Lasius Sethi Thu Apr 26, 2012 10:51 pmPain wrapped her chest in a vise like grip as she sat up coughing and gasping for air. Air came, stale and somehow hollow, but it filled her lungs regardless and slowly the pain subsided. It took longer than it should have, of that she was certain, though how she was certain she couldn't bring to mind. As the pain faded sense of self returned, identity, knowledge seeped back into her mind and she opened her eyes.
What she saw stilled her mind, pushed aside her slowly emerging awareness and froze her in shock. She knew this place! The Fields of Maerdo, it was a lush green place, teeming with life, rolling hills of the greenest grass. At least it should have been, the scene before her eyes was wrong, everything about it. There was no wild life, the grass was a sickly grayish yellow color, and the sky, oh gods the sky. It was nothing, there was no sun or clouds, no moon or stars, it was just black, empty of everything.
“Aleyna.” The sound of her name startled her out of the encompassing horror of the emptiness above her. She scrambled backwards across the dying grass stumbling to her feet and searching for the source of the voice. She soon found it, a tall man with short black hair stood with his back to her eyes turned up towards the emptiness. His bleached white leather armor was a parody of the black Sethian uniform she wore.
“Where am I?” The sound of her own voice took her by surprise, it was weak and distant to her, as though heard from far away.
“The Fields of Maerdo” His voice was strong and solid, not the weak mockery of sound she heard from her own mouth. “Though I suppose, that's not exactly what you mean.”
She looked around again very carefully keeping her eyes to the ground. Memory was still coming back, and she could see the curves of the land were right, everything was a dying parody of just how she remembered it. Remembered it right before...
She was almost back to the command post, her legs burned and the pain was spreading, it was becoming hard to catch her breath, even a Sethi could only run so long. She was close enough however, well inside her their lines, soon she would reach Lasius' primary war camp and then she could rest. There would be food and water there a place to sit and tell the horrible news. Daegan's forces had broken through the southern front, shadow elites had torn through her company, like it wasn't even there, and the line buckled. Earth Sethi were building fortifications on the southern plain even as she ran. By nightfall the Lord General's forces would be surrounded on three sides and Sethia would be crushed.
But not if she got back not if she reached him first, Lasius could still have a chance if he knew... The terrain darkened in front of her, and fear screamed in her mind. She tried to stop but she had been running so long her legs refused to respond. She saw him spin out of the shadow of a small overhead cloud passing by and everything slowed. His Aqua eyes burned with an unholy fire locked with hers for the instant as they met, her between strides. His blade rammed through her chest, piercing her right heart, and throwing her off her feet backwards. A second blade hit her in the left heart, slamming her into the ground. He was already gone, less than a heartbeat and she was alone dying on the grass.
She rolled to her side coughing. So fast, she hadn't felt the pain, just the shock, but it was getting harder to breath, and pain was constricting around her chest like a vise. She gasped choking on her blood, clawing at the earth futilely trying to drag herself in the direction of the camp. So close...
She spun around her eyes riveted on the grass where she had lain, her eyes found marks in the ground where her fingers had clawed at the earth. Slapping her hand her chest she felt and shook her head, there was no wound, she didn't hurt, her trembling mind touched at the truth.
“I'm dead, aren't I?” She was surprised that her voice at least was steady, if still hollow sounding.
“I suppose you are at that.” He turned and smiled at her, his gray eyes were a shock that sent her to one knee eyes pressed shut.
Sethi didn't have gray eyes, well none but one, this man the man she had sworn to, The Lord General of Sethia, Lasius. She had seen him on occasion, but the recognition was instant. Horror filled her, She was dead, she had failed to reach him, failed to warn him and now he was here, the only hope Sethia and and her failure had brought down the empire.
“I'm sorry Lord...” Her voice wavered as she fought back tears
“Oh get up” She felt herself hauled to her feet, and opened her eyes slowly. He was close to her, she could feel his breath on her face, it was warm in the cool air of the plains. She took an involuntary step backwards, expecting blame to be in his eyes, but there was none.
“You're allegiance to my brother is both commendable and sickening.” The man turned, looking back at the horribly empty sky
Aleyna stared at the man, she had seen Lasius at Imperial functions, and on the battlefield, it might not be more than a passing familiarity, but she knew the man enough to know he had no brother. The incredulity must have shown on her face when he looked back to her over his shoulder.
“It matters not if you believe me, time doesn't afford us that luxury. I'm here to give you a second chance.” He turned back to that insane sky, and she followed his gaze. It pulled at her, she could sense something there in all that emptiness and it pulled at her. It hurt, deep inside like a tugging at her soul and gasped and ripped her eyes away once more, turning her head to the ground and shivering.
“What do you mean?” her voice was less than steady this time.
“I can't afford for him to die, not yet, I'm not ready for that, you will have to go back, and warn him. It's the only way.” She felt the pressure of his hand on her shoulder, and she cringed, something about his touch felt unnatural. He felt her cringe and removed his hand.
“Can you really do that? Send me back?” She whispered feeling dirty for asking this man for anything, and yet at the same time, a chance to escape this place, this dying world and its insane sky. To feel the warmth of the sun and the breeze, a chance. “Please, please send me back.”
She didn't know if there was any truth in his words, he couldn't be Lasius' brother, and yet he wore his face. Whatever this man was he was clearly the enemy of her sworn lord, and yet... here in this place, she knew. She would do anything to get back, anything to get away.
“I can't.” His tone was pained, though there was no sadness for her in it, just frustration. An unspoken yet to that statement that sent chills through her being. “I cannot send you to the other side, But I will show you a way you may be able to take yourself.”
“What must I do?” Confidence was returning, she could still complete her mission, in a way she was still running to the camp, Daegan hadn't stopped her yet, even a slim hope was better than nothing.
“I need you to deliver a message, in addition to your own, to my dear brother. Tell him that Sitherack says time is almost up.” He stepped closer to her and she forced herself not to retreat, he was by far the taller was soon looming over her. Her breath quickened as he looked at her, his gaze was piercing, she felt that he saw through her, saw things about her that no one else could see. Despite her resolve she could feel herself trembling slightly.
“You were a Light Sethi,” The words were a whisper, but still stronger in presence than her own voice in this place. Aleyna raised her eyes to meet his defiantly as she suddenly knew. His presence, it was unnatural to her, it was his soul, it beat counterpoint to her own. He was a Darkness Sethi.
A smirk tugged at his lips in reaction to her distasteful grimace, “Ironic, how you spend your lives hating what you are fated to become. You see my friend, you are on the other side of the wall, you can't touch your light here, in this place you are that which you loathe.” He raised his hand palm upward and a small sphere of light grew hovering there.
Fear spread through her, and in her mind she tried to pull the Light through her, to create a sphere like his, prove him wrong, but there was nothing. She reached and there was a wall, a barrier between her and the Light. Frantic she beat at that wall, but it refused to yield.
She turned her eyes from him accusingly to that betrayal of light resting serenely above his palm. It belonged to her, the Light was hers, how could it move so calmly through his stained soul? It wasn't possible, It angered her to see it hanging there, she stepped back and reached out with her hand and mind simultaneously lashing at it. She would take it from him and replace some of the light she herself had lost, it was hers... hers.... hers!
Something snapped inside and she felt the Light flood her, She smiled triumphantly exulting in the power as it rippled through her, She grinned at the man and his weak little sphere of light, let him see! She strained at it and it distorted, confused she watched as it broke apart, the pure white light separating by spectrum and winking out hue after hue. Gasping she looked down at her hand and screamed. Light flowed into her, as though drawn to her she was consuming it darkening the world around her. Hastily she released the element retching as she fell to her knees nauseous at the thought of the darkness that was moving through her soul moments ago.
“That was faster than most figure it out. Perhaps you will succeed after all” Still shaking, she looked up to see him standing over her.
“How?” She swallowed forcing herself to focus, “How do you know me? Who I am? What element I am?” Her voice was weaker, her confidence shattered.
Sitherack glanced to the sky and his eyes fixed on it once more, his answer was chillingly quiet, “I've been watching, I'm always watching, It's almost time...” He pulled his eyes from the sky and looked down at her once more.
“You need to get started, There is a creature that lives here, A winged reptile, about the size of your palm. It's called a Dracolich, and you'll need to find a specific one. Everyone has one here, and while finding it is hard, winning its loyalty will be harder. Only once you bond with it will it take you back to the world of the living.” His smirk didn't change, and yet to her it seemed far more sinister than it had been. “And this is how you do it.”
Her eyes fluttered open, blinking the brightness of the sun away. No clouds remained in the brilliant sky, the air, was cool, and the sun warm on her face. Slowly she sat up savoring the sweet taste of the air for a moment. The memories of the dead world, of the quest she had embarked upon, the terrible ordeal of earning the Dracolich's loyalty, they weighed on her. She touched her face, trailing her fingers down the left side of her neck. Her skin felt tight, she could feel the markings it had left on her, imprinting its likeness upon her skin. It was tender and far more sensitive than the rest of her flesh. Her child like fancy of escaping the world of the dead and resuming her life had been forever dispelled in that brief moment before crossing over. She might be alive again, but nothing would ever be the same. She pushed herself to her feet and stumbled in the direction of Lasius' war camp. It was time to finish what she had started.
Lasius watched as the young Light Sethi was escorted out of his command tent. He had dismissed her with orders that she was to be given food, rest and to seek treatment at the medical tent with a Life Sethi. He toyed with a small steel marker while quietly lost in thought before placing it on the map before him. It was a small gray disc engraved with tower blocking the sun denoting Daegan's forces. He had placed it quietly over the southern front on the Plains of Maerdo. He was nearly surrounded by Cyridian forces, but it wasn't the impending attack that weighed on him.
“You believe her then?” His eyes flicked up from the map and caught the striking red eyes of his human Advisor Malkate. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of her, he always did despite the situation.
“You assume then that she's lying I suppose?” He looked back down at the small gray disc frowning slightly at the thought.
“The woman claims to have been the sole survivor of a dead legion, slaughtered by shadow elites, to have been killed by Daegan himself while trying to bring you a warning and then to have taken a little jaunt in the afterlife, only to return with a personal message for you from your supposed twin, and you don't find that the least bit suspicious?” She glided over to the map laying the twisted wood staff that she kept with her at all times across a section of heavy woods to the far south.
“Perhaps, however if Daegan had corrupted her and sent her here to lie I'm sure he could have come up with a more plausible story.” He turned from the map and closed his eyes
“What of the marking on her face, that creature she had on there? You sent that legion south four days ago, I remember that girl passing out of camp, she certainly didn't have any tattoo inked on her face, and I don't imagine she picked it up in the field.” Her hand came to rest on his arm and he opened his eyes, looking down into hers.
“I don't know Mal,” His hand covered her's as he turned to face her. “I have a terrible feeling however that Daegan and his Cyridian's are about to be the least of our concerns.”
What she saw stilled her mind, pushed aside her slowly emerging awareness and froze her in shock. She knew this place! The Fields of Maerdo, it was a lush green place, teeming with life, rolling hills of the greenest grass. At least it should have been, the scene before her eyes was wrong, everything about it. There was no wild life, the grass was a sickly grayish yellow color, and the sky, oh gods the sky. It was nothing, there was no sun or clouds, no moon or stars, it was just black, empty of everything.
“Aleyna.” The sound of her name startled her out of the encompassing horror of the emptiness above her. She scrambled backwards across the dying grass stumbling to her feet and searching for the source of the voice. She soon found it, a tall man with short black hair stood with his back to her eyes turned up towards the emptiness. His bleached white leather armor was a parody of the black Sethian uniform she wore.
“Where am I?” The sound of her own voice took her by surprise, it was weak and distant to her, as though heard from far away.
“The Fields of Maerdo” His voice was strong and solid, not the weak mockery of sound she heard from her own mouth. “Though I suppose, that's not exactly what you mean.”
She looked around again very carefully keeping her eyes to the ground. Memory was still coming back, and she could see the curves of the land were right, everything was a dying parody of just how she remembered it. Remembered it right before...
She was almost back to the command post, her legs burned and the pain was spreading, it was becoming hard to catch her breath, even a Sethi could only run so long. She was close enough however, well inside her their lines, soon she would reach Lasius' primary war camp and then she could rest. There would be food and water there a place to sit and tell the horrible news. Daegan's forces had broken through the southern front, shadow elites had torn through her company, like it wasn't even there, and the line buckled. Earth Sethi were building fortifications on the southern plain even as she ran. By nightfall the Lord General's forces would be surrounded on three sides and Sethia would be crushed.
But not if she got back not if she reached him first, Lasius could still have a chance if he knew... The terrain darkened in front of her, and fear screamed in her mind. She tried to stop but she had been running so long her legs refused to respond. She saw him spin out of the shadow of a small overhead cloud passing by and everything slowed. His Aqua eyes burned with an unholy fire locked with hers for the instant as they met, her between strides. His blade rammed through her chest, piercing her right heart, and throwing her off her feet backwards. A second blade hit her in the left heart, slamming her into the ground. He was already gone, less than a heartbeat and she was alone dying on the grass.
She rolled to her side coughing. So fast, she hadn't felt the pain, just the shock, but it was getting harder to breath, and pain was constricting around her chest like a vise. She gasped choking on her blood, clawing at the earth futilely trying to drag herself in the direction of the camp. So close...
She spun around her eyes riveted on the grass where she had lain, her eyes found marks in the ground where her fingers had clawed at the earth. Slapping her hand her chest she felt and shook her head, there was no wound, she didn't hurt, her trembling mind touched at the truth.
“I'm dead, aren't I?” She was surprised that her voice at least was steady, if still hollow sounding.
“I suppose you are at that.” He turned and smiled at her, his gray eyes were a shock that sent her to one knee eyes pressed shut.
Sethi didn't have gray eyes, well none but one, this man the man she had sworn to, The Lord General of Sethia, Lasius. She had seen him on occasion, but the recognition was instant. Horror filled her, She was dead, she had failed to reach him, failed to warn him and now he was here, the only hope Sethia and and her failure had brought down the empire.
“I'm sorry Lord...” Her voice wavered as she fought back tears
“Oh get up” She felt herself hauled to her feet, and opened her eyes slowly. He was close to her, she could feel his breath on her face, it was warm in the cool air of the plains. She took an involuntary step backwards, expecting blame to be in his eyes, but there was none.
“You're allegiance to my brother is both commendable and sickening.” The man turned, looking back at the horribly empty sky
Aleyna stared at the man, she had seen Lasius at Imperial functions, and on the battlefield, it might not be more than a passing familiarity, but she knew the man enough to know he had no brother. The incredulity must have shown on her face when he looked back to her over his shoulder.
“It matters not if you believe me, time doesn't afford us that luxury. I'm here to give you a second chance.” He turned back to that insane sky, and she followed his gaze. It pulled at her, she could sense something there in all that emptiness and it pulled at her. It hurt, deep inside like a tugging at her soul and gasped and ripped her eyes away once more, turning her head to the ground and shivering.
“What do you mean?” her voice was less than steady this time.
“I can't afford for him to die, not yet, I'm not ready for that, you will have to go back, and warn him. It's the only way.” She felt the pressure of his hand on her shoulder, and she cringed, something about his touch felt unnatural. He felt her cringe and removed his hand.
“Can you really do that? Send me back?” She whispered feeling dirty for asking this man for anything, and yet at the same time, a chance to escape this place, this dying world and its insane sky. To feel the warmth of the sun and the breeze, a chance. “Please, please send me back.”
She didn't know if there was any truth in his words, he couldn't be Lasius' brother, and yet he wore his face. Whatever this man was he was clearly the enemy of her sworn lord, and yet... here in this place, she knew. She would do anything to get back, anything to get away.
“I can't.” His tone was pained, though there was no sadness for her in it, just frustration. An unspoken yet to that statement that sent chills through her being. “I cannot send you to the other side, But I will show you a way you may be able to take yourself.”
“What must I do?” Confidence was returning, she could still complete her mission, in a way she was still running to the camp, Daegan hadn't stopped her yet, even a slim hope was better than nothing.
“I need you to deliver a message, in addition to your own, to my dear brother. Tell him that Sitherack says time is almost up.” He stepped closer to her and she forced herself not to retreat, he was by far the taller was soon looming over her. Her breath quickened as he looked at her, his gaze was piercing, she felt that he saw through her, saw things about her that no one else could see. Despite her resolve she could feel herself trembling slightly.
“You were a Light Sethi,” The words were a whisper, but still stronger in presence than her own voice in this place. Aleyna raised her eyes to meet his defiantly as she suddenly knew. His presence, it was unnatural to her, it was his soul, it beat counterpoint to her own. He was a Darkness Sethi.
A smirk tugged at his lips in reaction to her distasteful grimace, “Ironic, how you spend your lives hating what you are fated to become. You see my friend, you are on the other side of the wall, you can't touch your light here, in this place you are that which you loathe.” He raised his hand palm upward and a small sphere of light grew hovering there.
Fear spread through her, and in her mind she tried to pull the Light through her, to create a sphere like his, prove him wrong, but there was nothing. She reached and there was a wall, a barrier between her and the Light. Frantic she beat at that wall, but it refused to yield.
She turned her eyes from him accusingly to that betrayal of light resting serenely above his palm. It belonged to her, the Light was hers, how could it move so calmly through his stained soul? It wasn't possible, It angered her to see it hanging there, she stepped back and reached out with her hand and mind simultaneously lashing at it. She would take it from him and replace some of the light she herself had lost, it was hers... hers.... hers!
Something snapped inside and she felt the Light flood her, She smiled triumphantly exulting in the power as it rippled through her, She grinned at the man and his weak little sphere of light, let him see! She strained at it and it distorted, confused she watched as it broke apart, the pure white light separating by spectrum and winking out hue after hue. Gasping she looked down at her hand and screamed. Light flowed into her, as though drawn to her she was consuming it darkening the world around her. Hastily she released the element retching as she fell to her knees nauseous at the thought of the darkness that was moving through her soul moments ago.
“That was faster than most figure it out. Perhaps you will succeed after all” Still shaking, she looked up to see him standing over her.
“How?” She swallowed forcing herself to focus, “How do you know me? Who I am? What element I am?” Her voice was weaker, her confidence shattered.
Sitherack glanced to the sky and his eyes fixed on it once more, his answer was chillingly quiet, “I've been watching, I'm always watching, It's almost time...” He pulled his eyes from the sky and looked down at her once more.
“You need to get started, There is a creature that lives here, A winged reptile, about the size of your palm. It's called a Dracolich, and you'll need to find a specific one. Everyone has one here, and while finding it is hard, winning its loyalty will be harder. Only once you bond with it will it take you back to the world of the living.” His smirk didn't change, and yet to her it seemed far more sinister than it had been. “And this is how you do it.”
~ ~ ~
Her eyes fluttered open, blinking the brightness of the sun away. No clouds remained in the brilliant sky, the air, was cool, and the sun warm on her face. Slowly she sat up savoring the sweet taste of the air for a moment. The memories of the dead world, of the quest she had embarked upon, the terrible ordeal of earning the Dracolich's loyalty, they weighed on her. She touched her face, trailing her fingers down the left side of her neck. Her skin felt tight, she could feel the markings it had left on her, imprinting its likeness upon her skin. It was tender and far more sensitive than the rest of her flesh. Her child like fancy of escaping the world of the dead and resuming her life had been forever dispelled in that brief moment before crossing over. She might be alive again, but nothing would ever be the same. She pushed herself to her feet and stumbled in the direction of Lasius' war camp. It was time to finish what she had started.
~ ~ ~
Lasius watched as the young Light Sethi was escorted out of his command tent. He had dismissed her with orders that she was to be given food, rest and to seek treatment at the medical tent with a Life Sethi. He toyed with a small steel marker while quietly lost in thought before placing it on the map before him. It was a small gray disc engraved with tower blocking the sun denoting Daegan's forces. He had placed it quietly over the southern front on the Plains of Maerdo. He was nearly surrounded by Cyridian forces, but it wasn't the impending attack that weighed on him.
“You believe her then?” His eyes flicked up from the map and caught the striking red eyes of his human Advisor Malkate. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of her, he always did despite the situation.
“You assume then that she's lying I suppose?” He looked back down at the small gray disc frowning slightly at the thought.
“The woman claims to have been the sole survivor of a dead legion, slaughtered by shadow elites, to have been killed by Daegan himself while trying to bring you a warning and then to have taken a little jaunt in the afterlife, only to return with a personal message for you from your supposed twin, and you don't find that the least bit suspicious?” She glided over to the map laying the twisted wood staff that she kept with her at all times across a section of heavy woods to the far south.
“Perhaps, however if Daegan had corrupted her and sent her here to lie I'm sure he could have come up with a more plausible story.” He turned from the map and closed his eyes
“What of the marking on her face, that creature she had on there? You sent that legion south four days ago, I remember that girl passing out of camp, she certainly didn't have any tattoo inked on her face, and I don't imagine she picked it up in the field.” Her hand came to rest on his arm and he opened his eyes, looking down into hers.
“I don't know Mal,” His hand covered her's as he turned to face her. “I have a terrible feeling however that Daegan and his Cyridian's are about to be the least of our concerns.”
