Rainhorn: Chapters 4-6 (The Weirkey Chronicles) (Patreon)

If you're interested in the above image, it's just a small part of a post I made here. It features Theo, Nauda, and Fiyu discussing soulcrafting, their blueprints, and some new designs that have never been shown before. I thought it would be a cute way to get into some of the technical details.

Sadly, it seems that not many people are interested in Soulhome on Amazon, and it lost a much larger percentage of its following on RoyalRoad than Street Cultivation did at the same stage. The second book is still ready, and I'll fulfill my pledge to get the third book out in good time, but I may struggle beyond that.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new chapters.

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Chapter 4

Just sleeping in a real bed did wonders for him, so Theo pulled himself awake refreshed. It wasn't simply the better environment, however, but the evening spent with his friends again. Nauda sprawled on one of the other beds, tangled in blankets as if she was too cold, while Fiyu had only sheets wrapped around her, mostly bundled around her head. He noted that though she'd taken off her boots and bracers, he saw no sign of her mask, which she might still be wearing under all the sheets.

Leaving them to sleep in, Theo pulled on his shoes, grabbed his Deuxan cloak, and headed from their room. All the inn's rooms were cramped, but the central chamber was surprisingly expansive. Not many had woken up, but they were eating at a communal table. An older man served some sort of porridge for anyone who asked, apparently part of the price.

"I'm glad she found you," the man said as he spooned up a bowl for Theo, "but you're still missing some, aren't you?"

"Yes, we hope they arrive soon." Theo worried about matching the cover story Nauda had told, but decided she would have given him more details if they mattered. "We'll be going out to look for the two we're missing. I hope that nothing happened to them on the way."

"Don't you worry, young man, I'm sure they're just delayed! There aren't so many demons to the south, not like last year, and there are Landguards around these days. You'll all be together soon enough."

Theo feigned relief and took the porridge, which he quickly decided was tolerable. He didn't want to endure the communal table, so he pulled a chair into one of the corners. It wasn't long before Fiyu and Nauda joined him, fully awake and equipped, soon sitting beside him with bowls of their own.

"This is the same porridge as the villages." Fiyu poked her spoon in it experimentally, as if she might uncover a better dish underneath. "I had hoped the city would be different."

"If we have time and money," Nauda said with a fond smile, "I'll treat you both to something better. You might expect them to have fish here, but you've never tasted fish like the ones at the bottom of the Nlukoko Lake. Uh... you do eat fish, Fiyu?"

"I eat fish."

"Well, you should see some of them here. There's this bizarrely flat one they call a platefish, and there's a restaurant where they serve everything else on it, then you eat the platefish at the end, soaked with the juices of everything else. I don't know if they'd suit your taste, but if you want to try..."

Fiyu smiled and bobbed her head. "I will eat this platefish."

"Then we have something to look forward to, but business first." Nauda took a bite as she thought for a moment, her eyes shifting to Theo seriously. Once she finished chewing, she seemed to have finished thinking as well. "I believe the Landguards have moved on, but there's no reason to delay. Theo, you head straight for the library and get your research done. I can investigate our options for transportation."

"Sounds reasonable." Theo reached into his cloak, feeling the money he'd stolen throughout his journey, and decided to slide it across the table toward her. "Take this. If we can't afford transportation, we should consider buying any sublime materials unique to this area. I trust you to choose well enough."

"This will help, thank you. Fiyu..."

When their attention turned toward her, she shook her head. "There are too many people in this city. Can I stay here?"

"Maybe not." Nauda glanced toward him, and Theo gave a slight nod, so she sighed. "We might not come back here, and there's always a chance something will go wrong. You can come with me and we'll regroup depending on circumstances..."

After deciding on a few meeting places, the plan was set and they headed in separate directions. Theo still had a few coins and some more money in his shoes, just in case he needed transportation or the library proved expensive. Overall, however, he thought it was better invested in sublime materials.

If Nauda thought that a vehicle was necessary to reach their next destination, he'd accept her judgment, but he wasn't interested in acquiring a bunch of possessions. Once he reached the Authority tier, he'd be able to move on his own faster than most vehicles. As a soulcrafter, the only things he'd really need to own outside of his soul were armaments.

This Fithan hub city sounded promising, though he wondered how much Nauda really knew about it. When several gates happened to be near one another, a city nearly always grew up between them. Such cities were one of the few places where large numbers of people from different worlds congregated together, and could provide nearly everything he needed to reach his former glory. It would be a much better start to investigating how he had been betrayed, as well.

But that was some distance away, and such cities were too dangerous for him now, so he would do everything he could to prepare in the meantime. Theo picked up his pace, weaving through the streets of Nlukoko, and went to find the library.

It took a little time for him to adjust to navigating the connected islands, rafts, and bridges in order to find the sphere he'd seen from overhead, but not much. During his time on Earth, Theo had more than once forced himself to go blind into a new location and find his way across. Earth might not be as exotic as the Nine Worlds, but it had challenges of his own.

As he walked, he found himself wondering about this platefish that Nauda was eager to show them. He hadn't tried it before, unless it had been one of many unnamed dishes at a Tatian feast. She seemed to think it was impressive, but he wasn't sure if it would compare to everything he'd tasted. Still, it might be good to eat with friends again.

At last he spotted an azure gleam from the library's outer sphere. Unlike most of the city, firmly positioned on land or platforms, the sphere floated unsupported, swaying with the waves. Now that he was close, he realized just how big it was, so that likely wouldn't be a problem.

Not many people were entering the library, and when he crossed the bridge to it, he found out why: there was a significant cost just to enter, much less to acquire membership. He could have barely afforded the latter, but decided that entering once would be sufficient. It wasn't as if he intended to spend a long time in Nlukoko.

Within, the library held a surreal beauty, the sunlight outside filtered to blue ripples that washed over all the shelves. When he glanced down the stairs by the entrance, he saw that it got darker as you went lower. Perhaps Fiyu should have come with him after all, though getting her to leave might have been the bigger problem.

Unfortunately, the library wasn't organized like a modern one from Earth, so he had no choice but to find one of the librarians. A middle-aged Deuxan woman sat behind one of the counters, scribbling something on a scroll, and forced a smile at him when he approached.

"May I help you?"

"Does the library have any information about Landguards?" he asked. Her expression immediately hardened in a way he never saw among Tatians, the sort of silvery false smile that was so common on Deuxan.

"We have a great deal, but the Lord of Nlukoko ordered all of it sealed within the Archcrafter section."

"Archcrafter section?"

"They didn't explain at the door? Your rank determines how much of the library you can access, and unless you have an extraordinary shielding wall, you're a first tier soulcrafter."

The librarian felt like an Archcrafter to him, but he barely glanced at her soulhome, more annoyed by the regulation. Locking away knowledge like that went deeply against the spirit of Tatian, but he shouldn't have been surprised. When she started to look at him skeptically, he shrugged as if it didn't matter and moved on. "Do you have any of the myths about Elghiera?"

"Those old stories? Some myth, some history... most of it dubious." She blinked at him over the edge of her book, then set it down and rose to her feet. "Take a seat in one of the chairs while I gather what we have."

While the librarian bustled away, Theo found a nook with a chair that appeared very comfortable, but didn't sit down. Instead, he examined the library as well as he could without being seen to do so. The staircase at the entrance curled around the sides of the sphere, but he realized now that it didn't go all the way to the top or bottom. Examining the internal joints made of the same sapphire glass, he realized that the highest and lowest levels were completely separated from the rest of the library.

From his position he couldn't determine the entrances, which meant they were likely on the opposite side of the sphere. Though with enough time and effort, he might have been able to sneak inside and get the information he wanted, he judged it to be an excessive risk. Besides, it might have been sealed by another soulcrafter, and he didn't have knowledge in undoing wards. Apparently Magnafor had known what he was doing, focusing on them.

Soon enough, the librarian returned with a number of books, so Theo sat down to read. He didn't expect to have all the answers delivered to him, but anything would be better than the ignorance of his first life. The shreds of information he had taken with him when he survived were his only edge against the overwhelming opponents who might yet be hunting him.

The first of the books was a collection of Tatian fairy tales, nearly useless. It described Elghiera as a plucky traveler having adventures across the Nine Worlds, except the writer clearly had little experience with them. One part had Mundhin eating rocks, which might be a misunderstanding, but it had silly ideas about Noven being a world floating in the clouds, and the sections on Aathal were laughable.

Next, however, he began delving into historical resources. He felt a slight twinge in his soul as he needed to concentrate on the new language, a much older form of a Tatian tongue. The languages he'd learned on Earth mapped well enough for him to be able to read the texts, but there were occasional words he struggled with.

From the historical texts, he got a sense that Elghiera was a figure who was likely real, but there was severe disagreement about his home world. Some even suggested that he was from a world beyond the Nine, though the author suggested those sources were disreputable.

What everyone agreed upon was that Elghiera had been a soulcrafter of extraordinary power, capable of facing down nations and forging new paths through the worlds. Tales like that were what made Theo believe that he couldn't have seen the heights of power. The strongest people he'd known were Dominion-tier soulcrafters, and they had considerable power, but they couldn't reshape the worlds.

All of that was similar to any mythological figure, but Theo was struck by a note included off-hand in one of the oldest books: apparently Elghiera had attempted to train proteges. Legend said that he could grant them unusual growth, but the author of the text discounted such rumors. There seemed to be no way to find the truth, as most agreed that Elghiera had entered a war against an unknown power and every trace of his work had been destroyed or lost to time.

He knew for certain that Vistgil had given both him and Magnafor strange artifacts when they arrived, and Magnafor had called them Artifacts of Elghiera. The ring itself had helped him a number of times, and Theo thought it enhanced his soulcrafting, but he wasn't completely sure beyond that. But if Vistgil had stopped to take the ring back from him, it must matter.

It was easy to theorize that Vistgil had somehow acquired these ancient artifacts, but why give them to arrivals from Earth? Though Theo suspected that it had been used to track him, there would have been easier ways to accomplish that.

Theo sat in silence for a time, trying to peel back unnecessary assumptions. Two people from Earth had been given artifacts, but that didn't establish enough of a pattern to be sure. He'd need to scour all the Nine for more information, less about the historical Elghiera and more about how the artifacts had been used since then. If Vistgil really had control of something so ancient and powerful, then his use of the artifacts must be serving some greater purpose.

Though he didn't expect much, Theo continued reading every page of the stack of books he'd been given, just in case they hid any critical details. Deep within the sphere and engrossed in his reading, he almost didn't hear when the screams started.

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Chapter 5

Navigating markets was second nature to Nauda, the habits drilled into her during her childhood. She had grown up in far more hostile environments, so the mildly unfriendly Nlukoko market was no trouble. With her staff ahead of her, she could part the crowds, and she made sure to broaden her movements to create a wake for Fiyu to follow her.

It was remarkable how Fiyu could be utterly lacking in self-consciousness in some ways, yet the opposite in others. She took excellent care of her hair, brushing it out every morning before returning it to the large braid down her back. Whenever she moved, she made sure to carefully organize the many overlapping pieces of cloth in her robes. Yet she seemed utterly unconcerned with her stance, and if she ever smudged her clothes or face with dust, she didn't even seem to notice.

At the moment it seemed that Fiyu was attempting to completely wipe her presence from the market, following as close as she could without touching. When they turned aside to one of the stalls, she immediately stepped between Nauda and one of the poles holding up the canopy, then shrank in on herself.

She looked so miserable that Nauda wanted to hold her close, yet she struggled to restrain her impulse because it would only upset Fiyu. After everything she had experienced, Nauda thought that she understood many different cultures, but the more she came to know people from other worlds, the more she saw the similarities.

In any case, her past was irrelevant. What mattered now was Nlukoko and the sublime materials it had to offer. She didn't share Theo's paranoia, but with Archcrafter finally within sight, she could agree with his priorities.

With limited money, she'd been choosy with her purchases. Even though they'd been through two markets, she'd only acquired a little mud from the lake that would serve as excellent mortar for any of them. This stall didn't have anything that stood out to her either, but when she started to turn away, the owner touched her arm.

"You're obviously a discerning woman, if nothing in my stall can catch your eye." His thumb squeezed in a friendly fashion, an imitation of village community so overt that it wasn't even deception. "But I have some hidden stock, and I know all the best merchants. What are you looking for?"

"A sublime wood that's light-weight, but durable enough to endure an ascension," Nauda said. Though normally she resisted communal honesty, wanting to ascend was such a banal goal that there was no harm in revealing it.

"Then I have just the thing! A dear cousin of mine runs a large store for soulcrafters, with many excellent materials."

"Please pardon me, I am but a poor villager. I doubt I can afford such fine goods."

"Oh, the store might be a bit rich for you, but sublime woods aren't so expensive! I can get you a discount... because I'll get a commission, heheh. Just wait a moment and this will benefit us both!" With that, the owner turned back, hollering for his wife to take over the stall.

While he arranged his business, Fiyu leaned closer, her voice barely escaping the folds of her hood. "Nauda, are you sure we can trust him?"

Though Nauda smiled reassuringly on instinct, restraining a hand, she wondered at the depths of Fiyu's suspicion. Nauda had seen unrestrained violence and corrupt communities, but she wasn't as suspicious as Fiyu or even Theo. As she saw the world, most people were essentially following the course of the river, trustworthy in their own self-interest if nothing else. Fiyu treated every single stranger as if they were raving and flailing with a blood-covered spear.

"Recommending customers to relatives is very common," Nauda reassured in a similar whisper. "If there's nothing suitable for us, we can just leave."

"I see." Fiyu was nearly inaudible, but nodded her agreement.

When the stall owner squirmed his bulk around the side, he grasped Nauda's arm and pulled her into the crowd. It was an appropriately tight grip for the density, but Nauda patted his arm to suggest he loosen it. The man did so without thinking about it, instead telling them of the wonders they would find at his cousin's store.

It proved to be a larger building built atop a wooden platform fashioned in the shape of a lotus. One of many that Nauda had skipped, assuming that it contained primarily expensive materials for Archcrafters. Once inside, the stall owner patted her shoulder and went to find his cousin.

While she waited, Nauda cataloged the inhabitants of the store. Seventeen people, all soulcrafters, including eight foreigners not counting Fiyu. Six Deuxans, one Fithan, and one of uncertain origin. Fiyu continued to creep behind her, regarding them all with equal suspicion.

"So this is the young soulcrafter!" The cousin who owned the shop proved to be a tall Archcrafter with a booming voice, his robes so elaborate they flaunted any notion of village humility. "I have just the thing for you... behold these branches, light and yet springy!"

He presented her with a stick that appeared to be the trunk of a narrow tree, a few branches shorn off. Nauda tested it carefully and found that it bent without breaking, actually living up to the claims. The bark felt strong as well, likely able to survive the pressure in her soulhome, at least long enough for her to ascend. Yes, if she bound them together into a self-reinforcing tower...

"You see the quality, yes? Nothing less for a new friend!" The owner put an arm around her shoulders and tapped the branch, treating her like a village rube who had a child's understanding of community. "Take this one as a token of my esteem, but you need more, yes? I can sell a great many to you."

"Your generosity humbles me." Nauda handed the stick back as she did, calling his gift into question without making herself too obvious. "I do not know if my modest funds can afford it, but how many of these would create a tower of my own height?"

"Oh, only a few bundles, within your soulhome, but you'll need more than that!" The shop owner gestured to his cousin, who presented another bundle obsequiously. "One or two might break while you soulcraft your first tower, after all. Never fear, I can supply you with all you need!"

All at once, Nauda understood the advantage he intended to gain: he expected her to fail, then return to him to replace the broken wood. If that was the profit he sought, then she could trust him slightly more, because even an incompetent soulcrafter would notice if he sold them inferior sublime materials.

"I'll purchase two bundles for now, perhaps three." Nauda slipped an arm around his waist, like an uncertain villager looking for support. "My auntie gave me a good blueprint, but it gets so much more difficult above..."

They began negotiating, trading humilities and generosities as they both tried to acquire an edge. In the end, Nauda thought that she acquired a sufficient number of the branches at well below a fair price. The two merchants smiled cheerfully and didn't even emphasize how generous they were being, which was the real sign that they thought they had the advantage. No doubt they expected her to completely fail to ascend, then return to them to purchase more...

"Is there anything else we can do for you?" the stall owner asked. Nauda was about to answer in the negative when Fiyu spoke up from several counters away.

"What is this?"

"Oh, that's a rare curiosity!" The shop owner swept in, intending to give Fiyu a warm embrace, but Nauda imposed herself between them. He noted the rudeness, which would have been shocking in most contexts, but customers existed in a very strange form of community.

As for the sublime material that had caught Fiyu's attention, it appeared to be a dark stone floating within a glass case. It didn't hover very far off the ground, but several artfully folded pieces of paper spun and bobbed above it. Nauda didn't feel anything sublime about them, so she thought they were merely a demonstration of the stone's properties.

"This stone, you see, repels anything that comes near to it. Unfortunately, its effects are too limited to be of use in the real world, and within a soulhome, it tends to disrupt everything else. So while it's rare, we can give you a reasonable price on it, if it's somehow caught your fancy."

"Give us a moment to discuss it," Nauda said, pretending to take Fiyu's arm to indicate they wanted some space. The other woman stiffened but seemed to understand, so Nauda leaned closer. "I still have enough money for one or two materials. Would it be useful to you?"

"Not to me, but could Theo use it?" Fiyu extended a hand toward the stone, testing the weak repulsion. "His powers all involve pushing things away from other things."

"It might, and I can probably haggle them down on something so odd." Nauda leaned over so that she could catch a glimpse of Fiyu's face within her hood. "There would be some left over after that. Is there anything you want for yourself?"

Fiyu immediately shook her head, her braid twitching underneath her cloak. "I still have many sublime materials from my relative."

"Well, let me know if you see anything that might be useful to you." Accepting that she couldn't push, Nauda moved back to the owners and began haggling. They tried to offer many other materials that might attract an unfocused soulcrafter, but she played their games carefully and ended up with what she wanted.

They still left the store with very little money, which was always uncomfortable. Unfortunately, her attempts to acquire a suitable vehicle had proved that they were significantly beyond her means. She couldn't afford any of them by frugality and odd jobs, so it was better to invest in themselves, as that might allow them to find sufficient sources of funding.

"What about one of the carts?" Fiyu tugged on her sleeve so gently that Nauda almost didn't notice, directing her attention to a cart of seaweed moving past them down the street. "They cannot be expensive. We could build one ourselves."

"Unless you're a cartwright, I don't think it would survive the trip, and I think we need something much faster. It's a long way through the borderlands."

"I do not know how to build carts." Fiyu lowered her head as if this was a dire personal failing. "My relative taught me to build sledges or toboggans, but they would not work over such rough land."

The words she used twisted in Nauda's mind, foreign terms that attempted to translate between worlds. She had a sense for what the two meant, and they matched her view of Fiyu's world as very flat, but she wasn't sure if such vehicles would be appropriate. Distracted from the street by the exact oddity of the language, Nauda was one of the first to realize that demons were attacking.

Cries burst from the street as the twisted creatures clawed their way through cracks in the air and tumbled onto the street. Nauda noted that the people of Nlukoko looked surprised, but not terrified, as if this was uncommon but not feared. Several merchants actually began to gather up their merchandise instead of just fleeing, which put them at real risk of the demons.

Though civilians were moving away from the demons, only some soulcrafters moved toward them, entirely unlike what would have happened in a village. Seeing a demon crouch to leap at a merchant, Nauda moved in, swinging her staff over her head with all her strength.

It crunched into the skull of the creature as it leapt, their combined force caving in the bone. Nauda drove it to the ground and slammed her staff into its body, just to be safe. There were five more demons in the rapidly emptying street, two of them now beginning to turn toward her. The first she shoved aside with her staff, hoping to spin it back into position in time...

Fiyu's cantae flared up and for a moment Nauda worried that she would unleash that devastating hail of light. Though it might annihilate all the demons, it would also cause damage to the community and potentially identify them.

But instead, Fiyu glided beside her and speared the demon with a blade of dark cantae that emerged from her hand. It flickered out a moment later, but she could obviously continue fighting with that technique, so with only a glance they protected each others backs and set about eliminating the rest.

Such demons were no longer the threat they had been to her even a few months ago, so Nauda set about striking them down with her staff. She could fight much more confidently thanks to the welcome chamber she'd been carefully soulcrafting, despite the fact that her new staff was far inferior to her old.

In a sense, she had Theo to thank for that. Most of the soulhomes she had examined in her childhood were brute fortresses assembling as many powerful sublime materials as possible, and those she had seen in Nlukoko or Myufuru attempted to gather a warmer sort of power. But she'd seen the immense care Theo put into every aspect of creation, and though she disliked his mechanical style, she'd adapted the approach. Now, instead of a simple chamber for cantae, the first room of her soulhome was a welcoming place with a soft rug and cushions, forming a pillar of strength inside her.

She and Fiyu could have defeated all the demons themselves, but there were other soulcrafters who cared for the community and joined in. Soon enough, they eliminated the demons on the street, and though she saw several other outbreaks, all but one were already under control.

There were still screams and cries from further in the city. Nauda started to move toward them on instinct, but an older man touched her shoulder and shook his head. "The Lord's guards will take care of it. We should get back to our business."

But if the demons were appearing across a wider area... Nauda turned to find Fiyu beside her. The other woman clearly understood, but still whispered "Theo" and began to move into the city.

This attack might be only the start of something worse, and Theo was alone deeper in the city. Nauda had a feeling that they wouldn't be eating platefish after all.

-

Chapter 6

When Theo exited the library, he had a moment to consider whether or not he should just sit out the conflict. It seemed that the demons were only attacking as they emerged from cracks in reality, not massing in a group, so a city like Nlukoko would be capable of dealing with such an assault. Since he couldn't use any of his gravitational skills without attracting attention, it might be more logical to let them deal with it.

In the end, he headed out into the street anyway. He needed to leave to find the others, plus fighting with the handicap might be a worthwhile challenge. Since he wasn't a newborn soulcrafter anymore, base demons weren't a huge threat, and he wouldn't stand out among the random Tatian soulcrafters moving to help with the problem.

One of the first demons snarled at him as it loped across the deck, but he pulled his spear from his pack and met it face on. The creature was too slow to avoid spearing itself and he quickly pinned it down with a surge of cantae that destroyed it. That was good, but inelegant, since he wanted-

Jaws tore beside his face and he only just pulled himself away in time.

Stumbling a step back, Theo still had no idea what had attacked him, other than that it was much smaller than most demons and had flown directly at his head. He looked where it had gone and saw no demons between him and one of the flowing strands of the river... only to realize that he'd missed something.

The demon burst out of the water, its lean body shaped like a fish except for the enormous maw of teeth. This time he managed to strike it to the ground with the body of the impaled demon, but the fish demon only flopped once before it flung itself to the side, back into the water.

He hadn't run into fish demons before, but it shouldn't have surprised him, since they always seemed to adapt to the environment. Actually, it was stranger that so many of them were of the common four-clawed variety, given that Nlukoko sat on top of a lake. As far as he knew, demons appeared randomly and never fought strategically unless a higher stage demon led them.

On the third charge, the demon lunged at him... and a second burst from the water beside him, nearly tearing into his leg. Theo barely managed to twist away from the surprise attack and still impaled the other to the deck below him.

It had been a good maneuver, but he found himself dissatisfied: he wanted to avoid developing melee combat instincts. Unfortunately, though his gravitational fields could have ended the fight, he needed to avoid using them. That was why he wanted to develop a pinpoint use of gravity that could strike individual targets, which wouldn't stand out among many other skills.

As he kept the demons at bay, Theo's mind wandered back to that problem. He'd partially built that room, but it just didn't feel right yet. Gravity wasn't just random force and trying to use it that way would lead to a weaker skill. Once he had a greater array of materials, he might be able to think of a more effective application.

"Help! Help Senka!" Something came at him low, wailing, but it wasn't a demon. Theo had a split second glimpse of a short humanoid - not a Tatian child, so probably a Siatan - running toward him pursued by one of the demons.

He worried that the runner was going to get in his way, but they tripped and planted their face directly into the ground. That gave him a clean shot at the demon, so he thrust his spear directly into its mouth. It didn't take long to finish it off, but his second look at the person he'd saved left him puzzled.

She was no more than two feet tall, so about the size of a Siatan, but didn't look quite like anyone he'd ever met from Siata. The inhabitants of that world were all fairy-like creatures that exuded an otherworldly sexlessness, but something about the shape of the creature's face struck him as an adult woman. Her skin was also light blue, unlike bright Siatan colors, she wore what appeared to be a potato-sack, and she had messy white hair.

"Thank you for saving Senka!" The being, whatever it was, grabbed onto his leg in blubbering gratitude. Theo gently shoved her to a more defended position, worried that she was going to cling to him, but when another demon charged at them, she dropped flat with her arms over her head.

Whatever she was, the demons weren't much of a threat to him or the other soulcrafters. A few inexperienced fighters nearly got themselves killed, and one who fell into the water might be dead, but generally base demons of any variety were no match for experienced soulcrafters... unless they managed to sacrifice themselves to summon one that was more powerful.

A dying fish demon flopped its way into the water and Theo realized that everyone had made the same mistake.

"They're sacrificing themselves in the water!" Theo called out to anyone who would listen, which turned out to be no one. With a bit of time free, he pivoted, examining the watery currents all around him. There were no more demons in the arcs of water, but underneath... he saw the turmoil beneath the surface too late.

He had expected the second stage demon to be some sort of giant fish, but a humanoid arm reached from out of the water. The body it pulled up onto the platform was roughly human in shape, but grotesquely muscled in a way that resembled no species in the Nine Worlds.

Theo stabbed it in the chest before it could get out of the water, but the demon only grunted, then lunged upward wildly. Even expecting it to attack, he barely threw himself backward in time. His blow to the chest hadn't gone deep and didn't slow down the demon at all.

Some idiot with a sword charged at the demon, only to be stabbed by its brutally spiked sword. Theo hesitated, but even trying to attack while it was distracted would be futile. A second stage demon was superior to any first tier soulcrafter in raw strength, so the only possible methods to defeat them required strategy.

With three gravitational fields combined, could he pin it down? As the demon advanced, Theo attempted to ward it off with a stabbing blow, but the spear was knocked from his hands, leaving his fingers numb. When he tried to retrieve it, the demon kicked the spear over the edge, sending it vanishing into the depths of the lake. Now had had no choice but to reveal his abilities... or use them in a cleverer way.

Ducking underneath the sword when it went for his neck, Theo pretended to uppercut the demon. Such a blow would have been idiotic, but instead he struck the demon with three reversed gravitational fields. It instantly fell into the sky, which only bought him a little time, since it would get out of his range and fall back down. Maybe the landing would kill it, but he didn't think that was a good bet.

"It's a second stage demon!" He looked around and saw more attention on him this time, including a few who looked like they knew what they were doing. "You, are you an Archcrafter? You need to hit that thing the moment it comes down."

The muscled man, who wielded what appeared to be a smith's hammer, nodded grimly. He didn't look like a fool, but Theo wasn't sure if he was actually a warrior. Hopefully the demon would be disoriented, because otherwise the conflict could turn bloody quickly.

As the demon plummeted back down, a woman stepped from the crowd and hurled a needle of light. He hadn't noticed her before, but in the moment she struck, she unveiled an Archcrafter's soulhome. The needle speared through the demon's chest, not enough to kill it or send it flying, but the demon landed with a heavy crash and the smith brought his hammer down on the demon's head the next second.

It did what hammers usually do to heads. Theo breathed a sigh of relief.

Without the cooperation of Archcrafters, that could have gone very poorly. In no other world would Archcrafters listen to someone like him, but for once he was glad for Tatian culture. Unfortunately, he was now attracting a lot of attention, and even if he looked like some kind of spear-wielding martial artist, he didn't want that.

"Got a good head on your shoulders, lad," the smith said. Theo stepped up to him and touched one muscled arm in the Tatian fashion.

"Thank you, but I need to find my friends. Take care of everything here."

With that, he moved away, doing his best to slip into the crowds and disappear. Some looked after him, but since there were still a few demons in the city, they were distracted. Soon he jumped over a narrow gap between platforms and slipped into an alleyway, finally getting way from the crowds.

"Good job!" Someone landed on his shoulders and he barely recognized the strange being in time not to strike her. "You're smart! You gotta real blooky head!"

He hesitated, wondering first how she'd gotten there and second what she had just said. With all the languages he'd learned, fully or partially, he'd expected to be able to understand everyone in the Nine Worlds, yet the adjective she'd used sounded like utter nonsense to him. Unless he'd encountered more languages than he expected, he couldn't come up with an explanation.

"You're safe now, so you don't need to stay with me." Theo decided that he didn't care and just pulled her off his shoulders, setting her down. "I need to go."

"No!" She grabbed his leg and held on, even when he started to walk dragging her along the ground. "There's a big mean fumpet looking for Senka! You've gotta help Senka!"

Realizing that she would just draw more attention, Theo gave up on abandoning her easily and stared down at the inexplicable creature. "So... your name is Senka?"

"How did you know Senka's name?" She gasped with both hands flying to her mouth. "Wow, you must be real sporping smart!"

"I need you to be quiet. Can you do that?"

Senka immediately put a finger to her lips and made a shshing noise that was almost louder than they had been talking. She did shut up after that, though, and simply followed him like an eager puppy as he move further away from the heart of the conflict, toward the markets.

It seemed that the demon outbreak had been fairly light and thus contained, so he found himself glancing back at his new follower. For an irrational moment he thought she might be some kind of demon, then realized that wasn't possible. Demons had complete voids in the place of soulhomes, whereas Senka... actually, he wasn't sure what to make of it. There was something there, dense and lacking in soulcrafting, more similar to a beast's soul than a person's.

As far as he knew, there were no sublime beasts capable of speaking, even at her limited level... if they could speak, they would be considered people instead of sublime beasts. It annoyed him, and he intended to look into it further, but there were higher priorities. Fortunately, it wasn't long before he spotted Fiyu and Nauda hurrying toward him.

"You are safe." Fiyu's relief spread nakedly across her face, and if there was any doubt... "I am glad."

"Who's this?" Nauda asked, pointing the end of her staff at Senka, who grabbed the end with both hands cheerfully.

"I'm Senka!" she declared, then promptly tried to chew on the staff. Nauda's eyes narrowed and she tugged her weapon back. Not wanting to cause another scene, Theo decided to step in.

"I saved her during the fight and she won't go away. Forget that - do we need to worry about the local guard being everywhere?"

"The Nlukoko guard actually doesn't help much with demon attacks, they're more about controlling the community." Nauda's gaze scanned the city around them, hunting for something in particular. "I'm more worried about the Lord... he might want to make an appearance."

"Does this change our plan?" Fiyu asked. She looked like she might say more, but Theo was more paranoid about Senka. Since she hadn't responded to reason before, he instead created a gravitational field and pinned her to the ground, making her eyes go wide.

"Sporp! What are you doing to Senka? This is a blooky feeling..."

"We need you to stay here where it's safe." Theo managed to keep his tone friendly, but only just. "Go find... whoever you're in the city to find. We can't help you anymore, and it might be more dangerous to stay with us."

They left Senka behind, despite her mutters of nonsense words - at least she didn't start yelling at them and attracting attention. As soon as they reached a safe distance, Nauda spoke to both of them in a low voice.

"I don't know how Nlukoko's agreement with the Landguards relates to demons, but there's a chance they might come to investigate. We need to get beyond their range until things just calm down."

"Does that mean using a gate?" Theo asked. "Unless you found a vehicle..."

"No, they're too expensive, and we wouldn't be prepared for the journey anyway." Nauda bit her lower lip for a moment, then came to a swift decision. "There are only two passages to other worlds in Nlukoko. Supposedly there's a door to Noven, but it's tightly controlled. So our only option is to get through the gate to Deuxan before they reorganize from the demon attack."

"That's a good plan. I have a few ideas for..." Theo trailed off as he felt an immensely powerful presence ahead of them, and a moment later they all saw the Lord of Nlukoko descend to one of the largest platforms.

His identity was obvious, given that he was broadcasting an Authority's power. With a flick of a finger, he rained fire down on several sections of the city, apparently destroying remaining demons. The golden fire didn't set the city ablaze, thankfully, simply dissolving back into cantae.

Four golden wings arched behind his back, marking him as an inhabitant of Noven. Theo wondered what Eratius would have thought of him, which quickly sent his thoughts slipping toward the memory of his rival's body being killed by a demon. He racked his brain for anything Eratius had said about golden wings, but even filtering through the other man's scorn, he thought that golden wings were just another ethnicity in Noven, nothing remarkable.

When he finally landed atop a building, the Lord of Nlukoko boomed out to the surrounding region. "People of Nlukoko! There has been a minor intrusion from demons, but none of them can stand up to my might. Anywhere they still lurk, merely raise your voices and I will erase them from this world."

Pure grandstanding, since he had only shown up after the main conflict was over. It was true that he could easily have destroyed all the demons, though, and his nonchalance seemed more laziness than confidence. Though he tried to put off a grand appearance, Theo could just see what looked like a wine stain across part of his robe, and one of his shoes wasn't fully buckled.

"That's him." Nauda stared upward, her fingers tight on her staff. "Ariano of the Golden Wings. Do you recognize anything about him, Theo?"

"Looks like he's from Noven, but don't let the title fool you. Their wings come in all colors naturally, it's not anything he earned. He's just showing off in a foreign world where he can get away with it."

They began to move again, keeping an eye on Ariano while making their way toward the gate. As they went, Fiyu regarded him thoughtfully. "He is a fourth tier soulcrafter, but you spoke harshly. Do you not respect him, Theo?"

"I wouldn't pick a fight with him, but no, not really." Though Theo kept his voice down, just in case Ariano had extremely enhanced hearing, he didn't think it likely. "Most likely he washed out in Noven, unable to compete once he ascended beyond Ruler. Given the choice between being a servant in a higher court or an invincible god somewhere else, which do you think he'd pick?"

Nauda nodded slowly. "That would match his behavior. As far as I could tell, he only seems interested in securing his rule over the city and enriching himself."

"Authority-tier soulcrafters might not be common, but I've met more than a few like him. For those who can't compete with elites, the temptation to go somewhere else and live like a king is just too high. That's why you'll often find Authorities as the rulers of their own little fiefdoms, more often than other tiers."

"If I could unseat him, I would, but right now that feels nearly impossible..."

Nauda cut off as Fiyu's hands gripped their clothes tightly. Instead of speaking, she pointed upward, and Theo noticed what she had immediately: there was another figure flying over the city. Judging from the Tatian robes, it was a Landguard. He feared a conflict at first, but the Landguard instead floated to speak to Ariano.

Whatever they were negotiating, he didn't want to see it. Nauda took the lead as they ran as fast as they dared, closing in on the gate to Deuxan. The silver arch was contained by a guard post serving as an inter-world checkpoint, surrounded by a market filled with Deuxan goods. Normally getting through would have been a tense affair, but it seemed the demon attack had struck there worse than the rest of the city, and many were staring at the Authorities, so they had a chance.

While everyone was distracted, they vaulted one of the stalls and crept in. He expected to hear a shout at any second, but no one noticed them and then they plunged into the silvery wall.

Once he'd found it repetitive, but Theo thrilled as he felt himself shift between worlds: the vastness of other dimensions spreading before him, the feeling of being a mote that barely existed, and a new world whirling into being around him. He'd spent so long in Tatian, transitioning between worlds again was a source of pure joy.

On the other end, they found the Deuxan side of the gate mostly abandoned in the center of a pale wasteland. Other than a trail that must bring Deuxan goods to Tatian, there was little sign of civilization, just grasslands that shimmered bronze in all directions. He took a deep breath, enjoying every little difference in this world. Especially the sun... he'd forgotten how good that hot white disc could feel.

"I do not think that anyone saw us," Fiyu said.

"Yay!"

Everyone turned to look, even though Theo knew what he was going to see. Senka stood behind them, staring at Deuxan and leeching away all his wonder. Of course.