Spellheart 10: Chapter 83 (Patreon)

Moments later, I was back in the Hearthwood. I began shouting orders before anyone could start bowing in my direction and told Mac where to scan and that The Challenger was doing something I didn't like.

[As you suspected,] Mac began, [The Challenger is up to no good.]

“What kind of no good?” I asked.

[The ship is vanishing from normal space and appearing at random locations across the world, firing weapons, and then vanishing to repeat the process. If I can complete an analysis of the enchantment diagrams you observed, I will have a better idea of what is going on.]

I frowned, stroking my chin in thought. Could he be...?

No, that shouldn’t be possible. Portals to the Primordial World were naturally occurring and could form anywhere. Surely, if they were all destroyed, more would form. And he couldn’t destroy every portal across all Ten Thousand Worlds?

That couldn't work. Impossible. Never in a million years.

Or could it?

If my enemy was taking the plan seriously, I had to do the same.

“There’s no need for an analysis, Mac. I know exactly what he’s trying to do. Since he can’t beat me, he plans on trapping me here.”

I grimaced. It was a good plan, assuming it could even work. Cut off from the resources of the Primordial World, he would surely grow stronger than me, given time.

Mac would double-check my work, but the more I thought about it the more confident I was that this was exactly what was happening. The Challenger was going to cut off all paths out of here. The portal I always used, the one in the capital of Deania, was already gone. I had Mac use the scanner to chart the locations of everywhere The Challenger appeared for future analysis. Still, I was pretty sure I’d find nothing there by now.

Clearly, the Cult of the Unblinking Eye had spent a long time looking for these portals, because The Challenger knew of far more than I did and where to find them. The Challenger was also a great deal faster than me. Even at top speed, I couldn’t catch up to a ship that could effectively materialize anywhere it wanted to be.

Chasing it down would require a planet-spanning defensive system that could identify and target it no matter where it materialized. I had the beginnings of an idea, but I realized I’d have to think about it a little more.

I had to fight back if my enemies wanted to trap me. There had to be something I could do...

How isolated was this world, really? How many planets were there in the sky overhead that were more than just points of light or splashes of color?

My mind went to the World of Struggle and Strife. I’d been ready for an awkward conversation with Grognak the Wargod before, so why not now?

He was an Immortal Ascendant, and he wouldn’t appreciate a magical ship from another dimension showing up to destroy his portals to the Primordial World. If he was warned, he would be able to stand guard over at least one of them. The Challenger’s weapons were mighty and fierce, but it would have to struggle against one of the Ten Thousand World’s true powerhouses.

I launched myself off the cobblestone streets of my city and took to the skies. The ground vanished beneath me, and I left the atmosphere behind. My sights were set on the World of Struggle and Strife.

The planets were no longer aligned, so crossing over would mean a much longer journey than usual. Hopefully, The Challenger would still be busy knocking out portals I never even knew about by the time I arrived.

The stars and planets in the sky were not as bright as I remembered, but I flew toward them anyway. I flew through empty space, gathering speed all the while. For spatial trips like this, during my recent travels, I’d learned that most of the journey was spent building speed. I would quickly go from twenty percent of the way there to ready to time to slow down as I approached some fraction of the speed of light.

Something was wrong this time, though, like the empty space between worlds was stretching far faster than it should be. Despite flying faster and faster, I wasn’t getting any closer to the World of Struggle and Strife.

There was only one explanation. As I’d feared, this world wasn’t as extensive as the one I was used to. The Ten Thousand Worlds had limited iterations of reality to spend, and mine was not worthy of that privilege.

Curses and damnation. So much for that plan. Perhaps I could break through space like I had in that black void by accelerating until the world could hold me back no further? But if I did that and I got cut off from The Wanderer again, I might never be able to return. No, it was too risky to try leaving so soon.

The Challenger and Boss of the Cult of the Unblinking Eye must have known this. I cursed inwardly and turned around, returning home at high speed. No doubt I was already too late to prevent the closure of the remaining Primordial World portals I didn’t know about.

I landed back in the Hearthwood, where Mac confirmed my theories.

[I’m afraid my analysis of the enchantment diagrams you provided suggests things are pretty much as you feared. A lot of that enchantment had to do with analyzing and manipulating the portal. I think he wanted to verify the world where we’re currently located was not a primary timeline while also tuning The Challenger’s weapons to the perfect frequency to destroy the portal.]

“Let me guess. Originally, he wanted us to pass through without detecting him or his ambush at all? They would have allowed us to just stroll right through the portal and then hit it with that enchantment the moment I stepped through. At which point, the portal would have cut me in half or something?”

[Worse,] Mac replied. [It looked like he was attempting to modify the portal to trap you in a sort of in-between pocket dimension. One that has a heavily distorted time field.]

My mind returned to the dark void I’d been trapped in once before, after a failed shift between dimensions. That place had been tough to escape, but not impossible. If they were coupled with some sort of effect that slowed down the relative passage of time within the strange space, I could see such a dimension becoming something extremely sinister. The few days it would take me to break out could stretch into decades or centuries. Yes, I could see someone both smart and ruthless coming up with a plan like that one.

But I’d foiled him by catching him in the act. That was some small prize. Now, he had to resort to an inferior plan of trapping me in an entire world, isolated from the wider cosmos for the time being.

“He’s underestimating us. He thinks he’s got us in a pickle jar we can’t get out of.”

[He’s unaware of The Wanderer’s full capabilities. Especially the fragment of The Challenger we seized. It contained a room that generated a portal to the Primordial World. If he knew we already possessed such a room, he would know that this plan to trap us failed before it began.]

“Very true. He’s completely failed already and doesn’t even know it. If we wanted to, we could strike back at him right away. But I wouldn't put it past him to make some sort of blockade in the Primordial World just in case we open a portal from our end by force.”

[Shall I call on your matriarchs? He will not be expecting a retaliatory strike so soon. We could strike with the element of surprise.]

I shook my head. “No, but do use the portal to keep an eye on things. Hopefully, the existence of the secret portal will make it hard to distort our respective time rates. In the meantime, we should make the most of this element of surprise.]

[You are planning to go on the offensive?]

I felt a slow smile crawling up the corners of my mouth as a plan took shape in my mind. “That’s exactly right. Now that I finally understand what’s going on, I think I can end things once and for all. All it’s going to take is one decisive blow. Rally my matriarchs, but not for battle. I will not attack and fail time and time again like our enemy does. When we spring our surprise attack, everything will all be over before he even realizes what happened.”

We had another Demigod meeting where I told my companions about my discoveries and how we were cut off from the Primordial World. They were frightened at first, then relieved when they realized I had a back door. My promise of a decisive counterstrike was met with loud approval, though not much patience.

“So we are to sit here and simply cultivate while we wait?” Yeminel asked.

I nodded. “That, and deal with the Planetary Defense Array. After all, disabling that thing was the shared dream that brought you all to my side. Getting the Cult of the Unblinking Eye out of the way ended up taking longer than planned, but here we finally are.”

Melaris wore a sour look on her face. “If this world doesn’t extend much beyond the bounds of the sky, then I fear shutting down the Planetary Defense Array won’t amount to much. This world isn’t a primary timeline and, at this point, is unlikely to merge into one.”

I gave her a sly smile. “You’d be surprised. Elara, come on in.”

Elara had been standing in wait by the door. Her agreement to come to my world with me had been an unexpected boon. Without her, the plan rapidly solidifying in my head would have been impossible to execute.

“Everyone, let me introduce you to Elara. She’s responsible for creating the Planetary Defense Array.”

People went stiff all around the table as Elara waved shyly.

“Wait, Elara? I thought we met already?” Yeminel said.

“Huh?” Elara asked in confusion.

“Yeah, you know us!” Yeminel pointed a finger at Elara.

“I don’t think this is the Elara we’ve met before,” Melaris interjected. “Check her cultivation. She is only a Late Sorcerer.”

What followed was a bit of confusion as I explained the Elara with us wasn’t the one people were used to. The elves got it pretty quickly, though, and soon we were hatching a plan. A plan to take control of the Planetary Defense Array and every single one like it.

“I know she’s only a Sorcerer, but we’re going to trust in Elara for a lot of this. She knows that thing in the sky better than any of us.”

There were nods all around the table. Usually getting a group of Demigods to listen to a Sorcerer would have been tough, but I suspect the fact that most people knew Elara as a powerful Demigod helped sway hearts and minds.

Soon, that array that had caused us so much trouble would be under our control. And armed with this ancient elven weapon, we would end things once and for all.


<Note>

Finally back to the array! You know, this is the longest Spellheart book in the series, and it's not even close. This one has 200 pages on the next largest. But that's how series conclusions seem to turn out for me.

In other news, work on Amazon Apocalypse 3 is proceeding well. I'm on chapter 17 or so as I'm uploading this, which is enough of a lead that there shouldn't be any break between releases. We'll go straight from one book to the next.