Fighting in the dark
Millay Continent
His division just finished their shift at the front and moved back as Zolon's moved forward. Bre wanted to sleep but he was scheduled to meet with his brothers, Yanira, and Tillynia.
He moved quickly toward the meeting place, a red and grey structure made of clay blocks and wood. It was a two story broad building and it radiated magic because it had no mortar nor nail.
Only magic kept it together.
Bre wanted sleep. He would need to return to the fight soon and rest was vital but something had happened and he needed the latest intel as much as he needed sleep.
When he entered the room everyone relaxed as if they had been anxiously waiting for him.
"Bre needs to rest let's begin now."
"Cer is right." Cramnal looked at his siblings. "Rachel and her Antrunie are in the Abyss. It seems that the entity causing this has dug deep and they are having trouble finding it. We are going to have to hang on a bit longer."
There was silence in the room for a long moment.
Yanira spoke first. "We have already begun rotating our healers, and knowledge and mental magics users. They rest and operate in shifts. They no longer have a set regimen."
Bre nodded. "This has been effective and we are making headway."
Tillynia spoke, a frown on her face as she thought. "We can hold for a while yet. We trained har and, thanks to the Milana, we are well prepaired." She looked up. "We just need to make sure that she is okay."
Yanira nodded. "We need to help her, if we can." She looked to Bre and Cer "We have to finish with these knots quickly and then complete a diamond formation that is focused on the abyss."
Cramnal shook his head.
"She wants us to wait for a signal from her. She has already given me and Emil the points to complete formation. The rest she and her Antrunie will handle."
Tillynia nodded "If we have the exact locations it will not be a problem. I will gather guard together that will be optimal for creating the formation. Can you show us the locations Lord Cramnal."
Cramnal nodded. His eyes became a hazy turquoise with gold and grey flakes swimming around the iris. The air before them became heavy then it was hot as if humidity was hanging thick in the air above them.
Bursts of turquoise and gold color erupted before them. A map of the realm slowly appeared before them and they all studied it for some time. Tillynia and Yanira nodded in unison.
"Millay, Uta, and Sibba Continents." Tillynia looked to Yanira.
Yanira nodded. "And the abyss below Sibba."
"I will talk with Allania. Her soul magic is even more formidable than Zolon's because hers is innate. We can split the points here on Millay evenly between us and allow the Lords time to rest and prepare for whatever the Milana will need of them.
Yanira nodded then looked to Shain. "Have any fate lines be destroyed since the last few nots were handled?"
He looked at her expressionlessly as his magic ran ovee his fingers and out into the fate lines around them.
It was a good question and he found himself wondering why he hadn't thought to check again.
"No. They are all intact."
She nodded then looked to Cer and nodded in respect. "Tillynia, Allania, and I will prepare for the formation." She looked to Cramnal. "We only need to know the exact moment to strike."
He nodded his ascent and a deep yellow and black haze slid from his right side. It churned about for a few moments then slowly formed into a tall woman with skin as black as a moonless night and hair and eyes bright yellow like a young sun. She walked from Cramnal to stand next to Yanira.
"She will tell you when. Rebecca sent her to be an easy conduit between us."
Once again the Azmin commanders bowed and then they both left the room. Followed by Rebecca's servant.
Cramnal walked to Shain. "We are up after Zolon. Get some rest brother."
"And what about you?"
Cramnal looked at his brother for a long moment before he spoke.
"I hesitate, but I am Antrunie a well. Rachel keeps me strong. It's how I know she is struggling now. The power is stuttering."
"We all need rest so that we are ready when the time comes."
All four brothers nodded in unison.
The Abyss
Rachel was bleeding profusely. She had been for longer than should have been possible, for any being who had blood circulating through their body. Still she was lucid, she had stamina, and her mind was clear.
And she protected Struns and Rebecca. Their wounds were now minor, their blood loss minimal and they both watched her with concern and a knowing eagerness.
The abyss was a dense unfathomable black but it was not empty and it was not bottomless. It had landmasses and geographic features but to move through it was like moving through water. Yet you could not actually "swim" through the abyss.
Rachel could move through any level of it but most could only walk along its ground. It seemed infinitely distant from the blue sky above and it seemed limitless in depth and length.
The distant blue sky seemed trapped behind a heaviness and it opressed the mind and taxed the body.
But this as not the reason why the three had wounds.
As Rachel sat on a small hill a fresh wound appeared on her right upper arm. It was a jagged thing and fresh blood spilled from it and down her elbow.
Struns flinched as it looked at it.
As she had continued searching the abyss more wounds appeared and the deeper she searched the graver the wound.
She was searching an area beneath Sibba when she found it. It was a tall hill floating across the middle area of the dense abyss. Atop it was a large gold and silver monument. It looked like a large coin or medallion with an eight sided star shaped cut out of the center. It hung suspended from an obsidian arch marred by gold and silver veins.
This hill floated across a particularly acrid portion of the abyss. Most could not truly exist within this area of the Abyss.
She and the other two were already stronger than most but it also seemed as if the hill, or maybe it was the monument, wanted to protect them.
Rachel's spirit sight rose to see the underside of Sibba. She and Rebecca had just been there and there had been no indication of a knot. As she looked there was still no indication. But she could see the roots from the vines that created Sibba's newest sacred building.
They wrapped around the crystalized underside of Sibba covered in multicolored brilliant flowers that seemed to sway to a sweet melody. Rachel looked in wrapped fascination. She could see defensive magics pouring from them.
She narrowed her eyes and looked at the fate lines surrounding and dissecting Sibba. She saw black tendrils approach the crystal, seeking entry, and being roughly sent away. She watched as thicker and thicker tendrils approached and all were rejected with many being destroyed.
"Is your grandmother protecting Sibba or is this hill drawn to her and thusly protecting her? What is this monument?"
She looked at the hill and the coin, then back to Rebecca. She shrugged and stood.
"I have no idea. Everything is a mess." She jutted her chin to the tendrils. "We need to figure out who those belong to."
Struns stared at the monument.
"And this alter beneath the hanging "coin"."
Rachel's eyes turned brilliant pink. She looked into the hill and inside there was a cave with runes carved on the walls and a second alter directly below the one on top of the hill.
'How could I not know this place?' Her confusion became frustration as she realized many of the previous Milana did not feel knowing about the abyss was of any importance.
She shrugged. "A new playground for Mis I guess."
Rachel knew instantly that she needed to examine ancient Milana memories.
For now she didn't have time.
She set her feet. "Come. Follow me."
A bright lighr streamed from her chest, split into two, one going into Rebecca, the other into Struns. They nodded and all three vanished, moving toward the owner of those tendrils.