The Weirkey Chronicles: Chapters 24-25 + TBS Giveaway (Patreon)

The Brightest Shadow audiobook comes out today, and I'm giving away free copies on r/fantasy! Click here if you're interested:

https://old.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/jjfrsd/the_brightest_shadow_audiobook_release_party/ 

Meanwhile, we have some important character moments in today's TWC chapters. I've been surprised by some of the responses to the characters, but in any case, they have more layers to reveal. Obviously they won't just keep revealing new twists for the entire series, but the characters have some fun stuff in store.

Sorry this is late; promotion days are the worst. -_- I hope these chapters can be a bright spot for everyone.

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Chapter 24

Though Theo remained with Nauda like a good "family member", he spent most of his time soulcrafting. Using his new abilities under real circumstances had revealed more than a few weaknesses of varying types. Several points in the roof had begun to leak and would need reinforcing, which was a straightforward fix.

Less easy to pin down was the fact that his gravitational field room felt incomplete in some way, too spare. He was no interior decorator, but his soulcrafting senses suggested that the ceiling lacked something. Just throwing up drapes or dangling random objects would do no good, it needed to resonate with the rest of his soulhome in some way.

Fiyu remained at Nauda's side while she recovered, first spending time recovering herself, then soulcrafting along with him. They didn't speak often, but every time Nauda made a noise in her sleep, Fiyu always looked to him as if he should do something about it. Sitting together in silence seemed to be enough.

With their leader unconscious, the instructors instead told the two of them about their next match: it would be against Archcrafter Nogibe's team. Theo didn't recognize the name, but eventually figured out that it was the old man who had been allowed to choose first during the student selection. The only person on the team who Theo knew was Navim, but the fact that their leader was an Archcrafter suggested that they would all be skilled. Nauda would know more, but apparently Nogibe's team had one of the best records, along with their own group and Magnafor's team.

Thinking about him was another sore point, though not so much due to the threat of stealing the sublime resources. With everyone so near the tree at all times, there wasn't much opportunity. But Theo worried about what Magnafor had said, particularly regarding the threats that would come against them. Playing at being a team might not be good enough, if people were truly hunting them.

If it came down to it, he would be as ruthless as Magnafor, or so he told himself. That didn't necessarily mean sacrificing anyone, not if he played his cards right. Yet he worried that any softness would only prove to be weakness, compared to the scope of the forces behind the demon he'd seen.

When Nauda finally stirred awake again, all such thoughts faded.

"You didn't need to stay." Nauda sat up and wiped her eyes. "These healing slumbers are completely safe. I didn't even sustain any significant soulhome damage."

"But are you okay?" Fiyu asked. Nauda stared a moment, then smiled weakly.

"Yes, I am. But I'm... very thirsty."

Fiyu hopped up to go fetch her a cup of water, leaving the two of them alone. Theo filled her in on what he'd learned and she agreed that Nogibe's team would be a serious challenge. He considered explaining his concerns about Magnafor, but it felt unnatural. Just as he'd compartmentalized his time on Earth, his mind held those concerns at a distance.

When Fiyu returned, she'd acquired not only a cup of water, but also Famaj. He bent down on one knee beside the bed and lowered his head. "I must apologize, Nauda. Though I would never hold back in a fair competition, I did not realize that the armament would cause you so much pain."

"There's no need to apologize when the fault was entirely mine." Nauda lowered her head, humble beyond belief. "I should have anticipated that you would find a method to target me specifically and found a better solution. Nothing grieves me more than knowing that I damaged your family member's precious heirloom."

It took all Theo's self-control not to roll his eyes, especially as the two of them continued to be sickeningly positive toward one another. Whenever he started to feel like he understood Nauda, she'd sink back into the Tatian culture so deeply it was nearly a parody. Maybe some differences between worlds could never be fully bridged.

When Famaj finally left, Theo decided that he was too annoyed to let it pass. "Do you really need to let him walk over you like that? You weren't to blame for any of that. If you can't say it yourself, I'll be the rude one and tell him off."

"I would be immensely grateful for that," Nauda said. "I am often woefully incapable of standing up for myself in social interactions. If you would be willing to bravely defend me from humiliation, it would be nothing less than my salvation."

Theo stared at her, his first instinct warring with what he knew of Tatian culture. She'd spoken with utter sincerity, without a hint of any cutting edge, but it was too much. Just a moment ago he'd been thinking that she sounded like a parody of a Tatian. He'd never once encountered it in that world, but...

"Nauda, are you being sarcastic?"

"I don't know this 'lyingwit' word." Yet as she spoke, Nauda regarded him with narrow eyes that he couldn't help but think of as sharply intelligent. "You may be attempting to understand Tatian culture via your world, but the two are very different."

"You're right, I'm sorry. Dreadfully, painfully sorry. Let me throw myself at your feet and beg forgiveness for assuming that I could possibly understand the smallest element of Tatian culture."

For a moment Nauda was truly surprised, then she gave him a smile with just a shade of a grin. "Maybe you do understand after all, but that's a bit blunt, don't you think?"

"Agony!" Theo clutched his heart. "I'm ashamed by my fumbling attempts that are nothing but a crude caricature of your noble words."

"You can stop now." Nauda was still smiling, however. "Maybe we can talk about this later, but not when I've just woken up. Besides, we're confusing Fiyu."

The other woman was indeed looking back and forth between the two of them, head tilted to the side. Theo decided not to give in and appealed to her instead. "Come on, Fiyu, there has to be sarcasm on Ichil."

"I think that it is better for people to say what they mean," Fiyu said carefully. "But if the two of you wish to say the opposite, that is not harmful."

Though he smiled, Theo was mostly thinking about every past conversation he could remember. Some of them made much more sense if he assumed that Nauda was intentionally over-exaggerating Tatian humility. He suddenly wondered if he had misunderstood their entire culture, yet he couldn't think of many other examples. In her conversation with Famaj, he'd been trying to out-humble her, while she'd been mocking the game itself.

She treated sarcasm like it was a familiar rhetorical trick, not something she'd invented, so it must be natural to some culture on Tatian. He'd known there were many places in this world that he hadn't visited, but he'd assumed they would be mostly similar to the endless fields and villages he'd seen everywhere else. Just when he was about to ask her more, Nanjuma strode into the room.

"Wonderful to see that all three of you are well!" He touched both Theo and Nauda on the head while simply smiling warmly at Fiyu. "You fought one of the most interesting matches of the contest so far. I only wish that it had taken place under better circumstances."

"Have you found out what happened?" Nauda asked, no trace of sarcasm in her respectful tone now.

"I have, but..." Nanjuma slowly sat down on one of the empty cots and regarded all three of them thoughtfully before speaking. "Can I trust in your discretion?"

"Of course. I think we all already suspect the truth, but we won't be vindictive. So long as there is justice of a sort."

The word "justice" was rare on Tatian, leading to a long pause. Eventually Nanjuma nodded and spoke quietly. "Your suspicions are likely true: one of the foreign members of Famaj's family poisoned several of yours. Residue of the poison has been found and the testimony of witnesses gives us a target. However... the poison was clearly only meant to cause minor discomfort, not injury or death. Normally it might be reprimanded, but there are other considerations."

"What considerations?" Theo asked. For the first time, he saw Nanjuma wince.

"One of our guests is a young member of a Deuxan court, one that rests on the opposite side of a gate not so far away. They might never lead soulcrafters into Tatian, but it is important to maintain good relations. Accusing one of their members of a crime would be unwise in a number of ways."

Which just meant that life wasn't any different here than in most other worlds. Theo sighed and looked away, while Nauda simply closed her eyes, so it was actually Fiyu who spoke next. "Will the poison be used again?"

Immediately Nanjuma beamed. "Oh, I can promise you that it won't! Even if the investigation is officially inconclusive, I had a warm personal conversation with the person in question, as well as the rest of her family. They have a thorough understanding of our cultural values now and I trust we can live together peacefully."

Having just learned that Tatians were capable of sarcasm, Theo analyzed the words more carefully than normal. Once he would have taken the words at face value, but they could just as easily be interpreted as a threat. Actually, it was probably both, the language of hospitality being applied to sharper ends. Even if Tatian culture was blandly polite, he'd been foolish to think that intelligent members of it wouldn't develop threads of nuance.

"The rules have been modified for future matches," Nanjuma went on, "but your match will stand unchanged. However, I wanted to offer a token of personal apology for the discomfort you experienced. What would you say to a private feast?"

"We would be immensely grateful." Nauda answered surprisingly quickly, bowing low. Trusting that she understood something he didn't, Theo remained silent as Nanjuma beamed and rose to leave.

"Then I hope all of you have a wonderful day! The feast will be prepared for tomorrow night, so please dedicate yourselves to your studies until then."

With that, he began to walk out, but Theo followed him before he could speed away. He wasn't sure how the feast would work or if Nanjuma would be present, but he thought that this might be his best opportunity. Though he hesitated for a moment, wondering how much to reveal, in the end he felt like he couldn't let it go unspoken.

"Have your investigations uncovered anyone trying to break into the Landguard tree?"

Nanjuma stared at him in honest surprise, then the old man scratched at his beard thoughtfully. "I have noticed the barrier weakening on occasion, but that is the way of things, especially when it has been abandoned so long. But why would they? The Landguards didn't leave anything of great significance."

"But the trash a Landguard leaves behind might be precious to first tier soulcrafters."

"Do you have proof? Are you willing to stand against someone in front of the community?"

"I..." Put like that, Theo realized that he wasn't willing to go against Magnafor so directly. Gaining new enemies would accomplish nothing, especially when Magnafor could likely slip away. "I don't know for sure, but I've heard some speak of the sublime materials contained within. I think it's possible that someone might make the attempt."

"I will consider your warning, young one, but I do not think it will be a problem." Nanjuma leaned against the door frame, gazing toward the tree that hung overhead. "When the Landguards came to found this school, they cleared out any potentially harmful materials and left behind a barrier that even I do not know how to unbind. There is no need to worry about theft."

"Wait, found the school? I thought this was a Landguard training village."

"Oh, it was, back when I was young. But it was abandoned long ago, and only recently they returned to reestablish it, saying that it might be necessary if the number of world travelers increased. And I suppose they planned wisely, because not long after, all of you fell through the cracks into Tatian. But no more questions, young one! There is a great deal to do to prepare for your feast!"

With that, he blurred away, leaving Theo alone. Not truly alone, since in a moment he would turn back and join the others. But for now, he had questions to consider, not least of which was how unpleasant this feast was going to be.

-

Chapter 25

As Theo soulcrafted a slightly better roof, he considered his next major step. Being able to create gravitational fields was a useful skill that wouldn't be neutralized simply because it was well known, but it also wasn't sufficient. As had been proven, powerful soulcrafters of even the first tier could resist the effect. Though he could increase its strength, that wouldn't scale well against Archcrafters or anyone who had the ability to fly.

What he truly needed was a destructive technique to strike the opponent while they were struggling with the changing gravity. Though in theory he could eventually develop truly dangerous skills, he didn't see any way to make those work on his first floor. The cantae he could generate simply weren't potent enough, plus he needed to increase the mass of his core.

He considered focusing on the spear that Navim had crafted for him, or maybe even requesting a better one, but discarded the idea. Even after he reinforced his body, it wouldn't be wise to go rushing up to his opponents. Better to take them out from a distance, one way or another.

Though he had some ideas for the long term, the truth was that he had another match in a week, and a dwindling week at that. So he focused on what soulcrafting he could actually finish in that time. First, he needed to strengthen the gravitational field or develop the room enough to generate two at once. Second, he needed to convert one of the empty rooms into a chamber that would increase his physical strength more efficiently than just using raw cantae. It might not be the pure defensive chamber he'd planned, but it would help keep him alive.

In an ideal world, he'd have a chamber devoted to a simple ranged attack. But he couldn't figure out a way to twist the concept of gravity to creating a simple projectile, so he eventually set the idea aside for higher tiers when he had more resources.

When Nanjuma came to take him to the feast, he was annoyed... until he realized what Nauda had understood from the beginning. Instead of sitting around a bonfire with dozens of people in a community, he arrived in a small room with a single table loaded with food. It was only the four of them, and Nanjuma left after giving them grandfatherly pats.

"These are all sublime materials?" Theo asked as he sat down. Nauda smiled and gestured over the table.

"This is a traditional meal, though a very rare one. Be sure to eat at least one of everything, because the complete set in your soulhome can be reassembled. In addition to generating cantae, it can keep you partially fed in lean times."

It was certainly an impressive table. Stacks of brightly colored fruit, heaping bowls of vegetables, sides of meat like were rarely served on Tatian. Each of them had a little house made from stiff vegetables artfully cut, which was disgustingly twee as far as he was concerned, so he decided to demolish it first. Not only were they all sublime materials, the person preparing them was a soulcrafter improving their potency, not just a cook.

To his surprise, even the stupid house tasted good. For a time they just ate, Theo making sure to absorb some of everything and prepare the meal inside his soulhome. But once that was done, he began to relax and just enjoy the sublime materials as food.

"This is good." Fiyu made the pronouncement while smiling warmly at both of them. "I didn't think I liked feasts, but this is much better than the noisy meals in the villages."

"Three people is not exactly a feast." Nauda gave her an oddly fond smile. "But I suppose it might be for you. Is it just you and your relative traveling at all times? Do you ever... find community? Meet with friends or family?"

"Oh, of course! Usually we traveled alone, but sometimes there was a third, or even a fourth when necessary. There are communities, but it is safer if only one person enters to do business. I have two other relatives who range the Inner Moonscape and when we meet it is always a joyous occasion."

"I suppose I can understand that. How often do you meet?"

"Hmm.... perhaps once a year?"

"Once a year?" Nauda nearly dropped her fork, eyes wide.

Fiyu chewed a bite thoughtfully before speaking. "I understand that might seem to be a long time, for Tatian. But I enjoy it. We have been apart for so long that we have all grown and can come to know one another again. There are always many stories to tell, then we can return to our ranging."

"I can't imagine having family and being apart from them for so long. For most Tatians, a month is a long journey away from home..."

Though Nauda still seemed stunned by the idea, Theo noted a crack in her statement and decided to poke at it. "If you've never been away from family that long, does that mean that you have family nearby you haven't told us about?"

"That is... a separate issue." Nauda set her jaw and didn't seem inclined to answer. He considered pushing further, but recognized that it was clearly a sore point. She'd said "I can't imagine having a family" and he wondered if that wasn't the important part of her statement. In their entire time in Myufuru, he'd never seen her interact with relatives like most of the other Tatians.

The silence could have been awkward, but Fiyu seemed not to notice, pondering something as she pushed vegetables around her bowl. "When I spoke, I said 'year'... 'seasonturning'... I do not like this word."

"Does Ichil have no seasons?" Nauda asked. Since Fiyu still looked thoughtful, Theo answered.

"It depends on where you live. Some areas are permanently frozen, others go through seasons of thaw and freeze, others have stranger seasons related to the clouds. The whole world isn't the same, you know."

"Thank you for this great wisdom that I could never have received from anyone else."

Again, that sarcasm, now so clear that he couldn't understand how he'd missed it before. Theo wanted to ask her further about it, now that they had nothing to do but eat and talk, but Fiyu was still thinking on her previous subject.

"My relative taught me that my words would transform between worlds, but I find it very strange. I can... hear my voice and my mind at the same time, yet there is a thin chasm between them. Small and yet important. I am grateful that I can speak to you, but I wonder if my soul is changing, to express such different things."

"It isn't anything permanent," Theo said. "If we go to Ichil, you'll be speaking naturally and the two of us will have our souls translated. Mostly it works well enough, though scheduling and military matters can be difficult if people don't have control of their language."

"Yes, I noticed that... some do not even seem to think about it, yet I have also heard Fithans speaking in a language I don't understand."

"If you focus, you can still speak another language. Actually, you were doing it on instinct when you first arrived, and it sounds like you're always hearing the subtle differences. That can be overwhelming for some, but if you adjust to it, you'll have a stronger comprehension of everything said."

"Hmm." Fiyu delicately picked up a piece of fruit and nibbled on it before continuing. "But my soul cannot translate everything. When you and Nauda speak in this 'lyingwit', I hear your words, not your intent."

"I guess souls have their limitations." Theo looked toward Nauda and raised an eyebrow, wondering if she'd softened enough to discuss it yet. "Are you going to admit it now? I'm honestly really curious if I've been missing subtle implications in Tatian conversations all this time."

"No, not around here." Nauda hesitated, but nodded to herself as if coming to a conclusion, then spoke with more confidence. "I was born in a distant community. There, we have a word... I think it would sound like 'prideful humility' to you. You have noticed that some Tatians can go quite far in attempting to be more hospitable and humble than one another, yes?"

"Oh, I've noticed."

"Prideful humility is like a game being played with that tradition. I don't think your 'sarcasm' word is quite right. Sometimes it is mocking the other person if they are being excessively humble. At other times, it is using false humility to show them their foolishness." Nauda let out a surprisingly heavy sigh. "But it doesn't seem to be a tradition here, and I fear I have been taken at face value. No one realized until you spoke up."

"I noticed, Nauda." Fiyu drew back when they both immediately turned to her and continued slowly. "I did not understand the deeper meaning you explained. But when you spoke that way, I heard a different... inflection? Do you understand that word? It was not used like in any Ichili language, but I heard the difference and came to understand."

"Huh. Then that makes two of you, but the rest has been wasted."

Theo had been tearing through some meat while they spoke, but now swallowed and chuckled. "You're way too subtle. Your words might sound absurd to you, but there are others who act that humble completely sincerely. The sarcasm I know can be subtle, but it doesn't have to be."

Nauda leaned her head on one hand, regarding him thoughtfully. "I suppose you might be right. It was fun when no one understood at first, but it's gotten old."

For a time they said nothing, returning to eating, yet the atmosphere wasn't awkward. Theo wished that he could feel more comfortable with them, yet he found himself thinking about everything he didn't know. Nauda was clearly keeping secrets, potentially very serious ones. Fiyu might appear earnest, but he didn't know her true goals, and in Ichil, one did whatever was necessary.

"I... would like to tell you both something." Nauda set down her utensils and regarded them with grim intensity. "You might not know, but everyone else does: I am not from this part of Tatian. In a sense, I will never be fully embraced, not even if I married a local and lived my entire life among them."

"Tatian villagers have always seemed welcoming to me," Theo said. "Am I missing the nuances?"

"Yes. There is one form of hospitality for guests, and another hospitality for family. The latter is sometimes less warm, but it is more important." Nauda reached up and began anxiously playing with a lock of her hair, apparently without even realizing that she was doing so. "Living here is... a death by a thousand warm embraces. That is why I need this. It isn't just a school or a competition to me."

Fiyu bobbed her head sympathetically. "I have understood that you had something at stake. What do you need?"

"At first, I volunteered because not many wanted to work with foreigners, and I thought it might help them accept me. But I also need the sublime materials, because I have no family to grant me any. If this doesn't work... no one here is turned out on the street, but I will be carried further and further away from my goals."

"What do you mean about this not working?" Theo asked. "You need to win every contest?"

She took a deep breath, again meeting their eyes one at a time. "This information was not supposed to be shared yet, but I'll tell you. They plan to reduce the number of students after this contest. The worst teams will be sent on assignment to hunt demons, which might be good experience, but they will no longer be given sublime materials. I cannot allow that to happen."

"But we're not in any danger of that happening, are we?"

"No, but the contests will grow more difficult. By the end of the year, I need to have acquired everything I need, and hopefully reached Archcrafter. If not... well, it will be difficult. It would be wrong to ask you to take this seriously, because you already have, so... thank you for fighting for me."

"You are welcome, Nauda." Fiyu reached out and very briefly patted Nauda's arm, as if testing a hot stove. The Tatian woman gave a broad smile and wiped at her eyes.

Somehow in all their talking, they had finished off most of the food. Fiyu inquired if they needed to eat everything for soulhome purposes, and when told not, gathered some of it together in a bundle for Javes. She'd done a better job of thanking him than Theo, who had mainly just noted his existence.

But he couldn't think about their other team member at the moment, not with more serious thoughts gnawing at him. It would be so easy to just sit in the comfortable environment and enjoy the tail end of the meal. Telling them more wouldn't actually bring them closer together, and it could even cause problems. For him or for them. Yet he still found himself speaking up.

"You aren't going to have a full year."

His stark statement cut through everything else and Nauda immediately looked at him, narrowing her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"One of the other students here, the one named Magnafor, isn't interested in being handed any prizes, he wants to steal every sublime material in the Landguard vault. Nanjuma said it isn't possible, but I think that he'll be able to do it. I'd stop him if I could, but I don't know how or when... and to be honest, I need those sublime materials too."

Only silence in response, so he plunged forward.

"My name isn't Jake, and I've been here once before. In the Nine, I mean. But someone tried to kill me and they thought they succeeded. Now that I'm back, I'm sure I'll run into the same people and they'll try to kill me again. Even the demon attacks may be related to me coming through, I'm not sure. So I just wanted to warn you that you shouldn't plan on having a full year to prepare."

For a time they said nothing, and he didn't like Nauda's flat smile. Fiyu, however, eventually tilted her head to the side to regard him. "Then what is your name, not-Jake?"

"Theo. Please don't use it around anyone else, just in case... I don't know exactly who killed me last time, but they might find out somehow."

Nauda sat forward, false smile receding into a hard mask. "You want to steal everything from the Landguard vaults?"

"Well..." Now that he said it, he wished that he hadn't, but it would certainly be the most beneficial path. "I don't want anyone to get hurt in the process, not like Magnafor. I know that might not be what you want to hear, but the truth is that I'd take them if I could."

"Oh, I don't care." Nauda sat back with a slight smile. "I don't want anyone here to come to harm, but I don't care about their Landguard relics. No doubt some of the sublime materials would be useful to me too."

Both Theo's eyebrows shot up, despite himself. "Did I just gain accomplices?"

"You might regret it, because I'm going to shoot down any plan that I think won't work. But if things are really as bad as you say, then getting out with a vault of sublime materials might be the best plan. Just... don't lie to us anymore, okay?"

He nodded, prompting a bright smile from Fiyu. "It is good to know your relative name, Theo. But I will use your travel name with others."

Then he'd told the truth and it hadn't blown up in his face. Yet as Theo sat at the table, finishing the last scraps, they settled uncomfortably in his stomach. Last time, everything and everyone had been taken from him. This time, he was afraid that any connections were only potential weaknesses.