Chapter 88 – Behind the Veil.

Crystal snuggled up to Rachael, her head against her shoulder, as she stared out the window of the skimmer into the roiling winds of the tempest storms, grey mists whipped around in a continual violent cycle. There really wasn’t a lot to see, but it was also the same out the windows on the other side and the front as well, the waves of the ocean stretching out as far as she could see. It reminded her very much of when she had flown on planes in the past – little to see except when you took off and landed. Not that she had done that much either mind you. And since the skimmer was only flying a few meters above the waves, that view couldn’t be changing in any great hurry. Sure, it would have been a different story if they’d been travelling across the land instead, but they were still enclosed in a flying metal box.

It really had nothing on flying on dragon back, the wind rushing past you, the strength of the majestic creature beneath you as it beat its wings, keeping you where ever you needed to be, be it just skimming over the treetops, or as high as the clouds with the land flowing by beneath. The warmth of their body against yours. Yeah, she might be a little jealous of riders, in that they had their own dragon familiar, and could fly like that all the time. And yes, she was missing Ashling and Light already. But they were Velvet’s dragons, and belonged with her.

Crystal knew they really didn’t have any other choice at the moment either. The were going out to explore after all, into the big unknown, for them at least, and they needed more than just a mode of transport. There was no telling if and when they’d find other towns, nor how they’d be received, even how long their money would last. Yes, she still had most of the rings left that she had scavenged from Southmall, but as to their value in the Innerlands she had no clue. They also had no idea what the weather would be like, or how long they’d be there for. So they’d had to change which skimmer they’d be using. They ended up taking a model similar but smaller than the one that Petunia had selected for her group, essentially a flying camper van. It was a lot bulkier than the previous one that Fairweather and Hope had been flying, and while it wasn’t any more difficult to fly, Clocky could feel the additional drain on him when he powered it. They’d all take turns on that though.

The skimmer was rather compact on the inside, no area going to waste, but comfortable enough. It had a total of four beds, each of which were just large enough for two people, so only half would be used. Which was good, there was no way that Crystal was going to be stuck in a single bed by herself, the feeling mutual for them all. All of the necessary amenities were present as well, and enough storage space for supplies, but that was about it. It had been designed for practicality, not luxury. They’d be spending a lot of their time either in the beds or in the seats in the front of the craft. The three arkchildren would either aiding with piloting or lounging around somewhere, but they were small, and could fit pretty much anywhere.

The main thing they were lacking, especially compared to what Petunia had bargained for, was a way to repair the skimmer should it get damaged. Given that she was certain that they would spend as much time away from the skimmer as by it, and how they might end up travelling at times, having a maintenance spider with them would be more of a hindrance than a help. She was just hoping that that decision wouldn’t come back to bite them, but they had all agreed on that one. At the very least, she could probably shift the skimmer back to Odinsphere for repairs if absolutely necessary. She understood the magic well enough to be able to achieve that.

And perhaps at some point, hopefully, they’ll be able to fly on dragon-back again.

Yes, she would be asking Ueana if they ran into her. With no shame at all. As to other riders, it would be a case by case basis, but she’d still be tempted.

“Lost in your thoughts again?” Rachael teased, giving Crystal a kiss on her horn. Rachael’s horns were glowing a soft sun gold colour due to the ambient mana around them, and her own would be too. They were near the tempest leylines after all.

“Mmm...” Crystal managed, looking up at Rachael and giving her a loving smile and batting her eyelashes innocently.

“About what lies ahead?”

“Mmm...” she murmured again, snuggling in closer. Rachael meant everything to her, more than anything else. And even if she would have preferred other methods, she would still be happy as long as she was travelling with her. Always together. Soulmates.

“And about Ashling and Light?” Rachael added, still with the teasing smile.

Not that she could hide anything from Rachael either.

“Yeah. This feels so... plain in comparison.”

“Yeah. That it does.” Rachael looked out the window, then back at Crystal, wrapping her arms around her, holding her close. “You know, I enjoyed flying on a plane, the few times that I did it back in the day. The freedom, anticipation, change of perspective. But now, with what we have experienced, what we have become, this feels more restrictive than anything else. It just lacks something.” Rachael chuckled. “Well, everything. There really isn’t any comparison.”

‘More so for you two, being deep dragons and all. For the rest of us, perhaps not so much.’

There definitely was an element of truth to that. Crystal closed her eyes, working her arms around Rachael, just enjoying her warmth and listening to her heart beat. Steady, strong, and in tune with her own. Something that she would never have imagined her self doing not that long ago. Well, for her relative time-frame at least, and not the more rigid one that passed as they slept in stasis.

“You really are a unique pair,” Fairweather’s amused voice rang out.

Crystal smiled. Quite happily too. Not that anyone on the skimmer wasn’t rather unique. Three other races, and Clocky, with his rather potent ability that he probably still didn’t understand the full effect of post pulse. Call it a hunch, but Crystal would be surprised if it hadn’t been significantly effected given what she’d seen thus far.

“Did she tell you anything more specific about what we are looking for?” Fairweather then asked.

“No,” Rachael answered. “Nothing beyond that we should travel north along the storm’s edge first. We tried asking her why, even Crystal did, but she didn’t say anything more on it than that.”

“Even to Crystal huh?” There was snide amusement in Fairweather’s voice. Crystal could imagine the look on her face at the moment.

“It wasn’t just that she wouldn’t,” Crystal amended. “It felt like she couldn’t. We really have no understanding of the ancients, but perhaps they have rules and restrictions of their own as well?”

perhaps.

A short and non committal answer, just like she had been providing before. But still with that hint of humanity that Warrior had seemed to have gained over time.

‘There really isn’t anything out here,’ Spectre chimed in, his image flickering in her mind as he spoke. ‘No matter where we scan, we aren’t detecting anything other than the storms and the ocean. No landmass at all. For whatever reason she’s sent us out here, it’s either well hidden, or we’ve a way to go yet before we find it.’

‘Wake me when you find something then,’ Crystal sent back, letting herself start to drift off. Right now there was no better place to be than where she was. Except perhaps snuggled up in one of the beds with Rachael, but it wasn’t the time or place for that right now.

Crystal couldn’t help but give a contented purr.

---

The skimmer lurched suddenly to the side, jolting Crystal and Rachael awake and sending them tumbling off their seat, both Clocky and Fairweather swearing as they braced themselves.

And then it lurched the other way, before the winds grabbed it, thrusting it upwards in a chaotic spin.

“Okay, that was much worse than what I expected,” Clocky muttered as Fairweather’s fingers raced over the controls.

Crystal felt a bit queasy as she started picking herself up off the floor, the spinning doing her no favours. Another reason why dragons were that much better. Taking Rachael’s hand, she sat back down beside her, closing her eyes, and grabbed on to the seat as best she could. What on earth was going on?

‘A sudden spike in the intensity of the storm, and localized on us. It seems like it’s reached out and grabbed us and dragged us in. Fairweather and Hope are trying to keep us steady, but the winds are too powerful for this models engines and we are entirely at the storms mercy.’

Crystal grimaced. Certainly not the best way to start their journey, but yet, Warrior had sent them out here, and she trusted the ancient. They were her paladins after all.

And silent on the matter at the moment too, even though Crystal could still feel her presence.

Crystal opened her eyes once the spinning stopped. They were deep in the storms now it seemed, the misty winds roaring past the skimmer on all sides, but by some miracle, not tearing them apart. Rachael grabbed her hand, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

‘Actually, we appear to be in a calm pocket of the storm...’

Crystal took a better look out the windows of the skimmer. Spectre was indeed correct. While she could see the winds, they weren’t close, but some distance away on all sides and above. And all that lay ahead and below them was a think blanket of mist, a protective layer hiding whatever lay inside.

‘A layer through which we cannot scan either...’ Spectre added, sounding rather frustrated. Which would of course make it their destination.

Both Crystal and Rachael moved up to the front of the skimmer, standing just beside Clocky as Fairweather and Hope manoeuvred the skimmer carefully down into the mists, floodlights sweeping out in front of the craft. The light barely penetrated the mists at all, but something was better than nothing. Crystal watched as the mists flowed past the skimmer, thick and heavy with water, leaving them totally at the mercy of whatever lay without. At least if something did decide to give the craft a yank again she’d be better prepared this time.

And then they were through. Well, almost. The mist was still present, but fine and sparse, visibility only slightly hindered. The skimmer was still well above the ground but they were quickly descending, Fairweather making for a patch of ground that appeared to be clear of the rocks and boulders that littered the landscape. The area wasn’t that large, maybe a few hundred meters across in both directions before the mists became an impenetrable wall again. Dominating the centre of the area was the ruins of a temple, old and ancient, one that had seen better days, and likely the reason that they were here.

Once the skimmer was firmly on the ground and powered down, they all disembarked from it and carefully made their way through the rocks and across towards the ruins. While it was dull, somehow enough light was filtering through the mists that they were able to see clearly enough, albeit with a shadowy ambience. The whole area was eerily silent, the only sound that of their feet crunching on the gravely surface, announcing their presence in this otherwise lifeless area, the arkchildren confirming that indeed there didn’t appear to be anything else here apart from them. Anything flesh and blood at least.

The temple was tall, constructed from white and grey stone, its walls stretching up a couple of stories before them. Massive decorative pillars surrounded the structure, covered in a foreign script that appeared to accompany the scenes that were engraved into the walls of the temple itself. Scenes of every landscape that she could think of, some populated with people and beasts, others not, and all with the sun rising. Beautiful scenes, artfully crafted, easily rivalling most of the paintings and images that she had seen. One section of the wall that they were walking along lay collapsed, forcing them to swing out wide, the stone spilling out over the terrain, forming a slope that reached the mid height of the remaining walls. Most of the other walls and the pillars had cracks running through them, some hairline, others wide enough that she could have squeezed her fingers into them. Not that that would be a sensible idea.

“Oh!” Rachael gasped, as they rounded side of the temple, and found themselves looking at the entrance, a dozen steps leading up into it. By which stood two draconic statues, intricate, and as tall as the temple itself.

And very much familiar.

“Senrir and Dynis...” Crystal breathed as she stared at them. They were even more beautiful than she remembered, proud and strong, the very essence of guardians who were waiting their time to return. But right now, still solid stone.

“This is the same temple, isn’t it?” Crystal asked Rachel. Everything was starting to look familiar, even though it had aged significantly. Which was a bit odd, thinking about it. They’d seen some ruins from their age that had survived rather well, all things considered, but yet, even though it was drenched in mana, albeit somewhat shielded as otherwise Clocky and Fairweather would be having quite a bit of difficulty, it looked like it had been ravaged by time.

Rachael nodded as she stared at the statues. “Yup, the anchor temple. Where our lives both ended and begun.”

“The one from your last memory of your time, where you were attacked by the wolf creature?” Clocky asked.

“That’s the one. It’s the same, yet different. It hasn’t survived as well as I thought it would have.”

“Perhaps some of the damage is from the war?” Fairweather offered.

Rachael shook her head. “It doesn’t feel like it. It’s just so much older now.”

“What were the anchor temples really?” Crystal asked, something about it all not fitting. This place, while it had been used by Arcane, did not feel like the ancient at all.

“The anchor temples were anchor temples...” Rachael started, before pausing. “She had always said that they were places that connected the world to where she had been sealed. A necessary connection...”

“This wasn’t hers though...” Crystal left the question hanging.

Rachael shook her head. “No. Like all of the others, I think they were all borrowed. From a previous age.”

“Then whose was it?” Fairweather asked.

dawn’s.

“Dawn’s. But not Velvet’s,” Crystal said “unless she’s a lot older that we’ve been told.”

no.

“You mean like the concept of dawn Dawn? This could get confusing quickly,” Fairweather sighed.

Rachael chuckled. “Has long been that way. For all we know, there could be a lot of overlap amongst the concepts. Especially now, given what has happened.”

Walking around the dragon statues they headed up into the temple. It was very nostalgic, Crystal certain that she had probably stood in exactly the same places on the steps as she had the last time they were here, her boots much nosier this time though. Like the exterior, the inside of the temple had not aged so well either, larger cracks running through some of the internal pillars and through the floor, and the collapsed wall having also done so inwards as well as out. The grass in the lowered section in the middle was long gone, along with any soil, the floor now just the same gravelly surface as outside, and the pedestals that had stood there were all on their sides or in pieces. It was kind of sad really.

And strange, that the only thing that remained untouched were the statues.

they sit outside time,

waiting,

for what was taken to be returned,

and for their age to come again.

Crystal blinked as what Warrior was saying, or at least implying, clicked. They were more than just representative statues. They were the forms of the dragons themselves.

“How?” she asked, her eagerness and excitement more than evident in her voice. “How would we bring them back to life?” Rachael appeared just as curious, Fairweather and Clocky confused as they looked at her. The downside of conversations with the ancient. Rachael heard it all just fine, but no one else did. She’d give them a run down later.

i don’t know.

Warrior seemed sad as she said that.

“Oh.” Crystal sighed, her daydream of being able to meet another dragon sooner than expected shattered.

find their souls,

and you will find a way.

ones who bear the aspect of dawn,

kin of all dragons.

That was something at least. Ambiguous, and with no clear direction at all, but still a possibility.

Crystal walked down the inner steps and into the lowered area, tracing her steps from when she found the armaments. It looked so barren without the grass there, to give it that lost and overgrown feel. Sterile even. Lifeless.

Returning to the inner steps, she twirled and then faced Rachael, striking the pose as she summoned the sword and shield. “How do I look?”

“Like a warrior princess,” Rachael replied, giggling, before she stepped up to Crystal, placing her hands around Crystal’s waist and pulling her close as Crystal dismissed the weapons again. “And even more so now,” she added huskily into Crystal’s ear.

“Mmmm...” Crystal purred as she let herself melt into Rachel’s embrace.

Crystal felt a subtle shift in the air as the nature of the light mists around them suddenly changed, becoming thicker and heavier with mana, tinged with an aspect of something that was both familiar and yet not, and she couldn’t quite place it. She looked up startled, reluctantly stepping back from Rachael. “What now?” she asked, disappointed.

“That is a good question...” Rachael echoed, sounding just as confused.

“It’s nothing hostile,” Clocky stated, his eyes glowing, before he shook his head, looking deep in thought. “But, whatever is going on, it sits outside of my quirk.”

“Oh!” Fairweather’s ears twitched as she glanced around them, her flames also effected by whatever unfelt breezes were swirling the mists, leaping and dancing in unusual ways. “That would be a first.”

They quickly made their way outside to find that the terrain had changed. There were now trees, made entirely of mist, in the area surrounding the temple, and at the edge of the island was a thick wall of the white mist, stretching up like the cliff face that had once been there, a hundred meters into the air. No, not just like the cliff, but an exact duplicate, the path that twisted its way down clearly visible as they rounded the side of the temple.

And two figures, also made from mist, carefully making their way down it.

The not breeze shifted, the flow of the mist changing direction, and the figures of mist on the cliff face disappearing, reappearing beside them as the walked past and around the corner of the temple, towards the entrance.

“That’s us,” Rachael stated with a chuckle, Crystal also unable to miss the resemblance. The detailing that the mist was recreating was uncanny, and disturbing.

The not breeze shifted again, and the two figures reappeared near the base of the cliff, walking their way towards the temple.

“Not only that, it’s showing snippets of what happened here that day...” Rachael continued.

Crystal nodded. It did indeed appear that way.

It felt strange, to be so clearly reminded of these events, and to see herself as what she once was. But was no longer. For her, these memories weren’t so bad, ignoring that she almost died in the fight against the creature. For the first time ever, she had gotten to spend quality time with Rachael, walking with her and exploring old town, and then the ruins of the temple. The beginning of what they had now. The beginning of it all in fact she guessed, when they had been bonded together, Rachael sharing part of herself with her. But for Rachael, there was more pain to the memories. Crystal could still remember the absolute pain in Rachael’s voice as she had cried out, as Crystal’s consciousness had faded. Crystal reached out, taking Rachael’s hand in her own, holding it reassuringly.

“It’s alright,” Rachael said softly, giving her hand a squeeze, then pulling her in for a kiss. “Bittersweet, but where it all truly began. And look at us now.” Rachael’s smile was true happiness, drawing Crystal in and filling her with warm fuzzies. “I wonder though, exactly how much is it going to show?”

All of it it turned out. But in random snippets, the flow of the mist changing chaotically, shifting where the figures of mist were acting out the events, and never quite the part that they expected to see next. Standing on a line from the corner of the temple gave them the best view of the outside events, letting them watch in fascination as, over a length of time and very much fragmented, the figures approached the temple and examined the statues for the first time. Moving to the top of the temple’s steps let them see the replay of the battle, the sensation of having the mist versions walk past them strange. Multiple times in fact, whatever force behind the apparitions happy to repeat some segments multiple times before showing some others. Crystal felt a chill run through her when she saw the creature tear through her middle, lifeblood seeping from her, and cringed at exactly how bad her form and technique had been. That she’d managed to hurt it at all was a miracle in itself.

What was rather impressive, almost disturbing, was the level of detail of the apparitions, that seemed to get better over each iteration of a segment, some new feature becoming discernable each time and carrying over to the rest of them. At first it was just the detailing on the clothes or the bodies, but them it seemed to stretch to the details of the surrounding area, and then to the flow of the magic itself. They could see Rachael using the magic in the fight, the instinctually formed array as she poured her power into Crystal’s dying body in order to try and heal her, and then the arrays that appeared around them both as Arcane bonded their souls together.

Not just one array, but many, in progressively clearer detail, their meanings and intent coming to them both as they read them at each appearance, complex but not unfathomable.

And not just for what Arcane had said either. Of course there was also the stasis array, delayed for Rachael, a fairly comprehensive but slow healing array, and multiple channelling arrays to bring in additional power. But there was also an array to banish the creature, one to fuse a part of the surrounding mana with them, one meant to sever connections, and one to fuse a part of an ancient’s essence with them. Curiously, while almost everything seemed to work as Arcane had intended, the one to sever connections failed, some other force breaking the delicate circuitry of the weaving. It may have also interfered with the one that followed that as well, but she couldn’t tell. But, given that she had used them then, what would have stopped Arcane from trying the failed array again, especially as they had both been in magical stasis somewhere for a thousand or more years.

she could not.

what was done, was done.

Warrior spoke with with a certainty that left her with no room for doubt. Though that would imply that she also knew what had transpired here.

“Warrior, why were your armaments here in the first place?”

she couldn’t do it alone.

but she hadn’t expected you to bond with them.

of course we weren’t going to let her sever that.

“Yet you still doubted me?” Crystal could recall the declaration now that the ancient had made when it had offered her her gift, marking them as the Chosen of Warrior, sharing a part of herself with them both.

context is a glorious thing.

as is what you chose to focus on.

Warrior sounded ever so amused. Crystal on the other hand was completely confused. But she knew that the ancient wasn’t going to say any more on the matter either. Not to mention that she was also still very much grateful for the gift in the first place.

“Why did she need to banish the demon wolf?” Fairweather asked as she watched its form disappear off to the side. “It was well beyond dead.”

“That is in fact a really good point.” Crystal replied absently. She knew that it had happened from the arrays, but hadn’t thought any more on it given that she had been paying attention to the arrays themselves, trying to absorb as much information as she could each time that they had appeared.

“On that topic,” Rachael added with a scowl, “where did it come from in the first place. I was certain that I had dealt with the one that had turned up in our neighbour the previous day, and the magic of the anchor temples usually kept monsters away from them.”

“But not this one it seemed?” Clocky queried.

“So it seemed.”

“If we’re seeing more than what was in your memories, as evidenced by these,” Clocky motioned to where the arrays had been forming but were currently absent, “perhaps we’ll be able to trace the path of the creature as well?”

‘We’re already on it,’ piped up Spectre. ‘Each of the apparitions gives off a small spike that we’re able to sense. We’re scanning the area to find ones that don’t match with what we’ve seen so far and/or that don’t mesh with your memories.’

“We should look ourselves while they scan?” Crystal asked. They’d seen about as much as they could in the temple itself anyway.

Rachael nodded, her expression still grim. Crystal took her hand again as they walked back out of the temple.

The arkchildren found the origin point of the creature first, which wasn’t surprising given that they had been gathering data the entire time. It wasn’t where they had expected either. At all. It had not climbed down the cliff face, nor walked down the path. It hadn’t even crossed the basin that the temple had been sitting in. Instead it had appeared on the roof of the temple itself, ungainly scrambling down and dropping right in front of the entrance, before it had then howled and charged in. Almost completely out of sight for where they had been looking and watching.

A rather strange place for a creature to start its journey. Especially as they would have seen it as they had walked down the path to the temple.

That however, was easily explained as they flew up and landed on the roof, watching in disbelief as the creature all but appeared on the origin spot, an array clearly glowing array it.

The demon wolf had been summoned there. By Arcane.