A tale of Light and Glass

Duality

The night was undeniably eerie, the cool breeze pricked at any exposed skin, and the only disturbance in the silence came from the faint, usually inaudible buzzing of the electrical currents running through the city's power supply. The sapphire sky speckled with stars performing their nightly symphony across velvet darkness, light years away. Somewhere in the dead of night were two shadows stalking noiselessly across the landscape.

One moved with precision every muscle in perfectly poised unison, trained to maneuver through any terrain or obstacle that was presented as challenging. The other, though poised, moved more with care, watching her counterpart and following along. She appeared like they were bound at their limbs. She meticulously mimicked each one of Aesira's jumps, sprints, stops, and steps.

Their goal, though differing individually, had been clear in their minds, Aesira's fueled by rebellion.

Calen however, became invested in whatever Aesira was obsessed with currently, as she always had, she had no personal qualms with the system. She was merely a good friend. Aesira wasn't the easiest person to get along with but they understood one another, like day and night they differed, but complimented each other's individuality perfectly.

Recently, Aesira's relentless compulsion to topple the system had become worrisome to Calen.

Usually, they resorted to underground deals and veiled acts of rebellion for the most part, a statement piece, to stick it to the bureaucratic f***s that surveyed their society like vultures circling, waiting for decay to set in, to swoop down and feast on the remains.

But for some reason, still not fully uncovered by Calen, Aesira had grown significantly fixated on breaking the boundaries even more. She had a tendency to be consumed by her Anarchistic projects. It could have something to do with her declaration date creeping up, or her mother's constant breathing down her neck, or and most likely out of the bunch, the recent loss she faced, but Aesira never spoke about it unprovoked so Calen didn't know what pressures she faced, but she desperately wanted to.

And because of this Aesira masterminded something of substance. Rumors were circulating amongst the undesirable few that operated in the shadow markets, basement transactions, dark trades, and ominous dealings. She had this burning desire to just create absolute chaos, that it was near boiling point. She had been looking for something that would break through the ceiling, where it would grow from its stages of infancy to where it had finally taken shape, molded like sculptor's clay into a masterpiece.

They were ready to do something that would matter, if not to anyone else, at least to Aesira.

The tales that had found themselves to her sharply tuned ears, were that of an old world artifact that was being hunted down, for whatever reason, by the government specifically, and as it always goes, the watchers were, in turn, being watched. So a select few with their ears to the ground had acquired this information and it fell right into Aesira's ever-ready claws. If anyone would find what they were looking for it would be her and Calen. If she sensed blood, she wouldn't let go of that crimson trail.

The last they had heard, government agents were poking around the northern most point of the border, a couple of kilometers on the other side of the gates of Erinyes. Three colossal structures of the Furies depicted in Greek Mythology are carved out of magnetite, each standing tall and proud behind one another, with heavy gates of the same substance as the Furies, that would descend one by one to let officials pass through.

This was the final separation between the harsh jungles, sweltering deserts, icy archipelagoes, and the glittering cities of the humans.

The only way one would be allowed to move through to the other side, was if they were a part of the government or the Onyx prismatic guard. Aecira wasn't there yet, she still had to pass her trials, but she'd never let anything stand in the way of her getting what she so badly wanted.

She had explored many ways of getting through unseen the, most trusty was the hidden tunnels she discovered once, by complete accident, mind you, when out patrolling the safe side of the border as part of her duties as an Auric Jarl.

When ranked that high a person would be given some of the finest military-grade equipment in existence, it also made the transition to Onyx so much easier, as the only things that change, are the uniform's colour and some upgrades. So, with that being said Aesira wasn't worried at all about anything that would present itself on their mission. Besides, the tunnels had long since been abandoned, and as far as she knew, no one was even aware of their existence, so they were safe...?

The gates of Erinyes were a straight shot north, about 20 km from their start point at the abandoned building. They were then making their way to their means of transportation, waiting for them behind a quiet neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, covered by some inconspicuous Rosaceaes, the big leaved bushes had a rubbery feel and could be turned and twisted into different shapes, if you could manage to avoid the toxic thorns that is.

They did the job perfectly, and with Aecira practicing the least time-consuming way to bend them in and out of position for days, it would take only a minute and then they'd be off, working on a strict schedule, to have the opportunity to reach the rendezvous point, the tunnel entrance between two oddly shaped rocks just as the patrol shifts change.

The two navigated their way through the field where they left the glider. It was a small hovering transportation device, and every class above Argent was issued a glider. They were extremely fast, and able to maneuver with less restriction than normal vehicles. So in all instances, a glider was only available to military personnel.

But of course, Aesira couldn't risk using her own. If she had been spotted, her whole persona of a high-ranking obedient officer would have cracked and crumbled, so she did the only rational thing left to do. She had one made, by a very friendly costly shadow market engineer known simply as "The Tinkerer". This one was a perfect replica, using Aesira's own as a blueprint to painstakingly craft it expertly interchangeably.

The only difference was that instead of a white muted shimmery gold, it was a matted black, pitch black to be precise, for them to blend in seamlessly with the night, so that they could slip by like a ghost, out of sight. Because of this, Aesira thought it humorous to name it ghost.

Calen pointed off to her right, and Aesira nodded, signaling they had located Ghost. Trying to not make a single sound they quickly detangled their transportation from its thorny blanket, but it took a while.

"Girl why did you have to make it this hard to get it out of here?" Calen whispered and quickly Aesira rolled her eyes.

"Because if anyone were to see it, an investigation would ensue, and I don't have time to plan around that", very matter-of-factly stating the obvious.

Calen just huffed out in annoyance, but eventually, they freed Ghost from its thorny cocoon, Aesira gave Calen a look that could only be described as satisfactory arrogance, but she was used to it, and without wasting another second they hopped on the curved seat and continued on with their mission.

The fantastic thing about these vehicles was, that not only were they fast, but the complete silence and stealth they provided, for even when switched on, it was as still as a heart that beats no more, which made it great for military missions, or night time artifact robbery.

They zoomed through the air like a gentle stream, unobstructed and free.

Before they knew it they arrived at the rendezvous point, high up on a perch with a steep drop, allowing them to have the advantage of unobscured sight.

Aesira got off and Calen followed suit. They placed the glider behind a tree and walked up to the vantage point. Crouching down behind a boulder, they watched. Carefully surveying as the patrol officers marched lazily back and forth right by the tunnel opening.

Aesira checked the time, she looked pointedly at Calen, "Almost" she whispered, letting her know it was just about time for the officers to clock off, and change shifts with the next squad, meaning they would have about five minutes to get up off the hill out from the tree line, down the slope and into the cave-like hole, disguised by various foliage and two rocks, all on foot.

Their eyes were trained on the soldiers, and their breathing was low, quiet, and calm, as if they'd done this hundreds of times before. Their exhilaration was palpable as they crouched in the darkness, the thrill of their inevitable descent through the night coursing through their veins.

The scene before them flooded with a calm atmosphere, directly in contrast with their anxious state. The night was alive with faint sounds of crickets and other creatures. The moon was round as a pearl, flooding the night with silver light. A celestial masterpiece, suspended in the inky vastness of space, casting a spell-like enchantment over them.

A small vibration going off in their holo-prisms indicated that the timer had run its course Aesira and Calen nodded their heads in unison, silently reaffirming their shared understanding of what was to follow. With stealth and cat-like agility, all senses engaged and on high alert, their movements would be purposeful.

Anticipating their window of opportunity, they smirked before darting down the slope with deadly focus. Their eyes remained fixed on the destination ahead as they swiftly leaped over rocks, evaded trees, and fallen branches, their legs working overtime in order to stay within the time frame Aesira had constructed for them.

With burning muscles, strained calves, and what was sure to be some stiffness in the morning, they could finally see the place where the tunnel opening was. They pushed themselves a little harder, and just like that, they made it.

Aesira motioned for Calen to go in first. She did not hesitate, and then she followed her friend behind the mossy rocks and descended using the pre-placed rope to eventually reach the clammy rock floor below, all without making a sound, ignoring voices approaching slowly from above. They slid down the rope, their feet made contact with the surface and now they stood in a darkness, much heavier than the one they had just come from.

They barely made it in time as well. They took a moment and held their breath just as the sound of a couple of soldiers passing by could be heard, a sigh of relief flooded over Aesira. Calen undeniably felt the same.

For this was risky business, one did not just cross over the border, it was practically forbidden, the only people that ever set foot there were the scheduled shipment vehicles, government-issued, carrying undisclosed cargo bi-monthly, and not everyone knew about these in fact, it was on a need to know basis.

(They were highly classified trips that only the highest two soldier classes were authorized to know about and, of course, some government employees.)

Then there were the Onyx warriors, going out on recovery missions past the border, for patrols, hunts, and many more top-secret assignments that only those talented few who were a part of the Onyx class would be privy to.

Others, like government officials, maintenance workers and lastly, the tribes of the out-lands. People who outright refused to join the new world, the ones who preferred to fend for themselves outside the protection of the prismatic government.

They were nomads, shamans, growers, hunters, and gatherers. Not much is known about them, only that there are very few of them and that they are a somewhat peaceful people, they only want to live unbothered, and all of them were practitioners as well.

In the cavernous tunnel, Aesira and her friend stood, ready for phase two. Slowly the sounds inside the tunnel became more prominent, the drip, drip, drip of water somewhere in the thick darkness, a scurrying creature here and there, and a faint flutter of winged insects going about their business, not fazed in the slightest by the intrusion to their home.

The two girls were moving into their second part of the plan, they took a step forward, and then both of them brought their hands up to their mouths, touched their lips to their now ungloved skin, and blew into them. They kept their hands clasped and when their lips left the skin they both spoke.

'Solas mar seo' their words left their breaths and filled the space in between their hands. Slowly as they opened them, a small flame grew in the palm of their hands, Raven's flame glowed with an Amethyst purple hue, and Aesira's was pure white, almost like liquid. Their faces became illuminated and their eyes were entranced by their deep focus. Crouching down, they placed their hands on the ground and pushed forward, as if it were previously discussed, the flames shot forward, combining into one and glowing a pale purple, lighting their way with thousands of little fires, creating a Wispy path.

You see everything about this world was about balance and intent, give and take, they gave their breath, and they were given light in return, there was no power without even the smallest sacrifice.

Excitement now flickered between the two girls, a thrill passed through them like a gust of wind on a majestic precipice. They both grinned with deep satisfaction, taking in the appearance of their new environment, strange plants, and even stranger little creatures covering the whole underground structure. It was truly a magnificent peculiarity that they had dropped to.

They were now able to begin their long journey into the strange tunnels, crawling with life. Unbeknownst to them, these tunnels would lead to more questions than they could have ever anticipated. They had believed their mission was simply a recovery operation for a secret government object, but fate had other plans in store for them.

As they ventured deeper into the labyrinthine-like tunnels, Aesira and Calen could feel the weight of history pressing upon them, though they did not know where this feeling was coming from, they were enveloped in it.

The sands of time continued to flow, but they did not dare waste even a second and quickly set off in the direction that Aesira had deduced the excavation was taking place.

Their steps echoed in the eerie silence of the underground passageways, their heartbeats synchronized with each other's, beating in harmony. The darkness caressed them, swallowing their forms as they pressed on, guided only by the soothing glow of the fire Wisps incantation.

They walked on for what seemed like hours when, suddenly, they came to a stop. Laid out in front of them was a true sight to behold.

The Wisps had disappeared. For now, a new light source has been provided by nature itself. All around them were crystals with a lambent glow. They were just like the ones on the surface, with one distinction; the magnitude of the clusters. They ranged from minuscule little structures to massive iridescent pieces.

They lit an intricate network of tunnels branching off from the main one into every which way. It looked like a labyrinth dripping with vibrancy, bejeweled and waiting to be explored.

Calen, quite breathlessly, queried "What now?", feeling slightly overwhelmed by the sheer complexity of the choices before them.

Aesira was in a trance-like state, observing the fantastic scenery. She never made it this far into the tunnels, and she marveled at the natural beauty before her, but she quickly regained focus when Calen's words sunk in.

"Well, we know that the dig site is about 1 km to the west, and judging by the compass readings, it seems that the most likely one would be... ," Aesira was cut off abruptly while she surveyed their options, as the ground above them began to shake violently.

"What the f**k is that?" Calen's shaky voice tried to cut through the noise.

"They must be using explosives" Aesira yelled back, they really had to be quite desperate to find whatever it was that they were looking for, she thought to herself, with a hint of annoyance creeping into her thoughts.

Because the use of explosive materials wasn't common practice at all, they had Magick, and though not all people were expertly skilled or gifted, there were those who worked for the government who would be. So a frown packed with contempt formed on her face. She knew that they needed to get moving, not pleased in the slightest with the current way things were progressing.

Unfortunately, before she could give instructions to Calen, an ear-splitting burst reverberated through the subterranean passageway, but it was worse this time and the cavernous walls of the tunnel started to crack under the pressure. Then, without even a second to comprehend the calamity they were about to face, it came crashing down.

As if time had been altered, moving at a glacial pace, the two friends shared a look of panic as their eyes met and widened. Calen's with pure unadulterated fear and Aesira's with concern for what was about to occur.

The crystals that were scattered across the entire surface of the tunnel for probably hundreds of years, started to crack and explode, into a fine powder in some areas and into shards of deadly consequence in others, the greenery was tearing apart, vines snapped and ripped from the concrete it had once used as support.

The small creatures that made this ancient maze their home were thrust and thrown in every direction, small screams could almost be heard if one's olfactory senses could comprehend them. Complete chaos ensued underground, while the surface world was none the wiser.

Out of instinct and as if she knew what was about to occur down to the last second, Aesira shot a pointed look at Calen, grinned with a slight almost undetectable rage bubbling beneath her pretty lips, raised her hands and pushed her friend hard, out of the way, for a massive piece of the tunnel had come loose and descended at a dangerous pace, heading right for the spot where moments ago, Aesira's best friend had stood.

-

In the aftermath of the explosive c*****e, dust and debris were inhabiting the once tranquil space, the air was filled with powdery crystal fragments and finely ground concrete, hanging thick like a cloud of sparkling dirt. Clumps of earth mixed with the concrete, contributing to a massive pile of rubble and destruction. It now served as a division between the two companions.

By saving Calen from certain death by falling crap, Aesira had been flung backward by the roof caving in, she laid on her side covering her head with her arms, waiting for it to be over. A few uncertain moments passed, and she just listened as the last of the debris crumbled slowly to the ground, and then she inhaled sharply, dust filled her lungs, stinging as it entered her respiratory system, strenuously her eyes opened, and immediately they burned from contact with the cluttered air.

A small sliver of intense, phosphorescent moonlight was creeping through a crack in the foundation. She turned her face toward it, reaching out in the bitter darkness, to touch that which cannot be held, and just let her fingers caress the silvery beam, feeling her anger grow. Her face contorted slowly into bitter resentment, she did not like how awry everything had gone, and not to mention Calen.

Aesira was practically fuming, and then to make matters worse, she felt a warmth flow slowly cascade over her face, originating right above her left orbital socket, it dripped right onto her lips. She was bleeding, the force of the explosion must have thrown her harder than she thought, because when her mouth parted and the red liquid touched her tongue, she felt her skull splitting with pain. Her hand shot up towards her head and her eyes immediately narrowed with malice.

Fucking assholes, her thoughts were out of order and quite muddled, but they were there, festering nonetheless.

Ignoring the throbbing in her head, she lifted her body from the icy floor and steadied her wavering form. Underneath her quickened breath she violently spat out what was building in her mind the moment she tasted her own blood.

"I'm going to f*****g kill them, no one makes me bleed". Her face was streaked with dirt and blood, but she said those words with a smile, nothing humorous about them, but rather a maniacal conviction and a sure follow through.

Then as if ripped from her favourite book, she snapped back into the present moment and forced herself to regain control of her blurred vision. Aesira stumbled over to the newly made wall separating her and Calen.

'Calen!' she shouted as her fists and feet made contact with the rubble. She felt sharp stings where bruises would surely form in a few hours, but she paid them no mind. After a while of angrily abusing the roof remnants, she quickly came to the understanding that the entire structure was immovable because she clawed and kicked and pounded while yelling Calen's name, but nothing made a difference.

She wasn't even able to move anything using Magick either, she had been injured badly, and her mind was nowhere near steady enough to think up an incantation. Besides, even if she healed up quickly, it was too uncertain. If she moved the wrong piece it could potentially worsen the situation and cause another cave-in, the whole structure was way too unstable.

"Aesira!" she finally heard it, faint but definitely there. Her head snapped up with such a force that it would for any normal person in that battered state, result in their neck snapping off like a twig.

"Calen are you alright?' she was trying her best to stay calm, if it had been only her, she wouldn't have been fazed in the slightest at this disastrous unforeseen predicament, as she was an excellent navigator with great resourcefulness and training when it came to dangerous circumstances.

But she was the one who impulsively dragged Calen along with her plan, and if something were to happen to her, she would carry the weight of the guilt on her shoulders for eternity.

'Where are you?' her voice gradually became clearer and more crisp, echoing off the massive walls underground.

'I'm here, on the other side, are you hurt?' concern laced in her words, and the delay of Raven's reply did nothing to reassure her of her safety.

'Yeah I'm good, you?' relief flooded Aesira, if Calen was alright they would both be able to make it out of this. Raven wasn't useless in bad situations, she was level-headed and had gone on multiple survival training trips with Aesira, just for fun, but her career as a Doctor of Alchemy had taken her to arduous and unpredictable locations to research and document, so she knew that Calen would be able to at least stay alive until they could meet up again.

'I'm fine, this is a bit of a f**k up, I'm completely closed off from the way we came... how's it looking on your side?' if at least one of them could make it back, the other could go forward, find the object still and circle back from the outside, luckily Aesira had the path forward clear, but it seemed that the cave in had altered the path she was going to take, in front of her was a completely new way that she had never encountered before when scouting the tunnels in preparation.

'Mines open, but caved in forwards' her voice resonated through the wreckage of the explosion's aftermath.

'Right... look, there's nothing we can do except the obvious, Cay I need you to listen, no arguments, you need to go back, and wait for me, I'll find a new way out. We don't know if there will be any more detonations, so you need to take the opportunity and get out. If I'm not back in five hours, go home and wait for me to send word, okay?' silence filled the tunnel, Aesira pressed her forehead onto the cool rock in front of her, hoping to soothe her head throbbing in pain, and also begging silently that Calen would make no fuss about her request.

After a couple more seconds of nothing, she finally made her stance known, 'Fine, I don't like it, but fine' Aesira breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, for once she chose the rational logical option.

'Good, I'll see you soon, I think I can find my way up to the the surface, but we're way past the border gates...' she spoke with reassurance and confidence, "I'm going to find that f*****g thing, take it right out from under them, and pay a little visit to the asshole that signed off on this damned bomb" she was absolutely furious, for one, the reason they did not mess with bombs was that it upset the delicate nature of the earth.

It had been left weakened by all the nuclear warfare, and the splitting of the continent's made it much more fragile. The Magick that seeped into the earth stabilized the c*****e, but as with all things, it's about the balance, and human interference had been the cause of great downfalls throughout history. The earth needs a long time to heal, so upsetting the ground and the ley lines, could have disastrous repercussions.

She felt hot just thinking about how painful the blast must have been to the earth, all the living plants and creatures, suffering because of this stupid object. She was going to make a statement about it when she found it, they would pay for what they had done, thinking that no one would know because it was happening so far outside the border, but she knew, and she would not let it go.

The journey back would be drawn out, but known, Aesira was walking blindly into the unknown, potentially perilous path forward, but she feared not, for she had the brave heart of a warrior and the deadly skills of a slightly sadistic trainer killer, so nothing would stop her, nothing.

"Be careful", Calen's concern could almost be felt through the fallen concrete. She knew how hot-headed and impulsive Aesira could be, but there was also no reasoning with her. If Aesira was going to do something, she would create chaos rather than give up, so Calen just shut her mouth and hoped that her friend would be alright.

"I always am, aren't I", a snarky laugh was heard from Calen's side. Aesira only rolled her eyes, then began walking towards the mysterious opening the collapse had made. Venturing into unknown territory, where she would encounter something that would change the trajectory of her life's path, and she'd emerge different from how she entered. Or will everything be just the same as before, who knows?