As Related by Beat del N’stl’d, Drum Admiral of the Unified Fleet of Skarsia
We decide to stop at Shroomtown on the way, since the mushroom collection is an easy achievement. Thank goodness no one is required to eat the mushrooms.
The hovertrain slows unexpectedly. It goes into emergency mode, secondary lifters lowering it gently to the ground. More disturbingly, the sky begins to flicker like a failing fluorescent light. Then Ailann collapses.
« What’s happening? » Mickey yells.
« We’re cut off from the power grid, » says Balin. « Ailann is feeling it more than I am because Atlas and Goliath get a bigger power amplification from being tied into the grid. Ashvattha is only drawing enough power to support the colony, so there aren’t many crystals. »
« What does that mean? » I ask. « What’s going to happen? »
« The last time this happened, we emanated Chase, » says Cüinn. « He ended up with amnesia, and we couldn’t contact him at all, not even when Tara restored the Aion. He had to take Gyre in order to rejoin Atlas. »
« In other words, » says Blackjack, « it means we’re fucked. »
« No, » says Tielo, standing. « We’re not. »
I realize what he’s going to do. Yggdrasil was built to be a dynamo, using SongLuminant technology to tunnel its roots straight into the nul-universe. It was built as a war engine, but it’s barely tied to the grid at all, supporting only Nightside Station with its power.
Tielo is going to try to restore power without relying on the amplification effect from Skarsium crystals. He’s going to draw on Yggdrasil’s incredible potential.
But how can he? He hasn’t been recognized.
Tielo screams horribly. Lens and I rush to his side. His fists clench; his eyes burn with blue-white flame. The flame turns black-red, the strange energy signature of the Denolin Turym. It’s then I recall that Tielo isn’t quite human. Like Lucius, he incorporated something alien to better serve Tara. « I AM THE ARCHON OF NIGHTSIDE, » he cries.
We don’t see this side of him often. We tend to forget that he’s the one who was chosen to save Tara, to preserve her consciousness when her body was destroyed.
And then the lights come on. The sky clears; the train slowly lifts itself back to cruising altitude.
“His Most Sublime and Eminent Radiance Tielo del N’stl’d, Archon of Nightside. 42nd to emanate, 28 in the color scale, resonates to 107. 1.778 meters tall, cock size 17.15 cm when erect, apparent age 34. Dying God of Nightside. Totem is Tamarix aphylla, the Athel tree or tamarisk, fixed star is Thabit, the endurer. Esoteric symbol is the geomantic glyph Conjunctio, conjunction. Dessert is nau’gsh filled baumkuchen. Function is visionary resistance, proto-conscious tendency is cultivation, designated Till. Blazon is argent, an anarchonate cross, carmine.”
« I’m not sure I like the sound of Dying God, » mutters Lens.
« It’s nothing to worry about, » says Seth. « The dying god is the archetype capable of resurrection, a capacity we’ve seen in Tielo on several occasions. »
Despite Seth’s assurance, Tielo just doesn’t look…right. There’s a little bit of foam at the corner of his mouth.
« Who’s close to him? » asks Ailann.
There’s an awkward silence for a few moments before I answer. « I suppose any of us from Yggdrasil. There’s a certain closeness that comes from being a tree of few branches. »
« Multiple pollinations, » says Ace.
Lens coughs embarrassedly.
« In other words, no one, » says Daniel. « Another one who fell through the cracks. »
« That isn’t the whole truth, » says Balin. « It’s particularly hard for the Archons. »
« Or Archons in exile, » says Ailann. « Balin, what’s your situation? »
« Same as yours. I thought that maybe I could just grab control of the nodes on Shambhala. My reasoning was that a tree on Dolparessa wouldn’t be able to keep control of something so far away. But I was wrong. The pull is really, really strong. It feels like the nau’gsh is on Shambhala. »
« That’s impossible, » says Ailann. « There’s no way it could fight against Atlas and Goliath if that were the case. Even if we’re disconnected from the Staff. »
« Unless we’re dealing with another grove, » says Cüinn.
« That’s it, » says Lens. « I see it now. The most horrifying thing to happen, ever. »
« What? Another grove? »
He shakes his head. « Two Cu’enashti, » he says. « Two Cu’enashti with the same Chosen. »