Veldrix Thevaris [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczNFNK8IeagLhLrE3kbc0ydYZCrim2sfCG-Gzmw4LY0lBpYd3xmg7hjgF131Y6yHAbr-6o3kufHpfurFAdaIT6heKqLPwPouRb_H5v_OPH35Mo2ObqQD4UVRiE5CykEQLcgQTmgbVocfeu5QBBNp8bAc=w639-h958-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
“I can’t believe you killed us again,” her Familiar complained in her mind, “We’re never going to hit Emerald at this rate. Is it possible to de-cultivate back into Crystal?”
“I’ll take going back to Crystal over all my friends dying, Tala,” Phoenix mentally retorted before slowly opening her eyes to find her [Guide Book] faithfully floating above her with the usual announcement.
You have died.
All equipment has been returned to your collection.
[Waypoint] has guided your soul back to your designated location.
You have been reconstituted to a state of full integrity.
Twenty-four hours remain until this effect can be triggered again.
“Well… that’s one problem solved,” Phoenix said to herself before remembering that her friends were still in trouble and she had absolutely zero sense of time passing when dead, “Time to get the reinforcements now.”
“Reinforcements for what?” Patricia snapped, and Phoenix embarrassingly squeaked in surprise and instantly conjured her clothing directly onto her naked body from her collection.
Her aunt was standing at the side of her bed staring at her like the woman might kill her again as the priestess asked icily, “Where is my daughter, Phoenix?”
She winced but figured there was only time for blunt honesty at the moment, “She was in the basement of the Scarlet Banquet’s lair being held prisoner with everyone else when I died.”
Patricia’s eyes went wide as the mother yelled, “That was eight hours ago!”
“Eight?!” Phoenix repeated in shock, “The time increased again?!”
“Where are they?!”
“The Processing District!” she shouted back in her own panic, “Some butcher place called the Crimson Rose by the northern wall was where the trap was! It was High Emerald Caste, though; you can’t just go in there alone!”
“Do they know you died?”
“I mean… there was a big cinderen guy with white hair that kinda saw me get stabbed in the heart, so… probably? But they were able to capture Everin, which means they could capture you too, so you can’t just barge in there!”
“I have resources,” the noblewoman retorted, “You stay put and—”
“I can help! I can portal. Dazien wanted me to contact the duke for more backup. I can still do that at least!” Phoenix practically begged as she scrambled out of the bed.
Patricia’s eyes narrowed for only a moment before she gave a nod and said, “That’s a good idea. They’ll likely need to be involved anyway for the incoming body count.”
Phoenix paused at that, eyes wide, as she realized that her aunt intended to kill all of them. She clenched her fists the next moment and nodded with hardened resolve, “No remorse for the maniacs that killed Snowbelle and Daze’s mom.”
Her aunt gave another curt nod of approval and then a rush of wind whipped up her curls as the runeforged woman seemed to vanish before her eyes. Phoenix didn’t waste more time as she conjured a portal as close to the ducal palace in the center of Tulimeir as she could remember.
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Knight Thevaris was becoming more and more agitated as the hours wore on with no sign of Everin or King’s Dream. After going to the Duke to inquire if something had become of the Avatar, they had gone to both the AOA and the Temple District to inquire further about some sudden mission or quest being given.
It seemed as though the Avatar had simply vanished into thin air. More concerning was that both Rebel and Scholar’s clergy were in a mild tizzy because they could no longer sense their Saint anywhere nearby.
Veldrix had heard about the connection between those with a Soul Mark and their clergy from a Saint of the Arcanist they had known for a long time. The lack of privacy was a major point of annoyance for the poor god-touched. Apparently, the range for this extra sense increased with the Chosen’s Caste and, at Sapphire now, the clergy had been able to always sense Phoenix’s presence on the tundra.
This didn’t help to waylay any of their concerns, however, when they discovered this meant both Everin and King’s Dream were missing. The fact that Scholar’s clergy, in particular, weren’t receiving the information from their goddess was even more of a worry.
They had come across Patricia after visiting the World Tree again via the portalist loaned to Duke Tul temporarily to learn that a couple more women were also included among the missing group and had agreed that Veldrix would head things in the capital while Patricia leveraged her influence among those in the Sacred City with Emissary Mint acting as her Ruby enforcer.
Now, Veldrix was in the equivalent of a war room as they worked with a group of very invested people. Most of those in attendance consisted of high-ranking clergy, with the addition of Lord Teras, Director Trayvious, and some higher-ranked Ducal Guards under Duke Tul.
Veldrix was already dressed for battle in case news arrived suddenly. Their iconic black armor was a reminder to all that they were not just a knight but the Royal Executioner that would see justice dealt.
A table with a three-dimensional illusion of the city was in the center as people moved around the room. They sporadically placed markers in various positions to indicate sightings and sources of information they had managed to gather throughout the night.
It was late morning when a large portion of the room suddenly froze, and all turned to look to the east. It made it obvious to Veldrix that something major had changed. The clergy could feel their Saint again.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Get the portalist,” Duke Tul ordered, having caught on to what was happening as well, “She should have answers about what new threat we’re likely facing this time.”
It was only a couple minutes later when the clergy members all froze again, this time to look downwards, and one of them said, “She’s already here.”
Veldrix knew they were right; they could feel the Wayfarer through their own aura senses at this distance. They were just glad that their senses seemed to still be working, considering how much running around the city they had done without getting so much as a whisper of the Wayfarer or Avatar. They had been about to expand their search to the outer fortress towns despite most sightings placing the various individuals within the capital.
The knight didn’t wait for the Sapphire Caster to climb the towering palatial building, instead moving quicker than appropriate to appear in front of the Wayfarer and asking in a voice that was calmer than they currently felt, “Is everyone safe?”
“No, I—” the startled woman seemed to recenter herself briefly before explaining, “I escaped, but the others are still trapped or dead already. I’m not sure. I—” she hesitated, and Veldrix didn’t care about propriety at the moment as their aura intrusively sifted through the Wayfarer’s, wary of any deception from the woman they barely knew.
Veldrix was mildly surprised when the Aurabreaker narrowed her eyes at them and said, “That’s a bit rude, but I get that you’re worried. I can’t explain fully, but I came here to get help for my friends, my family,” she said, stressing the word to make her point.
The knight relaxed their posture, “My apologies. I don’t like the idea of those who are… unique going missing inexplicably. You, Avatar Starlark, and your brother are all unique enough in this city to warrant the attention of the vile.”
“Vile is right,” Phoenix replied with a shiver, “They’re cannibals. Cultists of the Maniac called the—”
“Scarlet Banquet?”
She looked surprised, but nodded and they added, “I’m familiar with the group. I thought we routed out their presence in Blomsterang centuries ago. Apparently, they grow like mold… Where are the others?”
“I told Pati they were in the Processing District near the northern wall. A butchery called the Crimson Rose. I warned her there were high Emerald enchantments guarding it, though.”
They nodded. “She’ll likely leverage Emissary Mint, but he’s not as combat-focused as I am,” they grimaced slightly before admitting, “Or as invested at the moment, I believe. Is it safe to assume Avatar Starlark was with you all?”
She nodded again but hesitated before saying, “I’m not sure if he’s alive, though. They took him from the rest of us and said they were gonna turn him into Bits… that was probably twelve hours ago now…”
Veldrix didn’t let their tremor of fear show in their aura at all. A knight needed to remain composed at all times. Calm, dignified, and a shining example of their liege’s nobility. They still clenched their fist at the idea of someone murdering their flirtatious dinner companion, however.
The knight then asked, “Do you mind if I carry you there? I want you to make sure I don’t get lost, and you can help with portaling the others out.”
“Yes, please!” she replied, seeming relieved to not get left behind. Then she paused and asked, “Should we get the rest of the guard?”
“You said the enchantments were high Emerald Caste?”
“Yes.”
“We won’t need them.”
Then Veldrix lifted the light young woman in their arms and ran to the northern wall of the Processing District. They only slowed to get directions as Phoenix tried to get her bearings. The knight tried to remain patient as they realized Phoenix was terrible with directions and probably relied more on her portals than she should for getting to where she needed to go.
A wave of relief ran through the knight as they spotted the half-hidden hole in the wall of what looked more like a residential building than a business. There wasn’t even a sign outside to attract others, just the name on the glass door.
Veldrix didn’t bother to put Phoenix down or open the door with their hands, letting a simple tap of their heavily armored boot completely shatter the glass door before calmly but quickly making their way in.
The smell was atrocious, and Veldrix quickly shut that sense down. The overpowering scent of death and rot would overpower anything that might have been useful information anyway.
Phoenix halted them at the innocuous door on a lower level as she warned, “This was the trap room… it’s… well, it’s not pretty inside. We actually found Dazien’s mom.”
Veldrix raised an auburn eyebrow toward Phoenix at that piece of news, then extended their own senses, trying to push further than the cursory skimming they had done before when searching the city. At first, they could only sense the avals still alive on the floor above them, followed by the Mundane people living on the floors above the shop. This time of day, there were only a few still at home.
The room in front of them didn’t feel different at all. It wasn’t Void magic, as that normally felt like a hole in their senses. No, this had to have been some heavy-duty Illusion magic to make it feel like it was just an unremarkable room with even more unremarkable storage rooms below it.
It was only by focusing and already knowing something was off that let their senses pick up on the trace magic embedded into the walls they couldn’t see yet. The slight flavor of divinity was another indicator of why they might have missed this before.
Phoenix had said that they were Maniac cultists, but Veldrix knew the notorious group of blood cultists often collaborated with other Voidsworn zealots. It was one of the things that made them persist longer than most other followers of the Maniac did. To have such elaborate Illusions like this in place meant they were working with an equally deceptive deity.
Veldrix set Phoenix on her feet and ordered, “Wait here until I’ve disabled it. It won’t be long.”
“The enchantments activated when the door shut last time. Do you want me to keep it open for you?”
“That won’t be necessary. I want to see for myself how this is meant to work,” at her worried look, they forced a smile, “Don’t worry about me. I’m at the peak of Ruby, and it would take at least something of that Caste to overcome my attributes.”
She nodded reluctantly, and Veldrix opened the door and stepped inside. It looked as empty as it had felt at first. A large drain in the center of the floor and something rectangular like a wardrobe covered by a canvas tarp was centered on the far wall, with another door off to one side.
Veldrix recalled Phoenix saying Dazien’s mother was found here, so they could only assume she was being kept prisoner behind the tarp, probably like those pitiful animals on the floor above. Saving another gemite would be a silver lining to this whole situation.
When they removed the tarp the next moment, they inhaled sharply at the grotesquery. Amethyst bones fixed to the wall like some morbid decoration. “Oh, dear child,” they whispered in their own shock, their hand moving to rest upon the glass separating them.
Veldrix had seen some horrible situations that other gemites had found themselves in before. They had seen chained children kept for harvesting hair and nails from. They had seen many teens and younger adults kept as pleasure slaves for their beautiful features. They had found blind elders whose gem-like eyes were stolen. They had seen them all abused, used, and tossed around like toys.
The knight had never seen something like this before, however. When the enchantments triggered, the skeleton seemed to come alive, talking like a soulless golem with a feminine voice, “Warning! Ruby Caste intruder detected. Defensive protocols initialized. Lockdown and neutralization rituals will now commence. Evacuation alerts will now be relayed.”
Rage the likes Veldrix had not felt in a long time rose to the surface. They realized in that moment why Phoenix had been sure that this was her brother’s mother. The young Dazien —the rarest occurrence of a happy gemite adoption Veldrix had ever come across— had been standing here. He would have known. He would have been heartbroken.
Veldrix shattered the glass case surrounding the desecrated remains with a single flex of their palm that was already touching it. They made sure to collect every single bone to keep safe in their personal dimensional storage before whispering the incantation for one of their few non-Executes, this one coming from their Fire Aspect ability.
“May the ire of the Salamander’s flames consume the wicked as they burn in a lake of fire.”
As flames began to spread out from them to consume everything, something in their soul finally clicked into place —an Epiphany of the purpose for their Fire. An eerie black flame also consumed Veldrix for a moment as a part of them began to evolve.