2.01 - The Ascended Returns

Anneleigh pressed her hands to her ears to muffle the sound, closed her eyes and counted to 10, shook her head; nothing would rid the sound of battle from her ears.  Finally, she was forced to concede the trauma of the events of the last few days would say with her.

She gathered her bearings and started forward, knowing if she went around this out crop of land she would leave this small alcove and find the wide open Silverwood.  It was only after three or four steps that she noticed the messenger of the Vigil.  Relieved, she approached the being.

“You have been gone for two decades,” the messenger said, “and much has changed.  Being ascended is a great gift, but all power has its price.  Orphiel and the Defiants you fought in Mathosia have now replicated Ascension.  Regulos, his avatar shattered, still reaches through the weakened ward.  You are a Guardian.  Your people and your gods need you.”

Anneleigh nodded.  “This sound of battle ringing in my ears,” she asked tentatively, “it’s not a remnant of the shade, is it?”

The messenger continued, not answering Anneleigh’s question.

“After you shattered the body of Aedraxis, Regulos was weakened for a time.  The order you helped form grew stronger.  They named themselves the Guardians, and by the Vigil’s grace, worked to strengthen the god’s Ward against Regulos.  But Regulos returned too soon.  The city of Port Scion was lost, and the Defiants betrayed the world once more.  Many of your people have fallen.  Go to them, Ascended.  You’ve come back to save Telara.”

Anneleigh took a moment to recover from this shock.

“Port Scion has fallen?  How?  When?”

“There is no time for answers now, Anneleigh.  Your destiny waits.  Go speak with Sienna Faralon and Alwin Demler.  They will provide you with the answers you seek.  They will direct you on the first few steps of your journey.  Go now with the grace of the Vigil.”

Anneleigh looked further down the alcove and did indeed see several people sitting in huddled groups.  She approached the only woman first.  She was dressed in a type of clothing Anneleigh had never imagined; a silver and gold plate armor, accented in blue.  Anneleigh was taken aback by the strangeness of it.  Woman of her time were never permitted to wear the armor of a warrior.  When they went into battle, as she did to fight the forces of Aedraxis, it was a calling of last resort and often resulted in a ragtag of armor scrounged from whatever could be found.   In contract, this woman, in her completed armor appears as trained for battle as any man.

The woman sat with her head low, arms hugging herself around the middle.

“Are you alright?”  Anneleigh asked her gently, not wanted to startle the woman.

“I fell from the great bridge when the Defiants blew it up.  We were crossing to destroy their Ark of the Ascended, a foul device they’ve created to replicate the Ascension of the Vigil.  We couldn’t let that happen.  But the Defiants destroyed the bridge rather than face us in honorable combat.  I can still see my comrades’ faces as the bridge fell beneath us.  I will never forget this crime.”

The woman stopped speaking now and turned to Anneleigh for the first time.”

“Who... are you?  You’re dressed strangely for a Guardian.”

“I am Anneleigh.  I am here, by the doing of the Vigil, to restore peace to Telara.  Are you Sienna?”

“Yes, I am.  Does the vigil know my name also?  Did they direct you to comfort me?”  Sienna said with wonder.  She became a bit more unsteady and took a moment to return to the conversation.  When she did, her eyes were bright.  “Go then, my friend.  We work for the common good.”

Anneleigh smiled at Sienna.  “Do you know where I can find Alwin Demler?  The messenger bade me speak to him.”

Sienna nodded.  “Yes, he is there, around that small outcrop of coastline, closer to Port Scion.  He was one of the few to make it safely back to shore after the explosion took down the bridge under out feet.”

“Have peace, Sienna.”  Anneleigh said, hoping to calm the woman, “we will be victorious in our goal.”

Anneleigh picked herself up once more and crossed the short distance to the area Sienna had described.  There she found a solitary solider whose eyes were trained on the water of Port Scion Bay.  Behind him stood the city walls of Port Scion itself, but if Anneleigh had not known where she stood, she would not have recognized it.  The once beautiful city was now destroyed with the stains and aftermath of the plane of death.  Horrifying tendrils of the rifts tore through it.

“What happen to Port Scion?”  Anneleigh asked Alwin as she approached.

“Alsbeth betrayed us.  She allowed Regulos to stretch his horrendous talons through the Ward.  She stole the heart of Regulos from the vaults and unleashed a death rift over the city.  King Zareph, who tried for so long to keep the peace, gave his life to shut off the city and trap the evil inside.  Now we’re at war with the Defiants.  And that’s why I’m soaking wet.”

Anneleigh giggled in spite of herself and immediately clasped her hands over her mouth.  “I am sorry for my rudeness, but it is a blessing to see you keep your sense of humor in this difficult time.”

Alwin eyed her cautiously.  “Where’d you come from anyways?  You were not on the bridge with us.”

“I am returned by the vigil.  They have brought me here to aid Telara.  What can I do to help?”

Alwin looked at her skeptically for a few moments, and then nodded back towards the coast.  “Talk to the Captain if you really want to help.  I won’t be fool enough to send you into that bay, even if you are really returned by the vigil.”

“We will fight back Alwin.”  Anneleigh said.  She did not feel at ease with his tone, but left him to seek out the Captain. 

“Maybe he did not believe I am Ascended as Sienna did.”  Anneleigh thought as she walked. 

The messenger had not told her what had happened to the other Ascended of the Shade; Shyla, Cyril and Borrin, as well as all the others who were Ascended from the battle as she was. 

“Perhaps they perished when I shattered Aedraxis.  If that is how history unfolded, the people of Telara have every right to be skeptical.  Perhaps that is why the messenger sent me to speak with Alwin and Sienna.  To learn and understand the reactions I will receive when re-entering society.”

This understanding bolstered Anneleigh’s confidence as she approached the Captain.

“Can it be?  The Ascended has returned!”

Anneleigh blushed.  This was not the reaction she expected.  He seems to recognise her as Ascended, even before she opens her mouth to speak.

“You know me?”

“For twenty years we’ve awaited the return of those who shattered the body of Regulos’ avatar, ending the Mathosian war.  Now that you’re here, we can begin righting the wrongs that have occurred since your disappearance.”

“I am returned by the Vigil to help.  What can I do here to help you?”

“Well,” Captian Glott begain, “I was leading a Guardian force to destroy the Defiant machine that replicates Ascension.  The defiants knew we’d slaughter them handily sword-to-sword, so they destroyed the bridge with us on it.”

“I know.”  Anneleigh says, “I’ve spoken with Sienna and Alwin.”

“They’ve made it back safely then?”  Captian Glott asks.  “Good.  That is good.  The Defiant took the lives of many good Guardians today.  We were fools to tolerate them after Mathosia, but Zareph promised peace.  Now Zareph is dead.  He gave his life to shut the doors of Port Scion when it fell to the corruption of Regulos.  I don’t care what anyone says – he’s dead and he’s never coming back.  Cyril, Shyla, Borrin, and the other heroes still live, praise the gods.  They are our beacons of light, and with you, an ascended, joining us, our power shines all the brighter.”