In a flash the ache in my mind was gone but when I opened my eyes I was no longer in the Citadel.
A small fire crackled as flames licked dry wood. I was slouching on a lopsided stump. Around me were a number of people I recognized: the Consulate members, the Ministers, Luke, Hanna, Mei, and Tatsuko.
I had came to in the middle of an impassioned speech by Luke.
"—leaving the obvious route out of the question. Patrols hound us day and night on the highway."
Ridwan Bashir, the Minister of State spoke up quickly, "There is no other way to get to Cahir. I'm no logistics expert, but even I know that taking a path through the broken terrain of the Commonlands is going to delay us by weeks. We simply don't have that kind of time."
Hanna stood up from her seat, a rough-shaped stone, "The Commander's decision to stay behind may have given us half a day's time at best. We have to make use of it while we can." She turned to me with a pained look, "Hailey, you've got to give the orders to move on."
Commander's decision? Wait—did she just call me Hailey?
Everyone around the fire was looking at me expectantly.
I sat up straight and glanced down quickly at my body. Long cherry-red hair ran down my shoulders across my chest. Lying next to me, propped up on a small rock, was Hailey's staff.
Great. I must have passed out and now I'm having another one of those wacko psycho-memory-whatsit.
In an eerily familiar way, a voice came up out of my throat; not mine, but Hailey's. It wasn't the strong and reliable voice of the woman I had been adventuring with the last few weeks. Her voice was strained, weak and wavering.
"The plan remains the same as it was while we escaped Axio. We continue south, past Cahir, to the outpost at the Tolin Pass. Minister Bashir is right, we can't be slowed down trail blazing. We take the highway… We'll just have to deal with any patrols if we come across them."
Luke clapped his hands twice, "You heard the Commander, pack it up and let's move out."
The group dispersed, except for Luke and Hanna. Luke came over to me and placed his hand on my—err… Hailey's—shoulder.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"Seems like you're taking Commander Vanixi's choice to stay behind pretty hard. Were you two close?"
"I… uhh… when we were younger I thought so."
Hanna placed her finger on her chin, thinking for a moment before raising it in the air and exclaiming, "Oh! She's the girl you always go on about, right? The one from that academy you went to. That V-X-A place!"
Luke's eyebrow raised as his expression flashed quickly to a grin.
I could feel Hailey's cheeks go flush as she shook her head and flailed her arms around in front of her.
"We were friends!"
Hanna was now wearing the same grin as Luke, "Some of your stories come across as more than just friends."
Hailey jumped to her feet and shouted, "Shut uuup!"
I was a silent passenger, watching out of Hailey's eyes as she stomped our way through the small canyon they had been holed up in.
Divisional soldiers were already making their way out of the ravine and forming up a distance away where the green landscape was broken up by a sun bleached stone roadway.
Hailey's two companions followed close behind her.
We silently walked the trampled footpath leading to the main group. The three of us mounted up and trotted behind the mass of soldiers. A sharp order from Luke and they set off on a march.
Luke's voice sounded from behind Hailey.
"The civilians who joined us are going to slow down the main force, but if we rotate those who have weaker stamina into the wagons and make camp only as a necessity… we might make it to Cahir in two days."
Hanna sighed wearily, but said nothing.
I felt Hailey shift uncomfortably in her saddle before she turned back towards her two companions.
"We're not pushing these people to exhaustion. Standard march protocols will be adhered to. Last thing we need is for the civilian population to fall ill under our care."
Luke looked away from Hailey.
"Understood."
A horn sounded loudly from far behind the group. Three short high-pitched blasts, the signal for a raid regiment to elevate to an alert status.
Two mounted parties of Divisionals broke from the right column, circling back past us. Hailey pulled her reins tight, her steed mimicking their motion and following fast behind.
Luke and Hanna both quickly exchanged a look of surprise, but as Hailey passed by them I could hear them turning around to chase.
The cavalry unit slowed their pace as they approached two lightly armored men on horseback, arms at the ready.
One of the guardsmen called out, "The Light of the Divine calls."
"And those who are righteous answer." The lead man responded back.
The two parties of guards lowered their weapons and circled back to rejoin the main force. Luke rode ahead to meet the scouts. Hailey spurred her mount forward, maintaining a close distance to him.
"You two, what was your post? What do you have to report?"
The lead scout saluted as soon as Hailey trotted up. He was wearing plain clothes but introduced himself as a member of the Divisionals.
"Commander. Knight-Lieutenant. I am Waystrider Garret, a scout under Knight-Lieutenant Braken's Division. We were ordered to remain near the city-gate. I have information on the First Division Commander who remained behind."
Hailey's eyes were glued to the scout.
"Give me your report, quickly."
"Er… Of course, Commander. Early this morning Commander Vanixi and her attending officer were taken captive by the Renaultians. We watched the exchange… A large group of civilians were attempting to flee through a collapsed segment of wall. After they had made it through safely, the Commander discharged a spell bolt that sealed the gap, but it also trapped the two of them within the city. It appears that they surrendered after that."
Hailey's body was trembling.
Both Luke and Hanna grabbed her by the arms, nearly pulling her off the horse.
"You can't just run off to try to save her!" Luke pleaded.
"You're just going to get yourself killed! We need you here. She made her choice—she bought time for us. For you."
-✵-
I landed with a loud 'thud' as my body face-planted the ground. Painful groans emanated from my throat as I rolled over and opened my eyes.
"Uuugh…"
There was a ceiling was above me. Wooden rafters crossed the space, supporting a hardwood floor.
Wherever I was, it was definitely an actual building and not one of the modular canvas tents I had been sleeping in for the last few weeks.
I glanced over to my right and looked over the bed I had just rolled out of. It was the same style bedding I had been sleeping with on our trek to Tolin.
Sore muscles screamed at me as I sat up.
Still lying in the bed, fast asleep and oblivious to my plight, was my little sister, Rias. Her hair was a wild mess, which partially obscured her face from view.
I used the foot of the bed as support and after an embarrassing struggle, managed to stand.
Light spilled into the room from a set of bay-windows. Through the glass, I spotted two red-clad guards posted outside the door.
It looked like I was in the common room of a fancy manor house. A stone hearth crackled with life along the center of the outer wall. In the back corner, a kitchenette had been stocked with some supplies. I found a few apples and hardtack in a sack. The sweet juicy fruit sated my dry throat.
Frantic pulsing light along my left wrist finally caught my attention. The eerie sporadic orange glow was probably not a good thing…
Or maybe that's just how it works now?
» YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED A PSYCHOMETRIC EPISODE
Yeah, no shit.
I waved my hand over the rune and dismissed the notification.
More important things to worry about right now.
As I nibbled on one of the hardtack biscuits, a pressure filled the room. On the counter closest to me a small portal sprung to life—vibrantly orange and sparking with magicka. It was no more than a foot in diameter, much smaller than the massive portals I had witnessed in the planes of the afterlife.
Out stepped a white-furred fox. Its coat gleamed with the same eerie orange glyphs and runes that adorned a certain Celestial Goddess of Aether.
The unmistakable scent of cinnamon stung my nose.
Capricorn.
A familiar silvery voice tickled my ears, hushed as if in a whisper.
"Soooo, you're finally awake. I will admit, I am surprised that you didn't succumb to the feedback you suffered. That is twice now you've defied death with poor odds in your favor. Quite irresponsible of you, to use that level of magick so soon after being revived."
"…"
I blinked absently at the fox.
"Are we just going to breeze over the fact that you're an animal?"
"Is that really what you want to discuss right now?"
"…Yes, actually. But I guess we can double back. Look, I know what I did was reckless. My emotions got the better of me, and I acted without thinking of the repercussions. But hey, I survived. Sooo, let's move past it. What are you doing here?"
"Have you forgotten already? Your soul is bound to my Essence. I sensed you wake."
"This is a friendly check-up because you just happened to be in the neighborhood, huh?
"Basically." Capricorn the fox strutted around on the counter tops, digging out an apple from the open sack.
"Oh, and don't forget your deal with my sister. You'll have quite a lot of work to do to satisfy her wishes. She asked me to give you a message… What was it again?"
Taking small bites of the apple, the fox chewed as her tail swished back and forth.
"Oh yes, the Phoenix God's rebirth cycle closes in a fortnight."
"Waah?"
A single rune near her forehead lit up brightly. A small blood-red crystal materialized slowly in the air. Crystalline structures formed a base, and steadily grew upwards until the jagged diamond-shaped gem was finished.
I cupped my hands, catching the gemstone as it fell.
- - - - - -LOOTABLES- - - - - -
[SHARD OF REKINDLING]
[Relic]
An oddly cut crystal that pulsates with a strange energy.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"What in the Aether do I do with this thing?"
"My sister mentioned some sort of ritual, buuuut~ it's not really necessary. You're a chaos practitioner now. Just channel your magick into this crystal and will the Phoenix God to be reborn."
"And… that's it?"
The foxen Goddess lifted her snout up in a show of disdain. "Just like how you channeled the resurrection spell. You wanted your comrades to be revived, and so they were. If you think about this too hard you're going to end up back in that bed for a few more days. Just have faith, you are a paladin after all."
"What do you mean a few more days? How long was I out for?"
"Two days. Remarkable really, considering the spell you cast drained over twenty-thousand magicka."
Twenty… thousand!? How in the Aether is that possible?
As if reading my mind, Capricorn responded to my unasked question, "You're bound to my Essence. It's like having access to an unlimited font of magicka—but don't get any stupid ideas, it comes with a cost to siphon from that font. Your bedridden hiatus should be proof enough of that."
Her ears perked up sharply, and a new portal materialized quickly in an empty space on the counter. She leapt through the portal with zero notice, it closed behind her almost immediately.