Aether Beasts

I heard an audible sigh in my mind before the lost queen manifested, which was surprising to me since I had expected her to just ignore us and block herself. I wasn't really sure why she was cooperating all of a sudden, but I wasn't about to complain. I had been trying to get her to cooperate for a while. Maybe what Zirani had said to her and the threats had paid off and she was finally realizing it was better if she tried to help.

"Well?" Zirani shot a pointed look at the lost queen.

The queen smirked, and both stepped forwards, squaring off with each other. The lost queen was a bit taller, but it was hard to tell. Both were powerful and beautiful women and it might have been a dream come true for me if I didn't know what the lost queen was like and what had just happened.

"I can answer some of the questions you have," the lost queen said, moving away and taking a seat on the bed. She crossed a leg and folded her arms. Even bonded and essentially trapped, she still managed a regal bearing, and made the way she sat on the bed made it seem more like a throne.

"And?" I asked. "Will you? Or are we going to have to bargain?"

"I love a good bargain," The queen said. "But no, I shall grace you with my knowledge for no cost. Think of it as charity for lesser beings."

"How gracious." Misty scoffed.

"Indeed," the lost queen agreed, ignoring Misty's sarcasm. "Firstly you are correct in that this is no form of aether you are familiar with. It is similar to my own power but lesser. My power is pure ki while that which rooted itself into your minds is an artificial form of aether."

"Artificial?" I frowned. "What, so it was made?"

She nodded. "It was. Technically all aether was made, but not like this."

"If it's aether why can't we sense it," Zirani said.

"Its trait of the power," the lost queen explained. "Imagine a spectrum of all energy. You can see one small part of that spectrum. This aether is outside of that small area, mainly due to what it is made from."

"What affinity is it?" I asked.

"Many, and none. It is an amalgamation, and allows for much." She smiled. "What befell your allies was a use of the power to form strings which allowed for control and manipulation of what they were attached to. The mental manipulation is due to form of power having origins in dream aether."

"What's it called?"

"It has a few names, but I've heard it most commonly called horror aether, mainly for the way it is used, though any affinity can be used to perform horrendous deeds."

"Do know who did this?" Sandra asked, sitting up, and getting off the bed.

"If they show themselves and use horror aether around me then I will sense it, but the power is gone, and whilst I was cleansing it, I found no link back to its source." She shrugged, making the gesture look elegant. "It could be any number of things, though the technique was used makes it clear they at least had been faulty close when it had been formed." fre𝙚𝓌𝒆𝚋noѵel.c𝚘m

"Who made horror aether?" Zirani asked. "What's your involvement in this?"

The lost queen made a tsking noise and then waved a finger. "I'm afraid that's all I shall be saying. Consider yourself blessed and very lucky."

She gave us a smile that held no kindness nor sincerity but a sense of mocking. She vanished and I felt her return to her core. She blocked herself off immediately making it clear she was done for now.

"Well, that was more than I expected her to give," I said honestly. "And it does help, but now we need to figure out what we're going to do."

"We need to look for it," Sandra said angrily. "I need to pay them back."

"Yes, but how?" Misty asked. "If it was someone nearby then that sort of narrows it down to the Umbrin, but how do we go about checking them. If it is one of them and we start looking, it might spook them, and then who knows what will happen, not to mention the fact that you two might not be the only ones affected. What's to say others haven't been. If you Zirnai can be affected then most certainly others in expedition can as well."

"This is bad," I said. "Very bad."

"Well, firstly we need to decide one thing before we formulate any plans to figure out who and what is behind this." Zirani looked at me. "Do you still want to fight Pate?"

I glanced at Sandra, and through our bond, I could sense worry but also trust in my decision. I felt a lot better knowing she hadn't really made that bet, and that Zirani hadn't allowed it of her own free will, at least not really. In any case, I could call it off, but that would lead to problems. Everybody was already excited about the fight, and in the truth behind the initial anger and confusion, I had also gotten excited.

"I'll still fight him, but that whole thing about marrying Sandra is off," I said.

"Worried?" Zirani asked.

"Should I be?" I shot back.

She shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I know you'll win. So, the fight is still on then. I will need to consult the lost queen again later, and hopefully, she so graciously gives me a way of detecting this aether because that is the biggest problem. I was only able to detect it via my racial traits, and not my arcane sense."

"And if there isn't?" Misty asked.

"Then I might have to turn to Aeveire, though what will lead to me divulging things i don't really wish to yet." Zirani sighed. "I trust her, but she's the type to look too deep into this too fast, and get ahead of herself. She is however an expert when it comes to the mind, and who knows, an elven fae might be able to see that which I can not."

"So what then?" Sandra looked confused. "Do we just wait?"

"There is not much else we can do," Zirani said. "We need to take care. As I just said, the first thing we need is a way of sensing this power and we also need to take care not to arouse too much suspicion that is of course not considering the fact the thing who manipulated us didn't sense it when we broke their technique. They might already know we're looking for them. I will figure things out. Leave this to me."

I nodded. "I'm ok with that. I have the fight to prepare for."

"As do I," Misty said.

"But if there is anything we can do," I said. "Please tell us. I detest the idea that something is going around and attaching mental strings to people as if they were puppets."

Zirani smiled. "Of course, Aiden. As usual, I will keep all of you in the loop. Now, I think I'm going to get some sleep. My mind is still a bit shaky, and I need some rest."

Sandra's stomach grumbled and she headed for the door. "I'm going to get something to eat, anyone else hungry."

Misty and I shook our heads. "We just ate."

"Then I'll see you later." With that Sandra left the room.

Zirani didn't bother heading back to her own room and instead plopped down onto the bed, leaving me and Misty standing there. We glanced at one another then headed out of the room and towards mine.

I could sense that Misty was worried through our bond and I felt the same. Why couldn't things just have gone normal for once? Why was it that every time things lulled, all of a sudden a new problem cropped up? It seemed that the plains still have one more thing for us before we left, and hopefully we could figure it out before we did. I felt worried enough now, but being on the expedition through the great scar with something which could use horror aether was not something I wanted to consider, though it was a possibility. It all depended on what Zirani could do.

I had trust in Zirani, however, and if anyone could get to bottom of it, then it would be her, and even after all this time, and how far I had grown in all aspects I had no illusions about being smarter than she was. She was over four hundred years old and would be able to tackle this better than I could.

Once we were in the room, we undressed and I looked Misty's body up and down, feeling my lower region react accordingly. She smiled when she saw me before beckoning me over. "I don't want to think about any more problems, so why don't you make me scream out your name."

"It would be my pleasure."