Marieya’s Refusal

Where… where am I?

I remember Hollatrax growling with rage at not being able to shrink down into the temple, and they let out a massive cone of freezing cold breath. Priscilla reverted to her staff form, Jørgen was knocked unconscious and I…

…oh.

So… I’m dead? Properly dead I guess, cause I can’t feel any fire in or around me right now. I guess that breath was so cold that not even the eternal flames could bring me back.

I can see more around me now, I’m floating. Floating amongst an ocean of stars in a deep, dark blue sky. The only thing holding steady being a single, silvery thread.

There are others here too, perhaps other souls destined to whatever afterlife awaits them, similarly attached to threads. The threads lead into these rifts that crack open the immaculate colour of the sky, and slowly, one by one, they are pulled into rifts which close back up to repair the sky.

A rift opens before me, and the thread begins pulling me towards it. I see… the forest where I lived. My old battered tent house. The river where I fished for food. I’m going home, and maybe I can finally apologise to everyone.

Wait.

No… don’t! Please!

The thread snaps, and the rift closes itself up without me in it.

I’m falling.

Falling through an infinite blue void.

Until a thread grabs me. Not silver this time, but a light blue, almost cyan. A rift opens up at the end of the thread, revealing what is on the other side.

It’s a vast underwater reef, similar to the one where Seggotan came to me in the vision that brought me to this place. I hear his voice, albeit faintly.

“It is not yet your time, young one.”

Even here, his voice soothes me.

“And I am not disappointed in you. You showed great courage and initiative in approaching the temple. The trials ahead may be daunting, but you are a devoted follower. I shall do all I can to return you to the mortal plane.”

The fatherly voice of the dragon god combined with the serene underwater setting put me at ease, as I prepared myself to be pulled into what seemed like limbo.

Until another thread grabbed me. This time a deep, burning, orange.

“Not yet. I’m not done with you yet.”

Oh no.

Oh shit.

At the end of the orange thread there was another rift, this one providing an image of places burning.

The Margreave.

The Northlands.

Zobeck.

“Not even death can truly stop a phoenix, and now… your body is all mine for the taking.”

Both threads began pulling at once. A god of waves against a manifestation of fire. One looking to keep the world intact, another wishing for it to just burn away to ash.

It started to hurt, as both forces did not want to back down, I was stuck in a tug of war between who I want to be and who I want to stop becoming.

The rifts… the rifts are getting closer!

Oh god, what’s going to happen?

I’m trying to be pulled into limbo and rebirth simultaneously.

I don’t want to die!

I don’t want to be a feared phoenix!

I don’t-

There was a blinding flash of light as the rifts collided upon Marieya, enveloping her entirely. The divine power of Seggotan and the limitless sorcerous potential of the phoenix merged into one, bringing into life a demiplane of steam. One that was born from the stresses and trials of the young shadow fey, the environment shaping itself as such. And in a clearing deep within the demiplane itself, she was about to reawaken…

My head is throbbing… and my body is burning all over. What happened when those rifts collided?

Around me I see visages of trees… the forest that I burnt down.

My hands… my hands have talons on the nails, blackened like the phoenix’s claws. The burns on my body glow faintly with power as wings appear as a fiery visage behind me.

In my refusal to die I’ve become what I feared most. But… I’ve also trapped myself somewhere where I can’t hurt anyone.

I’m… angry.

A burning rage fills my chest as I feel my body lash out with various fiery spells, the environment shifting and twisting as the unchained magic within me takes control.

The phoenix wants to be free.

I can’t let it leave this place.

For everyone’s sake.

Inspiration

So… Marieya died.

Just straight up died.

And to be honest, it isn’t really anyone’s fault here. I just got unlucky with how some damage was rolled.

It was definitely stressful in the moment, as the realisation hits that a character you have cultivated for over a year has died in game.

Not going to last, as this whole demiplane of steam is going to act as a massive stage for a resurrection quest with this acting as my first sort of DM experience as I will be co-DMing the quest, taking control of helper NPCs and eventually the final confrontation with Marieya herself.

This is only a short story, about 750 words, but I’m hoping it helps me get some momentum back. Despite this story being born of an unfortunate occurrence, this felt good to write.