Bloodcrete: Chapters 19-20 (The Weirkey Chronicles) (Patreon)

No edits necessary for these chapters, so they proceed as normal. There are some major revelations this week that I hope people will enjoy. This is an example of long term threads in this series: I referenced the House of the Lost starting back in the third book to set up for this moment, which will in turn set up many future sequences. Everything weaves together, increasingly as the series progresses.

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Chapter 19

Fiyu nervously kept track of her relative as he neared the others, hoping she wouldn't sense any attacks. Several cantae techniques were immediately directed toward him, but he kept his defenses down in a display of control she couldn't have matched. He stopped at a respectful distance and spoke calmly.

"One of these attackers is a known criminal in the Ruling Cities. He assaulted someone in Norro Yorthin and then fled. He cannot be taken as a representative of the city."

"Lies!" There was a brief argument among the Asplundat soulcrafters, then an Authority marched forward. He raised a piece of stone that Fiyu quickly realized was an identity slate. "This shoddy story is only intended to preempt our proof: this slate clearly identifies the outsider as a member of Norro Yorthin!"

"Why would they send an attacker with identification?" Relative Guchiro asked.

"Because you thought that you could claim the Dustwind Plateaus before we could stop you! We would never have been able to intercept your assault team if the Order of the Deepest Blue had not assisted us."

"Did they give you that slate?" Associate Karchibol spoke up sharply but clearly. "The Asplundat Movement claimed that they were not involved with the initial battle, yet now you reveal that the Order gave you supposed evidence of our guilt, already taken from the battle?"

All sides began to yell at once, and Fiyu found herself confused and uncertain. She was no longer vulnerable to such outbursts, but she couldn't untangle all the sides. Many facts about the situation seemed unclear to her. Her first theory was that it had all been an accident, but now she wondered if more than one side had a deception in play.

"Enough!" Adversary Wiltur shouted over the arguments and floated into the center of the field. "Let us ask the culprit himself."

A rope of red cantae floated out and wrapped around the man from Earth, pulling him into the air in front of the others. He had been glowering constantly from his bound position, but now produced concentrations of glowering that Fiyu had not known existed. Before anyone else could speak, a member of the Order stepped forward.

"This one is an outsider! Just as we have always taught, they work against us, and they summon demons! Ask the locals, this one has been worsening the attacks for months!"

"Shut up! My name is Raythe Darkblade, and all of you are idiots!" The outsider thrashed in his bonds. "Stop preaching this nonsense about outsiders. If you'd just listen to me, I could fix all of these stupid problems."

Multiple members of the Order began yelling imprecations. Adversary Wiltur frowned and his neck tightened as he examined the field, as if he was slightly troubled. The Asplundat Movement insisted that this was further evidence. Associate Karchibol yelled for everyone to be silent.

Amid it all, the outsider managed to grip something in his pocket. An enormous flare of cantae exploded from him, cracking the ground and sending a shockwave through the air.

Darkness surrounded Fiyu as her relative protected her in a sphere. Outside, her senses could barely keep up with the sudden explosion of movement. Many soulcrafters assumed treachery and attacked one another. If the Strongholds had joined them, they would have sundered the plateau, but they rose into the air to begin testing one another. Amidst it all.... where was the outsider?

Fiyu identified him with her senses just before the darkness slid away and she spotted him as well. The explosion of cantae from his device had freed him, and now he was running toward one of his allies. A Fithan Authority, and Fiyu suddenly felt certain that she knew why.

"Guchiro, there!" She cast out her senses in their direction, and he instantly understood.

Her relative burned across the distance in a streak of black, separating them with a wall of darkness. The Fithan Authority immediately attacked, and the two began trading bolts of cantae. After barely glancing at them, the outsider ran away from the fighting.

Though Fiyu wanted to follow him, she wasn't sure that she could. Without her relative, she was immensely vulnerable in this battle: even if the Strongholds held one another in check, there were multiple Authorities doing battle. Associate Krikree followed nervously and muttered "Fiyu-queen?" regularly. Fiyu decided to retreat in the same general direction and tried to extend her senses as far as possible to regain a sense of control.

Yet she only found the exact opposite. There were demons crawling within the chasms and up the sides of the plateau. Worse, they all moved in controlled ranks. When Fiyu looked beyond, she saw exactly what she had feared.

A second stage insectoid demon sat behind the rest of the ranks. The insect-like variety was slightly less powerful, but they were far more intelligent. When she had been a child, one of them had nearly killed her before a relative had saved her life. Feeling a similar shape after so long made her shudder, and for several heartbeats Fiyu was frozen in place.

But her new senses never faded, so she was immediately aware when the demons began combining. A small group of first stages crawled up the plateau, but they were only a distraction. The leader was guiding the others to rapidly summon new demons, and they had already formed five humanoid demons. If they could summon a third stage titan, it would be a threat even to Authorities, and the battle would become far more chaotic.

Fiyu pushed herself through her fear and rushed to the edge of the plateau. She took a deep breath, feeling her cantae flow naturally through her body, and then unleashed a burst of light. 

It exploded from her hands more broadly than she had expected, shattering the river of dust. Once her light would only have injured the second stage demons, but now it tore through them. It was so explosive that many of the fighters in the main battle turned toward her, and she almost hoped...

No, the insectoid demon had skittered to the side and evaded her attack. It looked up toward her, eyes glittering within the storm, and Fiyu froze in its glare. She distantly felt it raise a blade-like arm, then something sharp shot through the air toward her.

Only her ingrained combat instincts made her dodge aside, and the bolt still bit into her shoulder. Fiyu fell, clutching the wound, and struggled to refocus. That horrible creature was no doubt crawling toward her now, and she... she should have been able to fight it, but...

But she remembered...

Worse, she saw that the wave of distracting demons had reached the top and was advancing toward the farms. The local Fithans had been hiding within their homes while the Strongholds argued, but now they emerged to defend their land. Associate Krikree ran out to join them, drawing four weapons. It wouldn't be enough, she could see that. Even if they could throw back the first wave, they would be killed when the lead demon directed the others to sacrifice themselves into higher stages.

She wanted to at least defend the local Fithans, but they were too mixed with the demons already. The other fighters were turning away, more concerned about their rivals than a little collateral damage. Associate Krikree looked to her for guidance. Relative Guchiro was nowhere to be felt, likely still fighting the Authority. There was nothing she could do...

Fiyu saw rocks begin to rise into the air and gasped.

Friend Theo floated in the sky alongside Associate Dhan! Her companion raised a hand and the gravitational field intensified, lifting all the demons away. A deft wave of cantae from Associate Dhan sliced through the battlefield, taking out the demons and protecting the locals. All at once, Fiyu could breathe again.

"Are you alright?" Friend Theo floated down beside her and Fiyu was so overcome that she grasped his hand.

"Theo! There is a second stage leader, we have to kill it!"

He understood immediately and lifted her in his gravitational field. They flew over the side and down into the dust storm where the demons had gathered. She realized that he was using another technique as well, something that pushed the dust away from them, but the next moment all thought of techniques vanished.

Because the demonic leader was gone. She could still feel a few demons fleeing into the other canyons, but there was absolutely no sign of the second stage demon. It must have hidden within the crevices, and even now it might be watching her with a predator's gaze...

"Wait, Theo... the one from your world who started the conflict... I can feel him, over there..." She directed his attention, and to her surprise he let out a growl.

"Raythe? Seriously?" Theo pulled her along with him as he rushed after the fleeing person. They caught up with him quickly: the outsider had a Ruler's power, but he was only running normally. "What are you doing here?"

"Just who are you?" Unknown Raythe turned to look at them with a strange expression. "Wait a minute, are you from Ear-"

"Don't draw attention to us. What are you doing messing around here, with the Order of the Deepest Blue attacking outsiders?"

"That's exactly what I was trying to stop! These idiots have no idea how to run a society. I've been trying to tell them, but only a few will listen." Raythe drew himself up and scowled. "They didn't tell me there were any others. That's lame. You can play around in Fithe if you want, there are eight other worlds for me to explore."

Fiyu felt him grab something else in his pocket, then her senses slid away into an endless pit. Unknown Raythe vanished through a hole in reality, traveling to another world faster than she could follow. Perhaps if her relative had been present, he could have stopped or at least tracked the outsider, but it seemed that he had escaped.

"What's going on here?" Friend Theo asked her. "Dhan was just supposed to return me to Fithe, but we arrived in the middle of a disaster."

"So did I," Fiyu said. "It is all very confusing, but I am glad you're here."

"I'm not sure what we can do about Strongholds fighting, though..."

But her companion was unaware of the changing situation above, or at least he was until he belatedly began applying the new sensory technique he had been soulcrafting. She had already noticed that the cantae had died down and most of the forces had split. None of the Strongholds truly wanted bloodshed, not with so much uncertain, and the other soulcrafters had gradually followed suit.

By the time they returned to the surface, all sides had retreated to separate plateaus. They still looked like they were ready for a war, and Fiyu realized with dismay that Unknown Raythe would have been the central evidence. The person who had caused all the trouble had apparently attacked everyone and disappeared, which would give everyone any justification they wanted.

For a very brief time, Fiyu felt more optimistic. Relative Guchiro joined them, and he was unharmed. Associate Krikree also emerged, and she was so pleased to see "Ivo-sister" that Fiyu was encouraged by proxy. Since Betrayer Senka had not followed them, they only needed Friend Nauda and they would have an enjoyable group.

None of that lasted longer than the time it took them to rejoin the main Blacksilver encampment. Everyone was arguing about whether to attack the Asplundat Movement, whether to join up with the other Houses, and a dozen other things that left no room for her arguments. All of the discussion seemed very confused and unproductive to her.

Since it seemed that combat would not begin immediately, no side willing to start a continent-wide war, Fiyu and her companions made camp. Soon the four of them sat together, and she could tell from the tension in her relative's legs that he disliked these developments. Before he could voice an objection, Friend Theo spoke.

"I think the problem here is that no one is sure about anyone's motives." He glanced around the group, but no one objected. "I suspect Raythe either blundered his way here or someone manipulated him. It doesn't matter either way: everyone else is building conspiracies where there might be none."

"But wasn't the Asplundat Movement here before?" Fiyu said. "They were saying you reported that they had a war material called bloodcrete... is that actually true?"

"They did try to ship some into the area, but I think that was a preemptive measure, just like sending me. The truth is, both sides suspected that they'd have to go to war over the Dustwind Plateaus anyway. I suspect that someone from Tymetron sent the demons here to set off that conflict."

That statement required a discussion of his broader theories, and Fiyu soon felt as though she had a basic grasp of the situation. She had assumed that the large number of demons had manifested due to the collection of soulcrafters, but the fact that there was a mysterious artifact summoning them made the equation much worse. Combining the two could lead to even more dangerous demons, which could upset any balance between all the political forces.

Relative Guchiro clearly understood the same threat, because he pledged to scrutinize every inch of the Dustwind Plateaus in case they could pinpoint the artifact. Friend Theo twitched like he wanted to ask a question, but didn't. Instead, they discussed whether or not locating the artifact would actually prevent the war, and how they could potentially assist.

Truthfully, there was little they could do there. After a pause in the conversation, Relative Guchiro spoke again. "You suggested that everyone is here with false impressions. Is that actually true of every faction?"

"Good point." Friend Theo began counting them off on his fingers. "I think Norro Yorthin or the Asplundat Movement as a whole are truly motivated by the military concerns. But the Order of the Deepest Blue... they could easily be working for Tymetron, or manipulated by them. They still have some forces here as well, so we need to be alert for them."

"I was thinking of your House Crimson."

"Actually, they worry me more than anyone else. I can imagine why the Order is acting this way, but I don't understand what House Crimson can get out of this. In an uncertain fight like this, anyone who keeps their cards hidden is at a significant advantage."

"Umm..." As all attention turned on her, Fiyu forced herself to continue. "Could it be that Wiltur wants to establish himself as a leader? He acted like he was the only adult and the others were children. Would it benefit him if he was the only one who could negotiate a settlement?"

Relative Guchiro and Friend Theo discussed her suggestion. It was strange seeing the two of them speak to one another, and she found her head swiveling back and forth. Ordinarily Friend Theo reminded her of someone her own age, but when he spoke to her relative, something about him seemed much older. In any case, she was relieved that they took her suggestion seriously, even if they felt there was a missing variable.

"Gold beetles?" Associate Krikree had been completely silent up to that point, but now she pointed out toward the House of Coin camp. Fiyu realized that she had been following the conversation much more than she would have before. Perhaps staying with Ally Navim had been good for her.

"It's worth remembering them." Friend Theo spoke slowly as he stared out toward it - again not using his gravity senses. "I don't think they would have orchestrated any part of this: they wanted to trade with the Dustwind Plateaus, and they even used to have Houses in Asplundat territory. But their profit motive could have an effect on the conflict."

"Krikree not understand." She crouched lower and began cleaning her antennae. It was possible that she was speaking for all of them, because they simply didn't have enough information.

When the pause stretched longer, Fiyu decided to speak up again. "Would you like us to advise you regarding your gravity senses? They are not precisely like Ichili techniques, but there is considerable overlap."

"Actually, I was waiting to ask." Friend Theo glanced toward the Blacksilver camp, then shrugged. "I guess the intelligence I gained in the Gold Wastes isn't really relevant anymore, so there's no point reporting. Sure, let's work on it. I've been practicing, but I feel like I'm making a lot of mistakes."

"Extend your senses as far as you can," Relative Guchiro said. "We will compare and test your limits."

Friend Theo responded without arguing, and though Fiyu couldn't sense the details of his technique, her relative frowned carefully. After they spent some time analyzing, he gave his pronouncement. "Your personal sense appears to be somewhat imprecise, but it is enormously long range. If you fix your current errors and ascend even once, your range will exceed mine."

"I suppose that makes sense," Friend Theo said. "The force of gravity isn't as strong, but it operates over an infinite range. The thing is, I still want to use it for combat purposes."

"Your efforts will improve by shifting your goals. Your senses are not suited to analyzing individuals, but if you are only concerned with identifying all entities, you can specialize in a number of ways..."

That set off almost an hour of analysis and soulcrafting discussion. Fiyu was overjoyed to find that she was actually able to assist, even with her relative present. Relative Guchiro might be familiar with training wards, but he was many years removed from first discovering his own senses, and he didn't understand Friend Theo's thinking as well as she did. Fiyu found the discussion itself enjoyable and she was happy that her companion would make good progress with their advice.

Perhaps his greatest shortcoming was that he needed to dedicate more internal space to his new sense. Ordinarily Fiyu would have thought a remodel was necessary, but Relative Guchiro said that with his spherical flow, a little-used chamber on his second floor might synergize best. Fiyu was unsure, but Friend Theo seemed pleased: he had already been planning a mind-enhancing chamber, so designing one that also granted him the capacity for new senses worked well. Or perhaps he was merely pleased to better fill in a long-standing gap in his design.

For her part, Fiyu was happy to contribute some of the excess shadowminds she had collected. Friend Theo agreed that some of them would be appropriate, though he wasn't sure if they would be sufficient as a central material. Even for a start, however, they let him improve himself and begin testing the new techniques they had offered to develop his new sense.

Once Friend Theo left to practice, Fiyu joined her relative to begin searching the region for the demonic artifact. She discovered that her relative had already begun, but his broadest search had uncovered nothing. Presuming the device had a physical core, it was too well-hidden to be easily found. Still, she was hopeful that they might locate it.

Yes, the major forces on the Norron continent were nearly at war. Yes, she was still missing Friend Nauda. Yes, the demon leader had survived and was no doubt regrouping. But now that she was with companions again, Fiyu could feel optimistic.

That optimism lasted until a portal opened in the sky and tentacles dragged Friend Theo into nothingness. It vanished a moment later, before they could react. Across the plateaus, the House of the Lost began to move.

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Chapter 20

Theo had absolutely no warning before a tentacle that shouldn't exist wrapped around his body. It didn't feel slimy, it felt like reality was screaming in pain as it was twisted into a knot. He felt a brief sensation of being pulled, then it was overwhelmed by a grinding disorientation completely different from any gate or weirkey.

Then he was back in normal space. If he hadn't traveled through so many worlds, he might have been disoriented or even incapacitated, but the shock had made Theo completely alert. His gravity senses immediately oriented him to the fact that he'd only shifted across the plateaus, and his eyes revealed a number of beings around him. Each wore a cloak and looked roughly human, at least until something slithered underneath the fabric.

"The House of the Lost," Theo said, calmer than he felt. "You've been ignoring my letters."

"It's one of them," a cloaked figure to his left said. At least, Theo was reasonably certain that was its meaning. The words that reached him through soul translation writhed inside his mind.

Though the group seemed strange, and their cantae buzzed unnaturally, they were soulcrafters. And they felt like strong ones, largely Authorities. Considering the way they had kidnapped him and how they had addressed him so far, Theo decided that he didn't have time to waste on pleasantries and played his strongest card.

"I saw you fight Vistgil in the Chasm of Lamentations." That name finally got their attention. "How many of those spatial traps does he have? One of them nearly got me on Tatian."

"The threat is too high," one of the figures said. "Extract everything."

A squat cloak shifted forward and a tentacle extended from between the folds. An instant later, Theo was screaming as unnatural forces assaulted his mind. He hadn't even sensed a technique, it just felt like icy claws were reaching into his brain and scooping out memories. Letting the pain fuel him, he fought them back, snatching everything they tried to take.

When the sensation faded, Theo was left gasping for breath. He repeated in his mind that they were soulcrafters, over and over. They might seem like incomprehensible eldritch beings, but if they used cantae, he could resist them with cantae.

That was what he told himself to stay sane.

"Unusually resistant. An enhanced model?"

"Eliminate."

"No. Further study is required."

Another portal appeared beside him, but this time Theo was ready. Before anything could emerge, he applied his tunneling cantae technique directly to it. He might not be able to transport himself, but he could twist space and ruin other similar techniques. The portal distorted and collapsed.

Then a far larger cloak emerged from the shadows, burning with power. Its authority wiped away all other cantae, like they were nothing more than cheap light tricks. Theo suspected that this being was the same one he had seen in the Chasm, and it certainly felt like it was beyond Dominion. As it leaned down to inspect him, he decided that he needed to bet it all now.

"If you want to kill me, do it! But if you want information about Vistgil, you'll have to talk to me." He gathered enough power for a torsion bolt and pointed it at his own head. "If you're not working against him, I'd rather take death."

The leader uttered something completely incomprehensible, but it pulled back and released its power. One of the smaller figures stepped forward to speak. "We do not work for that being. But it is difficult to communicate with your kind about such matters."

"I understood you just fine in the Chasm."

"Because we are distorted by these worlds. It distorts essential meaning."

Since the tallest one was clearly the leader, Theo directed his attention toward it. "Then let's go to your world. Unless it's going to kill me instantly, I think we'd be able to communicate easiest there."

Several of the cloaks scoffed, and sounded decidedly human in doing so. But the leader's hood tilted strangely, then it slipped a tentacle from its sleeve. Theo caught a glimpse of a jagged hole in the world shaped roughly like a key, then his entire body tried to turn itself inside out.

It was definitely worse than any transition he'd made before. Theo felt like he had a throbbing heart everywhere in his body except his actual heart. When he tried to look around him, the only way he could understand it was like a mirror shattered into a million pieces, each reflecting another side of him. Trying to interpret the scene through gravity gave him a sense of twisting... and an impossibly vast being directly in front of him.

"Can you survive here?" When it spoke, the words tore into his mind, but at least they didn't distort like before.

"I think so." Theo winced, since his own words hurt him too. It was definitely one of the nastier experiences of his life, but if these creatures were really Vistgil's enemies and knew something important about him, he'd swallow broken glass if it let him communicate with them. "Let's talk."

"You resisted some of our analysis, but not all. Your soul has taken a twisted path. But you bear his taint."

"Because he controlled me, the first time I came to the Nine Worlds. Back then, I was too stupid to know any better. But in the end he killed me. I think the only reason that I survived is that I have a body back on Earth - my original world, I mean - and only my soul comes to the Nine."

"No longer."

"What?"

"Some of your kind do possess split natures, and that may once have been the case for you." The cloak leaned closer, and this time Theo didn't resist the power he felt examining him. "Yes, I can see the traces. When you returned to the Nine, you transferred yourself completely, body and soul. You possess a vestigial link to the form of an elderly body from your reality, but nothing exists there any longer."

Meaning that, if he died, there would be no third chance. Good thing he hadn't been treating this like a game. "But my theory was right? People from my world can come back because their souls and bodies are split?"

"Yes. The Nine Worlds are linked, separated by no more than a thin film of reality. Our reality, and others, are much further away. Your reality is different: it is separated from the rest by a vast wall. We had wondered if Vistgil created it to generate minions."

"I don't think he did. It seems more like he's taking us from our home."

"You are unusually reasonable for such beings." The cloak slid closer to him and he felt the intense sensation of floating above a planet-sized mouth filled with endless rows of teeth. "But we are... skeptical of Vistgil's tricks. If we are to work together, I require more access to your memory."

"Fine. Just be..." As soon as Theo loosened his mental control even slightly, the alien presence pressed in.

It hurt. More than he could find words for. But this felt less like an assault than a surgeon working with utter indifference. Theo had the inane thought that he should ask this being for soulcrafting tips and he almost giggled as he teetered on the edge of madness.

Then, all at once, the presence was gone and his mind was his own again. Apparently intact. The presence withdrew and the cloak folded in on itself, inverting space and then somehow unfolding back in reversed form.

"It seems you were not mistaken. Our enemy did not send you. This is unusual."

"What do you mean?" Theo asked. That should have been reassuring, but he was still trying to figure out if his organs were all in the right places. "I've already met at least one other person who came back without permission. I figured that was why Vistgil was setting so many passive traps."

"We do not have... your relationship to linear time. These things are difficult for us. But while traces of your spirit exist within me, it is somewhat clearer." The being turned its attention away from him and spoke in a cool voice. "Vistgil's methods have changed over the course of linear time. They have become increasingly efficient. Once, he did not know that beings from your reality would return. Now, their presence is unwelcome but predicted, and he uses many traps that destroy the soul permanently."

"How much time are we talking about?"

"Even for your kind, it depends on your frame of reference. But we believe that your previous presence in the Nine Worlds may have been among his earliest experiments. There was then an unusual gap in time, while you remained in your original reality, during which our enemy refined his methods. It seems likely that your return was not only unplanned, it was something he did not foresee."

Theo had hoped as much, but it was comforting to hear it repeated by a giant eldritch abomination. "Are there other flaws in his system? You were treating me like you expected me to be controlled by him."

"We are aware of only one other incident, occurring between your two presences here. Four beings from your reality were mishandled and escaped Vistgil's control. The beings of your kind in the Nine Worlds sometimes refer to them as the Siblings. They have fought Vistgil, but they have also fought us on sight, which was another reason for our suspicion."

"Can you at least tell me about them so that I can prepare?" Theo was actually sure that Senka had mentioned them before, but he'd take any information he could get.

"All of your kind appear very similar to us. We can tell you that they attempted to turn Vistgil's weapons against his allies, but they largely failed. During the course of their failure, they established an empire on the world called Deuxan. Then, a period of time I cannot determine later, three of the Siblings disappeared, leaving only one in control of their court. That is the sum of our knowledge."

"I see." Theo closed his eyes, which did no good at all in this shattered world. He forcibly pulled himself back together and chose his next words carefully. "I don't have an empire or great power. But like you said, Vistgil made mistakes with me, and those could be weaknesses. I want to exchange any information we can that might help either of us stop him."

"This is agreeable." The cloak shifted back and partially unraveled, revealing a hungry emptiness, then it became translucent. "I observed your memories, but your minds are little compatible with ours. So much of your realities are strange and petty and broken. But we may be able to cooperate."

"Before we discuss anything else... what do you and your people want?"

"To be left alone. Vistgil entered our world, forced many unnatural concepts upon us, and left it sundered. What you see here is one of the few areas we have reconstructed. Our capacities are greatly limited by exposure to these clustered realities."

So much for the idea that the House of the Lost had been twisted by the destruction of their world. Theo had a feeling that he really wouldn't have wanted to meet any of them before they were limited and distorted by the Nine Worlds.

"We do not understand Vistgil's actions in the slightest. He seems to seek destruction, but only on very precise terms. He possesses power equivalent to mine, so if he simply wished to exterminate life on the Nine Worlds, very few would be able to oppose him. At times he appears truly limited, but we are uncertain... all of your kind appear strangely limited by social, moral, or aesthetic rules. Local beings have suggested his are more limited, but the information is unclear."

Strangely, it might have been more beneficial for Theo to be able to read the being's memories than the other way around. Based on what he'd seen of Vistgil so far, Theo strongly felt that his actions had an underlying logic that would betray his purposes. But he had a feeling that looking into this being's memories might destroy his mind.

"Did you know anything about where he killed me?" Theo asked. "It was a world some call the Cleansed Lands, outside the Nine Worlds-"

"No. That place is not numbered among the Nine, but it is linked to them."

"I... see. Is it like the Chasm of Lamentations?"

"Similar, but larger and more deeply integrated."

"So the Nine Worlds are really more than just nine. I wonder why they got that name. So many of the other worlds seem destroyed, there might have been Twelve Worlds once. Even if they're not counting partial fragments, the Cleansed Lands seems large enough."

"We presumed that your kind had trouble counting."

Theo stared at the incomprehensible being, wondering if that had been a joke. There was no sign whatsoever, and he decided that wasn't a safe bet. "Is there anything else you know that would be of use to me?"

"That is a difficult question for us. Specify."

"You've been monitoring Vistgil's activity for a long time. What else has changed over that period?"

"We have attempted to monitor it, with limited success." The being was silent for some time, and its cloak briefly dissolved into tentacles before snapping back into place. "Our enemy has acquired allies along the linear path of time. Beings that are... more similar to him than to others of your kind. When he fought us, he did so alone. During your first presence, he was aware of beings similar to himself but in conflict with them. Such conflicts remain, even when they work together... we cannot speculate on the motivations and goals of such creatures."

It was more than he'd gotten from anyone else. Theo would have smiled if he thought it would mean anything. "Do you know any more about his allies? Or about their exact number?"

"These are difficult for us to determine. Both due to our nature and his design."

"Fine, we can leave that. Let me see if I understand what you know so far: Vistgil invites people from my reality into the Nine Worlds. He guides their paths and uses them in some way, then he kills them. If they have a body on Earth to return, he tries to eliminate them for good."

"Accurate."

"You were trying to split my brain open earlier, and I'm betting you've had more luck with others," Theo said wryly. "Not offended, just interested. Have you figured out anything about how he's using them?"

"It is difficult to determine." The being seemed to be doing its best, but Theo felt a roiling chaos growing beneath them. "Vistgil seems uninterested in their actions. All of his manipulations are to help them ascend as quickly as possible while remaining ignorant. Then they die in battle at Dominion."

"Wait, Dominion? Is it always at that tier?"

"The Siblings surpassed that point, and there have been occasional other exceptions. Some are extremely incompetent."

Including Theo himself. He had been trying to figure out Vistgil's motivations during their last encounter for a long time, but that was a new wrinkle. Apparently Theo had died earlier than average, which he hoped was due to being where he shouldn't instead of his stupidity.

"Alright, I think we're clear on that part." Theo rubbed his forehead and tried not to think about the fact that his fingers looked a bit too long and wiggly. He'd had so many questions for so long, and now he was struggling to sort all of them in his mind. "Why Earth? I mean, is Vistgil doing this with other realities too?"

"We had believed this information was commonly known to your kind." The being paused oddly, its attention directed outside their fractured world. "Yes, they are called the Order of the Deepest Blue. As they said, beings of your type influence the demonic systems of your reality and generate more demons."

"Wait, that wasn't propaganda?" That was one secret Theo didn't plan to share, but he would have to think about it later. "So we're causing more demons to be created just by existing?"

"All travel between all worlds generates demons. But the Nine are closely linked, while your origin is walled off by a larger wall of reality. This is the answer to your question: the beings of your 'Earth' are especially effective at generating demons."

"What does he get out of all this?"

"Unclear. The difference between all beings of your type is often opaque to us. Sometimes we can determine which beings are demons only because they do not kill one another as you do."

"So..." Theo had a few stray questions left, but he had the feeling that he wasn't going to get clear answers on everything. "You don't know anything else about his plans?"

"No, and we do not care to know. We wish to destroy him and then be left alone."

"Then I have another question. I know you said that linear time isn't natural to you, but maybe you're actually the best suited to this. Whenever I've gone between Earth and the Nine Worlds, a different amount of time has passed. Is that just how it works? Time is arbitrary within a world and not connected to others?"

"No." The being was silent for a very long time before answering. "All of the temporal lines are linked. Within the Nine, they are tied together. But the relationship between time in your reality and time here is dependent on specific variables of the space between worlds. It changes according to patterns, but we have not monitored those."

That answer was no comfort at all. Theo didn't have enough data points without talking to others, but based on his experience he had a good guess: the time difference seemed to be decreasing.

"What about the Artifacts of Elghiera?" he asked next. "Do you know about them?"

"Objects that enhance soulcrafting. Inappropriate for us. They predate our arrival. Vistgil grants them to most new arrivals, then removes them upon death to recycle. They are native to the Nine and not of interest to us, so we are unclear on other details."

"Alright, then. This is a different sort of question, but... do you have a name?"

"Such things are unnecessary."

Shut down quick. Theo shook his head and tried again. "That may be true for you, but do you see how 'my kind' uses them? If we work together, I'll need to refer to you and contact you, so-"

"No." The being began to drift backward, yet instead of shrinking its apparent size grew... without stopping, soon becoming larger than a house. "You have taken unusual steps to converse with us, but this has been draining. You are a Ruler. This will be the end of our collaboration."

"Wait, no!" Theo could feel the world starting to bend around him and struggled against it. "I can still be helpful to you. Don't you need someone to interpret Vistgil's actions you find incomprehensible?"

"You have already been a great help: we perceive that Vistgil is attempting to bind us in these conflicts to limit our effectiveness. Creating a House on Fithe was a mistake. We will instead withdraw so that we can strike at him more effectively."

"Do you have any idea what sort of power vacuum that would cause? I don't know how much individual lives matter to you, but there's a whole war out there that Vistgil has been setting up. Isn't it in your best interest to stop him?"

"At a meaningful scale, it is not relevant." The cloak was the size of a planet by now, its very presence threatening to overwhelm him. "We do not wish to see you again, but we wish you success against our mutual enemy. We will leave you a few items from our House that may be of use. Is there anything in particular you require?"

The best outcome would have been to change their mind, but Theo was starting to accept that would be impossible. And since they weren't likely to give him any ultimate weapons... "Do you have a weirkey to Noven, by any chance?"

"Trivial. This time is at an end."

A presence swept over him, and Theo braced himself for agony, but it passed surprisingly quickly. Instead of shattering again, he felt as though his mind swept back together, restoring the order that it preferred. Everything about him felt unpleasantly stretched, but it was infinitely preferable to existing in that other world.

When he could sense anything again, he was lying on his back in the Dustwind Plateaus. He blinked a few times, baffled by a sky that didn't reflect a thousand realities. Grass and dirt were pretty weird too, now that he thought about it.

Theo forced himself to snap out of it and sit up, but it was too late. There was no sign of the House of the Lost. He felt a few sublime materials lying in the grass and quickly snatched them before anyone else could show up first. The most powerful were a throbbing mass of twisted flesh and a bizarre shape, a living pattern that distorted every time he focused on it and seemed to wriggle in more than three dimensions. Just picking it up to move it into his soulhome was a bit of a challenge. In the process, something cool slipped out of his hand.

With his Ruler reflexes, he managed to catch it before it fell. Even before that, he knew what it would be: a pale white weirkey to Noven. 

After so long struggling to earn one through complicated politics on Fithe, it had simply been handed to him by the House of the Lost. That was the benefit of dealing with such powerful beings, he supposed. Even if he couldn't use it, he only needed a single allied Authority to instantly go to Noven and proceed with his plans. Fiyu's relative would do nicely.

Still fractured from his time in the other reality, Theo saw nothing strange about his thoughts summoning other people. A moment later he realized that a large number of soulcrafters were closing on his location. He wasn't sure what they had seen, but it seemed likely that all of the House of the Lost had simply disappeared. As he recalled the political balance that felt like a lifetime ago, he realized just how delicate it might be.

He was grateful that he recognized those who arrived first: Fiyu, Krikree, and Guchiro. All of them were on high alert, and the Strongholds would notice eventually. With no idea what would come out of his mouth if he tried to speak, he made a vague gesture to Fiyu.

Somehow she understood and wrapped them all in a sphere of her stealth. The technique was far more powerful than before, flowing naturally out of her. He wanted to admire it, but they needed to move. Guchiro lifted them with his cantae and they sped to the side, moving far from the site that the House of the Lost had previously occupied.

Others descended on that location, but it seemed that none of them could penetrate Fiyu's stealth. Once they were safe, Krikree dropped her weapons and jumped up to grab his coat with all four arms. "Ivo-sister, what? What?"

"I just... had a very strange conversation with the House of the Lost." Despite everything, it seemed that he could still speak. "They said... well, they said a lot of things, but the important thing is that they left. All of this may be some sort of trap set up by Vistgil, and they want nothing to do with it."

"Is there great danger, then?" Guchiro asked. Theo could only shrug.

"Not directly, I don't think. I think the biggest threat is still the Ruling Cities and Asplundat Movement going to war with one another."

Compared to everything that he had discussed with the eldritch being, all of that felt petty. Theo was still gripping his new weirkey tightly, and he couldn't help but lift it in front of his face to examine. Even with a bit more perspective, he couldn't see any flaw in it. Noven was really just one step away.

And once he was there, he could do so much. Finish working on the materials he needed to finally become an Authority, for a start. He could find another river for Senka and get some answers from her. After that, he could investigate his old companion Eratius and see if there were any buried secrets there. He'd forgotten to ask about his former companions, but he doubted such eldritch beings would have remembered anything so petty.

"Do you intend to leave?" Fiyu asked quietly. Theo realized that they were all looking at him and knew he should answer quickly, but found himself without words.

With multiple realities at stake, a war on a single continent felt almost meaningless. He tried to tell himself that there was nothing ethically wrong with leaving Norro Yorthin to fend for itself. The rational decision would definitely be to move forward and acquire enough power to make a difference where it really mattered.

And yet... that was what Raythe Darkblade would do. It was what he had done before, flitting from world to world and never really investing. No matter how he searched his heart for any deep affection for Norro Yorthin, he found nothing... but he knew he wasn't going to leave.

"No, we need to resolve things here." Theo smiled at Fiyu, but only briefly. "That means we have a lot of work to do."