Rebuilding the Land of Shadow

[Daegan]

Daegan’s form appeared a second later atop the Keep in the center of Sethia, his eyes narrowed to the direction he had just come from. The shadow barrier was still covering Sethia with its translucent dome and for a moment he thought to keep the shadows up, to disallow entrance into the city. But, he then realized Lasius could scatter his shadows with little effort and Malkate could consume them completely. He frowned deeply and sighed. He hated his birth right. He hated the Sage within him. In Daegan’s heart of hearts he knew Malkate to be an ally, but even still. He could not trust the darkness. Even his own daughter born under the darkness element he was wary of.

He closed his eyes and once more smashed the Arc of Shadows down into the top of the roof of the highest point of the Keep. The shadow barrier shuddered for just a moment before it seemed to shatter into millions of tiny pieces, falling down from sky like bits of darkened snow. Gently they fell from above and began to land on the Sedi below, each flake of shadow that touched a Sedi almost instantly covering them in a sort of shadow cocoon – whisking them off to his domain.

The Sage followed the words of his Lord General to a tee, commanding the fallen shadow barrier to take exactly half of the population gathered in Sethia to Cyrida to begin the reconstruction. Daegan knew, to some extent, of the destruction wrought from Raeghan and Zinerva, and was quite irritated at the thought of having to completely rebuild an entire city, and then fortify it and bathe it in shadow forever. It was a task he didn’t like to do when he first arrived in Cyrida and certainly wasn’t looking forward to it again. His head snapped upwards to the growing storm clouds and he sighed once more, reaching down to pluck the Arc of Shadows from the roof of the keep before vanishing into his element again. He didn’t want to be present for the Lasius and Malkate’s return.

He appeared instantly on the top of the half-sunken Tower of Shadows and his face twisted into one of rage. Quickly, he attempted to suppress the feelings as Lomes flickered into existence next to him. He smiled softly at her, his face still obviously showing his frustration and growing exhaustion. One by one the Sedi he had taken began to appear in the ruins of Cyrida and just as he was going to speak to Lomes he turned instead to address the Sedi. His clutched the Arc of Shadows with both hands as his voice boomed through his element, echoing throughout the city.

“Brothers and sisters! Sitherack Darken al’Sedi has been vanquished and destroyed! His corruption has ended – as near as we can tell. The time for reconstruction is at hand!”

Daegan couldn’t manage anything else. He was still mulling everything over in his mind. What if Sitherack really wasn’t dead and only a dark image of him were destroyed? What if Malkate was Sitherack incarnate? He frowned deeply with these thoughts and turned to face Lomes, sighing as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Rest… indeed. But I will not take comfort in his defeat. She is weak, Lomes. She does not know of our people. She is only one of us through you and now she houses the most sinister and maniacal Sedi that ever drew breath. What’s worse is her wretched element. You know how Lasius thinks, what’s to stop her from firing from one thought to the next and finally coming to rest on Sitherack’s dormant conscious?”

[Lomes Artelias]

“You are a better man than that Daegan, I know you despise the Darkness for it has brought you nothing but suffering, but if you would put aside your hatred for one second you would realize that you've already seen the truth of the matter. Malkate is a Sedi only through me. The Sages have always existed within Sedi, the way your Soul is structured makes you vulnerable to them, but Malkate is unique. Her Soul is now Sedian, but she has the thought structure of an Archmage. The heavy redundant mental discipline that comes from a race that has to use magic based through spells and concentration, rather than pull it through her soul.”

She grinned mischievously her eyes sparking in reflection of the dim soul fire that danced within his. She was a devious creature, with a unique perspective on all life. Sometimes she saw things in ways that most people over looked.

“The Sages have ancient knowledge, and power accumulated through countless generations of hosts, all Sedi, The are dangerous and completely single minded in their desire for dominance. But they have no knowledge of a human thought process. No knowledge whatsoever of the intense mental discipline needed to overcome the innate weakness that is present in Humanity. You and all other Sedi were born strong, that is what the Sages are used too power, and desire for more. Malkate is probably the only person on this planet right now who can keep the Sage of Darkness in check right now. In a very twisted way, all her life she has been training to do just that. And as for Lasius, he's a bit unique, I wouldn't worried about Malkate becoming quite that scattered, and even if she does, only Sitherack's memories remain within the Sage. I myself watched his Soul depart it. He's dead Daegan.”

She turned and glanced out at the decimated City of Cyrida and shook her head slowly her eyes widening at the desolation.

“Well well well... I hope you had insurance...”

[Daegan]

Daegan frowned deeply and shook his head. Darkness was the cause of this. He knew that much. The Sage could still sense the infernal presence of the void. He leaned forward and kissed the forehead of Lomes and turned away from her, once more grasping the Arc of Shadows with both hands. The shadows within the city shuddered with the touch of the artifact, and Daegan took a single step forward.

“There is work to be done my love. By the Shadows I hate this part.”

He moved like a phantom, moving from the half-crushed Tower of Shadows towards the center of the ruined city. Once more the shadows quivered as Daegan’s form shifted into one of his element. He paused for only a second as he thrust the Arc of Shadows upwards, the shadows surging forward towards his location. Like in Sethia, every speck of shadow within the ruined city walls sprung forth, pulsating towards Daegan and upwards through his body and the Arc, erupting upwards like a fountain.

Grunting, Daegan’s form shivered as he again regained his corporeal form. The shadow barrier slithered into place and the Sage nodded, turning to move back towards the Tower. He paused, seemingly randomly, and once more closed his eyes. They flashed open again and the aqua ring around his eye quivered and exploded outwards, the Soul Fire doing likewise around the whole of his body. The flames danced over his body almost seductively as he tilted his head to the ground.

The Arc of Shadows clattered to the ground as Daegan’s arms snapped outwards, the Soul Fire trailing behind only a fraction of a second. The aqua fire flared brilliantly as once more the Sage grunted, as slowly - one by one - fists began to break through the earth’s surface. As each of the fallen Sedi – which Daegan had called on more times than he’d like to admit – they stood at firm attention, the same Soul Fire that burned around Daegan’s body burning in each of their eyes. Within the matter of ten minutes the hundred of what Daegan had coined the Elite Shadow Guard had been raised and stood in ranks before their Sage.

“Sorry boys, we’ve got a lot of shit to take care of. Let’s get this done, I need a bath.”

The shadows once more shuddered as the Soul Fire suddenly winked out from around his body, his form vanishing and melting down into the rubble below, the Arc of Shadows fading away with Daegan. It was only for a moment, however, as the shadows sprung outwards, wrapping around each of the risen Sedi. They offered what appeared to be a silent salute and began to march outwards into the city; Daegan’s voice booming from the shadow barrier above.

“War begets destruction, destruction begets reconstruction. Your Lord General wills us all to rebuild the Shadow City and return life to what it was.”

It was tireless work. The Elites that Daegan’s shadows had overtaken worked without hesitation, pulling upon their elements to begin the basis of the outer walls of the city. By the time the sun was in the sky the walls were rebuilt and many smaller buildings underway. The new citizens of Cyrida worked as best they could to their Undead counterparts, pulling and shaping the earth and air around them. Minerals and stone rose from the shadowed ground to form walls and streets, rebuilding windows and furniture.

Day turned into night and already shifts had been formed and work delegated to further reconstruct the city. The Undead labored on remaking the Tower of Shadows, mirroring what had previously been present. Floor by floor the shadowed halls were crafted, steadily stretching upwards towards the sky. After the initial structure was erected, the possessed Undead began to work back downward, shaping rooms and compartments like the Tower had before. Quarters and chambers were carved out and furnished, torch racks carefully placed and mounted.

By the time the Tower of Shadows was reconstructed, the rest of the city had been pieced back together. Slight semblances of what could be considered “normal” life had begun. Satisfied, the shadows had finally fallen away from the Undead as the Soul Fire winked out from their eyes. Lethargically they shadow twisted and pooled together, obvious exhaustion becoming apparent as Daegan could barely find the strength to reconstruct his corporeal form.

“And it’s done… rest in peace noble Legions.”

As the last of the risen Sedi fell back into their earthly, Daegan fell forward, his figure almost splashing into the ground and reappearing with his last bit of strength within the freshly reconstructed antechamber in his new bedroom. He grunted as he hit the hard ground, groaning as he rolled over to look up at the Soul Fire well that was not burning. He sighed and closed his eyes, the Arc of Shadows once more clattering to the ground before as he made a brief mental note to completely furnish a chamber before teleporting recklessly into it.

And with that thought, he slipped from thought into the realm of dreams.

[Lomes Artelias]

A current of air lifted Lomes off the wreckage of the Tower of Shadows as the Undead began to work on reconstructing the city. Daegan seemed almost practiced at putting his city back together, idlely she wondered how many times he had cleaned up the wreckage of some impending disaster. She glided over the city and watched as Sedi and their undead ancestors worked side by side to put together the broken pieces of their civilization. It was kind of sad in a way, so many times the race had struggled against seemingly impossible odds and prevailed, and yet all they had to look forward to was picking up the pieces.

If there was some other destiny for the race it was too far out of time for her to see. She sighed and wondered if she should help in the reconstruction process, but decided against it, it was after all Daegan's city and anything she did would inevitably detract from his own personal image of what he wanted his city to be. Instead she just relaxed and channeled a flow of Life energy through the Arc of Life and into the sky above. She let it gather there until the rebuilding was done and after the Undead were released, she let it go, it exploded in a light golden mist that rained down on the city revitalizing and washing away the fatigue of every Sedi it touched.

She noticed Daegan had already retreated inside the Tower of Shadows and she didn't any special knowledge to know the man was wiped out. Simple enough to fix with the Arc of Life, but what he really needed was a good block of solid sleep. She let go of the Air current holding her and fell towards the city below, before she impacted the street her form flickered and scattered into a thousand racing shadows in every direction. The shadows swarmed around the Tower and came together in Daegan's chambers where he was passed out on the rather uncomfortable looking ground.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, taking hold of the shadows in the room of which there were plenty even without the Soul fire well, she used them to lift his form, and hold it in the middle of the room, as she set about using Magick to conjure and create furnishings for the room, She knew his mind and soul intimately from delving him so the Furnishings came from his own desires, simple enough to pluck from his sleeping mind with the Arc of Dreams, lots of dark grays and teals, she chuckled at that.

With the final construction of the bed she laid him down gently, and placed the covers over him, before kneeling and retrieving the Arc of Shadows from the floor. She walked tot he Wall and made her own addition to the room, a simple raised altar, doused in shadow, but pulsing with a dim glow of every element. She placed the Arc of Shadows on the Altar and keyed the various nasty little traps she had woven around it to Daegan's Soul. Now no one save Daegan could approach the Altar without the traps triggering.

Turning away from the secured Altar and Arc she sat cross legged at the foot of his bed and closed her eyes, the Aether that leaked from her form pooled around her in a hazy blue-violet glow. She would meditate till he awoke, something was bothering her but she couldn't put her mind on it, maybe some focusing was what she needed. Abruptly on impulse she rose and removed the Arcs of Life and Dreams, unweaving the traps on the Altar she placed them there as well, then quietly rewove the traps, and settled back in at the foot of his bed, and tried to focus her mind into meditation.

[Daegan]

The eerie twilight that once bathed Cyrida seemed to slowly slide back into place as the time ticked away. It was the same twilight that Daegan had initially established upon his take over of the city. He had thrived through the Sage, it seemed, attaining the rank of Lord General and with Sitherack silenced in the north and Lasius Ascended; the shadows were at their peak. But Daegan had stepped down and now the new Sage of Darkness was housed within a brand new Sedi – a mere child in the essence of how a Sedi controls the elements.

Just as the light had faded, Daegan’s form seemed to appear from utter nothingness, his body smashing into the wall in his chambers. He crumpled to the ground with a groan as his eyes slowly opened the Soul Fire burning silently in the braziers flicking with his sudden arrival.

“There will be balance, Necromancer. No matter what.”[/b]

The Sage’s voice boomed inside Daegan’s head and he groaned again, rolling over and coughing. Tiny splashes of blood spattered onto the floor with each heave as he shook his head slowly, his eyes narrowing. The aqua fire flared in his eyes as he slowly brought himself back to his feet. There was an intense wave of pain radiating from his forehead and he sighed as slowly blood trickled down his eyebrow.

“Bad dream.”

His pale skin only accented the blood that trickled from the gaping wound in Daegan’s forehead. He reached up to touch the wound and winced, shaking his head as he sunk down to his knees. The shadows remained where they were for a few seconds as Daegan swayed, the intense pain nearly blinding. He winced and groaned as he pulled on his element, desperately trying to fight through the burning sensation.

The shadows vibrated and hesitated a moment longer before they snapped down to Daegan. He groaned again as he sunk down to the ground again. He sighed and rolled over, gritting his teeth against the pain.

“Really bad dream.”[/color]

[Lomes Artelias]

Her eyes snapped open as Daegan's form vanished, the reflections of the Soul fire dancing across her Aether tinted skin. She silently rose to her feet and sighed, the Sages were at work, she could feel the tugs in certain elemental parts of her soul. They were like children at times, selfishly striving to attain their own goals, and you change one tiny thing and they are all in chaos. Sometimes it really agitated her, which was odd because she was usually quite the level headed individual.

Her thoughts were cut short by the rather violent arrival of Daegan, her eyes followed him as he bounced off the floor then the wall and collapsed bleeding on the floor. She stepped silently over to him and touched his face lightly as he fought the pain. Warmth would fill his face as she channeled small energies of life into the wound closing it without a scar, and removing the pain of the lingering headache with ease. It was nice to work directly with the elements for a chance rather than pulling through the Arc. Sure the rush of power was nice, but sometimes it was more personal this way.

She listened to him talking about bad dreams and shook her head slightly, sometimes she forgot just how young Daegan was, true he was technically older than her, but he didn't have countless millennium of knowledge from a long dead race crammed inside his head either.

“Not a dream, rather your friend in there,” she tapped the side of his head lightly “taking advantage of you while you were sleeping, not sure exactly what he did, but I'm sure it wasn't something you'll be fond of when you remember.”

She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath, her hand going to her forehead as tiny strands of Aether drifted between her fingers. She didn't know much of what it was like to have a Sage inside her, as they seemed to prefer working with Sedi, but the small amount she had managed to learn from Lasius indicated that they were cruel parasitic creatures whose existence was unfortunately necessary.

“I placed the Arcs on the Altar there that I created, they cant be removed by anyone other than you or I; I pity the poor fool who tries, well not really. Be careful of the Sage inside of you Daegan, they have their own agenda's and they usually only go so far in the direction you want.”

She turned from him and glanced around the room she had furnished. She was avoiding talking about what was really on her mind. She didn't know what to do with her feelings for the man behind her, in a way she was younger than him in that respect. Part of her wanted to rush to him grab him and never let go, another part of her was dying at the thought of him changing his mind about her. Things were getting back to normal now, it wasn't like the end of days any minute anymore and reality was settling in, maybe he was thinking differently about a reality that included large amounts of time with her. Regardless she kept her mouth shut about it, and spoke instead about something else.

“I heard noises last night during my meditations, from the Woods to the south, It was faint here in the Tower, and I was more focused on things inside but they didn't sound natural.”

[Daegan]

Daegan sighed. He knew it wasn’t a bad dream, and really didn’t know why he tried beating around the bush anyway. He could only imagine the things that Lomes knew, that she had discovered while being locked away in Lasius’ keep. Daegan shifted slightly, resting his head in Lomes’ lap as he closed his eyes for a moment. It was twilight in Cyrida but elsewhere the sun was starting to streak from the horizon. His breathing was calm and steady and slowly he forced his element outwards, taking in the tiny whispers of the shadows to the south.

“By the Shadow…”

His eyes flashed open and the Soul Fire ring flared as he sat up with a start. He glanced over at the altar Lomes had created and in a fraction of a second he had disappeared and reappeared before it, grabbing the Arc of Shadows. He turned to look at Lomes, his brows knitting together.

“No sleep for the wicked, my love. The Dryads are dead.”

Once more the Sage closed his eyes, and faint images of what had occurred flashed through his mind. He shook his head and sighed. The Dryads had been calm allies to say the least and Daegan was somewhat surprised that they had any sort of weaponry at all; let alone the knowledge on how to use such devices. He could definitely make out the mutilated bodies of the tree dwellers, but the insect-like creatures were alien to him.

Deeper Daegan forced the shadows, stretching his grasp on them to the center of the Dryad kingdom. An almost chill crept up his spines as he shuddered slightly. He had witnessed death of all kinds on many different levels and it was his chosen profession to be a dabbler in the great beyond. But this made him cringe, especially what he had come to recognize as the Queen’s tree being smeared in blood.

“All of them.”

Daegan sank down into the bed that Lomes had manifested and shook his head. There was never a dull moment. The Sage feared what would be to come now that the Dryads had been eradicated. They were the sole keepers of the forests and, in truth, Daegan was sure that their presence alone was the only thing keeping the woodlands alive. Granted the trade routes weren’t exactly great and the goods exchanged were few and far between, but the timber and exotic foods would almost certainly be in jeopardy.

“Ready for our next adventure?”

[Lomes Artelias]

She got to her feet; no reaction on her face to the news that the Entire Dryad race had perished, she was charged with protection of the Sedi, not the Dryads, and while the extermination of the woodland race was alarming she was more concerned with the threat that this event might hold for the Sedi. Her eyes watched Daegan silently, it seemed that every time something horrid happened it happened on the edge of his world, his city his children, it was her silent assessment that he needed a vacation.

She lifted her right hand and the Arcs of Life and Dreams rose of their own accord and flashed across the intervening distance in the blink of an eye. They slipped onto her hand and clicked into place, the golden light suffused her being and energy rushed through her. She turned and lowered her arm to the side.

“The Dryads? Who would attack them? To what purpose?” Something about this whole thing was bothering her. “Daegan, what about Cyrida? If we leave now who will protect the city if whatever killed the Dryad's comes here? Sedi are warriors true and the Dryad's were weak, but every last one of them Daegan?”

She turned and shook her head, things were not going at all as she had hoped, the Sedi needed time to rebuild reestablish the strength of their civilization. And they wouldn't get very far if some strange creatures began slaughtering them while they rested.

“Stay here Daegan, stay in Cyrida, in case whatever it is that wiped out the Dryads mounts an assault on the city, I'll go to the Wood, I'll find out for certain what happened there and report back to you before the end of the day. The people here are used to you, they'll prepare better if you are giving the orders, take the situation more seriously if spoken about by you.”

[Daegan]

Daegan furrowed his brows and sighed, shaking his head once more. Damn Lomes and her logic. She was, of course, right. The Dryads were weak in comparison to the Sedi, but there were thousands upon thousands of them in the lush woodlands to the south. Daegan had come to believe that virtually every tree housed a Dryad and couldn’t even fathom how many true casualties there had been.

“Then you take the Arc of Shadows with you. Life will keep you alive sure enough, but it’s better to have a weapon than none. And if anything happens, well, I'll be there in a heart's beat.”

Daegan glanced behind him at the altar and secretly he wished to have the Arcs he once possessed back. He relished in the Arc of Death and the primal force the Arc of Lightning gave him was almost intoxicating. But such would be discussed at some other time. The artifacts were safe now, away from the corruption that they were thrown into. Something Daegan would ensure never happened again, no matter what the cost. He closed his eyes again, extending his hand outward to give his Arc to Lomes.

“Bring whatever it is back alive, if you can. If not… well, there’s some empty space in my Hall. A head would look lovely over the archway. Or perhaps on a pike outside the Tower.”

He smirked and leaned forward to kiss Lomes on the forehead before turning away from her. It was hard to judge time in Cyrida, and Daegan was rather fond of that. It was disorienting at first, but after the first few days of constant twilight one became accustomed to it. He was certain it would take time for the new citizens of his city to become acclimated to the shadows, but like his followers before these they all fell in step with the shadowed city.

The Sage sighed one last time as he vanished once more from his quarters, disappearing into the shadows only to reappear yet again atop the Tower of Shadows. He watched silently at the happenings and events taking place below. Sedi of elements other than his own were obviously confused with the sudden twilight, but he smiled softly, watching as Shadow Sedi explained the situation and ushered the rest of the populace into a sort of normal day to day life.

Much like its sister city to the north, Cyrida had begun to bustle. It had been completely rebuilt and the only thing left to do now was begin life where it had left off. Shops were reopened, food was gathered and prepared and trade goods began to exchange hands. It was a slow start, mostly because of the shadows, but by the time day had once more shifted to night – as near as anyone could tell at least – everything seemed as was.

After watching the city for several hours, Daegan began to personally oversee the training of Cyrida’s military force along with the acquisition of a new legion of Elites. He designated housing for them and instructed newly elected ranking officers on the tasks and plans for defense of the city and what should happen if they were suddenly under attack. He instructed Death Sedi in the ways to raise his personal Shadow Guard should Daegan be away from the city and how to issue them commands. After all, the dead listened to very few.

It was a long day, but in the same respect it gave Daegan a sense of purpose. Soon Cyrida would be completely back to what it used to be, and that filled the Sage with a sort of pride. Sure, he had been used to rebuilding the damn place stone by stone, so much that it became more of a science than any thing else. Almost a routine at what needed to be done first following more mundane tasks until everything was once more whole.

More time was needed, but Daegan was satisfied with how things were progressing. Weapons were being crafted, training was well underway and the city was patrolled by the military force that was being assembled. The Sage was quite content and was certain Lasius would have been too. Granted, the Lightning Childe had it a bit easier as the whole of Sethia wasn’t completely annihilated, but Daegan would take it in stride like he did with everything else.

For now, he would rest. He sat within his small antechamber in his personal quarters, his eyes closed as he lay in the large, velvet chair. It brought a smile to his face as he stretched out, the Soul Fire well burning above him, the shadows washing over his body. Lomes had one hell of a memory to furnish everything the way he had it, and he even appreciated the improvements she made. The smile spread more over his face as his mind began to drift off, dancing with random thoughts of his little Avian.