No, Please, Not Again! (Plot)|Skyheort, Talen'sul

[Kender Bard]

Mina hummed to herself quietly. This was her day in the Etaf wing and she was enjoying the peace and quiet. She loved her templemates in the Soahcian wing of course, but it was nice to get a reprieve from their riotous notion of fun.

As she dusted the scroll-collection of safe, old prophecies that the priests would reference from time to time for various reasons, her vision abruptly swam. She blinked rapidly as her vision darkened, to be replaced with a confusing flurry of visions.

No, please, no, she thought as the visions of the demonic summoning assaulted her.

I am sorry, my child, Etaf's voice intoned softly into her mind as the visions marched on. But you have always been my faithful servant, and I need my most faithful and trustworthy more than ever now.

What does this all even mean?!

Darkness has risen. There is a blight on the land as demons swarm forth from the portal ripped through the veils by the high priest of Morilanta.

Well, at least she was getting some explanation. That was much better than her normal form of communication with her Force.

The problem of the demons is one which I and my brethren are to deal with, but we need assistance. This is where you come in, my faithful. Go forth, and deliver my rings to these individuals. They are not my chosen, but rather individuals very uniquely suited to our problem.

Dusk and Twilight. The King and Queen of Love, so suited to those ranks and titles. Man and wife, warrior and priestess, two parts of a greater whole. Twilight stands with his arm around Dusk, looking out over the kingdom with an expression of pride, holding on to the moment of peace for as long as he can. The two stand in quiet contemplation until Dusk leans over and kisses her husband firmly, bringing him back to the here and now.

Snowflake. The High Priestess of Love, preaching sermons of peace and forgiveness, of unleashing the Love that lived in every heart, leaving the church and eager to be with her own family where Love truly came alive for her.

Nalani. The priestess who had passed through the fires of life and come out stronger for it. She watches a young acolyte run by shrieking with joy and smiles sadly before going back to trying to help a heartbroken follower understand her pain better and overcome it.

Sonata. The woman who had lived a hard, abused life, finding purpose with the Church again. Now she preaches her faith to a people who need every bit of love and light in their harsh lives.

All of them are in Anarlina, save for Sonata, who you will find in Khelek.

Please, no, don't make me leave my husband and son, Mina thought in despair. Why me?

Because I trust you and I love you.

Mina lowered her head, even though she still could not see. I cannot deny you, My Lady.

Etaf appeared in front of her briefly, lifted her chin up gently. Mina saw nothing of this but she felt the touch, the warmth. Etaf brushed her fingertips gently against Mina's cheek in a comforting gesture. "This will be the last time. I swear it."

Mina gasped, and vision flooded her again. Etaf was gone. She took a deep breath and turned, hurrying home.

[Darastrix]

Nathan was upstairs washing up when Mina arrived. He'd had a performance earlier that day, and a fair bit of his costume had been painted on. Not that he'd minded much; with all the people in attendance and the fire roaring in the fireplace, it had felt positively stifling. For not the first time, he'd been glad to have an Ice sign to cool down with.

When he heard the door open downstairs, he briskly toweled his hair and slipped his pants on. Well, he thought, running a hand through his hair, at least most of the wing dust is out. He liked the effect, but Forces, that stuff could stick in your hair and wings for ages. He'd have to ask Mina to help get the rest of it off the back of his wings. Not to mention the paint off of his back. Shaking his head, Nathan headed downstairs, picking a dried gold swirl off of his arm as he went.

"Mina? You're home already?"

[Kender Bard]

"Yes," she said in a tense tone. She tried to articulate why but the words stuck in her throat. All that came out was a small whimper. She rushed to him, threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. "I have bad news," she finally managed to murmur. "Let's sit down."

[Darastrix]

Nathan put his arms around her, stroking his fingers through her feathers as she tried to gather herself. What could have happened? Had one of her friends in the temple been hurt, or worse? Was her sister up to something again? Well, the latter was unlikely, and he couldn't imagine what she could do that would have Mina react like this.

Bad news? Nathan's hold tightened briefly before he moved to walk her to the couch. "What is it?" he asked, his own voice growing tense as he sat down. "Is Astrophel all right?"

[Kender Bard]

"Oh, yes, he's fine," Mina said in a sudden sigh. Forces, if something had happened to their son, she'd be a complete mess. She laced her fingers through his and held his hands. "I received a vision," she said quietly. "This one was different than all the others before, however. And during it, Etaf spoke to me; actually explained things as best as she could."

And so she began to relate what she'd seen and what Etaf had said. "Fortunately, it seems that I don't need to go far. And this far north--and with my heading in an eastward direction--I don't think I run a high risk of bumping into anything dangerous on the way. All the same, I plan to bring a Wrathful with me. Maybe both."

She squeezed his hands again. "And... At least she promised me that this would be the last time I was called upon to run around on her request."

[Darastrix]

Nathan felt himself grow cold all over. Not again.... Even though Mina had never been hurt on one of her Force-sent sojourns, he still worried. She'd had a near-miss that time in Ronduin, and this was one of the worst times of the year for travel. Snow in the passes, the possibility of more snow at any given time, and...wait. East?

"You're going to have to go to Khelek?" he blurted. "In winter?"

[Kender Bard]

Mina grimaced. "I know, it's not very safe. But I don't know how much time I have to do this. If I'm fortunate, I'll be able to find and enlist the aid of a Mind to help..." She snapped her fingers. "One of the rings is to go to Nalani. She might still be with her Mind lover; if she is, perhaps I could prevail upon them to teleport me safely to Khelek."

[Darastrix]

"Going between any of the nations in these mountains isn't going to be the safest thing, either," Nathan protested.

[Kender Bard]

"I know," Mina sighed and cupped his cheek. "But I can't wait until the seasons warm enough so that it is safe. The best I can do is try to find the swiftest, most secure way there... And pray that given the nature of my task, Etaf will watch over me." In truth she was putting quite a bit of faith in that last one. Surely Etaf wouldn't risk something this important by letting her die if things came down to the worst scenario... Right?

[Darastrix]

Nathan closed his eyes and covered the hand on his cheek with his own. "Let me come with you," he murmured. "You're not going to one of the hidden places this time, and my signs might be useful, given the weather. Eril could watch Astrophel and he'd have Clara to play with."

[Kender Bard]

That was... tempting. Mina considered it in silence for several moments before she finally nodded. "Very well. All the more incentive to make sure we return swiftly, safe and sound." She slipped her hand into a pocket and pulled out one of the rings of Love she had there to show him. They were small, thin things that seemed to be made of braided gold threads. "These are what I need to deliver. Four for Anarlina, one for Khelek. Then we'll be done forever with this sort of thing."

[Darastrix]

Thank goodness, Nathan thought. Or, perhaps more accurately, thank Etaf. It wasn't something he actively worried over, especially since the last time Mina had been called to do Etaf's work had been a few years ago, but the worry crept into his thoughts every now and then. It would be nice to not even have that anymore.

"Who are the other rings for?" he asked. "Will they be easy to find?"

[Kender Bard]

Mina smiled a bit nervously at that. "There's one for Nalani, one for a priestess in Khelek named Sonata. The rest are for, um... The High Priestess of Love and the King and Queen of Anarlina."

Yeah... That was going to be... Nervewracking.

[Darastrix]

"I think Zack's said High Priestess Snowflake is really approachable. And maybe Their Majesties will remember seeing us at that ball Zira threw a while back," Nathan said hopefully. "Or we can ask Zack or Zira to try to pull some strings and get us an audience?"

[Kender Bard]

"Yes, oh, that would work well," Mina murmured, relief washing over her. "I think we could start with the High Priestess... If that goes well, we'll see how things go from there."

Well they were making plans and it seemed that so long as they could get between points safely, all would be well. "I hope Astrophel won't feel badly that we're leaving like this..."