When We all Come Together
As soon as the location for the focus point was known all fighting was halted and the guard and Anis' group moved to the Sibba continent as one.
They all appeared high above Sibba. The siblings stood together along with the guard commanders, Struns, and Rebecca.
"There is a new sacred place on this continent?" Confusion laced Anis' voice.
Rebecca looked toward the government building that once bound the previous Milana.
"The Milana purified your grandmother and the location she was bound to purified itself and became sacred. The vines are the same as the ones that grow where her soul weapons are, if I am not mistaken."
She was right. The siblings looked at the building in a different light. This was now a place where their grandmother's soul had a profound connection to the realm. Perhaps even more so than where the family visited to honor her memory.
They all knew their grandmother's corrupt form had been purified by Rachel but they had not know the place had become sacred to the realm. There had not been a new sacred site in over two thousand years. And sacred sites were believed to form when many people died at once or when the realm had to heal itself. Was the battle that severe that the realm needed to heal, or was Lanncey just that special to the realm?
"We will begin setting up the formation." Yanira looked to Rebecca. "Do you have spirits that can help?"
Rebecca nodded and four forms materialize behind her. "I have experience with formations if you need more than four."
Yanira nodded. "Come with us. The more help we have the quicker we can complete the formation and then help the Milana."
A wide door opened and the group of eleven walked through it. The door swung shut with a loud sound of metal on metal.
Several hours later the sky high above Sibba was a sight to behold. A large magic circle, with its center above the center of the continent spanned outwards, it's circumference larger than the continent.
It was made of three thick bands of runes. The inner and outer bands moved clockwise while the middle band moved counter clockwise. This was the main magic circle of the formation and it anchored and fed the formation. Magic flowed into it from seven points and the circle itself was connected to seven points in the realm and these seven points were each connected to seven more points.
All were focused and flowing through Sibba Continent and its crystalline base down to the center of the floating hill directly below the continent in the abyss.
From the center of the hill the magic flowed again but it was more refined and powerful.
The strands of magic came up from this central point and went through the eight point star hole of the monument on top of the hill and sent strands to each point and out into the "coin" and back down to the first alter and then to the second within the hill.
They fed a steady stream of magic into the magic circle and the strands pulsed and strengthened. When the circle was saturated the formation solidified. When it solidified others, who had been awaiting their turn tethered the circle to points that would feed it more magic as needed.
When all was done the circle and strands shimmered and disappeared.
With the formation complete they set up camp on a string of clouds. They moved the clouds together so that they formed a large cloud mass and then set up tents.
They set up watch over the formation, above Sibba, and they took shifts ensuring that the formation remained stable.
Rachel's voice flitted through the minds of her siblings, Rebecca, and Struns. 'Good job on the formation. It's strong. Now you need to enter the abyss. Struns and Rebecca have entered the abyss with me many times and they can lead you. Leave the bulk of the guard above with two commanders. If anything happens on Sibba we need to know immediately. Rebecca lead those going into the Abyss to the location. There is a hill there. You will need to protect it as I attack the being that has entered our realm.'
'And what about you?' Anis could not wait any longer and the questions burst froth from her.
'Struns will come to me.' Anis and Struns nodded at the same time. 'Rest as much as you can. You have eight hours'
'I will come to you now Rachel.'
It took several breaths before she spoke. 'If you are rested enough.'
"I am.' Struns looked at Rebecca significantly. She nodded to him and he pulled the tether that connected him to Rachel and disappeared as if he were swallowed by an invisible substance.
The abyss
Rachel's wounds were healed. She was still walking in profound darkness, seemingly aimlessly.
One breath two breaths. She was seeking a thing that truly defied explanation. Something that was ancient, devious, malicious, and capable of devouring every realm she knew.
Three breaths, four breaths, five breaths. Struns was beside her. His steps matching hers without hesitation. He didn't speak in any way. He had no questions within him. He simply prepared himself mentally.
Rachel was a relatively young Milana and she only had two Antrunie. Hence Struns was used to fighting with only her and Rebecca. They had fought in other realms and in places within Trannisa that he found unimaginable and utterly fantastic. And this was with his own dimension being so drastically different from Trannisa and vice versa.
He was always ready for whatever. Granted he still found himself surprised from time to time. For one thing he was surprised how easily he was navigating through the abyss. Secondly he was surprised by the terrain.
It seemed like he was walking across a planet like in his planet. Not continents that seemed to be put together by the ingenuity of some sophisticated race.
It felt more solid here, more natural. It didn't feel like there was floor beneath his feet only endless terra firma.
And still he was surprised when he understood what they were walking towards. His heart beat a little faster and a little harder as his mind registered the rolling "hills" before them.
At first he thought it was a trick of the eye. He dismissed the idea of subtle motion and maybe even respiration. How could it have been possible.
But there was no denying when one of the hills moved dramatically and changed its position. At that point it was 'okay. One of these hills is not a hill.' But when all five realigned he had no words. His mind was blank.
The fifth "hill" rose high into the air. It was the head of a fanged demon with four horns, two rising straight up from the center of the head and one on either side curving outward left and right.
The pools of blackness between the hills were its snake like body with the remaining four hills being gruesome swellings along its length as if it were digesting multiple meals.
As the head continued rising above them Struns swallowed hard and suddenly he felt Rachel's power reach into him and his senses became sealed and a protective power swirled into his soul well.
He looked to Rachel. She never did such things without explanation and then permission. To enact magic on him without his explicit permission caused apprehension to flow through him.
As his thoughts began to clear he realized he was gripping two long bladed daggers and his body had tensed and readied for battle, even as he slowly and methodically walked toward the abomination before them.
The demon's head swung toward them and he suddenly wished Rachel had sealed his vision as well. The demon's head had the clearest, most tranquil sea green eyes he had ever seen. They called to him and drew him in and for a moment he jolted with fear thinking he would not be able to resist. But suddenly the swirling magic in his soul well surged out and flooded his body.
He was forcefully snatched from the grip of those eyes and his head swam as he gripped his daggers all the tighter. And his body tensed in a way that told him this was going to be a battle like none he had ever had before.
He no longer looked directly into those eyes only peripherally. He suddenly saw viscous black blood drip from them and knew that Rachel had cast a spell without him fully knowing. This only told him that this battle was going faster than he thought and he would need to use his assassin skills much more.
"Milana. I would never harm what is yours." Its mouth opened wide in a dramatic yawn. Three rows of sharp teeth looked menacing in the muted light.
"I do not seek to cause problems. I will leave your realm and never return. Allow me to take the babies that you did not destroy and let there be peace between us."
Somehow Struns was hearing it speak second hand, in real time, through Rachel. He didn't question it. Rachel was capable of too many things. What made is spine shiver was the mention of babies. His attention half slid over the swellings that he took for hills earlier and his body stiffened.
"Leave?" '…Let there be peace between them?" Struns' eyes fell on Rachel. If she allowed this creature to leave would it destroy his dimension?
He felt peace overtake his thoughts as if he heard Rachel tell him to calm down. She stepped forward and he instantly knew what he needed to do.