The Outer Dark
"Is there still no sign of her? Nothing on any of the scans? Nothing on any of the sensors?" Taneth wouldn't stop biting at his nails, pacing back and forth doing nothing more than creating a rut in the ground.
Y'vitol rolled his eyes, his massive hands swirling the mists as he picked up the equipment and moved them to the other hillside. "I'm sure nothing has changed in the last five minutes, Brother."
Taneth wandered back over to where Anlyth was pouring over the data screens, orbital arrays giving more information about the plane of existence they had built here. To his credit, Anlyth didn't smack Tanenth for biting his nails in his ear as he knelt down to look at the same screens. The bulging blood vessel in his forehead was a phenomenal clue, however.
This place, wherever they had fled to; whatever the Queen of the Fae had done to bring them here, was truly a strange place in comparison. It was no universe in the slightest, a pocket dimension with its own rules. The skies as they had called them, the Sun he and the Faeries had burned into the heavens was little more than a rotating sphere. One with numerous breaches and holes in it.
The landmass they walked was an odd mix of several thousand floating islands, though floating on what was still a mystery. The satellites having reached their maximum range, had to be called back in. They had simply disappeared into an inky void beyond the shell of... whatever this place was. Their journey around their new home told them much, flat areas where the Queen had clear intent for the Children to build new cities. Winding paths in which for them to construct roads, and abundant sources of water, both on the surface and below.
Oddly, they noticed she had also built regions below the Islands in the dark. Strange places that would have made Vilorlith smile from ear to ear, tail whipping with delight. Arching structures that magnified sound, columns, and towers inverted for unknown purposes as of yet. Why she would make such structures they could build on here was strange, there didn't seem to be any flowing water there, or plant life for that matter.
"What was that?" Taneth shot his hand out to point to an odd blip on the geogrid. Practically sitting in Anlyth's lap, he started commanding the various orbitals to focus on the area, calling them to circle back to observe and rescan the area. Anlyth had enough at this point, getting up while shoving Taneth to the ground. The Faery's eyes beginning to burn on their own accord.
Y'vitol had stopped what he was doing to observe, a cautious hand held over his massive axe. He could at least create a wall between them if he needed to with the massive hunk of iron. The Fae in a thoughtless gout of his own anger shot back at Anlyth. "Damnit! I'm trying to find her! We don't know anything about this place, we don't know why the Queen vanished to do... something!" He shot back to his face, chest to chest with the man who had until recently held the divine power of death in his soul. "Don't you understand how worrisome it is to not know where your god is!?"
The moment he said it, the fight went out of him as he snapped his mouth shut. Finally recognizing who he just said that to. "My goddess," Anlyth said slowly, his wings dropping with each word. "Is gone. Our Sun is gone, yours is missing." The various other Faeries in the command center shot Taneth a vile look, while everyone else tried not to hear what he said at all.
The Arch Valkyrie walked out of the encampment that served as their temporary home, his dark mood echoing out around him like the wake of a ship. "I'm going to regret that later." Taneth said to no one in particular. A few of the other Children around him spat back their own retorts.
With a heavy sigh, he sat back at the monitoring system screen to see what the orbitals had picked up. Y'vitol peering down spoke softly, "You shouldn't have done that. I know you are worried, but remember, you and your people are the only ones here that didn't lose everything."
Taneth looked up at the giant, the greenish-grey skin of the massive man made him seem to disappear in the light fog, "I know you're right, I'm just..."
"Scared, worried, don't know what to do. Not a single one of us do at this point, Brother. We can only rebuild, we can only begin again. First, tell me what that screen is flashing a warning light at you."
Whipping his head back at the screen, an ID was flashing. ID: Alnya.
***
Anlyth had already gathered a small team of the Legion. Some twelve hand-picked fighters and navigators, each geared up with enough kit and armor to take on the leviathans that become of the Shadow Touched. The Arch Valkyrie with his back turned to the approaching GIant and Fae, was speaking to them. Reblessing their Rebreathers and wards, each of them etching a rune of fire into the blade of pure Sunlight that Anlyth refused to let leave his sight. The only thing he had left of his goddess, was her own sword. Without turning to them, he spoke to Y'vitol while ignoring Taneth. "Are you bringing anyone with us? We don't know what's here, we don't know what anomalies the goddess may have made. For that matter," He turned, his dour expression still much the same from earlier, "What we may have made while creating this place."
The Giant only shook his head, making the claim that his Giants would be needed to help begin setting up structures until machinery was made to do it. Taneth spoke up, not looking directly into the still-smoldering eyes of the Arch Valkyrie. He thought he may have understood the hesitation that Shadow felt as it challenged him, that gaze could have burned a hole through a sun. "Only my second in command, Valery. She will be joining us at the edge of the camp, she wanted to retrofit a few pieces of equipment to be portable."
"Very well. Legion! For Mother, For Light!" The soldiers behind him roared their reply, an encouraging sound that put the minds of the Children around them at ease. Faint smiles of hope etching their worried faces.
They began marching toward the encampment, looking like a group of Kings and Queens. Regal in their surety, like everything the Quartet could have asked for in their Children. Immoveamble as the mountain to the breeze, led by the Sun itself, glowing he was mighty sword held in hand.
The others followed behind him, while he stopped occasionally to speak with various Faeries, Fae, and Giants. He never truly slowed, a purpose undaunted, a force without limit. At least the way the others looked at him, he may as well have been the King of this place elsewhere between the realm they called home and this distance place between space and time.
Taneth caught up at around the same time Valery was telling them about what they had seen when Alnya's ID appeared on screen. "That shell around this pocket dimension, it isn't really a shell. It's more like an endless inky void, the Sun and stars seem to shine through it without any problem, but anything else seems to exist in a superposition of existing and not. Where The Queen was spotted at the bottom of the tower on the underside, it seems that void is touching it there. We aren't sure what it is, but she seems to be trying to draw power there, or at least heal in some way. We aren't sure, but the signature is the same as when all the Quartet try to heal themselves."
"Thank you, Val. I'm sorry to rush you, but we need to get down there as soon as possible to see what she is struggling with, maybe we can assist her. We can continue with what more the orbitals found as we go." He smiled as he spoke like nothing ever happened. Seems he wouldn't break character in front of the others again.
Which only made Taneth feel more vile for his words earlier. Hours later, as the sun sank low over the distant green mountains, The Fae caught Anlyth alone. The others were setting up camp, they were thankfully not far from the nearest edge of the Floating Isles, the Faeries would be able to fly down there without any issue. Taking Taneth and Valery down with them wouldn't be any real challenge, Y'vitol and his command over the earth... well they weren't too sure how he would follow. But, the Giants had a habit of appearing where it was unfeasible for them to follow.
"Anlyth, I wanted to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean to speak with such... distaste." The cooling air of the night was the only response between them until the sun sank low over the mountain range. Anlyth only stared up at the night sky, or what could have served as it anyway. The Queen seemed to have done a nice job mimicking the skies of home, at least to Taneth. He could pick out many of the stars he would use to navigate by.
"Do you think we made any of them? Syn always told us that the stars were our souls, the beacons by which we could follow in darkest nights. I can't help but notice the lack of stars in this sky, so I wonder if she didn't have a point." Anlyth finally answered.
"Maybe, we did have a hand in helping the Queen make this all. I can't help but notice the same thing." Taneth rose to leave, but turned back, "I am sorr..."
"Drop it. Words spoken in anger mean nothing. Tomorrow, we descend into the Outer Dark."
Geography
The Outer Dark is a rather concerning lack of geography. An endless sea in which the sun and stars swim through in The Elsewhere. Made of a material only the Queen, and presumably, the others of the Quartet can interact with. Baring the movement of celestial bodies through it, it is featureless and infinite.
It surrounds The Elsewhere and its floating islands, in all directions it continues. Only in one location does it touch the landmass, on a spire on the underside of the largest floating continent. Dubbed by the denizens of the Elsewhere as the Tower of Alnya, where she can still occasionally be found weaving the material into the fabric of the pocket dimension. While few have been able to bear witness to her doing so, the Children believe that she is still trying to stabilize their new home.
Localized Phenomena
The only known phenomena seen on various different occasions is the creation of new stars. While it is unknown if the Queen is doing this, or if the void-like material actually has enough mass to create them on its own. It has been noted that there isn't any warning as to their creation, they simply appear alongside the existing ones.
Tourism
Ill advised.
Perviously:
Next Time!:
Type
Void
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler
Additional Rulers/Owners
Owning Organization
Sit down, my friend, and let me tell you of Aran'sha . A world where the sands shift and the stars sing, where the wind carries secrets and the twin moons keep silent vigil over it all.