@Blademaster That part of the prophecy could also be pointed at the sources of parahuman powers. Scion's avatar was gold while Eden's was (going to be) silver. In this context, it could point at a combination of the powers from Scion and Eden being needed to help defeat the Dark One.
The list of parahumans with powers from Eden is relatively small. Primarily those who got powers from Cauldron, but a few "natural" triggers as well. Among them is Amelia Lavere, the Red Queen, formerly known as Panacea. A few chapters ago, she was mentioned as starting to become aligned with the Shadow. Could she be a Lanfear stand-in?
Using this interpretation, Gold Morning could also be referred to as "crowned in gold, with silver stole" since Taylor/Khepri was a Scion shard that was unlocked by Amy/Panacea.
Now This is interesting. It is likely some combination of both. the crowned in gold part is likely related to scion/gold morning, but I do think the stole relates to Egwene, the Amyrlin seat. In wheel of time, the Amyrlin's stole is the symbol of authority of the Amyrlin, the leader of all Aes Sedai, like a king's crown, and this object is an important aymbol in wheel of time.
Furthermore, an earlier part of the prophecy mentions silver flame. The flame symbolizes the amyrlin as well, as the symbol of the Aes Sedai is called the flame of Tar Valon, which is also a title of the Amyrlin. This title later especially signifies Egwene, more than generally the amyrli no, which also died in a silver flame, sacrificing herself to save the world during Tarmon Gaidon.
Lastly, the prophecy also mentions the shawl, which symbolises the general Aes Sedai just as the stole signifies the amyrlin, making it thr third important symbol of the order in the prophecy
I really think Taylor is Egwene's reincarnated. Running into the fight even without power and almost helpless is exactly the kind of thing Egwene does.
Vicky was very irresponsible with her powers at first and was incredibly reckless when she was younger. She regularly had to have Amy come clean up her messes or she'd have a pretty hefty body count. Honestly Vicky being Elayne's reincarnation is very fitting. Also Gold Morning was very bad for the local fabric of space time, dozens of tears were opened, and there's the many, many Gray Boy bubbles of looped time, some of which March popped in Ward apparently. Haven't read it so I could be wrong on that last one.
I don't think Amy was a Eden Trigger, unless that's a Ward retcon, the only known ones for me were Leet and Vikare. That said I do agree with your interpretation of the meaning of stole here being stolen since Taylor took over both Cauldron Capes and normal ones.
Lisa never really did like dealing with precogs, but when one went into an apparent full-blown prophecy, complete with rhyming verse and metaphorical predictions, the smart thing to do was pay attention. And Lisa was far from stupid. Dinah's prophetic declaration twigged something with the strange visions she'd been seeing, some of the pieces falling into place as she spoke, and others changing, altering in some way. Lisa intentionally didn't use her power on those at the moment. Sensory overload was a genuine concern that she had here.
Taylor alone was hard to look at, but add everyone else? The only people without anything major surrounding them were Presley's parents. The two had deep red threads connecting the two of them along with a blue thread connecting to their daughter. Lisa didn't even need her power to let her know that was a sort of love. It was obvious in how they acted together.
Taylor's imagery hadn't changed too much, but the white flame had taken on more of a silver hue. A cloth with seven colors surrounded it, but the darkness stained the cloth some as the Shadow encroached upon her.
The Shadow was in everyone's sparks here, save for Presley's parents, and when Taylor said the name she did, it seemed to get darker.
Before anyone spoke up again, Lisa put on her best smile and held up a hand. "I suggest not repeating that name, even if it does sound a lot like Satan to begin with. It's an odd coincidence that it does sound that way."
"Actually, I believe in Arabic, there is a similar-sounding word that literally means devil," Dragon said, carefully to not repeat the name. Lisa glanced at the gynoid and cocked an eyebrow. The AI was being modest. Lisa could guarantee that Dragon knew Arabic among the other languages that were likely programmed into her at her creation.
Child image remains, as does connection to Taylor.
Sees Taylor as like a daughter to her, reflected in spark image.
Definitely knows Arabic.
Lisa's smile didn't falter, but she gave a silent plea to her power to not focus too much on the images in the sparks.
"Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear," Presley's father said. "Are you genuinely frightened of something like that?"
"There's capes that can do similar things," Rain said. "If you were connected to Christine Mathers, speaking about her while she's awake could draw her attention."
"Thankfully, her connections are reset," Victoria said. "And she's in Warden custody. But… that's one cape, and she does have some limits."
"The Dark One doesn't," Malan said, standing to his full height. He towered at least two feet over everyone in the room, and he looked at Taylor. "Elder Hardwick and Elder Sharam have an ancient book, dating to a long time ago. It spoke of a battle between Light and Shadow, between the Dark One and someone. It wasn't clear who represented the Light, but the Dark One was mentioned. The Dark One is evil incarnate."
"You didn't remember this before when I mentioned the Shadow?" Taylor asked.
Malan gave a small shrug. "The myths were not as fresh in my mind as now, and the prophetic declaration, the Foretelling, it… I think the right phrase is 'knocked some things loose?'"
"Close enough," Lisa said, nodding to the Ogier.
"So, the Devil," Candy said. "Tabernac, were the Titans not enough? Now we have the devil to fight?"
"Technically, according to the prophecy," Lisa said, looking at Dinah. Threads wove around her, timelines branching out from her head, and interweaving in upon themselves. Perhaps that was referencing her power in some way "The prophecy says that the Shadow is rising to meet the suns. Khepri is associated with the sun in myth, and Antares is literally a star. So, if anyone's fighting the devil, it's Taylor and Victoria."
"Not alone," Rachel said. She placed a hand on Taylor's shoulder. In addition to the wolf and moon, there now were crumbled ruins of something with white brick in her aura. It made little sense. "Stupid to face something like that alone."
Taylor didn't smile directly at Rachel, but the body language she used conveyed the same meaning. Lisa knew even without relying on her power that Taylor was happy for the backup. Oh, and the same ruins decided to pop up near where the strange skull was.
Victoria shook her head. "The Titans, the Endbringers, and even Scion… they all were… well, I don't want to say easy to fight, but we were able to fight them. Talk a couple of Titans onto our side, and we were able to win with some help."
"But how do you fight the Devil?" Sveta asked, seemingly finishing Victoria's thought. Her imagery was intriguing to Lisa. She too was entwined in the swirling storm of whatever between Victoria and Taylor. Her costume stuck out in her aura, updated in a way. Sure, she'd always liked being super colorful, but her costume had never included a color changing aspect before. "Assuming that it really is the Devil, this Dark One."
Shifting is a part of identity.
Wary of Taylor
Worried for Victoria
Worried for everyone. Isn't sure what to believe about the prophecy.
Still guilt-ridden over loss of control.
"Finding out more," Dragon said. "The item, and the information that Dinah spoke of in her prophecy. Dinah, are you up for more questions or perhaps more detailed work?"
Dinah, who had been silent until now, nodded. "I do have a little more than forty questions left that I think I can do safely today. What sorts of questions do you want to ask?"
"You're capable of isolating a specific timeline or grouping of them, correct?" Dragon asked. "And then describing the events of that timeline?"
The girl grimaced, and the threads around her head swirled in on themselves. Dinah likely didn't do such things often, given the exertion it would cause. "Yes, I can do that. What do you want me to look at?"
"Four questions," Taylor said, before Dragon could start to speak again. Taylor once again proved that even without her power, she was still who she was. "Where do we go to find this information, specifically which direction and how far? Who, going with us, provides us the best chance of success? Can you see the item that we are looking for? When should we go?"
"That's more like six or seven," Dinah said, muttering. "Give me a little bit to sort this out, Taylor, please. I want to ensure your best chances…"
"I'm not sure I understand what's going on," Malan said as his aura shifted colors. In his aura, Lisa saw the ruins that had been in Taylor and Rachel's auras. A flick of her eyes toward Victoria had her noting them there as well. The only one of the others in the room with the same ruins was Defiant. Neither Dragon nor even Lisa herself had them.
"The best people for this are Malan, Defiant, Taylor, Victoria, and Rachel," Lisa said, trusting that the new visions were accurate. At least in some fashion. "You'll be looking for some ruins of some sort. I couldn't tell you where exactly, but maybe Dinah can give a direction."
"How do you know that?" Victoria asked.
"I said it a few times before, Dallon, but maybe this time it'll stick," Lisa said with a smirk. "I'm psychic."
Both Victoria and Taylor gave her flat looks.
Taylor snorted. "This doesn't sound like something your power normally does, Lisa. You don't really look to how people fit together."
Lisa shrugged. "My power's been a bit different recently."
"From the attack on the powers?" Victoria asked.
"This is more recent," Lisa said. "Either it's my power with more functionality, or I've got more powers and, well, really am psychic."
Lisa glanced at Dinah once more. The girl seemed to be frozen up in consternation, and given the questions that Taylor asked, it was likely going to take a little while before she completed the request.
"Dallon, can I speak with you in private?" Lisa asked.
"Lisa?" Taylor met her eyes.
"Don't worry, nothing bad's going to happen," Lisa said. "It's not like I plan on sparring with her."
"Again," Victoria said. She looked to Dragon and Defiant. "Is there a place that we can talk privately?"
"Sure," Dragon said. The simulated waver in her voice indicated a small bit of trepidation, but who wouldn't be nervous given the contents of the prophecy? "There's a small office just down the hall and to the right that is soundproof and has no surveillance equipment beyond a smoke detector. Lisa, when you get back would you be willing to discuss specifics regarding the changing of your powers?"
"Not particularly," Lisa said as she stood up. "I'll share with my team and maybe Dallon, but until I have it completely figured out, I'd rather keep some secrets from the white hats."
Dragon nodded in understanding.
"Aren't you technically a white hat now, Lisa?" Taylor asked.
"Shush, you," Lisa said, giving Taylor a mock-glare. She then walked the rest of the way to the office without much thought.
The office in question was surprisingly simple for something used by a tinker. There were a couple chairs, a wooden desk, two lamps, and there wasn't even a computer set up in the room. There was, however, a drafting table, with pencils and a large ream of drafting paper. The designs laid out on the desk were actually somewhat normal, more reasonable. They didn't really hurt her head as she looked at them.
Room meant for non-powered engineering
Defiant uses room to design utilitarian things and non-utilitarian things
Defiant comes here to unwind after a long tinkering session
Lisa rubbed her head a bit as her power actually functioned the way she wanted it to. The door shut seconds later after Victoria came into the room, pulling it shut. Good. She looked a little bit on edge, a little bit frazzled. It was possible that Victoria hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, given the events. That was honestly even better.
Lisa wanted Victoria on the back foot for this conversation. It was one that needed to happen before she allowed what apparently must happen to happen. Assuming her visions were correct, and her gut feeling combined with her power told her that they were, this talk needed to happen.
"So, I know this isn't about you volunteering to talk to my students again, Lisa," Victoria said. She took a seat in the chair that faced the door. "What's going on?"
Lisa took the chair opposite Victoria. "You mean besides something that's apparently destiny knocking on yours and Taylor's door again?"
"I'm not sure destiny had anything to do with what we did against the Titans," Victoria said. "At least, not the same way."
Lisa shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Doesn't change the fact that your fate and Taylor's are apparently intertwined. The Ogier sees it, and Dinah's little prophecy almost confirms it. Add to that, my new ability… The two of you are going to be involved with each other's lives significantly."
Victoria tilted her head slightly. "Just what is your new power, exactly?"
"Not related to my normal power, to be perfectly honest," Lisa said. "My power's curious about it too. I'm seeing images surrounding certain people, ones which I have a bit of instinct about, but others not so much."
"Oh?" Victoria asked. "And what do you see around me, exactly?"
"A silvery-white flame," Lisa said. "A sea of arms reaching out for a pool of blood, the giant gun you used on the Titans, Shadow, encroaching upon the sparks of your aura, some crumbling ruins, and, huh… that's new…"
Victoria cocked an eyebrow, but Lisa looked closer.
Heraldry of a star and a mane-like corona on a feline.
Representative of lion star?
Leo constellation relation?
Prophetic implications, facing the Shadow?
Investigate further, Tattletale-self.
"Just a thing that seems to put part of the prophecy in context about you," Lisa said, shaking her head. "But you're not the only one with those ruins. Rachel has them, Taylor does, the Ogier does, and so does Defiant."
"Okay," Victoria said.
"You're the odd woman out," Lisa said. "Prior to yesterday, your direct experiences with Taylor Hebert were limited to a bank robbery and Khepri taking over your body. You might have heard of her Wards career, but beyond that…"
"She wasn't quite what I was expecting," Victoria said. "Though, the two of us really haven't had any one on one time. She's not bad with the kids though, and she seems to want to do the right thing."
"She does," Lisa said. "Even if she has to do something stupid to pull it off. It's how she ended up joining the Undersiders in the first place."
"Okay," Victoria said. "So, what's the point in you telling me this, Lisa?"
"It's simple, Victoria," Lisa said. "Taylor's one of my best friends, possibly my best. I want her to be able to be happy, and with this whole Shadow thing looming over everything, that's going to be hard. But she'll have a purpose."
"And that's a… good thing, right?" Victoria asked, seemingly feeling out the question.
Lisa made sure to tamp down on her power. She needed to be somewhat fair about this, after all.
Lisa held up a hand and waggled it slightly. "She spent three years in the Wards preparing for the end of the world. And when it came, she dedicated everything to it. Sacrificed everything to stop it. She even reached out to Bonesaw to find a solution, but then your sister…"
Victoria flinched, but she nodded. "Right. So, her finding a new purpose…"
"Dangerous," Lisa said. "Maybe it might be different since she doesn't have her power, or rather at least the same one she had before. But Taylor Hebert is a driven woman."
"What do you expect me to do?" Victoria asked.
"Challenge her," Lisa said. "Defiant probably will already, and while he does have her respect, there's a lot of underlying guilt on both sides there. With you, that's different. You were and are the kind of hero she wanted to be."
Victoria blinked. Obviously, she didn't expect that to be the line out of Lisa's mouth.
Lisa smirked at Victoria. "You were a famous hero with a flashy power, and you were effective with your actions. Sure, the bank might have soured her opinion a little, but she respected you for who you were as Glory Girl. Add what you did here as Antares? You saved the world, Victoria. The worlds. You have Taylor's respect. If you challenge her when she's going too far, she might bristle, but she'll consider your point."
"That's… flattering," Victoria said, shaking her head. Lisa knew that Victoria really didn't see herself the same way that others saw her. That was one thing she shared in common with Taylor beyond the prophecy. There were several others, of course, but this was part of the whole reason for the talk. "Just challenge her?"
"Get her to slow down, to take her time," Lisa said. "Especially with figuring out that new power of hers. I don't want her trying too much too soon."
"How am I supposed to do that?" Victoria asked. "I don't even know what this new power is."
"Neither do I," Lisa said. "Neither does she, nor do any of us, really. Whatever it is, I think it's going to be helpful against the Shadow. She needs to learn how to use it, but it could be dangerous."
Victoria nodded. "I'll try. But I can't promise she won't put herself in danger. She's her own woman and needs to make her own choices. Are you able to use your new power thing on yourself?"
Lisa nodded. "I can. Which is why I'm not going with you. Assuming I'm right about my powers, the best chance of success is the five of you going. Dinah's power should confirm that. I can't tell you exactly where you're going, but hopefully she'll narrow it down for you."
"Do you think you can describe the ruins?" Victoria asked. Perhaps her power was prodding her about questions to ask. It wouldn't be the first time that Lisa had seen Victoria's power do that. So, Lisa gave the best description she could.
The ruins were important. That much she knew, but Lisa wasn't sure if they represented something specific or if they were more metaphorical. If it was the former, the description, an ancient city, a collapsed tower of white stone, and crumbling architecture that had no business still existing, given the amount of time that had likely passed, that description would at least help locate it. In theory. Assuming that it was capable of being seen from orbit, Dragon's satellites would likely be able to locate it, once they had a direction to go.
Victoria actually pulled out a pen and some paper, jotting down Lisa's description as she gave it. "So, to be clear, the reason you wanted this to happen in privacy is because of your requests about Taylor?"
Lisa's smile started off genuine. She really did like how Victoria paid attention. It was one thing that she shared with her friends. Of course, there was the necessity that came next. "Well, that was one of the reasons. Victoria, like it or not, you and Taylor have some involvement with each other. The two of you have things pulling you together. Don't hurt her."
Victoria blinked. Clearly, she was a little confused as to what Lisa was on about. Lisa could see her mulling over her response in her head, but Victoria could only come up with a barely sputtered, "I like guys."
"So does Taylor," Lisa said. "I mean it, Dallon. If I find out that you hurt Taylor, it will be one of the last things you ever do."
Victoria rolled her eyes. "I can't promise that she won't get hurt if she's involved in a fight."
Lisa shook her head. "Like I said. She respects you. Don't hurt her. Your best chance in that situation is for me to deal with you. You just need to ask Alexandria about the last one who intentionally hurt her emotionally. Oh. Wait."
Victoria sighed. "Look. I won't intentionally do anything to hurt her. But I'm not going to promise that she won't get hurt if I have to save her from doing something stupid."
"That's all I ask," Lisa said. "We just got our friend back, Victoria. Can you imagine what that's like for us? Imagine if it were Swansong."
Victoria nodded. "Perhaps we should head back. They might think we're doing something strange in here."
Lisa nodded, and the two of them stood up to head for the door. Lisa placed a hand onto Victoria's shoulder, and her wrist was lightly grabbed by an ethereal presence. As her hand was brought away from Victoria's shoulder, Lisa squeezed lightly before letting go. "I mean it, Dallon. Don't hurt her."
"I won't." Victoria crossed her arms, and the door opened before them.
When they made it back to the living room, Aiden walked up to them. He looked directly at Lisa, and she could see the sparks in his aura growing into images. There was a red banner with an eagle motif in the background of a few of the images. There was also a broken sword, a pile of skulls, and a silhouette of a massive bird, larger than Chicken Large. Damn. Even the kids were going to be involved in this.
Broken sword, loss of attack strength?
Pile of skulls? Many killed on watch?
Lisa clamped down on her power. "What's up, Aiden?"
"Dinah's done," he said. "You were right about the group that had the best chance of success."
"Of course I was," Lisa said with a smirk. "And where are they going?"
"Somewhere around the point where Hungary, Slovakia and the Ukraine would have been on Bet," Aiden said. "But Dragon's not sure what's actually there. It's heavily overgrown."
"Ruins," Victoria said. "With a collapsed white tower. I'll let Dragon know what we're looking for. And Lisa?"
"Hmm?" Lisa asked.
"I'll do what I need to," Victoria said. "Don't worry."
"I won't," Lisa said. She trusted Victoria, after all.
Great chapter as always. Well then…. Going to visit Tar'Valon are they? That should be interesting. Also wasnt the Eagle the banner of Hawkwing? So potentially Aiden is his reincarnation. That or it's referencing Shienar. In which case Davram Bashere? Potentially Faile?
Great chapter as always. Well then…. Going to visit Tar'Valon are they? That should be interesting. Also wasnt the Eagle the banner of Hawkwing? So potentially Aiden is his reincarnation. That or it's referencing Shienar. In which case Davram Bashere? Potentially Faile?
The eagle was Manetheren's banner, and also Perrin's alliance's banner. Sheinar is not eagle banner, and Bashere and Faile are Saldeans, not Sheinarians.
Taylor's imagery hadn't changed too much, but the white flame had taken on more of a silver hue. A cloth with seven colors surrounded it, but the darkness stained the cloth some as the Shadow encroached upon her
This pretty much confirms it. The flame of Tar Valon, watcher of the seals, greatest of all amyrlin seats, Egwene is reborn. And going to visit old Tar Valon. This will be interesting.
Also it seems Victoria also has the white flame. And I wonder, is the Elder's book the dragon reborn, by Loial son of Arent son of Halan? Unlikely given the time that passed, but if it does, it would be invaluable
Whoops, yeah it's been a long time since I read the series as I've stated before so I do apologize for misremembering. I may be a savant when it comes to stories but I still make mistakes. Still that is pretty interesting, maybe Aiden is Tam? As for Shienar, its a hawk which Lisa could have been mistaken about and thought of as an Eagle.
As for Vicky having the Flame of Tar'Valon I imagine she also has the potential to use Saidar since she's Elayne's reincarnation. That's not particularly unusual.
Ugh that's such a tease. Still I look forward to reading it when you post it. I am curious why they aren't consulting Contessa, unless she's dead? I haven't read Ward and have no intention to ever do so, but I'd have thought she'd be alive still.
Whoops, yeah it's been a long time since I read the series as I've stated before so I do apologize for misremembering. I may be a savant when it comes to stories but I still make mistakes. Still that is pretty interesting, maybe Aiden is Tam? As for Shienar, its a hawk which Lisa could have been mistaken about and thought of as an Eagle.
As for Vicky having the Flame of Tar'Valon I imagine she also has the potential to use Saidar since she's Elayne's reincarnation. That's not particularly unusual.
Ugh that's such a tease. Still I look forward to reading it when you post it. I am curious why they aren't consulting Contessa, unless she's dead? I haven't read Ward and have no intention to ever do so, but I'd have thought she'd be alive still.
Could be related to Mat, who has the old blood of Manetheren. Or perhaps he is related to Manetheren itself. If the White tower is in eastern europe, then it should be around italy or southern germany maybe?
Or it could be something else. She saw a shiloute of a bird. Maybe he will be under threat from something related to it?
I was aware of that I was just unsure if she ever recovered from it. The wiki was unclear. As for reading Ward, I probably won't simply because WB writes such depressing things. I deal with my own severe depression and anxiety enough as it is so I really don't need or want to add to it by reading depressing stories. Fair warning if this gets too dark I'll probably stop reading, but that's more for my own mental health rather than anything wrong on your end.
I was aware of that I was just unsure if she ever recovered from it. The wiki was unclear. As for reading Ward, I probably won't simply because WB writes such depressing things. I deal with my own severe depression and anxiety enough as it is so I really don't need or want to add to it by reading depressing stories. Fair warning if this gets too dark I'll probably stop reading, but that's more for my own mental health rather than anything wrong on your end.
At the end of Ward, the Titans more or less crumble to dust, disappearing. It's possible that Fortuna/Contessa still exists somewhere, but she may as well be dead.
I will say that I personally found Ward to be a lot more hopeful than depressing. Some people may disagree, however.
As for the story... I'm not sure exactly how dark it will get, but Shai'tan is still pretty fucking evil.
Well, I sure am waiting for the next part of the story. The amyrlin reborn returns to Tar Valon, now ruined. Did I mention Egwene was my favourite character? And Taylor just suits her so well!
From now on I am definetly calling Taylor the Amyrlin reborn.
Well, I sure am waiting for the next part of the story. The amyrlin reborn returns to Tar Valon, now ruined. Did I mention Egwene was my favourite character? And Taylor just suits her so well!
From now on I am definetly calling Taylor the Amyrlin reborn.
If I remember correctly, he is conceptual evil as well as a being in his own right, as in 'root of all'. Every angry word, every conflict, every injustice done by one person to another has his influence behind it somewhere.
Unfortunately for the world, according to WoT canon people need that little bit of darkness to be people. I think it might be at least partly a free will thing? Which is a bit weird considering the series' general use of destiny.
If I remember correctly, he is conceptual evil as well as a being in his own right, as in 'root of all'. Every angry word, every conflict, every injustice done by one person to another has his influence behind it somewhere.
Unfortunately for the world, according to WoT canon people need that little bit of darkness to be people. I think it might be at least partly a free will thing? Which is a bit weird considering the series' general use of destiny.
It is left to interpetation, but as I see it, humans by nature has both evil and good with them. Remove one of them from their being, and they are not people anymore.
And thus there will always be people that act on evil, few or many, or even none, evil can not be permenantly destroyed. But as long as people decide to work against it, to do good, to help and heal and fight evil even if it costs them, it can not truly triumph and defeat good.
As long as people try to make things better, by doing good, and believe they can improve the situation, then there can be better, and evil will be defeated. In time, there will be evil again, as it is an essential part of the heart of men. But this too will be banished, and there will be better times again. Thus "there will never be an ending to the turning of the wheel of time"
men, not as an individual man but as a collective, can choose their fate to bad times or good times. And realisticly, there will eventually times where selfishness hate and greed win and men go to bad, but as long as there are good people who will fight against this, even if it costs them, then good will come again
According to people who have read the series, that comes from the Dark One, and I'm not sure how trustworthy the Devil is about things that would keep him alive.
According to people who have read the series, that comes from the Dark One, and I'm not sure how trustworthy the Devil is about things that would keep him alive.
While the vision comes from the dark one, it was woven from possiblity threads, possible parts of the future, so it was something that could happen. So we can trust that vision
To paraphrase Solzhenitsyn, the line between good and evil cuts through the heart of every man. Is selfishness evil? Without selfishness, humanity would be extinct. A perfect society of altruistic people incapable of hostility, selfishness or deceit is completely impossible. More relevant to the WoT cosmology, the Wheel keeps turning as Shai'tan keeps trying to destroy it. Without this disruptive force, there presumably wouldn't be any variance at all as the wheel kept turning. A few drops of evil diluted across humanity would presumably also express itself as ambition, competetiveness, aggression, selfishness and so on, and not just psychopathy and sadism.
To any other person, tracking through the footage of the previous night would have been a chore, but Kenzie liked being useful. Plus, she actually got to use some of Dragon's technology, combining it with her own, and how often did any tinker get to actually do that? Other than Defiant, anyway. She had four screens in front of her, each going over a different angle or time of the night. Unfortunately, the cameras hung around the city weren't all made by her, and most were more mundane than anything she could do. It affected what she was capable of doing with them, but she did have some tricks up her sleeve that even Dragon didn't.
She'd only been barely paying attention to whatever the discussion had been with Dinah, trusting that she'd be filled in by her teammates later. The Trollocs' origins and Fade both had her attention. Sure, this Dark One thing that they were talking about was probably interesting, and the fact that all of this happened once Khepri--no, Taylor, once Taylor came to Perpetuity had her concerned. Of course, Malan had mentioned something about both Taylor and Victoria together, how the two were likely to be affected by destiny and such.
Yeah. She wasn't sure how much she bought that, but it was as good an excuse as any. Plus, well, precogs were a thing.
Kenzie played the footage of Taylor and the Majors versus the Trollocs one last time, and she froze on the moment just before Finale did her thing. The camera used to record this wasn't one of hers, though she did have a drone in the area at the time. It just happened to be following Victoria. Checking it from that angle showed the same thing. When Kenzie zoomed in on Taylor, she saw a flicker of something around her that seemed to be an artifact of the footage. Maybe whatever Taylor was doing was interfering with the recordings somehow. It was definitely some sort of power that was flowing through her, but what specifically, Kenzie couldn't tell.
She probably could make something that would detect whatever was causing the anomaly if Taylor stuck around to help, but she was going off with Victoria, Rachel, Malan and Defiant. That reminded her, she'd need to see about giving them eye cameras, but she wasn't sure how deep Malan's eyes went as Ogier anatomy wasn't exactly something she'd have learned, given their recent appearances.
She flicked through the scenes again, tracing backwards in time. She changed between feeds, following the paths the Trollocs took from the time they appeared at Victoria's building to how they got there.
"Oh man, that's… what is that, Lookout?" Presley asked from the side. Kenzie turned, and she saw the girl staring at the Trollocs on screen as the footage followed back. Luckily, it wasn't one of the scenes of them attacking someone, eating someone, but the creatures still were disturbing to look at. All big and animalistic, yet something there was disturbingly human about them too. It was like someone had crafted the creatures specifically to be right in that Uncanny Valley. A dark intelligence shone in the eyes of each of them, a cruelty to them. Perhaps she was projecting, but Kenzie wasn't sure.
"Those are what attacked Victoria's building, Pres," Kenzie said. "I'm trying to find out where they came from and if there are more."
"Can I help?" Presley asked.
Kenzie glanced over to Presley's parents, who seemed to be engaged in a conversation with Victoria about something. Aiden was helping Taylor and Lisa do some prep work before the larger group had to head back to Perpetuity. Candy and Darlene were bugging Rachel about the dogs, and Kenzie wasn't about to interrupt their time with their Aunt. Aisha…
Kenzie double-checked her tracker. Yep. She was with Malan, the Ogier friend, possibly making some sort of innuendo that somehow was going over the giant's head. The only reason it didn't go over her own was because she'd started looking up the things Aisha had said afterward so that she could understand it better. She wanted to fit in more with her team and the others, after all.
After a few seconds, Kenzie nodded. "Take a seat, Pres, and you can have this keyboard. Just going to warn you ahead of time. These things aren't exactly fun to watch. They killed people, pretty brutally too."
"I can handle it," Presley said.
Kenzie nodded. She liked Presley a lot and was happy that the girl wanted to hang out, even if it was to do something like this. Plus, there were a few questions that Kenzie had, given the reasons that Presley had even come to this meeting in the first place. "So, what was it like?"
"Hmm?" Presley asked, looking away from the screen causing it to freeze on a Trolloc backing away from a building.
"The dream, I mean," Kenzie said. "For you. When we did it, it was like I was really there, and I could see things and people that were no longer around. You got to meet up with Swansong, right?'
"Yeah," Presley said with a nod, her white hair dipping forward. She brushed her hair backward with a hand. "She looked good, and she seemed to have a new friend that I hadn't heard of. Silverbow. That's not an Earth Bet hero, right? I'm pretty sure I would have been able to find something about her."
"I don't know," Kenzie said. "I think we can ask Dragon, but the name isn't one I've heard outside of you and Taylor."
"Victoria seemed to think my dream meant something," Presley said. "And… I think it did too."
Kenzie nodded. "Yeah, maybe. When we're done here, if you don't mind, I'd like to take a look with one of my cameras, see if there's something that I can detect. Have you had any other weird dreams?"
"Maybe?" Presley said, somehow turning it into a question. "I don't know. Since dreaming about Swansong and Khepri… Taylor, there's been a few other dreams that have been weird. A couple of them happening over and over."
Kenzie tapped her keyboard, focusing on a group of Trollocs, watching them back into a building on the reversed footage. She marked the location of that building on the city map on a corner of her screen, and she set a crawling bot to mine some information about that building in particular. Layout, interior, etc. She had a few drones that she could send over there as well, even from over in Europe, piggybacking on Dragon's network.
"What happened in those dreams?" Kenzie asked.
"Just… portals opening, like they did a few years ago, but instead of golden light, these dragon-looking things flying out with people on them…" Presley said. "Along with armies, men and women, dressed in strange outfits… and I don't know." She looked at the screen again, which had frozen on… "That."
Standing near the group of Trollocs as they backed out was Fade, dressed in a black hooded cloak. The cape was pointing outward, mouth open, clearly giving some sort of orders. Inside the cape's mouth was a variety of razor-sharp teeth, and Kenzie was able to zoom right in on the cape's face.
"What is that, Lookout?" Presley asked.
"You can call me Kenzie, Pres," Kenzie said automatically, but she started adjusting the footage, isolating it to the best of her ability. Fade flickered with each frame adjustment, but this time, Kenzie was ready for it. She managed to isolate the image, rapidly typing on the keyboard so that she could keep her control. "That's Fade… a cape that's almost certainly a villain at this point."
"It's not alone," Presley said, a quaver in her voice. "The Trollocs are listening to it."
"Pres, could you go get Lisa and Victoria? Or…" Kenzie tapped at the keyboard a little more. "Dragon, are you paying attention?"
Dragon's voice came out of the speakers. "Yes, Kenzie, and… that is Fade, I take it?"
"Yeah," Kenzie said. "I'm not sure if the footage will keep it in, but I'm doing my best to contain the image."
The lights flickered in the room, but the screens managed to stay on. Dragon's avatar popped up with a frown on her face. "That shouldn't be happening."
"No…" Kenzie shook her head. "Can we get Lisa and Victoria over here?"
"I'll alert them," Dragon said, and her avatar winked out.
Kenzie isolated the screen, and she sent out her drone with the time camera attached to the building in question. It would take a little bit to get there, but she had the time.
"I don't think it's the only one," Presley said. "Fade, I mean. There's more than one of them, or there were in the dream I had."
Kenzie nodded, absently glancing at the subscreens she had, looking through the cameras of the house. The two Trollocs that Defiant and Dragon had incarcerated were banging against the walls of their cells, clearly roaring loudly, judging from the decibel levels on that microphone channel. That they couldn't hear them from the living room was a testament to the soundproofing that both Dragon and Defiant had managed to incorporate into the building.
More than just Lisa and Victoria came over with Dragon's gynoid body. The rest of her team, both of her teams, came with them, and so did Taylor, Malan and Defiant. Presley's parents, Dinah and Rachel had come as well. Kenzie blew up the image of Fade giving orders to the Trollocs, but she continued her work with the time camera drone.
"It looks like the Elders described," Malan said. "An Eyeless…"
"Fade," Aisha said, correcting him. "We're calling it that because the bastard faded right out of the footage. How you keeping him there now, Peep?"
Kenzie got ready to explain, but Candy stepped up to her side and covered her mouth, giving a glare to Aisha. "We don't need to have her go off on a tinker rant, Aisha. She got him though."
"It," Lisa said. "That's not human, and it never was." She walked around the group, giving a close look at the footage. "It's related to the Trollocs in some way. They fear it, similar to how they reacted to Dallon's aura."
"But more, even," Victoria added, glancing to the Trollocs on screen. "Fade knows that it can give them orders and they'll obey because of that fear."
"They look like abused animals, almost," Taylor said, giving an apologetic glance to Rachel. "But… not fully. They fear Fade because of what it can do, what it will do. Do you have more footage on where they came in?"
"Not yet," Kenzie said, and she tapped up on the screen. "I'm sending my time camera to the building to see if I can get better shots."
"Isn't it too big for a drone?" Victoria asked. "The last time you used it, it was pretty big."
"I had help with making it smaller," Kenzie said, gesturing toward Dragon and Defiant. "But the drone still had to be a little taller than me to support the cube that I placed it in."
"Time camera," Taylor repeated, and then she shook her head, giving Kenzie a more contemplative look. She smiled at her, and then she nodded to Aiden. "You've got an interesting teammate, Aiden. What can we see with this time camera?"
"Not too sure what we'll see," Kenzie said. "But the footage for the Trollocs has them coming out of that building, and Fade was giving them orders on the way out. I don't know where he went after that though."
"I'll look over more footage throughout the city, but let's see what you find with your time camera," Dragon said.
"Did you manage to get it to go faster?" Rain asked. "I know you got the resolution better, but waiting around for it to do its thing…"
Kenzie crossed her arms, pouting. "It works as fast as it works, Rain."
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Taylor said. "Can you have your drone do a sweep of the inside of the building before using your special camera?"
Kenzie nodded, and she brought up the footage.
"What are you thinking, Taylor?" Lisa asked.
"I'm not sure, exactly," Taylor said. "But if the Trollocs came from within that building, they had to have a way in, right? Were they smuggled in, somewhere? Was there a tunnel? Sewer entrance?"
"They didn't smell like the sewer," Victoria said, as they watched the footage.
The building's interior seemed mostly like the rest of Perpetuity's mostly prefabricated buildings, supported by tinker-led construction, and built upon a specially created foundation. Like many of the buildings in the city, this one had been under repair after the cracks in reality had formed during the Titanomachy. A small fracture had embedded itself in the foundation, and spiderwebbed its way down the basement. Normally, this would be blocked off by some sort of barrier, but the drone's footage showed discarded barrier tape located not far from the basement's exit.
Kenzie flew the drone further into the basement, toward where the crack was, and for a second, she had the camera point directly at the crack. Beyond the crack in reality was what looked like a wall, albeit one with an intricately carved design on it that almost looked like foliage, including what looked like a trefoil type leaf, somewhere on it.
"That's… different," Rain said. "I haven't seen anything like that before."
"I have," Malan said, in unison with Taylor. She nodded to the Ogier, who continued. "Outside of Stedding Tsaris, there's a carved gateway like that, said to have been there from long ago. From before we returned to the Stedding after having left. Nobody knows exactly what they're there for, but the leaves there are from a tree that doesn't exist anymore, one of myth and legend."
"There's one near here too," Dragon said. "A gate like that, I mean. It's about ten kilometers east of the town."
"There," Victoria said. "Do the scan there, Kenz. Three things looking exactly like that in different parts of the world… it's not happenstance."
Taylor nodded. "Dinah, do you have a couple more questions in you?"
"Quite a bit more than a couple, Taylor," Dinah said. "What do you want to ask?"
"Chances that Fade or Trollocs will use whatever that thing is again to gain access to Perpetuity. What are those chances?" Taylor asked.
Dinah furrowed her brow, looking at the carved item. "Sixty-five point seven percent. No, the number's changed some. Seventy point three percent. That's… the numbers don't just tend to change like that unless something I'm not accounting for is there."
"Chances that Dracheheim will be attacked using the same thing within the next month?"
As Dinah spouted off another above fifty percent number, Kenzie started the time camera, tracing her finger down the edge of the box controls she had for it, and the room that the drone was in started to light up with small spherical particles. After adjusting a couple more settings on the control box, she let the time camera do its work.
She glanced at some of the real time footage around Defiant and Dragon's home. The Trollocs were still banging loudly on their cell walls, bellowing and roaring in animalistic fury. Outside, birds had begun to gather on nearby trees. Dark-feathered birds, specifically, gathered, all seeming to watch the house.
Kenzie frowned and looked over at her teammate. Aiden seemed to be torn between focusing on Taylor and focusing on Darlene at the moment. "Candy, could you come here for a second?"
"What do you need, Kenzie?" asked the older Vasil girl. She did make her way to her friend's side though.
Kenzie gestured to the screen with the outside footage. "That's a lot of birds out there, all of the same kind…"
Lisa glanced over to Aiden, seemingly having heard them. She took a quick glance at the footage as she walked past them and then walked over to Aiden. "So, kiddo, is there any reason why you've got a veritable murder of birds out there?"
"That's crows," Aiden said. "Those are ravens out there. It's an unkindness of ravens, right, Taylor?"
"Technically," Taylor said. "And you knew that already, Lisa. Gathering a small flock, Aiden?"
"Not intentionally," Aiden said. "They keep coming on their own, but I tell them to just wait in the trees."
"How many have shown up this way?" Lisa asked.
"Just under forty," Aiden said. "I didn't think that there were that many ravens in the area."
"Are they all under your control?" Taylor asked, and when Aiden nodded, she smiled. "Keep it that way. Don't let a single one of them leave."
"What are you thinking, Taylor?" Defiant asked.
"Not sure, but I have a hunch," Taylor said.
Aiden nodded, and Kenzie put her attention back to the footage. The resolution of the time camera had been significantly improved since the first time she'd used it, and this time was better than the last time she'd done it. She'd even managed to narrow down the window that she was targeting rather than focusing on a longer length of time. Slowly, surely, the Trollocs took shape in that basement, and near them was Fade, stepping out of that gateway thing.
Wait. That was more than one Fade. Two of them stepped out with the Trollocs, but only one went up the stairs with them. She made sure to record the footage to the best of her ability, but it made things make some sense. That said, there appeared to be far more Trollocs in the basement than there had been in the city, even accounting for the ones that had died and the ones that had been captured. There were at least sixty Trollocs there, but there hadn't even been half that number accounted for among the dead and captured.
"Guys," Kenzie said. "The camera's got its thing…"
"Fuck," Aisha said. "There weren't that many in the city streets."
"Or some of them were subtle," Taylor said. She shook her head. "Buds of the Shadow… These things are…"
"Created," Defiant said. "Not by a tinker, at least not by one as we know it. But they're created and tainted by something. Worse, some have the potential to trigger."
"And the Fade can control them," Taylor added. "Like Malan's story of the Eyeless. They're not alone."
Kenzie zoomed in on the time camera version of Fade… the Fades, and she brought up the image of the one giving orders on camera. The swords at their hips were made of some sort of black blade, something that was constant even on the time camera, and the dark armor they wore matched the rest of their outfits. There weren't any real differences between the two time camera versions, but the time camera was never good at getting specific details, just generalities, even after her improvements.
"Kenz, can you and your team work with the Majors on locating the rest of the Trollocs?" Victoria asked.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Sveta said.
"It'd probably be worse to let the Trollocs go unchecked, Sveta," Victoria said. "Get people involved if you can"
Sveta let out a sigh, but she nodded.
"I'll help too," Rain said. "As much as I can, anyway."
Candy smirked. "Sure. It's not a problem. We can play support in that way."
Kenzie nodded. It would be good to work with Sveta and Rain again. Maybe they could even get Byron and his team to help, and it'd almost be like a reunion. Except Chris wasn't there because he was a butt, and Ashley couldn't be there because… yeah. If Victoria could be there too, it'd be even better, but she'd work with what she could.
Aiden held up a hand. "Uh… Kenzie, could you play some audio from outside, please?"
Kenzie blinked, but she nodded and brought up the outdoor cameras, including the audio feed. The sun had started to lower toward the horizon, but it quickly became apparent why Aiden had asked for the audio. There was a loud inhuman shriek, shrill and distinct above everything. It sounded nothing like any bird that she'd heard.
"What the hell is that thing?" Aisha asked. "Is that one of those wyvern things?"
"Fuck no," Rachel said as Yips had started to cower in her arms. She carefully stroked the chihuahua and watched. "Don't know what it is. Dangerous though."
Taylor looked to Dinah. "Chances that Dracheheim is going to be attacked by the Buds of the Shadow in the next few hours?"
Dinah swallowed. "Ninety-three point five seven one percent."
Oh. Well. That wasn't good. Kenzie immediately started to look for more Trollocs. Except Taylor didn't specify Trollocs.
Kenzie double-checked her tracker. Yep. She was with Malan, the Ogier friend, possibly making some sort of innuendo that somehow was going over the giant's head. The only reason it didn't go over her own was because she'd started looking up the things Aisha had said afterward so that she could understand it better. She wanted to fit in more with her team and the others, after all.
Oh boy, don't ask. There are much worse thinga than Trollocs out there. Even a poweful cape would have difficulty with a darkhound. And if there is another Gholam, then there is no one who can currently take him
