Swept

"Come forth Cramnal. Where are Rebecca and Struns?"

Cramnal remained quiet for a few seconds, as he maintained her brisk pace, then his eyes closed. Rachel knew that he was communicating with the others to ensure accurate information so she patiently awaited his response. As she walked she tried to re-acquaint her brain with the realm that she hadn't seen in months. It was so different and foreign to her now.

The path abruptly ended but Rachel and Cramnal continued walking forward.

The endless sky was still just as welcoming. As if it would never forget one of its own. The path, created by her father and brothers was as sturdy as when they first constructed it. But her grandmother had not allowed for it to connect to any continents or any space close to a continent.

So it was built in a remote area of sky and used to traverse realms.

They walked briskly and in silence. Nothing could be seen for leagues except sky, and the black abyss below.

Still she knew her destination was ahead, not behind not to the left, or to the right. It was impossible for an Azmin to become lost in their own sky.

Azmins where the first people in this realm. It was believed that without them, without the Milana the realm would collapse and be uninhabitable. Even still Azmins were a minority ethnic group in Trannisa.

"Struns still looks for clues and Rebecca is on her way here to you. You know she does not like my doors so it will take her about five minutes to arrive." Cramnal finally answered, his pace quickening now that his eyes were open.

"Tell me what happened" Rachel's spirituality told her everything was fine, (at least manageable) hence she was calm a bit and maintained her patience. But the more she thought about her elder sister, Andis, and how she generally stayed to herself– Rachel's blood turned into an icy churning river within her veins. She moved her neck cracking it twice. " On second thought just tell me who I have to kill."

Sibba:

Sibba is the capital of Trannisa. In this realm of seemingly endless sky and forbidden black depths: humanity's landmasses existed on soaring platforms. Platforms suspended within the vibrant blue sky, floating serenely above the black abyss.

Originally there were only two "continents " but as the population grew and different factions rose there was a need for more. Now there were 12 vast continents with all but two being ruled by the Trannisa Conglomerate. The final two continents are a penal colony run by a private company controlled by elite mercenaries and the second a sentient research facility controlled by the brother of Trannisa's current CEO.

Struns Branwein watched the streets before him in aggravation. Now that Rachel was here he knew he did not need to worry about Andis but to say he was p*ssed about the situation was an under statement. He understood Andis' feelings and he sympathized with her but her constant disregard for her own safety was beyond infuriating.

Struns constantly told her she needed to train more to protect herself or she needed a bodyguard.

He smiled wryly when he thought of her reply to needing a bodyguard. When she had said he was her bodyguard he was caught off guard.

Also it was a bit insane for such a powerful Azmin to even need a bodyguard.

People always took advantage of kindness

Struns hadn't noticed when he clutched his fist. He slowly released the tension in his body, opened his hands, and stretched his fingers.

He had found Andis 3 or 4 hours ago. She was in one of the sprawling residential areas of Sibba, Trannisa's third largest continent.

This continent had many residential areas for upper-middle and upper class Trannisians. There were several lakes, two oceans and three complex river systems.

There were also two mountain chains and a sprawling tropical forest.

Currently Struns was positioned at a busy 4 level traffic intersection in one of the upper class neighborhoods. Two levels were four way cross intersections, one was a T intersection with a two way street dead ending into a one way street, and the fourth was a turnaround that had six different streets feeding into it to exit out of it into three branching streets.

Struns expertly monitored them all. He never lost sight of the vehicle carrying Andis, or of any potential problems or concerns.

His heart constricted. He was ready to go after her. He should never have reported finding her. Now he had to wait for Rachel.

He knew she was right in that he would need her help. With her there most opposition would back down. But that was not the point. He had lost Andis and he wanted to get her back on his own.

He watched the car leave the main thoroughfare. Once he knew who had her he knew where they were going but he didn't know how they would get there.

He did not want to lose sight of her and something detrimental occurred.

Struns slowly rubbed his face and let out a sigh… "Marce really wants to die."

He nimbly jumped from his three story perch, straightened his clothes, put a hand in a pocket and nonchalantly walked to the largest condominium high-rise on the continent

He was going to keep an eye on Andis and wait for Rachel.

The Playz Continent

"I know you are upset but realm doors are not safe for schizoids. What if I lose an important ally while in there!? You know it is easy for them to become enchanted and choose another host. Then my strength would be diminished."

Rachel did a hard eye roll partly because Rebecca was whining and partly because everyone knew none of her "companions" would dessert her due to her unfathomable strength and because Rachel herself always tied the beings to Rebecca's soul.

How could they leave?

The truth was she probably had too many at this point.

"Calm down Becca. I am not upset I already know how you are I am just…. Okay I am upset but not at you. When Struns verified that Marce took Andis…" Rachel paused to calm herself down. Her rainbow eyes releasing flickers of prismatic light a few times before her anger settled.

"It is not important now. We are here." Cramnal's calm voice gave them both peace and strengthened their resolve for what was to come.

Rachel's eyes became opaque, she took in a deep breath and stepped to the edge of Playz's greatest mountain range and looked at the continent of Sibba.

Playz was indeed larger but Sibba was so much more spectacular. Skyscrapers rose high into the endless sky and mingled seamlessly with the continent's natural wonders. But this was the "natural" side of Sibba. The true wonder was what lied beneath extending towards the black abyss.