While Ashi worked the sky-cutter loose from the Necrosium, Kaden confronted Skully. The Bone Behemoth had approached the [Assassin] corpse laying on the deck and studied it, before picking it up and shoving the corpse into its rib cage. The ribs crushed inward, piercing the body, then stretched the limbs longer and longer, until the corpse was held inside.
“What is it doing?” Kaden asked.
Dannae clapped with joy “I don’t know but it looks horrifying! I can’t wait to see what else your monster does. He’s not quite a tomb champion, but this is just magnificent. This sky-cutter attracts [Blightlings] so we’ll get a chance to find out.”
With a groan, the sky-cutter broke loose and spun gently.
“I must tend the [Thread],” Ashi said. “Evelyn and Sara, steer. Kaden, please do not crash the ship.”
Eve moved a bar on the controls and the sky-cutter began to glide forward. “Sara, you steer, I’ll run the altitute and speed. Let’s practice avoiding arenas.”
Sara steered gradually, so it felt like the sky-cutter barely turned, but gave wide berth to the arenas.
“Movement!” Ashi shouted. “They are west!”
As the ship leaned west, she stopped. “Now, north?”
The sky-cutter picked up speed, sailing cleanly between the volcano and an Arena where a swarm of spiders fought a creature that looked like animated rocks.
“Slow—now East?” Ashi said. “This does not make sense.”
Before she could say anything else, a string of [Blightlings] dropped on the deck.
Skully charged to grab one and slammed in over and over, smashing it until the [Blightling] dissolved into white ooze. Smaller skeletons swarmed the others, waving swords in the air to cheer Skully as it repeated the attack.
“More!” Dannae shouted. “He needs a club!”
Another [Blightling] and this time, Kaden smashed it with Remembrance, then used [Moment of Speed] to dive away, while Skully used a more direct strategy - stomp toward the [Blightling] and stomp it into white goo.
“Keep going!” Ashi shouted. “North.”
Around and around, they sailed, always avoiding the Arenas and the volcano, while Skully became a legend among the smaller skeletons, who quickly learned to surround the Blightlings and trap them for their bigger brother.
“South again!” Ashi’s cry came.
Eve pounded her fist on the rail. “We’re going in circles.”
“Yes! That is it!” Ashi jumped up in the air. “You are most brilliant among women, Evelyn. We are going in circles. Those we seek are moving, too. We will be wise and adjust. When we know where they are, we move.”
Sara began to count. “Every thirty seconds. Every thirty seconds, they shift. Kaden, be ready to hit the ground. If we can isolate where they are in a given place, we can hit a building.”
Eve halted the ship, letting it drift gently. “Pay attention, we’re drawing lines. When it comes back around I want to know if they’re closer to the outside or closer to the volcano. Sara, can you mark it on your scroll?”
“Blightlings! If you’re holding still, you’re easier to attack!” Dannae’s cries were reinforced by the growls of a dozen skeletons as dozens of Blightlings dropped on the sky-cutter.
Ashi Rahm requests permission to use [Mana Conduit]. Allow? [Y/N]
Kaden accepted the prompt—and sprinted toward the Blightlings. “Ready!”
A wave of black power exploded out from him, damaging Blightlings. It ate holes in them and left them crisp, while Skully had picked up a pair of skeletons and swung them like flails, smashing damaged Blightlings.
“We need to be moving!” Dannae called. “Also, I need that spell. For reasons.”
Kaden checked. He’d lost 800 health to that one blast. “Maybe don’t do that a lot. Two more times, max, or I’m dead.”
“It should not have affected you!” Ashi shouted. “I am most sorry!”
Sara gave a cry of triumph. “Yes! I know where they are. I know where they were. There!”
She pointed across the way to an Arena. “Under there. I’d certain - the thread points downward, sharply downward. They’re not there right now, but they were twenty seconds ago and will be in ninety more. Someone is moving them so they can’t be tracked.”
Kaden looked to Dannae. “I’m leaving Skully with you. Sara, can you drop me into the Arena? You three, locate the other places. If I can’t get to them in this one, we’ll need to try the others.”
“I know where they are,” Sara said. “Remember Erris Karn’s network?”
The railway that went through a portal. “Yes. You think there’s some sort of portal rail setup to transport them around?”
Sara projected her map. “Arena. Arena. Arena, Limey’s domain. Diggus, Syntera, Bluderyn, and a Demon Lord. It’s under these buildings.”
Dannae let Skully run wild for a moment, then dispatched a ghost. “You don’t want to tangle with a demon lord. Level seventy five, he’ll squish you. He’d probably kill me. Hell, Duggarn would have a hard time alone.”
“Then do not go alone,” Ashi said. “But consider this: There are four locations. When you hit the first, they will stop the transport. If you do not guess correctly, you will lose your chance.”
Dannae sent another ghost. And another. “Duggarn was in a meeting with three Brokers. All Hell’s broken loose. We’re forming raid teams to hit Limey’s domain. That leaves the three arenas.”
“Eve and I will take the north one,” Sara said. “Remember, you don’t need to interfere in the battle above. The businesses built into the arena likely have ways to the underground.”
Kaden looked to Skully. “Go with Sara. Protect her. Ashi and I can both Portal. We’ll use that to get out if needed.”
“And you?” Sara asked.
“I’ve got [Stealth Aura]. I’ll find this portal railway. If the twins are there, I’ll free them, send the [Falcrow] and portal out.”
PATTERN OF FATE DETECTED. AVOID/JOIN NECROMANCER BATTLE [AVOID].
Kaden cursed under his breath and explained. “This doesn’t make any sense. We’re working to restore Fate. The [FateWeavers] asked us to come. Ashi’s Mother intervened to block [Prophecy], so how are we constantly running the opposite way to Fate’s design?”
“Oberix.” Eve spoke the name like a curse. “She calls herself a [Fate Changer.] I’d bet it’s nothing more than a [Fate Weaver] who doesn’t care about the consequences. It’s her design you’re running afoul of.”
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Kaden thought back to each of his interactions. “At this point, we’re going to be dealing with major karmic consequences. I think it will only affect me.”
“I doubt it.” Sara’s whisper was barely audible over the sound of Skully tearing apart Blightings. “When I chose to rescue Annika’s party, I paid for it. I’d have the Horror right now. I can still summon Crawling Horrors. And butterflies.”
“The smart thing to do is let the Necromancers handled it,” Eve said. “The right thing to do is dive in. I don’t know this Diggus, but I don’t like people who believe they can act without consequence, take without fear. I’ll personally endure a little Karma to end that.”
“One alone must not be allowed to control [Fate],” Ashi said.
Kaden shook his head. “I’ve seen a catastrophic karmic intervention. It killed innocent bystanders. If we’re going to do this, we have to do it my way. With [Resilient Constitution], I can survive most things. And once I’m alone, Sole Survivor will increase my resistances.”
“I’d have to hear your way before I can agree.” Sara looked so small without the Cosmic Horror’s pseudopods looming over her.
Kaden launched into his plan. “Karma reacts to actions. If I force you into the battle, that wasn’t your choice. If you act, the penalty lands on you.”
“Stop it.” Dannae’s command rose over the growls of Blight-Slaughtering. “You’ve risked so much. Been caught up in a war you had nothing to do with. Leave recovering the Twins to us. You’ve given us knowledge. You’ve already evened the scales.”
Kaden wasn’t one to back away.
He shared that with Trinity or maybe he got a little bit of it from her. “We can help.”
“Not without incurring a Karmic response. Let it fall on us. Our people. Our battle.” Dannae looked south, toward the Necrosium. “We’re not fools, though we’ve been made to dance like one. We’re not weak, though this City does not recognize our strength. That ends here and now.”
Ashi put a hand on the controls for the Sky Cutter. “Where can we take you? Pick an arena.”
“That one.” Danae pointed west. “The Walking Graveyards are already on their way. I’ll be there to make them more effective. Sorry, but Skully’s not battle proven. Those [Plague Crows] could be amazing in time, but now isn’t the moment to find out.”
As though he heard his name, Skully threw back his head and rattled, then siezed a pair of smaller skeletons, using them as weapons to smash Blightlings. Blightlings saw the stationary sky-cutter as an ideal target, and Skully saw Blightlings as ideal targets, so it was really a win-win situation.
This time, Ashi caused the ship to sail upward higher and higher, so the Sky Cutter sailed gracefully over the top of the of the arena instead of crashing through it. “We must abandon ship once the skeletons are gone. Alone, your undead pet is not enough.”
“Right.” Sara scanned the horizon. “Trade-Rite is there. We’ll crash—I mean, land—just outside it.”
Skully reluctantly let go of his two friends as the skeletons formed a bone-ladder for Dannae.
“When this is over, come by the Necrosium.” Dannae climbed over the edge of the sky cutter and her skeletons dropped her, catching her at intervals—then raining down as the Necromancer landed in the middle of the arena.
She ignored the packs of [Hybrenas] fighting Adventurers, as [Walking Graveyards] smashed through the wall of the arena and began to tear stones from the floor, working their way downward.
The sky cutter wheeled about as Ashi moved them clear of the arena.
“Ashi, you need to leave,” Eve called. “Any of us can crash the ship. You can make sure no matter what, Oberix doesn’t get what they’re after.”
“Explain!” Ashi said, as the ship pitched up, rising and sinking as though on waves.
“You’ve got the Thread,” Eve said. “For once, you need to listen to Kaden. Oberix doesn’t care about some skull. They’re a [Fate Changer]. Their long term goal was probably always the Thread. Use the token. Go back to Vichor. Deny them this. It’s the only sane thing to do.”
“I will not.” Ashi looked to Kaden and Sara. “I will not abandon you to Karma.”
Pattern of Fate Detected: Deliver Thread to Broker Oberix [Deliver/Deliver/Deliver/Deliver].
Kaden swore under his breath. “No one is abandoning anyone. Imagine what Oberix will be capable of if they get it. I just got another pattern of fate warning, but all options have me delivering the thread.”
The Sky-Cutter rocked side-to-side as something impacted the bottom. The screams of terror from below were possibly coincidence.
“That cannot be. It would damage the weave of fate terribly.” Ashi leaped over the railing and activated the portal. “Evelyn? Keep this safe.”
Kaden wasn’t surprised to see Eve willingly accept the thread. But she hesitated, unclipping something from her ears. “If you’re going into battle, and I can’t be there to heal, at least take these.”
In her hands sat the [Suffering Crystals] he’d bought with a gnome massacre. They’d always been red, but now they shown with a crimson glow. “I don’t inflict status effects.”
“You will with these. I’ve charged them up by using them in battle. Your enemies will sufffer random status effects. May I?” Eve drove the earrings through the collar of his [Needful Cloak]. “Be careful. I won’t be there to resurrect you.”
With that, she stepped through the Portal.
“Sara?” Kaden asked “Remember Verdant Vineyards?”
“Yes,” Sara said. “How bad will the Karmic Penalty be?”
“Catastrophic. You know what that means. Everyone around me is about to pay the price for us intervening.” Kaden waited as Eve stepped through the shaking portal. The sky-cutter shuddered under them again.
Sara tackled Ashi, dragging her through the portal, which snapped close.
WARNING: WEAVE OF FATE HAS TEMPORARILY BROKEN IN THIS AREA. (OBERIX)
FATE GUIDANCE IS UNAVAILABLE.
KARMIC BALANCE REMAINS IN EFFECT.
DESTINY REMAINS IN EFFECT.
FATE WEAVERS NOTIFIED.
PLEASE STAND BY.
Kaden leaped to the steering deck. “You and me, Skully. Let’s give Oberix a taste of her own medicine.”
Kaden oversteered the first time and the second, weaving back and forth like a [Winemaker]’s apprentice as he learned how to pilot the sky-cutter. Eve and Ashi had made it look easy.
Skully smashed the first Blightling to hit the deck into pulp, but now they were coming faster and faster, and soon the third Blightling was standing while the first was still being smashed.
“Leave them!” Kaden shouted to his monster as he wheeled the sky cutter left, straight toward an arena. He recognized the smashed walls and crumbling stone, like someone had parked a sky-cutter badly there, then rammed their way out after killing a bunch of gnomes.
That was just one possibility, there could be any number of reasons for the arena top to be crushed. Kaden pushed the skycutter forward and leaped aside as Skully lumbered up the rails. [Plague Crows] circled him, infecting the Blight, which was life, and thus vulnerable. In fact, the infection seemed to spread across the blightlings faster than Kaden thought possible, causing them to deteriorate.
“Come with me, big guy. Time to jump.” Kaden leaped from the sky-cutter, landing atop a stone Outlet Shop. Skully crashed to the ground behind him, while the sky-cutter picked up speed—and slammed into the arena, crushing Blightlings.
Kaden had already activated [Stealth Aura], and kept it on him and Skully as a group of guards rushed past. Not Emporium guards. Trade-Rite guards carrying wands the size of war clubs.
“Spread out, the whole party is here. The [Polymage] has the [Thread of Fate], so don’t vaporize her,” a guard called.
Kaden already saw how the fates had diverged. He took a risk and drew a Echo Beetle from Inventory, ordering it to land on the back of the Guard who seemed to be in charge, then crawl up under his collar.
As the men spread out, Kaden slipped Skully into Inventory and hid. At this point, his best option was to escape Omnor. But he froze as a rainbow dragon landed on his arm and dropped a scroll.
Kaden. Najur adjusted time to run faster in Vichor so we may plan. Oberix has broken Fate. There is a way to restore it, though the price will terrible. Under the arena you will find a FarPortal. Toss this scroll into it. — Ashi
He looked over the edge at the Trade-Rite guards, who seemed a lot less interested in finding him than he would have expected. Level twenty fours, maybe they really wanted to make it to twenty five.
Kaden activated [Stealth Aura] and leaped over the edge, sprinting toward the nearest business. The theory had been that all of them would have access to the underside of the arena. This one sold robes in every color and decorative battle axes that wouldn’t cut a ribbon let alone a neck, along with wands that sprayed colors, not internal organs, and buckets of popcorn.
The back of the shop opened to a crowded store-room organized in stacks for upcoming battles. But at the far end of the storeroom, Kaden found a panel that slid open. A set of iron tracks lay just beyond. As Kaden stepped forward, [Split Second] activated. He jerked back as a cargo wagon the size of a house slid silently past, moving fast enough to obliterate anything that got in its way.
[Moment of Speed] let him cross the tracks.
He summoned Trinity, using [Beast Empathy] to impress on her how quiet she needed to be. “I’m looking for the twins.”
Bit by bit, they moved through different tunnels. When Kaden found a pallet of goods, he moved it across the doorway. When he found a box of fireworks, he put them into Inventory. The organization was truly magnificent, ever larger corridors let wagons pass with robes, food, trinkets for the games, even the occasional decorative weapon.
When Trinity found a Bastion Iguana pulling a cargo cart, she sabotaged it and prevented it from resurrecting. (The iguana, not the cart). Kaden’s sense of direction had gone completely wrong, and his only rule was ‘larger’ is probably further in.
Until he reached a room where an actual FarPortal was active, and trains of goods moved through a short distance, then the portal shut down automatically. It opened again and a shorter line of carts came through. A moment later, the exit portal blinked, and Kaden’s breath caught in his chest. He’d found the twins.