Age Recommendation: 16+
Following Daughter of Markus
Savrsen has saved Cenn, the hero of Faeheim, and the two have fled from the Other's wrath to Savrsen's home - Aldfae.
But Cenn's arrival in Aldfae upsets the delicate balance of the immortal realm, leading to world war, whilst in the other realms the war against the Necromancer and the Others begins to lead towards the inevitable conclusion:
Total annihilation.
Iseise, or to the city-dwellers, Isein.
The shining city of glass sat towering over the black lake, seemingly grown into existence in an impossible position, it denied gravity and her laws, floating above the water due to enchantments and magick, and the nature of its home realm.
Iseise was a capital city, of a powerful nation within the realm known as Aldheim to most outsiders, the legendary realm created by the Other, in response to the Madness' creation of the mortal realms.
Aldfae was eternal, as were its inhabitants, the true Fae, not their descendants who had mingled with mortal blood to create the breed that now inhabited Faeheim, and had so recently plagued humanity with war... Until... Bethia.
The Daughter of Markus.
Yet, the city of Iseise knew little of outside concerns, or at least the intrigues that were not integral to its national importance, and Aldfae knew little of the mortal realms that seemed to change so rapidly, to age and wither and die and then even be reborn.
The oldest of the Aldfae remembered when the Other had created them, and what their first breaths had been like, as the world was still forming in front of their eyes.
The oldest among the citizens of Isein was Savrsen, who was once their queen.
She was undoubtedly the most magickally skilled in the city, and perhaps the nation of Iseinnan, and yet she was not welcomed back with open arms.
She brought a stranger with her, close to death.
He was like the Aldfae, and yet... He wasn't. He wasn't born in Aldfae, and so he was a confusion. Something new in the realm eternal.
He was something that they feared.
Savrsen didn't fear him. She feared if he died. If he rejected her for what she had done.
She... Loved him.
She cared little for the fact that her own people had cast her aside, and had placed her under house arrest as the courts deliberated on the correct course of action, all she cared about was Cenn Croithi of Faeheim.
Savrsen sat by his bedside, clutching his hand, and fighting back tears that hadn't fallen in ten thousand years, as she looked at his pale skin, wincing at his every shiver.
He seemed so close to the edge of death.
She didn't know why the Other hadn't simply killed him when they had both arrived in Aldfae, but she had a feeling that it wasn't deliberate.
The Other had always been all powerful, all knowing, and yet in the last four months, every trace of his presence had vanished, the same day that she had fled Hellan, the Hell of Immortality, with Cenn in her arms.
She wished that Aldfae hadn't receded and lost contact with the mortal realms, because at least then they would know what threats faced them.
Bethia.
A name that had inspired the Other into rash and wrathful action.
A goddess of the Fae... And yet... She wasn't.
Not really.
No one seemed to know who she was, and when Savrsen had arrived in Aldfae, they didn't seem to have a clue that Bethia had even existed.
They knew nothing. So distant... Disconnected.
It was an arrogant stupidity to believe that what plagued the mortal realms would never reach Aldfae. Blind old men and women. Fools - all of them.
All the world would fall apart and die if this continued... So much wrong had occurred... And still lay unexplained.
The Necromancer and his power...
Meridia's madness in declaring war on humanity...
Why had Hean ordered the assassinations of the human kings?
Why was the Other so desperate to kill Bethia that he had doomed the Fae?
Savrsen sighed heavily, clearing her mind of the worries that now plagued her, and stroked Cenn's cheek sadly; at least she still had him.
There was a timid knock at the door and she glared over at it, as the door swung open and a small man swallowed nervously, "Lady Isein. Might I speak with you?"
His nervousness knocked at every syllable, and Savrsen smiled sadly, "You may. You come on behalf of the High Court?"
The small black-haired man nodded, "Yes. I'm a clerk." He winced and scratched the back off his head, "How is he?"
Savrsen smiled softly, "The Elfae that has become Aldfae? That's what you see, isn't it?"
The man shrugged, rubbing a wrist, "I don't know. I don't. There's no... I've lived for sixty thousand years. There has never been anything like this before. I... I don't know how to judge it."
She nodded, "Indeed. What's your name?"
He shook his head, "I don't... Want to tell you. The High Court has..." The man paused and shook his head, terror etched into every feature of his body, "Decided... That you are a non-citizen. As is he."
Her face seemed to fade, to become a solid structure. It is amazing how serenity can so often be associated with the conception of violence, and the young clerk certainly saw it, and he winced, "I'm just a messenger."
She smiled grimly, "This I know. You called me Lady. Not a non-citizen... But unless you vacate this house, you will learn that my powers have not been reduced by living under and with the powers of the Other."
The man fled the room.
"Elfae?" Came a quiet groan, and Savrsen looked down in fear, and a tear slipped down her cheek and she grabbed his hand, but Cenn pushed her back, "Hold up there. What in the hells just happened? I was talking with you..."
Savrsen winced, "You... You pissed off the Other."
Cenn rubbed his head, "He was... Going to torture me... Wasn't he?"
"To start with." She said swallowing, and Cenn blinked, "You saved me. Didn't you? This is... Aldfae."
She nodded gently and Cenn winced, "And I'm not a true Aldfae. I'm an Elf."
Savrsen winced, "It's worse. I'm sorry."
Cenn shrugged and sat up, "Non-citizen? Allowed to be slaughtered on the spot by anyone brave enough to try?"
She nodded and then swallowed, "And I'm afraid Cenn... You are no longer the best in the world. In this eternal realm? There are those dedicated from the first breath to a task. And they make your people look like a glimmer in the eye of the Other."
"Meridia's black heart." He cursed in frustration, and then he gently took her hand, "So that's why you saved me, then?"
Savrsen swallowed, "I... I'm not sure."
"Do you care or don't you?" He asked and shrugged, "I'm not a particularly subtle person."
Savrsen sighed heavily, "I do. I don't know why."
Cenn smiled sadly and squeezed her hand, "Then we have time enough to work it out."
Savrsen sighed heavily, "I'm afraid not. This house... Is going to be sieged soon, unless I'm very wrong about the politics of Aldfae."
Cenn frowned, "What politics?"
Savrsen stood up and symbols began to glow across her white skin, preparing magicks to defend the house, "We are in Isein, the capital city of the nation of Iseinnan.
It comprises of two large islands, and three smaller ones.
It's about two days boat ride from the north pole of Aldfae.
It has the largest naval force, and the greatest magickal affinity, demonstrated by this city, which is made of a glass city floating above a black lake by a dedicated group of monks who never cease magickally keeping the city floating, and each other healthy and awake."
She muttered a word which shook the house, a light flashed and seemed to fade into the walls and her shoulders sagged for a moment, "Five days below Iseinnan, is the largest nation of Aldfae, Calcea.
Made up of two enormous islands, two large islands, and many smaller ones, they have most of the natural resources of this world, the greatest fighting force, and hold the political power in the world as the main trade routes all must go through Calcea.
The capital city is Cea, ruled over by King Callan, who is probably the greatest blademaster that Aldfae has ever seen. No weapon has ever scared his body. Ever. And in old days there were many, many attempts to assassinate the king. So... Politics are tense."
She gritted her teeth as her entire body seemed to light up with runes for a few moments, and then the floor glowed red for a moment, and Cenn leaped to his feet, catching her as she almost collapsed, and she winced, "They were... Expecting that. They move quickly."
Cenn frowned, "They drained you."
"Probably of being eternal." Savrsen said with a wince, "Your power can always be drained, because something always has an eternal supply to draw your power away." She shrugged it off, "The last nation known in my time was Forea. An incredibly savage nation three days from the southern pole, and seven days from Calchea.
It is an archipeligo, most of the inhabitants live on the largest island, whilst the smaller island is to the south, and then numerous tiny ones. It's a tropical and exotic island, with thousands of poisons, and most of its inhabitants are... Savages. They know the deep sort of magick, how to use a fly to kill, and how to survive in wastelands of any sort. They are ruled by a Council, which is quite good at selling skills, and weapons. Most assassins are Forean."
Cenn shook his head, "A tense world."
"Always on the verge of war, but never an excuse." Savrsen said tersely, and Cenn swallowed, "Till now."
She nodded and stood up by herself again slowly, shaking her hands, "The High Court will have sent soldiers to secure the only Elfae to have ever laid foot on Aldfae soil. You are now the focus of an arm's race. You are new, and so you provide an advantage to any other force, even if it's just a bluff."
"Damn." Cenn winced and shook his head, "Neither of us is ready for war."
Savrsen grinned and looked sideways at him, "Truly? I was the... Maidservant of the Other for seventy thousand years. Do you think I learned nothing in that time?"
© Copyright 2024, James Milne