BOOK 8. CHAPTER 17: WAR PLAN

The family brought the recovered people through the recreated tunnel to the inner sanctum and marched them toward the core sanctum, building a crowd of people as they went. Most of the halls were vacant. It seemed many people had left their usual places of prayer to join Sati at the hallway to the core sanctum, but seeing their people they thought dead brought out the few stragglers who remained within the temple.

Arriving at the main hallway leading to the core sanctum, the scene was much different than Jake had expected. The hallway was filled with hundreds of trolls, elves, and goblin people. And they were in various poses that he immediately recognized as yoga poses, lined through the massive hallway and the adjacent small audience or prayer rooms that branched off to the sides.

The door was open to the lava vent, the massive flame blasting upwards a backdrop to the many people’s efforts.

There were happy moments and reconnections, as many of the missing disciples returned. To Jake’s surprise, Ur’Rena greeted them as she looked at the missing disciples start to reconnect, murmurs running through the crowd.

“So it was true. I’m…sorry. I let my hatred get the best of me. It blinded me, but now I see.” She turned to look at the many disciples. “Perhaps she truly was a prophet; these teachings… we had shunned many attempts of the Divine to share their wisdom and enlightenment, and our ignorance and arrogance made us weak. Mere prey for the enemy.”

Jake said, “What’s done is done. If you want to help and make it right, please find us someone with a relationship or otherwise able to speak to the Earth and Wind Grand Temples. The war is not yet won, and we must ensure any additional plots are uncovered. We need our voices to be heard.”

“Yes, I can see that now. I’ll…do my best. Our relationships with the other temples are…not great.”

The whole family continued on until they reached the core sanctum, finding many inner disciples in the same poses, though some were chanting some sort of nearly wordless muttering.

Sati herself was standing and speaking, directing several others on how to breathe and how to direct the Great Flame within them, as well as how to speak the chants.

“Oh! Some people here need some healing. We’ll help them.” Berri rushed off to heal the tainted core disciples, purging them of the malevolence within them.

Ruby was sweating just from their entry into the room. “Wow. It’s really hot in here.”

Bree had swapped to her humanoid form after the battle, and she was fanning herself with her hand. “You said it. I’m burning auril here just to protect myself.”

Avalara, despite her monstrous form being made of plants, had less trouble. Thankfully, some trolls were tall, and the temple was meant to look grand in size, so she hadn’t had too much difficulty fitting through the hallways. Jake had to comically use Call Summon to get her through one of the smaller archways earlier, but otherwise they had little trouble.

Jake did his best to make sure his Presence covered Bree and Ruby with a little more intensity. It was something he didn’t need to do at all for his wives; the hearth connection simply protected them at a slightly higher effectiveness than his default, with no effort. And of course, being hearth bonded, they had an extreme resistance to flame from Hestia and each other– things the two girls lacked.

The party arrived near the people doing poses, and Jake asked, “What’s all this, Sati?”

She continued speaking out loud to the disciples, but she replied in his mind, [I am teaching them how to properly ignite their inner flames, and express devotion and worship to their Divine. I am starting with the poses and some simple chants, and later, we will move onto the prayers and the mudras. Only the strongest can be in the core sanctum right now, but I suspect in only a few weeks they will grow far more than they have. The Great Flame is joining with them.]

While many people looked like they were having difficulty, most of them had smiles on their faces, and that was true of the many in the massive hallway as well.

Jake noted, “They seem to be enjoying it.”

Rashik laughed. “She’s truly the prophet of the Great Flame, I can feel it! With every moment I endure, I show my devotion, and with every breath, I feel Her touch. Wonderful, truly wonderful,”

Jake had, of course, learned plenty about yoga and Hindu theology as well as myth from Earth. He was able to identify many of the poses. Among the Great Flame worshipers, they certainly had more disciples focused on the devotional poses, performing what was called Bhakti Yoga. Others were using lunges, planks, and similar exercises, which were meant to build up their personal inner flames.

Tanda looked over with a curious look at some of them planking, her tail wagging. “Is that pose really that challenging? You’ve only been doing this a few minutes, right? I should be able to do this all day.”

Tatiana’s body was bent backwards, almost as if forming a ‘c’ shape with her head above her legs on the ground. Her hands were braced on her legs, establishing what was known as the camel pose.

Her breaths were heavy, but she answered despite her odd pose, “At first, it was easy. Our bodies as inner disciples are more than capable of extensive exercise. But as we followed Sati’s breathing instructions and moved our core flames through our bodies through what she calls chakras, it became so much more challenging.”

Rashik lunged, establishing the warrior pose, and added, “But I can feel it! The longer I show the Great Flame my gratitude and my devotion, the more I feel Her love in return! I can feel Her growing within me!”

Fhesiah chuckled at the man’s phrasing but added, “It’s because these movements engage their spiritual bodies, not just their physical ones. If not for that, how could Sati ever feel like any movement was challenging at all? Her body is merely flame; she has no muscles to feel any kind of effort or burn. She could stay in one pose forever. Instead, it is her spiritual body that is stressed and broken down from the continuous strain created by involving the chakras within.”

Tanda tilted her head. “Chakras? I thought Sati cultivated Qi though. You guys have meridians and dantians, wasn’t it?”

Nessa replied, “We cultivators awaken our mystical organs during the meridian cleansing realm; these are related as they are transformed and altered to serve a similar purpose–the chakras still exist, but they are sometimes different or transformed based on cultivation methods. At any rate, we must discuss what to do next.”

Jake nodded, looking back to the lava vent firing into the sky. The flames were still full of black malevolence, and whatever their worshiping effort’s results might be, it was impossible to tell how rapidly they were removing the taint, if at all.

He asked, “Is all of this helping at all, Sati? It doesn’t look like it.”

She finished her instruction and floated over. “It helps. However, what we are doing is little more than adding purified water as it evaporates into the clouds. The clouds–the moon is still full of condensed malevolence, and it still precipitates, or rains down onto the world, the evil still tainting it. Balor’s will and ability to destroy this world have slowed, but something remains. It is not yet defeated.“

“What about that which draws you?”

“Fate still calls me, because there is also something else above us, and I’m not so sure it is just the taint. I’m afraid I’m nearly out of time.”

“Time…for what?”

Sati looked to the sky above her. The fiery moon could be seen in their view, the flame from the vent spewing toward the starry heavens, the opening large enough to see an area around it. Her emotions became turbulent for a moment, filled with longing, fear, and hope.

“Jake…my Ishvara. Come with me? Please.”

Everyone in the surroundings let out surprised gasps as she flew into the flames, but Jake just chuckled and leaped in after her, surrounding himself in his telekinetic flames as he countered the upward motion of the blasting vent.

The fire inside the vent was certainly no less than the baptism or trial of fire he experienced before they entered the inner sanctum. The malevolence tried to corrode or impinge on his body, but his Divine-Void Hearthian Core purified all that entered him. It was only barely able to keep up as it was blasted through him.

Sati looked comfortable as she floated in her lotus pose, just as she always did. She offered her hands palm up to Jake, which he took as he floated next to her.

He asked, “What is it?”

“I’m afraid that to serve my purpose, I must soon go. I…wished for a deeper connection to you, but I lament that we are nearly out of time. Most of all, I do not wish for even fate to extort such a thing from you.”

“I don’t understand. You are sounding as if you are going off to die. We destroyed the Aspect. There should be no more additional corruption.”

“It is as you say, but the land still suffers. The corruption is enough to bring this world to ruin. It is not a matter of if; it is a matter of when. While I have faith in our family and its ability to deal with this, you do not have a lot of time, do you?”

Jake nodded. “We must hunt down the remaining enemies and defeat their terrible plots. While we can purge corruption much like what we did on Highlands, it will take valuable time.”

“Every moment that goes by, life is being destroyed. It is my path, my dharma, to defend life in the face of evil, to alleviate the suffering of all beings. But it is also to do it as an extension of your will. Would you condemn this world when I can save it?”

That was, of course, a difficult question. If one or more of his wives wanted to give their lives to save a world with millions of people on it, and he had no other option, would he stop them? Could he? After all, if they were willing to make the sacrifice, that meant it was important enough to them for them to do it in the first place.

The Framework didn’t protect against sacrifice or certain types of death. While he knew in their next life their Hearth Bond would continue, he wasn’t sure what that would look like exactly in their Sector. It could be decades until they were reborn and their memories from their last life were restored.

“There must be a better way. I’d prefer to explore other options. I understand you are drawn by what you believe is fate, but I am not willing to give up those important to me without a fight. We likely can stave off this world’s destruction slowly and restore it over time.”

She smiled widely at that for a moment. “I am important to you? That fills me with a joyous heat. But it is not as though I am sure that I am going to die. Observe.”

She pulled one hand of hers away from Jake’s and then gestured. Flame, rather than passing them by as they floated in the vent, began to gather around her hand into a fiery orb. “My inner flame shall remain unbroken against malevolence. However, the Great Flame…it wishes to merge with me. I’m afraid that…in the process of saving the Great Flame, I may either kill it or become it. I may no longer…be me.”

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A death of the self, or the personality, was very much a death that the Framework would not normally be able to protect someone against. At some point, it would recommend Avatar Dissolution, and it would be up to the user to accept this to be rescued in time. If they lost consciousness, it would be selected automatically unless they had preemptively disabled this function.

This was actually how facing mentalists worked, in that their minds could not be permanently broken by a simple mental attack. It would soften the mental blow and dissolve their Avatar. But a mentalist that slowly and insidiously weakened before breaking the mind was another story.

There were rarely ever secrets among their family. While his wives were helping the core disciples recover, they still got the gist of what he and Sati talked about, even if they weren’t holding their ears to the door listening to every word, as it were.

They didn’t like the idea just as much as Jake didn’t, but Sati’s resolve on the matter made this a unique challenge.

[Aw, Sati is going to the moon without us? This blows.]

Despite sounding dismissive, it wasn’t that Berri didn’t care. It was that she was keeping the mood light, and she had every confidence that the problems would be solved. By the ones who liked to think all the time.

Ophelia, as always, was the voice of reason. [We could handle the Wind Temple’s issues while you help Sati. It may be a challenge with Ava and Bree, but we can make it work.]

Blood added, [Ophelia is right. Ur’Rena already found some candidates. They are fire elves and fire trolls that have relatives within their respective temples. That may be enough to get us an audience if we ferry them over, combined with Rashik’s staff to show our authority. Splitting further might not be wise, as our enemy could take advantage. I assume that if you go with Sati, you'll also require Ira.]

Nessa said, [I could handle threat detection; my eyes can see through all illusion. My…’lighthouse’ radius is much less than Fhesiah’s, but I think if I’m the one watching the skies toward the Wind Temple, I should be able to handle it.]

[Husband, I think the solution here is rather simple, don’t you think? Just make her yours forever, and then she has nothing to fear. Probably.]

Fhesiah was right; it was a simple answer, but it was still difficult. The bond reaching the fifth level and the love stage to enable the Hearth Bond was not just a mere formality. To feel love for another person wasn’t as simple as flipping a switch, at least not for Jake.

Of course, Jake had already aligned in his mind that he wanted Sati to be his someday, and he was fond of her. She was already an important part of their family, and he cared about her success and happiness, as well as her safety.

Feeling her emotions over the bond for some time and watching her interact with others had shown him that she was a very calm and patient individual, with a lot of love in her heart–for everything.

Whether it was nature, his children, or the people she met, she spoke of them and thought of them with affection–much more than the normal amount a person would feel. Her passion or love for all things nearly matched Tanda’s for nature’s balance, or Fhesiah’s for sexy fun or wisdom, or Ophelia’s thirst for battle, and so on…but for everything.

And her love for Jake was the most significant of all, like he was the center of her existence. Even with the vision he had seen, it was difficult for him to even imagine how she could love him so greatly from his flame and likely some of Fhesiah’s stories alone.

And for her to feel such gratitude and affection for what he had done for her–which in his mind, was nearly nothing. He conjured and gave that flame to Fhesiah with his spiritual weight, his dao, not knowing what it was for. It was surprising that she was able to keep and store it at all in the first place.

He was still holding Sati’s hands, staring at her. She looked at his hands with joy, excited to have their connection to him.

Jake asked, “How long until you cannot wait any further?”

“I can begin the process now, and I can hold off my departure for a time. Maybe…an hour? Two? But no more. Traveling to the moon will be rapid, but the distance is still vast. And…just… please hurry if you leave me.” Her dark cheeks flared with a bit of redness, embarrassment and shame running over their bond.

“Why are you ashamed?”

“It’s just… hope is such a strange thing. It is the thing that saved me and made me what I am. But now, it is the thing that brings me such despair. I am resolved to give everything for my purpose…but I cannot help but hope.”

“I will return quickly, and that is a promise. Promise me you will not leave before I do?”

“Of course, my Ishvara. If that is your command, I will do all in my power to carry it out.”

He brought one of her hands to his lips and kissed the back of it. She trembled from the sensation, and her entire body brightened. With how she responded, he thought it was definitely going to be a lot more interesting when he kissed her on the lips–but was it truly different?

Jake left the flames of the vent, and he looked over at his wives. Seeing their steely eyes and expressions set with determination, he could tell that they were ready.

For war.

He heard their thoughts and decided in an instant. While it was dangerous to take risks, they couldn’t afford not to do so if they wanted to save this world. They thought there was a strong chance that they should hurry–because they had to make use of the time afforded to them.

Because aside from the potential threats of enemy Champions and Aspects, there was another threat: Cassius, Avaron, and Calix. With two of them down for another day and a half and much of their guild, the more plots they uncovered before then, the better. And if the Tartarus wished to hit their family at the enemy’s strongest, it meant that it would be when the betrayers were able to interfere further.

They had won these three days, and they would use them. One Aspect was down, the equivalent of one Champion. They would press their advantage, and if the enemy tried to ambush them, then they just had to win. Even from the moon, Jake would be able to travel through the void with Reverse Summon, and so even if they were outnumbered, they just needed to hold on until help arrived.

They decided on these two teams:

Team Wind: Ophelia, Nessa, Ruby, Tanda

Team Earth: Fhesiah, Bree, Avalara, Bloodberri

In terms of strength and synergy, Jake did not like this balance. However, without Jake to ferry around their larger allies, any enemy plot that required flight near the Wind Temple would nearly be a complete wash for Ava and Bree, even if he brought them there with Call Summon. The Team Wind was definitely their best flyers, even if Jake was going to bring them right to the gates.

If Jake had more time, he could build Bree some massive wings that would work with enough auril, much like what Bloodberri used. But it would be a several-hour project to make something that could truly work. Both could Sublimate some wings temporarily, but these abilities wore them out and were meant for short-to-medium-length battles. They were not a means to travel miles and miles for hours without a break.

His bag of tricks was deep, but he could not foresee every need. Bree and Ava’s challenges for flight were both unique ones, and with Call Summon, they hadn’t seen the need.

Jake used his authority as a Baron to open a portal to his Refuge even within the No-Contest Zone. The trolls and elves entered along with his family. He entered the Refuge as well, the Divine Hearth restoring his energy, relieving his body from its exhaustion slightly. Summoning Cernunnos, even leaning on Tanda as Janda, was not a walk in the park. It was not quite what he experienced when they arrived on Highlands, but he still required a breather.

They all waited inside their home for a few minutes, doing their best to recover from their battle. Recovery was far beyond ten times the usual rate for everything, thanks to the unique energies swirling within. They each had snacks and Ava’s nectar, basking in the Hearth’s soothing embrace.

They stood in the expanded entryway of their home for a few minutes, and Jake said to Ava, “You’re going to have to hoof it, Ava.”

She chuckled with her eyes narrowed in a wide smile before she said, “It’s okay, my stag. I’m a bit spoiled thanks to you, aren’t I? I’ll have to race Bree there.”

Bree chuckled. “You’re on. Flight was never one of my sister’s and my strong suits, but I’ve never lost to a tree.”

Fhesiah grinned at Bree as she hummed. “Mmm, yes, I suppose there has always been more of you to love, huh? If only we could use my shuttle.”

Jake sighed. As ugly as that thing was, he agreed. In addition to being fast, it was even durable against enemy attacks, unlike his blimps. Unfortunately, the item was considered within the third Tier and was a true treasure. It was not allowed on any Contested worlds beneath that. And sadly, that didn’t mean they could use it all the time when they reached it, as many zones had flight tool restrictions. He would need to come up with more solutions.

Nessa’s airships were not portable and unable to enter a cosmos sack. If they wanted to use it on a world, it was like they had to preemptively send it to a world before it became Contested. They could teleport it now for a fee, but it took far too long to be worthwhile for Jake’s party.

Jake entered the HQ nearest the Wind Grand Temple and then used Reverse Summon on his Arcane Eye he had left there. It only took a few minutes in total with Ira’s help. Opening a new portal from in front of the Wind Grand Temple, he left Team Wind inside.

And Team Earth started their mad dash from the HQ portal. Berri chose to look over them imperiously as she flew just a bit faster, taunting the two girls periodically.

When Jake returned to the volcano using reverse summon, he was ready to appear within the venting flames with hearthflames wrapped around him. Within, he found Sati in her usual lotus pose.

However, spiritual, flaming appendages–extra arms and legs–were unfurled around her. Six larger additional hands formed mudras–different hand seals. She chanted, her voice echoing throughout the volcano.

It was as if she was in several yoga poses at once, and the heat within the area was problematic even for Jake. Flame was not something that should be able to harm him, but fire of a higher order–a higher Tier–was still dangerous if in large enough quantities. And this certainly qualified.

Fire was gathering beneath and around her, the woman stopping much of the flow into the skies, and was drawing it into her. She was like the eye in the hurricane, the area now clear of flame–except for her. She burned powerfully, and the spirituality within her was rising. He could feel it. Her whole body had brightened slightly, as if it were shimmering.

Her eyes were closed, but she turned to him and smiled brightly as she opened her eyes but continued her chant as she spoke in his mind instead. [You did hurry, my Ishvara. I am relieved.]

“I didn’t want you to take this burden on alone.”

She seemed happy about that, and she continued her chant for a moment. Jake wasn’t gone for more than thirty minutes, setting up his other wives for success and recovering as best as he could.

He knew every minute might count. In all, perhaps he would have rushed more to get to this point if Sati were more…forthcoming about the situation. But he could not blame her, considering she was working off of what was essentially a supernatural gut feeling. One that was likely very accurate in terms of the importance to her personal fate, but not very nuanced in terms of what.

She could feel an impending doom looming, like a Sword of Damocles over her head, or a moment of great importance. From her feelings on the matter, he was guessing she felt both at the same time, and this made it very difficult to know the best way to approach.

Powerful cultivators like Fhesiah were sensitive to these kinds of things, but certain people with a strong affinity for fate, like the Celestial Nekomatas, could feel it with even more certainty and nuance, helping them guide their actions.

And Sati appeared to be such a being.

Finishing her chant, her extra arms and legs retreated into her body. She then gestured in front of her and then gestured to her body–he got the feeling she wanted him to mimic her. “Please join me?”

He would do her one better. It was easy to arrange his legs in the lotus position, but he used his storage ring to remove his vestments, leaving him in just a plain tank top and shorts, with his hearth flames wrapped around him protectively. Floating underneath her, he held her in his lap instead.

Sati’s body brightened, joy rushing into Jake through their bond as she gasped. “Ah!” She leaned her back into him further, her head touching his chest. “Thank you. It’s such a simple thing, but I have longed for your touch.”

He knew she didn’t want him to apologize. “And I want to hold you. What’s next?”

“My Ishvara, your task is simple, yet important. When I surrender my love, pain, and devotion to you, you only must receive it. You are the mirror, the guard, the container, and the stillness–my anchor.”

“An anchor? What do I need to do?”

“You need only keep a clear, open mind and bear witness to my love, my devotion.”

“I’ll do it, but why? What does that do?”

“It grounds me, keeping me from being drawn away as I touch the divine. It also allows you to receive the gift of my devotion, my Shakti–feminine energy. Together, we can weave and transmute that energy into something more. But worry not, for I think you will understand better after I tell you my story. For now, just follow my breathing, and spread your arms and hands out like this.”

She spread her arms wide with her palms up, which he mimicked. Then she put her thumb and index finger together, forming a circle, the rest of her fingers spread wide, and he did the same.

He copied her breathing, trying to enter his calm meditation. He was mostly familiar with this thanks to always joining with Tanda and Avalara, so it was quick to enter the state. Stillness had already been simple for him to achieve.

“Good. Yes, very good. Now, I shall begin…and then tell you my story. Of my purpose and my love. So that you may see and understand me.”

Her extra arms and legs unfurled, fanning out from her sides and back–despite her back being pressed against his chest, they were metaphysical spiritual flames and somehow avoided him.

She struck several poses at once, and her heat brightened as she began to chant. Through their bond, he could feel the pain but also the joy coming from her. Sati had been waiting for this day, for him to see her.

The vision began as her words and thoughts rang in his mind.