Dust to Dust

The Hand of Destiny was embroiled in a long battle among the wreckage of the Feywild. Pieces of land floated in a red void. At the center, a large, burnt black volcano spewed red lava in every direction. Pieces that were hit with the lava were instantly burnt away to ashes. Their large airship was maneuvering between a cluster of floating lands attacking targets on the grounds below. Several battalions fought on the different floating pieces. There were enemies everywhere. 

A small group pof Kobolds managed to gain entry into the main hold of the ship with the help of the enemy wizard and began wreaking havoc underneath. Milo was dispatched to take care of some of them. After he and Tylo routed their efforts to destroy the ship from within, they made their way to the outside to continue helping. It took a bit but soon, their group gained the upper ground in battle and began taking out some of the major targets. The wizard and Sane went down together on one of the lands, the red dragonborn was taken out on another land along with the Kobolds he was pulling from his magic pouch. Athena was on separate land fighting Hepolita one on one. Kariss was engaged with Zenriel on the land with all the dragons fighting each other. 

Just when they thought they had gotten the upper hand, there came a loud blast noise. The volcano erupted violently, spewing red hot balls of fire. These balls soared up with the force of the blast only to start crashing back down on the masses of land that were still left. As with the Grand Guild Games, the meteors that smashed down into the lands exploded and turned into those terrible ash monsters that had attacked the city. The group knew from experience that a touch from one of those things would kill them and turn them into ash monsters as well. Now they had to avoid these creatures while fighting the other enemies. Still, the group from Novos maintained its momentum in battle and managed to start taking out targets. 

Athena was lost when her land mass was taken out by one of the ash meteors. She went tumbling into the red void until she was just a dot in the distance. Kariss worked on fighting Zenriel until she was able to convince her to give up and help them instead. Zenriel agreed to put down her arms but she was so upset that she couldn’t help. It became worse when the Queen of Ash, seeing that she was losing her minions, screamed her rage and summoned a hidden ally, Tiamat! From a tear in space came the great Mother of Dragons and Chaos embodied. Her five heads came through first, to eye up the fight before she came all the way through. 

Zenriel was dumbfounded. Yet again a god had betrayed her and used her to meet their own ends. Seeing this was too much and Zenriel went a little crazy. She began attacking Tiamat with everything she had, uncaring about her own safety. The others tried to back her up but they were now fighting two gods and a champion knight. Kariss had no other option but to call upon Bahamut for help in the fight. Kaladrax called upon Null as well and together they fought back against Tiamat. Leaving the three siblings to fight it out, the group focused on the Queen of Ash and her Knight. They fought to the point of exhaustion. At one point the ship was hit with one of the flying meteors and split in half. Many of the islands had been decimated in the battle and most of their comrades were dead or lost. 

Kaladrax saw this and could not accept defeat. He gathered up his strength and cast a Wish spell to restore everything to what it had been before the meteor hit the ship. A bright light encompassed the group and what was once wrought was brought back together again. The ship looked as it did when they first entered the Feywild. All the people that had been dead or lost were back, looking confused but relieved. The assault on the queen continued until they wore her down long enough to separate her from the vial of god making potion she had. Once it was in their possession, they finished off the Knight and his Queen. The fight was nearly over, all that was left was Tiamat, alone in her fight against order and law. 

Before they could make a move, a large resounding heralding shook through the air. They looked around for the source and found the Deva from their first adventure flying down towards them. When he arrived, he greeted them and said he was delighted to see they had survived. The group was still and silent. The Hand of Destiny knew the old gods were coming. The herald Deva was the first sign of their coming and with them usually came annihilation. He smiled and suddenly, beside him was Aeon. Aleera recognized him, being the only one who had been able to perceive his form. He came down to them and a smaller being stepped out from behind him. It was Madam Eva. They stood silent for a moment until Aeon motioned for them to continue doing what they were doing. 

The potion of god-hood stood on the pedestal that had been built for it, glowing with iridescent colors. Kariss went for it first using her great strength to try and pry the stopper from the bottle but it proved too strong a seal, even for her. She set the bottle down and Aleera took it. She walked over to Aeon and handed the potion to him. Madam Eva let out a loud cackle and smiled at the gathered mortals. She thanked them for giving her the win. When they looked at her in confusion she explained that she and Aeon had placed a bet. Aeon argued that mortals would always choose immortality if given the chance and Madam Eva sided with the mortals, saying they would not always give in. 

Aleera was proof that mortals did not always give in to their thirst for immortality. For her rejection the group was granted a wish by Madam Eva. They all thought for a moment but again Kariss spoke first and made the decision for the rest of the group. She wished that the old gods were gone and that the Great Dragon be recombined into its whole. This meant that Tiamat, Bahamut, and Null would rejoin as one immensely powerful god. Madam Eva laughed again and granted the wish. Aeon faded and as Madam Eva faded she smiled at Aleera and thanked her for meeting her expectations. Madam Eva was the old god of Fate and she had cut their strings of Fate to see what would happen without godly intervention. It had worked out just as planned. She warned Aleera that the gate would close soon and that they should head back as soon as possible before disappearing completely. 

Confused but elated from their victory, the group maneuvered the ship towards the Fey Gate and looked back as the Feywild began to reform itself. They had won against the Queen of Ash and restored safety to their realm but they had no way of knowing what consequences came from their actions. It was still too new but time would tell. The ripples of their actions were still reverberating across the realms and, though they didn’t know it, other universes. For now, there was only mirth and celebration.