[Book II Chapter 5] ASTRA: Wrapping up loose ends

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Astra watched the door close behind Sarah Godspeed. That’s one problem taken care of. Astra switch on her projector crystal to place a call.

When the pillar was destroyed, long forgotten contingency plans had gone into play. It had taken several days, but rudimentary communication between most major cities had been restored. Unfortunately the network is fragile, so we had to greatly restrict its use.

A throne room appeared,

A majestic hall appeared, lined with ornate columns, breath-taking statues and vivid tapestries. Every aspect was exquisite, save one. A deep, dark red patch marred the marble floor. From it rose a grand armchair, shaped as if a liquid had turned solid. The crimson pulsed faintly to the beat of a human heart. The Bloodstone Throne, a relic from a barbarous time. On it sat a man in his early fifties, dressed in regal magenta robes.

Soon the projector-generated blackness withdrew to reveal a throne room. Ornate columns and breath-taking statues lined the tapestries of the majestic hall. Every aspect was exquisite, save one. A deep, dark red patch marred the marble floors. From it rose a grand chair, shaped as if a liquid had turned solid. The crimson pulsed faintly to the beat of a human heart, proof of the lives used in its creation. The Bloodstone Throne, a relic from a barbarous time. On it sat a man in his early fifties, dressed in regal magenta robes.

“Astra Skyfell.” Samuel Lithorn stated calmly. Behind the northern emperor on the right stood Coralin Dorate, her long golden hair flowing down her black cloak. On the left, a tyrant lay lazily on the floor. Larger than most of its species, thick obsidian scales dotted the spine of its green hide. Anatar, Lithorn’s shadow. Two trusted lieutenants as a show of force.

“Your plot against the Isle failed.” Astra responded.

A trace of frustration flashed on Lithorn’s face. “And your little brat caused a dark age, just as I feared.”

They faced off tensely. Finally, Astra spoke, “Indeed, an age of calamity has begun. Leaving aside responsibility, the priority should be preparing for the coming conflict. As such, no further mischief will be tolerated. Should your agents harm my children or target other innocents outside your empire, I will personally lead an army to free Ethan Skyfell, and we both know the first thing he will do upon release.”

Lithorn grimaced. He fears Ethan. Despite his precarious position at home, Astra had received word the defense around octahedron had been bolstered.

Calming, Lithorn observed her carefully. “That almost sounds as if you are prepared to do nothing. Are you proposing a truce? Even knowing your brother is imprisoned?”

“I am.” Astra affirmed. “My goal is to save him, a task likely to impossible during a dark age. It pains me, but Ethan will have to endure until a better opportunity. Lily, Barsal, and Nero are in agreement with the decision.”

I think, even without our aid, he will likely break free. If not Simon, the HEAVENLY DAO would see to it. Such exciting story would not be left untold. I don’t have the right to stand in the way of his revenge. But after…

“So you are willing to overlook Jenna’s death?” Lithorn asked.

The question riped Astra from her musing and made her grit her teeth at its absurdity. “If not for the dark age, I would be leading the charge to put your head on a spike. In the interest of stability, I will forget this transgression until Enera’s future is secured. At that time, should you have survived, you better hope your contributions are great enough to stay my wrath.”

“That’s all for today. Do your best to hold your empire together.” Astra shut off the projector. She had communicated their intentions regarding Ethan and had no further desire to deal with the man.

His hatred of Sola makes so much sense now. The Northern Emperor had opposed Sola from the very beginning. He feared her work at Earth’s End more than anyone. Had one of his victims had been brought back… Lithorn’s prohibition against resurrections was why his empire was largely spared the ravages of the Black Banquet.

I wonder how long he will last. Besides the murder of Jenna Crystal, the circumstances of many other deaths will have been called into question with the reveal of his sublime vagary. Not to mention his machinations against the Isle souring the public.

At least he need not fear death. With Ethan’s threat looming, who would dare deprive her brother of his vengeance? If deposed, he’ll be offered up as a sacrificial lamb.

“Gareth Black is here.” A fairy zipped by to announce.

Astra waited for the necromancer to install himself across from her. He appeared young, in his mid twenties, with short brown hair. Five hundred years old and already a match for the strongest immortals. This former mask of Xarst was impressive.

“Before we start, could you give me some verbal assurances we are on the same side?” Astra began. “Make it convincing, as I’ve been badly burned by another necromancer recently.”

“Our interest are aligned. For all its flaws, I intend to see Enera survive this dark age, even if I must strike down Torak’s champion myself.”

“State it clearly.” Astra wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. “Is Simon Black your enemy?”

“Do you consider your brother, Ethan Skyfell, an enemy?”

Astra held Gareth’s stare before speaking. “Even if I had to put him down, I would not.”

“I feel something similar. Simon and I hunted the Laughing Man together for hundreds of years. No one was hurt more by his betrayal.”

“So you knew him better than anyone?”

“Yes.” Gareth answered. “Or at least I thought I did.”

“Good, then maybe you can answer some questions. Why did Simon let us recuperate Kain’s arm?” Abandoning a weapon capable of leveling a major city didn’t make sense for someone aiming to wipe out humanity.

“He probably did it for the sake of your children.” Gareth answered. “Their victory over Sion Gale is deflecting a lot of anger elsewhere. Taking the arm would’ve undermined that, and, once it was used, would have instead become a source of resentment. As with all necromancers, Simon can’t lie. He really did consider himself their ally.”

“Beyond that, due to his experiences with the Laughing Man, Simon abhors the slaughter of innocents. Kain’s arm is something he would never use. He’d sooner die than step in and cause tragedy personally.” Garreth laughed sadly, shaking his head. “Just look at the lengths he went to trigger a Dark Age without a major loss of life.”

Astra nodded. The thought of someone like that being Torak’s champion was somehow more unsettling. The god of death was not to be underestimated. “So why did he keep the finger?”

While the arm was safely stored in the inner palace, the digit Sarah had been carrying was missing.

“He means to use it, perhaps indirectly. It’s unclear if Kongal can take a new avatar as long as Kain exists. Perhaps it will be used to sever that lingering connection.”

“So, what will he do next, this Necromancer of the End who hates killing?”

“Like Sola, I imagine he’ll stand back and let the disasters a dark age brings do the initial work of culling the humanity. Instead, his focus will be on the creation of the dark gods…”

Garreth stopped, his eyes going distant as he recalled the past. “We had a discussion a century ago, about what Simon called Sola’s greatest mistake. As you know, the lesser dark gods select a host lost in hate, madness, or despair. To speed up their manifestation, Sola manipulated three individual to the appropriate mental state. Apparently, this is where she erred.”

“Simon theorized the source of a host’s emotions needs to be pure, untainted by contrivances, or the disconnect weakens the avatar. Take Kain, Kongal’s chosen. At some level, he must’ve resented fighting for the one who drove him to his people to extinction. To the dark god synchronizing with his consciousness, suppressing these errant thoughts must’ve sapped strength.”

“So he believes the dark gods we faced last time were somehow incomplete?” Astra was skeptical. She vividly recalled her confrontations with Nuzou, Nataray, and Kain. All three were monsters I struggled against alone. They didn’t seem lacking.

Seeing her uncertainty, Gareth whispered softly, “Imagine if someone like Byron had become an avatar…”

A chill ran down Astra’s spine. An immortal with the strength of my brother given the power of a dark god… She grimaced. “So the Dark Gods this time around are likely to be fearsome… Any idea how he plans to bring this about?”

“He mentioned fallen heroes would make the best candidates. Beyond that I don’t know. It was a strange conversation. In retrospect, I wished I had pressed him harder about this and other topics…”

“Anything else I should know about Simon?” Astra asked.

“Tiphony has probably joined him.” Garreth said. “She is one of the five survivors of the Laughing Man’s original massacres. She, Simon, and I all traveled to Xarst together.”

“Furthermore, I lost contact with her fifteen years ago, at the time Earth’s End was breached. It is highly likely we’ll be dealing with another plague of doppelgangers at some point. Word should be put out so countermeasures can be put in place.”

Astra had anticipated something along these lines. This was another reason she’d wasted no time in sending her children off. They need to become immortals so their strength can serve as proof of their identity.

Another lighting sprite popped in, “Sarah Godspeed is outside waiting to speak with you.”

Astra pursed her lips, “I apologize, Gareth, it seems I have an unexpected guest. We will have to conclude this another time.”

Nodding, Gareth retreated and was soon replaced by a visibly agitated young woman. Astra didn’t bother with the cold this time.

“What did you do?” The former steward demanded angrily.

“Whatever do you mean?” Astra replied coyly, with a hint of amusement.

“I…” Sarah began, then hesitated. “I tried to leave the Isle.”

Astra rose an eyebrow at this candor. “Go on.”

“First, when I reached my airship, a cave in crushed it flat!” Sarah began, in full rant mode. “Extraordinarily unlucky, but not entirely unexplainable. I figured it vengeance from the HEAVENLY DAO. So I tried hitching a ride instead, but every airship I walked on had its engine fail! Even when I returned to the Adventurer’s Guild to rent a drake, they all went berserk at the sight of me!”

“You knew this would happen!” Sarah declared miserably. “How did you do it?”

Astra leaned back in her chair, sighing. “You are wrong about one thing. While I anticipated you might flee, this did not go how I envisioned.”

“How so?” Sarah asked.

“You were supposed to be in the airship when it was crushed flat.” Astra explained coldly.

Sarah settled down, blood draining from her face. “What do you mean?”

“Like I said when you left earlier, if you go back on your word, ‘you won’t live to regret it’” Astra stated simply, letting the words sink in.

Sarah’s eyes slowly opened in shock. “No, you didn’t…”

“It’s almost a miracle you haven’t killed yourself by lying to me.” Astra continued. “It’s also a little frustrating. It would’ve been so much simpler if you’d dropped dead from natural causes or an accident. Justice is served and your family is spared the shame.”

“Unfortunately, it seems the HEAVENLY DOA has gone to great lengths to guide you back to me alive. Likely it fancies this entertaining. Or perhaps this is your comeuppance for conspiring against the Isle of dream.”

“This can’t be happening.” Sarah complained, unwilling to accept reality.

Astra smiled, “Try lying to me if you want.”

As she watched Sarah absorb the full horror of her situation, Astra recalled a time long ago. The middle of dark age had been chaos, with nearly half of humanity displaced. Thievery was common, and executions were swift. Vital supplies had to be safeguarded. While deserters and traitors were one thing, killing desperate refugees had always rubbed Astra the wrong way. Once it was understood that every death fed Sola’s undead army, this feeling strengthened.

Finally, as an experiment, she changed her approach. Confident in her ability to inspire terror, she extracted a pledge of good behavior from those she judged salvable. Each time, she warned them they wouldn’t live to regret it if they broke their word, a threat she fully intended to carry through.

Later, when she returned to check, she was happy to find most struggling on the straight and narrow path. However, three returned to their previous ways. Or tried to. Whether happenstance or intervention by some greater power, all three had died before completing their first robbery.

Intrigued, Astra continued sparing those she could. By now, rumors were already circulating among the refugees that she had the power to curse to death. It had probably begun forming by that point. At the end of the dark age, these experiences combined to produce Astra’s third sublime vagary.

“So I must follow everything I swore to you.” Sarah reluctantly said. “Or I die?”

Astra decided to state it plainly, “Promises I extract under pain of death will be honored under pain of death.”

Sarah simply sat in shock. While this was amusing, Astra had wasted enough time. “You are, of course, forbidden from revealing any of this to anyone. Although I don’t believe it possible, you are also not allowed to try to lift the curse. Lastly, your next task for today is to call your mother and brother. You will fully explain your recent reprehensible actions, leaving nothing out. Once you are done, you will drag yourself to the financial department and begin the job I assign you to do.”

Sarah didn’t react, so Astra added, “Leave now.”

For a moment more, Sarah remained motionless. Then she collapse from her chair, gasping for air and clutching her heart.

Astra offered some friendly advice, “I would leave if I was you, unless you plan on disobeying me.”

For the second time today, Astra watched the door close behind Sarah Godspeed. It should all work itself out.