Tyrant's Ebb

Tyrant's Ebb, chapter 2 - Dissolution of the Three Dominions

Var'adiel

The former High King of the Alyar, the elder of the comforting shade. The source of the Dolyar.
One moon since the new Mark of the Other One blossomed.
The moon of Waning Fire has come.

"Why must you be so obstinate, Grand Commander Sil'var?" Var'adiel lamented with a heavy sigh.

His gaze was torn between the upset Alyar and the skin on his own hands. He could feel new, wooden layers rapidly growing again. These small periods of growth came and went daily. Most of the time he barely noticed them, yet when he did, Var'adiel thought something was being set free inside of his mind.

"You broke the Three Dominions. Your deluded desires led to the end of the longest standing entity in the history of Tavran."

"Is this a delusion?" Kar'ath shoved his hand, now resembling a wooden claw, under the Alyar's nose. "Look at it, brilliant witch!"

"It could be cursewood for all you know! I saw the being born under the corrupted sunshards. She led you, did she not? A corrupted being has filled your head with delusions. And you broke the Alyar!" Sil'var spat at Var'adiel's feet.

"I broke nothing. The Alyar are as they were. I sought to end the suffering of my people, the Dolyar. The Three Dominions are still standing, only now, we must consider the truth for the future relations between us. Once we reach the Resting Shade, you will have ample opportunity to confirm all that I have told you, Grand Commander. I freed an entire race."

"Still standing, are they? Are they really, Var'adiel?" The Alyar Commander paced around the riverboat. "The last news I received from High Magister Kael'varin, were of the Beryl Dominion. They are threatening to harm any Brilliant Alyar that will set foot on their islands! They have declared war on their own kin and taken lands under the jurisdiction of the Brilliant Bluffs for themselves. What are your intentions, oh elder of the Comforting Shade?"

"Those islands have always belonged to my kind! To the Su'yer!" Joa'na was furious. "What will it take to get through to you? A hammer and a chisel? I now see why the humans called Alyar useless and dumb as a bag of stone!"

"I only seek what is mine. Both of our kind do." Var'adiel gestured and pointed towards Joa'na. "We have taken nothing that was not ours. The ancestral home of my kin have always been the verdant forests and surrounding lands. The Alyar tried to bury the truth under a mountain of lies. Contrary to your beliefs, I am seeking to maintain relations with the Alyar. I will let past insults slide, if you let us do as we please. It will benefit the Brilliant Bluffs if they allow us to reclaim all our ancestral lands from the humans. In return I do not want to see a single Alyar on my territories."

"We are not asking much of you, Sil'var." Kar'ath growled.

"What has happened to you?" Sil'var turned to the hulking Dolyar. "You were calm, collected. Not this raging torrent. We were on the hidden continent, we fought the mist together."

"My mind has been freed. How can I explain to you this feeling, if you have always been what you are? Your soul was free from the start, it was not bound to a foreign source."

Sudden rumbling echoed throughout the barren plains, and waves rocked the riverboat. Just like the small growth spurts occurring to Var'adiel and his companions, these tremors lasted longer each time. The elder eyed the surrounding dry plains, yet nothing of note caught his attention. These tremors had started mere days after the new Mark of the Other One blossomed and they had become worse. It was worrying how they seemingly pursued the riverboat.