Rachel, Rebecca, and Struns all stood before a dark lake. It rippled gently as a cool stream, just as dark, flowed into it.
All three were tense and ready.
As Rachel observed the lake suddenly sprang forth seemingly wanting to drown her. She held her ground and continued watching. The water engulfed her. It was oily instead of wet. It felt like dead things slid across her body but she saw nothing but dense black color.
Rebecca and Struns had not flinched, Rachel had already told them what would happen, they waited for their time, and they trusted their Milana.
Rachel felt a bit of fear but she maintained her calm and held still, she continued looking, her third eye, slowly opening, as the oily water seemed to want to enter her nose, ears, and mouth but simply slid down her form to wrap around her.
The world went eerily quiet and scenes passed, chaotically, before her only to instantly shatter, the ground quaked and the oily water continued to flow about her endlessly. She held the vision as long as she could. The oily water began to loosen and pool around her feet. All of the scenes solidified into one and she watched her realm burn and dissolve into an ethereal amber pool.
The realm spoke to her in ancient Azmin but there was no color or vibrancy to the language.
'Milana if you can not see my ailment. You can not know my solution.'
'Tell me your ailment and the solution you need.'
'Milana why do you refuse to help me? You are capable of that and more.'
'Do you realize you are being vague and speaking in riddles?'
'This is all I can be Milana. Why do you not see? You are so powerful yet you allow me to die as you watch.'
'Are you dying?'
'I am dying rapidly. Won't you help me?'
'I will help you. I will save you!'
There was a long pause 'Please hurry Milana.'
Damn! How exactly was she going to save her realm!? And why was Trannisa so confused and odd?
Her frustration was prickly upon her skin.
"It is time to go."
Both Rebecca and Struns nodded and the three turned their attention to the seemingly calm lake before them.
'Oily?' Rachel thought perplexed.
"It's gonna feel odd. The water is oily."
With that she stepped forward and dove in, the other followed suit, without any hesitation.
Rachel's thoughts moved out to her siblings. As one they understood the plan.
Chaos was needed in a land of chaos. They had to heal Trannisa and reconnect the realm to chaos.
As soon as Anis, Emil, and Mis heard this they felt as if their eyes had been opened to something incredibly obvious. After working with the guard and using knowledge magics they realized its utility. But adding healing magics to the strategy was something they hadn't considered.
Mis was upset with himself for missing what he now felt was obvious.
Emil brightened and spoke first. "Let's start. I am tired of our realm being under attack."
They would lead the assault by seeking out anomalies and attacking them.
They stood together in a triangular formation. Mis was at the tip in front of the formation because he would lead the assault, his magic seeking and tagging the offending chaos. Emil was to the right of him, his healing magic would heal the knots, and Anis was to his left, she would help to sustain her brothers.
Mis began.
Vibrant streams of pink and yellow color braided together to form six strand braids that flowed forward. There were seven braids that moved ahead in a fan formation.
Pink and yellow moved from Anis spreading out like colored mist and covered Mis' braided strands.
Orange and pink light flowed from Emil in undulating waves. Those waves rose and crashed along the back end of Mis and Anis' magics. Emil's eyes went from purple, to orange, to green and back again. Changing color as his focus intensified and his sorceric spell formed and wove into place.
He suddenly saw a large mass of grey-black that had the feel of a virus with small patches hovering around and sitting within areas of normality. He sent healing magic to the larger mass in the form of an attack. It was like attacking a tumor or a mass of viral cells.
The healing magic dimmed and just as Emil was thinking to send a stronger pulse it flared and the grey-black mass quivered. Seeing this both Mis and Anis sent knowledge and soul magic to the area.
The mass shivered violently and suddenly shrunk to an obsidian black node. The healing magic immediately stopped its attack and began nourishing the node.
The three siblings froze and stared in wonder.
Because of Emil's sorcery his magics seemed sentient and they automatically changed tactic when needed based on Emil's knowledge. The set spell weave commanded all his magics.
Still the new weave flowed from him to reinforce his and his siblings' magics.
All he knew about sorcery he learned from Rachel. Seeing what just happened he made a note to have her teach him more.
New knowledge flowed to all three of the siblings and they burst into action. Mis and Anis began surrounding the smaller masses of grey-black with soul magics, Emil sent trickles of healing magic to these and they were quickly dispersed leaving nothing behind, for the most part. Some black nodes were left and Emil "healed" these.
Suddenly healing magic began dispersing in the area seeming to coat everything. The three could see that the area pulsed orange and Emil knew that the area was being "healed".
'What is going on Emil?'
Anis' voice was cool like cold water on a hot day to his mind.
'My magic is healing the area. These masses seem like viral masses.' He thought for a moment. 'If there are sufficient viral cells in a body the person could die. I think the realm has a virus,'
'A virus? What do we do? Maybe you should be at the lead.'
'No Mis. I think knowledge magics draws out the virus and makes it easier to be seen and attacked. We need to highlight these areas first and allow Emil the opportunity to attack.'
'Okay. Are we ready?'
'Yes' Emil and Anis answered in unison.
Beneath the oily water the realm was a dense amber color. Rachel felt like she was moving through a pool of slick honey. It was incredibly viscous but still slid by like something slick and slippery.
She kept her awareness ahead and on her Antrunie.
The deeper they went the more viscous it became and they eventually felt like they were moving through molasses. As this change occurred the water stopped being slippery and began clinging uncomfortably to hem.
She changed the gravity around then and they all propelled propelled themselves forward.
The water had been altered so much Rachel's water magics was not working well here. She could form water but it was quickly absorbed into the environment and unusable again.
She had sensed it from the lake shore. The dark mass she was now moving towards. It was massive and it was sending out tethers of knowledge and soul magics in a myriad of directions. But it was especially sending them to Sibba and into the abyss below Sibba continent. Mis and the others were also in a location where many were sent but she could sense that area contained another mass on par with this one, and finally she sensed the large mass below Millay Continent.
The tethers were not like their magics. They seemed like something innate or reflexive. She felt it was some primitive defense and communication system. The more she thought about it the more Rachel felt like they were dealing with something similar to insects who had a queen at its center, or communal beings that shared one consciousness.
When she finally reached the mass the lake was crystal clear and almost solid. She had been worried that she may need to use terra firma or shadow magics to move forward just as the mass seemingly appeared from the murk into the now crystalline void before her.
She was instantly in motion. Rainbow light flared as she began weaving an intricate spell and watched the mass for a reaction. She was not one hundred percent sure of her conjecture so she remained on guard.
Struns and Rebecca moved in tandem. The three showing how their connection bound them together and helped them fight as one.
There was no motion and she began believing that Emil was right and this was akin to a virus. Then she thought about it. Could these be young, or only sentient when the main body directly controlled them?
Being the Milana she had the memories of previous Milana. She did not have to ask and no one needed to actively tell her anything. Memories sometimes just rose to the surface of her consciousness and other times she had to hunt out information.
A spell primarily using water slid forward, hitting the mass, and dispersing around and through it. A wide ripple of rainbow light flowed over the mass and penetrated its core almost simultaneously.
In the same instant magic flowed forward from Struns, and Rebecca and hit the mass as well.
A violent ripple moved through the mass. Rachel felt it resonate through her body. As the lake floor trembled. Healing magics took over her spell and sent another shock wave through the mass.
The mass trembled and became a light lifeless grey. Everything stilled. The water began to gradually liquefy and return to normal. The sorcery magic changed from an attack and began nourishing the large black node left in the place of the mass.
Rebecca, now surrounded by brightly glowing spirit biends, and Struns, his body bulkier and rock formations around his hands, moved to her side.
Just as Rachel decided to propel herself up through the sludge she teleported all of them a distance to the right and thick black bands made of a dense sludge burst up through the lake floor just below their previous position.
They felt around a bit. Viscous black sludge seeping from them and spreading into the water around them. The sorcery magic flared and this stirred Rachel onto action. The magic surged toward the feelers and they seemed to hiss as if burned.
Rebecca's spirit beings sent bolts of magic forward and rock flew from Struns as he aimed for the center of the mass itself.
Rachel sent more sorcery magic into her spell web, as she thought about what was happening, trying to understand all the information she was obtaining.
The feelers began moving back under the lake and her spell began sealing the break in the lake bed.
As Rachel watched she spoke to Cramnal, 'We ar going deeper into the abyss below the lake. I will send you locations of attack when I find them. Be careful something from below just attacked me in the lake. They are not all benign.'
She did not wait for a response and, with mental and soul magics surrounding her and her Antrunie, she descended into the space below the lake and further into the abyss.