(A closed, solo follow-up to “The Redemption of Tylermande”)


1. THE AWAKENING

The how, why, when, and whom were nearly impossible, but the where – the where was easy.

Raiera.

The Red Forest was unmistakable; the sun’s rays sprayed crimson down upon the forest floor, once golden streams casting a scarlet hue as light filtered through the thin, broad leaves of the forest’s canopy. Deep below, the earth was rich, ripe, and fertile; the verdant green growth only appeared sickly and stained in the harsh hue that painted this section of the world. The vibrant scent of healthy, plentiful flora was omnipresent, a sweetness of wide-sprung flowers and well-watered, nutrient-rich soil. The wizard Storm Veritas listened to the forest speak in chirps and coos as he considered how he had arrived.

He had been chasing Arius Mephisto, lured into a portal that sent him across continents. Arius was a sorcerer of near-limitless power; he had shown the ability to both manipulate his physical form and time itself. They were close to this monster; the trio of truly incredible leaders of the Brotherhood. They were likely Corone’s last collective chance. Now, the livelihood of Tylermande, Whitevale, and all Corone remained a mystery. Sadly, the whereabouts and welfare of Felicia Rhyolite and his dear friend Shinsou were mysteries as well.

That son of a bitch got me. A simple mousetrap tailor-made for an impulsive idiot, and I fucking fell for it. Could Shin -possibly- have survived?

Shinsou Vaan Osiris was brethren to him; by being tricked into this portal, the magician had terribly failed the only man who consistently stood by his side. Now Shinsou was alone with the promising but green Felicity, hundreds of miles away, isolated in the world against the invincible evil known as Arius.

Storm’s mind swirled as he scanned about him; there were so many questions. The chirps of birds and dull hum of boundless bugs fell into a singular white noise as he tried to sort and catalogue his confusion. There was no swirling portal here now, no doorway to the other side. His memory from the opening of the door to what he felt held Arius to here was but a blink, with no explanation offered. There was no “between” to explain the gap from Whitevale to Raiera; there was only “A” and “B”.

There was nothing he could do to help the Brotherhood from here. A bitter pill rose in his throat; Arius Mephisto had won. Without the strength of their union at full force, it seemed impossible to even consider taking on a monster who could manipulate both his form, and the passage of time. Even in their home town of Whitevale, a space that Storm and Shinsou knew intimately, the enemy was able to divide and conquer largely unscathed. He seemed more powerful, more prepared, more centered, and far wiser.

You’re so fucking stupid. You may have killed Shinsou by being the vindictive fool you pretended not to be.

The traveler felt the fire within him flare again, an anger stoked by the insecurity borne of one more powerful than he. It was rare to be completely outclassed; for his faults Storm Veritas had grown into a sorcerer whose name alone cast silence upon those who understood it. To strangers, he was the arrival of terror.

Alone in the woods, there was no one to impress or intimidate. No wills to bend based on fear and the primal instinct of self-preservation. There was only red, and the crimson-stained overgrowth. He knew these woods; night wood fall soon and it was a punishing sort of darkness; a seemingly endless black and silence interrupted only by the approach of a terrible cast of characters that sought easy meals in the darkness. Fire was the antivenom; it served as a panacea here against the surprise cold that night carried, and tended to terrify the creatures that preferred to hunt in absolute darkness.

Fire was easy; a frequent guest of the lightning. Sizing up a juvenile dogwood, the wizard danced his fingertips together, creating the static flow that would conjur a small, measured burst of white, ozone-rich energy. Sadly, his child failed to answer the call. The lightning magics which had become his horrifying fingerprint were nowhere to be seen. Reflexively he pulsed electromagnetic energy beneath his feet, hoping to fly but finding no relief from the damp forest floor.

No. Shit, no. No!

His powers stripped, Storm Veritas presumed he had conflated Raiera with hell.