Spirits of the Earth

How many days had it been? A clear, blue liquid slowly trickled from her lips, dribbling down her tattered and torn robes.

Natah had no idea how many days it had been. All she could remember, all she could think off was pure anger. Her teeth grit as she coughed up more liquid mana. The past days had shown her just what a curse immortality could be. It allowed for official guards to slam a spigot right into her heart and tap pure mana from it. She had no idea what they did with it, but it was valuable, the magus knew that at least. Shipping it around to make a profit was but one of the most obvious things they could do with it.

She would break out this place, tear the entire palace apart if it wasn't for the infernal chains wrapped around her wrists and legs. The very thought of these magic sealing binds made her grit her teeth in anger once more. She let out a soft, shaky breath again. The pain was near unbearable. And she knew her captors would be back, it was only a matter of time.

From the very first step into this country, you had to be careful.  Why?  Well, let's just say that he Essyrnians had some funny ideas about women.  It wasn't as open a place as Serendipity, so certain things would grab their attention and make them grumble.  They might not approve if a lady had a profession that one would normally see in a man.  Now, ordinarily, Rena would not care for two reasons.  Number One, she was a foreigner, and her lifestyle was not any business of anyone from this country.  If she wanted to wear the pants in her family and swing a big sword, that was down to her.  And number two, no one in this world could force her to change, not with all the things that had happened in her life.

However, in this case, she took certain precautions because what she was in town for was incredibly important, and highly...rebellious, vis-a-vis the laws and courtesies of the Great Shah's rule and personal property.  To wit, she would be breaking in.  That alone was problematic.  Now, factor in that anybody noticing in this country that she was a woman with armor and a bigass sword would draw way too much attention.  She'd never be able to pull it off if anybody got wind of her presence early.  That was why Rena had invested in a nice obscuring desert cloak, and cloth bag with a padded bottom and a rope tie to conceal Spark, her sword.  It was in this manner that she entered the country, traveled quietly along a caravan, and came to Essyrn itself.

She waited for night, and then scaled the walls with rope and agility to get up quickly and - to a degree - quietly.  Currently, she was in armor, in desert cloak, and in sandals tied to her plate boots.  Why sandals?  Because it's alot easier to sneak around if your feet aren't going Clank, Clank, Clank!  Night patrol of the Shah's palace was regular, but not with the greatest of attention, as their strict movements were more to keep themselves awake than necessarily keep a perfect watch.  It was late, gods-dammit, and guarding a palace is hard!  Now, it was her time to shine. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmOCJyhPQCY)  Getting rid of the rope, Rena leapt quickly from the patrolled wall to the uneven stone areas that lay between this wall and a much taller one.  A normal person would have to take the stairs.  Not Rena, who hopped her way up like some sort of mountain goat on speed.

Her quickness and agility delivered her to the bottom of the next wall, at an inverted corner, where she used her momentum to hop from wall to wall, although to be fair, it wasn't 100% the elven agility doing it. We must lend credit to her training towards these things, and also he fact that the tip of her plate boots chipped into the stone walls a bit to add to her cling and movement on upwards and over.  She flipped onto the high wall and into a crouch.  Her sword umm...clinked against said wall.

"Aw crap."

Quickly running to a spot where there was cylindrical-shaped jutting part of the palace next to a different high wall, Rena jumped up and pressed against those two walls to get off the ground, and allow the inevitable guards coming have their look around, find nothing, and wander off.  That was close...  They were more attentive than she thought.  If she blew this too early, there could be a small army of guards on her, and while she could probably handle alot of guards, it wasn't the best of actions.  However, she soon found an entrance proper that led to some of the lower reaches of the palace, specifically their dungeons, where this woman she was looking for - Natah - was being held.  She had essentially been hired to free her, by someone who said she was being tapped for mana.  Of course, once she looked through the cell's door slot...

"Oh gods...  They're actually tapping it."

...she found out that it was a literal action.  This could be...difficult.

The enchanted chains rattled softly as she reached up to the spigot placed in her chest. Natah's hands trembling in pain. She took a ragged, shaky breath as her fingers closed around the wooden apparatus jammed in her chest.

A soft cry of pain broke from her as she tried to pull it from her chest. But, like every day she tried, it was futile. It only caused more of the blue blood to run down her chest and pool around her.

She had eternity to wait here. Lost and forgotten in a cell. She couldn't help but smirk faintly at the irony. She had all time she needed to plot her escape, yet the same time was present to suffer and have her mana tapped like that. For the first time in a lengthy life, Natah wasn't sure whether she'd make it out of this.

It was obscene.  They had actually jammed a piece of plumbing into her body like she was a Maple Tree.  Bluish essence pooled around her, and the only reason Rena suspected she wasn't dead from bleeding out was that her state of being was unusual enough that such things simply would not.  This had to stop.  The only problem was...the door.  They didn't need anyone watching the door like a hawk...because it had a proper like, requiring a proper key to open.  That, or you could try picking it, but Rena had no means or training to do that, and the door was pretty solid, so...

"Okay...this is gonna be a bit loud."

She wasn't going to lightning blast it.  Oh, she could blow off that lock and reduce that door to cinders, easy...but it would wake everybody up through sheer noise, and eventually they would realize the lightning wasn't coming from outside.  Rena was not super strong, but she had a big and tough sword even without its power.  Pulling out Spark from its bag, the blade did sizzle for a moment, but then she silenced its energies in favor of some raw bladed talent.  Rather than having brute strength, Rena used speed, agility, leverage, counter-weighting, and other more finesse-based means for wielding her bigass sword.  So, in order to slam the twin points of her sword into the wood around the lock, she first ran at and kicked off of the opposite wall.  A second later, Natah heard-

CRACK!!

-as something impacted the door, splintering the wood by the lock.  She would then see a figure kick it the rest of the way, as it was only just hanging on by then.  The figure was in a cloak and sounded like maybe there was plate armor underneath, but funnily enough, a female voice was heard from that.

"I'm sure someone heard that, so we probably don't have much time.  I was hired to get you out of this.  I can pull that out of you now and patch up the wound, or we can wait to get to somewhere relatively safe and deal with it more carefully.  Which would you prefer?"

While she spoke, Rena noticed that the chains binding the girl were magic.  The only way to undo them would be either with the right specific means to handle them OR excessive counter-magic.  She could probably get through them with Spark, or at least blast them from the wall, but it would definiely wake half the palace in the process...and she was probably to have guards incoming soon, anyway.  She waited for a response first, though.  Natah was her responsibility.

Splinters rained down on the blindfolded mage. Yet she didn't seem shocked, nor did she even flinch in response. She tilted her head upwards, as if to look at her saviour with her blinded eyes. She wanted to speak, but words failed her.

The only sound produced was a jarring and pained cough as more mana trickled from her lips. It was more than obvious she was dying. However, she couldn't.

"Chains," she groaned out, lips trembling in pain. "Remove.. Chains," shz only pleaded, raising her hands, rattling the magical chains softly. Her healing could begin as soon as these chains were removed.

Her revenge could begin as soon as she had healed.

Rena knew that she couldn't die so easily.  Not when they had something as ridiculous as a spout shoved into her to tap her energies.  The Shah would never be so callous with his prize, otherwise.  The woman weakly pulled on her chains and asked that they be removed first.  If there were any guards coming upon the room right now, they were now in for something of a surprise.  Rena raised her sword up now.

"This will sting.  I'm really sorry about that."

Bright energy surged through the bladed length of Spark now.  Natah couldn't see it, but she and anybody close enough could surely hear it.  Lightning was anything but quiet, and upon contact with the chains, there would be a jolt of electricity.  Rena cut swiftly, a quick-but-loud POW! accompanying the cut of the chains at the point between prisoner and wall.  That should render the magic side of things inert and useless, though she wouldn't know until she was finished.  If the manacles themselves were still magically charged, she'd have to find time to concentrate on doing very precision work with Spark on the things.  Regardless, she now removed the blindfold, as well as her hood and face covering.

"I'm Rena Goldswith.  You're Natah, right?  Can you walk?"

Natah wanted to make her reaction, regarding the spigot that was crammed directly into her beating heart, that pain was relative. But she couldn't find the energy to. After all, the pain was too great. The instant the chains were broken, a large surge of arcane influence was felt. A shift in the very veil of magic around them.

The woman seemed to completely relive. She closed her fingers around the spigot and tore it out with several strands of blue stained flesh, more liquid mana splurting out. With a soft cry of pain. Yet slowly, the flesh started to stitch itself shut.

The instant Rena went for her blindfold, she reached up to grasp her hand, shaking her head. "If you value your life, don't remove the blindfold," she stated with a faint breath. "I am Natah, yes. I can walk. And I will tear this entire palace to shreds," she said with a grit of her teeth. "Run," she adviced. "As far as you can. I will meet up with you later."

The thing about the blindfold was NOT something that the client had explained.  Fortunately, Natah was quicker than her, and stopped whatever it was that would have happened from happening.  That much was fine, and even though the woman tore out the spigot herself, it seemed to be alright...as she could apparently mend herself.  The only problem was that she apparently seemed intent upon destroying the place, all of it.  She wanted to blow the palace up, or something like that.  And judging from the sudden shift in energy, it looked as though she might be able to do that.  This was also something the client had neglected to tell her.  That boy was going to get a stern talking to when this was over.  First thing's first, though...

"Hey, whoa.  No way.  You can't destroy the Shah's palace.  You'll kill the innocent with the guilty and topple the goverment.  There'll be a power vacuum, then a war.  I know what they did was wrong, but I can't just let you go off and kill people at random and blow everything up."

She remembered the report on the town of Claris, where her Uncle Zan lived: Everything torn apart and razed to the ground by magic, no survivors.  Elsewhere, rumors of a wandering magus who killed and destroyed at random were heard.  She was still at the beginning of her training at the time.  There was some feeling, some idea that...she could have done something, though.  Well, she wasn't going to let this happen again, even if the Shah did do such a terrible thing.  The consequences were too great.

"I can. And I will," she hissed her answer, adjusting her robes and dusting her cloak off rather casually. "They made me bleed, so now it is my turn." A soft chuckle left her as she stepped through the splinters of the door. "Whatever you do, do not look into my eyes," she answered, resting a hand on the blindfold, before pushing it up. A blue light visibly radiating from it.

"War happens, people die. Such is the cycle of life," she answered, taking a deep breath. There was doubt in her voice still. Yet arcane energies gathered in her hand.

Natah would feel a firm hand on her shoulder from behind, Rena's armor-clad one.  It wasn't gripping, but it was trying to get her to hold up a minute.  Since this was from behind, the warrior girl was taking her advice about the eyes seriously, and yet...

"Wars happen, Natah, but not like this.  Not because of someone's need for revenge.  And I'm not saying you shouldn't take it, because there are alot of people I've felt that way about, but that doesn't mean I should destabilize this part of the world and subject other people undeserving of it to same.  We're strong people.  We have responsibilities."

Aaand it was about this time that Rena would have to curse because the hallway had guards on both sides coming in with their swords and other nasty implements  Rena held up her sword now.

"You guys are not helping!"

The firm hand on her shoulder managed to make her halt her movements. By no means was Natah a physical fighter. Rena could easily overpower her. The following speech, however, was something she felt completely indifferent to.

Weaker people did not hold her interest. She was freed, grateful to her saviour. But she completely disagreed. She had no responsibilities.

She rested her hand on Rena's massive sword and slowly eased it down. "Then I shall redirect my rage to these insolent fools.

She glanced left and right without the blindfold and-...

And that was all she needed. The guards all ceased their hostilities as they witnessed her eyes. Some dropped to the ground, dazed and drooling. Others approached with wide eyes, begging to see them again as she pulled the blindfold back in front of her eyes.

"End your lives and I might consider it," she hissed under her breath. These soldiers were more than obvious hypnotized by some means, as they took out their swords or knives and robbed their own lives.

So, with a surprising development, Natah seemed to grow slightly more amicable...and then hit the guards with love beams.  Seriously, that's what happened.  The guards took one look at her eyes and it was like being hit by the Mother Confessor.  Sadly, this was not Goodkind's universe, so love beams it was.  Once again, the client's lack of explanation in regards to Natah's being was coming into play here, because she had no idea just what she was dealing with.  As the guards killed themselves, Rena was heard to mutter "Geez, might have to rescue the guards now..." before she spoke up.

"Just out of curiosity, how did anybody ever capture you in the first place?"

A fair question, considering what amounted to immortality and a very dangerous deterent.

"Stupidity, false trust and several mordecai," she answered, glancing in Rena's direction. The drooling soldiers weren't wasting their saliva due to the charm of her eyes. Theirs seemed to be glazed over. Upon closer inspection, it was more than obvious the dazzled ones were already braindead.

She clenched and released her fist, before sighing. "I know not the way out. Though, I realize you do, saviour."

"Just Rena, please.  I don't even like using the titles I've earned."

There was a bit of sadness there in that last bit.  The titles she had - Knight of the Blood Oath of Alamar, Magistrate of the Terrin Mountain Mines - were things that may have been given to her out of rightful ownership and such, but the manner it had happened would always weigh heavily on Rena's mind.  She wished her father had been able to hold onto the title until a ripe old age like he deserved.  He was a good man.

At any rate, they had a dungeon to get out of.  With the initial guards handled, they could move on down the corridors.  Rena stepped ahead of Natah in order to carefully listen for approaching patrols.  She did this in order to wait for them to get 'round a corner so she could knock them out quickly with the pommel of her sword.

"So, what sort of person are you, Natah?  The client didn't tell me anything, and here I find you literally being tapped for energy."

[is that a SAO reference I see there? :P]

"Rena. Is that a first, second or last name?" She inquired, following the warrior closely. She had no issue with letting her take the lead. As mentioned before, she didn't know the way. And she feared the repercussions of using her powers.

Basically, harming the individual that managed to free her. She may not care for those lesser in power than her, but she still had her honour. And she wouldn't let this Rena go without properly expressing her gratitude.

"What sort of person I am?" She frowned underneath the blindfold. "I am but a wandering entity, I have no current goal."

"First name.  Rena Goldswith."

She must've been too pre-occupied with things before to have heard her before.  It was understandable, really.  I mean, there was a spigot in her chest.  You just can't ignore that.  She was glad that that didn't need as much attention as she'd thought, by the by.  The thought of ripping that out and using pretty much all of her bandages had been kind of distressing.  Not yet had Rena addressed a wound so deep, mostly because anyone with such a thing usually died quickly.  Still, the two of them were - at this point - being strangely calm and conversational as Rena either snuck up on guards to knock them senseless with the flat or the pommel of her sword, ot just outright lightning-struck them to put them out.

"Well, I meant literally 'What are you?', more than anything.  What kind of entity has - I assume - mana for blood, regenerates almost instantly, and has that weird 'love gaze'?"

She didn't have a better term for it, at the moment.  Did anybody, though?

"And how would you prefer I called you?" She inquired, having no idea where the name Goldswith came from or what it meant. To her, it was just another name.

Then, a soft smile appeared and Natah couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. "I'm a.. Traveler of sorts. Let us keep it at that, hm?" She offered, making her way past Rena and grabbing one of the guards.

Who seemed to just instantly die at her touch, without a scream or any kind of pain. It was just over.

"'Rena' is fine, seriously."

She never met anyone who was so fixated on names before.  It honestly bothered her, just a little, because there was a story that her mother told her once: She said to her that there were beings in this world who had the power to bring power against you with your name.  Generally, one might also need a personal item, but still some magic can find you by name alone, and that was important to mention since being a Goldswith was kind of important, so it would be hard to hide one's identity, at times.  The fact that Natah was still casually killing people, even when they were knocked out, made Rena worry that she might be just a little too callous here...

"Not quite as violent on the road, I hope.  Too many wandering killers about, as is."

She was actually referring to a person who referred to himself as 'Garlock The Destroyer', which was a weird thing, since there'd been a cat her uncle owned by that name...  Still, they were now at the stairs that she'd come down to get here, the entrance to the dungeon.  Naturally, because she'd come in a sort of side entrance to the palace, there'd been a few twists and turns there, servants' corridors.  She wanted to go out that way, and hopefully not find too many guards, but frankly...even at this time of night, with there being reports of a possible intruder, there'd be an alert lookout for someone out of the ordinary.

"The roads I walk reach beyond your wildest dreams," Natah assured with a soft sigh, pushing the crumpled corpse back down.

"No others dare walk them either," she said with a gentle chuckle, making her way through, right towards a wall. A dead and in the hallway.

She rested her hand against it and slowly, but surely, the stone dissipated as if it was nothing. Not showing the high up scenic view of the Moraki desert Rena may have expected. But rather a dark emptiness that was reminiscent of the night sky.

"This is taking too long. Follow me." Natah stated coldly.

Ah, good.  A cryptic reply.  She was starting to get worried.  Somewere along the way, Natah turned from the path that Rena had memorized and approached a wall instead.  Before she could comment, the other woman had placed her hand upon it...and it started to dissolve.  Was she destroying it?  No, there was...  It was going somewhere else, somewhere that was not just on the other side of that wall, or indeed the palace.  It was blackness in there, or close to it.  Some sort of cosmic 'other place'.

"Well, one person dares tread where you do."

Rena put her sword away and followed, though she was wary of what all of her senses - especially her magic senses - were telling her.

"This is but a figment," Natah answered, reaching her hand out for Rena's. "My hand, remember that touch. It is the only thing that will be real where you will now tread. Focus on it, or you will lose your mind, most likely."

Her natural instincts would be completely on edge, like she was walking towards certain death. Her magic senses would be numbed due to sheer sensory overload.

That being the case, Rena took the woman's hand...and shut her own eyes.  If this was what her magic senses were doing, then her own eyes wouldn't do her much better.  Besides, concentrating on a single source, one familiar touch about all other things, was easier when you shut out other inputs.  That having been said, she was ready to proceed now.

"Let's go."

Natah took Rena's hand and started her slow trek through the... Whatever it was. As they passed through, Rena could feel the sensation of what only could be described as her very being being torn to shreds and rebuilt once again. Whispers and ominous sighs and breaths all around her.

It seemed to go on for eternity. But, after eternity had passed, everything suddenly disappeared. Like it was never there in the first place.

And they stood in the middle of the desolate desert.

Whatever the sensations were, they were most definitely on the outside of her being, in some way, leaving her with only two things of certainty: Her gripping hand and her memories.  More than the whispers, she heard her own thoughts pushing through, things that would not shut up, now that her sense of body had been apparently blasted into oblivion...save for that sensation surrounding her grip.

That said, the oblivion gave rise to thoughts of the field of ash surrounded by her father's sword, both mother and father disintegrated along with the Silver Horde.  It made her remember how positively alone she was, sometimes, that her only family in the world was her grandparents and that the only Goldswith left after them...was her.  By the time they came out of...whatever it was they came out of...Rena was feeling a bit less positive.

"And now, we're in the desert."

All of it.  They were visible to no town or caravan or landmark that she knew.

"Where are we, in relation to all other things?"

"Hmm. The ley line is underground" she murmured as she kneeled down, pressing her hand on the sand. "Ontop of the Morakian ley line," she answered, before standing up again. "Turn around for a moment and cover your ears for a moment?" She requested.

Whether she did as asked or not, Natah took a deep breath, raising her blindfold. So she could see the magical lines properly, before glancing around. "We're close to the Seraj Isa," she stated with a soft sigh. And she lowered the blindfold again.

'Morakian Leyline didn't tell her anything, which is why she obliged the other woman's request.  It occurred to her, though...  If there was a leyline, shouldn't she be able to see it as well?  Perhaps it was too deep to be seen or felt by her own senses.  After all, Natah was something of a specialist.  It'd be more likely for Rena to know if a storm is coming than power deep within the ground.  Still, once she answered, the blade warrior worked it out in her head.

"So, roughly north of Essyrn, but not so close to it as to see the glass yet."

She turned to Natah now, tilting her head slightly.

"Alright then, we made our escape and with very little bloodshed.  What's your pleasure?  Adela?  La'Marri?  All the way through to Serendipity?  I'll consider the job finished once you're somewhere you'd rather be."

She glanced at Rena. "Distance is not a factor. Only the chains around my wrist were," she answered. Her face contorted in a soft frown as she looked down towards the sand. "I would've preferred to walk the Leyline, but alas, it seems I will have to use my own essence."

She glanced at Rena. "And I shall honor your wish. Essryn shall remain. It'll die on it's own and fall to ruin on it's own regardless." She took a deep breath and clasped her hands together. "Why were you sent to safe me?"

At the woman's inquiry, Rena smirked.

"Truth be told, the client was a merchant who dealt in mana essence from various sources that found out his sales were dropping due to the Shah putting your essence on the market.  Having learned how it was being done, he hired me to put a stop to it."

She then looked off to the side, back to Essyrn.

"There was never anything altruistic in his intent, but I took the job because the thought of someone being imprisoned to be merely used as a power source was unacceptable to me.  I mean, really, I don't like the country at all.  They enslave, they look down on women, and they're more greedy here than in any other place I know."

She shrugged, turning back to Natah now.

"I just try to balance things the way they should be."

"I expected something like that," she answered with a wry chuckle. "And, such is Essryn. A place where you either grow rich or drown in the gutters," she took a deep breath and turned to Rena.

"But, regardless of your client's wishes. I am in your debt, Rena," she stated, folding her arms infront of her. "And I do not wish to let my debts drag on as such. What do you desire?"

It wasn't uncommon, really, for Rena's motivations to be better than that of the client's.  They knew how she thought, most of the time.  They knew that if it hit her moralities just right, it wouldn't matter how much they benefitted, as long as it happened to coincide with The Right Thing To Do.  Natah seemed to understand the situation, which was good, but then she kind of surprised Rena with her offer.

What was her desire?

The way Natah said it, and the fact that - when unbound - she had a serious amount of power, made Rena pause.  The kind of offer she gave...could potentially exceed all the normal desires a person could have.  Greater than what mere magic could provide, perhaps.  There were so many things that she could put to rights...and some things that she would want that could normally be considered impossible.  She had to know first.

"What can you do?  Just how far do your powers go?  I need to know that much first."

By the look in her eye and the sudden softness of her voice, Natah could probably glean that there were some serious matters on Rena's mind, and that she was determining if Natah could settle them for her.

"I control pure and raw mana, if you seek answers on arcane matters, I can provide," she explained.  "If you seek strength, I can grant that," a soft sigh left her, judging from the tone Rena spoke with, it was a rather serious matter.

"Speak. Know that what you desire, I can grant it. I am more than certain of it." Natah clasped her hands in front of her and waited for Rena to speak her mind.

Judging by her own description of her powers, it sounded as though what she offered might satisfy those who felt that fame, power, and riches were all they needed.  Indeed, that those who sought knowledge could easily be quenched by whatever lay in the hands of the woman before her.  But what Rena wanted was both more and less than those things, smaller than all the riches and all the power in the world...but greater in capacity than all the heights of human desire.  Natah seemed adamant that she could make whatever it was possible, but really...could it be so easy?

Once the blindfolded woman opened the doorway of possibility to her, Rena dared to hope that she might be able to achieve the impossible, but at the same time felt the crushing weight of reality, that the world did not alter itself to suit Rena Goldswith, not even concerning those nearest and dearest to her.  And even so, it was one request.  One cast of the die into the darkness, into one event in her life.  One thing only.  The world was a big place, and yet out of all of it, there were three things that stood out in her mind....

The Last Battle of the Silver Horde.

The Tragedy of the Town of Claris.

Garlock The Destroyer.

Natah had asked her to speak her mind.  The more Rena wanted to, the more her mind said that it was impossible.  The conflict tore at her inside like two snarling beasts, arguing over prey.  Finally, one thought won out.

But if I don't ask NOW, when will I ever get the chance?!

For a moment, Rena shut her eyes to compose herself.  Then, when they were open again, she spoke.

"Before we begin, know that I understand that the things I want are not ordinarily possible by anyone's range.  I know that such things are either beyond the scope of magic or the consequences are too great or that any number of things can go terribly wrong.  I know this.  I've studied this.  There are a few things that I want, more than all the power and the knowledge you could provide.  What I want..."

She steeled herself, as if waiting for a blow.

"...is the life of my parents, who died defeating the Silver Horde.  They gave their lives for me, and for Serendipity.  If there's any chance of getting them back - back from the dead, from the brink of death - alive and well, that is what I desire."

Natah smiled softly. "I-.. I can. But," she shook her head. "Interfering with death and souls is painful." She stepped forward, to grasp Rena's hand, holding them between hers. "I can return their souls, but they would be empty, slowly revert to dementia. For their time has passed," she shook her head. "After a week, they would even forget their own name. It would be painful," she answered.

"But, I can summon them. Right here and now. If you have things that you wish to say to them that you couldn't," she offered, squeezing Rena's hands softly. "I'm sorry, but it would be inhumane to let them remain here forever."

She knew.  She knew that the magic skills involved in performing such an act was an unnatural process that would not yield her desired results.  Rena knew, because while she had not really developed her natural gift in magic, she had studied, and the house had a decent library.  All the books agreed, as did her grandparents and anyone who was versed on the subject.  Bringing back the dead was not something you did without consequence, to either the user or the subject in mind.  Death is a barrier, one which was not easily breached.

Even as Natah took hold of her hands and delivered the 'But' part of her answer, Rena's sight casted downwards, cursing herself for such foolishness, for thinking there was a loophole somewhere.  Well, if there was, it was not here and it was not like this, and it was likely hat even a rare artisan of True Resurrection would tell her that those who passed on without regret would not return.  For Rena's parents had died for her sake, and destroying the small army that wanted them all dead was certainly a high note to go out on.

Rena looked back into-  Okay, she really wasn't looking into Natah's eyes, but she was looking her in the face again.

"What...what will it be like?  How long do I have that is safe?  And is there any...privacy allowed?  You don't want to hear a girl bearing all to her parents.  It's awkard."

She was forcing a smile there, trying to keep up a bit of good humor, inside she knew Natah understood.  And if she had to stand by, Rena would understand.  If nothing else, this woman seemed trustworthy enough.

"I will take you to a place," she answered with a soft sigh. "One that you cannot comprehend, so do not try," she offered with a faint smile. "Your parents will be there. And so will I be," she shook her head. "I need to keep the room open. I'm sorry."

Natah shook her head, squeezing her hands one last time. "Your time entirely depends on my reserves. But I will do everything in my ability to give you as much time as you need."

Though she said that Rena would be taken to a place that she would not be able to comprehend, the immediate thought in her mind was that it was somewhere at the border of life and death, at the fringe of whatever separates the two.  Perhaps she would not appreciate the subtleties of what it actually was, in full, but the notion of it would certainly suffice for the time being.  It isn't as though Natah was being arrogant by stating thus.  It was merely that she literally broke minds., and that that was something she did not wish Rena to suffer.  Upon the answering of Rena's final question, the fighter-for-hire gave her ascent with a nod.

"Do it."

Natah nodded in response, taking a step back. Yet she kept one hand on Rena's still. "Take a deep breath," she advised.

And then, as Rena blinked through natural means, they'd suddenly be in a dark... Nothing. They would stand on nothing, and a pitch black darkness seemed to stretch on for infinity. Yet, it seemed properly lit. All features were properly visible. Yet there was no visible light source.

"Here they are," Natah answered, letting go of Rena's hand and taking a step back. The people Rena desired so much to see were suddenly infront of her.

As instructed, Rena took a deep breath, not questioning why this was important, and on the next blink of her eyes...everything changed.  Well, to say that everything changed was a bit of misconception.  The truth is that while it did, it was more the case that everything went black.  Not as in darkness, the lack of light.  Everything here was plain as day, despite there being no source of light that she could find.  This was not shadow, but void.  Really, she had no idea what she was even standing on, though since this place was being held stable by Natah's mind, the answer was probably that she was literally walking on that very force of will.

It mattered not.

Rena's attention was suddenly drawn forward, away from this mystifying place and towards the voice heard to mutter "What the...?", as the space not five feet in front of her was now occupied by two figures who also found this place perplexing.  Their bodies were in the state Rena last knew them in.  Arden Goldswith was average of height, but well-built for fighting or just about any physical labor you could think of.  He was light-skinned, with black hair that was graying, brown eyes that could light to intense orange when agitated, and minor scarring where his left cheek met jawbone.  He was dressed in his usual ensemble of light shirt, dark leather pants, and harsh weather coat, and his traveler's boots.  Next to him was his wife, Lia Goldswith, formerly of the elven clan, Ka'ri.  While his father remained ruggedly handsome throughout his life, Lia had that eternal elven beauty going for her.  She was slim, but athletically fit, slightly darker in skintone than Arden.  She also had about of inch of height over him.  Her eyes were a calming maroon color, and her long hair carried the same shade as Rena's own, with the points of her ears forcing their way into the open air and all.  She was a ranger, dressed in leather with boots well-suited for hiking and climbing.  At the moment, they were as distracted by this place as Rena had been.

"Oh lords.  We're in a big black nothing.  How did that happen?"

Arden was taking this in stride, in the manner of someone deals with the unusual on a regular basis.  Rena was stunned silent for a moment, which is why when Lia noticed her, she lightly elbowed her husband to get his attention.

"I think the answer's staring us in the face."

You know this moment.  You've seen it many times before, the apprehensive silence between loved ones who are all but shocked to see each other there, surprised by what they see because nothing could have prepared them for that moment.  Rena was just a child, the last time they saw her.  What they saw now was an adult warrior.  Yet...the features were unmistakable.  The face, the eyes, the hair...not to mention that sword on her back.  No one could think otherwise than to know that they stood in the presence of their child.

"Rena...?  Is that you, or are we further along than that?"

"It's me, dad.  It's me..."

Rena was trying very hard to keep her composure, but her voice was breaking here and there, overcome by the impact this reunion was having on them.  Yes, them.  Arden was suddenly overjoyed to see her while Lia retained a certain calm.  He stepped forward now.  As he did, Rena sensed a certain cold about them, the unnatural sensation of their being dead.  However, all of this was ignorable in the face of her father looking pleased as punch.

"Gods, look at you!  A full-fledged warrior of the Goldswith family line!  And with Spark!  I knew you'd make it..."

"I guess Elric must have relented at some point."

"Yes, he did.  He did it because you and mom were killed..."

A repeated argument between father and son: Rena's right to succeed the family.  Tradition denied female heirs, but Arden believed that his daughter was as good as any son he could produce to carry on the Goldswith family line.  It made him proud to no end to find that he was right, but he calmed himself when he heard the pain in Rena's voice.  By instinct, he put his hand on her shoulder, and then realized his mistake when he saw her flinch at the touch.  He pulled the hand back, but said...

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart.  There was nothing we could do."

"They came at us in force, pretty much their entire army, to a man.  We only survived as long as we did because most of them weren't even real soldiers."

"We wanted to go back once we were done, to find you where we hid you and go back home, but by the time they were running out of men, we were too wounded to fight...so we destroyed them, and ourselves."

"We thought only of your life, going out as we did.  You've no idea how happy it makes me to see you as a grown woman, standing on your own."

"Mom, you haven't been able to hide that big smile of yours since you spotted me here."

"True, but that's only a fraction of the true depths in which I experience, of course!"

It was stated so matter-of-factly and over-the-top, as though lampshading all elven behavior, that the other two had to start laughing.

"Heh...  Still got it."

"I've really missed you two.  You have no idea how many times I've looked into studies of life and death in magic, just to see if there was anything I could've done."

"Short of altering reality, I would say no.  How did you even get here?"

Rena took a moment to explain...what frankly little she knew about Natah.

"She's maintaining where we are now, and we don't know exactly how long it can be sustained."

"Then, let's enjoy it while it lasts."

And so, they talked, and they shared, and the bittersweet feeling of it all continued.  Lia and Arden told her things that even her uncle and grandparents hadn't, and Rena told them of her life, growing up.  It was hard, but Arden was liable to pop with all this swelled-up pride he was getting.  His daughter, wielding Spark the lightning sword and having learned from Rattigan Von Krauser, the earth dragon who trained the last of the Alamars!  At no point did the two who had passed on explain what it was like where they were.  Not only were the words inadequate to fully express the state of being, but they literally couldn't.  They swapped techniques and styles, instead, and Rena apologized for not calling on her uncle, Zan Goldswith, as well.  She wasn't sure if that would affect anything, but she hadn't been willing to take the chance.

"What did Uncle Zan say about his death?"

"He said he had no idea what happened.  It was over too quickly for him to figure it out."

"I've been been worried about that.  There's a man out there, someone powerful, calling himself Garlock The Destroyer."

"Garlock?  Wasn't that his cat's name?"

"Yes, it was.  I think it's either someone with a sick mind who had something against Uncle Zan or...or...I don't know what else.  I have to find this guy, whoever he is.  I loved that cat like family.  If he killed my uncle and then got my cat just to spite him, I...!"

"Whoa there, Rena.  Calm down.  I don't think we want Spark going off in here, just in case."

"Sorry.  I just..."

"All the pent-up angers of too much loss in too quick a time."

"Yes...  I-  What?"

You have to be magically sensitive to really appreciate the fullness of what was happening right now.  To those without it, this is just a sort of unstable wavering, a strange tremble of the air.  To those more attuned to the aether, like Rena and Lia, this was a thrum of certain energies.  Ripples and coursing waves of it would be perceivable to them in some manner or another.

"It seems our time grows short."

"Shit.  Already?"

"Looks like."

"Alright.  Rena, whatever it is you have to do in life, know that we believe in you."

"You are everything we'd hoped for in a child.  My only regret is not being there to see you grow up."

Then, despite the unnatural cold that the dead people possessed, Rena hugged the two of them, unable to hold back her tears.

"Dad...  Mom...  I love you..."

"We love you too, sweetheart."

"With all our heart."

She let them go, trying very hard no to shiver from the sensation there, then backed away slowly, towards Natah.  Arden gave the blindfolded woman a nod.

"Thank you for letting us see our daughter like this.  And to you, young lady, no dying 'till you're a ripe old age with kids of your own!"

"Yeah, no earlier than 315!"

Okaaay...  Now, Rena was experiencing embarassment, turning red at the last moment comments by her parents.  The two of them stood side-by-side, fingers interlocked.  They had died for a good cause.  The one who needed closure was Rena, not either of them, maybe not even her uncle.  Feeling a little choked up, she managed...

"Okay, Natah.  We can go back..."

Natah had been silent during the entire encounter and conversation. It was kot her place to speak or argue. Even when she was brought up in the conversation. By no means did she wish to interrupt a moment Rena may have had hopelessly dreamt about for years now. It was not her place to. Certainly not to bother them with an explanation that alone would require the double of her reserves to have enough time.

She shook her head as the soul thanked her. "She saved me. It was my duty," she explained. "This was what she desired most." Rena's words reached her and she nodded. "I will return your souls back to rest. I am deeply sorry for disturbing thee, spirits," she stated, before waving her hand. The summoned souls wisking, away again. Back to their afterlife.

And, as Rena blinked once more, they would be in the middle of the Moraki desert again,.

"I hope you managed to find closure. I apologize for not allowing you more time."

One moment, they were there, and in the next...they were once more among the sands.  Rena let out a deep breath to try and calm herself.  It almost worked.  She wasn't feeling the same emotional pain as before, but Natah could probably understand that that was a very impacting time they shared there.

"It's alright, Natah.  I'm grateful.  I think...I can finally let them rest, myself."

She was a long way from regaining her warrior's composure, but she would be alright.

"If it's alright with you, I'd like to be alone for a while.  You said you didn't need me to take you anywhere, and I'll need to get back to Essyrn to report my success, anyway."

She only nodded. "Thus, your favour has been repaid," she answered. "Safe travels, Rena," she answered, turning around and focussing. She had to walk among thethe stars and check upon her home.

Yet nothing happened. And she just remained in place. "Blight," she cursed under her breath. The earth nor heavens would listen. Time flowed on as it always did. She couldn't temper with it. She was drained completely from the earlier endeavour.

With a simple nod, Rena turned towards the direction of Essyrn - remembering her bearings from before - and began to wander. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6KEG8EuKV0)  She knew that Natah had seen her bearing herself to her parents as she had, but somehow Rena didn't want her to see her cry.  She walked along, at no particular speed, recalling the event with tears flowing a bit more freely, but with a smile firmly on her face.

It was only when she heard the muttered curse from Natah - Yes, even from a distance - that she stopped and looked back, remembeing to wipe her eyes in after-thought.  Natah had been trying to go somewhere, but the energy didn't flow to her.  She'd be stranded here a while.  Well, Rena knew she couldn't take her to Essyrn, obviously.  Shrugging, she turned back to rejoin the blindfolded woman, for the time being.

"I guess I could at least wait until you're off.  It's what a Goldswith would do."