Chapter 113: Call (P2)

"Kaylin, I'm here, can you hear me?"

The current distance from Aste is so wide that I'm very doubtful Kaylin will be able to pick out my words. It's the same on my side as well, all I can hear from her side is some scattered sounds.

I can reinforce the connection with mana but I can't exactly hold it for long, the ring may be small but it eats mana like my highest spells. 

Doing so I'm able to make out some of her words, "Asher! Asher! Goddamnit!"

"I can hear you now, Kaylin, I'm reinforcing the connection, you should probably do the same, it'll ease my burden over here."

I hear her scoff and mutter snidely, "Burden huh."

After a moment she speaks up again, "Can you hear me clearly now?" It's clear, crystal clear at the expense of an unreasonable amount of mana.

"Yes, I can Kaylin, what's been going on down there?"

"What's been going on?" She screams, "What's been going on with you Asher? Where the hell have you been! I've been winging this entire situation down here without your orders for over a week now!"

A week? We've been out of contact for over a week? Jeez, those blackouts aren't to be joked with.

"Sorry, the blackouts, they got worse. I'm actually having some of my own trouble down here?"

She scoffs, "Honestly thought you died, but trouble? With the Gamma? I thought you said you'd be able to handle it?"

"I did handle it, I'm just waking up from my hunger frenzy, I'm actually pretty messy right now, blood all over me." I groan, taking note of my appearance, it's no wonder the Diviner kept flinching.

"So what's the trouble. By the way, it's a shame you lost your mind like that? Is that going to keep happening? Can't you do something about it?"

I sigh, exhausted. Hearing her speak and hound me with questions and remind me of my worries makes me realize how exhausted I am. My legs are killing me, like I've been walking for miles and miles, which is weird considering I just got up.

And my arms…they feel like they're about to fall off from my shoulders honestly, shoulders that are terribly heavy and stiff. Everything hurts.

Groaning I answer, "The trouble…well, I think I lost Anselm, I have no idea where he is, I can't sense him around me, and even if I lost my sense for his spirit, he would definitely have reminded me, I don't even feel like I'm being watched anymore."

She's silent so I go one speaking and answering her questions, "The Blackouts, I'm going to work on that once I'm done with what I've got going here…there's someone very interesting in Frozia, and the things he has in his head are definitely worth my attention."

Still, she stays silent, or is she even there.

"Kaylin? Are yo-"

"You lost Anselm?" She almost whispers.

"Oh…I didn't lose him per say, I just…I don't know where he is. When I woke up all that was around me was a battlefield and lots of dead bodies, the Gamma was dead but I didn't feel Anselm's presence around me. I thought he'd show up eventually but so far…"

"So far…you've lost Anselm." She says again with her voice barely above a whisper. "Find him, we need him."

"We need him?" Kaylin's certainly attached to Anselm, most of the time I'm excluded from their conversations and shenanigans while I'm deep in thought or theorizing my existence in this world.

But…I didn't expect her to say something so…deep.

"Why do we need him, Kaylin?"

Her breath hitches over the comm, she must be fuming, "Don't you?!" she screams.

"Kaylin!" I yell, snapping her out of her hysterics, "I'm sure Anselm is fine, but why are you being like this? Why are you so scared all of a sudden?"

She falls silent again, but I can hear her sniffling loud and clear over the comm, eventually, she puts herself together and responds, "I had a dream…might call it a vision since you're saying this now."

A vision?

"Is this some…elven thing?"

"Mhm." She hums affirmative, "Mother says those spiritually close to the Goddess can feel her presence and receive her wisdom...in the form of dreams. But these dreams are visions, visions of the past or of the present…or sometimes premonitions of the future given by Vuius herself."

I sigh deeply and wish I'd brought a chair. Leaning on the wall I feel my head pang with the familiar throbbing of a headache. 

All this Goddess talk. It's giving me a headache.

"What did you see in the vision, Kaylin?"

This time, she starts sobbing. It's light but it trembles in her voice and throat, akin to the sound of a child holding back on their tears and failing woefully.

"I saw Anselm going into a light." These are the words she shakily utters, words that wrack me with shock and an emotion I haven't quite felt in a while.

Is this…grief?

No, it couldn't be. Anselm isn't dead…well, he isn't gone for good. I'm sure I can still summon him; all I have to do is…all I have to do is find him.

"Kaylin." I find my voice has shrunk; I can't seem to muster any of my usual audibility. "Kaylin." I try again, better this time but there's that tremble in my throat, the same I hear so clearly in hers.

I swallow, like a lump of lead my saliva travels down my throat and seems to be sent back up the way it came. As if to say there's no getting rid of this feeling of discomfort.

"Kaylin," I utter her name for the third time, she answers but I'm not sure what I should say to her. I'm not sure what I should think either.

So, I say what I need to believe, "Anselm hasn't gone anywhere, I promised him a new life there's no way he'll give it all up and head to Anera. There's no way he'd give up his search for his Kingdom, for Saia, that's where we're headed next!" 

I find myself screaming. My knuckles clamped and my nails digging mercilessly into my skin. Why am I angry?

"Besides, you could have just had a dream, not a vision. I mean, how often does this Vuius Goddess speak to you? Not often at all huh? Anselm will be back, and when he is, I'll give you a call."

Kaylin stills sobs over the comms but I'm convinced.

That's right, there's no proof to this Goddess vision business. Come to think of it, there's no proof to the fact that Anera and the previous Necromage met, or that she didn't just kill the Necromage then. 

A child? The Necromage, the scourge of the earth given a child and a good life? No way. I can't believe it. Not without proof.

After all, the Synagogue is infamous for their schemes and baseless propaganda, aren't they? They're working with Phien too. Their word can't be trusted, even when faced with death.

Surgies must be taking us all for a ride. His soul…his soul will be mine.

"You're right, you must be." Kaylin says, her sobbing come to a stop now, "I'll keep working over here and you'll find Anselm, right?"

"Right."

Silence falls on us again, my mana and hers being spent aimlessly on this silence. But it's fine. It's fine.

After a bit she speaks up once more, "By the way, the Elven North leaders are getting restless, they're demanding the weapons you promised them."

"Weapons?"

"Yes, and armour, remember?" She says, "You said you'd found a smithy, that you'll organize an order for armour and weapons once I get you the details." 

She sighs, exhaustion clear in her voice, "I guess that got washed away in the hunger too, well, if you're ready-"

"No, no, I'll let you know when I'm ready for that order. Right now, just tell me how things are down there." I'm tired too, there's a lot I don't want to think about. A part of me doesn't even want to head back into that room with Matthias and Leon.

"Alright, the boys came by, cute little things. Mevir is a little rude though."

"Ah, I'm guessing Audwin gave a tongue lashing for wasting his time, right?"

She chuckles, "He called me a nincompoop. I don't even know what that is."

It's good to hear her laugh. Before it seemed so silly but, in this moment, full of exhaustion and fear…it's relieving.

"I got his comm though, he said to only call when Anselm is ready. But, it's a bit awkward looking at the boys knowing what I know."

"What do you know?"

"The elves want to try for the lodge again, they're upset they didn't get to complete their mission last time, and even more upset they lost their chance at the lodge because Aren said to stand down."

"Speaking of Aren, he's got things handled right?"

She hums contemplatively, "He's reducing the time he spends cowering; I like that other side of him."

Other side of him huh. Anselm spoke of that too, "So, he's useful then?"

She hums again, "Yeah, you could say that."

"What's the atmosphere of the city, the North is springing up with life again thanks to us, what's the rest of the cities reaction."

At this she groans, "It's beginning to boil over with rumours actually. Some say the Mayor is afraid of the North and is supporting them, the hatred for elves is becoming so apparent that there've been some attacks."

"The Mayor is actively taking a stance against the North too. We're having difficulty moving in our goods into the North, he's blocking us. Because of this there's more animosity towards the Mayor, the elves are actively calling for violence now."

I groan. The man is threatening their lives by stopping food and such from coming in. It's too early for the North to grow on their own, if the flow stops, they'll go back to starvation before the first harvests.

I can understand the resentment.

"But that's not the concerning bit." She says with a huff.

"What is?"

"He's far more focused on finding out where the supplies are coming from."