Remnant of the Aether

[Karmack]

An excellent finish to Ari's quest.   Well done indeed.  She will be a powerful and just Guardian of the People.

LSG, I love the richness you're building into these folks.  It is not mere embellishment, but true world-building.  I am very intrigued by Milli's find ... and its implications.

And Dutch is right: The next installment cannot come to soon.  :-)

[Lord_S_Gray]

 

Chapter 19 — Trials — Methods Part 1

Xanaea

With a half sigh she wandered about the quiet dark of the caverns of Aephrodaea, small blue aetheric candles ensconced in the bloodstone wall.

It hadn’t been very long…but it felt like a long time.

Everyone else was busy on the ships in orbit, Aunt Selaena had told her what was happening when she left her here, the safest place on the planet where the Goddesses would protect her.

Aresaea was on her Guardian trial far away and had gotten attacked by what Aunt Sel called ‘indefatigable necrotic outsiders’.  Xani wasn’t sure exactly what that meant but it sounded dreadful.

There were still a few days before Ari’s trial was over and she was on her way with Mili, Sofa and Valens to a place called Teth to try and stop the fight..or win it, Xani wasn’t’ sure…

Regardless if things didn’t go well then Kiraea, Melron, Taryn, Kassyndra, Maeson and Jenaea would go to help them on Teth, while Jarys, Aunt Sel, Lyaea, Adaea and Lydan went to a place called Taris to deliver what Kiraea called an ‘Undercity bunker buster’ and a ‘Terror Bomb’ – the latter Xani had briefly seen, it was like an orb but it was a kind of mirror all around. Apparently they only had two and Milaea had strongly objected to making any at all, saying it was too close to what Lucovis had used on them.

All in all it meant everyone else was waiting for a signal to go to fight the nasty outsiders….and Xani had to wait in the caverns.  Lydan and Maeson had left plenty of food, Adaea had left a bunch of books and orbs for her to read and study….but still…

Xani enjoyed walking outside in the valley so much, it was so much nicer than the under levels of Carratos had been, being in the caverns reminded her a bit of them, because it was so dark and closed in.  And he wished she could help Ari and the others.

Sighing she paced back and forth past the old shrines, rugs and totems, closing then opening her eyes as if everyone would suddenly be back and she could play and wander outside again when she opened them.

Strangest of all was a restlessness in her arms and legs that she should[i/] be doing something important to help – but she didn’t know what…she wasn’t old enough to fight, she could help bring people things – food, ammunition – and she was getting better at healing from Kassyndra’s lessons….

“You can help Xani,”

The voice was sudden and velvet in her ears as  light came from behind her purple and red,

Mouth wide in astonishment but feeling no fear only safety in the sacred cavern Xani turned around to see the speaker.

She was hard to make out, but it was clearly a she from the curved figure, purple light beamed in a frame around her form turning near white at the very edge of the body that seemed etched in glowing red.

“Aephrodaea?”  Xani asked, after all who else could it be in the sacred cavern that would appear so suddenly and look so divine,

“Xani this is very important and will help the People greatly, I need you to listen carefully and do exactly what I tell you,”

<<<<>>>>

Aresaea

Ivory and silver chimes played gentle tunes as winter winds wafted them at the mouth of the cavern, the waterfalls frozen white drapes either side. Despite the frost on her skin she took her clothes off – this was a sacred space – and replaced them with a thin white hand woven chiton. 

As she entered further it got warmer and warmer, the geothermally heated pools closer with each step down.

The main chamber was completely carved from Bloodstone, lit by blue aetheric fires, the combination painted pinks and purples throughout that had a fleshy hue – intentional this was the sacred space of Aephrodaea.

There were gormin fur rugs all about, handmade cushions and pottery decorated with fertility scenes of the Goddesses making love, teaching their daughters, a scent of honey kept in small pots for ritual body painting and pheromones from the women who had visited recently. 

All of the other women’s scents were here, even thin tastes of some long since lost to them.

The strongest belonged to the woman sitting on one of the small raised areas gently carving a piece of Bloodstone into a diorama of Aephrodaea lighting the flame of the sun.

Aresaea didn’t want to bother her while she was concentrating so sat on a rug nearby.

“Thanks for coming…” Milaea whispered as thin trails of light curved from her fingers.

 “My pleasure…” she said with a slight squeak, Milaea was very beautiful, and always made Ari feel…well she wasn’t quite sure.

Milaea finishing up placed the diorama down then got up and stretched out, Ari couldn’t help but look beneath the thin cloth to the curve of her body, the touches of pink against alabaster skin…

If she noticed her gaze she didn’t say anything, simply wandering down to sit next to her, reaching out to hold her hand in a gesture of connection and support.

“How are you Ari, now you’ve had some time to reflect on things,” Milaea inquired

It had been just over two weeks since she had laid Tarasen to rest, after the requisite purification from returning off world and some time spent with Kiraea discussing events, -not to say convincing the elder Aethan woman not to launch a full scale war against the Revenant – she had spent some time wandering the valley on her own as it came into winter, stopping off to assist Maeson and Jenaea with the orchards and kilns, and Lydan with the Gormin – things that were settling and homely.

“Better, it was good to have some time off after…”

“I can imagine,” Milaea smiled not needing further explanation

“…there was something I wanted to talk to you about…an idea I’ve had for a while, reading through the Revenant texts you recovered I was able to fill in a few missing pieces…and then there is you…” Milaea looked at her very deliberately

“Me?”

“Well Adaea says you’ve already mastered Blackstone enchanting and have a good understanding of the Obelisks, faster than anyone else,”

“Well…I don’t know about mastered….”

“Don’t sell yourself short…” Milaea reached out and summoned an orb – not Blackstone as was typical but pure red Bloodstone.

“Here…feel this…”

Ari nodded, implicitly trusting her, and reached out with the aether…the stone was…full…pregnant with an essence, a personage etched deeply in like compressed strands of DNA, strong, familiar…

“It’s you!” she delved further, “It’s a reflection of your personality…” as she got further she saw flashed, a large hallway, smiling male face and dark haired young woman playing with her…these were…

Ari shut herself off

“Sorry those are your memories…”

“No no…” Milaea held her hand once more, “I want you to see…see how much is in there…how much we can fit in…”

Ari’s brow furrowed as it so often did when thinking hard – this was more than clinical facts they usually recorded more like a…

“…a Holocron…but more…” she said out loud, “I saw them with the Vahl Dan…and…other things on Yavin, where Naga Sadow was embedded, and Exar Kun…similar but distinct methods to hold Sith essences…”

“Now you see why I wanted your help, you know lots of different ways to lock in a personality and memories to an object.”

Ari nodded slowly

“But why…as Saani says you need to know the end goal to know where to start…”

“That is a longer story…” Milaea replied shuffling back to lean more comfortably and gesturing for Ari to do the same.

“You know the Blackstone Altar can hold someone’s Aetheric Essence for a long period…it works perfectly to ‘store’ someone when their body is being enhanced like Sofa….but it degrades overtime…Aethena was in one for nearly 700 years and was too fragmented to recover fully, leaving me with only scatters of her memory, the rest started seeping into the aether after about 5 years at a rate of around 0.25 per cent. “

Ari didn’t quite understand where this was headed.

“But from my fight with Lord Yn and help by Eilaea and Aydyn in the past I know that an essence can be transmitted across time into another body, or at least Lord Yn certainly believed it was possible and tried to take Eilaea’s body by force, a variation on how Xithar put himself into Lucovis body….so…”

“So you think we can combine the two methods!”
Ari’s eyes sparkled with possibilities as she pieced together what Milaea intended

“Use the storage mechanism of the Blackstone…but avoid the degradation by combining it with a kind of Temporal distortion to link back to a person while they are still in their body…”

Ari paused parsing through the concept, Milaea never taking her eyes off her, though occasionally wandering down her figure rather than face.

“That is…extraordinarily complex…to get the combination of elements right…you’re working with time, astral projection, body/soul dislocation….”

“I know that’s why I need your help with it, Technocracy methods preserve fidelity of the essence highly accurately but only for short periods, but you learned things from watching Naga Sadow about how to preserve an essence over centuries with high fidelity…We also have Xithar’s writings we looted from the Almas Fortress to supplement Technocracy methods of infusing a body with an essence again…and just as importantly artificially stimulating growth of a body – the Revenant text you found is actually an annotated copy of an older Sith document upon which Technocracy methods were originally based, I never imagined a copy had survived so long.”

Ari noted a strange absence of worry in Milaea, given Xithar had used such mechanisms to create his own Aethan body she’d have thought Milaea would be unwilling to investigate using such Sith Alchemy.

“You’re surprised?” Milaea asked

“Well a little, I thought Sith alchemy was too…Dark side oriented for you to feel comfortable with,”

Milaea nodded slightly

“20 Aethan clone babies died from Xithar using these methods on them…he wrote down what he learned…I don’t want their deaths to be any more in vain…” 

Her voice was firm, Ari beginning to realise once Milaea set her mind to something she would pursue it with little compunction as to the means like any other Aethan…it was only on reflection Milaea would in un-Aethan fashion regret it.

“I understand,” Ari replied

Milaea summoned over another object to Ari’ hands, it was a ruby…no diamond – pure carbon formed around a deep red fluid…it was…

“Your blood and cells…diamond from your own bodies carbon…” she quickly looked Milaea up and down, noting one of her toes was slightly smaller – regrowing

“Milaea you shouldn’t do that!”

“It was a necessary test…”

Ari could feel genuine contrition and determination, still it made her feel uneasy to think Milaea had hurt herself…and recalled Kiraea telling her how willing Milaea had been to sacrifice herself on a number of occasions against Lucovis – it was a worrying trend, and though regrowing a toe for Milaea who had reconstructed Lydan from a cybernetic mess was trivial…. 
If Ari had a role apart from technical assistance, it was perhaps to make sure Milaea’s focus on the outcomes didn’t lead to her doing something that would harm herself.

“Milaea,” Ari’s protective tone
“You shouldn’t hurt yourself, shouldn’t be doing experiments like this alone…these are very dangerous concepts, time, necromancy, accelerated artificial growth…blending Technocracy, Sith Alchemy and Revenant mechanisms…”

Ari suddenly stopped as she realised she had Saani’s chiding tone in her voice, her upset so sudden and so strong.

“Well if you help me…then I won’t be alone,” Milaea replied contritely, Ari’s remonstration somehow hitting harder than anyone else’s would have.

The tension between them uncomfortable Ari probed further.

“So what is this all for, is it a means of creating a way for us to cheat death by having a Blackstone device to send our aura awaiting another Aethan to place us in a new body?”

“Ultimately yes, though I hope we never need it” Milaea replied
“But first we need proof of concept…I don’t think anyone is going to volunteer to be killed…And that is where the next complication comes…”

She strode toward the mouth of the cavern, the gossamer thin loose robe clinging precariously against the outside evening winds which were picking up.  Her green eyes stared out into the darkened valley looking not at the now but at Then

“I think there might be a way to resurrect some of our People, a handful perhaps of the strongest Guardians who died in the Devastation,”

Ari’s eyes widened, the scope of such a task was…well beyond anything she had envisaged Milaea might be planning. 

Necromancy was part of the Rites they both knew, but the Arts taught immediacy in uses, reviving recently dead bodies to fight as zombie thralls, or using near dead blood cells to power curses and spells, reviving People dead for decades…

It seemed impossible, and yet, Ari truly believed if anyone, Milaea was the person who could do it.

“It won’t be easy,” Milaea went on
“Not only do we have to develop the mechanism we somehow have to communicate with the Aethans in the past....my experience with Flow walking….”

Milaea thought back to Nar Shadda, trying to save her mother Cilina from dying in the past, ripping at the fabric of space time to do so.

“…is that we can’t create a temporal paradox, we can only communicate with People in a way that doesn’t alter the timeline dramatically…a small pebble in the river of events…”

“Didn’t Valens try to revive Cilina and Shilea and couldn’t manage it?” Ari inquired recalling something Kiraea had said

“Yes, it was because their essences were too fragmented and deep in the aether to pull back together, the storage in a Bloodstone orb and transfer across a Temporal wormhole of sorts will compensate for that.”

“So…the plan is to develop a means of storing an essence better than the Blackstone Altar’s and that works across time, Communicate with Aethans before they die without creating a paradox, get them do what they need to transition across, then generate new bodies for them using their DNA in Blood Crystals and Xithars and the Revenants rapid growth methods, then place them in those bodies using Technocracy and Lucovis methods perfected to cope with a fully adult Aethan soul….”

Ari’s head was near spinning already

“There are so many components in each step that might simply not be possible…” Ari sighed

“…I guess we’d better get this Project Persephaea Started” she finished with a smile that Milaea could only match at the name for their little task, after the famous saga of Persephaea’s journey beyond the Styx to the underworld and back again.

The exact story differed depending on who retold it, some said she went there after her lost love, others she was abducted into the underworld by a jealous suitor, but the essence, of returning alive from the land of the dead was always the same.

“Very fitting, to Project Persephaea!”

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 19 — Trials — Methods Part 2

Visits

Still.

Calm.

Quiet.

All the things his life had never been.  Things he strangely feared.

Taryn sat, or rather hovered, over the glacial plain devoid of anything but snow and the occasional rock.  All the better to clear his mind and get over his discomfort at being in still spaces.  After so many years in the crowded noise of a destroyers belly tranquillity of any kind was unnerving to him

The only ‘tranquillity’ he experienced in his previous life had been dead floating in the void.

He was meant to be waiting for the Old Man to come back, and stay elevated and motionless with the aether until he did. 

It was all about learning to ‘channel his abundant energy’, ‘find focus amidst the storm’ or some such nonsense.

All he felt was bored.

“What’chya dooin?”
And just like that he on the ground being pummelled by a pile of formerly levitating stones as his concentration was broken all too easily.

“Frag….” Taryn coughed out the grey gravel dust of the steppe as he looked up to see Xani looking at him perplexed.

“Practicing flying still working on my landing,”

“Oh well maybe you shouldn’t have rocks above your head falling with you?”

“Yeah maybe…” he sat up
“What brings you all the way out here nibblet?”

She looked straight past and behind him

“I came to talk to you Melron,”

As if from nowhere the old man strode out of the endless rock and lichen strewn plain, past Taryn he sat on one of the recently fallen rocks.

“What can I help you with Xanaea?”

Visibly righting herself to stand tall in keeping with the importance of her task she began.

“I was wondering about the old Guardians, the ones before the Devastation and what happened to them?”

Inured to the haphazard things the curious girl asked Melron suspected nothing unusual.

“Hmmm well I knew them all, was there something particular you were curious about?”

“Hmmm what they did before the Devastation, in the week before maybe…”
She had to remember she was meant to be doing a detective work
“…what was day to day life like for them that is,”
That should be enough cover.

“Well myself, Karintha, Andis and Taran were with the young ones, well they were young then – Valens, Jarys and Yorna - arranging their trials,”

Xani knew from her other special conversation with Aephrodaea only one of those could work.

“Tell me about Yorna and her trial,” she tried to keep from sounding too excited.

“Well that was Taran setting it up, Yorna was a smart girl, kind always helpful and industrious, did what was right no matter what, determined but sometimes she could be a bit cautious so Taran had her go to the Cavern of the Goddess of the Hunt to test her, learn to trust in herself more.”

“A cavern….is it rich in blood stone,”

Melron shook his head

“Blackheart I believe, only women are allowed in of course, I don’t know where it is, only Karintha and the older women guardians did…”

“When Yorna came back was she doing anything special…making something…”

It was rather confusing, and somewhat funny she was keeping secrets from all the adults, it seemed all backwards but Xani had no doubt the goddesses were being clever about something.

“I only met up with them on the way to the gathering, Karintha and Yorna were chatting about an orb…” he cycled through his eidetic memory

“Yes the were coming through the trees rather than along the road …I just overheard the end of the conversation Yorna said ‘…Kiraea will know where it is’ didn’t pay it much mind back then”

Now Xani was very excited but kept her best detective face on.  If Melron didn’t know where the cave was she would ask directly.

“Aertemisaea where is your cavern?”

Not missing a beat Xani had directed the question roughly between the two men.

Taryn, spun round feeling all of a sudden there was someone else here on the empty steppe he couldn’t quite account for.

Melron’s eyes glistened in joy to see the directness of the young girl’s connection to their Goddesses.

For a few moments there was silence so far as the men were concerned.

“Good idea,” Xani said then turned back to Melron.

“Thank you Melron, I’m going to find the cavern, but it might be dangerous, Aertemisaea says Taryn should come to look after me,”

As much as Taryn gave his intellectual assent to the idea of the Goddesses, and was in no doubt there was something sentient about the aether on this world, this was getting a bit weird.

He looked wide eyed at the old man.

“Well off you go son,”

<<<<>>>>

 

Theory

A curved stylus in hand Milaea stood before a large blank piece of stretched Obryus, a reed that grew at the Valley Rivers mouth mulched and pressed into paper.

In her simple traditional off white shirt and shorts Ari tried to not look at her legs as she began writing.

“So Point 1 - A persons aetheric presence can be separated from and reattached to another body by various mechanisms of which actual death of the body is Only One as evidenced by Xithar, Sofa, and the Revenant…”

Ari nodded in agreement
“Right, death is the most common but not the only way, even Flow walking in a sense can break the attachment if taken too far, Kazic once told me of Anson’s master a Aing Tii Varel Zo who warned people could be lost between the Big Plane and the Little Pocket,” 
She giggled slightly
“Kazic never knew what it meant till I explained it to him.”

Once more Milaea knew she’d chosen the right companion – in multiple ways. But she had to press on writing.
“Point 2 an aetheric presence, or soul can be bonded to other suitable objects – living or not – that can retain the aether sufficiently.”

“As evidenced by Darth Andendu, Karness Muur, Aethena and Lucovis,” Ari filled in

“We know through flow walking you can communicate with beings past and future, and at Mount Alixaea Lord Yn proved that you can even attempt to force your aetheric presence – detached from the body as per Point 1, into another body in a different Temporal location per Point 2.”

“So Point 3 is that an Aetheric presence can move and exist independent of time and is only tied to it in so far as it is bound to a temporal physical object” Air surmised

“Right but point 4 is that detached from a physical object of some kind a presence slowly erodes into the aether, like Aethena did…sort of…”

“Sort of?”

“That’s a theory for another time…even force ghosts have a ‘lifespan’ after which they vanish, though I don’t think their experience of time is linear…more like their energy as a coalesced entity wears out after too many ‘appearances’”

Intrigued though Ari was Milaea was right they needed to focus on the now.

“Next set of facts. The technocracy developed the means to re-implant an aetheric presence into a genetically modified version of the original body it came from via the Blackstone Altars – the ‘upgrade’ method I used with Sofa.  Lucovis used a similar method but it required a Choir of darksider cultists to achieve and was done in real time rather than storing the essence…and of course there are innumerable examples of Sith trying to become immortal by infusing their Presence into an object – holocron or similar.” Milaea went on

“Like Exar Kun into the Temples on Yavin.”

“Exactly, so”
Milaea scribbled this down as well
“…from those points we know a being can move through time via objects from one body to another,”

“But,” Ari cautioned “All those methods required conscious effort on the part of the person trying to move themselves into another vessel of some kind,”

Milaea drew a line under the first four points.

“Yes now comes the next step, Point 5 we can communicate with beings in the past or future but…”
Milaea paused still raw memories of her attempts to save her mother on Nar Shadda frustrated despite her immense power briefly resurfacing.

“Point 6 we can’t do so in a way that causes a temporal paradox, the Aether baulks and pushes back at it too strongly…”

“You’re right it needs to be subtle” Ari said
“If we do it in the most minimalistic way that changes, in board sweeps, virtually nothing, then we shouldn’t need too much power…Varel Zo had a saying…”

“Another one Kazic didn’t understand?” Milaea smiled

“Ha neither did I till now!” Ari said leaning next to her and taking the stylus.

“’A single grain of sand moved between the ends of the hour glass changes the time only for one who sees it’…
I think what he meant was a tiny change can have big ramifications in an isolated system…but only to a determined observer apart from that, in the whole hourglass nothing changes.  .Aethas has been empty for years a small change here would barely alter a thing in galactic terms hmmm”

Ari pondered for a moment before jotting down her conclusion.

“Point 7 a change in the timeline must be minimal, to the point it can already have happened without the instigator being aware they actually succeeded.”

“So in a way we’ve already done it,” Milaea realised
“I suppose so, in a way…but I suspect that kind of thinking might get confusing after a while…”

Ari drew another line for the next section

“Point 8 is obvious we can reconstruct a body from cells sealed in a Blood Crystal using Lucovis, Technocracy and Revenant rapid regrowth mechanism, then via point 1 reattached, avoiding point 4 the degradation over time as much as possible,”

“Yes the Revenant technique was the last key I needed for that, it’s faster than our own but it is imprecise, those Shades couldn’t sustain life without the force after their repair, by taking their speed combined with Aethan precision to counteract negative effects.” Milaea explained

“And Point 9 is where the practical comes in, to avoid point 4 and achieve the other points we need to contact an Aethan who is not only not in this timeline –effectively dead – but also would be able to create a device and understand how to send their presence to it just before they ‘died’….and we need to know the when and where they were in the past to actually flow walk to talk to them…and hope they believe us”

Ari nodded, “It would have to be one of the Guardians, they would be the only ones with the knowledge to create what was needed from our instruction, and then only one of the ones who we know died…”

“So that leaves Karintha, Yorna, Andis, Yiraea and Corbyn,” Milaea noted
“Old Andis from Jarys and Melron’s tale of his last moments vanished into the aether itself, so I don’t think we can use him…plus he was too close to Valens and Jarys trying to talk to him would risk a paradox,”

“What about Taran? He was the Guardian of my Village, Uncle Tarasens Cousin, he would know me and he lived on the other side of the Valley from Old Andis,”

Milaea shook her head
“His body was never found with the others Valens buried before Yoda arrived….”

Ari sighed sadly “I hope he survived somehow, he was always so kind…and so strong he could wrestle a voursus,”

“If anyone could survive it would be a Guardian like that,” Milaea said supportively, though both knew the chances were low, a Guardian that strong would almost certainly have found their way back by now if they had broken loose of the slavers….

“Well whoever we contact…” Milaea redirected
“Point 10 then is we need sufficient power to keep a connection strong and long enough to transmit via our Aethenaea cortices the knowledge they need across time…we’ll need to work out how much exactly – flow walking can be highly draining to establish a link, transmitting detailed instructions can only make it more so”

“We can do some tests perhaps…” Ari stepped back from the sheet reviewing the points.  The chain of events seemed simple enough, and Milaea already had a head start.

First they develop a compact Bloodstone ‘Revival Orb’ that can hold an Aethan Aura exactly over at least 25 years, perhaps even keep it in a time dilation field.

Second they find a Guardian and where they were shortly before the Devastation to communicate with.

Third they develop a way to contact them and transmit the knowledge on how to make the orb and a blood diamond and hide it…

The finally retrieve the orb and diamond containing their genetics, create a body and re-infuse them into it.

Simple as each step seemed they were littered with complexities and uncertainties, would require techniques and raw power beyond the imagining of most Force users, indeed would be considered necromancy and reckless Temporal Interference by even the Vhal’Dan, let alone the temple Jedi. 

Ari was not Vhal’Dan, Milaea was not a Jedi – and though they respected and learned from both traditions, they were People first.

“I’m not sure I can do all this…” Milaea said now face with the enormity of the task she had set herself.

“We can,” Ari affirmed standing close behind her.

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

 

Chapter 19 — Trials — Methods Part 3

Taryn

A tune on her lips Xanaea hopped and skipped fearlessly up the rock path on the mountain side carved by the rivulets of rain from the summit.

Taryn had absolutely no idea where she was headed, and feared neither did she, whatever divine guidance she was receiving was beyond him to see, and had her wandering straight toward the most dangerous areas of the valley where the most dangerous wild animals still roamed.

As she scrambled up another pile of water smoothed rocks, knocking more than a few into his path, he kept his senses up for any Voursus, the large ‘bear’ like animals that could reach nearly three meters and according to the Old Man smack an Aethan to the ground.

Even worse the voursus had strong but horribly subtle aetheric ability to project a feeling of serenity and drowsiness…making their prey docile and easily caught.  So far his anxiety and Xani’s ebullience assure him there wasn’t one nearby.

“You sure you know where you’re headed?” he asked, at least not puffing, that would be embarrassing to be outpaced by a teenager, though admittedly he hadn’t slept only ‘meditated’ for the last 10 days.

“No,” Xani replied honestly
“But it’s this way,” she added

For winters day it was unusually sunny and the first trickles of melt water began to muddy the ground as they got higher and higher, ever closer to the ray greysleet bluffs that could house more than a few Voursus dens.

Shaking his back to readjust the pack on his back more comfortably he plodded on behind her.

Three quarters of the way up she stopped arm wrapped around a tree to peer at the vista of the valley behind her.

“hmmm…that is their house,” she pointed down at what from here was a palm sized thatched roof amidst overgrown plots surrounded by trees on the edge of a creek.

“So it must be up here…”

A single step was all it took and his back felt as if liquid nitrogen had been injected into it.

“Hold up there Nibblet…something up there doesn’t want you to go any further.”

“Can you make it safe for a few minutes?”

“Oh yeah sure no worries,”

“Thank you Taryn!” she smiled oblivious to any sarcasm.

Against all his senses he carefully climbed the ever steeper sections of rock.

Fortunately his senses of dread began to abate, whatever fauna might’ve been here must’ve wandered off after smelling him, or deterred by the divine aura of protection Xanaea seemed to enjoy.

Reaching a flattened area before the sheer rock face he huffed out a contented sigh, there were a few low dark openings in the rock leading to hallow caverns, hopefully whatever Xani wanted was in one of them.

For now he was just happy to get a chance to sit down and catch his breath, have a rest as last.

His eyes felt so heavy, like he’d been training for years without a break…finally it seemed he was able to find the calm and stillness the old man had insisted upon up here, it was quiet, warm peaceful…

Idly he realised he was already lying on his side looking drowsily over the vista before him, warm earthy tones soothing him to….

Frell…

Mustering all the panic and anxiety he could he dredged memories of ship board alarms, ruthless child-snatchers and microtears in EV suits to jump start his panic response against the subtle soothing aura emanataing from the massive warm thing his thermal senses finally woke to behind him.

A Voursus, at least three meters tall was looming over him, a hide thick as donnium, black with grey outer coat hairs indicating a huge age, mottled by pure white stained brown where the coat had grown over old scars.

Smacking himself with the aether just like Lyaea would if he got too close he telekinetically slapped himself out of the vast paws path.

For its size the voursus was inexplicably fast, no sooner had it missed than its bac legs pushed it toward him.

There was no way with his simple bow and sword he could defeat such a creature, all he could do was draw it away from Xani and hope to the Goddesses he lost it in the lower forests.

Peeking out from a large fallen tree trunk Xani watched as Taryn duck and wove avoiding – barely the huge animals glinting blade claws before making a stumbling retreat down the side of the hill thy had just climbed.

She knew he would be fine, but wasn’t allowed to tell him that.

In the meantime she cautiously headed into the caverns that were warm against the winter cool. 

Xani made sure to keep her mind focused as the stray fur brushed against the jagged edges of the cave as the Voursus cleaned themselves retained a strong trace of their sedative powers.

There were various bones and hides of gormin and goyruts, even a few vorynx on the den floor that she deftly stepped over.  It wasn’t so different to some sections of Carratos where the dead were left to rot in the alleys.

Deeper in she traced her hand along the rock till she felt a change in the aetheric density. 

“Perfect!” now she really focused looking for the right outcropping and size of bloodstone.

As slowly and carefully as Xani was searching Taryn was frantically avoiding the now livid Voursus – Taryn had managed to hit it in the head with a large stone, but that only served to annoy it more.

Xani found her own perfect chunk delicately excising it in accordance with how Aephrodaea had shown her, looking over it she nodded content before heading outside and calling as loud as she could.

“Taryn I’m finished now,”

I will be too in a moment! he would’ve said but for his lack of breath, the forest being churned behind him, he had thought the dense Obirio trees would make the voursus struggle to move, he was dead wrong, what trunks it didn’t’ deftly slide between it barged over with its size.

His arms were already sliced to ribbons by the rough stones, branches and bladed leaves, the blood only whetting the beasts appetite further.

Taryn had his fill of the running game, jolting between two large tree trunks he turned to face the voursus.

“Fine you want me, here I am!” he spread his arms round both trunks and leaned forward panting staring at the animal that no raised to its full height with a ground shaking roar.

The stench of meat and offal wafted over him as Taryn grimaced at the blast of sound.  His plan – if such could be said of the desperate move – was to use the aether - if he could – fro slam both trees down on the predator by ripping up their roots telekinetically. Of course the wild animals aetheric senses were ken as his, he would have to wait to the last possible second.

The black glassy eyes and tameless aetheric aura surveyed Taryn closely as he fearlessly stood his ground, still as stone.

He kept his mind focused, clear, on the cold, the void, detaching himself from the panic of the moment of imminent destruction that threatened to overwhelm him with anxious fire.

The voursus saw the change in demeanour, no longer panicked prey, this person had suddenly become a focused controlled opponent.

With a grudging sniff and low growl the voursus lowered itself and backed away never taking its eyes from Taryn, who despite wanting to fall face first down remained solid as a rock.

Maybe there is something to this stillness stuff Old Man

<<<<>>>>

Progress

Her eyes were getting heavy from the intense concentration, the twisting and turning of the aether amidst the bloodstone sphere, the prototype Revival Orb that took what Milaea had already made and added Temporal buffering to avoid degradation. 

Opposite Milaea didn’t seem to be as obviously tired, rather fatigued from focusing on just one thing for too long, her mind rebelling as such lack of stimulation. 

They gently shifted, moved and adjusted in congruence and at times conflict trying to get it right…their minds melded with two blackstone memory orbs from the old technocracy…an over mind learning and adapting trying to perfect the design. 

“Hmm…I think we should rest,” Ari said “We’ve got it to a stable place for now…”

“Uhhh you’re right…” Milaea flopped back onto the rug their connection dissolving “my butt hurts from sitting so long…want to go for a walk,”

“Eat first…” Ari suggested.

They grabbed some of the Nerf chunk stew they had brought...it wasn’t anywhere near as nice as gormin…but it would be years before the herds were big enough to start using them for meat again.

“I still think…” Milaea said conversationally “We should improve our cuisine…throwing everything into a huge pot is efficient…but I can’t say it is always appealing…” she looked at the thick brown steaming mix   

Ari shrugged “hmmm no one on Galtea seemed to like it…”

Milaea’s mind pressed on hers, “You miss it there?”

“Not the planet…just the people…I worry about what will happen with Anson and Kazic…and Saani…but…” she sighed and groaned at the same time…

“This is my place,”

Milaea paused a few beats,

“I know what you mean…I miss Soryu…even Yoda…and others…but well…”

Ari nodded she knew why they couldn’t go there for a while…at least not openly…idly wondering if they would have to do the same thing to Kazic and Saani one day….as it was Kiraea still wanted to obliterate Galtea, Valens wanted to loot it…she feared they might both get their wish one day.

“We should stretch out, how about a run up the mountain!” Milaea switched them away from saddening thoughts.

It wasn’t quite a blizzard, but still a lot of snow coming down, the winters were getting colder as the terraforming proceeded over the horizon, the cold was a shock at first but they soon adapted as they jogged up the rough path. 

Milaea was quicker, but Ari was better at navigating rough terrain after years on Yavin resulting in an even heat most of the way, only the building clouds of snow and frost that chilled her nose slowed them.

It took half an hour to reach the summit by that time they were too hot to feel the cold.

“Wooo haha!” Milaea raised her arms like an athlete crossing the finish line. 

“Ahh…ooh…that was fun…oh…”

“Ha yeah…” Ari bounded up to hi-five her, their hands slapped but stayed together fingers briefly intertwining…

“ha…hmmm…” they uncomfortably pulled apart.

Atop the mountain was a small Gray-sleet shrine hidden underneath the snow, with a theatrical blow of her breath Milaea sent the snow off with the aether, streams of white into the wind.

The ¼ scale image of Aephrodaea stared down the mountain toward the valley, watching over her children, looking a little cold in her chiton. 

“We should warm her up…” Milaea said

They went around dusting off the three plinths arranged behind the statue small bowls for aetheric fires on the top.

Milaea was about to light one when Ari stopped her,

“We should do it together…She like her daughters working together…” only peripherally was she aware she just wanted an excuse to be closer to her.

Milaea smiled and hopped over, pressing close Ari could see the steam coming off her body.

Ari’s pheromones in her misty breath tickling at Milaea’s nose as she put her hand on the back of hers.

Milaea gasped a little purple tinged energy into the bowl.  They moved in easy unison, hips occasionally rubbing as they pivoted to light each in turn.

There was a strange silence beneath the electrical crackle and howling drive of snow as they paused still close, hand over hand, lingering together a little longer than was necessary.

“hmm...ah I wonder…”Ari began slowly pulling apart “…I wonder how long since anyone lit this shrine…”

She gently moved away to inspect the patina on the gray sleet trying to determine how long since someone had properly cleaned it based on the build-up of micro sand particles embedded in the ultra dense stone.

“Nearly...twenty five years…” she said as matter of fact as possible

“A long time…” Milaea replied looking out as best she could through the lull in the winds across the valley.

“I wish I could’ve seen it…the Valley the People Before….”

Ari sometimes forgot Milaea had been born just after the Devastation, she had never lived among the People at peace.

“It was calm then,” Ari explained casting her mind back and also out to share her eidetic memory with Milaea

“Peaceful, life followed the seasons, all leading up to the yearly Gathering, it was such an exciting time when all the weddings and important business was done, all the village came together to organise the next years large labours – building new bridges, new mines, choosing which areas of the forest to harvest for wood, which to leave to regenerate…everyone had a place, a role…even though…”

Idyllic as it was Ari would not hide the imperfections, Milaea would not want her to.

“Though sometimes there wasn’t enough to go around, the Valley’s resources were limited, and the dead lands beyond…the Guardians were gradually exploring looking for new places to settle,”

“Like Eilaea when she journeyed to Mount Alixaea”

“Yes, but the damage done by the Sith bombardment – of course we had no idea that was the cause – was so extensive…and our resources to colonise a new area so limited….”

Ari shook her head in mild frustration gaze still through the snow flecked winds.

“The Collapse of the Technocracy, then the Devastation of the People…it’s like there is some force in the universe trying to stop us from ever growing…”

Milaea’s mouth briefly opened to reply, but either the ice or Ari’s voice stopped her voicing a suspicion - glimpsed as she wielded the power of the Goddesses on Ord Mirit - that the paranoia of the People might be justified.

“I know it’s because our power draws other to covet it…” Ari stared up into the black clouds far above, as if she could spy the hovering Aertemisaea Class destroyers in orbit

“It’s a cycle, the stronger we become the more enemies covet our power…making us try and become ever stronger to compensate…”

She raised her eyes hope proved by the recovery of this shrine and so many People already lighting them.

“But we’ll find a way to break it I’m certain,”

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 19 — Trials — Methods Part 4

Still Waters

“You’re not seriously heading there are you?”

Still covered in small cuts from the run in with the voursus Taryn could only begun Xani leading him toward the swampy still waters further down the valley by the southern mountain’s bases where loamy soil soaked up run offs from the snow covered caps rather than feeding it into a creek or river.

It wasn’t’ the swamp per se he disliked but the reptilian amphibious Vosis he was well aware resided here – he’d had more than his share of taking on the huge thick hide creatures with the Old Man.

Xani as always since their last stop was humming merrily over the bloodstone orb that occupied her constantly as she kept following an incomprehensible path forward.

“Yes that is where the cavern is, Aertemisaea told me,”

“So why didn’t we go there first?”

“I needed time to work on this,”

“And what is that anyway,”

“It’s a secret!” she said excitedly not once pausing in her stride.

A few metres further into the thick forest the smell of decay grew stronger wafting off stagnant waters, still on top and covered with enough algae to appear like grass, roiling below with Vosis and dozens of other aquatic species gnashing at each other.

There she stopped.

“It’s over there somewhere…but Aertemisaea says you should go first.”

“I’ll bet she did…” Taryn eye rolled before tossing off his pack with a sigh, heading past the thin teen.

Tentatively he stepped toward the swampy ground, where the solid ended and water began was hard to discern due to algae cover, past the swamp was the edge of the mountain itself, folds of rock creating shadowed coves in which the caverns entrance likely lay.

Ideally he could find a way across without troubling the waters and the creatures beneath.  It would require a slow patient approach to chart a path across 300 or so metres of muddy ground.

Patience was not his preferred mode of operating.

Against his nature he tiptoed along, gormin leather boots dipping in the water causing barely a ripple as he felt the eddies of motion from his genehanced vestibular senses beneath the water, thermal senses were of no use in the thick glue of the swamp water that heaved with metabolic heat against the winter cool air above.

Slowly methodically he neared the other side, a path laid out for the far lighter and more nimble Xani to follow.

Just as he felt the relief of completion his world exploded in a shower of brown green swamp water and the cold hard grip of the Vosis.

The gene-engineered descendants of Hssis from Korriban, like their progenitors their stealth abilities had been fine tuned to the point even Aethans with an affinity for all creatures on their world could barely sense them, indeed Taryn had suggest to Valens he set a dozen of the creatures - that could grow nearly 5 metres and 200 years old - loose on the equally muddy world of Nal Hutta to teach the bloated enemies of the people a lesson.

Claws and scale bladed tail wrapped round him as his eyes were filled with the chipped and mottled belly scales before the crashing cold of being taken under subsumed his senses in darkness.

A death roll in the water began as he frantically struggled.  He wasn’t worried about drowing, he had learned at barely 5 when a rupture depressurized a cannon loading tunnel that aethans did not need to breathe for several hours at a time, but rather being crushed to death.

Yet the more she struggled and twisted the stronger and strong the Vosis grip on him became seeking to eliminate all resistance from its meal.

Stillness…

He had to learn stillness, calm…

Loosening his body he gave up all fight, flopping like a hutt in above 1.5 gravity.

The Hssis grip loosed contented its prey had been thoroughly overcome by its raw reptilian strength.

Like a dancer it glided round jaw opening wide with diamond sharp teeth hungry for the uncommon taste of Aethan flesh.

Eyes wide with panic Xani felt relief rise up as the swamp suddenly exploded with raw blue aetheric fire that instantaneously evaporated hundreds of litres of water as a huge vosis, the biggest she’d ever seen was flung sky high like a reverse comet with a trail of aetheric energy beaming from Taryn’s hands.

The other denizens of the swamp were quick to react to sudden burst of energy, snapping and weaving toward the beacon of energy – for like all creatures on Aethas – the People included they fed as much on the aether as on protein and fat.

Covered in flaming energy normally Taryn would press his advantage, show off his power on the weakest to deter the strongest.  But the Vosis didn’t think that way, so he remained still, centred, waiting for them to come to him.

They were fast, and cloaked as they were lethal drawn to his display of power.

He waited them out.  He might not have the brute strength of Jarys or poised athleticism of Valens, but he could use what he did have, slightly longer limbs and a wiry strength built over years in low gravity environments now readapted to the heavy pull on this dense world, to repel the reptiles.

The first made a snap through the waters, the wave of its motion heralding the attack as Taryn kept himself utterly still.  Smooth as a nagai shyster he launched a counter punch slamming intot he side of its head, a cut on his arm as it retched back from the toothy mouth a small price to pay.

The blood excited the others to try their luck.

But each and every one he slammed back with painful if not deadly force.  Their circling of him became wider and wider as he remained the immovable axel within the wheel.

Another snap, another punch in response – a sweep of the tail met with the stomp of his foot until finally the creatures slithered silently away having their fill of being denied.

When finally out of his range of senses, and fairly certain none had cloaked themselves, his shoulders lumped as his heightened state diminished and he leapt muddy and bloody back to relatively dry land.

“Whoa you fought seven Vosis!” Xani said catching up to him wide eyed.

“Yeah feel like I did too…”  Goddesses knew he wanted to collapse and sleep, but the anxious jittering of his…friend? Ward? Sister? Indicated she wanted to conintue on their little quest straight away.

If he was going to be an Aethan guardian, a little thing like facing a voursus and seven vosis couldn’t delay him.

“…alright nibblet where is this cave.”

<<<<>>>

 

Why

Deep into another evening, yellow flames burnt low in thick brown wax candles about them as they both tweaked their test orbs with flashes of purple light from numb finger tips ever few seconds.

The weary discomfort of aetheric overuse that started behind her eyes had spread over her entire had, and then curved back round again in a numb cocoon – no doubt another Technocracy innovation much like their absence of genuine pain sensation to ensure no amount of fatigue slowed her, it was still a strange sensation that had Ari idly wondering in exhaustion wavering thoughts if she might get a net gain in her aetheric stamina after so much use over the last weeks.

Placing the orb aside he looked to see Milaea still intensely focused on her own.  There was no doubting Milaea’s stamina and indeed overall capacity was well in excess of Ari’s own…but Milaea had been working harder for it, and had to be equally worn out.

Yet Milaea’s face showed complete, almost…fanatical focus on completing the enchantment sequencing for the Temporal Distortion Tunnelling.

“Why are you doing this Milaea?” Ari asked aloud

“I’m nearly finished, I think this should get a 30 year maximum span leap effect…”

“No,” Ari shook her head that though full of numbers and eldritch formulae had a strange clarity all the same that made her ask something she should’ve have days before.

“I mean why are you doing all this, pouring so much of yourself into this, working on it alone for so long, when Valens, Kiraea and Adaea could’ve helped you so much,”

An almost irritated purse of her lips Milaea gave the obvious yet unhelpful reply

“To help the People recover, try and bring back some of the Guardians like I expla….”

“Milaea,” Ari said firmly the import of the conversation helping shed her prior weariness back to focus as she swapped out conscious thought levels to those less worn.

“You know I’m not asking what are you doing but Why are You the one doing it so exclusively, so obsessively, like…you’re trying to….hmmm prove something to yourself almost”

Finally placing the orb down Milaea made no reply but to brush back her hair, somewhat frayed and unkempt given her singular focus on her work.

“You’re not going to let this go are you?” she finally said.

Ari shook her head.

“You were there to talk to, help me order my thoughts during my trial,” the darker haired woman went on

“It feels like this is your own self-imposed Trial.”

“Maybe…I hadn’t thought of it like that…” Milaea sighed, hair normally so luminous and vibrant taking on a strange darkness in the fading candle light.

“I’ve always been strong…how could it be any other way? My mother is from a family of powerful Seiors, my biological father, Jarys, generations of Guardians and himself… well…you know from your training no one can match that endurance….and then there is the power and scattered memories of Aethena…Valens attempt to protect me, save what was left of her….”

Her eyes, emerald green met Ari’s Aqua,

“I feel a…responsibility…to use the power I have to the full…like so many other have tried to use it…”

She shook her head at the unhappy remembrance of those who would try and harness her power for their own ends.

“Xithar would’ve had it make me the perfect Sith Lady, Valens the perfect new Goddess, even Soryu the ideal Jedi – it was about realising the potential I have but in a way that fulfilled their dreams not mine…”

Ari could empathize with being seen through the prism of the power she could wield and not the person she was, in many ways Anson thought he same of Ari, seeing not her not as a person but as raw power - not as resource to harness like others had seen Milaea - but a threat to be supressed.

“Now…I finally feel I’m free of that, I can make choice about who I am and what I’ll do without their influence, without the cursed visions of the futures, Kassyndra helped with that, showing me how to keep them from overwhelming me, but also encouraging me to use my power to the full – to not be held back by anything…and what I want to do is prove I can heal and create just as easily as I can destroy.”

“You’ve already proved that Mili, by restoring Lydan and Kassyndra, they were terribly injured,” Ari’s words were supportive as her smile.

“I know, but…I feel can do so much more…”

She looked away briefly to the mouth of the cavern, yet Ari felt Milaea was looking far further than Ari ever could.

“And the People need healing more than anything else, I know the scars will always be there, but before the next generation I need to make sure they are at least…”

She couldn’t find the words to articulate the psycho-socio-cultural state she was seeking to if not attain the move toward to ensure when the clones were awakened, and when the older women began having babies the echoes of past trauma were, if not removed then as limited in their ears as possible.

“I understand,” Ari placed her hand on Milaea’s arm,

“Just don’t feel you’re alone in this,”

Milaea cupped hers hand over Ari’s,

“I know I’m not,” she squeezed  “sometimes…and…this might sound arrogant…but I feel apart from things, People because of…”

my power was the unstated end to that sentence, Ari would not have said it was arrogant at all, Milaea was clearly existing in realms of the aether that Ari only glimpsed when pushing herself to the limit, where time and matter seemed malleable playthings – it was exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure to feel those bastions of reality were less stable than one assumed.

“Perhaps it’s another legacy of Aethena’s memories,” Milaea explained as the conversation turned to confession of what Ari sensed were many things Milaea had kept pent up lacking anyone non-partisan she could truly open up to.

“She was in many ways alone, powerful, engineered to be perfect, subjected to so many tests and checks by the technocracy, so far above them they made Valance as a counter, she was their distant idol, and she felt it like I do,”

“What’s is it like…” Ari asked “Having her memories?”

“It’s like a holo-vid series you’ve watched so many times you know all the lines, all the characters, you’re not acting in it but you know it so well that you feel you are in it, but its incomplete some episodes are missing. When I was younger especially I’d dream about events from her life seeing out of her eyes, feeling the things she did…”


“What was she like?”

“Intense, powerful, all the things you would expect…she was the ultimate achievement, everything great and fragile of the Technocracy in one…A genius yet a dilettante playing with powers and techniques Jedi masters take decades to even reach a proficiency to try. Resilient, implacable, but fickle, manipulative and lustful, her hormones were, by accident of design, at too high a level…”

She flashed a coy smile

“Those dreams I quite enjoy…but the others…the fighting the constant experiments than had her perform to see how far she could go…”  Milaea sighed for the tragedy and heroism of her forebear’s life

“In the end she saved the People, destroyed her body, and her reward was to be locked in the altar slowly slipping away over the decades, reduced to her most base instincts, harvested with the last portion of her connection to the aether gifted to me.”

She looked about the caverns again staring beyond Ari’s view, Mili’s eyes though seemed focused on the bloodstone itself as if the ultradense strata of their world held some secret

“Though perhaps not all of her was lost, something seeped out and evolved into…” 

She shook off the thought.

“I’m not her,” Milaea said with an air of finality
“I’m not those other things people want me to be, so this is all about being my own self, who I feel right being now,”

There wasn’t anything said for a time, the silence of the occasional breath the only sound as they sat together, but Ari could feel a senses of relief from her companion, equal to what she had felt speaking to Milaea on her own trial not even a month before.

“And being here with you,” Milaea finally said

“Feels right.”

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 19 — Trials — Methods Part 5

Silent Caverns

“hmmm…” Xani peered into the shallow cavern looking for…something…she wasn’t sure what but knew she’d know it when she saw it.

The cavern of Aertemisaea had to be here somewhere…but one didn’t just ‘find it’ one had to be lead there and show they understood how to hunt or survive the wilderness of Aethas.

It was Xani’s task to find it but something had gone…not wrong…but different…and it had to be found sooner than expected, she was meant to be doing this years from now when she was old enough…but something was tinkering with things and making them different, and she hoped better.

So instead Taryn had to act as a ‘champion’ – if she remembered the word from the tales Melron would tell correctly, of when a woman who couldn’t fight for herself because she was injured or too young asked someone else to do so in her stead.  Xani had thought Lydan would be better, he was very good with all the animals, but Aertemisaea had insisted it be Taryn.

She peered into each of the jagged scars in the mountain side in turn before coming across one fronted by a large pile of rubble and a strange smell.

“Hold on there Nibblet…” Taryn warned gently moving in front of her pulling her behind him.

There was, just inside the entrance of the cavern that was etches with scars on the ground where something big had been moved back and forth a number of times, a small pile of something just inside  - organic and buzzing with kreeflecks.

He sniffed at the refuse pile, the pungent odour attracted small carnivorous and omnivorous animals with its sweet meaty accents, promising rich pickings…

Then just as whatever curious creature took a bite…Slash! the volurk that had left the pile would sweep in and turn eater into eaten before retreating back into the depths of the cavern.

“Fragg’n volurks…” he sighed
“Even Jarys, Valens and Lydan barely got out of a cavern filled with these things looking for engagement presents…their far from the usual deep caverns…”

He looked at Xani who was more curious than anything.

He didn’t need to ask, he stated it

“This is the one isn’t it?”

Xani nodded.

“Of bloody course…”

There was no way anyone could go in there until the volurks were cleared out.

Once more he felt a strange chill and the weird sense there was someone next the teenager that he couldn’t quite confirm was there.

“Aertemisaea says they are only in the outer annex, not the main cavern…”

He nodded and straightened up and considered his options, taking an honest assessment of his capabilities given his already feeling well past haggard.

“Nibblet I can’t take on these volurks alone, I’m gonna need some help,”

“I’ll ask someone,” Xani replied making sure not to show happiness that Taryn had done what Aertemisaea wanted – called for help when he needed it
“No…” he said before she could pull one of her innumerable link orbs in a waist pouch.

“I’ll ask the nerf-herder myself.” He finished with smile.

<<<<>>>>

Lydan was not long in coming to Taryn’s call, leaping and bounding over the landscape shepherds staff and bow upon his back in his roughspun hardy leathers.

Waiting for him gave Taryn some needed time to recover his strength.

“Xani, how are you?” the shepherd immediately addressed the girl as was fitting.

“I’m very good thank you! I’m looking for something secret, Taryn is helping me but he needs your help now,”

Thumbing behind him Taryn explained.

“Little Nibblet here needs to visit that cave,”

Xani, or indeed any woman’s demands needed no explanation or justification for them to obey.
“But it’s got infested by some Volurks, probably came down the mountain after the Devastation, set up a good trade picking off gobbits and the odd vorynx with their lures just past the vosis swamp over there,”
“Should we relocated them?” Lydan ever intent on protecting the fauna of Aethas asked
Xani shook her head
“There isn’t room, the population is imbalanced…”

How a teenage girl who had never seen a volurk before knew this was not even questioned by Lydan. Taryn however continued to be somewhat troubled by her utterances.

Xani, Taryn knew, truly believed she was speaking to the Goddesses on a regular basis, and certainly she was speaking to someone, but chalk it up to a lifetime in the backstabbing company of hierarchy clawing pirates, Taryn felt it might not be so benign – that someone was using the trusting child for their own ends.

For now he had no more evidence to doubt her unspoken claim of divine guidance.

“Alright nerf herder,” He called his hands on his knees standing up

“Lets sort these pale faced lurkers out,”

<<<<>>>>

Changes

“Have you considered….” Ari huffed out beneath the thin sheen of sweat of her face that melted into heavy droplets that smacked into the dirt.

She was opposite Milaea in a defensive stance – though their focus was on what they now termed ‘Project Persephaea’ - in honour of the mythical daughter of the Goddesses who returned from the underworld in the Epic tale – they always made time to keep up their exercise and training.

The more deeply red haired young woman made no response, Milaea’s hair was tied back tightly and her face equally flushed behind her perfect defensive stance. 

“…how reviving the other guardians might alter the orientation of the People?” Ari went one looking for any gap she could exploit, her feet heavy on the compacted stone.

They were training on a larges slab of rock down the river from the caverns, a ring formed around them by the glowing Grav-Enhanced between them.  The Chiss device created a 15 metre radius bubble of increased gravity, currently set at 6 times galactic standard, roughly three times Aethas own gravity, it was at the fringes of what an Aethan body could still be relatively comfortable with and still retain enough motion for sparring.  Most humanoids, notably ones with contracting hearts could barely operate at 5 times gravity.

So far the bouts had been inconclusive, Milaea’s defence learned from the Jedi Master Soryu was almost impenetrable – her main tactics Ari had discerned was to stay of the defensive while her opponent wore themselves out trying to break in – then without warning Milaea would unleash ferocious rapid assaults that would make Kiraea proud of their viciousness.   

Ari couldn’t break her guard, and wasn’t sure she could fend off another attack – she was simply glad they were training without the aether, with it Milaea would overwhelm her in seconds - so she had to find alternate distractions.

“The balance is already tentative….” Her eyes scanned the exact angles of Milaea’s shoulder relative to her hips discerning where she would likely turn for maximum force in a strike or counter.

“Valens and Kiraea are openly genocidal…Jenaea and Selaena support anything that kills outsiders….” 
She shuffled along the ground legs feeling the burn of holding up her weight under the increased gravity.

“Melron, Kassyndra, Lyaea and the others our age see outsiders mere objects of annoyance, Adaea and Lydan curiosities…Taryn victims…Jarys and Maeson only tolerate the Sons and Extolled….and Sofa is far too selfish to care so long as she gets her jewellery and furnishings…”

Just as Taryn had goaded Ari by taunting her about Saani, she attempted a similar line of attack on Milaea with Sofa. So far it seemed to have little effect.

“Any older guardians would likely be even more xenophobic, given they were actually killed by the outsiders, and the older women, Karintha or Yiraea, especially, would try and assume the role of matriarch…”

Ari focused in on another sore point, Milaea’s reluctance to take on the mantle of leader from Valens, despite her innate connection to the Goddesses making her an instinctive choice.

In spite of the Dun Moch attempts Milaea did not waver a single micron,

“…could you be damaging your hopes of finding peace between Outsiders and People if you succeed?”

These were genuine worries for Ari herself, the truth of her concern added potency enough to cause a micro expression so subtle that had ri not spent th last few weeks working so closely with Milaea she would never have noticed at all.

She acted immediately sweeping in fast, low and strong, closing the distance in less than a second, rising up to get under Milaea’s frontal guard with all the tensed power Ari’s bent knees could furnish.

Against the artificial gravity her movements were slows and comparatively weak, but Milaea faced the same environmental impediment and her response was just as sluggish. 

In seeming slow motion that was still faster than most humanoids could comprehend their gravity weighted blows and counter blows slapped out shockwaves of heavy air as skin met skin.

Milaea was well aware of what Ari was trying to do, she didn’t begrudge her that, all three levels – physical, mental and aetheric – of combat should be engaged at all times. 

She knocked back the rapid low to high strikes Ari peppered her with, trying desperately to keep the thoughts Ari had agitated from rising to the fore – failing at that Milaea ought at the very least sequestering them to just one of her six conscious levels of thought….

It left her vulnerable – as soon as she allowed her cognitive capacity to be reduced by 1/6 Ari seemingly doubled her offence speed and strength. 

For the first time Milaea was on the back foot – literally – being pushed toward the edge of the gravity distortion field as she struggled to keep up her defence against Ari, the slightly taller woman’s endurance seemingly endless.

Ari’s strategy seemed to be working, albeit she knew she was running dangerously close to outright collapse from the gravity enhance fatigue for her sudden burst.

Her muscles, bones and ligaments were flashing red in her mind with stress signals she could not long ignore, but Ari had to give it her all, she focused on her own worries about reviving the older guardians - the potential for one of them, especially Karintha or Yiraea invoking the Goddesses authority more directly than anyone else could as crusading against the outsiders – and telepathically hurled those thoughts at Milaea.

They struck Milaea as hard as any physical blow, she couldn’t keep her own concerns and the fatigue under control much longer, yet even distracted her blocks were still stronger than any defence Ari had seen among the Vhal’dan excepting the indomitable Arbiter Anson D’Aklay, but she knew one dismissive but brutally effective way to break it.

Imitating her own teacher Jarys, Ari pulled back for a second, then came back in looming as if she were twice as tall and three times as large, despite being barely half a centimetre taller and 5kg lighter.

She slammed her leg down forward and direct into Milaea’s foot and trust her hand forward fast as she could, grabbing her throat, a single back step and she lifted the shocked woman up…

…and just as the visual and tactile information of holding Milaea up by the neck reach her brain Ari found herself flung backward by and instinctual defensive Aetheric blast that would’ve shattered a humans body inward.

<<<<>>>>

The tension grew with the silence as they wordlessly packed away the gravity field generator and stopped by the river to quickly bathe apart from each other.

A sense of heavy dread weighed down both Ari’s stomachs that she had gone too far in her mental and physical attack, enough that Milaea had broken the no-aether rule to hurl her away.

It was a cord of endless tension and regret that wound through her mind – had she after so many days happily working together she somehow ruined everything they had built of their friendship so soon after Milaea had opened up to her?

Like an invasive weed it grew thornier as the minutes passed and the lack of any word or glance between them became a painful absence having become accustomed to each other’s attention so quickly.

Halfway back to the caverns the pressure became too much.

“I’m sorry!” Ari blurted out meandering five steps behind Milaea.

“I shouldn’t have…”

Milaea stopped in front of her, as she turned Ari felt a rapid cold sweat that the expression would be one of anger.

Instead it was a gentle smile that melted the anxiety away in an instant.

“Nothing to apologize for, you won fairly, did exactly what training is for by exposing a mental weakness that someone like Lucovis of Vectivus would’ve played on…and…”

She backtracked to walk beside Ari taking her hand in a gesture of reconciliation and consolation.

“…and forced me to think about something I’ve actively ignored.”

“As part of trying to avoid looking too much into the future?”

“Yes…ironic given we’re playing with time…I’m focused on just what I am doing and my intentions, and I draw a line in responsibility for any causality there.”

Milaea eyes were focused straight ahead and as Ari so often had noticed, looking at something far beyond what anyone else could see.

“I’m helping heal and bring life to the People.  What they do subsequently is up to the People, yes I worry the older guardians might take a more aggressive approach, but that is their choice, not mine, no matter what they choose I’m happy I did what was right here and now, let the future see to itself.”

“You don’t…”  Ari was cautious with her next question

“Worry at all about the moral implications of reviving the dead, upsetting the natural order of things?” Ari was well aware it was a question that only applied to herself, Milaea and potentially Sofa – the others she well knew would never even contemplate the possibility that they should not do something to benefit the People.

“It’s funny, the Temple Jedi worry about some uses of the Force being unnatural…never seeing the irony that the Force is the essence of the natural, using it no different to some species as breathing, the how doesn’t matter, anyway hyperdrive travel is even more unnatural if you think about it,”

“Ha true…perhaps only the Extolled can be said to ‘naturally’ travel across the stars” Ari said waves of relief still washing over her that Milaea was not angry with her.

“Still who knows maybe if we resuscitate someone they will be supportive of a more collaboratively relationship with outsiders”

Both women were well aware the arrangements with the Chiss and Yuzzhan Vong hardly came under the banner of respectful, the first was commercial and strategic, the latter…disturbingly fanatical.

“You’re right, those are things to deal with as they occur…” Ari agreed

“There is a far more immediate struggle to overcome…” Milaea said her tone suddenly solemn.

“What?” Ari asked slightly worried as Milaea released her hand.

“Beating you back to the caves!”

Like a bolt of red lightning Milaea blitzed nearly 10 metres ahead before with a wry grin Ari rushed after her.

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 19 — Trials — Methods Part 6

Power

It was finished, Revival Orb version 9.7 achieved all their key goals, it not only stored in a more compact way than a Blackstone Altar, with a more accurate ‘input’ and ‘extraction’ method keyed to seamless re-integration with an Aethan body. It also created a micro Temporal ‘bubble’ that warped time around the presence to slow degradation, in effect time passed 10 times slower within the enchanted orb.

Ari could only marvel at the complexity of their creation, arguably one of the most intricate Force or Aether based devices ever created, it performed functions Naga Sadow, Lucovis, Aethan Technocracy and the Revenant all desired in their own immortality and essence transference methods, but in a far more elegant way. 

If it had a limitation it was that the nature of the enchantments and the substrate itself could only truly work with an Aethan aura due to the innate connection to the Bloodstone that was only possible for beings who were a part of the planet from which the substance was mined.

“And now comes the harder part…” Milaea said, her tone between serious and humorous through mental exhaustion.

“How do we communicate to someone 25 years ago how to make one of these…”

Ari flopped back on the gormin rug contemplating. 

Over the last three weeks of work, the cavern had become a home of sorts, without much question as to what they were doing the others had dropped off items of furniture, food and clothing to make things more comfortable as they took to sleeping there.

Indeed the two young women had created an entire schedule around their research and design – waking just before dawn for a run and exercises, they spent the early morning working on the theoretical underpinnings before a break just after midday, then the afternoon – and often well into the evening – tweaking the test orbs.

Milaea scooted beside her despite their close work it still sent a slight tingle through Ari to feel her so near.

“The biggest limitation is probably the Athenaea Cortex itself….” Ari mused staring up at the ceiling, referring to the unique neuronal brain structure that allowed, through complex chemical, pheromonal, telepathic and aetheric means knowledge and understanding to be shared directly, with almost no loss of fidelity between two Aethans – It was used greatly by children as they grew and was termed by Kazic as a form of ‘Instinctive developmental delving’ he found fascinating, albeit had to ensure Ari kept it in check as in outsider culture such a delving was considered intrusive…and as had occurred could cause a non-Aethan participant severe neurological damage.

“…it can only take in so much information per second, and it is a very complex Orb…how long would it take to ‘download’ the entire schematic?”

“Perhaps…3 minutes, maybe more, 200 seconds?” Milaea replied with quick calculations.

“And how long can you sustain a Flow Walk to the past….”

Milaea’s face fell slightly,

“Based on old technocracy records it takes nearly 50,000 Aeths per second to just get any link to the past…25 years probably another 15,000…”  She referred to the Technocracies means of quantifying Aetheric power, the system of Aeths was a good estimate albeit not always as precise as the Technocracy might have liked given the emotional and environmental ‘contaminants’ that affected aetheric use.

“…Plus it takes even more to actually transmit across the cortex, to establish a bond with the receiver….”

Milaea lay down beside Ari staring up at the same ceiling.

“We’ll need to test exactly how much it takes…and how much energy we can put out to determine what help we need….”

<<<<>>>>

The Orb Infuser was a queer looking device – made of greysleet it was two rounded handholds with finger indents that gently curved into a hollow sphere into which a black orb would be placed for Enchantment, or in this case ‘Charging’

It was cool to the touch as Ari sat holding both handles.  It was a test to see just how much energy she could put out per second by seeing how long it took to charge the Battery like Orb – of course she was at rest, fatigue or stress would likely decrease it  higher states of emotional arousal could increase it.

“Ready,” Milaea asked with the timer.

“Ready,” Ari nodded

“OK…Go,”

Even as the last syllable passed Milaea’s soft lips Air poured all she could into the Orb, suppressing any outward signs of energy draw to achieve as fast a completion as possible.  The Orb had, according to the Technocracy schematic, a 2 million Aeth capacity.

She pushed out all the energy she could through the handle into the vacuously hungry orb, they would have to adjust their calculation for the Blackstone materials Absorbency -the pull that enhanced her push.  While the Aethena Cortex also possessed a ‘pull factor it operated with vastly different parameters.

Ari’s eyes kept focused directly ahead, still feeling no push back after what seemed an age as her eyes and fingers began to tingle from pushing out too much power in too short a time, well past what she would even in a combat situation.

Finally there seemed to be a resistance, a push back of a kind before simply no more would flow and sparks of purple flew around the orb no longer able to fill it.

“unnnng…that was harder than I thought!”

“No wonder…” Milaea did the sums
“You were pumping out an average of 170,000 aeths per second…”

“Felt a lot longer than 12 seconds….” Ari calculated backward to the time it took her.

“I’ll give it a go, then rest before trying a more measured pace.”

Milaea’s fill time was, as Ari had expected, much faster at only 8 seconds, after which both were ready for some recovery, digging in quickly to the various fruits Jenaea had delivered the day before.

“Strange no one has really asked us what we’re doing…” Ari noted

“That’s partially why I set up in the sacred caverns,” Milaea explained between bites,
“No one will interfere or ask questions of us here,”

“You don’t want them to be disappointed if we fail?”

“Partially…and they have important work to do on the Obelisk array and restoring the farms,”

“Do you think you could use the Goddesses power?” Ari redirected
“To get the extra energy we’ll probably need?”

Milaea’s expression seemed odd at the thought

“It doesn’t work that way, I can’t use it at will, in some ways it uses me…”

“Surely they will help like they did on Ord Mirit?,”

“I don’t think it’s that simple, their power is great, but finite… I spent a lot of time considering how it works, my best hypothesis is whenever we use the aether on Aethas – possibly even beyond - a portion of it is drawn into the ultradense supercritical fluid of the mantle and stored there.  Even more when we deliberately perform a ritual or rite. Over the generations it’s built up considerably, at least hundreds of millions, possibly billions of Aeths if it had to be quantified…of course with far less People now it can’t be replenished.”

Ari perked up at the concept
“So you think the goddesses power is stored in the planet itself? Like a giant Orb?”

It made sense, ultradense materials stored the aether, and arguably Aethas itself was a giant sphere of such.

“It’s the best theory I have, projecting that power to Ord Mirit would’ve been costly enough, let alone pinning all the Jedi in place and creating false memories…”

“The ‘transmission cost’…but if the Goddesses can do that then why…”

Ari didn’t need to say it, Milaea well knew the obvious question – why didn’t they stop the Devastation?  Surely neutralizing 300 pirates when the People were complete was easier than three dozen Jedi half a galaxy away.

“…ever since Ord Mirit, and before when I briefly spoke to Aephrodaea I think I gained an understanding of the Goddesses,” Milaea explained

“I think…their power is of course limited but in more than just pure Aeths, I think there are ‘rules’ and a larger strategy in play…as callous as it is I think Aethenaea in her Wisdom foresaw that the best time and place to use their power directly was Ord Mirit…”

“So they allowed the devastation to act on Ord Mirit…” it did seem cold hearted and illogical, but as Ari parsed through the chains of causality and various scenarios – remembering there was much se did not know and the Goddesses likely did she began to understand.

“They foresaw that was the best way to keep as many of us alive as possible…” Ari concluded

Milaea nodded solemnly

“It’s the only thing that makes sense, the Goddesses did what they truly believed would be best for the long term survival of the People…had they intervened at the Devastation the People would’ve acquired technology, ships…and engaged with the galaxy in a completely different way…they would’ve undoubtedly mind ripped the slavers, gone to Nar Shadda for revenge and possibly in their haste drawn the Jedi against them far earlier….”

“Valens would never have learned from Yoda, they would’ve fought hard but the Jedi would’ve still won by weight of numbers…”

It was just one possible scenario of course, but it held high probability.

“Kimar would not have hesitated to send the Sentinels and Temple Guard – Valens and Jarys were able to devastate the Jedi because he had spent 20 years learning their techniques and tactics, without that experience….”

It was still a hard thing to imagine that the Devastation was possibly the best of all possible universes for the People.

Milaea shook off the thoughts

“As to whether they will help us now…I think at most they will try and subtly make things easier for us…perhaps make the link easier by placing events in a way that draws us to someone locate where the aether is strong…I think they are frugal with their power, using it only when multiple goals are achieved so we can’t rely on direct intervention for a single act and…honestly they might not have much power left.”

Ari nodded well aware of the symbiosis of gods and their people, if one was weak so was the other, but each could help to carry the other through.  In many ways the gods were a communal store of knowledge, power and experience to be used in times of great need and a focus for the culture.

“Over time as we recover,” Ari said “I’m sure they will regain their strength, possibly to even greater levels…they possess the sum of our knowledge, with all we have learned from the Jedi, Vhal’Dan, Extolled, Chiss, even the Sith and Revanant, they will be all the wiser.”

“That’s what I hope too,” Mili replied finishing the last of the food.

“And even if we don’t manage to revive anyone, the knowledge we’ve generated the ideas and innovations will still add to the collective….”

She looked down to notice all the food had been eaten.

“How ‘bout a walk to the farm to restock?”

“Or a race?” Ari posited after their previous two bouts.

“You’re on!”
 

<<<<>>>>

Last Steps

The cavern was darker than dark, the blackheart ultradense stone consuming all visible light.

Taryn took the lead, Lydan walking backwards so they were back to back while Xani waited outside.

They moved quietly as possible.  The Volurks themselves could move incredibly fast and silent in these kind of places, their sonar, thermal and radiation senses far greater and more subtle that that Aethans possessed.

Ultimately they could not avoi the creature sensing them, but they could try and find and advantageous position.  The volruks liked to perform tensed leaps from cavern walls or ceilings to hit their prey with maximum momentum. A larger open area would give them some warning and mean thy had to scramble that bit further when retreating.

The greatest risk was being outnumbered and hit by their poison claws or fangs.  But locked together closely they could provide a solid defence.

“You ready for the dance?” Taryn whispered

“Dance?” the infuriatingly literal farm boy replied

“Just get keep the staff handy…”

Taryn slowly drew his katana, a blackstone weapon he’d forged himself, it currently only had one of three possible enchantments – a simple shatterpoint seeking ability that caused the blade to gently move of its own accord to seek the weakest point in armour or flesh – It was a tradition that the enchantments be performed by a woman, usually the wielders wife. 

Lyaea had kindly placed this one enchantment on it, a sign of her affection and promise of more one day, after he had once more ended up upside down on a tree after trying to kiss her – it was a flirty game between them now.

Lydan meanwhile tightened his grip on his shepherds staff, the Obirio wood infused with four enchantments, most substrates could take only three, but his prodigy wife Adaea had managed even more, though nominally of a weaker material the enchantments made it far more deadly than Taryn’s sword.

They stopped in the dark centre of the ante chamber, the carved doorway to the inner cavern just ahead, the edge of where males could pass, no volurks would be any further in, the Goddess power Xani assured them prevented that.

Even so this chamber was large and linked to nearby warrens via small tunnels just big enough for a volurk to glide through with their sinuous pallid forms.

Without sound, light, heat, only the thinnest ripple of air displacement and gravity they struck.

Three, so far as Taryn could tell gnashed and thrust at what to the volurks were two hulking heated towers of rich delicious muscle to consume.

Lydan’s staff spun like a wheel landing heavy meaty slaps that imparted the toxic malacia curse Adaea had placed in it, slowly draining the life force of the victim.

Taryns katana sparked glints as it sliced into diamond hard fangs and elongated claw like nails, seeking out the molecular fault lines, a few cracked off, but there were far more he simply deflected.

Cold droplets of venom splashed on their faces when he severed a claw, or Lydan smashed a fanged mouth, their pores on their skin instinctively closing to ensure no chance of entry – the risk now was the venom trickling into any cuts they already had.

A rhythm developed, attack, block, pause attack, as the seemingly endless horde charged at them over and over.  A terrible screech at the highest pitch the men could hear echoed after the fourth such charge as one of the Volurk finally fell twitching nt he cavern floor before Lydan’s foot pulped the head.

one down a dozen to go…

It was gruelling and seemingly endless, the beasts in their natural habitat were too adept at avoiding counter attacks, and eschewing their initial stealth now flooded their senses with thermal, auditory and sonar senses with an overload of information to provide false information.

Taryn remained in the centre of the conflagration still, his future brother in law to his back, calm, trusting in the aether to guide his defence, controlled, not trying anything fancy or over the top, just a methodical defence and taking safe chances to sever a limb or crack a shoulder where he could.

He wanted to just unleash torrents of flame and incinerate the creatures, but was keenly aware the moved too quickly to strike them all at once. 

Forced to go against his impulses he focused on the end goal of helping the bright eyed teen girl achieve whatever quixotic quest she was embarked upon.

It was a strange thing, he mused even as opportunistic bladed nails tore into his shins, and hungry teeth raked his cheek, to care for someone who could offer him no material recompense so much that he endured fighting off some of the worst of Aethas fauna.

A surge of four pale starved creatures forced him to back into the brick wall like Lydan who was shaking another off his staff – the creature had bitten the enchanted obirio wood despite the malacia enchantment…and was now vomiting all over it from its clamped jaws, spewing stomach acids onto the shepherds hands.

“nnnggg Shuffle it up!” Taryn yelled.

Their minds synchronized as cleanly as their motions as Lydan, the shorter dropped down, Taryn rolled over his back – the exposure of their sides and back earning more than a few stabs….but Taryn came back down onto the biter driving his blade through its back, and Lydan came up into the horde of volurks that had been on Taryn his staff sweeping up with shattering force sending them flying on concussive waves.

Half their number now gone the remaining volurks, mad and starving became utterly feral.  The fight descened into a chaos of shredded clothes, sliced skin and wounded muscle.

Hormones and Tri-White blood cells pumped rapidly though the Aethan bodies to seal off breaches and destroy venoms, Volurks drew on their most potent distractive abilities to try and confuse the focused warriors.

It was long and painful but one by one, strike by strike wound by wound they wore the creatures down, breaking their bodies beyond repair even as their own began to resemble shredded cloth.

Xani waited anxiously outside, the Goddess beside her strangely curious as if she didn’t know what was going to happen, which Xani found odd as she had known every time up till now.

Finally after nearly an hour the two weary men exited stained in blood and viscera, each hauling a load of carcasses, the hides made surprisingly tough but still flexible gloves.

“Right, all safe you can head in now…” Taryn wheezed

“Oh I’m not meant to go in yet,” Xani replied “I just had to find somewhere like this and make sure it was safe,”

Completely ignoring the stunned Taryn she turned to the Goddess

“Thank you for your Help Aertemisaea!”

The Goddesses form, always waver at best seemed even more so like she wasn’t sure what Xani was saying or who she was anymore.  But Xani supposed she just didn’t understand.

Looking up she noticed it was nearly night fall, and the right day as well.

“Hmmm we need to go to the caverns of Aephrodaea tonight…after you have a little rest,”

“I’ll clean up here,” Lydan said as Taryn slumped to the ground utterly bemused by it all.

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

 

Chapter 19 — Trials — Methods Part 7

Sewing the Fabric

“We need to test it…” Milaea concluded,

“…before we even set out to find someone to communicate with we need proof that we can transmit the knowledge across and the receiver can create the Revival Orb such that it works.”

Ari nodded in agreement even as she voiced the challenges.

“The problem is who and when it would have to be someone who was alone for a while, and ideally not overly experienced in creating such complex orbs…”

“That rules out Adaea, Kiraea, Valens and Jarys…even Kassyndra and Lyaea…”

Necessity, and the recovery of Technocracy methods, had forced the orbs they currently used to advance well beyond what the Guardians of old could achieve.

“Melron and Taryn are training closely together, Maeson and Jenaea spend barely any time apart….perhaps Lydan?” Ari suggested

It was a good thought, Lydan had some experience with Orbs but nowhere near enough, spent much of his time on the plains with the Gormin…but…

“Adaea would know the night after and try and help him…he wouldn’t keep anything from her,” Milaea replied

“True…and we also have to do it when we were off planet – or we’ll be at risk of sensing ourselves…” Ari went on her brow furrowed in concentration in a way Milaea had come to find cute.

“That could get messy…” she said with a shy smile at the various quirks she was noticing in her…her close friend.

“Very…the only time we were both off planet was during my trial…” Ari’s aqua eyes suddenly lit with the solution.

“Xani! After Boerin the others prepared the ships to attack Taris if I didn’t get Tarasen back, Xani was left here in the caverns for her safety…she was alone, doesn’t have much knowledge about orbs beyond the basics of communication ones, and we know where and when she is…or was”

“There is a risk of Selaena interfering, she is very protective of her,”

“Perhaps, but assuming she never left the cavern till the Revenant threat was dealt with she would have no reason to pry about what Xani did down here, if we tell her how important it is to keep quiet…”

Milaea nodded, with any choice there was some kind of risk, but this seemed the best option.

“Right so we flow walk back just over a month, tell Xani how to make the orb and then…in theory she wanders here the next day with orb in hand.”

“I suppose we’ve already done it!” Ari laughed “We might be able to catch two snow-hawks with one net, if we ask her to look into the old guardians, what they were up to immediately before the Devastation…no one will have a second thought of Xani asking questions,”

The curious girl awestruck by her new home was forever inquiring about all manner of random things.

“Good idea…well I guess there is no time to waste!”

<<<<>>>>

Once more Ari tried not to look as Milaea fastened the Greysleet belt around her waist, her top off.

The belt contained aetheric sensors to measure exactly how many aeths it took to cross the temporal divide and transmit information to Xani, with enchantments to as far as possible delineate between the two actions draw on the aether.

“Alright ready,” Milaea said sweeping her hair back into a quick pony tail before heading to the centre of the decorated chamber.

Ari handed her the final Revival Orb, their fingers touching as it changed hands and lingering in the moment.

“Good luck,”

It shouldn’t be difficult, a month back in time was comparatively nothing for a woman as strong as Milaea, but they were not sure what complications the knowledge transfer could throw up.

With a number of special orbs to record the results Ari also stood ready to flow in some of her power if needed.

“Alright…” Milaea’s eyes focused as they became hazier, not seeing the cavern about her but the cavern before her.

“Xani where are you…”

Images flashed as she ‘leaned’ backward in time, herself and Ari working on the very orb she now held, these she skipped over as fast as possible lest there be any shadow that could cause a paradox.

A brief lull of emptiness then Sofa chatting to Kiraea on their return from Ari’s trial, the private rapport between the oft times publically at odds women intriguing, affectionate even.

Another brief surge of activity as Kassyndra and Selaena came to light candles and attend to the cleaning of the rugs and refill water and food pots, then finally emptiness before…

With a half sigh she wandered about the quiet dark of the caverns of Aephrodaea, small blue aetheric candles ensconced in the bloodstone wall.

It hadn’t been very long…but it felt like a long time.

There she was

Xani enjoyed walking outside in the valley so much, it was so much nicer than the under levels of Carratos had been, being in the caverns reminded her a bit of them, because it was so dark and closed in.  And he wished she could help Ari and the others.

Sighing she paced back and forth past the old shrines, rugs and totems, closing then opening her eyes as if everyone would suddenly be back and she could play and wander outside again when she opened them.

Milaea leant back forward a little to stabilise herself in Xani’s now, firming up her aetheric location. Already red and purple lights were flickering from the draw on her power – she hoped Ari’s theory about a high energy cost to establish a ‘lock’ in a temporal location then a much lower ‘connection maintenance cost’ was correct.
Strangest of all was a restlessness in her arms and legs that she should[i/] be doing something important to help – but she didn’t know what…she wasn’t old enough to fight, she could help bring people things – food, ammunition – and she was getting better at healing from Kassyndra’s lessons….

“You can help Xani,” Milaea said finally firm enough in the young girls present to speak to her audibly.

The girl turned astonished.

“Aephrodaea?”  Xani asked wide eyed – who else after all would suddenly appear and talk to her in the Caverns of Aephrodaea?

Ari had been right, anchoring herself in Xani’s time the power drain reduced, but was still as much as pouring out mid power aetheric lightning to maintain.

Milaea had no time to explain the situation to Xani, if she thought her the goddess then perhaps that was an unintended boon

“Xani this is very important and will help the People greatly, I need you to listen carefully and do exactly what I tell you,” ….

<<<<>>>>

Dabbing the wet cloth Ari did what she could to keep Milaea cool as her temperature rose.

It had only been a few minutes, but it felt like much longer as her friend stood stone still but surrounded by flickering energy, breathing coming in sharp bursts, her aura strangely displaced from her.

“aaahhh…” Milaea finally breathed out lucidity returning to her face.  Ari was quick to summon over a bowl of water that she eagerly drank.

“Are you alright?”

“yeah…” Milaea slowly sat herself on the floor
“Just…a lot….”

Ari quickly checked her orbs.

“You averaged 50,000 aeths per second…spiked at nearly 200,000!”

“You were right…” Milaea said taking another drink “the connection anchor point is the hardest part…once past that it was alright…Xani helped I think but actively pulling in the information,”

“So you think it worked?”  Ari asked moving over to check her more thoroughly.

“We’ll soon find out, she should be here tonight if it did”

<<<<>>>>

Against all probability Taryn saw someone who looked more worn out than he was.

Beside Ari on a lip of rock above the small pools in front of the sacred cavern, backed by the enormous frozen waterfalls, Milaea looked more than a little blood shot around the eyes.

Xani rushed up leaping over the pools and onto the same level without a hint of weariness.

“Are you alright Mili?” she asked immediately.

“Much better seeing you!” she gave the teen a big hug

“How did you go?” Ari asked

“Hmmm I think I got it right…” Xani produced the bloodstone orb from her pack

As Ari inspected the device Xani had created Milaea looked over Taryn.

“You look like you were mauled by a vorynx pack, shall I call my grandmother to help heal you?”

“Heh every bit of carinVorus fauna but those canines,” Taryn sneered
“I’ll be right, have to get back to the Old Man anyway, you all done now Nibblet?”

“Yes thank you Taryn!” Xani beamed before gripping him in a hug.

He patted her on the head

“Anytime sweetling…you’ve always got someone looking out for you,”

With his last words he met Milaea’s gaze and sent a question across a private telepathic link.

Milaea’s answer of ‘No’ left them with a larger question – while it had been Milaea that Xani had first interpreted as Aephrodaea, it had not been her or Ari in place of Aeremisaea whom Xani had been happily chatting with for the last week – So who was it?  The Goddess herself was possible…but if not….

“I’ll leave you girls to the nose powdering and pillow fighting,” he smiled placing Xani in their care before a final wave and heading back down the rocky pools.

“Excellent!” Ari said disrupting Milaea’ thoughts as Xani sat beside her chewing on some dried fruits, the young girl perking up.

“Did I get it right?”

“You did,” Ari explained

“And I know where the sacred cavern that Yorna visited just before the Devastation is too, Taryn and Lydan got rid of the volurks, come on I’ll show you!” she leapt up eager to get moving.

“Not just yet sweetie,” Milaea said her hand bringing the teenager back down

“There are still a few things we need to do, but very soon, why don’t you go inside and get the fires started it will be night soon.”

“hmmm I am hungry…” Xani said before hopping up and off into the caverns, leaving Ari and Milaea to share weary smiles.

The first Phase of Project Persephaea had succeeded, at only the cost of a few weeks of sleepless nights and Taryn getting a few more battle scars.

Phase two beckoned – actually linking with Yorna…then if that succeeded Phase three where their knowledge of healing and rapid cellular regeneration plundered from the Sith and the Revenant would come to the fore to give the fallen guardian a new body.

The Goddesses were with them.   Though still as they joined Xani to eat, they wondered just in what manner they were helping them.

<<<<<>>>>>

The Other Side

25 Years Ago

She waited a few moments, long enough for Yorna to make her way ino the main caverns before following in,

“Something troubles you?” Taran asked, her tall broad husband’s stern green eyes seeking out any trace of danger.

“I am uncertain, wait here,” Karintha replied tentatively stepping in.

There was a disruption here she could not pinpoint, the echoes of battles not yet fought that seemed out of place.

Without warning or preamble a face appeared before her barely two meters into the caverns antechamber

“Thank you for your Help Aertemisaea!” Karintha simply looked on the girl stunned, she had appeared from some other time, if the same place and addressed her as if they had spoken before.

She was unfamiliar to Karintha, an impossibility, she knew every person in the Valley, this girl was all of 13 to 14 winters old and she had never seen her.

Behind her were two battered and bloodied young men, 20 or so winters each, one taller and lean, the look of a tracker or long range hunter, the other slightly shorter but solid as a shepherd of the gormin flocks. These two she did not recognise either.

Around them in the inner annex the bodies of volruks, how they had reached this far from their usual mountain caverns….

No sooner had Karintha opened her mouth to reply than the three…’visitors’ vanished.

But not before she had senses of them enough to trace.

Rushing out of the cavern Taran immediately leapt to assist her.

“Something twists the motion of the days,” she explained to him eyes scanning over the swamp and around the entrance to the cavern.

There again she spied the girl and the two males
“Little Nibblet here needs to visit that cave,” the taller said
“But it’s got infested by some Volurks, probably came down the mountain after the Devastation, set up a good trade picking off gobbits and the odd vorynx with their lures just past the vosis swamp over there,”

“Should we relocated them?” the larger said

The teen girl turned directly to Karintha again starling her, eyes full of expectation and assumption that she would guide her.  As though she had before….

“If the volurks have come down this far into the valley their population must be excessive, imbalanced, they need to be culled,” Karintha said to the girl who simply nodded and turned to her ‘real time’ companions.

“There isn’t room, the population is imbalanced…”
The girl communicated before the three vanished once more.

What is the meaning of this! Karintha wondered

She had barley turned to the swamp when she saw them again, the tall man and the girl only this time

“Fragg’n volurks…” he sighed
“Even Jarys, Valens and Lydan barely got out of a cavern filled with these things looking for engagement presents…their far from the usual deep caverns…”

Jarys…Valens… Andis grandsons were undergoing their own trials this very moment, and she knew as a Guardian herself the boys had not sought gifts from volurk cavern,….and Lydan…

Yes Lydan was the son of Selaena and Lysan, barely 5 winters old….the girl and he others were speaking from the future…and yet

He looked at Xani who was more curious than anything.

He didn’t need to ask, he stated it

“This is the one isn’t it?”

Xani nodded.

“Of bloody course…”

There was no way anyone could go in there until the volurks were cleared out.

“Have you not already cleared the Volurks from the antechamber? There couldn’t be any deeper the Goddesses power would protect it?” Karintha said out loud

Once more Taryn felt a strange chill and the weird sense there was someone next the teenager that he couldn’t quite confirm was there.

“Aertemisaea says they are only in the outer annex, not the main cavern…”

He nodded and straightened up and considered his options, taking an honest assessment of his capabilities given his already feeling well past haggard.

“Nibblet I can’t take on these volurks alone, I’m gonna need some help,”

Karintha began to understand, this was before the tall one and the shepherd fought the volruks…

Even though these three were, relative to Karintha in the far future, at least 20 years, she was communicating with them backwards on their own thread.

Again the teen girl glanced to her, Karintha nodded approvingly at the tall man’s acknowledgement he needed assistance.

“Volurks are fearsome foes, assistance even for one undertaking Guardian training is wise,”

Without hesitation Karintha spoke and took charge of the situation, guiding the three to events she had already seen them accomplish.

“I’ll ask someone,” the teen said before vanishing once more into the future.

“Karintha!” Taran was suddenly beside her
“Your presence drifted far for many moments, I feared you taken by a malady.”

“No,” she shook her head

“There are…young ones in need of my assistance… in the future, only one I recognise, I follow their path backwards….remain here to assist Yorna and keep vigil, I must follow this wyrd to its source.”

And so she did.  She witnessed the tall man face seven Vosis alone in defence and service to the teenage girl, overheard their names – Xani evidently shortened from Xanaea, and Taryn – this last name she knew, a child of the shepherds village barely 4 winters.

And more and more the girl would look to her for guidance and assurance which Karintha gladly gave, assuring the girl her companion and guardian would survive, telling her when to send him a head to encounter dangers Karintha had witnessed them be delivered from already.

It was a strange thing, as Karintha grew more confident in her interactions the girl became less so, for in the strange twisting of the rising and setting, Karintha had interacted with her first at their last communication relative to Xanaea.

She followed their path for nearly two days, to the upper mountains where they encountered a voursus, along the rocky paths toward he near steppe, and there at last she encountered a guardian, Melron, looking strangely younger and fitter than ever was training this boy.

She listened to the conversation turn to the cavern she had already sheen them visit.

“…I only met up with them on the way to the gathering, Karintha and Yorna were chatting about an orb…” the old man explained

“Yes the were coming through the trees rather than along the road …I just overheard the end of the conversation Yorna said ‘…Kiraea will know where it is’ didn’t pay it much mind back then”

These were events pertaining to her own life Karintha had not yet experienced, truly this was the guidance of the Goddesses.

“Aertemisaea where is your cavern?” Xanaea asked her.

Karintha paused briefly hoping to speak to Melron, but it appeared in their wisdom the Goddesses made her visible only to the young girl.

Now it made sense…now she understood why the sequence of events had occurred in such an unusual way. 

To be addressed as the Goddess did not bother Karintha, all women were avatars of their goddesses, she was simply taking a more active role.

She pressed out her presence to Xanaea

“Follow my trail,” she told the future girl, knowing know that each interaction along her quest from here was a beacon for Xanaea to follow forward even though they were to Karintha’s back to where they had first met.

Xanaea nodded and her image receded leaving Karintha alone on the steppe.

What she had seen and understood from her interaction with the future People had been troubling.

A child that young should not be undertaking such a task on her own.  Where were the older female guardians to guide her, why were children not currently chosen to be guardians being trained, where had the young men learned some of the stranger techniques she witnessed they use against the fauna, why did Melron look younger in body yet horribly older in soul?

Yorna’s trial would be finished soon she sensed, Kiraea would likely be getting bored at home and wondering where she was, Karintha had to head back, her steps firm but mind filled with worry.

Something happened in the future, something she could not prevent for it had already come to pass, yet something the goddesses clearly wanted her to have a hint of.

Perhaps what troubled Karintha the most was the sense among the three young ones of a lack of the firm but compassionate hand of a matriarch to guide and nurture them, there was a sense among them they were adrift, lost, the structures of their society loose. 

Karintha would never let such a state of affair eventuate.
Where am I in the future? she thought…the obvious answer…was…unsettling… 

The Gathering was a few days’ time, there she would consult with the other Guardians, assemble those women with the strongest Seior powers to gaze into the future further…

She just hoped she had time.

<<<<>>>>

[TheDutchman]

WONDERFUL!

I've said it before, but you are DEFINITELY a master at Temporal Narration, LSG!  Once again we see how causality and effect are turned on their respective heads by Flow Walking, our resident goddesses now the reason.  Great writing 

But now a double-edged dilemma: a question of not only what will Mili & Ari do but also what Karintha's intents are now that she's armed with such knowledge.  These circles within circles just got an entire new dimension of intrigue added to them.  I'm also reminded of an adage that I'd read a long time ago (to paraphrase): "For every effect that you expect, there is at least one that you do not."  What if...the Devastation HAD to happen (as per Mili's and Ari's musings) so that the future WOULD occur, one that was the best possible outcome for the Aethans (despite the widespread genocide and destruction)?  Now THESE are the kind of stories that Star Wars SHOULD be putting out!

Nice to see Mili's and Ari's burgeoning (and mutual) growing attraction; I feel like their relationship could be a boon for not only the People but especially HOW they deal with Outsiders and the galaxy at large.  Of course...that's a "best case" (and not to mention a bit of "wish fulfillment" of my own); let's face it: NOTHING is ever THAT easy for ANY of the Aethans 

You know, I think that you have Varel-Zo more exact than even I'd done when I was writing him; I'm DEFINITELY going to steal the Hourglass Analogy (the perspective of the sand within the glass; brilliant  ).

Learning more about the Aethans has certainly been some of the best reading for me 

Again: AWESOME job, LSG!

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 20 —Trials — Means Part 1

Yorna

The late winter breezes were stilled this deep into the forest, in the shadow of Dark Green hill near a swampy patch leading up to the mountains that bordered the Valley.

Flying insects darted around as she slowly headed toward the concealed entrance to the cavern.  She could feel it was there even if she couldn’t see it yet. 

Her hand woven leather boots treaded through the marshy ground that gave way to outcrops of Greysleet as she neared.

“You are a caring and clever woman Yorna,” Taran had said, although she had no doubt the words were really her aunt Karintha’s – Taran as a relatively independent Guardian was to set her trial not Karintha who had trained and raised her, but he no doubt had conferred with her at length.

“But a Guardian must embody all three aspects, Compassion, Cunning and Courage…as such you’ll go to the Cavern of the Lady of Battle and the Hunt,”

He didn’t say Aertimsaea’s name as was fitting for a male, even a Guardian.

That was her only instruction, not what to do there, nor how long to take there, just go there and let the Goddesses teach and guide her but equally she had to act and respond on her own.

Shaking off the moisture she looked about the outcrops of Greysleet at the foot of the sharply rising mountains, behind her the bubble and squeak of decomposition in the swamps carried innumerable scents to her nose – decay and digestive fluids.  It neither repelled nor attracted her, these were simply the scents of the forest.

She wandered about the stones looking for the hidden entrance pressing her mind and sharpening her eyes looking for minor inconsistencies. 

She sensed her peers – Jarys and Valens on the other side of the Valley undertaking their own trials – and of course the ever present lights of her sister Kiraea impatient at Karintha’s lessons.

After half an hour of no success she tried a different method.  darting to the base of the outcrops she scooped up some stones, then began throwing them in a precise pattern against the outcrop – if she couldn’t she the illusion she could at least note which stones didn’t bounce off the rocks.

After three dozen throws all she had was a grid pattern of chipped rock.

Perhaps she was trying to be too clever about it.  Or not clever in the right way…she took a closer look at the rocks…

Uh how did I miss it!

Thin drag lines – someone had shifted a rock to cover the entrance…she followed the lines to an area were the stone was lighter- that was where it had been dragged from so…that was where it was dragged to…

Placing her hand on the stone she noted it had been covered in the swampy water to make it look as old and weathered as the surrounding stones to fool her. 

Now to move it…

Yorna brushed it tentatively with the aether and felt a tug on her – it pulled the aether into itself – any attempt to lift it telekinetically would just drain her – the trial was forcing her to use brute strength instead of her more subtle methods.

“Alright then…I need something big and heavy…”

<<<<>>>

Aresaea

Aresaea lightly leapt over the pooled water, the swamp had crept closer to the cavern in the years since the Devastation, but the entrance was still there.

Around the mouth hung with lichen and dark green fungi were large chunks of greysleet as if a large stone had been smashed to pieces just in front of the entrance…

“Here it is!” Xani in front said excitedly, her little quest with Taryn had cleared the area of the Vosis and volruks, making their progress that much easier. 

“Look at this…someone smashed a big rock in front of the cavern…” she called back to Milaea as she took up a fragment…there was some memory still in the stone but it was too thin to read much of use.

“Why would they put a stone in front of the cavern?” Milaea asked the caverns of Aephordaea were never closed to any woman – open and embracing…but then these were…

“…the caverns of Aertemisaea,” her thoughts finished as words “Bound to be different rules…”  It was sad no one remembered them fully, even finding them required some divine intervention.

“Should we keep our clothes on?” Ari queried, it was expected to at least wear only a light robe in Aephordaea’s cavern.

“Hmmm…I’m sure she won’t mind if we do,” Milaea replied not as concerned about protocol as Ari was, the Goddesses were eminently pragmatic after all,

She cupped the bloodstone orb Xani had created in her pouch, the template they would use to try and teach Yorna if they could reach her.

“Xani this might take a while…and we don’t know what to expect can you wait out here and signal for help if we don’t check in by tomorrow?”

There was no disappointment on the girls face to be left out, whatever the Goddess had told her meant Xani was convinced and contended it was not yet her time to enter the caverns.

“I will,” she promised even now looking about for a comfy place to wait,

“Then let’s head inside,”

<<<<>>>

Yorna

The stone barrier dealt with by a heavy blow with another chunk of rock Yorna went inside, her arms still a little sore from the backlash of the impact.

The Grey sleet wall darkened as she head down rough cut steps and turned in time to pure blackstone to the point she could no longer see. 

She could easily summon a light orb…but she opted for her flint and small tar dipped torch instead.

It was curious to see so much blackstone, even the mines didn’t have this much…in fact she wondered if it wasn’t black-heart – as Taran who was from the mining village told it the difference was subtle between blackstone and black heart, but importantly one held much more aetheric energy than the other.

The contrast to Aephordaea’s cavern was also stark.  That was made of Bloodstone, rich and red behind the waterfalls that flowed from the Great Ice Mountain - it was warm and always had a few women about. 

This was cold and empty, she wondered if Aertemisaea felt lonely or ignored…but then she spent most of her time out in the forest so probably didn’t visit that often herself anyway.

Finally reaching an opening at the bottom so vast she couldn’t even see the walls. 

“hmmm…ah-ha…Tck! Tck! Tck!” she clicked her tongue to use a trick Old Andis had taught them about measuring the echoes off objects to get a feel for the layout. 

The cavern was nearly 30 metres wide with a number of offshoot corridors, she soon found a series of old fire bowls to light the area up. 

The floor was carved with a central spiral and grids around it…some kind of training course she figured.  About the edge were carved holes and hooks with old swords and padded clothing confirming her suspicion, there were even some old bows and arrows on benches just outside a passage that likely lead to a practice range.

The ceiling was carved with images of the Goddesses hunting and wrestling, the far wall from the entrance hollowed out to support a 3 metre tall statue of Aertemisaea in Bloodstone that contrasted with the blackheart stone of the cavern. 

“Well now what do I do?” she asked out loud but no one replied.  She looked at one of the various shelves along the wall, it had strange devices that must’ve come from the Dead Lands outside the valley, a queer looking rectangular thing with a small handhold in a weird place for a club, and a hole at the end – she peered inside but couldn’t see anything in there – it also had a strange small lever sized for a finger that didn’t do anything when pulled. 

There were also curious cylinders with little things that depressed into them, pieces of old armour with strange dull string that felt funny on the inside of them.

And one thing most unusual was a larger cylinder all in black that had been certainly expertly fashioned and had a large hole at one end and queer circular buttons on the side with a hole in the top? Or was that the Bottom?

If her task here was discerning what these things were she wasn’t going to succeed. 

But Taran said she was already clever…no her test had to be more physical…looking about the offshoot corridors she began exploring.

<<<<>>>>

Aresaea

Lit purple with their aetheric energy balls they surveyed the cavern, Blackheart carved except for the Bloodstone statue of the Goddess herself, it was clearly a gym and armoury all in one.

“Look…this is pre Collapse…” Ari lifted up an old Technocracy rifle that was long since depleted, beside it non-functional energy grenades from the same era and…

“A lightsabre?”  she lifted up the blackheart cylinder, expertly fashioned

“I didn’t think the technocracy used them?” 

Milaea wandered over, her eyes still taking in the carving on the ceiling

“Hmmm…might’ve been an experiment…they certainly had the technology for the energy blade, but they never had any focusing crystals expect what they stole form the Sith mini-kingdoms of the Deep Core...we should take it back with us analyse it, see what they were up to?”

Ari nodded and put it in her pack then pushed out her senses joining Milaea’s search…still no sign of her…

“I’d have thought we’d find some trace by now…” Ari noted sadly…if not here…then where else would they find a place and person.

“The caverns look big…she could have left a presence anywhere…” Milaea replied optimistically.

“…but the Blackheart might’ve also diluted the trace…osmotically spreading any energies she left behind across the entire cavern…” she added having to be realistic that the chance of finding what they needed was slim at best.

Ari could only agree…the blackheart was an aether hungry substance, fitting for the cavern of the Huntress Goddess…it spread an aetheric charge evenly across itself which was an excellent quality for a small amount, like a piece of armour or sword – but a gigantic metamorphic layer in the crust…Yorna’s trace could be spread across millions of cubic tons of Blackheart instead of being firmed up in one area they could connect with – and that was if she left a trace in the first place.

And if they couldn’t…then…

“Hey…” Milaea stepped toward her and placed her hand on her shoulder – Milaea’s hands were always so warm.

“We’ll find a way…” Milaea looked around the side cavern entrances…

“…but it might be awhile…”

<<<<>>>>

Yorna

“AAAIIIIE NOT AGAIN!” she flicked out her arms to try and slow her slide down the slope into the abyss – this was the third time she’d gotten tricked in what seemed like a huge obstacle course built into this section of the cavern. 

The other chambers held more old weapons, one a study area, and another a store room linked to a cistern, one with strange altars she didn’t know the purpose of all lined up, the last a dormitory like area with ancient wooden furniture and some faded paintings.

She had thought there was nothing left to see when she checked behind Aertemisaea’s statue and found this series of caves. 

It was a labyrinth and training course all in one – first having to leap across plinths of stone barely as large as the balls of her feet, then crawl or climb through narrow gaps, and now then there were the hidden pits - three of which she’d fallen afoul of now.

Her gormin wool sleeve already well-worn tore leaving her skin to take the brunt of friction as she slowed down just before the catching slope – none of the obstacles were dangerous, she knew in front of her there would be a tough but manageable climb for having slipped…but it was humbling to get caught out by them.

Perhaps that was what she was meant to learn. 

She came to a slow stop, the slide down gently rising in a curve to cradle her, her torch tumbling after her flame snuffed out once more.

Rising up she brushed herself off, still somewhat wet from the swimming section and gazed up at the wall of Blackheart with frequent but slightly trying hand holds before her.

“Up again I guess…” she said hoping this was leading somewhere important.

<<<<>>>>

Milaea

“GOT YOU!” Ari called grasping Milaea’s hand before she slipped down the slope.  With a grunt she hefted her up, pulling her back to the ledge and gripping her tightly.

Milaea thanked her with a warm smile still holding to her.  Ari could hear the increased breathing so close together her hand tightening around Milaea’s waist by instinct to keep her close and safe.

“huh…hmmm…” realizing what she was doing Ari let her go
“…those things are tricky…” She glanced down the slope,

Milaea nodded feeling more than a little embarrassed she had been tricked twice…yet at the same time not unhappy about Ari pulling her up to safety and lingering in her hold.

“I wonder how they masked it so well…together we should be able to pick it up…”

Ari knelt down right at the edge of the slide sending an orb of light down the 15 metres to the graceful and safe ending arc before a climbable wall.

“Not sure…someone very clever it seems…”

The floor had appeared perfectly solid, and there was not even a danger sense to warn them…

“Perhaps that’s the point,” Milaea wondered “Aertemisaea is reminding us how vulnerable we are…there are things even we can’t sense coming.”

“That would be fitting…perhaps she made these traps personally…”

Standing back up they shimmied along the edge of the trap to the other side and headed onward.

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 20 —Trials — Means Part 2

Yorna

The water was dark as it was scary…and that was very dark!

Yorna wasn’t the best swimmer…especially not in such cold water while fully clothed….

But then that was probably the point to test her courage, willingness to venture into the unknown to do her best for her family. 

Undressing and bundling up her clothes she gingerly poked her foot in…the water was cold but not completely still, a slow moving underground spring.  Without any light she would have to feel her way carefully and memorize the path or she might never make it back out.

“Well here goes…”

<<<<>>>>

Aresaea

Ari’s boot splashed in water as a dead end loomed.

“Looks like we have to go under…” Milaea noted pulling her pack round to take out a nyal steel cable, “Here hook this to the wall…Goddess I can’t imagine doing this alone after those traps…I’d be worried about drowning…”

Ari felt along the wall for a place to hammer in a pick to tie the cord off.

“As you say perhaps that’s the point…Aertemisaea is testing our courage and…” her breath caught when she turned around, Milaea’s shirt halfway over her head then flung to the side leaving her in just her black underwear. 

“What?” Milaea asked as Ari stared…she had of course seen her in the loose robes they wore in the caverns…but the Caverns of Aephrodaea were a special place where every woman went mostly undressed, to see Milaea undressed outside of them was…different.

“Oh nothing...good idea, that way your clothes won’t get soaked and slow you down.”

“Well the packs are water proof so we’ll put the clothes in there when we swim after I’ll find the way through…” she gingerly stepped into what must’ve been near freezing water

“Wish me luck!”

<<<<>>>>

Yorna

The first time had been scary, second not so much.  Perhaps there was a lesson in that but she wasn’t sure which – was it that scary things were less scary after you try them…or to be careful for getting too comfortable too quickly…

Either way her torch was now ruined from the swim, she would have to feel her way through still determined not to use the aether to help her.

Yorna shook off the water as best she could and headed forward….

Maybe the lesson was both things at once….

<<<<>>>>

Milaea

 “Got you this time!” Milaea smiled pulling Ari out of the water, she lifted her up and placed the pack to the side, their clothes dry within.

As Ari stood up fully Milaea couldn’t help but look over her from tip to toe, her light blue underwear soaked through and slightly transparent, the cold of the water making certain features stand out prominently underneath.

“It’s cold in here…” she said stepping back and swinging her arms to dry off and warm up.  “It’ll take a while to dry off…” not that she minded a few extra minutes of seeing Ari unclothed…but Milaea was cautious not to let that particular thought slip to her friend?.  Milaea knew her emotions could be…influential…on other people and didn’t want Ari’s feeling subsumed by them…that was even assuming she had any feelings…

“We should stay close…share warmth,” Ari suggested sitting along the edge of the wall and patting the ground beside her, Ari herself slightly worried that was a very forward gesture.

“Good idea…” Milaea said for the millionth time it seemed taking the spot beside her.

There was no sound in the deep caverns but their very occasional breaths, fortunately both were so warm the water was rapidly drying off.

It was both uncomfortable and all too comfortable for Milaea…she felt very close to Aresaea very easily and couldn’t deny a strong attraction to her…but what if she was just friendly like other women and nothing more, she didn’t want to risk making things uncomfortable…

Aresaea could feel the warmth radiating off Milaea, stealing occasional glimpses of her bust despite herself…she swallowed back a short burst of pheromones from the saliva linked glands before Milaea could smell them…it would be pretty weird to exude them in this situation….

“Do you think it does much deeper?” Milaea broke the silence

“Probably…Guardians are meant to be stronger than anyone – it could go for days potentially if it’s a test physical endurance and mental stamina.”

“hmmm…” Milaea opened up her pack, “Well we still have six bars left…not that it really matters…”  They could easily go weeks without food and water

“Perhaps we should signal Xani, just in case it is huge, plus Kiraea would probably want to explore it as well…”

Milaea suppressed a frown, was this Ari indicating she was uncomfortable being alone with her? No that didn’t make sense after so long together over the last few weeks…perhaps she was reading too much into it…

“Maybe another hour or two then if we still haven’t reached the end or find place it’s hard to turn around from we head out?”

“Sounds perfect!”

<<<<>>>>

Yorna

Yorna sat in front of the huge column staring at the ornately carved door before her puffing out.  This was a test of strength and speed she’d failed twice so far. 

The Column was on a large track nearly 40 metres long, and connected by some kind of strange elastic material to the door – move the column away from the door and the door rises up – easy.  The problem was you needed to push the column all the way back then run through the door before it slammed down or the column sprung back and slapped you on its spring loaded track. 

First time she hadn’t expected the column to move so fast – second she had worried she was a little too late and the door would close on her foot so pulled back.

The Blackheart sucked in the aether so much making telekinetically doing it difficult but not impossible – she could use the aether to do it…she could even be clever and cut the springs or lever the door up…but again this was not a test of wisdom – knowing those solutions already proved her wisdom and aetheric ability – this was to test her body it was fitting she do it the manual way.

Feeling mostly recovered she stood up and did a few squats to ready her legs which would power her push.  Hands pressed on the column she began to push.

<<<<>>>>

Milaea

 “Ready!” Ari called.

Milaea cupped her hands and squatted down.

“Ready”

A final heavy push of the huge column onto the trigger, the door hefting upward as Ari quickly turned.

As she ran toward it Milaea stepped through and held out her hands to catch it before it closed shut.  Even so it was very heavy Ari boosted her speed to slide beneath it so Milaea didn’t have to hold it for long.

“That wasn’t so hard,” Milaea noted

“hmmm…not with both of us…but maybe we are doing this wrong…I don’t think this is meant to be undertaken by two people working together,” Ari observed

“ah…” Milaea paused “You’re right…it is cheating a bit…but we’re not here to really be tested…or are we…”

She peered around the new room, small and circular with various carved alcoves, and curious symbols beneath each one that were on small carved cubes.

“That is different…”

<<<<>>>>

Yorna

 “One…more…push!!!” Yorna had the huge column just at the right place…now it was time, leaning in with her shoulder she heaved it forward – the latch caught and the door began to rise – she was already spinning round, heel pounding through worn shoes no sooner did she have eyes on the door than it reached its peak.  Another step and it began to fall.  Two more steps – leaps really - then she dived – the blackheart relatively smooth offered little friction as she lid under door just before it slammed back shut.

“Woo haha!”

She wasn’t worried about the door closing, she knew she could lift it if needed with the aether, and was certain the Goddess wouldn’t try and trap her here.

The new room was different, numerous blocks with Runes on the floor, and small alcoves in the walls that fit them perfectly.

“hmmm..” reaching down she picked up two of the blocks, each weighed a slightly different amount.  Glancing to the alcoves there seemed to be a panel above the main stone –

“Of course they are weighted…you have to get the right combination of runes on the right scales…”

She looked over the various runes etched on each block, wondering what word would be correct.

But then the answer was obvious.

<<<<>>>>

Aresaea

“Nothing…” Milaea said sadly as once more nothing happened as they tried another word.

They’d spent nearly two hours trying all the obvious ones, the names of the Goddesses, their special titles, swapping out the same letters with different weights…still nothing.

Ari sitting among the blocks tried to puzzle out the answer, there were no clues or carvings to hint at what it might be.  At this rate they might have to ‘brute’ it and just try every possible combina…

“That’s it!” Ari leapt up
“What?”
“This is Aertemisaea’s cavern not Aethenaea, she doesn’t toy with riddles and such, we just force it…”

She skipped over to the empty nooks, scanning the thin wall between.
“hmmm….” She looked as closely as she could, aetheric orb lighting casting its blue glow above her. Reaching out she dragged her thumb trying to find a gap or breach.

She felt the air warm as Milaea leaned closely behind her, her skin still slightly wet making her scent obvious.

“What are you looking for?”

“A crack…to…there…” she stepped back bumping into Milaea ‘accidently’

“Sorry,”

“It’s fine,”

“So if you put your hands here…” Ari pointed

Milaea paused, a slight smile crossing her face

“Show me where exactly,”

Ari reached out and took her warm firm hand, neatly trimmed nails a pastel pink against the creamy skin, and guided Milaea’s hands where she…needed them…had she placed them where she truly wanted them….

Stepping back trying not to let the thought creep too deeply into her aura Ari grabbed the other side.

“OK now…pull!”

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 20 —Trials — Means Part 3

Yorna

So far it hadn’t been scary, not truly…even the underwater bits…now it was.

Keeping to her original intent she didn’t use the aether to light up the room, and her torch was now burnt out.  She was in a vast cavern – pitch black and seemingly endless, the wall she had tried to follow stretched on and on in a curve that never seemed to turn back inwards.

Every footstep sent echoes against walls some infinity away.

There seemed to be no end in sight, she had turned but the door she had come through seemed to have vanished…

Swallowing hard Yorna pressed forward, if a test of courage, confidence in her abilities was what this was…she wouldn’t turn back.

<<<<>>>>

Milaea

The door from the room with the Rune puzzle slammed behind them as they entered into the lightless chamber.
Milaea flicked her hand up to create a light orb…the purple light vanishing into the void about her…then she realized the void beside her.
“Ari?,” She spun around, she hadn’t heard or felt her move?

Panic began to set in.

“Ari where are you!”

<<<<>>>>

Aresaea

“…can you see any…” she paused, there was nothing near her…no quiet sounds of Milaea’s heart squeezing, no sense of her thermal presence on the edge of her vision, and her presence in the aether suddenly gone.

“Milaea?” she dropped low and spun in a full circle trying to find her as her hand patted the ground seeking heat traces from any steps on the blackheart floor….there were none…

Ari reached out with the aether, trying to find…anything…

Nothingness met her with its anti-presence.

<<<<>>>>

Yorna

She stepped forward cautiously, for what seemed like hours there had been nothing…then all of a sudden a figure silhouetted in red up ahead.

Her main sight was focused on the figure, but she made sure to check her surrounds as well…not that there was anything to see in the blackness.

Slowly she resolved the figure appeared female given the propositions, the red light glowing off the ‘womans’ skin. 

Is this…Aertemisaea? Yorna slapped her hand over her mouth – she thought she had only thought the words yet somehow they were out loud in her ears, the figuring beginning to turn.

“A more true Goddess my twin…” its voice was richly and strangely accented

The first curve of its face looked familiar, like Karintha, but too soft…like Kiraea but more angular…like…

The Red woman turned to look at her fully, Yorna’s stomachs tightening in recognition…

It was her, but not her, somehow older and Wrong

“Not Wrong…Divine….” It sang

“Who are you,” Yorna said firmly tensing herself ready for anything.

“I am all you could be and more…your sister, your child perhaps…” it giggled in a sickening way

“I am The Goddess of the Sublime and Profane,”

T’s eyes flared bloody and degraded around the rims

“I am Lucovis,”

<<<<>>>>

Milaea

A spark in the aether, strong and rich with age alerted her something had shifted…in the absence of any sign of Ari, or indeed anything she headed toward it at a half jog through the endless starless sky she seemed to be running in.

There seemed to be no motion of air against her as she moved, as if she ran in a vacuum.  The vergence she had sensed was closer, just on the edge of her…

The snap hiss filled the vacant space around her and she rolled to the side just in time to avoid the blue blade.  Rolling up in a defensive stance she saw a face all too familiar though she had known the bearer for such a short time.

In the blue glow was lit the green slightly aged skin and firm countenance of the Kage of the Mak’tor, the Master Singer Odjina.

<<<<>>>>

Aresaea

 “Milaea!” she shouted again, hearing only the echoes of her words…

Something was very wrong, there were faint traces in the aether of others…five others four seemed very distant, the fifth…closer and yet just as far away in a queer contradiction.

The hard clink of a step on the stone floor that was not her own approached,

“Mil…” her words died as the sparking of what Kazic had taught her as Electric Judgement sprang about the figure…

She knew who it was, yet could not believe he was here…

He was not as fulsome in figure as she knew him, the muscles clearly delineated and striated, the cuts sharp and discerning, bare arms and neck looked as if what little fat he’d possessed had been burned away, his jaw clenched tight, madness in his eyes set within a countenance that could have broken quadranium.

It was Anson D’Aklay.

<<<<>>>>

Yorna

Lucovis strode around in regal theatricality her hair in a tight braid much like Yorna often wore, wearing pure golden armour.

“We are sisters you and I, or perhaps you are my mother by blood…Goddesses both,”

Yorna did not know who or what this thing was meant to be, some kind of hallucination to test her bravery no doubt, to face the worst of herself…and yet the name and strangeness of this Lucovis held a sincerity as if it were a being from a mythic tale brought to life.

“Come my sister,” it outstretched its arms “Join with me in my pantheon,”

Yorna didn’t speak nor move expect to tighten her fists the aether flowing through her limbs – she well knew refusal would not be taken well.

“Well…if you will not embrace your divinity willingly…..”

With speed greater than Yorna could counter Lucovis was on her, hand around her throat.

Without hesitation Yorna kicked out hammering her arm up to break the lock even as she blasted a heavy kinetic wave into Lucovis chest.

Stumbling back the Goddess of the Sublime and Profane laughed at the entertainment afforded by a pointless resistance.

 

<<<<>>>>

Milaea

 “I don’t want to fight you!” she called to Odjina, but he made no sound except in the aether, a constant rhythmic beat that amplified with each repetition, the battle song stirring to seemingly infinite heights as he approached sheathed in power.

She backed away but prepared a shield to deflect his blows should they come, she had no weapons, but could at least hold of the blade with Force Infused limbs that combined hardening with energy absorption – for a time at least.

Yet she knew this wasn’t real, Odjina was dead, Valens had killed him twice, once in person, and once in Sinkhole station destroying some twisted remnant of his spirit. 

This was the Trial of Aertemisaea, to force Milaea to prove her marital skill against the most terrifying opponent she could imagine…the man she had in her ignorance, and foolish belief in the Jedi, doomed.

Odjina strode forward every inch the Kage, focused, firm and sure as she scurried back afraid.

<<<<>>>>

Aresaea

 “You did this…” Anson leered his tone had the intensity of a zealot and the confused cadence of a madman.

“You were a spy all along, you brought your psychotic family here…now Galtea is dead, Lus’Phor destroyed and the Vhal’Dan all dead...”

He gripped his sabre so tightly his hand started to bleed

“Now I will avenge them.”

Ari shook her head as she backed away

“No…I don’t know what you’re talking about we left Galtea in peace, you tried to arrest me for no cause, We didn’t kill anybody!”

They had left Galtea as soon as they could after Anson tried to arrest her, she had heard nothing of any deaths or destruction from Saani or Kazic…though she had heard nothing from them at all while she was training with Jarys, and she had been too busy with Milaea on this project.

Anson sneered a momentary instance of emotion on an otherwise steel face

“But you Will, Galtea will burn because of you and the monsters like you…and to prevent that…”

His sabre light bright in his hand

“I kill you now,”

<<<<>>>>

Yorna

Golden light mingled with purple glow of energy assailed her from all sides, Lucovis toyed with her nothing more.

Yorna did all she could to counter and escape the assault, but it seemed pointless, there was nowhere in the vast black space to run to, no help coming…

She knew it was a vision quest, yet if she failed could she actually die? And even if she didn’t…would that mean she had lost her chance to be a Guardian?

“Petty concerns, why be one of them when you can be a Goddess with me!”

Lucvois offered between half-hearted slashes and claws with her elongated nails that bit into Yorna’s shoulder leaving red marks.

Yorna had her own goddesses and wanted nothing to do with this thing but to defeat it and prove herself brave, yet as the torturously playful attacks continued she doubted her chances.

<<<<>>>>

Milaea

The very ground buckled and shook as Odjina compressed it to slow her escape, his blade working in quick stabs she batted aside with her bare hands leaving sooty skin.

He couldn’t stop, and worse wouldn’t speak, wouldn’t offer anything to her except justified violence.

“Please stop!” she called not to Odjina but to Aertemisaea herself, she didn’t want to be here, to be doing this, she had to reach Yorna in the past, couldn’t afford to use up energy on this – surely the Goddess understood?

Odjina pressed every harder, boxing her in with telekinetic waves, his sabre getting ever closer and more deadly as he wove patterns in time with his Battlesong to a level of precision beyond what she thought possible for an outsider.

Micro tugs pinned at her ankles, her shoulders felt the invisible hand of a force grip, the blade sung toward her face.

<<<<>>>>

Aresaea

Could Anson really be here…had he used his flow walking to somehow reach her, driven mad by a vision of the future….it all seemed moot as she duck and dove from his assaults,

Anson was the strongest of the Vhal’dan, and while she might just be able to match him in raw aetheric power, he was the vastly more experienced and practised warrior, only Valens or Jarys would be his equal….her only option was to follow Saani’s advice when facing a superior opponent – strike, retreat, strike then retreat again. 

His blows were ferocious, sending chunks of blackheart flying as he struck the floor, yet there was something frantic in his motions she had never seen when she watched him spar with Kazic, perhaps the power needed to reach her had cost him more than he knew.

“You’ve no one to hide behind now traitor…” he leered advancing as quickly as she rolled and skidded from his blows

“You will answer for the destruction of the Vhal’Dan,”

<<<<>>>>

Yorna

 “unnnghhh…” the strangely heeled foot rammed into her breast knocking her flat, Yorna barely rolled to avoid the sweep of Lucovis nails

“Time to finish our game…I grow bored…”

Another foot slammed rapidly pining Yorna’s left leg down painfully

“….you were always the nice one weren’t you, The one who never doubted she knew what was right and ‘fitting’” its smile broad and broken by chapped half rotten lips
“

“So much more to Profane!” the words dripped with glee as it licked its lips, spittle dripping from its open maw that retched toward her as if to suck in her very soul.

It spoke true in one thing, Yorna was always certain what was right and wrong, what she lacked on occasion was the forcefulness to impose her certainty.  That was why Taran had sent her here.  That was why she faced a hideous self-indulgent version of her body that was equally self-righteous but had only itself to focus on - no People, no culture, no gods, to temper it.

The barely connected teeth were black and hungry for her flesh as knife like nails dug into her sides.

Yorna smelt the breath of sickly sweet decayed meat millimetres from being absorbed.

She unleashed.

The zealous fury that the creature was wrong, guided by her convictions born of her trust in her People and their ways became manifest as glowering yellow and red flames that stabbed like needles through Lucovis body as Yorna head butted straight into the open mouth shattering the jaw.

Yorna would use all her strength to do what was best for herself and the People, never holding back again.  And in this moment is meant tearing this filthy perverted creature to shreds.

Chunks of Lucovis flesh already half rotted from ecstatic revels were sheared off by Yorna’s precision flames, a family trait Kiraea and Karintha shared, rising up on inferno wings she smashed every piece of the creature she could reach with blazing fury that bit by bit turned it into an ashen pile.

Defeated and drained Lucovis died a second death in flames at the hand of an Aethan.

<<<<>>>>

Aresaea

There was nowhere to run, no way to avoid the confrontation – but she had never intended to. 

Anson seemed more and more skeletal as he progressed, he had always been muscular but usually maintained a healthy level of fat, now he seemed drawn and underfed as he slashed and darted at her.

“Your traitorous parents can’t save you!”

She ignored his words – there was a time on Galtea when yes she would’ve needed Saani and Kazic to protect her – but not anymore.

Not only had she been taught by her adoptive parents, but now also Kiraea and Jarys, sparred with every Aethan known, fought and defeated Revenant Wraith and Shades, even a Banshee.  She was no longer a young girl who needed to fear the stern Arbiter.

Remembering that fact steeled her to herself.

Ari might not have the experience to match Anson yet, but her teachers certainly did - and part of that was to wear down Outsiders – force them to use their energy chasing and keeping up with Aethan speed and strength – then unleash. 

Already haggard at the start Anson was now wheezing, his blood shot eyes darting and frantic desperate to kill her as she made to roll back – then pivoted and surged forward.

Fist balled she hammered into his abdomen with dual upper cuts – he swung down but she used Valens trick of micro teleporting to shunt herself – landing to the side she rose into a round house kick straight into Ansons back – connecting with her shin she used the contact point to lever herself up – combining lessons from Saani on acrobatics and using environmental structures as launch points with a modification from Kiraea to stay on top of a larger opponent to deny them reach.

She half swung up his back and wrapped her legs around Ansons neck while cutting down with her elbows into his shoulders.  A crack on the left told her one was dislocated.  With 275 kilo’s of Aethan woman on his back Anson near collapsed as she swung back and loosened her grip hurling him down with the momentum.

He crashed – she rolled - then flipped back forward and went straight for the head – balling in the air he raised his sabre to defend – she caught the energy blade in her hand as dismissively as Jarys could catch a blaster bolt, then landed knees first into his gnashing teeth.

Recalling Kazics instruction she wasted no time disarming the flailing body even as she felt him die.

“Never leave your enemy armed – even their corpse,”

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 20 —Trials — Means Part 4

The Last Trial

The Song surrounded her in ever building waves of perfectly tuned ferocity and focus – the Master Singer confident in himself and the Force as his ally to strengthen him.

There was no avoiding it now, she was increasingly constrained, the annoyance at being forced to this rising…

“ENOUGH!!!!”

Her scream shattered the cocoon of song, discordant harmonies infecting Odjina’s battle rhythm, twisting it back into itself, the twi’lek cringing at the backwash but still on guard.

Lifting her hand she pulled – not at his hand or body – but the sabre’s pure energy – the blade distorted to a warbling frequency as she soaked up the power - her hand glowing white blue in an instant – just as Odjina hit the activator to deny her more power she released the build-up back at him.

A dozen false arcs distracted his defences as the main energy pulse wound forward – vanishing in the distortion of time-space she created to hit his heart and brain without going through his torso or skull first.

Critical organs vaporized by the energy of his own sabre he flopped away as Milaea felt an uncomfortably enjoyable sensation of pride in her dismissive destruction of a Kage Master Singer.

The Goddess of battle and hunting had tested her, forcing her to confront and defeat someone she felt guilty about harming. Milaea felt an irritation at the nature of the trial, the callousness of it as the darkness that had surrounded her faded revealing…the central room she and Ari had started from hours ago – the statue of the Goddess seemingly satisfied with her efforts.

Milaea’s hands still tingled with energy, her body primed still for battle as she sensed a presence resolve nearby –

Ari was on her knees looking down at something that wasn’t there anymore, no doubt having had her own vision – her presence in the aether firm, resolved and bright – surprisingly bright, while all Aethans were strong in the aether, there was a gradient still at which Milaea and Valens were at the top, Jarys and Kiraea a step down, Melron a tad lower and then the others below the old Guardians – Ari it seemed was roughly between Melron and Kiraea but certainly had the potential to reach higher.

Ari looked up to Milaea a weary smile, her hair slightly sweaty, then looked to the side…there was a third presence here…it was

familiar…old…but…new?  Yorna thought as she looked around the main room at where the two other presences were, they seemed strangely distant, yet also close…as if they were all in a heightened state after or during a fight like she was…

“Strange…maybe it’s another test…is someone there?”

The thin whispers of a voice decades old stirred across the time in this aether rich place.

“Now,” Milaea quickly called to Ari who leapt up instantly toward her, Milaea turned to focus on the presence, it was frustratingly out of reach, a speck on the horizon one can’t quite focus on…

She pushed firmer toward it as Ari wrapped her hands around Milaea’s waist, a tingle thought Milaea’s body that had nothing to do with the raw energy Ari was supplying.

The presence grew, warm and feminie – was it one of the Goddesses? Had Yorna done something wrong?

It was welcoming…but somewhat…strained as if weighed down by a burden it needed to unload – on her specifically.

Yorna stepped back drawing the aether defensively around her uncertain as to its intentions,

“She’s pulling back”…Ari gritted her face buried in Milaea’s hair as she squeezed out all the energy she could, the heat rising with red glowing power off Milaea

“She’s scared…we shouldn’t be this is the Goddesses place…she might test us but we’re always safe!” Milaea called

That makes sense…Yorna thought happily…the Goddess would not allow her to come to any real harm, and the presence seemed worried, in need of help, as a Guardian it was Yorna’s privilege to help all People who needed her help.

She reached forward in the aether and with her hand, the tendrils of energy connecting Yorna’s blue tinged power mixing with a deep red to form a translucent purple across space time.

In the darkness of the caverns an explosion of light filled every corner as Yorna’s hand touched another –

A Divine form in blazing red glow took her hand, the face slightly vague but the power…it had to be a Goddess!

“Aertemisaea?” she asked

Milaea had no time to explain her identity to Yorna, each moment counted – if Yorna thought she were the Goddess – which as every woman was part of the Goddesses was true - all the better she would be open to whatever Milaea said.

“Yorna…Listen to me, you need to make a special orb quickly following my instruction, fill it with your presence as strongly as you can, and anyone else who can manage it, then create an Aether crystal with your blood – hide them both somewhere your sister can find them in a few decades…”

The Goddess instructed to a stunned Yorna

“Of course…just tell me how to make it….” She replied without question

“Open yourself and I’ll teach you…” the Goddess reached out with her other hand as Yorna let down all resistance, even the sub-conscious mental guards old Andis said to never remove –after all she was safe with the Goddess…

Her mind fully open Ari boosted her flow to mingle with Milaea’s pushing in the instructions for the ‘Revival Orb’ and Blood Crystal across the long years to Yorna,

she could feel the knowledge pour in like when she learnt as a child, but this was more specific, more precise, there was a second voice – it must be Aethenaea who had come up with this clever orb…Yorna didn’t pause to wonder the why or how, just took in all she could as the tingling hands gripped hers and their minds connected.

The strain was getting too much, Milaea was beginning to wobble on her feet, seeing into the past, even flow walking was draining enough, breaching time to transmit specific instructions like this took all she had.

”I understand…” Yorna said as the last details fell into her mind, the logic of the device she was to build and how to use it firm,”

“Do it quickly!” Milaea enjoined as Yorna’s face became transparent, her hands slipping through the image.

”I will I promise!” Yorna called as the image vanished into the black of the cavern.[/i]

“Nnnggg…” Ari at her limits collapsed onto Milaea, they toppled over in a heap, Milaea barely steading on the floor.  Her last ounces of strength she tugged Ari’s head up onto her breast feeling her heavy unconscious breathing for only a few moments before she fell into a sleep of her own.

<<<<>>>>

Her head hurt more than it ever had, but the instructions were clear…

Yorna bent down hands on her knees tired from the long trip into the caverns, the fight and now seeing the Goddess…

She wondered in half coherent thoughts about how she got back to the main room – the whole caverns must move in a circle using hidden passages like the traps that had foiled her earlier…

For a moment Yorna felt herself drifting to sleep…but she couldn’t, wouldn’t risk the message of the Goddess being lost.

Swallowing back her exhaustion she pushed up and ran out to the caverns entrance, eyes quickly adjusting to the dusk light outside peppered with luminescent insects, and two figures dark in the moonless night.

“Yorna…” Karintha ran up to her gripping her arms as Taran quickly moved beside them

“Aunty…you have to…the Goddess told me something important…” she had little aetheric strength left but pushed into her aunt’s mind

“You have to take it too so we don’t forget, it’s important, we have to do it right away,”

Karintha quickly glanced to Taran who was staring hard at the caverns entrance, something unusual in the aether having caught her Guardian Husbands eye, he briefly nodded,

Karintha had already told him of all that transpired with the future girl Xanaea while Yorna was in the caverns, clearly the Goddesses were arranging with great care something very important.

Without hesitation Karintha began following their guidance.

<<<<>>>>

The silence of the cave was broken only by their occasional breathing. 

Who woke first was unimportant, but for a long time both Ari and Milaea lay against each other in half woken states, bodies recovered after the sleep – albeit very hungry – but their aetheric presences still raw and sensitive from over exertion.

“Do you think it worked?” Ari asked quietly at last

“We have to believe…the Goddesses helped us all they could making sure we were all primed to go across time…” Milaea replied somewhat more reconciled to the trial against Odjina if it helped save People.

For a long while they simply lay, too tired to move and yet, feeling all the more energised for being together.

Finally stirring they found a secret ladder that lead back to the central chamber, pushing out behind the statue they had entered behind - the trial caverns looping around - by another extraordinarily well hidden opening.

They were surprised to see Kassyndra, Selaena, Xani and Kiraea waiting for them.

“There you are!” the youngest rushed to hug them.

Kassyndra immediately attended to the young women checking them over.

“I didn’t think we’d been gone that long,” Ari said weary

“Just over a day, Xani called for us the very minute you passed the limit,” Kiraea explained
“What happened in there?”

“We can explain on the way,” Milaea said

“First, Kiraea, where would Yorna hide something she needed to keep safe for a long time,”

Confused but carried by Milaea’s determination Kiraea replied swiftly

“We had a tree house when we were little, the trunk was hollowed out, we would leave each other secret notes and put toys we made in there,”

“Then that is the first place we look,”

“Not until you’ve recovered,” Kiraea said firmly, “I’ll go,”

“I know what to look for!” Xani said excitedly

Ari simply nodded

“There’s no time to waste, they may have waited long enough already,”

Provided food and drink by Kassyndra and Selaena they told them about the events in the cavern.

Phase 2 of Project Persephaea had succeeded, so far as they knew…now…

Now came the true test.

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 21 — The Black Obelisk — Part 4

The Steppe

Face semi scrunched Sofa paced back and forward as if she could walk off the consternation of her current position.

Sitting on a rock with a bored sigh was Jenaea.  Her recovery was now complete enough she could begin Guardian training, but to the shock of everyone, not the least of which the woman pacing before her, the ‘Senior’ Guardians - for want of a better term given the fluid nature of Aethan leadership that relied on unspoken (Sofa would argue incomprehensible) rules of merit or matriarchy that varied in different situations – had determined she should be the one to teach Jenaea.

Neither Jenaea nor Sofa were convinced this was not actually some kind of joke at both their expenses, a show of little confidence in Jenaea, and a slight at Sofa for being a ‘made not born’ Aethan rubbing salt into both of their insecurities.

Added to this was the irritation – for Sofa at least - that after making the announcement her husband and her ‘sister’ had absconded off to Carratos to ‘investigate the disappearance of Xanaea’s parents’

Valens and Kiraea were more often than not thick as thieves in their sadistic vengeances and megalomaniac plots, without either herself, Milaea or Jarys there to ‘reign them in’ she could only imagine what they were getting up to.

For Jenaea the idea of having to do anything was an annoyance, she had revelled in her protracted holiday, idling away the hours eating, sleeping, visiting Maeson’s orchards, making pots and other ceramics when she felt so inclined – revelling in having the choice to spend her time as she pleased. 

Now having to learn all these extra things, even if it was for her own self-protection, seemed like unnecessary imposition. 

“When are we starting,” Jenaea’s increasingly sardonic voice cut the still air of the Steppe, the traditional training ground of the Guardians, the absences of anything but gravel and rocks meant, firstly extremes of Aetheric lighting and fire couldn’t rally damage anything, secondly there was nothing to look at or distract you from yourself unless you were a determined geologist or keen on the harsh icy winds blow off the more glacial mountains to the north.

Neither especially wanted to be here, or really knew what they ought to be doing.  And perhaps Sofa realised that was the whole point, to emphasize all that mutual teaching stuff to increase the range of innovative techniques and abilities Valens was so keen on.

“Might as well start now…” Sofa replied with a weary pause in her pacing.  She had been a Jedi Master after all, she should be able to do a reasonable job…although admittedly she had leaned on Soryu a lot in teaching Milaea and had been more older sister than traditional master…and Jedi training was far less geared toward preparing you to kill everything that wasn’t of your species….though Jedi admittedly had their own large share of threats they had to prepare for she could draw on that….

“…OK…so do you know any martial arts, anything you picked up while…” Sofa didn’t bother finish her sentence as Jenaea eyed her incredulously, she’d been chained by electro shock collars for years, of course she didn’t have any experience or training.

“Alright what do you have then…” Sofa looked the woman over visually, thermally, and aetherically.

“Irritation at having to do anything you don’t want to, bitter anger and bloodlust against all Outsiders…standard Aethan fare…a history of being used and abused…”

A plan began to coalesce in Sofa’s mind, a way to encourage Jenaea to do more than learn by rote, to actively want to do this rather than see it as a chore.

“I know what that is like, to be exhausted, depleted, then cast off told to shut up, by people who don’t care, can’t ever understand how their minute of exploitation causes you to feel worthless for decades after…”

Jenaea began to how some interest, Sofa would need to back up such statements, she would be forced to share her own darker moments to gain Jenaea’s trust…

You clever bitch… Sofa thought, Kiraea and Valens had known exactly what she would have to do, had done it deliberately – Jenaea and Sofa could bond and train over their mutual desire to neve be used and abused as they had been again…
Damn fifth level causation chaining, how do I keep missing it Sofa sighed inwardly

“You want your power back, you have the tools, you just have to use them, you’ve got the biology, neurology and aetheric power to keep yourself from ever being dominated and controlled again, that’s what you want isn’t it,”

Jenaea’s face betrayed no obvious sign of interest, only incredulity.

“Sounds great and all…but…”

“But what, you got a taste of a fight on Boonta Shagplan, didn’t that feel good, cutting into those scum,” Sofa could hardly believe what she was saying sometimes, it sounded like a Dark recruitment line

“It did but…”

“Then the high wore off, and you’re back to square one…” Sofa’s countenance softened and she walked over to Jenaea crouching down to get to eye level and extending her hand.

“For some people, Selaena, Kiraea - they have so much anger it keeps them sharp all the time, on edge and fiery, for Melron and Maeson, they are down more often than not, but plod along steady all the same…for Us It’s like a grav-coaster, you’re up, then down, then up…and the ride won’t end…”

Jenaea reached out in the aether, feeling the sincerity of Sofa’s words, the echoes of fatigue at fighting to keep her own trauma’s from overwhelming her on days when it was triggered…but also a hope that for weeks, sometimes months at a time, it was not so all consuming, there were placid moments.

“That’s what I can…not teach you - we’re all different…but at least be with you while you try and find a way to live with it…all the other stuff I’m meant to teach, Saber forms, telekinetic tricks and lighting flares…all that will flow with instinctive delving in between out Aethenaea cortices…”

Trusting that the other Guardians had made the right choice in her teacher Jenaea finally extended her hand to take Sofa’s. 

Jenaea needed someone less physical than Jarys, less aggressive than Kiraea and certainly more empathetic than Valens to learn how to defend herself – Sofa best combined the traits with lived experience to reach her.

“So….” Jenaea asked slowly “how do I break someone’s hand if they try and grab me….”

<<<<>>>

The Mountain

Her fingers worked the threads through the large bolt as her mind tapped away at the keyboard.

Kassyndra had taken on much of the administrative duties of running the Indigenous Peoples Habitat Protection and Reclamation Trust – the Not For Profit entity that, through Valens Mind Control and Lyr’Ca’Njo’s shyster like shrewdness owned the majority stake in several banks channelling funds tax free to them to buy goods, both for themselves and for the Chiss – shipped to automated Space platforms then to the Aethas system, some onward to Csilla or the Chiss Colonies.

It was not a difficult task for a being with six levels of genius level conscious thought, but was time consuming.

Kassyndra was happy to do it, it freed Milaea and Adaea to work on their revival project, Maeson, Selaena and her children to work on the farms, Kiraea, Jarys and Valens to follow up any leads and Melron to continue training Taryn.

“How is that going?” she asked even before the door fully open as the old Guardian stepped into the office deep in the Mount Aelia Fortress

“Still a bit brash, but we can smooth that soon enough…Lyaea did a good job piecing him back together in a more normal way.”

This time there would be no mistakes in the editing of his personality to something more fitting.

“True that,” Melron agreed with her thoughts,

“Valens and Jarys have plans for that boy, he’s got far more space warfare experience than any of us in pirate raids, smash and grab, boarding, he’ll make a fine commander if we ever need the whole fleet in action, that pirate flair with a bit of Chiss tactical precision.”

He gestured to the chair on the other side of the desk
“May I,”
“Of course,”
“So do you plan to go to the Academy with the Boys, learn from the Chiss?” he asked settling down opposite her.

“I think so…I want to be able to help as much as I can…protect as much as I can, if that means having to spend some months among the Chiss…”

Melron nodded understanding her reluctance especially so soon after being reunited with her Granddaughter.

“It’s hard, so much time we’ve lost with the younger ones, they’ve grown without us, and beyond us…” Melron said his eyes downcast

“This isn’t a life we could’ve prepared them for, even more for us to learn than there is for them,”

Kassyndra set down her needle work and leaned forward, her supportive aura in advance of her words.

“But they still need us old timers,” her smile was youthful as her lively eyes, even though her face still held some trace of long hurt years.
“Your boy Taryn needs some stability, a Father to show him how to be a man…”

“Can’t say I’ve much talent in that…” was his rueful whisper

“You never gave up Melron, you found your way back from the darker places of your heart, and even before that you were there, you might have taken some time to catch up but you were still there for Valens, Kiraea, the girls,”

He could sense in her compliment the regret that she had not been there for her daughters or granddaughter. 

Another time he might argue the point, but Kassyndra had a mother’s firmness even in her softest compliments that kept him from dwelling.

“Don’t underestimate what just being here meant, even if they didn’t come to you, knowing they can is just as important….Milaea is grown, in many ways more aged than I, but I’m here if she needs me, even if she doesn’t for months on end, it’s enough to be there.”

“Wise words…you should go to the Academy, it’s interesting, the Chiss are a strange bunch but you get used to them, and they have much to teach…and I think all of us will be needing those skills in the years to come…and…”

She raised a brow at his pause

“I’d feel better if you were there to watch over the young ones, and I’ll watch over the ones here,”

They both smiled at the idea of playing the parent to all the others, for perhaps they were in a way no less profound for being so discrete.

<<<<>>>>

Like a Krebee Xanaea flitted from room to room, youthful excitement adding a preternatural speed to her steps.

She paused mid strike skidding along the grey tiled floor, double checking she had the right canister…well triple checking.

It was a very big and important thing they were doing, and she had to make sure she did all her tasks correctly as well as quickly.

Coming into the main theatre the others had almost everything in place.

Two vast Blackstone Altars were ready, at the head of each a raised area with a circular indentation into which the Aura Orbs of Yorna and Karintha would be placed.

Atop the main bed of each was a large sealed amnio-vats with various pipes trailing off to trolleys loaded with canisters such as the one she carried, full of condensed nutrient solutions to provide the raw material for their bodies to be regrown from the carbon diamonds that held their blood and tissue samples locked away so long ago.

Milaea was checking the ‘Yorna’ Crystal which they would use first, Ari close to her as always.  Selaena adding a few last blasts of energy to the Altars – the men had already spent the better part of a fortnight filling them to the brim with aetheric energy, resting, then doing it all again – indeed everyone had contributed, even Xani had, but only twice as she was still too young and needed her strength her Aunt Selaena said.

“Here,” Lyaea called out across the room, Xani tossed the canister to her sister who caught it easily,

“Make sure everything is within arms reach of the altar then get two more, we’ll start after that,” Lyaea instructed her little sister, tone firm for the seriousness of the occasion.

Having Xani around had forced Lyaea to become more…mature…to provide a better example to the girl – of course she could still be flippant and together they would play pranks on Taryn and Lydan – vanishing their boots while they wore them, hiding Gobrils in their satchels and the like, but she had to show Xanaea she could be serious when the situation called for it.

“OK, don’t start without me!”

While too long to participate directly in the reanimation, Xanaea had a keen interest in watching and helping where she could.

“We won’t,” Milaea smiled from across the room.

Hurrying off but making sure to keep focused Xani brought all the tools and instruments toward the first altar. 

She understood the basic of what had to happen, they regrew the body in the vat from the sample at the same time as gently infusing the cells with the aura held and channelled over time from the Aura Orb as the body developed to ensure the bond was perfect.  Still it seemed very complex when she tried to feel out the aether about the instruments.

It was no surprise, Xani learned quickly but the complexity of this operation stretched even Ari’s mind.  Though Ari had helped tweak the calculations and smooth the edges it was largely Milaea’s original synthesis of the Sith Alchemy, Aethan Healing and Revenant regeneration that made such a revival even remotely possible, let alone the complexities of creating the orb and communicating across decades

“Possible but not easy,” Milaea said beside her as they confirmed with the multi-spectral scanner the samples within the blood crystal were sufficient.

“Let’s hope we never had to do anything like this again…” Ari half joked

“I just hope it actually works…”

Ari quickly took her hand

“It will, but even if it didn’t what you’ve developed here, entirely new methods of healing, necromancy, temporal communication, it’s a feat greater than many of the Jedi Sages of Sith Alchemists of old, you’ve taken what they developed and built stories over it.”

“What we’ve done, I couldn’t have done this without you Ari…”

Lyaea waited eagerly for what everyone else was waiting to happen…

But instead the two women awkwardly parted to opposite sides of the altar as Xanaea rushed in with the last canisters.

“What’s wrong Lya?” the teen asked seeing her older sisters bemused expression
“What happened?”

“Nothing yet....nothing yet,”

<<<<>>>>

The Obelisk Array

The work was complex, it should occupy all their thoughts…yet it barely kept the anticipation let alone worry at bay.

All the women, excepting Sofa and Jenaea, were in the Mount Aelia facility preparing to implement Milaea’s ‘Project Persephaea’ to cross the river of the dead and bring Yorna and Karintha back.

This left the men, depleted from charging the Altars the women would need to the full over the last few weeks, with the task of installing the Fourth Obelisk.

This would bring the array to just over 1/3 of its potential.  The last 5 Obelisks to complete the set of Nine were in varying stages of development, 3 were being enchanted, one recently mined and needed to be crafted to shape, the last they had only just found a large enough Blackstone Vein to mine it from.

“This will succeed…” Jarys said beside his brother as their finger tinged with blue energy worked the Orbs and conduits, well aware Valens had doubts given his own failures to revive Shilea and Cilina. 

The method by which Milaea was attempting this was radically different, and importantly she had Ari to assist her who was an equal in her enthusiasm and expertise in more biological Aetheric techniques.

“I have confidence both in Milaea, Ari, and Karintha and Yorna,” Jarys explained excitement still in his voice to think his friend and mentor might return.

Much relied on Yorna and Karintha having accurately followed Milaea’s instructions for creating the Orbs, Crystals and pushing themselves out through the Orb when they ‘died’. 

None of these things could be tested, and much could’ve gone wrong, even the simplest word or enchantment instruction distorted by the time through which they spoke, an accident no one could be blamed for, could cause the whole thing to fail, if they were knocked unconscious before dying, unable to send their minds across even…

“If any of us could’ve done what Milaea and Ari needed it was them,”

“I know…” Valens replied quietly

“I only wish more could’ve tried…Cadyn, Ylaea…”

“Grandfather…”

“and Mother…everyone…”

“I wish they could’ve met her…” Jarys sighed head low in the shadow of the dim plant room, the light from the lumens all but entirely eaten by the endless stretches of Blackstone conduits.

“Milaea that is, seen what a woman she is becoming, powerful, intelligent, compassionate…”

Jarys pride in Milaea was uplifting but also saddening, that he hadn’t been there for her as a child, or even known of her existence, was an open sore that Valens knew his brother drew on to enhance his ferocity in battle to levels even Valens couldn’t reach.

“Everything in place,” Jarys readopted the controlled focused tone of the guerrilla leader he had been among the Sons.

“Everything,” Valens confirmed.  With each additional Obelisk the installation proved easier and more streamlined as they gained experience and increasingly improved the overall system as they learned more.

They would need that precision.

Kiraea and Xani had actual found three Revival orbs in her childhood tree house, Karintha and Yorna’s and a third belonging to Taran. 

However unlike the other two, Taran’s was dull – at first they had thought it due to degradation over time, or an error in the creation.

The Truth was more exciting and worrying – it was simply that Taran was still – alive somewhere, his aura had not been released from his body to fill the orb.

“We will find him…” Jarys said firmly,

Valens agreed,

“He must be somewhere trapped, perhaps like Aresaea was on a planet without much space faring technology,”

Taran was, in his time, third in strength behind Old Andis and Karintha, physically stronger than both, indeed only Jarys now fully mature would exceed him.  That he survived was not overly surprising, but it was clear he never made it to the Nar Shadda markets, if he had Taran would’ve rallied the others including Jarys who were there, no amount of Gamorreans or Weequay slave drivers could’ve held an adult male Guardain like Taran for long. He must’ve been traded or escaped on the way there.

Knowing he was alive meant they could try and tune the obelisk to seek him directly, Karintha as his wife would be best placed to attempt such a search when recovered.

For now they would ensure the maximum number of Obelisks were online to assist at that time.

Blue energy from his fingertips Jarys began the activation and synchronization procedures, praying to all the Goddesses Milaea’s task succeeded just as easily.

<<<<>>>>

[Lord_S_Gray]

Chapter 21 — The Black Obelisk — Part 4

Between Worlds

Blood and Terror filled the night.  The mirror image of a day so filled with celebration and life was darkness laced with Death.

Where they had come from, why, how, all these questions were irrelevant for the time being.

All that concerned Yorna and her Aunt atop the Blacksmiths was fighting back.

The air was filled with sounds they had never heard, the goblins and daemons wielded strangely fashioned metal rods that fired lighting…but it was a strange lighting, it was not alive, not like aetheric lighting at all.

Another bolt hit, sending tingles up Yorna’s back.  Without delay Karintha spun round to grip the creature with her mind and squeeze it into a ball of postulated green blood and filthy grey meat.

Karintha was the strongest woman among the people, and even she was struggling to target the creatures in their metal or shimmering shells.  They were not of this land, their aetheric presence was strange and hideous, they needed time to adapt to pin pointing them with lighting and flame.

It was time they did not have as the screams of a dozen women and children erupted as the invaders set of some ind of large bang to level a building they tried to hide in.

In the main street Old Andis was using his bulk and speed to crash through the throngs heading toward the vague sense of ‘control’ among them – the leader – in the air Valens ripped apart metal floating carts…

Until one had turned into fire and crashed him into a long house.

Jarys thrashed and tore amidst a group of green snout faced creatures, their long glowing weapons kept him at bay, but when one made the slightest slip he ripped them in two like a mad vorynx…even so he couldn’t last forever.

None of them could, the goblins seemed endless in number.

Fingers tingling and eyes sore from aetheric overuse already Yorna pooled up two more heavy bolts of lightning seeking the life force- however perverted – of the creatures below.  The first hit and chained to a nearby creature, the second bounced off a magic green shield that gave the creature time to take cover.

Gripping the cobble stones she raised them upward to dislodge the creature, cursing she hadn’t brought her bow and arrow.  It stumbled upward amidst the stones that she then accelerated as fast as a snow hawk to clobber it to death with a hundred tiny blows.

Her attention was divided, four levels on the fight, one looking for her sister, the last prepared in accordance with the Goddesses instructions from her trial.

She couldn’t find Kiraea,…she was hopefully hiding with the other girls she had been talking with, likely supressing her aura, her little sister was always the most skilled with hiding among them.

“There seems no end…” Karintha gritted with frustration as more and more appeared, each of them seemed to be a different type of goblin, perhaps dwarves and dark aelves, other with tentacle heads like sea creatures, they couldn’t ‘learn’ how to target them quick enough.

“We have to move to the moun...nnngggaaa!”

“Aunt!”

There was a switch below, a more ferocious intent from the creatures, they no longer fired the blue energy that made their bodies tingle and feel numb, now it was red bolts…a bolt that burnt through Karintha’s casual clothes and caused a searing burnt welt.

Yorna looked from the wound to her Aunt’s eyes, four, perhaps five of those blasts they could survive…but no more.

“They’re trying to kill us now…”

Shot after shot struck her, she could feel the cauterizing burn dig channels into her muscles slowly but inexorably.

The slavers nearby, a gaggle of gamorreans, Rodians, tiw’leki and disgraced Mandalorians and others were by now inured to the punishment there quarry could take, two Mando’s hefted up a repeater, it was the only way to get through these creatures tough as leather skin.

The raid was already costing them too much in manpower, the creatures of the Maker forsaken deep core world would fetch a good price, but would be hell to transport back.

Yorna glimpsed the creatures assembling a strange device that looked like an oversized version of their lightning sticks, even as she dodged and blocked the blasts she could she knew this new thing was a far greater danger.

Without a word Karintha sensed her intent and moved to help shield her niece who leapt from the roof into the thick of the fighting. 

Desperate blue energies covered her body deterring the melee attackers – for a moment at least as she found her strength and speed far greater than the goblins and demons when one on one.

She crushed, sliced and battered her way forward, but the tide of foul abominations was endless.  A loud click and whirring sound like the churning of the ocean heralded the large devices completion. 

Tossing off one large swine faced creature she leapt to the side to avoid the cascade of horizontal yellow rain that turned the building behind her to so much charred splintered wood.

Karintha fell through the roof taken by surprise, the yellow cold heated bolts were everywhere, striking her already blackened arms as strange balls rolled at her feet electrifying her instinctive sense of danger tenfold. 

With what energy she had left she hurled the thermal detonator away – but not far enough.

As Yorna landed boot first into the chest of a blue tentacle faced creature she felt the empathic distress through her bond with her aunt followed by a sharp burst of energy as Karintha fulfilled the Goddesses tasks and sent her presence from her body to the Orb they had been instructed to create.

Now…only now did it all…Yorna could not say make sense…but at least…seem to bind the events she had experienced.

Questions of why the Goddesses had not warned them sooner, what they would do with the orb trapping Karintha’s spirit had to wait.

The hideous yellow rain fire device spun in her direction never ceasing the ‘tvump tvump’ sound of expelling its hideous projectiles.

The whole village was ablaze, People were dying every second, more were terrified and cornered by the creatures cowed by their incomprehensible words and weapons.

She could sense none of the Guardians anymore but Old Andis…and he was ahead a blaze of pure aetheric energy battering a creature encased in unknown metals.  Jarys who had been slaughtering in every direction was finally unconscious, she couldn’t even sense Yiraea or Calyn, Valens too was simply gone, even Taran, her uncle lost in the dark.

Yorna could only do what she could do. 

She charged the crazed machine and its attendants, hacking with her now broken sword, slashing with her off hand, her fingers managing to dig into two of a creatures three eyes popping them violently. 

The blast came now from every side and in every colour, red, green, blue, yellow – her Flame shield soaked some – given time she could’ve learnt a way to absorb the energy but there was none…

The slow motion of the creatures let her upper cut one and knee another, dodge a glowing blade and hurl her sword – now little more than a pockmarked stick after blocking so many hundreds of blasts – into another creatures grossly exaggerated stomach.

Finally reaching the device as her aetheric energy reached it limits, any senses of fatigue or pain cut off by combat hormones she did what she could, grabbing the heated barrel of the repeater and yanking it up in one motion, idling noticing her left leg was no longer strong enough to support her and the smell of burnt flesh was oozing from it.

She swung the device about her smacking creatures into the ruins of what had once been lodgings, then hurled it into one of the flying carts high above, grim satisfaction to see it explode and crash.

The fire came thick and fast now, her body was barely able to stand, a withering flash dehydrated wreck, but Yorna had no fear, no regret, she would trust in the Goddesses, would follow their instructions.

Casting the ruined flesh adrift she tunnelled her mind to the hidden Orb, everything went dark for a moment, all sensation and sense lost.

A momentary blackout before she beheld a strange vista of infinite colours, waves and thoughts given energetic form in a sea of incomprehensible complexity as though for a moment she beheld the aether itself in all its abundant variety.

Then there was  stillness, a pause, a vague sense that around her was the red bloodstone of the orb.

Just as she began to feel settled and calm once more, about to pre-contemplate the nature of the ‘space’ bright flashes flickered before her…eyes?

Heat traces flared in her thermal senses. Weight of nearby bodies matching those profiles aligned in her vestibular mass senses to give evidence to the presence of others.

Waves of beating air molecules created sound.  An ever rising pulse of the aether was drawing her forward and out…and out…an…

“Ghhhhhaaaaaaaaa”

“She’s breathing!” Ari yelled excited as Milaea poured more and more energy, binding the rapidly grown body to the presence being teased out of the Orb and across space time.

The Revenant methods of ‘healing’ which were really an inelegant jump restart of homeostatic processes were now put into effect with graceful Aethan modifications. 

The senseless body regrown under their raw power using Sith alchemy and Technocracy methods over the last weeks now fully enlivened with the technique by Ari.

Her mind was linked to Milaea’s co-ordination at every possible level was essential to blend the bodily resuscitation with a souls insertion.

Their bond, deep, fluid and strong as any among the Peoples developed over the last few months enabled them to achieve this – they were truly one mind across two bodies.

Yorna felt the tingle of her skin, strange smells assail her olfactory senses, a deep feeling of ravenous hunger for food. Yet it was all tentative, on the edge of experience….

“She’s slipping, mother!” Lyaea monitoring the overall situation as a cross check called.

Selaena added her strength where she could, powerful as any average Jedi Master, she was eclipsed by Ari and Milaea who burned like suns.  She surged raw extra energy into Milaea’s binding efforts –

It was working, there was no more slippy back and forth, the sensations Yorna felt were stable, but not firm.

 “Xani get….”  The youngest Aethan had already rushed to get the oldest woman, Kassyndra now rushing in to add her power to Ari.

Lyaea wasted no time joining her mother as Xani and Kassyndra entered to help.

Yorna fought as hard as she could climbing with invisible hands the tenuous dis-real cord out of a kind of stasis like death back into life, but only the others could bring her through.

One side Kassynda, Adaea, Lyaea, Xani and Selaena worked to pull her through time, on the other Ari and Milaea who incredibly were using aeths at a rate higher than the other five combined stitched the soul to the body.

In the center, her time finally arriving Kiraea reach out a hand to each side and by luminous bands of pure energy bound the two together and expanded her presence.

Yorna in the flickering new world felt the sudden appearance of her sister, an anchor to throw the rope of her returning life around and haul herself up.

The air smelled burnt from electricity, their legs wavered under exhaustion, nutrient drips hooked up to the new body grown from the old blood exploded or flash fried.  The Mountain itself seemed to tremble under the enormity of what was occurring.

But for the fact it was composed of aether absorbent Blackstone the energies unleashed would’ve been sensed across the Core and inner rim.

Just as Xani began to swoon from her efforts, as Milaea gripped Ari’s arm to keep her upright, and a shot of fear ran through Kiraea that they might not make it….

Stillness…quiet…Temporal distortions about the Revival Orb paused, tensions relaxed across astral plains.

Yorna’s eyes opened.

<<<<>>>>