Unbound

Chapter Four Hundred And Sixty – 460

"Damnation." Zara rubbed at her wrists, feeling the chafe in her channels. "I envy your healing abilities, Isla. Supplementing the Chant for Skills is a rough endeavor."

Isla, looking more regal than some queens Zara had known, gave a simpering smile. "Your praise is as welcome as it is rare, Zara."

"Tsk, come now. Is this still about the boy? Felix would not have taken to you even if I had lavished you with praise." Zara packed away another sachet of herbs. They stood within Zara's chambers on the third ship in their fleet, packing away the paraphernalia of healing. Now that the worst wounds among the Claw and Yttin sailors had been mended, it was time to move. They were settled well within the border between the Leviathan Depths and the Ghreldan Hills, just beyond the wall of rain, hail, and lightning that marked the now-resumed Storm Ward. The first and second ships were still in the process of being dismantled and hauled up the rise of the Caleph Pass, but theirs would be next.

"You could have tried," Isla sniffed. "I'd have liked some respect, even if I could not have his loyalty. But that boy stinks of disobedience and malcontent. He is trouble, Zara. I do not know why you have been so lax in his training."

Zara stiffened, her annoyance well hidden to the eyes of those that passed, but she knew Isla could read her as few others could. "You question my ways, when your own charge has been languishing within the deserts for over half a year?"

"Michael may be underleveled and below Tiered for the challenges ahead, but our circumstances required care." Isla shoved a bag of used potion bottles into a hay-filled crate. "We had the desert, undead, and then the Hierocracy's minions to contend with. What vile forces did your Felix have to face?"

A shark's grin split Zara's face. "Enough."

Isla sniffed, this time in frustrated disappointment. Zara knew the woman was fishing for information about her charge, knew that she was asking all around the fleet about him in multitudinous ways. Zara supposed she could tell her, reveal Felix's secrets; it would be to one of her order, after all. Yet some measure of Felix's caution had seeped into Zara. The Autarch was unwilling to give Isla a span lest she take a league, and Zara supposed she would honor his wishes.

Soon we will talk to Mauvim, and he will see the truth of things, she assured herself. "But it is not a contest. There is no prize for enacting our duty, Isla. When we meet with the Cantus at Eventide, the measure of success will be whether we have saved the Unbound from the Hierophant or not. All else is...childish."

"Childish? To wish strength for those who we seek to thrust into the flames of contention? For one so old, your naivete would be charming were it not so worrisome."

Zara's jaw clenched. Isla had always been good at pointing out Zara's weaknesses. Perhaps it was the healer's training she favored for all of her long lifeshe always knew just where to jab the knife. "Some call it naivete, others call it faith."

"Ah yes. Those robes are no idle costume for your Mask, are they? You truly are a chorister of Avet." Isla sighed, as if defeated. "You are right, I suppose. Only...the Ruin is coming. They must be ready to face its wrath."

"They will be," Zara assured her friend. She rested a long-fingered hand atop Isla's narrow, rather bony shoulder. "We are in a promising position with Felix. As Autarch he has access to some rather remarkable resources, which shall make gathering the rest of the Unbound far easier."

Isla frowned. "What resources? Is that why you allow him such free reign?"

"He, as all others, has a Choice in all things. He faces those consequences, as we all must, but Felix has proven himself capable of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat."

"Hm. And here? All signs indicate the emergent sea did great damage to the Ghreldan Hills. That was his Choice as well." Isla stepped away from Zara's comforting hand. "I'd rather not see my charge make such rash decisions, not if I could stop him. Guide him."

"Guidance isn't coercion or control," Zara said. A familiar, angry heat burned at the back of her throat. "It is trust."

A sharp, rapid knock interrupted them. "Ah, Lady Zara?"

The two Chanters stopped their quiet conversation as the familiar, mustachioed face of Lieutenant Errol pressed into the room. The man was red-faced and sweating, an uncommon look for someone of his Temper. Zara raised an eyebrow. "Lieutenant? What is it?"

Errol swallowed twice before he could speak. "It is the Autarch, my Lady. He's gone."

Zara could feel Isla's gaze, the weight of her smug grin enough to sink their ship. She ignored it and focused on the Lieutenant. "Tell me everything."

From the top of the Pass, Felix could see the fortification that had once straddled the Ghreldan end of it. Like the wall that Felix had Stone Shaped into existence, this construction was also torn asunder, and it was alarming to behold. Towers and blocks the size of houses were tumbled down, strewn further back like a giants toys. More worrisome, however, was that just beyond the fortification Felix could see the ripple of water lapping at its gates.

"This looks...bad," Pit said from beside him.

"Yeah." A pang of guilt stabbed at Felix. We need to see more. Cmon.

The efforts to move the ships up the slope of the Pass was proving arduous at best, and while his magics could have sped it up a bit, there was a certain amount of anxiety that started to press against Felix's Mind. From the System, he knew something had changed the physical boundaries of the Leviathan Depths, establishing "new rivers" in the Ghreldan Hills. From the Depthwurm's Memory, he had seen the Caleph Pass flood so completely it might as well have been one of those new rivers. It was guilt over the consequences of his actions that drove him forward, alone save for Pit.

He needed to know.

The Pass was steep and winding, and Felix took it at speed. A tiny cloud of dust kicked up in his wake as he descended, feet a blur and Pit flying just to keep pace. He came to a skidding halt however at the start of the old fortifications. The way was clear enough, the well-constructed keep now a hallowed out shell. The waters Felix had unleashed had clearly swept much of its construction away, even all the way down to the foundations in places. At the midway point in the fort, well before they even reached the water, they spotted Bogfeld.

Or what was left of it.

The town was located less than a mile away from the Pass proper, connected by raised roadways and drawbridges, but all that was gone. Water was in its place, with only a number of the tallest trees rising above the placid waves. The town itself had been built on a sloping piece of raised terrain and had been fully walled. He supposed that was the only reason some of it still stood. Approximately half of the town was still submerged, with the far side only showing the tops of roofs peeking out. The flooding stopped around midway, where the slowly elevating ground resolved into some of the nicer homes and structures.

"Half the town's been flooded out." Felix peered into the water, it's surface murkier than the Leviathan Depths. Bits of bark and vegetation filled it so much that even his Perception had a hard time seeing to the bottom.

More than that, Pit pointed out, nodding his head toward Low Side where pieces of masonry still peeked above the water line. Look. Something clawed through those walls. That Depthwurm paid Bogfeld a visit too.

He was right. The more Felix looked, the more he could see signs of a struggle. A big one too. Char marks on the stone, pillars of ice that still hadnt thawed, many of them hidden in the High Side streets. Those streets were as empty as the flooded ones, and at first Felix thought it was because they were hiding from any further monsters. He was wrong however, as he made out the two largest structures, both of which were largely untouched by floodingbut extremely marred by the telltale signs of monster attack.

The Priory still stands, Felix remarked, pointing at the castle of the Menders, an order of healers dedicated to helping everyone. His eyes could make out robed individuals rushing about, as well as a number of people in roughspun clothes bearing spears. Looks like they took in people too.

But thatwhat is that? Pit asked, pointing at a squat fortress at least half as large as the Priory. It was also bustling with people, though more of them were armored in dull iron suits. "I don't remember that last time."

"Those're Knights," Felix recalled. The armor was distinctive, Chevalier's Armor, each inscribed and ancient and passed down by their families. "I don't remember seeing their fortress before...but the Menders had me a bit distracted back then."

As far as Felix could recall, this portion of the Ghreldan Hills was controlled by Prince Tevin, one of several rulers that fought over the Territory almost constantly. Felix hadn't had much experience with the Knights or their master beforethe Paladins had been throwing their weight around at the timebut they weren't held in high esteem. Lazy brutes, he recalled them being labeled, but a sight better than the Paladins at least.

"So what do we do?" Pit asked. "Looks flooded and...and bad. Do we go back?"

Felix shook his head. "No. We need to talk to the Menders and even those Knights, maybe."

"Why?"

"Why what? Why talk to them?"

"Yeah. Seems like we can't do much by ourselves. But we've got lots of healing items back on the ships." Pit let out a contemplative warble. "If we help get the ships through the Pass, we can help more." He paused, his large golden eyes unsure. "Right?"

Felix sighed. "You're not wrong. Zara and the rest will get the ships over here soon enough. With my help, maybe a little bit sooner. But I have to see. Let's just check, and then we can come back and help the ships."

The tangle of treetops obscured much of the sight-lines from the fortress to Bogfeld and its two sanctuaries, but enough of the area was rendered wide open by the flooding. Sneaking was going to be a task, even with Abyssal Skein; there was only so much hiding he could do when they had to splash around to get anywhere.

At that moment, however, Pit let out a warning trill. "Someone is coming. A...boat? Two people."

Felix found them easily enough. From his vantage just inside the cracked fort, he could make out two people in a wide, shallow boat moving carefully among the trees. The setting sun glinted off of their Bodies, though only one of them was fully kitted out in Chevalier's Armor, while the other was wearing a patchwork set that was as dented as it was rusty. The Knight stood in the prow of the ship, a long spear held poised above the waters, like a man trying to fish in a river. The one behind him was looking haggard and sipped slowly at a glowing blue vial as he held onto the boat's tiller. Water splashed quietly but consistently behind them, like a small outboard engine from Earth.

From where Felix stood, it was unlikely the Knight would see him or Pit as they passed, and he made a quick decision. Before he could rethink it, Felix strode from the broken fort, down to the waterline. Pit let out a surprised squawk as Felix began to wave his hands. "Hey there! Hey!"

The Knight zeroed in on him immediately, though it took their little boat a solid thirty seconds to make its way over to them. As it did, the Knight lifted the long spear and braced it against the pronged prow, aiming it straight at Felix's chest. "You are standing upon the sovereign property of Prince Tevis. Who are you, and why are you here?"

The man's voice was deep, resonant, and slightly echoey from behind his full helm. The dark metal and filigreed design made him look almost sinister, and the spear leveled at Felix's heart didn't help matters. "My name is Silas Veil, and I'm just a traveler that got caught up in a storm."

Deception is level 34!

Felix felt the Knight flare some sort of Perception Skill or information gathering Skill, felt its affect press against the effects of his Veiling Amulet, before sending back only what Felix Intended. The man nodded slowly, head tilted in such a way that Felix was sure he was reading some sort of Analyze notification. "Alright, Mr. Veil. These lands are more dangerous than ever right now, so I would ask you come with us to the Redoubt. You can find shelter, food, and most importantly safety from the vile creatures that crawl out of this muck."

"Creatures, huh? What kind" Felix started to say, before he was interrupted by a sudden crescendo of gorgeous music. Soon after, a small crimson puppy ran into view, yapping all the while. It was no larger than a terrier, with large paws and somewhat ungainly legs, but looked terribly familiar.

"Oh! A dire hound pup! I can't believe you have one!" the mage said with sudden, intense affection. Pitfor who else would it be?ran to the mage and accepted some very enthusiastic pets. "He's so young too! I hear the younger you find them, the better. Easier to train obedience, ya know?"

"Hm, the last part doesn't sound familiar," Felix muttered. Golden eyes shined innocently from the dire hound's face. "But yes, he is mine. And I am his, I suppose. Do you mind if we both climb aboard?"

"Come. The sooner we are back at the Redoubt, the better." The Knight looked to the west in concern. "Night is coming on fast, and the beasts are far more active in the dark."

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