttered.
"High Daughter of the Queen of Water!" Brigid announced. "Open a portal to the Secret Realm!"
A bird's nest of blue light surrounded a foggy image of a solid wall of ice beyond. Felix hesitated, but Shane marched forward and used the portal immediately.
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It was exactly what Felix expected to find.
Beyond the portal, the cavern was filled with a dim blue-green light. Huge, glimmering pillars of ice resisted the encroachment of the jagged icicles which hung from the roof like pendants. Ahead: the fanged maw of a Dragon, constructed entirely from glaucous and translucent ice, like the foggy surface of a dark grape. Shane bravely marched through the jaws of the Dragon, though Felix glanced about suspiciously, searching for an ambush.
I will inform Vaska of this unexpected development and she will furnish instructions at her leisure, the Firstborn had told him. Outward, he asked: "Does Vaska know we are here?"
"Vaska?" Brigid asked. "Fascinating. Yes, Vaska knows we are here."
Beyond the jaws was another chamber, surrounded on all sides by the claustrophobic, transparent depth of walls of pure ice. The ice was so clear that Felix initially mistook it for open air, until he noticed the thousands of deep-frozen corpses, sealed-up as in a tomb.
"Astrid has devoured them," Felix said.
"Many Fate Binders have worked throughout history to capture them here," Brigid corrected.
"Who are they?" Shane asked.
"Outsiders," Brigid replied. "Your kin from the Elemental Plane of Fire, people from other Elemental Planes. Anyone who inherited an ancient bond and was reincarnated in the Plane of Dreams. They are darkened souls who bear the trauma of being cut apart for their bonds. Some of them fell in love with flying in Ingrid's dream, and they were marked by Titania. The rest seek the end of the universe, a dissolution of the union of the Six Goddesses."
"Are they dead?" Felix asked.
"No, when a Purple Dragon devours a soul, it is reincarnated in this secret interstice with the Elemental Plane of Water. The Queen of Water fashions them a new, immortal body, and then they become frozen, sent forward in time."
"Forward in time?" Shane asked. "Until when?"
"Until such a time as the Elemental Queen of Darkness has lost her special privileges. People who seek the end of the universe are too dangerous. If Ashe were to find this place, her memory of it would need to be erased. So far that has not happened yet."
"Wait," Shane said. "That doesn't make any sense. Why bother doing this at all?"
"They are trying to protect Ashe," Felix offered.
Brigid nodded. "Vaska created this place. Ashe is very important to Vaska and Ingrid. They did not want her to live in an eternal present, without memory and without the capacity to grow. The Elemental Queen of Fire will eventually replace Ashe at the task of policing human thought, and the Queen of Water works towards this end in secret. Hence, I was sent on behalf of the Queen of Water, to offer my services as a bodyguard to the Purple Dragon tribe."
"Can we leave now?" Felix asked. "This cold bothers me."
"Do they experience it?" Shane asked, pointing to the countless people trapped in the transparent depths. "The cold I mean."
"Some choose to experience it," Brigid said. "The ones filled with the most hatred of our universe. They stay wakeful and experience the creeping cold forever."
"So what will happen to those ones?" Shane asked.
"Once Ashe has lost her privileges, those souls will be given to her, to rule over the damned in the Elemental Plane of Darkness."
"Did they still have Elementals?"
"The ancient bonds were pillaged, to create the Realms."
"That makes sense."
Even as Shane and Brigid continued their conversation, Felix had already turned away. By the time he passed through the Dragon's maw, he was sprinting towards the portal, fearful that it would close.