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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt">Homecoming</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>by Hallan Mirayas</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt">Heartbeat.<span style="">
</span>Falling.<span style=""> </span>Joy.<span style=""> </span>Rage.</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center" align="center">
<i style="">I know you were waiting for something.</i></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt">Heartbeat.<span style="">
</span>Falling.<span style=""> </span>Glee.<span style=""> </span>Sorrow.</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center" align="center">
<i style="">Hoping for something.</i></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt">Heartbeat.<span style="">
</span>Falling.<span style=""> </span>Obstruction.<span style=""> </span>Shattering.</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center" align="center">
<i style="">Find it.</i></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt">Heartbeat.<span style="">
</span>Falling.<span style=""> </span>Pain.<span style=""> </span>Fire.</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center" align="center">
<i style="">And when you find it...</i></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt">Heartbeat.<span style="">
</span>Falling.</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center" align="center">
<i style="">Kill it.</i></p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt">Impact.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt">May 19<sup>th</sup>, 708 CR</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>The day closed unspectacularly in the city of Lik, the sunset obscured with a dull overcast and a clammy drizzle that set the ground squishing underfoot.<span style="">
</span>The hard-won flickers of late spring's warmth washed into the gutters like the blood of killed prey.<span style="">
</span>Aside from an occasional grumble, no-one remarked on its passing.<span style="">
</span>This was the edge of the Giantdowns tundra, in the shadow of the Great Barrier Range, and spring was always late in arriving.<span style="">
</span>This was normal, and there were more important things to do than wish it were otherwise.<span style="">
</span>The vampires emerged from their crypts, attended by their retinue of skeletons and zombies.<span style="">
</span>The werewolves shrugged out of their human forms, preferring their shaggy lupine coats.<span style="">
</span>The moondogs prowled the forest edges, keeping watch for prying eyes.<span style="">
</span>The drakes and gargoyles patrolled the skies for the same purpose.<span style="">
</span>The lutins and men honed their weapons and burnished their armor.<span style="">
</span>The army prepared for war.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>For that is what Lik had become since the collapse of Nasoj's empire: the home camp for a growing army of invasion.<span style="">
</span>Lilith, daedra goddess of predation, had visions of succeeding where the prince of the daedra had failed: the destruction of Metamor Keep, and the army she'd gathered at Lik was her weapon.<span style="">
</span>It was almost ready.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>In another world, it might have struck hard and well.<span style=""> </span>
In this one, it would not live to see the dawn.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt">-----</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>The same evening ended in a clear, gentle twilight a few hours later in Marigund.<span style="">
</span>Lamplight glowed golden in the courtyard of the World Bell as a productively busy day neared its successful conclusion.<span style="">
</span>Workers heaved on thick hempen lines attached to pulleys hanging from an iron frame, straining to settle a silvery statue of a toga-clad woman onto a tall ivory pedestal.<span style="">
</span>"Blast, this thing's heavy!" grunted one of the workers over the creaking of the ropes.<span style="">
</span>What's it made of, lead?"</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"Among other things," replied a man on the scaffolding that encircled the pedestal.<span style="">
</span>"Down a little more...<span style=""> </span>A little more..."<span style="">
</span>The statue settled into place with a muffled boom, and artificers immediately set to opening panels and connecting linkages in its lower reaches.<span style="">
</span>More began installing ten metal dragons into recessed alcoves in the ivory pedestal, generating a hive of activity now that the basic assembly was complete.<span style="">
</span>Each dragon sat with its tail curled around its hind legs, and each clutched a pearl sphere in its front claws like a prized possession, held up before its slightly bowed snout as if contemplating its beauty.<span style="">
</span>The dragons, and the pearls they held, grew in size as one circled clockwise around the pedestal.<span style="">
</span>An eleventh dragon, a bewhiskered old drake cradling a pearl the size of a man's head, completely encircled the pedestal.<span style="">
</span>His body and tail formed the base.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Seeing work progressing neatly, the man climbed down from the scaffolding and clasped the hand of each member of the lifting crew in turn.<span style="">
</span>"Gentlemen, the Mage Guild thanks you for your help."</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Most of the work crew dispersed, but a few of the more curious ones stayed, including the foreman.<span style="">
</span>He asked, "Just what <i style="">is</i> that thing, Guildmaster Demarest?"</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"It's a temporary replacement for the World Bell.<span style=""> </span>More accurately, it's the predecessor to the World Bell, made during the latter days of the Empire.<span style="">
</span>Master Thadeus has studied the device in detail and can tell you more than I.<span style="">
</span>Thadeus?"</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>A yellow-clad man buried chest-deep in an opening in the pedestal replied.<span style="">
</span>"The World Bell worked by sound, and by interpretation of the ripples caused by that sound in the pool below.<span style="">
</span>This statue, on the other hand, is an automaton.<span style=""> </span>No, not the 'living', self-actuating kind, like Madog or Salona, but a measuring machine.<span style="">
</span>I'd give you an overview of the inner workings, but it's a bit cramped in here."<span style="">
</span>The mage backed slowly out of the access port, making connections as he went, each move precise and carefully planned.<span style="">
</span>"It's not as sensitive or accurate, but it will keep us informed of magical events while the Bell is being recast.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Arms still deep in the pedestal's inner workings, Thadeus turned his attention to the workers making the last adjustments to the statue and the dragons.
<span style=""> </span>Already, the scaffolding and iron framework were starting to come down.<span style="">
</span>"Are all connections made, checked, and double-checked?" the mage called to the last of the artificers still working within the statue.<span style="">
</span>Receiving a chorus of agreement over the sound of closing panels and descending workers, he asked, "Acolyte Marcus, are you finished with that last pearl?"</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Melissa Marcus, a dark-furred cat-woman from distant Metamor Keep, finished closing the largest dragon's claws around its pearl, pausing in her reply only long enough to buff a spot of tarnish from the old drake's face.<span style="">
</span>"Yes, Master Thadeus."<span style=""> </span>Her whiskers arching into a faint, playful smirk, she brushed the drake's articulated whiskers into place with the backs of her fingers and then playfully kissed it on the cheek.<span style="">
</span>"There, Grandfather.<span style=""> </span>Now you look properly dignified."</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Thadeus chuckled.<span style=""> </span>"Good.<span style=""> </span>Everyone get clear.<span style="">
</span>When I let go of these control rods, the activation switch will swing shut, and the statue may move quite abruptly if it detects something.<span style="">
</span>I want everyone back behind the ten-stride line.<span style=""> </span>Elizabeth, would you signal for the calibration pulses to begin, please?"</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"Calibration pulses?" echoed the foreman as a green flare streaked skyward from the magess Elizabeth's extended hand.</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Master Demarest took over the instruction, Thadeus' full attention now devoted to the statue as a red flare arced skyward from somewhere to the north, well outside the city limits.<span style="">
</span>"Watch the dragons," said the Guildmaster as the statue rumbled round to face the flare, its arm rising to point directly at it.<span style="">
</span>The smallest dragon looked up from contemplating its pearl, turning its head to look in the direction of the flare as well before returning to its original position as the light faded and the statue's arm came down.<span style="">
</span>A second flare lofted to the east and the statue turned to point at it in turn.<span style="">
</span>This time, two dragons looked up, the smallest and the second-smallest.<span style="">
</span>The pattern continued for the third, and then the fourth, each successively brighter flare drawing the attention of the next largest dragon.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"I think I understand," chimed in one of the other workers.<span style="">
</span>"It's a measure of strength, isn't it?<span style=""> </span>The more powerful the magic, the more dragons will react."</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"That is correct.<span style=""> </span>It's a one-to-ten scale, each step ten times stronger than the last."</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Unseen beyond the courtyard wall, low on the distant northwestern horizon, a flickering light began to dance, so faint as to be almost invisible against the moonlight.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"Ten steps, Guildmaster?<span style=""> </span>But there are... eleven..."<span style="">
</span>The workman trailed off as the statue's pointing hand swung round, ignoring the blue flare rising in the northeast to lock steadfast facing northwest.<span style="">
</span>One by one, the dragons awoke.<span style=""> </span><i style="">One, two, three, four...</i><span style="">
</span>Eyes began to widen.<span style=""> </span><i style="">Five, six, seven...<span style="">
</span></i>Was it broken?<span style=""> </span><i style="">Eight, nine...<span style="">
</span></i>It <i style="">had</i> to be broken!<span style=""> </span>A ninth-level event occurring the moment the statue activated?<span style="">
</span><i style="">Ten...<span style=""> </span></i>Tenth level?<span style="">
</span>A breathless pause followed, and then the old drake roused himself and lifted his head, casting his gaze to the northeast along with the others.<span style="">
</span>Alarmed gazes all across the courtyard turned as one to Guildmaster Demarest.<span style="">
</span>"What does it mean?" asked the workman.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>The statue's arm stayed locked to the northwest, refusing to acknowledge the flares still being lofted skyward.<span style="">
</span>Demarest and Thadeus shared a worried frown.<span style=""> </span>"All eleven dragons activated means one of two things: either it has broken, which I doubt, or the readings have gone off the scale."</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"Where is it?<span style=""> </span>How far away?"</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"That's the biggest problem with this in comparison to the World Bell... all it tells is direction and strength.<span style="">
</span>I only hope the one we sent to Metamor is complete enough to triangulate."<span style="">
</span>Guildmaster Demarest turned.<span style=""> </span>"Elizabeth?<span style="">
</span>Contact your brother.<span style=""> </span>Thadeus, plot that line on the map.<span style="">
</span>Even if Metamor isn't ready, we might at least get some information from a direction."</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt">-----</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>When Elizabeth's image appeared, not in her brother's quarters where she expected, but in a strange room full of people, her eyes widened.<span style="">
</span>They widened further when she recognized them.<span style=""> </span>She dropped into a curtsey from quick reflex.<span style="">
</span>"Duke Thomas.<span style=""> </span>This is an unexpected honor."</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>The dark stallion shook his head, his tousled mane still rumpled from a recent and hasty waking.<span style="">
</span>"This is an emergency," he corrected.<span style=""> </span>"Before you ask, your brother tells me that the detector your Guild sent is not yet operational.<span style="">
</span>However..."<span style=""> </span>He gestured, and a double door was opened in the side of the room.<span style="">
</span>Beyond lay an open balcony from which Madog and the Duchess of Metamor watched a storm raging over the mountains to the north-east.<span style="">
</span>"Something tells me we won't have a problem suggesting a direction."<span style="">
</span>Cascading lightning exploded across the storm, turning night into day for more than a quarter of the sky.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Guildmaster Demarest stepped into view just to the side of Elizabeth, appearing seemingly from thin air as he moved into range of the transmission spell.<span style="">
</span>"That can't be right.<span style=""> </span>Is it that close to you?<span style="">
</span>Our direction-finding suggested the event was far to your east."</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"According to our weather mages, Guildmaster, that storm is over a hundred miles away.<span style="">
</span>I shudder to think what it must be like beneath it."</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt">-----</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Hailstones like clenched fists pummeled the life from any Lik resident too slow or unlucky to quickly find shelter.<span style="">
</span>Lightning bolts thick as tree trucks detonated much of that shelter into flaming wreckage.<span style="">
</span>Blinding rain drowned those fires... along with many survivors pinned in the rubble.<span style="">
</span>Worse was coming.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Thunder shook the ground like a giant's tread, but it was as nothing to the roar that split the sky.<span style="">
</span>The actinic strobe of unremitting lightning vanished in a searing blaze as a fireball the size of a house hurtled down on the temple of Lilith in the center of town.<span style="">
</span>The shockwave of impact obliterated the temple, blasted every remaining structure in town into matchwood, and ripped a hole in the clouds.<span style="">
</span>A glowing rift burned in the center of that hole for a fraction of a second longer, bright as a newborn sun, then collapsed with a flash and a roar that sundered the storm like a rotten melon.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt">-----</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"Gods be!"</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>The Metamor war council and the projected Marigund mages recoiled in shock as the distant storm flared into eye-searing brilliance.<span style="">
</span>The silhouettes and shadows of the mountains slashed across the valley in knife-edged relief, first in the light of the storm, then as lingering afterimages in the darkness that followed after.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Whimpering, Madog jumped down from the balcony ledge and tugged on the Duchess' skirt with his teeth.<span style="">
</span>"Inside!<span style=""> </span>Inside, hurry!"<span style=""> </span>Almost dragging her off the balcony, the metal fox then knocked the Duchess down and stood stiff-legged astride her as if to shield her with his own body.<span style="">
</span>All of the doors and windows slammed shut, vanishing into solid stone as the Keep sealed the room.<span style="">
</span>A growing rumble began to shake the building.<span style=""> </span>"Protect the Duke!" Misha and George yelled at the same moment, and the lord of Metamor found himself tackled under many bodies and shoved beneath the heavy oak map table as the rumble
outside became a roar.</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>The room shook like a rat in a terrier's jaws, violent, but mercifully brief.<span style="">
</span>Once the shaking faded, people began picking themselves up off the floor, the Duke and Duchess' bodyguards only letting their own charges up once the Keep reopened the doorways and windows, signaling that the threat had truly passed.<span style="">
</span>Duchess Alberta swayed slightly as she rose, one hand on her midriff, an uncomfortable moue souring her face, but she waved off any concerned questions with assurance that she was fine. The Marigund mages were gone: the focusing figurine, to Misha's
dismay, lay shattered on the floor next to the table.<span style=""> </span>But the spectacle beyond the mountains ultimately drew all eyes back to it.<span style="">
</span>The cataclysmic storm, nearly horizon-spanning mere moments earlier, had been shattered into pieces.<span style="">
</span>Flickering remnants fled in all directions, leaving a widening circle of open, starry sky behind.<span style="">
</span>"What in the Nine Hells was that?" gasped the Duke, shocked into a momentary lapse of profanity.</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"Not <i style="">in</i> the Hells, your Grace," replied a dark-clad figure who, until now, had remained silent in a corner.<span style="">
</span>The crescent moon medallion of a priest of Nocturna gleaming silver on a chain of gold around his neck, Malger Sutt picked himself up off the floor.<span style="">
</span>"Not <i style="">in</i>," he repeated as he tugged his disheveled waistcoat back into place. "<i style="">Out of</i>.<span style="">
</span>Doom has come, but for once not for Metamor."<span style=""> </span>Dark musteline eyes narrowed and fixed on Misha.<span style="">
</span>"Not unless <i style="">you</i> fail to get there first."</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"Get there first?<span style=""> </span>Who else is coming?"</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"Only those too mad or too hungry for power to heed warnings from both aedra
<i style="">and</i> daedra." </p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"Warnings from daedra <i style="">and </i>aedra?" Lothanasa Raven challenged.<span style="">
</span>"I have heard no such thing!"</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"You will."</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"What are we facing, Malger?"<span style=""> </span>Misha's remaining ear had gone flat, eyes narrowing in turn.<span style="">
</span>"You seem to have so many answers.<span style=""> </span>What has happened, and why are you so specific about me?"</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>"One answer will satisfy both questions, Misha, and it is this: the War Wolf of Revonos is un-leashed, and has been ejected from the Hells."<span style="">
</span>Malger paused just long enough to let his very deliberate phrasing sink in, and then stabbed a finger into Misha's chest.<span style="">
</span>"Prepare well.<span style=""> </span>Know without question that you will not overmatch him in a direct contest of strength, so choose your companions wisely.<span style="">
</span>And above all, d<i style="">o <u>not</u> be late.</i>"</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>What remained of the army at Lik stirred only slowly in the sudden silence, deafened ears just beginning to register the moans of the injured and dying.<span style="">
</span>The werewolves and the vampires, gifted by Lilith with supernatural strength and healing, were the first to push free of the wreckage and even they, hardened killers through they were, gaped in shock at the absolute devastation they beheld.<span style="">
</span>The city of Lik was, quite simply, gone.<span style=""> </span>Its buildings had been almost uniformly leveled into smoldering ruin.<span style="">
</span>Of the temple at its center, only a smoking crater remained.<span style="">
</span>Still, discipline under pressure and obedience to hierarchy remained fundamental to Lilith's ethos, bred into the very marrow of her servants and slaves, and a chain of command was soon salvaged and put into action.<span style="">
</span>The werewolves, with their sharp noses and sharper claws, started searching for survivors.<span style="">
</span>A pair of giants who had survived the bludgeoning hail, the searing lightning, and the rending shrapnel heaved themselves from the rubble and began digging where the werewolves indicated.<span style="">
</span><span style=""> </span>The vampires, in imminent need of shelter from the coming dawn, investigated the smoking crater where the temple had been.<span style="">
</span>Perhaps somewhere amidst that sulphurous haze, some remnant of the catacombs had survived.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Some remnant had, but that was not all to be found there.<span style=""> </span>
Something stirred, hidden in the haze, battered by a long, pain-filled fall, but blazing with power from back-to-back victories over two hated foes.<span style="">
</span>The pain was ignored.<span style=""> </span>Ears pricked in anticipation.<span style="">
</span>Devastation incarnate waited for his third battle with golden eyes alight.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt">May 21st, 706 CR</p>
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<p style="margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style=""><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="">
</span></span></i><i style=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:black">"Somebody killed her.<span style="">
</span>Somebody killed my Alexis. She went in and... and somebody killed her."</span></i><i style=""><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"></span></i></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>The cold wind of dragonflight stabbed through Misha’s fur, and he tugged the parka he wore tighter around him to block it.<span style="">
</span>If only he could protect himself from memories so easily.</p>
<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p>
<p style="margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:black"><span style=""> </span> "Stay down, Drift! You’re not getting past me!"</span></i></p>
<p style="margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:black"> </span></i></p>
<p style="margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:black"><span style="">
</span>"Whatever the price, whatever the cost, give me the strength to destroy my enemies!"</span></i></p>
<p style="margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:black"> </span></i></p>
<p style="margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:black"><span style="">
</span>"Don't follow me, Misha! I won't spare you twice!"</span></i></p>
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<p style="margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:black"><span style="">
</span>He closed his eyes against the wind, and immediately snow swirled around him.<span style="">
</span>A red glow pierced the night.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:black"> </span></p>
<p style="margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:black"> "Stop this madness!"</span></i><i style=""><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"></span></i></p>
<p style="margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style=""><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span></i></p>
<p style="margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:black"> "No! This isn’t what I wanted! She didn’t deserve to die! She wasn’t supposed to-"</span></i></p>
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<p style="margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:black"><span style="">
</span>{Misha.}</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:black"> </span></p>
<p style="margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style=""><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; color:black"><span style="">
</span>"Misha, help me! Help- aaaahh!"</span></i></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>{Misha!}</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Saroth’s telepathic shout startled Misha out of his unwanted reverie.<span style="">
</span>“What?<span style=""> </span>What is it?” he shouted back, pushing his voice to reach through the wind to the dragon’s ears.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>A strong gust of wind buffeted Saroth and the blue dragon Tychicus, forcing them to swerve out of formation to avoid being pushed into a cliff.<span style="">
</span>{It is difficult enough cajoling the winds into our favor without the screams in your mind to distract me.<span style="">
</span>No, I’m not intentionally reading, but please direct your thoughts to another topic.}<span style="">
</span>The buffeting lessened and the dragons eased back into a streamlined offset, the larger Tychicus taking the point.<span style="">
</span>{The sky is in pain, Misha, and the winds off the mountains are even wilder than usual.<span style="">
</span>I wish Electra were here so I could focus on flying.}</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>The snow-capped heights of the Great Barrier Range had always served as a nigh-impenetrable guard to Metamor's flanks.<span style="">
</span>Torturously high passes, thin air, bitter cold, and sudden, savage storms made crossing in large numbers, whether by ground or by air, almost unthinkable.<span style="">
</span>Only dragons flew this high, and not without effort.<span style=""> </span>
But it was the safest way to get quickly to the area where the storm had been, without the danger of running into an air patrol from Nasojassa or Lik.<span style="">
</span>The 'nobody goes here' mystique of the Great Barrier Range worked both ways, and Misha's reconnaissance didn't
<i style="">need</i> large numbers.<span style=""> </span>It just needed a dedicated weather mage to cope with the maze of storms and shifting winds that barred their path.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Unfortunately, they didn't have one.<span style=""> </span>The storm shield that protected Metamor's southern reaches, still recovering from the Marzac Shockwave of the winter before, had had its freshly recast anchors damaged again by whatever had
shaken the skies to the north.<span style=""> </span>Xavier Marcus had abruptly left Metamor for parts unknown bare weeks after Drift's fall to the daedra, which left the Duke caught between two fires with only one storm mage apiece.<span style="">
</span>Thus, Saroth had to pull double duty as flying transport and weather mage in difficult terrain, and the strain was beginning to show.<span style="">
</span>Even threading their way through mountain valleys for much of the day, they had not been able to avoid crossing any fewer than five high passes, and each took a visible toll on the bronze-scaled dragon.<span style="">
</span>An overnight rest in the forested valley just behind them had given both dragons a chance to recover before the final push, but even so Misha fingered the teleport disk in his pocket, glad that he would not have to ask for a repeat performance on the
way home.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Tychicus, who had scouted this route before, promised that this was the last high pass before the way out.<span style="">
</span>It was also the highest and the most dangerous: the snowscape buffeted and swirled under the dragons’ wings only a rooftop's height below, but the air was too thin to climb any higher for safety.<span style="">
</span>Too thin even for dragons.<span style=""> </span>Misha looked up, up at the mountain peaks looming still higher above and felt something in him quail.<span style="">
</span>Never in his life had he felt so small.<span style=""> </span>There was great beauty here: the snow gleamed and glittered like a field of diamonds in the light of the rising sun.
<span style=""> </span>Dark cliffs and crags lanced through the white cover, carved by time and cold into razor-edged perfection.<span style="">
</span>But it was a hostile and deadly majesty, and the mountains guarded it jealously.<span style="">
</span>Outsiders trespassed at great peril.<span style=""> </span>A mistake now would mean a slow, cold, torturous death.</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Arms tightened around his waist as the dragons slewed around another rocky outcropping.<span style="">
</span>Behind him rode the rat Charles Matthias, his face burrowed into the back of Misha's parka for protection from the wind.<span style="">
</span>The arrangement mirrored itself on Tychicus' back with Wolfram and Merai, the other companions Misha had chosen to bring with him.<span style="">
</span>Wolfram had worried that pausing at Glen Avery to pick up Charles would delay them too long, but the rat had shown up at Metamor's gates that very dawn, uncalled-for.
<span style=""> </span>"I had a dream, Misha," he explained when asked.<span style="">
</span>"Shattered manacles, dipped into a crystal pool. They didn't come out as manacles, though.<span style="">
</span>They came out as a brilliant sword, gleaming like the sun. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="">
</span>Misha did.<span style=""> </span>No more questions were needed.<span style="">
</span>They left on time.</p>
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