Either way the constant presence of the Nether pushed most people into frantically played wargames This was our only real hobby as well as training for combat I found it less than compelling Our historian was often disappointed in my lack of interest but I was a Last For every one last that innovated for the Aether beings a hundred disappointed This just cemented in his mind that I was a placeholder a cup to hold life energy until I grew tired of life and gave myself to form children
Gradually as Yystrix was speaking the details of the game below them came into sharper focus Specifically a certain piece simply shaped like a pillar became so clear that Randidly vaguely sensed image energy emanating off of it Of course this wasnÆt a real phenomenon but much more likely the effect of how much importance a powerful individual like Yystrix placed on the piece in her own memory
A wildfire of meaning raged around that pillar of orange stone as it sat in one of the small squares on the chessboard Randidly could see the thousands of connections that spread outward moments in the future that Yystrix would someday attribute to this pillar at this moment The memory around Randidly began to shudder as it tried to withstand that heavy meaning
The blue figure gestured and a blurry piece lifted off the ground floated forward and crashed into the side of the pillar The pillar swayed and then toppled over hitting the ground and cracking into several pieces Even as the two figures spoke to each other with blurry words that Randidly couldnÆt understand he followed Yystrix’s gaze Her eyes were locked onto the shattered pillar looking at the glittery silver grey ore revealed in the heart of the pillar The shaking of the memory grew worse
I was quite inspired by that destruction The memory around them physically shattered and suddenly Randidly (who watching through Yystrix) was back within the tower At this point in time she was slightly older and living now on the 93rd floor of this slightly creepy building One of her rooms had been converted into a workshop and Randidly saw a blurry figure filled with red light waiting expectantly while Yystrix was carving a piece for him For the first time in my life I saw how something that was less than whole could be beautiful And as it turned out the rest of my people shared that aesthetic
Essentially every one of the 511 other individuals living in the tower wanted to have me carve their wargame pieces The historian wanted an official set for the Grand Arena which was where the yearly wargame tournaments was fought And then as though as an afterthought the priest mentioned that his son wanted to commission some pieces as well For a wargame rule variantÆ
The vision in front of Randidly shifted Yystrix was walking along what appeared to be a dried river bed with high stone walls on either side of her As far as Randidly could tell everything in the area around the Tower to Heaven was some variation of red or orange Even the clouds were maroon The furthest thing was the brown scrubby plants but his overall impression was that this was a barren land filled with swirling dust
If not for the light blue sword of the tower thrust into this ground it would be an entirely dead place
After a few more minutes of walking Yystrix walked around a bend and into a memory that was perfectly clear Again this was a place heavy with the image of what was to come Whereas the pillar had raged with wild flames this memory was cold and sticky like the scales of a tuna pulled out of the sea There was something strangely claustrophobic to the pulses of images in the surrounding air
And standing in a particularly flat area of the river bed of the memory surrounded by misshapen lumps of stone was an individual As opposed to the bright colors of most of the Aether people that Randidly had seen this one stood out His light was monochrome he was filled with waves of white and grey interspersed with thin lines of black
The figure walked forward Hello IÆm Elhume ItÆs nice to meet you
The area around these two rapidly compressed as though a wrathful god was squeezing the edges of the memory and crumpling it into a ball The body of that cold tuna stretch and contort into a python that squeezed that moment to a pulp The orange highlands and the dusty river bed and the maroon clouds and even the Tower to Heaven were folded over drawn and warped by the weight of this meeting
Elhume spoke about the new rules he wanted to make for the wargame but to Yystrix those words were blurry Instead she was mesmerized by the black arcs that spun in his chest as he spoke They were only the slightest portion of his light but they caught the eye They rippled like colored ink dropped into water They seemed to dance as he spoke
The surrounding rumbling grew louder as the fist that squeezed this memory tightened The chill intensified Randidly couldnÆt help but feel apprehensive as he felt the destructive power of the image that was annihilating this place But finally ElhumeÆs words came back into focus add some spice to the wargames donÆt you think By the way where do you get your inspiration for your carvings They really are something
Yystrix shrugged I guess sometimes you need to take something away to make it beautiful
If only I hadnÆt told him that Yystrix continued to exhale her existence continuing to dwindle
Chapter 1434
LetÆs speed things up a bit shall we Yystrix continued after a particularly long breath into the silence I made those special pieces for him and they were very well received Many praised him for his vision in commissioning them This was where most of the support for Elhume becoming the next historian began People said he combined the best of a First and Last He understood tradition and could innovate Plus he had been taught by the current historian It was as though he was born for the role
The memory shifted and that horrible image of destruction associated with Elhume was pushed back It howled at the edges of the new memory whirling around the current oasis like a grudge holding sandstorm Elhume and Yystrix were sitting on a high column of orange rock watching the plateau below Elhume was talking and Yystrix was just listening to his blurry words
Elhume pursued me for a long time before I could trust him Even then I could see the violence of his emotions Especially when it involved the Nether But in the end I truly did love him Because for every bit of rage he would use to lash out at the Nether he would turn double back on himself For being too weak For being so helpless in the face of the problems plaguing our people
He was determined to be the one who would lead us back to Eden It was the home our people deserved he would say It was stolen from us he would insist The people of Nether had the key to returning and they kept it from us
Yet even he admitted that as far as we could tell from the records of our bitter war with them neither side had an advantage Our combat strength was equal despite our innovations to the wargames that we played Aether defended the tower Nether defended the Sinkhole Suddenly Randidly could sense a smile in YystrixÆs voice Which in my heart only served to prove how useless these games we were so obsessed with were
The memory shifted again to an open air amphitheater With long strides surrounded by blurry figures bright with color Elhume with dense cords of black light in his chest ascended to the stage The crowd began to cheer To the surprise of no one Elhume became our historian Yet rather than being happy his depression grew To suit his new role the standards to which he held themselves were hoisted beyond the realm of possibility Almost overnight he transformed into a man possessed
The historians I suspect now had a bit of extra information about the true situation of my people Being faced with that truth broke Elhume in a very vital way just as it had with most other historians in the past
Toward the end in that brief happy time after I brought my son back for his help Elhume showed me some of his fatherÆs musings although not the records that led his father to create such strange and ominous ramblings In essence the former historian believed that the Aether people had never left the promised land The dead land in which we now lived was the very Eden we always dreamt about