Chapter 257 (Patreon)

Enjoy.


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"Where! Where is she!" the Hand demanded. He loomed before Zara like a bull ready to gore. The procession of guards and warriors had ground to a halt in a low dell to the south of the official road through the Verdant Pass. Everyone shied away, pulling back from the unsheathed power of the Hand of Pax'Vrell's core. His potency crackled in the shade. "I know you have her, Sorcerer!"

"Calm yourself Darius. I do not have your ward," Zara said, careful to keep her Spirit veiled by layers of her Intent. She gestured around herself, clearly indicating her person and the empty emerald dell.

"But you know where she's gone?" he asked.

"Only that she is safe," Zara said as Keru alighted on her shoulder. The blue and yellow kingfisher fluffed his feathers at the burly Adept Tier and Zara raised a finger to calmly stroke his breast. "I would think that is your only concern, no?"

"The Continent is wild, and this corner wilder than many. I'll not have her gallivanting with that—" Darius stopped himself and took a steadying breath. "My charge has gone missing, and there is no safety if it is not with me. That is my duty."

"Your charge left of her own free Will, yes?" Zara asked, and Darius narrowed his eyes. "Perhaps she enters dangerous waters, but that is her Choice as well. You can best protect her by preventing the Grandmaster Inquisitor from coming down on her head, eh?"

"Grandmaster—?" Reed looks back then at Zara. "Damn it, Sorcerer. You'll answer to the Duke if she is harmed."

"Were we not all staring down the gullet of a chimera, I would find that compelling," Zara scoffed. "As it is, the retaliation of the Inquisition will put paid to any vengeance your liege may levy."

"You speak truly? A Grandmaster is coming here?" The slight tremors of fear had finally begun to invade the rhythm of his Spirit. "To avenge its fallen members? That is not the province of a Grandmaster."

"It is when the Master Inquisitor is killed and a Primoridal has run amok as a result," Zara said, putting some fire in her words. "It is when the last of the Inquisition races to contact her. She is coming, and there is but one thing stopping her." She tapped a finger on the Hand's chest. "Your Choice, here and now. Do you choose to help, or to obstruct, and by so doing doom your ward to a sure death?"

Darius Reed's face was a thunderhead. He stood there, looming over her for several moments, before receding ever so slightly. "You put me between the blade and block, Zara Cyrene. I'll not forget it." He gestured imperiously for her to continue their journey. "I will end this threat, and in turn you will promise that Lady Dayne will return with me to Pax'Vrell. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Zara said, careful to keep the triumph from her Spirit. "Everyone! We have arrived."

There was some murmured confusion no few sidelong glances at the Hand, but the guards returned. Zara stepped closer to a small hillock at the center of the dell, covered only by long grasses and wildflowers.

"I don't understand," Vivianne said. She was a dwarf with dark red hair and hard lines. A suit of mail and leather covered her despite the series of styluses at her waist. "We are chasing the redcloaks. They are leagues ahead of us."

"I suggest we let the lady speak. Everyone! Form up and listen!" Kelgan said. The guard shuffled forward on their mounts, arranging themselves in a semi-circle around the hillock. He leaned on his dark spear in it's stirrup sheath. "Zara?"

"Thank you, Lieutenant Kelgan," Zara said before gesturing to the hillock behind her. "The redcloaks are ahead of us, and though the influx of monsters has slowed them, they have still passed beyond the Iron Gate. It is too far for us to catch them. At least, without help."

A song welled from her core, one that had been drilled into her for decades but never used. It spilled out into the dell, drifting hauntingly through the thick, shadowed forest. She could feel shock and awe flow around her as the song touched each of the guards, sweeping through their senses like an invigorating breeze. The song parted around the obstinate boulder of disdain that was the Hand, but it was no matter. The song of earth and ancient, Lost ways still served its purpose.

The hillock split apart.

Two stone plinths rose from the broken sod, no higher than a span, graven idols at their tops of a man and a woman. They were broken and cracked by time and weather, worn so smooth that all features were gone. Between the plinths, the earth sundered, splitting from itself until only a yawning, diagonal fissure remained. Ten feet long and two men across, it belched air scented with the deep secrets of the earth.

"We're going in there?" Kelgan asked. He clutched his spear tight and his reins tighter. "Avum won't fit though."

"Everyone dismount," Zara ordered. "And take the binding cloth from your saddlebags. You must cover their eyes and walk your mounts for the duration."

"Blindfolds?" Karp asked incredulously. He tugged nervously at his ginger beard. "What's in there?"

"Danger, among other things," Zara said before leading the way. Grouse, blindfolded and calm, followed behind her until the darkness swallowed them both.

"Damn Sorcerers," the Hand muttered, before he descended.

Slowly, one by one, they all followed.


* * *


They trudged through the dark, navigating the winding tunnels of the deep mines quickly but not without caution. Their line of sight was limited—even with Night Eye—due to the many blind corners. Felix, not possessing the Night Eye Skill, was at a bit of a loss around the wards but once they were far enough beyond them, the ambient Mana returned to its former levels.

The wards, and their key, fascinated him. They were clearly built with a way to pull ambient Mana into their formations, though Felix wasn't able to find their hidden sigaldry. It was likely buried by shaped stone or something similar, and he hadn't the time to search. Regardless, it was an interesting detail, as few workings in Haarwatch utilized an ambient Mana siphon. The Manalamps in the streets relied on a stead flow of tiny monster cores to function, which was why the lamplighters went about turning them on and off each dusk and dawn, and even the incredible work of Hector required them. The few places Felix had seen siphons were on either antique creations or the Archon's own workings. He shook his head. The Archon was a special case, and was working with a totally different form of sigaldry.

The common thread of antique constructs and creations was interesting, however. Was the technique hard to reproduce? He had seen it on the orichalcum Wall, and that was clearly a product of an ancient precursor civilization—the Nym, he knew. But Felix had also noted a simpler siphon array on the brass lamps in Zara's mansion. Were they ancient relics as well? Or more limited reproductions? If they could reproduce those effects, why not use them in the Manalamps on the city streets?

"It's about the expense," Alister explained softly and a little breathlessly. They were wading through a wide underground river, knee deep and extremely cold. "It-it would cost the city thousands upon thousands of crowns to have each of their Manalamps properly inscribed, not to mention the...intangibles." He took a shaky breath and kept moving, the cold clearly affecting him. "The array you're speaking of is one learned only by the upper echelons of the Inscription Guild, and they do not accept money in the traditional sense. They trade in secrets and knowledge."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense," Felix said. For him, the cold was invigorating, likely coming from some glacial source higher in the mountains, and it barely impacted his Song of Absolution. Pit was not a fan. His Cold Resistance, on the other hand, had jumped by two whole levels during their crossing.

We have to train that up with my Mantle sometime. He thought on all the things he needed to do. We haven't had a lot of time to train together, huh? Soon as this quest is done, we'll focus hard on that.

Pit trilled in dimmed enthusiasm. Sense images of his freezing limbs.

It's good for you. Makes you stronger and puts hair on your chest.

Pit looked down at his own chest, his horse-sized head batting into his breastplate. Felix smiled and ruffled the chimera's ears. "Then those brass lamps were expensive, huh?" he said to Alister.

"Un-unimaginably so, if you saw so many," Alister agreed, teeth chattering. "Unsurprising, if Zara is as old as she seems. A Master Tier and a Sorcerer to boot, she's likely stockpiled quite the collection."

"Too b-bad the Master Inquisitor blew it all up," Atar said bitterly through his own chills. His dark robes were dragging low, making it even harder for him to move. "I would have loved to see her library—Ah! Something touched me!"

A series of explosive splashes followed as Atar hurled no less than seven Sparkbolts into the water. Fire Mana was almost instantly quenched by the water and ice Mana that flowed deeply in the river, but in the light show he could see a few yard-long shapes slithering around them.

Voracious Eye!

Name: Veelo
Type: Beast
Level: 17
HP: 244/244
SP: 189/194
MP: 77/77
Lore: Born in freshwater rivers, Veelo revel in glacial streams when younger. As they grow older they require greater room for their massive sizes. Their scales sharpen with age and level, becoming deadly once they have pushed beyond level 30.
Strength: More Data Required
Weakness: More Data Required

"They're just veelo, guys," Felix said. They were basically big eels. He'd fought some before, when they were a lot larger and meaner. "Level 17. They're harmless."

"Ah! One just bit my leg!" Atar cried out. His voice echoed loudly in the cavern and his avum squawked in fear.

"Maybe because you just threw fire at them, you idiot!" Evie snapped, just as loud.

"Quiet, all of you," growled Harn. He was a bit shorter than Felix and the water was pushing closer to his middle thigh, but it didn't slow him a whit. He waded through the swarm of Veelo and released a single pulse of his near-Adept Spirit. The Veelo scattered. "You think a few veelo are all you have to worry about?"

Pit's Cold Resistance is level 29!

The Haarguard, through all of this, were remarkably even keeled. They seemed entirely too nervous to contribute much to the chaos, which was for the best. The mines passed with little else in the way of excitement, though grumbling between Evie and Atar was always at the edge of breaking into another fight. Alister and Vess acted as buffers, more often than not.

"How'd you do that pulse thing? With your Spirit," Felix asked Harn as they navigated the sloping tunnels. The ground was growing more even, more well traveled. They were close to the entrance. "I've noticed some powerful people have these auras to them, where their Spirit Aspect is affecting the world. I just can't figure out how to do it."

"Hrm," Harn pondered. He ducked below an overhang, pulling short on his reins to have his mount do the same. It was a dark bird, perhaps forest green in the daylight, but in the mines it looked dark as Pit's face. "Hasn't Zara been teaching you?"

"Some, but not enough," Felix said. Pit growled in sympathetic frustration. "She has been busy with other things, apparently."

"You sound frustrated," he said.

"I am."

"Too busy. Huh. Of all people, I'd figure she'd be bendin' over backwards to help you," he mused, his strange frog-mouthed great helm tilted to the side. What was left unsaid were the words: to help an Unbound.

"You'd think so, yeah. I dunno. I'm strong and my Skill levels are high and my combat training has only been getting more and more involved." Felix had kept his voice low, but he lowered it further as he and Harn took more of a lead. "But am I enough to face the Archon?"

"Are any of us?" Harn grunted right back at him. Felix's head tilted back. "You're takin' too much on your shoulders, kid. You're not alone. We may not be enough by ourselves, but we've proven several times now that we're damn hard to kill all together."

Felix laughed at that.

"As for the Spirit stuff, let's go over that once we're outta the city limits," Harn suggested. "It's a tricky technique to use, let alone perfect."

"That's fair," Felix said. "Thanks Harn."

"Don't mention it." Harn stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Truly. Don't mention it in front of the squirt. She's on my case about her core enough as it is."

Felix grinned and crossed his heart with his finger. "Secret's safe with me."

Harn rapped on his chest with a gauntlet and kept walking. Soon after that, they emerged into the upper levels of the mine, and quickly found their way into the late afternoon sunshine. The mine was located at the very edge of the Dust, relatively close to their old warehouse base, but not where he'd fought the Inquisition weeks ago. It also had the benefit of being inactive and fully warded. Harn's ward key let them pass out of the mouth of the mine with another parting of shimmering light.

"Ah, blessed sun! Glorious heat!" Atar whisper-shouted, spreading his arms and robes out beneath the summer sun.

"Gotta admit, I'm happy to get outta the dark," Evie said and Vess murmured in agreement. The heiress met Felix's eyes briefly before turning back to inspect her saddle.

"Where to now?" Kylar asked, before being shushed by one of his companions. "What? I can't ask?"

"Now we get moving," Felix said and pointed westward. "We're headed for the Wall and the forest beyond."

"The—" Kylar started before choking on the word. "The Foglands?"

"Exciting, right? Bit less interesting since the fog went away, but I hear a lot stronger monsters have started popping up," Evie said with a sharp smile, and the majority of the group paled.

"Enough," grunted Harn. "We're moving."

They moved through town as quietly as a bunch of folks on giant birds could, keeping to back streets and ruined byways as the sun tilted west. The shadows grew longer by the minute, which was helpful, as was the near-abandoned state of the Wall Quarter. Only a few, centrally located shops, taverns, and inns were functioning after the Apollyon smashed them apart like a kaiju movie reject. It was a far greater challenge, however, to cross the Wall unnoticed.

The Fiend's Legion were stationed around the Rent and carefully patrolling on the other side. Felix watched them for nearly an hour, realizing they were taking things far more seriously since the monster horde attacked. He would have been almost proud of them had they not been in his way.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Felix asked. "The floor is open to suggestions."

"Can we go...over the Wall?" Davum asked, his chin jutting out at the glowing orichalcum. "You can fly right? That's...that's what I heard."

Felix nodded. "You're not wrong, but it's pretty flashy. I wouldn't be able to get everyone over the Wall without being seen."

"Ah."

"What about your rocks?" Evie suggested.

"My rocks?" Felix asked.

"Yeah, the scripted rocks you made," Evie said, miming as if she were carving into a stone. "The boom rocks."

"Oh. Oh," Felix said, catching on. She means my grenades. Felix had a number of his crude, scripted grenades in his pack. Perhaps too many, but they'd been useful before. Felix still hadn't figured out a way to make them in a way that anyone could use one; as much of a tactical advantage that held, Felix was almost glad. The idea of everyone having access to explosives was...disconcerting at best. For now, each grenade took a significant amount of Mana to "arm" and then a thread of said Mana to follow it as it was thrown, to ignite it. That meant the Skill Mana Manipulation was necessary for anyone who wanted to use them. In the group, Atar, Alister, Harn, and Felix had the Skill, though he'd been trying to teach Vess and Evie.

Of the new folk, he wasn't sure. He made a mental note to get their full list of Skills and general capabilities.

"Okay. That's a good idea. What's your plan though?" he asked.

Evie laid it out and no one had any real objections. Soon enough, she had dropped into Stealth and all but ran up the Wall. Her ability to alter her own mass let her do some pretty amazing things, despite not having the stats or Skills to run up a wall. While she ran, a grenade was tucked into her bandolier of knives, and Felix maintained a stream of Mana vapor connecting him to the grenade despite the distance. It took a huge amount of Mana to manage what they were doing but, well, Felix had it. Why not use it?

Through the thread, he could feel when she hurled it off the top of the Wall, angling it to the north. Felix gritted his teeth and held on. His Mana dropped dozens of points by the second, but it was holding. Barely.

So far away, he thought. He had to keep the vision of his thread constant, letting his Mana pulse from his channels at a steady rate. Felix felt like taffy, pulled and twisted as it flew, until he felt the scripted stone land with a dull thud. Evie landed at his side only moments later, and he relaxed.

The vapor thread twisted, igniting the sigaldry.

*BOMF*

A muted boom sounded in the near distance, followed by a crackling, secondary discharge of violent force and lightning. The Legion exploded in a flurry of activity that was almost comedic. A large portion of them stumbled over themselves, caught absolutely flatfooted by the detonation and rushed toward the source of the disturbance without a single look back.

"See? Easy," Evie said.

Distracted, the Legion was simple to slip past, especially with Felix's Abyssal Skein covering most of them for good measure. He left Evie and Harn out of it, the two of the most capable at stealth in the group—ironically, considering Harn's big, bulky armor.

The treeline was simply to reach at that point.

They had begun.