Chapter 44

The throne room of Presidia

Emeria

Emeria let her laughter echo through the room for a moment as she watched the four people who walked into her throne room. She recognized Moren of course, the other broad-looking silver-skinned man must be the High Arbiter’s son Aren, she’d seen wanted posters of Greenbraid before, which left only one person she didn’t recognize. That was the girl who must have caused her plans so much trouble, the one who found Kraevos and had the book that was supposed to be a danger to her. She leaned forward in her throne and pointed to the girl, “You must be the farm girl I’ve heard so much about,” she said as she continued to grin madly at her intruders.

Each of the four individuals stood stone still, seemingly afraid to move an inch. It was exactly how she thought people should react to her, in complete and utter terror. She stood up from her throne and walked confidently down the steps, trying to make it clear how relaxed she was because of course these four were no real threat to her. She wanted to savor their terror, to drink it all in. “Maybe I have the wrong information, but aren’t you missing someone?” she questioned sadistically, “Or was that surge in my stone Kraevos dying a few days ago?” She was met with no response, but she could feel the hatred flowing off of each of them, she felt their pulses quicken in the way that adrenaline and rage always do. Moren and Aren both clenched their fists tightly, Sani steadied herself for magic and Vella raised her sword.

“It’s too bad really,” Emeria taunted, “I was looking forward to finally meeting Kraevos and adding him to my collection. After all, I'm collecting stones and stone bearers at this point, I already have three.” She looked across at Sani, noticing the unique hum of magic emanating from her. ‘But I guess you will have to do in his place, won’t you? It seems like you’re the one who inherited his stone.” She twirled around and looked at Graclose, “Gracky, be a good boy and take care of them would you? I need Moren and Greenbraid for my collection.” She turned back and pointed at Aren, “He seems pretty worthless to me, but Daddy dearest would like him back alive, so no killing I suppose. The farm girl on the other hand, I don’t care about her, feel free to dispose of her however you like.”

Graclose rose to his feet, his very body creaking as dust fell from him, his sunken eyes glossed over with sadness. He stepped slowly toward the door and began to raise his fist. A bronze glow began to form around him and hummed through the air for a few moments. Dust and broken stones in the room began to rise from the floor and collect in an orbit around him as he approached. The closer he got, the more pressure the others could feel from his energy until he abruptly stopped in his tracks. “You,” he said pointing at Vella, his voice catching as he spoke, “How do you have that?” there was an iridescent glow coming from Vella’s bag at her hip, Precia’s journal peeking out and making itself known. It was cascading light around her much to Vella’s surprise. She had remembered putting the book in her saddlebag as she left Aegis and yet here it was, clearly the book had intentions of its own once more.

Graclose began to snort and his eyes shifted to anger as his brow narrowed. “That’s hers, you shouldn’t have it!” he yelled as he marched toward Vella. He swung his arm and a shard of stone erupted from one of the walls and shot across at Vella. As Vella tried to react, the iridescent glow of the book washed around her. The shard met this aura and turned to dust on impact, merely exploding into the air rather than piercing Vella.

Vella turned back to Graclose, taking a gamble on what to do next. “This is Precia’s book,” she began, “But you knew that didn’t you Graclose.” She sheathed her sword and stepped toward Graclose. Aren reached out to her, trying to stop her, but the glowing aura from the book rebuffed him. “I know you loved her Graclose and she loved you, Precia still loves you.” Upon hearing this, Graclose’s eyes welled with tears and his hands began to shake. “I know you still care for her, whether she’s here or not. She wouldn’t want to see you like this Graclose. She wouldn’t have liked any of this and you know that. The man she fell in love with wouldn’t have done this.”

Emeria looked across the room, enjoying the dramatics, she looked at Graclose and savored the emotional torture he was going through. At this point, she would end up with a show before her workout, which she quite liked the idea of.

Tears were streaming down his cheeks and his voice was quivering as Graclose replied, “But she isn’t here, she hasn’t been in hundreds of years, what does it matter!?,” he yelled out to Vella.

“Sure, her original form may not be here, but that doesn’t mean some part of her isn’t, you know that Graclose,” Vella pulled the book from her pouch and held it up. “Some part of her is still here, this book is proof of that. It’s been here to help me and now I know it’s supposed to help you. It’s here to remind you of the man that you really are, the man who was worthy of Precia’s love.”

“That man faded a long time ago,” Graclose said, weakly dropping to his knees as the sadness overtook him. “He died with his dreams when Precia died.”

Vella stepped forward again, getting within arms reach of Graclose. “That isn’t how it has to be, you can still be that person. Live on in her memory as that man, it’s never too late to change.” Vella stretched her hand out to Graclose, feeling sorry for all the pain the man had suffered and for the loss he’d endured. In her time with Kraevos Vella had begun to think of agelessness as more of a curse than a blessing, because it always doomed you to outlive everyone you loved. Vella began to tear up as she looked at the man in front of her who had lost everything.

At that moment, Graclose looked up at the young woman in front of him and watched as the luminescent aura around her shimmered, it was only for an instant, but he knew he saw Precia’s form, her spirit around Vella, crying for him, but smiling at him, with hope that he could be a good man once again. His heart skipped a beat and his breath caught again as he didn’t know what to do. He knew he wasn’t anyone worthy of the love he’d once had, but maybe, just maybe there was a chance he could redeem what he’d been. This small sliver of hope drove guilt through his head as he thought of all the years he’d wasted in his life. “I’m so sorry Precia…,” he sobbed, “I just can’t… I’m just not strong enough without you…”

Vella kneeled and placed her hand on his shoulder, giving in to the tears she’d been holding back. At this moment it was as though the book was speaking through her, channeling Precia’s heart and her feelings to bring back the man that once was. “I know you can,” Vella said, looking at Graclose and locking eyes with him. Though he knew in his mind that this wasn’t her, Graclose’s heart saw only Precia in front of him, comforting him and encouraging him as she always had.

Finally reaching her fill of the emotions on display, Emeria yelled out, “Enough!” With a lunging kick, she smashed Graclose in the side of the head and sent him flying against the wall. Graclose hit with a mighty impact and crumpled to the floor. Vella’s aura just barely protected her, sending her skittering off to the side just before the impact. Emeria lunged at her and spun for another strike, this time Vella pulled her blade free and blocked, being sent back a few feet from the blow. “I don’t care about your dead love or some accursed book. I don’t care about any of you and I’ve had enough of this!” she screamed out. A deep red aura began to form around Emeria and she began to breathe heavily. She turned to Graclose, who lay in a heap, unconscious on the floor, “If you can’t follow orders, what good are you?!” With each word she spoke her rage and her aura grew. It began to pulse like a heartbeat with each second picking up some speed. “I’m done with all of you! All of you little pawns, I don’t need you or anyone else! None of you are loyal, none of you know your place!” As Emeria kept yelling, Sani gathered and let loose a massive bolt of lightning that struck Emeria, though it washed across the red aura, achieving nothing. “You pathetic mongrels need to learn who your master is. Do you honestly think you have any hope against me? I am a god and you are all nothing!”

At last, the others launched into action, taking Emeria’s rage as a sign that the battle had started in earnest. All around Moren his green aura had formed, growing larger with each moment. He charged toward Emeria, gathering momentum before he struck her in the middle of the chest. His fist reached through the red aura, striking at the mad empress, but not pushing her back at all. Instead where he struck blood began to pour out from around her breastplate and from the edge of every piece of her armor. The color drained from her hair and her eyes turned a deep red. “What in the name of the gods have you done?” Moren said aloud as a massive tendril of blood slammed against him, launching him across the room. As he flew his aura shifted, cushioning the blow and allowing him to rebound off the wall, though his impact left a crater in the stone. As he regathered himself he looked forward to see Emeria march to the center of the room, countless blood tendrils lashing out all around her without warning.

Emeria began to scream out as blood began to pour from her mouth, animalistic rage overtaking her. Her scream echoed across the chambers as Sani, Aren, and Vella dodged the tendrils, attempting to get over to Moren. As they ran, Aren yelled out to Sani, “We need everythin’ you’ve got girl,” he pointed to her forehead where the stone from Kraevos resided. “You said you had to dam the flow of power right, well it’s time to stop doin’ that and let the dam break!”

Sani nodded and took in a deep breath. The aura around her of mixed silver and green began to grow more vibrant and churn, the air buzzed with magic and crackled with energy. Sparks cascaded in the air as she moved. The whole room boomed with the sounds of magic and Emeria’s screams as the tendrils slashed and broke stones around them. “Alright,” Sani said, “I think this will do.” Sani started letting out bolts of lightning and throwing seeds out that sprouted and formed plants that tangled the bloody tendrils, beginning to go toe to toe with Emeria.

Vella caught up to Aren as he reached Moren in time to hear him try and speak without being overheard by Emeria. “Alright, I need to get the stone, we take that, we take her out.” Moren and Vella nodded, ready to do what came next. “If you all can draw her attention for long enough, I can try and get to the stone and pry it off.” Aren looked toward Emeria, who was now fending off and slowly overwhelming Sani. He saw the beaming red glow of the bloodstone on her left wrist and nodded to his allies. He began to run off, heading back behind Emeria and the throne, hoping to approach from her blind spot.

Despite Sani’s efforts, her lack of training with her greater power was becoming apparent. Her plants began to get slashed through by the tendrils and the lighting, though disorienting to Emeria, was not able to crack through her aura. As the others moved into action, several of the tendrils formed together into one gigantic tendril that crashed down, splitting Vella and Moren and sending stone shards across the room. The tendril swept across the room, crashing into Sani, who refocused her aura in front of her to protect herself. Despite this she became pinned against the wall by the tendril, struggling to keep her magical energy up to resist being crushed.

As the tendrils focused on Sani, Moren lunged at Emeria, hitting her with the full force of his aura and his kick. This time, she was pushed back, roaring with rage as she went backward, doubling over from the impact. She spat blood on the floor, the first sign of real damage before she stood back up. She yelled out blindly again and pulled the tendril away from Sani, instead lashing out and trying to pierce Moren, who dodged to the side. The tendril’s impact left a gaping hole in the wall where Moren had just been. Emeria began wheezing as she looked down at her armor, her breastplate was crumpled in from the impact of the strike. He grasped the straps holding the armor on and released them, letting the neckpiece and breastplate fall to the floor. As she took in a deep breath, trying to recover, the others were able to see what she’d done. The tunic she wore under her armor was stained red, the armor that lay on the floor in front of her was covered in her blood, each spike glistening and showing what it had been doing. Her neck and throat were covered in cuts and piercing spots from the armor, fresh wounds all about her. She ripped the other pieces of armor off of her, letting her rage grow even stronger, each piece of armor fell to the floor and more wounds were exposed, each one pouring out blood as her aura grew, concentrating closer to her than before.

Emeria began to laugh madly as she shook her limbs. Her tunic and pants were drenched with her blood at this point. Her whole body rippled with the agony and energy from her blood, she felt pain shuddering up and down her spine, and each breath was pure ecstasy to her. Emeria looked at Moren, “See, I knew you were all coming and I wanted to be a good host, I figured I’d wear something nice and fancy, the likes of which you’ve never seen before. Tailor-made just for me, isn’t it special?” She ran her fingers across the scar on her neck from the day she became herself. “You’re special, very few people get to see me like this, though you won’t get to tell the tale.”

Aren continued to slowly and deliberately pace the room behind Emeria, hoping to stay in her blind spot. It was good luck for him that she’d taken off her armor as he’d have an easier time getting at the bloodstone. Emeria laughed again, an unnerving laugh that showed her fraying sanity, “Look how I bleed for my empire, would any of you do the same? Are any of you strong enough to stand on your own against the world?” her words hung in the air for a moment before Emeria answered herself, “No, none of you are! I’m the only one who is. I’ve always been like this, why should this be any different?”

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Sani began to bring her hands together, reading another blast of lightning, hoping to catch Emeria off guard. Instead, several tendrils shot out at her, attempting to pierce her. Sani’s aura hovered just inches from her face, holding back the tendrils, but immobilizing her against the wall. Emeria continued yelling out madly as she pinned Sani to the wall, “Now that’s no way to treat your host, is it? I went through all this trouble setting up the castle for our private dance, the least you can do is be respectful. I’m just trying to let you all feel my nice, warm embrace., I am willing to let all of you become part of something divine! That is the greatest gift of all, what more could any of you hope for?!”

Sani pushed her arms out, letting her aura cover the tendrils around her, grabbing them and holding them in place. “Go,” she yelled out, trying to concentrate on holding as much of Emeria’s power as she could. Vella ran over, helping Sani, trying to use her magic to hold off as many of the leftover tendrils as she could.

Moren ran up, lunging around the last, smaller tendrils that could reach him, and grabbed Emeria, trying to hold her arms out as she struggled. Her aura fought against Moren, sending waves of energy across the room violently as she thrashed in his embrace. Emeria yelled out, trying to free herself from Moren as Aren ran up and grabbed her left arm. His gauntlets began to shimmer and ripple between colors. As he touched the bloodstone the gauntlets turned bright red, humming with the same magic that the stone gave off. As Aren made contact the stone glowed brightly with energy, sending a surge of power through Emeria. Aren pried relentlessly, trying to rip the stone from Emeria’s flesh as Moren held her. The stone began to pull up as the magic in the room intensified. The Walls of the throne room began to shake as the energy from everyone in the room amplified, each surge threatening to crumble everything around them.

As the stone reached half free of Emeria she let out a vengeful cry, the energy within her finally returning to its core, she thrashed again and broke Moren’s grip, sending his back as he crashed into the stairs leading to the throne. At the same time, she pulled with all her might, breaking Sani and Vella’s hold and ripping her tendrils back. The tendrils came back in one swift motion, forming into a point as they went. They curled back to Emeria and struck him, piercing Aren through the midsection. With what strength he had, Aren gave one last pull and the bloodstone came free in his hands.

As the stone came free from Emeria’s flesh, the tendrils splattered to the ground, nothing more than puddles of blood. Emeria dropped to the ground, pain surging through her body as she lost her connection to her magic. Aren fell onto his back, clutching the bloodstone close to his chest. He tried to breathe, spattering blood from his lips with each breath. The wound from the tendril was gaping and the blood began to gush from it, pouring out all around him. Vella, Sani, and Moren all charged over to him, losing focus on Emeria all at once. Sani grabbed him in her arms and began crying. Vella ran and dove to Aren, looking at the wound in his chest, not knowing what to do. With the last ounce of energy he had, he took the bloodstone and reached for Vella, placing it on her arm. As the room began to glow from the bloodstone, Aren spoke, barely more than a whisper, “I love you both an I’m sorry I couldn’t…” and his voice faded.

Vella couldn't hear what was being said as the red glow consumed her. The energy in the room washed across everything before snapping back all at once to Vella. Her body began to glow the same vibrant red as the stone, pulsing with her heartbeat as the power began to sink inside her. Her eyes lost focus, her ears were flooded with the sound of every heartbeat in the room. She could hear the slow, dull thud of Graclose’s heart, unconscious but still alive. Dracyr’s heart, just barely moving on the wall and Emeria’s rough, but still pumping blood. She heard both Sani and Moren’s hearts racing next to her. She heard her own heart, pounding as hard as it ever had and then next to her she heard one small, faint beat. It was slow and seconds passed in between each beat, barely even noticeable with every other heart in the room. As her eyes refocused she looked down to see Aren, the faint heartbeat, barely pulsing. She leaned down, crying uncontrollably as the beats faded, getting slower and slower until they finally stopped.

As Vella sobbed on Aren’s chest, Sani stood up, tears still streaming from her eyes. She walked over to Emeria, who was still breathing and barely conscious, in a puddle of her own blood. Sani grabbed her by the throat and raised her in the air. Rage washed over her as she realized Emeria was still alive. Emeria’s eyes fluttered open, weakly she looked at Sani. “That fool shouldn’t have done that, the bloodstone is mine,” she said, spitting blood at Sani. Sani raised her other hand and felt the crackle of lightning beginning to build in her fist, ready to strike Emeria down once and for all.

Sani held up her hand, showing it to Emeria, “You don’t deserve to live, you abomination. He died for all of us, you, on the other hand, you’ll die unloved, unwanted, and all alone.” She gathered all her hate, all the energy she could, hoping that for at least one moment Emeria would know fear like a normal person, that fear would be the very last thing she would ever feel.

As Sani stretched her hand back and began to swing forward at Emeria, Vella yelled out, “STOP!” Sani turned to look at Vella and saw her eyes, they were red and her face was stained with tears and blood. “No more,” Vella stammered out, “No more death. I don’t care who it is, I know what she’s done, just no more death.” Sani turned back and looked at Emeria. For the first time she saw how small and fragile Emeria was, physically she looked to be nothing more than a twelve-year-old, she was weak.

Emeria coughed and spat blood on the floor, “Come on, do it, you know you want to,” she said. “I killed him and I'd do it again. I’ll kill all of you, you know it’s the only way. Kill or be killed.” Emeria grinned as she looked at Sani, expecting to finally have her release. Sani could see Emeria’s eyes, normal brown eyes, she looked at Vella and saw the red aura pulsating around her and the red filling her eyes the same way it had for Emeria mere moments before. With a heavy sigh, as she realized what mattered to her, Sani dropped Emeria to the ground with a thud. Emeria pushed herself up, looking at Sani with disdain, “Come on, are you really so weak that you won’t do it?” She was met with no reply, so she yelled out again, “Fine, I’ll just kill you all myself,” Emeria raised up her hand and nothing happened. She clutched her arm and looked to where the bloodstone had been, feeling its absence in earnest for the first time. She struggled, shaking her arms, waiting for something to happen and nothing did. She looked at her body, the same frail, delicate one she’d been born with and her heart began to race. She saw all the cuts over herself had turned to little scars checkering her body. She slapped her hands in the puddle of blood around her, lashing out angrily as nothing happened and her body betrayed her. “No, no, no, it’s mine. You can’t have it!” Emeria took what little strength she had and stood. She charged toward Vella, grasping out toward the bloodstone. As she jumped, Sani met her and struck her clean in the face, knocking her out cold.

With a sneer at Emeria, Sani turned back to Vella knelt down next to her, and began to cry again as she looked to the man that had been her only family, dead on the floor. Moren left the two of them to grieve, though he had respected Aren, he had only known him for so many days, it was not his right to grieve with them right now. He walked over to Dracyr and broke her shackles, helping her down from the wall, and then went over to Where Graclose lay on the flood, rousing him and bringing him to the others. Sani and Vella hugged tightly, as no words were said for several minutes. Moren attended to what he could of the wounds that they had, though he had little more than bandages and wraps for the time being. After that Moren sat next to Sani and Vella, putting an arm around each of them saying, “He was a good man and he is a hero.”

At last, Sani stood up simply stating, “That’s enough crying.” She turned and helped Vella up. “Aren wouldn’t have wanted all that anyway. He hated to see women or anybody he cared for cry, part of that whole stupid chivalry thing I guess.” She tried to crack a small smile, but her heart hurt worse even saying Aren’s name.

Dracyr looked down at her former love, her heart pulling at emotions that were now foreign to her, a part of her wanted to cry and she could feel small tears welling in her eyes, but even then it felt unnatural for her at this point. She looked to the others and spoke, “I am sorry for his passing, but we have little time to mourn. If we hope to regain control of our lands we must act quickly. There is still an army at our door.”

Sani turned to Dracyr with rage filling her heart. She’d never understood what Aren had seen in her, but for a time, this woman had made Aren happy. To hear her so dismissive of his sacrifice was more than Sani could take. I’ll choose if I’m done mourning, not you!” she said, putting a finger to Dracyr’s chest. “He was my brother, you cannot understand how I feel!”

Dracyr pushed off Sani’s hand and moved in closer, staring her down. “I understand how you feel, but I don’t have the luxury of grieving right now. I have to try and regain my kingdom and the freedom of my people. I have to stay strong for them even if I want to break! I lost my general, I lost friends and family and I have lost countless citizens, do you think I don’t feel any of that? You are not the only one who lost a loved one today!” Dracyr felt her heart pulse stronger than it had since she’d accepted her full power, her emotions more in control than they had been in months, though it lasted for only moments.

Sani was taken aback by Dracyr’s words as she saw small golden tears stream from her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled out.

Graclose cleared his throat and gained the attention of the others in the room. “As much as I hate to say it, she is right though. He was standing completely upright, his posture straight and his eyes gleaming in a way they hadn’t before. His voice carried with it a weight that Dracyr and Moren hadn’t recognized, though they’d known him for years. “Unfortunately we must indeed act quickly. Emeria has left our entire continent in chaos. With her out of power, it will create a vacancy of leadership, a power vacuum if you will. We need to reestablish borders for our kingdoms and take order back. If we do not there will have been little purpose for this fight or this sacrifice. As it is, one word is out of Emeria’s fall, the High Arbiter will no doubt move to some other machinations for territory and control. We must be prepared for his treachery as we attempt to reestablish the kingdoms. After all, it is our task to lead the people of Surren,” Graclose said, motioning to all four who were standing with him, “Each and every one of us.”

“What do you mean each of us?” Vella asked.

‘My dear, you are the one who must now take over the ruling of Sacrotia, you bear the bloodstone,” Graclose responded.

“Just because I bear the stone it doesn’t mean that I’m going to lead a kingdom,” Vella protested, “I’m no royal and I’m certainly no ruler.”

Moren stepped in between the two of them and stood to Vella’s defense, “Graclose, you cannot be serious?”

‘I most certainly am. The most delicate balance of all coming out of this will be Sacrotia. If we push too far we will lose the whole kingdom. The people there by and large have suffered from Emeria’s rule, only the worst of them benefitted. They are a deeply religious people, we may have influence in their kingdom, their policy, and politics, but the stone itself is the only true rule that they know. They have always believed it to be a divine gift and that it is their blood god who chooses their rulers. It is the only way that we can hope to reform Sacrotia and bring Surren and this conflict to peace,” Graclose motioned to Vella again, “I do not say this lightly and I for one wish this was not your burden to bear, but it is nonetheless. We all must restore order to our kingdoms.”

Vella ran her fingers through her hair, a habit she’d picked up from Aren when she was frustrated and needed to think. She didn’t believe should be a leader, but everything Graclose said was right. The bloodstone was the center of their church. She knew enough about Sacrotia to know that much. “Fine, I’ll do it,” Vella said, cutting off any further protest. Sani looked to her, ready to argue, but gave up upon seeing the resolve in Vella’s eyes, which had turned back to their normal state, though with a red ring around the iris. “If it will help stop the suffering in Surren, I will do it, but I can’t do this alone.”

“I’ll stay with you,” Sani interjected.

“No, I will,” Moren replied, “As much as you can support Vella, Sani, you have no experience in the politics of the kingdoms and how they work. Besides, being without Kraevos will put Aroster in a state of flux. They will need your help to maintain order. Given what the High Arbiter just pulled, we will need Aroster to be a functional port more than ever. My people have lasted some time without me, being one kingdom over will not faze them. As long as I can go back to prove I am still alive and myself again, they will be fine. Besides, the people of Sacrotia already know me, and that will make for the easiest transition.”

With a sigh, Sani nodded in agreement. She turned to Vella, not to argue, but just to check on her friend, the only family she had left now. ‘Are you sure about this Vella? This is asking a whole lot of anyone.”

“I am, I mean, it’s not exactly what I expected of my life, but I have to do what I can to help. I can’t let Aren or Kraevos down. They both gave their lives so we could help heal Surren, if that means I have to try and run a kingdom, so be it.” She smiled at Sani and looked to the others around her, “Besides, it’s like Kraevos told me, a real leader does what they can when the opportunity arises. They don’t seek to lead, nor do they believe they are born for it, they just help the people around them to live better lives.”

Graclose placed his hand over his eyes as he shed a tear, laughing at hearing Kraevos’ words, “Even from the beyond I still have to hear his wisdom. That man will haunt me till the day I am dust. May his words prove true in you Vella.”

There was a pause in the conversation after this, where Vella looked over to Emeria, seeing her still breathing on the floor. “So what exactly do we do with her?”

“We have to take her back to Sacrotia,” Moren replied, “If we take her back to her own kingdom, we can hold her accountable for her crimes to her own people, it may be a small olive branch to all those she has wronged. We may be able to use that to start to build good faith with you and the people of Sacrotia.” Dracyr and Graclose both nodded at this.

“Though one battle is over, we are beginning one that cannot be worn by force or might,” Graclose began, "We must unify our people and actually create a Surren that believes it is one. It will not be easy, it will not be quick. I dare say that many will try and take advantage of the instability left by Emeria, but we will be prepared. The work for us is just beginning.”

As the others turned and began to discuss matters about the kingdoms, Vell walked over to the steps before the throne, sitting down and taking a brief moment for herself. She pulled out Precia’s journal and looked down at it, “You knew this would happen didn’t you? That’s why you were showing me things about politics? So where exactly does my adventure go next?