Chapter Three Hundred And Forty Eight - 348
"Why concern yourself with Isla's charge? Eh? Have you resolved your issues with the...Primordial child?"
A small head hovered above a beaten copper basin filled with aquamarine liquid, connected to its pool by shimmering threads that animated its puppet-like facsimile. The head pivoted and peered up at Zara, it's rheumy eyes flexing in a way that a normal face could never have accomplished.
"No, Mauvim, and new challenges await us," Zara said to her teacher. "He has claimed a Territory. A Lost one, at that, establishing himself as an Autarch above one of the most complex Seats I have ever witnessed."
"Yes, yes. We saw the notification as much as you did," Mauvim said sourly. "I had hoped you would keep him on a tighter leash, child. Now he's gone and riled up every nation within spitting distance of the Hierarchy's western border."
"We are not collars for the Unbound, we are liberators," she admonished. Her mentor's slack face crumpled with annoyance, but Zara pressed on. "HeMauvim, he has progressed through his Omen Path, and by all accounts has returned ever more potent than before. The window during which I could force him to do anything has passed us by."
"Hm, an Omen Path for one so young. He is not yet an Adept?" the head asked. "Surely he could not stand against a Master."
"He stands at the cusp of Adept Tier, that much I can sense from his core space. But I personally witnessed him trounce an Adept warrior with little effort. From what I saw, I suspect a Master would provide him with a challenge, at best."
"I find that unlikely, Zara."
"Would that you could feel his power personally. It is a storm he holds within him. I would not envy anyone caught in his path when that storm breaks."
"So strong so quickly," Mauvim muttered. "Do you trust him? In finding this other Unbound, finding Isla, do you trust this Felix to do the right thing? To make the right Choice?"
Zara looked up, as if staring through the stone at the Temple and Spirit Tree sprawling above. She felt him everywhere, in everything beneath that Tree, a mistake that she still couldn't overcome now that she was aware of it. He had successfully surprised her earlier because she could not differentiate between him and the air itself. Had he wished ill on her, Zara would never have seen it coming. Instead, he'd asked for explanations and listened calmly as she'd laid out the truth of their order. He had flinched, but no more than anyone might when faced with the danger that was coming.
"Zara? What say you?" Mauvim's tiny, Mana-wrought face squinted at her intently. "Speak up, girl. If I'm to tell the others of this development, I need the whole of it from you. Will he Choose to fight?"
Zara cleared her throat. "He will."
"He must," Mauvim rasped. "If he can also rescue another Unbound from the grasp of the Hierophant, then all the better." The tiny, withered face pursed its lips, considering. "Can you tell me of how you're reaching the Expanse soon enough for it to matter? I fear Isla and this Minotaur will fall before you reach them."
"I cannot say. Only that there is a way."
"Secrets? From me?" Mauvim cracked a smile at her. "My but this Mask is a rebellious one."
Zara snorted.
Mauvim sighed. "Very well. Take your charge after Isla. We have not heard from here these past weeks, and that is unusual, even for one of her temperament. Find her, or complete her duty yourself, before the Paladins can."
"It will be done, Mauvim."
"Perhaps this orbital section can go here," Felix suggested, pointing out a cluster of tertiary sigils that Alister had sketched out in charcoal. "It'd reinforce the edges of the array."
"Too inflexible," Hector pointed out. "Your team would have to remain in rigid formation throughout the entire journey. Do you know how long it's going to take?"
Felix shrugged and Atar carefully kept his face neutral. The man hadn't spread the word on his Shadowgates, and for good reason; news like that had a tendency to spread far and wide, fast. Atar followed his lead and hadn't even told Alister all the details, other than he was going on a trip.
"What can you tell us of this journey?" Alister asked. His eyes flicked to Atar's quickly, and though his face was perfectly composed, the fire mage thought he detected a glimmer of annoyance from somewhere deeper. "Atar has been close lipped about the whole thing."
"Only that it's urgent, and we will be leaving in a day," Felix said. It was all he'd told anyone so far, aside from the various crafters he had working double-time on various projects. "And there is much work to be done before we go. So I'd appreciate if we can hammer out this array soon."
"We can do this. You've provided us with most of the pieces, and the few we don't have won't be hard to finalize," Atar said. "The real problem is miniaturizing it. The ward you encountered was leagues wide, no?"
"Bigger, but it also operated on basically zero ambient Mana." Felix pointed out the multiple ciphers for Mana transfer. "This is where they'd have to be manually filled with Mana before operating. It's inclusion led to a lot of wasted space."
"That particular design is fascinating," Hector said. He ran a finger over the sketched designs, tracing the pathways of power the array supposedly depended on. "If I could make these smaller, then the rest would follow suit. We'd have to account for a non-standard ward perimeter, of course."
"What if we..."
The planning and discussion went on for two glasses, long enough that Felix was forced to leave and attend to his other duties. He'd given them all that he claimed to remember of the original ward, the amount of which had surprised all of them. Atar was jealous, frankly; the man's Intelligence was incredible, and paired with his Born Trait there was little Felix ever truly missed. Why he allowed Atar to be the Glyphmaster, the fire mage would never know. Hector was more qualified as well, a fact which dug at Atar's confidence all the more.
Another six hours passed, their conversation limited to the particulars of the work. But as all things, it ended eventually.
"There, the last inscription is complete," Alister said as he lifted his stylus with a flourish. Sixteen slabs of Tier II basalt were laid out on the table, cut and dressed into rounded rectangles and filled to the brim with their modified warding array. "This should do it, I think."
"Provided no one drops them," Atar noted.
"Any Tier II stone can take a lot of punishment. Anything less than a full out Journeyman Tier attack won't do much to them," Hector assured him.
"Yes. We can all attest to that, I suppose," Atar said, massaging his left hand. They'd worn through two styluses and none of them were feeling their best. "How many weapons and armor did the apprentices inscribe?"
"Ah, let me check," Hector said. "You two can rest, perhaps go eat."
"Thank you, I think we'll do just that," Alister said. He leaned back and massaged his lower back as the tall Inscriptionist hustled to the nearest apprentices. "A good man. Glad he came with everyone else."
Atar only nodded as he packed up his tools. He had a personal set for traveling, but leaving a mess at his workstation had always driven him a bit mad. As far as Atar was concerned organization was the key to good sigaldry, second only to an eye for detail, though the two often went hand in hand.
"Atar."
He looked up, his blond hair dragging low before his eyes. It curled in the humid air, a feature of the location despite the season, but it was long enough that he'd given thought to a cut several times. Now, however, it meant he didn't have to meet Alister's gaze in its entirety. Atar hand't been looking forward to the conversation.
Alister stood, arms crossed, and gave the fire mage a once over. "You're very bad at keeping secrets. Even worse at hiding bad news. Come out with it. What is it you and Felix are getting up to?"
"I'm not..." Atar looked around them, but saw none of the apprentices anywhere close by. With a minor effort of Will, he activated the muffling array built into his workstation. It was designed to prevent loud noises from disturbing the others, but it would more than suffice for a private conversation. "We're going south. It's...it's dangerous."
"South," Alister said, teasing at the word. "To Keskin? That's the nearest city I can think ofno?" Alister paused at Atar's head shake. "Where then?"
"Home."
Alister's eyes widened. "The City of Embers? That'll take you months!" His expression darkened, concern overlaid by a touch of anger. "You were going to leave for most of a year and not tell me?"
"I was! I am, right now!" Atar protested.
"Only because I asked," Alister said with heat.
"Look," Atar started, glancing once more at the closed doorway. "I don't know if I should share this, but the trip will take far less time. There's...something below. We can get there and back in just a couple weeks. A month at most, according to Zara."
Alister raised an eyebrow. "How?"
"It's Felix's secret," Atar said. "I'm only telling you because I trust you"
"And because I asked. Angrily."
"Maybe. But also so you wouldn't worry." Atar tried to smile, though his worry and guilt made it more sickly than he intended. "Do...do you want to come with me? Us, I mean?"
Alister's scowl softened. "Are you only asking because I'm angry with you?"
"No, I'd meant to ask when I could, but all of this," Atar gestured around them, to the Glyphworks. "It needs a lead, and I didn't know if you wanted to give them up for a time. Then we started working and it was too late, and"
"You're a big idiot, Professor," Alister said, poking him in the chest. "Of course I'll come, no matter how dangerous. And this place'll be here when we get back. Blind gods, Hector will do a better job running all this than I would!"
Atar grinned, catching Alister's hand in his own. "Good. Then it's settled. We leave at noon tomorrow."
The force mage smirked right back, before looking down at the slabs of basalt they'd just finished inscribing. "What exactly is this all for, then?"
Atar paled, slightly. "Ah, yes."
His partner didn't love Atar's explanation, but then, neither did Atar.
Felix slunk across his Stronghold, Abyssal Skein active to avoid unnecessary eyes. There was so much to do before they left, and while he had a day before they departed, the last thing he wanted was to get into an awkward conversation with some starstruck Legionnaires or aggressively respective giants. Abyssal Skein was his solution for that, the thin layer of Void-stuff around his Body allowing him to fade into the world. Fade from the world, a step toward the Void itself, and far harder to detect even to those with keen observation Skills.
He hadn't used it much, not since their flight across the Teeth when it had strained his Aspects farther than he had liked. He was stronger than ever now, however, and it was barely a tickle against his core space. Ultimately, he like walking through with it active, an unseen observer. It reminded him of his first few weeks in Haarwatch, before he started getting recognized. Sure, Felix could fly over the whole Stronghold, but that ran counter to what he wanted to do now. He kept his eyes on the structures he'd built over the past weeks, residences mostly, as they didn't have anything close to a real economy going yet. The houses were sturdy, and about as good as he could make them with his Stone Shaping and, later, adding Rime and Green Shaping to the mix as well. Stout and sturdy, they were simple boxes, most one story, but the Henaari's added details really made them feel like homes, though. Folks bustled around him, Henaari, giants, and a smattering of Haarguard and Legionnaires. Tense looks and quiet conversations were the norm, but there was no violence; Felix had made it exceedingly clear how he felt about that.
Walking through the streets, such as they were, he almost regretted that he was skipping out right as it was starting to really become something. But there was little choice, at least to Feli's mind. Minotaur or not, with a name like Michael that other Unbound was clearly from Earth, and Felix wasn't going to let him die without trying his damnedest to stop it.
Felix came to a stop just outside the Legion barracks. He'd set this part of town apart from the rest, giving them a parade ground at Vess and Harn's insistence. The grounds separated the barracks from the rest of the Stronghold, a stark division when compared to the slow intermingling of the rest.
Well, except the giants. They were still contained within their spiky ice fortress, though as he had seen, they did come out while attending to their various duties and Quests. As he watched, two Frost Giants dragged fifteen massive logs behind them, not stopping until they were within touching distance of the nearest Beacon. The crystalline pillar flashed once, twice, and on the third flash the logs were gone. The giant workers grunted in acceptance, both of them swiping away notifications Felix couldn't see, likely an XP reward. Those had been Tier II trees, and worth more than Tier 0 or I. Still don't have a use for all these materials. I imagine that'll change soon enough.
Who knew what was on the horizon?
A single group of Legionnaires were out on the parade grounds, doing maneuvers or something. Felix walked closer to them, careful to keep his steps quiet and far enough away from the action that no one would trip over him. He was a ghost, though, and not a single one of them noticed him as they sparred in a set of shifting formations. There were several squads, each of them fighting the others in a shifting sort of chaos that made little sense to Felix, but seemed to work for them. They grappled and kicked, threw each other over hips and locked limbs in complicated looking holds. Some of it Felix was familiar with, coming with the levels in Unarmed Mastery he'd earned, but others were foreign. It was...fascinating, and Felix made sure to study each and every useful technique; you never knew when such things would come in handy. He watched for a solid twenty minutes before the combatants began to flag and their leader clapped his hands, signifying the end of things.
"A good spar. I noticed several of you have leveled your Unarmed Mastery. Keep it up. Next we practice our Meditation, as the Fiend has so generously proscribed," Oskar Akales, the First of Fist said.
Oh. Right. My advice on creating a stronger core, Felix thought, before noticing two approaching figures with a start. They're here already? How long have I been watching? Jeez.
A group of Blades and Arclight were exiting their barracks, clearly headed to train as well, and they were the first to notice the approach of Harn and Evie. The latter of which wasn't exactly a picture of stealth.
"Alright you Fiend-lovin' jagoffs!" she shouted, her arms akimbo and a wide smile on her face. "The time for restin' is over!"
"Lady Aren?" Bald, red-faced Fenwick Cole said from their left. He stood with a handful of other Blades and spoke loud enough that he might as well have been shouting. "To what do you refer? Has the Lord Fiend called on us?"
There was a significant amount of rustling among the groups as eyes glanced about in excitement. Evie looked flummoxed, suddenly unsure of herself, while Harn just laughed.
"He said he was comin' here a half glass ago," Evie muttered to her friend, softly but not beyond Felix's senses. Harn started to shrug, amusement still clear on his face, and Evie clucked her tongue. "Slackin'! All this hero-worship's gone to his head."
Felix rolled his eyes and let his Abyssal Skin drop. Then, for extra effect, he tightened his grip upon a connection leading straight into the sky and pulled. Not hard enough to lift himself, but enough that the Skill discharged a bolt of blue-white lightning up into the clouds. The crack of thunder drew everyone's eyes, and, almost as one, the Legion dropped to a single knee.
"Lord Autarch!"
"Lord Fiend!"
"Good of you to show up," Harn said, crossing the distance between them. Evie eyed him up and down.
"You been there the whole time?" she asked.
Felix only grinned and addressed the growing crowd. The Legion had returned to their feet, but their fists were still over their heart, and more of them were pouring from the barracks. The First of Fist, Blade, and Arclight walked closer, their expressions eager and curious.
"How might we be of assistance, Lord Autarch?" Oskar asked, much to Fenwick's frowning annoyance. The bald man snapped his mouth shut, clearly about to ask the same thing.
"I am mounting an expedition," Felix said, giving them an extremely truncated version of events. "...I will be taking some of the Legion with me, but space is limited. I wish for you to send only your very best, and then only if they wish to volunteer. This is to be an extremely dangerous expedition."
The eyes of all three Firsts gleamed in a way that unsettled Felix, but they quickly and happily called their people to the parade grounds. Messengers were sent out to retrieve those in the other parts of the Stronghold, but the Firsts did not wait long before beginning to discuss things.
"I have plenty of able swordsmen in my society, Lord Fiend," Fenwick said. "You have but to choose any of them and they will serve you well."
"Aye, the pugilists under my command are ready and willing to join your expedition. But, as you said, I have in mind several who might be the best fit," Oskar said.
"Of course, I do as well. I am simply saying that all of my swordsmen are my best, for we do not skimp on proper training," Fenwick said, his Spirit all but bristling at the other First. The First of Arclight, meanwhile, was self-possessed and quiet. He merely digested Felix's words with a calm demeanor that clearly indicated a focus on Willpower.
"Gentlemen, you misunderstand me," Felix said. "I want you to send your very best to us here, now, and we will see who shall come with us." He raked his eyes over the Legionnaires, and there wasn't one among them that could meet his gaze. "Your chosen few will have to pass inspection first."
Kev'al, First of Arclight, straightened at that. "Inspection?"
Felix grinned, but it was Harn who spoke up. "Aye. Gather your soldiers." He loosened his axes in their sheaths. "Evie and I will tell ya if they pass muster."
"They won't face you, sir?" Fenwick asked, looking askance at his two friends. "It would mean a lot for them to try their power against your own. Sir."
"You lookin' to get your men trampled?" Evie asked. "You don't send children in to wrestle an aurochs, friend. Your people will be fightin' us, and that's already a stacked deck."
Felix let his smile widen at the confidence he felt surge in the Firsts and the other Legionnaires. Good.
They'll need it.
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