Spellheart 10: Chapter 33 (Patreon)

Nearly six hours had passed by the time I was fully healed, far longer than it normally must have taken.

I crawled out of the pod and flopped on the ground, shivering a little at the chill. Toward the end there, after the itchyness went away, I was actually starting to get comfortable in that vat of liquid.

“Mac, what’s the status of the battle?” I choked out as I coughed out some of the goopy stuff and rummaged around for a chance of clothes. Nothing was left of what I’d been wearing when I went into battle, but normally, someone would have laid something out for me.

[You will find your change of clothes waiting for you by the new medical shower. It’s off to your left,] Mac advised.

I quickly darted in, cleaned off, and changed. While I dried myself, Mac filled me in on what was happening outside.

[After your daring attack, The Challenger took a nose dive directly into the ground. It isn’t firing its weapons at us anymore. I’m not sure what you did, but a massive internal explosion blew out all the engines and every weapon we could see. The enemy ship is down, as far as we can tell.]

“So we won?” I asked hopefully.

[Well... not quite. Its hull proved completely impenetrable, even to your fellow Demigods. Worse, whatever systems are enough to create a shield. Whatever level their shield is at, it’s far higher than ours. We can’t get through it.]

“But they aren’t attacking us anymore, right?”

[That is correct.]

I let out a sigh of relief. My primary worry while I was in that tank was that my people had been fighting and dying on the walls while I lay in a bucket, not accomplishing much of anything. I was very glad to learn that wasn’t the case.

“Good. I want to take a look for myself.” I quickly made my way to the walls and confirmed everything Mac said was true. The Challenger was pointed nose-first into the ground like it had crash-landed.

“Any activity?” I asked Nela, who was the first Demigod I found on the walls.

“The fighting was intense for a little while there. I was dodging beams of light left and right! But whatever you did has them grounded. I’ve been firing off occasional attacks to drain the shield surrounding the downed ship, but that is all happening now. You missed little after your heroic, and reckless, sabotage mission.”

She nudged my arm reproachfully. I supposed I should have told my matriarchs what I was doing. They wouldn’t have been happy with it, though.

“What about those ten Wizards that came through before me?” I asked.

Nela smirked. “Yes, they came through singing your praises. I must say, dear, do you really need ten mind-controlled thralls? Most of the people in the Hearthwood are perfectly willing to do everything you say if only you ask. There’s no need for mind control. I'm sure there are plenty here who would be willing to roleplay anything you want.”

I chuckled at her teasing. “Very funny, but they aren’t for me. Try to fix them up with the rest. I have more than enough ladies on my plate, thank you very much. Now, so long as you have everything under control, I won’t get in your way. Just remember to call me the moment there’s trouble.”

“As long as you can promise the same. No more daring infiltrations without us. I’m a Demigod now, remember?” Nela looked me in the eye before leaning close and planting a kiss on my cheek.

I quickly returned the gesture. “Alright, point taken. I will see you again soon.” I shot a glance at the crashed form of The Challenger. “Now all I need to do is figure out how to crack that tin can open and end things for good. We’ve been under siege far too long already, and I won’t stand for another day of it.”

***

I started pacing the city back and forth, chin in hand. I was thinking, but I might as well make myself useful while doing that thinking. Minerva needed my presence to send out undead handymen around the city, and I could compartmentalize a chunk of my mind to help. At the same time, the bulk of me focused on thinking.

My hand not holding my chin in contemplation waved about and cast Earth aspect spells one after another. The magic seemed to flow a little easier after my time in the tank. Maybe I’d had some lingering damage, and scorching my meridians clean before regrowing them had helped clear out the issue.

Whatever was going on, I was certain the people of the Hearthwood were grateful. Despite Mac’s best efforts to stabilize the city’s foundations, the ground had cracked in several places. That had destroyed buildings and left fissures wide enough for an elf to fall into if they weren’t paying attention on their daily commute to work.

All in all, the air around the city was subdued but hopeful. While they couldn’t see over the walls, I suspected most of them knew the ravaged state of the lands outside our city. Word had definitely spread with all the refugees we’d taken in from our vassal kingdoms. Our battle was one felt across the continent.

But they had also seen the massive ship in the sky. And now they knew it had plummeted face-first into the ground while our Demigods pelted it from all sides. They were hopeful the hard times were at an end.

There were a few scuffles here and there. Not all our vassal nations had the same laws or customs that we did. Thankfully, one thing the Hearthwood definitely didn’t have in short supply was a police force. I had a lot of kids, and joining the local guard was a good step for those without high enough cultivation to fight in a battle like the one we were having.

We also had some rather impressive surveillance capabilities, thanks to The Wanderer. Spy cameras and hidden microphones were completely undetectable by magical senses and often proved rather effective. An all-seeing, all-knowing central authority should have terrified me, but it was okay when I did it. Emergency wartime measures and all.

Someday, I would get around to writing a better bill of rights for my people, but it was awfully easy to forget about when the city kept getting destroyed. The fact that a lot of citizens also seemed very aroused by the idea that their absolute monarch could drag them off the streets into his bed chambers at any time certainly helped. Heck, the only protest we’d had lately was people protesting I didn’t do that more often.

By the time we were done, I knew what I needed. I needed someone wiser than me, who’d maybe even done something like this before. In other words, I needed a consultant.

Normally, finding the right one would be quite difficult, but I had a shiny new headset that Louis was fond of. Through it, I could speak with an older version of myself.

I needed to investigate the abilities of that item a little more thoroughly anyway. If it truly did what it claimed, it would be no wonder why Louis was so fond of it.

I retreated to my Personal Chambers. Nowhere else would be as secure and safe for storing these priceless artifacts. Each was one of a kind and completely irreplaceable. I didn’t think I’d be getting more of them now that Louis had retreated inside The Challenger.

The real question was what to do with these artifacts now. So far I'd gotten no prompts from The Wanderer asking for them, but that didn't mean they couldn't be integrated. The locket I could probably safely integrate, that item seemed relatively straightforward. I imagined doing that would let me access the locket's abilities from anywhere, which would certainly be handy.

But what about the earpiece? That seemed a lot more questionable. I wasn't even sure what the thing really did yet, let alone what it would do when scrapped for parts. Integrating it before I was sure might be dangerous. I would have to put up with this thing a while longer, at least until I puzzled through its secrets.

I sat down, made myself comfortable, and then placed the headset over my ear. I pushed the button and waited for the voice on the other end to speak up again.

“There you are. I would have thought you’d be more eager to get more information from your future self,” the voice on the other end said.

“We have yet to establish that you are, in fact, a future version of me. For all I know, you could be a voice just pretending.”

The voice on the other end chuckled in just the way I would have. “What’s so hard to believe? You’ve seen things more unbelievable, haven’t you?”

“From what I understand of time travel, you shouldn’t be possible. Humans only have one real version of ourselves at a time. We can get a bit confusing with our personal timelines, but for you to exist, a version of me would have to sit down in the future and speak into a microphone, acting as you.”

“And whose to say you won’t?” the voice asked. “You have that crown, don’t you? The one that belonged to the Sunspire King. It could also do the impossible and grant wishes, albeit with a price.”

I frowned. I didn’t have the Sunspire King’s crown. Queen Lyanva was still hanging onto it. Was she supposed to give it to me at some later point? If so, surely this future version of me would mention that. But the way he spoke made me think he thought I already had it. It would have been a logical assumption since I was collecting these things, after all. I probably could get the crown from Tivana’s mother if I needed it.

This called for a test.

“You haven’t spoken the password. That’s why I’m suspicious of you.”

“Password?” the voice asked.

"Right now, I'm thinking of one. The one that would prove to me that you’re a future version of me.”

The voice chuckled, but this time, there seemed to be a hint of nervousness in it. “Can’t I just recite the names of all our matriarchs? And what happened during those early days in the Hearthwood? Few remember that little bonding ceremony of ours.”

“The password.” I insisted, voice growing harder as my suspicions grew.

“It’s been so long...” the voice groaned. “Let a man think a moment.”

“Well?” I asked.

“Come now, must we really? Ah, I think I have it. Quite the childish password. Should I really say it?”

“Yes. Now.”

“Fine... fine. The secret password was ‘I love big elf boobies.’ Satisfied?” the voice replied with a sigh.

I relaxed back into my chair. That really had been the password I’d been thinking of.

“Alright, voice. You’ve won a little trust with that,” I replied. “Now, I’m sure you know the problem I’m facing. I’ve got a can and no can opener. How do I bust open The Challenger?”

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” the voice on the other end replied. “It’s a good thing you brought your vassals to the Hearthwood. If I were you, I’d bring anyone else you care about over as well, because things aren’t going to be nearly as cheery for anyone pretty soon.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Just that there’s more going on than you think. I would sever your attachments to this lowly mortal plane. Focus on preparing for advancement to Immortal Ascension. New options will open up to you then, and you’ll find everything you cherish so much where you’re standing doesn’t matter so much anymore.”

“You’re asking me to abandon my family and everything I’ve built?” I asked, a frown forming on my face again.

“Yes. Tuck everything you care about inside The Wanderer for safekeeping, then leave on a journey of self-discovery and fulfillment. Maybe you can bring Sam and Dean along, though their odds of reaching Immortal Ascendant without your help are slim. They’ll probably have to wait until you can guide them as they guided you during your early days.”

“Not not so sure I can do that. I’ve worked hard to build this place. This is where all my friends and family are. I’m not going to just throw it in a locker because I’m tired of it. I can’t just leave and come back later.” I frowned. How much would I have to have changed to ask something like this of my past self? I didn’t like that line of thinking.

“It’s up to you what you choose,” the voice warned me. “But the tin can you mention? It’s a can of worms. Open it at your peril.”

“Yeah, I’m going to need a more thorough explanation than that,” I said.

“There are lots of worlds out there to explore. Many of them with women just as beautiful, fun, and in need of rescue as the elves you know and love. And many of those worlds will have hints and resources that will make reaching Immortal Ascendant much easier. Use them,” the voice urged me.

“You really don’t want me around the World of Sanctuary and Serenity, do you?”

“Look, I don’t want to answer your question on how to destroy The Challenger. It can be done, but it’s not in your best interests. Get what I’m saying?” the voice said.

“But I’m asking anyway. Are you going to answer?”

The other side of the line was quiet. He’d speak to me no further. I liked to think I was a little more helpful than that. I wasn’t the type to give people cryptic warnings or half-truths and expect them to figure out the answers on their own, was I?

I took the headset off and placed it back on the desk before me.

The voice on the other end of the line had satisfied my tests. Despite that, I wasn’t quite taking him at his word. He didn’t want me to finish Louis off, that was certain. In fact, he wanted me to leave this world behind entirely.

Why?

The more I learned, the more questions I had. I used to think I was knowledgeable. Or at least knew what was going on. The Cult of the Unblinking Eye had an evil plan to take over the world.

But now I had a voice from the future claiming to be me. Louis was apparently getting advice from his own future self, though I had my suspicions that the voice had his own agenda. Meanwhile, Louis had replaced all the original humans who joined the Cult of the Unblinking Eye with clones, including Ethan.

He wants to absorb The Wanderer with The Challenger to unlock its full features. For what? To open a way back to Earth? But Louis doesn’t want to go back to Earth. That was Tim’s wish. And Tim is long dead. And he knows for a fact he can’t win Sam, Dean, and me over with the promise of a way home.

And how did the Planetary Defense Network fit into all of this? Louis wanted that golem factory online for a few months more. Why? How did that fit in? None of it made any sense.

None of it made any sense yet, that is. Sooner or later, I would figure it out.

I just hoped I wouldn’t be too late.