The situation appeared kind of stable for the first ti since the invasion began.
High above Leonora, Erend and the other Dragonborn remained suspended in the night sky while quietly observing the kingdom below.
The evacuation efforts continued across the capital. Countless healers moved between temporary treatnt centers while soldiers and civilians worked together to clear debris and recover the wounded from damaged districts.
From this height the city resembled a living organism desperately repairing itself after suffering a terrible wound.
The four Dragonborn had decided to remain stationed here because Leonora currently held the five recovered fragnts of the Sky Anchor. If the Void Architect attempted another attack, this kingdom would almost certainly beco the primary target.
Yet hours continued passing without incident.
The sun had long disappeared beyond the horizon. Darkness covered the world and countless stars now filled the sky above. Even so, no portals appeared. No creatures erged and no signs of danger revealed themselves.
Gradually the tension among them began to ease. Perhaps the situation was not as dire as Erend feared.
Eccar folded his arms while looking down toward the city and said, "I’m going to help them. I can’t just stay idle up here."
"We are not staying idle," Aesa replied imdiately in her usual cold voice. "We’re watching for danger that could arrive at any mont."
"Yeah. Alright." Eccar shrugged. "But it doesn’t require all four of us to do it, does it?"
He turned toward Erend expectantly.
Erend noticed the look. For several monts he remained silent while considering the situation.
The city below seed calm. His instincts still warned him that sothing was wrong, but there was no imdiate threat visible anywhere.
Eventually he nodded. "Alright. We don’t all need to remain here. I’ll stay and continue recovering. The three of you can go down and help."
Eccar imdiately nodded as if he had expected that answer all along.
Without another word, he folded his wings and descended toward the city below.
Aesa remained where she was for several seconds before eventually following him.
Sylven was the last to leave. The Plant Dragonborn glanced at Erend briefly before descending after the others.
Soon Erend found himself alone. The vast sky stretched endlessly around him. The darkness felt larger now without the others nearby.
He slowly lifted his gaze toward the stars. There were so many of them. An endless sea of distant lights scattered across an impossibly large sky.
Even with all his power, Erend could not see where it ended. The thought made him uncomfortable. If the cosmos was truly that vast, then how many worlds existed among those stars?
How many civilizations? How many dangers? And more importantly... How many enemies?
Were there countless beings like the Void Architect scattered throughout existence?
Were there threats even greater than him waiting sowhere in that endless darkness?
The thought sent a chill through him. Erend imdiately shook his head. Thinking about such things only made him feel smaller and more helpless.
And if he allowed those thoughts to consu him, they would eventually beco fear. Fear would beco despair. Despair would beco paralysis.
He couldn’t allow that. He was a Dragonborn. He was supposed to help worlds survive disasters.
What kind of hero would he beco if he spent his ti staring into the abyss feeling sorry for himself?
A faint sigh escaped him. "No point thinking about that."
Instead, he forced his thoughts back toward the present. What would happen next? What was the Void Architect planning? And what could he do to stop it?
As he pondered those questions, a familiar voice suddenly echoed inside his mind.
"The signal has been lost."
Erend frowned imdiately.
The cold chanical voice belonged to Veyrun and nothing about those words sounded good.
"What do you an lost?"
"It is lost." The Administrator’s voice remained as emotionless as ever, yet Erend could sense unusual emphasis beneath the words. "I can no longer locate it. After the large fluctuation occurred, the signal suddenly disappeared."
Erend’s expression darkened. He slowly tilted his head upward while staring into the stars.
That was bad.
Very bad.
The only clue they possessed had vanished.
"What do we do now?" Erend asked. "We can’t lose that signal. It might be connected to whatever disaster the Void Architect is preparing."
"I know," Veyrun replied. "The System is attempting to locate it again."
Erend clenched his jaw..Frustration rose inside his chest. The feeling had been growing for hours.
Every answer seed to create more questions. Every clue led nowhere.
Finally he asked sothing that had crossed his mind countless tis.
"Can’t you find the Void Architect directly? If we knew where he was hiding, I could just attack him myself."
"No." The answer ca instantly. "He has concealed himself successfully for a very long ti. Locating him directly remains extrely difficult."
Erend sighed. That was exactly the answer he had expected. "Yeah. I figured."
For several monts he remained silent before speaking again.
"Then tell sothing else. Anything. Any information about the Void Architect or beings like him. Even sothing small might be useful."
This ti Veyrun paused. "I can do that."
Erend waited.
Then the Administrator began speaking.
"The Void Architect is not unique."
"What do you an?" Erend asked.
"The cosmos contains countless entities that exist on similar levels."
Erend blinked.
Veyrun continued.
"The universe you know is only a tiny fraction of existence. Beyond it are innurable worlds, dinsions, realities, and domains. Within those places reside beings whose power rivals the Void Architect."
Erend’s eyes widened slightly. "There are more of them?"
"Many more."
Veyrun continued explaining.
"So are naturally benevolent and devote themselves to protecting worlds. So are inherently destructive and spread suffering wherever they go. Others are entirely neutral. They neither help nor harm. They simply pursue their own goals and care nothing for concepts such as morality."
Erend listened quietly. But Veyrun wasn’t finished.
"Not all of them were born that way either. So began as mortals."
That made Erend freeze. "What?"
"So entities ascended. Through various ans they surpassed mortality and eventually reached levels of existence comparable to beings like the Void Architect."
For several monts Erend simply stared into space. The stars above suddenly felt different, much larger, much more intimidating.
He had always known the cosmos was vast.
But hearing it described this way made him realize how little he truly understood.
Compared to everything Veyrun described, his knowledge barely existed.
He had not even begun scratching the surface.
A tired laugh escaped him. "I feel very small right now."
For once, the Administrator’s response arrived imdiately.
"Do not worry. Most beings of that level rarely concern themselves with small worlds like this one. It is generally not worth their ti, effort, or attention."
The statent sounded suspiciously like reassurance.
Coming from anyone else, Erend might have laughed.
But hearing it from the normally emotionless Administrator felt strangely comforting.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Thanks, I guess."
Then Erend’s expression beca serious once again.
"Now let’s focus on the important problem. Keep searching for anything connected to the Void Architect. The signal. His movents. Anything. Maybe one of those beings will start moving, doing his bidding or sothing." We can’t afford to be caught off guard again."
"Understood. I will continue the search."
—
User Comments
0 comments from readers