NaNoWriMo Supporter

AggroChat Episode 28

Last night we once again rallied the troops and recorded another episode of AggroChat.  This week Kodra was saddled with the dual burdens of illness and family…  and as such could not attend.  However we had Ashgar, Rae and Tam.  The number one thing on all of our minds was experiencing the 2.4 patch content in Final Fantasy XIV which landed last Monday/Tuesday.  During that time Tam has pushed up a rogue from level 1 to 50 and is now gearing it for raiding purposes.  I have mostly spent my time running Syrcus Tower trying to get bits to gear out my warrior and dragoon.  All of us have been slowly working our way through the brand new dungeon content.  Yesterday shortly before the show Ash, Tam and myself finished the last of the three new hardmodes and I have to say I am really damned impressed.

ffxiv 2014-11-01 20-20-47-557 Even more impressive is where the main storyline seems to be going.  This is one of the aspects I find the coolest about FFXIV is that the story just keeps evolving and not in an artificial way.  The problem with Star Wars the Old Republic is that when you reached 50… especially as a Jedi Knight or Jedi Counselor you had solved the galaxies greatest threat.  There was nowhere to go but down from there.  In FFXIV when you finish the main story, it is just the beginning and everything about the game tells you… you didn’t solve shit.  You took out one pawn in a far greater game.  So every three months or so when we get a major patch, I am always amped to see where exactly the story is going to go.  Right now I am only a couple of hours into the new story content, and already they have thrown out some allusions to past Final Fantasy games that have me spooked as to where we might be going with this.

NaNoWriMo Supporter

At this point hopefully all of this years participants have at least broken ground on their new novel.  Throughout the month of October I mulled around the notion of doing NaNoWriMo 2014, but in the end I have decided not to.  Last year if you recall I essentially live blogged my novel and used each days writing as the next days posting on my blog.  In the intervening year I have done absolutely nothing with it.  I’ve not even cracked the original drive document to even begin editing it.  This more than anything else tells me I am not quite ready to undergo the challenge again.  Last year I won, and by winning I mean I actually finished my 50,000+ words by the end of the month.  The problem is I have a chrysalis for a novel and not really something worth publishing.  I need to put at least as much effort as I did writing it into editing it.  At least once a week I think about digging into it and ripping things to shreds as I sort bits out that I slammed together in a rush.  It just seems so damned daunting to unravel what I was only able to pull together through sheer will.

The other reason why I have decided to skip NaNoWriMo this year is that it took a hell of a lot out of me.  My world for the month of November revolved around making sure I got my words done for the day.  In the end nothing else mattered, and I pretty much abandoned everything else that I enjoyed.  It was during the month of November that I faded away from FFXIV in the first place, because the game required too much effort from me to keep playing it while pouring out 1500 to 2000 words a day.  Additionally my blog suffered because I could not keep up my daily blogging AND write that many words a day… was just not something I could juggle.  This was the point that I got back into World of Warcraft, because WoW was a game I could play entirely on auto pilot.  Nothing about the game made me think, and I could live in this blissful muscle memory zone where I got enjoyment without having to acknowledge the world going on around me.  NaNoWriMo was all consuming, and while I think it is something that everyone should complete at least once…  I have done that.  I completed the competition last year, and wrote a novel… something that I can check off my bucket list.  I don’t feel the need for a repeat performance…  at least not quite yet.

What I plan on doing is being a cheerleader for the folks who ARE planning on doing the struggle this year.  The folks that need inspiration or support as they struggle to keep up with the waterfall of words that NaNoWriMo is.  Be it a word of encouragement or a swift kick in the ass when I see they haven’t done their words for the day…  I will try and be there.  So while I am not a participant I am very much a supporter of the process.  Having actually gotten my novel finished on time last year I might even be able to provide a source of advice.  I would never have finished last year were it not for the other people struggled through the process with me.  They were a source of inspiration and I am hoping some of them will be taking up the challenge this year as well.  It is an awesome thing, and hopefully I can play match maker between groups of friends entering the fray together.

I realize this is the second of November and not the first, but we are going to temporarily ignore that fact as I introduce a new thing that I am going to do all this month.  In truth it was not until yesterdays post that I was made aware that this was a thing.  My wife usually skims my posts each day to see if I have written anything about “us” in the blog, and after doing this yesterday she turned to me and said “you should have done a month of thankfulness post”.  So yeah… I kind of wish I had thought about that before making my post yesterday.  So this morning I pulled together a logo and am setting forth on this adventure.  I’ve always liked Thanksgiving the best of all of the holidays because it isn’t about commercialization or how much you can spend to show your love… it is just about a simple thanks for the awesome things in your life.  I am not going to make this out to be a big thing like Blaugust was, but I think it would be awesome if it spread a little bit around our community.

My Wife

I figured I would start off my series of posts with a post about my wife.  Not only did she give me this idea but she is pretty much a constant source of support in my life.  More important than that she keeps me grounded.  I get absolutely engrossed in the things I am into, be it my blog, the podcast, streaming or whatever the latest video game I am obsessing over.  She has a way of pulling me outside of all of this and focusing me on the real world outside of my computer and consoles.  There are a lot of couples that game together, and I have always thought this would be a cool thing…  but I also know it would never actually fly for me.  If I had a gamer spouse  the bills would never get paid, the chores would never get done… and I would ultimately end up losing my job.  My wife helps me keep one foot firmly planted in reality, and keep from slipping down that slippery slope.

More than this we compliment each other nicely.  She is all of the things I am not.  She is a creature of logic and I am a creature of passion, and together we make this awesome pair.  I can’t necessarily say that we are opposites, because we have just enough in common to make it work, but we definitely complement each other.  The other strange thing is that we rarely actually fight.  I mean we bicker back and forth, but there is rarely any spat that isn’t resolved by bed time.  We are in fact an old married couple, and have been able to complete each others sentences for years.  There are so many times we will just say a word or two before the other person agrees… because after almost two decades we know exactly what the other is thinking.  Without having a place of love and stability, I wouldn’t have the courage each day to put myself out here in front of you all.  For all of this and more I am very thankful for my wife.

NaNoWriMo 29 – New Beginnings

NaNoWriMo 29

Today was a significant day.  Firstly it was the last day of my family thanksgivings for the year.  Secondly I came home and wrote the final chapter to the novel.  The other night when I wrote the last bit to get over the finish line, I simply was not in the right frame of mind to write the closing chapter.  Today however after spending the day with family, I decided it was as good a time as any to write the “happy ending”.  The novel has come to a conclusion, but the story is far from over.

If you are feeling like you want to catch up, here is the story that has gone before.  I have edited nothing.

  1. Shadowed Stone
  2. Little Giant Girl
  3. Birthday Wishes
  4. The Gifts
  5. The Incursion
  6. The Watch
  7. Rough Landing
  8. Dragon Bone
  9. People of the Storm
  10. The Lady
  11. Cambridge Beneath
  12. Prisoner of War
  13. Woodbinding
  14. Parting the Veil
  15. People of the Earth
  16. The Pack
  17. Brittagus Escape
  18. The Lightskimmer
  19. The Nightlords
  20. Hagengarde
  21. Homecoming
  22. Reckoning
  23. Best Laid Plans
  24. The Siege
  25. Serendipity
  26. Betrayed
  27. Rising Light
  28. The Puppeteer

29 – New Beginnings

Bethilda stepped through the threshold of the waygate station deep below the streets of avalon.  Stepping out into the platform she joined Pico and Berrol who were saying goodbye to Bemel.  In the weeks after her rescue she had watched as Bemel took a shining to the young boy, much the same as Pico had apparently done not long beforehand.  The boy was very special, and in him rested the hopes of better times.  Bethilda had reached out to her connections in Brittagus but the news was not good at all.  It seems as though shortly after her escape from the island city, Astanax was publicly beheaded as a warning to any other dissenters.  With him died the access to the hidden waygate, as well as the hopes of the Order of Merlin.

Pico had confessed that she was the creator of the weapons that the humans used to attack the members of the Elfen court.  There were a few shouts and harsh words back and forth, but they had all come to a point of understanding.  Things were changing in the shadowlands and Bethilda felt that new and greater threats were on the rise from the forces of winter.  As a result she had proposed the founding of the Summer Alliance, and with Pico representing humanity they worked through the details of a treaty.  The Ward Watch, now would protect not only humanity but the forces of good in the shadowlands.

After the events leading to Pico’s rapid exit, no one was really certain where Brittagus stood on these matters.  They remained as isolated and xenophobic as ever, and in the past weeks managed to close the borders to even the Valkore traders who freely entered and exited the ports before.  Battle lines were being drawn, but Bethilda was not concerned.  The combined forces of the Elfen, Valkore, Wildfae and Sasquatch came back from the fields of battle victorious.  With the addition of the humans, she knew they were as strong as any standing alliance had ever been in the nightlands.

As Bethilda stepped forward towards the trio they turned to face her, stopping their conversation.  “No need to stop on my accord.”  She said with a smile on her face.  “It is nothing, Bemel was just saying goodbye” Pico said reaching down and ruffling Berrol’s hair.  “I do hate to see you leaving, I feel there is much we can learn from each other.”  Bethilda responded reaching out her hand to the shorter human.  “Commander Farragut will be wanting a debriefing, and I am sure he will scold me for entering into this agreement without his consent.  I am sure after he has heard all the details, and especially after you provided me my sample of dragon bone…”  she said while lifting up the metal case at her side “.. I am sure he will come to see it my way as well.”

“You are welcome in Avalon at any time, and I look forward to reading your reports.” Bethilda knelt down “You too are welcome anytime you wish to come back Berrol.”  The little boy ran over and gave her a hug turning around to look at Pico “We can come back to visit Aunt Beth can’t we Pico?”  Pico shook her head “I am sure we can, I will want to study their library for information about the original Order of Merlin and scour it for any information about the wards after all”  she said winking at Bemel.  Was it Bethilda’s imagination or were the two of them flirting?  Bemel was afterall a handsome man, but had never really shown interest in a particular woman.  She thought to herself that it was probably good for him after recent events.

Pico took Berrol in hands, and Bemel walked over to the wall, placing his palm on a cyan stone embedded there.  There was a purple mist that formed in the center of the chamber and within seconds it had condensed into a crack.  From the edges of the crack poured a bright purple light before it finally opened into a oval shape, showing the corresponding chamber in the other world.  Standing there was a man who Bethilda assumed was Commander Farragut.  Pico said her final goodbyes and together she stepped with Berrol through the opening.  The fissure sparkled and then she was standing on the other side conversing with the man.  Bemel removed his hand and the way began to close eventually sputtering out in a puff of purple mist.

“I never took you for the ambassador Bemel” she said as she winked at him.  Bemel blushed brightly for a moment and then simply responded “I have no idea what you are talking about, I was just showing Pico around our fair city.”  Beth nodded as she grabbed his arm and proceeded down the corridor, and back into the main palace complex.  The walked through a long shaft with Elfen Pikemen posted in pairs every few feet.  As they passed the pair would straighten up and bring their spear across their chest in a salute.  Bethilda realized that it would be disrespectful for them to not do it, but she always found the pomp of being the Queen intolerable.  She missed the times she would sneak away to visit Jace at the farm, but she realized that the danger it posed would no longer be allowed.

Similarly it was no longer safe for Jace to return to the world of the humans either.  Now that it was known he was the prince, others would be trying to get to him as well… and that was something she simply could not allow.  The events had brought more than a few harsh realities to bear.  She was however thankful that Kayle had decided to stay with him here in Avalon.  Over the weeks spent rescuing her, it seems as though their friendship had blossomed into something more.  For as brutish and unrefined as Kale could be, the girl had a softness to her, especially when it came to Jace or Dimcy.  As far as the firesprite was concerned they were not inseparable as Kale had a permanent resident of her shoulder.

As they walked together through the corridor she turned to look at Bemel.  “I will not be joining you in the audience chamber, I am stopping off at the infirmary first.”  Bemel looked at Bethilda and nodded.  “I assumed you might, do you want me to come with you?”  He said grasping his sisters arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.  “No I will be fine”  Bemel shoot her a look of incredulity for a moment but Bethilda shook her head.  “No really, I will be fine…  I just need to see him.”  Bemel nodded again letting go of her arm.  They passed through an archway, and to the left the path split, and Bethilda turned down it.  Bemel continued on towards the audience chamber hoping she would find some peace.

Bethilda walked down a dim corridor, there were no guards along this one, and she was actually thankful for the quiet.  It seemed as though almost everyone was doing better after the events at Fort Kraken, but there was one glaring exception.  While she had been rushed out of the Fort in an attempt to protect her and her son, the Summer Alliance crawled over the keep leaving no stone unturned.  Deep within the basement they found a chamber filled with a myriad of cruel instruments, all designed to torture both the body and the mind.  It was within this chamber that they found him, half dead, slumping against the chains that bound him to the wall.  The best healers the court had to offer tried their best to bring him back.  Even the Sasquatch shaman healer Torklah failed to improve his condition.

Bethilda had ordered a room for him here in the infirmary, and she tried to make it as comfortable as she could.  As she stood at the doorway to the chamber she looked at the once proud man now laying broken on the bed.  She felt a tear sliding down her cheek as walked through through the doorway.  She took a seat on the bed beside him as he lie there perfectly still other than the slow labored breaths.  She took his hand in hers and squeezed it tight.  “Benj my love, I am here…  can you hear me?”  she pleaded as she peered down into his glassy stare.  She began to weep softly as she waited as always for a response, only to hear nothing but his ragged breaths.

She laid down across his chest, wrapping her arms around him.  “Please come back to me…” she said softly.  She had always regretted their decision, and never did more than now.  She wanted to protect her son, and she felt the only way to do this was to disguise who he was.  While she would work to repair the relationship between them, she could never buy back the days she lost with her beloved.  “You just have to come back…   I need you”  she wept into his chest. She laid there like this for a good amount of time sobbing when she felt something she did not expect.  She looked down to her side to see Benj’s hand had moved up slightly to rest upon her, with his fingertips spread out grasping her.

She exclaimed “You are still in there aren’t you!”  She reached down grasping the hand and slowly his fingers grasped around hers.  He was recovering slowly, she was certain of it.  Benj had always been resilient, and he was trying desperately to come back to her.  She looked up at his face and his eyes were closed with his mouth fixed in an expression of determination.  “I will wait however long it takes” she said softly as his expression relaxed a bit and his hand fell loose at his side.  She lay there listening to his heart beat with renewed strength.  She would wait for eternity for him to be back at her side.  They could be a real family this time, like she had always wanted them to be.  Even if it meant war, she would do anything to protect them and keep him safe.

NaNoWriMo 28 – The Puppeteer

NaNoWriMo 28

I am so thankful that I pushed on forward and finished up before yesterday.  After coming home from the holiday madness I was not in any state to write.  I still have one more chapter to finish, so hopefully today I will find some peace of mind to do just that.  This is the next to last chapter and I still have yet to write the one that ties the pieces up and talks about what the folks are doing after the events.  As always nothing has been edited, and I plan on sitting down to do that after the new year.  Here is a rundown of the story so far.

  1. Shadowed Stone
  2. Little Giant Girl
  3. Birthday Wishes
  4. The Gifts
  5. The Incursion
  6. The Watch
  7. Rough Landing
  8. Dragon Bone
  9. People of the Storm
  10. The Lady
  11. Cambridge Beneath
  12. Prisoner of War
  13. Woodbinding
  14. Parting the Veil
  15. People of the Earth
  16. The Pack
  17. Brittagus Escape
  18. The Lightskimmer
  19. The Nightlords
  20. Hagengarde
  21. Homecoming
  22. Reckoning
  23. Best Laid Plans
  24. The Siege
  25. Serendipity
  26. Betrayed
  27. Rising Light

28 – The Puppeteer

The night sky looked angry, it was as though it knew what was in his mind.  He reached into the folds of his thick red and gold robe, retrieving a small circle.  Numbers flashed across its surface swirling in and out of view.  The hour was getting late and there was still no sign of the assassin.  It was unlike Shandor to not be punctual, and this was a trait he had come to expect from him.  The master would not tolerate such a delay, so why should he.  As the indignant rage built up inside of him he heard a noise behind him.  The assassin had slipped into the room without opening the door or breaching the window.  Betweeners as their accursed sidestepping he thought as he turned to meet the man.

“Do you have it” the robed man asked impatiently looking at the pack on the back of the assassin.  The other slowly took the pack down producing a pouch handing it to the robed man.  Slowly he opened the pouch and the room was filled with the soft glow of orange abbreviated by brief flashes of blue.  The stormfire crystal was complete and as he held it in his hands he could feel the power coursing from it.  With such power came great temptation with a mere touch of his fingers and a short incantation… all of that power could be his.  He quickly closed the bag, knowing the master would flay him for even thinking such thoughts.

He placed the pouch in a pocket buried within the folds of his robe.  No that distinct honor would be that of the Master, and he would never know of the moment of weakness just felt.  He slightly to face the assassin looking him directly in the eyes “Do you have the other?”.  The assassin walked over to a table, placing down his pack and lifting out a great brass cylinder.  The construction was delicate of ancient dwarven make.  The assassin removed a clip from the top of the container pulling up on it, removing the brass shroud.

There within a glass tube filled with a slightly glowing greenish ichor sat the head of Baigan Derrow, traitor to the courts of Avalon.  “Are you quite certain it is fresh?”  the robed man asked looking over the face of the fallen shade.  “Yes, I slipped it into the casing moments after removing it.  The flesh was still quite warm as I flooded the chamber with the conductive liquid.”  The assassin replied stepping back from the container.  The master would be pleased, he knew that he would want to read the thoughts of the traitor to determine if there was anything he kept hidden away in that brain.

“Sir there is the matter of my payment.”  The assassin spoke up making a gesture with his hands to indicate the expected currency.  Shandor was a loyal contractor and could be trusted to execute all instructions to the letter.  This was a hard thing to find, and of course was worth quite a lot.  The robed man crossed to his desk pulling out a fat sack that jingled as he crossed the room again, placing it in the hands of the assassin.  “I am certain you will find this more than you requested.  Just think of it as a bonus for the length of time spent in the company of that fool.”  The assassin took the coins placing it down in the bottom of his pack and slinging the satchel across his back once more.

“Just as you had said, the Elfen and the human showed up moments after I had taken the head.”  Shandor remarked while walking towards the door.  “If there is nothing else, I will be going.”  The robed man shook his head slowly “No that will be all, you are as always a faithful and honorable assassin.  Should we need your services again, I know how to reach you.”  The other nodded as he disappeared from sight silently in a puff of purple smoke.  No matter how many times he saw a betweener shift like that, he could never really get used to the sight.  Things had gone according to the masters plan.

He moved to the table, picking the brass shroud up and sliding it back down over the glass chamber.  Taking the pin he refastened it and lifted the entire apparatus from the table.  Slowly and carefully he walked holding the container out beside him as though afraid it would somehow taint him through its mere presence.  He moved down the carved stone hallway entering a small room on the left with a dim green glow.  There were a series of containers just like the one he carried in his hand.  Each one sat down on a shaft with a series of cables leading up from it into the ceiling.  He sat down the container and it seated in the slot making a distinct click as it finally locked into place.

The robed man unfastened to pins on either side of the container and the front panel of the brass shroud slid away revealing the face of Baigan once more.  Reaching up he took a bundle of cables down from the ceiling, fastening each clamp onto one of the bolts sticking out from the top of the brass tube.  After each clamp had been fastened  the liquid in the container began to churn making bubbling noises as he sloshed and swished about the head. Baigan took a permanent place in the machine as the heads eyes began to open and mouth move in slight motions.  The master would not be able to access his every thought and desire.

He looked to the container to the left,. to the head of Astanax the traitor to the Order.  The robed man was giddy thinking about the secrets he must have told the master.  The Order of Merlin hiding right under their noses and the library of knowledge that was now theirs to plunder.  There was still one thing that did not make sense to him.  Why had the master bid for him to help the girl escape.  Would it not have been better to dispose of her and the son of Astanax?  “it is not my place to question the master.  The master is all knowing, all seeing.  The master will lead the way.”  He chanted the mantra pushing away the thoughts from his head, letting the rhythm of the words purify him.

He turned away from the containers and the moving faces contained within them, to a desk set into the far wall.  Sitting down at it he drew towards him a large crystal on a pedestal.  Placing his hands on the base he closed his eyes reaching out through the crystal to someplace else, someplace dark and powerful.  The crystal flickered to life and within its many facets there displayed was a shadow shrouded figure seated on on a throne.  “Is it complete Karrek?” the voice in the crystal demanded.  “Yes master, the traitor Baigan has been connected to your machine.  The assassin has also delivered to me the stormfire crystal.”  Karrek smiled broadly as he delivered the good news.

“You are as always my faithful servant Karrek.  Keep the crystal safe until I come for it.”  The crystal dimmed and with it vanished the image of the master.  Karrek had pleased him, and this meant he would be rewarded.  Still he could not shake the feeling that there was more to the plan of the master than he could ever understand.  The human girl, Pico, had to play some key role in his greater symphony.  There were so many questions running through his head, but as he pushed them away he convinced himself that the time of the master was near.  The threads of fate were being stitched together one by one.

He left the small room and moved back out into the main chamber, crossing it to stand upon the balcony once again.  Karrek looked out upon Brittagus, the colony trapped in time, exiled from humanity.  The exile of the wizards was soon to end.  The Wards would fall and with them the Master would claim his place as the ruler of the new world.  Karrek his loyal servant would be rewarded at his right hand.  All of the death and pain would be worth it when the new glorious world rose like a phoenix from the ashes of this hollow one.  Karrek raised his hand to his cheek as a small tear of joy dripped down it and onto his hand. 

NaNoWriMo 27 – Rising Light

NaNoWriMo 27

Happy Thanksgiving to you guys, and as you can tell by the banner I managed to get over the 1200 words to “finish” the novel last night and win NaNoWriMo.  It has been a wild ride and at this point I am a mixture of happy and exhausted.  I got used to writing every single day with my blog experiment, but there is just something different about changing from writing freeform blog style posts to trying to write prose.  I am mostly just drained at this point.  While I am “done” with the contest goals I still have one more chapter to write.  Probably after the festivities of Thanksgiving I will sit down and knock it out.  There are still a few more chapters to post on the blog so stay tuned over the coming days for the official end.

If you are wanting to catch up, here is the rundown of the chapters so far.  Nothing at all has been edited.

  1. Shadowed Stone
  2. Little Giant Girl
  3. Birthday Wishes
  4. The Gifts
  5. The Incursion
  6. The Watch
  7. Rough Landing
  8. Dragon Bone
  9. People of the Storm
  10. The Lady
  11. Cambridge Beneath
  12. Prisoner of War
  13. Woodbinding
  14. Parting the Veil
  15. People of the Earth
  16. The Pack
  17. Brittagus Escape
  18. The Lightskimmer
  19. The Nightlords
  20. Hagengarde
  21. Homecoming
  22. Reckoning
  23. Best Laid Plans
  24. The Siege
  25. Serendipity
  26. Betrayed

27 – Rising Light

Bemel knocked an arrow drawing back his hand and aiming his bow carefully.  He let loose a battle cry as the arrow flew from his hand rushing off over his bow and flying across the battlefield striking the Ort general beneath the chin.  This sent the head of the arrow crushing up through his jaw and borrowing into his skull.  The great oaf stumbled a bit as though he could not comprehend what had just happened.  In the hundreds of years since the Winter War, the Orts had forgotten the precision of the elfen archers.  As the struck general tried helplessly to claw free the arrow, the finality of the act finally caught up with him and he toppled over like a great tree crashing down upon the ground.

At the sight of their fallen leader the Orts began to route, fear getting the better of them.  They charged off in all manner of directions, but the Valkore were quick on their tail hunting them down.  They had taken the battlefield but not at an insignificant cost.  Bemel looked to either side and there lay a few sasquatch and valkore who had felt the sting of death.  But where lie a relative few, there lay hundreds upon hundreds of Orts.  The enemy was unprepared for the resistance they posed, and their defenses crumbled under the three prong strike.

Looking across the field he saw that Morrow and Josah were advancing on the fort, and he decided to join them.  The Valkore and Sasquatch could get their revenge and track down the straggling backbreakers.  Bemel thought that it was time for them to rescue their queen.  Prepared for a fight they rushed the open porculus only to find the halls of the keep relatively quiet.  “This does not seem right.  There should be Ort here as well protecting Baigan.”  Bemel said looking over at Josah.  The other nodded “I don’t like the feeling of this.”

Morrow held her hammer out in front of her slightly, as if ready to swing at a moments notice.  She had a score to settle with Baigan and would not be denied her justice.  She lead the pack as they wound through the hallways that echoed with the sounds of battle still raging outside.  However oddly she heard no sounds emanating from within.  The trio wound down the main corridor leading to the audience chamber, where they assumed Baigan would have set up his makeshift throne room.  As they entered the chamber they heard the echo of footsteps coming down a hallway to the west of the chamber. 

They paused preparing for battle, as a group of figures came into sight.  She could not hardly believe her eyes as the group came into view.  She screamed in joy “Merowyn! You’re alive!!” as she saw her sister.  The big woman threw down her hammer and ran screaming across the room tackling her sister and wrapping her big arms around her.  “Jace, Kale.. you guys are alive too?”  She said when she noticed the rest of the group.  “I was afraid you two did not make it out safely, that Baigan had maybe finished you off.”  She let go of her sister letting her down to the ground.

Merowyn caught her breath panting slightly as she responded.  “We are fine, it is good to see you too sis.”  Jace ran over to Morrow giving her a big hug, and then noticed behind her standing with Josah as Bemel.  Where was Benj, was he not with them?  “It is good to see you guys too,  where is Benj?  Is he with you?”  Jace said eagerly.  Morrow shook her head slowly “We don’t know where he is, we were seperated at the farmhouse”  From behind Jace there came a loud scream.  It took them for a moment to realize it was Kale.  She had her hands to her sides staring up at the throne, screaming madly.

The entire room turned to look at the throne as well and a few other shrieks happened.  There in the throne slumped over to one side, was the headless corpse of a man.  Josah dared to walk up to the chair and examine him, and upon further inspection it appears to be Baigan.  The body looked drained, as though the life was sapped from it.  Josah looked around on the ground and behind the throne, but there was no sign of the mans head.  It was missing, but curiously his staff was just laying there topled to the floor.

“I am not sure what the meaning of this is.  He attacked us outside and then escaped.  We were pursuing him when we ran into you.”  Merowyn said with a shocked look upon her face.  “Who could have beheaded him in those few moments?”  She looked around the chamber expecting to see the attacker still there, but there was nothing.  The chamber was empty other than the group that had assembled at the same time.  She picked up the staff noticing the orange crystal still intact and shimmering brightly.  She carefully twisted the crystal and it slid out of the staff mooring easily.  “I believe this is why you all came here?”  Mero said holding the crystal carefully in her hands.

“In order to break the bond we need four”  She said looking at Morrow, Josah and Bemel.  “Lets free her before any more time has wasted.”  She held the crystal out in front of her, and slowly the others moved to array themselves with the four cardinal directions.  They each reached out holding onto the crystal.  “Now concentrate.”  She said as she reached out with her mind letting it flow through her body and out through her fingertips and into the crystal.  She pictured Queen Bethilda in all her glory, standing there in front of them.  Bethilda had a smile upon her face, like she was happy to see her.

Beth and her had always been friends, but she was afraid the other would judge her and her decision to leave the court of Avalon.  Instead all she felt from Bethilda was warmthy and happiness.  In her mind Bethilda ran over to Merowyn, wrapping her arms around her giving her a bright and warm hug.  It was as if the sheer power of summer was radiating from her hug, warming every inch of Merowyn.  As she opened her eyes she watched as the crystal pulsed violently.  The warmth radiating from it was almost painful as she withdrew her hand.

The crystal hovered there in the air as the others backed away from it.  It began to spin around on its axis. It twirled there like a top, as it began to enlarge in size slowly.  They stepped back again as the heat coming off of it was almost too much to bear.  As they moved away it began to expand rapidly quickly taking the size of a human twirling there on the stone floor.  In a flash of light, the crystal cracked along its facets sending a rain of shards down.  There in the center of this explosion stood Queen Bethilda with a warm smile upon her face.

“Mom!” cried Jace as he ran across the room wrapping his arms around the queen and squeezing her tight.  She returned his embrace collapsing against him.  She was weakened but he helped support her body keeping her upright.  She said in a weak voice “I’ve waited your entire life for you to call me that”  She closed her eyes for a moment, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.  “I only tried to protect you from harm, I always loved you from a far.”  Jace found himself crying as well.  “I know, its okay, we are back together now”.  He squeezed her tighter, and within moments they were joined by Josah, Bemel and Morrow in one giant embrace.  It hurt not to have Benj here, but he had most of his family back.  Things really were going to be okay.

“We have to get you to safety my Queen.”  Josah finally said as they broke away from the embrace.  “We have taken the field, but it is not safe here for you.  We are on the far side of the Sunwall.  There is time for us to catch up once you are safe in Avalon.”  He said motioning to Bemel to begin preparing to leave the castle.  He turned to Merowyn “Please come with us, you don’t have to stay…  but please let us know you are safe.”  Merowyn looked at Josah and then again at Morrow “I…  I will come with you.  But I am needed by my people” she said motioning to the sprites arrayed around her.  “They can of course come too, we can talk about what happens next after the queen is safe.”  She nodded exchanging glances with Dobin and the rest of the sprites.

The fort would need to be searched, and information gathered.  But that would all wait for another day.  The Valkore were owed this justice, after being driven from their homelands by the Trogjan. Fort Kraken had been a Valkore outpost, a remnant of the final battles of the Winter War.  They should be the ones with the honor of securing the keep Josah thought as he made his way to the sunwall.  He had summoned a Hearthship, a much larger versions of hte skimmers designed for transporting a large number of troops.  He watched as Morrow and Jace helped Queen Belthilda on board.  They had managed to take the field, but he feared this was the opening volley in a new Winter War.  He would instead revel in the fact that he had both his sister and his wife back safe, and that would be good enough for today.