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Side A – Nia

To say that the Roadies had issues with risking more Shatter Drums on the lunacy Nia had brought to them was similar to saying that diving head first into lava would be a trifle uncomfortable. After a few minutes of arguing, Nia was convinced that the lava dive would be the more pleasant of the two experiences.

“I believe what is needed is an expert opinion on the matter,” Naosha said, still as calm and clear in her position as she’d been at the start of the ever louder screaming match.

“Problem is no one else here can follow this song the two of them are playing,” Jurdy said. “And if we try to join in, we could get stuck like the Elgi did.”

Which was the primary concern most of the drummers seemed to have after Nia explained that she couldn’t stop playing in order to conjured a vision of what was going to happen if they didn’t join her.

That wasn’t actually holding any of the drummers back of course. They were concerned but more than willing to jump in on what looked to be a truly riotous song.

The Roadies were not quite so accepting of Nia’s tale though, and Margrada was so deep in playing that she wasn’t able to offer any words of support.

“No one who is here at the moment, but I believe my daughter can remedy that,” Naosha said. How she knew anything about what Nia could and could not do with a Shatter Drum was perplexing, especially since Nia had no idea what sort of remedy Naosha had in mind.

“We’ve got some of the best experts in Shatter Drumming here already,” Pelegar said. “I’d tell you this was all nonsense and no one could manage what these two claim they’re doing, except for small problem of the melody we’re hearing along with the beat that we all recognize from the last time the two of them unleashed this madness on us.”

“Not all of your number are here though, are they?” Naosha asked.

“Some of the Gray Rift drummers are helping people relocate still, but this is most of us,” Pelegar said.

“I believe there are two others who may be able to make a compelling case for us,” Naosha said. “Nia would you be so kind as to invite Ms. Kaersbean and her lovely spouse to join us.”

Nia tried to parse that sentence and failed twice, coming up blank at how summoning Yasgrid could help and who Yasgrid might have married when Nia wasn’t paying attention.

“Osdora and Gossma,” Marianna helpfully supplied and the pieces fell into place.

“Wait, they got married? On their trip?” Nia asked.

“Ship’s captains can perform many ceremonies,” Marianne said.

“What? How? No, no time, but, uh, they’re in the Darkwood aren’t they?” Nia knew where Osdora and Gossma were but questioning reality seemed like a reasonable thing to do under the circumstances.

“Yep, just like you were here the first time you popped over to chat with your mother,” Marianne said.

“Oh, yeah, true,” Nia said, reeling at the thought of enhancing the song even further.

Except she didn’t need to.

The structure they were building was already creating a bridge between the two realms.

Osdora and Gossma were already with them in fact.

Side B – Yasgrid

Some storms can be weathered. Against the gale, shelters can be raised. Against the tempest, a fortress can stand. Against the end of all things though? 

When Yasgrid looked into the storm of Endings power which had filled the dream she shared with the Darkwood, she saw her mortality writ large.

“There is an answer to this,” the soul which had been Endings said.

“There’s always answers,” Yasgrid said. “That doesn’t mean I have to like any of them.”

“Sometimes that’s all we’re given,” the soul said. “I have chosen countless Bearers over the years. Chosen them knowing the burden they will shoulder, listened to their vows and accepted them despite the cost it would sure entail. It is perhaps time I made a choice that did not result in someone else paying the price for the power I was given.”

Yasgrid laughed, which left the Darkwood and the soul with puzzled expressions.

“Thank you,” she said. “I know your going to offer to take Endings back into yourself, even though it will be your own ending you achieve with that, but you’re wrong.”

The Darkwood’s expression turned quizzical while the soul frowned.

“I am capable of at least that,” the soul said. “And it’s fitting that I be the one to carry the power I was given over to the otherside at last, isn’t it?”

“It’s not,” Yasgrid said. “Because you weren’t given this power, not anymore than prison is ‘given’ their shackles. What swirls around us now is not a gift that was bestowed on you. It is a torment inflicted because it was convenient to the gods and you were not able to refuse it. This is an abuse of power and a crime. One which no one will ever answer for and which will remain a wound in the world unless recompense is made.”

“But why should you be the one to make that recompense?” the soul asked. “No part of this is your fault. You bear no blame for what was done at the creation of this realm.”

“Recompense is not about extracting vengeance for a misdeed,” Yasgrid said. “It’s about building a better world. We try to make things better not out of guilt, but hope that each drop of kindness will grown into a piece of the tomorrows we desire.”

“But you need to be there to see those tomorrows or you will never know if what you did mattered at all,” the soul said.

“There are tomorrows which will never be ours to see,” Yasgrid said. “That is what faith is for.”

Which was her decision she realized.

She would fight for a better tomorrow all alone even if was impossibly far from where she stood.

With an unwavering hand, she reached out from the calm eye she stood in to grasp Endings power once more.

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