Chapter 326. Return Beacon (Patreon)

Fifty Hours Later

“This,” Achemiss says with a huff, “won’t work.” Frustration practically rolls off him.

Having Achemiss to consult with has drastically accelerated my progress towards addressing my weakness borne from awakening a third affinity.

In two days, I’ve found a solution. It requires messing with my soul, which can only be done indirectly in Eternity. Fixing it here would take more time than I can afford. But back home, where my soul is unprotected, I could fix it quickly. At least, if I’m right about what’s wrong.

How much longer do you think it would take him to find the same conclusion? Maria asks.

I’m not sure. He’s crippling himself by passing his ethereal body through a proxy. If he used his true body, he might find a solution in as little as a few hours or a few days. It’s possible he could have even found the solution before me, though I doubt it.

Why, because you have a Beginning affinity?

That’s part of it. Even if Achemiss is a brilliant necromancer with a thousand-year head start, time’s greatest bounty is experience. Experience isn’t as helpful when the problem is novel. In such cases, the one with superior intuition will find a solution first. Without spending time with Achemiss’s true body, I can’t say conclusively whether my raw intuition for Death affinity is better than his.

“You’re getting closer,” I tell Achemiss. I’ve been dropping hints that I’ve already found a solution for the past few hours. He’s so far proven oblivious.

“Closer,” he echoes, drawing the word out. “You’ve already done it, haven’t you?”

Finally. “I’m an ancient, Achemiss. Are you surprised?”

He breathes in deeply. “I suppose not.”

“I can show you the answer.”

He’s wearing a mask over his eyes, but I could swear that they’re boring into mine.

Moment of truth? Maria asks.

Moment of truth.

“You’ve been blind to the solution because you hide your true body, acting through an ancillary.” My eyes are piercing and cold, balancing the fire I imagine in his own gaze. “I can only show you if you let me.”

Achemiss frowns. “What gave this body away, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“For now, I mind. If you don’t want to see the solution, I won’t force it.”

Achemiss shakes his head. “Give me a few minutes.”

Suddenly, the double freezes like a statue.

I don’t move, evoking the image of the patient ancient, unhurried and unbothered. He’ll come when he’s ready. Asking him to expose his true body is already enough–I don’t need to pry into greater secrets, such as where he keeps the true body in stasis. Such details are irrelevant.

You’re… ready, Maria thinks, her thoughts tinged by surprise. I thought you’d be nervous at a minimum.

I was, when I first met him. We fear what we do not know. I can’t claim to really know Achemiss. I’ve seen only two sides of him–the shadowy, oppressive, mysterious ascendant who came to me in dreams, and this respectful, paranoid, intellectual artificer. Somewhere between the two extremes is the real him.

But he’s no longer the bogeyman he once was.

No, he is not. He’s just a man, as am I–as are all of us ascendants. Before, I told myself that I could defeat him, but now I say that with confidence.

A square section of the wall on the far side of the room sinks into the floor, revealing a boxy, unlit corridor. A man stands within, a dark silhouette, darker than the surrounding shadows.

His true body is there, Maria announces. The End arrows abruptly changed orientation, so he must have teleported there via array.

Achemiss glides forward across the floor, leaving the dark corridor for the well-lit workshop. Shadowy tendrils surround him and lick across his black robes like monochrome flames. Smooth pieces of bone are studded beneath layers of cloth in intricate, whirling patterns. A gorget made of black metal is fastened around his collar, hiding several necklaces underneath. Thin metal vambraces around his wrists serve the same purpose: obscuring bracelet artifacts from inspection. His fingers are exposed and adorned by rings, but protective Dark energy writhes around them like a noxious mist.

Unlike the Achemiss double, whose face was half covered by a mask, the real Achemiss’s face is unobscured. The black, wavy hair that tumbles to his shoulders matches the dark irises of his deep-set eyes. Strong, expressive eyebrows are pinched together as he draws near.

This is the man I expected. Achemiss hasn’t made much use of his Dark affinity during our time together–there hasn’t been a need. Now I realize it might not be a matter of need, but of convenience. The double should be powered primarily by necromancy. While it can use Dark affinity and channel ascendant energy, using those sources of power may be more taxing.

You’re nervous again, Maria observes. He’s the same man as before.

Is he? I wonder, apprehensive. How much of the previous Achemiss was a fabrication, intended to mislead me? What if he already solved the problem of my soul and feigned incompetence to make me lower my guard?

Ian, don’t get caught in a spiral of Beginning auguries, Maria says. Why would Achemiss reveal himself to you now if he didn’t care about learning the solution to your predicament? He’s showing himself because he believes you’re who you say you are–an ancient who has taken him as a protégé. From what you’ve told me of the past, Achemiss is a melodramatic person. He’s using this moment as a big reveal, playing himself up to impress you.

“Hello, Ancient Black,” Achemiss says deferentially.

“This is more along the lines of what I expected, meeting you,” I state.

Achemiss grins, full of swagger. “I was wondering if you’d be fooled into underestimating me. I find it’s best to let people see a version of me that suits their interests.”

I snort. “I can see how a hermit researcher might be a more palatable a persona.”

“I wasn’t sure if you came with pure intentions and was somewhat alarmed when you insisted on taking me as a protégé even when I acted foppish and obsequious. I shouldn’t be surprised that an ancient with Beginning affinity saw beyond the surface, however.”

“Enough mincing words,” I state coolly. “Come close and send your ethereal energy into mine. I’ll guide you.”

I draw the energy of the Blade of Revelation from Maria, forcing her transformation again. The weakness returns­; she pushes up against my side as support. It’s nothing I can’t handle in the short term and won’t affect my odds against Achemiss. It’s not like there’s going to be a drawn-out battle.

Achemiss takes a step forward and sends out a tendril of ethereal energy toward me.

“No, not like that.” I hold out my hand for him to grasp.

He raises an eyebrow and chuckles. “I’m not dismissing the Dark mist. Hold my hand and you’ll lose yours.”

Achemiss seems unaware of my ability to resist Dark energy. Unconcerned, I say, “Watch and learn.”

He smiles, his eyes glinting with interest. A Dark nebula circulates around his hand as it reaches for mine.

My thoughts race. My Beginning affinity responds to heightened stress, slowing the world down as a defense mechanism. My hand feels wooden, and the world feels like a dream. Without the ability to perfectly control my body, an elevated heart rate would betray my suave facade.

I distract myself by repeating the plan to Maria.

Remember, if the beacon doesn’t take you along, you need to give the artifact back to Suncloud. Also, you can use it to call me in a few minutes after the dust has settled. Then you’ll know who won.

Her emotions are in turmoil. And if I do come, I grab the beacon and run, right?

We’ve been over the plan many times; she’s not asking because she’s forgotten. Run away as fast as you can. If I fall, you’ll need to activate it immediately–or at the very least, destroy it.

Okay. I… She trails off, words failing. Instead, she sends emotions into me in a torrent.

I nearly buckle right then and lose my aloof, uncaring countenance.

You’ll be the death of me, Maria, I swear.

As the thought escapes, Achemiss’s hand meets mine. I strengthen my skin with ascendant energy, keeping the energy beneath the surface. My dark, rugged skin–transformed by the Blade of Revelation–resists Dark energy. A concentrated attack would pierce through my defenses, but the Dark mist that surrounds Achemiss’s fingers is a passive defense. It doesn’t do more than tickle.

I could leave now. Activate the beacon. Finally put an end to this.

A realization strikes me.

Preparation can only do so much. You can prepare counters to a million threats and still lose. I have prepared well, improving my affinities, honing my ascendant energy, and obtaining game-changing items like the Blade of Revelation and the shard of rock tied to Starbreak.

Karanos and the others told me to wait, to hone my skills further, to gain more artifacts. I rebuffed them. They thought it was impatience, and it was, in a sense. But I realize now that it was also my nature rearing its head.

I don’t consider myself impulsive, but I am someone who operates off instinct. I see opportunities and I seize them. The thought of planning for every contingency is anathema–I consider it impossible.

I’ve always known, deep down, that my best chance to defeat Achemiss would come from deception and seizing an opportunity.

I gaze into my supposed protégé’s eyes and greet his ethereal body with a tendril of my own. “I’ll demonstrate on you first.”

What are you waiting for?

There’s an opportunity here, and I can’t look away. I must take it.

Every second you delay is an opportunity for Achemiss to disengage, she says, vexed. How good of an opportunity is this?

“Demonstrate?” Achemiss asks, seizing my full attention.

I nod. “There’s a technique I’ve developed for inspecting souls in Eternity. When paired with a technique you utilized on me yesterday, the solution will become self-evident.” My words aren’t false, though they are misleading by implying that I developed the soul inspection technique long ago. I invented it this morning.

His expression doesn’t change, but I can tell he’s wrestling with indecision. He doesn’t want to let me into his ethereal body.

“Do you want the technique or not?” I ask, feigning indifference.

“Show me.”

Tendrils from my ethereal body enter Achemiss from his neck, shoulders, and hips. Dark energy doesn’t interfere with ethereal energy, though getting the tendrils past the bone armor is challenging, as they resist my necromancy. However, my ethereal energy has always been offensively inclined, with superior penetration.

I sense Maria’s realization over our bond. I can’t see as you two do. You’re sending your ethereal energy into his body, aren’t you? You’re targeting his soul.

Yes.

“Epiphany came to me when you described the elasticity of soul anchors,” I explain. “Gaining an affinity is akin to fundamentally changing the self to be more in tune with the world. When the self changes, it may destabilize the foundation of the soul, its anchor points. Within Eternity, where the soul is held beyond our reach, inspecting those anchor points is difficult.”

“Like seeing motes of dust in darkness,” Achemiss adds, his voice slightly tense with discomfort.

Every moment I send my energy deeper into Achemiss toward the kernel of his untouchable soul, fear and anticipation mounts. His hand tightens around mine and his Dark energy lashes at my skin, blistering my fingers. Since Dark annihilates tissue, there’s little dead substrate for me to work with; I can’t heal them now.

The pain is distant; my only concern is that Achemiss will wonder why I insist on holding his hand when mine is getting progressively ruined.

I can’t stall any longer. “This brings us to my discovery–I have a way to sense anchor points even in Eternity.”

Just as I dangle that tantalizing promise of knowledge, I click the return beacon.

I immediately feel the tug of being pulled away. Achemiss’s eyes widen. The last time he’s used a return beacon was over a thousand years ago. I wonder if he even knows what I’ve done.

A tight-lipped smile is still plastered on his face as his body leaves this plane and Eternity itself.

In the blink of an eye…

We’re back.

[ that's a wrap!!! end of book 6. book 7 ahoy. back to 3rd person narration! hope y'all enjoyed this installment. it meandered a bit but i think it was fun. at least i had fun writing it :) ]