Seasons of War Episode 15-Rift

Episode 15: Rift

3rd of Cassus

"Come on, Kitten. You've been watching him for two days now. If you don't get some sunshine soon, you'll wilt." The voice was familiar, almost scarily so, and yet the tone of the voice was gentle, with none of the sharpness he'd once attributed to it.

"I'm not a plant, Ulrich. I'll be fine." A second voice said firmly, and this voice too was familiar. A hand brushed a stray hair gently from his face, her touch like lightning on his skin.

Jeremie could almost hear Ulrich roll his eyes. "You aren't eating and you aren't sleeping. If you don't change now you'll be in the cot right across from him."

Aelita sighed. "I know and appreciate what you're trying to do. But I will not leave Jeremie's side until he wakes."

Figuring that was his cue, Jeremie tried his best to sit up. "Not sure it means anything at this point, but you should listen to Ulrich," he muttered. His back was stiff and when he opened his eyes, he saw the aravel as it was illuminated by twilight. Only a second or two later a mess of rose-colored hair filled his vision, and Aelita's thin arms wrapped around him. It took him a moment to realize that, in her excitement, she'd jumped on top of him.

She moved enough so she could make eye contact. "Thank the Creator you're safe! I was beginning to think that she'd trapped you in a level of Bellanaris, and I would have to venture there to save you before a Guide found you."

For a moment, he could only think of how beautiful she was. The last image he had of her was her badly burned body, the look of pure terror and agony etched permanently into her face. Yet she was now here before him, exactly as he remembered her. Gently, he touched her cheek and she responded, bringing her hand up to cover his and pressing his hand fully against the side of her face with a soft smile. The warmth and softness of her cheek spread tingles down his arm and he closed his eyes, to focus on the sensation. In the darkness of his mind, he remembered that it had been her corpse that had been burned, and so this had to be either an illusion or her spirit in death. His eyes shot open. "Who are you? What are you?" He demanded.

Aelita seemed hurt as he pulled away his hand, and she reached to pull it back. At the same time, Ulrich grabbed Jeremie's shoulder causing him to turn his head sharply. He saw Ulrich and the memory came crashing against him, the sword plunging into the mercenary's gut. "You're… I…" Jeremie's breathing became quicker as he started to panic. "I didn't… I'm so sorry… you… you were…"

Ulrich withdrew his hand and tried to explain while Aelita glared at him. "When the vampire held you in her dungeon, she used illusions to trick you into thinking we had died. In reality we came for you many hours later, after you were about halfway through your turning." Jeremie's panic seemed to fade but he still looked confused so he added, "None of us died. We killed the vampire and pulled you out of the dungeon. You're safe and so are we."

Jeremie took a deep breath. He looked at Aelita again, and she took his hand. This time she gently uncurled his fingers and held his hand to her heart so that he could feel its nervous fluttering. To be honest Jeremie didn't know much about death except what he had seen, but he was led to believe that they didn't have heartbeats. He closed his eyes and asked what the man had done to her. She was confused, and as he tried to jog her memory she became increasingly horrified and angered by what he recounted. Finally she gave up on convincing him and gently moved his hand from over her heart. She stared at their joined hands for a moment before closing her eyes. "Reach out telepathically, you'll see I'm telling the truth."

The wise man thought for a second, considering the warm hand holding his and her denials. Logically, if she wasn't a spirit or a corpse as proven by her beating heart then she hadn't gone through anything he described since there was no time for her to have escaped and another person put in her place at the stake. Still, he reached out, not invading her mind but confirming that she was there, as were all the rest. Satisfied, he opened his eyes. "I trust you but I was worried…"

"I know." Aelita whispered.

As the silence between them stretched out Ulrich coughed to catch Jeremie's attention. "Aelita found this in your hand yesterday. We figured it was meant for you, so we haven't looked inside." He placed a small piece of fabric in Jeremie's hand. Jeremie unfolded it, and he blinked in surprise at its contents. Ulrich and Aelita looked at his hand, and they both seemed visibly uncomfortable at the sight of Laura's engagement ring. "I guess this explains why Laura avoids coming inside the aravel unless Aelita asks her to heal you. It must be painful to see you."

Aelita could only shake her head. "I don't know what to say. Anything I could offer would be insufficient." Or insincere, though it went unsaid.

Jeremie sighed, and Ulrich, still looking uncomfortable, stood up and moved back. "Anyway, now that you've awoken, the others will want to talk to you, and I guess you have some questions for Laura." Smirking, he looked to Aelita. "Now, if you're done manhandling him, you have meals to catch up on."

Aelita was about to question him when she noticed that she was still sitting on top of Jeremie. She jumped up and tried her best to shield her eyes. Jeremie stood and nodded.

He walked out of the aravel, looking up at the twilight sky. It was beautiful, with hundreds of twinkling stars. For a while he thought that the whole world had changed. He had thought that he'd died during the turning, and the world, if present at all, would be more like the Beyond. He turned his attention back to the camp, and he walked closer to the fire. Yumi was the first person to see him, and she jumped up. She hugged him, a wide smile across her face. "You're alright! For a while, we were all scared that you wouldn't make it. We thought that you had gone too far down the path of a vampire, and you would die shortly after your forebear." She motioned towards the aravel. "Aelita stayed by your side, though. She claimed she wasn't scared and that you would wake if she had to force you to."

Jeremie smiled back. "I'm fine. At least now I am." He folded his arms. "I'm just glad that all of you are alright. I was convinced that…"

"That we had died, I know." Yumi interrupted him as politely as she could. "Do me a favor, Belpois, and the next time you get yourself kidnapped, try not to fall for any tricky illusions."

Chuckling, Jeremie countered. "I have a better idea. How about we all try our best not to get kidnapped again?"

Yumi laughed as she said. "It's a deal!" She added off-handedly, "Oh, by the way, Odd said that he wanted to speak to you. He said that it was really important."

Jeremie nodded and looked around. He spotted the Scout firing arrows at a target hung on a cactus. The Wise Man approached him, and when he called out his name, Odd jumped. He returned his arrow to its quiver and gestured towards the distant target. Jeremie followed him in silence and watched quietly while Odd pulled the few arrows he'd fired out of the target. "Listen, before you say anything, there's something I need to get off of my chest." Odd began, silencing Jeremie when he tried to speak. "I shouldn't have kissed Aelita. I should've known you still had feelings for her, and even more I should've known that she wasn't interested in me. I'm usually better at reading people. I'm sorry."

He couldn't hold it in. "You've been practicing that for two days, haven't you?"

Odd laughed loudly. "Guilty as charged! I mean it, though." Quietly, he added, "You will have to make a choice one day, you know? But you should think about it. You don't want to do something that you'll regret. Trust me on that."

"I don't have to make that choice anymore. Laura's made it for me." Jeremie showed Odd the ring.

"You know, Laura has been mopey for the past couple of days. She's even started to smell like depression." Odd cringed. "FYI, depression does not smell good. It's… well, it's depressing." His expression changed, almost as if he were uncomfortable, though Jeremie dismissed this. Odd was never uncomfortable. "Speaking of smells… you smell different too. Do you know what might have happened?"

"I spent a day in a vampire's lair, and several hours enduring the turning. No doubt that rubbed off on me."

"The only thing I can say for sure is that you don't smell like cheese."

Jeremie rolled his eyes. "I think that, if the alternative is smelling like cheese, I can live with whatever I smell like."

Odd huffed and muttered, "Good thing you don't have to," under his breath.

Jeremie looked back at the Scout, "Hmm?"

"Maybe it's nothing. Maybe I'm imaging it." Odd shrugged. "Anyway, Laura's reading her grimoire. You'll likely find her on the other side of the aravel."

Jeremie nodded and walked away. Walking to the other side of the aravel, he found Laura curled up with her grimoire, her navy blue hood pulled over her head to mask her face. She looked up when Jeremie cast a shadow over the pages. "Oh, good. You're awake. That's… a good thing."

"A very good thing." Jeremie said. "Laura, what's going on? I don't understand what I did."

Laura sighed. "I know you don't. That's why I must do this. To you, and to us."

"You didn't answer my question." Jeremie said firmly.

"When we rescued you, after the vampire died, you said Aelita's name in your state of unconsciousness. At first I thought that she'd used blood magic on you, but then I looked at you and I knew you'd said it of your own free will." Laura pushed her hood back. "Even in your sleep, she's the only person you think about. If I cross your mind at all, it's an afterthought."

"So, what? You're going to give up? That's not like you." Jeremie protested.

She glared at him. "What, you want us both to be miserable for the rest of our natural lives?"

"I'm just trying to understand why you would… do this."

"You still love her, and even when you sent her away you never stopped. I don't know why for sure. I have some theories but they're painful to contemplate." She shook her head and furrowed her brows. "I can't see why. She's pretty enough, for the sort of man who likes that sort of thing. I just cannot imagine how you could love a witch."

Jeremie took an intimidating step forward. "Don't talk about her like that. I've tolerated it for too long."

Laura sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just… angry, and sad I guess." She didn't give Jeremie a chance to respond. She took his hand and removed his ring. She turned his hand over and placed the ring inside the palm before closing his fingers. "You were never mine, and you love her more than you could ever love me."

The Wise Man shook his head. "You know this won't automatically make everything between Aelita and me alright."

"I know. But… this is the first step of only a few. She loves you, and to her, I think that's all that matters." Laura walked around him, and she sat next to Yumi by the fire.

Jeremie stood by the aravel for a few more moments contemplating what had just happened. Turning the ring over in his hand idly, Laura's words sank through him and when he turned towards the fire he couldn't sort his conflicting emotions. What bubbled to the top however, was shame. He hadn't meant to but he had used Laura's heart as a salve for his own and a weapon against Aelita and now Laura was hurt because of his selfishness and inability to deal with his own emotion.

---

As Xana and Dhaune approached Koranth, snow began to swirl around them, biting mercilessly at their cheeks. Dhaune, who had never been one for cold, pulled her cloak around her. For a brief moment she felt pity for the slaves they had chained and carted with them. There were a hundred of them, but Dhaune wasn't sure why Xana required so many for a party consisting of herself, four other dark elf magicians, and Xana. Muttering, she said, "I'm sure whatever we're doing could be accomplished in a valley, but no, you had to take us to the top of Mount Son-of-a-bitch."

Xana chuckled. "Not today, my dear." They reached the summit, examining the burned ruins of Koranth. The Matron curled up her nose, angry at her failure many months ago. She ordered Dhaune and the other mages to draw a circle that was depicted in her book. When they had finished, Xana ordered the slaves to stand around it. She and the other magicians stood inside the glyph, with the Matron in the center.

One of the magicians finally spoke. "Matron Mother, we could do your will much better if we knew what you were trying to do."

Xana had closed her eyes when she entered meditation, but now she opened them. They glowed red and evilly, though her amber-colored eyes shone through the light. "All in good time." The Matron said, her voice reverberating with undertones of something sinister. The other magicians became frightened, but Xana shot up and held out her hands. All one hundred of the slaves, who had begun to shake from the bitter cold and their own fear, suddenly stood as straight as planks, their blood frozen inside them. "Join me! Give your power to me!" Xana shouted, the undertones more noticeable with every word.

The mages hesitated, but they obliged, focusing their magical might onto the Matron Mother. Red light shone through her skin as though it had cracks in it, and she began to float in midair. The slaves started to squirm as their blood both froze like ice and burned like fire. Xana waved her hand, and the collective blood of about half of the slaves burned out of their bodies, and the magicians felt the Veil shift worse than any normal blood magic could cause. She waved her other hand, causing the same effect, and when she raised her hands, the remaining slaves fell. Now more blood than Dhaune had ever seen floated overhead, and with its power combined with hers, Xana focused on the ever weakening Veil.

It caused all five of them great pain. One of the magicians died, and Xana fell closer to the ground. But the drow persisted, and eventually their repeated strikes to the Veil sundered it, creating a vile purple and red tear in the sky that could be seen even in Carthage. Xana fell, exhausted. But now they looked up to admire their handiwork, and they watched in excitement as spirits leaked through.

Dhaune, on the other hand, seemed apprehensive. "Matron Mother, what did you do? This will be a blight on all of Mediterra!" She argued.

Xana stood shakily. "Don't you question me, girl!" She pointed to the tear in the Veil. "With that tear in the Veil, we can control hundreds of zombies! Imagine how the world will quake in fear when Xana Kenval strikes with the force of a thousand necromancers!"

Dhaune seemed frightened, but she bowed. "As you desire, Matron Mother."

Xana remained stoic. She turned away. "The age of darkness has finally begun!"

---

The Heroes were enjoying dinner when they heard loud claps of thunder, though no clouds painted the nighttime sky. They looked up into the sky, Aelita grabbing onto Jeremie's shoulder as if frightened. The Heroes stood, and only moments later were they forced back from a push they could not see. A hole appeared in the sky, and at first they thought they were the auroras. But no, these lights were malevolent, and even from this distance, its malice was obvious. "What is that?" Ulrich shouted over the sound of thunder.

"Someone ripped a hole in the Veil!" Laura shouted back. "Who would be so foolish?"

"I think you already know!" Jeremie shouted. "Xana." In the distance, to the northeast, where the dungeon had been, they saw a dragon dig itself out of the sand. At first it appeared to be a rust dragon, its scales rusty and its horns gold, but then it started to decay before it flew off, roaring. Jeremie ordered the Heroes to pack up camp, and while they scrambled to move, the Wise Man took one last look at the tear. He narrowed his eyes, and he heard the sound of moving sand.

Yumi grabbed his shoulder. "We have to move, or we'll be dealing with a zombie apocalypse!"

Laura shivered. "Where can we run to? Even if we defeat these zombies, even if we make it to Replika, we'll never outrun them!"

Aelita shook her head. "One day, we will have to repair the tear in the Veil."

Odd rolled his eyes. "That's not going to involve sewing, is it?"

Jeremie ordered them to stop talking and to get inside the aravel. Most obliged, but Aelita joined him on top of it as he grabbed the reins on Rorkal's bridle. He ordered her to, firstly be careful, and secondly to take down any of the undead that rose because of the tear.

She agreed, climbing on top of the aravel. She scanned her surroundings, first pulling up a boulder to strike a skeleton that rose up from the sand. Its bones scattered, and she froze the walking corpse of someone who looked like a dwarven merchant. Jeremie shouted for her, and she turned. A group of zombies had risen and were waiting for them on the path. The Outcast froze them in a block of ice, shattering them with a boulder before Rorkal could even have a chance to slow. The aravel rocked suddenly, knocking her off her feet.

A rotting corpse climbed over the edge, its skin gross and peeling. It reached for her foot, and she curled up her legs before sending several thousand volts towards the zombie. Shakily she stood as it fell, and she looked behind her. Four zombies had risen, and while she prepared to kill them again, fire engulfed them. Laura climbed out of the aravel and joined Aelita. "You take the ones in front of us and to the side. I'll take the rest."

"Did you study ways to repel the undead?" Aelita asked, conjuring vines that crushed a newly dead corpse.

Laura furrowed her brows. "Not while on a speeding aravel!" She shouted. She created a whip of fire and snapped it at the zombies on the left of the aravel. Aelita shook her head, but she dropped it. For the moment, they put aside their differences and rivalry to protect the aravel. In the distance, they could see a growing grey cloud, obscuring the horizon with a cold blizzard that they would soon be treading through.

—AUTUMN ENDS—