The Ether

Slow fluctuations of light moved through the crystal barriers around them, as though the deep, timeless cavern was forcing itself to remember how to be alive. Sayane wanted to believe that the shaking in her hands was simply from the damp cold that had engulfed them. Before this, she had sung in burning cities, ancient caves, sacred groves, and more. But there was something about this moment that had unnerved her, even though she’d tried so very hard to keep herself prepared.

Walls seemed to lean towards them as they made their way further and further inward. Certain council members had been allowed to join them to watch, but only a few. Beyond them and the dozens of mages led by Kol, it was just Sayane, Azag, Attis, their guards, the orchestra of sacred instruments, and the Great Harmony Shard.

Its haunting ambient light painted the shimmering surroundings in pink and orange, guiding them further away from Haven and further into the world’s inner organs.

Deeper and deeper they went, until all manner of manufactured and hand-carved decoration faded. Only the raw, pure structure of the cave tunnel led them forward. Bit by bit, it turned from jagged, angled edges to smoothed, ovalesque curves that rose tall and came to a feminine conclusion. Steps sounded out, but almost no one spoke as the caravan descended deeper into the crystal birth canal.

Sayane still did not know what would be expected of her. Kol had not been any more keen to divulge details, instead walking with an air of quiet reflection. Eventually, Sayane felt the need to get some form of clarity.

“So how did the Ether bring me here, if it’s been dormant since the Dissonance and songstress deaths?” she asked.

Kol partially glanced over their shoulder.

“It never truly sleeps. It just lost its power when everything went out of balance. Just like an instrument needs to be re-tuned and repaired after neglect, so does the Ether. We are going to do that. Then, we can begin the work of building something new.”

Their words were barely audible- not even strong enough to echo. Sayane moved closer.

“Will we really be able to do that? It seems like such a huge task…” she said.

Kol scoffed subtly.

“It was the songstresses and the mages working together that built the rings all those ages ago. They bound the titan shards to the Mother Shard, uniting all the lands into a single mass. We will be able to do what we need.”

This was a surprising bit of new information for Sayane. The rings had seemed like such staples of existence; she had assumed they had been something sacred, but it was surprising to learn that her kind had been integral in their creation.

“Why did the world need the rings?” she asked.

Kol’s fingers ran along their crystal-crowned head as they pondered an answer.

“Before that, the world was wilder. Untamed. Etherflame flowed between the titan shards and the Mother Shard, killing any who touched it. We were separated, but things were more pure. Back then, mages did not need the songstresses to render magic- it simply came to us. But that changed when we bound the world. It was decided that we needed harmony, and our kind had to work with one another to help hold everything together.”

Sayane glanced at Attis, who shook his head in surprise, as though even he didn’t know such knowledge.

“I had no idea,” was all Sayane could reply.

Kol’s chin raised slightly as their focus returned to the path before them.

“This is not your world, songstress. I do not expect you to know everything about its ways or histories.”

There was a condescending, yet neutrally honest tone in their response, and Sayane felt a sting as their wording.

“This IS my world. I say my previous one was my first life and my first world, but I’ve never called it my real one. Because now, this is. Both were, and are, my worlds. I’m still here,” she said in quiet defiance.

“For now. But we both know that as an ethereal, you could vanish at any moment. So remember that when you try to make your grand plans to change everything you disagree with. If you start the avalanche but then disappear once momentum builds, it will be us left to deal with the aftermath,” Kol replied in a quiet voice that only she could hear.

Their words cut into Sayane far more than she wanted. All morning, she’d done everything she could to block the thoughts from sneaking into her resolve, but now, one sentence had undone her efforts.

This was such a grand, important moment for the Ether itself, even. There was a strong possibility that this could be Sayane’s last task. More than anything else that had come recently, this challenge was crucial to the world’s survival and the Ether’s power. Once it was done, there was little clear requirement for Sayane to remain, aside from being the world’s only songstress.

Every step she was taking may have been leading her to her end. This quiet, pensive parade may have been her funeral procession.

Panic returned in soft flutters. It didn’t arrive in a cataclysmic breakdown. Instead, it began with a tightness in her ribs and an itching tingle in her cheeks. One moment, she had been focused. Now, everything felt ever so slightly out of alignment. Her sleeves were too tight at the binds. All this walking was wearing on her arches. Dryness had arrived in her mouth without notice. She was quietly unraveling.

She didn’t want to fade.

She didn’t want this to be the end.

Even if it was the last thing she was supposed to do as an ethereal, she wanted to stay and just be. She wanted to just be a girl who sang. She wanted to be the one who woke up beside him every morning and didn’t have to be relieved. She wanted to watch this world and its people heal and grow, no matter how difficult.

All of these wants swelled in her chest like a typhoon, and she wanted most of all to turn and run far away. For the first time, she didn’t want to do what she was supposed to. She wanted to be selfish and live.

But she knew that wouldn’t happen.

No matter what, she knew she had to do the right thing. Even if it cost her everything.

“We’re here,” Kol said aloud, and Sayane almost cried out in fear.

Before them, the cave opened up, and a power of greater magnitude than she’d ever felt exhaled to greet them.

“By the sounds,” Azag muttered.

“The Ether,” Attis choked.

“Behold. Our Etherfont. A tiny hint at the mystery of all things,” Kol said as they held their arms aloft.

Energy ruptured from fissures and bled downward, carrying multitudes of whispering voices from languages long forgotten. Every facet of every crystal was completely ablaze with life. Below them, eternal currents of pure light flowed wider than a great river. Their form was neither water nor fire, but something in between. Energy crackled and snarled like barely contained electricity. Reverberations pulsed from and through the stone like metronomic timekeeping, as though the world itself was measuring its heartbeat and cadence. Strobes of etherlight flowed down to the roaring storm, then back out to the world, like blood moving to and from a major artery.

This was the force that had brought Sayane here. This was divine. This was incomprehensible. This was the mystery and guide of everything any of them had ever known.

Sayane beheld it with pure awe and terror.

Kol and the mages did not waste a single moment. For them, this sight seemed as common as anything else. Instead, they immediately began to move around the cave’s perimeter, setting out surreal yet simple devices that resembled body-sized tuning forks.

Every one of them began to mutter some imperceptible chant, and Sayane was left standing before the radiant splendor. The Great Harmony Shard moved beside her, and she noticed that it was now releasing its own form of glowing specks of light, just like the ones that had returned to her wrists and throat.

Azag and Attis moved to her side, and Sayane almost broke. Her sniff did not go unheard. Nor did her panicked touch when she took his hand for what may be the last time. Azag’s masked face turned to her in swift understanding, and his own voice shook as he tried to speak.

“Wait… Sayane? No. NO.”

Convulsions moved through her frightened body, and Attis understood as well.

“Oh, Ether, no. Sayane, no.”

More tuning forks were placed in position. A haunting, foreboding ping began to sound from the instruments that were slowly moving closer to her.

The ceremony was beginning. Even if Sayane, Azag, and Attis weren’t ready to say goodbye, Sayane’s ending song may have been starting.