War of Dawn - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Paula’s Struggles 

It's four in the morning and Paula is hard at work. Though her brigade has a separate part of Valarheim set for them, her room is nevertheless furnished the same as any other Novitiate's. Small bed, small cabinet, small mirror... the major difference is the powerful smell of flowers that fills it.

When she first joined, the austere smell of her room made for such a contrast with the home of Madam Doroteia, quite the flower enthusiast. It was too different – too boring – and it only took one week for Paula to decide to do something about it. Now, roses, daisies, orchids, lavender, lilies and more can be found in pots laid about the corners.

Taking a deep breath of the comforting, familiar scents, Paula sits about the floor and concentrates. There's no outside noise to bother her at this time, as though the world itself is still asleep. Under the faint light of blue elemental orbs, she closes her eyes and tries sensing the world around her. Unlike normal Scions, who depend on the Sight spell to sense the Prana and what doesn't belong, Paula and her peers need but concentrate to sense the forces that influence the ever-flowing fabric of the world.

From the darkness before her, energies start taking form and Paula sees every single Scion within Valarheim keep. Her vision isn't too developed yet, however, so they're depicted as glowing, semi-human-shaped wisps. Most are unmoving but there are some already walking about.

Greta and Matu are at their respective jobs, having long since gotten used to only having a few hours of rest every few days – they may not usually fight but Paula has seen all those who rely on their services. Wally is ever at his post by the Prime Gate Crystal, the notes of his guitar reverberating across the elemental forces around him.

There's a couple at the training grounds and Paula need only take a look at the cyan and dark red glow to know that it's Hilda and Owen. Scions of Orlen and Taserus have a very unique light due to how rare they are, though, even then, Hilda's is a wee bit different. Compared to Ryouma's, her light is a shade darker and glows ever-so-slightly dimmer – like there's always a fine blanket covering it.

Paula never told Hilda about this, as it'd require divulging sensitive information, but it was that light that pushed her to seek her out in the first place. She wanted to know the person behind that unusual glow... Hilda would probably look at her like she's crazy if she heard this. Then again, some people in her brigade are varying degrees of insane.

The Ascended Scions themselves stand out far above all others, shining as tall beacons of light across Valarheim. Ragnar, with his rough, copper colored light, stands on his seat in the Hall of Generals, studying enemy movements over a large map. Ryouma and Vanessa are in their room in the upper sections of the living quarters, enjoying a small moment together before getting back to work. Paula's not one to pry, of course.

If Hilda's light is a bit dimmer, though, Alexandra's glows like a silver sun. Sitting in her office and currently staring at the roof, the power that emanates from the Vanhanen woman is truly a sight to behold. Since the days of Grand Scion Eliina, her family line has been named the gods' chosen and Paula can see why. At merely forty seven years old, she's already one of the stronger Scions of her time and Lady Eliza herself has admitted that, later on, she could well surpass her.

That hasn't happened yet, though. Across from Alexandra's silver light, a pillar of golden energy rises from the commandant's office – a color unlike any other in the Corps. Lady Eliza, the strongest of them, beautiful, driven, smart, compassionate... everything Paula wants to grow up to be, really.

And she owes so much to her, too: for bringing her into the Corps, granting her the honor of being her assistant and so much more. Thus, she cannot allow herself to continue with these mediocre results. For a long time, Lady Eliza and Lord Julius carried their burden alone and while Josette and Amit are showing quick progress, Paula sees herself lagging behind.

I swear, my lady, she thinks as she watches Eliza, I'll make you proud.

For the next hour, nonstop, Paula trains to reliably endure the Corrupt Sight. The main obstacle is the severe incompatibility between human Prana and tainted one, bringing those myriad negative effects when a Scion opens up to it. Those who aren't strong enough are quickly killed, like she almost was in Bathurst. So, in the interest of building fortitude Paula lets the few tainted Prana of the region seep, slowly and steadily, into her being.

The whole process is sickening to the stomach, like drinking a glass of rotten milk. The low amount of energies doesn't push her Prana to the point where it is overwhelmed, but it still feels awful. Paula never eats before doing this, lest things get very messy. The longer the spell takes, the further her being is corrupted and her Prana inches closer to being unraveled by the tainted energies.

In a normal situation, this would be a hundred times worse and that is what annoys her so. A competent hunter should be able to stand in an environment like Bathurst, tap the tainted Prana and find its source before it even becomes a problem. Josette and Amit, for instance, are a scant two months her seniors and, yet, their razor-sharp focus is such that they wield the Corrupt Sight like its second nature.

The same applies to Lord Julius and Lady Eliza, only adding the fact that their Prana is also much more resilient. And here Paula stands, still incapable of executing the spell as even half as flawlessly as they do despite her long training. This notion has been a constant source of concern after her poor showing in Bathurst, as one can see in her pursed lips.

All that is interrupted, however, when she feels a ripple across the darkness: a wave of incompatibility and mindless, absolute hunger. One has entered our world. Pressing her eyes, she ends the spell and breathes in deep to get rid of the nausea she feels. Conjuring a portal, Paula emerges over in Eliza’s office.

“I see you felt it, too,” Eliza says.

Paula nods and salutes in response. “I did, yes. And I stand ready to join in the hunt.”

Eliza raises her masked gaze off the documents on her desk to face Paula. The girl holds her position and stands at attention, knowing that her lady is assessing her. Eliza’s fingers tap on the wooden table as she thinks. Could today be the day where she’d allow her to join the others?

Unfortunately, no, as Eliza shakes her head in denial.

“But, my lady…” Paula begs, dejected.

Eliza raises her hand, commanding her to accept her decision. “You are not ready yet.”

There it is. The five words that haunt her every waking hour, a cold analysis showing that she’s still lacking. With a saddened sigh, Paula nods and shuffles over to her own desk.

“You’ll get there eventually, Paula. Just be patient,” Eliza speaks out, trying to lift her spirits.

Paula runs her hands over her face and forces out a smile. “I know, my lady. But after six months fighting only common Valnr, it’s… difficult not to be disappointed.”

“I don’t need to remind you that Wraiths are different. We always need to be wary with them.”

“That doesn’t make it any easier, when Amit and Josette are already out there, hunting with you…” Paula says, leaning against the office wall.

Eliza hums an agreement as she goes back to signing papers. “I only want to make sure you’ll be safe when you join them. With that in mind, I requested Alexandra to help you train until Julius comes back from this.”

“Really?” Paula’s eyebrows rise in surprise. “Isn’t she busy?”

“All generals are on alert and ready to deploy at a moment’s notice, yes.” Eliza says. “Still, if I just allowed Ryouma the time to go fishing, Alexandra can keep training others. She had no issue with it, so you’ll find her in the training grounds.”

This brings a legitimate smile to Paula’s face, as she comes back to Eliza’s table to salutes her. “Thank you, my lady. I’ll head there as soon as I get my equipment; but if anything happens, please do call upon me.”

“Of course,” Eliza confirms without hesitation before waving her hand and opening a portal for her. “And remember: patience.”

Following a decided nod, Paula steps through and into the main chamber of her brigade’s living quarters. Wooden floors like the rest of Valarheim but with gray and gold tapestries laid about the windowless room, illuminated by elemental spheres. Fine pieces of Alterium plate armor hang beside a wide, fireplace made out of black marble. A faint gray flame crackles and dances within and, facing it, large, soft chairs and couches. A large dark blue crystal floats in the middle of the room and the way it spins tells Paula it’s just been used.

As she approaches to look at it, wishing she’d been part of the group that went through, a familiar voice speaks out from behind.

“Oh, mon dieu… Wot dark cloud sets upon your sweet visage, Paula,” Josette says playfully.

Paula lets out a faint groan in annoyance before turning to face her. “I didn’t expect you to still be here… And we’ve known each other long enough that using that accent won’t give you an edge on me.”

“Hee, hee, hee… How catty we are today, hm?” she answers Paula’s frown with a snide laugh, her accent vanishing in an instant. “Amit and Julius went ahead. I just needed to find my tools before going after them.”

“Ah, right, your ‘tools’… You do realize that you’re going after a Wraith, yes?” Paula spits.

Josette gives her a sassy sideway glance, finding her question amusing. “Precisely; Wraiths are an excellent canvas for me to work with.”

Paula huffs in response which only pushes Josette further, getting so close that Paula can smell the blood on her clothes. “My, you are just livid that you’re not allowed to join us, aren’t you? ‘I’ve prepared for years and, yet, this insane bint is taking part in the hunts while I am not’… Jealousy is a terrible thing, sweetie.”

Fuming at how Josette reads her like an open book, Paula harrumphs and stomps off to her room to grab her training gear.

“I can see why you were drawn to that girl, Hilda,” Josette continues speaking. “You both have this same, easily-broken spirit… Though I’d say at least she is somewhat justified.”

Paula stops in her tracks and turns around as her eyebrows twist with confusion. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Hee, hee, hee… She is just as easy to pick apart as you.” Josette pokes Paula in the nose, grinning from ear to ear. “The way she clings and guards her friends like a hound reveals a desire to use them to fill a gap in her heart. Now, it’s common for people in the Northern Reaches to have lost loved ones… but what I see in her hints at something beyond that.”

Paula crosses her arms back at her, hesitant to put any stock in this analysis. “Hmph. You seem very certain after talking with her for only a few minutes.”

“Oh, Paula. I’m certain even you heard of my previous career, no? Reading even the slightest tell and finding secrets is as easy as ‘one, two, three’ to me.” Josette wags her finger at her. “But I am not curious enough to care. The hunt awaits so excuse me, sweetie…”

With a giggling curtsy, Josette bids Paula farewell and places her hand upon the dark blue crystal. When she does, it cracks open and manifests a passage. As soon as Josette goes through, the cracked pieces close in and fuse together like they were never apart.

Silence once more returns to the chamber and Paula stands deep in thought, looking at the crystal. Much as she’s loath to do so, she acknowledges Josette’s deep insight. Her skills are quite infamous in France and Europe in general, in fact. Owner of a massive intellect and encyclopedic knowledge of the human body, she is widely known for becoming King Lucien IV’s chief interrogator at age eighteen.

The stories say that her torture sessions lasted at most one to two hours – it was all she needed. The screams of her victims were so loud and monstrous, that the king had to build a bigger, deeper dungeon to keep the sound out of his castle’s halls. Any useful information was greatly rewarded by the crown and she got a lot of useful information off the captives.

At the end of it all, however, money wasn’t her priority. Once, she said: “Living in comfort is nice, yes, but what truly makes me feel alive is expressing my art. With blood as my ink, pain as my brush, flesh as my marble and screams as my music, I bring my essence to bear. Humans are far too frail, too weak to serve my purposes… but the Valnr? Oh, yes.”

Paula is just as appalled by her coworkers now as she was at the beginning. At least she’s gotten used to it – somewhat. If someone like her has made such a read of Hilda, it’s quite possible it is accurate. Paula herself figures it must be related to her brother, as she always refuses to talk about him past a certain point. She decided not to press Hilda on this subject but now she worries about what could be eating away at her.

Regardless, this is a matter to be proceeded with care. But, right now she shouldn’t keep Alexandra waiting. Making a quick stop on her room, Paula grabs her halberd and heads right back out. A small portal sets her between Eliza’s office and the Hall of Generals.

By this hour, most sleeping Scions are starting their day. Indeed, as Paula walks about the Keep’s main corridor, she can hear them stomping and chattering further ahead. Likely descending from the living quarters towards the underground lake, she thinks. One of the better things about waking up on her earlier time: she doesn’t need to put up with how crowded the place gets at peak hours.

The training grounds itself still lies rather empty, though a few distant Scions can be seeing coming in. Alexandra herself is already present, waving Paula over as she steps inside. It seems that she’s brought some work with her, as Paula sees her rolling up a few papers and setting them inside her leather coat.

The general’s red hair glistens under the morning sun and it never ceases to amaze Paula how regal she always looks. The simple coat and woolen pants she wears would feel at home on the scruffiest peasant and, yet, she looks stunning. Paula figures such is the glamour of one who manages to be both a fierce warrior and high-class. Alexandra is almost as magnificent as Lady Eliza. Almost.

“Good morning, Lady Alexandra,” she salutes her.

“At ease, Paula, and good morning,” Alexandra gestures for her to relax. “How are you doing today?”

Paula breaks out a faint smile, holding her hands at her back. “I’m well, ma’am. Thank you for being here.”

“It is no problem at all. I couldn’t well leave you training by your lonesome, with Julius out,” Alexandra says.

Paula knows she’s trying to be friendly but her words only serve as a reminder that her peers are all busy hunting. Her smile fades pretty quickly at this, though she tries to appear impassive in response. At the very least she doesn’t want to give the idea that she’s ungrateful for the general’s assistance – far from it.

Still, Alexandra does pick up on that. “Oh…? Is there something on your mind?”

"N-no, ma'am!" Paula stiffens in surprise, pondering how she's seemingly a very easy read.

Alexandra bears a smile as warm as the aura that exudes from her. “Come, now. Every parent knows the ‘bottled-up-concern’ face you’re wearing.”

“Um… No, I…!” Paula stammers a response. She couldn’t possibly foist her bothers upon others.

“Ho-hum… very well,” she chuckles back. “Why don’t we get going, then?”

Paula answers with a quick nod, quietly exhaling in relief. The general has better things to do than to listen to her bellyaching.

Alexandra sits on the ground and gestures for her to do the same, right in front. As she does, Alexandra places her hand upon the floor and closes her eyes.

“Sensing the presence of beings and forces via the flow of Prana is an ever-important skill, doubly so for your Brigade. With that in mind, have a look at this.”

Saying that, Alexandra conjures a wide glyph underneath the two of them. It grows to five meters across and fixates itself etches itself on the ground. From its surface, dozens of small pillars of light begin rising skyward, blindingly bright. Like feathers being carried about, the pillars slowly lift themselves and float in the air. Each starts splitting off into thousands of tiny, marble-sized spheres which circulate around the two Scions. The spheres pick up speed, trails of white light emanating from every single one as they spin about in perfect formation. The commingling light creates something of a cocoon-like effect.

“What spell is this, Lady Alexandra?” Paula asks, shielding her eyes from the brightness all around her.

“It isn’t a spell, actually. Just a manifestation of pure light element,” Alexandra answers as she conjures a different, faintly red sphere. “If the flow of Prana is a river, then each of these spheres is a boat rowing across it. After I throw this one in there, I want you to find where it is and grab it.”

Paula is confused as to what her point is, seeing how the sphere stands out as so different from all the others. That red glow, however faint, will be easily spotted amidst this white light. It is not so, though. When Alexandra throws the red sphere upwards, it sinks into the current around them and vanishes.

Well, fine, I suppose this is tailored towards forcing me to sense the sphere, Paula thinks to herself and closes her eyes.

As always, the world around fades to black, elemental forces crop up and take shape… and then Paula runs into a problem. Alexandra’s cocoon of light has so much concentrated energy that she simply cannot spot the lone sphere within. The strands that swerve around them join into a nigh-solid mass. Paula concentrates, trying to feel the red orb within but nothing pops out. She focuses harder on the mass of light, clutching her forehead in hopes that something will be revealed amidst it all. Still nothing.

Five minutes pass, then ten and twenty. Paula is getting progressively frustrated, as shown across her angry face. Whenever she thinks she’s getting close to something, it vanishes within the light. Forget finding a single boat around many others, this is more like finding a single fish within a river!

At the thirty minute mark, the only thing Paula has found is a splitting headache. Finally, her face turns red and she throws her hands in the air with resignation.

“Given up, have we?” Alexandra quips.

“Lady Alexandra, this is too much.” Paula shakes her head in protest. “I can’t possibly sense with such precision, not within this much concentrated energy!”

“Nonsense. This can absolutely be done by a Scion with your experience – in both the Sight spell and your skill, precision is simply a matter of restricting yourself.”

Paula rubs her eyes and looks at her with confusion. “‘Restricting myself?’ What do you mean by that?”

"You and your friends can sense all the Prana around you at once and you're used to doing so. The Sight glyph may be pointless to you but, still, do you know why we tell Scions to point it towards the given target? Because without that, the spell will search in all directions instead of a specific bit. The resulting picture the Scion sees will be too big to parse through with precision and efficiency."

"Hmm, I suppose that makes sense," Paula ponders aloud, nodding.

Alexandra crosses her legs and cups her hands together in demonstration. "Furthermore, you are too hasty, Paula... an effect of the hectic life you lead, I'm sure. That haste, paired with how you normally sense the world, is pushing you to try searching through the entirety of this spell all in one sweep, no? Don't. Your only choice here is to calm down, come in close and search in smaller areas. The red sphere will have left traces behind, so focus solely on that. Everything else is noise."

Fair enough, Paula figures. She starts by concentrating on the cocoon itself, as the energies around her fade from view. The other Scions, spells, animals and all else vanish until all that is left are Alexandra’s moving spheres of light. Paula’s vision dives in much closer to the cocoon. However, instead of a blob of white energy, she starts seeing a few individual strands that give it form. Closer still, and the swerving energies grow further apart. Amidst them all, she manages to catch a glimpse of a small red spark. The sphere has been through here.

Paula focuses her vision around that single red spark, as though it is the veritable center of her world. From it, she looks around and spots another one at the distance. She moves to it and finds another – and another and another. Like an odd treasure hunt, she follows the trail amidst the dark. Moving from one spark to the next, the distance between them starts growing progressively smaller. Their glow also intensifies. At the end of the path, she finally spots it not too far away – the red orb, swerving amidst several white ones.

“…There!” Paula yells, grabbing her halberd and thrusting at the specific spot. Bull’s eye. Alexandra dispels the spell, trails of light running in every direction, and the red sphere lies squarely at the tip of the spear.

Alexandra congratulates her with a soft clap. “Well done. It’s far simpler to find something when you are not looking in everywhere at once, no?”

“It is… It really is…” Paula thinks to herself. Without exercising restraint, it was all too much. She’d gotten tired, overwhelmed by everything she was trying to sense. Paula’s gaze wanders off, lost in thought. Then, it all comes together in a rush, her eyes widening as she’s struck by a realization.

She has been going at it the wrong way. She'd assumed that bolstering her Prana's fortitude, she'd be able to withstand using the Corrupt Sight. Fortitude was never the main problem, though. However much of it she may gain by touching bits of tainted Prana, it wouldn't help. That tainted energy is commonplace near the Valnr's sphere of influence, especially if a pylon is nearing activation. Casting the Corrupt Sight, she opens herself to it all. 

In her haste, she tries using the same approach she uses in her daily-life: combing through everything she's sensing at once. That's fine for regular Prana and second nature to her by now but it, ultimately, does not work when dealing with tainted Prana. Trying to do so in order to find the source as quickly as possible only makes her more likely be overwhelmed before being successful.

So, she shouldn't look through everything at once during the Corrupt Sight. All Prana is different and that is doubly so to tainted Prana that is being affected by a pylon – it's redder, shinier. All she needs to do is find one odd spark. With it as a tether, she can do away with the excess "noise" of everything else. Without that slowing her search down, she could find the source so much faster, without the risk of overexposing herself to the tainted Prana!

“It appears you had an epiphany,” Alexandra smiles at her vacant stare.

Paula turns to her with a baffled expression in her face. Without warning, she laughs with joy and gives the general a tight hug.

“I got it! I finally figured it out! Thank you so, so— Oh!” Paula cheers before realizing who she’s hugging and pulling away. “P-Please forgive me, Lady Alexandra! I was very out of line!”

"Ahaha... pay it no mind." She waves at her in dismissal. "In truth, Julius would have explained it himself had you taken longer. Seeing how it was eating away at you, however, I thought I'd give a hint."

“Well, I’m forever grateful.” Paula bows to her, though one thing still seems off about this. “But… if I may ask, how did you know that I needed help with that in the first place?”

“Vanessa told me what happened in Bathurst, when you used the Corrupt Sight. Considering that, how you didn’t leave with Julius and your forlorn look, it wasn’t difficult to deduce that you had yet to clear that hurdle,” Alexandra says.

Paula lets out an embarrassed chuckle, bringing her right hand to her cheek. "I can't keep anything from you, I see."

“As I said, the face you had speaks volumes to any parent,” she answers back with her characteristic warmth, taking a closer look at Paula. “As a matter of fact, you are rather similar to my daughter, Eveliina.”

“Truly, ma’am?”

“Hmhmm, you are both such joyful girls, full of potential. She’s thirteen and a half years old now, even,” Alexandra says, love and pride hanging on every word.

“And she’s a Vanhanen girl… does that mean you are training her for the eventual conscription?” Paula asks back, ignoring the little voice in her head that says this might be a touchy subject. Still, Alexandra, seems to have made her peace with it, staring at the runed ten-pronged star in her right hand.

“Yes, since age six. As my mother did to me, her grandmother did to her and so on. The Vanhanen family’s ever-present duty to the Altr…” she speaks while not with joy, at least with acceptance, before going back to her normal tone. “Though I fear I may be too doting a mother with her.”

Now that is something Paula did not expect to hear, shown as she takes a step back in surprise. “How? You’re known across the Scions of Sarfis and Sarel as being quite strict.”

“Maybe that pushes me towards being soft with my little angel…” Alexandra shrugs with embarrassment. “She’d much rather shirk her training to play with her friends, try out new clothes and what have you.”

“She enjoys the perks of being Crown Princess, hm?” Paula chuckles. “Still, I’m sure she’ll grow into a fine woman – she’s your daughter, after all.”

Alexandra’s smile beams like rays of sunlight at her kind words. “As I am sure you’ll be as well, Paula. But that’s enough faffing about – Julius isn’t back yet, so we’ll continue for a while longer.”

And there’s the strict teacher everyone knows. Still, Paula is revitalized and ready to keep going for hours on end if need be. Having solved the conundrum with the Corrupt Sight, she can refocus all her efforts in growing further as a Scion. She’s certain it won’t be long before Lady Eliza finally declares that she’s ready to join the others in the hunts!

“As you will, Lady Alexandra.”

Indeed, the General of Sarfis is very much worthy of her status and reputation and the child, Eveliina, is lucky to have such a caring woman as her mother. The training she must endure and the weight placed on her by the Vanhanen lineage all seem like more than a fair price to pay for that.

Heh... I may be slightly jealous, Paula thinks.