Chapter 100

From a distance, the Vultoqi looked like a forest of Christmas trees. All were sort of awake and alert, but were without a guiding intelligence to tell them to kill any entity identified as being intelligent. As it was, they simply stood there and waited for orders, ignoring the Allied army that had come to a halt once they realised the Vultoqi weren’t fighting back.

I greeted Roxanne, Arch, Crnnch and Kordanta after they’d managed to make their way into the, thanks to Jemima and Abi, still functioning echtra.

“So, these are what we were really fighting?” Roxanne asked, pointing at the patripure once the greetings were over with.

“Yes, all sedentary now, if a bit of a ticking time bomb,” I replied.

“Aye. We really do not want to disturb them,” she nodded.

“Nor do we wish them to remain here where any exploring race could bring them round,” Arch agreed. “Then of course, there’s Sarkal...”

“He will not be able to find them easily, if at all, in the area you call the Outer Realms.” Athena’s voice came from thin air, before she and Gregorius appeared.

“Let’s hope not,” Crnnch replied, after giving a respectful nod to his goddess.

“The spell I gave you will work, though there’s a steep price for using it,” Oonagh said quietly as if not wanting to draw attention to herself. “The hard part is finding a sleeping giant in there and hollowing out a living area for the Vultoqi.”

“John said you’d help us find such a place,” Roxanne reminded her.

“I will. I’m probably the only one with any experience of doing it.”

“Aye, true. Now tell me why you’d do this?” Roxanne asked, suspicion written all over her face.

“These have been the most entertaining days of my existence. I am coming to terms with what I am now, and what I did. I doubt I can make amends for my past misdeeds, but hope that by helping you, I will be judged slightly more kindly by later generations. Plus, I have found honour and acceptance amongst my comrades,” she explained.

“Are you OK with her being part of Team John?” Roxanne turned to ask me.

I looked at my team who all nodded then faced Roxanne. “We are,” I confirmed, seeing Oonagh look very relieved.

“Very well, she’s your responsibility. First thing you need to do though is start transporting all the adelshaut into the echtra. This is where we will begin the mission to move them to where they can do no further harm to the universes, the same with the Allied Command.”

“We’ll get on with it straight after the leave-taking ceremony,” Kordanta acknowledged.

“Aye. Let’s count the cost,” Roxanne sighed.

The bodies of our fallen, including the dust of the Drow and Fae were gathered at the site where the last battle had been fought. All were laid out on wooden pyres and, where possible, all were restored physically. The Æsir had a small golden dagger laid on their chests, the Craebh Ruadh a small branch with blossom on it, the Rutasi a broken spear, Mazdani their axes, Earth Special Forces something symbolic of their unit or country, Azurans a small coin in the mouth, the Veda simply had a white shroud over them as did the wolves, Nosferatu, Yr’ch and Murians.

All the survivors had turned up to pay their respects, accompanied by their respective political elements from the Allied Council. Noteworthy was the Rutasi God Emperor and his personal bodyguard, talking quietly with the other leaders including Simon, Verenestra, Ferrimoot, Freya, Mergna and Sinnead. Even the non-human allies of the Maraú-Uxuí and Veda were there, despite not normally turning up for these things. The words were spoken, the deeds told, and some tears were shed, before the various leaders and friends each took a torch and lit the pyres. Then the celebration-cum-wake began and lasted through the night before the mourning began in earnest.

“So, only twenty percent casualties?” Simon noted at the small meeting held after the mourning period. “Which was bad enough, but less than we thought we were facing.”

“Yes,” Kordanta nodded. “Fortunately Team John managed to begin the spell which drew the adelshaut back to the echtra just when thing were becoming serious.”

“Aye, it would have been a lot worse if they’d just kept fighting us,” Roxanne agreed.

“How long will the spell hold?” Draiochta Sinnead asked.

“So long as the patripures are undisturbed, indefinitely,” Hermes, who was sitting in to answer that type of questions, answered.

“That’s good,” she nodded.

“Unfortunately we cannot guarantee they’ll remain undisturbed,” Hermes noted. “We have a rogue Power out there who, sooner or later, will notice their absence.”

“We’re preparing an exploration team to go to the Outer Realms to make ready a new home-from-home for them. Our friendly goddess tells me that Sarkal will be most unlikely to find them there or be able to get them out if he does,” Roxanne explained. “In the meantime, orders have been sent out to transfer all the adelshaut back to the echtra. The Seers are preparing the spell of transference and helping with the preparations to use the cache of power Beog was storing in order to enable it.”

“I’m not too happy about sending anyone to the Outer Realms. It’s not like we’ve had a great deal of success exploring there in the past,” Simon replied with a frown.

“Oonagh has agreed to help, plus we have the Mage team who were studying how she managed to create Azurana to assist as well,” Roxanne replied.

“Ah yes, Oonagh...” Verenestra mused out loud.

“She kept her promise to assist,” Roxanne noted.

“That she did. Though she has reiterated she will only work with Team John,” Arch added.

“Why?” Vanir Snorrison, representing the Æsir, asked.

“Trust issues. She simply doesn’t trust anyone else not to stab her in the back at some stage. An issue with a certain amount of truth to it.”

“This is true.” Mergna confirmed. “It’s why the main Azuran army under Hinnit will be withdrawing soon, along with all but one of Teali’s sanctums.”

“Yes, I will be withdrawing my Fae scientists as well as my army. Our work here is done, and they may prove troublesome if Oonagh remains,” Verenestra agreed. “The Dökkálfar battalions will remain though to assist our Yr’ch allies as they continue to deal with Draenoric.”

“Can we trust her?” Simon asked Roxanne, who simply looked at me to reply.

“Yes,” I answered simply. “She is very realistic about her status in Fae society and, despite her attitude at times, has proven a reliable part of my Team. The Seers have also scanned her and found nothing to be unduly worried about.”

“Aye, true,” Roxanne added.

“Very well,” Verenestra nodded. “I’ll leave her in your hands, John. Though this will not change her current sentencing terms on Jingol.”

“She knows this, Queen Verenestra,” I replied. “She’s simply doing it because it gives her satisfaction and is different from the life she had or lives now,” I replied.

“Besides, she’s well aware that if she leaves Jingol, she’ll likely be killed,” Roxanne added.

“That’s true enough,” Verenestra acceded. “She’s far safer amongst the Dökkálfar.”

“We’ll be standing down most of our people and sending them home,” Roxanne stated. “Those that remain will be here to help the Yr’ch or with the Outer Realms. We’ll close the link to Loegrian space and people will be able, if necessary, to portal in directly.”

“I suggest that we only allow them to use a portal in somewhere like Jingol. We don’t want the location here known generally, as yet,” Simon replied.

“Aye, good point,” Roxanne nodded.

There were a few other discussions, but the meeting wound down and orders went out to begin the withdrawal back to the known Earths.

It was two weeks later that the Outer Realm team were sitting around a table, going over with Oonagh what they knew and correcting a few assumptions.

“I can’t see how you can find a Greater Power,” Mage Luka stated. “We can’t scan and, if we’re unlucky, we’re likely to open up near an Old One.”

“Detection is an issue, though it can be done remotely. It requires finesse and study,” Oonagh replied.

“How?”

“You need to learn how to do a scan whilst out of phase, using a variance frequency that the denizens of the Outer Realms will not detect. It takes practice and skill. I used to be able to do it, but will need to re-learn the technique.”

I could see the Mages frowning. So far, only the Seers had demonstrated any ability to do other stuff whilst out of phase and there would be extreme reluctance to permit a Seer into the Outer Realms, particularly at first.

“Can anyone learn this?” I asked.

“No, but it should be well within the capabilities of those you call High Mages,” she replied after a moment’s thought.

“That’s good, you can show us how later,” I nodded.

“How did you manage to hollow out a Great Power to implant a ... a world inside one?” Luka asked.

“They are almost pure magic as we see them; re-arranging things inside took some work, but essentially was straightforward. The trick is not to wake them up,” Oonagh replied thoughtfully.

“So, you’d already prepared a world for the Azurans before you cast them out?”

“Yes. I knew we’d need them to aid us in our return as they provided the means via soul energy for us to reconstitute ourselves.”

“Hence the sacrifices...” she replied disparagingly.

“Yes,” Oonagh responded, but made no further comment.

“I don’t like you. I think you’re just trying to use our situation to make life better for yourself and gain sympathy!”

“You are correct about making life better for myself. But I do not need anybody’s sympathy nor pity, nor am I endeavouring to change the terms of my sentence beyond what they currently are. I am simply offering my help with no conditions. If you cannot accept that then I will withdraw from this meeting and leave you to find your own way,” Oonagh replied in cool tones as she rose and simply left the room.

“That was uncalled for, Luka.” Mage Marnie spoke firmly. “She has knowledge we need and was offering it freely. No one expects you to like her, but you should keep a civil tongue in your head. It costs nothing to be polite.”