Vantra zipped after Jare and Vesh, terror at what they might find pounding hard in her. Had Rudarig harmed all his acolytes? A man implicated in the disappearance of his high priest was one who did unspeakable things for power.
What were they going to do when they reached the temple? What if it overflowed with greddels? How might they contain them?
Those poor spirits. While their atrocious behavior embarrassed her when they sought help for Yut-ta’s injury, they did not deserve a Final Death that led to their essence turning into a greddel. She had no idea how one would even attempt such a thing; essences disappeared into nothing, the remaining ryiam falling to the ground, where it sank into the soil and again joined in the Evenacht’s magic cycle. Greddels were accidental creations from unlucky ghosts who entered the Void and did not quite dissipate. How could the enemy force essences to become greddels?
She glanced back; Dough and Janny followed behind the nomads and Yut-ta. She slowed; they did not have someone with them who could erect a shield, and she refused to let them fall to their enemy.
The wind picked up, and rain pattered to the ground; hissing, she triggered Physical Touch. She could not expend the energy to keep her Ether form whole during a storm when she needed it for whatever they encountered at the temple. The other ghosts did the same.
She could sense nothing of Sun as they entered the plaza, but much of Nature. Changelings fought changelings around the central fountain, some in random wear, some in the loose, split tunic held together by a sash common among Maed Enne’s acolytes. All were either feline or canine or a combination of both. They all stayed clear of a barrier of corrupted roots with tainted energy spanning between. The opaque darkness blocked the lower part of the temple, and while the front spires towered over it, the bright gold of a Sun-touched building was absent, duller paint unable to match the shine despite its wetness.
Fighters turned to them; Jare punched his right hand into the air, his gems flashing, and his spear materialized.
“The ones in tunics are Nature acolytes!” Yut-ta shouted. “The others are Hrivasine’s mercs!”
“Aye-aye,” Janny yelled and leapt to help the nearest acolyte, swinging her weapon. Dough sped past and planted himself as guard just outside the Sun shield Xafane formed around the rest of them. The mercenaries barred their teeth, and a howl went up; they all pivoted and surged towards them, as if expecting their arrival. The Nature acolytes intercepted the charge, and the enemy had no choice but to engage.
“Vantra.” She looked at Vesh. He stood, hands on his hips, studying the roots. “We need to get that shield down.”
She nodded, slung her pack off her shoulders, and dug for the shard; she did not think she could manage it otherwise. Kenosera took the bag, and she smiled with gratitude; one less thing to worry about.
“I won’t hold back.”
He chuckled and patted her arm. “Jare likes the excitement of exceptional magic, but in this case, we don’t want to harm anyone still inside. I have an idea. I’m going to create a Grand Seal and arrow, and you’re going to imbue the arrow with Retravigance.”
A thrill raced through her. He wanted her help with a Grand Seal?
“We have to step outside Xafane’s shield to shoot it, though.”
“We’ll cover you,” Dedari immediately said. Lesanova nodded, readying her bow. Vesh checked the arrows and added a filmy Darkness spell to the points.
“They should cause damage to either Physical or Ether form,” he said. “Though I doubt anyone’s going to try for Ether in a storm while they’re fighting enemies.” He glanced at the knives held by Kenosera, Tagra and Yut-ta. “Let’s boost your blades.” He took the weapons and sank Darkness into the edges. “Don’t hesitate to use them. Hrivasine’s mercs won’t hold back because you’re alive.”
Jare yelled, and the acolytes covered their eyes as unnatural brightness blinded the enemy. Vantra winced, protecting her face as she trotted after Vesh as he whisked through the shield. Would that give them enough time to create the Seal and take down the barrier? Her tummy dropped in fear as she stopped next to him, feeling vulnerable and edgy.
Roars resounded off the surrounding hard surfaces, a deafening cacophony. Enemy changelings raced towards them, legs powering them forward faster than ghosts in Physical form typically ran, claws digging into the tiles, forming divots to keep from slipping. The blinding light should have stopped their attacks for longer than that!
Arrows from Dedari and Lesanova sailed into them. Those hit grinned, wide, teeth gleaming, as they clenched the missiles and jerked them out; Darkness swirled around the wounds. Howling, they dropped them, their hands clasping the gaps in their essences, shock and a tinge of fear creeping across their features as they tumbled to the ground. Several vibrated violently before they lost their form and discorporated.
Too quickly, the nomads used their last arrows. How was Vesh going to create the Seal while they suffered attack? Vantra prepared to erect a flat shield, but the quivers flashed, and the arrows already shot disappeared and reappeared inside. The nomads continued to strike the enemy, ignoring the garbled threats screamed their way by fierce foes.
Oh. That was handy. She had not noticed the arrows returning after the greddel attack, but they must have. Feeling low at her lack of perception, she waited for Vesh to initiate the spell.
He held his palms out, right fingers facing up, left facing down, then swirled his arms. The Seal whirled to purple-black life, words racing around the outer edges as a red rose formed in the center, transparent vines shooting from it and twisting into a giant arrow. The missile’s center sat within the flower, and the petals poured energy into the shaft.
Vantra concentrated on the tip. While she had cast Retravigance without intonation, her fear and self-doubt clouded her, and she needed the boost to focus her will. “Ri fin frandiu an om prutre eucton a per,” she whispered.
Threats from shouting changelings sucked her attention. No, she needed to ignore them. Her essence prickled, her intuition screamed danger, but she held the shard to the arrow. “Ri fin frandiu an om prutre eucton a per.”
The arrow caught fire.
“Shit!” Vesh slapped his hands, and the arrow zipped into the barrier. The tip struck one root, exploded, and Sun-touched fire raced across the rest of the obstruction. The magic between the root poles cracked and burst, sending bits of nastiness across the square, and the roots caught fire, burning to nothing.
Claws ripped through her essence. Clear Rays filled her, wiping away the nastiness left behind. The canine changeling yelped, eyes wide, as beams twirled around their fingers, then sped up their arms, across their chest, up into their heads, down into their bodies, evicting the corrupted touch as it was meant to do. They collapsed, spasming, and their fellows screamed before racing to them.
“Vantra!”
She whirled; Vesh had another arrow ready, pointed at the regrowing shield. She shoved the shard into the point, her voice trembling as she said the intonation. Power flared over the missile, but not the strength she needed. She chanted again, focusing, and it caught fire.
It struck and shattered more of the roots, but not enough to take the entire protection down. He created another as arrows whizzed by, striking the five enemies who battled past Dough and acolyte defenders. Only one discorporated, though the other four screamed in pain while they continued their rush.
Vesh, with a calm smile and glinting blue eyes, formed another arrow. Vantra shoved the shard at the point, whimpering, unable to focus despite the intonation. She worried as the missile caught fire that it did not have the power needed to break the shield, but Darkness wove through the flames as he pointed it at the ground and released.
Everything shook, and she fought for her footing. Many of the fighters sides went down as the paving stones rolled like waves. Roots shot into the air, wriggling, flames licking their outer shell, before breaking apart and tumbling to the ground. They shattered in clouds of ash, filling the air with grey particles.
A gap appeared in the shield as several roots collapsed.
The Seal swirled in on itself and Vesh clamped his hand over her wrist, pulling her into motion; she ran with him, fear sinking its teeth into her and refusing to let go. The rain intensified, the thunderous sound of multiple drops striking hard surfaces resounding through the courtyard as they passed niches with scholarly sculptures and reached the stairs leading up to the public entrance. The grooved marble columns on each side and the golden doors had an inky something oozing around the sculpted flower figures, filling every indentation with its touch.
The shard shone, a bright light to battle the tainted magic. She held it up, her essence shaking.
“Muevre pueplon virche!”
Her fear rode her too hard; the columns shattered and the doors blew open, the oozy ink bursting into sparkling nothing.
Vesh clapped her shoulder, grinning. Should he not chastise her for destroying part of the temple? Horror at her act descended, and she sent a silent prayer of regret to Sun. Fear still played her, and her emotions cratered when she realized she would demolish even more before they discovered what Rudarig had done to the holy place and its acolytes.
Boiling, ink-dark clouds rushed out of the interior; with a squawk, she backpedaled as a Sun shield spanned the doorway. Had the shard formed that, or was it a defense of the temple? The puffs rammed into it and proceeded no further.
Sconces flickered and spitted a few steps inside but did not illuminate anything beyond that. Dense darkness hid everything else, as if the corruption within the roots manifested and filled the foyer. A timid touch of Sun brushed her; the temple’s gemray. It sought her, and she reached for it, a bare caress before something yanked it away. An ominous lack of emotion rushed towards her, void of thought, feeling, and she retreated, alarmed. Had this nothing swallowed the interior of the temple?
She had never experienced such emptiness, even after her last breath. She had transitioned into a ghost, and while she lacked the heaviness of a body, her thoughts, her feelings, remained. They filled her new external vessel and that, along with ryiam, motivated her essence. What lay in the foyer was the Void, which lacked everything she considered an important part of existence: empathy, sympathy, emotions like regret, joy, anger, thoughts, sensations. It felt nothing, so that is what it gave in turn.
“Well, it looks like we’ll need a bit more help.” The Darkness acolyte trotted to the gap and cupped his hand over his mouth. “Yut-ta! Vantra and I don’t know the layout of the temple. We need you!”
The hooskine raced through the gap, waving a hand behind as if to brush off something said. He hissed and stopped as he viewed the doorway.
Vesh pushed him to Vantra, then formed another Grand Seal. The vines grew into a domed shield, Darkness sparking at the tips of the finger-length thorns.
“Do you know what that is?” Yut-ta asked, his wings ruffling in aggitation.
“No. I’ve not felt the like,” Vesh said as Vantra shook her head.
You should have. Veer undertrained you.
Vesh snarled, and tearful aggravation pounded her. “Go away!” she snapped. Yut-ta reared back, and she shook her head at him. “No, no, Rezenarza’s speaking to us,” she whispered, touching her head.
“What does he want?” he asked, annoyed, clacking his beak.
I know the darkness that stalks you.
“Because you once called it ally?” Vesh asked as he examined the inkiness as if he could see through it. “Your anger consumes you, Rezenarza, which is why you threw Vantra into the Labyrinth. We don’t need that kind of help.”
You think you understand me, but you never will. Selling your soul to that fraud precludes it.
“Lies fall from your lips as rain falls from clouds,” Vesh replied. “And we’re getting quite the torrent of both. I assume, since you’re here, you’ve gotten over the sting and decided revenge suited you better?”
Sting? Vantra frowned, but before she could ask after it, howls came from the gap. Three cattish changelings stalked to them, wearing pants with stretchy lace running up the outer legs and tank tops with Guard written across the chest in bold letters.
The middle one pointed a finger at them, upper lip and nose wrinkling into a snarl. “Leave, now, and we might let you continue to exist.”
The shard flashed. The changelings started and shielded their eyes, though neither Vesh nor Yut-ta seemed affected by the over-bright flare.
Vesh was once of the Sun, Rezenarza whispered. But he fell to Darkness and despair. Veer cushioned his descent, and he swore allegiance. Do you trust him, who sees no fault in the syimlin he follows?
And how much fault did Oubliette and Temmisere find in him?
More than you think. I’m not opposed to them pointing out other paths when my sight is clouded.
“I’m sure.” Acidic sarcasm flavored Vesh’s words. “And what other paths are you seeing here?”
Silence. Vantra looked up at the acolyte, whose attention drifted to the mercenaries recovering behind them, then back at the foyer. If he did not have an answer, why distract them?
“There are four hallways leading away from the entrance, and a split staircase going up to the second floor,” Yut-ta said. “I’m not sure where everyone will be. If we’re just looking for Rudarig, the first places to search will be in his office on the second floor, or in the altar room, which is beyond the stairs and at the end of the nave.”
“The gemray reached for me,” Vantra said. “We need to get to the altar room first.”
“The acolytes probably fled to it once they realized something was wrong,” Yut-ta said. “We’re taught that if ill befalls the temple, the gemray will protect us.”
“I think that’s a staple of every Sun temple,” Vesh said. “Each one has Ga Son’s Touch, after all.” He slapped his palms together and closed his eyes.
Scratching; the changlings clawed at the vines, shredding the shield into small bits that fluttered to the tiles before dissipating. More grew to replace them, and greyish purple twirled around the thorns. They screeched and whimpered and pulled back, wringing their hands.
If you enter, be cautious. Katta’s soft voice, underlaid with frustration, coated them. Whoever planned this knows I’d be linked to Qira and can’t provide much help unless I jeopardize his recovery. I sense Maed Enne’s hand, but I can’t reach her, so I don’t know for what purpose.
“Do you think Kjiven created this darkness?” Vesh asked. “That might be why she’s involved, as Nature battling one who wishes to harm the forest.”
I don’t think so, but I also never met him, so I can’t be certain. I came to my mantle long after he supposedly perished in the flood. Still, the magic that manipulated the vine creatures is not present in this darkness.
“Nothing seems to be,” Vantra whispered.
Voids are strange things, but this one is particularly odd. Absence defines it, and not just a sense of something gone. It’s as if nothing exists within.
Katta’s Touch filled the vines, and the Seal took on a darker, stronger hue.
“That won’t help you!” one of the changelings called, desperate to convince them.
Hmm. Yut-ta, lead them to the altar. Once Vantra reaches the gemray, she can use it to destroy this void.
“I can? But how?”
Imbue it with Clear Rays. As it’s linked to the temple itself, that should empower it to sweep the void away. Hurry. It grows.
His concern filled them; she could see it reflected on Vesh and Yut-ta’s faces.
With a glance over his shoulder at the three hesitant changelings, Vesh moved forward. Yut-ta caught his step, and she hastened after, uncertainty and despair growing with every step.
Why did Katta have so much faith in her?
The enemy remained rooted, watching them, refusing to follow.
