Bondsfungi: Chapters 17-18 (The Weirkey Chronicles) (Patreon)

We've hit a milestone, everyone: Soulhome has passed 1000 ratings on Amazon! A year ago, none of my series had hit 500, and now even the newest book in TWC has passed it. Thank you all for your support. ^-^

I wish that I had some kind of celebration prepared, but nothing is ready. Ages ago I did promise a few people that if a series of mine hit 1000, I'd post another essay about  progression fantasy, so I'll try to get on that. Meanwhile, I hope that new chapters are a reward enjoyed by all:

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Chapter 17

As she concentrated, Nauda felt the stone slowly take shape beneath her hands. She had expected the art to feel like shaping putty, but instead it was as if the stone temporarily became a part of her body and she needed to flex an unused muscle. When she'd first begun stoneshaping, there had been odd twinges and spikes that marred any progress she made.

Now, Nauda was able to gradually fashion a brick of stone simply by touching it. Not easily, and certainly not quickly, but the shards obeyed her command. She drew them into herself one by one and they flowed together the way they had refused to do via so many other techniques.

She and Navim had discussed alternatives, including growing her walls entirely in a single act. Fashioning structures from a solid piece of stone was one of the strengths of stoneshaping, after all. But not only was it far beyond her capabilities, her mind didn't conceive of buildings in that way. Navim thought that the exact method didn't matter: all the stone that had been reduced to slag believed that it belonged together, so it would begin to fuse again if she applied any material to unify her soulhome.

Nauda frowned as she felt a few particles of something else within the stone. Remnants of destroyed sublime materials. She wasn't as good with the removal techniques but managed to slowly reject the remnants until they floated to the surface and could be chipped away.

Having to remove impurities, which still happened with troubling regularity, always exhausted her. She managed to hang on until she had completed her task, then finally ceased stoneshaping. That left her kneeling in her soulhome, gasping for breath and holding a single pristine brick.

Tired as she was, Nauda hefted the brick to join the others. She wasn't just assembling piles of rock anymore, she was truly soulcrafting again.

So far, she had completely finished one third of her first floor: her staff tower. Fiyu had been extremely helpful with suggestions about polishing it so that it was more like a true staff, though Nauda wasn't really far enough along for the finer points of that work. The only other structures she'd completed with final materials were the arches for her new doorways, to prepare for what awaited her in the physical world.

If she counted temporary bricks, she actually had a full first floor, but she hoped that she could replace at least one of her feet before they all needed to leave to fight the wild tribes. At least the temporary wall around her heartoak was keeping it from expanding outward, instead growing denser and upward.

Technically, she would be a Ruler with just a single floor of rooms. But as soon as she finished soulcrafting her ceilings, she could truly regulate her cantae instead of just getting by with stopgap measures. Each room was absolutely packed with powerful sublime materials, so she would be able to handle herself to a reasonable degree. She would finally be a real soulcrafter again.

A month ago that would have been the greatest relief she could imagine, but now she was hungry for more. Once she built her second and third floors, she could begin moving up some of her materials, leaving the first floors of each column as enormous heart chambers. An ordinary soulcrafter could never do something so insane, since it would give them a lot of cantae and nothing else. But if her blueprint came together as they planned, she would have three upward currents, powerful in their simplicity but balanced between the three.

When she decided that she couldn't manage another brick, Nauda emerged to check in with Navim. They weren't at his home in the Arbaian district, instead meeting at a metalworker's office in the heart of the city. She had nearly forgotten, caught up in her own work.

"The task is complete," Navim said, "but we did not wish to disturb you. I believe that the proprietor, however, would prefer for you to free up this space."

Nauda hastily scrambled off the elaborate metal scale that had been weighing her, as if she had violated some social norm. When she looked to the back, the smith just waved a hand from her forge. The thickly muscled Fithan woman was back to work on a dark iron much heavier than the materials Nauda had commissioned. It looked like a mass-produced armament breastplate, preparation for war.

"You don't need to rush," the smith called. "I don't get Ruler commissions all that often, so you're worth some extra trouble. But if you could check the final product, it would be satisfying to get this one done."

"I will, thank you." Nauda looked around the forge until Navim directed her attention to a nearby table, where the three pieces of metalwork lay.

As she stared at the work she had commissioned, Nauda felt a thrill of excitement along with the cantae. The elaborate swirls and patterns of metal formed the shape of three small doors, though once she drew them into her soulhome they would allegedly be the perfect size. They had been rather expensive, but Nauda thought that it was finally time for her to invest some of her money from the Chasm.

"From right to left," Navim explained in calm tones, "we have bloodfiligree, echosteel, and verdantfiligree. Despite the inconsistency in nomenclature, they are as well-matched as can be achievable under real world parameters."

"Let's apply them to the doors, then. I'd like to have your guidance." Nauda started to draw the metal into her soul, then hesitated and glanced at Navim. "Actually, have you ever visited my soulhome directly?"

"I do not believe so, but I confess it would be satisfying."

Navim seemed happy, but Nauda found herself grappling with a formless guilt. He had gone to extra effort to help repair her telescope, yet she hadn't even considered him when it came to testing its effects. Her new doors had been created with his help, but had she properly thanked him for them?

She continued to worry over the matter as she carried the metal filigrees to the center of her soulhome. Rather than forming her doors from wood or her melted stone, Theo had advised something brand new. Navim had helped her select a sublime material from Arbai called thresholdstone, then assisted her considerably when it required enormous effort to work.

But in the end, she had an excellent door for each of her towers, and once the filigree was applied, they would be complete. Navim, his spirit a rather large mass of stone, moved forward to examine their work with his usual academic curiosity.

"It seems that your hypothesis was correct," Navim said. "The three central doors do unify the towers, but they require more to distinguish them, or dividing cantae flow could be prohibitively distracting."

"Hopefully you've taken care of that for me." Nauda leaned two of the pieces against one wall and picked up the bloodfiligree to check it against the door to her death chamber.

All the dimensions matched precisely, but some of the patterns had slight differences. Whether the problem was her stonework, her drawing, or the smith's metalworking, Nauda set about correcting the carvings on her door. Not only was that easier than trying to alter the metal, the symbolic skull in the filigree looked much better than hers. The horns on her skull looked a bit like rabbit ears, now that she looked at it again.

Fortunately, she still had the Esoteric Chisel, so it was a simple matter to make the alterations. She needed it less and less as her stoneshaping ability improved, but Theo had still convinced her about the potential value of carving for soulcrafting. The ideal soulhome wasn't a solid block of material, after all, and artful shaping of the interior enhanced the central materials.

Finally she was ready. Nauda lifted the filigree and carefully placed it against the carvings on her door. When she pushed cantae into it, the metal flared to life. The heat burned her hands, but Nauda forced herself not to rush as she eased the filigree inward.

She took a deep breath when the two materials fully sealed together, afraid that she would notice some terrible error... but no, everything matched. Her tower now had a door of light stone inlaid with crimson metal whorls, and even though she had designed it, she found herself struck by the beauty of the final result.

"Now, to replicate this work twice more." Navim had been silent to allow her to concentrate, but now urged her on. With his help and advice, Nauda touched up the other two doors and applied the filigrees to them as well. Even with one of her towers missing a ceiling, Nauda could feel the difference in efficiency once her work was done.

"Thank you for all of your help, Navim." She brushed off her somewhat scorched hands but didn't leave her soul, since their conversation was better kept private. "I wish that I could repay you better for this, but I don't think my stoneshaping will ever be enough to assist yours."

"Repay me aside from the considerable financial remuneration?"

"Oh, you know what I mean."

"I suggest that you frame the matter differently." Navim raised a heavy limb and placed it just above her shoulder, his spiritual presence overlapping hers just enough that she almost felt him. "When I was injured and close to death, you journeyed into an unknown world in order to save my life. There is no calculation of debt between us."

"Navim..." She tried to put her hand on top of his limb and the spiritual touch abruptly wasn't enough. Returning to the world, she reached out to touch the large shoulder-like joint near his gemstone sphere. When she tried to put her feelings into words she faltered, hoping that the touch would be enough.

The enormous Mundhin was silent for a time, then gently took her hand in one of his smaller manipulation limbs. "Perhaps in the future, when your work is less pressed, we can perform a few experiments with stoneshaping. In addition to cross-world stoneshaping being an understudied field, I would enjoy spending more time with you beyond this work."

"So would I." Nauda had to pull away from the emotion in order to make her final payments to the smith, then they resumed their conversation once they climbed into the sleigh. "I'm afraid that all of us might be more distant, at least until you work with us in the Wargames. Literally the only time I'll be leaving the complex before then will be to fight the wild tribes."

"Yes, this upcoming expedition. I hope that Tythes does not succeed in rendering it another imbroglio."

"He's not happy unless it's imbroglios on every side."

Nauda dropped Navim off at his home, then returned to hers. She wondered if it would actually be true that she'd never leave until she'd finished her work. Most likely Fiyu or someone else would invite her out to eat at least once, and she couldn't soulcraft at maximum potential for every hour of every day. 

But for her next task, all she needed was Theo's assistance. She repeatedly glanced back into her soulhome as she drove to the Blacksilver complex, examining her heartoak. For the past several weeks she had been coaxing the lowest part of the trunk to change its shape and at last it had opened up a space, so it was time to take a risk.

When she returned, she found not only Theo in the soulcrafting courtyard, but Fiyu as well. Fiyu emerged almost immediately to smile a greeting, while Theo took longer to complete his work before his soulcrafting haze faded.

"Finished your doors?" he asked. Nauda waved the matter aside.

"They're done, but that's not why I'm here. I want to insert the heart today."

"I suppose this is as good a time as any to test." 

Theo gestured for her to sit down and Nauda lowered herself to the ground beside them. She laid a hand on Theo's knee and Fiyu reached out to touch the edge of her sleeve. How long had it been since the three of them had been linked for soulcrafting? Nauda felt a strange smile coming over her face and swiftly pulled them all into her soulhome.

Though Fiyu expressed deep admiration for the new filigrees on her doors, Nauda was impatient for the next step and ushered them into her life chamber. It was still open to the sky, but with the heartoak's boughs growing thicker every day, the room was pleasantly shaded. Nauda still hoped to add secondary materials around the stone edges, but for now she walked directly to the heartoak, then bent down to the chest at its base.

The throbbing mass of flesh still took two arms to heft into the air and left her hands covered with a sticky green residue. It pulsed in her hands like the heart of some unnatural beast. Though it was one of the most powerful materials Nauda had found in the Chasm of Lamentations, it had taken her until recently to figure out how to use it.

"It will go in the hole in the tree?" Fiyu peered inside and then turned back, concern obvious even on her spiritual face. "Nauda, are you sure that it is safe?"

"I've been getting used to this thing. It's definitely monstrous, but it's mindless." She cut off with a grunt as she hefted the heart up to shoulder level. "I think it will work."

"The idea is to mix the natural healing of the heartoak with the deeply unnatural vitality of the heart," Theo explained. "Right here in the trunk, the two should merge and produce a stronger effect than either alone."

Fiyu didn't object again, just hovered nervously as Nauda pushed the mass into the crevice in her tree. It immediately began pumping cantae through the wood and Nauda felt a twinge in her chest, as if she'd just placed a new heart inside herself. Yet as it continued pumping, she didn't feel overwhelmed, just strengthened. Unlike the bondsfungi, which still felt like an intruder even when dormant, the heart easily became part of her soul.

"In theory, this should help with recovery." Nauda pulled them all out of her soulhome and stood back to her feet. "Probably best to test it here."

"I was thinking of doing it," Theo said, "but Fiyu would probably be better at causing a minor exterior injury."

"Oh!" Fiyu hesitantly got to her feet and fidgeted as she looked between them. "I would prefer not to harm you, Nauda, but I will help with the test."

Nauda stuck out an arm for her to cut. "Don't worry, I'll heal normally even if the heart didn't work. And it should definitely help keep me alive in the end."

Though her face was fixed in a mask of concern, Fiyu raised a hand and generated her blade of pitch black cantae around it. She very hesitantly slid it out beside Nauda's arm, at first missing so that Nauda felt only a tickle of energy. When she tried a second time, Nauda felt an intense line of pain as the blade sliced through her skin.

It had gone through so easily, Nauda didn't even need to suppress a wince. She definitely needed to work on her defenses, just as soon as she had time for it. They all stared at the flesh wound, which wasn't deep but bled profusely. Even as they watched, the blood darkened and slowed, binding the wound closed. Nauda felt the heart throbbing in the injured part of her arm but it didn't seem to be healing very fast, at least not visibly.

"I think it's working," she said slowly, "but not quickly. At best I might recover from injuries a little sooner."

"It's weak now," Theo said, "but wait until you ascend a few times. Unless you start to feel your soulhome reject it, I think this was a good decision."

"I hope that it keeps you safe, Nauda." Fiyu gave her a very small smile. "I also hope that we can remain together when we go to fight the wild tribes. Even if the danger is believed to be small, I fear that accidents could occur."

Nauda did her best to reassure her, both in that moment and over the coming month as she soulcrafted harder than she ever had. It was a fever dream of work that left her frequently delirious at the end of the day, actually attempting to give the Esoteric Chisel back to Theo twice before he reminded her that she'd already returned it.

But in the end, she thought it was worth it. By the time they needed to leave, two of Nauda's chambers on her first floor were complete and she had access to all her techniques. Her heartoak had continued growing, faster than she could build the second floor, so she'd draped her sublime canvas over the top. Not ideal, but she wouldn't be a liability to her friends anymore.

When they finally climbed into the sleigh to enter the wastelands, Nauda almost immediately fell asleep and was unconscious the entire way.

-

Chapter 18

After so long working intensively, Theo had been looking forward to riding in the sleigh with just Nauda and Fiyu, like their old journeys. Unfortunately, while he had been focused on soulcrafting, the army dedicated to fighting the wild tribes had been growing. Allegedly the horde was bigger than expected, though he also suspected that it became a political game where every player wanted to make an appearance.

That meant involuntary guests. He didn't mind that the House of Coin had sent Kathina as their representative, but he was annoyed when Karchibol insisting on joining them along with two Rulers from the House. Seven in the sleigh was tolerable for everyone but Fiyu, it was just far from an intimate journey.

Not that it could have felt too private, given that they joined a fleet of other vessels. There were large chariots from the usual suspects, such as the House of Burning Leaves or the House of Waves. House Crimson had sent a full three vehicles: one chariot with Gethyrue and several soulcrafters, another with Tythes snoring loudly, and an inverted pyramid that flew in ominous silence. Rumor claimed that it carried Wiltur, but the Stronghold of House Crimson had yet to make an appearance.

Theo had soulcrafted in the back for most of the journey, moving to the front bench only as they neared their destination. That necessitated some rearrangement, Nauda moving up alongside him before falling straight back asleep against his shoulder. The seats behind him had shifted an annoying number of times before Kathina ended up beside Fiyu.

"I'm sorry if this is too close," Kathina said. "We're all a bit packed together for Ichili propriety."

"I have become accustomed to it." Despite her words, Fiyu pressed herself all the way against her side of the sleigh. She'd been uncomfortable with every partner except Theo or Nauda. "Thank you for your consideration. Other travelers tell me that the House of Coin is more understanding than most Fithans."

"Is that really so? I wasn't sure whether or not most Ichili hated us."

"I cannot speak for everyone, as I am not native to the neighboring region. They have accepted me only to a limited degree. But those who travel further said that institutions run by your House are preferable."

"Well, we try to work with anyone. There's an old phrase, 'the sky is green if the customer says it is.' "

"I do not agree," Fiyu said quietly. "I understand the idiom. But outsiders cannot be allowed to take liberties merely because they wish to purchase something. They are entering into another community and must align with its rules, even regarding the color of the sky."

Kathina chuckled and leaned against her own side. "I suppose that works on Ichil, but not here. I'm glad that we could talk, though. I've been wanting to test your skills ever since you won the first tier tournament."

"I do not dislike you, Kathina, but is it not true that we may be rivals in the upcoming Wargames?"

"Our Houses aren't exactly in competition, but I suppose so." Kathina tapped her fingers along the side of the sleigh in a rapid rhythm. "This is the last opportunity for many soulcrafters in the city to investigate one another. Only two months until the Wargames, after all. So there are opposite schools of thought: one is to hide your tricks until the competition, the other is to test them out as vigorously as possible."

Fiyu nodded slowly, and Theo was actually curious about how the conversation between the two of them would have gone, but at that moment there was a shout from the back of the sleigh. 

"The horde is up ahead!" Karchibol rose to his feet, the sleigh lightening as the old Authority drew his cantae up around him. "No more chatter. There may be ambushes."

Theo still couldn't sense anything, but he saw that Authorities in other vehicles also appeared more alert. Except for Tythes, who was invisible except for a purple sock poking up from his chariot. As they drew nearer, everyone else began to prepare weapons or step into their soulhomes to check one final time. He nudged Nauda, and fortunately she seemed alert in seconds now that she had caught up on sleep.

The endless wastelands of Fithe proved to be not so endless after all: the rocky soil gave way to mountains, jutting up out of the ground without any foothills. Going over the top would have been difficult, but the chariot in the lead began turning. As they made their way around, he saw another mountain, a valley in between the two... and the wild tribes.

There were certainly more of them than he'd seen in the past encounter, a sprawling mess of barbarians around campfires. So this was the horde that so many had been buzzing about. As he expanded his senses over the group, Theo noticed an unusually high number of Archcrafters, but not very many Rulers and only one Authority. Unless they all had shielding walls, the fight didn't seem fair.

"The caverns beneath are-" Fiyu wasn't able to finish her sentence, because at that moment several spears of stone thrust from beneath.

Karchibol flew from the sleigh in an instant, shattering the spears in a flurry of cantae almost as widespread as Fiyu's bursts. The other vehicles had all deflected the ambushes except for Tythes, and Theo couldn't spare the slightest concern for the man. He was more focused on the soulcrafters emerging from hidden caverns in the mountain and swinging slings.

One gravitational field sent all of the projectiles flying into the clouds, and Theo immediately began picking off the attackers with torsion bolts. This was a real battle and he had no intention of brawling with them.

Just as he began thinking that the ambush had been a complete failure, Theo spotted a massive boulder flying toward them. When he tried to use a gravitational field, the stone lit up with cantae. Not an Authority, but a Ruler burning enough energy to propel the projectile regardless of gravity. Nauda leapt up to try to bind it in place, but her strength faltered and suddenly the boulder was on top of them.

Theo didn't see any choice: he rolled the sleigh out of the way and spiraled toward the ground.

His close allies anticipated it and leapt out smoothly, but some of the others were sent flying. Karchibol had flown off to his own fights, and it looked like the full horde was beginning to advance. Theo skidded the sleigh to a halt and leapt out to defend it from damage.

Unfortunately, the Ruler riding the boulder was still coming toward him. Theo tried another torsion bolt, but when the barbarian spun it merely blew a hole through part of the boulder. The thing was still moving toward him rapidly and he wasn't sure if it was a vehicle or projectile. With only a split second to decide how to move the sleigh and himself, Theo hesitated when he saw someone else leap in.

Kathina intercepted the boulder and swung a sword, creating a blindingly red line that sundered the boulder in half. The Ruler leapt from the stone, all its momentum carrying him forward as he hurled a sphere of flame. Without hesitation, Kathina drew a second sword and sliced the sphere in half as well, the flames snuffing out.

Before the Ruler could attempt anything else, Theo hit him in the shoulder with a torsion bolt. His body was too reinforced for it to pierce through, but it dealt a nasty wound. The barbarian grimaced and cantae flooded down the injured arm, controlling it like a puppet as he drew up more fire in both hands.

Though Theo had multiple options for defense, he let Kathina meet the blasts head on. He waited to act, getting a better look at her fighting style. Her movements were smooth but ordinary enough, wielding twin swords of red and blue. She seemed to use the latter primarily to deflect attacks, though he couldn't entirely figure out the techniques she was using.

After getting a clear look, Theo struck the enemy Ruler with his disorientation technique with all the force he could muster. The man choked and staggered, froth spilling from his lips.

It was joined a moment later by blood as Kathina slammed the red sword through his chest.

As soon as the enemy soulcrafter was dead, she whipped the sword out and held both at her sides while she glanced back at him. "Looks like there are more of them coming. You ready?"

He nodded and levitated himself into the air to prepare for a more dangerous opponent. But the next wild tribes members that attacked them were merely Archcrafters, and even less imaginative soulcrafters than the Asplundat Movement. Theo handled them at range while Kathina dealt with those who got through, though both of them could probably have handled the entire group alone. Given the numbers of the enemy, they might as well conserve energy.

"Enough of this!"

The voice echoed over the entire battlefield on an Authority's cantae, knocking over many of the soulcrafters who weren't prepared. Theo identified the source as a barbarian floating above the further mountain, similar to the others except for the enormous animal fur around her shoulders.

"To fight you weak city-dwellers," she declared, "we'll use your little rules. Send your strongest out against me. By the time the battle is done, you'll see our superiority!"

Her announcement actually paused the battle briefly, giving Theo time to check and confirm that Fiyu and Nauda were both safe. Not very far away, fighting from secure positions near Karchibol. That struck him as unnecessarily cautious, given that the enemy only had a single Authority. Still, it might be for the best if the matter was resolved with a duel. Less life lost on both sides, which should have been the goal if they were facing wars against superior opponents in the future.

"We decline." The voice didn't boom over the valley, actually drawing more attention due to how quiet it was. Theo looked up in time to see someone emerge from the inverted pyramid above them.

Wiltur of House Crimson was not a particularly large man, his slender body wrapped in red silks. His face was sternly lined but clear, which was a common appearance for immortals. Though he stood casually with his hands behind his back, he burned with a Stronghold's cantae.

"House Crimson wants nothing to do with any barbarian tribes. Let this put the rumors to rest."

When he raised a hand, Theo realized that the cantae around him wasn't a show of force: it was the beginnings of a technique. A red sphere emerged from the sky like a second sun and began to descend toward the mountain, eerily slow.

The barbarian leader let out a scream and attacked the sphere with her full power, which shielded her for only a shocked moment before the red light consumed her. The sphere continued downward unimpeded and impacted the mountain, blowing an enormous hole in it and wiping out many of the wild tribes in an instant. A few of the House soulcrafters let out a cheer.

Then the shockwave began sweeping toward them.

~ ~ ~

When the shockwave barreled down on her, Nauda's first instinct was to try to protect Fiyu, but the two of them had been separated in the fighting. Instead she grabbed a pair of Blacksilver soulcrafters who looked unprepared and leapt into the air, clearing the expanding wave of destruction.

The energy itself wasn't bad enough that it would have killed anyone directly, but as she saw the boulders tumbling underneath them, Nauda wondered how easily they could kill unprepared Archcrafters. Either Wiltur was actively trying to kill his enemies within the city or he was shockingly indifferent to collateral damage. She decided that it didn't-

A column of cantae slammed into her and she smashed into the earth.

Nauda grimaced and pulled herself up, just glad that she had survived. She'd kept her grip on her staff but lost the other two soulcrafters, who were hopefully safe. Before she could find her attacker, another beam hammered her into the ground, shattering the stone and dropping her into a large cavern.

She spun to land on her feet and swept her staff in a defensive gesture, in case it was another ambush, but the cavern was empty. That might not matter, since there was a wild tribes Ruler coming down after her. Just surviving his techniques had consumed a troubling amount of her cantae. She was grateful that she had survived the strikes, which might have killed her before her aggressive rebuilding, but she wasn't in any shape to fight a powerful Ruler. This one looked stronger than any of the other Rulers she'd seen, on the verge of-

Without warning he was flung to the side like a child's toy. Tythes slid down through the hole in the ground, his hands in his pockets. When the wild soulcrafter leapt to his feet with a roar, Tythes flicked him to the side with a lazy sweep of his foot.

"You know, when I was younger I really looked up to you." Tythes began walking toward the Ruler without any particular hurry. "The wild tribes, the fiercest and strongest Fithans! Our great ancestors! Imagine how disappointed I was when I found out the truth."

The Ruler unleashed several beams of cantae in succession, but Tythes absorbed them without flinching and continued walking forward.

"It turns out, you don't live in the wastelands because you want to be tough. It's because we took everywhere better from you." His shuffling steps somehow became a leap and before Nauda realized what he had done, Tythes had thrust one arm through the Ruler's chest. He patted the choking man on the head. "Given how you dedicate your lives to violence, it must hurt to know that we're much, much better at it."

Nauda braced herself in a defensive position as the corpse slumped to the ground. She liked this version of Tythes even less than the other one, especially when he turned toward her.

"Oh, gosh, I had no idea you were there!" Tythes clapped his hands to either side of his head. "I definitely did not want you to hear all that!"

"What kind of game are you playing?" Nauda asked, keeping her staff between them for all the good it would do. Tythes walked toward her cheerfully, one of his sleeves covered in blood.

"No real shock. Good. I had a feeling that you already knew how the world works."

With no idea what the mad Authority in front of her wanted, Nauda reverted to her oldest instinct: saying nothing. She knew that Tythes didn't really intend to hurt her, but she had no idea what he wanted her to say and it wasn't worth taking the risk. The battle going on overhead might not have been any threat to him, but a stray attack could potentially be lethal to her.

When Nauda felt a surge of Authority-tier cantae, she expected that the attack was coming. She looked up to the source and froze when she saw Roker floating overhead. He should have been Tythes's ally, but he was aiming his ruby staff directly downward with a look of hatred on his face.

For the first time in her life, Nauda saw a flicker of surprise on Tythes's face. An instant later the flames scorched downward and engulfed the cavern.

She should have died in that moment. When the shockwave passed, Nauda had no idea how she remained uninjured. The cavern felt like the inside of an oven even after the flames had passed, yet she was unharmed.

A woman floated at the mouth of the cavern, trailing burning robes. Gethyrue. She had entirely deflected the column of ruby fire... but at a cost. Her raised arm was burned black and the rest of her body trembled in the air. As she started to fall, the cantae she had used to defend ebbed away.

An animal snarl emerged from Tythes's throat. He leapt with such force that the shockwave drove Nauda into the wall. She only caught a glimpse of him flashing into the air, the impact sending Roker tumbling back through the air. But he didn't pursue, instead taking Gethyrue in his arms with surprising gentleness and disappearing.

Nauda slowly climbed her way back to the surface, wondering just what internal House Crimson conflict she had witnessed. It should have been a relief that her new soulhome had endured a clash of Authorities even worse than the one that had crippled her before. As Nauda returned to the violence on the surface, she took no comfort in it.

~ ~ ~

Nothing about the battle pleased Fiyu. Even as she unleashed another torrent of light to suppress her opponents, she frowned and struggled to focus.

She disliked that she had been pushed away from her companions. She disliked how there were so many unknown bodies moving around her, some allied and some opposed. And, after all of that, she disliked her uncertainty in the battle itself. Everyone agreed that this group of Fithans intended to attack the city, and they certainly seemed uncivilized when they ran snarling at her. But there was no pleasure to be found in putting them down, and she wondered about the purpose of the entire battle.

Another enemy leapt out of a stealth technique, snarling and swinging a sword, but Fiyu had been aware of his presence from the beginning. She generated a blade of cantae around her hand in order to defeat him, but didn't get a chance to swing before Associate Karchibol sent him flying.

"Be cautious." Associate Karchibol turned to her with a stern expression, as if he was a relative. "They may be brutes, but the wild tribes have sharp blades."

Fiyu nodded in acceptance and remained focused on the battle. It was true that she was at risk. The Archcrafters of the wild tribes were not particularly skilled, but their cantae was just as intense as hers and almost all used offensive techniques. She would have been safe with her companions, but in the unstable melee she required constant attention.

Her senses worked as hard as they could, tracking not only the movement of bodies and rocks but all of the smaller densities that could hide a lethal surprise. At Archcrafter her technique was still somewhat limited, so she struggled to contain all of it and simultaneously fight. So when Fiyu first felt the rhythmic pulsing at the edge of the battlefield, she barely noted it.

Then she realized that it was a pattern. A code.

Her name!

Fiyu whirled toward the source so quickly that she briefly broke her usual precautions. Another enemy struck at her, but she sent him flying away with an unformed burst of cantae. She scanned the edge of the battlefield with all her senses, even her eyes, and gasped as she saw a stealth technique evaporate.

Relative Guchiro! He was standing on the edge of the battlefield, exceedingly somber. She had imagined that their reunion would be joyous, but his grim expression was appropriate given that she was in the middle of a highly dangerous battle.

That didn't stop Fiyu from smiling so hard her cheeks hurt and beginning to move toward him. "Guchiro! Relative Guchiro! I am h-"

"Don't rush!" Associate Karchibol grabbed her by the upper arm, jerking her back.

In a single terrible moment, Fiyu knew what would happen. She could see it all play out, but she was too slow to act or even speak. If she had only found a moment to explain, she could have cleared up the entire misunderstanding, but Authorities moved so fast, so terribly fast...

Her relative's eyes blazed in anger and he swept across the battlefield in an instant. Associate Karchibol barely raised a barrier in time, and it shattered under her relative's strike, sending him staggering back. Even as Fiyu opened her mouth, Relative Guchiro shaped a bubble of protective cantae around her and then leapt to meet his opponent.

"Guchiro, no!" Fiyu called out louder, but she wasn't sure if her words reached them, and in the time it took her to speak, the two had exchanged multiple blows.

Even though she had advanced far in his absence, Relative Guchiro was still every bit as awe-inspiring as she remembered. When Associate Karchibol unleashed a swarm of cantae spheres, they were instantly speared by lances of darkness. More splintered against Associate Karchibol's defenses, but that had been a distraction: her relative had closed the distance between them, the blade at his hand easily slicing through the sphere.

Another Authority joined the battle, one of those representing House Crimson, striking Relative Guchiro with an avalanche of flame. Associate Karchibol joined the assault, and for a moment Fiyu feared for her relative. She saw him emerge, only for the Crimson Authority to slash a blade of fire through his body.

It passed through harmlessly. An instant later, Relative Guchiro was cutting through the Crimson Authority's arm while a tendril of darkness slithered underneath Associate Karchibol's defenses, grabbed his leg, and hurled him into the air. As both tumbled, her relative unleashed a luminous torrent that made her own lightburst look like a feeble candle.

The moment of silence after would be her opportunity. Fiyu drew in a breath to shout for him to stop, but then she saw a beam of crimson descend from above.

Cantae carved a deep furrow into the ground and Fiyu had to break free from her relative's defensive sphere in order to avoid it. As she had feared, it tore directly through the sphere, as well as several soulcrafters behind it: the source had been Acquaintance Wiltur. He lowered a finger with annoyance and Fiyu realized that it was too late.

Of course Relative Guchiro had evaded the beam, but he had also begun a counterattack. Spikes and tendrils of darkness struck Adversary Wiltur from all sides. As a Stronghold, of course he could break through them, but more emerged from the shadows endlessly.

He let out an angry shout, cantae exploding in all directions. All the power that had been swelling up within him emerged again, another terrible sphere suspended above where Relative Guchiro stood. Fiyu tried to cry a warning, but it was too late.

As the sphere began to descend, spikes of darkness began striking it from the side, repeated hammer blows that splintered when they struck but slowly altered its course. The crimson sphere was untouched, but it swung back at Adversary Wiltur, nearly striking him before flying into the distance and eclipsing a large part of the horizon in a second dawn.

Just when Fiyu thought that the battle could grow no worse, Unknown Tythes flew into the air. He was carrying an injured woman in his arms... it was Acquaintance Gethyrue. Fiyu had no idea what happened, but Tythes flew directly toward his relative and shouted loud enough for everyone to hear.

"An assassination attempt, father? You thought you could get away with that?"

Adversary Wiltur frowned, hesitating for the first time that Fiyu had seen. She feared that he would unveil a weapon, but she caught a glimpse of something else in his hands.

A weirkey. Fiyu felt a moment of relief, not understanding why her relative looked shocked. Then Adversary Wiltur snapped the weirkey in half and the world shattered into a million pieces.

-

Surprise. ^-^ I wanted this book to take Nauda's recovery seriously, as well as some critical relationship development, so I know some have felt the beginning was slow. But I didn't plan the book to be only about those elements, and what's been written so far has been setup to catapult things into the second half.