The Chaos of Planar
Ardyn looked over the Thesolans, a small smile playing across her lips. As the intent of Planar pushed against her Song of Calm, her own intent pushed back. The Thesolans were awed and had frozen in their tracks.
She spoke calmly, her figure suspended in the air slightly higher than the Thesolans. Their expressions were a mix of emotions as they looked up at her in reverence.
"I am merely passing through. Do not worry yourselves." She glanced at Atina. "My sister would love to fight, if you are still so inclined."
The Thesolans looked to Atina, sneers marring their faces. She returned their looks with a calm subtlety—readying herself for a fight. But the chaos of Planar had other ideas; it moved between the two groups and began pushing the Thesolans back. Ardyn raised an eyebrow as the residents of the realm allowed themselves to be shoved away without complaint.
"It would seem that your realm has other ideas. Perhaps there will be a fight next time."
She spoke in an ancient language of harmonious melody, her broad smile chilling the beings before her. The Thesolans bowed and moved off. As they did, a wide band of odd static appeared before her—visual, auditory, and heavy with pressure. It pressed against her skin and blew her hair back.
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the wall, as if she were reading something of great importance. She nodded and looked toward the west. She and Atina moved off, leaving a wake of calm behind them; the chaos quickly flowed back in once they were gone. Their wake was a calming, light-blue quiet, while the chaos was a pale grey of confusion that seemed to want to fill any space it could find.
Planar was a land of plateaus that rose high above a raging sea of turbulent, crackling magic. The plateaus were reds, greys, and whites, and the raging magic below was a mix of colorless voids, blacks, and odd pinks. The contrasts were jarring to both the eye and the mind. The magic below lapped against the plateaus as if it were seeking something—something it needed desperately.
Ardyn and Atina moved across the pale grey skies on a gentle mat of sound and light, cutting through the chaos like a sharp blade through delicate flesh. Ardyn watched as the magic below finally noticed her calm presence and reached up for it. With a thought, they rose higher into the sky—away from the yearning chaos. The magic of the sky parted as if it were weaker and afraid.
Ardyn nodded. "We will land. I want to feel this chaos—understand it. Prepare yourself."
Atina nodded as they descended to the closest plateau. As their feet touched the multi-colored rock, Ardyn felt a sharp spike of magic try to break her defenses. She cocked her head and looked to the east, then the south, and finally the north. Magic streamed in from all directions—except from the west—all of it seeking. She frowned when she couldn't understand what it sought.
She felt the benign tether connecting her to Atina, ensuring her guard was okay. Satisfied, they moved off together as if they were one. The magic below became more chaotic, reaching up even higher, but the streams moving from the other three directions stopped feeding the sea below and began to follow Ardyn like lost young desperate for a meal.
The further west they moved, the more desperate the following magics became. It was as if Ardyn reached a specific point where she would no longer be within reach. Just as this thought entered her mind, a tall, wide plateau rose before her. It was menacing, pushing all other magic away. It stood high in the pale grey sky and called to Ardyn like an old friend needing help.
Her soul stirred as they moved closer to the colossal plateau. She knew this was where she needed to be. This was where she would find the next part of the Life Way.
Ardyn and Atina landed as one, lightly stepping onto the plateau and feeling the void around them. The sky was still pale, but it was now blue, and there was a stillness around them that was final, clean, and wondrous.
It was calming.
Ardyn sent her senses out and found nothing. In a 360-degree arc, there was nothing for miles and miles. She raised an eyebrow and sat down. She would need to move through the layers to solve this puzzle.