Chapter 22 – A Haze of Strife

Adam stared into their crackling bonfire for a while. Watching how the flames spread from branch to branch, he mulled over how he should bring up that one subject to Emily. Now that he was finally on good terms with her again, he hated to ruin it, but there was only one right thing to do.

He thought about the right words one final time as he poked the fire with a stick, not entirely sure what he was doing. “There’s something I’d like to tell you. During our fight with the snake, I really thought I’d die when I was trapped inside its tail. And I couldn’t let that happen, not with Eric and Catherine waiting for me. So, with no other options left, I… used the Forbidden Arts.” He studied Emily’s reaction for a moment, but her expression was blank as she looked at him. “It did it again during my fight with the giant, I would have died if I hadn’t,” Adam continued. “I hate it, I don’t want to do it, but I can’t use Novaseering and we need everything we have to survive. So—”

“I understand,” Emily said softly.

Adam’s eyes widened. “What, you do?”

Emily smiled. “We both know what the Starwing Order says about the Forbidden Arts, of course, and we both know the risks. But you make your own decisions, and as long as you stay in control, who am I to judge? Not everyone who uses the Forbidden Arts is part of the Penduli, and you’re definitely not one of them. So yes, I totally understand you need it to get a fighting chance and save your son.” She looked at the fire and thought for a moment. “Honestly, I think it’s rather brave you’re willing to take the risk.”

Adam blinked a couple of times. That was… easier than expected? “Thanks, and yes I’m definitely aware. There’s no way I’ll let the Crimson Urges take over.”

Emily nodded. “Good. Maybe you should wait for a good moment to tell Oliver, though. You know he never was a fan of the Forbidden Arts before. Thing is… while fighting the Penduli, he’s had quite some bad experiences with it. And now that Caine brought us in here, with bizarre Invocations being used everywhere, well, maybe he needs a moment to calm down. He might flip when he hears, even though he shouldn’t be surprised, of course.”

Adam grimaced. Is she implying it was to be expected that I’d use the Forbidden Arts? That it was a matter of time?! I never wanted this, damn it! Trying to stay calm despite the casual, back-handed insult, he exhaled deeply.

“I’m happy that you’re understanding,” he uttered with a stiff jaw. “But, what do you mean by that Oliver shouldn’t be surprised that I’ve used the Forbidden Arts?”

Emily laughed and raised an eyebrow as if she thought Adam was joking. “Uhm, because you used to do it all the time? Like, during the War of the Prophet and all?”

Adam worked his jaw. An angry headache pulsed behind his eyes, while his heartbeat quickened. Calm, Adam, CALM. She just believes what she was told! He focused on deep breaths to cool off. “Emily, I never did that.”

Oliver made a few grunting and sputtering noises in the background before he went back to snoring.

Adam looked back and continued softly. “After the disaster of Ziecherhein, people like Jeremiah claimed horrible things about me to shove the blame down my throat and get me executed. That I used the Forbidden Arts all the time, but it isn’t true! My left heart has Awakened somehow during the disaster, but I never actively used it before we ended up here! The fight against the snake was the first time I—”

“Seriously?!” Emily hissed. Any sign of a smile on her face had disappeared, replaced by a scorn of anger. “You’re trying this with me? This better not be some stupid joke! We all know you had to lie in court about this, but—”

“It was the truth!” Adam said while standing up.

Emily closed her eyes and ran her hands through her hair. “By Aves, I can’t believe this!”

“Me neither!” Adam hissed. “Why would I lie about—”

With her face contorted by rage, Emily pointed a jabbing finger at him. “Oh, this is way worse than lying! You’re trying to invalidate my own memories! What kind of imbecile do you think I am?! How many times have I seen you fight?” Her orange eyes seemed to simmer like coals in the light of the fire. “And you keep preaching your hypocrisy about ‘trust!’ ” she spat. “Making me talk about my family!”

The pulsing headache of rage spread to Adam’s temples. “I am glad you entrusted me with your family’s past,” Adam said through gritted teeth, trying with all his might to stay calm. “But I can’t talk along with this and pretend it’s true! I never—”

“Fine!” Emily hissed and turned towards the fire again. “Suit yourself! I’m done talking.”

Adam stomped back to his stupid makeshift bed and lay down. Oh yes, let’s believe a pellet-head like Jeremiah instead of me! Damn it! Adam wrapped himself in his coat and tried to lie at least a bit comfortably. The thumping in the sides of his head continued, however, and he was way too angry to sleep. That’s it. I’m gonna train until I burst during my shift, blow off some damned steam!

After turning in bed a couple of times, Adam sighed deeply. Why is this happening? We finally got along again…

The next ‘morning,’ when the green pattern in the ground shone with bright light again, Oliver chatted happily. Having slept like a baby, he seemed oblivious to the stiff tension between Adam and Emily. Even though Adam was still angry, he tried to get along with Emily and cooperate at least. However, she avoided his gaze and only spoke the absolute minimum while breaking up camp, which pissed him off even more. The two packed their gourd pouches and weapons in silence on two opposite sides of their camp.

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“Look what I found!” Oliver said with a grin on his face as he walked back from the cellar. His arms were full of bags of water, packs of hardtack and strips of dried meat. “Had nothing else to stare at while locked in that stupid cellar. At least we won’t die of hunger anytime soon!”

Adam snickered, despite his bad mood. “Optimist!”

Oliver truly was worth his weight in gold.

The three of them exited the enclosure and continued through the tunnel. Although Adam and Oliver in particular were curious about the mysterious chambers and other tunnels they came across, it seemed wiser to keep following the pattern in the ground for now. If there was another ‘Node’ at the end, like the cavern with the pyramid, they’d know part of their theory was correct. Then, they could consistently pick the pathways with the widest patterns in the ground and hopefully end up finding Caine in the centre.

They walked past various openings to lush and misty underground forests, filled with the vague cries of owls and the laughing of children. After a while, the right wall opened up to show a large cave which resounded with the cawing of animals and a loud rush of water. A mighty waterfall flowed down past stone cliffs and strong trees. Shrouded in the waterfall’s vapour, broad tree-branch-like bridges spanned the distances between the cave’s different walls and led to various tunnels. Strange, brightly coloured birds flew around beside enormous dragonflies who seemed to nest on the wide branches. Bizarre reptiles soared past the foliage, flapping their straight, bat-like wings.

Wet from the waterfall’s vapour, Adam looked up at the amazing wildlife, eager as a boy in a candy store. Amazing… those reptiles look like the fossils displayed in Ziecherhein’s Menhir League, they should be long extinct! Such graceful creatures.

Adam frowned when he realized there were patterns in the waterfall’s vapour. Together, the tiny water droplets formed the shapes of children, who played and ran together. The children grew and changed until they wore beaked helmets and plate armour with the tell-tale feathered arcs of the Royal Army on their backs. The knights stood on Aerial Aegises: silvered shields with feathered wings, piloted by the consciousness of a great owl after a complex Instillment ritual within Novaseering.

Flying on their Aerial Aegises, the knights heaved their tridents and dove down towards Penduli forces. Recognizable by their elaborate vambraces and the Bronze Scale—the tell-tale symbol of the Penduli—on their chainmail armour, the enemy troops had barricaded themselves behind tree trunks and debris.

Adam shuddered a bit, trying to figure out if this was yet another illusion. Damn, each time you think this place starts to make sense… Emily and Oliver ignored the battle of waterdrops though, and they walked past in silence.

In the spectacle of water droplets, several Penduli tried to attack the flying Royal Army knights with two-handed axes. A Penduli Novaseer managed to shackle one of the Aerial Aegises with a chain of Ironglass. His muscular comrade jumped up and conjured a familiar, savage aura around his axe with the Forbidden Arts before he struck the fallen knight. The furious battle continued until the patterns in the droplets faded into nothing.

Hmm, the knight we fought conjured a similar aura. Now that I’m using the Forbidden Arts anyhow, could I learn that Invocation as well? Walking after Oliver and Emily, Adam racked his mind on how he could learn to properly use the Forbidden Arts. However, he barely understood the basic principles. He knew it was somehow related to emotions, survival, and animals, but he didn’t know how exactly. Although he did use some Invocations once, he never succeeded in replicating them later on. Maybe I can only use it in life-or-death scenarios, like when the giant almost killed me?

Adam looked up at Oliver. Huh, speaking of the giant. “So, Oliver, are you going to tell us what really happened when you woke up in this place?” Adam asked, a bit loudly to make himself heard over the roaring of the waterfall. “You managed to dodge the subject quite well!”

“Ugh, all right.” Oliver stroked a few wet, blonde curls from his face. “I woke up, tied up like a sausage and surrounded by a group of Thalers.” Oliver raised his eyebrows at the questioning looks of Adam and Emily. “You know, Thalers! Those blue idiots who have Caine’s eyes for some reason? Like, really, what is that about, some messed-up family of his?”

“Hmm, if that were true, I somehow suspect I would’ve known about them.” Emily deadpanned.

“Oh! Of course,” Oliver said sheepishly. “So, the Thalers were discussing what to do with me. They wanted to follow some ‘Command’ of Caine to bring me to the ‘Palace of Origin.’ ”

“Huh, that’s where the Thalers who accompanied me tried to take me as well,” Emily said. “I had to get up the spiral on the pyramid to ‘associate.’ Hmm, as Caine is considered a Lord around here, maybe the Palace of Origin is his home in here?”

One of the airborne reptiles soared a bit nearer and eyed them curiously. Adam eyed it back and eagerly studied its almost alien physique. How can all these animals be here, when they’ve been extinct for so long? Did this population travel underground and stay safe while the ones on the surface died out? He snickered. More importantly, could we take one back home and keep it as a pet?

“Ah, that certainly sounds possible!” Oliver exclaimed as if Emily made a mind-boggling discovery. “Maybe the palace is what’s at the centre of this whole network? Anyway, after the bickering between the Thalers, one of the giants among them brought me along. The same one you fought, actually. Back then, he wasn’t all entangled though, he was more like some dignified leader among the Thalers. In the tunnels, we were attacked by Roots and he fought them off single-handedly. He survived, but those Overgrowth vines began to grow on him and he started acting, uhm… insane. Not long after, he threw me in that stupid cellar.” Oliver frowned and shook his head. “If only I had known he was going to lay a trap for you.”

Adam looked at Oliver again. “Happy to see the Roots didn’t manage to entangle you though. How did they infect the giant?”

“Not sure. The battle was pretty chaotic, with shrieking Roots everywhere. My hands were tied up so I had to do a… uhm, strategic retreat. Anyway, I did pick up some intel. The Thalers were talking about war tactics, and from the way they spoke about the Roots, it sounded like they were some new kind of threat to them. Supposedly there’s something called a ‘Core of the Overgrowth’ they were searching for, although they weren’t sure what it was exactly. They also discussed a different kind of threat, called a Thuraum. Scary stuff. Apparently, one of those things is capable of making many tunnels inaccessible and has a risk of ‘spreading further.’ The Thalers sent a heavily armed battalion at one of them to ‘push it back.’

Adam whistled softly. “A whole battalion for one enemy, and it sounds like that’s not even enough to kill it.” Adam imagined an army of Thalers taking on a Schultora-like creature with their staffs and chariots. “Any idea what these Thuraum are or how we could recognize one?”

“Sorry, no idea.”