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ATHINE STUDIED THE note transported from Harmonia to her in Arocia. The note stated that there was a strange girl looking for the temple and that she came up from the pool of the dead. She was slightly delusional and halfway dead. Harmonia suggested that Athine come at once to the temple. She was just about to leave when a strange woman appeared before her.
“Forgive me, Athine, I am Lye-Ashe. I’ve come about the girl with the staff.”
Athine quickly readied her weapon, “And what do you know of this girl with a staff?”
“Plenty. I know she stole it from me. I know she attacked my brother. And I know that she plans to come here and fill the staff with souls so she can become an immortal.”
“Uh huh. Tell me more Lye-Ashe, before I cut off your head for intruding on my domain.”
“There isn’t really much to tell. Her name is Isri. She comes from Cerynian. I am their patron immortal. She was sent to be my sacred servant for a year as most Cerynian children are. However, on her very first night with me she tried to seduce and then kill my brother in order to steal the staff. If you do not stop her from obtaining more souls in that staff she will become an immortal and she will terrorize your realm until she is the only ruler left.”
Athine paced back and forth with Is’che’aiq clasped in her hand. She wasn’t quite sure what to think of this immortal that had invaded her temple. All Athine knew was that this immortal was drenched in the stench of the Underworld. A thousand thoughts crossed Athine’s mind before she felt the presence of Is’che’aiq.
“You cannot trust her Athine. She and her kind are evil. They are ancient soul controlling demons that often bind innocent souls into weapons and servitude. This staff is probably full of helpless human souls.” Is’che’aiq quietly rumbled in Athine’s mind.
“So, what do we do about this old friend? Do we trust her or do we dispatch with her and aid Harmonia?” Athine telepathically asked her sword.
“She is dangerous. We should probably dispatch with her, but if there are souls trapped in this staff, we may need her to set them free. Take her to your sister. This creature would be no match for the both of you even with trickery. But watch your back.”
Athine nodded in affirmation of the plan and turned towards Lye-Ashe. “Seems my sword doesn’t like you much. He tells me that I should be careful around you.”
Lye-Ashe glared at the sword. She instantly recognized it as her brother’s own work. She had heard stories of the great Athine and how she can dissolve even an immortals’ essence. She had no wish to figure out if that power was used discriminately or not. If Athine found out that she had disturbed the balance of the N’Loron gathering her powers, even if it was back in ancient times, she surely would destroy her. She chose her next words carefully. “You have nothing to fear of me great Athine. I only wish to claim that which is mine. The girl and the staff are mine by every right. Help me recover them both and I will be forever grateful.”
Athine looked at Lye-Ashe. She did not believe everything this creature was telling her. She could feel the scorn that Is’che’aiq had for Lye-Ashe. She guarded herself carefully, but she had no choice except to take her to Harmonia’s temple in Ing’old’oik. There the matter could be straightened out. If the staff really had ill-acquired souls in it Harmonia and Athine could find a way to free them.
“Take my hand Lye-Ashe.” Athine commanded as she began making the portal to Ing’old’oik. The creature obeyed and in a moment’s time they were standing in front of Harmonia’s great council room. The doors were large and made of solid marble. It took an immortal’s strength to open them. Athine pushed them open effortlessly as they moved with an ancient creek.
Directly inside the pair found Harmonia in meditation over Shultash. Her face looked perplexed. She seemed to be communicating with the staff in some way. They both waited for Harmonia to look up. When she did, she had tears streaming down her face.
“Sister, what perplexes you so that you cry?” Athine asked immediately as she ran over to her side.
“The staff is full of pain. It seems that there are millions of innocent souls locked away in there by something called a Narkurru. A great betrayer.”
Lye-Ashe felt like she had been kicked in the stomach with these words. This person could commune with the souls in the staff?! She knew the legend said that Harmonia was an Und-vor, but she did not know how powerful she was. She was surely going to be dissolved by Athine if the souls could tell her what happened to them. She had to think quickly. She approached Harmonia and bowed gracefully. “Lady Harmonia. Perhaps I could help. I am Lye-Ashe and your sister has brought me here about the girl that came with the staff. You see that girl you rescued was from Cerynian and that staff you have there is actually a staff she stole from my brother. I believe the Narkurru the staff speaks of is in this Isri girl. The legends in Cerynian say that there were ascended mages from the original founding members of Cerynian capable of possessing living Cerynian folks. She must have been possessed by one of these ascended mages and imbued with dark magic. I imagine she is trying to fill the staff with powerful souls so she can become an immortal vessel for the Narkurru. I think she intends to punch a hole in the N’Loron to try and find immortal souls for the staff to absorb because immortal souls have much more power than human souls. I suppose she desires to take over the whole realm with her new powers.”
Harmonia sat there pondering what Lye-Ashe had said. She had an uneasy feeling about this creature. Some of the things she said appeared to be true, but her instincts told her that the truth was not being fully divulged.
“Well, Lye-Ashe, thank you for your assistance in the matter. However, I am not quite sure what you speak is the truth. The staff has confirmed some of the things you have suggested, but many of the souls in the staff say that you are the one that imprisoned them. The older souls say you bound them inside the staff. What would you say to that?”
“I would say that the souls are confused. It is true that I have often had possession of Shultash, but I am simply the keeper of the staff. I saved it and the one soul that I saw dragged inside it from eminent doom several thousand years ago. I encountered one of the Narkurru creatures the staff talks about one night. I saw the Narkurru chanting over it and then what appeared to be a young girl’s soul being sucked out of her. It looked as if it went in to the staff. Then the staff appeared to be possessed and spoke. It screamed in agony. I, being a young immortal, decided that this was not good. Immortals should not be binding human souls to weapons to do their bidding. I faced the Narkurru and took the staff. I managed to trap the Narkurru into the staff because I was not strong enough to destroy it.
From then on, I have kept the staff safe and out of harm’s way. That is, until recently, when this Isri came to me under the guise of being my newest servant from Cerynian. She was supposed to help me protect the staff, but instead she tried to kill my brother and ran away with Shultash. She apparently had been planning this for some time. She also seems to possess some kind of odd magic. When I found my brother, he was woven into a magical cage of vines. It took me quite some time to get him out of the cage. That is when I realized what Isri’s plan must truly be and why I came to Athine.”
Both Athine and Harmonia listened with intensity. They glanced at each other and then Harmonia waved Athine over to her private study. She looked back at Lye-Ashe. “Lye-Ashe, my sister and I must consult with one another privately with all we have acquired here. You are welcome to stay and rest by the fire while we discuss the situation. My servants will be glad to bring you any food or drink you require. When Athine and I have reached a conclusion on what to do we will come for you.”
Athine and Harmonia moved to the small private quarters to the end of the room far away from Lye-Ashe’s ears. Harmonia cast a circle of silence just in case.
“Sister, I do not trust this creature. She smells of death and decay. The staff is full of many souls. Many who say that Lye-Ashe was the creature that came to Cerynian to help them defend themselves from Amazonian raids hundreds of years ago. They all swore a blood oath that they and their kin would be servants to her. In return they received some kind of twisted control over the dead. This is also the story that I have gotten bit by bit from Isri, although it is a little scattered. I am not sure what either one of them would gain from lying.” Harmonia explained to Athine.
“Is’che’aiq told me not to trust Lye-Ashe because her and her kind bind souls to weapons to make them do their bidding. What if everything Lye-Ashe has said has been a lie? We can’t allow spirits to be trapped in weapons to make immortals more powerful. Surely such an act will throw off the balance of the N’Loron. We must figure out what is going on here.” Athine responded to Harmonia.
Just then the circle of silence was pierced by the loud screams of Lye-Ashe. “She has the staff! Stop her. She must not be allowed to leave!”
Athine and Harmonia quickly looked around to see a half walking half crawling red headed Isri commanding the staff to come to her and away from Lye-Ashe. Guards were around both Lye-Ashe and Isri trying to regain order. Isri had walked into the study looking for Shultash when she found Lye-Ashe instead.
Isri raised Shultash high and began chanting repeatedly until a mystical portal opened up in the ground. Isri pounded Shultash on the floor and was gone in a flash of light. Nothing but green leaves flew in her place.
Everyone stood there stunned. Even with all the magical wards Isri was able to escape and with some form of foreign magic. No one had ever heard of the spell she had used to transport herself out of the temple and now anyone’s guess was as good as to where she went.
“Lye-Ashe, do you have any idea where Isri would have gone with the staff? Is she headed for Arocia?” Athine asked.
Lye-Ashe turned and shook her head. “No, I believe in the state she is in that she would have returned to her home. After all, even if a Narkurru possesses her she is only a sixteen-year-old girl that appears significantly injured. My thoughts are she would have returned to her mother’s care.”