They found their way down pockets of caves in the stone below Stormund’s Landing, just barely revealed by low tide. They got the feeling that if they got stuck in the opening during high tide, their ship would get crushed against the ceiling. Shivaun pulled out and heated up a waxed magnesium strip to give them light.

Stalactites hung from the ceiling, and the slit behind them grew smaller. They roughly anchored the ship, and as they exited the ship, they noticed massive cave walls that had eroded from years of salt and minerals. The back wall was rough and bumpy with crud like the others, but it was distinctly smoother than the others. Upon closer inspection, they found a crack in the salt and sediment on the wall as if there had been a lot of relatively recent foot traffic. The edges of the trail was starting to remuk, but the center was almost dry. It wasn’t long enough for the moisture and humidity of the cave to reclaim it. Closer to where their boat had landed, the foot traffic was messier and less dense.

Behind them, the entry was but a slit from the rising water-level. Billy knocked on the suspicious wall. It seemed like a normal cave wall. At its widest point the fissure/crack was just a few inches wide. Shivaun tried to pull open the stone from to no avail. Elbin guided her to the side. He strained muscles trying to pull it open. Finally, in frustration, he slammed a fist into the door, and it gave slightly, pushing forward.

Wafts of algae filled the air. Little pieces of rock fell on them as they pushed the door the remainder the way open.

Shivaun and Elbin lead the way. Inside, the path was laid with cobblestones made from the black stone, covered in the white oxidation dust. Looking around, they found their way into a collapsed city. A cave where large slabs of “roof” being held up by partially collapsed buildings, and everything was coated with large layers of the chalky dust. Amounts of sea sludge was partially putrefied along what would be a main road or thoroughfare.

Looking back, they realize that the “door” they came through might actually have been a gate to the city, and on the inside, it was made of the black stone material and curled ornamentally.

Shivaun easily heated up some of the black stone crumbles from the floor, like a pure, high-quality copper. Like a single element-base.

There didn’t seem to be any patches of undisturbed ground in sight. Water started lapping through the open gate, and they quickly pushed it shut. About a block into the city, the came upon a flat fallen glass-like chunk, blocking the road.  They wandered into a nearby building.

They heard before they noticed the sounds of conversation. Shadows stretched through the streets of a town square from dim illumination. They couldn’t parse the language or words, but the voices remained conversational and as if someone was grumbling. Tools scraped on stone, and footfalls echoed. The street ended with a large tarp pitched across the top of it, blocking the view of the figures.

Elbin crept forward and peaked around the tarp. A big building with a large set of stairs was being uncovered by a dig site of some sort. A set of pitched tents and semi-permanent buildings were surrounded by a dozen works loading dirt and minerals into carts. He turned his head. Someone sitting on a chair nearby, eating a burrito, looked at Elbin with wide eyes. Before he could yell out, Elbin shoved the burrito further into his mouth and grabbed him from behind, dragging him back out of the tarp. The group swept up, and Shivaun put a dagger to the man’s throat.

“You’re not supposed to be here… They’ll notice I’m gone.”

Shivaun heated the dagger on his throat. “Kill me, whatever you do is nothing compared to what they would do.”

Elbin released the man and bluffed, “Good, good. You passed the test. We are here to do an audit of the site security.”

Billy prepared restraints from Silica nearby. The man took in the heated dagger, the shifting stone, the scholarly young lady. “Ah, m-my apologies. I didn’t realize you were with the Syndicate.”

Elbin instructed the man to get the others lined up.

“Did you have to come today of all days?” A man in laborer’s clothes complained.

“Would it be a proper test if I gave you notice or chose a convenient day?” Elbin countered.

“Well, what you have us do?”

“You need to increase security for a site like this. You should have had a guard posted at the gate, an alarm trap, patrol, something. You know how important this is.”

“We’re going to need to see the change the setting of your guards. Get them from their post,” Elbin ordered.

Shivaun struggled to hide a look of deep disgust as she looked at the building the workers scurried into in order to get the guards, as if she was repulsed.

“Can I see your forearm?” The worker asked Elbin. “Standard practice, you must understand, to present your credentials.”

Elbin walked up close to the man, getting into his forearm, and showed the man his forearm. The man’s gaze dart to the forearm and shock came over his features. The man’s hand darted to the sledgehammer on his belt. Elbin bashed his head into the man’s forehead, and a sickening crunch sounded out as he made contact with the man’s nose. He was on the ground holding his nose. As he reached for his hammer again, Billy pierced his shoulder with an arrow, pinning him to the ground. Shivaun quickly followed up by healing the laborer and whispered something to him. He whimpered and walked away from them without making a commotion. The other laborers in the distance quickly looked away and scurried back to work.

Inside the building was a large office like room with off-shooting hallways.

It was furnished with contemporary furniture and writing apparatus. A guard wearing black oiled leather armor stepped out from one of the hallways. A series of dark gray bandages covered his arms and face, and his hand rested on the hilt of a curved sword. “Are you the auditor?”

“Yes, you need to move to keep watch over they beach head,” Elbin instructed.

“Are you serious? We just got assigned to guard him,” a second guard grumbled as he turned the hallway.

“Well, we’re changing again,” the first guard grumbled, leading the other guard away.

Shivaun held her hands to her head as her headache worsened. “This is a prison,” she whispered.

Past the hallway there were a series of cells. Most were empty or being used for storage. One had a small table and two stools in front of it. There was a small mechanism in the doorframe of a cell, encased in a clay shell. It slowly ticked.

Vela peeked closer. As she took a step back, she startled and the others gasped. There was the heavily desiccated body of a man, standing completely still at the edge of the door before disappearing. A moment later, it reappeared in a different position. Completely still again, if maybe a little blurry.

“What in tarnation?” Billy cursed as she stumbled back.

Vela blurted, “We shouldn’t touch this thing.” Then she shook her head. “We have to open this cell.”

“I’m not against that idea,” a voice rasped from the mechanism.

“And who might you be?” Vela asked.

“And wouldn’t you like to know?” The figure appeared staring at her. It spoke without moving its mouth.

“That’s why I asked,” Vela countered.

The figure disappeared and reappeared, shifting position yet still motionless.

“Guess you want to wait in there longer,” Billy shrugged.

“You don’t know the definition of longer,” the figure retorted, disdain layered on its words.

“How long have you been in there?” Vela asked in wonder.

“I stopped counting after a million years or so.”

“So are you aware of the Vellock Empire?” Elbin questioned.

“It’s always the Vellock Empire this, Vellock Empire that. It’s always the same questions with you people… The Vellock Empire was long gone when I was imprisoned in here.”

“Didn’t they Vellock Empire only collapse like fifty years ago?” Billy turned to Vela who nodded.

“What about the Storm?” Elbin asked.

“Always the same questions,” it droned.

“Do you remember your name?” Shivaun asked.

“Sadly, no.”

“We should call him Wayne,” Billy intoned.

“What would you do if we let you out of here?” They questioned.

“I would like to see the sun again if that’s still a thing,” Wayne responded motionlessly.

“Well, how do you keep going invisible if you don’t have blood?” Elbin asked.

“Why would I need blood to go invisible?”

“You need blood to do magic,” Elbin countered.

“Ah, you are but babes! You’re not with them, are you? Well, just bother them with your questions.”

Vela turned to the group and whispered, “We should let it out. It’s a font of untold knowledge.”

Billy chastised, “Not an it. His name is Wayne.”

“Well, you don’t imprison someone like Wayne unless you have a very good reason.”

“Why didn’t you leave when the city collapsed?” Shivaun asked, turning towards Wayne.

“Well, you could say I got unlucky. That was the day I got put in here. The grand arbiter pronounced judgement on me for some reason I can’t remember, but I do remember her face quite well.”

“Why do ya keep disappearing like that?” Billy questioned.

He appeared for three seconds and vanished again. “How long was that for you? For me, it was thirty years.”

“What are you going to do if I let you out?”

“Is there an answer you want to hear?”

“Are you going to hurt people?”

“If you want me to tell you no, I’ll you no.”

“He had a lot of time to think of that answer,” Elbin muttered.

Vela pulled a giant book out from her bag, “Everyone ready?”

“Let me, my lady.” Elbin guided her to the side. Elbin’s hand slipped as he punched the mechanism, and part of his glove instantly dissolved as it brushed past the depth of the mechanism and slightly into the cell.

“Oof, best let me, sir.”

Billy tried unsuccessfully to turn her copper ball into a small hammer, so she opted for her sword butt instead.

With each tink of Billy’s sword hilt, the mechanism ticked loudly. High-pressure gas seemed to release as the mechanism fell to the floor. A tall, lanky, very desiccated body appeared and turned towards them.

Its mouth moved, “Ah, thank you. Would you have any clothing for me?”

They all looked at each other. Billy shrugged and gave Wayne her cloak.

His hand was surprisingly solid as he reached out to Elbin for a handshake.

“And what are my saviors’ names?”

“I’m Billy,” Billy chirped.

“Is that Miss Billy or Lady Billy?”

“Just Billy’s fine.”

“And you sir?” He turned to Elbin.

“Elbin… Elbin Randall.” Billy raised an eyebrow at the false last name.

“And you my book-wielding lady?” He turned towards Vela.

“Why is your skin made of paper?” Vela asked abruptly. And upon closer look, Billy agreed. It wasn’t actually desiccated skin at all.

The sound of guards took them from their conversation. Sounds of alarmed voices rang out, and the group ran. They slipped on the white powder in multiple places. Vela fell behind, struggling with her hefty bag filled with books. The guards rushed forward and swiped at Vela, digging the blade into her side and blood splattering on the floor. Wayne ran over to the splatter of blood, reaching down. The blood fizzled as a large chunk of the floor morphed into a spike and impaled the guard onto the neighboring wall.

Elbin threw Vela over his shoulder as she protested that she needed to write what was happening down.

Shivaun shimmied the door open, and they pushed through to the water-filled cave. The two guards they had sent their turned towards them, and as their eyes fell on Wayne, they shot for their weapons.

Billy loosed an arrow into one guard’s knee.

Wayne rushed forward and punched the guard in the stomach.

“Get on the boat!” Wayne rasped.

They rushed onto the boat and pushed off.

Seconds after, the guard who had been punched collapsed to the floor, and the other guard unfroze, looking around.

The exit was a slit.

“Get down on your back,” Elbin shouted. As they drew closer to the exit, they scrambled against the ceiling to push the boat forward.

Billy glanced at the paper scraped away from Wayne’s hands where he had been helping push the boat away from the rock. It revealed a porcelain-like skin underneath.

Wayne sighed in satisfaction as he stared upward towards the sun. He froze in bliss, not moving or breathing. Billy and Elbin rowed back towards the shore as Shivaun treated Vela’s wounds.

As they drew the corner and the spire came into view, Wayne pulled from his reverie and seemed to frown. “I see, well that’s unfortunate.”

“Come fight someone your own size,” Elbin challenged, pulling on his armor.

The man who had spoken turned towards Elbin. As he finished turning to face Elbin, he stumbled slightly as he was pierced by one of Billy’s arrows as she aimed from her spot on the floor.

He growled, swinging his ax at Elbin who grunted in pain as the ax met its mark.

A nearby goon tried to swing his cudgel at Elbin’s kneecap but missed.

Vela grabbed the nearest weighty book and chucked it towards the attackers. The book made it about two feet before tumbling open and sending paper flying across the room.

Elbin’s knuckle crunched sickeningly against the top of the leader’s skull as the leader pulled his ax back to strike Elbin once again.

He dropped the ax behind him, as he fell to the ground, touching the two arrows sticking out of his chest.

The remaining goons went wild, frantically trying to put Billy out of commission.

Billy squealed as she rolled out of the way of a cudgel strike.

Vela reached for a nearby vase and ran up behind one of the attacking goons. Thick pottery exploded as it made impact with the attacker’s head. The resulting shatter barely covered the sound of the skull caving in.

Billy jumped up to her feet and point blank loosed an arrow into the closest attacker’s left eye. Vela had a prime spot to see the point of the arrow sticking out of the individual’s head.

The last attacker stumbled backward and was deftly brought into a stranglehold by Elbin.

Billy stood menacingly

“Go ahead, kill me,” the attacker responded in a gruff voice.

“Let’s take the bandage

Billy grabbed a knife and began pulling the gray fabric. It came away with a sickening tension as if the bandages had been embedded in the flesh and worn for a long period of time without being changed. A chunk of skin pulled away with the bandage, and Billy lost to a wave of nausea.

“Do you know what you’ve done? You’ve doomed us all. He’ll kill us all!”

“Who? Wayne?” Vela questioned, looking back towards the room where Wayne was leaning against the wall.

“Me?” Wayne questioned, pointing to his chest.

The man’s eyes bulged as he took in Wayne’s form. “He’s with you?! Who are you people?”

Elbin continued pulling the bandage off the man’s arm revealing the brand of a mason that had been re-branded with an unknown symbol on top. It seemed like a bird holding something.

“Do you recognize this individual, Wayne?” Vela asked.

“I’ve never seen this pathetic individual in my life,” Wayne seethed

“PUT HIM BACK!” The man barked. “HE’S GOING TO KILL US ALL!”

“How exactly is Wayne going to kill us all?” Vela questioned.

 The man began yelling incoherently.

“How are you going to kill us all?” Vela turned towards Wayne.

“I’ve told you before I don’t know why I was put in the cell in the first place. I’ve been having a lovely time in your company and currently have no intention of kill you, if it’s any solace.”

“Quite,” Vela responded dryly.

“The Syndicate offers power. You should join them. They’ll help,” The man mumbled. “The Syndicate is all that matters.”

“What happened to all your blood?” Elbin questioned, noticing the anemic pallor of the man’s skin and sunken eyes.

The man cackled, “You really know nothing! You went up against the Syndicate, and you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into!” He spat at Elbin.

“Wayne, what do you know of the Corvus Syndicate?” Elbin asked.

“To be honest, I didn’t know they drained the blood of their members. Smart, but not particularly practical. Generally speaking, having access to plenty of blood is useful for all sorts of things. Best that we kill him now before more show up. If you’re uneasy with taking him out, I would be happy to deal with it while you busy yourself elsewhere,” Wayne offered.

“Giving you permission is the same as killing him myself,” Elbin grumbled. “We can leave him in the alley."

“C’mon, knock him out at least,” Billy chimed in.

Meanwhile, Wayne asked the man curiously, “Where is your blood? You can tell me.”

The man’s frantic floundering increased, and Elbin ushered him outside.

Elbin dragged the remaining bodies out, and they packed up their stuff quickly, explaining to Wayne what they found last time in the City of Knowledge. He seemed particularly interested in the pod bodies they found near the tablets. 

Half-asleep guards opened the gates to release them eastwards towards Nozitatu village. As the day progressed, more and more workers filled the rice paddy fields and fruit tree orchards. Vela was the first one to notice what appeared to be a large bird in the distance. As she squinted, she had the terrible realization that it was far too large to be a bird and was flying straight towards them.

“Guards! I believe that is a wyvern,” Vela yelled out.

Billy and Elbin looked up at the approaching creature. Its body was covered in sharp, scaly spines, and its barbed tail ended in a hook almost like a scorpion’s stinger. Two hind legs hung closely to it as it flew, and its arm muscles bulged within its wings with each flap.

The wyvern shot down for them, crash-landing before them. Nearby workers cried as cobblestones flew from the impact, and the pedestrians fled. The wyvern let out a bone-chilling screech. It walked forward, swiping one arm and sending Wayne flying. Its attention remained focused on Wayne, so Vela grabbed a nearby chunk of cobblestone and tossed it at the creature. It bounced off the wyvern’s thigh without a reaction. 

Elbin lunged for the creature’s tail. He grabbed the chunk of the tail that met its back. The bony plate made a set of clean hand holds. The creature squirmed and raised its tail threateningly as if to impale Elbin. Billy loosened her bow towards the now exposed side. The arrow embedded itself so deeply it almost disappeared into the crack between the wing and torso. It reared, screeching, and scratching frantically for the arrow. Elbin held on for dear life.

“Wayne!” Vela called out as she searched the nearby brush. A little ways off, she noticed Wayne partially stuck beneath a rock pile. She sprinted forward.

“That was interesting…” Wayne muttered. 

As Elbin tried to bash down, his hand slipped. In the creature’s frenzy, it stumbled back, stepping on Elbin in the process. Billy loosed another arrow that caught barely in one of the scales. The wyvern shot its head towards Billy and turned, grinding Elbin under its heel.

It charged forward towards Billy, swiping too fast for her to completely dodge. A searing pain spread across her face as blood pooled into her eyes and she let out an ear-splitting scream.

Vela frantically throw the rocks off Wayne. “Please, do something about the wyvern!”

“That’s not a wyvern,” He said darkly. 

“Not a wyvern?” Vela questioned. “Well, it doesn’t matter right now.”

“It doesn’t have blood,” Wayne elaborated.

“Do something!” She shrieked.

Wayne punched her in the stomach. Vela heaved onto the ground.

Billy fumbled backwards, writhing in pain and crawling backwards on the ground.

With a terrible crunch, Elbin pummeled the creature’s face plate, splitting it open. The wyvern bit down with its serrated dagger teeth into the flesh of Elbin’s arm.

Wayne jumped onto the creature, grabbing its neck. The wyvern struggled slowly, as if moving in slow motion.

“Strike again!” Wayne shouted through clenched teeth to Elbin.

As the creature slowly turned towards Elbin, he smacked it again in the head, caving its head in where the faceplate had been covered.

The plate and bones of the creature sinked down towards the ground, morphing into dark mud.

Wayne shook off what bloody sand/mud he could as he stood up.

(Shivaun ran over to Billy to bandage her head.)

“THIS ISN’T A WYVERN?!” Vela shouted.

“Have you ever seen a wyvern? It’s a pale imitation, if that,” He scoffed.

Wayne pulled out the parts of a broken tablet. “What does this look like to you?”

Vela gasped, “It’s a transference tablet… for a wyvern!”

Elbin shook his head in a daze, “They captured the soul of a wyvern?”

“The transference tablet is like a memory, a set of instructions that make up a soul. Not the soul itself. This has been designed with the intent of animating a wyvern. Clearly required quite a bit of blood.”

Vela explained, “In Erosius, the City of Knowledge, we came across a being who appeared to be made of blood, and was breaking many of the tablets. After breaking a few, it developed a corporeal form.”

“Did it have a face mask in any way?” Wayne asked curiously.

“No, not at all. Entirely blood,” Vela stated.

“Well, that is most interesting. Best be on our way! Shall we proceed?” Wayne suggested.

Elbin eyed Wayne suspiciously, “So you could add a description of anything for these tablets?”

“Humans are unique. We are the only ones who have the knowledge to adequately write a transference tablet for their being, but beasts are much simpler.” He put together the tablet pieces, “For instance, this so-called wyvern wasn’t an individual wyvern but generically a wyvern. Even if its form was a beautiful one.”

“So you are not actually Wayne?” Elbin countered.

“Yes, transference tablets do not transfer souls, and generally, the process of writing a tablet kills the individual. So, the original Wayne is long-gone by this point. Cerebra is the ability to impact and manipulate souls, the key element of living beings. Souls can be copied and affected, but not transferred.”

Billy wobbled with the group to Nozitatu village.

As they walked, Elbin turned towards Wayne. "Do dwarves age, or are they immortal?"

"Of course they don't age," Wayne scoffed derisively. "What a foolish question."

A certain haze permeated the atmosphere as they drew closer to the Nozitatu village, filling their nostrils with a familiar burning scent. Armed villagers stood guarding a completed barricade, wielding blood red spears.

Elbin woke up to a familiar setting. The Lucresian estate back in the Thorin Dominion. It was a bright morning, and the birds chirped happily. However, the sharp scent of burning hovered on the edge of his mind.

Vela looked outside from her window. Wyatt the farmhand on the estate was burning excess debris to clear a pile of leaves.

Billy woke up in a half-made bed and wandered to the dining area, still in her pajamas.

Elbin kissed his wife good day as they left their private quarters and met Billy at the dining table.

Nanda, the estate’s cook, waddled into the dining area, carrying biscuits on her large baby belly. She scolded Elbin and Billy for being behind schedule before making her way towards Vela’s wing.

She knocked on Vela’s door. Vela opened the door with a look of confusion.

“When did you become a cook?” Vela asked Nanda in a stupor after accepting one of the biscuits.

“Oh dear, are you running a fever? Should I go get the doctor? She was coming to see me today anyway.” Nanda responded.

“And who is the doctor?” Vela questioned.

“Oh, you must have spent too long in your books last night. You know Dr. Shivaun.” Nanda chided.

“Good morning, dear,” Vela’s father greeted. “The guards must be readying to make rounds on the estate. Your brother is coming home today.”

Vela looked at him for confusion before sending someone to retrieve Elbin.

Elbin responded to the call from Vela and brought Billy along.

Vela stood in front of a basket of biscuit and thoroughly burnt croissants. They were still smoking, and the smell permeated the hallway.

Billy looked out the window, seeing Wyatt who waved back. Billy sharply turned towards the side and threw up.

Ganaban, the sharply dress butler, arrived with some tea for Vela. He scrunched his nose at the vomit on the floor.

Elbin quickly put a hand over the tea, protectively blocking Vela from drinking it. “You’re not a butler,” Elbin said suspiciously.
“But of course, I am. I do some side accounting of course, but I have been doing butlery for nearly a decade. Are you okay, sir?” Ganaban responded.

“Really, what is that terrible burning smell?!” Vela exclaimed.

“That must be Wyatt. He’s clearing away some of the brush,” Ganaban described.

Billy looked nervously outside, “Why is Wyatt burning all that stuff? He couldn’t be a gardener. He would be lucky to keep a pet rock alive.”

“What do you mean? He’s our stable hand and gardener. He really does all sorts of tasks around the estate,” Ganaban explained. “However, I see you’re feeling unwell today. Too much drinking last night?”

The smell of ash tray emanated from the tea. Billy followed Elbin and Vela as they made their way through the house to go investigate the fire outside.

Vela’s mother carried a small basket of wild flowers as she stepped in through the outside door, wearing a floral dress. “Oh, Vela dear. Are you ready for your brother to arrive?”
Vela motioned to the flowers, “Are those burnt, too?”

“What? Of course not. I just picked them!” Vela’s mother responded.

Vela brushed past her mother to go outside, and Elbin and Billy followed.

In the distance, there was a mountain range. Vela scowled, but it appeared as she would have expected and remembered from her childhood.

But the house. It was slightly different shape. But that was due to the quarters that had been added for Elbin and his wife who had moved there several years back.

Billy stumbled as she looked at Wyatt, “What are ya doing here, Wyatt?”
“Oh, hi, Billy!” He smiled warmly. “Mighty nice to see ya. Dun know what you mean though. I’m workin’!”

“No. No no no,” Billy shook her head. “You left. You left. That’s why I went on the boat.”

“A boat?” He asked.

“Yes,” Elbin nodded uncertainly. “We went on a boat.”

“Whatever you say, Sir Elbin,” Wyatt hastily went back to work.

Vela startled as she noticed a desiccated corpse on the edge of the forest, looking at her.  She motioned to Elbin, “What is that?”

They hastily crossed the yard in their pajamas, Billy following close behind with backwards glances towards Wyatt.

What they thought was a desiccated corpse was actually just a weirdly shaped set of trees once they got closer. The air smelled slightly fresher for a moment as they approached.

As they went further towards the forest, Billy glanced back at Wyatt who was throwing logs onto the fire.

“Why do ya think he’s throwing logs into a brush fire?” Billy asked. “Why start a brush fire at all, especially so close to the house?”

The smell of smoke and burning seemed to dissipate as they walked further into the forest. In the distance ahead, they noticed a smoky haze, but they kept walking forward. Soon, the Lucresian house appeared ahead of them.
“No, no, no,” Vela exclaimed, charging forward towards the far forest. They appeared back on the other side of the house again.

Horses pranced in a caravan moving towards the house. The carriage was over-decorated with ornate banners and pomp.

“Put this fire out,” Elbin ordered Wyatt.

“I’m sorry, sir. I can’t. That’s my job today,” Wyatt explained.

“Well, you have the rest of the day off. Enjoy,” Elbin told him.

Wyatt walked away cheerily while Elbin filled up buckets of water from the well.

As he threw the buckets, a viscous red liquid splashed from the bucket onto the flames. The fire appeared to almost feed on it, burning in earnest.

He looked up to see a desiccated corpse looking at him from one of the windows in the house on the upper floor. Elbin walked to his quarters and grabbed a mushroom to ease his mind and help him wake up. It tasted wrong. Like burnt leather and didn’t have any effect, so Elbin made his way to Vela’s father’s study where the window had been situated on the upper floor.

“I saw something strange in the window. Do you mind if I look around?” Elbin asked Vela’s father after knocking. He let Elbin in.

By the window stood a coat hanger, covered in thin white coats and fabric. From far away, that could definitely like a desiccated corpse.

Vela studied the carriages as they pulled up in front of the house and stopped where she stood. It flew two banners of note. The symbol of the Lucresian house. And the symbol of the Thorin Dominion’s clergy.

A small child that Vela recognized as Mibu stepped out in a pompous outfit followed by a woman Vela presumed to be his mother. Dwarves and other dignitaries stepped out of the middle carriages. Theophilus, Vela’s brother, stepped out of the last carriage.
“Vela, my dear! How nice of you to be waiting to greet me!” He kissed her on both cheeks.

“What are you?” Vela accused.

“Well, I’m your brother,” he responded cheerily.

“No, you’re not,” she accused.

“You’re right! I have joined the clergy of the Thorin Dominion. And as a result, I have had to renounce my familial relations. But I’ll pretend for a little longer. You seem so bothered. What’s on your mind?”
“I can walk in a STRAIGHT FUCKING LINE through the forest and end up back at our house. THAT’S WHAT’S BOTHERING ME,” she fumed.

“I know you think the earth is round, but I can assure you that we have no proof of that,” he said haughtily.

She slapped him.

“That was entirely unnecessary. Are you feeling better?” He asked with a wide smile.

Vela groaned and strode back towards the forest where the air was slightly pure and sat on the ground.

Billy picked an argument with Wyatt for leaving her and explained that she doesn’t live there but couldn’t live elsewhere because if you go in the forest you end up back at the house. He asked if she needed a day off to see her family.

“I understand that working as a guard isn’t what you dreamed of, but we’re doing alright.” Elbin’s wife said comfortingly.
“I’m not alright,” Elbin grumbled, leaving the house also to see the fresher air of the forest.

“Elbin,” Theophilus called. “Are you going to see my sister? Could you tell her we’re going to start the ceremony soon?”

Elbin looked him, “What ceremony?”

“It’s the reason we’re here,” Vela’s brother explained.

Billy followed Elbin into the forest.

Right behind Vela appeared to be a desiccated corpse. Elbin broke into a sprint, charging to protect her. As it was about to put its hand on Vela, Elbin drew nearer. It was just a set of sun rays through the trees, playing with the smoke that was even starting to permeate this area.

“Elbin,” Vela asked worryingly, “Are you alright?”

“There was a corpse! It was going to touch you. That’s the third time I saw it,” he explained panickily.

The clear air of the forest slowly permeated further and further with smoke.

“We need to put it out!” Elbin shouted almost breaking back into a run back towards the fire. “Or maybe have we tried going down the road, not through the forest?” Elbin asked.

“I’m not convinced the road will be more accommodating than the forest, but you’re certainly welcome to try,” Vela responded dryly.

As they neared the house, a quiet party seemed to be underway. Garlands adorned the windows, and a black plume of smoke rose as a pillar into the sky.

The three turned to walk down the road. Billy reached for her face. She didn’t feel wounds through the texture of her skin, but it really really hurt to touch her face.

“Did something happen to my face?” Billy asked as they walked towards the road.

Elbin stopped suddenly, “Do you see that?”

A desiccated corpse stood in the center of the road up ahead.

Billy gulped, “Yes, sir.”

Elbin scrambled after the corpse in a mad rush.

As they approached, it appeared to be a human-shaped porcelain doll. Paper skin covered parts of it. Elbin reached out to touch it.

They woke up in their beds. A haze surrounded the manor outside. They could hear a loud crackling from a large fire as it hungrily burned.

“Miss Vela,” Nanda called out. “Do you want some croissants?”

They ran outside. Wyatt stood near horse drawn carriages. He was taking something from the carriage and throwing it into the flames.

“What is that?” Elbin yelled as he took in the sight of the body-shaped burlap bags.

“I’m just taking care of the trash and putting it into the fire. That’s my job!” Wayne replied.

Billy bull-rushed Wyatt, tackling him to the ground and pinning him beneath her.

Vela opened the body-shaped burlap sack that Elbin had pulled from Wyatt’s grasp.  In the sack was the dead body of Elizabeth, Vela’s childhood best friend.

“Ah, Vela, you’re awake. Joining us for the festivities? Isn’t it fantastic?” Theophilus asked, stepping outside.

They opened another sack. The body of a merchant that had come to the estate often when Vela was a child. He had always been so nice to her.

“Make Wyatt stop,” Elbin ordered Theophilus.

“And why would I do that? It’s all part of the Thorin Dominion’s ceremony.”

Elbin punched him.

“And your wife has agreed to be part of our next sacrifices,” Theophilus continued.

Elbin grabbed Vela’s brother and shoved him into the flames.

“Oh, how quaint,” Theophilus said as his skin crisped in the flames.

Vela woke up in her bed to a knock at her door. She thought of Unzu, seeking answers.

The door burst open. “What are you doing?! We don’t do that here.” Theophilus grabbed her, dragging her outside.

They passed her father repeatedly stabbing her mother.

“Hello, father. Hello, mother!” Theophilus said as he dragged Vela by.

“She won’t respond this time,” Vela’s father responded with a smile.

“They tell me I’ve been selected today. Isn’t it great?” Elbin’s wife said cheerily, next to him in bed.

“I’m going to burn this house down,” Elbin got up with a growl.

“Oh how efficient. I’ll help!” Elayne said cheerily.

Billy woke up, straddling Wyatt in bed.

“Uh, not that I don’t enjoy this,” Wyatt started. “But I have a job to do. Gotta work on that fire!”

She punched him unconscious.

Vela yelled for Unzu, and Theophilus swiftly punched her in the stomach. “I told you we don’t do that here! Learn to behave, won’t you?”

Elbin tackled Theophilus to the ground, pinning him down and shoving his face into the grass. Elbin nodded to Vela.

“UNZU!” Vela called out. She immediately shot her hands to her head with a splitting headache.

At the edge of the forest was the shape of a wizened old man in angular robes. She ran towards him. Billy and Elbin followed closely behind but didn’t see anything.

“Ah, Vela,” he said. “What can I do for you?”

“What is this place?” Vela asked.

“It appears to be one of the tenets of the Vellock empire.” He said matter-of-factly. “Quite interesting what they did with it.”

He continued, “You see when the Vellock Empire was first made, we made a series of tenets that we wanted to live by. This appears to be the tenet of our hatred for the Thorin Dominion.”

“How can we be in a tenet?” Vela asked.

“It was designed with one thing and one thing only. To fill those who are exposed to it with a deep hatred of the Thorin Dominion. I believe Erosius had that one,” he mused.

“How many are there?” Vela asked.

“A few dozens at least,” he responded.

“Well, how do we get out?” She asked.

“Ah, you are from the Thorin Dominion. I can see how it would be problematic for you to be here. But people don’t get out. You could try dying, but I would be careful of that, considering you’re not dreaming.”

“What do you mean I’m not dreaming?” She asked with fear in her voice.

“I mean, you’re quite awake, you just can’t see it,” he answered.

“It would be a problem for you if I died,” Vela countered.

“You misunderstand. You must die but not die,” Unzu elaborated.

“Miss Vela, who are you talking to?” Billy whispered.

Vela filled them in.

“Why do we keep seeing Wayne?” Vela asked Unzu.

He looked at her somewhat scared, “You shouldn’t be able to see him while a tenet is enforced.” Unzu nervously looked at the desiccated corpse that appeared a short distance away.

They ran towards Wayne, who stood completely still. As they reached out for him, he turned his head suddenly and yelled, “THE FIRE!”

They woke up in plush beds. The fire was so massive that it blotted out the sun itself.

Standing above Vela was her brother Theophilus. “Oh, you’re awake! How excellent! Are you ready for the ceremony?” He asked with a too wide smile.

Vela was hoisted by several hands towards the fire.

Billy charged out of her room and shot some of the people holding Vela with her bow, but they didn’t flinch.

Elbin watched as one of the members from the delegation stabbed his wife Elayne.  Elbin punched the man, who thanked Elbin for his participation in the ceremony.

Vela looked into flames and saw her hopes and dreams. Elizabeth’s face. Crates and crates of maps.

On the roof top of the building they could see Nanda as she stepped off the roof and into the fire.

They stared on in horror until Elbin stepped to look into the flame. It was filled with his hopes and dreams, too. His old guard uniform, a woodcarving kit from his younger days, the first piece of furniture he carved.

Wyatt stepped out holding a small child. Billy tried stopping him as he offered the baby to the flame. She reached into her pocket and grabbed a metal ball which she morphed into a flowy strap and bound his feet. She snatched the child from his grasp before he fell.

Vela changed tactics. “I am happy you’re here, my dear dear brother Theophilus,” she said through a forced smile. “I quite adore you and the Thorin Dominion.”

“I’m so so glad that you’ve finally seen the light. Truly this fills my life with joy. I can finally leave in peace to become the Master Cartographer while leaving you with mom and dad,” he said with a smile.

“How great,” Vela breathed out.

“We’ll find you a husband soon who will keep you busy with babies and the like,” he added.

“Isn’t that marvelous,” Vela said through gritted teeth.

As he walked inside to get their mother as a sacrifice, Vela saw a desiccated corpse standing in the hallway inside.

Vela called out, and they all ran towards him.

“The smell. Oh god, the smell!” Wayne called out.

They woke up in plush beds, the nearby walls aflame.

Billy formed a knife in her hands in threat as Wyatt clutched his child offering.

Elbin was filled with a rage he couldn’t contain as he strangled the man sacrificing his wife.

Vela felt angry, but looking at his smug face, it wasn’t a particularly new feeling. There was something tainting it. It felt more bitter than ever before. With each breathful of the smoke, her hatred burned. The emotions were hers but not quite hers.

Vela held her breath. For a little while, nothing much happened. Her lungs began to burn. As she grew dizzy with her vision blurring, she found herself standing in front of Nozitatu village. But for only just a moment, she dropped to the ground unconscious.

She woke up sometime late. Before her and completely immobile were Elbin and Billy. Billy’s ball of copper was formed into a wicked knife in her hands. Elbin had a mushroom from his pouch, entering his mouth.

Vela covered their mouths and noses.

Billy was pummeling the face of Wyatt. The baby beside her peacefully slept. Every time she punched him, he would smile more and comment on how great it was. The smoke was so thick that it was getting harder and harder to breath. She was growing dizzy.

Billy saw the hazy shape of Nozitatu village before collapsing to the ground.

Vela saw Wayne beside her. “Much help you were!”

“Do you realize that we’ve only been here for two minutes?” Wayne remarked.

Each guard in the village had a deep tear channel and a deathly grip on their weapons. “What are you doing?!” One called. “You were supposed to join us!”
He charged forward, threateningly to impale them with his blood spear.

A handful of guards with blood blades charged at the group. Smoke was thick in the air, but they couldn’t decern the origin. Elbin brought his fists up to fight and swung as one of the villagers with a mace-looking weapon. As Elbin’s fist made contact with the man’s face, flakes of ash poofed away. A stream of blood flowed from the man’s arm to his weapon. Vela picked up a rock and chucked it towards one of the nearby villagers, widely missing.

“You’re bleeding. Let me help you!” Shivaun called out in frustration. Shivaun heated up her weapon and lunged for one of the nearby villagers, aiming for the source of blood on his arm.

“TRAITOR!” The man responded, stepping back.

Billy heard the nearby sound and launched an arrow, hitting the man squarely in his chest. As he raised his arm close to his chest, the blood flowed from his wound up the arrow to his weapon.

Elbin swung again, but his fist flew in front of the man’s face. The angry villager swung his bloodred axe and sliced Elbin’s leg. The wound gushed. Elbin looked around panickly, searching for Wayne to no avail.

A mace caught Vela in the belly. She bent over and immediately began throwing up blood.

As the villager pulled up his axe to deliver Elbin’s killing blow, Billy loosed another arrow, stabbing her target cleanly in the chest. The blood stopped flowing to the weapon, and the man collapsed to the ground.

Vela angrily grabbed a handful of dirt and tossed it towards the faces of the nearby townsfolk. The man attacking her stopped mid-attack, fumbling backwards and yelling, “My eyes!”

Shivaun charged forward and stabbed the nearest towndfolk with her red hot knife. It sizzled as it made contact with the man’s arm. He fumbled backwards. The other townsfolk looked on in terror and ran past them in various directions, leaving the group alone in the middle of the street.

In a light-headed daze, Vela sat down where she was and threw up more blood. Elbin held the wound on his leg, but he could feel his leg going numb as the blood poured out between his fingers.

Billy blindly fumbled as she tried to create a tourniquet for Elbin. Shivaun took over, completing the tourniquet, but it wasn’t enough.  Blood still flowed out. Shivaun deftly loosed the tourniquet and heated up her knife. There was a terrible smell as Shivaun seared the wound. After a few heart wrenching seconds, the wound was sealed and no longer bled.

Wayne wandered towards the group, dragging an armored body. “I leave you for two seconds,” he began. “What happened?”

“The villagers attacked us with weapons made of blood,” Shivaun responded.

“That’s new,” he mused. “Did they injure you?” He eyed Elbin and then Vela.

As his eyes fell on Vela, he cursed. “How are you feeling, Shivaun?”

“I’m feeling fine,” Shivaun responded as he turned on her.

“I’m going to need you to take a big breath,” Wayne began.

Shivaun recoiled.

“If you don’t, Lady Vela will die. Your choice, but she doesn’t have long,” he stated.

He put his hand on Vela’s stomach, and she screamed out. As Shivaun began exhaling, she panickly realized that she couldn’t stop, the air pulled from her lungs. Shivaun collapsed to the ground.

There was a phantom pain, but as Vela looked down, her stomach was unscathed as if she had never been injured.

“Is Shivaun-?” Vela hesitated.

“She’ll be fine, just give her a moment for oxygen to return to her brain,” Wayne answered.

Shivaun gasped for air, “I’ve seen a lot of medical procedures but never anything like that. How did you do that?!”

“It’s tempora. I don’t know how to describe it. Since you can wield or corporra, I doubt you would be able to learn it,” Wayne described.

“But you can do corporra?” Vela questioned.

“I don’t wield corporra. I’m not alive, not in the same sense as you,” he answered.

“What does it mean to wield tempora?” Elbin asked.

“Do you remember yesterday?” Wayne countered.

“Well, yes…” Elbin answered uncertainly.

“That’s a mix of cerebra and tempora,” Wayne responded. “I’ll tell you more once we’re out of harm’s way.”

“While I would prefer to get rid of the smoke, it seems like the most prudent option is to go around,” Elbin suggested.

“Now that you’ve broken out, the tenet should no longer affect you,” Wayne said.

“If we destroy this tenet, will the townspeople revert back to how they were before?” Elbin looked towards the center of town uneasily.

“Depends how long they were exposed. Doesn’t really impact me,” Wayne shrugged.

As they made their way around the outside of the village, the smoke hid them. In the center of town, they could hear a high-pitched voice issuing orders, and soon they found themselves in what seemed to previously have been a graveyard. The earth was upturned, and all the bodies seemed to be missing.

Wayne hissed under his breath, “Cerebra.”

As they continued towards the other end of the village, they could see the road to the Cufema Forest. They heard before they saw a set of people going back and forth between the forest and the town. The people smoke in hushed tones as carts squeaked. Large bundles of what sounded like twigs rattled in the carts.

“That should be all, right? I haven’t seen any more of them in the woods,” one of the cartsman said.

Elbin motioned the group towards a well he had seen within the village walls. As they stood to the side of the road to discuss in whispers, they didn’t notice until large shadows of wings swooped overheard. A figure could be seen on its back. The creature, many times larger than the wyvern they battled, circled around overheard before landing in the center of the village close to what they would guess was the source of the fire.

“And that would match the description of a matriarch…” Wayne said.

“… A matriarch?” Vela questioned.

“… A momma wyvern,” Wayne elaborated.

“Let’s find Mibu and get out of here,” Elbin suggested.

The smoke seemed to be getting thicker. They crept towards the village wall. Vela played dead, and Elbin carried her body. As they drew more into the village, they heard low moans like someone in pain or sad. Soon, it became apparent that it wasn’t a single person, but a chorus.

A fire crackled loudly in the town square beyond. The silhouette of someone was standing to the side of the road, obscured by thick smoke and a dark reddish haze. They didn’t appear to be moving. The figured moaned, and as they passed, Shivaun gasped. It was a man tied to a pole that was staked into the ground. He wore a full suit of armor. His helmet was on the ground just by his feet. His deep seeded eyes had deep channels of tears.

Shivaun cautiously covered his mouth and nose until the man passed out. He woke up moments later, in a startled stupor. “Who are you? Wait, that doesn’t matter. The beast! We must flee!”

“The large, winged creature?” Shivaun asked.

“Yes! We need to escape. Let me go. I know the way into the town,” he stated.

“No, it can’t be. The fire belongs to our lord. Lord Kuroki. He’s showing us the truth!” The man ranted.

“Who’s Lord Kuroki? Is he the lord of these parts?” Billy asked.

“Let me out! WHO ARE YOU?! LET ME OUT!” The man yelled as he thrashed against his bonds.

They ran. Heavy armored footfalls ran down the main road, and the group ducked into an alley way before sneaking back some of the way to eavesdrop.

“You’re not ready,” the man who led the armored group stated.

They heard a sword piercing a suit of armor followed by guttural moans.

Several stakes with armored men were circling a massive fire. Some had golden cloth capes. A lanky woman standing near an alley way began approaching them, asking what they were doing. Elbin managed to convince her that he had found a dead body (courtesy of Vela) that they were bringing.

As they approached closer to the fire, they noticed a large, shallow dish that seemed to be the source of the fire. It seemed strange how fast the fire was burning. It would grow only momentarily as more tinder was provided.

“What is this?! This is ridiculous!” The high-pitched voice scolded a villager who had brought something from the cart.

“The large bowl of fire is the tenet. If it’s not burning, it will slowly stop the effect,” Wayne explained.

“You’re awake, good. Are all of you awake, out and about?” The high-pitched voice asked. Something was said. “USELESS PILE OF SHIT! KILL IT. GET ME ANOTHER ONE.”

A tall figure walked around the brasserie. It glistened with a deep-red hue as it carried a short, incredibly pale figure.

Vela gasped, “It’s the creature from Erosius!”

There was a loud crunch as the blood figure snapped the neck of the person it held and dropped them on the ground.

The matriarch wyvern moved in an agitated way. As it turned, it took two big breaths, sniffing the air and shook. There was a large swoosh as it took to the air, clearing some of the fog and revealing the group.

“Who is that!?” The man who was apparently throwing bones into the fire yelled at the group.

The group looked at one another in panic as the blood figure also turned towards them.

“If I may suggest, this man is made of quite a bit of blood,” Wayne offered. “I would be happy to step in and take care of it for you.”

“Do it,” Vela ordered.

“It may be a challenging source of blood, but it’ll be safe to use. I’ll just need a distraction,” Wayne responded.

They nodded.

Elbin grabbed Vela and carried her body towards the fire.

“What are you doing here?” The man by the fire questioned.

“I have another one. Fell off the cart,” Elbin lied.

“You dropped one, you fucking twat,” the man turned towards one of the others. “Quick, throw it onto the fire,” he ordered Elbin.

Shivaun stood beside Elbin and walked up beside him as he reached towards the fire. They lunged for the brasserie. Their hands seared as they tried to tilt it. There were lines and inscriptions along the sides.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” The nearby man called out.

They faltered, and the brasserie fell back down into place.

“AGAIN!” Shivaun shouted as she reached to assist Elbin.

Together, they heaved the bowl, and there was a loud gong as it hit the ground, its contents spilling out.

Across the brasserie, the bloodied man skulked towards them. Wayne’s figure loomed behind him and reached out to the man. His face shifted as he struggled before growing slack. He brushed himself off.

“Now, that’s better,” the bloodied man said with Wayne’s accent.

There was a large rush of air as the Matriach landed in front of them.

The high-pitched voice approached them, revealing Mibu. He held a skull, covered in small engravings. “What on earth-?”

He turned seeing the bloodied man being absorbed by Wayne. The skull shattered as he dropped it and lowered his knife.

“My Lord Kuroki, have I done well?” Mibu asked, bowing to Wayne.

Wayne turned towards him, flesh filling out over his porcelain bones, “Yes. Yes, you have.”

Mibu bowed lowly before the Wayne-Kuroki hybrid, putting his knife on the ground.

Joints popped as Lord Kuro-Wayne stretched out, “How about we free those poor souls currently tied up.”

“Right away, my lord!” Mibu answered, scurrying away.

The matriarch glared suspiciously but didn’t move to eat them all up.

Kuro-Wayne looked towards them.

“Are you… okay?” Shivaun asked.

“Yes, but we should leave soon,” Kuro-Wayne suggested.

They nodded, following Wayne away from the square.

“We’re going to investigate the state of the city,” Wayne stated to Mibu.

“Yes, my lord!” Mibu responded.

The golden legion pointed and freed up comrades as they passed. By the time they reached the edge of the city, most people were well along their way to being released.

Shivaun glanced nervously at the massive matriarch head that poked from the other side of the city. The matriarch still stared suspiciously.

The path through the Cufema forest appeared to be more well-traveled since they last were there. A direct path of well-trodden ground led them straight towards the hill where Vela’s map indicated that the city lay.
Vela looked giddy as they began an upward incline, “This path is lining up with the domed roof of the underground city.”

After a little while, there was the clanking sound of pick axes, and they soon found themselves in the clearing where they had first fallen into Erosius.

A massive operation was underway to clear the area. Scaffolding went down towards a city covered in white dust. A pile of uprooted trees laid to the side, and at this point, the well-opened hole gave a clear view of the dilapidated and upright towers.

Workers that noticed them bowed towards Wayne as the group approached.  His body had a deep garnet hue, and when the light caught his shape, they could vaguely see the crystal frame of Wayne’s skeleton underneath. It reminded Vela of the spire in the middle of the sea.

“Is the tower made of blood?” Shivaun asked.

“Obviously,” Wayne scoffed.

“Whose blood was it?” Elbin asked.

“It’s not just anybody’s blood. It’s everybody’s blood,” Wayne looked at them incredulously.

“Like everybody in the Vellock empire?” Elbin questioned.

“And what does it do?” Shivaun asked.

“I was not one of the group that created it, but I imagine some of your answers are down there,” he pointed down into Erosius.

Vela got a rush of suspicion and the distinct impression that everyone in the Vellock Empire was involved. “How were you not involved if it involved everyone?”

“Well, because I did not have any blood by that point,” Wayne responded. “We had many names throughout the years, and by the end of the war, the Empire was disbanded. Theocracy was created.”

“Like the Vellock Theocracy?” Billy asked.

“Just Theocracy. We never felt the need to be differentiated,” Wayne responded.

“Why did the Vellock Emprie feel the need to split apart?” Elbin asked.

“That was before my time,” Wayne dismissed. “The spire in sea was created by the Theocracy. It is the blood anchor. It’s why you can do corporra here and not back in the Thorund Dominion.”

The nearby workers gave them side-eyed glances, clearly eavesdropping.

Wayne motioned them downwards. He told them a tale of how when the Vellock Empire fell, the Theocracy was made to avoid making the mistakes of the past.

“What does the blood anchor anchor?” Shivaun asked.

Wayne scoffed, “Well, it obviously anchors the realm of corporra to the physical world. You do not have magic. The blood isn’t the source, but the payment to access it. You tap into a different realm. You heat stuff, correct?” He looked to Shivaun, “Well, corporra has access to a realm of pure energy.”
(STRAWS)

“The blood anchor,” he continued. “- merely makes this much cheaper to achieve by keeping the corporra realm in sync.”

Wayne added harshly, “We don’t talk about the temporra spire.”

“And the Cerebra spire?” Shivaun asked.

“No, there is no such thing,” Wayne dismissed.

“What is the cost, or payment, of cerebra?” Elbin asked?

They reached the bottom and made their way to the square with the fallen tower.

“The cost of cerebra is bones, obviously,” Wayne stated.

“Are we passively using temporra by breathing?” Elbin asked.

“Of course,” Wayne responded. “But for cerebra, your bones are more of a personal anchor to your spirit. They hold cerebra.”

“Is cerebra also in a different plane?” Elbin asked.

“They’re all from different planes. We’re just sitting in the realm, continuing along our way happily,” he answered.

They approached the dome building with the tree structure. There were several missing or broken into pods. The broken pods now held dead bodies.

“I’m going to acquire your assistance. Please help me take some of those poor souls outside into the courtyard.”

“May I ask why?” Vela hesitated.

“These used to be my brethren. They were misguided in some of their ways, but I would very much like to bring them back,” Wayne responded.

“Your friends?” Shivaun asked.

“My brethren,” Wayne corrected.

Vela gave a suspicious glance to Elbin.

“Are you beginning to remember your past?” Elbin asked.

“Yes, something like that,” He said. Elbin could tell it was a lie. “Why don’t you rest? I’ll talk to some of the workers and have them help.”

They stood in a corner conferring amongst themselves as worked tugged down and carried bodies.

Vela focused, trying to commune with Unsu. She collapsed.

She found herself on the edge of a great city. As people ran into it, the wall was crumbling, big chunks of stone falling from the sky. There was panic all around until her gaze fell on her loving wife.

“It’s time,” the woman said.

It was Erosius. A little while before Unsu wrote his tablet. They made their way to a large building. A line of individuals walked into the building and carts led by muscly beasts.

His wife embraced her, and Vela/Unsu noticed that she was crying and they were, too. They would be saying goodbye soon.

They joined the line and noticed the cart filled with Saans bodies.

Vela woke up with a start and informed the others of what she saw.

“I got this,” Shivaun said, similarly fainting.

She found herself walking into a luxurious city, gardens all around her, vines growing on the wall, people laughing and enjoying themselves. That’s when she noticed a weight of seriousness in her body. Behind her boots clacked, as 10-15 guards thudded behind her in rhythm. Her squadron. The buildings around her were warehouses and abandoned buildings. Still well-maintained and polished to a finish, but less alive. One of the large metal doors of a nearby building was barred. The hinges themselves were twisted and distorted.

She pounded on the door, “Open up!”

Silence. She signaled, and guards broke open the door in a swift motion with crowbars.

A scene of horror appeared before her. In the center of a large pool of blood stood a man. He wore large gloves made of blood. Corporra.

“I’ve done it! WE’VE DONE IT!” He exclaimed.

She signaled to the guards around her as they impaled the man before he could react or say anything and gave the signal for the man to be burned to the ground.

They looked at each other as Shivaun recounted and agreed to help for now. Each amber vessel held very distinct buildings. Lanky, hairless, with pointed ears, but varying women, man, and children.

Kuro-Wayne supervised where to place the pods. As another series of workers approached, he nodded and pointed them in directions.

“We should awaken them very soon,” he put his hand one of his eggs.

“You awaken whatever is in the tablet in the body?” Shivaun offered.

“We’ll get to whatever is in the tablet soon enough,” he dismissed.

“Do you remember why you were imprisoned?” Elbin asked hesitantly.

“Ah, unfortunately, that’s still a hole in my memory,” he began before meeting their eyes. “I’m still the Wayne you know. But everything has changed. I have a body, isn’t it great?! Simply one step in the right direction,” he chimed.

“Do you remember your real name?” Elbin questioned.

“Well, they all call me Lord Kuroki, so I suppose that’s my name. However, you can keep calling me Wayne. I’ve grown quite fond of it,” he looked up for a moment. “Well, the ceremony should happen relatively soon. You’ll see. It will be quite grand. Quite grand indeed.”

One of the groups of workers returned, and Kuro-Wayne dismissed himself to speak to them. Elbin inched in that direction, listening from a distance.

The group had finished destroying all the tablets in the section of town. Wayne returned and excitedly let them know that the ceremony was about to start.

Billy put her hand on one of the eggs. She pushed on the amber with her corporra. She got the feeling that it wasn’t even physically matter, as if it was some barrier of raw force.

“I’m going to go read stuff,” Vela ran to the building where the group had said they were destroying stuff.

What would be a library full of shelves of tablets was dilapidated, broken tablet dust littering the ground. Vela went back and deduced the direction of where the group would have gone next. She got the feeling that the buildings were school libraries spread throughout the city. They made their way through the city towards the part of the city that had collapsed.

She guided them to a squat building with thick walls. Inside, there was a relatively in tact library with rows upon rows of tablets. She grabbed a tablet off the shelf.

It was a tablet about botany and mushrooms that grew on the southern forest. Vela slapped the tablet onto the ground and inhaled the dust. She was overcome by a splitting headache as knowledge of mushrooms flooded her mind.

“Let’s find an index!” Shivaun chimed excitedly. It seemed like the tablets were labeled and organized around the topic they contained.

Billy noticed that most of the tablets had been made of a standard mold, but some of them were narrow where shavings had been taken off the tablet.

After a little while, Shivaun found a section on cerebra. She ran the backside of her knife against the side and snorted the dust. She had a splitting headache for a second and was overcome with new knowledge of cerebra.

Kuro-Wayne had lied. “THERE IS A CEREBRA TOWER!” She exclaimed, “It was the first one created!” The power of the Vellock Empire came from its power over cerebra. The Bone Anchor as they called it.

Shivaun turned towards the others, “BAR THE DOORS!”
Billy and Elbin ran towards the doors.

Vela ran over to sniff a cerebra tablet. She learned that a given person can only use a few tablets (around 5) before being at a high risk of stroke.

Elbin crouched on the ground where the mushroom tablet had broken. He sniffed aggressively and was thrilled with new disconnected botany knowledge that he wasn’t sure how to use but lined up with his current knowledge of mushrooms.

Billy and Shivaun sniffed corporra tablet knowledge. The spire in the ocean was indeed the Blood Anchor and killed everything in the 100km radius when it was created. The original way to get a secondary corporra was to get people who were attuned to a certain realm of corporra and kill them in your vicinity.

Vela looked for a tablet on “recent” events. She got part of the knowledge, including that there was the concept that the supporting lattice was failing and that they were working for a way to outlive it. However, a sect of extremists were hampering progress of the blood anchor. The sect had been killing people across the realm to create the perfect body.

The lattice itself was temporra. The Theocracy was creating a new way, a new hosts for their people to survive the failing lattice. Saans, meaning the people of breath. They were migrating people to the new hosts which were more attuned with Saans.

There were six sub forms of temporra and also six sub classes for cerebra. Temporra for time, manifesting or redirecting.  Billy also tried a temporra book, but it was also gibberish.

There was a tablet on Saans anatomy. An tablet by a professor seeking a vessel aligned with temporra. However, temporra didn’t sync well with artificial, unliving vessels. They used a part of the population and stripped them of their connection to corporra. However, the process wiped clean the soul.

Vela sniffed about the lattice, learning that the Lattice which was created upon the creation of the Breath Spire, kept the Theocracy safe from the Great Storm and kept the flow of time in sync so the people could continue living in it.

They were looking into the use of Corporra to protect the lattices within cities and buildings. The ceiling of Erosius would have been called a lattice.

There was a knock at the door. “Is there anybody in here?”

Elbin opened the door and smashed a tablet in front of them, “We’ve got this one.”

“Do you need a hammer?” The man offered.

“Sure,” Elbin took the hammer and smashed the botany tablet again.

Vela grinded a chunk of tablet on the Great Storm. It was the effect that happened when the Temporra Anchor was made. It would turn the world to dust to protect the Vellock Empire from the Thorund Dominion.

The Lattices protected the civilizations with the Vellock Empire, trapping them in a time anomaly.

The action of crossing the great storm would kill whoever tried as it was pure of another realm of existence, propelling you in a direction in time.

Billy sniffed one aimed at teaching children how to read and the basics. She shared the tablet with Elbin.

The ground rumbled, and they ran outside. The matriarch was making her way towards the city center. They felt more than saw her land in the city as the ground shook and dust billowed through the streets. Then, there was the sounds of loud crunching as what they assumed was the sound of amber eggs breaking. The dust that first kicked off in their direction was picking up, sweeping towards the center and increasing in force as the crunching continued.

They felt short of breath as they got closer. The Matriach was covered in white gunk as it cracked open the eggs. The villagers shivered in fear. At the far end of the square, Wayne had his hands extended before him as the wind sweeping towards him.

Vela crept up and tried to take a breath of the wind. Immediately, the wind stopped flowing towards Wayne and started flowing towards her. She became overwhelmed with a vision of the future where the entire Thorund Dominion burned. Everyone was dead, and in the center of it all stood a man with a translucent body and crystal bones.

“Why did you have to do that? Do you know how long it took for me to collect all those Saan bodies?” He exhaled sharply.

“My lord-“ A worker approached.

Wayne reached out a hand and crushed the head of the man.

Wayne sighed, “Alright, well I suppose I can’t really go around looking like this.”

He wiped his hands together, and the ground bone dust seeped into his skin. His face morphed taking on a new structure.

“Just to spite you-,“ He smiled maniacally.

Vela looked on in horror at the face of her brother. He took out the device that was on the Wayne’s prison and put it in front of himself, locking it in place, and then disappeared.

Wayne was gone. And so was the Matriach. And the Saan boddies. And all the scaffolding. 

And soon the roof collapsed in on itself.

The box floated before them, vibrating.

Shivaun tossed a pebble. In about ten feet from her, it simply disappeared and reappeared in its final location.

It was a time prison, but reversed, slowing down time just for them.