Swept

The Millay continent was a rocky lush place. Its surface was comprised of strange porous grey-green rock covered in lush sapphire-blue grass.

Most of the structures on the continent were carved directly from the rock. It was porous but incredibly strong and it provided excellent aeration for structures.

There were also buildings made of the unique trees found on the island. Once treated the bark of these trees became hard as steel but as pliable as bamboo.

Half of the Azmin Guard were in a very strange rock building. A quarter of the guard was in one of the wooden buildings and the final quarter was camped deep within a vast forest.

These were three locations of chaos.

Once they witnessed the chaos live and in living color the changed strategies and decided to work in three groups to attack at most three points at a given time.

They were all on edge and it felt as if they would all smoother to death due to the stifling stress.

Due to the chaos the rock buildings continually bulged and a sapphire-blue sludge continued to ooze from unseen crevices. The wooden buildings swayed and trembled while an area of the forest had continual weather changes where from moment to moment the weather oscillated from tranquil, to inclement, to disastrous.

All this was happening with residents completely oblivious because the chaos was deeply rooted and manifesting reactions within a layer of the realm undetectable by most as if it didn't want to be detected.

All of the guard could not see the anomalies but they could all feel something odd and ominous.

Those with fate, healing, and terra firma abilities were trying to locate the source or sources of the chaos.

They had been "looking" for three days and they couldn't pinpoint a source. It was like the source originated from ten locations on the continent and more than a dozen on other continents and even more in the black abyss below.

Bre looked as if he wanted to pull his hair out at the root. He stared venomously at Sublyme. She was their strongest fate master and the focus of his anger.

"It is not just me. No fate reader, master, or manipulator has been able to pinpoint a viable location. I think we need to speak to Anis or the Milana."

Yanira looked at her with contempt clear on her face. "As much as I hate to admit it she is right. The longer we are here the stronger this chaos becomes. We have searched through fate, deep into the ground, and used healing on the surrounding areas and we can not find what we need to fight this."

Cer sighed. "And that is the issue for me. All of us here see and feel this chaos but when we seek it out we only see confusion. An abundance of roads leading no where."

He looked between Bre, Yanira, and Sublyme. "We all know that it is natural to find at least slight chaos. Chaos is a natural part of our realm. The absence of it is alarming."

As Cer spoke Bre froze. He stared at his brother slack jawed. Cer was right and he had missed it.

"You are right. What we are registering as confusion is actually a lack of chaos. This may mean we are too late and this part of the realm as already died. We all need to assemble at the main camp. Tillynia needs to contact Rachel or Anis. I think we need to regroup or one of them needs to come here to find this chaos."

Anis paced back and forth. She had called Mis to her yesterday. The chaos she and Struns found was more pronounced than she had imagined or understood.

It was bad enough the fate map she brought forth in Shain's rooms was terrifying but now she was seeing chaos on a level she had never seen before and this was supposed to be one of the simpler knots.

"You need to calm down Anis."

"I know but I can't. "

"I have been looking, or rather feeling the knot, I think we should use knowledge and not soul at this point. Let's focus a significant search and see what we can understand."

Anis stopped her pacing. Before she could speak an image appeared before her and Tillynia spoke into her mind. "Lady Anis. We need your help. We have searched extensively and everything is absolutely chaos free with lines of convergence untraceable.'

'Chaos free? What do you mean by that? There is absolutely no trace of chaos?'

'Not exactly my lady. We can sense the chaos but when we seek the source, a starting point to attack, we find nothing but avenues magic leading away. Leader Bre feels the area we are in may be dead."

Dead!? Anis froze at the thought. 'Have you searched the entire continent or just the locations of the knots.'

'Where the knots are located, opposing points from each location, and the areas where magic is flowing to. '

Anis thought for a moment. 'Mis suggested we use knowledge methods to help with the chaos here. Zolon can use the knowledge ability well. Tell him to perform a broad search focusing on chaos randomly from his current location. If this does not help report to me and I'll create a new fate pattern.'

Anis felt Tillynia bowed deeply at the waist 'Thank you my lady.'

Their conversation only took a second but Mis still knew his sister had an extensive conversation. "Is everything alright?"

She shook her head in frustration. "I don't know. It seems Bre and Cer are having difficulties as well. Bre even feels their area may be dead. We need to finish here so I can move to my next knot and I feel you need to be in the library researching."

She looked into the deep valley below them. "Let's try this search but make it broad."

Mis gave her a concerned glance, looked to Struns for a fraction of a second, then looked at her again.

He began walking toward the edge of the cliff. "You do not use knowledge as much as I do. Use soul and lend me strength and I will do the search. Using soul will allow you to see what I see and allow you to use fate if you need to."

Anis nodded in agreement. "Good idea."

Struns stood and stretched. "I will stand watch. Both of you be careful. Rachel would not hesitate to kill me if something happens to you.

As Mis walked off the cliff and a walked across the air as if it were terra firma Zolon sat cross-legged and began his search.

Pink rays of light raced forward from both men in a fan shape.

Mis' pink was deep and dark while Zolon's was a translucent delicate sapphire pink.

The strands of color undulated forth seemingly searching, probing. They moved over rock, tree, grass, brush, small and large animals: seeking a target.

Anis poured yellow soul light into the center of Mis' back. The deep pink strands thickened in many areas and began moving faster. They continued to move forward and information streamed into Mis and Anis.

The strands suddenly trembled, paused and then many left the Uta continent while a few delved deep into the ground.

Just as those deep pink strands disappeared from Uta they just as suddenly appeared on Millay, which was three continents over. They entwined with the sapphire pink strands and lead them to the underside of the continent.

Mis, Anis, and Zolon understood two things at the same time.

One, the chaos was embedded beneath the continent in an area that could not be searched effectively from the upper surface of a continent. Two, the fate lines connecting the chaos knots dipped into the black abyss below the continent.

All three froze at the realization that everything was connected to the abyss. The pink strands stilled for a long moment, trembling in place. After five minutes the sapphire pink strands retracted back to Zolon and half the deep pink strands continued into the abys with the other half following the connection to the closet continent of Bright Color.