The Two Authorities [[ HIATUS ]]

Prologue (Omniscient POV)

An underwater symphony of screams crashed against the inside of Morvaan's skull.

The horrified voices of his guildsmen blended into one another and amplified the sound of dishes crashing from decorated tables. Their feet shook the hall and rattled chandeliers swinging in and out of sight from above him.

Morvaan didn't understand why he was on his side. He was giving a speech to the attendees of his wife's banquet just moments ago. Unbeknownst to him, he hadn't fallen from the podium. He was struck down.

Then it all came back to him.

The first note of this chaotic orchestra began with a scream.

His wife's scream.

Guildsmen scrambled about the Banquet Hall. Men and women—children—stumbled into one another in fear. The desperate trampled over the fallen. Those who stopped to aid them met the same fate as cowards sequestering in the face of Vita's gift.

The Light Heathen Army's lieutenant, Rorik, was aiding Commander Beacon through the crowd after a flaring orb of white light struck him. The sizzling imprint of a sphere marred the back of Beacon's armor and charred a portion of his flesh to charcoal.

"Damn it Beacon, help me! Move your feet!" Rorik growled at his older brother.

Beacon grunted through clenched teeth and scrunched eyes.

Rorik had to drag him through a crowd of distraught guests. Everyone's bodies bounced against one another in desperation.

The volatile orbs everyone sought to escape dove in and out of the crowd like birds preying on the ocean's surface for fresh fish. Synchronized ducking occurred in the congested line at random intervals. The wails of some veered the crowd in opposite directions.

It was at that moment that Rorik spotted their disoriented leader beside the podium.

"I'll be back," was Rorik's shallow attempt at a promise when he leaned Beacon against a nearby column. The Commander managed a painful nod and now Rorik was the one shoving people out of the way.

"Morvaan!"

The man's name slowly molded his senses together as the face of his younger brother, Rorik, came into focus. The golden gleam of his prestigious armor shone like the sun had finally risen above Morvaan. 

Morvaan stirred and Rorik grasped his hand to yank him up to his feet. They both ducked as an orb of light whizzed by their heads. A single scan of the destroyed hall and the noble brothers concluded there wasn't one orb of quintessence.

There were many.

Morvaan's gaze followed the orbs' wild path back to their beautiful host and it took all Rorik's strength to keep Morvaan from leaping into the fray. Morvaan's first instinct as a husband would be to run to her, but he couldn't.