Chapter 356. Walk Your Own Path (Patreon)

[ hey guys, really sorry for the lack of updates last month -- it wasn't planned, otherwise I would've paused patreon for september. i really appreciate your patience and understanding.

it was a very busy month for me -- i traveled to over 7 states, most of that for work, between my day job as an engineer (pennsylvania, new jersey, virginia, colorado) and as a publisher/author (georgia for dragoncon, which is essentially the main convention for fantasy authors to go to). lots of fires to put out all the time at work, you all probably know how it goes. unfortunately this story got put on the backburner amidst everything else. no excuse, of course, but i wanted to share a bit of what i've been up to (and prove i haven't just been lazing around lol... it's been quite the opposite q.q).

thankfully, october is **much** less busy. only one flight planned! yay. i'm going to do my very best to post as often as possible and make up some of the lost ground.

<3

-cae

also, note... i had to retcon part of the previous chapter. i low key finished it at like, 3 am, and i made a mistake. in the original version, i said that maria was going to talk to soolemar for the first time... but that's false. she met him many chapters ago near the start of book 7 when she and ian visited soolemar's cave and discussed the cobalt soul crystals. anyway, it was a while ago, and 3 am cae brain didn't remember.

here's the correction:

“The only danger is discovery,” Euryphel continued. “You need to get into the Sere Consortium and we know for a fact that they screen for necromancy on the borders. Ian was able to bring you in as an artifact when visiting Clara, but such a plan becomes complicated when you’re going alone. Then, you’ll need to travel to where Clara is meeting Achemiss. She wasn’t able to tell us where that was, but she said that if we use the transmission artifact tomorrow morning, we should be able to listen in on a meeting where the location will be discussed. You should already be in Sere by then.”

“Do you have a plan to send me over the border?”

Euryphel grinned and turned to Ian. “I think it’s time for Maria to meet your mentor.”

Ian coughed lightly. “She already has (author note: lmao...). But I agree–it will be indispensable for Maria to learn how to hide herself from detection. Sneaking her past the border is more than feasible, but we can’t assume Sere will only hunt for necromancers there.”

“Also worth considering is that Sere is expecting the presence of a powerful necromancer. They’re going to be wary of his actions, even if he’s only sending an avatar in his stead.”

Ian knew Maria had a point. Sere knew that the real Ian Dunai could control armies of constructs. If Dunai supposedly didn’t like the rifts Sere offered, or he found issue with the classified subject, what would stop him from rampaging with an undead army?

Nothing–unless Sere put emergency defenses against necromancy in place.

Ian just hoped Soolemar’s wisdom would be enough to conceal his lich.

then, without further ado... here is the actual new chapter!!! a literal month in the making because i've been adding to it sporadically and guilt finally forced me to try and finish it today. ]

“It’s your call,” Ian said, holding out the transmission artifact.

Rolling her eyes, Maria snagged it and motioned for the blade of revelation. Ian tossed it over haphazardly, forcing the lich to step forward to grab the hilt.

“That will never get old,” he said, smirking.

She’d seen his gaze on others she’d trained with in the past. It was an appreciation for her physical form that, from anyone else, would be unacceptable. When coming from Ian, though, it was oddly hilarious. Almost out of character.

“You’re a child.” She channeled ascendant energy into the blade, then slid its edge across the transmission artifact, transforming it. It didn’t look much different. Maria thumbed the activation button, but didn’t press it.

“You’re… nervous?” Ian cocked his head.

Maria flinched. He certainly hadn’t read the emotion through their bond; she had a tight lock on what she shared. It must have been Beginning helping him to read her body language. She wasn’t angry that Ian saw through her, but she was a private person, especially when it came to matters related to her… condition. You could love someone and still not want them to know everything you were feeling, if as much for your own sanity as theirs.

Maria had been a lich for over five years, now–at least from her perspective. While she had grown used to her new state of existence, Cayeun Suncloud’s azure diadem was like a security blanket, a way for her to slip on a mask of humanity.

She admittedly hadn’t explored much of her lich side while in Eternity. Most of her efforts had gone toward furthering her mastery over her affinities and perfecting her use of ascendant energy. She treated herself like an ascendant, albeit one who spawned close to her phylactery when she died, rather than returning to where she’d been minutes before, as was the case with true ascendants.

Ian had always treated her like a living person as well. Probably to assuage his own guilt over turning Maria into an undead.

But Maria really couldn’t deny that she was wasting her potential by not fully embracing her powers as a lich. She wasn’t human, and along with that came inconveniences, like being unable to taste and having muted emotions, but also strengths, like not dying–and presumably, many more.

“Not nervous, exactly,” Maria said, “there’s some anticipation mixed in.”

The next moment, Ian was out of his seat, his arms around her. She eased into his chest. “I want you to be strong,” he said, his voice tickling her ears. “Soolemar is as old as Achemiss, a true master, no weaker for not having ascended. If anything, staying here has forced him to focus solely on his own abilities, rather than on harnessing the borrowed power of Eternity.”

Maria hummed to show she was listening.

“There was no lich from you to learn from in Eternity, and all I had were the memories of Floria. Even here, there is no lich. Soolemar is… something else. If I’m being honest, something better, if your metric is how closely he’s able to pass as a human.”

Maria could feel the sting of that statement in the way he held her, his arms tightening slightly. Of course Ian blamed himself for making her into an inferior creature, rather than congratulating himself for bringing her back from death itself.

She clicked the button, her head already tilted to see behind.

Soolemar sat, his back arched unhealthily, clearly in the middle of inspecting something small, his two hands held up together. He didn’t so much as blink before saying, “I was in the middle of something.”

Ian smirked, his body twisting against Maria’s to see Soolemar. “Was it more important than your favorite pupil?”

He barked a laugh and stood up, brushing off his pants. “No. I was trying to put a treat into Divian’s puzzle chew toy.”

The reason was… ridiculous. And also believable–Soolemar doted on his silver-furred hound. Maria released a small chuckle, which brought Soolemar’s attention to her–and the fact that she was the one holding the transmission artifact.

“How can I help?” he asked, looking from her, to Ian, and back, his green eyes filled with mild uncertainty.

“I need to learn how to better conceal myself from those who might seek to hunt me,” Maria said, her voice crisp. “Specifically, from the eyes of Sere while within its borders.”

Soolemar frowned. “Where are you both now?”

“A secured conference room beneath Ichormai,” Ian answered. “As secure a place as is available to us.”

The old necromancer exhaled. “My concern is that teaching you from here won’t reap results. I don’t even know if it’s possible for you to do as I say, and even then, my methods aren’t foolproof. When I entered Sere a bit over a month ago, I treaded very carefully.”

Maria felt a bit discouraged, but didn’t let it show. “Anything will help.”

“The first step,” Soolemar said, walking around to properly settle into a chair across from them, “is detecting where they’re searching for necromancy. You should be able to if you look for it–it’ll be done with End arrays. If you’re stuck within a hovergloss car on a cross-country line, for instance, you won’t be able to see them, and you’ll run right through. A normal necromancer would simply control constructs to keep an eye out from the exterior of the hovergloss, but you’re more limited in this aspect.”

“So no high speed public transportation when I’m alone–a reasonable restriction, though somewhat obvious.”

Soolemar continued. “You should travel as much as possible by foot, in areas with less dense concentrations of people. And when you see the detection arrays, you should disarm them with your End. It’s a capability I’m jealous of.”

“And what about when I can’t disarm such arrays?” she asked. “What if they’re set underground, as many important arrays are?”

“You find a way to reach them, or you go around.”

“And if neither is an option?”

Ian cleared his throat. “Soolemar, Maria may need to access, or at least approach, a heavily guarded location, one with provisions put in place specifically for necromancers and their minions. We’re asking you for advice to execute such a mission without being discovered.”

Soolemar froze. “Ah.” His eyes glinted with understanding. “You’re not here for intelligence on Sere, but something more fundamental.”

“There are ways you hide yourself,” Ian said, “ways that aren’t just related to your practice. My hope is that Maria might learn them from you.” He glanced at his partner. “Maria should be telling you all of this herself–I’ll excuse myself.” He squeezed her hand, then separated from her and walked out the door.

“Rather abrupt,” Soolemar muttered softly.

His departure was, but Maria understood why Ian had left. It had been out of privacy.

Because ultimately, at her core… Maria found this entire situation and conversation–at least where she expected it to go–embarrassing. But she tempered that with her anticipation. From what Ian had told her, Soolemar had never divulged the secrets of his body to anyone before. From his contemplative expression, it seemed he was entertaining the notion.

Maybe that’s also why Ian left, Maria thought. He isn’t ready to inherit such knowledge from the old necromancer–yet. Or at least Soolemar hasn’t freely offered that knowledge up as an inheritance of sorts.

But in my case, there is a pressing need, and I already am what I am. I’m not a necromancer. Whatever he teaches me will only help me to better use my own power, versus in Ian’s case, allow him to create potentially unparalleled necromantic constructs.

Though she knew that Soolemar simply didn’t create powerful necromantic constructs… at least not now. He certainly didn’t have a lich at his beck and call.

The necromancer peered at her calmly. “How much has Ian taught you about controlling your own body?”

Maria reached up and deactivated Suncloud’s circlet. She felt the change wash over her, muting her senses and emotions. Soolemar had seen her change before when they’d visited his cave in Gnoste. “He hasn’t taught me anything. When I die, I respawn automatically. There’s not much to it.”

He tapped his lower jaw. “I forget at times how little he really knows. It’s easy to forget when he successfully turns someone into a lich without external guidance on the first attempt…” He trailed off. “He’s probably told you already that I’m not a lich.”

She inclined her head.

“Well, that’s not quite true. The easiest way to describe what I am is an evolved lich–something greater but built on the same principles. A fundamental difference is that I formed my phylactery within my own living body. It was an attempt to do something new, radical–part of an insight that led me to the pinnacle, while also barring my way to Eternity.

“But knowing the method of my creation won’t help you. But if we can focus on the differences between you and me, we might get somewhere. Again, I’ll start with the phylactery. It is what binds you to the world, calling you to manifest when your physical shell is destroyed.

“Sere’s methods to detect necromancy look for a few different signs–Death energy, though that only filters for those with a Death affinity, of which there are many. Necromancers are extremely rare among them, and even then, most are fledglings, self-taught and without soul sight. So they must look for other signs. Care to guess?”

“Connections between necromancers and their constructs?”

“Yes. Most necromancers aren’t skilled enough to even maintain connections to their constructs across long distances, and wouldn’t dare venture into public–or travel–with a necromantic construct near them. Only the most powerful and skilled would dare. People like me and Ian.”

“The exact kind of person Sere is looking for,” Maria realized, “and the only kind of necromancer who would pose a threat.”

“As an added bonus, such detection arrays would also quantify the number of connections sustained by a necromancer,” Soolemar said.

Maria drummed her fingers on the table. “So, if I go into Sere, and run into these arrays, my connection to Ian will set them off?”

He shook his head, his green eyes serious. “That–and your connection to your phylactery.” He sighed. “I avoid both of these problems courtesy of being my own creator and situating the phylactery at the core of my being.”

Maria scowled. “Then there is no hope for me to avoid notice should I need to enter an area encircled by inaccessible detection arrays?”

Soolemar held up two fingers. “I assume you can mute your connection with Ian. That alone wouldn’t be sufficient, but if you tell him you need the connection between you to be undetectable, I’m sure he could find a way to make it happen.”

“Do you already have such a method?” Maria asked.

He scoffed. “No. But it’s Ian, and both of you have ascendant energy.” He lowered a finger, leaving only one up. “As for the phylactery issue… if you keep it on your person, you should be able to fool detection arrays.”

Maria shook her head slowly. That was the worst possible news. The entire point of sending Maria was that she wouldn’t be in true danger–she could always just resurrect through the distant phylactery. It was also her extraction strategy.

“And if that’s not possible?”

Soolemar grinned. “Well, you give up on not being detected, unless, of course, you can sabotage the arrays. But being detected isn’t the end of the world. Just make sure you have a means to kill yourself to avoid capture, and ideally a method that will kill you even if you’re incapacitated.” The necromancer paused. “There’s a way to take advantage of every situation, Maria–never forget this. If it’s inevitable that you’ll be detected, then plan for it.”

“That’s what I’m doing.”

“I don’t understand the full context around what you’re doing. I don’t know why you’re going into Sere to a facility that’s supposedly heavily guarded. But I can guess it has something to do with Achemiss. You don’t need to confirm or deny that,” he said, putting up a hand, “but. If it is related to Achemiss… my old friend certainly won’t go anywhere in person. Pretend to be one of his constructs. His lich.”

Maria leaned back in her seat. If Sere thought she was one of Achemiss’s constructs, they wouldn’t act against her unless she took hostile action against the consortium.

“Will they be able to locate where my phylactery is with their arrays?”

“I don’t know,” Soolemar said. “You’ll be able to tell that when you get there. You’re the one with the End affinity.”

“Thanks for sharing the secrets of your undetectability, Mar,” she said, sighing, “even if there’s no easy solution for a ‘less evolved’ lich like me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Never forget, Maria–you’re not just a lich. You’re an ascendant lich. I just told you what I know about Sere’s arrays and means of detecting necromancy. Walk your own path.”

She smiled. “I’ve been walking my own path for most of my life, but it’s a good reminder.”

His green eyes crinkled at the corners. “Good luck, Eldemari.”