#revenantbuildup

Close to Camp Resolve, but far enough away to prevent any major damage should the Mist Enhanced Armor go critical and explode, Naxxa, Minthe, and Bohern stood on a craggy outcropping a hundred feet above a large flat basin. Accompanied by three heavily armored Priory guards and two Vigil marksmen who had been extremely bored, they watched as Alexandria conjured arrow after arrow of ice, and fired it from a bow of the same element that she had conjured to fight off the seemingly endless swarms of mites that inhabited the Silverwastes.

On a small table in front of them, Naxxa had set up a display that showed the magical energy levels of the armor as well as the paths they took through the armor. Unlike the Mist Enhanced Weapon project, the armor required several nodes throughout the rigging both for stability, and security. Naxxa had spent nearly a week straight, installing lines that passed the energy from one node to another in order to regulate the energy levels in all the nodes. Furthermore, he had installed extra lines that would activate should a node become too damaged to maintain power.

"Excellent!" Bouncing, the Asura's ears flapped as his glance shifted from the display to Magister LaCoria, and then back to the display. "The energy regulators are working perfectly, and all the nodes appear to be stable!"

"It would appear that the integrity of the right gauntlet’s node is questionable." Bohern's quiet, smooth voice immediately cut through Naxxa's excitement. Receiving a toothy sneer from the young Novice, Bohern bowed in apology and returned his attention to his own notebook where he made notes of both the Magister's performance and his opinions of the display readings.

“What are you talking about Bohern?” Naxxa snapped and fixed his gaze on the display.

“I think brother is right actually.” Minthe piped up. Her attention had been fixed upon the screen rather than her dearheart, noting that the coloration of the node was slowly growing redder with each conjured arrow. Thinking back to the earlier explanation of the readings, Naxxa had explained that as long as the nodes remained blue it meant that the energy levels were stable.

“You’re both seeing things!”

“No, no, look here.” Minthe pointed to the node on the screen that represented the right gauntlet. With each arrow that was conjured that particular node flared momentarily red, before quickly fading back to a light bluish-purple. While the other nodes in the system took on the same purple color, the regulators continued to move the energy through them, and they had all returned to blue. “This node isn’t going blue anymore. It’s getting more and more purple.”

“Nonsense…” Irritation gave way to concern as he moved a leafy finger out of his way and pressed his face against the display. “This doesn’t make any sense! The system is designed to regulate the flow of energy!”

“Did you take into account that Elementalist’s localize large concentrations of magical energies in order to produce their spells? Unlike most other magic’s which alter the flow of etheric energies in large areas around them, or around an enemy, we sometimes do it differently. In order to conjure a fireball for example, we pull the energy from the surrounding area into a single point in our hand.”

“I know… that…” Naxxa looked down at Alexandria who was continuing to fight, though the number of mites had been greatly reduced. “I might not have accounted for that much localized energy though…”

“Naxxa,” Bohern sighed, closing his notebook with a loud, hollow thud. “You have seen Magister LaCoria fight on several occasions, and have full readings of the energy displacements she causes using a variety of spells. We will end the test now, and you can begin work on the next version.”

“Alright,” Naxxa sighed and shouted down to Alexandria that the tests were ended. In the time it took him to pack his temporary workstation up, the Magister had rejoined them from their observation point.

“In the future,” pulling off the helmet, her silvery hair was drenched with sweat and looked lifeless as it clung to her neck and cheeks, “can we make it a little less stuffy? Also, how are the results of the test looking initially?”

“Naxxa forgot to account for the density of magical energy that Elementalist’s localize for certain spells.” Minthe’s happy assessment as she took Alexandria’s helmet was met with a annoyed and disappointed look from Naxxa.

“I’ll make all the proper adjustments Magister,” the young Novice said worriedly. “It should only take me a few weeks to reset the algorithms and test the connections to ensure they can handle the increased flow of energy.”

“That’s fine Naxxa. I have to return to Divinity’s Reach anyway,” her attention turned to Minthe. “After that, we may be in Ascalon for a little while.”

“Didn’t we just go on vacation?” Minthe gave her dearheart a quizzical look, while Naxxa let out a sigh of relief and began the trek back to Camp Resolve, escorted by the guards that had joined them.

“Wake up daughter,” the voice seemed to come from every direction around her yet from within her simultaneously. At first Alexandria thought it was the sounds of the Pact soldiers outside her tent combined with the oppressive heat of the Silverwastes playing with her mind. Grumbling, she opened her eyes to discover that the violet glow she had grown used to every night was dimmed by a brighter, paler light from the front of the tent.

Shooting up from the cot, she tugged the light blanket enough to cause Minthe to stir in her sleep. Thankfully, her fiancée had worn herself out helping the Mist Research and Application Team during the preliminary tests to ensure the region was stable enough to test out the Mist Enhanced Armor. Glaring at the spectral figure, she instantly recognized the armor and hood causing her to regard it with anger and curiosity.

“You must retrieve the blade of our family.”

“I thought you being dead meant that I wouldn’t have to deal with you anymore,” Alexandria said with as much bitterness as she could manage, “father. I’m not a Necromancer, so how is it that first you invade my dreams and now you’re standing her in front of me?”

“Your connection to the Mists is strong. I do not know why, but it has given me this chance to tell you that you must retrieve the blade of our family.”

“Your sword?” Pulling her knees up to her chest, she stared in bewilderment at the specter of her father. “You’re telling me, you could convey to Tyria through me some of the secrets of the Mists? But instead, you appear in front of me and ask me to go find your old sword? It’s probably rusting away somewhere in Ascalon by now.”

“The blade will never rust child,” the ghost of Lord LaCoria snapped angrily at his daughter, his booming voice apparently dampened by the canvas of the tent since no one outside gave the commotion any heed. “Our family’s blade was tempered by the flames, and quenched in the waters of your namesake. The hammer that shaped the blade was conjured from the earth by her hand.”

“What?” Alexandria asked flatly, stunned. As the current owner of her family’s journals, never once had she found any entry about a blade forged by the Alexandria LaCoria who had been in Elona when Kormir herself had ascended. “How is it that something like that was never once mentioned in the family journals?”

“Not everything about our family is kept in places so easily accessed.”

“Tell me where I can find information on the sword, and I’ll try and track down the blade.” Too many things were running through her mind now for her to be clever or sarcastic. The idea that there were still family records that she had never seen both upset and exhilarated her, and she wanted nothing more than to get her hands on them.

“Your mother possesses the sole record of the blade, and one of the number who slew me and those with me in Ascalon now carries our family relic. I can tell you no more as Adelbern’s madness makes Ascalon difficult to watch over even from the Mists.”

“Well,” Alexandria sighed sarcastically, “it’s good to know that he didn’t make life difficult for just us mortals. Now, be gone or however I get rid of you.”

In silence, the specter of her father faded and the tent once more filled with Minthe’s violet glow. Looking down at her blossom, Alexandria leaned down and kissed her cheek. Wrapping a robe around her, she slipped into the second space of the tent, a small sitting area where the team held its meetings in the field. She wouldn’t be able to sleep now; she wanted to know why her family had kept such history from her. More than that, she wanted to know what the ghost had meant about her connection to the Mists.