Elegy for a Star

Gwen left Tess and Mairaela to discuss whatever it was they were talking about. She was more concerned with what she just saw. It was watching them, whatever it was. She opened the door to Joyona’s room.

The room looked to be a small chapel. There were only a few paces from end to end, but set up just opposite from the door was a small shrine. The candles had long since burnt away and the cup of incense sticks was shattered upon the floor. 

A foot-tall, stone statue was present, showing a man with outstretched wings and a beautiful face. He was dressed in armor and armed with a spear in one raised hand. Its other arm was missing. Below it was some old Court-tongue scribbling. Gwendolyn had an upbringing that taught the Fey language, so she managed to discern the writing as: “Arkaid, God of Peace.” It was a god she’d never heard of. One of the Old Gods, no doubt. Is that who made this section of the Void? Was Arkaid here somewhere?

Each of the Old Gods in the Black Sun were supposed to manage their own particular pocket within the celestial object. When that god was killed, the pocket closed. This is how they would eventually defeat the black sun, by toppling the thrones of the gods who abandoned them.

Gwendolyn heard some murmuring around the corner, behind some of the makeshift benches and bookshelves. It was Joyona’s voice, but Gwendolyn couldn’t hear it clearly. She was speaking to someone.

Gwen knew that no one else should be in the room, so she grew concerned that Joyona may be in danger, and she slipped through the room, ready to summon her blade once more.

“...been kind to me… save the.… can you do…”

Gwendolyn cursed herself for not having Mairaela’s sense of hearing right now. Who was Joyona speaking to?

Despite her better judgment, she decided to announce herself. She shouldn’t be spying on her own team. She needed to give Joyona the benefit of the doubt. “Joyona? Is there someone else here?” Gwendolyn asked.

There was a pause in the language, a shifting of plates of armor. Joyona rounded the bookshelf, looking as passive as ever. She was in her plainclothes. Brown trousers and a light shirt, tied in the front with lace. She appeared mannish rather than womanly, which seemed to fit the Evigkin’s stature. Gwendolyn didn’t know enough about the Cairnfolk to know if giant women were usually like that.

“No,” Joyona replied.

“I thought I heard you talking.”

Joyona nodded her head, “I was.”

Perhaps Joyona was praying. This is a shrine after all. But wouldn’t she be praying to an old god, if that was the case? Suddenly the giant woman looked quite imposing and ominous. Gwendolyn tried to bury that feeling deep inside. She didn’t want to think about fighting the juggernaut a second time. One mistake and it’s all over with Joyona, and she doesn’t quit so long as that armor’s on.

“Okay,” Gwendolyn replied, deciding not to press the attack, “Well, the others are getting ready to head out. I know you can get your armor on whenever you want, but are you ready?”

Joyona nodded, her eyes focused on Gwendolyn. Did she want privacy for whatever she was doing before? Joyona was always difficult to read. Except in combat, that is. Much to her shame, Gwendolyn had been replaying the fight against Mairaela and Joyona in her mind, following different paths of what she could’ve done differently. Hopefully they’ll never fight again, but if they have to, it’ll be a different story than last.

“Hey,” Gwendolyn started, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder to point back at the room she’d entered from, “I saw something in there, just to give you a heads up.”

“What did you see?” She asked.

Gwendolyn explained, “Some… thing. It looked like a creature of the Void, whatever it was. I don’t think it was friendly, but it wasn’t doing anything to harm us that I could tell. It was just watching us.” Gwendolyn frowned thoughtfully, “Maybe it was a scout. If that’s the case, we should go right away.”

“Sure,” Joyona replied, “I just need to finish up some things.”

Gwendolyn nodded and planned on standing by, but Joyona stared at her, and the Dame grew uncomfortable, realizing that Joyona meant to be given privacy.

“We’ll be in the other room,” Gwendolyn said, turning and marching out of the small sideroom chapel and back into the bedroom with Tess and Mairaela.

“I like being around you too,” Tess was saying to Mairaela just as Gwendolyn opened the door. She turned and closed it and when she turned back around, she saw the two lovebirds looking at her.

“Gwen?” Tess asked.

“Gwendolyn,” She replied.

“Gwendolyn. Can we talk about last night?”

The knight recalled the events of the night before. How she felt about Tess, what she’d done, what the two of them did. She hadn’t had the time to process it. There was too much to think about. Tess potentially being a demon or a dark wyrden or both. Joyona wanting to be by herself, talking to herself. And then Mairaela, well, Mairaela seemed to be better now, so at least there was that. Still, Miri was perhaps the most upsetting out of the bunch. Gwendolyn felt that the demon was on too long of a leash, and that Tess was losing her grip on it.

Gwendolyn held up her hand. There was too much going on right now, and she couldn’t take something else, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Alright,” Tess replied, looking a little dejected.

Gwendolyn’s heart sank. Did she really come off as that cruel? “There’s just a lot going on,” the Dame tried to append to her earlier statement, “We can talk later?”

“Okay,” Tess replied, looking a little more satisfied with that answer.

“Are you both ready to go?” Gwen asked the two of them.

Tess smiled and nodded, but Mairaela propped her hands up on her wide hips and chirped, “I am, unless you two want to have a quickie before we head out.”

Tess’ face turned red and Gwendolyn was sure that she wasn’t the only one. She shook her head at Mairaela, and even though she knew it wasn’t entirely a joke, she played it off like it was. “Joyona will be out soon, so let’s be ready to move when she does,” Gwendolyn replied, “This has taken longer than the Void Exercise should, so let’s get out of here today.”