Fantasy Cold Nights (Exalted 2.5e) - Astrid Mustonen

[Maxiom]

Astrid quietly opened the door to Freyda's room, opting to take soft steps. Freyda had calmed since the incident with the birth, but the fact that she had grown so massive due to her mutations was still ever present. Astrid still remembered Madame Ulfrson's wounds; the Freyda's nails raked across the old women and cut her skin like a pitchfork. Freyda had been in and out of consciousness since then. The idea of waking up Freyda and frightening her in this state struck Astrid as being akin to waking a grizzly bear.


The woman wasn't glowing, but that didn't mean much. Astrid hadn't invested any essence into her; she was mostly stable and it was just a matter of healing her wounds now. Astrid approached slowly, trying to remain quiet as she walked. She just needed to examine her heart rate and her breathing for the moment. There wasn't many other ways her condition could get worse, everything else that could've happened basically already did.


Being quiet, however, was never an art that Astrid was well trained in. Her touch wasn't very gentle as she felt Freyda's enlarged wrists for a pulse. The giantess shuddered and shuffled as she drifted back into wakefulness.


"Shh! It's alright, it's just me," Astrid began. "I'm just checking in, there's nothing to worry about," she assured Freyda in a voice that was simultaneously hushed but loud.

 

[Teal]

The overlarge muscles in Freyda's body tensed sharply beneath Astrid's fingers. A moment later, an audible sigh met her ears, as Freyda shifted her sleep-addled gaze toward the doctor. The glowstone's light made the giantess grunt and squint, before sighing again and turning away.

"...Calibration again." Freyda muttered, voice deeper since the accident. "Someho' hoped I migh' sleep though this'ne." A sigh, before she tiredly shook her head. Freyda turned back toward Astrid, eyes narrowed against the light still. "'ow's he?"

She sounded more winded than usual, but her pulse was strong.

 

[Maxiom]

Astrid thought about how to word the reply. The child was still in a state of limbo, to such an extent that there was no real attempt to even name him yet. Astrid had taken to calling him such things as "Leech" and "Parasite", but she decided that it was a detail best kept to herself. Still, Freyda was a strong person, Astrid figured she would prefer the truth.


"He hasn't changed much either way," Astrid replied, still taking pulse and taking note of Freyda's breathing. "He's stable, but that stability is dependent upon magic. It'll be quite a while before he can survive on his own."


Astrid was silent a moment. She felt she had to say something reassuring.


"As long as he breathes though, I'll do everything I can, don't worry."

 

[Teal]

"He's stable," Astrid replied, eyes on Freyda's wrist, "but that stability is dependent upon magic. It'll be quite a while before he can survive on his own."

The giantess nodded. In the pale light of Astrid's light stone, she looked tired.

"As long as he breathes though, I'll do everything I can, don't worry."

"I kno'." Freyda replied, voice a low rumble. She patted Astrid's hand, turning toward her again. "Thank ye."

The faith in those blue eyes probably wasn't a trick of the light.

 

[Maxiom]

Astrid was silent for a moment. She felt something heavy sink down her chest. She wasn't so sure she made a promise she could keep, but it was too late now.


"Just head back to sleep, it'll do you good. Nothing worth doing on Calibration out here anyways," Astrid said. "All ghosts and spectres out there. Certain that your mage is living it up in the shadows. I'll try to make the rounds for both of you again before I get rest, don't worry."


With that, Astrid quietly left the room. She made her way through the halls without any words to anyone.


'Need a distraction.'





Breaking from the many halls of the manor, Astrid walked to the foyer of the Ulfrson's fortress-home. 'Ought to check the slaves.' She reasoned that even if they had a day off from mining duties, some of them could still be injured or ill. She'd atleast check in with the slave-doctors to see how everything was. She couldn't tell how long any trip took out in the shadows of Calibration, but it was a way to pass the time in the gloomy mire.

 

[Teal]

The air hung heavy and chill about Astrid, as she came to a stop atop the flagstone road at the front of the Ulfrson mansion. Behind her, the heavy doors of the manor swung shut with an ominous sound. Darkness filled the sky, yet she could see. Redness filled the gaps between the stones of the path, each a tiny river vanishing off into the darkly glistening hearth clover that surrounded the manor. Behind her, the Ulfrson manor rose - stone walls turned dark in the gloom, and poxed with windows that revealed only pale radiance. It was from the mansion's foundations that the redness welled - filling the air with the scent of copper.

Before her, the luminous shapes of specters surrounded the mansion. Many sat clustered about fire pits that shone with ghostly radiance at the edges of their red flames - wells of illusion. Most were men, clad only in rags, and thickly muscled. Some had picks and mining tools scattered about them. A wall of shifting shadows separated her from the apparent siege camp, barely visible. Here and there, she saw specters walking along its length - most poxed with blackness and carrying weapons in the twisted likeness of mining implements.

Periodically, one would test the wall. Some with a finger - others with great shrieks she could only see. The attacks stirred the shadows - but never managed to cross the dark boundary.

Beyond them, the dark structures of the Ulfrson estate rose - their shapes unfamiliar and only half visible against the black sky.

"Doctor Mustonen." From behind, a woman's voice came from the shadows. One of Jarhl's...women stepped forward - becoming fully discernible only by proximity to Astrid herself. "It is dangerous to leave Master Jahrl's circle of protection." She murmured, voice husky. "Please, return to mansion - my sisters and I shall see to your safety." Though she looked much like Jarhl's wife, Astrid did not think they were the same person.

 

[Maxiom]

Astrid frowned at the sight of the 'woman' that Jahrl had conjured up to protect the manor. She cared even less for its words. "It is dangerous to leave Master Jahrl's circle of protection." The doctor's eye twitched at this. In her head she could hear Jahrl himself talking down to her like some sort of child.


"I think Jahrl knows well that his warnings mean little to me," she replied simply. "I've been seeing to my own safety just fine up to this point. One group of specters doesn't do much to dissuade me from another," Astrid continued, gesturing towards the ghosts that haunted the grounds.


"Now, if you don't mind, I am going to check in on the slaves. I don't expect to be long," she said with the wave of a hand, not even facing the woman any longer. "If I die,you can expect my ghost to report back for me."

 

[Teal]

There was no reply, only the faint sound of splashing - but soon, it too vanished.

Were Astrid to turn around, she would find herself alone.

The invisible wall rose before her. Beyond that, the spectral camp. She would need to pass through both to reach her destination.

 

[Maxiom]

Astrid exhaled deeply once she found she was alone. She didn't want to show hesitation in front of Jahrl's... thing, but she had been holding her breath as she exited through the wall. Now that she was on the other side, she gave a slight shiver, thinking about the ramifications of her actions. If she did die out here, then her promise would probably come true; her ghost would be stuck in Diamond Hearth for a long time. And she'd be lucky if the Ulfrson's were still her employers in the afterlife.


She skin let off a faint white glow as she walked down to the wall. It wasn't far off from the glow that the ghosts themselves gave off. Astrid had lived through many calibrations, and it was a regular sensation for her, so she didn't pay it much mind. She eyed the fallen miners other specters with a mix of caution and pity as she advanced, one hand on the hilt of her knife as she walked. Since the incident, the knife had been scorched by earthfire and the metal had taken on a white color, with a slightly warped shape. It was no longer good for amputation, but it was intimidating and perfectly good for self-defense.


'There grudge isn't with you, Astrid. Keep walking, this happens every year and you have important work to do. The dead seek the wicked, not you.' She told herself mentally.

 

[Teal]

Faint ripples of white spilled out from Astrid as she stepped through the barrier. There was a brief sensation of pressure, before she found herself on the damp clovers outside the protective circle. Behind her, the barrier was fully visible. A wall of dark fog, leaving the details of the mansion beyond obscured. Passed the wards, she could hear the din of conversation - punctuated by periodic inhuman wails from further up the wall on either side.

If Astrid hastened her steps to avoid the guards, none would blame her.

Some of the miners at the nearest firepit - those who sat facing the mansion - raised their heads as she resolved into view. One or two raised their hand, pointing in her direction - prompting the others to turn to face her. Astrid, for her part, strode in the space between them - trying her best to project a confidence she didn't feel. Soon, those groups passed her line of sight - and she did not hear the sound of any rising to pursue her.

Her steps were soft in the still air, as her boots pressed down on the damp black clovers that covered the ground in all directions. The fire pits vanished before too long - the camp appearing to only be perhaps three rows deep.

"Daughter." A young man's voice from her side interrupted her silent march.

There was a welling of ghostly light from the dark ground. From it, Castamir - his clothing the spring leathers of a Haslanti farmer, long hair unbound - rose. His youth was apparent with a glance - slender limbs and a smooth face, at odds with the stern expression he always seemed to wear. Her father was probably younger than she was now, when he died.

The darkness of Calibration seemed to open up around them on all side - leaving Astrid acutely aware of how far away she and her father were from anything.

 

[Maxiom]

Astrid stopped when she heard her father's voice. She was taken aback but did her best to keep her expression still. It wasn't a logical impulse, she just didn't want him to think his presence surprised her. There was a moment of silence for a second as the two stared at one another.


"Father," Astrid replied, with a nod and a short bow, as though she was merely passing him by in the hallway at their home.


"I have work to tend to," she replied. "We can speak later."

 

[Teal]

As Astrid brushed past her father, the estate buildings reemerged from the gloom. Castamir regarded her without expression for a beat, before he started after her. Silence, but for their footfalls, settled around them for a time.

The ring on Astrid's finger grew hot.

 

[Maxiom]

Astrid stopped as her mind processed the sensation. A grim look overtook as she realized what it meant. In a panic, she jerked her head left and right, trying to pierce the fog that blocked off her vision.


'How could I be so dense?' she asked herself as her hands fumbled for the blade that she had brought with her.


She turned back to the specter that was her father, following along behind her without comment. 'Maybe his arrival's a blessing?'


"Father," she said, still twisting her head about to find the fae, "I have little time to explain. There's a fae in Diamond Hearth -looking for me- it's near." She raised the hand with the ring as though to demonstrate her point. "Are you armed?"

 

[Teal]

"There's a fae in Diamond Hearth -" Astrid called, fumbling for her short sword, while casting about frantically, "- looking for me! It's near." Though all about her, all she could see was darkness, walls of light and structures far distant. "Are you armed?"

The pale light of Castamir's form intensified. His formerly slender muscles bulged and his face seemed to grow weathered before Astrid's eyes - the faintly visible stubble on his cheeks suddenly replaced with a full beard. Astrid's eyes caught the glint of something reflective in his hands, as he suddenly wheeled about - as he swung both arms in a wide arc.

The air sang.

The light around Castamir faded - returning him to the shape of a teenager in a farmer's clothes. In his hands was the shape of a long hafted and two-handed great axe - its material gleaming faintly against the ghost's natural luminescence, so dark as to be near black.

"Coward." Castamir spat - Astrid couldn't make out who he was speaking to. He drew the axe back to himself, preparing for another -

From the ground, several paces in front of Castamir, a rift of shimmering sunlight broke free - touched by shifting rainbows. The scent of ice filled the air - and a dark shape suddenly resolved itself in Astrid's eyes. "...what?" That was Castamir growled, bringing his axe into a wary position - as the straight and thick shape was suddenly thrust into the light.

The reaction was incandescent - the shape turned white, as through it had been thrust into a forge. Briefly, the cross-shape of a Haslanti greatsword was clear in the darkness, and a roar split the air. The blade began to ripple and flow - limbs of liquid light expanding outward, coalescing into a new shape.

 

[Maxiom]

Astrid gritted her teeth at the sight of the blade's transformation. She didn't know what the raksha's motives could be for coming after her, but it couldn't be anything good. That greatsword... she recognized it as Todr's. This had to be revenge.


'If I had a bow maybe I could...' her thoughts trailed, before stopping, 'Don't think of what-if, think of what-is.' There was no way Astrid could fight this thing on her own, but she wasn't alone. And the Fae had no clue who or what he was up against.


Astrid raised her blade and stepped out behind Castamir, facing the monster growing out from the greatsword. "I know who you are fae - and I know what your are. You're a coward. You ran when Hilda cut down Todr; trust me, this ghost is much worse. If he sees me hurt, your head will roll. The magister's demons are about as well: cut your losses and run!"

 

[Teal]

As the light from the greatsword swelled, Astrid stepped out from behind her father. Flecks of red light danced over the clover in her wake, and shone about her tongue, as she raised her voice. "I know who you are fae," she spat, "and I know what you are. You're a coward!" The comment drew a grunt of approval from Castamir, who was still eyeing the shifting lightform warily. It had taken on a quadruped shape - and had grown to be taller than him.

Undaunted, Astrid continued. "You ran when Hilda cut down Todr!" The doctor gestured to her father, "Trust me, this ghost is much worse. If he sees me hurt -"

From the light, there came a mighty roar, the force splitting faint ripples of spectral light from the night air. The ring on Astrid's finger grew hot as she felt the vibrations thunder through her core, shredding the red light wreathing her form like claws through fabric. For an instant, the world vanished behind a veil of brilliant rainbow whites. Something - Power - shuddered through her - undeniable.

It was thrilling.

When her vision cleared, a beast towered where the sword had been. The air about it rippled and shifted, filled with traces of chaotic rainbows. Powerful feline muscles gleamed white under that veil - crafted from solid ice. A mane of gold wreathed the face of a great lion, its golden teeth bared and eyes fixed on Castamir.

Beautiful. The thought was unbidden - and her own.

Castamir seemed hunched after the assault. Astrid heard a hiss. Before them, the Lion's muscles tensed - and Castamir through his arm back - the massive black axe held in it as he dropped low. "You think to overcome me!" Motes of red spirit light danced around Castamir's slender frame an instant before a brilliant flare of white erupted from his body.

A hulking being of white spectral flesh launched itself from the light, at the great lion. The sounds of chains rattling filled the night air, as Castamir let forth a roar loud enough to challenge the lion's own. His great axe suddenly seemed proportionate now oversized hands. Shedding both flecks of red, and shedding rays of white radiance, he brought the weapon down on the lion - which danced away.

Rocks exploded - blood, earth, black clover and white essence filling the dark air.

The Fae had pulled away from the battle - Astrid saw him as a patch of darker darkness, surrounded by faintly shifting rainbows. She rounded on him, the fire of valor flickering back to life on her. "The magister's demon's are about! Cut your loses and run!"

 

[Maxiom]

 


Astrid could feel the red glow of the fae's fury through the gloom. Was it bravery or was he just angry? As she could hear her father reckon with the Fae's beast - 


 


The great lion had bounded away from Castamir's attack, unharmed by the debris. Castamir rose - now seemingly set in a body of inhumanly hulking muscle, clothes to rags and body covered by open, dripping, wounds - to his feet, uncoiling and turning toward the cat, as the beast's path twisted toward him.


 


 - it became apparent that this wasn't a situation she would be able to back out of. 


 


The lion loosed a growl, before throwing itself at Castamir - body flashing with shimmering rainbows in the low light. From her father, there came an answering surge of chaotic light - and a enraged growl of his own. This time, motes of gold danced about him, as his axe flashed black amid the brilliant conflagration of supernatural energy. Astrid heard a clash - and a moment later, the Lion danced away yet again. Castamir, seemingly unharmed, rounded on it.


 


In front of her, the Fae threw himself into motion - fast! - steps rapid, form blurring - it closed the distance rapidly. Astrid's thoughts raced - and the world seemed to slow before her eyes. 


 


The fae was going all out, and it was all or nothing for him now. Astrid backed up, trying to keep her adversary, Castamir, and the beast all in her eye line. 


 


'I need to cut him down to stop that behemoth, but I can't fight him up close,' she reasoned. 'He can slice me in two. If I can pelt him from afar though...' She desperately scanned her eyes about for some sign from the environment. A rock would suffice for her at this point.


 


Astrid didn't have the time to scuttle around on the ground in search of a projectile though. She didn't know what was happening, but she knew every second counted. Reflexes took over instead, and Astrid launched the only thing she had at the charging Raksha - the amputation blade. As her arm stretched out, she felt a surge of familiar adrenaline, along with a flash of the same red-tinged white light from before. The sword went flying through the air, carried along by a force that Astrid had never used before, but one that she knew she had.


 


Her long dagger exploded from her hand in a flash of red-tinged white light and a woman's voice appeared in Astrid's mind. "I shall assist." It was the Goddess who had appeared the day Freyda had given birth - and the blade burst into a ball of white fire. The Raksha's blurred form leapt away - a streak of red and chaotic light in the dark; causing Astrid's firebolt to fly wide. He landed soundlessly - and the red aura around him fading to white, tensed to spring, eyes on Astrid.


 


The blade fell to the ground unceremoniously. Astrid held him off, but he would attack again, and she wouldn't be getting that much time to think about it again. Astrid locked eyes with her enemy for just a second as the air around her went gold - and there was a burst of white light again. The Fae flinched and leapt back; but no bolt of white fire came from her.


 


She was gone. Sinking slowly, she phased into the cold ground as she darted forward at her opponent in order to flank him on the other side.


 


That was a stunning development.

 

[Teal]

Steadily, Astrid descended into the dark-clover covered ground. Like steam, white light rose from her body - as her grey eyes locked with the blue eyes of the Fae in black. Even from this distance, she could see the shock on his face.

Off to the side, her Father stood, unmoving. His great axe was raised before him, gripped wardingly in both oversized hands. An aura of chaotic rainbows rose from his skin - overwhelming the white radiance that had once wafted from him. The great lion pranced around him - motions hypnotic in their grace. It seemed that the darkness of Calibration was recoiling from the area around it - such was the strength of the chaotic light that poured from its golden maned form.

Before the darkness rose past her eyes, Astrid saw the Fae in black's eyes turn toward her father's motionless form.

Then, there was nothing. All around her was featureless blackness; sounds vanished and the temperature pummeled. By some miracle, she was able to breath still - though the "air" tasted of dirt.

There was no alternative but to navigate by memory.

* * *
Astrid stumbled into the open.

That wasn't right.

The featureless darkness beneath the Ulfrson Estate had suddenly given way to a low-lit space. Shadows covered the pinkish walls of the chamber, their uneven but rounded shape suggesting a natural structure. The air was warm, heavy and damp - not unlike Jahrl's cave, to her memory. But the scent that suffused the air was completely different - and unmistakable.

It smelled like her.

"Mortal." A woman's voice drew Astrid's gaze, toward a slender approaching shape. Its white dress - a long, layered and ruffled thing - was a sharp contrast to the colour of its flesh - the red-pink of exposed muscle. For all that, its shape was human - its face made plain by its mouth, which was disproportionately large for the rest of its features. Coarse dark hair crowned its head; forming a short afro. Though it sounded like a woman, and obviously dressed as a one, its chest was flat as a child's.

"We meet again." She said - a hint of amusement in her voice.

Behind the doctor, there was only a solid wall - and no obvious path out of this strange place.

 

[Maxiom]

'What?'

Astrid looked around her. The walls of the strange cavern she had delved into - those couldn't be stone. She couldn't really be under the Ulfrson's property now, could she? The air was heavy. The smell was... more than uncomfortable. Her breathing was becoming quick and shallow. Something about this place made her feel like she was about to vomit. Her heart was pounding; what had happened? She needed to get back to the surface. Castamir-

"Mortal."

Astrid spun around, suddenly facing the stranger who was in the cavern with her. It was shaped human, but Astrid recognized the muscles from her experience as a doctor. This being had no skin. "Are you... one of Jahrl's?"

"We meet again." Her tone carried satisfaction to it. Astrid didn't know who this spirit was, or where they could have possible met. She didn't want to think about it.

She shook her head. "Ineedawayout!" she shouted, a mix of panic and anger in her voice, still reeling from the attack above. "Please! I need to go back above! There's - there's a fae in Diamond Hearth! I need to stop it before it-"

'Before it kills Castamir?' She stopped herself before she said it aloud, as though saying it aloud was a disservice to herself.

"I just need to get back to the surface! Please!"

 

[Teal]

"Are you..." Astrid's confusion made her apprehensive. "...one of Jahrl's?"

One of the being's eyebrows - scraggy black things - rose. She clearly did not know the name.

"Please!" Panic suddenly overtook her, as she realized she did not know where she was. "I need to go back above!" The being's eyes slipped up toward the ceiling skeptically, as though Astrid was speaking gibberish. "There - there's a fae in Diamond Hearth! I need to stop it before it -" The doctor bit her own statement off.

Before it kills Castimir. She couldn't say it aloud.

"I just need to get back to the surface! Please!"

The spirit snorted, derision palpable. A quick gesture was snapped as she turned away. Astrid felt her stomach lurch. Suddenly, she was flying through the air, the being shrinking into the distance as the cave walls blurred past her. Before long, she was alone in a long black tunnel - then the tunnel vanished as well.

She hit the ground.

Calibration frays the boundaries between the mortal world and the spirit world. This time the voice in her mind was her own. This is another world. The sky above her eyes was black and featureless - so much like the sky in Calibration, but the air was warmer. Distantly, she felt the tie between herself and the infant; it remained, strong and firm - for the time being anyway.

 

[Maxiom]

Astrid's heart was still pounding as she pulled herself to her feet. 'Why would I ever even think to ask a demon for help...' She reflexively moved to dust her dress as she stood, but she wasn't sure if this place even sustained dust. Her legs were shaking as she took in her surroundings.

"FINE! I'LL FIND ANOTHER WAY BACK UP!" Astrid shouted skyward. She actually had no idea WHERE that demon was in relation to herself, but 'up' was all her mind could muster. "FUCK YOU!" She added for good measure. It didn't do her any good, but it was all she could do to have a sense of control. 'I'll make that thing suffer if she causes me to break my promise.'

The essence she had committed in creation was still holding. That was her light at the end of this tunnel. Maybe it was calibration, maybe it was luck, maybe it was just the strength of her will, but she could still establish a link to the world above. She thought over her options, and realized with dread she had one person she could make contact with.

'Jarhl.'

She examined her surroundings, or the lack thereof. It was all darkness and emptiness. A vacuous chasm. Once assured she was alone, she pulled out the 'gift' Jahrl had given her: a bag of charms. Apparently they were meant to exempt her from wards surrounding the mansion on Calibration. Her essence was ghostly, after all. There were others as well - one to maintain a magical connection to the child from far away. Astrid knew Jahrl well enough though. Surely one of these trinkets could be linked to the man himself. She pulled out the third he had given her - a broad protection ward against ghosts. "It'll have to do." She gripped it tight, summoning up whatever essence she still had, and sent out a message to the ether.

'I'm lost. I think in hell.'

'Send help.'

 

[Teal]

"Astrid?" Jahrl's voice was in her head again, and he sounded surprised. "How did - this really isn't the best time -"

"I'm lost. I think in hell."

A sense of awareness settled around her - that was hopefully Jahrl.

"Oh dear."

"Send help."

"Yes, just...try not to touch anything. I'll open a portal." She felt a...pull from the charm in her hand, as though a breath had just been drawn in.

"A human?" A child's voice rose from the darkness about her. She couldn't see anything.

"She's so bright." Another voice, still with that same high pitch, came from another direction.

"Not her hands!" A third direction.

Something closed on her ankle.

 

[Maxiom]

"A human?" The voice was high pitched, ringing throughout the otherwise silent darkness.

"Who - Who's there?!" Astrid called out, voice shaking.

"She's so bright."

Astrid spun around at the new voice. "Stay away!"

'I can't handle this.' She reached into the pocket of her coat, pulling out a scalpel that she gripped tightly in her right hand.

"Not her hands!" A third one now.

"You wouldn't be the first demon I've gutted! Stay back!"

An unseen hand gripped her ankle. With a frazzled shout, Astrid thrust the blade downwards towards the invisible assailant.

'I hate children.'

 

[Teal]

There was a surprised squeal, and the grip on Astrid's ankle vanished. She felt the scalpel strike only air though.

"She has a knife!"

"A knife!"

"A knife!"

A chorus of whoops and jeers rose around her - the creatures she could not see sounding positively gleeful. She could hear quickly shuffling steps and soft impacts all around her - they had her surrounded, and in this void of light, she couldn't even see how many there were. They didn't seem overly hostile, at least.

There was a strange sensation from the talisman in Astrid's hand - half exhaled breath, half a metallic click into a lock. A slit of light appeared in the air a few steps in front of her. Slowly, it expanded - shedding soft white radiance into the void.

The shadow children's voices rose in a chorus of piteous shrieks.

"What is that!?"

"Why does it buuurn!?"

The portal's open Astrid. Jahrl's voice came through the talisman. Hurry. An image appeared in her mind - the old mage, surrounded by a circle of black runes within a larger circle of his light stones. Before him was the portal - and Astrid could see herself through it, standing alone in a black void, scalpel in hand.

The path was clear.

 

[Maxiom]

Astrid's breathing was heavy, her shoulders raised defensively as the unseen demons surrounded her, hollering exclamations from the nothingness and into more nothing.

"A knife!"

"I'm warning you I'll-"

"A knife!"

Light cut through the deep gloom. The creatures screamed out in what Astrid hoped was pain.

The portal's open Astrid.

Dropping her guard for just a moment, Astrid turned her back on the shadows, sprinting towards the source of the light that pierced through the gloom behind her. As soon as she passed through its threshold and into back into what she hoped was Creation, she hit her knees with a thud. The place she was in was scarcely brighter, but she could just barely recognize it as Jahrl cave. And in the center, surrounded by mysterious sigils and runes that Astrid now knew better than to look at, was Jahrl.

"The fae!" she exclaimed, not really sure where to start on any of what just happened. "He's close to the compound! My father- he was still fighting it!"

She got up to her feet, unsteady after what happened. "I have to find him!"