Bloodcrete: Chapters 28-29 (Patreon)

I hope everyone is having a good Thanksgiving and/or weekend. I'm thankful for those who care about the story I'm telling and have gotten me this far. ^-^

More and more pieces are moving into place. I hope that everyone will enjoy the epilogue next week, because it's an essential one. Not a plot twist for anything this book, but a reminder that the Nine Worlds keep moving forward even when the protagonists aren't present and that the consequences of actions aren't always easy to determine. I've been waiting to get to this one for a while.

But meanwhile, these are the last two normal chapters of Bloodcrete! I wanted to give this one a bit of breathing room at the end, because the next book will start with a bang.

-

Chapter 28

As soon as it was permissible, Fiyu retreated to a light-canceling tent. Once she was safely within the darkness, she removed her mask and slowly massaged her forehead. Her Corporeal Floor meant that she could use her senses more naturally for longer, but the fatigue of maintaining them over such a large battlefield for so long now produced some physical pain as well.

At least everything she felt outside was encouraging. No more people were dying of injuries, and House Blacksilver soulcrafters were moving everywhere to help rebuild. The local Fithans were joining with them to clean the battlefields and had made a deal to split all of the sublime materials remaining. There had been a problem with bondsfungi springing up, but Friend Nauda had been able to eliminate it before it grew out of hand.

Perhaps more importantly, House Crimson had entirely left the Dustwind Plateaus. The others said that Adversary Wiltur was trying to salvage as much of a victory as he could across the Ruling Cities, and Fiyu did not want to think about him. Unknown Tythes had also departed, and based on his actions, that was probably for the best.

Fiyu would have been happy to remain in her tent for a long time, but she felt Associate Dhan outside. He waited awkwardly, and would likely continue waiting. She replaced her mask and emerged.

"Do you need to speak with me?"

"I wanted to ask about your relative." Associate Dhan glanced over his shoulder, but Relative Guchiro was nowhere to be seen. "We were going to ask him if he would join House Blacksilver, but he's been ignoring us."

"Yes." Fiyu nodded in agreement, then as the silence stretched she realized that more was required. "I do not believe that my relative wishes to become more involved with Fithan politics."

"Are you sure you couldn't convince him? Now that Blacksilver is expanding, we need more Authorities to protect our claim."

"I understand, but it will not be possible. We will be leaving as well."

"So I've heard." Associate Dhan frowned as he stared over the plateaus. "We won't stop you, and it isn't like your membership would run out... I'm not sure we can really count the number of merits the three of you deserve for what you've done here."

"Please continue to work in our absence," Fiyu said. "When we return, you will have more Authorities."

Associate Dhan chuckled as he turned away. "The others said the same thing."

Fiyu nodded to him and retreated to her tent. She was glad to have helped both Blacksilver and the local workers, but she would be relieved to move on from Fithe.

~ ~ ~

"So the gamble paid off?"

"Oh, it paid off." Kathina sat back in the House of Coin chariot with her feet up on the side. "I've gone from being placed on probation to the brightest golden girl. Do you have any idea how many Fithan Discs our position in Norro Yorthin is worth?"

"I do, as a matter of fact," Theo said. "I was thinking that we're owed some of them."

"Nice try."

Theo sat down on the side of the chariot, facing in the opposite direction. "I actually thought we should talk about that. We're going to be leaving for a while, so I wanted to check on your House's view of things. Do you think it will remain stable?"

"Depends on what you mean. The potential war with the Asplundat Movement? Put off, but not forever." Kathina began tracing figures in the air. "But Norro Yorthin looks stable for the time being. Two Strongholds, plus ours. House Crimson has four Authorities to House Blacksilver's two, but everyone knows that Crimson is fractured after this. Plus, the Authority from the Dustwind Plateaus is basically counted as one of yours."

"Don't tell them that. If this alliance turns into a vassalage, they're going to be unhappy."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure. Don't worry, the House of Coin is highly invested in their success as a neutral region. Since the Asplundat Movement is being more cooperative, we might actually be able to trade with them. I thought that was just rhetoric when you said it, but it might work out after all."

"I wanted to talk to you about how you view that investment." Theo leaned in closer to capture her roving gaze. "None of this was in writing, and it can't ever be codified. But I want your promise that the House of Coin will keep the accounting fair. No charging Blacksilver or the Dustwind Plateaus for all this work."

"You don't need to worry, we consider it balanced." She ticked the numbers off on her fingers. "The sublime materials for Dhan? Already written off as protecting our stake in Norro Yorthin. Repairing the plateaus? Just an investment in future trade. Now, if Blacksilver wants our assistance in building a new branch of their House out here, or they want the relief to come through our channels, they'll have to pay for that. We want this to be a profitable relationship, after all."

When she put it like that, Theo could believe it. House Blacksilver might have been thrust onto a larger stage than it had handled in the past, but it would adapt. The local Fithans could navigate their entangled politics better than he could, as long as they didn't let things get out of hand, so he was happy to leave them to it. He had to admit, resolving things was more satisfying than just leaving the world behind.

"I actually have something for you." Kathina stretched back to open a panel beneath her seat and retrieved a small box. "This is an order put in by House Blacksilver, but they had to go through us. I hope it meets your requirements."

When Theo opened the lid of the box, he saw a small clear rock, like a pellet of glass. He lifted the box closer, and to his surprise the rock bumped against the bottom. It had been hovering... and when he pulled the box back, it remained in position. Outside containment, it seemed determined to remained fixed in space. Even when he grasped it directly, he needed to exert himself to pull it through the air.

Obviously meant to be an anchoring material, but Theo was more distracted by something else. "You said Blacksilver ordered this through you?" he asked. "This feels like a Siatan material."

"It is. Apparently one of their Authorities had been developing relationships there, but they needed our resources to make the trade. This wasn't the only material... but they went the extra mile to get this for you. That's why I hope it will fit your blueprint."

"It definitely should, but why?"

"You had no reason to stay on Fithe and risk your life for people you barely know. But you fought to stop their war and control the demons, exactly the opposite of these claims about Outsiders. Apparently that touched them. Now, I'm not so sentimental, but I think they want to retain their investment in you."

The material was exactly what he needed for his anchoring chamber. With some effort, Theo managed to draw it into his soulhome. There would definitely be further refinements before he ascended, but they had been reduced to a minor task. Assuming he could find the Noveni material he needed most, he could begin building toward Authority as quickly as possible.

After staying on Fithe for its own sake, he wasn't sure how he felt about being rewarded for it. In a sense, it tempted him to expect a return on every good deed. Yet Theo couldn't think about that for long, not when he had so much future work to look forward to.

The fleshmasker Authority he defeated had left behind two things of value: his sword armament and the weirkey that survived his soulhome's collapse. Theo had been looking forward to obtaining a Deuxan weirkey, but to his surprise it led to Siata. Before he might have taken it with him, but now he considered leaving it with Blacksilver...

"Do you know who you really need to be worried about?" Kathina leaned closer and grinned. "Maybe when you get back, I'll be running Norro Yorthin."

"We'll see." Theo grinned back and left to join the others.

~ ~ ~

Nauda stood at the edges of the plateaus, in the dead lands where the borders weren't exactly drawn. These plateaus weren't as high, which meant that the dust storms often washed over them, rendering them unsuitable for habitation. The Asplundat Movement wasn't likely to risk claiming them, especially not after having their nose bloodied in that fight.

Or so she thought. The suit of stone armor walking toward her might feel differently.

"I'm glad you came," Homez said as his stone armor sloughed off around him. "I didn't want our last conversation to end that way."

"We're all playing nice now, aren't we?" Nauda folded her arms and stared back at him. "You could have gone through official channels."

"I thought you might want to know that the demonic artifact is now in the possession of the Asplundat Movement... but that it was regrettably damaged beyond repair during the battle."

"Huh. That's bad luck."

"Yes, some are quite disappointed." Homez smiled very briefly downward before he finally met her gaze. "I've been thinking about what you said. Some Fithans have made the same arguments, but I dismissed them as self-interested. I guess it took someone from another world to make me re-think it."

"So you're taking over the Asplundat Movement and turning it into your empire?"

"I didn't say I agreed with everything. But you were right about our leaders... power corrupts everywhere. I still believe that the Movement is healthier for the world than the House system, but it isn't perfect." He handed her a scrap of blue cloth. "This might not mean much to you, but it's a piece of a Deepest Blue robe. Everyone who was listening to them is severely discredited in the Movement, after the events here. Their order has been ejected from our lands."

Nauda took the cloth and rubbed it between her fingers. Not a sublime material, but it felt satisfying. "I wish that was the end of it, but they aren't going away. A lot of people listened to their message and believed it."

"They may even be right, but as I see it, that doesn't matter. Fithans nearly let the demons get out of hand, all on their own."

For a time they stood in silence. The wind was picking up, so the dust was beginning to flow around their legs and would soon rise over them. Before it could, Nauda spoke up again.

"What will you do now?"

"I still have to speak to a lot of important figures," Homez said. "They'll likely promote me to Authority. Hopefully I can do a little good. I'm not sure I understand everything that took place here, but it's obvious there are others manipulating both sides for their own benefit. We can't allow that to continue."

"Can you prevent them making any more bloodcrete?"

"I doubt I can convince them to stop manufacturing it, but they won't be eager to deploy it again. Many in the Asplundat Movement were hungry for war. Losing so many here has soured their appetite."

"Then we won't see each other for some time, then."

"Perhaps, but it doesn't have to be that way." Homez turned away, but he smiled over his shoulder as he went. "Maybe you can visit us sometime. Perhaps after you see more of what we've built, one of us will convince the other."

He didn't give her time to answer, and Nauda wasn't sure what she would have said. She watched him until his stone armor closed around his body again, then walked in the other direction...

~ ~ ~

And almost immediately ran into Tythes. "Finally!" He hovered just above the dust clouds as if he didn't want to get his shoes dirty. "I've been waiting for you to get away from all these obnoxious people so we could talk one more time."

His appearance really had changed since she'd first seen him, trading in the wine-stained robes for a grand set of full House Crimson regalia. It included a pair of particularly fancy gloves with curled tips, so she didn't blame him for staying out of the dust. She did blame him for what he'd done.

"What do you want, Tythes?"

"Are you and the others really leaving? I was so hoping you would stay." Though Tythes adopted a simpering tone, his eyes remained deadly. "I hope you realize that you've ruined some of my father's plans that were years in the making. I was thinking the three of you would stick around to fight House Crimson."

"Does it need more fighting?" Nauda gestured vaguely toward the devastated plateaus. "He lost most of his secret army in the battle, he didn't get control of Norro Yorthin, and the whole thing was a bit of an embarrassment for him. With you undercutting his authority, House Crimson seems pretty much finished."

"And where do you think my father got that army? Wiltur of House Crimson has been stuck at Stronghold for a very long time, and those years have driven him to desperation. He won't be defeated by this, not even close."

Nauda walked past him. "If you're going to be all mysterious, I'm going to ignore you."

"Oh, come on!" Tythes threw one of his shoes at the back of her head.

"You're not convincing me that way." Nauda rubbed the back of her head, even though it hadn't hurt. As she partially turned, she noticed that she had assumed wrongly: the shoe on the ground was an ordinary slipper and he still wore both of his curled shoes. "Wait, do you keep extra shoes to throw at people?"

"Those are my throwing shoes!"

In response, Nauda stomped the shoe with her full power, rendering it a smear of leather. "Tythes, I saw how many lives you were willing to sacrifice. If you really think you can deceive me this way, you've been wasting all this time."

"Fine." He descended into the dust opposite her, his eyes growing cold. "My father is in contact with an organization that spans worlds. I don't know their exact identity, but I know they're powerful enough to lend him that army of fleshmaskers. They'll be displeased by his failure, but neither they nor my father will give up."

"On what?"

"On making all of the Norron continent into a single power. One House Crimson, stretching from ocean to ocean, with my father at the head." Tythes gave her an uncomfortable smile that looked more honest than anything he'd shown before. "That was supposed to be my inheritance, but I changed my mind. And that's the actual truth."

"Not enough, as far as I'm concerned." Nauda shook her head and turned away again. "Either think more carefully about what you want, Tythes, or have a better plan before we come back."

-

Chapter 29

Returning to Norro Yorthin was pleasant, especially because Fiyu was able to enjoy a sublime meal in the State of Rest with her companions. But when it came time to prepare for their journey, she was increasingly alone or with her relative. Now that she had a Ruler's storage capacity, she wanted to take along anything she could possibly need.

"Is it cold on Noven?" she asked.

"Fiyu," Relative Guchiro said gently, "you must realize that Noven includes both ice caps and steaming jungles."

"Is it cold where we're going on Noven?"

"It seems that you are going to be moving more than a little, due to your companion's ambitions. In general, the temperature on Noven varies depending on whether you are above or below the clouds. Even the upper mountains can become cold at low sun phases, but I believe Ichil has more than prepared you for the temperatures we are likely to encounter."

Nodding in understanding, Fiyu selected three fur overcoats, three scarves, and several pairs of mittens for herself and both her companions. Water had been handled, and she had good stores of food, but it occurred to her that they might require a source of fire that didn't use cantae. While she considered the available options, her relative spoke again.

"The more relevant factor about Noven is that the world has nine suns."

"Oh my, how horrible." Fiyu examined Relative Guchiro's face, just in case he had picked up joking habits from Fithans. He had not.

"They don't produce as much heat as you would expect. It is one of the many things I do not fully understand about that world. I have spent only a little time there, so I am intrigued by what we will learn."

"Guchiro, I... feel somewhat guilty that you must still protect me. Normally I would be able to take care of myself by now, but I am facing such substantial threats..."

"You don't need to feel guilty, Fiyu. I am glad to help you, and your companions will soon be ascending to Authority." He stepped closer and pulled her into his embrace. "When the time comes, you will be able to fully repay me."

~ ~ ~

Despite their desire to move onward, Nauda had time for one more leafpuller visit. She sat atop the highest mound and watched the Slescan sun set one more time. Its amethyst light bathed the rising spires and cast the statues as a shadow maze of strange new forms.

Of course she would have insisted if Theo had argued about it, because there were so many things she needed to check. She wanted to be sure that the two colonies of beetles had merged successfully and weren't under threat. Conversation with Queen Yeshir made it clear that she couldn't be turned against Tythes, after he had stolen one of her enemies' armies, but she wasn't likely to snap and slaughter the beetles helping build Gray-Blue-Gold hive.

If Nauda was honest with herself, her main reason was wanting to hear their songs one more time.

[We have a gift for you.] Bluepetal crawled up the mound behind her, bearing something in his mouth. Nauda took the small vibrating box curiously, then smiled as she understood.

"This is a sublime hive?"

[Yes. The royal bees have produced excess honey, and as the environment was enriched, it eventually produced this. It should be a perfect match for the honey you used to soulcraft.]

Nauda had already drawn it into her soulhome, where the hive became as large as her head. Unlike the real bees in the beetle hives, the bees that buzzed around it were a sublime material - half-way to being an actual living being, and remarkably heavy in her home. If she hadn't spent so much time feeding and strengthening her heartoak, it might have been too much, but it felt right in her upper boughs.

"Thank you, Bluepetal." Nauda carefully reached out and touched the beetle's shell. "I didn't do this for the sublime materials. I hope you know that."

[We know. But your colony has accepted you as a symbiote, and they want you to thrive. It took them some time to understand that you needed different things to make you happy.]

"You said they accepted me... what about you?"

[I am curious about what will come of this.] Bluepetal said no more, simply settling down beside her as they both listened.

Around them, the beetle mounds had grown into a small city. They had requested her help with a few tasks, but the majority of it they had built on their own. In addition to all the new mounds and tunnels, they had built a defensive wall that was patrolled by soldier ants. There were even more sculptures than before, including a statue of her. She had a horn and looked a bit too much like a beetle, but it was definitely her.

Back on Fithe, Nauda had mocked Tythes for not being clear on exactly what he wanted. One more way she was a hypocrite, because she had absolutely no idea what she was doing on Slest.

~ ~ ~

When it came time to use the weirkey, Theo had wanted to simply vanish without goodbyes. He had made all the business arrangements and even helped stave off war, so they didn't need any grand emotional displays from him. Yet somehow he found himself consoling an anxious Slescan.

"Ivo-sister." Krikree latched onto his shoulder with her three working arms, her antennae bouncing in his face. "Krikree want scout. Krikree want go."

"There's too much you need to do here." Theo gently extracted his coat from her fingers. "And you need to be careful so that your arm fully heals."

"Krikree heal soon!"

"Do you remember the soulcrafting designs I showed you?"

Finally peeling away, Krikree dropped down to her usual crouch. "Krikree remember. Krikree soulcraft hard. Ivo-sister return."

He wasn't sure if she was forming a statement or a question. Since she still looked unhappy, he bent down beside her. "You won't be alone. You can visit the farmers any time you want, and you'll be able to stay with Navim. You like Navim now, right?"

"Navim-what good!"

The Mundhin himself had stood by the entire time, offering neither comment nor judgment. When Theo straightened up, he wished that he could shake Navim's hand, but settled for nodding to him. He got an inclined gem sphere in return.

"I have long wished that I could join your group for a longer venture," Navim said quietly. "Not as damaged cargo, I mean."

"If you wanted to come with us, you could," Theo said. Navim might be a slight liability as an Archcrafter, but that could change, and he had other relevant skills.

"No, I believe that it is time for me to reflect on my experiences and take my own path. I intend to write a monograph on all I have seen here, and perhaps share it with my original colleagues. The gate to Arbai is welcome, but... it is not home."

"I understand. As soon as we get our weirkeys, we'll make sure that we catch up with you."

There wasn't any need to say more, so Theo finally turned away from the two and left the Arbaian quarter. As he went, a small shadow detached itself from the gap between two other houses. Senka ran along beside him, then to his surprise lifted into the air, hovering at a matched pace.

"How long have you been able to do that?"

"I can when I'm focused enough." Senka shot him a sharp grin. "I didn't go along with you before because I would have been a liability, but that's going to change soon. I hope it's going to change a lot."

Theo smiled back. He was looking forward to Noven even more than she was, because it potentially held so much. As intensely as he was anticipating a perfect ascension to Authority, he wanted answers even more.

The House of the Lost had just whetted his appetite. Now that he knew that Vistgil had made mistakes in the early days of his system, Theo was even more determined to investigate his old allies. Compared to the Aathali messiness of Khaluu, the Noveni kept extensive family records, so he could easily investigate Eratius. It might lead to another trap from Vistgil, but that only motivated him more. He was prepared this time, and he'd find his way to the truth.

He met the others in the Blacksilver courtyard, all of them prepared in their own ways. No huge Houses, random civilians, or allies: just the three of them, Guchiro, and Senka. After everything on Fithe, a blank slate on a new world sounded wonderful, and Theo couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"There are a few things we need to be careful of," he told them, "but Noven shouldn't be a problem. So long as we stick to their divine laws, we shouldn't have to fight for our lives. We'll be tested, unquestionably, but we're more than equal to it. Now that we've wrapped up everything else, we can focus on ascension."

Nauda clasped his arm with a smile. Fiyu stepped closer to them and bobbed her head in agreement. Senka smirked and rolled her eyes.

Guchiro raised the weirkey and they all stepped across eternity to Noven.