Second Age, Echo Realm
The following day Uffhill received a summons through military command which summoned him into a portal of blue oceanic energy. At the other end, he found himself in the pyramid once more, in a spacious room. Rows of chairs were arranged in front, with a walkway all the way to a wooden stage. Uffhill knew that he had been roped into something again. Could it be an old enemy luring him in. Here to destroy him once and for all? Thoughts of several faces arrived from his memory, one at a time. The man stepped down the aisle towards his fate. The battles would need to be fought without his presence as he had a more pressing engagement. “Brother, my dear, I’m glad you’ve come to see me” Falzar intoned. From her throat came graceful words like a melody. Uffhil slapped his chest in relief and climbed up onto the stage. Falzar’s armor was neck to toe. glimmering like some golden subterranean sea urchin. From her back spikes protruded to ward away danger. Amethyst hair fell down in abundance. From above, the light was obedient and engulfed the stage. Uffhill shielded his eyes from Falzar and her smile. She dimmed the lights for him and he regained his composure. After all, it was only his sister, who had reincarnated as Falzar. In the first age when he abandoned her to chase after the life of a patron. Things had been reserved between them ever since she revealed this at the battle of Limiforasonla, and her secret about him … yes, this again. Great feelings pounded at his chest.
Feelings that even he was unworthy of. “Sister, you know I love you, but this is impossible, even though I am happy to see you” he breathed, with a sharp breath that sent him back a step.
Uffhill looked at the actress. In his previous life, in all his bitter acts towards his sister, had he truly set the stage for this? The look in Falzar’s eyes was unmistakable. She had chosen him, even through the vastness of space and time. Past eons. “Please give me a chance to speak today, and let me show you something” she answered, and swept her hand towards the droves of chairs. In a blink of light a man appeared in the chair, fully dressed and ready for the wedding. Uffhill was impressed as the rows were filled, through singular teleportations and their effervescence. “In my room, people are born for love. They arrive as adult audience members of my wedding. You know this of course, brother. I’m just here to remind you” Falzar whispered.
Uffhill stood stalwart as the pressure mounted. He craned his neck to see the audience arrive.
There were hundreds … and they expected a show. “Wait! Alright already. I acknowledge you. I know how I fled from you all these years” he ejaculated. The man for once had completely lost his cool. He didn’t know what to say and thoughts raced through his mind. In every contest he knew the right attack or course of action. Now his nerve was failing him. It was unlike anything he had ever encountered. Falzar locked eyes with him like a tiger filled with absolute lust. The purple amethyst hair swayed playfully and girly. She bit her lip with precise force, to feel the pain but not bleed. He cocked his head to look past her but a bridesmaid ran down the aisle throwing flower petals. Uffhil gasped as he envisioned his naked chest being covered in them. “To think that your sister can’t understand your true intention. You’re here aren’t you?” she answered, with a voice more pleasurable than before. Falzar looked again at her succulent man in his full
splendor. “This is … you’re putting words in my mouth. Tell me why you’re doing this?” he begged. Falzar looked up at a silly cloud overstuffed with light, then back down again. She came in close and put a hand on his shoulder, “Give me an hour, and I wil be back by nightfall.
That’s what you said to me. And when I returned you had left again on another one of your adventures, into the Trail. Seeking whatever it is you need in your heart. Brother, you promised me”. Hot, aching tears fel from his eyes as he heard those feelings fixed into words, “I had to right what was wrong. It was mortals like our family that can’t touch the knowledge of stars” His voice could hardly relate this. It was flawed and imperfect. Uffhill took another step back and regained his composure. His fiance closed the distance, “I wanted you to be in my shop and help me make my sculptures. I wanted more than that. You didn’t have to choose this life, brother. We could have had a simpler one. With me”. Shock buckled the strong muscles in his frame. Uffhill could barely believe this was his moment. His fiance came in for a kiss but he gripped her wrists, “I had to leave you sister. I had to leave our family. The world is not as simple and you know it. The patrons are our family now”. Blood traced its way through her veins. Falzar recovered a moment from her erotic study of the chest before her. It was evident now that he was unconvinced. Luckily, there was one last card to play. Falzar took his hand and brought him to the middle of the stage. A table stood there with a small rectangular box painted red. When she was ready the patron raised it up and unlatched the top. “Is this some sort of spel orb?” Uffhil asked curiously, looking over the magical sphere, its frictionless surface revolving and humming with streaks of blue. “Do you remember how the logic of the ascension chair was shattered? This spell. It is talked about in secret, but I know you have heard its name.
I said it once before” Fazlar clarified, and she picked it up and held it between her fingers. The orb contained a powerful force within it. Wind circulated around the stage menacingly. The audience felt its power and fled. The blueness was oceanic like the portal, and it pulled his attention.“The spel of the non-ancestral, allowing anyone to insert themselves into any family tree at any point. Sons can become fathers. Brothers can become sons” he gasped, knowing the gravity of the moment, and the strength of its potential. “And a brother and sister can separate, and move to different lineages. It doesn’t need to be forbidden. It can be us together”
the woman assured him, ready for his assent. The winds picked up speed, and he found himself at the center of rose petals. Uffhill placed his hand onto hers and raised it to his mouth. He kissed it once. Its strong knuckles. “I can’t, you’re my sister” and he departed and made his way through the portal.
CHAPTER 6 - OSTIGIM’S PARTY
Second Age, Echo Realm
Lifelike flames frolicked from Ostigim’s back as she walked into the venue for the patron’s party.
Inside a few early arrivals from her portion were arranged sparsely throughout the room, nodding towards cocktail glasses, immersed in small talk. An observant one waved to her as she strode past. Ostigim was good to her locals and they returned the favor. Gone were the days of arson and monsoons of fire, lapping the shores of her cities like waves. Gone were the days of wanton explosions and tomfoolery. The exuberance had fizzled. Even though pyromania was still of course included in her job description. Witnessing the first locals from Etheria’s portion scoot in from titanic doors, she sucked the flames back into her person. It would be a long day if another summons was issued to her explaining that so-and-so was mad because so-and-so got 100-th degree burns. Lucky for her people, their spirits were
indestructible. Across the room Anthony’s face reddened for he had been her lover on many occasions. He noticed her, then returned to his cocktail. A mild temperament bathed the room.
The Etherians found their places. A few satisfied men circled around a waiter supplying escargot dipped in a sweet mustard that was a carefully guarded secret. Chocolate chicken nuggets was the next course. Sprinting into the room a young lass no more than fourteen found the rosy cushion of an oversized seat. Someone had given her a dress made from some hybrid of precious silk and summer clouds. A bow rested on her hair. Little black shoes were untied.
Ostigim marched onto the other side of the room. To the right was a staircase made of marble countertops, each with a different color, from white to black with gold inlays. Every single one of the faucets was turned on for display. She turned one off. Out the window the day was mostly afternoon. Still fresh by her standards. Below, circumstantial evidence for camping arrayed across the lush ground. It was raining petals that day because the forest had decided to construct rows of catapults and hurl bouquets up into the air. In pitiful efforts, the winds tried to blow the clouds astray. Birds scythed their way through a layer of sky that didn’t know whether it was blue or white. Ostigim turned back to the quiet chitter-chat of the party. The first task was to fend off a waiter. After that a nudist, scantily clad in basil leaves said hello, and thanked her for her public service. Unmistakable tones of basil heightened her senses for a moment, before dropping them in dizzy pirouettes back to the earth. It was Cameron from the fifteenth floor of the tower on garnet street. That incident with the basil garden and people running for their lives from monsters. “Can we let bygones be bygones” she begged. The patron nodded and it was a done deal. Suddenly the wooden floor gave way. Below a glass floor two dragons fought each other to the death. The victor bit into the other with its immaculate fangs, spreading blood all over the floor. Ostigim begin to feel a little bit more alert. In moments she found herself closer to the center. A waiter came besides her with a bottle of clear bubbly soda. From his pocket he grabbed a cap opener and popped the metallic lid. Released into the world the bubbles took flight to the ceiling, each transforming into a perfect crystal until the glistening chandelier took shape. Light emitted from it softened the floor to such a degree that a few locals stretched themselves onto it like a lounger on a plush couch of indeterminate length. The wide open space of the hall was almost bemusing. Pillars stood at intervals. A scent of humble soda subtly graced the air and … AND WHERE THE FUCK WERE THE PATRONS !!! THEY DIDN’T
COME. THEY DECIDED TO GO TO A DIFFERENT PARTY !!! The flames upon her body restored themselves, and she jumped at the glass floor, shattering it and fell towards the dragon. In seconds the beast succumbed to the IGNITION of fire. The head turned in amazement. It fell, its skin burnt to worthless ash. Angered beyond words, the patron marched out the gate and into the day that was now stupid because it was so nice. Later that day the heart of the dragon itself ripped itself from the body and rose to the room above. It beat ten times to the curiosity of all those that gathered to witness it, then transformed into a new man that they had never seen before. In his soul was the entitlement to bring discipline upon the earth for the circumstances of his birth.