Residual (Chapter Forty-Four)
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mindcrackloveOnly a couple chapters left after this, guys!
Not too much happens here, as it's mostly setup for the next chapter, but here you go anyway. Oh, and Zisteau finally gets a viewpoint! Go Z!
Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Map of the continent: http://tanadin.deviantart.com/art/Monstrous-Residual-map-526465833
Character status spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yvK6D0XzgjhMNjblFFQaAeJ7JkzdidaLJux1S8qsSUA/edit#gid=1227692709
Chapter Forty-Four
Kingdom of Traz’madar, Minecraftia. October 27, year 373. Time instance 483Z.
Zisteau was overseeing the building of the portal, straining to remember all of the details. He looked down at the notes that Vechs had written for him, detailing all of the modifications that needed to be made.
He watched as Beef and Pause each held a large chunk of obsidian and pressed them together. They leaned back from intense flames that Mokdal breathed on the area where they touched, melting the stone just enough for it to fuse once solidified. Skera had created some fire resistance potions for this purpose, but had advised everyone to work quickly, as they didn’t last long and she was low on materials. She had also informed them that they were low power, meaning that if they stood in direct, intense fire for too long or leapt into lava that they would die.
A cheerful thought.
Zisteau waved over Vechs to look at the diagrams that he had so carefully copied from Iirkolav’s writings. “Do you think this amount of obsidian is going to be enough?”
Vechs looked at the pieces that the dragons were fusing and tried to judge it. “I think so. Just to be safe, mine up a little more.”
Zisteau nodded and walked over to Kurt, who was in charge of making sure they had enough obsidian. He watched Kurt and Doc both wait until the pieces they were holding were cooled enough to be together without their assistance before stepping forward.
“Kurt, Vechs is thinking we’re going to need a little more, just in case.”
Kurt nodded and picked up his pickaxe. As he made his way back inside, waving for Bdoubleo and Generik to follow, a roar split the air.
Zisteau jumped and looked up, reaching for his sword in case it was the Hostiles.
It wasn’t.
Five dragons flew overhead, circling towards the ground. Mokdal growling angrily when he saw Qadran among them, but Aoxdorren shouted something quite different.
“Mother!”
As the dragons landed, Zisteau noticed that the largest dragon he had ever seen, the black dragon, did look quite similar to Aoxdorren. The smaller of the two dark dragons raced forward and rubbed against the larger, both dragons humming softly in contentment.
Qadran shrank back behind the group as Mokdal approached, teeth bared.
Still hostile.
“Spinelash sent us here.” the green dragon said, spreading his wings to block Mokdal from Qadran. “We are here to help.”
Kalzevrah chuckled. “I imagine Spinelash wasn’t too pleased with Qadran?”
“No.” the large black dragon said, growling softly Qadran. “He was not. We are here to either help you or to bring you home. If you would be so kind as to explain what is going on, we would listen.”
“You two get back to helping with the obsidian.” Aoxdorren instructed, waving a claw at Mokdal and Kalzevrah. “I can explain what we’re doing to my mother and the others.”
~~~
Blame was practicing with both blades in his room. He had set up a makeshift training dummy and was reminding himself how to fight with two blades. He hadn’t held a second sword in his left hand since before his time in the War of the Shattered Sands so he was a bit rusty, but his Skullblade blood and old training were kicking in and reminding him quickly.
He stopped, however, when someone knocked on his door. He lowered his swords, surveying the damage of his target (it was shredded) as he called, “Come in.” Having something to focus on was helping him dull the pain of Iirkolav’s death, but there was still a dull ache whenever he took a break from his merciless attacks.
Vechs carefully opened the door and looked in. “Hey. Just wanted to let you know that we have five more dragons.”
Blame stared.
“Turns out that Qadran went home when he ditched us, but his clan leader got pissed and sent him and four other dragons back, including Aoxdorren’s mother.”
Nightweave, she who ended the Bloodstained Dawn.
“We have eight dragons?”
“Yes.”
Blame shook his head in slight wonder. “They should be able to help quite a bit with the Hostiles.”
“Yeah. And we’ve got all of the obsidian mined, and with all of the extra dragons, we should have the frame finished by nightfall. Then Zisteau can get the runes carved onto the thing tomorrow, and we should be ready to banish the damn Hostiles to the Shattered Zone.”
As much as it hurt Vechs to send his creations to the Nether, he knew it was necessary. He also knew that he couldn’t risk reviving the others from their orbs until the corruption was completely purged.
He wasn’t even sure if he’d make any more of his ‘living chunks’ once he was a worldbuilder again. It just seemed too risky…
He shook it off as Blame spoke. “Good riddance. I think we deserve a break.” With that, he went back to shredding the training dummy, trying to once again get used to the feeling of a weapon in his left hand.
Vechs sighed as he left the room. He hoped that their descendants wouldn’t hate them for dumping these monstrosities on them…
~~~
They approach.
Give them time.
They will not finish the portal before the Hostiles get there.
It does not matter. It was meant to be this way.
You are always so vague and I wonder why I bother to converse with you.
They will finish during the battle- only a few runes will be out of place. Zisteau can work through the night with the help of one of the dragons generating light. They will succeed.
You never tell anyone the outcome of something. Why do you do it now?
It was quite clear that they would succeed in any regard. I never said they would succeed without sacrifice or loss.
At least one of those dragons won’t make it, will they?
Almost undoubtedly.
I’m not getting a definite answer there.
Of course not. You have no need to know.
I don’t like the idea of those Hostiles being in my Shattered Zone.
It is where you put those you disagree with.
I never said I disagreed with them.
You never said you agreed with them, either.
Very true.
They will only be in there for two centuries, and then they will escape. How, I will not say, but you know when.
When the Bloodshadow bleeds the sky; when it reaches its zenith.
Of course. The prophecy makes that quite clear.
And ‘she who bears the name of the shattered kingdom’ would be who, exactly?
Exactly who the prophecy says.
Would it be a descendant of Vechs Davion?
Perhaps.
You are infuriating.
Completely.
~~~
Vechs surveyed the portal frame as the day’s light faded from the sky.
It was larger than the portal that Zisteau had created several months previous, but it was also lacking the runes across its surface. Zisteau declared that he would work through the night in order to be done by the next day- he knew from experience how difficult and time-consuming portalmaking was. He insisted that the others rest, however- he needed to concentrate and the others would be able to do nothing.
Zisteau shooed Vechs away from the portal, so Vechs took Aureylian’s hand and went inside with her. She had to practically drag him up the stairs due to how tired he was from helping create the frame- the obsidian was heavy and had to be held in place for long periods of time.
He practically collapsed in bed without even taking his toolbelt, hat, or goggles off, earning a laugh from Aureylian as she sat beside him. He didn’t really react as she pulled off his hat and goggles, but did when she prodded his shoulder and informed him that he could remove his own toolbelt. He groaned and made himself sit up in order to take it off, but he was almost immediately lying down again. His arms and back were sore and he really didn’t want to move.
Aureylian, who had been helping Skera with potions all day, wasn’t sore like he was. She was sympathetic, however, and patted his shoulder gently. “After this, we can rest.”
Vechs grunted in acknowledgement.
“What do you want to do after the Hostiles aren’t a problem anymore?” she asked after a short pause, glancing over at him.
“Hmmm.” Vechs opened his eyes to look at her. “I’m not sure. I’ve always wanted to be a king or something…”
Aureylian laughed. “A king?”
“Yeah. Why not?” Vechs pulled himself back into a sitting position. “I could start my own kingdom. Right around this area; no one really lives here and I think Traz’madar has more area than it knows what to do with. I could protect the mountain and the pass into the Dragonlands. It would be fun.”
“Fun?”
“Aureylian, I’m going to be living for centuries, more likely than not. Why not have some fun while I’m still mortal? If I mess up, it’s not like that’s it, that’s my life.” Vechs grinned. “Being a worldbuilder has its perks.”
Immortality, for one.
Aureylian nodded, suddenly struck silent. “I can’t really register that I’m going to live that long, too.” she admitted. “I’ve never experienced anything like the powers you’ve described before. I haven’t lived a ridiculously long time like most of you have- I mean, even if you hadn’t been a worldbuilder, you might still be alive at this age, but you’d be really, really old. But really, look at you! Mid-twenties, maybe.”
Vechs nodded in agreement. “It’s weird, I know. And the time…it doesn’t seem as long as it is, up there. You only need to sleep about once a week, and you need to eat and drink less often, too. You get so absorbed in your projects that it’s been a year before you know it.”
“It sounds amazing.” Aureylian admitted. “It’s just…weird to think that you have your entire life ahead of you, and even if you mess up and die early, you still have centuries of being a worldbuilder.” She paused. “So you don’t age at all?”
“Nope. And I’m willing to bet that when we go back to the Vortex, we’ll be physically the same age we were when we bonded with the crystal.”
“Not how old we were when we died?”
“I doubt that we’d be like that.” Vechs shrugged. “That would kind of suck.”
“True.” Aureylian leaned on him slightly, careful not to hurt his already sore shoulder. “I think you should go for it.”
“What, creating a kingdom?”
“Yeah. That would be fun. And if anyone could do it, it would be you. I think the others would be willing to help out, too.”
Vechs nodded, closing his eyes again. “I’d like that.”
“What would you call it?”
Vechs paused, thinking about it. “Dalania.” he decided finally. “I’d probably call it Dalania.”
“That’s a good name.” Aureylian hugged him gently. “Dalania.”
A name that would shape history and change the direction of fate.
Not too much happens here, as it's mostly setup for the next chapter, but here you go anyway. Oh, and Zisteau finally gets a viewpoint! Go Z!
Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Map of the continent: http://tanadin.deviantart.com/art/Monstrous-Residual-map-526465833
Character status spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yvK6D0XzgjhMNjblFFQaAeJ7JkzdidaLJux1S8qsSUA/edit#gid=1227692709
Chapter Forty-Four
Kingdom of Traz’madar, Minecraftia. October 27, year 373. Time instance 483Z.
Zisteau was overseeing the building of the portal, straining to remember all of the details. He looked down at the notes that Vechs had written for him, detailing all of the modifications that needed to be made.
He watched as Beef and Pause each held a large chunk of obsidian and pressed them together. They leaned back from intense flames that Mokdal breathed on the area where they touched, melting the stone just enough for it to fuse once solidified. Skera had created some fire resistance potions for this purpose, but had advised everyone to work quickly, as they didn’t last long and she was low on materials. She had also informed them that they were low power, meaning that if they stood in direct, intense fire for too long or leapt into lava that they would die.
A cheerful thought.
Zisteau waved over Vechs to look at the diagrams that he had so carefully copied from Iirkolav’s writings. “Do you think this amount of obsidian is going to be enough?”
Vechs looked at the pieces that the dragons were fusing and tried to judge it. “I think so. Just to be safe, mine up a little more.”
Zisteau nodded and walked over to Kurt, who was in charge of making sure they had enough obsidian. He watched Kurt and Doc both wait until the pieces they were holding were cooled enough to be together without their assistance before stepping forward.
“Kurt, Vechs is thinking we’re going to need a little more, just in case.”
Kurt nodded and picked up his pickaxe. As he made his way back inside, waving for Bdoubleo and Generik to follow, a roar split the air.
Zisteau jumped and looked up, reaching for his sword in case it was the Hostiles.
It wasn’t.
Five dragons flew overhead, circling towards the ground. Mokdal growling angrily when he saw Qadran among them, but Aoxdorren shouted something quite different.
“Mother!”
As the dragons landed, Zisteau noticed that the largest dragon he had ever seen, the black dragon, did look quite similar to Aoxdorren. The smaller of the two dark dragons raced forward and rubbed against the larger, both dragons humming softly in contentment.
Qadran shrank back behind the group as Mokdal approached, teeth bared.
Still hostile.
“Spinelash sent us here.” the green dragon said, spreading his wings to block Mokdal from Qadran. “We are here to help.”
Kalzevrah chuckled. “I imagine Spinelash wasn’t too pleased with Qadran?”
“No.” the large black dragon said, growling softly Qadran. “He was not. We are here to either help you or to bring you home. If you would be so kind as to explain what is going on, we would listen.”
“You two get back to helping with the obsidian.” Aoxdorren instructed, waving a claw at Mokdal and Kalzevrah. “I can explain what we’re doing to my mother and the others.”
~~~
Blame was practicing with both blades in his room. He had set up a makeshift training dummy and was reminding himself how to fight with two blades. He hadn’t held a second sword in his left hand since before his time in the War of the Shattered Sands so he was a bit rusty, but his Skullblade blood and old training were kicking in and reminding him quickly.
He stopped, however, when someone knocked on his door. He lowered his swords, surveying the damage of his target (it was shredded) as he called, “Come in.” Having something to focus on was helping him dull the pain of Iirkolav’s death, but there was still a dull ache whenever he took a break from his merciless attacks.
Vechs carefully opened the door and looked in. “Hey. Just wanted to let you know that we have five more dragons.”
Blame stared.
“Turns out that Qadran went home when he ditched us, but his clan leader got pissed and sent him and four other dragons back, including Aoxdorren’s mother.”
Nightweave, she who ended the Bloodstained Dawn.
“We have eight dragons?”
“Yes.”
Blame shook his head in slight wonder. “They should be able to help quite a bit with the Hostiles.”
“Yeah. And we’ve got all of the obsidian mined, and with all of the extra dragons, we should have the frame finished by nightfall. Then Zisteau can get the runes carved onto the thing tomorrow, and we should be ready to banish the damn Hostiles to the Shattered Zone.”
As much as it hurt Vechs to send his creations to the Nether, he knew it was necessary. He also knew that he couldn’t risk reviving the others from their orbs until the corruption was completely purged.
He wasn’t even sure if he’d make any more of his ‘living chunks’ once he was a worldbuilder again. It just seemed too risky…
He shook it off as Blame spoke. “Good riddance. I think we deserve a break.” With that, he went back to shredding the training dummy, trying to once again get used to the feeling of a weapon in his left hand.
Vechs sighed as he left the room. He hoped that their descendants wouldn’t hate them for dumping these monstrosities on them…
~~~
They approach.
Give them time.
They will not finish the portal before the Hostiles get there.
It does not matter. It was meant to be this way.
You are always so vague and I wonder why I bother to converse with you.
They will finish during the battle- only a few runes will be out of place. Zisteau can work through the night with the help of one of the dragons generating light. They will succeed.
You never tell anyone the outcome of something. Why do you do it now?
It was quite clear that they would succeed in any regard. I never said they would succeed without sacrifice or loss.
At least one of those dragons won’t make it, will they?
Almost undoubtedly.
I’m not getting a definite answer there.
Of course not. You have no need to know.
I don’t like the idea of those Hostiles being in my Shattered Zone.
It is where you put those you disagree with.
I never said I disagreed with them.
You never said you agreed with them, either.
Very true.
They will only be in there for two centuries, and then they will escape. How, I will not say, but you know when.
When the Bloodshadow bleeds the sky; when it reaches its zenith.
Of course. The prophecy makes that quite clear.
And ‘she who bears the name of the shattered kingdom’ would be who, exactly?
Exactly who the prophecy says.
Would it be a descendant of Vechs Davion?
Perhaps.
You are infuriating.
Completely.
~~~
Vechs surveyed the portal frame as the day’s light faded from the sky.
It was larger than the portal that Zisteau had created several months previous, but it was also lacking the runes across its surface. Zisteau declared that he would work through the night in order to be done by the next day- he knew from experience how difficult and time-consuming portalmaking was. He insisted that the others rest, however- he needed to concentrate and the others would be able to do nothing.
Zisteau shooed Vechs away from the portal, so Vechs took Aureylian’s hand and went inside with her. She had to practically drag him up the stairs due to how tired he was from helping create the frame- the obsidian was heavy and had to be held in place for long periods of time.
He practically collapsed in bed without even taking his toolbelt, hat, or goggles off, earning a laugh from Aureylian as she sat beside him. He didn’t really react as she pulled off his hat and goggles, but did when she prodded his shoulder and informed him that he could remove his own toolbelt. He groaned and made himself sit up in order to take it off, but he was almost immediately lying down again. His arms and back were sore and he really didn’t want to move.
Aureylian, who had been helping Skera with potions all day, wasn’t sore like he was. She was sympathetic, however, and patted his shoulder gently. “After this, we can rest.”
Vechs grunted in acknowledgement.
“What do you want to do after the Hostiles aren’t a problem anymore?” she asked after a short pause, glancing over at him.
“Hmmm.” Vechs opened his eyes to look at her. “I’m not sure. I’ve always wanted to be a king or something…”
Aureylian laughed. “A king?”
“Yeah. Why not?” Vechs pulled himself back into a sitting position. “I could start my own kingdom. Right around this area; no one really lives here and I think Traz’madar has more area than it knows what to do with. I could protect the mountain and the pass into the Dragonlands. It would be fun.”
“Fun?”
“Aureylian, I’m going to be living for centuries, more likely than not. Why not have some fun while I’m still mortal? If I mess up, it’s not like that’s it, that’s my life.” Vechs grinned. “Being a worldbuilder has its perks.”
Immortality, for one.
Aureylian nodded, suddenly struck silent. “I can’t really register that I’m going to live that long, too.” she admitted. “I’ve never experienced anything like the powers you’ve described before. I haven’t lived a ridiculously long time like most of you have- I mean, even if you hadn’t been a worldbuilder, you might still be alive at this age, but you’d be really, really old. But really, look at you! Mid-twenties, maybe.”
Vechs nodded in agreement. “It’s weird, I know. And the time…it doesn’t seem as long as it is, up there. You only need to sleep about once a week, and you need to eat and drink less often, too. You get so absorbed in your projects that it’s been a year before you know it.”
“It sounds amazing.” Aureylian admitted. “It’s just…weird to think that you have your entire life ahead of you, and even if you mess up and die early, you still have centuries of being a worldbuilder.” She paused. “So you don’t age at all?”
“Nope. And I’m willing to bet that when we go back to the Vortex, we’ll be physically the same age we were when we bonded with the crystal.”
“Not how old we were when we died?”
“I doubt that we’d be like that.” Vechs shrugged. “That would kind of suck.”
“True.” Aureylian leaned on him slightly, careful not to hurt his already sore shoulder. “I think you should go for it.”
“What, creating a kingdom?”
“Yeah. That would be fun. And if anyone could do it, it would be you. I think the others would be willing to help out, too.”
Vechs nodded, closing his eyes again. “I’d like that.”
“What would you call it?”
Vechs paused, thinking about it. “Dalania.” he decided finally. “I’d probably call it Dalania.”
“That’s a good name.” Aureylian hugged him gently. “Dalania.”
A name that would shape history and change the direction of fate.
no subject
Date: Wednesday, June 24th, 2015 01:49 am (UTC)YOU GET CINNAMON ROLLS TODAY (@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@)(@) ALL DA CINNAMON ROLLS!!!!
no subject
Date: Wednesday, June 24th, 2015 02:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, June 24th, 2015 02:48 am (UTC);v;
no subject
Date: Wednesday, June 24th, 2015 02:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, June 24th, 2015 06:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, June 24th, 2015 03:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, June 24th, 2015 03:00 pm (UTC)Also, am I wrong I predicting that Vechs and Aurey are going to have a daughter/granddaughter named Dalania? Cuz, she would be named after the kingdom and be a descendant of Vechs, so she'd fit right into the prophecy and stuff.....
-Aturu
(Too lazy to log in)
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Date: Wednesday, June 24th, 2015 03:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, June 24th, 2015 11:42 pm (UTC)-Vampiric Anon
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Date: Wednesday, June 24th, 2015 11:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Thursday, June 25th, 2015 01:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Thursday, June 25th, 2015 01:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, June 30th, 2015 02:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, June 30th, 2015 02:43 am (UTC)