"I'd Sacrifice Every Speck of Magic I Have"
Terranthea
While they slept, angel fever gripped the world. Those in power took notice. The ones who weren't under demon control thought nothing of it. A series of internet hoaxes. Nothing more. Those who were controlled by demons were very worried. Whatever these angels were, they were bad for their agenda.
"Is it witch tricks?" a city councilman in Nova Aurelea asked the mayor. They knew the Crowley's lived in Nova Aurelea and were enemy number one of the demons. The councilman wasn't demon spawn yet. He was only a small lackey.
The mayor, however, was demon spawn. He looked like a dapper man with brown skin with dark freckles. His black hair was slicked back. He used to have deep crow's feet around his eyes, but they'd disappeared. He was over sixty but was beginning to look like he was in his forties. It was part of his deal with his demon.
He sneered. "What else can it be? Have you seen the ruins of the Crowley house? We can't even find the Heck Mausoleum. I just don't know how they do it. According to my advisor, it shouldn't be possible," he said. He was gripping a stress ball tightly and it exploded in his hand. He sneered in disgust. His enhanced strength was also part of his deal.
Similar conversations were happening everywhere. The culprits shouldn't be one single witch family. Even demons couldn't spontaneously travel vast distances in minutes. No angel sighting was ever more than ten minutes apart.
As for deleting the videos? That was even more impossible. Not only were they organically catching on with real netizens, but bots would also constantly repost them. It was infuriating. Demon spawn and pawns were worried.
Demons were also worried. They knew even the Crowley witches weren't capable of this. They did know that the Crowley witches were neck deep in it. They had to find out what was going on and get rid of them once and for all.
--
Nova Aurelea
When Britiana gave her stance some of the Crowley's gaped, but Delaney and Amalthea were calm. Delaney already had an inkling that's what they were thinking. Amalthea had thought long ago that that might be the only way to rid the world of demons forever.
"Can you do that?" Phryne asked quietly.
Britiana shook her head. "No one on Emphyralis can. Not for another thousand years or so until our current mages live up to their potential," she answered. Before they could be disheartened, she smiled. "But your mother and Aunts will be able to in less than a hundred years," she said.
"Will it be that soon?" Delaney asked. She knew what Britiana was referring to. She was referring to Mage Tiers. They classified her as an upper fourth tier mage. Her mother and aunts were stronger than her, so they were probably also upper fourth tier mages. It was obvious Britiana meant they could become fifth tier mages. Fifth tier mages would be able to seal the Lower Realm.
"You don't have to be fifth tier, but from what I understand, there's this..." she literally grasped for the word, "build-up...of energy when one is on the cusp of ascending to fifth tier from fourth tier. The energy gathers and gathers. Anyway, it could take a long time to gather. But with the right application of magic, we can tap into that energy and use it for a big spell. The drawback is that it will...set you back a tier. You'd all have to start over again at upper third or lower fourth," she said.
"I'd sacrifice every speck of magic I have," Deianira said firmly. The others agreed with her.
"What are tiers referring to?" Amalthea asked curiously.
"It's a way of ranking magic," Delaney answered simply. She then explained what Britiana had explained to her before about the tiers and her experience being registered. The Crowley's listened raptly. They couldn't wait.
Is everyone done eating?" Darius asked, noticing a lull in conversation. Everyone agreed. "Then, let's get the other family and head to Emphyralis," he said.
"We'll bring them," Helena said as she and Honora stood.
Darius nodded. "We'll go back, take care of a few things and come back tomorrow. We still need a guide in this world," he said.
"I have to come back to monitor the network. Some of the angel sightings will make the mortals hesitate but not the demons. The demons know angels aren't real," Lysithea said.
"The rest of us will take turns accompanying you if needed," Amalthea said with authority.
Darius nodded in agreement. He started putting away some of the empty food baskets. The Crowley's helped clean and took the dishes to wash while everyone waited for Honora and Helena to return.
--
Silvermoon, Emphyralis
Raven was sitting in a rocking chair that she had moved into the portal room. She was rocking gently as she read through one of the books Britiana brought back from Thelessia. Some of the spells inside are redundant. There are more efficient or powerful ways to do the same thing, however, some of them were novel.
She was petting a cat. It seemed to be Mrs. Schumacher's cat. It had taken a liking to her and demanded to get in her lap as soon as she sat down. She didn't have to sleep or eat, so she stayed in the portal room the whole time. When the guard shifts changed, they greeted her and went about their duties.
Well, the Dragons greeted her. The Noxies stared at her for a few moments until she dismissed them. There was something about the Earthborne that the Noxies seemed to venerate. Technically, they were both Fae type creatures. The earth elementals, the Oreads, despite being very similar in form and function, were the same way. An Oread had once told her nephew that despite being the same kind, it may be the difference between being created on purpose rather than by accident. The Elementals were created during the formation of Emphyralis. The Earthborne were naturally occurring creatures of Cruinog.
Suddenly, the cat lifted its head, ears perked, body tense, tail tip twitching, pupils dilating as it stared into the center of the room.
"Hmm? Are they coming?" she wondered. "It'd been less than a day," she murmured to herself. She put the book away and shooed the cat. The cat ran to a corner to watch. She stood as the lines of the array began to shimmer, moving along, and glowing as the spell engaged. The glow brightened and people suddenly appeared in the center.
Raven raised her brows. Nothing went wrong. It worked perfectly! She tried to tamp down her excitement. Even though this meant that it could facilitate travel between Emphyralis and Cruinog, she still tried to tamp down her enthusiasm.
"Welcome back," she greeted. Sariya, Britiana, ZsaZsa and Delaney accompanied a small family of five. She understood that this probably wasn't Delaney's aunts. She never mentioned men or children in her family.
"Step aside, quickly," Britiana said and then smiled in greeting Raven. Everyone scurried off the array. Within a few minutes, Darius, his guards, and the remaining Crowley's appeared.
The little Shaunessy family felt overwhelmed, although the children were bright eyed and excited.
The guards on duty, Delia and Wallace, came to check on everything. "Welcome back my lord, my lady," they greeted with short bows.
Darius nodded. "Register the newcomers. I'm going to the office," he said. "You two, go rest," he instructed Lazarus and Amadeus. The two bowed and the three left the portal room.
"Let's go into the library. Have Mrs. Shumacher bring us some tea, please," Britiana said to one of the guards. She led everyone out of the portal room and into the library. "Okay, everyone sit," she said, gesturing to the couches. She took out a stack of papers and ink styluses. She gestured to Raven and ZsaZsa and moved to a table. She gave a set to Raven and ZsaZsa they spread out and sat at the table as well. "Pick a person and fill in your basic information. Name, age, don't worry, we'll figure out your Emphyralian birth year, things like that," she instructed.
This was something that would need a dedicated person to do in the future, but for now, as the closest thing to civil servants there were, the three of them took care of it. The group of eleven immigrants gave their basic information. It was bare bones. Name, age, sex, species, and health conditions that they were aware of that needed special attention. Sometime during the process, Mrs. Shumacher brought tea and served the guests. She even brought sweets for the children.
When they were done, Britiana gathered up the forms. They weren't completely filled out. The last bit would be filled out manually. She also put a stack of silver scale tokens. They were temporary permission tokens. She also took out a small container with silver needles. "Now to test," she said, looking at Raven.
Raven understood and pulled out a testing stone. "Just touch the stone and channel your magic into it," she explained.
"When I call your name," Britiana said. "Deianira," she said.
Deianira touched the stone and did as instructed. The stone lit up with a green energy and eventually formed a symbol. After a few moments Raven nodded. "Upper fourth tier. Wood attribute," she announced.
Britiana jotted that down. She set a token, paper, and silver needle in front of Deianira. "A drop of blood on the form to verify everything is correct on the paper and a drop of blood on the token to bind it. Permission tokens allow you to move around Silvermoon for six months. Applications for permanent residency, traveling, or higher permissions will be discussed at a later date. As of now, without a token you can't even step foot outside without being arrested," she explained.
Deianira didn't object. She picked a fresh needle. She poked her finger. She looked over the form, nodded and touched her finger to it and then the blank token. She raised her brows when information appeared on it briefly before fading. She put it into her storage equipment. She went back and sat down.
Britiana put the verified paper in another pile. "David Shaunessy," she called out.
"Upper first-tier; Wood attribute."
"Amalthea."
"Upper fourth-tier; Air."
"Helena."
"Upper fourth-tier; Water."
"Corinne."
Corinne looked distressed. "My powers are bound," she explained.
"It's okay. Test anyway," Raven assured her.
Corinne touched the stone and channeled into it. It barely lit up blue and formed a symbol.
"No tier; Water," Raven finally announced. She smiled kindly.
Corinne nodded and moved to verify her information.
"Piper," Britiana called.
Raven watched the child approach.
Raven smiled. "Just touch the stone, dear and concentrate on it," she encouraged.
Piper beamed and touched the stone. She stared at it and crinkled her small face. The stone turned green and formed a symbol.
"No tier; Wood," she said.
Kathleen came up and helped Piper verify her form. "Do we have to use blood for the children?" she asked.
"Piper, yes. The baby, no. Spit will work for her," Britiana answered and then dug through the papers and drew out Penelope's paper. Kathleen took care of the two children. Piper was very brave, getting her finger pricked. Penelope was a slobbery mess anyway, so getting spit was not a problem.
The rest of the process went smoothly. Honora was an upper fourth-tier; light attribute. Kathleen was a no tier; water attribute. Lysithea was upper fourth tier, fire attribute. And Phryne was a middle third tier; sonic attribute.
Afterwards, Delaney took her family upstairs to see the owner's suite while Britiana had Mrs. Shumacher take the Shaunessy family to their rooms.
Britiana looked at the stack of papers. "We'll need Drakes. I'll talk to Delaney about hiring some," she mused.
"I'll take them to the registrar's office," ZsaZsa volunteered. She didn't do much in the last part of the process. The least she can do is turn in the paperwork. Britiana agreed and handed over the papers to her to take care of.
--
Meanwhile, in the office, Darius had informed his parents that they were back, but they'd be leaving again as soon as he arranged a few things. Here, he suggested bringing other nations into the fold.
"We can't initiate contact with their leaders until the demon problem is taken care of, but there are witchborn being persecuted all over their world. I also have five captured demons. I'm willing to let them study in exchange for volunteers to live on the planet and facilitate the rescue of the witchborn," he explained to them.
Chrystianna and Elias listened to him. She nodded. "Hold on a second, I'll add them to this call," she said. Soon, the faces of five other women appeared from the stone. Even Morganna was included.
Christianna informed them of the purpose of the meeting. "Go ahead, Darius. Tell them your plans," she said and took a step back.
Darius was nervous but didn't let it show on his face. He explained the situation of Terranthea and the operation they pulled off. He then explained his thoughts to them.
"Eventually, I predict a large influx of refugees looking for shelter when more witchborn realize what's happening, therefore I want to expand the bomb shelter to be a temporary way station. I need to expand it, so I need a Topaz or an Oread to help me expand the room a bit. I also need staff that can live on Terranthea semi-permanently, including a Technomage or two that can learn their technology.
"Drakes and guards that can appear as 'angels' when needed. Logistics staff to take care of the incoming people. I invite participation. I have five captive demons for study. Our goal is to seal off the Lower Realm from the Mortal Realm. We can only do that by studying the demons," he finished and waited for them to speak.
Sonja spoke first. "I'll send Troi and some other logistics staff for the way station," she said. This seemed like a good assignment for Troi, plus from what she understood, he suited the physical description of an angel. Zane, who was nearby, agreed with a nod. "We'll be glad to study the demons. We'd also like to purchase some of the cloaks you mentioned," she said with a slight smirk.
"I can't speak to that. They're Britiana's design and made with Patternwoven fabric from another of our mages," Darius hesitated. "There will be cloaks provided for the guards sent for the mission," he added. They may have to share as they go out. He had to discuss this with Britiana. She'd never said one way or another whether she was open to providing them for military purposes, but they would need a few more for their disguise ability. "You are welcome to keep the ones sent with the demons," he added.
Sonja nodded understandingly. "Then that will be a separate issue," she said. "I'll send a detailed list of personnel to the Grand Duchess before sending people. It should be done by the end of the day," she said firmly.
"Thank you, Duchess Starshadow," Darius said.
"We'll also help. I'll contact Faina Duneseer for Technopaths. We can also send a few Electrokinetic guards in case you need metal working for the shelter," Elektra said. "I'll also send a list over. We'll also take a demon for study," she said.
"You can count us in," Avalon said next.
"And us. I'll send Truthcallers and Oathkeepers as well as guards and some logistics personnel," Isolde said.
"I will ask Kahlan for help finding a Topaz volunteer or two. They're free spirits so it may not be easy," Morganna said with a slight frown. "I wish I could do more," she added.
Chrystianna smiled. "Once we perfect the transfer spell, you won't have to worry so much about being cut off," she assured. Morganna smiled gratefully.
"Please keep the list of logisticians to a minimum. There isn't much room right now for too many people," Darius said.
"Don't worry. We understand," Sonja assured him.
Darius acknowledged with another nod. "Then I thank you all," he said formally. They soon ended the call. Only Chrystianna and Elias were left. "Mom, can you send me some Drakes? I need to send the demons out," he said.
"What will you do with the last one? Your father is leaving soon, and you may not have the time to study it yet," Chrystianna asked. "I will let Deputy Darovan and Ysandar arrange it with the Head Healer," he answered. In his estimation, studying the demons would be a collaboration between the military, mages and healers.
"That works," Chrystianna said. She was thoughtful for a moment. "Son, you and Britiana find something interesting to send to Sonja's girls from Terranthea. Their father's funeral is tomorrow, but we will, understandably, not be attending. However, the girls are probably having a hard time. Something novel and interesting may cheer them up for a while."
"There are quite a few novel things there. We'll find something," he assured her.
"We'll let you go," Elias said suddenly. He didn't have long left and wanted to spend more time with Chrystianna. Even his children could be sidelined.
Darius nodded. "All right. Good-bye for now. Go with peace, Dad. Good luck," he said and ended the call. While waiting, he took out the encapsulated demons and decided which ones to keep and which to send.
Soon, four Drakes popped into the office. They found perches nearby. "We've come to make deliveries, boss," a red Drake said and presented his pouch.
"We was also told ta stay around here. Says an old lady named Shumacher will feed us," a brownish green Drake added.
Darius jotted four notes instructing the activation and deactivation of the cloaks and whether they had a full demon or demon spawn. He folded them and wrote the names of each matron. He gave an encapsulated demon, a letter, and a coin to each of the Drakes and sent them off.
That done, he stood up and left the office to see how Britiana was getting on.