The Celestial Way

Chapter 10.4 - Guardians of the Way

Everyone turned to where the voice came from. Walking toward the table was a tall, graceful Coastlander with stunning features. She was dressed in a scant, elegant robe the color of a starry night. She walked barefoot, and wore nothing underneath the robe, its extravagant cut exposing the olive skin of her well defined curves. Her toxic-green eyes inspected everyone in a cool, imperious manner. If Airo's blood hadn't vaporized already in his incandescent desire for revenge, he would have been hard-pressed to resist the allure of this exotic stranger.

The Coastlander sauntered over to the command room table, forming the apex of a triangle between her, Airo's group, and Lylana and Glawlrhain. "It is good to see you again, Magus," she said in a tranquil, vaguely sensual tone.

"Mentoria," the old Knight nodded tersely.

"Ferrtau has gone over the brink," she continued, her words emphasized with finality. "Now we all shall suffer for the Lightbringer's hubris. The Cosmos itself will pay the ultimate price."

"Cease your theatrics," Magus said gruffly. "What is really at stake?"

Mentoria scoffed, yet her gaze was cold. "I already told you, my dear. If you wish me to repeat myself in more coarse terms for the sake of the audience, I will say this: if Ferrtau's plan succeeds, his actions will unmake the entire Sector, the galaxy, our own subjective universe, and quite possibly reality itself."

The silence in the command room was absolute.

"How?" Magus asked. He leaned forward, planting his palms on the table. "He cannot do this by himself."

"He did not share the intricate details of his mad visions," Mentoria said. "However, it seems his primary aim is to attain complete control over the Shard. Perhaps he found a way to tap into its power. Perhaps during his exile, he somehow came upon forbidden knowledge even we, dear Magus, for all of our long ages, have never come across before."

"And why has he not succeeded?" Magus asked. He raised an eyebrow. "The Shield?"

"Yes," Mentoria said with distaste. "I managed to activate your contraption barely before utter defeat. Honestly, my dear, I never expected this device to be needed at all."

"The problem is, the Shield didn't work completely," Lylana cut in angrily. She sighed, the gesture seemingly deflating her giant frame. "It interrupted the process the Lightbringer started, but it didn't contain the rift he made in the Shard. Reality in the immediate vicinity collapsed almost completely. It's the reason the entire paraworld became so unstable."

"What followed next?" Magus asked.

"After we activated the Shield, we fought a rear guard action," Glawlrhain explained. The dragon had a haunted expression – something Airo had never seen on any of their kind before. "Ferrtau... soul reaved many of our number. He then raised them back as Revenant. The abominations were invulnerable to anything non-draconic or non-Æther. Their onslaught felled the rest of our ranks. We evacuated whoever we could, and fled."

Magus' voice dropped low. "How many of the Order remain?"

"The fighting continued even in the skies," Lylana said, her voice hollow. "Ten dozen Knights survived. A score of them are dragons. We also saved several eggs from the hatchery."

Magus closed his eyes. The command room remained quiet as a tomb. "Did anyone else from the elder Knights survive?" he murmured at last.

"No, sir. Only a handful of us assisted in the evacuation." Lylana paused, her jaw setting. "Except for me and Glawlrhain, there's nobody else older than half a century remaining."

"A noble sacrifice," Magus whispered. "Of course." He opened his eyes, his resolve somewhat returned. "And then?"

"Mentoria led us here, in one of the field training bases which were abandoned after the Dragon Independence War." Lylana glanced sideways. "She... assisted us in hiding our presence. We believe Ferrtau wasted no time in setting out the Revenant to hunt for us. The fall of the Shard had far-reaching consequences with the Consortium and the Union, of course. As soon as they were hit by the Revenant, they accused each other. We tried to contact them in several near-fatal incidents. They didn't listen. At best each thinks us accomplices to the other regarding a burst of unprovoked hostilities."