With the mana-well right there, it wasn't risky to activate the anti-air resistance wards, since they could easily be recharged. Which meant that the pilots were able to lower Aeternia's Shield to a mere twenty feet off the ground. A height easily reachable by a pair of tier-4 beast bonded.

And, unfortunately, their bonded beasts.

The giant cuddly bear who rolled over on its side, leg twitching in the air the second it was aboard? Didn't mind it so much.

The oversized noodle crammed up against the other side? Yeah, didn't love it. Might've been projecting my distaste of its owner and the many smaller snakes he'd tried to poison me with. After all, the serpent was beautiful. As I watched it move, I could admit it had nice scales.

And the skeletal structure… well, I knew how useful such a skeleton could be.

Actually, maybe my problem with it was just that it was alive. I loved Fang. We could easily…

I stopped myself there.

They were guests.

After. I would ask Nexxa about it after they'd gone back to their clans. We were going to have to free all their slaves anyway. I'd tried to convince myself that it was a bad idea but the sight of those collars just kept coming back to me. My improved memory didn't help with that.

I wondered if the pain of Tamrie leaving was affecting my judgment, before shaking my head. No. Even before it would've bothered me.

With both the beast lords aboard, we started ascending.

The panther lord came out of his tent as the ship was rising, eyes narrowing as he did so.

That wasn't a guy who was going to let his beating go. Might've lost most of his support but I think we also made things worse for Vaserra. If he couldn't seize and capture, he had the strength to simply cause havoc. That said, it'd be easier to safely kill him away from his people, a lot of whom wouldn't be riding with him anymore.

Long as Vaserra didn't insist on some sort of honorable combat, anyway. Was pretty sure she would.

For the moment, I moved my attention to our more immediate concern. The beast lords we had on board.

"This is… I've seen such ships amongst the Terra Vistans, but they're all constrained to the major mana-streams," Tillan said, running his hand along one of the many finishing panels. That one hide a support strut. "I would have heard of them building such a ship. Especially if it was for sale."

"I think he just insulted us Inertia," I said turning to my large friend.

She let out a whistle-hiss of laughter, then said, "Fools."

Tillan turned slowly, staring at Inertia, then back to the ship. Then he nodded slowly, as if everything now made sense.

"Pretty sure he thinks this is all you," I said, patting her elbow. Somehow, despite being made out of metal, it wasn't as solid as Tillan's.

Inertia tilted her head, her eyes whirring as she stared at me, very deliberately raising one metallic eyebrow.

"Yes, yes, you definitely did most of the work," I conceded, nodding. "I did help with the design though."

At that, it was Inertia's turn to concede, nodding ever so slightly.

While Tillan had been shocked by the construction, it seemed Vergel had moved down another line of thought, eyes narrowed. He stepped closer, voice low as he asked, "The space inside… can it carry as much as it appears to?"

"It can carry plenty," I said, shaking my head. Its specific load chart was the sort of thing that fell under classified secrets. At least until we started using them for trade. Even revealing the existence of the Shield had been a calculated risk. There was a good chance their eagles would've spotted it soon anyway, as it made its patrols. Getting a good moment of shock and awe out of it was worth more than keeping its existence a secret.

However, that didn't mean we'd be filling our enemies in on its capacities.

The remaining tour over our border was filled with quiet conversation, each of the clan lords inquiring politely about Cape Aeternia as we made our way directly to Mount Aeternia.

I figured Keeper was our best bet. If they were going to lose their heads, it would be with him.

One way or the other.

It didn't take that long before we were coming up on the peak.

Tillan had mostly recovered, his boisterous voice contrasting against Vergel's more reserved tone as they made notes about what they could recognize of the area below.

I was surprised at how much Tillan identified. Including the train. It seemed he'd seen similar back before the Alvian empire had fallen. Which meant the big man was more than six-hundred years old.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Atop the peak, a half dozen Tethered were waiting, alongside a pair of familiar Vox Knights.

Before Nexxa had stomped all over Arther, I hadn't known what sort of condition we'd be arriving in. Or how much support we'd need.

Bevel greeted them with a wave, launching off the ship while we were still a couple hundred feet from docking.

Despite the fact she'd caused him to collapse less than two hours earlier, Vergel still took a half step after her, hand outstretched as if to stop her. His eye twitched when she turned her leap into a somersault, then bounced upwards over the heads of the gathered Tethered who, for their part, didn't bat an eyebrow at her behavior.

As we escorted the beast lords down, I turned back to the ship and the over-sized bonded beasts within, addressing the Vexith and Vexna. "Don't risk anyone to keep them in place. Just… yeah, focus on keeping everyone as safe as you can. Hopefully this'll all be over soon."

"You know, when you asked me if I was down to tussle with a giant bear this morning, I had something more like that guy in mind," Vexna said, jutting her chin towards the waiting Tillan.

"Yeah, that's why I'm telling you not to tussle, if possible," I said, nodding at her and Vexith. Vexith made a sign, pressing two fingers to his forehead, which earned him a sigh and a slap to his shoulder from Vexna.

Leaving them behind, I led the beast lords down the now-secret staircase, Nexxa and Bevel watching us from behind.

Despite the rather spacious hall, Tillan managed to make it seem cramped. His movements practically oozed discomfort, not all of it from the tight space.

It didn't take long to reach the door to Keeper's sanctum. After sending the Spellcode, I pushed the door open, leading the way inside, Nexxa and Bevel both watching with narrowed eyes.

Tillan raised his voice, about to speak when Keeper's head cracked free from the wall. It wasn't as satisfying as I'd hoped to see his face go white as Keeper spoke.

Felt good, sure, but it wasn't half as fun as his reaction to Vergel choking out on the floor of his feast hall. Wasn't sure if I was developing a bad habit or if I was wishing pain on the enemies of my people due to… other reasons.

"Ah, young omnivore, what have you brought today? A violator of the oaths?" Keeper asked, its black tongue running over its glistening teeth. The cracking I was used to ceased as Keeper suddenly slipped free from its bindings, moving with sinuous grace as it took two steps towards Tillan and Vergel.

"Devils below," Vergel said, gasping and grabbing my sleeve as he wavered on his feet. "They're real."

"G… great one…" Tillan said, collapsing to his knees, practically skimming the floor with his lips.

Keeper stepped forward, eyes focusing intently on Vergel for several long moments.

"I… uh… that is. If I get out of this alive, I'm going to kill you Tillan," Vergel finally said, the words escaping in a near hiss. "With my bare hands. No sweet kiss of death taking you off with pleasant dreams."

As if satisfied, Keeper nodded, its long sinuous neck shifting as it said, "Not this one."

Instead, its gaze moved to Tillan's prostrating form, black tongue clacking against its teeth. "Ah, yes. You feel like family."

Keeper's words sent a shudder down Tillan's spine, though I exchanged a confused glance with Nexxa and Bevel who retained their vigil at the door. From the way she was leaning forward, I suspected Bevel was as curious as I was.

Keeper hadn't finished, bringing a single one of its sharp claws down to rest upon the nape of Tillan's neck, lightly nicking it as though his skin were soft as a mortal's. "The vilest of oathbreakers, were they. Those who remembered the words, then used them to oppress all who would oppose them. Bound for their sins, never to die, so great was their trespass. Tell me, morsel, how many have you personally sold into lives of misery? How many have you consumed, so you could grow? Do you know?"

Despite the fact Tillan did nothing but tremble on the floor, Keeper nodded, its finger drawing blood up the length.

"Yes. Your debt is great. The scales must be balanced," Keeper said, reaching one clawed hand down. "You swore the oath, knowing full well the cost for breaking it. And now that price comes due."

"Uh, Keeper," I said, stepping forward. "You're certain?"

Keeper hesitated, turning its gaze on me, dark purple light gleaming within. "Young omnivore? Did you not bring this oathbreaker to me for judgment?"

I looked down at the man, ignoring the smell that wafted off of him. Then back up to Keeper. "I didn't. But that's not what I asked. I asked if you're sure. How do you know what he's done?"

"The oath upon his soul has marked him. His tallies are as easy to read as any book," Keeper replied, holding its hand out. Suddenly a list flickered into existence.

Not just a list. Faces. People. Those he'd betrayed. And what he'd done. Slavery, sacrifice, slaughtering innocents for entertainment, hunting them down for sport, laughing at their misery.

Millions, if Keeper was being honest, going back centuries.

All of it neatly organized and recorded.

"I… Tillan?" Vergel asked, looking horrified at the other man.

"It's true, it's all true," Tillan said, crying. "What else was I supposed to do? They were the enemies of my people. Our lands were not bountiful enough to support them."

"Enemies," Keeper said, its tongue clacking against the inside of its mouth. "Your enemies were supposed to be those who would harm the non-enhanced. That is the oath you swore. These were your wards who you used and betrayed."

"I… I…"

"Do you see, young omnivore?" Keeper asked, waving at the blubbering man.

I nodded. I saw.

It wouldn't be enough if even a thousandth of what Keeper had showed me was true, and my oath, so often silent, spoke that it was. It wasn't Keeper who'd recorded these things. It was an oath just like mine. No, it wouldn't be enough, but you couldn't balance the scales by doing harm. All we could do was stop him from doing more. "Do you think he deserves it?"

Keeper clicked its tongue, head tilting slightly, as if surprised by the question before finally answering. "No," Keeper said, shaking its head slowly. "He deserves far worse. As do many of those so judged. Yet the scales would be damaged in attempting the balance."

"Do it," I said, looking towards the doomed man. I would've met Tillan's gaze, if he'd lifted his head.

Keeper nodded, its claws easily closing over the large man's head.

"Perry, what-" Nexxa started, but then the man screamed.

Keeper pulled its hand back, and just on the edge of vision, I could make out… something, held within. The barest shape of the man before us. Except he was twisted and black, with dark ridges protruding from everywhere.

Then the image was gone.

"Fraying awesome," Bevel said as Keeper removed Tillan's soul from his body.

"And so you are free from your oath, Warden of the Wilds," Keeper said, Tillan's lifeless body collapsing to the floor. "Service will not be enough. But it will be a start."

Keeper clacked its tongue against its teeth, eyes shifting towards Vergel. "Know that your ignorance will no longer shield you. You must cast off your twisted oath along with the power it brings, or swear it anew, with full understanding."

Vergel swallowed, looking down at the emaciated form of Tillan, before glancing up. "Uh. Don't suppose I can find out what the oath is first? Be an awful shame to find out I can't live up to it and all."

It was, I had to admit, a rather reasonable request.

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