Within These Tangled Tales

Chapter Sixty-One

—Enders Watch, Velara—

There was no one left to save. They stood amongst the ruins of Enders Watch, Ren looking from one broken body to another, his face awash with sorrow. Ori wished she could do something to ease his pain, but there was nothing to be done except kill the Colossus, and that, for the moment, was beyond them.

Only a few, scattered Lost remained, and they were taken care of quickly enough. Seiriol and the other dragons were missing, which meant the journey back to Namera would take more time than they had to spare. If they could not catch the Colossus in time, what would become of their world? So much death and destruction he would bring, but Ori doubted very much he had always been trying to return to Namera just to kill everyone. Surely, there had to be some other purpose to his actions. Or, perhaps more importantly, Virmira Tanadall had other plans for him. Ori had no doubts that Virmira would make an appearance soon. They had a plan to defeat the Colossus, but what about her?

The sound of shuffling footsteps made her turn. The Creator approached her slowly, one arm wrapped around Himself. He looked at her with concern, to which she smiled as best she could. She assured him quietly that she was alright. He conjured, in His palm, an image of her emerging from the aetherial sea, the shadows in her heart now flowing through her entire body. She didn't need to see it to know she had changed. She could feel the difference, the raw, resonant power that filled her now.

"When I was...submerged," Ori began softly. "I saw the end of your worlds. I saw...I saw Aer'Avyn stand against the darkness. I know now why you loved her so."

The Creator smiled gently at that. His conjuration changed to show Aer'Avyn facing the darkness before showing Himself at the same moment, on the other side of that city, standing with a woman with long golden hair, the pair of them channeling every ounce of aether they had into a widening rift. The Abyssal Rift, she realized. She heard the faint crack that signaled Aer'Avyn had succeeded in halting the darkness and the Creator looked to where a shower of emerald aether rained from the sunless sky. The Creator had wept for her, but there had been no time to spare. He had pushed Himself through His grief, had sobbed when at last, at last, the rift opened, and He was able to shepherd the last of their people to safety.

"The woman," Ori asked. "Who was she?"

The Creator faltered for a moment, a thoughtful looking passing over His features as He thought how to answer. On His palm, He conjured a swirling orb of golden light that swept over a barren land, its caressing touch bringing forth new life.

"She helped you create this world," she guessed, to which the Creator nodded. "Seeing what happened...seeing the worlds falling to darkness...I can't imagine how you did what you did, how you were able to continue ripping a hole through the very fabric of reality while everything around you was dying. I don't know if I could have done the same."

The Creator nodded, ensuring her she could do the same, but she didn't know if she believed Him.

"What...what was she to you? Aer'Avyn? What I saw...Virmira, Rhiorr, Aldressa...they were friends. The King of Bones...he was her husband, but you...what was she to you?"

The Creator's eyes closed, and for a moment, she thought He meant not to answer, but then He conjured a vision for her to watch. Two young children, a boy and a girl bearing similar features to Ori and the Creator. She watched as they grew up together, the Creator's devotion clear in His every action toward her. It was clear that the pair had been in love, and then, she saw the Creator sliding a ring onto her finger. The vision froze like that for one long moment before it transformed to show a third figure. The King of Bones. He came up behind her and whispered something in her ear. A shadow passed between them, seeming to change her, and slowly, Aer'Avyn turned away from the Creator to follow the King of Bones instead.