“Nethron, you fool!” Myrvaness scolded the Aura Liberator atop Mount Ceuna. “You have left yourself without any protection at all. Forynda will pursue you to the ends of this world and beyond. Omonrel and the others would have tried to protect you, but not now.”

He floated around the mountain’s apex time and time again, absorbing the chilly rain that fell about them. He thought back to what Myrvaness had said to him about Omonrel when he had liberated her.

“Protect… What I recall is that you told me that Omonrel is not to be fully trusted, so I have proceeded as though his protection is not a factor,” he laughed. “Are you now telling me that I should cower on bended knee to him?”

Myrvaness’s iridescent green eyes flashed violently at him and she lunged forward, almost certainly attempting to intimidate him. However, he simply stayed where he was and waited for her to stop.

“Omonrel’s desires are not relevant at this moment,” Myrvaness hissed. “You need friends to survive once Forynda brings her wrath down upon you.”

- “I disagree, my dear Myrvaness,” Nethron said, waving a finger back and forth before her face. “Forynda can descend upon us all and unleash the Golden Aura to destroy us before we can so much as complain about it. The only reason she does not is that she wants to leave this conflict in the hands of mortals. That was why she prevented you from fighting one another at the Nehal River. She wants the struggle solved without having to concede the point that the mortals need our aid. You need to recall how prideful she is.”

“Forynda’s pride is inescapable,” Myrvaness sighed.

“Yes, and that means that she is hoping that there will be no mortals holding allegiance against her before long. Had this been left to only Omonrel, that might well be the case soon enough,” he mused with pride. “What I have unleashed, however, showed that what the mortals truly wanted was not allegiance to Forynda. No, they did that merely because they were told to. When they have thought more about the sorry state in which we left them, they realized that Forynda was not the benevolent mother they somehow were deluded into believing in. Freeing the Auras, showing the mortals what we had held from them all of these interminable millennia, that has created new allegiances. Whether they fall to me or Omonrel or some mortal who learns the Auras’ powers for themselves matters little. What matters to me is that the delusion is broken; that they realize the High Angel is naught but a cold and removed tyrant.”

Nethron wondered how long he had held such views of Ceuna’s master, but had fooled himself into thinking otherwise. For once, he understood the mortal concept of an imperfect memory. Recalling how he had felt at various times was not difficult itself, but wondering if he had misperceived some of his feelings.

“As true as that all may be, how will you avoid her bringing destruction upon you?” Myrvaness asked, interrupting his own thoughts.

“Hiding,” Nethron said, smiling. “I hope to keep myself intact until such time as the mortal world has abandoned her. At that point, she should realize how she has erred and that her vision is one the mortals do not desire. Only then can this matter be resolved. Omonrel has this fanciful notion that we can march around the world defeating those who oppose him. He is a complete fool for thinking so.”

Myrvaness smiled.

“Omonrel and the others would do well heed what you have suggested when I tell them,” Myrvaness said. “They are desperate as they know their mortal allies will lose the war if they do not intervene, but that Forynda will also destroy them if they do.”

“If they are reasonable they will see all of that.”

“But, they will need a promise from you, I am certain. I have known Omonrel to accept nothing on its face. Living amongst mortals for so long has made him distrustful.”

“Distrustful… Yes, I can appreciate that,” Nethron chuckled. “You can tell him this, I will continue my efforts to destroy Forynda’s rule over these lands Ultimately, I want all mortals to live freely and make their lives in the way they see fit. That also means that Omonrel, Parlon, Gorondos, and Jagreth should not interfere. All that we will do will be to aid mortals’ ability to stand alone.”

Myrvaness nodded to all that he said. He knew not whether this was a sincere gesture on her part.

“They will resist it, but I am sure they have no choice at this point,” Myrvaness sighed. “They know you have been gaining followers and that the armies aligned with Forynda will defeat those with whom they have allied. Desperation is a powerful force.”

Smiling, the Aura Liberator bowed to Myrvaness. Sensing there was little else to be said, Myrvaness vanished. Nethron immediately returned to the cavernous interiors of Mount Ceuna, Uncertain why he felt such urgency, he nonetheless sensed that his time to impart the Silver Aura upon his acolytes was short. Whispers through the Auras and flashes of truly abyssal oblivion convinced him that doom approached, even if he knew not from where. Rather than fear, he felt amused by the concept.

I only wonder how it might happen, he chuckled to himself as he tapped into the Silver Aura yet again. I almost cannot wait.

~~~

Cyrona was surprised that Forynda had summoned her and Vorlan to Elaous’s sanctum rather than the High Angel’s own. It was an irregular choice, but these were irregular circumstances. To an extent, Cyrona wondered if Forynda had decided that she must commune more closely with the other angels and abandon her heretofore imperious approach of always forcing them to meet her on her own terms.

Whatever the case, Elaous’s austere sanctum was one that Cyrona typically avoided as she found it to be aesthetically unpleasant. It was a solid deep iron color and cubical in design with an array of shields, ranging from steel to crystal to peculiar and ethereal objects, on the walls. He certainly took his role as Guardian to heart, Cyrona joked to herself.

There were times Cyrona could scarcely believe that there had been an era, before most of the angels had been created, that Ceuna had been assaulted by beings from another realm. Elaous had been critical in throwing those back, alongside Forynda and Vorlan. Forynda and Vorlan rarely spoke of it and Elaous never mentioned it at all, even in times where the allegory might have proven instructive. From what little Cyrona had gleaned, the entire episode may have been a test by the Progenitor of its creations, but this was unclear.

“I will always owe Elaous a debt that will be impossible to repay,” Forynda had once told Cyrona.

Such a debt, however, did not seem to restrain Forynda’s burning frustration in the presences of Elaous, Cyrona, and Vorlan. Though her countenance was motionless, all could feel the passions roiling within her. The High Angel had been irritated or exasperated before, but Cyrona had never seen Forynda in such a state as she was now.

“There is a trace of Nethron’s spirit upon you, Elaous,” Forynda murmured. “When did you speak with him last?”

Elaous warily matched his eyes with Forynda’s ferocious gaze.

“Before his declaration regarding the Silver Aura,” Elaous sighed.

“And where was he?” Forynda hissed.

“He is not there anymore,” Elaous said mournfully. “I know. I looked.”

“You were to tell me the instant you found him,” the High Angel seethed.

“I was attempting to negotiate his surrender,” the Guardian rumbled weakly. “I had hoped that he would understand how this will all end if he continues to do what he is doing. A peaceful end is needed for all of us.”

Vorlan stepped forward as Elaous spoke just before Forynda could deliver another outburst at the Guardian.

“Nethron’s actions have so disturbed the Auras that I find it impossible to see him or any of the others while they are in the mortal world,” the Earth Angel said.

“And neither of you were able to extract anything from Omonrel?” Forynda inquired, ignoring Vorlan’s admission of impotence.

“No,” Elaous ruefully replied.

Vorlan vacillated, drawing a laugh from Cyrona. She had expected as much out of him. Yes, dither away, Vorlan.

“Speaking with Omonrel is always an imprecise art,” Vorlan attempted to explain. “His words are oblique and carry complex meaning and subtle inferences.”

“You mean to say he lies,” Cyrona interjected, drawing Forynda’s approval.

“I would not describe it so crudely,” Vorlan said. “Mortals have a terrible tendency toward obtuse communication that…”

He stopped as Forynda’s golden eyes flashed at him. Cyrona knew what the High Angel thought of Vorlan’s own “obtuse communication.” Forynda need not say anything to deliver that simple message.

“I do not understand what I have to gain by waiting any further,” Forynda declared. “The longer I have delayed, the greater the calamities have become. Only I have the ability to bring this entire cataclysm to a swift end and restore placidity.”

Cyrona smiled, but Vorlan and Elaous exchanged weary glances.

“Forynda, you once said you were frightened of intervening. It caused your ‘hand to quake in terror’ as you considered Simel’s warnings,” Elaous rumbled. “Is that not true any longer?”

“I respect that Simel’s warnings have proven correct far too many times than I can reasonably ignore. However, his more recent pronouncements are shrouded in vagaries. We cannot afford any further confusion on the matter. Come what may, I must be decisive.”

“What do you intend?” Elaous asked.

“Swift punishments for all who have rebelled. The sooner we bring justice upon those traitors, the sooner we shall reconcile all of our differences,” Forynda replied, each of her words carrying untampered confidence.

Vorlan, as Cyrona expected, shook his head violently.

“Should I manage, at this late hour, to secure a surrender from Omonrel and his followers, would you withhold your retribution?” the Earth Angel pleaded.

“I will not wait for you to do so. I have waited long enough for your foolish hopes to produce anything,” Forynda replied curtly. “What is different that would yield anything other than what we have seen until this moment?”

“Knowing that you will intervene and the superiority of the forces aligned with you in the mortal realm must be filling them with dread,” Vorlan said. “They must know that victory is now impossible, making it a strong possibility they relent.”

“If that is so, they should agree at once. I will not delay for your sake, however,” Forynda said dismissively. “Vorlan, I have entertained your entreaties far longer than I rightly should have. If you believe that there is a chance of resolution this moment, then be off with you now!”

Vorlan at once disappeared in a whirl of verdant light. Cyrona was left with Elaous and Forynda as the High Angel stared off in silence.

“Is there any task you would give me?” Cyrona asked, eager to at last settle the issue.

Forynda turned toward her and locked upon Cyrona her burning gaze.

“Find Nethron. He will be the first to learn the full price of his errors,” she wrathfully declared.

Elaous appeared shocked by the implication, but not another word was said as Forynda departed before he could say anything. Ceuna’s Guardian only gave Cyrona a perturbed glance before she departed for the mortal realm.