Finding the time to start going through the full diagram of the spell she needed was also difficult. The dryad didn’t want to go through the calculations in front of any others. It was unlikely that any of them could decipher the spell-form, but this was supposed to be a surprise. And what if it didn’t work?
The worries were compounded by Farris’ presence in her consciousness. The woman was aware, Sistina knew that much, and her spirit had strengthened from its initial weakness. Sistina believed that she could likely create a body for the spirit much like her own, but what happened if the body was slain? Would it even work properly? And the mana it would take would be immense in its own right. Her own body was difficult to create, and had taken nearly three months of mana absorption on its own. She could hardly afford to do that casually, which made the situation far more difficult.
In all, it was becoming an enormous headache for Sistina. She hadn’t mentioned Farris’ soul just yet, because she wasn’t certain how to even explain her presence. And to be perfectly honest, she was also a little afraid of how Phynis would react. But—
The knock on the exit she’d made for the priestesses of Medaea resounded through Sistina like an electric shock, drawing her attention instantly at their return. And as she peered out beyond her domain, Sistina saw not just Diamond, but a host of other elven women.
It was an impressive, blurry sight… but Sistina internally smiled as an idea occurred to her. And she quickly opened the passageway for the priestesses, allowing them entry. Things were looking better again.
Diamond heard Lirisel gasp as the stone wall melted away, but she was focused on getting inside. They’d been fortunate enough to spot the group of Kelvanis’ sentries before being spotted in return, and a spell had lulled the patrol to sleep, hopefully for long enough to get everyone inside the dungeon. The moment she stepped into the stone tunnel, she inhaled in surprise.
It was like stepping into a pool of clear, cool water. In an instant, the heat that had been flooding her body cooled to a manageable level, and Diamond took a moment to simply breathe in relief. While it may not have had a direct impact on her ability to think, her body certainly appreciated the chance to recover.
“Diamond? Are you alright?” Ruby prompted, concerned.
“I’m fine. I just… you’ll understand once you’re inside,” Diamond replied, smiling at her friend and moving farther into the tunnel, casting a spell to illuminate their surroundings. “I hadn’t realized just how badly the jerk had screwed up my head until just now. That is an… interesting sensation.”
“What? I… ooh, I see what you mean.” Ruby paused on entering, blinking, then smiling herself. “I think we need to talk to Sistina. There was some discussion about whether or not she could fix some of the side effects, but we didn’t exactly have time the last time we were here.”
“True. Shall we?” Diamond offered, smiling slightly as she headed deeper into the tunnel.
The tunnel closed after all the priestesses were inside, most of them laden with at least a few items that had been retrieved from the temple before its destruction. All of them looked tired, and Diamond spotted some apprehension on their faces as they continued down the dark, echoing tunnel.
It was a minute later that Lirisel asked softly, “I-is it like this throughout the mountain? I didn’t think it’d be this dark.”
“This is just a tunnel that Sistina opened for us. It’ll be about… ten minutes before we reach one of the living areas,” Ruby explained. “Maybe a little more. Those areas are incredible. Think of most of her caverns as immense greenhouses.”
“Oh. That’s reassuring.” Lirisel seemed relieved at the response, and Diamond smiled slightly. But the smile faded as the priestess asked another question. “May I ask why you two seemed so relieved to be back? What happened to you?”
“That’s a… delicate subject.” Ruby’s voice grew more subdued, and Diamond wrestled internally before speaking up herself.
“I’ll explain, Ruby.” Diamond forced serenity into her voice as she began. “When we were… acquired, we were enslaved to Adjudicator Jared Falgrave, as you know. Though we didn’t specify, I doubt it will surprise you that he also treated us as sex slaves.”
“I… I had guessed. I’m sorry.” The tremble to Lirisel’s voice betrayed her distress.
“What is, is. I would not be so sanguine about it if he hadn’t forced mental alterations on me, and all of the others as well.” Diamond spoke carefully, knowing that most of the priestesses could hear what she was saying. “He ensured that we would enjoy it, and that we would crave our owner. That aspect we did not know until far later, but we learned of it. When Sistina claimed our slave brands, she became our owner, and the effect switched to her as well. None of us realized how potent it truly was until we were on our way back, but it was… relieving to enter the dungeon again. I simply take comfort in the knowledge that she won’t abuse her influence over us, unlike him.”
“That’s horrible!” Lirisel exclaimed, and anger filled her voice as she asked, “And he was captured, wasn’t he? Did you at least—”
“No.” Diamond stopped, turning to Lirisel, her own eyes bright as she met the angry gaze of the other priestess. Her own voice was calm, almost tranquil as she spoke. “As much has been done to us, we are servants of Medaea. No matter that Her own safety is in question, we shall honor Her wishes. We will not torment others. We will fight, as She did herself, but no matter what, we will not become that which we despise. Remember, we are the representatives of Our Lady. Do not let Kelvanis take even that away from you.”
The others lowered their eyes at her admonishment. The other Jewels were some distance back down the line, providing light at regular intervals, but even from their positions she could see their approval of her words. Lirisel bowed her head and nodded after a moment.
“You are correct, High Priestess. I just… it’s hard. Hard to retain that perspective with what’s been done to us, and especially to you,” the priestess explained, taking a deep breath and straightening. “But I will do the best that I am able to.”
“That’s all that I can ask. All that even She would ask of us,” Diamond told her, smiling sadly, then turning to lead the way once more. Hopefully her words had made a true difference.
The trip was fairly dark, but Diamond’s mood improved as she finally saw light from ahead. As she entered the first of Sistina’s caverns, Diamond moved toward the center of the lush cavern and took a deep breath of the heady scent of flowers. There were gasps and murmurs from the others as they entered and found the caves suddenly transforming from imposing stone and darkness to an open cavern of light and life.
Diamond had to admit that this particular cavern wasn’t the largest of those Sistina kept, and it’d be a bit crowded with all the priestesses, but she paused to let them rest, smiling.
“Oh, so you’re back! That must be what had Sistina in a hurry!” Phynis’ voice rang out from the tunnel leading deeper into the complex, and Diamond looked over to see the princess, dryad, and Desa coming toward them. “Welcome back! I take it your expedition was a partial success?”
“Hello, Your Highness. It was a difficult trip, but we managed,” Diamond spoke politely, having a hard time tearing her gaze away from Sistina, who had a slight smile on her face. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stop the entire attack force, but we cut off their reinforcements. We can merely hope that the guards in Golden Vale managed to repel the attackers. I’m afraid there’s other ill news as well, but at least we managed to rescue the priestesses.”
“I’m not a princess anymore. I told you that already, Diamond,” Phynis replied, smiling anyway. Just as she was about to speak further, Amethyst quickly approached and all but threw herself into Sistina’s arms, hugging the startled dryad tightly.
Diamond didn’t miss Phynis stiffening slightly at the action. The purple-haired priestess hid her face against the crook of Sistina’s neck, not saying anything. Seeming modestly b
emused, Sistina wrapped her arms around Amethyst and looked at the group of priestesses, then at Diamond and Phynis.
“To tree. Must talk,” Sistina spoke gently.
“Yes, we do need to talk,” Diamond replied nervously. “About a number of things.”
“Yes,” Sistina replied. Looking down, she spoke to Amethyst gently. “Let go.”
“I don’t want to,” Amethyst mumbled quietly.
Diamond’s apprehension eased and she giggled as Sistina looked upward and let out a deep, obviously frustrated sigh. Then the dryad bodily picked Amethyst up, prompting a squeak as the dryad started carrying her back the way she’d come from.
Chapter 27
Sistina settled down against her tree and examined the impromptu council that had formed for the time being. It was amusing; there were now close to eighty women in the dungeon, and only three men. Well, seven, if one counted the adventurers near the beginning of the dungeon itself.
The seven priestesses who’d been changed by Kelvanis were all there, and Amethyst had been pried off once they’d reached the tree, though there was a faintly mutinous look on her face. With them was another priestess who’d introduced herself as Lirisel. The woman looked nervous, but she settled down slowly on a root, shifting to try to get comfortable. Desa and Phynis were both there, of course, which rounded out her group. Sistina would have called Lily over, but she was certain the woman wouldn’t have been happy to be involved. Lily was far happier arranging lodging for the priestesses.
As everyone took a seat, Sistina looked at Diamond and decided to ask the most important question first, her tone mild. “Medaea?”
“Worse than I feared. She’s missing,” Diamond replied grimly, prompting looks of shock from Desa and Phynis, but the priestess continued before they could speak. “I’m not certain, but I have to assume that they somehow abducted her when they captured me and the temple. There were a few boxes they had that were large enough to have held her.”
“What? What are you talking about? How could a goddess go missing?” Desa protested. “What do you mean by abducting her?”
“My Goddess… did not depart the world in the wake of the Godsrage,” Diamond spoke delicately, swallowing as she looked down at her hands. “We were never given the full details, but Our Lady was a friend and ally of Demasa. Our Lady was occupied in another battle when Everium fell in truth, along with Demasa’s pantheon. She was so grieved that she went to sleep in a surviving outpost of the ancient kingdom. That is where we built our temple. When the Enforcers attacked the temple, they forced me to open the door to where Medaea slept, and spent the better part of a week going down there frequently. We were not allowed to intrude, so I know not what they were doing. But when I returned during our rescue attempt, she was not there, and none of the priestesses had seen her rise from her long sleep.”
“That… why didn’t you say something sooner?” Phynis asked, her hands clasped together so tightly they were turning pale. “This is… is…”
“I didn’t know what had happened. I suspected, and I told Sistina, but what good would have telling anyone done?” Diamond asked, spreading her hands helplessly as she took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to believe that this was possible. Who could possibly abduct a goddess, and for what purpose? I wanted to be certain before I said anything. But even if I had, what could we have done?”
“We could have warned Sifaren. We could have sent the message with the others who left,” Desa spoke up, looking even more worried. A moment later, the mage looked at Sistina and asked softly, “Sistina? Is there anything you can do?”
A sense of incredulity rushed through Sistina at the question, though she repressed it. No matter how powerful she was, she had no idea where to even start with something like this, and the dryad thought for a long moment before explaining carefully. “Dungeons… like gods. Minor gods. Only in domain. Beyond domain… beyond reach. Cannot help.”
“But you’ve gone outside before in your body,” Desa insisted, and realization dawned on Sistina.
Placing a hand against her chest, Sistina shook her head as she spoke. “Body puppet. Vessel. Infuse mana, awareness. Can exit domain. Body outside domain, cannot infuse. No awareness, collapses, dies. Mana limited.”
“Shit,” Phynis muttered, and Lirisel blinked at her.
“Did you understand that? I think I caught… half of it,” the priestess ventured, looking concerned.
“Sistina is actually the tree,” Phynis explained, nodding at Sistina’s true body. “Her body is closer to a puppet, she’s saying. She can inhabit it, pouring mana in as well for her use, but when she’s in it, her awareness of the dungeon is limited, and she can’t make changes or properly defend the dungeon. If she leaves the body while outside her domain, she can’t re-inhabit her body, and it’ll die. Plus, whatever mana she put in is all it had… and she’s trying, and failing, to conserve mana for a project in the spring.”
“Oh, um, okay. I… think this will take some getting used to,” Lirisel ventured, mulling over the information slowly.
“You’ll manage,” Phynis assured her, then frowned. “The question is what we can do. I want to tell mother and Yisara, but I don’t know how. We don’t have that many people, and we can’t keep sending out people. Someone will be captured sooner or later.”
“Solution. Message stones,” Sistina offered, and everyone turned to her, blinking in surprise.
“Ah… what are those, Sistina?” Desa asked after a moment.
“Enchanted rock? Amplifies message spells?” Sistina replied, looking at them in confusion. She knew the theory of such items, though she couldn’t recall how to make them just now.
“I… have never heard of such things. All of the items I know of that allow communication over a distance require a carefully paired set of items, or even a group of the type, but also take a very large amount of mana to power,” Diamond interjected, looking between them.
Phynis nodded. “Agreed. Mother has a mirror that allows her to converse with the queen of Yisara, but it takes so much mana that she only uses it in emergencies. Or is that the sort of thing that you’re talking about, Sistina?”
“No. Amplifies. Know theory. Building… take work. Might need academy.” Sistina frowned at the memory of the dark magic she’d felt in the chamber, and sighed, frowning even more. “Is hard. Decisions. Will consider.”
“Well, is there anything we can do?” Desa asked. “While we wait, I mean.”
“I don’t think there is. I just wanted all of you to know,” Diamond replied simply, looking down again.
“Well in that case, I think that we need to get all of you settled. I—” Desa began, straightening as she looked at them, but Sistina cleared her throat.
Pointing at the Jewels, then Phynis, she spoke firmly. “Stay. Others go. Will help priestesses soon.”
“Um, as you wish?” Phynis ventured after a moment, then settled back down.
Lirisel looked at the other priestesses for a moment, and at their nods she murmured. “I’ll just… see how the others are doing, then. I’ll see you relatively soon, Sistina.”
Sistina nodded and smiled at her, then gave Desa a pointed look as the priestess left. Desa protested. “But I need to guard Phynis!”
“Private. Go!” Sistina told her, all but glowering at the mage.
“But—” Desa began, looking at Phynis.
“Desa… give us some privacy? I assume that there’s a good reason that Sistina wants to talk to us alone,” Phynis asked softly, looking a little concerned. Sistina simply wanted to cover her eyes. This was one of the few times she wished that she could talk more easily. The situation would be far easier to deal with, and she wouldn’t be worrying the others unnecessarily.
The mage slowly left, giving a last reluctant look before she left them alone. It was then that Phynis asked, looking Sistina in the eyes, “Sistina? What’s this about?”
“This… difficult. Trying.” Sistina paused, then look
ed at the priestesses, her eyes narrowing. It took a few moments, but finally she asked, waving expansively at them, her eyes focusing on Amethyst in particular. “You need me?”
“Umm…” Diamond seemed startled, and looked at the others. But it was Amethyst who nodded.
“Yes. I know I shouldn’t but… I hated being away from you. I wanted to come back. It’s why I hugged you,” the violet-haired woman explained softly. “I know that it’s a change to my mind. I should want it fixed… but I don’t. I need you. I think the others do as well.”
Sistina turned her gaze to the others and arched an eyebrow. It was Sapphire who nodded second, and in short order, all but Diamond and Ruby had indicated their agreement. Finally, Diamond sighed and spoke. “Yes. We had this… discussion a little on the way back. We all know what Jared did. Ruby told me earlier that we really should get it fixed… but almost as soon as she said it, it went right out of my head again. I just don’t care. I like being here, near you. It’s… better.”
Ruby seemed to almost involuntarily nod, and Sistina let out a sigh, looking at Phynis. Mulling it over, she spoke again, her own voice quiet but firm. “You need me. I am… tree. Was demon, I think. Have no issue with. But need Phynis.”
She looked at Phynis, who looked simply stunned. Sighing, Sistina rubbed her forehead, and softly added, “Come to… understanding? Please? I help priestesses.”
And with that, she stood up and left them to figure out how they were going to deal with the situation.
Phynis watched, mouth slightly agape as Sistina simply left her, and the seven priestesses, to figure out what they wanted to do.
“Did she really just say that?” Emerald asked quietly, and Opal nodded slowly.
Spells of Old (Ancient Dreams Book 2) Page 19