She shook her head as if she didn't have a good enough answer for him. "There was a rogue Dericoed a good distance away from the focusing chamber. The others and I managed to take it down and deliver its core back to its leader," she said briefly. "Although what caused it to break out of the containment spell is still beyond us," she continued with a slight amount of dejection in her voice.
Anwill rubbed the base of his chin momentarily before he replied. "I think I might know what happened. We need to inform Queen Aurae about this quickly," he said, continuing down the brightly lit hallway once more. As the group descended the flight of stairs that led to the laboratory, Siraye began to feel Thoma's signature waning.
Is this a part of Thoma and Ysevel's training? She thought briefly, silently praying she was right.
"Ren, did you feel that?" she turned to ask him quickly. "I did, but I'm not sure what's causing it. The other two, alongside Lady Ysevel's, are also being disturbed somehow," he said, furrowing his brow as he tried to figure it out. His eyes were glowing a bright scarlet as he was obviously searching for them through the realm.
Siraye let go of Anwill's arm and moved towards her cousin, putting both hands on his arms as she stared at him intently. "What do you see?" she asked in a hushed tone so he wouldn't break his focus. Ren's eyes stopped glowing for a moment as he shook his head. "I'm not sure, but it's hard to tell with them inside the dome. It must be some kind of training, but I can't say for sure with the interference," he said dejectedly.
Siraye immediately felt relief wash over her as he confirmed her original hypothesis. "That's good to hear. Thank you, Ren," she said with a slow nod. "I'm starting to think giving you a permanent connection to his core might have been a bad idea," he said with a nervous smile, to which he quickly received a light punch in the shoulder as a response. "I promise that once I get used to it, I won't be as obsessive," she said with a grin. "For my shoulder's sake, I hope that's the case," he said under his breath. "I heard that," she said in a sing-song voice.
"What was that about?" Anwill asked, not knowing the full scope of the situation. "Ah, that's right, you weren't present for that, were you?" Siraye asked, suddenly reminded of his absence during the meeting. "Wasn't present for what?" Anwill asked with a raised eyebrow. "Nevermind. I'll explain it later," she replied as she unlatched the bolt on the door that led to the laboratory.
Aurae, Elhael, and a few other elves dressed in long robes that were tightly wrapped around their bodies were gathered around a root-bound table. Liagon's alternate lay there, still in two pieces from Anwill's attack, and was being carefully examined by one of the elves.
The thin aura of mana around his hands allowed him to work on the deceased body without getting his hands dirty or contracting any sort of potential infections from the corpse. It was relatively well preserved, as golden rays of Ethereal mana helped to preserve its natural state while they examined it.
"You still have it here?" she asked Anwill quietly, not wanting to disturb the work being done. "Better the enemy you know than the one you don't," he replied quickly before addressing the king and queen with a bow. Siraye and the others bowed as they entered the large room with beakers and flasks filled with unknown fluids all neatly organized on a countertop that followed along the walls of the octagonal room.
"Was your mission a success?" Elhael asked, returning the greeting to the newcomers. "Yes, but we also walked away from it with a few questions we were hoping Your Majesties could help answer," she replied. "Is Ysevel alright?" Aurae asked, trying her best to hide the sense of urgency in her voice. "She's with Thoma, and they're currently undergoing some kind of training, at least, that's how Ren and I understood that strange disturbance. She also sends her regards and hopes you're doing well," she replied.
Aurae breathed a sigh of relief. "I was wondering what that was, and I'm glad to hear I wasn't the only one who felt it," she said, putting a loosely balled fist to where her core would be. Anwill looked at them both in confusion but ultimately sighed in dejection.
You still have to explain what that's all about to me when we're done here, he sent Siraye, who simply gave him a nod in response.
"What's going on here?" she asked, stepping in a little closer to the table to observe the creature more closely. "As you already know, this creature attacked us while you were conducting your mission near Soule," Elhael began, moving around the table cautiously toward her.
"My wife, however, was able to determine that this creature is, in fact, Liagon's alternate," he said, getting a wide-eyed glare from Siraye. "Liagon's alternate? But they've been extinct for well over a thousand years," she said in disbelief. "We thought so, too, but someone discovered a way to bring him to this world, and we think these runes had something to do with it," he said, pointing to the spiraling runes that spanned the length of its left arm and leg.
Siraye leaned in, still avoiding the other elves working on it, and examined them closely. "These weren't made in the Between, that's for sure," she said as she tried to read them. "We've gathered that much, but how this knowledge even came into this realm is still a mystery to us," Elhael said, shaking his head.
"Could the Undergod have anything to do with it?" Nenvalur asked from across the room. "It seems likely, though how it got here in the first place is still beyond our understanding," Aurae replied briefly.
"I think we might know," Siraye said, gesturing for both Thorn and Ren to step forward. "During our connection with Thoma and Ysevel, we discovered that my ancestor, Nexis Pelantyr, is the one behind much of what's happened since his disappearance," she began, getting a confused look from the king. "What are you saying?" Aurae asked as she moved forward.
"We're saying that according to Thoma, he's been looking for a way to break his curse for a long time. Apparently, he's succeeded in that endeavor and is now regaining his strength to return to the Between," Siraye explained briefly as she looked to the ones who witnessed the conversation.
"How could he know that?" Elhael asked, fearing the answer that was readying itself on Siraye's tongue. "Because my uncle is the one who told him so," she began, getting an audible gasp of surprise from just about everyone in the room.
"He's been working alongside Nexis for a few centuries, and I think this creature might be the result of one of their experiments," she added before further questions could be asked.
Everyone, including those working on the alternate, digested her words carefully. "H-how long do we have, then?" Elhael asked, but all Siraye could do was shake her head. "According to Thoma: About a month," she answered dejectedly. "Both he and Ysevel are undergoing training in hopes of being able to stop him before he can complete his plan, but…" she trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought.
Aurae stepped forward and put her hand on Siraye's shoulder. "If I know my daughter as well as I know your son, they will succeed," she said with a determined look in her eye. "What kind of training did Thoma say they were going to undergo?" she asked. "He said it was going to be the equivalent of ten years' worth of training in something the hegraphenes of what I assume to be the Iron Plume clan call the dome," she replied briefly.
Aurae took a moment to consider her words and placed a finger on her chin. "It only makes sense that they would want to stop your ancestor," she began. "But what would make them want to do that? I thought they were allies," Siraye said, opening her arms in confusion. "I can help shed some light on this, though forgive me if my memory fails me, as it's been a very long time since any of what I'm about to say took place," Elhael said after clearing his throat.
"Centuries, perhaps even millennia, before the gods descended and granted your ancestor the Gwynnleaf, both the alternates and the hegraphenes used to live in the Between," he began, as everyone listened intently. "Wh-what?" Ren asked breathlessly. "It's true, though exactly how or why the hegraphenes were relocated to the Underworld remains a mystery to me, as I was only a small child back then," Elhael continued to explain.
"All we know for certain is that they once walked among us before the Great Partition. After the disaster, however, much of our knowledge of them was lost, as was much of the information regarding your ancestor. Whatever he did helped to trigger the disaster, but the fact that they were once here remains the same," he said, turning to face Siraye once more.
"According to legend, the alternates were once peaceful creatures, while the hegraphenes often challenged each other to feats of combat. Their strength was nearly unmatched, outside of the Elves, of course, and they were widely regarded as being true warriors. However, the alternates grew jealous of them, and like a sickness, it spread throughout the land, making them hostile towards just about everyone," he continued as he began to pace back and forth.
"That still doesn't explain why they might have been banished, though," Siraye said briefly. "True, but what does matter is that over the course of time, the sickness that had taken over the alternates pushed them to begin dabbling in the arts of the arcane to make up for their lack of strength," he said, not breaking his stride.
"They eventually discovered the existence of dark mana, but since its properties primarily draw from the wielder's negative emotions, you can see where that would lead them," Aurae chimed in briefly.
"Yes, and since they became hostile towards just about everyone and everything, they began to open portals to the Underworld, bringing those foul creatures into our realm. It is said that the gods stripped them of their cores and abilities to use mana and eventually banished them to the very place they were drawing mana from; forever cursed to stare at the power they could no longer use," Elhael continued, giving his wife a knowing nod.