Amdirlain’s PoV - Material Plane - Yúla

  Amdirlain and Sarah waited until Lanyaro was out of earshot before they relaxed.

  “The way you spoke to Lanyaro, you seem confident about being able to remove him. Are there many elders in your settlement?” Amdirlain asked once he was out of earshot.

  “Only three contribute to the tribe’s decisions at a time. Every twelve winters, the families draw lots. Two winning families decide how they will pick a speaker, and the third picks the Cén?. When issues arise, the speakers present their viewpoints, and then our Cén? decides the path forward. If enough of the tribe objects to any decision, then they can challenge it.”

  “Any decision? Including how a family picks their speaker?”

  “Yes,” Milui smiled. “It is Lanyaro’s turn to handle the weaving, but he has been painful to deal with the last few seasons. That has cost him support among the tribe.”

  “Painful enough that you’d share that with an outsider?”

  “He was rude to someone Danu favours, and I consider that unacceptable.”

  So she’s being open, hoping that I will stay.

  “How sick was his sister?”

  “I thought she should have died before the priestess even crossed paths with us. Her skin was hot but dry, red lines radiating up her leg from the wound a boar had inflicted. Though the priestess dealt with the illness and the wound, she was recovering for a few weeks after the priestess left.”

  Amdirlain nodded understandingly. “How did she get the wound?”

  “She was out hunting when a boar charged out of the undergrowth. From the tale, I think she was lucky not to have died in the initial rush; the other hunters got her clear and slew it.”

  “Would you tell us a bit about the surrounding lands while we wait for Torher to find Camen?” Sarah asked.

  Milui nodded and began with the characteristics of the lake and its rivers, including the variety of fish to be found, those that were edible, and those suitable only for use as bait.

  When Torher returned an hour later, a scarred, muscular Elf accompanied him. Attired in only a loincloth, his twisted scars stood out from his flesh; the cleanest of them formed the symbol of Oberon over his sternum—an eighteen-point stag’s antlers with lines barely hinting at eyes and mouth beneath. Instead of amber or green, black swirls decorated his body, making his muscles appear draped in shadow, blending with the dark blue of his hair. Slung over one shoulder was a mesh satchel holding five salmon-shaped fish; they had been gutted, but their scales and heads were still in place.

  “I see you, Cén? Camen—this is Amdirlain and Sind?,” Milui offered.

  “I see you, Speaker Milui, and your guests,” Camen replied, before he moved past them to clatter around inside Milui’s hut.

  “Are you going to sit down?”

  “I can hear what you’re saying, and these fish need to be cooked before the flies find them. Why do you keep changing where you put your sap bowl?”

  “I put it in the place that is free when I return from refilling it,” Milui replied.

  He came out with some stone plates, wooden bowls, and a circular stand they’d seen used for cooking. He painted the clingy sap onto the undersides of the plates and then dripped a bitter liquid on each before flipping them back over and placing them on the stands.

  Torher gave an uncertain wave and slipped away.

  I can’t blame him for not wanting to get caught up in things; Lanyaro hasn’t really learned his lesson yet.

  Camen’s gaze briefly followed Torher as he left, but returned to his preparations. “Have you and Lanyaro already butted heads?”

  Amdirlain shrugged. “He said his piece, I said mine. I’m sure he’ll represent it as something else before long if he hasn’t already.”

  “Like Amdirlain’s holding information about his daughter hostage?” Sarah asked.

  Camen huffed. “Either you made a very accurate guess, or you overheard someone gossiping.”

  “I’ve got sharp ears, and your settlement isn’t that big.”

  “Fair, that is what I heard on the way here. He’s become a real pain to deal with lately, and it isn’t healthy for the tribe in the long run. Should we vacate the roles, Milui?”

  “Giving up a few winters early might help no one.”

  “If we surrender our positions to take him from the role, it is a clear sign he is problematic.”

  “Are you trying to ensure your family doesn’t put you in any role again?”

  Camen looked at her blankly. “Then I’d have more time for fishing, wouldn’t I?”

  “You’re going to grow scales at this rate,” Milui stated. “Maybe you should return to hunting.”

  “I’d love that, but my ribs and shoulder still hurt when it’s cold or I exert myself too much. I can manage the nets but not hurling spears.”

  The natural healing ability of elves is better than that of humans, but there are still limits. “I can help you with that, but you’d lose your scars,” Amdirlain said.

  Camen’s right hand rested against the symbol of Oberon carved into his chest.

  “Not those, only the ones associated with the injuries I’m treating,” Amdirlain clarified. “It’s among the things I can teach. Or I can teach you the ability and let you practise on your own scars. The more injuries you heal, the better you’ll be with it.”

  “What will that cost me?” Camen grinned. “I can provide fish.”

  Milui tore apart a sweet-smelling fruit from one bowl and squeezed its juices over the plates; the liquid soon started bubbling on the heated stone, releasing a bittersweet aroma.

  “The odd fish here and there during our stay sounds good,” Amdirlain replied. “You’ve got to keep the progression towards scales going.”

  As his gaze flickered with curiosity over her unscarred skin, Camen straightened. “Is that how you’re unmarked?”

  “There are methods that can heal without leaving scars,” Amdirlain said.

  I don’t want to overload them; maybe I should teach them the healing spells with Life Affinity.

  “Is it related to the world Mana you spoke of with Torher?”

  “Yes, the energy comes from the world, so it doesn’t leave marks on the skin.”

  “Torher told me you know about animals with abilities. What can you tell us about how to slay them?” Camen laid some pieces of fish on the heated stone. “If other animals gain such abilities, people would die.”

  “The most effective counter to them is learning to use Mana and spells,” Amdirlain offered.

  “How do spells work?” Camen asked.

  “Have you ever wondered why you feel you can recognise the words within blessings, but they dissolve and slide from memory?”

  Milui and Camen motioned affirmatively.

  “That happens because of the divine Mana being channelled into a person for an effect. The words of the Blessing provide an outer pattern to direct the energy into a specific result. However, the world itself possesses its own Mana, and when it flows through certain patterns, it can also have effects.”

  “I’d ask how you know this, but let’s not range this hunt too far for now. What does this have to do with the animals having abilities?” Milui asked.

  “There are patterns in the organs of affected beats, or stones that form inside them. These interact with surrounding Mana and let them use the related ability. By learning to attune to the Mana in our surroundings, we can absorb some of it each day. While we don’t have organs or stones with fixed patterns, we can visualise them and fill them with Mana. We call the result spells.” Amdirlain lifted a hand, and a light hovered above her palm. “This effect comes from using a pattern found in some giant glow beetle abdomens. I’ve gathered other patterns in my travels.”

  Camen leaned forward eagerly, examining the light, but Milui’s gaze held recognition.

  “That light and other things were in the dream Danu sent me. It felt so strange, but now it makes sense.”

  “Can you vanish like the deer?” Camen asked the moment Milui finished.

  “We’ve got a few spells that let us vanish,” Sarah offered. “Would you like us to see if we can find suitable students? It will take dedicated effort.”

  “It will help us prosper,” Milui declared.

  “I don’t know about spending all our time on these lessons,” Camen said. “What good is this knowledge if we all starve?”

  Sarah shifted position, drawing Camen’s attention. “The right knowledge can make your life easier and help produce food. There is a God of agriculture who might help those interested in such.”

  Milui frowned. “What is agriculture?”

  “When you take the seeds of plants or spores of mushrooms and put them in locations to make the gathering easier. There are other things involved, from what I understand, but I’m not an expert. I’ve heard that those interested can pray to Mars to receive dreams that offer guidance or help. His faithful are those who establish and maintain such locations, and also those who guard them from threats. Aside from prayers to him, some spells can help find or gather food; others can preserve it from insects or rot,” Sarah explained.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Camen blinked. “Do you follow them?”

  “No, I’m inclined to the path taught by Sarah. She teaches techniques for crafting objects and also how to imbue Mana into objects.”

  Milui smiled. “I knew this conversation would carry us far from the hunt if we allowed it.”

  “I’m not sure what to ask about first,” Camen admitted, laying pieces of fish on the stone plates. They hissed softly, and steam rose, mixing with the steaming fruit juices.

  “We can trade knowledge. I’d like to know about how you heat the stone,” Sarah responded.

  “If your tribe allows, we’ll stay awhile. I could show the healing on the scars around your shoulder. Does the flesh draw tight?”

  “I’d happily serve as an example of healing. What would I owe you?”

  “A few more fish to free my time to teach is all I need,” Amdirlain said.

  Camen stepped around the plates and crouched beside her.

  She cast a regeneration Spell, which caused a greenish glow to emanate from her hand and wash across his shoulder. When she dropped her hand, the scar was gone, and Camen stepped away. He flexed his arm and drew it back as if readying to skip a stone, then with increasing confidence, he gradually tested his restored range of motion.

  “I’d sooner send Lanyaro on his way than let any from the tribe say you need to leave,” Camen declared as he moved back over to the cooking fish. “After we eat, we’ll sort out a spot among the platforms. However, some others are waiting for huts to be finished at present.”

  “That’s okay. I could use a Spell to provide us shelter,” Amdirlain replied.

  Not technically a Spell I know, but I’ll mimic ones from games with True Song.

  “Normally, a teacher takes only a single apprentice, but you’ve much that is useful to the tribe,” Milui noted.

  Sarah replied first. “Who are the two most curious youths you know? We’ll teach them, and then they can help teach others. Preferably, someone near the usual age for receiving Class visions, or who only has one or two, and you don’t have to motivate.”

  “The twins.” Milui took a dried bulb from a bowl and, after crushing it in her hand, sprinkled fragments over the fish on the second plate. “They’ve always got questions, and compete with each other.”

  “Good-naturedly?” Amdirlain asked.

  “I’d not recommend someone who might sour you further after the way Lanyaro behaved.”

  “I’d like to observe them for a time before offering to teach them anything,” Amdirlain said.

  “They’re gathering with other children to the north. I’ll take you there after we’ve eaten,” Camen offered.

  They added various fruit slices to the bowls that went with the cooked fish. While the taste of the fish approximated tuna, the broken bulb they’d applied during cooking provided a spicy hit that mixed well with the fruit and juices applied to the cooking plate.

  After lunch, they headed north among the trees to where the shore curved slightly west. There, the older youths they’d seen diving from the branches earlier were working on fishing spears. While the younger ones were wading in the water, they lifted water plants choking the shore and plucked bulbs from among the trailing roots; the same bulbs that had spiced lunch.

  I need to avoid giving myself away. Only three people in the village appear younger than twenty from a Human perspective. The mental pathways of those under seventy are still developing.

  “Are the twins among these?”

  Camen pointed towards a pair of males furthest from the shore. Both were wearing just loincloths and carried spears with flint heads; they split their attention between the children wading between the plants and the deeper waters.

  “They’re the ones watching over the older gatherers. Maithor’s hair is primarily dark green, while Forgam’s is blue.”

  The fraternal twins had dustings of colour across their tawny-hued skin that matched their hair. Amdirlain perched on a rocky ledge with her feet dangling in the water, and Sarah sat beside her. Those nearby shot them curious glances but, with Camen and Milui present, they didn’t approach.

  She watched as Maithor extended the butt of a spear for a younger Elf to support herself while caught wading between the plants. He provided just enough support for her to regain her balance and work her way free, instead of immediately dragging her clear.

  A few hundred kilometres north of their location, a spark of notes signalled a Gate opening, and Rachel and Azadi’s themes called from the other side of it before they stepped through.

  “Who told you where I was?” Amdirlain said.

  Rachel mentally squeaked. “Gilorn. I know you’re here to teach people, so we thought we’d come and see if we could lend a hand. I’ve got True Song classes, but I still know how to use a bow and stalk prey, and I have experience faking lots of Wizard spells with music while I was an Erinys.”

  “I’m here mainly for healing.”

  “Yep, and if you need to meditate for a month or a year, we can help Sarah with teaching. Please let us help you with what you need, so you’re not putting your needs second to the locals,” Rachel pleaded.

  Guilt and worry fought inside her, and roaring doubt tried to drown them both out, but Amdirlain exhaled and let all three go. “You taught the Enyali? when I needed that help.”

  “I’m not averse to begging, Amdirlain. It feels like you’re starting a marathon, and we want to carry whatever weight we can for you. Our children are old enough to look after themselves, and this way they’ll get out of our shadows for a bit, so don’t worry about them.”

  “You’re countering my next objection.”

  “Yes.”

  She fidgeted for a moment, then took Sarah’s hand before projecting a map, along with details of her attire and bow.

  ? ? ? ? ? ?

  Lilith’s PoV - Hades

  The black hole devouring the landscape mirrored the consuming hunger for fresh experiences within her. Spirals of planar landscape curved upwards, spinning into the crushing blackness that now contained the avatars of some of her foes. It had long ago expanded beyond the old boundaries of the fallen Hades’s Domain. The nearby gravity well distorted and twisted the light and shadows alike. Despite its savage grip, Lilith maintained her position on the cusp of the gravity well; the halo effect of the black hole resembled the shifting star that hung between the points of her horns. A pulse of spatial energy preceded the Kyton’s appearance. The red chains that enfolded the new arrival thrashed in the air as the black hole tried to clutch at her.

  “The Great Mother would see you, Lilith.” The chains drifted upwards, revealing the Kyton’s heavily scarred legs. “Your rescuer needs tempering.”

  Lilith shot her a contemptuous glance. “I will not act against Phaedra, or Orhêthurin, or whatever she calls herself now.”

  A slight flex of Lilith's will was all it took to stop the chains from clanging about and restore the body-length veil. They settled into a curtain of red metal, whose surface reflected a muddied image of her gown and the dark star created by the energy crackling from Lilith's up-swept horns.

  “If you do not help temper her, others striking at her may inflict lasting wounds. Then your wait will have been for nothing.”

  “Then I’ll advise her how to crush them, or deal with her foes myself. Should I start with you?” Lilith grabbed the Kyton’s neck and twisted her head back. “You should stop acting as a puppet of your grandmother. I advise you to rebel and choose your own course. If your mother truly was Shindraithra, you’d be far better off seeking her help than remaining with your grandmother.”

  A moan slipped from the Kyton’s lips, as a heavy musk of pleasure rose from her. “We are not your foes. The Great Mother seeks a new order in Hell.”

  “Nüwa had her chance. I told her not to ignore Orhêthurin’s request to war against the demons.” Lilith’s grip tightened, and she swatted away chains that struck at her.

  “You’ll regret ignoring the Great Mother.”

  “Remind Nüwa that her threats cannot impress me. I defied a being far more powerful than she will ever be, and it was Phaedra who pried open my prison cell, despite the blood streaming from her eyes, not Nüwa. Whatever state she is now in, I’d wager on her determination over Nüwa’s plans.”

  “The Great Mother-“

  “Is a coward, afraid of both dying and living. You and the rest of your perverted species carry the results of her fears. Finding happiness was far too complicated for her, so she found it easier to create children who only felt pleasure. Look how twisted that turned out. Why don’t we all take a moment to applaud her success?” Lilith released the Kyton and slow-clapped; the sullen yellow of the Kyton’s gaze flared brighter.

  Finally, the Kyton sneered. “Whereas you find pleasure in nothing.”

  The remembered fleeting ecstasy from the fruit of knowledge taunted her. “Wrong.”

  I love all—the hideous and the exquisite—I can never have too much of them.

  “What would it take for you to cooperate?” The Kyton rasped with Nüwa’s presence suddenly lurking in the background of her mind.

  Lilith dropped her hands to her sides and considered the question. “You get Phaedra’s cooperation openly, not through sniping at her from the shadows.”

  “Such a straightforward approach will not work for conquering Hell.”

  “I didn’t say our schemes within Hell would be out in the open, Nüwa. However, recruiting Phaedra and all interactions with her must be upfront if you want my help.”

  “You’ve such tender concern for her?”

  “You’re a moron. I don’t want her vengeance to fall on me if you betray her.”

  Behind the concealing chains, a sneer twisted blue lips. “So timid.”

  Lilith jabbed a finger towards the black hole. “It consumed a Domain and hasn’t stopped growing. Do you not track what is going on outside your interests in Hell? This isn’t the only shift in the lower planes. Did you know that the number of damned reaching Hell has lessened? While the percentage variation is still low, it’s significant enough that Hell’s accountants have noticed. She is making her own decisions, not stuck in the past. How would you cope if she ejected you from this realm?”

  “How do you know Amdirlain has anything to do with it?”

  “You know her name, but you clearly aren’t thinking through what has occurred here and elsewhere.” Lilith jabbed a finger again at the spiralling material. “That shows she’s not who she was. She’s not sticking to her placid acceptance and allowing the forces on the lower planes to act unchecked.”

  “That acceptance was always thin. Or do you not remember the original inhabitants of this Plane?” Nüwa sneered. “Still, why don’t you educate me? Why do you believe it signals that?”

  Rage and insight pulsed through Lilith, but she dropped her tone to an icy whisper. “You and your games—sometimes you’re barely a step up from Lucifer whispering in my replacement’s ear. Why don’t you seek to improve your own understanding?”

  “And you’re such a worthy teacher?”

  “Teachers should challenge their students, and I’ve got plenty of questions for you. What’s she going to do with all the material she’s already collected? Or will she let this black hole devour the entire Plane? Its growth has been speeding up. It’s threatened the domains of other powers, forcing them to move further away because it’s too large for them to counter it.”

  “You’re just acting like you know what’s going on,” Nüwa rumbled.

  “Triple my usual fee for each bit of information or question I pose you,” Lilith smiled mockingly.

  “Agreed.”

  “Its density has already caused Gehenna to shift back towards its old position in the planar framework. The change is causing fluctuations in the Gate between Hell and Hades, which seems on the verge of returning to serving as a connection between Hell and Gehenna. Did you know that Tiamat’s Domain is no longer on Ijmti? What if Amdirlain made a Plane for her? There are traces that Tiamat moved her Domain to a Plane I don’t recognise, and it doesn’t smell like anything of her crafting.”

  The Kyton’s gaze narrowed briefly, and the pause spoke volumes. “What if she did?”

  So, Nüwa knows Amdirlain can make planes, and she wants to risk angering her? I’d prefer to see Asmodeus and his lackeys destroyed, not become one of the many corpses.

  “First, if she can make a Plane, then consider what else she has made so far. Second, what will her next weapon be? Last, what if certain idiots provoke her into unleashing it in Hell?”

  Does Nüwa know of all the destruction in the Abyss tied to True Song and her return? I’ll hold it for a special charge.

  A cruel smile curved the possessed Kyon’s lips. “State your price for all this?”

  “Are the contracts the Songbird entered with Hell intact?” Lilith asked.

  “The contracts are not, but certain promises might be. Orhêthurin was about balance?. Her nature wouldn’t allow her to destroy this realm, so still your nerves.”

  “You’re playing the wrong person. Amdirlain is not the Orhêthurin of old.” Lilith jabbed a wing at the black hole. “She is different and clearly plays by different rules. Do you know her new nature?”

  “Do you?” Nüwa purred.

  If I’m right, that’s too valuable to sell, so it's time to misdirect.

  “No, and that is the most terrifying thing of all. Ask yourself, is that phenomenon destroying or creating?”

  “Both, as it's creating itself.” Nüwa released her possession of the Kyton. As her gaze returned to normal, Lilith resisted the temptation to flay her and instead banished her back to Hell.

  “Wrong again.” Sure that Nüwa‘s attention was gone, Lilith smiled.

  It's transforming.