RE: Monarch

They were so different from the kind folk I’d come to know and love. It was simple duality, the same as us. There were good humans, and bad. But Maya had never seen them at their worst.

I took a step forward.

“Get back!” Maya shouted, summoning violet mana in her hand, cutting a gash of demon-fire between us.

You awakened. It was possible. Our souls were intertwined, and while I’d hoped that would give me her light magic, she received my fire instead. I stared, stunned. Maya stared back, her face twisting in pain, before she buried her face in her hands.

“I’m a monster.”

I tried to control her flames, to draw them into myself, but the effect was like trying to pull molasses through a straw. It wasn’t going to happen.

“Let me through!”

“No.”

“Maya!”

“How could you ever love me!” Maya shouted, voice warped with agony. “Why would you say it? Why, Cairn? Why would you say that to me?”

My heart broke when I realized the only vision that could have triggered this volatile of a reaction, and I cursed Infaris. Either as part of her trial, or as her boon, the Goddess had shown her the one thing I wanted to hide.

The sacking of Whitefall.

“Talk to me, Maya!”

Her eyes were dead, white’s flickering with violet reflections. The fire itself wouldn’t hurt her. The smoke would. “You begged. You begged for me to stop. And I killed her.”

“You were under Thoth’s influence!” I tried, waiting for a gap in the fire, looking for anyway through.

“Infaris put me in my own mind, that night. It was me, Ni’lend. A version of myself that was angry, and vengeful, and full of spite, but it was me just the same.” She began a laugh that was half-cackle, half-sob. “Do you think I torment children in all my lives? Is that just who I am?”

There. I saw an opening in the fire and dove through it, landing hard on my shoulder. My back twinged with the effort, and I wobbled on my feet.

“I’m not leaving without you.”

“If you’re playing me, if you altered your thoughts somehow for some bigger game, some grander manipulation, that—that I understand. But why would you join our souls? Why tell me you loved me?”

I stepped toward her carefully, avoiding an overturned icon. “Because I do.”

“No. No, no no Ni’lend please, just this once, be honest with me.”

I stood over her finally, struggling to breathe, and reached out a hand. Maya shied away.

“Okay.” I crouched in front of her as the fire grew around us. “I’ll be honest. That’s the theme of this place, after all, isn’t it? Truth? So, fine. The person that I met? The person who hurt my family?” I waved a hand helplessly. “Yes, you terrified me. And when we first met in the Everwood, you saw that. It wasn’t subtle. I hated you and I wanted revenge.”

Maya looked down. I caught her chin and tilted her head up. She looked so lost. “What I’ve learned from my curse… my gift… is that there’s no point in anything if we can’t move forward. If we can’t try to fix things for the better. You’re not a monster. We are what we choose to be, at any given moment. And we have to keep making that choice. And who you chose to be, who you’re choosing to be, is beautiful. And that’s the person I fell in love with, Ni’lend.”

“Is that really how you feel?” Maya asked.

I leaned in to kiss her. There was a flood of emotion I’d been holding back for so long, keeping in check. She met my lips with hers, and wrapped her arms round my neck, clinging to me. The surrounding flames began to fade, the heat dissipating, until all that was left of the fire was char.

“I know I made you a vow,” Maya whispered into my neck, “But I don’t know if I can do what I promised. We can find another healer for your mother, I swear it. But it might be safer for everyone if I stayed in the sanctum and joined the elders.”

“Permanently?” I blinked. “Why?”

“Because I will doubt myself constantly. I will wonder if I am becoming the version of myself that wounded you so deeply. And we both know well enough that a moment of doubt on the battlefield can cost everything.”

I shook my head, pressing my forehead to hers. “I’ll be there to keep you in check. This was always going to be hard. None of us were born… to… this…” The words died in my throat, tasting bitter and familiar.

I’d said them before.

I used her love for me to manipulate her into a life she never wanted.

You fear the loneliness, the solitude of responsibility.

You must give them a choice. A real choice.

A weariness came over me. I parted from her gently and nearly stumbled as I stood, and hacked out a painful cough. Everything in my mind screamed for me to stop, to push the words back, to ignore the parallels. But it was inescapable. I rubbed my face, my eyes still stinging with smoke.

“Do you think that’s best?”

“I do. I can aid the elders here, and any infernals exploring the sanctum in need of care.” Maya’s voice was small, almost inaudible.

I hated the idea. It seemed like such a waste, like she was punishing herself by forcing herself to stay in the sanctum. But if I tried to push her out of it, it would inevitably push her back towards me. I’d talk to Nethtari and Kilvius, and perhaps they would be more successful. I wanted Maya to have a good life, even if it was disconnected from mine.

But that was not my choice to make.

I drew my sword, and placed the blade on her shoulder. Her eyes widened, but only for a moment. She trusted me, after all. Then I spoke, in an over serious voice. “On behalf of the Kingdom of Uskar, I, Prince Cairn, Son of Gil, absolve you of your vows, and consider any and all debts—real or imagined—to be paid in full.”

Maya blinked, then smiled. “Always with the dramatics.”

I wanted to reach out to her, to touch her. But I knew where that would lead. “When this is over Maya, if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to send the messenger. I’ll be there.”

“Thank you, Ni’lend.”

/////

We exited the trial much the same way we came in. There was a rush of light and images, and we found ourselves at the mouth of the tunnel the portal had been blocking. I looked to the others. They were all resolute. Jorra carried an air of focus and single-mindedness that felt almost alien coming from him. Neither Bell nor Maya met my eye. The former worried me, but now was not the time.

Wordlessly, we began to move, in a stunned walk that slowly accelerated into a jog. It felt like marching towards death. The reality had begun to sink in from my vision that Thoth had stood toe to toe with the goddess, and the goddess had backed down. That was power. Power on a level I couldn’t even imagine. Thoth had referred to in Infaris as a minor deity, but a God was a God.

My amulet burned, signaling Vogrin’s return.

I summoned him. Vogrin appeared, floating casually beside us as we moved, his mouth turned downward.

“I’m beginning to tire of being shunted out of important conversation.” Vogrin said. When no one answered or replied, he studied us, then lowered his voice. “I take it excursion did not go well?”

“Infaris.” I said. The tunnel was tightening, the walls appearing to close in around us.

“Oh. Oh. Not terribly surprising, as she is known to meddle with notable figures. But why she would interfere with you rather than your quarry is beyond me. Still, you all survived.”

Again, the observation was met with silence. Vogrin looked perturbed.

“What’s wrong with them?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “Any idea where Ozra is?”

“No. It’s terribly difficult keeping track of time when you are remanded to an endless void. I’m not sure how long it’s been, and the sanctum lacks any of the usual indicators I would use to divine that information.”

Of course, it couldn’t be that easy.

The tunnel opened up into a massive graveyard. I recognized the mausoleums, the worn and cracked stone. It was the same location that Morthus had shown me in his memories. The burial place of Infaris.

We finally made it.

The air here was dead. That was the only way I could think of describing it. Hostile as it tended to be, everywhere else in the sanctum was teeming with magic and life. This was the opposite. The others seemed to sense it as well, and drew in tighter. The gravel mixed with dirt crunched under our feet as we made our way up the winding path.

My heart hammered. I expected her to be behind every corner, positioned behind every ruined structure, lying in wait. I told myself that made no sense, that Thoth had come here for a reason, that we were still wearing the rings, and that there was no reason she would know we were coming. It made no difference. Fear, cold and awful, seized me.

I hand slipped into mine, and I almost jumped. Maya smiled up at me, the expression strained, clearly anxious and embarrassed, but comforting just the same.

It lasted only for a moment.

We reached the final structure. The ornate, Gothic stone building that served as the first infernals resting place. It had a weathered with age, but everything with the same as it was in Morthus’s vision.

Everything but the black gate itself. The massive, dark metal doors that Morthus had insisted so emphatically must remain shut, had been wrenched off their hinges and tossed to the side. It served as a final confirmation of what I already knew. Thoth was here. And we couldn’t afford to wait anymore.

“Do we have a plan?” Jorra asked. His eyes never left the gaping darkness of the crypt entrance.

We’d taken stock. The boons we’d received from in Infaris were invaluable. Jorra had received an aquamarine jewel that allowed him a much stronger, direct control of water. It also stored a vast quantity of water, equal to that of a small ocean, so even if he were in a situation like back in the desert, where even the air devoid of moisture, he would still be able to cast just as effectively.

Bell's sword, a beautiful curved silver blade with a golden hilt, gave her the ability to actively unravel even the most volatile spells.

Both infinitely useful. Neither the key piece we needed.

“I had something,” I shook my head, thinking of the glass bead that I used to summon the prime evil. “But I had to use it in the trial.”

“If I can get close enough, maybe I can void out whatever it is she’s casting.” Bell said.

“It’s the getting close part that’s going to be a problem,” Maya replied.

“I’ve only seen her fight up close,” I admitted, then thought about it. “Actually, I think she prefers that. I’ve never seen her engage at range. She’s incredibly fast, likes her knives, and enjoys causing pain. I saw her toy with a man three times your size for quite some time, then take him apart in seconds.”

“Okay.” Bell shivered. “Getting in close would be a mistake.”

“Voiding her is still a good idea, just from range, with one of your throwing weights. For the record,” I said, looking at all of them, “we’re only discussing this as a worst-case scenario. Direct confrontation might as well be a death sentence.”

Vogrin rubbed his chin. “The sadism may help us. She has ranged abilities. That’s not even a question. But I know the type. She won’t fall back on them until she has to, and will want to devote a certain amount of time to each of you before the bodies start dropping. However, that becomes a moot point the moment she feels threatened.”

Could we even manage that? The hopelessness burned like acid in my gut. There was a terrible mental image of Thoth, killing my friends, one by one. Making me watch. It was precisely the sort of thing she would do.

“So, we get in there, find out what she’s doing.” I rubbed my hands together, my mouth tight. “If it looks like something that can wait, we disengage, come back here. If the leyline is at risk, I’ll use my boon to weaken her magic, we distract her, and run like hell.”

Bell raised her hand. “I volunteer as distraction. I’m fast, and with the void state, I am almost invisible.”

“Bell, no.” Jorra walked over to her and said something quietly.

Bell ignored him and shook her head. “I’m the best choice for that. It makes sense.”

I sighed. “Jorra, I get it, but I’m with Bell on this. With that new gem, you can support her in a way she can’t support you if you took her place.”

For a moment, some of the old rebellious fire returned to Jorra’s face, but it faded just as quickly as it appeared. “Okay.”

“Just as a quick reminder to each of you,” Maya said, “we are talking about fighting an arch mage. If you sustain any injury, no matter how minor it might appear, come to me if you are able.”

“The light magician is correct.” Vogrin agreed. “Severity of damage is difficult to self-diagnose at the best of times, and you will be fighting in the dark, against someone capable of doing far more complex and harmful things than a direct elemental spell.”

I kept searching, for something, for anything. Any strategy I might’ve missed, any piece of information that in Infaris might have slipped me. But there was nothing. We were up against it now.

I passed out portions of haste, regeneration, and iron lung.

Then, Vogrin went in to scout, and we followed behind him.

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