Retaliation

[Lynessa]

Retaliation
28th of Cylus, Arc 719

The sound of her steps seemed to fill the Lightning Cathedral as she walked between the rows of pews. The room was silent, not even the flickering of a hundred candles could be heard. Usually, there would be clerics moving about the place, making sure no flame burnt out, but none could be seen. Only one woman stood in front of the altar, swathed in rich purple robes.

“Sister Lynessa,” the head priestess greeted softly as she turned upon noticing Lynessa’s approach. The woman was about a decade older than her, her dark hair flowing down to her waist and her darker eyes seemed to seize her very soul. It was still a bit hard to believe that the head priestess had agreed to see her upon such short notice. Sister Eularia had always been an elusive figure. In all her arcs as initiate and priestess, Lynessa had only ever seen the woman once, on her initiation trial. “I have heard of your contributions during the Siege of Storm’s Edge, you’re doing our order proud. You should be resting now.”

It was true. It had only been a few days since she sent the desperate letter to Rharne. The siege had fortunately ended later that trial. Once the healers reluctantly said she was free to go, Lynessa had ridden Naera back to the city as quickly as she could and waited for her summons. There were barely any time for her to truly get a respite.

The younger priestess could only smile weakly as some of the ache returned as she was reminded of them. “I am quite alright. What I need to ask of you is much more important, Sister Eularia.”

“Very well,” the older woman replied as she gestured at the pew. “Please sit.” Even the simple action of sitting down, somehow look elegant on her. There was a grace in her slightest movements, not like a dancer’s grace, but rather a predator. Between her gentle face and deceivingly young look, it was easy to forget that this was the woman who had infiltrated Sirothelle and assassinated some of Faldrun’s greatest commanders. At least, that’s what people say. No one quite knew the great feats that would grant someone the authority to lead the spies and assassins of Rharne. “Now, what is it that you want to propose, Sister Lynessa?”

She thought of the burnt body piled inside the Storm’s Edge, melted armor molding with flesh as knights screamed in pain. And blood. So much blood. The fiery monsters that grew in number with each trial. “Retaliation.”

[Lynessa]

“What is it that you are proposing, sister?” the older priestess as her hands rested on her lap. Callouses marred those fingers, most likely from the thousands of time she would string her bow. Sister Eularia was known as an incredible archer, able to take down targets from impossible distances. People would say that once she had stood in the tallest tower of Skyward Keep and made a headshot on an Aukari spy down in the crowd at the Glass Quarters.

Lynessa pressed her lips together and resisted the urge to look down on the faint mark burnt on her inner wrist. The immortal’s attention wasn’t on her for the moment, that much she could tell – her mark had flared to life when she fought against his Flameborns a few trials ago. It displeased him, which meant all the more reason for her to do it. “We can’t keep still and do nothing against these Flameborns. More and more keep coming every day. The siege just proved that we could barely stand against them when it comes down to it.”

Sister Eularia watched her evenly, leaning against the pew. “I’ve heard we had a breakthrough, finding that the water from Lake Lovalus will injure them.”

The young woman nodded. It had been lucky that they figured it out when they did – a little later and they all would be dead. “Yes, but I don’t think that is enough. It still means we are hunkering down behind a fortress that had already been breached and is under repairs. We would not last long, especially after the losses in our ranks.”

“We need to find the source, where all of them are coming from. Why is it that after all these arcs they decided to attack us now? What changed?” She looked out the doors of the Cathedral, onto the city spread underneath them. “Perhaps we can find all the answers and destroy whatever it is that hid in the wastes. Before it is too late.”

Taking a deep breath, Lynessa met the Head Priestess’s heavy gaze. She wasn’t anyone prominent or important or even powerful, but there must be a reason that she was granted this power by the lake. “Let me lead a group into the Stormwastes. Priestesses, knights, mercenaries, volunteers. Anyone that wants to help. I don’t have the resources to do this, but our order does and so does the knights.”

“Leading a group into the Stormwastes? You say it like it is a simple thing. We both know, Sister Lynessa, that you are unfamiliar with the wastes. What makes you think that you’ll survive the terrain long enough to find what it is that you’re looking for? Especially now with those fiery creatures all over the place.”

It was a problem she had considered during her ride back to Rharne – along with a hundred more. “Then I’ll find someone who does. And about the Flameborns…” She only had one solution to that in mind. Not one she was fond of if she was to be honest. “We’ll need a distraction. Something to draw away their attention from our group. Some of our people would need to engage with them.”

A raised eyebrow from the older priestess. “That means lives would be sacrificed. You do know that?”

Her hazel eyes steeled as she straightened. “There would be risks, yes, but we can lower them. Archers on Storm Rocs and Zephyruses can occupy them from a distance. From what I can tell, these creatures mostly take the forms of land creatures. The only long-ranged attacks they have are their fire breaths, other than that we could be safe. We can try dousing our fighters’ armor in lake water too. I’ll test them myself if I have to.”

“I can do this, sister. I know I am meant to do this.”

[Lynessa]

There was a long moment of silence as the older woman took her in, her dark eyes washing over Lynessa’s being as if there was a puzzle to be solved there. At that moment, the priestess wondered if all that she would get was a big no. It had been arcs ago, but the young woman had struggled with devoting herself to the order – which had been why Alia had refused to join her while her fellow initiates did. She had been too single-minded in her own goals:

Find Faldrun. Kill him.

Such simple words had consumed her for a long, long time, but Lynessa knew how to control it now. To dampen it to allow herself to be flexible. To focus on helping furthering Ilaren’s goal through the priestesses – goals which happened to match hers. After all, she was one person while Ilaren was a god.

But with the Flameborns… Deep inside her heart she knew that this was what she was supposed to be doing. There must be a reason why she had been one of the few people to first be chosen as a Warden of the Lake. It had given her the power to fight Faldrun’s flames. She would find out how to master these gifts and perhaps she would be well on her way to pursuing her goals once she had kept the city safe.

Perhaps the Head Priestess saw something in her, recognized the steel in her eyes. A gentle smile tugged at her lips as she said, “Very well, Sister Lynessa. I grant you the authority for this mission. You shall use any resources you might need from our order and knights may have to offer. Recruit your volunteers and make sure you show them why no one shall disturb our peace and get away with it.”