The Sanctum


   We stayed at the campsite for two more days while pup regained her strength. The healing had brought her out of all danger but she still had to restore herself.
   On the evening of the second day, pup Changed to her wolf form to allow herself to feel the freedom of it. She and Tira took off into the forest to run and play.
   Andrys watched them as they disappeared into the trees. "I always wonder why she returns to me when she can have that."
   "She loves you, Andrys," Xiona said.
   "Yeah, I know, but she looks so free, like that."
   "Andrys, wolves mate for life," I said. "You couldn't chase her off. There's a lot about being a wolf that we can't explain. Just accept it."
   "OK," he said and returned to watching the fire.
   "Andrys, how long did you know the tavernkeeper?" I asked.
   "Oh, about 150 years. Why?"
   "Well, I was just thinking," I said and slipped into the wolven language. "If the Goddess turned him against us, then she can control others that care about us."
   "Yes, and?" Andrys said, in the same way.
   "I think I know what you are thinking, Honored One," Xiona said. "She could turn those of the keep against us as well, right?"
   "No," Andrys said. "They are friends, close family."
   I looked at him. "Her power is great and they might not be able to withstand it. Whatever they do would not be them it would be her. We can't take that risk. I think until we finish this we will have to avoid anyone we know. We cannot risk having to hurt them."
   "Honored brother, it is for the best." Xiona told him.
   "Agreed," Andrys said. "But, what do we do now?"
   "We find the Priests' old Sanctum and finish this."
   "Dan, do you know something we don't?" Xiona asked.
   "A lot of things actually, since our worlds are different, but concerning this, yeah I think I do."
   "What?" Andrys asked.
   "I think the mirrors that the Goddess uses are much like the Sphere. The are portals into the Mists. If we find the one in the Sanctum we can get in there. Then we can end this."
   "How did you come up with this?" Xiona asked.
   "Well, she used the mirror in the caves to come out of the Mists and thinking back, it looked similar in appearance to the surface of the Sphere."
   "Why can't we just use the mirror in the caves? Andrys asked. "At least we know where that one is."
   "Was," Xiona said. "Dan, well, sort of destroyed it."
   "Heck, I blew the whole area up," I said. "Besides, if the Lost Elves are still there, they will probably recognize us and I don't want to have to risk them. The Goddess will definitely use at least one of them to convince everyone else that the Priests were innocent and we murdered them."
   "So we are stuck." Andrys said. "We don't know where the old Sanctum is or even how to find it."
   "We know it must be relatively close." Xiona said.
   "How do we know that?" Andrys asked.
   "Well, Tariel's brother was there, remember. Then my people were in a village close to it. Now, does that bring up any memories."
   "Well, I know that there was a village east of here. How long it has been abandoned, I don't know." Andrys told us. Then his face lit up. "I think I've figured it out. There was an old keep just north of that village. It was a complete ruin, though. It was destroyed by something over 50 millennia ago."
   "Did you say, fifty thousand years ago?"
   "Yes, why?"
   "I think that's definitely it. The Goddess and the Lady both ascended that long ago. And the Oracle started the Order of Night then, as well."
   "What does that have to do with anything?" Xiona asked.
   Andrys caught the order of my thoughts. "Think about it. The Caverns of Night are close enough for the Oracle to get there."
   "I think that the Ascensions probably destroyed the keep. There could be a lot of free energy released at the time."
   "It fits," pup said, coming into the camp.
   "How long have you been listening?" Andrys asked.
   "Long enough. Tira suggested that we not interrupt your thoughts."
   "What do you mean, it fits?" Xiona asked.
   "Well, every story about ascension includes a description of the destruction. Fires are always part of the telling."
   "So, we know where to go to get into the Mists." Andrys said. "How do we actually use the mirror?"
   "Probably the same way we used the Sphere," I said. "I think the two objects will work together to allow us in."
   "Why don't we just use the Sphere, then?" Xiona asked.
   "It won't work," pup said. "It has become tuned to Dan. The Goddess and the Lady can use it to since they are already part of the Mists but we cannot. We will have to use the mirror."
   "OK, that tells us the way in. How do we stop the Goddess?"
   "We get in and force her to confront her sister," I said.
   "How do we do that?" Xiona asked.
   "I don't know, does anyone else have any ideas?"
   "Not yet," Andrys said. "Maybe the Lady does."
   "I get your point, I'll go ask."


   I entered the Mists, hearing a faint voice from behind me. "It's weird how he does that."
   This time, though, it was different. The clearing and pool were nowhere to be found. Instead a fog covered everything.
   "Please, don't be concerned," a young male voice said. "I need to talk to you and I'm not very good at this."
   "Who are you?" I asked, looking through the fog in the direction of the voice.
   "I don't remember. I just need this to end."
   "Where are you?"
   "Over here, follow my voice."
   I walked through the Mist until I stood before a young Elven boy. He looked to be about eight, in human terms.
   "I'm much older than I look. Don't worry, I didn't read your thoughts, I can't do that. I've just gotten very good at telling what people are doing by looking at them. I've had enough practice watching," the boy said ruefully.
   "What are you doing here?"
   "I'm not sure. All I know is that the Goddess is somehow blocking me from moving on. She doesn't even know I exist but she blocks my way somehow."
   "What do you mean?"
   "You saw what happened to Lord Tevanor. What do you think? I just want to continue on my journey but I can't leave here."
   "How long have you been stuck here?"
   "I don't know. Forever, a year, an eon, a day. It doesn't matter, there is no time. I just want this to end."
   "OK, what does that have to do with me?"
   "I know what you are trying to do. I also know how to end this. I saw the Goddess ascend and I know how to defeat her."
   "How?"
   "With the blood of sacrifice. There are two ways, the first is to use the weapon that she used to make her sacrifice and the other is to use the blood of a willing sacrifice. Either one can hurt her."
   "OK, well , the weapon she used to kill her Love is about 50 thousand years old, it probably isn't around anymore. I don't plan on killing anyone to get to her."
   "No, the weapon is still around. One of the effects of ascension is the preservation of the weapon. The dagger is still in Rewlante keep. It is in the room with the mirror. Those were the most holy objects that the Order of Silver had. The dagger is a part of the design of the mirror."
   "Why would they keep something that can kill their Goddess as a treasure?"
   "They don't know its power, neither does she. She has it kept as a reminder of her power. I think though that she actually, in some way, does know what it can do. I think she wants this to end."
   "Why?"
   "She never enjoyed her gift and she just wants to be loved. Her sister could always have that assurance, she never did."
   "How do you know this."
   "As I said, I have had a lot of time to watch. That's all I can do."
   "So, from what you say, we need to get that dagger and use it to kill her?"
   "Yes, either that or get a willing sacrifice."
   "I told you, I have no plans on killing anyone else to get to her."
   "I understand."
   "Why didn't you tell someone earlier?"
   "Hey, I've been trying. This isn't easy. The Lady and the Goddess both had the power of their Loves to help them control the Mists, I'm alone. And tired."
   "OK."
   "Now, please, go. I don't want anyone to find me."
   "Why not? At least the Lady and the Oracle would be company."
   "I can't explain. I'm not sure why but I think I'm responsible for them being here too."
   And with that he backed away into the Mist.


   "Dan, may we help you?"
   I turned to see the Lady and the Oracle. They were sitting in front of the pool.
   "What is wrong, child?" The Lady asked.
   "Nothing," I said. "I just got turned around."
   "Easy to do, here," the Oracle said, laughing.
   "Have either of you ever heard of a story about the blood of the sacrifice killing someone who ascended?"
   They looked at each other.
   "Yes," the Lady said. "That would definitely kill my sister. I was hoping for a better way."
   "I'm sorry, but we haven't found another."
   "Then do what you must," the Lady said. She buried her head into her Love's shoulder and cried.


   I returned from the Mist and looked around at my friends. "I know what will work," I said.


   We broke camp and started east. We avoided all settlements and went around anyone we saw. It wasn't that we wanted to, we just had to ensure that the Goddess had a little chance to interfere as possible.
   It took us nearly a week to find the ancient keep. The stone walls were crumbling. The once silver stone was now a dull gray.
   Entering the keep we started searching for where the sanctum would be. They outer keep was a ruin and well had to work our way into the halls. Eventually we found a stair leading down.
   Drawing his sword, Andrys led the way into the dim stairwell.
   I motioned for pup to follow him, then Xiona and Tira. I took up the rear position.
   We emerged from the stairs in a long corridor. Andrys led the way down to a broken door.
   We entered the room beyond. It had once been a throne room. The old throne still sat on a dais. Next to it was an ornate mirror, glowing softly in the gloom.
   I heard movement behind us and motioned for everyone to get into the room and get ready, just in case.
   From behind the throne a man stood and shouted, "Now!"
   Hidden doors opened all around the room. Men and women poured out of the doors, including the one we had just come through. Torches on the wall flared to life as they entered, swords drawn, hatred on their faces.
   The man behind the throne moved around to sit. It was the man from the Tavern.
   "Did you really think that the Goddess couldn't understand you? That she was so feeble as to let a simple thing as language hold her back? After she figured out what you were doing she merely captured some of the pathetic creatures and tortured them until one finally taught her the language. It was amusing. The one that broke did so to protect the survivors of the pack. His hind leg still was damaged from my trap but he tried to protect the pack after she slit the throat of the pack leader."
   "Bastard," pup said.
   "Oh, don't worry, they didn't suffer, long," he laughed.
   "Now, its time to end this charade. Kill them all."
   With that, we were attacked.
   I grabbed my cross and pulled. As before, my sword appeared in my hand. The first man upon me didn't have time to react as I slit his throat with a weapon he didn't know existed.
   Throughout the battle I caught glimpses of the others. pup had Changed and was fighting alongside Tira as a wolf. Xiona was throwing fire at anyone who came near her. Andrys was using his own fire. His sword blazed hotter and brighter than I had ever seen as he fought his way toward the throne.
   I parried the thrust of someone and ran them through as I realized what Andrys had in mind. "pup, defend the sides of Yours, Tira help her. Xiona and I will cover your backs."
   We fought to get ourselves into position to protect each other. Our attackers just kept coming at us.
   We were beginning to tire when I decided that this was enough. There were too many of them to defeat. I returned my sword to its cross shape and drew my pistol. The next person to come at me died, his face gone.
   I started firing and quickly our attackers realized that they couldn't win this fight. The reach of my gun was too far. As one, their spirits broke and they ran.
   I turned to see, Andrys slice open one last adversary on his way toward the man at the throne.
   He had moved to the mirror.
   "Stop," he said, grabbing and old dagger from the scroll-work at the base of the mirror. "This is what you want, right? Then come and get it."
   "Andrys, wait," I said, seeing something in the mirror.
   Within the glowing darkness, the Goddess moved, coming to enter this world.
   The man laughed, "Welcome, Goddess."
   Andrys launched himself at the man, his sword blazing. The man dropped the knife and started to run.
   "Coward," the Goddess said, as she reached through the mirror with a clawed hand to rip open her servants' chest.
   I ran to grab the dagger and thrust it into the claw. The Goddess screamed as she drew her hand back into the mirror. The dagger slipped from my grip as she withdrew into the Mists.
   When the point of the dagger touched the mirror's surface, it exploded, throwing pieces of glass around the room and us to the floor.
   When we could finally stand, battered, bloody, and bruised, the mirror was in pieces and the dagger destroyed.


   We all gathered around the broken mirror.
   Andrys picked up a shard of the glass and threw it across the room in disgust.
   "Now what?" Xiona asked. "That was the last way into the Mists."
   "Not quite," I said, quietly.
   "What do you mean, Dan?" pup asked.
   "There are two ways into the Mists, one is using an artifact like the mirrors or the Sphere."
   "Yeah, but the mirrors are all destroyed and the Sphere is changed so that it only works for you," Andrys pointed out.
   "What's the other way, Dan?" Xiona asked.
   Instead of answering, I took off my necklace and opened the clasp. I then pulled my wedding ring from my finger and looped the chain through it.
   "What are you doing?" Andrys asked.
   "Providing both the path and the weapon to destroy the goddess," I said drawing the knife Xiona had given me. I wrapped the necklace around the blade.
   "Is this the only way?" Tira asked, knowing before the others what I planned.
   "I think so."
   "Dan, what do you think you are doing?" Andrys asked, again.
   "I told you, providing the path." I looked at my friends. "Look Xiona, being Magi, has the best chance at getting at the Goddess. You and pup have to make sure she gets that chance. Tira, being a wolf, is immune to the Goddess' gift. She may be able to help.
   "I've served my purpose, here. If the mirror hadn't broken I would be going with you. But now, the only way in is through sacrifice."
   Andrys started towards me but Tira stood in his way. He stopped, amazed that the wolf would allow this.
   "Andrys, don't, this is hard enough as it is."
   "Don't you care about your own life?" he asked.
   "Andrys, let him be," Xiona said.
   "Why, so he can kill himself?"
   "No, Mine, so we can save both our world and his," pup told him.
   "I'm sorry, brother, but this is the only way left."
   Andrys stared at me and finally nodded.
   I looked once at the knife in my trembling hands and placed it against my chest. "I'm sorry, Tammy, I love you," I said as I thrust it into my chest.
   As the knife pierced my heart, I saw the Mists open.
   Trying to ignore the pain I felt, I said, "Go on finish this," and fell to the ground.