The Eldyr War
{First 3 chapters only}
The Four Eldyrs, Summarized
Guide provided by Astrid L. Morsing
Dheghom
Realm: The Center Realm
Relyc: The Seed of Creation
Celestial Children: The nymphs
Title: The Mother of Mortality
Common pronouns: Feminine and inanimate (she and it)
Seraphiel
Realm: The City
Relyc: The Sword of Control
Celestial Children: The alfir
Title: The Architect of Worlds
Common pronouns: Feminine
Sekhmet
Realm: The Wasteland
Relyc: The Spear of Power
Celestial Children: The fomorians
Title: The Beast of Fire
Common pronouns: Feminine
Prometheus
Realm: The Island Realms
Relyc: The Eye of Knowledge
Celestial Children: None known*
Title: The Hierophant of Infinity
Common pronouns: Feminine, masculine, and androgynous (she, he, and they)
**
*There is speculation that the “witch sisters” could qualify, but their existence is unconfirmed, as is their relationship with Prometheus if they are real.
**Apophis is not included in this list because their existence is currently unconfirmed.
Prologue
Prometheus
The problem with having created the universe is that there is no neutral ground, and a meeting such as this required neutral ground. The closest we could find was one of my Island Realms. I had selected one of the larger ones. It was circular, a hundred feet or so in diameter, and I had reshaped it into a grand room with several tiers for audiences to stand in around a circular area of clear floor in the center.
It was empty, for now, but they would be arriving soon. One didn’t need to be all-seeing and mind-reading to know the order they would arrive in, although it didn’t hurt. It would be Seraphiel, slightly ahead of time, then Dheghom, and then Sekhmet, slightly late.
Right on time, several pillars of blue light sprang up, including one in front of me. From it stepped Seraphiel, marble skin shining and the Sword of Control gleaming in her hand. The other blue lights had been in the audience area and from them emerged the stone-like alfir, stepping rehearsed synchronicity to orderly take their seats.
“Seraphiel,” I said, bowing to my fellow eldyr, “Welcome to my humble realm.”
“Thank you for hosting me, Prometheus.” Seraphiel observed the realm with her six glowing eyes. “Although I feel that I must say, the City is more efficiently designed than this.”
“Perhaps you could give me suggestions after the meeting.” I knew Seraphiel had been going to say that, but I swallowed my annoyance at her condescension. I of course also knew every inch of the City, Seraphiel’s realm, and found its aesthetic terribly boring.
With a blaze of green light, Dheghom appeared. Or, more accurately, one of its avatars, as her actual body had been divided some time ago. Her celestial children, the nymphs, did not appear in the gallery like Seraphiel’s alfir had. The nymphs were even more closely linked to their eldyr mother than with most celestials, and watched the proceedings through their mother’s eyes.
I bowed even more deeply to Dheghom. “Hello there, my love. Ready to get this business all sorted out?”
“Quite. Although I don’t see why there’s any business to sort out; the humans are my creations and exist solely in my realm.”
Before Seraphiel could reply I said, “Let’s save the debate until our last member arrives.”
We waited for perhaps a minute. Sekhmet liked to make people wait. In an orange flash, there she was. Tall and regal, covered in fur as bright as fire. In one hand she held a tall glowing white rod, the Spear of Power. Her fomorian children appeared in the gallery behind her, jostling and fighting over their seats. I bowed a third time. “Thank you for coming, Sekhmet. With you here, I believe we can begin.”
She nodded, silent. It was Seraphiel who spoke, “My dearest heart, hopefully we will be able to resolve this matter to the satisfaction of all, so we can finally put it behind us.”
Sekhmet smiled, a reaction only Seraphiel only elicited from her. “I hope so too.”
I spread my arms wide, my shining Eye of Knowledge held in one hand. “Fellow eldyrs!” I announce, indulging in a little pageantry. “We are gathered formally today, as we have not done since the last partitioning of the realms. The question brought before us today is this: what are we to do with Dheghom’s latest creation, the humans, and how shall the immortals conduct themselves in the Center Realm moving forward?”
Thus the debate commenced. I believe it took us an entire minute to descend into argument.
“Your humans aren’t celestials, that much I concede to be true,” said Seraphiel, “But they are nevertheless just as sentient. To subject them to mortality is utterly immoral. You must ascend their species to a place among the celestials. If you are unable to complete the task yourself, we can cooperate to achieve it.”
“I would be quite able to do so myself, Seraphiel,” shot back Dheghom, “But the point of humans is that they are biotic and mortal.”
“Humans are builders,” said Sekhmet, “Like Seraphiel’s alfir. If they become celestials, they will make the Center Realm like the City. I won’t let our hunting grounds be taken.”
“My world is not just your hunting grounds, and in fact your fomorians have been overstepping recently,” said Dheghom at the same time Seraphiel said, “Well, perhaps the Center Realm’s structure should be more like that of the City.”
The Eye of Knowledge in my hand flickered with light as it absorbed the incoming information. I was concerned. I had never seen Sekhmet and Seraphiel so mad at each other, and the eye indicated that if those two pushed each other over the edge, things got bad.
“Perhaps,” I interjected, “We could try doing things gradually. Ascend a test sample of mortals and see what happens.”
“Your experiments meddle in the Center Realm enough as it is,” said Dheghom, “The world is mine; I have the right to do with it as I please.”
“It is the largest of the realms by quite a considerable amount,” said Seraphiel, “To simply let you waste it on such vulgar ephemeral projects would be… unthinkable!”
Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed at Seraphiel, full of scorn. “You assume everything not done to your liking is a waste. My proposition is this: let all do as they like. Alfir can build, fomorians can hunt, Prometheus can experiment, nymphs can grow flowers, and humans can fend for themselves. There’s enough realm for everyone.”
“No there isn’t!” protested Dheghom, “So much unrestrained power would be dangerous to the realm. I will not spend the rest of eternity cleaning up your messes.”
From there things spun further out of control, descending into wild bickering. I kept trying to offer other solutions and after a certain point even Dheghom tried to calm things down, but there was no stopping Seraphiel and Sekhmet. I could sense the bond between the two twisting into hatred. It potentially spelled doom for the cosmos, but I had to admit it was fascinating to watch.
“Your brute children will not be allowed to overrun that world!” said Seraphiel, a blue tinge entering the air around her at her anger.
Sekhmet snarled and her own orange aura rose up around her in response. “You finally admit your disdain for them. And you do not ‘allow’ me anything. You said we were equals.”
“Well that was before I knew you would casually throw the realms into disarray!” shot back Seraphiel, “From this moment forward, I am done trying to cooperate with you. If you are so insolent as to send your fomorians into that realm, then I will send them back, and I make no guarantees that they will be in the same condition they were upon departure.”
“You are arrogant and power hungry!” hissed Sekhmet. The Spear of Power in her hand lashed out, scoring a short but deep cut across Seraphiel’s face, across one of her eyes. Even she seemed surprised that she had done it.
I tensed. This was it, the place past the breaking point. There was a moment of silence. Then, Seraphiel lifted up the Sword of Control, and the world was flooded with blue light. The light wrapped around Sekhmet like a cocoon and yanked her up into the air, the Spear of Power falling out of her hands. Sekhmet’s screams filled the air as Seraphiel’s energy wrapped around her, warping her very form, tearing her apart.
The entire room exploded into chaos. The fomorians and alfir charged at each other. “Seraphiel, please-” began Dheghom.
“No,” said the mother of the alfir, “I have no desire to do this, but she has proven too much of a threat. She is unstable, just as Apophis was, so she will be dealt with as they were.” Seraphiel’s six eyes narrowed in concentration, and cracks were starting to form across her sword as it was pushed to its very limit.
Sekhmet’s hand burst out of the prison and the Spear of Power flew back to it. With an explosion of orange lightning, the azure bonds around her were blasted apart. Sekhmet fell back down to the floor. “Too weak to finish the job,” she spat. Her form had been horribly mangled, but two intact, hateful eyes stared at the other eldyr. She screamed and charged at Seraphiel, spear blazing with orange light.
“What should we do?” Dheghom asked me. The Eye of Knowledge glowed scarlet in my hand, trying to keep track of all that was happening. It was too much, even for me.
“They’re going to rip this realm apart,” I said, “And unless I can disconnect it, they might take the rest of the Island Realms with it. If you don’t want to go through the trouble of making another avatar, I suggest you take this one back to the Center Realm now. I’ll meet you there soon.”
Dheghom’s vessel nodded. In a blaze of green light, she vanished. The chamber was now washed with orange and blue radiance as Sekhmet, Seraphiel, and their celestial children clashed. The sheer volume of energy they brought began to rip the fragile realm apart. I observed the whole proceeding with mixed dread and fascination. Well, there was nothing for it now. If nothing else, this would certainly be interesting.
A blast of white fire from Sekhmet’s spear blew a hole in one of the walls of the room, exposing the black void beyond. The hole started to grow. Ordinarily it could be repaired, but this realm was already too full, pushed too far. There was only one thing that could be done. I lifted up my free hand, which started glowing with scarlet light. I reached out my will and carefully severed the threads in the Void that connected this realm to the others in the Island Realms.
The realm’s collapse started to speed up exponentially, more breaks opening in the walls. Even Sekhmet and Seraphiel realized something was wrong. “I would suggest you and your celestials return to your own realms,” I said, “You might be able to survive the Void, but they can’t.” With that, I stepped out of the realm and into Dheghom’s.
I reappeared in the seed chamber in the Center Realm. It was a dim, moss-covered cave that contained the remains of Dheghom itself holding a white lump of divine matter, the Seed of Creation. One of Dheghom’s avatars walked forward. “I don’t understand how this could have all fallen apart so very quickly,” she said.
“Time is tricky like that. If it’s any consolation, this wasn’t probable. One of the worst possible eventualities that I predicted, actually.”
“How could that be comforting?”
I shrugged. “How about this: it’s not over yet.” I lifted up the Eye of Knowledge, listening to it. “Both Sekhmet and Seraphiel are gathering their celestials in their own realms now. They want war, and will wage it here, in the Center Realm. Now, there’s no convincing them out of it; their bond has turned to pure enmity. If they do fight here, it won’t be good. the Center Realm is unlikely to collapse, but it could still have some rather destructive holes ripped in it. You need to seal them out.”
“I’m not sure if I can,” said Dheghom, “Not both of them.”
“I’ll help you. As interesting as this war would be, it would destroy too many other curious potentials. Now, the seal doesn’t have to be absolute, just tight enough to keep the other eldyrs out.”
“Then let’s begin. Let this be the last time that all creation is endangered.”
Chapter 1: Not The Last Time
Andrasta
For me, it began with a drop of blood and what was probably a bad idea. But just before that, there was cake.
I was sitting on a rock, napkin unfolded on my lap, a rectangular slice of cake resting on it. It was a new recipe and I wanted to make sure it was good before I started selling it in my bakery. I carefully picked it up and ate it. I did it slowly, for two reasons. One, I wanted to carefully judge and enjoy its flavor and texture. Two, I was stalling.
The cake was good, a little too sweet for my taste, but I liked sweetness less than most. I finished eating. Which meant I couldn’t put off the other chore, the much less fun one, any longer.
I scanned the rocky hills around me. I didn’t want anyone to see what I was doing and I also didn’t want them to die if things went wrong. I’d taken an hour-long carriage ride and then a half hour hike out of the city to get to this place. Getting back would probably take even longer. This was what I got to spend my holiday on. I’d chosen this spot because it was far away from other people, and because it was said that it had once been a celestial battlefield.
No one was completely sure where chimeras came from. It was said they rose from where the blood of fomorians and alfir mixed. It was also said they rose from the blood of sorcerers. A theory combining these two was that when a place had been touched by the blood of all three, then a chimera would form. I wanted to know if I might create a horrific and powerful abomination every time I bled, so I figured it was worth testing.
My sorcerer’s blood had never summoned up chimeras before, and I’d bled plenty of times. I’d recently tested it once more to be sure. My blood had fallen to the ground and sunk into the soil, just like any blood would. So I had come here, to Lockworn Hill, which was said to have been an old battlefield between the fomorians and the alfir. If nothing happened, I could safely know that I had nothing to fear from bleeding. If something did rise, then I would know to steer clear of places like that in the future. If I survived, which I probably would.
I hoped that only a tiny bit of blood would make only a tiny chimera. I hadn’t ever seen a chimera, but I’d heard the stories about the big ones, and wouldn’t mind never meeting one for the rest of my days.
Triple-checking to make sure no one was around, I drew out one of my knives. I pricked a finger and let a single drop of blood fall onto the rocky ground. Then I wiped the blood off with the same napkin I had held the cake on and made sure no more blood fell from the wound. I took a few steps back, staring at the spot where the blood had fallen.
There was a moment of empty hope. A moment where I wanted to say See? Nothing happened but that in which I still knew the stories hadn’t been wrong. Then, that tiny spot of blood started to glow violet. Orange and blue light seemed to seep up from the earth itself, dimly glowing around the point of violet. The light swirled around and around, mixing together. It started to turn an ugly brownish yellow. The awful light seemed to liquify, turning into a small pool on the ground. The earth started to rise up through the pool, twisting and shaping itself into something else.
“Well,” I said, “Glad to know this wasn’t a waste of time at least.” The rising thing of blood, energy, and earth had finished forming. It looked something like a sickly yellow dog with teeth that were too large, five legs, and a whiplike scaled tail.
The chimera turned to me. I think it would have actually been comforting if it growled. Things that growled were usually doing it as a warning because they didn’t actually want to fight. The chimera just leapt, aiming straight for my throat. I sent out a burst of energy on reflex. The dog monster went flying back several feet. The moment it hit the ground, it was running at me again. I sent out my power again, more controlled this time. Tendrils of force wrapped around the chimera, lifting it off the ground. The force tentacles naturally would have glowed violet, but I kept them invisible out of habit.
The unnatural beast writhed in the air. Now that I wasn’t desperately trying to stay alive, I had time to take a closer look. The thing really was ugly. Everything about it was slightly lopsided, and its brown-yellow fur was spiky and mangy. But there was something else. The thing made me almost nauseous, though I couldn’t quite place my finger on why. It was like something about its very existence was just wrong. I sighed and squeezed a few of the tendrils holding the chimera, snapping its neck. I felt the snap, but the thing didn’t die; its head just now hung at a disturbing angle.
“Eugh, sorry,” I said, “I’m not trying to drag this out, it’s just that the neck snapping usually works. Okay, I guess we do this the messy way. Again, sorry dear.” The limbs of sorcery ripped the chimera’s head off, and it finally stopped moving. I dropped the chimera to the ground. I hoped it would turn to dust or something, but instead its form just kind of melted, though not enough that it wasn’t still clearly a corpse. The chimera’s blood and running flesh made a sizzling sound as they oozed across the ground. I wrinkled my nose and took a step back. Well, at least I knew to stay away from old divine battlefields now.
I turned to see three women staring at me, standing in a line fifteen feet away. I froze. Sorcerers weren’t exactly universally popular, and these hikers might have just seen me make an unholy monster rise from the ground. They didn’t seem scared or angry, though. Instead, they looked eager. They were each dressed in traveler’s clothes and brown cloaks, the hoods down.
“Let me explain,” I said.
“Oh, you don’t need to explain anything,” said the woman in the middle, “You see, we know what you are. But I can assure you, there’s no need to worry, or to try to kill us. We’d like to offer you a rare opportunity.”
“What opportunity would that be, dear?” I asked, doing my best to hide the cautious calculations going on inside my head. There was something off about these women, beside their strange behavior, but I couldn’t put my finger on what.
The same woman looked like she was going to speak when she stopped and looked up, at exactly the same time as the other two. I followed their gazes. Something winged was gliding through the air, much larger than an ordinary bird and fast approaching.
The woman who had spoken turned back to me. “Please, come with us, before that thing gets here. I can guarantee we’re the safer bet.”
“I was raised to not go with strangers,” I said. I don’t actually think I had, but I certainly should have been. “The habit carried into adulthood, sorry dear.”
The woman on the right seemed very focused on the flying thing. She drew back an arm, squinted, and snapped it forward. A bolt of lavender light edged with yellow exploded from her hand and sped towards the winged beast. It ducked out of the way easily, and the bolt went past it.
I blinked. That seemed like it had been sorcery, but somehow it felt off, although I didn’t know how I was feeling it. Were these women sorceresses or maybe some strange celestials?
“What you need to know is that we want to keep you safe, and that thing doesn’t,” said the woman in the middle, starting to approach, “Please, for your own sake.”
“That’s nice, but you really needn’t worry about me,” I replied, starting to back up.
The one who had thrown the bolt of energy threw more and more, but the flier dodged all of them. It weaved through the air unnaturally well and at times even its shape seemed to change to aid its dodging.
The woman approaching me paused for a moment, then turned and laid her hand on the bolt-thrower’s shoulder. The third woman did the same on the other shoulder.
The three seemed to softly glow for a moment, outlined in purple and yellow light. The one on the right lifted her hands, the light gathering between them. I could see the flying figure better now. Its central body seemed quite small for its massive wingspan, perhaps a dozen feet across.
The light shot out of the woman’s hands and a burning streak of purple and yellow seared through the air. The flying thing dove to avoid it, but the bolt changed direction midair, landing a hit against its target. One of the beast’s wing joints was burned away and it tumbled to the ground.
The thing hit the earth between me and the three strangers, and its form twisted as it rose, though it was smoother than the chimera’s formation had been. By the time it stood, it had turned into another woman, though this one stood seven feet tall and wore brown cloth that seemed to almost melt into her skin. And she looked angry.
“You have no right to trespass here,” the tall one said, “Begone, back to your master. And do not insult me with those illusory forms.”
“We don’t want to cause you any trouble,” said the woman on the left, who I mentally named Left for lack of a better nickname.
“We’ll take her and go,” said the one on the right, who I had labeled as Bolt-thrower.
“She’s more of our kin than yours,” said the middle one, who I had renamed as Talker.
“Out of my realm, traitor,” said the fourth stranger, speaking to Bolt-thrower, “And take your wretched sisters with you.”
Wait, I thought, Did she say my realm? Did that mean that this was…
Bolt-thrower growled before she dashed and leapt at the tall one in a blur, blazing with lavender and yellow light. Left lifted up her hands, which started to glow as well, though her light was closer to indigo. Talker moved forward, skirting around the fight to head towards me.
“Come on,” she said to me, “Do you want to be left with that thing?” She gestured to the tall woman, who was fighting the other two. She had grown two more arms and her hands ended in wicked claws. A bolt of energy burned through her side and she didn’t seem to even notice.
“Is that a nymph?” I asked, “Or is it… Dheghom herself?”
“We can explain everything later,” said Talker, “Just come with us.”
“You really don’t give up, do you? It’s not happening, dear. Best of luck to you but I think I’ll be on my way.”
Talker lunged towards me, hand outstretched. Just like with the chimera, my sorcery reacted. Invisible tendrils shoved her back. She swatted at them with a hand glowing with fuschia and yellow, and the tendrils burned away and recoiled from her. She widened her hand and held it out towards me.
I felt a buzzing crawl across my body, soaking into my bones. Her power felt familiar to sorcery but not quite, and paired with it was the same awful sensation the chimera had given off.
I called up my own power to defend me. A soft violet aura rose from within me, driving back her power. There was no point in hiding my abilities anymore; whoever these women were they’d known for sure I was a sorceress on sight. Still, they didn’t seem to fully know what I could do, and it should stay that way. That didn’t mean I couldn’t fight back. I lashed out with one arm and a flexible limb of violet light emerged from it to strike Talker, sending her spinning.
She regained her footing quickly though, with a look of mild regret in her eyes. “I didn’t want it to come to this, but I won’t deny I’m impressed.” She flicked a finger and a bolt of lightning sprang towards me. I managed to block it with the sorcery tendril.
“What happened to ‘we want to keep you safe’?” I asked.
“That was true,” said Talker. She shifted her foot slightly and a spike of rock rose up to impale me. A cocoon of violet light encapsulated me, which the rock shattered against. “We do want to keep you safe, for the most part. But we want other things too, and to get those done, we likely might need to hurt you. It’s nothing personal. And if you come with us, we won’t have to.”
“I’m flattered, but I’m going to have to pass,” I replied. Two more tentacles of violet light burst from my back and lunged at her. Talker danced out of the way with surprising speed. Her eyes flicked over to the other two, and Left looked over as if she’d been spoken to. She extended an arm and a howling wind struck me, almost knocking me down.
The shapeshifting woman and I fought the trio. The woman grew wings again, and mainly faced off against Bolt-thrower. Talker focused on me, and Left alternated between fighting each of us. I held back as much as I could while still staying alive, but whatever these women were, they could fight.
Me and the shapeshifter were forced to stand by each other, facing the trio. “I don’t suppose you could say who you are before we’re killed?” I asked.
“I will not die,” said the woman, “And you had better not.”
Yes, because it’s entirely up to me, I thought. I still wasn’t entirely sure who any of these people were or what was going on, though I had suspicions. Our three opponents joined hands, and energy started to crackle between them again. The power rose around us, seeping into the air, and the world itself became tinted with yellow and different shades of purple. I couldn’t tell what those three were gathering their power for, but it couldn’t be anything good. I was about to release my own sorcery, when the woman beside me snapped her wings open.
A brilliant flash of green rose from the woman, and the purple and yellow tones faded away. The three attackers stumbled back. But something else happened to them. Their appearances melted away, leaving three strange figures. I blinked. They looked like a fomorian, an alfir, and a nymph but their arms were mismatched. The fomorian’s right arm was made of bluish marble, the alfir’s was a little too small and made of gray wood, and the nymph’s was a little too large, clawed, leathery, and dark orange. I realized that each had one arm spliced onto them from one of the others. Their eyes were mismatched in a similar way, though the parts seemed to have been alternated in the opposite direction so each of the three got parts from both of the other two.
“What do you think, sorceress?” asked the fomorian, Talker, lifting her stone hand to her leathery face and over her glowing green and orange eyes, “Does the natural look work better for me?”
“There is nothing natural about you three,” said the woman beside me, “You should leave my realm before more of my agents reach you.” She grabbed me by the shoulders and green light started to rise around us. I fought the urge to resist with my own power, hoping that putting my life in this celestial’s hands wasn’t a mistake.
Chapter 2: An Old Friend, A New Danger
Dheghom
I had learned most mortals assumed that being split into countless pieces would be agonizing or at the very least overwhelming. I did not find it was so. Every piece of organic life in the Center Realm held the smallest trace of my original form. Slightly larger traces of my essence were put into my various tools, such as my nymphs and avatars. I felt the familiar background murmur of life, but my consciousness was focused on one of my avatars, the one dealing with a sorceress that the witch sisters had taken an interest in.
I had taken the sorceress back to one of my many sanctuaries. These places were hidden and infused with my power so that my avatars could travel to them instantly if the need arose. Prometheus called them “safehouses”. The thought of Prometheus did nothing to calm me. She had dared to send the witches to interfere in my realm?
My avatar and the sorceress stood in a small hidden spot in a forest, brambles surrounding us and thick branches overhead. The sorceress had brown skin, dark eyes, and black hair tied up in a bun. Her clothes were no less plain. She appeared just like any other human to the naked eye, but now that I was focusing on her, I could see this was far from true. “If I may ask,” said the sorceress, “Would you mind telling me who you are? And who were… they?”
“None other than Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld,” I said, “The witch sisters.”
“Oh, I see.” Her kind had many stories of the celestials, some more accurate than others. Most of humanity had at least heard of the witches. “Sorry if I’m mistaken, but don’t they work for Prometheus? Have I gotten in the middle of some kind of eldyr fight?”
“They do,” I said, “And you probably have. I did not think that Prometheus had the gall to insult me like that, but I’ve made that mistake before.”
“And,” said the sorceress, “if you don’t mind me asking, are you some major nymph or are you… her? Dheghom?”
In a sense all mortal life was a part of me, from bacterium to redwood, but I knew that wasn’t what she was asking. “Yes. This is an avatar of mine. A body without mind, made to channel my energy and will.”
“Well, it is an honor to meet you,” said Andrasta. She bowed, but I knew humans well enough to know feigned reverence when I saw it. “So, why do all of you immortals and eldyrs and such seem to care so much about a humble baker like me?”
“Sorcerous blood runs through your veins,” I said, “Ready to give birth to chimeric horrors if spilled in the wrong place. And Prometheus seems to have plans for you, making you a potential threat to my realm. So now I am considering whether I should kill you.”
The woman quickly moved away until her back was at the bramble wall. The poor girl didn’t realize that I was those brambles, that I was everything. “It is not a matter of hatred or animosity, Andrasta,” I said, “but you are one of Prometheus’s victims, and I cannot allow any more poison to spread in my home.”
The sorceress looked like she was about to unleash her power when there was a burst of red light. A figure suddenly stood in between her and my avatar, which growled.
In recent centuries, they had taken the form of an androgynous human, covered in tattoos of stylized eyes over pale skin. He was wrapped in many layers of red scarves, and her long hair was the same color. A smaller scarf wrapped around their eyes as a blindfold, and light could just barely be seen glinting through the fabric where her left eye would be.
“Prometheus,” I said, “Come to correct your witches’ failure?”
“No,” said the other eldyr, “No, not at all, for a number of reasons.”
“Oh!” exclaimed Andrasta, her fear seemingly vanishing, “Hello there your, uh, divinity? I’m sorry, I don’t know what to call an eldyr; I never thought I’d have to and here I am, meeting two in one day. I’m rambling.”
“You have two minutes to explain yourself before I try to rip you apart,” I said to Prometheus, “Make any moves towards the sorceress and your time will end early.”
Prometheus nodded eagerly. “Well, to put it most succinctly: I didn’t send the witches,” she said, “They’ve gone rogue.”
“Why should I believe a word you say?” I asked, “There was a time when you could have claimed you would never betray me and I would have believed you, but that time is past.”
Prometheus winced at that comment. “Yes,” they said, “But listen to me regardless. Now, when that sorceress let her blood mix with that of alfir and fomorians, the chimera’s creation sent out a pulse. You felt it, I felt it, and the witches felt it. That’s why you both went after her at once. But I didn’t need that pulse like the rest of you did. I can find the sorcerers any time I want, which means I wouldn’t have to send my witches to collect them. I could have gathered them all in an afternoon.”
“Really? Then do me a favor and tell me where all of them are.”
Prometheus was silent for a moment, clearly thinking. “At the beginning of this year there were five. Two of them died. Four rather large chimeras rose from their bodies; I’m sure you remembered, and I’m sure you remembered they all disappeared shortly after forming. Two of the five sorcerers have vanished in a similar manner. Andrasta is the only one currently known to be alive. Currently, she’s planning to force her way through the brambles then swing up through the trees using her telekinetic sorcery.”
Andrasta looked startled and guilty. Her plan wouldn’t have worked, so I continued to ignore her. This was important. “You said two are missing,” I said, “How could anyone be missing from your sight?”
“Well,” Prometheus scratched the back of his head, “There are only two groups of entities capable of hiding from my sight. The first are the chimeras, whose intrinsically twisted energy makes them hard to get a specific hold on. The second are the witches. They are practiced at careful manipulation of divine power and are each imbued with a small piece of my essence, granting them the ability to hide themselves and others.”
“Your two minutes grow dangerously slim, Prometheus,” I warned.
“The situation is dire, even more so than you think. I’ve analyzed it, and I believe this sorceress is more useful to us alive than dead.”
“I agree,” Andrasta said, “I’m very good at being useful, ask any of my friends. And ask of my enemies, I don’t go down easy.”
“What do you know that you aren’t telling me, Prometheus?” I asked.
I could almost visibly see them repress the instinct to say he knew more than she could ever possibly tell me. Instead, he answered, “Now, as I said, I can only attain the vaguest information regarding both the witches and the chimeras. But with Andrasta here’s recent display, they revealed themselves and I learned some things. The following facts concern me: First, something strange has been happening regarding the chimeras recently. They’re too coordinated, too many of them are rising, and they’re sometimes vanishing without a trace. Second, my witches seemingly have their own agenda, and it appears they have an interest in any sorcerers they can find. Third, the witches’ have transfused their essences with the power of chimeras. That means they’re more powerful, even better at hiding from me, and have found ways to harness the powers of chimeras that even I haven’t. That corruption in them, surely you must have recognized it, my love?”
When my avatar had fought the witches, I had noticed the yellow coloration to their light and felt the twisted nature of their essence. If Prometheus was correct, something which did happen on occasion, and the witches had discovered how to use chimeric divine energy… that boded ill for my realm. Chimeras were powerful, unpredictable, and destructive, and so too was their essence.
“One less sorcerer for them to use should only be good for my realm then,” I said.
“Perhaps,” said Prometheus, “But not in the case of this specific sorceress. Her personality and abilities could be just what we need. Now, I don’t need you to trust either of us, but don’t dismiss me or kill the sorceress until you can evaluate how much of a threat the witches are and whether or not we can assist you.”
I considered their words. Prometheus had proven herself untrustworthy, but in all the time I had known him, she had never truly meant to harm my realm. And Andrasta had managed to hold off the witches in a fight. To keep either of them was a risk, but not a greater one than banishing the eldyr or killing the sorceress.
“Very well,” I said, “Prometheus, Andrasta, for now it seems that you stay.”
“May I talk now?” asked Andrasta. The two of us turned to her.
“I would just like to confirm,” she continued, “That I am in no immediate danger of being killed by either of you.”
“Indeed,” I said.
“That’s wonderful. So, you’re really Prometheus, dear? Not even Prometheus possessing a body like she is or something?” That wasn’t what I was doing, but I didn’t correct her.
Prometheus made a dramatic bow. “In the immortal divine flesh,” they answered, “Master of the Island Realms and bearer of the Eye of Knowledge, at your service.”
“You don’t look much like most of the art I’ve seen of you,” Andrasta said, “Oh, sorry, I hope that isn’t rude to say.”
“Not at all,” the eldyr replied, “I imagine you were expecting something more like this?” Faster than a human eye could track, her form twisted and contorted into a new shape. He was now a tall figure in heavy red robes. A hood was pulled over their head- or where her head would be because instead of a face was a gleaming red gem, the Eye of Knowledge, held up by several taught threads heading away into the dark infinity of the cowl. They did like to show off.
“Well, yes.” The sorceress was barely fazed. I was a little impressed. “That was more what I expected. Can you see the future like they say you can?” I did not give into the temptation to make my avatar roll its eyes.
Prometheus transformed back into their more human-like appearance. “I can perceive most of what is and what was.” Prometheus gestured to the Eye of Knowledge, now hidden beneath his blindfold. “And a long life and not insignificant intelligence have enabled me to use that information to predict what might be. But I don’t spout prophecies, know the date of people’s deaths, or do any of the other things of that nature that the stories claim I do.”
“And her predictions are sometimes rather disastrously wrong,” I said, “Particularly when it comes to subtler variables.” Prometheus gave me an apologetic smile. It, much like Prometheus himself, was both charming and irritating.
“So, just to be clear dears, is this a I-have-to-help-you-or-I’ll-die situation or…?” asked Andrasta.
“If you don’t help us, there’s a chance reality as you know it will be unmade,” said Prometheus, “In addition to a chance that reality will not be unmade, merely warped and damaged. We are hardly beings of pure benevolence, but we are not who you should be scared of.”
“Well,” I said, “For now the-” My avatar’s mouth stopped moving as I became distracted by other eyes of mine. Through them, I saw chimeras attacking one of my most important sanctuaries. I drew out of that avatar’s body and moved my consciousness to where it was needed. These chimeras were cooperating and coordinated, not natural behavior for their kind. This meant something truly awful: Prometheus was right.