Chapter Forty-Five: Brains Or Scrambled Eggs?
Their nap lasted the rest of their break. At some point, Aiden had fallen asleep as well, only waking when Isaac coughed uncomfortably. They exchanged some awkward glances at Anna before Ian and Isaac scampered off to go talk about whatever it was they talked about.
Probably theories about weapons and builds.
Looking to his left, he saw Blizzy still curled up next to him, softly snoring. He blew in her face, sending a mental prompt to get up. Turning to Anna, he couldn’t stop a grin when he saw the bit of drool on his shirt.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” he muttered, trying not to startle her. He poked her side softly, trying to tickle her awake. He poked up and down her side until he got a response, but he wasn’t sure the moans he received for his efforts were quite the effect he was going for. He tried talking to her again. “Hey, Anna, it’s time to wake up. It’s our turn on guard.”
He was acutely aware of how warm her body was pressed against his.
“Anna.” As cute as she was, he was running out of patience. “Anna.”
Touching her shoulder, he cast Icy Touch, eliciting a surprised yelp from the girl. Her eyes attempted to focus as she sat up, her hands rubbing against the sudden layer of frost.
“Eh? What's the matter?” she grumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“Naptime’s over,” he explained.
She groaned, hanging her head in her palms. “Just five more minutes.”
He grabbed her hands in his, tugging her to her feet. “Up and at ‘em.”
“Bully.” She snapped her fingers, giggling when he yelped. A thorn poked against his ankles. “This is your fault for being so comfy as a pillow.”
Rolling his eyes, he led her to the edge of the mountain path. A woman stared back at him from halfway down. Her white cloak fluttered, head facing toward him. But her eyes were covered, a dark purple blindfold wrapped around them. Despite that, he could feel her boring into his mind.
Aiden was stunned, control of his body stolen away
“At ease,” a feminine voice commanded directly inside his head.
No! He grabbed his head in his hands. That mental power made him feel disgusted - violated. She rummaged around his mind, searching for something. Once she found whatever she was looking for, the presence stepped back from his mind.
He immediately vomited the little contents in his stomach. The world spun. This is worse than at the school.
Thinking that caused him to wretch again.
Anna sucked in a breath when she placed a rejuvenating palm on his back. “What just happened?”
“She just read my mind,” he groaned, spitting a glob of sticky mucus to the side. “I couldn’t do anything to stop her.”
He could feel the traces of her presence in his mind. The strange being left behind a deep regret that made him feel a sadness so strong, tears freely flowed from his eyes. Fighting back the urge to fall to the ground and assume the fetal position, he straightened with the help of Anna and glared back at the strange woman.
“Hello,” they greeted emotionlessly, emulating English perfectly. They took another step forward, but Aiden’s hastily cast Hoarspike made his feelings known. “You should not attack someone before they’ve said their piece, Aiden. If I were to take your actions as aggressive, I might accidentally hurt Anna.”
I don’t like this.
“You don’t have to like it, Aiden.” The powerful mind mage stepped forward, closing the distance instantly. “You just have to complete your Destiny,” she said, tilting his teary eyes up to face her. “Assume the Ruler’s Throne, take control of Midrath, and force the Shadowborn to their knees for their crimes.”
She tapped his head, and a vision stole away his consciousness.
Standing on her balcony, peering out at the picturesque landscape of red, orange, and silver, Avacyn allowed herself a small amount of happiness. The All-Mother wasn’t around to see the slip of stoicism.
Fortifying her mind, she locked the memory down deep. To feel was a sin among the royalty, and she didn’t wish to be punished again. Her last time with the Warf left her reluctant to make a repeat visit.
Under the Warf’s painful administrations, even her prodigious mental fortitude cracked. Looking herself up and down in the vanity, she straightened her cloak, pulling her hood over her silver hair. The white of her skin-tight one-piece with its maroon trimming highlighted her Royal pendant and halo.
She touched her hand against the face in the reflection, admiring her flawlessly pale skin. She had seen the way Galayu touched Akroma - Avacyn’s older sister.
Avacyn wanted that - no. Avacyn needed that. Her body sang to the heavens for a mate, but Galayu’s reputation allowed him choice, and he dared to choose Akroma. Avacyn would never think it, but envy filled her heart. She would never admit the feelings of rage that filled her.
That would be treason.
She could only contemplate her shortcomings - which there were none. She stashed the thought deep, hiding her arrogance from the Seers. She tucked it deep, allowing it to fuel the raging flame in her heart.
Pressing against the glass, she mused as the surface rippled like pond water. Akroma was inferior in every way to Avacyn. Etherene traditions were stringent in their demands, yet Galayu’s faction afforded him the political power to overthrow their traditions.
To choose Akroma!
Bury it deep, don’t let it be seen.
When she met the Shadownborn Heir, she thought her destiny would reveal itself. Her heart had sung in harmony with The Song, but she had been passed by. As easy as blinking, he overruled their laws and customs.
But she would make him forget.
Blinking, she cleared her eyes of the Madness in her eyes. Too many had fallen by her hand for her to break now. Her title of Lady Painseer - a lackluster accolade for someone of her greatness - meant nothing to the foolish coupling.
As Heir to the Throne, the future All-Mother, Avacyn refused to allow the disgrace that gagged her. Single-handedly, she had turned The Tides. With no one at her side, she brought the Vagrants to kneel, uniting them under the Ruler. The Thousand-Year War meant nothing before her might.
Yet she remained alone while Akroma mated in front of their people. She was Selected for the seeds of Galayu, to bear the future Ruler. Avacyn’s title of All-Mother would mean nothing before Akroma’s spawn.
Breathing out, she collected her power and used as much as possible to bottle her resentment. Nobody would know, not even the All-Mother. Even if she were to find out, the All-Mother’s fate was already determined by Avacyn’s careful preparation.
Her Heir Father would seek retribution for the loss, but he would find nothing. All the pieces were in place. Allowing another bitter smile, Avacyn stepped away from the vanity, heading down the long hall. The Madness sank into the ground around her, marring the world with her Blight, but they couldn’t See as Avacyn could.
They were fools, one and all.
Her blade of silver hovered next to her, basking in the Madness. Once a simple thing, it now exuded its own pain. Her suffering, her sacrifice, it had seen it all, and it bled the Madness into the world with her.
The day went as usual, and she continued to pass undetected. She didn’t care. Things changed that day. The All-Mother’s mind needed only one prod before Avacyn was named the new All-Mother.
Hiding her feelings, she crushed the seed of wrath planted within the All-Mother. The wrath spread through the All-Mother, pushing her into a rage. When the All-Mother's mind reached out, trying to enthrall any and all nearby, Avacyn was ready. When no other could defend themselves, Avacyn struck down the Fallen Soul of the previous All-Mother, claiming the title as her own.
But the excitement of the day had only begun.
Akroma and Galayu would present for another seeding in only a few hours. The transition to All-Mother was seamless. Avacyn knew the duties inside and out, but they wouldn’t be done that day. Instead, she went to see Akroma, but her older sister wouldn’t remember such a visit.
Ruler-Father would find nothing either. Many years had passed, and she'd honed her skills to the utmost peak. Not even he would know.
With her work finished, she left. Watching her older sister live a lavish life infuriated the Madness, so she removed herself from the premises. Nothing would ruin this day. Not even the pampered Akroma.
Turning away, she proceeded to the seeding chamber. White satin and silk awaited her as well as two dozen royal servants of every race they’d subjugated. All attendants in any seeding chamber were required to be nude at all times, as per custom.
Avacyn assumed her seat at the center of the room, overlooking the bedding in which the seeding would take place. She would bear witness as did every All-Mother before her.
But they would come to know why she was regarded as an esteemed Painseer.
The time passed, and then they were there.
Akroma and Galayu. Hand in hand, their faces expressionless, they approached. The seeding proceeded as expected right until Avacyn dominated both their wills with her own.
She scorned their weakness, knowing she was the rightful Heir Mother - not Akroma. She willed their bodies to remain in motion, keeping appearances while she picked apart every last piece of their minds.
Her work was delicate, careful, and impossible to trace. The Shadowborn elite wouldn’t know what had happened.
Or so she thought.
The Shadowborn cared little for who harmed their Heir, only that an Etherene had done it. They came with their World Devourer and set upon all of Armani. But they didn’t stop there.
The Shadowborn were thorough. Her Ruler-father afforded her and many of the Etherene protection, even allowing her to escape. She witnessed the razing of her city, of her people, of everything she knew.
Her city mourned as it faded, bleeding into the sky long after the Shadowborn left with their World Devourer. She stumbled upon the broken form of her Ruler-father, and she allowed her emotions free.
Pain.
Suffering.
The age of the Etherene had fallen. The Song faded, only a distant echo of its former greatness. Her sword cried to those that lost their lives, but there would be no response. She wailed, drowning in the sorrow of loss. All because of the Shadowborn, her people were Lost Ones. The Song would forsake them, and they would wither into obscurity.
The Shadowborn were to blame, their tyranny stealing all that she cared for. The form of her slain Ruler-father lay broken at her feet, and she cried.
Something she’d never experienced before. The tears were hot and salty.
When there were no tears left, she gave in to the Madness, wandering the lands, seeking her grave. But she would not find it, no. The Shadowborn swarms wished to cause her death, but their fragility left them naught but fuel to feed the flame.
The Great Ones, The People, The Protectors. Many names to say the same thing. She met them, finding their existence overwhelming, and fled. She could not accept their pleasantries, as their powerful minds made her feel small - equally helpless as she had been before The World Devourer.
In her aimlessly wandering, she found herself at the mountainous path leading toward her Ruler-father’s throne. She wished to see it, but it was lost to her. She wished to feel the pervasive feeling of his power, but her entry would be barred as it had been time and time before.
Instead, what brought her to this place was an oddity. Something she surely should’ve noticed before, but the ages she spent wandering bled together. This time though, she found strange humanoids upon her Ruler-father’s mountain, daring to attempt to claim his throne.
Her feet carried her forward. Instinctively, she scanned the first person she saw, nearly frying their brain.
Humans.
From a place on the Mortal Realm named Earth.
They speak English.
And they wish for the death of the Shadowborn.
“Hello.”
When the vision ended, Aiden grabbed Anna and threw himself away. “Stay away from us!”
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