Ignorant they were, those gods of old

In their creations, brash and bold

Of their existence, they lost their hold

Bound themselves, suffering to unfold

Translation from Effylscript found on the Jurmheir Portal in Hyrfvar.

Im sorry, what?” Tirril asked in disbelief.

Hrotvir looked at her, grinning, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “We employ the aid of another god.”

“Ah,” Tirril said slowly, nodding. “Yes, that makes sense. Let’s just find another ancient being from a realm older than time itself. Why didn’t I think of that?”

Hrotvir laughed, the sound filling the room. “We don’t need to find him,” he answered. “He’s already here. Isn’t that right, Kollyn?”

Both Hrotvir and Tirril turned to stare at him. One expectantly, the other confused.

“Curses, Kollyn, what is he talking about?”

“I...” Doubt overcame Kollyn for a moment. Doubt that was quickly dispelled by a sense of acceptance. From the moment Hrotvir had told him about Jurmheir, something had clicked in his head and all had made sense. He finally knew the truth of what his power was. Hrotvir smiled at him knowingly. The scholar had figured it out the moment he had killed the Vren and cushioned his fall.

Who was he?

“I told you the Vren gave up on the chase when Hrotvir saved us, but that wasn’t the truth. Truth is I killed those Vren, using a power I have had since childhood. A power I didn’t understand and couldn’t control. A power that comes from a god, one of many who dwell in Jurmheir. Before we were surprised by the Vren at the first pillar, I had a dream in which the god talked to me.”

Hrotvir suddenly sat up straighter, his attention captured. Kollyn hadn’t told him of this before.

“He asked me if I was finally ready to accept and that he would help me face the dangers of Iodigar, which he did when you were unconscious. He also gave me a name. Feill-Dar-Lhef. The one presumably responsible for the increase in Vren.”

Hrotvir, who had been writing intently on a piece of paper he’d conjured from somewhere, gave a slight jerk and stared Kollyn dead in the eyes.

“Feill-Dar-Lhef?” he asked. “You are absolutely certain that was the name?”

Kollyn nodded, causing Hrotvir to start writing even more furiously. When done, he threw the paper on the ground and pressed his palm on it. The air rippled around the piece of parchment, flows of distorted air travelling outwards along the Effylscript carved into the floor, walls and ceiling. In a matter of seconds, it seemed as if the entire room was shifting upon itself.

When the flows stopped and the Effylscript became static once more, Hrotvir let out a huge sigh and slacked back in his chair. There were bags under his eyes that Kollyn hadn’t noticed before.

“What kind of scholar are you, Hrotvir?” Tirril asked, her fingers grazing slightly over the hilt of her knife.

“The kind that is keen on survival,” Hrotvir answered. “It’s a miracle she hasn’t found me yet.”

“She?” Kollyn asked.

“Feill-Dar-Lhef,” Hrotvir snapped, a sudden anger overcoming him. “One of the Gods of Creation. The Mother of Script herself. This is even worse than I thought.” He paced around the room, muttering to himself. Occasionally he threw up a hand, causing the Effylscript to change wherever he was pointing.

Whoever he was, Kollyn thought, he was more than just a scholar. Not even the Ligtyr had this much control over Effylscript.

“What does this mean?” Tirril asked. “Do we still have a change using Kollyn’s... god?”

Hrotvir turned on his heels, stared at her for a second and let out one single, loud bellow of frustration. “Only if the god who has chosen Kollyn as a vessel is a God of Creation himself. Hah! Damned if I know, this kind of thing has never happened before. It should not be possible!”

Tirril turned to Kollyn. “Can you... talk to this god of yours?” she asked hesitantly, as if she was weighing the sanity of her words.

“Not willingly,” he answered. “Only time it happened was when I was asleep.”

“Well!” Hrotvir exclaimed decisively as he stepped towards Kollyn. “No time to waste then!”

Before Kollyn could react, Hrotvir placed his open hand on Kollyn’s face. He felt his skin change, the air around him ripple and heard Tirril screaming. And then the world exploded.

He found himself once again in that vast nothingness. The air tasted old, its smell forbidding yet familiar.

“Our connection is growing stronger, Vessel,” the darkness echoed. Soothing, questioning. “I can feel your acceptance growing, your willingness to grow stronger. Your desire for knowledge. Knowledge I can give you.”

“I am my own,” Kollyn answered, voice resolute.

“And yet you require my help to survive. Not for the first time. And certainly not for the last.”

“You said it yourself. You need my alive,” Kollyn retorted. “And for that you will help me.”

The echoes of laughter drummed around him; the sound of a parent amused by the folly beliefs of a naïve child.

“Not a day ago you feared me, frightened of what you might do once you lose your control to me. Of what you have done already. And now you make demands? I will admit you have grown strong over the years, but you are far yet from making such assumptions.”

“And what of this Feill-Dar-Lhef?” Kollyn asked. “You told me what she did was wrong. Will you not aid me in stopping her?”

The nothingness boiled with a seething anger. Deep, rumbling noises resounding from all directions and assaulting his ears. Kollyn screamed and after what seemed like an eternity, the noises stopped.

“My sister has discarded all that makes us divine! It is one thing to wish to leave Jurmheir, it is another entirely to corrupt the souls of the dead. These transgressions cannot be allowed to continue. You may think I do this to keep you alive, Vessel, but know this. If it means your death to put an end to this, I will not hesitate for even a second.”

“Neither will I,” Kollyn said. “And my name is Kollyn. Use it.”

The god laughed, his anger and passion making way for amusement. “I feel your confidence, Kollyn, and your resolution. I am once again ascertained of my choice of you. My name is Tharn-Dar-Solst.

“Wake, Kollyn. The Escaped One awaits.”

Kollyn jerked up from where he’d been lying, which was the stone floor he noticed, and breathed heavily. His vision blurred for a moment at the sudden motion, little twinkling stars dancing before him, but soon enough he came to his full senses.

Tirril sat kneeling next him, her face worried and knife in her hand which she pointed at Hrotvir who sat on the other side of him. His hand was slightly burned, Kollyn noticed, but he seemed to ignore the pain.

“What happened?” Hrotvir insisted hastily. “Curses boy, what did you come to know?”

Kollyn rubbed his temples, giving Tirril a comforting nod. “Tharn-Dar-Solst,” he said and Hrotvir’s eyes lit up. “That is the name of the god within me. He will help us.”

“No doubt he will,” Hrotvir whispered, a grin forming on his face. “I bet he wasn’t too happy the day he found out his little sister was messing around in Iodigar.”

Kollyn regarded the scholar. The man’s knowledge of the realms and his mastery of Effylscript clearly made him more than what he claimed to be, yet he couldn’t place it. Whatever it was he was hiding, Tirril had noticed it as well. For now though, all they could do was trust him.

“Is this a good thing?” Tirril asked, sheathing the knife and helping Kollyn into a chair. “Who is this Tharn-Dar-Solst?”

“He is a brother of Feill-Dar-Lhef,” Hrotvir answered, “and one of the Gods of Creation. The Father of Souls, it is written that he was the one who created the first soul to roam Ysdigar. If anyone would be angered by what is happening with the souls now, it would be him.”

“He called it a transgression of her divinity,” Kollyn said. “I never felt such raw and vast anger before, it almost destroyed me.”

Hrotvir placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “By all rights it should have killed you, my dear Kollyn. It seems Tharn-Dar-Solst has a plan for you or you would not have survived this long.

“And speaking of a plan, how are you two actually planning on getting back to Fjoltheir once this is over without the ability to form Axesem? I’ve been wondering about that for a while now.”

“We have a way,” Tirril answered before Kollyn could say anything. “We should worry about dealing with this Goddess of Creation first.”

“Yes, of course,” Hrotvir said, nodding slowly. “Let’s make sure we can leave in the first place.”

Kollyn did not fail to notice Hrotvir had included himself in that statement.