The Serenia Islands and the Sylvani
Ardyn and Varric slept together on their shared soul plane. She had not only begun to relish being in his arms; she now longed for it every night. There was a part of her that felt she would be unable to function properly without his arms around her while she slept. It was comforting and rejuvenating. Although their souls were intricately tied together now, this intimacy fed her soul in ways she didn't completely understand yet.
Instead of rising and walking away from him—her heart just wouldn't allow her to do it—she simply opened her eyes in her domed tent. She breathed out a resolved sigh and rose from her bedroll.
Serenia was a place of perpetual soft light in varying hues of blue, red, and orange; still, she knew another day had begun. Ardyn rose and exited the tent, which began to dematerialize as she stepped out. A distant, pale orange orb in the sky shed minimal light and heat.
Atina appeared beside her, and the pair headed off without a word. Serenia was an ancient, quiet place, draped in nature and magic. The islands of the chain essentially looked alike; they were merely different sizes and had different topographical markers. They all featured deep, lush blue-green grasses and tall, thick, grey-wooded trees with wide, interlocking canopies.
The Sylvani settlements were places of magical wonder. They were not buildings of wood or stone, but of magic, sound, and light. These structures were tall and sturdy, and they both absorbed and released magic. Ardyn looked at them in wonder as they resonated with her soul magics and fed her abilities.
As they moved forward, Ardyn used her magic to heal the land. She learned how to weave her songs together in different ways. She could take thick strands of one song and combine them with thin strands of another. Once these strands were woven together, she began to learn how to adjust them without disturbing the weave.
The more she understood her magic, the more she understood Serenia's magic—and the Life Slip. She still couldn't sense the Life Slip yet, but the trees, the land, and the life of Serenia all reached out to her. As they moved across the archipelago, they felt the islands beneath their feet. Jagged edges rose up to both warriors—as if rising to meet them—to push them forward on their journey.
Ardyn continually refined her technique, increasing her understanding of the magic, flow, and harmonies of Serenia. They were close to the central weave—a magical place on the opposite end of the archipelago—when things began to fall into place and she began to sense the technique.
The Life Slip was a specific way of breathing, thinking, and being. It was magic cast with the spirit, the soul, and with knowledge. Because of this, it was a complicated technique. As she breathed, she felt the technique just out of grasp. She pulled at the threads of her magic and breathed between pulls, sending out small bursts of magic in all directions.
Slowly, Serenia healed. Shattered or crumbling walkways reformed and became sturdier. More and more Galians surfaced to either eat the new fruit of once-sleeping trees or consume their long, thin roots as they swayed below the islands in the mists of the Aetheric Sea. As more Cheys awoke and the red within the mist around the twin redwoods cleared, Ardyn understood more of the Life Slip.
But still, she could not repair the crystalline walkway that circled the twin redwoods. There was still more for her to know—more to understand.
They reached the central weave and knew it instantly. It was one of the larger islands near the opposite end of where they had started. There was a large depression in the island, its underside dipping low, close to the mists below. From this depression rose billowing threads of magic so dense they looked like ribbons blowing in the wind. They rose from the depths and wove together to create new magics that moved out over Serenia. It was a natural occurrence, and it was beautiful.
The Sylvani stood around the depression in large groups. The area was like the main plaza of a large town. They all turned to Ardyn and Atina as one, their billowing robes flaring out with the motion. A dozen of them stepped forward and bowed to Ardyn; the masses behind them followed suit.
"Empress of Sidus Serpens, we welcome you. You have already done so much for Serenia, and we are very grateful." One Sylvani turned to the depression, watching the streams of magic move outward. It took her a long moment to speak again. "You must enter the weave, Empress. You must enter to fully understand."
Ardyn nodded and looked into the vast depression. She would need to prepare. The edge of the depression was continually stripped bare, and she knew she would need to know exactly how to enter if she wanted to survive.
This was her way to the Life Slip technique, and she was ready to take the next step toward gaining all she desired.