400 Followers!
We did it, folks!
As promised, a shout-out to @ratherinterestingmilkshake for the suggestion.
A page of out of context theatre from a future book in the Illthdar series: The King's Men.
“Aww, birb,” Vyxen teased, rushing to his side to give Toshiiro’s cheek a pinch.
Toshiiro yelped and forced her hand away from his abused skin. “Stop doing that!”
“You were worried!” She tittered.
In the end, Abaddon was the owner of a set of copper trimmed steel plate armour, alchemy symbols etched throughout, each one denoting their best traits. “Thank you,” Abaddon said, unable to direct it to anyone specifically, still unsure of the giver. Donning each piece over their leather vest and bracers, Abaddon had no doubt they would be well christened by the time the day was over.
"That's a good look for you, Abaddon," Tundra complimented, finding the copper details went well with their complexion.
"Y-you think so? Um, thank you."
"You look amazing!" Vyxen agreed.
Abaddon flushed and rolled the toe of their boot against the uneven floor, shy from all the attention.
“Any orders issued yet?” Toshiiro said, less flustered than when he entered, but more red-faced for his troubles. He only asked in a bid to recover from his embarrassment.
“None new,” Tabitha confirmed, stretching her winged arms high over her head.
“Everyone to their places, dears,” Scyanatha declared, passing out sashes blazoned with the red king's heraldry - she didn't want any to be mistaken for the opposing army and was taking no chances. “War waits for no one.”
Outside, the kings and prince were too wrapped up in their strategies to pay them any notice. Not a nod or look was spared as the Acolytes spread out to their respective tasks.
Vyxen spotting elvish soldiers passing potted plants to civilians along the way, she asked, “What are they doing?”
“It’s a tradition of the elves,” Scyanatha volunteered. “They’ll name a living worthy bloom flower after the ones who go off to war.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s believed that, a flower connected by name to a person will grow and thrive with them. If the flower ever stops blooming, then its namesake lost their lives.”
“Wait, is it to help identify the dead?” Vyxen’s voice hitched, an unsettled feeling coiling her stomach.
“More a good luck charm,” Scyanatha reassured her. "Because they are worthy, the flowers grow."
"Aww… hey, can anyone do that? Does it work even if there's no mana?" Vyxen floated the idea of keeping several at the homestead once she got there. The thought of at least knowing the others were alive on Illthdar was appealing.
Scy smiled, guessing Vyxen's train of thought. "Unfortunately it's a trick only elves are able to employ. One of the few ways they can use mana directly. You would need an elf to tie the person's name to the bloom."
Vyxen snapped her fingers in disappointment.
Vyxen, Tundra, Inari and Salem soon found themselves standing just outside of a hole in the mountain that protected the Lond from the side opposite of the gate. Already armed with a bow and arrows, Salem was given a larger one-sided axe for added defence and put to Tundra’s opposite on the side of the path while Vyxen called and ushered civilians through the zig-zag cave mouth.
The elves tried to arm Tundra much the same, but he declined. “If I need a weapon, I’ll use whatever is on hand.”
Though they waited outside the cave, it wasn’t any place Salem hoped they would have to retreat to, if only because of the implications.
That sentiment didn’t transfer to his sister. “It’s like a massive geode! It’s so pretty!”
“Mana’s son, Dheu, has appeal to many,” Inari confessed from their place on the ground, next to the opening, their back to the mountain. Their task was so seal the opening, should the enemy make it there.
“Mana’s son?” Vyxen asked, all ears. She peered back into the yellow crystal cave, seeing it with new eyes. “Is everything on Illthdar a child of Mana or only certain things?” Unsure if Inari was being poetic and unable to decide, if that was the case, if they meant crystals only.
“All born from Illthdar are her children, as you suspect, but some are closer to her than others,” Inari replied. “Vvekw and her siblings are her closest offspring.”
Making a guess, she asked, “Are they all crystals like Vvekw and Dheu, or are there other things?”
“Crystals, naturally.”
Tundra made a show of stretching his shoulders and arms, warming up. “Natural for here, maybe,” he said before offering up a quick translation to Salem.
“I’m not going to be surprised by anything, anymore,” Salem said, bored and tired of it all already. "Are any of these children of Mana's able to get us home?"
"When the weakness Illthdar faces is resolved," Inari vouched after Tundra translated, "any celestial would be able to provide."
"And how do we fix the issue with the mana?"
Vyxen raised her hand. "It has to do with Vvekw; her power - the mana - is weakening. Sometimes people find pieces of Vvekw and so we'd go steal them back." Shrugging, "I've asked how it happens, but no one knows. If we find enough missing bits, she'll feel better again, right?"
"It is the greatest concern, but our belief is that Vvekw won't be satisfied until the cause is removed." Inari shared, "and were that all, it could be easily remedied, but the balance between Vvekw and her siblings is also disrupted."
"All offence," Salem asked, "why can't the people from here just fix it? It's not like anyone outside of this place knows more about it."
"Because," Inari returned, slapping the closed side of their fan against the ground, "we do not get to choose the champions, we have only means to find them through intervention of fate. Fate makes you necessary, and in the final moments do we understand why that was."
Vyxen's interest was renewed. "So everyone who gets stuck here has a part to play in getting everyone home? Why didn't anyone just say so right from the start?!"
