Quest Once upon a time there was you [Nya and Abashai]

[Abashai]

Abashai tread the ground around th Bloodsink as if it were hallowed. He had listened to Maya's narrative of the area's history, trying to fathom the catastrophic events she described. Thousands upon thousands slain. The benshiran had never seen armies of that scale. No living mortal man had. It weighed heavily upon his heart to consider. The corpses of men and carcasses of horses were long gone, the metal of their arms rusting to dust. Now, only Nya and Abashai stood in danger's face. Abashai heard Nya's determined supplication whispered in his mind, and he silently concurred with the prayer. He himself offered no last minute requests of Yahal. The entire journey he filled the silence within himself with prayers and worship lifted to his Holy One. Surely Nya was witness to them, but she had said nothing. In unspoken union, each mate turned to their supplies to ready for the descent. Abashai removed items deemed unecessary for the short excursion. He retained flint and steel, two torches, a small lantern and a few dried rations. Pulling his boot dagger, Shai went to the pack horse and cut about thirty feet of rope of the coil tied to the beast, coiled it and stuffed it in the pack. He already wore his chainmail shirt, a dagger upon each hip, and his waterskin. Reaching into his coat, Abashai's hand closed around the hilt of Ghalannas. The suvai had eminated...sensations. His fingers slippd from the weapon, and the man retrieved his khopesh. Something gave him the feeling that the iron blade would prove useless against the foe they were to face. But the blade had become as an extension of himself, and could be useful in prodding their way along. Standing next to Nya and taking the offered torch, Abashai looked into the woman's inhuman green eyes. She had chosen her human form for the entrance into the Bloodsink. Since they had left Syliras, Nya had spent a majority of the time as the forest cat. It afforded them more protection, for her senses were sharper, as were her weapons. Now, with this amazing communion they shared, standing at her side, man and woman, Abashai felt a completeness, and a readiness to face what lay ahead. He nodded to Maya, and then to his wife, his steadfast resolve reflected in crystal blue-green eyes. Shai knew Nya had a direction, whispered to her by the minions of her lord. He sensed her anxiousness, but Shai knew she would proceed carefully. Nevertheless, Abashai admonished her with a quiet thought as he proceeded with her, blade extended ahead of them.

[Tarot]

Whatever awaited them down in the depths of the Bloodsink, they could at least take comfort that they were not alone, nor unguided. They had each other, the gentle breeze that felt like a nod from Zulrav, and the strength from Yahal welling up inside their hearts. Torches in hand, they were soon swallowed by the cave and well on their way to the bowels of Mizahar. Maya saw them off without a further word. Kiphos Shaik, Vuld that was, knew that there was a special category of people in the world to whom odds and probabilities just didn't apply. The chosen of Ionu could only hope the two of them numbered among such wonders. The descent was pretty steep at first, but it got better after a while. The passage was comfortably wide enough for both of them to proceed side by side. Torchlight flickered, casting shadows on ancient natural walls. The reddish tint of these minerals hinted at the presence of iron ores, and further reinforced how aptly this place had been named. Thankfully there were no bifurcations of note in the path. Every now and then they would see the remains of an old trap: an old skeleton crushed by a strategically placed stalactite, long darts and spears embedded in the wall, even darkened patches in which the stalagmites were all broken, hinting at explosions or something just as troublesome. Thankfully, however, Kiphos' party had disarmed virtually all of them. With the exception of a badly concealed tripwire, one that had been easily avoided the first time, they found no traps still in operation. It was difficult to measure time accurately down there, and they only had their natural functions to rely on. They had to take a meal, so the descent must have taken them at least half a day of careful exploration. At least everything they saw confirmed Kiphos' description. All the skeletons looked old and it was likely that these traps hadn't really killed anyone since the first expedition. It was mostly an exercise in keeping one's nerves cool, and they had certainly faced much worse. Still, Kiphos' words being so accurate did not bode well for the ending of this tale. At last they came across a body that wasn't quite as old as the rest. Maybe six months, give or take, but pretty well preserved due to the peculiar dry environment and lack of carrion eaters. The man looked like a mercenary, some kind of adventurer without a flag of his own except one with a golden Miza on it. There were no visible wounds on the body, but the victim had been running away. It was lying on the stomach in the direction of the exit, arms spread wide. His backpack dropped several meters ahead of them, he must have tried to get rid of everything to make his escape swifter. Rotten rations and a few Mizas were all they could find in the bag. From there on there was a sudden increase in the amount of bodies, both old and newer, and all had been running from the very place Nya and Abashai were headed with grim determination. And finally, the dark passage opened to a much larger cave. The ceiling was at least thirty feet high, and their every step echoed back at them. This was the final cavern, the end of Bloodsink. They saw the door first, because it was impossible to miss. Dug into the ancient wall on the far end of the cave, the massive door seemed to shine of its own golden light. It was hexagonal in shape, divided into six triangles each with elaborate carvings. One had a wheel, like something you'd see on a chariot or wagon. One had a stylized city with towers and walls. Then a woman with her arms spread open and laurels on her head. Another had a six-pointed star surrounded by a scattering of smaller stars. Yet another had a luxuriant tree with fruits hanging from its branches. As for the sixth... Well, it did not register immediately, but after a moment or two they realized they couldn't see that part of the door. The discovery was quite unsettling, because their eyes weren't telling them that something was blocking their view. The information just wasn't getting to them, like a huge blind spot that actually moved. A Rulebreaker that didn't want to be seen could do such. It would simply negate sight. And while it would take seasoned fighters like Nya and Abashai but a moment to figure out how to follow the blind spot around with a lot of eye flicking and their peripheral vision, it made the thing no more reassuring. "Be careful, Stormwarden!" the Mistral's hiss came from somewhere within the blind spot. "So, you have come," said a voice also coming from the general direction of the blocked area. It was low and disembodied, but much more human-like than the Mistral's. The voice was cryptic, but not unkind. And unlike Shaik's tale, it did not simply tell them to go away. "I thought this breeze had a familiar smell. I was not mistaken. Do you come to free me or to die once more? Did that man help you figure out the 'secret' as he was meant to? You must remember or die. Even though time may be running short, there's no point in going any further if you can't realize this. Then you'd better just die and return as someone else who's more attuned." And everything went quiet again. But what was the secret of it all? The deep but oh-so-simple secret behind Nya's quest, the reason she'd been asked by Zulrav to save the priest Aruin and then pick up where he'd left off in the search for these artifacts. The reason she'd already been searching for them in past lives, getting a little closer every time but always dying just before a major breakthrough. The reason Abashai had been by her side, driven away from the desert by Zulrav's fury just so he could meet her again in this life. The reason. The secret.

[Nya Winters]

Nya paced beside Abashai, her thoughts guarded. It was in this mission, this quest, with this man by her side that she'd gained in leaps and bounds and found her humanity, borrowed as it was. She often wondered - knowing what little she knew of the lives past - why the Gods or even herself if it had been a choice would have chosen a kelvics form to come back as. Nya been many things, it seemed, and was acutely aware that she'd been many people through the course of her lives, but why kelvic and why now? It made little sense because kelvic were dismissed, subservient, and almost always overlooked.

But it was the perfect cover, wasn't it?

They were bestial, uncomplicated, and needy. They were incredibly limited in their mental capacity, though with the fushion of Abashai's soul she'd overcome that hazard. It was almost as if she'd planned it all.

Nya froze a moment in mid stride, then kept moving again, with only a slight apologetic glance at Abashai. They worked their way down into the heart of the Bloodsink and to the door and its guardian. Nya knew the creature had killed before, but something was different in her. She almost didn't mind it had meant her death in the past. And would perhaps mean her death now. It was almost a homecoming of sorts. Something was familiar about the voice, its cadence, and its demands and that comforted her. The minsral was scared, but Nya was not. No, the thing was too familiar to her. She almost reached out her hand as if to touch it, to gently reassure the guardian that things were okay. Nya acutely felt its confinement, its pain, what it must have gone through remaining alone and in the dark for the countless years it had been here guarding what she suspected was behind the doorway.

Her eyes examined the door, nodding to herself, as she listened to the Guardian's voice. She was conscious of her breathing - deep breaths in and out - calm in her stature. She was aware of the man beside her and knew the things that linked them were more than he was really aware of. They had history together, a long convoluted one filled with debts owed and repaid over and over again. And ironic it was that in this life he would be considered her master by others and equal by him when in lives before they had been called something far different.

She knew.

The moment the guardian started speaking, the kelvic just felt so aware, so open, in that instant that she thought she knew the secret, the reason, and the whole purpose of her trying again and again and again through many many lives.

"I came to right the wrong of the past. I was so careless in my pursuit of bigger, stronger, more powerful. I wanted to be surrounded by opulant wealth, reclaimed for my family as it was stolen from us during the war. I did whatever I could to create power. I even used my friends and loyal servants. I gave less care to their lives and the lives in the world than I did to a single grain of sand. And though I was talented tenfold compared to others, I wasted it away in frivolousness. What I could have done to help the world was considerable. What I did instead was next to nothing. It was a wrong to you and a wrong to the world. But I am no longer who I was. There is still a chance to change things, to fix what I have done. I came to retrieve those things which are mine. And what you hold is the key to finding all of them." She said softly. Then with only a slight pause, she continued.

"I came to relieve you of your duties and end your suffering in the dark, my old friend. I came to apologize for what I have put you through. I have been trying for many lifetimes to do so and to remember but I suspect there are rules to these things and tests one must past before the future and the past and the present all link together as one. For awareness is power, of a sorts, and the kind the Gods are often jealous of. None of the other forms I wore could understand. But animals... they are simple creatures and their truths are not human truths. This one though, this obscure unobtrusive Forest Cat, has gotten me closer than any before her." Nya said softly, knowing with a certainty... an utter certainty what the secret was.

"My name now is Nya Winters. But it hasn't been my only name. My most famous name was Areesa Tallshade." She said softly, her eyes searching the nothing that comprised the guardian.

[Abashai]

The pair remained silent as they descended into Bloodsink. Abashai scoured the ancient stone walls, ceiling and floor of the tunnel for active traps, though the number of corpses indicated most of them had been triggered already. As the body count rose, and the nature of their deaths turned from simple traps to something he could not detect, the benshiran's focus was on immediate danger. But Abashai could discern that Nya was perceiving the place in a different way. He could sense his bondmate's musings, though he had not yet fully harnessed the ability to navigate this new life bond that entangled their very beings. She was thinking though, unusual for a creature that relied on instincts in a situations such as this. But as they enter the large chamber, the man sensed a strange sensation from his mate. Familiarity.

Abashai was not intune with his past lives. Maybe it was because he had only played a supporting role in this epic divine scheme. Maybe it was simply the human form of his current incarnation that hindered his awareness, even with the revelation from Dira herself. Regardless, it was not the mysterious door or the disembodied voice that brought the most surprise to the man, it was Nya's epiphany. As the ancient acquaintances conversed, the truth was revealed. Like the final turn of a lock, when all the tumblers fall in place, and what had been hidden is opened. He knew, knew it was so.

"Areesa." He muttered.

[Tarot]

Nya's words acquired a physical presence of sorts in this gods-forsaken cave. They hung heavy in the air, each syllable casting an oppressive weight upon the ancient tomb of rock. But they rang true the very moment she spoke them, and Abashai recognized them as fact beyond questioning. There was silence then, until the Guardian's voice spoke once more, this time tinged with a strange sense of relief. "Indeed." The blind spot bloomed open right in front of them, and Nya could see the Mistral being released from nowhere; Abashai only felt the light breeze as the wind sought refuge behind the Kelvic's legs, frightened. "You are mostly correct, Stormwarden. This is a good day, perhaps for the entire world. You came very close to this awareness in your previous life, but Dira interfered and cast Zulrav's plans into disarray. She said it was too early and had you killed. You should not blame yourself, however, noble warrior," and here the voice shifted subtly to address Abashai. "Ardrem may have sunk his blade into Lugzia, but you are not the same as him, just like she is not the same as Lugzia. Each life brings unique circumstances, and while the essence remains, the shape varies. Dira has chosen to entangle her threads with yours, and that goes to prove just how immensely high the stakes are. I, for one, do not think she is as neutral as she proclaims, and while you may have been her priest for some time, you and Areesa go back an even longer time. But I suppose I should introduce myself. Allow me find a meaningful form for your eyes to behold." The air coalesced where the blind spot had been, matter sprouting from the nothingness like water from a fountainhead. The shape reminded more of a plant than a creature. Long, flexible stalks developed thick roots that sank into the rock with no apparent effort. The thing's main body was a network of vines and vegetation that resembled no tree or bush either of them had ever seen. Its long stalks penetrated the rock both on the cavern floor and the walls, creating a vegetable spiderweb that occupied most of the cave. "My name was Lukas," the creature said, flowers blooming and withering with every word, "once your lead apprentice as Areesa. Perhaps in time you shall remember me? I volunteered for this. And the two of you - Areesa, and your soulmate Jefrek who is now standing beside you..." *** The memory struck them both simultaneously. Areesa, an elegant, ageless beauty, and the man who had changed her life, Jefrek. They were both middle-aged and wearing mage robes. They were binding a younger man to a huge anvil-like thing covered with glyphs. Areesa was crying. She knew there was no other way, she had to use this accursed thing of her own creation. Jefrek nodded gravely and picked up the hammer... *** "... you used the Anvil of Souls to have me reborn as a seed. Then you planted me here to guard the Powercube. An Outling, an abomination to the natural order of the world. A creature stuck between men and gods, unable to move either way. The fruit of your research, Areesa, the blasphemy you did just because you could. But I bear this burden gladly, and I take pride in being an instrument of your redemption. As to why you were unable to remember, and still are to a degree, it is quite simple. You asked for it yourselves." *** Areesa and Jefrek were standing on a balcony in a marvelous Alahean palace, awash in magical lights that lit up the night. The balcony, and the balcony alone, was surrounded by a violent wind - Zulrav's manifestation between them. Jefrek's hand was on Areesa's shoulder. "Yes, that is my will," the woman said. "Jefrek's opened my eyes. I have committed great sins and I can't atone for them in this life. Probably not in a hundred lives either. But I want to at least get even, do as much good as I have done evil. My work has caused - and will cause - so much suffering. I will take responsibility for as long as it takes." Jefrek nodded and smiled. Abashai realized then, that he had been mute. Such a person had been able to change Areesa Tallshade without words. The wind raged around them, forming human words. 'Your items have killed thousands directly. The six forbidden ones you keep under lock have the potential to reshape the world... perhaps even end it altogether. Wars could be fought over them. And yet there will come a day when they may be used for good. Do you want to be around when that day comes?' Areesa nodded. She was in her fifties and yet looked in her thirties, a testament of the endless magical research she'd dabbled in. "Yes. I can make it so some of our memories are destroyed permanently. With that damned anvil, I can. Erased from the Chavi, from everywhere. Even I will never remember where I hid the Six. What we don't know, can't be forced out of us by those who would take them. I'll make sure other memories are locked on a temporary basis. They'll come back to us when we are ready. I'll leave instructions. We'll figure things out in time. It is a fitting punishment for one such as I who only had thoughts for herself... to live without knowing myself." She turned to Jefrek for support, and he smiled. The god of wind hissed at them. 'You know not what you ask for. The first time I saw you on this balcony, I had half a mind to push you off with my breath. Had we not spoken instead, you would be dead. You have broken everything you could. You have played with forces you cannot begin to understand. It is surprising you found someone willing to stand by your side. But you would make amends for your transgressions with another transgression? Madness.' "Didn't my ancestors call you Madness that Howls in the Trees?" Areesa smiled. Pause. 'Among other things. Something about your scheme intrigues me, I must admit. It is outrageous, stubborn, very willful. I like that. But there is one condition. I know you, Areesa Tallshade. Alone in this world, you will relapse into your old sins, or simply lose yourself. You two must embark in this together - then I shall consider backing you in the centuries to come. Her misery will be your own, Jefrek son of Jafuil. You will be separated countless times and painfully so, but in the end you will always find each other again. Are we in agreement?' Jefrek smiled. *** "You have been guided here," Lukas said, "but time is running short and from now on, there is no path for you to follow. Just you, in the midst of chaos. You have plenty of enemies in the pantheon - and then there's Vashra, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. It is time I entrusted you with what you came to find." Slowly, the door on the far end of the cave began to slide open by the Guardian's sheer force of will. Behind the door was a small niche with a pedestal. On the pedestal, prepped on top of a red cushion, was the Powercube. About as large as the palm of the hand, cold to the touch, made of some unknown metal too resilient to be gold, too shiny for steel, too light for lead and very pliable, as evidenced by the beautifully chiseled images illustrated on the six sides. In the middle of each side was a round button-like protrusion about as big as a fingerprint. The decorations matched the six sections of the door - a god, a goddess, a star, a wheel, a city and a tree. Nya had first heard of these six symbols from the priest Aruin, whom she'd tried to rescue from the Vulture Man. Aruin had been continuing her research after her death as Lugzia, to make up for the lost time caused by Dira's interference. "I dared not hope this day would come," Lukas said, the plant body wriggling with relief at having been able to fulfill the duty placed upon him.

[Nya Winters]

Nya listened intently, carefully, nodding. She turned and looked at Abashai and could almost see Jefrek's features superimposed over the top of Shai's handsome face. They were so different now, but not lesser, not better. Just different. Lukas' true form was familiar too and she stared openly, as he spoke, his voice seemingly dragging the past into the present and interweaving it with the here and now so that she was all things and nothing at once.

When he spoke the names of the artifacts used, she nodded, suddenly knowing them intimately and fleetingly for the duration of the conversation. She'd never had children, but she never needed them because she'd produced her legacy all around her wrapped in ambition and sold off to the highest bidder. Jefrek had changed that, made her think beyond the coin and prestige and in many ways the fame she craved. And so when she'd worked her way up in society and took her place among the Wizards of renown for the time, the Seven Robes, she found the victory and success somewhat hollow.

It had no meaning, the fame, if the world around her suffered. Jefrek had made her see. She'd once taken the atttidue that if she could climb from the fallen ranks of ex-wealthy where her affluent mother had ended up scrubbing pots just to feed the children, then anyone could do so and should. But the truth was her schooling hadn't come cheap and without patrons she wouldn't have managed even that.

It wasn't so easy in the real world. In her world, she'd climbed any roadblock or barrier blocking her way she needed to any way she could. Some of those means had left a foul taste in her mouth. But that was the past. The future was in front of her in the form of the Powercube. Once the way was unblocked, she strode forward and picked it up, bringing it back to where Lukas and Abashai stood.

"Now... Lukas, my dear friend. How do we free you? I am not so much Areesa in this time, and only Nya instead. But we will not take our leave of this place until you find your own peace as well." She said softly, running her hands across the Powercube. Her memory flickered, bits and pieces of its forging came to her and she shivered, reliving more the pleasure in the creation of it which had been one of her motivations, rather than the power of what it meant to hold it and knowing its connection to the other artifacts. A strong longing filled her, one that made her want to create again, if only for a moment, wielding the power that she once had.

The Kelvic Forest Cat laughed at the human part of her, purred, and eased the longing that felt more like addiction than actual real need. Then she turned, handed the Powercube to Abashai, knowing he too had searched long and hard and deserved to hold it in his hands, to tangibly feel what they were seeking had been absolutely real.

Real. It was all so real... so very real.

[Abashai]

Windows to the past were opened, and memories became the substance of reality. With the recognition of Aressa, clothed in the body of a human-shaped forest cat, Abashai too experienced the sensations of that time. They were not so different in this age, for in all his incarnations, his role had been to be the tool that tempered the fiery soul of Tallshade and aided her in the lives-long journey, acting sometimes the voice of reason, weapon of defense even the bringer of death. Regardless of the time or shape of their being, he knew he always accompanied Areesa's incarnation because he wanted to, willingly, such was the depth of his feelings for her.

Lukas, too, gave of himself for Tallshade. Abashai looked upon the being, magnificent in its nature, if one could ignore the fact that the man had condemned himself to this horrid, lonely existence on his mistress' behalf. Pain rose again as the memory was opened, the horrible act he and Areesa performed on Lukas at The Avil to render him into this form. Such was the consequences of the woman's aspirations, one of many sufferings that came about from her work.

Areesa was gifted, extremely so. But she had employed her talents in a drive to attain wordly glory, to vindicate the fall of her family. Any means justified the ends. But Jefrek saw through the clamor for prestige and power, saw a woman capable of great good, someone still worthy of affection, in spite of her selfish agenda and terrible power. He knew now, even as he looked at Nya, as Abashai, that he had not been wrong about her.

The moment was heavy in the dank cavern as Nya retrieved the ancient cube, reunited with its maker, a profound moment indeed. As she handled the small device, Abashai could sense her reaction through the new uniting bond between them. He felt the surge of creative need rise in her, something that once helped drive her work. Caution arose in his being, as it did ages ago when he saw that look in her eyes. With great care, and relief, Abashai accepted the cube from Nya, holding it reverently, examining its remarkable surface. Jefrek's magic had paled in comparison to his companion's, his wisdom and perception much more beneficial to the mage. Yet enough was his knowledge to comprehend the gravity of her work, and the power he now held in his hands.

Abashai's gaze lifted again to Lukas, slivers of memories reminding him of the apprentice's devotion. He echoed Nya's conviction. "No, we will not leave you here like this."

He did not return the cube to Nya, not yet.

[Tarot]

Whatever alloy made up the Powercube, it appeared to be incorruptible. Over half a millennium had passed and it didn't even have a coating of dust to show for it. It may well have been crafted that morning for all they knew. Yet flashes of understanding flared across their minds, revealing bits and pieces about the process by which it had been taken into the world. A rock fallen from the skies... smelting its ores... extracting brains from monstrous-looking corpses to gift it with memory... a blessing from Qalaya... visions imparted to it like a mother's imprinting... Lukas sounded amused in a slightly bitter sort of way. "I wish for nothing more than the peace of oblivion, yes, but it is not within your power to give it to me, not today. I am a son of the Anvil now, and as long as the Anvil exists so do I. The Anvil is the last item on the list, Areesa... no, Nya. The last and the most dangerous of them all. To get to it you will need me as well as the other five items; the memories in the Cube are encrypted in such a way that only the presence of one item can decode the next vision. A further precaution against raiders, you see. I am the Tree, and the first piece of your riddle. You are not leaving me behind; I am a light, however dim, meant to point the way." The creature's strange form wavered and shrunk until it was a single luminous point floating in mid-air. Then it shot out and neatly entered the Powercube while Abashai was still holding it. The face depicting the tree glowed softly for a moment and Lukas' voice echoed from inside the item. "This is all according to plan, my friends, but from now on there is no road paved ahead of time for you. Forces are arrayed against you, some to kill you, others to simply get you lost and desolate. What's worst, your memories are still incomplete; that you do not remember about Vashra is proof enough. Please do not ask me to force those memories on you... there'd be no point if it's not your own doing. For now, try to focus on the future. Bards will not sing of us, I'm afraid, but let us take comfort in the fact that we still know who we are." The Powercube clicked. "As a gift to you, a glimpse of things to come." A tiny beam of light came out of the mystical item and began drawing ethereal shapes in the air by moving faster than the eye could follow. The resulting effect was a sequence of flickering images, the term for which they recalled from their previous lives - Djedogram. Of course they couldn't remember these scenes themselves: they had been erased from their Chavi by their own design, like anything else that might point to the six artifacts. What they saw, sketched by the madly running light, was a ship sailing in the open ocean. Then the images seemed to move underwater, with small fish swimming without a care in the world. Deeper and deeper, the images getting darker and dimmer until the fishes turned into enormous abyssal creatures never witnessed on the surface, some glowing with their own light. Angular, eyeless shapes neither of them had ever imagined could exist on a fish were accompanied by strange tentacled appendices. And still deeper the Cube showed them, until it was so dark they almost thought the show had already ended. But no. Something twinkled on the ocean floor... "The Najim Pearl, located three point four miles under the ocean's surface," said Lukas from within the Powercube, trying to sound upbeat about it. Because this was the least significant of the six items, and the challenge already sounded pretty much impossible. "If it's the two of you, I'm sure you will find a way."

[Nya Winters]

Nya smiled, she glanced at the cube in Abashai's hand and she nodded. "Yes, there is a way. I need to go home, to Lormar Tower. My mother is there and so too is her lab. It is all here, all the knowledge we need to get three miles below the surface." Nya said, tapping her head. "I just have to relearn it. And since forest cats live long healthy lives, I have another thirty years to go. I can craft what we need to get there. Aressa knew how to do it and something inside me tells me that its a simple task. We just need the funding, components, and a place to learn and work. Jefrek knew my art almost as well as I did. We were together a great deal, I suspect." Nya said. "Relearning is not impossible. And we are motivated. The memories may be lost, but the knowledge of our craft is available. It's out there. We just have to tap it. Shai and I already knows Reimancy. He needs to train it, as do I. But we can do it. Go home. Craft what we need to breath below the water and fight off what will undoubtedly be another guardian. If this was the easiest challenge, we will have to grow to meet the rest, since this one nearly killed us." Nya said, nodding.

"And if my mother rejects us, turns us away, there's always Syliras. I think the Dyres will help us. It is, after all, the city we know best." Nya said, looking thoughtful.

"I haven't been back to Lormar Tower though. And my mother thought it might be protected from unwanted visitors. I'll need to leave you some place safe to look for it. Someplace near Syliras if we need to use the Dyres instead. Having you with us, Lucas, is not safe until we get our base established. Do you have any suggestions? I don't want to leave you here. The bloodsink is too known in the literature. I have a cave in the Cobalt Mountains that might be more secure." Nya said, looking thoughtful then glancing at Abashai.

[Abashai]

Abashai watched the dancing lights, seeing the sailing ship, and the dive to the depths of the ocean. What the desert man would have seen as impossible, he-who-was-Jefrek saw a challenge they had no choice but to overcome. Areesa...Nya, had already begun to navigate a course that would eventually get them to the Najim Pearl.

Lormar Tower. It had been, for a long time, Abashai's intention to get Nya back to see her mother. He had never met her, but Nya portrayed Zilvia Winters as a woman of great knowledge. Even if her mother was gone, perhaps the volumes of knowledge she had stored there would help them. If not, Syliras was a good second bet. They had friends in Syliras, and Abashai had served in a civil position in the city before they left. He wondered if Matilda was still there.

The true challenge, however, was to regain their knowledge, the memories they would need to create the kind of magic Nya was discussing. He looked up from the cube, which he had been gently handling, and looked at Nya thoughtfully. "We need to relearn, remember, but can we do it on our own? There are Walkers, and those that know the Chavi, but could we trust anyone? Areesa...you, surely would not have laid out this plot without providing a means for us to access what we once knew so well."