Chapter 28: When Good Intentions Turn Sour

Forgetting about her troubling symptoms, Nienna sprung to her feet and strode through the calf-high snow toward the figure. Like the rest of her surroundings, the snow started to disappear, leaving behind a desiccated stone path for her to follow. She assumed she was having another vision, similar to what happened back at the Priory. How she was here again still remained a mystery. There had to be an explanation for what was happening, and Nienna hoped the stranger had some answers.

Keeping her hands up so as not to startle the mysterious figure, Nienna crossed the final stretch of path. It was odd; they didn’t seem to be phased at all by her presence. They merely remained where they were with their arms crossed over their chest as they silently watched her approach.

“Hello?” Nienna asked as she tried to peer through the shadow cast over their face from their hood. “Are you the same one I saw before?”

A slender hand reached up and pulled back the hood, revealing a lean, feminine face crowned with long, dark red locks secured in a high ponytail. Long bangs swept over along the top of her spectacles which balanced perfectly on the bridge of her slender nose.

Nienna immediately recognized the woman from her previous vision of the Underworld. “You again.”

Her bright green eyes remained stoic behind her glasses’ lenses. “Yes.”

“You still don’t seem happy to see me.”

The woman pursed her lips while considering her reply, but then her features relaxed and softened. “I apologize. My reaction last time was spurred from…a lack of information. We are still concerned, though. Your presence here is unnatural. None of us understand what it means, but it didn’t seem to bother her like I thought it might. In fact, it was as if she expected it.” She paused and raised a dark eyebrow. “Well, you reached out and here you are. What is it that you want?”

Nienna flashed the woman a confused look. “I uh…we? Her?” she uttered, stumbling over her words while she tried to sort everything out. “I don’t know what you mean. I didn’t reach out.”

The woman raised an eyebrow. “Surely you did. We didn’t call for you.”

There was that ‘we’ again. Nienna stared at the woman, trying to mentally decipher what she meant. “I’m so confused. Let’s start again. Who exactly are you?”

She unfolded her arms and clasped her hands together and pursed her lips for a moment before finally replying, “I know this is going to seem odd to you. My name is Nienna Valar.”

Her answer gave Nienna pause, and for a moment she felt herself swept up in disbelief. She had never encountered anyone else with the same first name as her, let alone first and last. She wanted to laugh and call the woman on her bluff. However, there was something familiar about her. The color of her hair, her eyes, the shape of her face…her name. Slowly, realization dawned on her, and she finally realized who she had been speaking to this entire time.

“You’re her, aren’t you? The first one tasked to carry the blade.”

She nodded. “For the sake of confusion, you can refer to me as Nina, if that is all right with you. My sisters used to call me that when I was young. Both of them had trouble pronouncing my name when they were little. It annoyed me then, but now—now I don’t mind so much.” Her lips curled into a smile, amused by the anecdote.

A grin pulled at her lips as Nienna stood there in awe in the presence of her ancestor. “I read all about you and your sisters in my family’s book. I-I was named after you. I have so many questions.”

Nina flashed her a knowing smile. “I know. Unfortunately, we don’t have time for that right now.”

Nienna’s cheeks reddened. “Right, okay,” she said as she took a deep breath and tempered her excitement. “You mentioned ‘her’ before. Who were you talking about? Who isn’t surprised I’m here?”

“Desmina.”

Nienna’s eyes widened. “THE Desmina? The First Follower?”

“Yes. She pressed me about your initial arrival. I thought I was going to get a lecture, but instead I only received more questions. She wants to know what you’re planning, because the situation has changed.”

“What exactly has changed? Why doesn’t she ask me herself?”

“Her new duties are keeping her busy. Dhuum stirs. Your use of the blade has caused the weapon to awaken, and He can sense it. Thankfully his bonds hold—for now. Grenth plans to depart soon, leaving Desmina in charge, and already she can feel something dark shifting.”

“But it’s here with us. He shouldn’t have the strength to break free without it.”

Nina frowned. “No, He can’t. He needs the souls gathered by the blade to build his strength. But it cannot stay in the realm of the living either. Eventually, it’ll be discovered. It’s inevitable. Trust me.”

“Yeah, about that…,” Nienna’s voice trailed off as she hesitated to tell her what happened. “It’s—been discovered and they have a piece.”

The air grew uncomfortably cold, and shadows grew all around them as Nina’s hands clenched into tight fists. Her eyes grew dark until they were two cold, black orbs piercing into Nienna’s soul. “WHAT?”

Nienna winced as she felt the bite of her ancestor’s infuriated tone sink deep into her. Suddenly, she felt so small, the whole of the Underworld could have swallowed her up. She quickly explained the situation thus far to Nina, bracing herself for a reprimand that would bring her to her knees. Instead, the woman exhaled sharply through her nose and stood silently with a displeased frown and her arms crossed over her chest. Somehow, it seemed worse, like disappointing a parent whose approval meant the world.

“We’ll get it back,” Nienna assured her. “We’re tracking the Byrnes now, and I—I’ve got a plan for dealing with it. A friend found her letter.”

The darkness in Nina’s eyes receded, as did the shadows around them. “You have Nessa’s message?”

Nienna nodded.

A sad smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “After what happened in Cantha, she was determined to destroy it once and for all. She didn’t want us to live that way for the rest of our lives—always on the run. She spent so much time searching. She nearly covered all of Tyria and ended up at Rata Sum. I was against asking the asura for help. We had no guarantee we could trust them, but Nessa has always been stubborn. Through her research, she formed a theory, but it was just speculation. It’s dangerous. There’s no proof it will actually work.”

“If you had the possibility in your grasp, why didn’t you take it?” Nienna asked.

Her ancestor frowned and bowed her head. “What it requires was more than I was willing to pay.” She looked back up at Nienna, her eyes wide and pleading. “You read Nessa’s letter. You’ve seen the cost required for this process—a process that isn’t even guaranteed. Are you prepared to pay it?”

Nienna paused, her reply catching in her throat. She knew the cost, but speaking about it made it more real. “I have to try. You said it yourself, Dhuum draws his power from the souls that were taken by his blade, and it’s obvious it can’t stay here in the realm of the living.”

Nina nodded slowly, her jaw clenching. “Retrieve that piece and do it quickly then,” she paused and looked Nienna up and down again, her brow knit with worry. “I can see it’s taking its toll on you.”

“Do you know what’s happening to me?” Nienna asked as she looked down at the newly formed frost on her gloves. The sight didn’t startle her as much as it did when it first began, but that in itself worried her. She didn’t want to give in to the fight. She didn’t want to accept what was happening to her.

Her ancestor reached for her hand and gently tugged the glove off. After studying the dark lines, she shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t know exactly,” Nina replied. “I’ve only ever seen the tendrils once on my sister’s body where the blade impaled her.” She bowed her head and swallowed hard. When it came to her sisters, she struggled to maintain her stoic presence. “Dhuum’s blade consumed her spirit, and we were never able to find out.”

“I shouldn’t have used it. I know that now. I—I wasn’t strong enough. I couldn’t let my friends get hurt in a situation that I’m responsible for.” Nienna’s guilty confession came tumbling out of her mouth before she could even consider what she was saying. It felt good, though, like releasing a heavy weight off her chest.

Letting go of her arm and returning her glove, Nina flashed her a sympathetic look. “It is a powerful weapon and has great appeal for our good intentions. But even our best of intentions can blind us and turn sour if we don’t remain aware of the consequences.”

“So I’ve learned.”

Nienna looked down at her hands and slipped her glove back on, but looked back up to find her ancestor gone. The air shifted following her disappearance, and suddenly dead tree limbs became laden with snow-covered needles and norn structures reformed. Thrust back into the realm of the living, Nienna stumbled back and fell into the snow that covered the ground once again. She rubbed at her eyes while they adjusted to the bright sunlight that flooded out the sickly green hue of the Underworld’s sky. Like before, the transition left Nienna discombobulated and a little dizzy. It took her a few moments to remember where she even was.

Hearing a voice calling her name, Nienna looked over her shoulder to find Alena hopping up and down and waving in her direction. Her golem, Gordo, lumbered in front of her, moving the high snow out of the way for his mistress with his hefty, club-like hands. Following behind them was Clarkus with the two remaining blade pieces bundled and secured on his back. He gave Nienna a casual nod as they approached.

“Hey, who were you talking to?” Alena asked. There was something in her tone which made Nienna feel like the asura was humoring her odd behavior to mask her own concern.

“I uh,” Nienna began, quickly trying to think of how to explain the recent interaction.

Clarkus’ tail swished sharply back and forth as he surveyed the quiet area around them. “Don’t see anyone out here. You’re not starting to go off the deep end, are ya, Commander?”

Nienna scoffed as she pushed herself up to her feet, attempting to make light of the situation. They all had enough stress on their plates. She didn’t want to add to it by explaining the recurring odd encounter. “Not any more than usual. And it’s okay, you don’t have to call me commander anymore. It’s not like I’ve really earned the title. Just call me Nienna.”

The charr stepped closer to Nienna and leaned down a little, his large feline frame easily overshadowing her own. The imposing mass of fur, muscle, teeth, and claws would be enough to intimidate most, but Nienna knew him well enough to know his tough exterior only masked his kind heart. It was a trait not looked kindly upon the charr culture, so he kept it hidden, but it was one of her favorite qualities about him.

“With all due respect, Commander,” he began, putting a sharp emphasis on the word, “you took in a gladium who lost his warband and an asura scientist with crazy ideas, all without question. We’ve shared meals together. We’ve fought and bled together. This is my warband, and you are my commander. That’s enough for me.”

Alena looked up at Clarkus, her long ears drooping and then gently tapped his side with her staff. “My ideas aren’t crazy.”

“They’re crazy in the best way,” he replied, reassuring her with a toothy grin. The comment seemed to assuage the asura, and her ears perked right back up.

Touched by Clarkus’ words, Nienna offered her hand to the charr in a show of solidarity, and they clasped each other’s forearms. The charr’s paw nearly encompassed the entirety of the lower part of her limb, but he was gentle and careful not to extend his claws.

“I hope you still feel that way when this is all over,” she said.

The three were on their way back to the courtyard where they had left Dee and Tuborg when they heard the pair calling for them. Worried something was wrong, Nienna broke into a swift sprint, leaving Clarkus and Alena behind. The exertion took more effort than usual, and her chest felt like someone had grabbed her lungs and squeezed. Her body begged her to stop, but there was an urgency in Dee and Tuborg’s voices encouraging her to continue on in haste.

“What is it?” Nienna asked breathlessly as the group reconvened on the main path. Placing her hands on her hips, she bent over and took a few moments calm her burning lungs with steady breathing.

Tuborg pointed behind them. “We saw some of those mercenaries from the Priory camp,” Tuborg replied.

Nienna eyes went wide, and she snapped her gaze up at him. “Where?” Nienna asked.

Dee nodded. “It was that tall woman who brought out Seren and Salara at the camp. There was also another mercenary and two asura with her. Looked like they had bundles of supplies with them and were moving fast, heading south to the Eastern Watchpost”

“We need to go after them. Get the dolyak,” Nienna ordered.