Eerie Sea, Cruinog

  When Britiana found the Banshees, it was well after sun-up. Alistair was almost back to normal after taking a nap on the airship. Since they started out while it was night, they did pass several cities. Britiana would order Aman to dip lower so that she could get a read on the humans in this world. She found mostly contentment. There was almost no unease in the humans at all.

  "How strange. Do they not realize the environment is dying around them?" she wondered aloud.

  Isa shook his head. "Their technology is limited. It's likely they aren't aware of how widespread the problem is," he suggested.

  She still furrowed her brows. "Even so, shouldn't they be concerned about their immediate environment," she said.

  "Several miles around each city is lush and green and teeming with life. Why would they be concerned about something so far away when the city surroundings are safe," Alistair all but sneered.

  Britiana conceded that point. Ignorance and having immediate needs met was a good way to lull one into a false sense of security.

  "And with the trains, what one city doesn't have, they can trade with others. They must have some kind of faith we aren't aware of," Isa added.

  "Like that substance my lord spoke of," Alistair said.

  Britiana agreed with them and stopped dwelling on it. Upon reaching the banshees, the women on watch found themselves quite startled when they saw a small ship flying in the air toward them. One of them screamed a warning.

  "Don't panic. That's my lady coming to bring you all to the ancestral hall," Delia spoke up from her own post. She'd been outside the house all night and morning awaiting her lady.

  The oldest of the banshees, called Maeve Madigan, came out to watch the ship descend. "Emphyralis must truly be a wondrous place," she said in awe.

  This ship was different from the one they used before. It was much larger with a large living area below the deck. It should more than accommodate the fifty or so women for a few hours.

  When they landed, Aman powered it off while Alistair lowered the boarding ramp. Britiana descended. Delia stepped forward to bow to her. She nodded to Delia in acknowledgement then addressed the women.

  "We won't force anyone. Whoever wants to go to Emphyralis can come with me. This invitation has nothing to do with the Earthborne or their King. Emphyralis sincerely invites the banshees. If you don't wish to live among the other Earthborne, we can find another place to settle you," she announced, making sure all the banshees heard her.

  Several of the women looked at each other. Some were torn. They longed to live among their own kind, but knew they were inherently rejected. Not to mention their own abilities to foresee death. It was torture to see the deaths of their own kin.

  Others longed to find their own place. After hearing Johan and his wife speak of Emphyralis, the longing became stronger. As for living with the other Earthborne. Who would want that after how they've been treated?

  "Can you really find a place just for us?" one of the women asked.

  Britiana nodded. "Emphyralis is a big place. Even this moor you've settled on. There are similar landscapes around the Storm Forged Mountains in Myrkir. She pulled out a recording stone and tapped it, showing a moving image of Myrkir taken from above. Waves of heather blew in a breeze, and they could see mighty mountains.

  Some of the women gasped. "Is the soil the same? Johan showed us some of the soil he sleeps on," one asked.

  Britiana put away the recording stone. "All the soil on Emphyralis is enriched with Draconite. I'm no expert so I can't say the specific differences in the soil of Myrkir and Silubra, but I know a few of the Earthborne live and work in Myrkir, so it must be suitable," she answered honestly.

  "I'm going, and I want to live apart from the other Earthborne," a woman announced. She didn't have any living family to cling to, so she was not attached to her identity as an Earthborne. Some other women agreed.

  After a lot of discussion, whether they wanted to stay near the other Earthborne or not, every banshee agreed to leave.

  "Why stay and die? The Wild Hunt will kill us all," one of them said.

  Britiana blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?" she asked.

  "It's why they left the other Earthborne and came so far away. They said that every time they saw another person, all they saw was the fog and the screams of the dying," Delia explained.

  Maeve nodded. "We can't see each other's death, and the fog doesn't like our wailing, so we decided to stay together away from any living thing," she explained.

  Britiana frowned. "You see this when you look at humans?" she asked.

  The women nodded.

  She was thoughtful. She'd already given up on the Earthborne King and his hunters, but these banshees seemed more reliable. "Do you know how to contact any other sentient creatures?" she asked.

  The women were surprised. "Do you want to take more of the seelie to Emphyralis?" Maeve asked.

  "If possible," Britiana answered. "From what I've learned, other races helped the Earthborne find Emphyralis," she said.

  Maeve nodded. "There aren't many seelie left. Most have died. We'll try to spread the message before we leave," she assured.

  Britiana nodded. "Just say there's a way to safety at the Earthborne ancestral hall," she said.

  The women all came out of the house they were living in. They looked around and suddenly wailed, long and undulating. The voices seemed to echo for miles.

  Britiana was quite surprised. Then she frowned, her disappointment in the Earthborne growing all the more. They never took the time to even understand the Banshees. "Don't worry. You'll be valued on Emphyralis," she said quietly. Even still, the women heard them, and their eyes reddened.

  Isa stepped forward. "My lady, you should eat while the banshees prepare for departure," he suggested. It had been a long time since their last meal.

  Maeve straightened her shoulders. "Yes, my lady, we'll prepare ourselves. Don't let yourself suffer for us," she declared, emulating the Dragons in referring to Britiana. The other banshees echoed her, and began to bustle around, gathering their belongings.

  "Then, just board the ship when you're ready," Britiana said, smiling brightly at them. She boarded the ship and began to prepare food for herself and her guards. She also invited Adora to join them. Within an hour they all boarded and were ready to go. Alistair and Delia decided to fly alongside the ship on the return trip. Britiana meanwhile began to draw talismans.

  Adora looked at it and was surprised. "Sight Sealing Talisman?"

  Britiana nodded. "These women have suffered enough," she stated.

  "I'll help," she said firmly and pulled out supplies to begin drawing talismans as well.

  --

  Bienskurr Mountains, Cruinog

  Amadeus led Kael to the nearest human city. They landed in the lush forest nearby. "Such a stark contrast. Almost a perfect circle," Kael commented.

  Amadeus agreed. He handed Kael a disguise cloak. They draped them over their shoulders and activated them. Amadeus eyed Kael critically. "Use a glamor. You look even more like a foreigner than I do," he said.

  Kael raised his brows, but didn't argue. He used a minor glamor spell to fit in more, appearing to have short hair, white skin, and brown eyes. An ordinary human from the area.

  The two entered the city. Kael sensed the technology in the city. He approached a light post. Using a bit of confusion magic, he stole the entire light post. Amadeus took him to the train yard. "Don't take the whole train," he warned.

  Kael didn't answer. In the end, he didn't steal a train, he just dismantled one and put it back together. Amadeus watched without saying a word. After he was done with the train they went to the city's power plant. "Keep your distance from that stuff," he warned as they approached the area with the vat.

  Kael watched the substance react to their presence. "We should come back when it's night so I can get a better look," he suggested.

  "We may not need to. These plants are along the train tracks as well," Amadeus explained.

  Kael nodded. He closed his eyes and sensed the inner workings of the technology here. It wasn't as good as handling it himself, but he'd know if plants in the wilderness were similar or not.

  As they left the plant, they saw a commotion in the distance. There was a human wearing spectacles, around middle age, disheveled and handing out flyers. "Shut down the plants! Save the planet! Don't ignore science!" he shouted his slogans and tried to hand the flyers to passersby. Most ignored him, some cursed or spat at him, calling him a lunatic.

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  Amadeus approached. "Sir, may I ask what you mean by this?" he asked politely.

  The man looked at Amadeus and adjusted his spectacles. "Ah! A colonist! Surely your people are more sensible!" he said and handed him a flyer. "It's all in the science! The xenomaterium is killing the planet and we're next! It's not too late to stop it. We have to destroy the xenomaterium!" he said, urgently grabbing at his arm.

  Amadeus took the flyer and looked at the gibberish that was scientific equations and handed it to Kael. The Ruby Dragon looked at the formula and his eyes widened. "Is this legitimate?" he asked.

  "Of course it's legitimate. Before the government silenced me, I was the foremost physicist in the country! I am Professor Ignacious Snyderman!" the man said proudly.

  Kael pursed his lips. "I'm sorry to inform you, Professor, you made a mistake here," he said and gestured to a point in the formula.

  Snyderman was taken aback and looked at his formula. "Oh! Oh my heart!" he said and suddenly broke down in sobs.

  Kael shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said. The man was now inconsolable.

  "Pretend I don't understand and explain it to me?" Amadeus said.

  Kael looked at the formula then at the Professor. "He misestimated the point of no return. Instead of ten years from now, it was ten years ago," he said. He looked at the power plant. "Even if there's a way to destroy that stuff, this planet won't recover for millennia. All living things will die," he explained.

  Amadeus pursed his lips. He looked at the man. "Do you have a family?" he asked.

  "My family! What will they do? They'll die, too. What to do?" the man sobbed.

  Amadeus pulled out a blanket and draped it over the man's shoulders. It shimmered faintly with patterns. The man slowly calmed down under the influence of the Patternwoven blanket. Amadeus squatted in front of the man. "Take your family to the mountains. Anyone who thinks like you in this city, take them to the mountains," he said.

  Snyderman looked at him with a desolate expression. "Nowhere's safe," he said.

  Amadeus shook his head. "There is a safe place. Go to the mountains. Someone will meet you there. Take everything you value. Once you leave, you can never come back," he warned. "Go before nightfall. It's not safe outside the city at night. I'm sure you know that," he stated.

  Snyder nodded. "The fog," he said with fear. "Why should I believe you?" he asked.

  "Whether you die with the planet or die taking a leap of faith is up to you," Amadeus answered.

  "Are you one of the fair folk?" Snyderman, a man of science, asked with shaking pupils.

  Amadeus shook his head. "Not me. Hurry, there's not much time before nightfall," he said. He stood and walked away with Kael.

  "Not taking the blanket back?" Kael asked.

  Amadeus shook his head. "On the one hand, it's a form of proof, on the other, even if he chooses not to leave, he'll be in need of it," he said.

  Neither of them thought anything odd of saving a few humans that happen to cross their paths. They understood that if the science was indeed true, they couldn't save everyone on this planet, but they could still do what they could when it was appropriate.

  "Should we continue to the power plant?" Kael asked.

  Amadeus nodded. "Continue," he said. They left the city, transformed and flew to the nearest wilderness power plant. It was unmanned, but heavily guarded by men with firearms.

  They didn't pose much of a problem for the two Dragons. Kael even took one of their weapons, which seemed to use the same technology as the lamp posts and trains. They entered the plant and Kael got to work dismantling the entire thing, ignoring the xenomaterium that was swishing around in the vat trying to get to the Dragons.

  Finally, Kael put the powerplant back together. "I've figured out how the technology works," he announced.

  Amadeus nodded. "Go back and report to Lord Darius. I'll keep an eye out for the professor and his family," he said as they left the power plant.

  They transformed and flew away. Kael continued on the Earthborne's valley. Amadeus lingered in the city.

  --

  Lincoln Evergreen expected to be busy for quite some time. He knew to check the health of the land, he needed to check multiple places, not just in the valley, but the forests and other parts of the planet. Lazarus led him and Tempest to the spot where the Dullahan died and explained what happened there.

  Lincoln was intrigued and sat down on the spot. It looked no different than the rest of the valley floor, except the grass was a little longer. He put his hands on the ground. Tempest stood behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders. His hands began to glow a soft green as his spirit left his body and entered the ground.

  Tempest provided him with some energy, but almost immediately they both felt as if they were caught in a whirlpool. "Link! Come back Link!" she suddenly shouted.

  "What's going on!" Lazarus asked.

  Sweat broke out all over the Emerald's body and his face contorted with effort.

  "Something's sucking his energy," Tempest grunted as she struggled to provide him with enough energy to come back to his body.

  "How can we help?" ZsaZsa asked.

  Tempest shook her head. No one could help him. "He needs more strength," she said.

  ZsaZsa ran over to Tempest and pressed her hand against her back and began to transfer her own energy.

  "ZsaZsa! You haven't recovered yet!" Lazarus said.

  "She needs earth energy. I'm half Earthborne," ZsaZsa said.

  Lazarus cursed and ran to the entrance of the ancestral hall. "My lord! The LandHealer is in danger. We need more Earthborne to transfer energy to the Baroness," he shouted.

  Darius, who was trying to save the Earthborne King from his mother's annoyance, spun around. "Deputy Darovan!" he shouted.

  Raven was already in motion. Eve followed her. Chrystianna followed behind them.

  Confused about what was going on, the Earthborne King and some of the hunters followed along. Raven quickly pulled ZsaZsa away from Tempest, and not so nicely. Lazarus caught and steadied her. Raven initiated a transfer. Eve didn't ask questions and joined her cousin.

  "What happened?" Chrystianna asked.

  "LandHealer Evergreen had just started when the Baroness shouted for him to come back. She said something was sucking away his energy," ZsaZsa explained after taking a drink of Bloodwyne.

  The hunters couldn't tell what was happening. All they saw was a man sitting on the ground looking like he was struggling with something. The woman behind him as well.

  Chrystianna began sorting through her storage space, and finally pulled out a pendant and hung it around Tempest's neck.

  Immediately Tempest felt a massive infusion of earthly energy and then spilled it into Lincoln, giving him enough strength to come back to his body. He opened his eyes and gasped, trying to catch his breath. His eyes were terrified.

  Tempest collapsed and wrapped her arms around him. "You scared me so much," she all but sobbed.

  Lincoln held her. "I scared myself. That was terrifying," he said. "It was like I was being swept along a raging river," he said in a shaky voice.

  Wallace and Spencer stepped forward to provide them with Dragonwyne tailored for each of them.

  "If it wasn’t for her Grace having this piece of Draconite from the Cave of Deep Dwelling, we would not have made it," Tempest said, touching the pendant. She removed it and returned to Chrystianna.

  Chrystianna refused it. "It was something one of your ancestor's gave one of mine. Keep it. Call it compensation," she said, feeling a bit guilty.

  Tempest didn't argue and put the pendant back around her neck. It would be helpful for her in the future. Draconite from the Cave of Deep Dwelling was exceedingly rare.

  The Earthborne hunters were still confused. "I don't understand what's happening. Do you?" one asked another. His comrade shook his head.

  Raven and Eve were sitting on the ground, drinking Bloodwyne.

  "Which way were you being pulled?" Darius asked.

  Lincoln pointed a certain direction. Darius's face darkened.

  Everyone looked in that direction. "What's that way?" Chrystianna asked.

  "The city. Or rather, the power plant," Darius answered as he stared into the distance. "That unknown substance seems to like Dragon energy," he said.

  Lincoln nodded. "I could feel other energy around me being pulled as well, but at a much slower pace. At the rate it was flowing, it'll take about a year for this valley to become completely barren," he said.

  The hunters were shocked and looked at each other. Corven's cold face darkened. "It seems you came back at just the right time," he said gravely. "I don't if my kind can ever repay this grace," he finally said, humbling himself a way he hadn't before, looking at Chrystianna.

  She didn't dismiss his words. "Fate willed it. Just lead your people well in the future. If there's a way to help your planet, we'll find it," she said.

  Corven gave her gentlemanly bow and went back into the ancestral hall with his hunters.

  Chrystianna looked around at everyone, more than half of which were in bad states. She shook her head. She turned and looked around at the environment in general. "What is happening on this planet? I've never heard of anything like this," she said.

  A depressive atmosphere settled over the group and there was nothing anyone could say to alleviate it. Darius just wordlessly relocated everyone to their temporary camp. "When the Baroness and LandHealer recover, you should go back to Emphyralis," he said to them, and brought out some Draconite enriched food for them to eat to help their recovery.

  "I won't be a hero and insist on staying. Walking on this planet feels like walking on a dried out corpse," Tempest said.

  "I'm sorry this happened because I asked for help," Darius bowed to her deeply.

  "There's no need. How could you have known? There's always risk involved in LandHealing," Lincoln said, waving his hands to refuse the apology.

  "When you return to Silvermoon, claim whatever compensation you want," Chrystianna told him. She didn't insist he accept the apology. She was unsettled. She had been ever since she got to this planet. She looked at Darius. "When your sister returns, we'll pray to the Sisters," she said.

  Darius was surprised. "Is that necessary?" he asked.

  Praying to the Sisters of the Moons, Emphyralis' Goddesses of Fate wasn't just reciting a few lines and calling it a day. It was more like attempting to commune with them. The patron deities of the Silver Dragons were the Sisters of the Moon, and the Silvermoon Clan was especially favored by them. Along with being the Grand Duchess of the Dracosenati, Silvermoons were often the High Priestesses and Priests of the Mystic Temple of the Sisters of Moons. Even the current High Priestess, Belana Mysticmoon, was a Silvermoon descendant.

  "I feel like there is something fundamentally wrong about Cruinog," Chrystianna said. "Hasn't your sister said anything?" she asked.

  Darius shook his head. "No," he said but paused. "I think something is affecting her, now that I think about it. She got really angry at the Earthborne King," he said.

  Chrystianna raised a brow. "Is that so strange," she said drily. She shook her head. She understood what he meant. Her daughter must be feeling unsettled without realizing it.

  Sometimes Darius was glad his sensitivity was weaker than his mother's and sister's. They didn't have much to do except wait and recover their strength. Chrystianna went to chat with Raven and her interesting cousin, Eve. Darius waited for news from Amadeus and the return of his sister.

  --