Act 3: The Ball - Crisis

Steve will volunteer to let Elt read his memories of the Rumbling.

Eltsuihlul explores Steve's and Mihai's minds both at the same time. In Steve's case, the process lasts for a fraction of a second since he has only one memory to share, but for Mihai, it lasts for nearly five seconds. Mihai quickly realizes that he's sharing a lot more than he meant to—his whole life actually—and Eltsuihlul attempts to stop the exchange.

It fails. The serpent sees everything Mihai has experienced in his life, and by the time the process is over, Nick's consciousness has reemerged, replacing Mihai's for the time being.

Eltsuihlul tilts its head and says, "Curious. There are two minds battling for control of this body."

"There are. Didn't you see yet?" Konrad asks, giving the creature the side eye, having been warily watching this exchange.

"There were complications."

It then looks at Mihai, waiting for him to talk.

Nick is feeling pretty overwhelmed right now, but he knows everything that happened since he was last present in this body.

"Well, is it possible for you continue?"

"I'm already finished. It appears the strange orbs inside your friend's head have interfered with the process and caused all of his memories to flood into my mind. I know everything about his life."

Fluffle looks back and forth between Eltsuihlul and Mihai, clearly worried.

"N—Nick?"

Meanwhile, Femke narrows her eyes at the serpent, but doesn't say anything.

"It must have been overwhelming, if it brought the other one out. Nick, how are you?"

A worried Steve says, "Yeah, are you alright Nick? Do you still feel Mihai?"

Konrad gives him a smirk. "I'll let him answer that." He looks up at the serpent. "So, do you understand why we've come?"

"Yes. You want to ask me to help you defend the city from the one called Isidora Venator. Unfortunately, my snakelet is too young to be left alone for long periods of time, and the palace too far from the nest we're currently hiding in. I must refuse. However, I promised to answer your questions the next time we met, and now you are here. Your assistance in the rescue of my offspring was invaluable, but it's all I can offer you right now. I apologize."

Konrad sighs. "I am sorry too. But let's get to those questions. Can you tell us what you know about the Shroud and the creatures that are chasing us?"

"As I understand it, the Veils are entities that cover whole planets and feed on magic. To ‘reproduce’, they divide themselves into two and send one of them into the space between stars, so they can find a planet to settle on. You've apparently awakened the one here, which means it will now establish portals between the cities of your world in an attempt to convince your people to use them. In exchange, it will extract more refined magic from them—a fee many travelers from my world were willing to pay. The Veil here must have come from my world, because I recognize several of its denizens here: the ‘carbuncles’, the red birds, and the pointy-eared people you met yesterday. They're called elves.

"As for the Shriekers, they're monsters from the Underworld. The elven empire once subdued them and used them in their wars, but lost control of them three centuries ago. Since then, the Valkrath have ravaged the entirety of the civilized world. Of the elves, only nomad tribes remain."

Fluffle gawks at Eltsuihlul, dumbstruck by this history lesson. Meanwhile, Femke watches their surroundings, ready for anything. It's all she can do for now, seeing as she can't communicate with the winged serpent.

"They shouldn't be able to, no. Unless they manage to touch you when you shift between the Veil and your world."

"Can they be harmed in any way? They seem so powerful."

"They can be. From what I heard, ten trained elven mages could slay one of them."

"Sound, smell and spells. Also, people shifting into the Veil. It attracts them like a moth to the flame."

Fluffle gulps. "We've noticed, yes."

"You're lucky to still be alive."

"Have you met the elves we saw last night?"

"No, I haven't. They must have been swept by the Veil when it left our world."

Eltsuihlul lowers itself to get more comfortable before it answers Nick's question. "The Veil must have preserved them. Woke them up when it was time."