Rising Shards

Kiki brought us to a hut that looked like all the others in the seaside village of Asha Coa. She didn’t give us any special instructions or anything to meet her elder, but I still patted my hair around a bit to look nicer, not quite as good as my brush, double brush, brush, double brush, triple brush, double brush pattern with an actual brush instead of just my hands, but it was something. I wanted to at least attempt to appear nice before an elder of a village.

Once we passed through the cloth door of the hut, we were immediately greeted with a small flame. Past the flame was another Exumi, hunched over as they looked over stone tablets.

“Mawiril,” Kiki said. “Here are the Atrians I spoke of.”

With some groans, Mawiril rose and turned to face us.

Mawiril was an Exumi like Kiki, but he was visibly much older. With humans (and Cani I guess, I wasn’t sure if we still counted as full humans once the fangs came in), it was easier to tell age, but with Exumi my first impression was that Mawiril was older because all of his parts appeared aged; creakier, shakier, and a lot of burnt joints. He needed his staff to stay on his feet as he approached us. He pointed his staff at each of us, which glowed faintly each time it directly faced one of us.

“Atrians…” Mawiril said. “The stars spoke of your arrival.”

“The stars?” I asked.

Mawiril nodded. “The Atrians of this place have mostly left. As you’ve seen with Arctus Kathron, even the Atrians that are left are weary from constant battle, making them more susceptible to defeat. It is a blessing of Atria that you’ve arrived to face the evils of the Order of Terina.”

I saw Kalei tense immediately at the mention of the Order of Terina’s name.

“Is that who has those lava robots?” I asked. “Or…Lophor Hothon, I think his name was?”

Mawiril nodded again.

“I am glad to see you’re unharmed by the Lophor Hothon,” Mawiril said. “Many do not live to see him and escape.”

“He…got me pretty good,” I said, scratching the back of my head. “But then I cut one of his legs off, so I think we’re even?”

“Shut up, you did not,” Kalei said.

“She did,” Kiki said. “Lophor Hothon gave her little choice if she was to survive. She was screaming and crying and felt very guilty afterwards though.”

“Now that sounds more like the Zates I know,” Kalei said.

“Whoa,” Oka said, beaming with pride. “That’s incredible, Zeta!”

“The evils of the Order of Terina are many and spread far across this island,” Mawiril said, interrupting the continued praise Oka was about to shower on me. He reached into a pouch on his waist to throw colorful sand onto the fire pit between us and him. “They have not just brought drones of fire, but also those of water, ice, and jungle, to name a few. But, the sight of you six gives me hope.”

“It does?” Oka asked.

“Not all would be as pleased as me to see you,” Mawiril said. “The tides have brought great sorrows to this island, but the surrounding lands have perhaps faced even greater trials because of your kind. Not all you meet here will be thrilled by your presence. It’s a challenge the Atrians have faced. Many of our Atrians do not stay on this island for that very reason.”

In the fire, figures of sand began to rise and morph. Monsters attacking smaller figures appeared, then larger heroes drove them away. The heroes stood together a moment, then all save one turned their backs on each other and faded away, leaving the villagers alone.

“But free us from the wrathful hand of the Order of Terina, and some hearts will surely soften.” Mawiril said.

“If I get to kick any of those Terina jerks’ asses, I’m in.” Kalei said.

“Kalei!” I said.

“What?”

“I mean…good you want to fight them…but he’s an elder!” I said. “Don’t like, swear.”

“Oh, whatever," Kalei said, crossing her arms. "You don’t care if I swear a bit, do you, Maw….Mawir….Mr. Maw. Do you?”

Mawiril sighed. “I am more concerned that you will be willing or able to take on the quest I ask of you.”

“What quest do you ask of us?” Lillia said, giving us all a sharp look that said, ‘this is probably our way back.’

Mawiril gripped his staff. “The last Atrian defending our island, Arctus Kathron, has been felled with poison of the Order of Terina. I have given him the healing agents required for him to recover, but it will take some time. In the time he is incapacitated, the Order of Terina grows stronger, especially since the fall of the castle fortress from above.”

All of us looked at each other. We had all seen a floating castle on our last big void mission, and it was pretty high up in the sky.

“Who’s Arctus Kathron?” Aira asked.

“Arctus is the last active Atrian of Vita Coa,” Mawiril said. “The others are either on travels far away or lost in the beyond. But even Arctus is currently incapacitated by the poison of Terina, and will need time to recover. Time that leaves us defenseless.”

Kalei gripped her fists.

“So like what cool stuff did he do?” Aira asked.

“I do not have the time to tell you all about his feats,” Mawiril said. “Another day I will tell you more of Arctus Kathron, and perhaps more of the tales of the past of this place. Your fates may be more tied to these stories than you think.”

“OK?” Aira said, earning a pinch from Laenie. “What? I’m agreeing with him.”

“Be more respectful.” Laenie said.

“To get us back on track,” Lillia said. “If Arctus Kathron is recovering, what do you require of us?”

“I ask that you protect us from the Order of Terina,” Mawiril said. “I believe the main agents of the rise of Terina drones have caused the Elka attacks are hiding in the shadows on this island."

Kalei, Aira, and Laenie shared looks.

“Is that like the big waves of Elka?” Kalei asked.

Mawiril nodded. “The waves have wiped out many beautiful landmarks of Vita Coa, and threatens our villages. Without the Atrians and our Exumi guards busy defending against the drones, we haven’t even started to prepare defenses for the waves.”

Lillia pulled out her clipboard and started writing.

“I speculate they’ve brought some tool or weapon to control the drones and cause the waves of Elka,” Mawiril said. “If you defeat them and destroy whatever they brought here…perhaps light shall reach Vita Coa again.”

“Vita Coa is the name of this place, yes?” Lillia said. Mawiril nodded, and Lillia quickly jotted that down on her worksheet.

“Oh yeah,” Kalei said. “I almost forgot this is a void thing. So is this place like just a game or something our school cooked up for us, or…?”

“It’s no game…” Mawiril said. “This place has existed for thousands upon thousands of years.”

“So did they send us into a real place?” Aira asked. “Not like a void construction?”

“Maybe we shouldn’t ask the people living here about that…” Laenie said.

“Worry about the origins of this place later,” Mawiril said. “For now, ready yourselves for this mission. I have asked one of our Exumi villagers, Kiki, to guide you to your destination.”

I awkwardly waved at Kiki as she entered the room we were in.

“OK, but like,” Kalei said. “Where are we going?”

“Yeah, and can you give us like a hint, maybe?” Aira asked.

“Yeah, even a game has a like objective marker or something.” Kalei scoffed, earning her own pinch from Oka.

Mawiril sighed.

“The scourge from the Order of Terina was first spotted on the outskirts of the Chaonic Vast.” Mawiril said. “We believe the castle that once floated above us fell in the wastelands there, likely due to an attack by the Order. There should be a train leaving from the docks shortly headed to the Ice Thunder Canyon."

“The Ice Thunder Canyon?” Kalei asked. “That’s…really cool.”

“Once there, you may encounter more of the Terina drones,” Mawiril said. “But that is the quickest way to the wastelands.”

We all nodded. It sounded like a simple enough plan. Find out where the Terina people were, break their Elka making thing, and leave. I decided I was just gonna call them ‘the Terina people,’ and not think about them probably being Ovie or Jeans, barring some bizarre void construction of the two as some kind of sick test for me.

“I must tend to Arctus Kathron though,” Mawiril said. “I wish you all the best of luck on this vital task.”

Kiki gestured for us to leave as Mawiril left for whatever room Arctus was recovering in.

“One moment,” Mawiril said. “That bloodsaber on your back…”

I turned, as I was the only one that had a bloodsaber with me. I’d almost forgotten I’d even picked it up in the chaos. It was in Lophor Hothon’s lair.

“May I see it?”

“Oh!” I said. “Sure, yes.”

I handed Mawiril the sword. He stared at it deeply.

“Where did you find this?” He asked.