Elegy for a Star Ch. 041-050

Chapter 41 - Seeing Things

Gwen left Tess and Mairaela to discuss whatever it was they were talking about. She was more concerned with what she just saw. It was watching them, whatever it was. She opened the door to Joyona's room.

The room looked to be a small chapel. There were only a few paces from end to end, but set up just opposite from the door was a small shrine. The candles had long since burnt away and the cup of incense sticks was shattered upon the floor.

A foot-tall, stone statue was present, showing a man with outstretched wings and a beautiful face. He was dressed in armor and armed with a spear in one raised hand. Its other arm was missing. Below it was some old Court-tongue scribbling. Gwendolyn had an upbringing that taught the Fey language, so she managed to discern the writing as: "Arkaid, God of Peace." It was a god she'd never heard of. One of the Old Gods, no doubt. Is that who made this section of the Void? Was Arkaid here somewhere?

Each of the Old Gods in the Black Sun were supposed to manage their own particular pocket within the celestial object. When that god was killed, the pocket closed. This is how they would eventually defeat the black sun, by toppling the thrones of the gods who abandoned them.

Gwendolyn heard some murmuring around the corner, behind some of the makeshift benches and bookshelves. It was Joyona's voice, but Gwendolyn couldn't hear it clearly. She was speaking to someone.

Gwen knew that no one else should be in the room, so she grew concerned that Joyona may be in danger, and she slipped through the room, ready to summon her blade once more.

"...been kind to me... save the.... can you do..."

Gwendolyn cursed herself for not having Mairaela's sense of hearing right now. Who was Joyona speaking to?

Despite her better judgment, she decided to announce herself. She shouldn't be spying on her own team. She needed to give Joyona the benefit of the doubt. "Joyona? Is there someone else here?" Gwendolyn asked.

There was a pause in the language, a shifting of plates of armor. Joyona rounded the bookshelf, looking as passive as ever. She was in her plainclothes. Brown trousers and a light shirt, tied in the front with lace. She appeared mannish rather than womanly, which seemed to fit the Evigkin's stature. Gwendolyn didn't know enough about the Cairnfolk to know if giant women were usually like that.

"No," Joyona replied.

"I thought I heard you talking."

Joyona nodded her head, "I was."

Perhaps Joyona was praying. This is a shrine after all. But wouldn't she be praying to an old god, if that was the case? Suddenly the giant woman looked quite imposing and ominous. Gwendolyn tried to bury that feeling deep inside. She didn't want to think about fighting the juggernaut a second time. One mistake and it's all over with Joyona, and she doesn't quit so long as that armor's on.

"Okay," Gwendolyn replied, deciding not to press the attack, "Well, the others are getting ready to head out. I know you can get your armor on whenever you want, but are you ready?"

Joyona nodded, her eyes focused on Gwendolyn. Did she want privacy for whatever she was doing before? Joyona was always difficult to read. Except in combat, that is. Much to her shame, Gwendolyn had been replaying the fight against Mairaela and Joyona in her mind, following different paths of what she could've done differently. Hopefully they'll never fight again, but if they have to, it'll be a different story than last.

"Hey," Gwendolyn started, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder to point back at the room she'd entered from, "I saw something in there, just to give you a heads up."

"What did you see?" She asked.

Gwendolyn explained, "Some... thing. It looked like a creature of the Void, whatever it was. I don't think it was friendly, but it wasn't doing anything to harm us that I could tell. It was just watching us." Gwendolyn frowned thoughtfully, "Maybe it was a scout. If that's the case, we should go right away."

"Sure," Joyona replied, "I just need to finish up some things."

Gwendolyn nodded and planned on standing by, but Joyona stared at her, and the Dame grew uncomfortable, realizing that Joyona meant to be given privacy.

"We'll be in the other room," Gwendolyn said, turning and marching out of the small sideroom chapel and back into the bedroom with Tess and Mairaela.

"I like being around you too," Tess was saying to Mairaela just as Gwendolyn opened the door. She turned and closed it and when she turned back around, she saw the two lovebirds looking at her.

"Gwen?" Tess asked.

"Gwendolyn," She replied.

"Gwendolyn. Can we talk about last night?"

The knight recalled the events of the night before. How she felt about Tess, what she'd done, what the two of them did. She hadn't had the time to process it. There was too much to think about. Tess potentially being a demon or a dark wyrden or both. Joyona wanting to be by herself, talking to herself. And then Mairaela, well, Mairaela seemed to be better now, so at least there was that. Still, Miri was perhaps the most upsetting out of the bunch. Gwendolyn felt that the demon was on too long of a leash, and that Tess was losing her grip on it.

Gwendolyn held up her hand. There was too much going on right now, and she couldn't take something else, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright," Tess replied, looking a little dejected.

Gwendolyn's heart sank. Did she really come off as that cruel? "There's just a lot going on," the Dame tried to append to her earlier statement, "We can talk later?"

"Okay," Tess replied, looking a little more satisfied with that answer.

"Are you both ready to go?" Gwen asked the two of them.

Tess smiled and nodded, but Mairaela propped her hands up on her wide hips and chirped, "I am, unless you two want to have a quickie before we head out."

Tess' face turned red and Gwendolyn was sure that she wasn't the only one. She shook her head at Mairaela, and even though she knew it wasn't entirely a joke, she played it off like it was. "Joyona will be out soon, so let's be ready to move when she does," Gwendolyn replied, "This has taken longer than the Void Exercise should, so let's get out of here today."

Chapter 42 - The Swamp

The cityscape faded behind them, overcome by fog and shadow as the band pressed on toward the beam of light ahead. Tess could see, now, that the light seemed to sprout from a great, white tower in the distance. It was difficult to look at for long, however. Between here and there was a marsh of oddly shaped trees, spherical and fat around the trunk, with a few short branches sticking out the top. The canopy was minimal but the water was fetid and stagnant. Tess, especially in her minimal clothing, was not looking forward to it.

The soil grew soft, leaking swamp water as it was pressed under their feet.

"Tess," Joyona spoke up, her voice carrying that metallic tone with it, "Come here."

Tess obeyed the instruction and as she approached the giant, Joyona lifted her with cold, strong gauntlets and settled her onto her pauldron. The pauldron included two fans that were situated in a way that it wasn't very uncomfortable to between them like a chair. Tess held on as the giant moved beneath her, carrying her through the mess.

"Why don't I get a ride?" Mairaela joked, "You have a second shoulder."

Joyona didn't respond, but she did stop walking. Everyone followed her helmet's direction, looking off to the right.

There, at the edge of the swamp, standing just to the side of one of these fat trees, was an emaciated man. His skin was painted blue and decorated in red lines. His eyes were dark and beady. He was bleeding heavily from the chest and in his hand, he held something.

"What is that?" Tess asked, squinting to try and see what was in the man's hand. It was moving, whatever it was.

Mairaela summoned her bow and readied it, responding, "It's his heart."

The man didn't move. He simply watched and waited, his pumping heart sitting in his palm the entire time. "Disturbing," Tess remarked.

"That's the Void for you," Mairaela responded, "Should I send him a warning shot?"

"Why pick a fight?" Tess asked.

"We should kill him," Gwendolyn replied, "Nothing in the Void is friendly, least of all something so disturbing."

Joyona nodded her head. Even Tess could see the reason in that.

"Got it," Mairaela lifted her bow and drew back on the string. When she released it, a beam of light instantaneously burst through the man's skull, popping it like a melon. He dropped into the swamp water behind him, his heart falling into the water. "That's that," Mairaela concluded.

"Tess, keep an eye out behind us while you're up there, okay?" Gwendolyn said, not sharing in the same victorious joy as she once did with the Huvudorm.

Tess replied with a question, "Why did he just stand there? He knew we were going to shoot. He didn't even flinch. He didn't budge."

Gwendolyn spoke softly, "Can't say. Let's just get the fuck out of here."

"As you say, Dame," Joyona replied, trudging onward.

The next thirty minutes went by relatively silently. The group was too busy looking in all directions around them to hold a conversation with one another. Every now and then someone would call for a halt, trying to squint at a distant object that turned out to be a fallen branch or a bloated, floating corpse of one of those blue people.

They were deep into the swamp now, close enough to the light ahead that it was casting shadows upon the water and creating a disorienting view. This was especially true due to the slightly dulled, monochrome nature of the place.

As they approached the edge of the swamp, one of those blue-painted creatures reappeared, its extracted heart pumping quickly in its hand.

"Mairaela," Gwendolyn relayed, "Take care of this one."

"Is that the same guy?" Tess asked.

"Don't know," Gwendolyn replied, "Let's hope not. But he's got to go either way."

Mairaela raised her bow, taking aim. Tess was watching ahead, looking at the man whose fate was already decided by four visitors to his world; waiting for that yellow beam of light.

But then she heard a crunch. Tess spun to see Mairaela, face gushing blood, crash into the water. The creature that struck her was something large, with arms the size of pillars, but Tess couldn't get a great look as she fell off of Joyona's shoulder when the giant was tackled from behind by something. Tess fell beneath the disgusting water, keeping her eyes closed. Things were splashing all around her. The water was moving in chaotic ways. Eventually, Tess got her feet underneath her and brought herself back up. She was waist deep in the disgusting swamp.

Joyona was under the water, collapsed under the weight of a dozen of those spider-people from before. She must be drowning in her own armor. Gauntlets rose from the surface of the swamp water, striking spiders and throwing them off to the side, only for more to replace them. She was thoroughly outnumbered, and even if they couldn't penetrate her armor, the water could.

Mairaela was face down, floating in the water behind them, a thin line of blood drifting in the water beside her head. Gwendolyn was fighting... something. It was a behemoth, blue skinned and covered in patchy fur. It was top heavy with shoulders broader than Joyona's armor and a gorilla-like head. On its front, its organs were connected to a limp man upon his stomach. The beast seemed to have burst out of the man's back and now carried the corpse like some vestigial appendage, flailing and flapping with each jerky movement. The sight made Tess ill. Must everything here be so horrifying?

Gwendolyn was parrying strike after strike, narrowly missing fatal blows from the gigantic creature. She was too busy slashing incoming spiders to retaliate thoroughly. She had moments--striking the water to create a large wave that washed enemies away--but she was overwhelmed, Joyona was dying and Mairaela may very well already be dead.

The Devil. The Keepers. The Red Poppy.

Nothing. Tess felt something bite her on the shoulder, digging into her flesh, but she dare not look. Whatever it was, the pain burnt its way through her veins.

The Crown. The All-Father. The Maiden.

She felt like her insides were on fire. There was another bite, this time on her flank. She felt a weight pulling her down into the water. Her last sight of the surface was Gwendolyn getting slammed into a tree by the gorilla creature. We're dying, she thought, we're going to die. One last spell. It must work, or else it was all over.

The Branch. The Horse. The... The...

Some creature grabbed her wrist before she could finish the sign, ripping through her veins with what felt like a knife, and Tess blacked out.

Chapter 43 - Eventide

Miri took control once Tess blacked out, finding her mind easy to overtake when it was already unconscious. What followed was violent, bloody and full of death. It was exactly what Miri was made for.

After the fight, Miri collapsed against a tree. She had more cuts than she could count. Her right eye was unable to open with so much blood pouring down it. One of the gorilla creatures, so large that it stuck out of the water's surface, had one of her horns impaled in its back. So that's where that blood was coming from. Joyona had long since stopped thrashing, Gwendolyn was torn apart behind one of these trees somewhere and Mairaela's corpse was carried off sometime during the fight. Tess would live, Miri knew, but she wouldn't be very happy. In fact, she would be devastated.

Miri wished that there was something that she could do about it. She wasn't exactly the best at helping people cope. Aside from fucking them, there wasn't much she knew how to do on the social front, and she didn't think that Tess would be in the mood.

She brought her hand up to cough, only just then noticing that her little finger was missing. She coughed anyway, blood pouring from her lips. The water around them was crimson and green with bloating bodies all about. A typical day in the Void.

Any moment now, Miri knew.

Her whole body ached. She hadn't felt this way since the tower. Since Arlen. Since Henry. The dragonfire and the rush of wind. The burning smell of Henry's flesh. His screaming. The guilt she felt. "I'm sorry, Henry," Miri spoke aloud, words that she'd said time and time again.

She brought one knee up out of the water; The skin was split, the bone fractured. She wondered how long it would take her to heal this time. Certainly it wasn't the worst she'd endured. But Tess? This was about as bad as it could get for her. The thought of Tess' reaction to this put knots in Miri's stomach. She would have to stay in control until she exited the Void. She couldn't let Tess see them like this. She was at least grateful that Tess hadn't yet learned how to stay conscious when Miri took control.

Miri rolled forward to try and stand, but she only succeeded in vomiting more blood into the swamp water. "Not yet, I guess," Miri groaned, relaxing back against the tree.

Any moment now.

"Little Crow," the figure whispered, gliding atop the water's surface. Its whole form was visible now. Androgynous both in form and voice, with two protrusions atop its head that formed some sort of religious symbol or crown. Its eyes, large and white--empty--were opened and gazed inside of Miri. Miri was quite used to it. Eventide didn't frighten her anymore.

She tried to keep from showing her pain, but it was impossible. She was a bloody and broken mess; why even try? "I'm not going back," Miri groaned with blood-soaked fangs, her vision growing hazy. No matter how blurred her surroundings became, the figure ahead was always as clear as can be.

"Did I mistreat you?"

"Fuck you."

"You are upset."

"Fuck. You."

The figure looked confused, its eyes growing chaotic, mixing the white and the black in flashing lines that dissipated almost immediately.

"I want to help," Eventide said.

"Your help isn't worth shit," Miri replied.

Eventide continued to talk, "All I want right now is my child back. My Little Crow will return when she's ready."

Miri wanted to roll her eyes, but she wasn't convinced she still had a right eye. "Your children-..." Miri scoffed, "Your bastardized zealots, you mean."

"Little-..."

"I'm never coming back. I am never coming back. Do you hear me, Eventide? I will never come back. I found my way out and I took it, so fuck you. Fuck you to Gods' End and back," Miri spat a bloody mouthful into the water.

"Give me my child and I will return the souls of your friends," Eventide whispered calmly.

"Gods dammit," Miri hissed. Unfortunately, she knew this was coming. She knew that Eventide would win again if it decided to show up. "Fine. Arkaid was never as insufferable as the others, anyway," Miri grunted, "Take your spawn back."

"I need you to do it," Eventide responded, "Then I'll return the souls."

"All three?"

"Yes."

Miri struggled to her feet once more. She couldn't quite do it, but Eventide reached a hand out and lifted Miri out of the water and into the air. Miri put her hand out, one single talon upon her fingertip moving through the air. She hit something palpable within the nothingness in front of her, rending it open. A tear in the fabric of the world. A glowing, yellow portal ripped open, showing the stars behind it and in their center: the Black Sun. Behind it was Thyr, eclipsed, lending a halo of light to the ominous ink.

"There," Miri said, trying not to sound defeated, "This pocket is reconnected to the Black Sun." At least she trusted Eventide. She had never known it to go back on a deal.

"See you soon, Little Crow." Eventide vanished into the mists.

"Yeah, coward," Miri groaned after it was gone, spitting up blood, "Run away."

Joyona came up out of the water with a crash, pulling off her helmet and throwing it into the swamp. She was heaving, vomiting swamp water and trying to regain control of herself.

"Help!" Gwendolyn cried out behind the tree upon which Miri rested, "I'm hurt, I need-.. Joyona, I think I need that armor!"

As soon as she was able, Joyona struggled to her feet, gave Miri a confused look, and then wordlessly ran to Gwendolyn's position.

It was a short while before Gwendolyn was up and moving again, though she was about as bloody as Miri. A bit less openings in her body, though, for which Gwendolyn should be grateful. Mairaela came back in short order, too. Her nose was bleeding and one eye was bloodshot, but she was otherwise unharmed.

"What happened?" Mairaela gasped.

Gwendolyn shook her head.

Joyona gestured to Miri, which gave Mairaela a bit of a fright.

"What are you doing here?" Mairaela asked Miri with a furrowed brow.

"Oh," Miri said, rocking her head back against the tree and closing her eyes, "You know that 'good fight' I mentioned? Think I just had it."

"That doesn't answer the question," Gwendolyn said, though she looked sympathetic to the demoness' pain.

"I cut some wrong-place-wrong-time fucks to itty bitty shreds," Miri grunted with a bloody smirk, "Again." She neglected to mention saving all of them. It wouldn't be good to raise more questions.

"Are you going to give control back to Tess?" Mairaela asked.

"When our body isn't falling apart, sure," Miri replied, "Or would you have her go through this pain instead?"

"No," Mairaela said, looking remorseful, "No, I didn't mean it like that."

She did, Miri knew.

"Joyona," Miri groaned, "Mind carrying me?"

The giant nodded her head and Miri flashed her cheeky smile.

When the group reached the tower, Miri's rapid healing had most of her wounds closing and her bones reconnected. Her finger was growing back and she wasn't bleeding so much anymore. "I want Tess to see this part. It's special, the first time."