Hammers rang out as Zoe fell toward the edge of the platform and the sky beyond. Heat rushed up from the sky of swirling yellow and roiling red. Sparks glowed in that rising air, brighter than any neon clouds, brother and sister lights to the blue mountain portal, one spark brushed against her cheek and she shivered.
Darkness swooped upon her. Metal clanged on metal. Steam hissed as suns plunged into oceans.
She lay on rough stone and the Smith glowered down at her. The blindfolded giant sat cross-legged and shrouded by shadow, but the infinite prismatic forges burned in the surroundings like stars of glittering ruby. From this red glow, she could see the burns along the Smith’s arms and his muscular exposed torso. Fresh bandages covered his hands. His body trembled and shook, and he drew in deep breaths like bellows that ruffled her hair with the scent of slag and sloughing flesh.
She slowly sat up, her hands and feet of Mirror helping her up. The Smith’s head tilted as though he watched her through the blindfold. She still remembered the blistering glare behind that unadorned cloth. The sky of burned flesh was hidden within those ruined sockets. She shuddered, and the Smith nodded.
[Most people see me only once]
A pressure settled around Zoe’s shoulders, and she bowed forward.
“Um, thank you?”
He waved a giant hand, and the pressure reversed and lifted her upright.
[No false gratitude. Unlike my sister and late brother, I have sought to escape the cycle of prize and punishment]
Zoe frowned. She certainly felt as though the Smith had been mad when she took in other essences.
The Smith laughed, deep, booming, and the sound shook the atoms in her bones.
[Nobody is perfect, least of all a thief, but I strive to create something that one day may be. Do you believe you can help me?]
“Help you do what?”
[Achieve perfection]
The words sizzled in the air as shapes of half-dreamed possibility blipped and popped at the corners of her vision. Zoe spoke slowly, lest she entangle herself in something further, or receive further attention from the Witch for speaking to her brother.
[My sister cannot know us here. My forge is sacrosanct, as is her crossroads, and my late brother’s show]
Tension in Zoe’s neck eased ever so slightly.
“I don’t understand what you want?”
[Let me illustrate my point]
He waved a hand, and fire swirled into the air. The bright white flames formed the words and numbers of her status and hung between them.
Name: Zoe Chambers
Level: 49
Body: The Bell At The Center Of The World (Rank 4, Progress 9/10), Flesh of the Rabid Hound
ATTRIBUTES
Might: 240 (+100)
Vitality: 160 (+100)
Dexterity: 174 (+100)
Willpower: 239 (+100)
Insight: 168 (+100)
Skein: 981 (+500)
Free Points: 0
Titles: Intrepid, Lodestone, Quest Breaker, Glutton, True Believer, The Magnifying Glass, Hellbreaker,
Techniques: Our Hearts Toll As One, Empress In Time, Mind’s Eye Incision
The Smith spoke as Zoe studied the floating letters of fire.
[Your use of the parasitic technique is most ingenious. By combining it with the automated essence intake at level up you have achieved power not seen until most reach level 100']
Zoe’s eyes widened. She knew she had absorbed a lot of Skein. The exploding cores showed that well enough, but to think she had taken in that much… she couldn’t believe, or even understand what it meant. She was twice as powerful now, but sitting in front of the Smith it felt as though such power was insignificant.
Again, she felt herself approaching the difference between raw physical strength and the unique qualities of power that came from a level 50 body and Mountains. The gulf extended before her, but what could she do about that?
The Smith chuckled.
[You see a power unknown at your level and you want more, how delightful]
She felt hands around her arms, a force lifting her, though her knees remained pressed upon the rough stone.
“Wha—?”
[Your friends are calling you back. If I keep you here too long, it may cause damage to your mind. I will be quick]
“I thought you could control time?”
[A trinity without a third is an unstable thing, now listen: my sister toys with you, for she is undecided, and I cannot help, but a crafter cannot be undecided, so I know what it is I will ask. You represent a flaw in our system. There are only two options for such a flaw: remove, or integrate]
Zoe’s heart pounded in her chest as the gigantic Smith leaned forward. He grew as his face lowered. By the time he hovered a foot from her, his face filled the entire sky. She no longer saw the infinite Smiths or their ruby starlight forges. The Smith was so large she couldn’t focus on him, and her eyes darted as her mind scrambled to keep up with the detail, even with the tremendous growth of her Insight. A pain built in the back of her mind as though her skull were about to split.
[The pressure you feel is a fraction of what is coming. Do you want me to remove you from the system? Do you want to reject your fate and embrace oblivion? Do you want peace?]
Zoe struggled to talk. The pressure filled her mind. Filled her chest. She couldn’t breathe. Her eyes leaked as the pressure built up inside her and pushed out tears. Did she want to keep going? It was so hard, so grueling, what had only been months —- weeks? — felt like it had taken a year, and even then it felt like she had lost decades of her life. Could she handle any more stress?
Knowing that tomorrow would be like today, did she want to go through it again?
But she had to, didn’t she? If she didn’t carry the load, then who would?
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
The Smith nodded, and reality swayed on a cosmic tide.
[What even is your fight, Zoe Chambers? Do you wish to destroy Rue? The process of Apotheosis has destroyed the being once known as Rue. What he now represents is as far removed as a maelstrom from a mote. Do you wish to destroy the Crimson Armada? I ask you, what does that even mean?]
His question rocked through her.
Anger welled in her heart and clawed through her ribs. The scratching on her bones rasped in her ears. She had to fight, destroy, and devour to survive — she had to…
But how could she destroy the system with the system’s power? Was she just a lump of cancer in the cosmic body? Some kind of malignant cluster of cells reproducing abhorrently?
The Smith watched her think. She could feel the grasp of her friends on her body, but her mind resisted, this was something she needed to think about, because the same dogged pursuit of her path, the railroad of Metal, felt wrong. That path had rusted over with spilled blood and she was tired.
The usual reluctance to even conceive of defeat faded, and she truly looked at the issue.
Was it wrong to surrender to the ache in her? To let it take control and take her down to the depths of oblivion?
A metallic voice rasped inside her mind.
[Ask what the Smith wants]
Like plunging hot iron into cold water, the sense of peace erupted into steam. She gazed at the gigantic god with the same sense of crumbling tension.
“Why do you want me to stop?” she asked the Smith.
He tilted back, and his laughter boomed out loud enough to drown the omnipresent clanging of hammers.
[Ever the thief, I suppose, I wished to steal your destiny, for it is a splendid thing and I might learn from it, but I can see you made your choice. You will not give up the fight]
Zoe shuddered. Who had been that voice? She almost thought it was the Witch, but there was no sense of pleasure, only a sharpness to the words. Could it have been Rue?
The Smith’s laughter slowed and stopped.
[His daring outpaces his power if he intrudes upon my forge, though he hid his voice from me…]
Zoe took a deep breath and gazed up at the Smith. Impossibly, she felt a sense of equality between them. Or if not equality, at least understanding.
“Why did you summon me here?”
He raised a finger.
[To steal your destiny]
He raised another finger.
[But if that didn’t work, I wanted to give you my blessing]
“Your blessing?”
[You are building momentum, Zoe Chambers. Whether you succeed, or simply explode, the impact you will have on all systems is fascinating. I will not interfere with the way you are altering the body I built. My Blessing shall support your future growth, and I’ll give you some advice]
Zoe blinked as her status gained a new title.
Titles: Smith’s Blessing (stabilizes unique builds)
“What advice?”
[The beings of your world are weak, but there are other worlds, and the conflict between systems draws them like a magnet draws filings. You must conquer Mountains if you truly wish to draw upon the power of Skein]
Zoe opened her mouth to ask another question, but the Smith raised a hammer the size of the moon. He brought it down faster than thought and crushed Zoe into darkness.
###
She fell, blinking, but someone grabbed her, held her up, and stopped her from rolling off the edge. Zoe gazed with unseeing eyes at Bella, she blinked and saw Bella’s lips moving.
But there was no sound. She had transmuted the clouds and the sky into sound and eaten it all.
The meeting with the Smith was fading like the pain from an impact. She remembered only the feeling of warmth and approval; it did little to satiate the hunger inside her, but the raw ache in her chest had lessened.
Slowly she sat up and patted Bella’s arm. Anton’s silver eyes floated over, and she gazed away to where the survivors huddled on the edge of the chamber. Skidmark stood there covered in Mantis gore. Everyone gaped at her — had they seen what she did?
Zoe tried to stand, but an ache in her chest forced her down. Tears slid from her eyes involuntarily. It felt as though there was an open wound. She looked down and saw a star-shaped patch of Mirrored skin across her sternum. The shock sent her to her knees.
“Moth,” she whispered, and her voice shattered the spell of silence.
“Zoe are you ok!?” Bella said — such a familiar phrase.
“Boss!” Anton’s concern gazed out through the heavy lids of his uncaring facade.
“Is she dead?” the survivors chattered like parrots. “Did the Queen kill her?”
“Are we safe?”
Lightning flashed, and Anton appeared beside Zoe to help her up. More bright blue bolts of lightning arced overhead. Zoe stared dumbly, not even curious as the wound throbbed in her chest, and the survivors appeared on the far side of the room inside the laboratory.
Zoe probed her chest, a light clink as Mirrored fingers touched Mirrored skin.
“Moth,” Zoe said. “Show me.”
With reluctance she felt deep inside her soul, the Mirrored star slid away and Zoe stared at the wound in her flesh and in her soul, a gaping mouth lined with fangs that led into a dark and bottomless hole like a well carved into space.
She felt a suction, and tendrils of reality slowly spun toward the wound. The air rippled and flowed toward her. The marble cracked and twisted into threads leading up to her chest.
The star slid back into place to plug the gaping void inside her.
“Maybe I went too far…” Zoe said.
Overwhelmed, she collapsed into the arms of her friends.
What had she done to herself? She was becoming less of a person and more of a missile aimed at the heavens. This was the path she chose, but did she believe that? Despite all the talk of destiny and fate, she had to believe these were her choices.
But if that was the case, why had Rue helped her?
These questions she would ponder once she escaped this decaying island in the sky.