Empyrean 26: Missing in Action (Patreon)

Amelia, here! :) Please enjoy a new chapter of Empyrean's Flight.
Just a note from my side: if you see a change in Elana's demeanor, this is intentional. After everything that has happened, she is going through a lot, and I felt it would be wrong to ignore the kind of emotional trauma she has experienced. This will morph and continue over a few chapters :) as usual, any and all feedback is welcome!

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“You better behave,” Odenna warned. “And trust me when I say don’t let anybody know you are a player. I am taking a great risk by bringing you here.”

“Then why do it at all?” I snapped, growing tired of Odenna’s distrust.

“Because of your parents,” she growled. “That is the only reason.”

“Ada, maybe you should unmanifest. You will bring up more questions than answers right now,” I said to my companion.

“I understand,” she said simply, and returned to her resting place.

Odenna moved toward the door and knocked in a specific pattern. Some kind of code, I thought. Which made sense. They needed to take a lot of caution.

Moments passed before a knock on the door came from the inside. In response, Odenna knocked again, this time in a different pattern. Once she finished, the door opened to reveal a dwarf.

“Odenna! So good to see you,” he said, leaning in to hug the elf.

She cautiously held the dwarf for a few seconds before pulling away. “Urfak, it’s good to see you too,” she said, her familiar calm tone coming back. “Can we come in?”

Odenna pointed back toward me. The dwarf looked me up and down, his beard obscuring the expression in his face. “And who is this?”

“Someone special,” Odenna said plainly. “She is with me.”

“Well, then, of course. Come in, come in,” he said, ushering us into the safehouse.

The safehouse was significantly more welcoming than its exterior suggested. It was small, but a fire was roaring in the corner and there was food of all kinds laid out on a large table in the middle of the main room. It fed straight off the entrance, and there was a woman with short brown hair sitting at the table.

“Odenna!” she said with a smile, standing up to hug the elf.

“Margaret, it’s good to see you,” Odenna said. “We need your help.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” Urfak said, sitting down and taking a large bite of bread. “What do you need?” he asked, his voice muffled.

“We need you to check the dead drops,” my companion continued, taking a seat next to the dwarf. “I would do so myself, but I am being watched. We need to find Eoman.”

“I will go in the morning,” Urfak said. “For now, the two of you should rest. Come, girl, take a seat and have something to eat.”

The dwarf gestured at me. I hesitantly walked toward the table and sat a little away from him and Odenna. As I did, I looked at the human woman, who had stayed silent. She was looking at me intently.

“Odenna, want to introduce us?” she asked.

“Of course, this is Elana Shanis,” the elf replied.

A deafening silence presided over the room, only interrupted by Urfak dropping his bread on the table. I stared at both the human and dwarf, wide-eyed, and cleared my throat. “Hello,” is all I could manage to say.

“Shanis?” Margaret repeated, walking closer to me. “Like Penelope?”

“Her daughter, actually,” Odenna said with a nonchalance the other two lacked.

“Would you look at that,” Urfak said softly. Moving closer to me, the dwarf and Margaret, who had now sat down next to me, studied me closely.

“I can see it,” the woman said. “Her mother’s eyes.”

“Yes,” the dwarf exclaimed, slightly bewildered.

I shifted slightly, feeling deeply uncomfortable by the kind of attention I was getting from the two. I understood that my mother was an important part of Insurgence, but I wasn’t.

And it was too much to live up to her name.

“You can stop inspecting me,” I said, irritation laced in my voice.

“Sorry,” Urfak said gingerly. “We have only heard stories about your mother. I was curious.”

Odenna shot me a glare. I swallowed back any words I wanted to say, realizing that I had been a bit harsh. “It’s okay, I am just tired,” I said with a weak smile.

“Of course,” Margaret said cheerfully. “Let’s get you a room ready.”

She stood up and left the table, walking toward a door that stood open next to the fire pit. I looked at the elf, who had now turned her attention to a large tomato.

“So, what’s the plan?” I asked.

“We’re going to have to wait for Urfak to get back with the information from the dead drops,” she said with a mouthful of fruit. “Then we can decide how we get to where Eoman is, if he has even let us know what his plan is.”

I sighed, sagging my shoulders. If I was going to find Soren, I would need to know where the Raccoon leader was. Alon said that they were together, and right now, I needed to prioritize finding my brother. I needed to know if he was safe.

It was the only thing helping me hold onto a modicum of sanity. And, even if Soren was not with Eoman, the leader would know where he went. I had to hold onto that.

“Your room is ready,” Margaret said, walking back toward the table. “You can retire for the night whenever you’d like.”

I stood up and immediately walked to the room she came out of. It had been too long since I slept, and the opportunity for rest had become few and far between. I turned back toward the table with everyone sitting there, and before heading inside the room, said. “Thank you.”

I closed the door behind me before anyone could respond. My emotions had become difficult to handle, but if I could sleep, maybe the morning would bring an easier day.

“How are you doing, El?”

I sat down on the single mattress. “I’ve been better,” I said. “I think I’m just tired.”

Closing my eyes, I said a small prayer for a peaceful night before falling into a deep slumber.

✵ ✵ ✵

I awoke in the morning with pain searing in my head. Sitting up, I looked around the room I didn’t care enough to inspect the previous night. It was homey enough, with space to lay down any items visitors may have, and a small mirror above the dressing table.

I took in a deep breath and walked toward it. I hadn’t been able to look at myself, really look at myself, for days now. Could I bare it?

As I approached the glass, hollow face stared back at me. Bed hair was par for the course, but I could barely recognize the pale visage of what was almost a stranger in the reflection. I rubbed my hand across my face and stepped back from the mirror. Not doing that again, I thought. It’s time to find my brother.

“Morning,” a soft voice said.

“Morning, Ada.”

“How are you?”

“I slept,” was the only thing I could really answer. “There’s that, at least.”

When the celestial said nothing in return, I stepped out of the room to find Margaret and Odenna in their usual places by the large table. It was almost like no time had passed.

“Good morning!” the woman exclaimed cheerfully. “Feeling better?”

“Much, thanks,” I lied, and walked to my seat at the table. “Have you heard anything from Eoman?”

“Urfak left early to check our dead drops,” Odenna said. “We will hear when he returns.”

“Could you tell me more about this place?” I asked the elf.

But it was Margaret who answered. “Of course,” she started, looking at Odenna for permission to continue. When the old elf said nothing, she continued, “our safehouses are scattered across the city and serve as places for anyone of Insurgence to find some peace, food, and rest.”

“And the dead drops?”

“Well, there are more of those, mostly because we don’t want anything traced back to the safehouses,” the human explained. “We needed a secure method of communication that wouldn’t put anyone in real danger of being discovered.”

I nodded my head and grabbed a small bun, slathering butter on it and taking a big bite. The soft bread crumbled in my mouth. I let out a small moan before asking, “And who provides all this food?”

Margaret giggled. “Odenna brought you to one of the better safehouses,” she said. “My husband and I have a farm just outside of the city, and we are able to provide this for anyone who stops over.”

“I’m surprised you don’t have more people here,” I said, swallowing the last of my snack. “This is delicious.”

“There aren’t many of us left,” Odenna piped in.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I replied softly. The conversation, with that said, died quite suddenly. I took some cold meats and wrapped them into two more buns with butter and wolfed them down. I was hungrier than I realized.

“You are more than welcome to take something for the road,” Margaret said, breaking the silence. “But, for now, I am going to leave you two. I have some things I need to tend to in the city.”

We said our goodbyes, and the human left Odenna and I alone in the room. I looked at the elf, who was peacefully reading a book. “So,” I started. “How long will it be before Urfak returns?”

The elf set down her reading and looked at me, slight irritation on her face. “I don’t know, child,” she said. “But you should find something to keep busy with in the meantime.”

Wrapping my arms around myself, I looked around the safehouse. Beside the fire and food, there was nothing of note. No bookshelves for me to peruse, and no one else to speak to. Odenna had obviously been unapproving of me for a while now, so holding a conversation with her would take more effort I was willing to depart with.

I returned to my room for a moment to retrieve my backpack and walked toward the front door. As I held onto the handle, Odenna called from behind me, “Where are you going?”

“For a walk,” I said simply. “I will be back soon.”

Before she could respond, I quickly slipped out and closed the door behind me.

The street we were on was quiet as the early morning beckoned. The sun had barely showed itself, and there was a chill in the air. I looked around and sighed, realizing how little I had thought this through. Where do I go now?

I didn’t want to walk around aimlessly—I could get lost, or worse, walk into the spies who were looking for Odenna. As much as my face was not known in the city, they would remember me.

“Elana,” Adalinda said. “What are you thinking?”

I furrowed my brow. Usually, the celestial knew exactly what was going on in my thoughts, and I found it strange that she would ask this time. “I am not sure where to go from here,” I said simply, not pushing the topic.

“We could go back to the alchemist,” the celestial suggested. “We have some more money now, don’t we?”

Holding my hand against my chin, I thought that may be a good idea. We were still in an area of the city I knew well enough to navigate back to the shop, and I remembered that there were more tomes and skillbooks I had an interest in the last time we were there.

“Good idea,” I said. “Let’s go.”

The walk to the gnome’s shop was uneventful. The early morning sun rose higher in the sky as I walked, and the quiet city was a welcome change of pace.

It took me about ten minutes to reach the gnome’s shop. I wondered if he would even be awake. After knocking, I held my ear against the door—listening intently for any noise inside—and was met with the sound of small feet shuffling.

The door swung open to reveal a smiling Tommin.

“Welcome back, girl,” he said.

“Hello, Tommin,” I said gently. “Mind if I come in?”

“Please do!” the gnome exclaimed. “What do you need?”

I stepped inside the shop and took a deep, cleansing breath. Of all the new places I had discovered over the last few days, this was the only one where I had truly been reminded of peace. “I want to peruse your tomes again,” I said.

The gnome gestured to the rows of books and walked back to his counter, leaving me to discover. I ran my fingers across the spines of the books, looking for anything new, but mostly searching for something that had caught my eye the last time I was here.

Before long, I found it.

The target is a basic ability tome: wisp of healing. This summoning ability allows the user to call upon a small wisp of light which heals the caster over time at a slow rate. The wisp cannot be used on anyone else. You have the necessary skill: Summoning, to learn this ability. This tome is a single use item.

Ah, I recalled to myself, that’s why I was hesitant to take it last time. I remembered there was a specific reason why I didn’t want to take this tome over witch armor, and it was because this was only usable on myself.

But with Adalinda getting more resilient, I couldn’t fault a decision to make this purchase.

I grabbed the tome and walked toward the counter. “This is all for now,” I said. “Is ten gold enough?”

“More than,” the gnome confirmed. As he packed my book, he peaked over the counter. “Where is your friend?”

Assuming he was talking about Adalinda, I just shrugged and said that she stayed home this time. Although Tommin had helped us in the past, I was still not sure what kind of information I could trust him with. Nonetheless, as I experienced last, he was pleasant enough to interact with. I pulled out my coins and dropped them in front of him.

“Thank you,” he said, smiling and pocketing the change. “Will you stay for a bit longer?”

“Only to learn this,” I said, holding up the brown bag containing my new ability. “Then I will be on my way.”

The gnome nodded in approval and said nothing more. I walked toward a corner in the shop, away from prying eyes that may enter, and took out the tome.

You have learned the basic spell: wisp of healing. This spell summons a wisp of light that heals the caster over time slowly. The casting time is near instantaneous and drains mana. The wisp will stay active as long as the caster’s pool of mana allows, or until the caster is at full health. You have 3 of 12 Magic ability slots remaining.

Satisfied, I stood up and walked out the door, waving back to Tommin as I left.

“Ada, how long have we been out, do you think?” I asked my companion.

“Just under an hour, I would guess,” she responded.

“Time to head back, then.”

The walk back was busier than before, now with morning in full swing, but I still ran into no trouble. I reached the safehouse and, taking a moment to check for any prying eyes, knocked in the pattern I recalled Odenna using.

Thankfully, I successfully remembered the pattern, and the door swung open to reveal Urfak had returned.

“Elana,” he said gently, closing the door behind me. “Good news.”

I stopped to look at the dwarf expectantly.

“We found Eoman.”