Elegy for a Star Ch. 082-100

Miri whispered, "Tess, what are you doing?" She snapped, "Whatever it is, you need to stop! Please. Please, stop."

But she didn't. Howlcrag nodded and said, "Let's try again. You're ready for a live pace, so it's gonna be as fast as a real fight, alright?"

Tess nodded.

When the practice started, Tess dashed again. Howlcrag was ready this time with a faster thrust rather than a slash that left him open this time. Tess side stepped and lowered herself, sliding past Howlcrag. She couldn't slide between his legs; The man was too squat for that. She slipped past one leg, ran the wooden stake over his hamstring. She dug her feet into the ground in order to gain some purchase and bring herself to her feet before she ran a series of slashes across Howlcrag's back; two on the lower back, one on the flank.

Tess was panting; not from exhaustion, but from excitement.

Howlcrag turned around and with wide eyes he asked, "How did you do that?"

"I don't know," Tess said, beaming from ear to ear and shaking her head, "It just came to me, and..."

"This is Pava's doing, isn't it?" Miri spoke between Tess' ears with a worried expression, "Tess, this isn't a good thing. I know you're excited, but..."

"Let's practice some more. If you can do that regularly, we need to get you into some spars," Varon said with confidence and amazement.

For the rest of the day, Tess beat Howlcrag, and it was by a fair margin. Varon couldn't believe his eyes, encouraging and praising Tess the entire time. He would joke and laugh each time he was beaten. "I knew you'd be better with knives!" He would laugh each time Tess slipped by his swing and poke or slash him with those small sticks.

"Gods, Tess," Varon chuckled, "I think you're ready for a go against the best, and we only just begun."

Miri whispered in her mind, "We need to talk."

"No need," Tess whispered, "And I'm going to try on those gloves, too."

Chapter 85 - Answers

Tess slammed the door to the dormitory behind her. She was furious with Miri, and irritated that there was no way to get away from her. She was trapped with someone she found immensely irritating right now.

"We need to talk, Tess, I'm serious!" Miri said as she appeared upon Tess' bed, patting it at the side. Somehow, Tess was even angrier when she could see the demoness than when she was just in her mind.

"I'm going to do the talking. You give me answers," Tess snapped, "Understand?"

Miri just sighed.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Miri."

"No, who are you?!" Tess screamed. She hoped that the people in the next room wouldn't hear her.

"Fuck, Tess, calm down," Miri said, holding up her hands, "I'm not joking when I say I'm Miri. I'm the person that is sitting right here. It's the only name I've ever had, and I've got no reason to change it."

Some of Tess' anger leaked away when Miri spoke so calmly and directly. She pressed, "What's wrong with what I said at the training yard? Born from blood?"

"Just as words, nothing," Miri said with a shrug.

Tess leaned in and pointed a finger at her, "Then as whatever else they could be? Why's it a big deal?"

"Krahe said it."

"So you knew her? Or is that common knowledge? Should I ask around?" Tess asked with some anger in her voice.

Miri shook her head and asked, "Have you been having dreams?"

Tess nodded her head, "Yeah."

"Dreams where you're Krahe?"

Tess pursed her lips together and nodded again, "Twice."

Miri nodded in acknowledgement and replied, "Me too, and I heard her say that."

"What were your dreams?"

"Moving through a mausoleum, killing exhumed," Miri replied, thinking for a moment and staring up at the ceiling, "And, um... What was the other? Oh, right, a town was on fire and we took a boat to escape."

"What.. um... What happened when Krahe said what she said?"

"Skygge spoke back."

"Who's Skygge?" Tess asked.

Miri waved an arm and she explained, "That's the name of her gloves. Skygge."

"And what did they say?"

"To blood we return."

Tess' anger seemed to deflate a bit. Was Miri telling the truth? She knew about the dreams. She knew what Tess knew. She's in Tess' mind so why wouldn't she experience the same mental images that Tess experienced.

"Wait," Tess said, pointing at Miri like she'd caught her in a trap,

You said you were awake the whole time during Pava's experiments. When did you have the dreams? That's when I had the first dream."

"Mine were twice after the experiments," Miri replied, "We need to put our heads together, no pun intended, and see what we can figure out."

Miri wasn't usually so motivated to correct their predicament, but Tess was grateful for it. She was happy to know that Miri actually cared. Maybe they could do it together.

"So why was I so good with knives?"

"Did you see Krahe use them in a dream?" Miri asked.

Tess nodded.

Miri nodded back, "Maybe you're learning during your time as her."

"What was it that Pava said about folding," Tess wondered, thinking deeply, "What was she folding, again? Do you remember? That whole situation is so foggy."

Miri shook her head, "I don't. I just remember being angry."

Tess pondered for a moment, pointing at Miri, "Why didn't you mention the dreams?"

Miri shrugged, "Why didn't you?"

Tess had been confused. She thought they were just dreams. She didn't want to make a superstitious fool of herself. She shrugged back to Miri, "I don't know."

"Tess, I don't think we should use anything that we learn from these dreams," Miri urged, "We don't know what it'll do to us."

"Did you see me during training, though?" Tess took a seat beside Miri, "I could actually win spars. I could be useful, Miri."

"It's dangerous. Do you know who controls dreams?"

Tess shook her head.

"Umbra," Miri explained.

Tess raised an eyebrow, "The moon?"

"The primordial attached to it. Her name's Omen, and she's fucking crazy," Miri insisted, "She went mad when the Black Sun showed up. You can't trust her or the shit she makes you dream."

"But-..."

"Tess, wouldn't I want to be a fucking badass with a knife, if I could?" Miri said, making a few gestures as though she was stabbing someone, "It's hard being the only one that can win a fight between the two of us. I'd love to take a break sometimes."

Tess frowned.

"But I am scared for us, so I'm asking you not to. You're driving the cart and I'm just along for the ride right now, and that's terrifying," Miri said.

Gods, she was right. Poor Miri. Tess' shoulders sank. "I'm sorry I was doing that to you," Tess replied, "It's hard to remember that I'm not just me. That I'm you, too."

"It's okay."

"What about those gloves from the fox?" Tess asked, "They're not the same ones from the dream--uh, Skygge--so they shouldn't be from Omen." She gestured toward them, "Scirocca said that they could help."

"We already talked about that, Tess," Miri replied, "They could be cursed. Who knows what they're enchanted with, if anything?"

"Is there a way to find out?"

Miri sighed, "Yeah. There are rituals."

Tess nodded, "We'll just do that, then. Besides, foxes are lucky; We should trust it."

"That's just superstition, Tess." Miri was wringing her hands, "We need to tell one another everything, Tess. Okay?" Miri frowned, "If you have another dream, tell me. If I do, I'll tell you."

Tess nodded her head in agreement, "That sounds like a plan."

"In the meantime, let's learn to use those knives the right way, not by taking shortcuts. And be careful with those gloves and that amulet. I just hope the curse doesn't activate on a ritual," Miri said with a sigh.

Tess frowned. She didn't like the sound of that. She had to perform it herself and not let anyone else do it, just in case.

Miri was quiet for a bit and asked, "Are we okay?"

Tess nodded her head, "Yeah, Miri, we're okay."

Miri perked up and said, "So, make-up sex?"

Tess chuckled and said, "Yeah, sure."

The door handle jiggled and Miri squeaked and vanished from sight. Tess got up to open it, but she could hear a key unlocking the door already. She waited, eyes wide as the door opened, only to see Gwen standing in it, looking tired and worn.

Chapter 86 - Ask Her

"So, Gwen's back," Mairaela said to Joyona. The two of them were sitting at the table in the chow hall, though Tess and Gwen were absent. Joyona nodded her head to Mairaela, unsure of what else to say. She worried that Mairaela would be bored and there was a mix of excitement and panic that the others weren't here to keep her entertained better than Joyona could.

Joyona put some food into her mouth, feeling that she couldn't be expected to talk if she was chewing.

Mairaela swallowed her food and added, "I haven't been able to see her yet, though. I heard Tess has been putting off her Heroic Divine class and shirking her training duties to stay with her." The auburn-haired beauty frowned in thought, "I hope she comes out of that room soon. I hope either of them do."

Joyona nodded, but thought that she should say something calming to Mairaela. "Be comforting," Joyona thought, "Make her feel better!"

"They'll be fine," Joyona replied, wincing at her own response. Gods, that was so reductive, just blowing off Mairaela's worries. "What am I doing?" Joyona panickedly thought to herself.

Mairaela put her elbows up onto the table and rested her chin in her hands, "Then there's that Corpsmen's Ball coming up.."

Joyona had thought of it. Uthr above, she wanted to ask Mairaela to go with her. "Ask her," she thought, "Ask her right now."

"I was planning on going with Tess," Mairaela said before Joyona could work up the courage, "But now I'm not so sure, since Gwen's back. They will either go together or they'll both stay in the dorms."

Mairaela frowned, glancing off to the side. Her beautiful, green eyes blinked toward Joyona, "Do you want to go with me?"

Joyona's heart skipped a beat. The butterflies in her stomach started bouncing off the walls. Say yes. Gods, say yes.

"You should go with Scirocca," Joyona said softly.

Gods, what the fuck was going on?! Joyona was screaming at herself in her mind, but in the back of it she was thinking, "She deserves to go with someone pretty and sweet, like she is. I'm doing this for her."

"Oh," Mairaela said, lifting her head from her palms. She looked surprised, "Um, sure, okay, I'll ask her. Do you think she's going?"

Joyona nodded her head, "If she's going with you, she will."

"You sure you don't want to go with me?" Mairaela asked.

Joyona nodded. She couldn't change her mind now. That would be so weird. Mairaela would think she's weird. She couldn't let that happen. "I don't dance," Joyona explained.

"Oh, I don't need to dance," Mairaela assured her.

Joyona just nodded her head, eating some more food. Mairaela dropped the subject and the two sat in silence for a while.

"What type of Old God do you think we'll go against when we get an assignment?" Mairaela asked with a smirk on her face, "I'm going to bet... the Old God of wine. When we win we can get all the wine we want." She smiled and pointed a fork toward Joyona, "What do you think?"

"Lobsters," Joyona replied

Mairaela burst into a fit of laughter, enough to bring a smile to Joyona's face. She hid it again before Mairaela saw; She didn't want to look goofy. Her smile was pretty goofy looking.

Mairaela asked, "And what would be the foe there? More lobsters?"

"A boiling pot," Joyona nodded.

Mairaela laughed some more. Joyona was in a state of bliss, loving the fact that she could bring Mairaela some happiness. She wished that she could always do that.

Mairaela stood and began collecting her food, "I'm going to head out, okay?"

Joyona bobbed her head in acknowledgement. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Mairaela opened her mouth to speak, but she must've thought twice about it, instead saying, "See you later, Joyona."

Mairaela walked away, leaving Joyona to sulk over her food.

"Gods, that was sad," came a voice from the side. Joyona looked over to see Miren approaching. The Winter Fey took a seat across from Joyona. She mostly had a plate of vegetables. "Why did you do that, you lug?

"She had to leave," Joyona replied, taking a swig of beer, "Was I supposed to stop her?"

Miren rolled her eyes, "You know what I mean. You aren't that dense, even if you sometimes play it up."

Joyona kept eating her food, not responding to Miren even as she was called out for her aloof behavior.

"Oh, come now. It is clear as day that you like Mairaela. I just don't understand why you're making it difficult for yourself," The Winter Fey was smiling, which irritated Joyona, "She asked you to the Ball. You didn't even have to ask her. Gods, I'm sure that Mairaela even knows."

"I don't want to go with anyone," Joyona replied, "I'm going to show up and leave early."

Miren rolled her eyes, "Maybe now you will. Or else you'll spend the whole time sulking as Mairaela and Scirocca dance, knowing that it could've been you."

"Be quiet," Joyona replied, "You don't know me or her."

Miren's mouth cocked to the side and she shrugged, "Alright." She stood back up and picked up her plate, "I'll go somewhere else."

"No need, I'm done," Joyona said, grabbing her dishes and tray and trudging off to clean them.

She went to the sparring yard, watching a few fights before she volunteered for a group match. Three on three. The moment it started, Joyona charged into the fray. When she got there, a battle axe was swung at her. She caught the man's arm, punching him in the gut with a heavy hand. She used his arm to swing him like a club into the other two. Joyona let out a roar, grabbing the head of one of the remaining men and throwing him to the ground with such force that he went skidding through the dirt. The other one she threw into the air, letting him hit the ground on his back.

Her teammates showed up right when the fight ended, and Joyona was tempted to swing on them, too. She held back, knowing that a drop in points would upset Mairaela. She took a deep breath, calming herself. She tried to get into more matches that day, but no one accepted to fight her after that.

She returned to her room, sitting upon her bed. Elbows upon her knees, she hunched forward and stared at the floor. She was angry, and the only person she could be angry at was herself.

She spoke softly to herself, "I'm going to ask her."

Chapter 87 - Deceit

Miri watched the ongoing conversation between Tess and Gwendolyn. The conversation was uncomfortable. Tess had been trying to get close to Gwendolyn, but the knight was avoiding her attempts. Miri registered so much shame coming from Gwen. She looked near to tears at every moment, but just barely held things back. Tess was quiet, patient, waiting for Gwendolyn to feel up to talking.

There was something that wrenched at Miri's heart, seeing the two of them communicate wordlessly. Gwendolyn showed that she was hurting; Tess supporting.

Miri thought back to the conversation that she and Tess had before Gwendolyn showed up. It made her ill to think about how much she had to lie to get Tess to drop the questioning. It was best for the both of them though, especially Tess. Miri ached. She had to lie to Tess so much. She didn't expect it to be this hard, but she had to. For her. For Tess. She would do anything for Tess. She owed her everything.

"Performance," Miri thought. It was easy to assume what that might mean and Tess was no exception to that trap. Miri could only sigh.

"I'm sorry, Tess," she thought, "But it's for your own good."

She watched the scene of Tess and Gwen. It was going to be silent for a while. Gwen wasn't ready to talk; Tess wasn't going to push her.

"Do you want to go for a walk?"

Miri turned to the side to find a man wrapped in cloth and rags. These wrapping hid most of his face, all except for his yellow eyes and nose. Even still, it was plain to see that his face was scarred up with more than a dozen deep cuts that left him with deep crags in his skin. Miri knew that they caused him pain. She long since stopped feeling bad for him.

"Why if it isn't the almighty Crow Lord," Miri said, rising to her feet and gesticulating a praising motion, "A walk with you? Fuck off."

"I thought we should speak without this distraction," Nym replied, "I felt it would be more comfortable for you. I know how emotional you can get."

Miri ground her teeth. Damn this man.

"Fine, where to?"

"Home, I suppose," spoke the darkly wrapped man.

Miri groaned, "You mean your home. Hasn't been mine for... gods, ages now."

"Centuries, yes," Nym bobbed his head, "I tidied up, you should see the place."

Miri couldn't help but laugh at that one, "Sure. Let's go."

"I'll meet you there," he replied, vanishing into smoke.

Miri took a last look at Gwendolyn and Tess. This better not be a mistake. She floated through the walls, entering and passing through a number of other rooms until she lifted herself into the sky. Yes, Tess thought she was limited to her own perception, and while that may be true in the Void, it wasn't true here.

With the speed of thought, Miri flew hundreds of miles until she wound up in western Sevarra, just East of the Branch of the Sword, past a little down called Mistburn. That's where she grew up. What a simpler time that was. Miri knew her family had long since passed, but she wondered what their short lives were like. She didn't know them for long. Father, mother, brothers and sisters. Gods, she couldn't even remember how many siblings she had.

She slipped just past Mistburn and into the woods beside it, passing through the canopy and ending up in a small grove concealed by branches, ivy and vines.

Her surroundings were mostly empty. She looked about the place, reminiscing about times long gone, before she slipped through the floor. Miri flew straight through what was usually a winding passageway, completely impalpable. When she reached the bottom she found herself in a large, uneven cave dwelling. Wooden platforms were set up to make ascent or descent throughout the cave easier, bracing the ceiling with thick beams, or forming different rooms.

Others were present, eating their meals or discussing with one another; Telling tales of rumors they'd heard in the Magocracy or gloating about some big score of theirs. When she manifested into their vision, they startled, drawing knives and daggers.

"I'm here at his request. Stand down or you'll see your own guts," Miri replied.

"It's true. Stand down," Nym replied, appearing behind Miri.

She was never faster than him before. He must be getting slow in his old age. She chuckled at the thought that the Crow Lord would allow himself to age. She supposed she had just gotten faster.

The men that accosted her sheathed their blades and bowed their heads to Nym as he and Miri passed.

"We'll go to my office," Nym replied.

Miri smirked, "Oh, you have an office now?"

"We have beds, too."

Miri scoffed, "No wonder your flock is getting soft. You're going easy on them."

Nym nodded his head, "Perhaps."

Miri was led into the Crow Lord's dwelling. The door opened, leading to a fine chamber. It was similar to a false bottom of a treasure chest, though. For one that was approved, passing through the doorway brought them elsewhere. As she and Nym slipped through the door, Miri's vision darkened and she found herself in a Void Pocket. This one had been separated from the Black Sun, stolen like anything else the Crow Lord would steal. Eventide didn't even know where this one was.

She looked around the room--decadent and rich--finding it to be full of cases of artifacts, each one stolen and each one more incredible than the last.

The Book of Fallen Kings that detailed the corruption of the Empire that led to a terrible, bloody coup and the reign of a false ruler.