Stranded on The Southern Continent

The sun was below the horizon. Windthrow and Cleyre still hadn’t arrived. Something buzzed uncomfortably close to my ear, I swiped the bastard out of the sky. I’d forgotten how much it sucked to be in the wilderness after dark! Damn, I was getting spoiled.

“Vylet, do you maybe have a torch you could light?” Teetri asked.

Oh shoot. Humans don’t have darkvision.

“You’ll have to wait for Cleyre and Windthrow. I guess I could shout to help them find us, but I don’t know what else that could attract…”

“That’s fine! We’ll wait.” They grabbed my arm. “Apologies, please allow me this much.”

I smelled rain coming. What did they call that smell? Petrichor? And the air felt charged. It’d be a gnarly thunderstorm. Fantastic. We picked a great day to do this.

Now might be a good time to ask Teetri my burning questions, while the others were still away.

“Hey Teetri, can I ask you something–something sensitive.”

“You may.”

“Ah, well. I’ve been wondering”–her grip on my arm tightened–”do you identify as a woman or as a man?”

Silence. I felt Teetri’s heartbeat against my scales.

“You saw, didn’t you Vylet?” Their voice was soft and weak. “When I was getting dressed.”

“It was a mistake, I swear!”

They laughed. “I know! You’re not that type of person. But, in all sincerity, your question frightens me.”

“Look, I really don’t wanna make you uncomfortable. I’ll accept you either way. You can be a woman and still have…those parts.”

They looked at me wide eyed. “Wait, you don’t mean– I can?!”

Suddenly, there was rustling from the forest. I pushed Teetri behind me and pointed Tanglewood towards the noise. Baring my fangs and readying myself for a fight.

“Hold on, Vylet! It’s us!” Windthrow emerged, followed by Cleyre. Both were covered in muck and grime. The end of Cleyre’s staff glowed with a vibrant white light.

My mate! I holstered Tanglewood and ran into his awaiting arms–it didn’t matter if he was dirty.

“You’d think these lovebirds were separated for years, eh Teetri?” Cleyre snarked.

“A lovely couple,” Teetri said.

“Now tell us how you really feel.” Cleyre flashed the teasing smile that I was so familiar with.

“I don’t know what you mean.” Teetri swiveled on their heel and pointed at the ruin, now illuminated by Cleyre’s light spell. “Here. As promised I’ve taken you to the place I first arrived.”

“And now that we know where it is, we can go back to Sapwood before it starts raining. We might even fit in a few hours of sleep,” I said.

“Or…we could take a closer look.” Cleyre walked towards the ruins. “I can’t be the only curious one here.”

“Come on, Cleyre! You know I wasn’t joking about the rain.”

She stopped. “Can you do me a favor, Vylet. I don’t want to risk damaging this site with my magic.”

“What–” Something clambered from the other side of the clearing. A huge gray body, bristling with fur. Ominous yellow eyes. Ivory tusks with wild arcs of electricity periodically bolting between them. A lightning boar. Long time no see!

“I got this one Windthrow. I have history with these guys!”

Time for a test of my reflexes. Kneeling on all fours, I pointed myself at the lightning boar. Like I was an arrow in a torqued bow. That would make Tanglewood the tip of the arrow. The beast must have sensed danger. It stomped its trotters on the ground, preparing to charge.

I activated my Action Surge and my talons instinctively launched me towards the enemy–maybe my body remembered how tasty these things were? In 2 strides, I’d already covered half the distance to the boar. It reacted quickly and tried to launch a bolt of lightning at me. Even my Action Surge enhanced senses couldn’t make literal lightning look slow. But it did give me a moment to summon my wings and push against the air, shoving myself out the way.

One more time! I used Jump for a horizontal push. It carried me the remaining distance. I drove Tanglewood through its eye and into its brain. The poor thing's body violently shuddered and then was still. The whole battle took about eight seconds, maybe less.

“That was amazing, Vylet!” Windthrow shouted. “Or rather, you’re amazing!”

“Ehehehe” I pulled my spear from the beast's eye, flicking blood into the dirt. “Stop, you’re embarrassing me!”

“Gods. You two are worse than Gorefang and I. Now help me move this thing. I need to examine the area properly,” Cleyre said. “And you too Teetri, don’t think that you’re getting away without some manual labor!”

We gathered around the carcass. Even the ever-obedient Teetri joined us. I doubt they’d contribute much, but it's the thought that counts! My primary thought was: Aww, they’re a cutie.

“Should we count to three? How should we–” Windthrow didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence.

---

It sounded like BLIP and then FLEWP. It wasn’t a flash of light, but of darkness. Like space bent until everything–including us–was taken elsewhere.

A slate gray room. Smooth stone floors and ceiling–my old bunker used the same materials. An opening–a doorway without a door–to a dark hallway. Two shattered windows opened onto a horizon that looked nothing like the Emel Weald. It was cold. The last time I felt this cold, I was being literally attacked by ghosts.

So we’d been teleported. But where?!

“Huh, that’s an interesting mechanism for arcane traversal,” Cleyre said matter of factly.

“No, no, no, no, NO!” You said nothing about going back!” Teetri shouted.

The first time I’d heard her raise her voice. They held their head in their hands.

“Cleyre! Where the hell are we?!” I shouted.

“I knew that there was a teleportation circle.” She kneeled down and wiped her hand through the thin film of ash that covered the floor, revealing thick black lines. “But I didn’t think it would activate without a source of energy.”

Windthrow stared out the window.

“Something awful happened here.”

The sky was an endless gray. Dozens of hollowed jagged towers rose from the Earth. Far below I could see ruined streets, covered in ash dunes. The wind whipped between the towers, whistling and screaming through the jagged concrete. This place was once a city–more advanced than anything I’d seen on the Southern Continent. A human city.

“Cleyre. We need to leave this cursed place. Take us home, now!” Windthrow said.

“Give me time. We should be celebrating! This is a huge breakthrough for my research.

“You didn’t know this would happen, right Cleyre? I asked.

No response. She continued to use the hem of her robe to wipe more of the film of ash from the teleportation circle.

“Cleyre!”

She sighed. “I knew it was a possibility.”

Teetri started hyperventilating.

“Cleyre. Get us home, now!”

“I said I was trying–”

Far below us we heard a strained scream echoing through the shell of the tower! Answered by another awful scream. The clang of metal. And then the sound of dozens of footsteps, running in our direction!