Chapter 464
Chapter 462: A Plan in Many Parts
10 minutes ago
ARTHUR LEYWIN
Vajrakor’s tense steps carried him from left to right and back again in front of the dwarven throne. The noise of each footfall was muffled by the thick red rug that ran the length of the throne room, a cool, cavernous chamber held up by tall carved stone arches. Vajrakor was staring at his feet but stole a glance at me or the other people in the room every couple of steps. A single asuran guard stood to the left of the throne, staring straight ahead.
Just as the silence reached the point of becoming frustrating, he said, “So why not bury yourself in the deepest hole you can find, somewhere no one can dig you out?”
“I considered it,” I admitted. “Spreading a story that I’d be going on an extended Relictombs trip or something to make sure my absence didn’t spark a panic and then, as you said, hiding somewhere I’m unlikely to be found. But the Legacy is in Dicathen, or at least she was, which means Agrona is preparing something. He’s escalating.”
Curtis Glayder, standing near Vajrakor with his sister, frowned as he asked, “Forgive me, Arthur, but why does her presence matter so much?”
“Because something important is happening just behind the curtain, but we don’t know what,” I answered, keeping my voice level. “But more importantly, the Legacy has a sense and control of magic that I can’t even explain. And she’s shown some understanding of the way mana and aether interact with each other, meaning I can’t be sure I can truly hide anywhere. Not without her hunting me down.”
“But she can’t follow you to the Relictombs,” Caera asked, her first words since the meeting began. “Why not sequester yourself away within them—you could find somewhere safe with the Compass, I’m sure—and wait it out there.”
I shook my head. “I’ve already tested this theory. I can’t breach the keystone’s security measures within the Relictombs. Something about this one is different.”
A tense lull fell over the conversation, and I looked around at all those present, meeting each of their eyes in turn.
Bairon Wykes stood straight and tall beside Virion, who in turn seemed somehow thin and diminished, even though his gaze remained unwavering and his posture was poised.
Next to them, Gideon and Wren Kain both hovered impatiently. A straight-backed woman stood with her hands behind her back at their side, her torso bare except for a strip of dark cloth across her chest. She was covered in scars.
Caera stood just behind them, almost as if she were using them to shield herself from Vajrakor. Her red eyes caught mine, and she bobbed her head slightly, her azure hair shifting around the visible horns wrapping around her head. Regis was at her side, settled protectively between her and the dragons, who he glowered at unabashedly.
Mica and Varay were present as well. Mica was unsettled, shifting her weight from one foot to the other constantly. Her remaining eye jumped from person to person in an endless loop, while the jet black stone of her other seemed as if it were constantly fixed on me. Next to her, Varay was still as a block of ice,her short white hair fixed and unmoving.
Across from Virion, near Vajrakor, the Glayders both stood with perfect royal posture. Despite obvious efforts not to, they both kept shooting furtive glances at the scarred soldier next to Gideon. The link to the origin of this information rests in n0v3lb!n★
Beside them and closer to me, Helen Shard stood a little back from the crowd with Jasmine, the two adventurers slightly out of place among the royalty and asura. Of everyone present, it was these two old friends—who I had known longer than even Tessia and Virion—that brought me comfort, which perhaps only made what I had to ask them even more difficult.
Finally, standing at my side like a shadow, was Ellie. She fidgeted nervously, her eyes focused anywhere except the other people in the room. The unstrung bow version of Aldir’s weapon, Silverlight, was strapped to her back. She hadn’t yet learned to use it, but I figured its presence brought her comfort.
Virion let out a low, thoughtful hum. “So why these locations specifically, then? Why this many?”
I gave him a soft smile as I shook my head. “I know my request is made more difficult by my inability to provide a thorough explanation. But this operation requires a certain amount of secrecy. I really can’t tell you more.”
“So far, you’ve spoken as if you know we’ll be attacked,” Helen said, “but you haven’t even told us what this is about. How can you be so certain the enemy will strike now?”
“I can’t,” I answered simply. “This could all end up being unnecessary, but preparation is never wasted, especially in war. Agrona has proven more than adept at infiltrating and turning even the highest levels of our leadership. His spies have infested Dicathen for decades, and he has been ahead of us at nearly every turn. It would be foolish to simply hope that he won’t discover and attempt to take advantage of my absence, either to come after me directly or to launch some kind of attack on Dicathen. We have to be ready.”
Kathyln’s brows rose slightly, and her eyes flashed to mine. “These places—they will become targets. That’s what you intend.”
Ellie shifted beside me, and I rested my hand on her shoulder, shooting her a warning look. “These locations will, by the very effort of our actions, likely become Agrona’s targets, yes. It allows us to fortify and prepare in a way we can’t otherwise, and protects less defensible areas through deflection.”
“So we’re putting our people in more danger than they might otherwise be by following along with your request,” Kathyln replied, quiet but cutting.
“Unless Etistin were to become a target anyway,” Jasmine answered, dismissing the younger woman with a single look.
Curtis shot Jasmine a glare but backed down quickly when she matched it, her light red eyes flaring like cinders.
“I fail to see how the elves can be of assistance here,” Virion said, sounding tired. “We are no longer a military force in this world, Arthur, as you well know.”
“It’s not the elves I need,” I explained gently. “It is you, Virion. You were the commander of the Tri-Union’s forces during the war. No one else here can match your strategic and military mind.” No one else that I can trust, at least.
Vajrakor scowled at this but did not interrupt. Virion frowned as well, but his expression communicated something very different from the dragon’s.
Other concerns were voiced, and I did my best to ease them without downplaying the dangers. It was important that each of the leaders present understood what was being asked of them and what they would in turn be asking of their fighting men and women. These were the decisions required of rulers, but the fact that I couldn’t be fully honest with them weighed heavy on my conscience. If people were going to die while I chased Fate, they deserved to be prepared, even if they couldn’t know the truth of why.
Wren hummed into the silence that followed their flurry of questions. “And do these fortifications require the same escalated timeline as my—our,” he amended, looking pointedly at Gideon, “project?”
Raising my chin, I met the many pairs of eyes turned in my direction in a single sweep. “Two weeks. That’s all the time we can afford to make preparations. I’d like to do it sooner, but I understand what I’m asking can’t be completed overnight.”
“Two weeks!” Vajrakor said with a booming, humorless laugh. “Two months would not be sufficient.”
Wren’s brows raised into his unkempt hairline, and he gave me a look that said very clearly, ‘I told you so.’
“My task can’t wait any longer than that. If possible—and if the risk to Dicathen weren’t so high—I would have started already.” Sensing the right moment for a distraction, I shot Wren a look and nodded subtly. “You all need time to think things over. I understand. I would like to speak with each of you individually to better answer your questions and plan the appropriate defenses. But while you are together, I wanted to give Master Gideon an opportunity to speak as well.”
The old inventor cleared his throat and scratched his head as all eyes turned to him.
“As some of you are likely aware, we are currently working on a military project designed to help even the odds against Agrona’s superior number of mages,” Gideon explained. He provided an overview of the fire salt-infused weapons, which the Forgemasters and Earthmovers Guilds were already working to produce in larger numbers. Then, he gestured to the woman at his side. “Claire, would you care to speak about the other project?”
Moving with a stringent military march, her long scarlet hair bouncing with each forceful step, she strode out into the middle of the chamber. Wearing only the strip of dark cloth and a pair of tight-fitting leather breaches, the large jagged scar across her sternum was plainly visible. Although this scar was old and healed over, fresher scars radiated out from around it, the newest still red and irritated—only recently healed.
“Officer Claire Bladeheart, current operator of unit zero-zero-one,” she said with clipped military precision, then bowed, first to Vajrakor, then to everyone else.
Kathyln wore a subdued but proud smile, while Curtis’s eyes kept being dragged down to the scars on Claire’s torso before snapping back up to her face.
She immediately launched into what sounded like a rehearsed explanation about her role in the secret project, giving those in attendance the full details of the new weapons and what they were capable of. “With the provided timeline, I believe that we’ll have at least twelve candidates who will be able to offer instruction to the new cadets, once the next batch of units are made.”
“And how many of these...units will be operable in the next two weeks?” Bairon asked skeptically.
“Perhaps a hundred or close to it—if we have the people to use them.”
Mica snorted. “Can a hundred make a difference? And against not Scythes, but these Wraith things, or hells, even asura.”
Claire went back and forth with a few of the others, offering some additional specifics on the capabilities of the project.
As I listened to her explain things I already knew, I felt my insides squirm slightly with discomfort. There was a certain kind of morbid edge to Wren and Gideon’s invention, but I understood the necessity. Perhaps, with time, the implementation could be more palatable. At the very least, it was an invention entirely of this world, created by Wren and Gideon alone, the fusion of human and asuran ingenuity.
More so than the explanation itself, I found myself focused on Claire. I had only just learned of her participation as an operator, but there was something correct about her presence. My old classmate, the head of the Disciplinary Committee at Xyrus Academy. It had been around six years since her core was destroyed during Draneeve’s attack on the academy, and when I’d last seen her, she had been a ghost of her former self.
Now she stood straight and proud, her explanation firm and exuding ambition.
It gave me hope.
After a lengthy discussion about the project, Claire left, and Gideon and Wren went with her, excusing themselves to return to their work, which was now on an aggressive timetable. That seemed to be a signal for the others to break free as well, but I promised to visit each of them as soon as possible and offer any assistance I could in order to put my plan into action. Caera hesitated, but I sent her out with a subtle gesture, and Regis returned to my side.
Ellie, the last to leave, gave me a quick side hug. “Should I wait?”
“No, you’re dismissed, soldier,” I said teasingly. “I’ll find you again soon so we can practice.”
Nodding, she hurried out, leaving only Vajrakor and his guard with me in the throne room. The Guardian eased himself down on the throne, watching me curiously.
“I don’t intend to draw more attention to Vildorial, but I’m afraid it will be a target anyway,” I said, moving to stand before the throne, which meant I had to look up at Vajrakor. “You need to be ready. I can’t say what Agrona might throw at you.”
He scoffed. “You mean, if he attacks at all. You seem to be suffering from some mythical thinking in regards to Agrona, as if he has some magical insight into all that happens. It seems to me that even telling this group was a mistake.” Vajrakor leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “We haven’t even seen any sign of the Legacy, as you so seem to fear.”
“That doesn’t change the reality of our situation, which is that I refuse to discount Agrona’s ability to see and take advantage of our weaknesses. Now, let us discuss what Vildorial can do to prepare for another potential attack.”
***
After a frustrating conversation with Vajrakor, I left with Regis on my heels, already turning my thoughts toward the next conversation I needed to have, but I felt the weight lift from my shoulders as I entered the outer chamber of the palace entry and found Sylvie waiting for me.
Despite her aging through the process of her “death” and “rebirth,” Sylvie still looked young standing apart from the few clan lords and high-ranking guild members who lingered around the palace. Once, she stood out wherever she went, with her dark horns jutting up from her pale blonde hair, but now she wasn’t even the only dragon in the room, as another of Vajrakor’s guards lingered near the entryway, looming over everyone who came and went.
How did things go with the survivors?
‘Well enough,’ she thought back, a throughline of sadness undercutting her words. ‘Those people—the few who survived—won’t recover quickly from the trauma they’ve gone through.’
‘From one tragedy to the next...’ Regis added darkly.
I cleared my throat and indicated for her to follow me, leaving the palace and heading upward along the tunnels and stairs leading toward Virion’s retreat. Sylvie filled me in on everything happening in Xyrus as we walked.
Entering the cavern housing the last remaining tree from Elenoir was sort of like going through a portal into another world. So bright and green, it was easy to forget you were underground.
The cavern had changed somewhat since we were last there. A large section of the ground had been tilled and was now growing a variety of plants, mostly small tree seedlings. Virion was on his hands and knees in the soil, carefully uprooting one of the seedlings with a trowel. Bairon stood behind him wearing a pair of gardening gloves and holding a glass jar half full of soil.
We all stood in silence for a bit, looking out over the Wall and the Beast Glades beyond. “You all know what to do, then. I need to see to the other locations, and then I’ll be back.”
Jasmine squeezed my arm. Helen, grinning, reached up and tousled my hair.
Suddenly, Angela Rose jumped forward, pulling me into a crushing hug. Memories of my first time meeting her with the Twin Horns surfaced as I looked down at the top of her head pressed against my chest.
When did she get so small?
“You tell your mom we’re going to take good care of you, all right?”
I returned her hug, ignoring the jealous pang seeping into me from Regis. “I will.”
I finished my farewells with Jasmine and Helen as Sylvie rose up into the sky. Regis melted back into my body as I turned away, violet lightning wrapping around me as the aetheric paths lit up in my view. I resisted looking back, not confident I’d be able to give them the genuine look of reassurance that I knew they wanted to see. I took a step up high up into the air, the Wall over a hundred feet below now.
Leaning forward, I began to fly.
***
“I told you it wasn’t much,” Madam Astera said with a shrug as we entered a small cave. “You’re certain this is where you want to...do whatever it is you’re doing?”
Kneeling down, I ran my fingers along a rust-stained patch of the floor, imagining how much blood must have pooled here to leave a mark well over a year later. This was the very spot where Astera had led her troops after their defeat at the Battle of the Bloodfrost. “I’m certain,” I said simply as I looked around. “I need an earth mage or a smith to craft a pedestal right here.” I indicated a spot directly in the center of the cave, marking it with a rock and providing specific dimensions.
“I feel it necessary to point out that you being so close to Etistin does cause some risk for the city, does it not?” Curtis asked with the air of a diplomat.
“Varay will be in the city to help with the defenses,” I assured them, “and you will have your own forces as well as dragons. With the city so heavily defended, and the enemy’s attention divided among several locations, I’m confident you can hold out. At the same time, even if they don’t attack, they won’t be free to turn over every rock and tree with the city at their back.”
Varay stepped forward and gave me a small bow. “Arthur, in that case, I would like to stay here with you. If you are unable to defend yourself, you shouldn’t risk—”
“No,” I said. The softly spoken word smothered Varay’s argument like a pillow. Standing, I met each of their eyes in turn. “My success relies on not being found. Perhaps it will only be hours, and nothing will happen in the meantime. But we need to prepare for the worst. For you all, that means telling no one—not even our allies—about this part of the plan. Defend your city—your people—but don't draw attention to this spot no matter what happens.”
“But what if it seems as if they’re going to find you?” Curtis asked, his confusion apparent.
I met his eyes. “Then distract them.”
Kathyln’s head fell, but only for a second. When she looked back at me, her eyes flashed. “Arthur, you are essentially asking that we spend our soldiers’ lives to draw the enemy’s attention so that you may stay safe, and yet you have not even told us what it is that you are doing. Please, we need to know more. We aren’t your subjects to simply do as we’re told.”
I stepped closer. Kathyln’s icy demeanor reminded me forcefully of how she had acted back in school, at Xyrus. But I knew it was only a shield that she put up to keep herself safe from those around here, and now was no different.
“I’m preparing the final strike of this war.” I let the words settle down over the others like slowly falling ash.
Madam Astera’s jaw stiffened, and she unconsciously shifted her weight to her good leg.
Curtis again glanced at his sister, but Kathyln’s eyes were on me, her face a hard mask.
An involuntary tremble ran through Varay, the rare crack in her cold facade. “Then we will ensure you have the time you need.”
Once I had clarified everything I needed to be done and set the deadline for only a few days later, I left, flying toward Etistin’s teleportation gates while leaving the others to return under their own power. Sylvie flew quietly at my side.
‘It’s not like you to put people in danger and not even tell them the truth about it,’ she said at length, an edge of concern lacing her thoughts. ‘What if we return from the keystone and find Kathyln, or Jasmine, or even Ellie dead, because we didn’t tell them enough?’
My mind was blank for a long moment, capable of forming no coherent thought. Ellie and Mom will be as safe as I can make them, I answered at length, not bothering to justify my actions.
‘The rest, though?’ Regis chimed in, his frustration clear even as he tried to keep up some barrier between us. ‘Caera? After everything we’ve been through together?’
I sighed, the wind whipping my breath away. If Agrona is able to target and use Alacryans against them, or turn any of them into a bomb as he did the Wraiths—
‘But you don’t know he can,’ Regis shot back. ‘Just because that godrune makes you think fast doesn’t mean you’ll always think right. I know success is important, but what’s the point if you lose everyone along the way because of it.’ He hesitated, searching inward for a moment, then continued, ‘Wow...that did not sound like me. I’m getting soft because of you.’
‘He’s not wrong,’ Sylvie thought, looking over at me from the left. The wind whipped her hair behind her like a flag. ‘I think the godrune brings forward the Grey in you, Arthur.’
I gritted my teeth and pushed on faster. Maybe that’s what we need right now.
***
It was almost time. The two weeks were up, and very nearly everything was prepared.
Deep, deep beneath the desert, far even beneath the crumbling remains of the djinn sanctuary, Ellie, Sylvie, Regis, Wren, and I stood in the portal room, which had changed drastically since we’d been there last.
“Will this be enough?” Regis asked, loping around and inspecting the chamber.
Wren, who was drifting along in a floating marble throne, shrugged noncommittally. “I’d be willing to match my ingenuity against the strength of any lesser in this world, but I can’t speak for the Legacy. If the boy’s idea works, this will work. If it doesn’t...” He shrugged again.
I approached a raised stone pedestal in the very center of the chamber, above where I knew the Relictombs portal now rested. “Here, El. This one’s going to be a little different from the others.”
Ellie turned away from a notched piece of wall that she’d been examining, concern etched into her features. “What? Why?”
I tapped the pedestal, and she hurried toward me. “Since this is where I’m actually going to be, this one needs to be more powerful to wash out my actual presence. But your mana still has to hold it. If it breaks down or gives out over time...” I trailed off meaningfully.
“It won’t,” she said decisively. “It’s like...a splinter, stuck in my head. At least after they’re set up. A little annoying, but they won’t be an impediment, and I won’t let them break down or fail or whatever. I can do this, Arthur.”
I gave her a warm smile. “I know you can.”
Taking Sylvie’s hand, Ellie began pouring silvery mana into the curved recess at the top of the pedestal. It formed into a sort of egg-shape, hollow in the middle with thick walls. Sylvie laced her own into it as well, letting her signature radiate out from the molded mana.
“Better reinforce it even more,” I said, then watched as Ellie responded to the command, molding the container’s shape as she input more mana.
When it had wrapped around to nearly come to a close at the top, I imbued the central reservoir with aether, just as we had done in the mind zone to navigate from platform to platform. Compacting the aether inside the container, I forced as much as I could without threatening the integrity of the conjuration. When I eased off, Regis breathed his own aether into the egg, just to be safe, and then Ellie took back over, filling in the small space at the top and closing off the aether from the outside world.
Breathing heavily, she took a step back and wobbled. Sylvie took her by the elbow, and Ellie gave her an appreciative smile. “I’m okay. That was just a lot of mana. At least it’s the last one. How many is that, seven?”
“Yeah,” I answered, rubbing the back of my neck as I regarded my brave little sister. “Thank you, El. I know this all hasn’t been easy. This whole thing hinges on you—your magic. You know that, right? The fate of Dicathen is hanging by these threads of mana.”
“No pressure,” Regis said, lolling his tongue.
Ellie approached me, leaned forward, and wrapped her arms around me, her cheek pressed against my sternum. “You’re really going to just...sit down here and meditate or whatever? For days? Weeks?”
“It could even be months,” Regis said helpfully, and Sylvie nudged him with her knee.
I wrapped my arms around Ellie and pulled her close. “Hopefully it’ll be done in a day and all of this preparation will have been for nothing.” I couldn’t quite put that hope into my tone, though. Not a day ago, word had come from Alaric in Alacrya, stating that there was a lot of strange movement amongst Agrona’s forces, only reinforcing my decision to take such involved steps to prepare.
I released her, and Ellie took a step back, staring deep into my eyes, her expression inscrutable. “Why does this feel so much like goodbye?” she asked.
Caught off guard, I stumbled for a response. It was Sylvie who, squeezing my sister from the side and smiling comfortingly, said, “That’s just the nerves talking. We’ll be back before you know it, I have no doubt. You have to believe me—I can see the future, remember?”
Ellie giggled and nuzzled into Sylvie’s shoulder.
“All right, all right, I have earth-shatteringly important things to do back in Vildorial,” Wren said gruffly. “Come on, girl, it’s time to get moving.”
I caught his eye and gave him a thankful nod, but he only scoffed in response.
Ellie walked backwards as she made to follow Wren, who was already marching away. She waved, then turned and ran to catch up. In moments, they were out of the small chamber and ascending back through the tunnels. I waited, trailing them with my senses until they were well away, then turned to my companions.
“Come on,” I said, gesturing to Regis and Sylvie.
The journey to the refuge I’d prepared did not take long.
Inside, I kicked off my turnshoes and stepped down into the pool of glowing liquid. Withdrawing the keystone, I eased into a sitting position so that the liquid came up to my stomach.
I stared down at the keystone’s unremarkable form.
Sylvie waded into the pool beside me. Her clothes feathered across her body, shifting to become a tight-fitting black-scaled fabric that covered her entire body from the neck down. She sat facing me. “We’re with you, Arthur.”
‘Whether we like it or not,’ Regis jibed from his place near my core.
Everything that could be done already had been. Dicathen’s protectors stood ready to meet any challenge that might come from Agrona. All that remained for me...was to enter the keystone.
Aether flowed from my core and imbued the keystone, and my mind followed as it had so many times before with the other keystones.
A gentle application of Aroa’s Requiem allowed me to approach the aetheric barrier, while Realmheart’s vision guided me through the invisible pathways to the interior. For the first time, I faced the barrage of lightning-bolt-like memories with King’s Gambit, which I activated immediately.
My thoughts, instead of being overwhelmed by the storm, easily absorbed, processed, and arranged the mental feedback and noise. As the static information was fitted into place—like puzzle pieces sliding together, or a key into a lock—the internal aetheric zone of the keystone melted away into utter darkness.
No, not absolute black. Because, in the distance, there was a glimmer of light. It was growing large as it approached—or as I approached it.
As if I were looking through a foggy window, everything around me turned into a bright blur, forcing me to shut my eyes. Indiscernible sounds assaulted my ears, making me dizzy. When I tried to speak, the words came out as a cry. The cacophony of indistinguishable sounds slowly mellowed, and I heard a muffled voice.
“Congratulations, sir and madam, he’s a healthy boy.”