Quest II. The night the towers cried [open]

[Eridanus]

Success! The blade sunk into the enemy, though it was not fatal but it was damage dealt. They were getting progress to destroying this antagonistic opponent who only seemed interested in gaining victory. A Pyrrhic victory from what it seemed, since it was quite likely that they were all going to die.

Then that sickly feeling, like his body was being turned inside out. And when he looked at his own hands, he recoiled in horror. All of a sudden, it felt like there was something inside him, eating and clawing its way out, and his mind silently screamed. Echoes of mind-numbing, imagined pain wracked his brain and his body shivered uncontrollably. His hands trembled powerfully and it was ridiculously difficult to just stand on the ground and hold his blades. There was nothing he would like to do better than to drop everything and curl up in a ball and cry.

Yet, that was what he would have done two centuries ago.

Centuries of pain, experience, betrayal and wisdom on the mortal plane hardened his mind and soul to be better than that, and slowly, even if gradually, reason and discipline began to fill his body. He understood what was important. Even if he was going to die right here and now, chewed up by infernal creatures from the inside, he needed to put his skillset to protect Priskil's party to save whoever else in the platform. If he were to die, he would die standing.

With a battle roar that renewed his vigor even as his queasy body protested against it, the ethaefal renewed his attacks against the opponent together with the akalak who seemed to also gotten over his misgivings. Together, he was confident that they would take down their common enemy. There was no holding back. Flux energies jumped throughout his body energetically as they supplemented his weakening strength, boosting his arm strength as he burst forward in a stab here, then streaking down to enhance his footwork as he avoided yet another blow there. It all happened simultaneously and blindingly fast, that his mind could not process it all. It was all up to muscle memory, reflexes and faith.

Then that shatter as the blasted creature from outside broke a hole. Instantly, everything began to be sucked towards the hole, and Eridanus glanced around desperately for anything to hold onto. Yet, his enterprising mind realized that if he could hold onto something, and kick the Black Sun soldier away from any railings, they would earn an indirect victory. It would be deemed honorable, but honor was dictated by the victors.

There was no honor in death and failure.

Communicating in hand signals to the akalak what he thought of behind their common foe's back, he slammed a blade onto any soft part of the ground that he felt his blade could act as an anchor to, channeling flux strength to his arms as he did so to ensure that the blade wedged as deep down as he could. With his other blade, he slashed and kicked away at the Black Sun soldier. But rather to hurt him, it was more to deny him to hold on to any holdable objects nearby or risk dismemberment. That should hopefully prevent him from finding an anchor and being sucked out to the deep, dark nothingness that surrounded their lonely platform, far from everything.

[Aidara]

Focused as she was on the appearance of these women in the middle of the platform and their fallen comrade, who Addy upon closer inspection had been able to declare as totally dead, the thud that echoed throughout their enclosed platform had the little woman nearly jumping from her skin. The slick stone sent her feet skittering in opposite directions as the healer fought to gain them, using her hands to push herself upwards only to slid back down again, plopping ungracefully on her butt with a soft “Oof.”

Disorientated by her surprise, Addy’s eyes flew first for that would be most familiar in such an alien place; Sira. Aloft near the top of the dome, her giant Golden Wind Eagle was winging furiously against something invisible to the little healer, though it was more than obvious that Sira was quickly losing whatever battle she was fighting. Confused and immediately alarmed, Addy swept her gaze around her to take stock of the rest of the platforms inhabitants. Most looked as shocked as she, though almost every other set of eyes were focused upwards as well. Another glance of her own showed Addy what she had missed before, the giant, disgusting tentacle slamming a hole into their precious protection with no regard for the life within- or, more accurately, with complete intention to destroy the life within.

The realization of the danger brought a lot of previously overlooked details to Addys attention, almost as if the fact that they were now in even more danger than they had been before had heightened her senses. Addy heard more than felt the air rushing from the hole high above them and it was now obvious what Sira was fighting so furiously against. Stuck on the ground, there was nothing Addy could do to help her, that knife of knowledge twisting painfully in her heart. But her time spent flying with Sira over the past seasons hadn’t been for nothing.

It was a curious sort of feeling when perched upon an eagle back and one begins to fly too high. Sira and Addy had tested the limits of their abilities, soaring so high into the sky that the air became too thin for the little healer to breathe, gravity having less of a hold upon her small frame. The first time her butt had left the saddle to hover mere inches above the leather, Addy had nearly let go in surprise; it was a good thing she hadn’t, or the wind would have ripped her away.

As soon as the air started it’s mass exodus into the dark unknown beyond the barrier and Addy felt that familiar tug, she knew what was happening and all panic for Sira was devoured by the surge of adrenaline as she realized she most assuredly wouldn’t be able to help Sira’s cause should she get sucked out into the vast beyond. On instinct, the woman flipped over onto her stomach and spread her arms and legs wide, searching for any kind of purchase in the slick, smooth stone beneath her; the same stone that she had been slipping across only moments before.

“You have to hold yourself down! Quickly!” This was shouted at the priestess and the other woman who continued to tower over her, though neither gave any kind of indication that they had heard the little Inartan’s shout. Becoming desperate as the pads of her fingers continuously slipped and skidded across the glossy stone, Addy wriggled a bit forward and extended her reach a bit more in hopes of finding even the tiniest crack.

“YES… !” Crying out in exultation when her fingers found a flaw, Addy pulled herself forward some more, noticing now the great draw that the retreating air was having upon her body. She had mere seconds before the force of it would drag her tiny frame off the surface of the platform and she would be unable to stop it. “….NO!!” However, Addy’s triumph quickly soured when even her small fingers were unable to wedge into the tiny crevasse as her body began to noticeably slide backwards, towards the newly made opening in the dome.

Flinging her arm upwards to try and pull herself back towards it, the little healer nearly flung the forgotten bow from her hand in her desperation. But inspiration hit her and, with a final heave against the suction, Addy regripped her bow and flung herself forward, driving the styalized and pointed end of the wooden backbone down against the floor, hitting the crack and managing to wedge the bow deep within, even as the tautly curved wood cracked ominously as a result.

Clinging with all her might, Addy felt her hips and stomach leave the comforting solidity of the platform until she was pulled out straight, the rushing of the air tugging her feet towards the sky while her knuckles whitened as she redoubled her grip on the bow. She would be able to hold on for only a chime or two until either the bow or her strength gave out, but perhaps it would be long enough to survive…

A shape flashed by Addy’s peripheral vision, causing her head to snap around in order to follow it, though her heart sunk further into her stomach when she recognized the unconscious body of Cassandra zooming past. So focused on Sira and herself, Addy hadn’t even spared a thought for the woman unable to help herself, lost in the dark world of insentience.

She didn’t really have a choice, or so she told herself, as she loosed her fingers and let go of the bow, the retreating air almost joyfully sucking her through the air with almost indecent urgency so that she tumbled and spun with wild abandon. Whether it was because she was lighter than Cassandra or because luck was on her side, Addy caught up with the other woman in a matter of moments, her hand extended and grasping for any part of the unconscious woman’s person she could get ahold of.

It must have been luck, because her fingers tangled in a bunch of fabric, a great handful gathered and clenched down upon as Addy grunted, pulling the woman towards her so that she could hold her firmly against her own body. Not that it did any good, since they were both still speeding towards the hole. Great.

The thud that came next would have been startling even if it hadn’t been completely bone jarring. A tick taken for orientation showed Addy’s vision filled with purple. The world had gone completely purple. Unsure of whether this was good or bad, the little Inarta scrabbled with her free hand against the solid purple wall that stopped her ascent into the unknown. Cassandra still floated beside her, held back only by Addy’s grip, not braced against the purple wall as she, her wiggling and Cassandras constant draw at her side causing Addy to slip and slide down the purpleness, an involuntary cry escaping her lips. “No no no no!”

Desparate fingers, unwilling to give up, sought and finally grabbed at… an arm. So shocked that she nearly let go, Addy’s fingers came in contact with some hair, sliding down onto a thick neck and then an extremely muscled arm. It wasn’t a wall. It was that giant, purple man who had been so sexily swinging around his sword only moments before. But how….?

“Well, everything seems to be in order here, Handsome.” Whether or not her words would ever reach Xalets ears, Addy didn’t know or care, the relief that she wasn’t going to get torn out into that foreboding darkness sending a wave of giddy energy through her veins. She had oriented herself enough that she was able to draw back her head and catch a glimpse of the Akalak’s face before the air tugged her down a bit more and she was left to hang onto his left bicep.

Addy saw the sword, wedged into the platform similarly to how she had used her bow. Great minds think alike, though now with three people strung together, flapping in the wind… Well, they couldn’t stay like this forever; she was already losing feeling in the arm that held Cassandra at bay.

[Jilitse]

Fear crawled and spread across her gray lifeless skin as the Ravarisk whisked her off her feet. Her mind, as it has always been trained to cower, coiled into the immediate instinct for self preservation. Jilitse had to free herself and escape from this monster's tentacle grip. But the implications of death here dissipated, as if weightlessness freed her from the shackles of self-doubt.

What did the Ravarisk want, she screamed, suggestions formulating inside her mind while the crimson ooze slithered across her skin, its tight grip on her both her life and death. It attempted to consume her, she realized, just as soon as the Ravarisk became aware, that the Nuit would not be consumed just so. Oh undeath, effective against minor poisons and Ravarisk consumptions.

Her position, so far away from the others, offered Jilitse a different perspective of things, the platform, everyone - each life contained within the dome - although they all look so puny from her vantage point - and most importantly, Aquiras, whose life depended on the ancient contraption. Syna shone at the edge of the world, shining so brightly. Oh, Priskil, do I shine like that? Can I shine that much?

Jilitse would not realize it right then and there, as Nuit are usually slow to accept and realize instantaneous emotions, but she was no longer thinking of her own life. There was a well of compassion that opened up from within her heart, and something clicked within her.

There is a cure to this despair, without the brutality of it, without the violence and needless deaths. There is hope the Ravarisk would understand, but how to convince the monster otherwise?

"Priskil let me be your beacon of hope. Your flame, your light. Your spear that will pierce through the charcoal night." She channeled Luminance, as much as she could contain its power. Faith. Hope. Love. Her marked hand glowed faintly, and then burst out with a booming light. Like fireworks in the sky. (You know, the tiny kind) It was not a lot, but it was as much as she could do. She pulled from within her very being, the promise that she gave Priskil. Jil did not take spoken words lightly. She would see to it that Aquiras would be revived. It wasn't even just hope, there was already a certainty to it. After all, half of hope was believing in the possibility of things happening. And she believed that the Ravarisk would stop this madness this very instant and put her back down and help repair the dome somehow, and return all those stolen energy to Aquiras. Was it really implausible? Well if it doesn't work, she'll blame Dina, because Jil thought this was how Priskil would have dealt with things. Or, if luck was on her side maybe she'll get to thank Dina and give the woman a hug. And everyone will come home happy. Ravarisk included. They'll find a place for it. Maybe someone will find that it could make for a good pet?

She opened her palms, its light striking out like needles, then made as if to drive her fingers into the monster as she would a blade, although she backpedaled, did otherwise, gently laying all her undead pale fingers on the tentacle that hugged her being. And she hugged it back gently and then tightly, allowing the power of hope to transfer from her onto the Ravarisk, charging her light with all her emotions and guiding it onto the slithering thing, who may or may not accept the display of affection.

"We want Aquiras to live," and if the monster was this angry because it was going to be dead soon, then maybe it would understand, that a certain goddess and all its followers were also just as agitated because Aquiras was going to be dead in a chime or two if it doesn't stop eating the power of the platform. "Come, come, we will find a way, there is always hope. You need not die here. Or kill others to live." And she believed in herself, something told her in her guts, though her calculating logical brain was reprimanding her and convincing her to the contrary, that the Ravarisk wasn't really evil... and she would let Luminance decide the better of it. She let the light course through her, as much as Priskil would allow her to use the power, as much as she could give in order to subdue this menacing enemy, even if her life would be forfeit in the process.

Selflessness could be such a convenient life skill. She thought of Xalet, and the others who were still alive, and even the Black Sun members, and all the other puny humans who were still moving and somewhat alive. And she thought of Aquiras, who could be dying any minute. And she believed in herself that she had the power to not let that happen.

"I won't let you, do you understand?" Rubrubrub Luminance on the tentacle monster. Fear the power of hope against your despair! Rubrubrub. It was going to work, she only had to believe more in herself. And in Xalet and in Dina and in Priskil. Rubrubrub. This is Priskil's light you retarded giant blob. "Petching monster let go of the platform please!!!"

***===***===***

A wise man once said that to defeat your enemy, you must make him your friend. Today, if there is more to today than there already is, Jilitse will learn if she had been taken for a fool for believing in said wise man.

As if an afterthought, if she would not defeat Sagallius in this life, then maybe in the next. But let it be known that she ended this battle, not as Jilitse of Sahova, follower of Mashaen, (who would have launched a hundred golems in Priskil's defense) but Jilitse of the Order of Radiance, follower of Priskil. Maybe we can add an annotation that she also loved Mashaen very much and had every intention of staying loyal to her mission, only this side quest happened.