Water splashed on my face, and I woke swiftly, sputtering and coughing. I leaped to my feet, my spear in my hand. My head pounded, and the world swam dizzily about me, but it stabilized after a moment, and I froze as I saw Bregg squatting where I’d been lying, waterskin in hand. He had an amused look on his face, but his gaze when he met mine was oddly respectful.
“Hettlug.”
“Did you just try to drown me, Bregg?” I spluttered, wiping water from my nose and eyes.
“No, although you probably deserve it.” He sighed and rose to his feet, and I took a moment to look around.
The room was, quite frankly, a disaster. I didn’t know what exactly caused the shock wave that had knocked me out, but it had done some damage. Most of the smaller crystals had been tore from their sockets and lay on the ground, a few of them fractured. None of them still glowed with power; apparently, the blast had knocked them free, as well. The central crystal still stood, empty and serene, though, despite being at the center of the blast.
“How did it survive that, Sara?” I asked curiously.
“I think its perfection preserved it, John,” she said. “That blast was spiritual, not physical. It affected everyone in the room and all the crystals, but it didn’t dislodge a single pebble otherwise. The perfect crystal is so flawless, though, that it offered no resistance to the energy’s passage. It simply released what it held, and nothing more.”
“Zero impedance,” Kadonsel said with a sigh. “An actual perfect crystal—and the Menskallin will probably destroy it. What a waste.”
“You don’t sound terribly upset,” I noted.
“I—I’m not, really,” she said thoughtfully. “You’re done here, Outsider. I aided you, as promised. That means that you’ll release me, so none of this is my concern anymore.”
That was a possibility, for sure, but another idea had occurred to me earlier, and I was hoping it was something I’d be able to do. If I could, then things weren’t quite as simple as Kadonsel thought they were.
“Hettlug, I think it’s finally time for some truth.” I looked over at Bregg and saw him glaring at me, his hand clutching his spear—a spear already stained with the blood of one Inquisitor. “You’ve never been who or what you said you were, but you somehow knew all this was coming.” I opened my mouth, but his glare hardened. “And don’t tell me it was a vision! We both know that’s a lie.”
“Fine,” I sighed. “Where’s Fifa?”
“Why do you want to know?” he demanded.
“Because she probably has the same questions you do, and I only want to go through this once, if that’s okay.”
He looked at me, his anger ebbing swiftly. “Fair enough. She’s over there, unconscious, same as you were.”
“I noticed you didn’t get knocked out,” I pointed out as I followed him toward the woman.
“I didn’t slam into one of those profane crystals. I got bruised and had to put my arm back into place, but otherwise, I’m fine.”
I paused. “What about Aeld?” The hunter’s face turned somber, and he pointed back toward the back of the room. I walked over to the limp, lifeless body of the shaman, noting the spear wound in his back that had probably bisected his heart. That explained why his spirit had suddenly been torn from spiritual combat, I supposed. I glanced curiously at Bregg.
“You did it?”
“Yes,” he said simply.
“Why? He was your letharvis.”
“No, he wasn’t. Not anymore. Whatever dark spirit came to him twisted him into something else. He stopped serving our people and started serving something else, instead.” The hunter looked mournful as he spoke, and I put a hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry you had to do that, Bregg.”
“So am I, Hettlug.” He sighed. “I’ll always remember him as a little one, clamoring around my knees, asking to learn the spear when we all knew his was the path of the letharvis. He was always so eager to learn—maybe too eager.”
There wasn’t much I could say to that, so instead, we walked over to Fifa’s unconscious form. While Bregg busied himself waking her up—far more gently than he had me, of course—I took the moment to check my notifications.
Inquisitor Slain!
You have slain another Divine Inquisitor. By doing so, you claim 10% of their acquired Inquisitor XP and 10% of their Unused Skill Points.
XP Gained: +390,811 (Inquisitor Profession Only)
Skill Points Gained: 38 (119 Total)
You have gained the Title: Anti-Inquisitor
You gain resistance to the abilities of other inquisitors based on your Intuition stat.
Spirit Melding: You have partially Melded a First Spirit!
Class A First Spirit
Spiritual Power: 1,549
Benefits: All Stats +5, +100% bonus to Spiritual Combat
Spirit Melding: You have Melded a High Spirit!
Class E High Spirit
Spiritual Power: 667
Benefits: All Stats +2, Spirit Warrior Ability
Spirit Warrior
Passive Ability
You gain a 10% bonus to all spiritual combat.
From channeling the energy of a First Spirit, you have taken significant Spiritual Damage!
All Physical Stats -10%. All Spiritual Stats -25%.
Due to the source of this damage, it is unknown whether it will heal or not.
You have 21,220 XP that needs to be assigned.
This XP can be assigned to the following Professions:
Inquisitor, Undtharvis, Undkrager
If this XP is not assigned within 24 hours, it will be randomly assigned.
Congratulations!
You have completed the mission: A Spirit Of Lava And Ice
Objectives met: 30/32
Inquisitor XP Gained: 35,000
You have completed a secondary mission: A Dark Betrayal
Objectives Met: 4/4
Inquisitor XP Gained: 7,500
Your Inquisitorial Seal has gained a new icon.
Icon: Frozen Spear
Benefits: Resistance to all extremes of temperature, +25% to all weapon damage, +25% to all spirit-based abilities and skills.
Title Gained: Hunter of Spirits
Benefits: +25% to all Hunting-type skills, +25% to all attacks, skills, and abilities used against spirits.
Profession: Inquisitor has gained a level!
New Level: 6
For every level of Inquisitor, you gain:
Reason, Intuition, Perception, Charm +2
Prowess, Vigor, Celerity, and Skill +1
6 Skill Points
Ability Gained: Suppress Imbalance
Active Ability
You generate an aura that reduces the stats, skills, and effectiveness of abilities of any within who work to upset the balance. The exact amount varies with your Intuition stat, inquisitor level, and their native strength.
I quickly added the XP to Inquisitor, and to my shock, another notification appeared.
Profession: Inquisitor has gained a level!
New Level: 7
For every level of Inquisitor, you gain:
Reason, Intuition, Perception, Charm +2
Prowess, Vigor, Celerity, and Skill +1
6 Skill Points
“Wait, Sara, I got two Inquisitor levels from that?” I asked in amazement.
“Killing another Inquisitor is very profitable, XP-wise, John,” she said solemnly.
“Why?”
“Their energy is already extremely dense and pure thanks to their SARA, and that makes it not only easy to grab but also perfect to add to your Inquisitor profession. It’s the closest thing to true divine energy you’re likely to find.”
“True divine energy?”
“The energy of the Powers themselves. That’s obviously a much richer source of energy, but it’s also one that you’re really, really unlikely to be able to ever draw on.”
“We’ll see. Sara, what Aeld said about the dark spirit from beyond. Do you think that could have been Menogra? Could she have actually interfered directly in this world?”
“It’s possible, John. Most of the limits I know the Powers have are self-imposed, placed to honor the Pact. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that they break them all the time and just never get caught. It might be a coincidence, though—or the Inquisitor’s patron creating a backup plan in case she failed.”
I wasn’t convinced, but I let the matter drop. If Menogra had gotten involved, there wasn’t much I could do about it. At least, not yet. One day, though, I’d be rid of her curse. Then, we’d see.
I swiped away my notifications and looked down as Fifa coughed once. She groaned as Bregg stepped back from her, slipping a sprig of some kind of plant back into his pouch. As her eyes fluttered open, panic and fear filled them, but when she saw us, that quickly shifted to relief.
“What happened?” she asked, looking around. “The first spirit?”
“Gone, heltharvis,” Bregg said solemnly. “You banished it.”
“Wh-what did you call me?” she asked in confusion.
“Heltharvis. You commanded a first spirit. No one’s ever done that before. If that doesn’t make you a heltharvis, I don’t know what would.”
“I had the power of these crystals to draw on, though.”
Bregg reached down and laid a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “I’m no letharvis, but I know as much about your path as anyone who hasn’t walked it. I know that commanding a spirit takes power and will, and one without the other will lead to disaster. You had the will to drive a first spirit from this world, Fifa. You’re a heltharvis.”
“He kind of has a point,” I agreed. “I don’t think I could have done that.”
The woman sighed and looked defeated. “Whatever. I can’t tell you what to believe.” She looked around again, noting the still air. “The Henguki array? It stopped?”
“Freyd stopped it,” Bregg said. “I saw him.”
“I took the spirit of Aldhyor out of the crystal and bound it,” I explained. “That ended the array.”
“You bound it?” she asked, her eyes startled.
“Yeah. I thought that if I let it go free, it might make the volcano erupt. That seemed like a bad idea to me.”
“Wise decision,” she muttered. “About time you made one.” She pushed herself to her feet, then staggered and nearly fell. Bregg and I each jumped forward and grabbed her arms, holding her up, and the hunter looked at her with concern.
“Are you well, heltharvis?” he asked.
“I’m fine, Bregg,” she replied, giving the man a wan smile as she steadied herself and slipped from our grips. “I think channeling that much power simply gave me some minor spiritual damage. I’ll be fine with a few days of rest…” She fell silent and made a face. “At least, I would if I could still tap the energies of the valskab.” She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. “I—the silence of it…” A tear ran down her face, and she took a deep, shuddering breath. “I never knew it would be like this.”
Bregg looked pained, as well, but he turned to me, giving me another glare. “The heltharvis is awake, now, Hettlug,” he said. “Time for some answers. Who are you, really?”
“What do you mean, Bregg?” Fifa asked, seeming to pull herself together for the moment, blinking rapidly and wiping her eyes.
“I mean, he’s not who he’s said he was, heltharvis. He never has been. How did he appear from nowhere in the middle of the High Reaches? How did he master your arts so quickly? How does he know how Henguki works and what the former heltharvis had planned?” He turned back to me. “He couldn’t, not unless he was one of them—and I can’t accept that. So, Hettlug, give. Who or what are you, really?”
“I’m…” I paused, wondering how to explain it, then shrugged. The truth would be the easiest thing, and at this point, I didn’t “I guess you could call me an outer spirit of sorts, Bregg.”
“What?” Fifa gasped, stepping back and placing a hand over her mouth. “You—are you spirit-possessed, Freyd? How? I never sensed…”
“No, I’m not possessed,” I chuckled. “However, I’m not from your world, either. I’m from somewhere else, like the outer spirits are. Something terrible was going to happen in this world, and I came to stop it.” I looked around the devastated room. “Looks like I succeeded.”
“Then—then you knew all this was going to happen?” she asked, her eyes narrowing accusingly. “You knew that the heltharvis would betray us? That Aeld would try to bind that spirit?”
“I wish,” I laughed. “This all would have been a lot easier if I did. No, I knew that something terrible was going to happen, but not what, exactly.”
“Then everything you’ve said was a lie, wasn’t it?” Bregg rumbled. “Just as I thought. I knew you couldn’t be trusted!”
“Actually, if you think about it, I didn’t,” I shrugged. “I never said I was Menskallin or from this world. You just assumed that because I look like one. I told you I’d never been part of a valskab, and that I’d never met a letharvis before Aeld, both of which were true. And I told you that I was a hunter, looking for something that was going to hurt a lot of people and trying to stop it before it could.” I gestured around. “Was I wrong?”
The man grumbled, and his hand tightened on his spear, but I just gave him a calm gaze.
“Bregg, you need to get over your trust issues. Seriously. I helped stop the old heltharvis from taking all the spirits from your people, banishing them into Enverthen, and killing most of the Oikithikiim. I risked my life multiple times to stop her and save your people. Every time you’ve doubted me, you’ve been wrong, and instead I’ve helped you and your people. How much is it going to take for you to accept that just because I’m an outsider doesn’t mean I’m untrustworthy?”
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“Old habits are hard to break, Freyd,” Fifa sighed. “And old fears are harder to overcome. Even more so among our people, where the valskabs preserved our memories through the generations.” She grimaced. “Sadly, for most of our people, nothing you could do would convince them to trust you, not until you were joined in the valskab.”
“Well, you’re going to have to learn a new way,” I shrugged. “There aren’t any valskabs anymore, which means you’ll have to figure out how and who to trust without knowing. Unless, of course, you work out how to recreate them without the Bargain, I suppose.”
“I don’t think that’s possible. The Bargain gave us the power to command the elder spirits as we did. Without it, even if we bound them, I don’t think we could convince them to join us as they once did.” As she spoke, her tone and voice sad and mournful, an idea popped into my head.
“You know,” I said slowly as the thought crystallized in my mind, “there might be a way to make that work—but I’m not sure you’ll like it.”
“Make what work?” she asked.
“Binding and commanding the elder spirits to reform your valskabs. It might be possible, you know.”
“How?” she asked, her voice both wary and eager. “The elder spirits are too powerful for us to simply command, and you saw how they responded when freed from our control. They won’t willingly join us again.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. However, I think there’s a way you can create the link with them without needing their consent.” I pointed toward the middle of the room. “Over there, there are four crystals designed to hold elder spirits. They’re empty at the moment, but if you filled them, you could probably tap those crystals for the power you need to rejoin the valskabs.”
“No!” Bregg said sharply, stepping closer to me with an angry expression. “These crystals are profane, and they have to be destroyed!”
“Are they?” I asked calmly. “Are you sure about that?”
“Of course! Everyone knows that the crystals torment the spirits within them, Hemskall…”
“You mean, the same way everyone knew that the Bargain was good for your people?” I cut him off. “How everyone knew that the Oikithikiim were attacking you without reason?”
“Yes, Freyd, the elders lied to us,” Fifa said slowly. “But they had a reason for that. If we’d known the truth, the people might have demanded that the Bargain be ended.”
“Actually, I’m not sure it’s that simple, Fifa.” I looked toward Aeld’s lifeless body, lying across the room. “I think Aeld might have been right, in fact.”
“You think that binding a first spirit would be a good idea?” she gasped.
“No, not that. I think that would have been a disaster. However, I think he was right about the first spirits misleading all of you. I think they’re the ones who orchestrated this war, and they’ve kept it going all these years. I also think they’re the ones who convinced you that Henguki was evil.”
“Why would they do that?” she asked skeptically.
“Because when someone from this world dies, they get the power of that person’s spirit. By keeping your peoples at each other’s throats, they get more spirits sent their way. Like I said, I think Aeld was right about all that.”
“A fine theory,” Bregg snorted. “But we can’t risk our people on a theory, Hettlug.”
“It’s not a theory, Bregg. I saw it happening.”
“What?” Fifa gasped. “You—what did you see? How?”
“I can see mortal spirits, Fifa. I can see yours and Bregg’s right now. I can see that the ojaini both lost theirs to the ritual, but the patriarch over there still has his—badly wounded, but it’s there.” I pointed up to the still-visible night sky above us. “And when the first spirit was here, I could see the spirits of everyone who died traveling up to it as a mist, then being absorbed by it. That’s what happened to the spirits in the spirit lights—and both Aeld and the heltharvis. The first spirit took their spirits and got stronger from them.”
“I—I can’t believe…” she said in a stunned voice.
“It’s true,” I shrugged. “And it’s also true that Henguki isn’t what you’ve been told. I can prove it to you.” I pulled a full Henguki crystal from storage, one holding a simple wind spirit. Bregg hissed in dismay, but I ignored him and activated my severing spell. It only took a moment for me to cut the spirit free of the crystal and pull it out, and I held it up for Fifa to examine.
“You’ve been taught that Henguki damages and torments spirits, but have any of you ever asked a spirit if that’s true? If being in a crystal like that is harmful or painful?” I held my hand out. “Here’s your chance. Go ahead. See if being in that crystal tainted it or harmed it.”
Fifa hesitantly called the spirit to her palm and held it up, staring at it. Her gaze grew confused after several seconds, and she looked at me in wonder. “It—it likes the crystal,” she said. “It makes it feel stronger and safer.”
“Yeah. Despite what you’ve all been taught, the Oikithikiim actually revere the spirits a lot more than the Menskallin do. You see them as useful tools at best and dangerous pests at worst, but they see them as being greater than mortals and worthy of worship. They would never harm them deliberately; it would be sacrilege to them.”
“You coerced that spirit into saying that,” Bregg said accusingly.
“Seriously, Bregg, do you just distrust everything and everyone without even thinking about it? That doesn’t even make sense. First of all, what reason would I possibly have to convince you that Henguki’s not all that bad? It doesn’t gain me a damn thing. Second, if you think about it, it makes sense that the crystals benefit the spirits. Since the Oikithikiim can’t bargain with them to convince them to go into those crystals, if the crystals didn’t give the spirits something they wanted, they’d simply ignore them.”
I chuckled. “And if you still don’t believe me, well, a whole bunch of spirits were just inside that flawless crystal, Fifa. In fact, I’ll bet that every spirit in Aldhyor was for a while, maybe in the whole Haelendi. Ask any of them. I couldn’t have affected them all.”
“I might just do that,” Fifa said, then hesitated. “Even if I do, though—even if they all say that Henguki didn’t harm them—it won’t matter, Freyd. The elders would never listen to me, and neither will our people.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” I grinned as I saw a few of the guards moving quietly closer to us, their spears in hand and their faces wary but not openly hostile. I pointed at the closest guard. “You. The rashi are all dead or chained.” I shifted to point at Fifa. “That makes her the only letharvis in Aldhyor. Tell her what that means.”
The man’s eyes widened, and he quickly dropped to a knee, followed by the rest of the guards as my words sank into them.
“Heltharvis,” the foremost guard said respectfully, lowering his head.
“I’m not a heltharvis!” Fifa snapped. “I’m a letharvis!”
“Forgive my impertinence, but you are.” The man looked up at her. “As the greatest letharvis in Aldhyor, you are heltharvis. You must decide who will form the new rashi.”
“What? No! I…” She looked helplessly at me. “What’s happening, Freyd?”
“It’s pretty simple,” I shrugged. “The rules state that when any member of the rashi dies, the remaining members can appoint a new one from among the eligible letharvisa not of the rashi.” I pointed at her. “You’re the only eligible letharvis in Aldhyor, and you aren’t of the rashi. That means you can be the new rashi—that is, if you want it.”
“N-no, I couldn’t,” she stammered. “I’m not old enough, wise enough…”
“Would you rather choose one of those elders who allowed your children to die?” I asked quietly. “The old rashi obviously knew that, too, and did nothing about it. Or someone like the last heltharvis, who only cared about her own power?”
I leaned forward and gazed into her startled eyes. “You want to help your people, Fifa. Well, here’s how you start. Take the power away from the ones who failed them. Bring in the others the heltharvis found, the ones who were outraged enough by the real price of the Bargain to do something about it. Make a rashi out of people who’ll actually care about the ones they’re ruling.
“And if you want wisdom, well, the remaining members of the last rashi are still here, somewhere. They’ve all been chained, so they don’t have any power, but they have knowledge. Use it.” I leaned back. “Or hand power back over to the people who abused it before. The choice is yours, really.”
The woman looked helplessly at Bregg. “What would you do?”
“Me?” The man snorted. “I’d find anyone other than me to rule, Heltharvis. Guiding our people after this is going to be a nightmare. The valskabs are gone. The Bargain is broken. Who knows what effects that might have on our lands or the four-legs? It’ll take a wiser mind than mine to deal with all that.” He hesitated, then reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “But more so, it’ll take a wiser heart, and that you have, Heltharvis. Everything you’ve done, you’ve done for our people, not for yourself.”
“The old heltharvis was right about one thing,” I added. “The best person to hold power is the one who takes it because they have to, not because they want to.” I looked back toward the center of the room and pointed at the flawless crystal. “But whatever you decide, the one thing you’ll want to do is preserve that. Trust me.”
“Why?” Fifa asked, her voice still confused and a little stunned.
“Because it’s priceless to the Oikithikiim. And I mean that: it’s beyond value to them. It’s the whole reason the Oikithikiim went along with the heltharvis, and they’ll do anything to get their hands on it. You can negotiate for their ojaini with it, and they’ll give you pretty much anything you ask for—including their oath on the spirits to stop the war forever or to get some of your old lands back.”
“It’s—it’s that valuable?” she gasped. “How do you know that?”
“How I know isn’t important. What matters is that that crystal would be considered a national treasure by the Oikithikiim. Apparently, they’ve been looking for one since pretty much the beginning of time and never found it. So, yeah, it’s that valuable.”
“How did the heltharvis find one if they’re so rare, then?” Bregg asked dubiously.
“I don’t think she did. I think she made it—how, I don’t know, but that’s my guess.”
“Is that even possible?” Fifa asked.
“I honestly don’t know. Maybe?” I shrugged. “I’ll say this, though. The heltharvis was someone like me, from another world, and you know how easily I picked things up. Well, she’d been here for years. There’s no telling what she might have been able to do.”
“She—she was an outer spirit, too?” Fifa said, her expression shocked and her voice faint. “Then—did you know her?”
“No. I’d never met her before this—although I suppose it’s possible I’ll meet her again somewhere in my future and her past.”
“What?” Bregg scoffed. “That makes no sense.”
“It doesn’t to me, either, but it’s still true.” I shrugged. “The point is, we were sent here for different reasons. She came to harm this world in exchange for the promise of power. I came to stop her and fix things.”
“And you consider this fixed?” the hunter laughed wryly. “The valskabs gone. Our spirits probably taken from us. The Bargain shielding us from the four-legs is broken, meaning we have no shelter from their armies. How is this better?
“Would you have preferred I did nothing? All those spirits would have been sent to Enverthen, shattering it. New first spirits would appear from other places, some of them a lot worse than the ones you’ve got. Most of the Oikithikiim would be dead, your people would lose all their spirits. And who knows what letting Aeld bind that first spirit could have done? This entire world could have undergone something worse than when the Haelendi was formed.
“Instead,” I continued, “The Bargain is gone, so your children are safe. The first spirit released most of the spirits sent into Enverthen when Fifa banished it. Some Oikithikiim died, but not as many as could have—I hope—and the ones left are likely to be too busy for a while to bother you.” I looked around theatrically. “Yeah, I think this is better.”
“It is,” Fifa agreed emphatically, glaring at Bregg. “Much better. The Bargain is broken, and the first spirit was banished without us having to form a new bargain. No one can ask for more than that.” He grunted but didn’t argue, and she looked back at me. “So, now what?”
“Now? Now, assuming that you’ll take over here, you’ll probably want to start recapturing some of your lost spirits, maybe send some messages to the former valskabs explaining what’s happening. You also might want to bring in those others that I mentioned, and maybe find the survivors of the old rashi.” I looked around again. “Oh, and you’ll probably want to have this place cleaned up.”
“I meant, what are you going to do now, Hemskall?” she said irritably. “You did what you came here to do, right? Now what?”
“Well, I’ve still got a couple things left—and one of them has to do with that guy, right there.” I walked over to the body of the patriarch and crouched beside it. The man still breathed, but his eyes were glassy and vacant, empty of all thought. His spirit was still intact, but being so close to the ritual of chaining had apparently damaged it almost to the point of ruin. I didn’t know if his mind was still in his body, but I felt pretty sure that he wasn’t ever coming back.
In a way, that was a shame. Despite his greed, the patriarch had been willing to try and broker a peace with the Menskies, and he apparently had the influence to make that a possibility. For all practical purposes, though, he was gone—but his loss left me an opportunity.
“You should end it.” I glanced over my shoulder to see Bregg standing over me. I resisted the urge to snap at him over his blind hatred and was glad I did when I saw the pitying look on his face.
“You think so?” I asked.
“Yes. Obviously, its spirit was badly damaged, maybe even destroyed, but its body still lives. Some other spirit will occupy it soon, and when it does, it’ll be an abomination. Better to end it before that happens.”
I looked back down at the body that was, for all practical purposes, brain-dead. “What if I could restore him?” I asked slowly.
“What?”
“What if I could bring him back?” I looked up at Bregg. “What would you do with him?”
“Any of the four-legs who step foot on our soil are executed, Hettlug,” he said firmly.
I sighed. “And if that’s the case, then the war will continue,” I told him firmly. “At some point, if you want the fighting to stop, you have to stop fighting.” I put a hand on the patriarch’s chest. “This man came here intending to stop the war, Bregg. He did it for his own selfish reasons, to be sure, but he has the power and authority to actually make that happen. Would you really pass up that chance for true peace just because you can’t stop hating?”
Bregg looked troubled, and Fifa walked over, placing a hand on his arm and looking up at him. “He’s right, Bregg,” she said softly. “If we want to stop our people from dying, we have to stop hating, too.” She looked at me. “If you can restore him, Freyd, please do so. If he proves to be sincere about wanting peace, then I’ll be the first to welcome him to our lands.”
“And that’s why you need to be the new rashi,” I grinned at her, enjoying the stricken look on her face as I looked down at the body. “Sara, will this work?”
“It might, John. I can’t see a reason why not. It might not have the effect you want, but then again, it might.”
“Will what work?” Kadonsel asked. “Outsider, you promised that you would free me. Please…”
“I intend to, Kadonsel. First, though, have you given my question earlier any thought?”
“What question?”
“If you had the power to make a change, to actually affect your people and nation, what would you do with that?”
“I—I don’t know. I would want to end the war, but that wouldn’t be easy. I’d have to bring the ojaini around first, so they won’t aid the war effort. That would hamper the army and navy enough to maybe force the Kungas to deal with us. The real issue would be the clans, though...”
“It sounds like you have a plan,” I cut her off. “Let’s see if me can give you that chance.”
“What?”
“Goodbye, Kadonsel. Whether or not this works, it’s been kind of nice having you in my head.” Before she could reply, I activated my severing spell. The blade of energy slashed once, cutting the weakened spirit of the patriarch out of its body. I let that go and watched it vanish into mist, then turned my focus and spell inward. The blade cut again, and Kadonsel fell silent as her spirit sliced free of me. It began to unravel as well, but before it could, I grabbed it and pressed it down into the empty body below me. The spirit sank down into the shell of flesh, and as it disappeared, I activated Chain Spirit, tying Kadonsel’s spirit into the corpse. It took me over a minute and a lot of guidance from Sara to match the spirit to the body, tying it off in the center, head, and each limb. At last, though, Sara pronounced the work done, and I sat back, waiting to see the results of my efforts.
The patriarch’s eyes fluttered, and he took in a sudden deep, gasping breath. His whole body shook and convulsed, and I wondered if I’d screwed up somehow. After a few seconds, though, the shaking passed, and the man’s eyes turned toward me, his expression confused and uncertain.
“Ou-outsider?” he asked in Oikithikiim, his voice the patriarch’s but his tone unmistakable.
“Kadonsel,” I grinned at him/her. “Or should I say, Patriarch Kadonsel?”
“I—what happened?” He rose slowly to his feet. “My body—it feels strange.”
“Your spirit isn’t used to it yet,” I told her at Sara’s prompting. “Give it some time.”
“What—you did this? You put me in this body?”
“Yep. Now, you can actually do the things that you wanted to—like stopping this war. You’re welcome.”
“I—I didn’t…” He fell silent, then flung himself forward and wrapped his arms around me. “Thank you,” he whispered in my ear.
“Thank me by proving my trust in you,” I whispered back. “Make this world better.”
“Freyd, what’s going on?” I turned and saw Fifa staring at me, her eyes wide. Bregg stood beside her, gripping his spear tightly, his face hard, while behind him, guards gathered, looking angry.
“Everyone, calm down,” I said flatly, rising to my feet and helping Kadonsel up. “This is Patriarch Rantala, of the Rantala Clan of Almella—one of the largest and most powerful clans among the Oikithikiim.”
Kadonsel took an unsteady step forward. “Please—please forgive me. The—the trauma of what happened—of having my spirit reborn.” She/he shuddered. “I was simply overwhelmed.” She lowered her head toward Fifa. “It’s my honor to speak with you, Letharvis Fifa, who I hope will soon be heltharvis of Aldhyor.”
“I—you know me?” the letharvis gasped.
“Yes. I know you. And more importantly, I know your people, and what you’ve done for them.” Kadonsel took another deep breath. “There’s much we have to speak of, Heltharvis. However, please know that my only hope is to find a path where our peoples can live not just in peace, but together, as one.”
“Fair words,” Bregg grumbled.
“But only words,” Kadonsel agreed. “I think we all have to prove ourselves with actions, Hunter Bregg.” The man’s eyes widened as she said his name, but she plowed on. “Our wounds won’t heal in a night, or even a passage. It’ll be the work of years.” She looked back at Fifa. “But I’m willing to take the first step if you are.” She held out her hand, and after a moment, Fifa stepped forward and grasped it.
“We have a lot to discuss, Patriarch,” the new heltharvis said quietly. “Maybe we should get started.”
“There’s no time like the present,” Kadonsel agreed.
Fifa turned towards one of the guards. “Can you find a place for my honored guest to stay? And rooms for me, Bregg, and Freyd that aren’t cells?”
“Of course, Heltharvis,” the guard nodded. “Immediately. Please, follow me.” The guards formed up around the pair, eyeing Kadonsel with undisguised mistrust, and I fell in behind them with a sigh.
I pulled up my notifications to find that one of my objectives had completed. I’d hoped to manage both of them, assuming that one was to deal with Kadonsel while the other was to broker some kind of truce between the species, but it seemed that one of those wasn’t part of my mission. I closed the screen with a shrug. I’d find out what was left soon enough, if past experience was any indicator.
“It’s a strange thing, Hettlug,” Bregg said as he fell into step beside me.
“What is, Bregg?” I asked warily.
“I’ve always believed that I wanted nothing more than peace. Now that the chance is here, though…” He sighed. “I find myself terrified of it.”
“I get that,” I agreed easily.
“You do?”
“Sure. You’re a fighter, Bregg. You’re a hunter, too, but you’re a protector and defender of your people. If they don’t need protecting and defending anymore…” I spread my hands helplessly. “Who are you?”
“You do understand.”
“I do. I went through it myself, a long time ago.”
“And what did you do?”
“Became a hunter, like you—only, I hunted much more dangerous game.” I flashed him a grin. “I still do, in fact. I don’t recommend it as a path to follow, though.”
“What will I do, Hettlug?” he said helplessly.
“Adapt. Learn. Grow.” I shrugged. “Teach, maybe. You did a good job teaching me the spear, and now that your children aren’t dying, they’ll need to learn.”
“I could do that.” He paused and looked at me. “I feel like I should thank you, but at the same time, I feel like I should blame you for everything that’s happened.”
“Why not both?” I laughed. “They aren’t exactly exclusive of one another.”
“I could. Thank you, Hettlug—no. Thank you, Freyd.”
“You’re welcome, Bregg.”
“And…” His fist lashed out, cracking me across the chin. I’d caught the motion from the corner of my eye, so I rolled with the blow, but as I did, I tripped and stumbled forward, into the door leading out of the chamber. As I crossed it, a new notification flashed in my vision.
Final Objective Completed! Doorverse Portals Unlocked!
I rolled with my fall, but rather than crashing into the legs of the guards in front of me, I found myself lying on what felt like a slab of corrugated metal. I lay on my back, staring up at a sky filled with angry, red clouds that swirled and writhed as if in pain. Huge, shiny towers of glass, steel, and iron loomed over me in every direction, stretching up to form sharp peaks hundreds of feet above me. The towers all shone with the gleam of glossy, black metal, and black-tinted windows yawned in each of them, reminding me of vast skyscrapers. As I stared, a gleaming, silver airship that looked like two blimps tied together at the front to make a V shape raced above me, blasting out black clouds of smoke and white bursts of steam as it shot across the sky far faster than any blimp I’d ever seen.
“Ejjefai al-noorish ta mair!” I sat up as a rather lyrical voice spoke, its tone scathing as it spat words I couldn’t understand. A woman in a red Victorian-style dress stood before me, carrying a matching parasol and a small, beaded purse. Her skin was very pale, her hair dark and elaborately styled beneath her small, black hat, and her expression and tone reminded me of a schoolteacher calling out a particularly slow and annoying student. As she spoke, her words finally translated into English for me.
“…in the middle of the street, you vagrant!” Her voice grew louder. Shockboots! Shockboots! One of the lowborn is trespassing in the High Wards! Shockboots!”
I barely heard what she was saying, mostly because I was busy staring at her feet. Her glossy, pointed boots hovered three feet above the metal sidewalk, standing on nothing but air—and an odd sort of radiance that I couldn’t quite make out. I looked around and saw dozens of other people, most of them carefully avoiding me and the lady, all of them floating just as she did. Behind her, the path dropped down into a metal roadway of sorts. Long, dark vehicles that looked almost like a Model T without wheels zipped past, floating above the road on a cloud of steam and belching thick, black smoke that stung my eyes.
As I watched, one of those vehicles, a car with a lightning-bolt slash painted in bright blue along its sides, slid over to the side of the road and settled down onto the metal with a dull thud. Doors flew open on the sides, lifting upward rather than out, and a pair of figures stepped out. Both wore matching black uniforms with jackets that buttoned up one side, pleated pants, shiny boots, and high-domed hats with lightning slashes atop their heads. Similar slashes marked the breast of their jackets, and both men had grim expressions on their faces as they walked toward me. Almost as one, they both reached down to their waists and pulled out what looked like a long, silver truncheon with a black grip. Each gave the weapon a shake, and blue arcs of electricity began to snap and pop around them menacingly.
“Come with us, Lowborn,” one of the men growled, walking toward me with the club held out in front of him. “No need to make this unpleasant.”
“Son of a bitch,” I muttered as I scrambled to my feet. “Son of a fucking bitch!” I’d been in this world for less than a minute, and already, someone sicced the damn cops on me.
God, I hated being an Inquisitor.