Abyssal Road Trip

Amdirlain's PoV - Círbann

The cavern floor was nearly two hundred metres beneath where the Portal released them onto the ledge. The place was vast, with a fenced-off section at the end furthest from a carved passage that led out onto the mountain's slope.

A dozen Frost Giant corpses sprawled across the icy floor, each four and a half metres in height as if they were felled massive trees that were discarded. Flames and impacts had ruined their thick enchanted hide armour, and all the exposed skin was deeply charred. Despite the flames involved in their deaths, the giants' dense flesh bled Mana and visibly chilled the surrounding air with plumes of frost-laden wisps rising from their remains.

"Their themes are native to the Para-Elemental Plane of Ice, and they're infusing the world's Mana with a matching Affinity," said Amdirlain.

Silpar nodded calmly. "Yet the path still considers them mortals."

"Unlike elementals or the various species of genies, they're not ageless," replied Amdirlain, and she sang a rapid trill of notes that sent adjustments to the orbiting surveyors. "The next step is to find the tribes Livia released and ensure they get south to the warmer lands safely."

"That could take them months, and I doubt this is the day in the sun you wanted," said Silpar.

Amdirlain waved her hands helplessly. "Livia's safety is more important to me than a day in the sun. I'm not talking about escorting them every step of the way since they have the hound archons keeping watch. We'll start by clearing the frost giants nearby and then along the tribes’ route."

"Even a small risk to another sets you in motion," observed Silpar. “I asked Livia about her motivations for the risk she took, but how your priorities shift makes me curious about yours. What of the danger in the Abyss’ depths?”

"There are some people that I wouldn't leap into danger for," Amdirlain said, and she wrinkled her nose at the thought of the Jarl's steward from years ago. "There has been no sign of Balnérith, and neither of us knows the route. The Abyss is a longer-term issue, whereas the Skrel’s situation is an immediate threat to Livia, and it won't wait a few years, potentially even days. Would I do the same for another? Maybe. Mind you, people that don't have compassion for others don't get compassion from me."

Silpar tilted his head. "I had no compassion."

"When you killed those people, you didn't. How about now?" asked Amdirlain. "You worry about what being here will do to my progress. Is that because you promised to look out for me or because you don't want another paying a price you've paid?"

"One can change," observed Silpar.

Amdirlain shrugged. "True change comes from within, and frost giants are devoid of compassion. I've seen the souls of fire giants and remember enough of the melodies of frost giants to know they tend towards similarly predatory behaviour. Many Giant species were brought into the realm as monsters for beings to challenge themselves against. Also, they were a threat from without so that, hopefully, civilised beings wouldn't turn on each other. Unfortunately, that didn't stop people from fighting among themselves. People and civilisations are always at risk of changing in unpleasant ways."

"The capacity to change for the worse also applies to you," countered Silpar.

Amdirlain nodded. "I will do horrible things if it prevents others from feeling even some of the road of pain I've travelled. If my willingness to do so makes me a horrible person, then so be it."

"Why do you have to focus on that? You have so many options. For example, Gail likes to build sustainable change," said Silpar.

His change in tack had Amdirlain lifting an eyebrow. "Do you think Gail's a complete sweetheart? Gail is also quite willing to kill, even if it is just to demonstrate a point and to put an end to someone's bullshit. Ask her about her demonstration with some wyverns and a Lesser Dragon, it fed the village and stopped some naysayers. We both know that a beneficial society is fragile. All that growth can be torn apart by a predator wanting to claim it or the greed of a few within."

Silpar's gaze locked on the closest corpse. "Is it not better to do kind things?”

“Kindness is subjective and hard to determine, both the action required and the motivation. Tell well-off people about someone suffering, and many do nothing, show them the face of a starving person and more will react. But is that reaction from kindness or guilt when they’ve seen evidence that they have luxuries when another starves? Just as few react to the description alone, fewer people will do what is necessary for a stranger's protection if it will put themselves at risk," said Amdirlain.

"Livia is not a stranger," critiqued Silpar.

Amdirlain smiled. "She isn't, now. One day, I might tell you the full story of how we met, but that's not today. We've discussed this before, so why bring it up again?"

“I’m worried about your motivation in leaping to address this threat to Livia. You’re far too invested,” explained Silpar. “Demons are one thing, but are you sure you should seek to use these giants as a whetstone for your skills? I doubt they’re a threat to you, and they’re Mortal."

"I wasn’t planning to torture them. I just want them gone and the Skrel’s world to be safe from their species as long as possible.”

"You want to grow stronger. You could do that through the creation of wonders. Why not create the Skrel something to help? Why, instead, are you looking to kill?" asked Silpar, tapping his claws against the side of his leg.

"Are you going to tell me I should focus on building when I have enemies that won’t help against?" asked Amdirlain. “I can make demi-planes to host species that I’ve considered in the design, but I don’t know anything about this species. Small things being off could lead to a cascade of errors and their deaths. The giants invaded. They don’t need the world, it’s just convenient and their species has always been ravenous and greedy.”

“Creating them another place is a way to do good without risking this confrontation,” counselled Silpar.

“I won’t move them off their world and leave it to the giants. I won’t ignore people in danger, but don’t mistake yourself; I don’t see myself as the good hero here. I'm simply trying to get stronger, fix some problems, and escape my curse. Depending on your perspective, everything I’ve done can be seen to furnish that end."

Silpar snorted in disbelief, but Amdirlain continued before he could interject. "Fine, in the process, I've helped others get stronger so they can fight back against monsters. I can't fix all the realm's problems, but I enjoyed bringing some people a respite from their suffering and ensuring they can stand up for themselves. Since I get enjoyment from it, isn’t my altruism suspect?"

Silpar frowned. "I think you undervalue your contributions. Why does your enjoyment devalue your contribution when you are helping someone? A monster gains enjoyment from inflicting pain and terror. Doesn’t your admission that you enjoy improving their lives speak to your nature? You have power, and it's good you’ll use it for others, yet why are they even your problems to fix?"

Shrugging lightly, Amdirlain's smile disappeared. "Because they are."

"Why you? For example, let's look at this world's issues. Why not call upon the dragons?" asked Silpar.

"This isn't the dragons' fight. This isn't their world," said Amdirlain. "I considered asking them for help, but what would the path say if I did that and one of them died?"

"It's not their world, so they don’t need to help,” said Silpar, and his brow ridges lifted. “How is it yours? Is this a world the Anar and Lómë made?"

"Livia's bound to the Skrel people at present. That makes it my daughter's concern, so I'll keep her people safe. Are you trying to warn me off driving the giants away?" asked Amdirlain. “Because regardless of what it costs me, I’ll be helping her.”

Silpar shook his head but was already asking another question. "I don’t think she’d like you paying some of the prices I can imagine. How is it she's your daughter? I know you can't be related."

"She adopted me," laughed Amdirlain. “You’re jumping our conversation all over the place today.”

"No, I’m trying to get you to look at yourself properly instead of through the self-criticism and demanding perfectionism you continually possess. Do you hate yourself so much?” enquired Silpar gently. “You doubt yourself, but do you know the problem with self-doubt?”

“What is it?”

“It comes from you, and you know yourself too well. You know all the places where you are the most vulnerable, all your mistakes that you regret the most. We can always hurt ourselves the most if we’re not blind to our flaws,” said Silpar. “Can you see that?”

Amdirlain cleared her throat. “Yes.”

“Even angels fall, yet you have to be perfect and your motivations without reproach for it to count. Why? You need to look at your insidious self-judgement. What we have inside, we project onto others. All that pain you’ve been swallowing is going to go somewhere, and you need to find something to dilute it.”

His last statement silenced Amdirlain as she swallowed back her retort.

“I don’t think you’re in a good place Am. Why don’t you consider yourself kind?" asked Silpar softly.

Not wanting to get into her history, Amdirlain frowned. "Broad classifications are bad, as many beings contain a shading of emotion and behaviour, plus it's also a matter of context. I can be kind, but I can also be merciless and sometimes too pragmatic. You've been working to make up for those you killed for how long? Do you consider yourself good?"

Silpar didn’t flinch away. "That's a valid point for my meditations, and I’ve spent lots of time looking at my mistakes. Right now, I’m trying to get you to look at yourself."

"I think big changes to the Redemption's Path would be pointless. Those worthy of it are harder critics of themselves than the path is," said Amdirlain.

"You’ve seen where we are now, not where we came from. Right now, I'd include you among the harsh critics," replied Silpar. “You're pointing at my issues to avoid looking at yourself. Are you that merciless to yourself that the path’s judgment wasn’t a surprise?”

Amdirlain wrinkled her nose; a deadly northern wind that ruffled at her hair didn't warrant her attention. "No, it was more brutal in its assessment than I'd hoped it would be in some cases, though not as bad as I had feared in others. Do you expect to talk me out of helping the Skrel by driving off the frost giants?"

"No, I wanted to be sure where your desire for this conflict came from," admitted Silpar, carefully not looking at Amdirlain to give her some space. "It is one duty of a mentor. Another is to gauge their mentee’s self-perception, and you have so many issues. Normally, I wouldn't have touched on some of these subjects again so soon, but you still have a Mortal's perspective. Now, I notice you said drive off, and I thought you were intent on killing them."

"I might need to kill the strongest among them to prevent their return, especially if it's an effort to dismiss them to their Home Plane. The broken enchantments in the armour tell me that driving them off won't necessarily keep the giants off this world," replied Amdirlain. "I don't want to be fighting giants. I'd rather be destroying demons. This world's conflict is a distraction and gains me little, but it ensures Livia's safety and the safety of those she put her life on the line to protect. Right now, I’m wondering if an Aspect manipulated this either in whole or in part, but I don’t know why they would. Anything else?"

Silpar motioned towards the cavern's entrance. "I’m concerned about where this will lead, but please consider the questions I asked. Shall we be on our way?"

Amdirlain motioned for him to wait and considered the cavern again. Drifting notes brought an illusion of the Skrel tribes packed like sardines within the broken pen into existence. They were as strange as Livia had described, but she'd left out the ragged furs and thin bodies. As a Frost Giant waggled a Skrel female above his mouth, a beam of light shot across the cavern from the ledge they arrived on to decapitate the Giant then transformed into a sword bigger than Livia upon impact. The blade tumbled onwards unmarred despite the impact and shattered through the legs of the female Frost Giant behind.

I'm going to have to ask her about that anime blade.

Livia had flipped off the blade and caught the Skrel flung aside by the Giant's death throes. As her feet hit the floor at the feet of another foe, a flame shot from her hand to burn off the front of his face and drilled its way into the ceiling. The giants opened their mouths to roar and lunged towards her, only for Livia to blur past them and set the female Skrel down near the cavern's mouth.

Turning back, Livia sped towards them, getting a separation between her and the freed prisoner to ensure they didn’t get caught up in the giants’ attacks. A lance of silvery blue Ki wreathed in flames struck the first of them and ate through his armour. He flung himself to the floor and thrashed about, trying to extinguish the fire while the others attacked with spells and blades. Dodging beneath a wild swing, Livia rolled onwards and was battered by a spray of icy rubble when the strike cracked the ground. A snowy globe flung from one Giant sealed her in a hoarfrost dome, only for her to sink into the frozen ground. The giants hesitated in surprise before their leader signalled them to spread out.

The flame-shrouded Giant still thrashed without any going to his aid, only for metal spikes to erupt upwards and catch him midroll. Though some harmlessly gouged his armour, others found gaps, including one that drove through his ear. More spikes formed and went through booted feet before a transparent figure of Livia emerged from the ground at the group's rear.

She moved among the lamed foes with blows that took advantage of gaps in their armour or made bloodied openings. Never staying still, she deflected or evaded nearly every attempt to kill her. Those that struck were blocked by Ki State surging upwards to momentarily form a centurion's armour composed of blazing white light.

When she was done, a moment's meditation caused Livia's flesh to glow and the wounds she'd suffered to seal over. Opening her eyes, she broke the prisoners free from their cages. They regarded her with trepidation even as they were united with the female Livia had saved. Many stared at Livia in confusion as she moved among them, healing the injured. The energies of the blessings Livia cast filled the air around her figure with a colourful light.

When the first flung their spindly limbs wide and bent nearly in two from the waist, others followed suit. Amdirlain saw when the Mantle settled in place about Livia's body. A divine glow sprang up, and the rest of the tribes followed the first's example of reverence as the Mantle amplified Livia's Charisma.

"Did you look back into the past or draw the record from the surroundings?" asked Silpar as Amdirlain adjusted the phantasm that filled the cavern.

"Peering into the past isn't easy, but it's doable," said Amdirlain. "This is only a recent event, so it was simple to find. The music in the wounds gave me a point in time to seek. I think the giants' behaviour speaks volumes."

The images fast-forwarded and showed Livia using various Fabricate spells to create fresh equipment, and blessings to set them up with food. Amdirlain followed the tribes' exit from the cavern. The wind outside had scoured all traces away, but she took bearings off the landmarks the images headed towards. Bringing out another crystal plate, she linked it to the surveyor overhead and set it to scan for Frost Giant packs in the region.

"Sarah, feel like some Frost Giant meals?"

Amdirlain released the Message Spell with detailed images of the cavern's entrance and the world's name. Sarah didn’t hesitate in opening a Gate to join them, her haste had pieces from her hoard starting to slide across its threshold in the wake of her motions. Partway through the Gate, she transformed into a Human form in red leather armour, and the void she left caused the treasure’s balance to slide the other way.

"You won't involve the gold dragons, but you'll bring Sarah in?" asked Silpar.

Amdirlain gave a forced grin. "She needs to grind experience."

"I don't care about the experience, frost giants taste great," huffed Sarah before she paused thoughtfully. "Though I don't have a breath weapon to cook them properly now, so no idea if the flavours will be the same. I can use one of my plasma cremators on a lower setting to do the job."

Silpar sighed. "Dragons."

"How many frost giants are we talking about?" asked Sarah eagerly, and Amdirlain heard her absorb the giants’ corpses into her Inventory.

"Over two million," advised Amdirlain.

"Cool," gushed Sarah.

Amdirlain gazed at her accusingly. "You did that deliberately."

"Absolutely! Why let a good pun go to waste?" Sarah asked with a smirk, reaching for the plate in Amdirlain's hand. "Show me where their closest packs can be found. Are there any big glaciers nearby? If there are that many frost giants, the biggest ones will contain their primary strongholds."

Amdirlain kept the crystal plate in her grasp. "It seems I underestimated a Dragon's desire to hunt giants."

"I hope they're all like those corpses in the cavern behind us. Those smell like big, Mana-filled ice cubes," stated Sarah enthusiastically. "You should haggle with Mr. Silvery Hide and get some concessions for providing a world packed with frost giants for his metallic dragons to hunt."

Now that she's not a metallic dragon, Sarah has a different attitude towards Bahamut.

"It's going to be much easier to kill them now than my last visit to the Para-Elemental Plane of Ice," continued Sarah. "Do we ask Isa along since she wanted to do some work together against the Dao? We can work out our group tactics when there is an open sky for Ilya."

"You have a point," agreed Amdirlain. "Though given what Isa can do with her bow, many of the frost giants will just melt."

"Oh? Now who is playing at the puns," huffed Sarah.

Amdirlain gave Sarah a haughty look and dispatched a Message to Isa with details about the Skrel and the archons escorting them. The energy in the reply's music had a bubbling quality that fitted the ecstatic message. 'We'll be right there, just handing over baby daycare.'

Amdirlain repeated the Message's contents. "It seems we've got five for Giant hunting and helping the Skrel."

"They're looking after some of the Lómë children?" questioned Silpar. “I’m not sure I’ve heard of celestials minding children before except as bodyguards.”

"They're thrilled to babysit. Isa had been keen to have a family before she got cursed, and I think it provides closure," replied Amdirlain. “I don’t think Ilya cares either way, except she gets to be with her.”

Sarah snorted. "You're playing at being a psychologist now?"

"What do you think it is?"

"Isa has a strong sweet tooth, and babies can be cloyingly sweet. She gets to watch children grow up," said Sarah. "That right there is enough, but if you couple it with the fact that Mori is the dominant life that Isa remembers, what good queen wouldn't want to see her former people restored and prospering? That and the fact she wanted to be a mum. The pair of you were so sugary sweet around kids that it made me gag, I swear."

"Yeah, right," huffed Amdirlain, and Sarah laughed.

Sarah gave Amdirlain a smug smile and pulled out a device that opened an orbital Gate. A cube the size of Sarah's fist got tossed through and disappeared into the distance before the Gate closed.

"Copycat," grumbled Amdirlain.

"What was that?" asked Silpar.

"Homing beacon," replied Sarah. "Though it will need a few minutes to ensure it has stabilised itself in orbit first."

Silpar shifted on the spot and spared a glance upwards. "A beacon for what?"

"My weapons platform to teleport to," explained Sarah. "There is a reason I only needed a few years to farm a bunch of experience. If you think Amdirlain plays loose with the rules, you ain't seen nothing yet."

Silpar looked flustered, so Amdirlain took pity on him and cut in. "Sarah's only talking about the rules of what many cultures call honourable conflict. Dragons have laws, and she only pays attention to them now."

"Let me tell you about the time little Miss Sunshine here used air-fuel bombs and mega tonnes of rock to destroy an artefact of an evil God. She plunged it into an open wound in the chest of the Aspect of Death," countered Sarah. "Not to mention she didn't get a single experience point from the hordes of Dedicated that he had guarding the shaft they'd dug into the sleeping Aspect."

"It was barely a popped blister, and I got my first Tier 7 achievement for it, which was worth far more than that experience in the end," argued Amdirlain. “Then El-”

Amdirlain cut herself mid-name, not wanting to use Eleftherios’s name aloud and get Death’s attention.

"I’ve heard of events that indicate two of the Titan’s missing servants have returned to him," said Silpar.

"Yes, I set them both free. Though Oblivion worries me, if he is slumbering as deeply as Death, then I don't want to think about what the surrounding Plane is like," stated Amdirlain.

Silpar tilted his head. "Did you cut yourself off from using the name of one of them earlier?”

“Yes,” admitted Amdirlain.

“You know their names but don't use them?" enquired Silpar with a surprised twitch.

"I do, but I have enough trouble with Gideon sticking their nose in, and they are all-knowing. Also, Ori had a complex relationship with at least a few aspects, so I don't want to draw their attention too often," replied Amdirlain, keeping her expression composed.

Silpar took in her sudden stillness and bobbed his head in amusement. "I'm glad you have limits about beings you'll comfortably deal with."

I've been in the same room as Death, and I think he was hoping for a booty call, but I'm not Ori.

As if Sarah could read Amdirlain's mind, she started snickering.

"Don't," snapped Amdirlain.

Sarah nodded. "I'll be good."

The exchange had Silpar's gaze narrow in suspicion, and Amdirlain grumbled. "Please don't speculate. And it wasn't me, it was Ori who was comfortable with them."

Isa and Ilya appeared in mid-air before the cavern's mouth. Both of them were in the guise of Isil, the whitish-blue skin of the Moon Elf species appropriate with all the snow, their silvery hair reflecting the moonlight. They wore grey tunics belted at the waist over top of black leather pants made from a Lesser Dragon's hide. Various enchantments were woven through their clothing and gear, like the ones in their black boots that prevented them from sinking into the powdery snow when they landed.

"Geez, it is cold here," gasped Ilya. "I thought the highlands near us were bad."

"Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to hunting we go," chirped Isa.

"Don't," grumbled Amdirlain.

Isa blinked. "What's up, grumpy?"

"Amdirlain remembered a dwarven life while we were on Qil Tris. Of course, she had to get the worst one," explained Sarah.

Wincing, Isa brought out her Soul Bow, and its brilliant silver chased what shadows the two moons caused. "Let's go kill some giants. Were they the cause of the pain in that life?"

"Elves were," replied Amdirlain, and she brought up the crystal plate for Isa to see the night camp of the Skrel on display. "Some packs are about, but the tribe isn’t in immediate danger."

"They'll be in less once we wipe out every Giant," replied Isa. "Little Livia is a Goddess, who'd have thought it."

"How do you want to wipe out the packs?" asked Ilya.

Silpar gave a displeased grunt, and Ilya just shrugged. "I've seen them in Hell on the ninth circle, and those outside it are no different."

"I thought I'd practise my fighting techniques," replied Amdirlain before Silpar got a chance.

Isa gasped in mock surprise. "Goodness, you're not just going to blow them all up?"

"You look ready for target practice, so it would be rude if I took them all away," replied Amdirlain, and she tapped Isa's nose. "Have you been having fun minding the children?"

"Absolutely. You might enjoy visiting yourself," proposed Isa.

Sarah smirked. "Amdirlain might build them something grander than the training complexes."

"Do you recognise any of the newborns' themes?" asked Amdirlain, ignoring Sarah's chiding.

Okay, first, I set up Nolmar, then the training tower, then the Mousekin burrow, and then the training complexes. I have been escalating a bit. If I take the Skrel from their world, there could be other problems, especially if I don’t precisely meet their biological requirements.

Isa bit her lip nervously and whispered. "The most recent birth had a blank song within her Soul, no trace of any past life. It has happened with some newborn Lómë but not any of the Anar."

"You're overthinking it," said Amdirlain. "They went onto other realms. Who is to say that all of them will return just because there is a way for them to do so?"

"They might have earned a promotion as you did," observed Sarah, and she gave a wintry smile. "Or a demotion in whatever realm they ended up in. Or she could even be your replacement. After all, it's not like you're a free agent anymore."

Isa rolled her eyes and turned to Amdirlain. "Should Ilya and I handle approaching the tribes Livia freed?"

"They've got some hound archons watching over them. However, if there is any pack we can't intercept in time, it might be best if you two handle it," said Amdirlain.

"The puppies might growl," quipped Isa. "Did you push your Prestige Class up?"

"Not yet," admitted Amdirlain.

"Why not?" echoed Isa and Ilya.

"It gives a lot of Charisma each level," explained Amdirlain.

Isa looked Amdirlain over. "You're not putting out any weird vibes, though you do have a refined air about you."

"You've got less presence than some of the Taurë we've met recently," added Ilya.

"Why were you two meeting with wood elves?"

Holding the plate, Isa motioned between herself and Ilya with the other hand. "We went to check on the northern part of their forest to see what animals we might look to introduce."

"What's that device?" asked Ilya, pointing at the moving pictures displayed on the crystal.

Poking the display to zoom it in, Isa giggled. "She can't help herself. Amdirlain made the equivalent of a device from our home world."

Amdirlain shrugged. "It's functional, but the crystal provides a real-time display with filtering options, nothing too fancy."

Snorting, Isa pretended to swat her with the plate.

Stepping smoothly out of the way, Amdirlain smirked. "Spiral around the tribes' encampment and then head southwards?"

"Giants can cover a lot of ground in a day. How far around do you want to keep clear?" asked Ilya.

"What would you suggest?"

Ilya hummed. "At least two hundred kilometres. I'll introduce myself to the hound archons so they can contact me if there is an issue."

"If any of them are Wizards," noted Silpar.

"Livia did recruit them to monitor the tribes and let her know if there was trouble. They'd have to have someone who can get in touch with her since she didn't remain," said Ilya. "I'll sort out the communications issue when I speak with them. How close can that thing make images appear?"

When Isa brought up a perfect image of an area just south of the encampment, the pair vanished.

"Isa took your plate with her," noted Sarah.

"I’ll get that one back later, I can attune another for now. Shall we fly west to the closest pack?" asked Amdirlain.

Sarah shrugged. "That short distance isn't going to challenge your powers. We might as well wait for them to return and teleport together. Let’s have another look at the local area."

Amdirlain drew out another plate.