KINGDOM OF IRNATHYR
In the mountains of LARCASSA

The Lunar Graces had given them many stormy and dismal nights, pouring their wrath relentlessly at the monastery of Crystal Fang, in the heart of old Larcassa, and never without reason. The wondrous structure was made of white stone bricks and marble in its core, spreading across the side of the ancient mountain like fungi, scaling inside a hole that was naturally there, and blending in its wild vegetation. Thanks to that, the core of the place was luckily safe from any landslide, the same couldn't be said for the paths and roads that lead there.

Its towers were connected both with tunnels and outside bridges by the cliffs, all of which were abandoned at this ungodly hour. Tiny flames of light betrayed the life that existed inside the impossible and venerable monastery in the berg's embrace. The lanterns on the stone bridges shook frantically imitating the bright and trembling stars behind the clouds.

Poles and trees were uprooted by the howling winds that wreaked havoc on everything that extended from the tall mountain peaks. Pieces of dead and living foliage alike were carried by the over flooded rivers that rushed down on the world below. The lantern's little orange light was put off at last as  their worn out chains couldn't hold them anymore. The sound of them crushing to pieces on a nearby rock was but a mere whisper in the wrathful symphony of the heavens.

The crescendo came when a silver vein of lightning cracked across black skies, shining light to the cumulonimbus clouds that had gathered. Fierce flashes of sharp heavenly light sporadically appeared amidst the clouds and rainfall. The temple's most outer parts filled with water and fallen pieces of what had previously been roofs, walls, pavements. Most maidens had retrieved in the heart of the monastery or stayed and to pick up the mess, with raised skirts and the water reaching their pale knees.

Meanwhile the fierce Etheresses, devout aeromancers that read the skies and bent in their will, cautiously continued their rituals as the sound of havoc mused their spirits. Humans that resided in remote villages at the foothills of Crystal Fang cursed and feared nature but the Etheresses knew nothing happened by chance. The Grace of skies was sending them a message, and they were ready with smoke, blue salt and a sacrifice to read it.

Thetea was nowhere near the action. She heard the deafening roars of thunders and cowered closer to the window of her safe and isolated room of artifacts. The storm was as angry as ever, making the young priestess wonder what they had done to vex Ethera. The old Grace of the skies and clouds was warning them tonight, much like many othera nights and Thetea was trying to listen. The booming sounds shook the ground beneath her until the tremor reached her bones.

Her Elder claimed she would be safer in that room, in case anything at the top of the temple collapsed. They had never known such mayhem in decades and they were barely prepared. The altar room was the foundation of their temple as it was build in stone with old naturalist magic. No matter which tower of the temple fell, how much their home would be destroyed, everything could be rebuilt from there. The temple on Crystal Fang was the chosen home for many, unlike Thetea who was born and raised there—never to see anything from what lied below the clouds.

The young priestess only imagined how the winds carried the rain, whipping the jagged cliffs of the old rock and bending the trees to its will. The tiny raindrops fell in armies on the delicate glass of the window. With curiosity, Thetea raised her hand to touch the cold surface with her delicate fingertips. The vibrating glass shook beneath her palm, but when the skies fell silent she felt the tickles from the falling drops ... Like a heavenly hand from Ethera reaching out to her. With a quiet movement, the girl moved her fingers to trace the framing of the window to understand its size. It was no bigger than her head, round with steel bars supporting the glass. That's all she needed to know.

The silver of her mask clanked against the window glass as the young girl placed her cheek on it. Her breath echoed against the glass and her cheeks flamed red. The older priestesses and the sister circle would laugh at her childish habits, but her eyes knew only darkness so everything that was to be seen, Thetea felt with her body. The cold, the heat, the pain. And even if she was more than just human—sometimes that made her feel more mortal than ever.

Her elders deemed her something greater than everything that walked on earth, she was born with purpose. Yet how did a celestial-born being like her had so much desire to feel nature and submit to human senses. For many years she heard the ancient scripts of Lacrymion, the first Irtnathyan prophet, read to her and telling her how her lack of eyesight was a gift and it kept her connected to Selene. Lacrymion had poisoned his own eyes for enlightenment and was blessed for it, shutting out his desire to feel, hear and smell, anticipating only to spend his living moments gazing in the everknowing abyss.

Thetea however was a natural, her powers matching a proper celestial prophet and she was giving them away willingly. After she was born and raised amongst the other sisters of their circle their temple stopped shutting the outside world away, their existence being a secret no more. She was the reason the roads were built and they accepted more believers to be trained. The temple grew more in the last decade than in the last century. Thetea, whether she liked it or not, was the answer to all the problems that arose with the coming chaos and her sisters used her well. . .

Suddenly Thetea's body flinched. Outside, the heavy iron of the door's chains rattled quickly until they hit the floor. The door was pushed opened and she held her breath, pulling away her face from the window and standing frozen.

The girl that barged in the sacred altar room carried a spirit worse than the storm. Her bright blue eyes were clouded with thoughts that barely noticed the cowering girl by the window. With one hand she pulled her heavy cloak to catch up with her and with the other she held onto a single brass candleholder with a ringlet that her index finger fit in. It was evident she had run all the way there; from her shortness of breath and red cheeks to the wax that had hastily dripped down on her hand while running down the uneven stone staircases.

Thetea had frozen like a doe in front of its hunter, as she had no idea who would come uninvited to the room at this hour and not acknowledge her presence. In her corner, she kept her hearing sharp, waiting until the right moment to speak up.

The older girl jumped like an arrow from a bow to the massive bookcases and chests that kept all artifacts, going through everything like the wind. She murmured many things that didn't reach Thetea, but it conveyed that she was far from finding what she wanted. ''Ah! Dark final hells!'' As the girl had kneeled hastily to open a chest, she had forgotten of the candle she held so as her body bent so did her arm; dousing her arm with hot liquid wax. Out of anger and desperation, she threw the brass item away from her and across the stone floor, leaving the flames to drown in wax. Thetea, knew this was Vexera. ''I can't miss this. . .why do the stupidest things happen to me?'' She cried out in frustration. Her sudden bursts of rage were more interesting than the thunder and lightning out there.

"I can look around and help you, if you stop and take a deep breath.'' Thetea spoke out of the shadows at last. She couldn't quite bring herself to be perfectly sarcastic even if she tried. Her voice was a midsummer's song dying to be heard, though nothing in it could ever be hostile. Not that Thetea ever needed to be, she had the world handed to her on a silver platter and everyone was polite or silent in her presence in their worst. Sometimes this bubble of safety and love made up for all the pain her body and spirit endured.

Vexera jumped in fear upon hearing someone else speak in the room. The heavy robes she wore finally rested with her as her body stood still for mere moments. The older girl groaned with frustration, when her surprise wore out, as she stared at her holy— but blind nemesis. "Ugh, of course you would be here. You chose the worst bloody time to try and be funny." She rolled her blue eyes with contempt. "Can't you understand? This is a bloody Revelation, people may die!"

Vexera couldn't help but hungrily peer at the most valuable asset in the temple as she spoke. No sacred item or devoted priest could hold a candle to their prophet. And the worst part was that seemingly didn't have to try at all to be that precious. Thetea was allegedly chosen by a higher power, and Vexera's insides oozed of venom just by thinking about it. How could the gods forget her people, wound this world with revenge and then birth a creature of divine power just for some cultists on a mountain? Why did their gods listen to their prayers while hers fell on deaf ears. None of them even understood how the world works, like every person in Irnathyr. Even if they were isolated from the world its ignorance lived even at the top of Crystal Fang. Vexera refused to declare herself powerless, just yet.

The wailing winds slamming the windows cleared the despair out from Vexera's mind. It also made her focus again on her goal; find her power.

"So it is a Revelation? A divine message? How beautiful!'' Thetea immediately got up from where she sat with a smile forming on her peach colored lips. She kept a sharp ear to hear the girl's presence in the room.

"Now why on Ethera's good skies are you happy? It's a curse!'' Vexera cocked a silver-blonde painted eyebrow as she sprinted across the room, looking into drawers and old oak wood shelves. She was training to be a disciple of Selene, and all of them needed to paint all facial hair white; that meant not only she had to dye her eyebrows, but she also kept feeling the weight of dry white paint on her eyelashes. "I'm about to go out on this havoc. And if you want to know what I heard—let me tell you, It's only getting worse. Not that you'd know, it's not for you." Vexera didn't know why that slipped out from her lips but she didn't worry, Thetea was as dangerous as a forgotten bowl of soup.

Thetea's voice became more stern, she wasn't used to it but at least she knew what hostility sounded like. "What are you going to do then? Bring the priestesses a rain cloak? You're not an Etheress, trainees ought to help with the flood." The Revelation took place only in nights where the gods spoke, they would read the signs and write down the word into a gospel. Written word was as important as the very foundation of the temple; through it they learnt the ways to appease the god and heal their world, to say the least. The were living through the Age of the Blood Moon so chaos was but another part of balance and the maidens of Crystal Fang tipped with that scale where the skies pointed.

"I'm gonna find my things and then go, actually. It's all none of your business so shut your mouth!" Vexera snapped, whispering sharply.

Only the sacred and most resilient temple maidens knew how to read the storms. Vexera was not an Etheress, but she was no mere woman either. In her veins run the cold blood of generations of witches— and that stormy night was her chance to prove it. If only she could focus!

Thetea's face softened with realization. "You weren't called in the ritual, were you?"

Thunder echoed in cold sounds of brass across the dark skies. Light shone through the curtains for a mere moment, when that was over Vexera released the breath she held.

"What does it ma—"

"You're not allowed to come here then. Or have any of these things. What are they even for?"

Vexera stared at the little priestess walking towards her, and even if she wasn't afraid of her she still didn't want to get caught. Vexera's sandy fingers clawed on the various items she held on her hands. "And what's all this to you? You're not their guardian—and like I said this doesn't concern you."

Thetea could smell the flowers of the sjograas and the sandalwood smeared on Vexera's palms as she stuffed them in a bag.

"Are you going to heal someone?"

"I'm going to change the world." Vexera blurted and flipped through the pages of a book, trying to examine what hid inside of it.

Thetea's heart raced across her chest and before she knew it, she had held onto the brunette girl's wrist and yanked the book from her.

She could feel Elder Deya's voice lurking in the background, chastising them both. "You're not allowed to touch this! What's gotten over you! Is this because you failed to take up a priestess' role and now suddenly you wish to prove everyone wrong? We operate with order here, this isn't witchcraft!" Her voice and all its tremors echoed in the stone walls. For a moment she felt powerful like her Elder, and oh so similar.

The sound that was heard later might as well have been a lightning crack across the foggy horizon—but instead it met Thetea's cheek and stole the book from her hands. The sensation afterwards was dozens of needles poking her pale cheek. It reeked of betrayal, but for Thetea this screamed of punishment, so she stayed rooted to where she was. Suddenly the darkness was her worst enemy; she felt the hands that had extended towards Vexera shrink and freeze until they were but mere trinkets. Like her. . .

"You've never been out of here! You don't know what it's like! Who cares about these bloody books and who cares about the temple and their pampered asses. They don't know how this stuff is properly used anyway." Vexera spoke sternly, losing only slightly the controled tone in her voice. Both her palm and her cheeks were the same shade of red.

Thetea couldn't even picture what the outside world was like. At least the temple was small and secluded and all its corners were known to her. Did all the people from the world down there have such a temper, she wondered before caging her mind behind the glass walls she made to contain herself.

"Is that it? You want to go to the world down there?" Thetea steped backwards, speaking sheepishly.

"Don't call it like that. That's just what the elders tell you to keep you an infant forever. It's not a seperate world—it's our home and it's dying." Vexera put as much strength in coloring her voice as she could. She was used to people cowering before her cold eyes and that unspoken language of hers, but with Thetea she wasn't sure.

The brunette girl felt strangely naked not making eye contact with someone. All she saw that moment was Thetea's silver mask which covered her eyes and the bridge of her nose.

"You're not a person here Thetea. And you wouldn't understand. They don't let you understand."

"I know. I'm gifted." Thetea's voice was affirming and light, like that old midsummer's song again. With a sigh she reached for the back of her head to tighten her mask. "My eyes feel the Gracious moonlight, but for the rest I need protection. It's just the way I was born. It's my connection to Selene." The masked priestess shrugged, trying to dissolve all the conclusions Vexera had drawn about her with the same answers she had gotten as a child. "I may not know this world but I know the Celestial one, I see the will of Gods. Why do you think of me as-- "

A few loud thuds pushed against the window and the howling of the wind entered like a whisper from the loose frames. Three thuds later, the sharp sound of shattered glass sounded and the rain already wept over the window's shards and the stone floor. Thetea jumped where she stood—suddenly no place felt safe.

Vexera's voice couldn't quite match the sound of the gods' wrath outside."They told you you're a prophet, I know. But their Gods don't exist in the outside world anymore. This is just a dying cult."

''How dare you!'' Thetea protested, blasphemy was punishable with a fate worse than death.

Vexera continued with gathering all things she deemed useful; books, scripts, maps. Anything that could teach her everything this temple didn't. ''You know, you were wrong to call it witchcraft and you were wrong to try and insult me with it.'' Vexera smirked, feeling like the smarter predator in this forest already. ''You keep sorcery hidden here yet the world needs it. Think about that next time a visitor from the world down below requires your fortune telling or healing.'' She mockingly said before weighing the bag on her hand and tying it together.

A heavy silver bell rang from the top of the Eastwing tower and every inch of Thetea's body knew. They were having a visitor and it was time for her ritual, in the most unexpected hour possible. How could they accomodate a guest here, now?

With quick sly movements she walked towards the door but before she knew it Vexera's fingers found their way around her wrist, locking that grip with her palm. "Let me go! They'll be looking for me. Someone's here—"

The sound of a dagger drawn made Thetea's words freeze.

"Say a word about this, about me, and I'll gut you." Vexera knew this was a good chance to escape, or maybe not. She hadn't really thought that Thetea would be needed anywhere but in this dry cellar of a room for more than a day, by then she would have been long gone. ''From now on I'll do the talking and you'll follow along.'' She drew in a deep breath, savioring this sudden rush of bravery in her lungs.

''I hope I made it clear that neither you, nor your psychotic sisters will stop me.''

A/N

Sorry for the slight delay with this chapter! My summer holidays just ended and I was enjoying the last of it. I definitely think the wait was worth it. While some chapters are already written months ago, this was made from scratch.

How's the change of scenery? I think it was important we got to meet Thetea at last!

Don't worry though, next chapter will be the continuation of this scene!

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