Authors's Note: In Balach - part I, I mistakenly termed the setting as a
"marsh". This term was inconsistent with the actual physical descriptions, and
should have been "swamp" instead. I won't go into too much detail as to why I
chose to use this word, but these corrections have been made to the most recent
versions of the story. Without further ado, I now present to you the conclusion
of this historical fiction, Balach - part II.

-----

Helpless screams arose from the mugwump village as great claws of lightning
descended from the sky to rake viciously at the earth, enveloping houses and
people alike in a burning inferno. The rift was now contorting madly, leaking
power from the outer plane that it was unable to contain. People scrambled in
every direction, many of them not even making it beyond the village boundaries
before meeting their demise. The earth groaned and heaved, and the once
luscious turquoise swamp was quickly charring into a barren graveyard.
"Emaisu! Emaisu!" cried Celena as she searched feverishly for her son,
nearly being trampled over by the panicking villagers.
Celena dashed to her hut and was horrified to find that it was now a pile of
cinders and ashes. A feeling of dread slowly crept up her spine that she quickly
shook off. Her eyes scanned the area, trying to pierce through the thick plumes
of smoke which were causing her to wheeze painfully. Covering her mouth and
nose with one hand, Celena took a few steps forward before bumping into a
cowering, hunched-over man, who yelped and turned around. It was the Speaker.
Celena's eyes narrowed into thin slits.
"Is this still part of the experiment?" she asked icily through gritted
teeth.
Lost for words, the Speaker ignored her and fled into the crowd of fleeing
mugwumps with a gleam of wild terror in his eyes, his supposed confidence now
completely washed away. Just then, a squeaky voice barely sounded over the
chaotic noise.
"Momma, I'm over here!"
"Oh, Emaisu!" cried Celena, her expression changing suddenly into one of
joy. "Momma's coming, hold on!"
Shedding soft tears, she pushed through the crowd to locate her son and
found him clinging to a small willow shrub. She immediately rushed over to
cradle him in her arms.
"I'm so sorry, momma will never let you out of her sight again," Celena
whispered as she hugged Emaisu tightly and kissed his cheeks. "We have to leave
the swamp now," she said sorrowfully.
"But Daddy!" replied Emaisu, his face now smeared with black ash.
A sharp jabbing pain in Celena's side made her grimace as she remembered
Yohan's words, but she had to trust that he knew what he was doing.
"Daddy will be fine, we'll meet with him later on," said Celena, trying to
believe her own words.
Wiping some tears from her eyes, Celena surveyed the village, or at least
what was left of it, one last time. The mud-built homes burned and crackled
like ovens from the depths of damnation, while the occasional tendril of
lightning crawled dangerously over the ground, offering no mercy to those who
fell in its path. The abundant sources of natural gases in the swamp only
worsened the temper of the scorching flames, rapidly spreading their kin in
every direction. There was no end to the madness in sight.
Celena suddenly remembered that she had not seen or heard from her Uncle
Joushi since the scientists arrived, but it was too late to look for him now.
She could only hope that he too was safe. Quickly glancing around, she noticed
that a large number of people were flocking towards the Crystal Sea. Deciding
this was the best course of action, Celena carried Emaisu in her arms and ran
east. By now almost the entire swamp was ablaze, sending up clouds of black
smoke and cremated remains. The red-orange sky bled in anguish, mixing with the
blood and ashes of the villagers below.

Panting heavily for her breath, Celena dodged the fallen trees and bodies
that littered the ground, not even stopping once in her journey to the shore.
She tripped over a stubborn rock and bitterly scraped her knee, but there was
no more time to waste for tears. Biting hard onto her lower lip, Celena
sprinted onward with a slight hobble.
Finally, only a wide wall of trees stood in the way between her and the sea,
though the sole path leading through it was already ridden with wildly dancing
fire and toppling branches. Weeping to herself and hugging Emaisu closer,
Celena searched the area desperately for an alternate route.
All of a sudden, the mass of energy hovering among the black spires ceased
its relentless attacks. Steam drifted slowly from the earth as if it was
sighing in relief, but any chance of relief was quickly relinquished as huge
gale winds formed and began to sweep towards the rift, dragging with them
clumps of earth and unfortunate villagers. The sudden oncoming forces slammed
into Celena and sent her flying back, right into the trunk of an ancient
willow.
"Augh!" Celena cried as small specks of blood sprayed from her mouth.
Emaisu winced and looked at his mother worriedly, having been buffered
against the impact by her body. The winds continued their fierce assault,
impaling Celena against the tree. Struggling to find an escape, the determined
mugwump spotted out of the corner of her eye a small burrow at the base of the
trunk. Digging her fingernails into the bark, Celena wriggled down into the
cramped space. There was barely enough room for her and Emaisu and a rancid
odour permeated the hole, but at least it protected them from the ferocious
winds outside. Above the swamp there swirled a surreal and horrifying display
of death. The victims unlucky enough to be caught in its invisible web were
slowly being sucked into the mouth of the hungry beast at its centre, their
futile cries for help echoing into the wind like a haunting, inescapable moan.

When the winds had finally calmed down slightly a few moments later, Celena
cautiously climbed out of the burrow. She was completely distraught and cramped
over in pain, but to her amazement, she saw that a new path had been torn from
the trees in front of her. Seizing this opportunity before the flames could
consume it again, she tirelessly ran ahead with Emaisu clinging to her.
The winds still whipped furiously in her direction, leaving bruises and cuts
on her delicate skin. But she could smell it now, the briny scent of the sea,
and forced herself to fight even harder against the forces, all the while
making sure to protect her son in her arms. A small smile appeared upon
Celena's parched lips as the thought of salvation came to her, but suddenly
disappeared as she gasped disbelievingly at what was happening in front of her.
Huge tidal waves rolled out from the sea, forming a wall of black, churning
water that seemed to blot out even the sun. They marched ominously towards the
shore and peered down at the helpless villagers, sneering wickedly before
crashing down with a monstrous roar that drowned out the mugwumps' screams.

"Celene!"

Two strong arms sprung forth from behind Celena and swiftly traced a
pentagram in the air. As the tidal waves collapsed, they pushed against the
magical shield but were unable to penetrate it. The man behind her grunted as
he strained against the weight of the waters. Finally, the waves subsided,
leaving the area submerged in shallow water. Already bodies could be seen
floating on their faces along the surface, bobbing lifelessly with the tide.
Celena tried to catch her breath and turned around.
"Y-Yohan..." she uttered quietly, awestruck.
"You don't have to say a word," he replied softly, holding her and Emaisu
close to him in both arms.

For a moment, the chaos amidst the swamp seemed to come to a standstill, as
if the magical shield had expanded to protect them from everything else in the
world. They clung onto each other desperately, afraid of letting go. The sounds
and colours around them slowly melted away, enshrouding them in a soft, white
mist. Time had lost all substance. They wished it could last forever.

The angry cry of the raging rift finally drew them out of their serenity.
Sighing longingly, Celena looked towards the shore and her face lit up with
hope.
"We're almost at the sea, we need to hurry before the high tide comes back
again!" Celena exclaimed, pulling Yohan up as she got to her feet.
"You and Emaisu go first, there are still some things I need to take care
of," said Yohan, smiling faintly as he stood unmoving from his spot.
"What? It's too dangerous! That thing is going to destroy the entire swamp!"
cried Celena, looking utterly dismayed.
"I know, and it's going to destroy everything else with it if it's not
stopped," replied Yohan, his voice quavering slightly.
"Oh, Yohan... I don't want you leave us again... and this time, what if..."
uttered Celena as she gazed at him dolefully.
"I'll always be with you, don't worry," said Yohan reassuringly. He gently
kissed Celena's lips and patted Emaiu's head fondly. "Go on ahead, I'll catch
up," he added with his usual grin.
Celena opened her mouth to reply, but Yohan put a finger to her lips and
said, "Shhh," smiling at her affectionately.
Lightly nudging her forward, he watched as Celena waded through the water,
the two of them never taking their eyes off each other. Emaisu bounced along in
Celena's arms, waving goodbye at his father. Yohan continued to smile and wave
as he watched them disappear into the distance, trying to hide the tears that
were welling up in his eyes.

Total mayhem ensued at the black spires as the machines flickered out of
control and pieces of the ceiling crumbled to the floor. Bodies littered the
ground, some still twitching. The building was collapsing, though the rift
continued to stay afloat and terrorize the swamp.
Yohan rushed through the broken door and paused for a moment to gape at the
wreckage before him. A great struggle was evident from the broken glass and
blood stains smearing the floor. But without wasting anymore time, he quickly
approached the large panel at the end of the room where the merian was still
impaled onto it by his hand. Immediately he began to punch in a series of
buttons almost instinctively.
"Yohan, what are you doing? It's too late now, leave the swamp while you
can!" a passing merian gasped, stopping for a moment to warn his colleague.
"Everyone else has already left and an emergency signal was sent to Celest.
Stage two was entered prematurely, the whole project is ruined… the rift is
out of control!"
"That's why I have to reverse the process and end this, or else the whole
swamp and everything around it will be destroyed. I'm one of the only people
who know the code and can stop it."
"But that would mean…"
"Yes, I know."
The merian sighed and shook his head.
"Yohan…good luck."
He ran out of the room and into the swamp.
As Yohan worked feverishly at the machine, ignoring the explosions and
collapsing walls around him, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.
"What is it now?" he grumbled under his breath. "Go and save your own
worthless life, I'm busy."
"My, my, is that any way to greet your elder?"
Yohan glanced over his shoulder, and then turned around abruptly. "Elder
Joushi, I didn't know it was you," he blurted apologetically, and then looked
startled and asked, "Why are you in a place like this?"
"For the same reason as you, of course," replied Joushi, in a strangely calm
voice. "I want to save our swamp."
"Well you can leave that to me now, Elder," said Yohan, smirking. He patted
the machine behind him. "Unless you know how to operate one of these?"
"Ah, I'll leave the rest up to you. My work here is done," said Joushi,
resting his gnarled hands on his staff.
"You should head for the shore, it's safer there. The cities should have
already sent their rescue ships and they'll be here any moment. There's still
time," advised Yohan.
"Oh, don't worry about me," said Joushi softly. "I'm going home."
Yohan raised an eyebrow curiously, but then a look of understanding flashed
across his face. With a gentle, empathetic smile, he bowed deeply and
gratefully to the elder and then resumed his work on the machine.
As Joushi headed towards the exit, he turned around one last time and said,
endearingly, "Please take care of Celena."
Before Yohan could reply, he was already gone.

The elder mugwump walked quietly amongst the weeping willows of the swamp,
offering a silent prayer to each of the many bodies he passed. The flames
lashed out at Joushi but never touched him, held at bay by some unseen force.
The skeletal canopy was filled with loud chatter as the last few animals called
to one another and hurried towards the beach. But Joushi did not follow them in
their escape, instead he continued to head deeper into the heart of the swamp.
At last he came to a scorched clearing, in which the only remnant was a
towering, magnificent willow tree. Its glowing white bark was unscarred, and
every leaf still seemed to be intact. The runes carved along its trunk glowed
in welcome as Joushi approached and sat down at its base.
"So the time has finally come," he muttered softly under his breath. "I am
sorry, Ancestors, but I have failed you."
The willow swayed its slender branches and caressed Joushi tenderly,
whispering soothing words into the breeze. And with that, he lay back against
the tree and closed his eyes, lulled away to another place by the gentle
rustling melody of the leaves.

Flocks of birds flew overhead while land creatures trudged through the mud
below, their numbers dwindling by the second. A particularly large and burning
tree creaked and toppled over on its side, instantly eliminating an entire
congregation of alligators. The village was all but deserted by now and those
who had survived this far were pushing their way to the sea, tiredly dodging
the dangers that lay in their path. Overhead, the rift continued to savagely
devour the swamp with an insatiable appetite.
As Celena dashed along the muddy path, she felt something ethereal brush
against her skin, accompanied by the quiet sound of rustling willow leaves. The
image of her Uncle Joushi suddenly flickered into her vision and filled her with
an unexplainable feeling of remorse. Celena put a hand over her heart and closed
her eyes, somehow understanding what this meant. Taking a moment to weep quietly
to herself and offer a silent prayer, she hugged Emaisu comfortingly, who looked
up at her sadly, and then ran the last few yards to the Crystal Sea. Finally,
she had made it to the shore and joined the handful of other exhausted
villagers there, and could only continue to wait for help to arrive.
A tremendous explosion rumbled across the swamp all of a sudden and rocked
everybody off their feet. Nervously gazing up at the rift, the mugwumps saw
that it was now vibrating more madly then it ever did before. Dark clouds
funneled down from the sky and swirled silently around the crackling sphere,
arcs of lightning jostling between them. The rift mutated colour from blue to
emerald, then emerald to crimson. It screeched in frustration, expelling
powerful gale winds in every direction which rippled throughout the swamp.
Celena held onto Emaisu tightly with one hand anchored into the sand.
A deafening roar turned everyone's attention to the sea, and to their utter
horror they witnessed another massive tidal wave rising from the waters, this
time looking as if it had brought the entire ocean with it. Some people
screamed and pointed at what they thought was the incarnation of Illith the
Leviathan. Celena's heart beat so loudly against her chest that Emaisu looked
alarmed as he leaned his head against her. Everyone huddled close together and
held their breath, as they shut their eyes and prepared for the inevitable.

A moment of eternity seemed to pass. There was no aftermath to the tidal
waves, no thunderous crash. Instead, it was like waking up from a nightmare,
only to be in another bizarre dream. When Celena opened her eyes again, she
stumbled back as she thought the whole world had suddenly flipped upside-down.
Instead of water in the spot she was just crouching in, only pure white sand
sifted through her fingers. And above her, where the sky used to be, was the
sea in a dazzling display of vibrant hues. She took a second to admire this
strange beauty, and even Emaisu clapped his hands in glee. Some of the other
survivors stood up to praise the Ancestors. Is this the afterlife? Celena
wondered to herself. But as quickly as this temporary haven had arrived did it
vanish, for an ear-splitting screech turned everyone's attention back to the
centre of the swamp where the burning red sphere continued to seethe as real
and grotesquely as ever. The Balachians almost could not believe their eyes,
but still they stared on in tense anticipation, feeling like they were being
mocked by some greater entity.

The rift continued to display its violent behaviour and temper, wildly
stretching and compressing itself as if it were fighting some sort of inner
battle. At times it looked like the sphere would burst open and release its
uncontrollable energy upon the land, while at others it would cease moving for
a brief moment to relax itself before continuing on its rampage.
At last, as if it was finally out of breath, the rift abruptly froze and
hovered quietly in the air, silencing all other activity around it. It began to
rapidly inflate to ten times its original size, sending out brilliant flashes of
light that whipped across the Basin. Like a vacuum in space, everything around
the rift was suddenly torn from the ground and violently hurled into its
ravenous maw; trees, homes, people, animals, water, and entire sections of
earth. The spires that had once been its home shattered into a thousand pieces
with a resounding clash before being sucked into the rift. Instantaneously, the
monstrous sphere contracted to the size of a tiny strawberry, and with a painful
squeal, imploded on itself before disappearing with a small, anticlimactic
"pop".
An audible sigh of relief reverberated throughout the swamp, which was
shortly followed by terrified screams as the sky suddenly fell down.

When Celena came to, she found herself lying in the cool beach sands with
waves lapping at her feet. Emaisu was safe by her side, curled up and sucking
on a thumb as he slept. Looking around in confusion, Celena wondered to herself
how much time had passed, and whether they had washed ashore on a far away
island. But the familiar scent of the Crystal Sea and the faint glimmer of
lights in Celest made her realize that she was still in the same place. Rescue
ships from the city of Light were already in view as they quickly approached
the shore. A few other fortunate mugwump survivors began to rise from the sand
and gazed about in bedazzlement, but many more remained facedown in the water,
unmoving. The sky was clear again and the rising sun sent forth fresh rays of
morning. It was almost like a miracle.
The villagers looked upon the devastated land before them. The lush groves
were now dark and foreboding, flooded with an eerie, reddish black liquid that
gave off a repugnant stench. Corpses of people and animals alike were strewn
all over the place; impaled on trees, hanging off of branches or half-buried
beneath the soggy soil. A suffocating silence replaced the noisy chattering
that used to fill the swamp with life.
Suddenly, before she could help herself, Celena gasped and cried aloud,
"Yohan!"
Her voice echoed in the still air and was swept away by the wind, answered
only by the deep resounding of the ship horns as they landed at the beach.
Celena felt a light tug at her dress and looked down to see the pouty,
teary-eyed face of Emaisu staring back up at her. She took him up in her arms
and whispered soothing words to him, though she herself was filled with all the
emptiness of the Void as the heavy weight of realization slowly settled onto her
shoulders. The other mugwumps knelt in the sand and cried out loud, some
apologizing to the Ancestors, others cursing them. The Celestians came ashore
and gazed about in astonishment, appearing nearly as shocked as the villagers.
Gradually they led the survivors back to their ships to be taken to the city.
The remaining Balachians took one last glance at what used to be their swamp...
what used to be their home.

----------

"Just moments ago, vibrant displays of light were seen all over the Basin
coming from the Balach Swamp. Originally the site of Project Aetherlink, a
distress signal was sent out earlier by the team of workers there right before
all communications were cut off. A large and strange storm was then spotted
shortly afterwards over the swamp, though so far no one knows why or how it
came to be. I'm now standing here at the Celestian harbours where rescue ships
can be seen returning from the swamp. It looks like they've brought along some
survivors!" an excited furrikin reported into an aetherwave tuner.
People were crowding around the wooden docks, squinting into the distance to
catch a glimpse of the aftermath of what just occurred overseas.
"I'm receiving a report from my correspondent over with the investigators in
the swamp… oh, how terrible! It appears that the swamp has sustained some very
serious damage, there are literally bodies everywhere! Yes, uh-huh... there are
also many indications of a large fire having passed through the area, as well
as signs of some substantial flooding. The rescue team will continue to search
the area for more survivors and clues."
Over at another corner of the harbour, a stately lucidian woman spoke coolly
into an aetherwave tuner. "Project Aetherlink has been one of the most highly
anticipated yet surreptitious events of the year. The Department of Research
and Development in Celest, in collaboration with the city of Hallifax, has up
to this point refused to release very much detail to the public, claiming only
that it would be the greatest scientific breakthrough in mortal kind."
"Some speculations are circulating that a tornado may have struck the swamp,
wiping away the village and research equipment with it. Others argue instead
that this was no accident of nature, but the project simply backfired and
resulted in a large explosion that demolished the entire swamp, an idea largely
shared by the nature communes. However, investigators are still finding it hard
to believe that no trace of the project has been left behind, and no surviving
scientists have been found as of yet either. What can be said for certain at
this time though, is that the Balach swamp will never be the same again."
"The Holy Celestine Empire would like to extend its deepest apologies and
heartfelt sympathies to all those families this unforeseeable disaster has
affec..."
"Oh, oh! Here they come, the survivors!" the furrikin exclaimed, boucning up
and down.
The ships arrived at the harbour and were quickly swarmed by the masses. As
the ramp was lowered and connected with the dock, people had to be herded out
of the way to make way for the arrivals. Only a handful of Balachian mugwumps
were on board.
"The first Balachian to step off the boat is here... a mugwump woman
carrying a very young child in her arms!" the news reporter shrieked as she
pushed through the crowd and thrust a small crystal cone in Celena's face.
"Excuse me, Miss, Miss! Can you tell us what happened in the swamp? Was it a
tornado, flood, or something else? Did you really see a Soulless? How did you
survive?"
The furrikin and many other news reporters bombarded Celena and the others
with questions. The voices around her were only an incomprehensible droning to
her ears. With downcast eyes she trudged through the crowd, her heart throbbing
painfully in her chest as she regretted having left the swamp alive.
"Look, look! That's the village leader himself!" someone yelled.
Everyone shifted their attention to the Speaker and began pelting him with
questions. They were hungry to obtain information on this illustrious and
secretive project, their curiosities having been perked and teased by the
Empire over the year. Now that the time had come to finally sate their
appetites, they treated it like the year's hottest gossip instead of a
real-life tragedy that had just occurred.
.
While everybody was distracted, Celena managed to slip away from the crowd
unnoticed. She gloomily surveyed the immense, glittering white city before her.
People of all different races could be seen everywhere, while the marble streets
and buildings gleamed with signs of wealth. But it also lacked the graceful
willows, wide expanses of open air, and luscious turquoise hues she was
accustomed to. So this is the kind of life Yohan wanted for us, Celena thought
to herself. At the mention of his name, she unknowingly opened her mouth and
whispered,
"Yohan..."
"I'm right here, Celene," a gentle familiar voice said behind her.
Turning around quickly, Celena's heart nearly skipped a beat as her eyes
glimmered hopefully, but there was no one there. Instead, a wistful breeze
soothingly caressed her neck and twirled around her dress before rolling away.
But for some reason, Celena felt a warm sensation begin to well up inside of
her, a strange mix of relief and sadness. She knew that there was no turning
back now, the past could not be changed. But she would never forget Yohan; he
would remain in her memories, dreams, her life, forever. She would continue to
live, for Yohan.
Celena hugged herself tightly, leaning her cheek on her hand with her eyes
closed in reminiscence.
"Daddy!" exclaimed Emaisu, beaming up at his mother.
Celena smiled softly and kissed Emaisu gently on the cheek before setting
him back down on the ground. They had lost everything in the blink of any eye
and all they had left was each other, but it wasn't over yet. Clasping his hand
into hers, Celena faced the big city and stepped forward. This was home now.

Balach â€" home, family, together