191 (III)

Burden

"He should not be hard to find. Hydras are conspicuous in the best of times, and Solzimort is… eccentric."

"Alright, so we can find this hydra, and he'll do what? Burn a hole through the cage?"

"More so that he will swallow a piece of Orichalcum, merge with the material, and swim through the cages without being impeded. He was contained in a special cell. Said special cell was rendered utterly useless the moment the magical restraints keeping Solzimort permanently sedated were deactivated."

And that was likely Bonk's fault. Shiv grimaced; the large orc would have loved to see this, the carnage and chaos caused by his actions.

"Aside from this, among the many prisoners here, Solzimort is one of the few I am willing to bargain with."

"And why is that?" Adam asked, sounding both curious and suspicious.

"Because Solzimort shouldn't be here. The main reason he is here is because of Longinus. Solzimort is a unique Pathbearer, a unique lifeform. Longinus likes to collect specimens of this type."

"Broken Moon," Shiv growled. "Cripple, look, I get you like playing at being a decent guy. But seriously, what the fuck? Half of this place is a slave pen of random people, and the other half is filled with the worst godsdamn killers I've ever met."

The Avatar turned away from Shiv, and the Deathless tasted the Ascendant's shame. "What is the godsdamn point of being a god if you're so easily bullied and cowed?"

Shiv held back the words he wanted to spit out the most. You're still just a slave, Cripple. He knew that was true, and Cripple did as well. But just as Psycho-Cartography allowed him to find the Ascendant's deepest wounds, it also informed him that casting it out so freely would come with severe consequences. If he broke Cripple's heart now, there might just be no going back, no matter how much Shiv thought the Ascendants deserved it. The Deathless pushed his anger aside and gestured for Cripple to continue.

"I will be able to have Solzimort carry all of you into one of the cubes. After that, it's best that you move quietly. The Wardens there all possess at least Heroic-Tier Awareness. You will likely not be able to stay hidden for long."

"Then this will be quite the challenge," Whisper said. "It's been a while since I had one."

At this, Shiv took off his cape and handed it to Adam. The Gate Lord stared at him. "Why?"

Shiv didn't answer. Instead, he entered the cape and felt the clenching pressure of Dimensionality wash over him. He reached the Forest of Alloy, stepped inside, and left a temporal anchor there. He studied his echo and left the Category One dimension thereafter. "So I can get to you fast. Or when my meeting with Veronica goes wrong."

Adam gave Shiv a nod. "Good luck. Don't let her talk you to death."

"I'll try to do her in with my words first," Shiv said, cracking his neck. "See how many levels I can get in Rhetoric or something from this."

Adam nodded. "Alright, that's him and the mana core. But what else? What about you?"

"You will come with me," Cripple said. "I will deliver you to Veronica directly."

"You know where she is?" Shiv asked, wondering if he could manage to ambush Veronica somehow.

"I know where she's likely to be, and I can get her attention. Specifically hers. She will likely want to speak with you, unbothered by the other Avatars or Ascendants as well—even her own. That is something we can count on."

And that was just what Shiv was hoping for. "Alright." He turned and regarded his orcs. "Whisper, Mortar, while I'm gone, you guys stay on your best behavior." A chorus of jeers and insults came his way. Shiv ignored them. "I'll make it up to you assholes later. For now, make sure Adam and the others get to the core. I'll be with you shortly."

"Don't get caught again," Mortar chided, chuckling. "You won't like what we have planned for our next rescue. It involves hostages."

"Shit, Mortar, that's all the reason I needed to stay out of a cell," Shiv muttered back.

"I can send one of my shadows with you," Kura suggested.

Shiv waved her off. "No, the fewer people that come with me, the better. Don't need Veronica spooked. This is going to be an actual conversation, not an assassination."

"A shame," Kura said. "But you should be bolder, Deathless. Between all of us, we can slay her alone. She cannot stop us."

The thought occurred to Shiv, but it didn't seem like a likely outcome. "We're still running up against a Legendary Pathbearer with god knows how many skills and an Ascendant she can call on. An Ascendant I want to avoid as much as I can."

"Wise," Cripple agreed. "Even alone, Veronica Chandler stands among the most dangerous Pathbearers I've ever met."

Shiv grunted once more. "Adam, get your armor, and get to the core. I'll be with you as soon as I can. Whether that be because everything's gone to shit, or because I've learned enough."

The Gate Lord seemed like he wanted to say something else to Shiv, but refrained. "Good luck, Shiv," he said instead. "If you feel anything is wrong—"

"Don't worry, Adam," Shiv said, realizing just how worried his friend was for him. "I'm not gonna risk my life for something stupid."

Adam fixed him with a flat stare.

"Okay, I'm not going to risk getting enslaved for something stupid."

"That's better," Adam said. "Listen, with how our luck's going..."

"Yeah, I know. We're probably gonna need to fight Rebis. Hells, we're probably gonna need to fight a bunch of the other prisoners that went missing earlier. When everything goes to hell—and it always goes to hell—stay ready."

"You too, Shiv. I'm going to need you intact for what's to come. After all, you're the one that needs to collapse the mana core. Udraal gave us two hours. Suppose you'll get half of that to chat with your grandmother."

"I'll probably be out faster," Shiv said. "Everything we do here is a risk, but so was working with Udraal. So was doing nothing. So was just reacting." He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and turned to face Cripple. "Alright then, let's make this look as real as we can. Suppose I need to be marched in as a prisoner."

"In restraints."

"Great. Well, let's see my new bracelets."

***

Shiv stared down at the masses of Orichalcum manacles coating both his arms. They were wrapped around his left and right hands, fused up to his elbows, and they had a spiral of varied spells keeping his magic suppressed. His Shapeless Tides ground against the manacles, and Shiv wondered if he could break free in a few seconds. As he directed a few Overflow Tides into the material, the spells reacted violently, popping and bursting, but ultimately stabilizing as they held him in a state of constant subversion.

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"Stop that," Cripple said.

"Just want to know how tough this thing is," Shiv responded.

"Enough that you won't be able to break free without significant effort and time."

Their footsteps filled the long, dim hall. The floor was draped with fine carpets. Their color was blood red, yet as Shiv swept the ground using his Biomancy earlier, he realized some of that was literally blood, painted and infused into the fabric itself. The walls here were of fine, rich wood. Their color was a warm brown with many rings and faint traces of age. Lanterns hung from above, and they sway as if brushed by a soft, unfelt breeze.

After leaving Adam and the others, Cripple led Shiv across the crawlspace until they found a specific cube. This one was smaller than most of the others, little more than the size of a cabin in the countryside. Yet, there was no easy way in. No magic flowed around the cube. It wasn't connected to any of the mithril supports. And there was a sense of wrongness when Shiv looked upon it.

It was like his Awareness didn't want him to know the cube was there, that his magic peeled away as he drew closer, that his skin and instincts howled at him to run, to flee, to do anything he could to preserve his life.

For how unassuming the little cube was, it radiated with dread.

And only when Cripple used its own divine presence did that crushing feeling die down. It pulled Shiv into the cube with a burst of divine mana. And after that, they found themselves walking down the aforementioned hall, upon the carpets surrounded by soft wood and swaying lanterns, walking until they came to a halt before a large stone door.

A series of runes encircled the frame of the door. Its centerline was cracked, as if someone had tried to batter their way through at some point. On both flaps of the door were trailing scribbles. Shiv guessed it was a story of some kind, and as he stared at them, a light flared as if the sun shone through from behind.

Whispers filled his mind, tales that wormed their way into his skull, but his Shapeless Tides held them at bay. It was trying to reshape his consciousness somehow, to make him slumber, but his Legendary skill ensured he was no easy prey.

"So what now?" Shiv said. He held up his manacles. "Do I knock?"

"We wait," Cripple replied.

Shiv turned and regarded the Ascendant. "We wait?"

"Yes. This is one of Veronica's private sanctums. This door is only accessible by her, and we were spotted the moment we breached this place's threshold. She will be coming soon."

And at that, the door opened with a thunderous groan. It snapped wide, and the runes spat embers of magic, showering both Shiv and Cripple's Avatar.

The chamber beyond was even more opulent than the hallway Shiv had just walked down. A raging fireplace crackled to the right, and the mantelpiece was made from some kind of glossy marble. It was sculpted exquisitely, sporting countless faces: human, elf, goblin, machine, and more. It climbed all the way up to the chimney and to the ceiling, and Shiv saw a glistening crystalline chandelier swaying above.

Atop the chandelier sat small creatures. They had little wings, and when Shiv used his Farsight to narrow his vision and get a better look at them, he found himself surprised to be staring at what seemed to be small, winged children. They were dressed in greenish tunics, frolicking with each other, laughing as mana dust spilled free from their bodies.

"Fairies," Cripple said. "Don't look at them. They will Curse your eyes."

Shiv blinked at the Ascendant.

"Veronica has pacts with the Fae. They see us. And so she does. So. Do not look at them, unless you wish to smell only candy and see only the color blue for a period."

Besides the mantelpiece, the walls were lined with bookshelves. There were so many books, books rising row by row, books stacked so tight that to pull one out would require a struggle, and to push it back would be next to impossible without causing damage.

And at the far end of the room was a long desk. It was as worn as the door, made from stone much like the door, and there were etchings upon it, not so different from the ones on the door. A mess of scrolls, tomes, papers, and more littered the desk, and Shiv wondered why some of those books called to him. An insatiable urge pulled at his person. He wanted to take some of those tomes, to devour what secrets they contained.

"Cripple. You're going to need to explain this to me."

And then she was there. She walked right past Shiv. He hadn't felt her, had no idea when she'd appeared. Her long coat was gone, and her static war dress billowed around her body as she strode toward her desk. She turned around and sat atop it, crossing one leg over the other. She regarded Shiv with her brown eyes, and he forced himself to meet her gaze. His Voidmantid armor's helmet was collapsed so that she could see his face. It took everything he had not to glare or scowl at her.

"The other Ascendants and Avatars," Veronica began, "they're out hunting you. Udraal supposedly has you, but here you are, right in front of me, inside one of my personal sanctums, accompanied by my most untrustworthy and most compromised Ascendant."

"There is no scheme here—" Cripple began.

"Cripple, I say this as a sympathetic friend: Shut the fuck up." Veronica waved him off, and Shiv cringed as he realized she gestured the same way he did, cutting through the air with her hand like a knife. "Please, Cripple, you can insult anyone else, just don't insult me. I've known you for too long, know you too well, and I don't blame you. My grandmother plays her games. The other Ascendants can't seem to make up their mind about what they want to do. Their appetites get worse and more extreme every year, and the Republic strains even as it bloats and grows."

Veronica gave a soft sigh as she rolled her eyes. "And at the center of it all isn't you, but me. Me holding it all together. Me, dealing with the sins of the past, the problems of the present, and the threats of the future."

Shiv chuckled. "So, which one am I? Or am I all three?"

"Clever," Veronica replied dryly. "But I haven't quite figured that out yet. Udraal has talked to you."

"Yeah," Shiv said. Veronica's gaze grew more intense by the second, and the Deathless forced himself to stand firm. An unnatural fear clawed at his stomach. He felt like an animal on the inside, but he was more than that. Fear, natural or unnatural, couldn't turn Shiv away. "Told me quite a few things about you, and I want to know if they're true. More than that, I want to know about my parents. I want to know what your deal with Udraal is. I want to know about the ritual."

And Veronica began to laugh. Her voice rose, and the pitch of her amusement climbed higher and higher. After a good ten seconds, she fell silent. "You know, this might be the first time a prisoner has tried to interrogate me inside one of my own offices. You're bold. You're overly bold. But I find that quite endearing." She clenched her jaw. "Yes, to begin with. I think you're probably my blood. Just as your father was probably my blood. That's no lie."

"Probably?"

Veronica smirked. "Let me be honest with you, boy. I've had many children. I kept none. I can't fully remember all of them. And you don't seem to know about this because, well, Roland's probably kept you insulated and severed from healthy development. Understandable, but pointlessly paranoid."

For a beat, Shiv had nothing to say. "So your excuse for not knowing is that you have too many bastards?"

Veronica shrugged. "I suppose so." And then her expression softened. "I wouldn't call them bastards. Just… disowned. For what it's worth, though, I did wish for a better life for your father. He probably deserved it, but I couldn't give that to him."

"You're the Legend-Councilwoman of the Republic!" Shiv almost shouted. "What the hells do you mean you couldn't give that to him?"

"I mean exactly that," Veronica said. She stared at Shiv as if he were simple. "I can't give him a good life, a safe life, because of who I am. Legend-Councilwoman. That isn't a position of privilege. That's the position of the chief babysitter for all the Ascendants, for every citizen in this great nation, and the cleaner for all the problems tumbling our way. You want to know what else that makes me, boy?"

Shiv considered her question for a second, and the answer followed naturally. "A target."

She snapped her fingers, and the flames within the hearth flickered. This close, and with them just speaking, Shiv could focus on how powerful she was, how heavy and dense her Dimensionality felt. It was crushing. The pressure radiating out from her made it hard to breathe, and his Shapeless Tides were the only reason he wasn't flattened. Even so, his bones creaked, and his tendons were pulled tight.

"I cannot afford a proper family. I cannot afford to spend my time rearing young and playing house. These are things you give up once you have enough enemies, or you wish to create a worthy enterprise."

Shiv inclined his head. "So, my father's not the only kid you handed away."

"No," Veronica admitted. Her voice fell, and she grew quieter. "It always hurts. I am not heartless. I'm not invincible. I always regret it, but I always understand the price I paid to get to where I am. A price I hope the children don't pay."

"Well," Shiv said, "he's dead now, so..."

"He's dead because he was a fool," Veronica spat. "He was a fool, you were a mistake, and your mother was a greedy whore. Now. Would you like to hear about them? About their mistake? And about what Udraal probably intends to do with you?"

"I might know more than a little about the last part, but yeah," Shiv said. "Let's hear about how mom and dad got to the point of mass murder, grandmother."

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