The Torch that Ignites the Stars (Arcane Ascension Book 3)

by Andrew Rowe

  A Soaring Wings member? Huh. Given her armor, we might have to be ready for a fight…which would be bad. Crowds get chaotic, and on a ship…

  I took a few steps away from the railing, remembering that my swimming abilities were, uh, let’s say “not good”.

  While I reacted with my usual caution, the others were processing things differently. Patrick’s eyes were wide as moons as he stared out over the sea. “Oh, goddess above. It’s beautiful!”

  I followed his gaze, and…well, I had to admit, he was right.

  The pool of shimmering blue stretched beyond the horizon, with the sun shining brightly overhead—

  But that couldn’t be right. No, it was night time by now, wasn’t it?

  And, of course, we were obviously still inside the spire. Sure, some spire doorways were exits, and weirder things had happened than stepping through a spire door and ending up in another place.

  I stared across the water, stretching in all directions further than I could perceive and wondered…

  How?

  I could feel the deck shifting beneath us as the waves gently rocked our vessel.

  I could hear the sounds of birds crying out in the air as they soared across the water — some solitary, some in tremendous flocks.

  I could see tiny aquatic animals breaking from the surface of the water to jump briefly through the air in playful fashion.

  I could smell something in the air. Salt, probably, and…uh, sea brine? Honestly, I had no idea what sea brine actually was, but I was pretty sure it had a strong smell. Maybe.

  Was…that all in my head? I didn’t feel any foreign mana, but maybe a sufficiently subtle spell could avoid my detection.

  Was it just an illusion? Was I standing on a stone spire floor, sensing things beyond it that didn’t exist?

  Was this real, but on a smaller scale than it appeared? Were we on a boat in a swimming pool, with carefully projected illusions around it to make it seem—

  Nearby, I heard a gasp. I turned out of concern, but Mara was just gawking at a tremendous flight of birds that were moving overhead in formation. There had to be thousands of them. My own jaw went a little slack as I saw them wheel and shift directions as a group, seemingly without prompting.

  Sera tapped her foot. “Impressive as this is, we need to focus. Over there. We’ve got people coming.”

  I shifted to follow Sera’s gaze, finding a group approaching wearing what I’d guessed were uniforms — black outfits with loose pants, heavy boots, gloves, and tailored tunics with some sort of unfamiliar insignias. A quick flash of Detect Aura told me that the insignias weren’t magical, but the people approaching had Carnelian-level auras.

  There were four figures approaching, led by an older woman with an easy smile and a confident gait. She had a wicked curved blade on her left hip and a dagger on her right. “Enjoying the sights?” She asked.

  The three that trailed behind her were similarly armed, although much younger, and two of them were also carrying pistols. Modern revolvers, not the kind of old-fashioned flintlocks I associated with pirate stories.

  Also, one of them — a guy with auburn hair about our age — had a parrot on his shoulder. A parrot.

  Odds that these are pirates…rising.

  From a quick gander around the rest of the ship, I didn’t get a pirate vibe. The ship was luxurious, well-maintained, and huge in stature. There were no obvious cannons or other weapons on the deck, nor did I see any peg-legs or claw prosthetics.

  …Yes, yes, I know those are ludicrous stereotypes. But scenario floors were just as likely to be based around iconic images as they were to mirror historical events. Over-the-top faux pirates were absolutely a possibility, even if I didn’t see any at the moment.

  Anyway, Sera reacted fastest to the oncoming group, giving a smile she probably would have called ‘cute’ and folding her hands in front of her in an unthreatening manner. “It’s a wonderful view. Have there been changes we should be aware of?”

  What wonderfully vague leading question, I realized. Mentally, I grudgingly awarded Sera credit for prying for information instantly.

  We certainly needed it — both in terms of the scenario itself and, uh, how to do basically anything involving a ship.

  People from Kaldwyn didn’t sail virtually ever, and I was no exception. With the rest of the world conquered by the Tyrant in Gold, expeditions to other continents were a rarity. Sure, there were ships that circled around the continent rather than taking overland routes, but with the advent of trains, they were a lot less common.

  And, as most of you know, I was sort of…isolated, as a youth. So, no ocean experience. Not a lot of water experience in general, strictly speaking.

  The older woman shook her head. “No, sea is calm as a sleeping babe today. We’re making excellent time. If the goddess wills it to stay this smooth, we should make landfall early tomorrow.”

  “That’s excellent news. Is there anything you need from us?”

  The woman snorted. “What a polite young lady. No, dear, you’re our guests. Since payment was already rendered, you can just relax and enjoy the journey. Just make sure to spread the word about our excellent service when the voyage is over.”

  “Of course. I’d be delighted to.”

  “Excellent. Lunch is at the next bell, then…” The older woman frowned, getting the sort of distracted look that told me she’d noticed something amiss…or maybe gotten a telepathic message. “…If you’ll excuse me, I’ll hope to see you all at lunch.” She nodded her head, made a few quick hand signals to the crewmen following her, then headed swiftly toward an upper cabin. The crewmen dispersed throughout the ship, heading different directions.

  I stared after them, trying to ignore the ominous feeling in my mind.

  After the crew members were out of range, our group huddled up. “So…we’re on a boat.”

  “You are, as always, a master of deductive reasoning, brother.” Sera shook her head in disapproval. “Yes, we are obviously on a boat.”

  “I was just leading into the broader questions about that, Sera. Given the size, the demeanor of the crew, and the sheer number of people who aren’t wearing uniforms, this is probably some sort of private ship — either for mercantile purposes or simple luxury.”

  “Reckon it’s more likely luxury or political,” Mara noted. “Too many people wearing their fanciest. Could be some mercantile goin’ on, but I don’t get the feelin’ that’s the main purpose.”

  “You’re quite right, Mara.” Sera beamed at her. “It’s a luxury cruise.”

  I raised an eyebrow at Sera. “And you know this…how, exactly?”

  Sera turned to Meltlake. “Do you want the honors of explaining exactly how doomed we are, professor?”

  Meltlake gave Sera a smile. “I wouldn’t dream of ruining your fun. Please, Sera, go right ahead. I’d love to hear your reasoning.”

  “It’s simple, really. I suspected as soon as I saw the size of the ship and an older woman captain, but the pins gave it away. They’re the insignia of the Pan-National Sailing Foundation.”

  I reached up to cover my face with my hand. “No. You’re kidding.”

  “Not at all, brother.”

  “Uh, sorry, not getting this one.” Patrick frowned. “Who are they?”

  Mara winced and gave Patrick a sad look. “You’ve heard of the Iron Redoubt, yeah?’

  “Oh, sure! That was one of the biggest ships in history! It….” He looked down at the ship, then back up at the crew. “…Wait, this isn’t…”

  “I’m afraid it is, Patrick.” Sera gave him a strained smile. “The Iron Redoubt. Welcome to the world’s most famous nautical disaster.”

  ***

  I’d heard stories about the Iron Redoubt since childhood. It was a famous mystery — a powerful, well-equipped ship with hundreds of attuned on board had simply vanished. The ship was equipped with devices to send distress messages, both magical and mundane, as well as passengers with communic
ation and teleportation magic at their disposal.

  No distress messages had been sent. Instead, the last logged communication from the boat was a strange, eerie song, sent from every messaging device at once.

  Sail, sail, into the distant breeze,

  Sail, sail, upon the open seas,

  Sail, sail, our hearts once filled with glee,

  Sail, sail, our cage eternally

  Sail, sail, into the distant breeze,

  Sail, sail, until our bodies freeze,

  Sail, sail, for we can no longer flee,

  Sail, sail, until our souls are finally free

  There were numerous theories about the vanishing of the Iron Redoubt. Perhaps an unexpected natural disaster had claimed the ship, like a powerful storm. Maybe they’d run into some sort of magical phenomenon that had thrown the ship off course, leading them to sail in the wrong direction without realizing it until they were out of communication range. Perhaps the ship had been captured by mutineers, who had disabled the communications devices and incapacitated or killed the on-board Wayfarers. (Or maybe the Wayfarers had been involved in the coup, if one had happened.)

  Also, uh, ghost pirates. Popular hypothesis, ghost pirates.

  I’d never given the idea of ghost pirates much credence, of course — even if those were actually a thing, which I was pretty sure they weren’t, I couldn’t see why their presence would have involved preventing communication or escape. Sure, maybe they were ghost pirates with powerful anti-magical abilities, but that just felt like a stretch, you know?

  …But standing on the deck of that ship, or at least a recreation of it, I was quickly beginning to be concerned about the possibility of ghost pirates. You can’t blame me.

  How did you even deal with ghost pirates?

  I really hoped I wouldn’t have to find out.

  ***

  I had a pretty good idea of what we were dealing with — a scenario floor. Rather than having a whole bunch of rooms with separate challenges, this entire floor had a single central theme and very likely a single main goal.

  I turned to Patrick and Mara first. “Suggestions based on your previous climb?”

  “Didn’t hit anythin’ quite like this.” Mara shook her head. “Think it’ll be simple. Probably just solve the mystery in time to save everyone.”

  Oh, good, all we have to do is solve one of the world’s most infamous unsolved mysteries. Easy.

  I kept my thoughts to myself, at least in part because Sera spoke faster. “It’s possible we just need to escape ourselves. Saving the crew and passengers is more likely to just be a bonus with additional rewards, like the extra key I earned earlier.”

  I shook my head at Sera. “It’s very important that you continue to remind us about your winnings, which we’ve already forgotten about in the few minutes that have passed.”

  “Yes, of course.” She nodded. “Glad we’re in agreement.”

  I coughed.

  Patrick spoke up next. “Maybe we should start by figuring out what our role is supposed to be? We’re passengers, but we don’t know what we’re supposed to be doing, exactly.”

  “Is there usually something more specific?” I asked him.

  “Sometimes scenario floors give people specific roles to play. Not all of them, but it may be worth checking.”

  “How would we…”

  Sera reached into a bag at her side, pulling out a booklet I didn’t recognize. “Huh.”

  I blinked. “Is that…”

  “A passport. With a boarding pass stuck into it.” She flipped it open, eyes widening. “It has my name on it. And a room number. And a profession.”

  I reached into my own bag, finding a similar booklet and boarding pass immediately. “Huh.”

  That was pretty impressive…and also a little terrifying. I knew that Whispers — and very likely other entities that were involved with running the spire — were probably observing us, but had they gathered enough information from seeing us on the first floor to prepare specific things for us on the second?

  And how’d they get things into our bags without us noticing?

  Creepy.

  I looked at my documents regardless. My boarding pass and passport both had Corin Cadence written on them, so I apparently was still supposed to be myself for the scenario. Except there were a few little details that threw things off.

  Corin Cadence

  Birth Date: 6-18

  Profession: Magical Engineer, Farren Labs

  Passport Expiry Date: None

  Attunements: Classified

  Room Number: 142

  I noted the distinct lack of a birth year, but beyond that, my profession was, uh, interesting.

  Does Annabelle Farren herself have a hand in this, or am I simply being that closely monitored?

  I frowned, glancing to the others. “Apparently I work for Farren Labs.”

  “I’m military.” Sera noted. “Also, you may congratulate me on my recent marriage.”

  I snorted. “Who’s the unlucky match?”

  “Why, you’re looking at the newest candidate for archduchess of House Theas.” Sera extended her arms in a magnanimous gesture. “Sadly, my spouse or spouses are not listed. Presumably they’re busy preparing the house for my eventual ascension.”

  “Huh. Think I’m married, too.” Patrick blushed. “To, uh…”

  “Me.” Mara laughed uproariously. “Wow, someone obviously had no idea who they were dealing with. Right, Patrick?”

  “R-right. Of course.” He laughed a little awkwardly. “Obviously.”

  “Well, congratulations to you both, but let’s get focused. What are your listed professions? They might be relevant to who we have access to on the ship.”

  “Duelist,” Mara noted. “Renowned duelist, apparently.”

  “Not bad. Patrick?” Sera asked.

  “…School teacher.” He looked vaguely disturbed, but I think Meltlake’s expression changed to something proud.

  Speaking of Meltlake… “What about you, professor?” I asked.

  “Just says ‘redacted’. Presumably, I’m assumed to be back in military service in some capacity.” She slipped her documents back in her bag. I got the impression she was hiding something, but I couldn’t get a good read on what it might be.

  “Okay. We’ve got a baseline of who we’re supposed to be. That likely dictates the types of social circles we’ll have easy access to. It’s a broad spread, which is good.” Sera turned to me. “Corin, go track down anyone else from Farren Labs or similar corporations. Maybe see if you can figure out anything in regards to the engine — I don’t think pretending interest in a magical engine would be out of character.”

  “…Could I just go take a look at it?” There would be fewer people involved that way, and I was sincerely interested in looking at the runes on it.

  “If you can talk your way into the engine room, sure, but I doubt it’ll be that simple. I suppose you might be in a role that’s involved with engine construction or maintenance?”

  “Worth trying to feel that out.” I nodded. I didn’t like the idea of blindly trying to sort out my access level and role, but it could be worse. At least my role was similar enough to my own interests that I didn’t have to pretend a skill set that was distinct from my own.

  “Patrick, you’re looking for other academics. Professor, if you’d be willing to go with him and assist?”

  “Acceptable.” Meltlake nodded. “Given that this happens significantly in the past, we’ll have to be cautious about how much we should say. Lorian Heights exists, but we should avoid mentioning specific teaching staff names.”

  Patrick nodded. “Got it.”

  Sera turned to Mara last. “You’re with me. We’re schmoozing with military types. I’ll see if I can flag down the captain and see what that disruption was about, too. Any questions?”

  I had a lot of them, but I held off. After a moment of silence, Sera said, “Good. Meet back here in an hour, unless you find s
omething obviously amiss, in which case try to flag us down sooner. Let’s move.”

  ***

  Predictably, I went straight toward the engine room. The fewer people I had to deal with, the better.

  There were guards, of course. Two of them stood in front of the engine room’s open doorway. Any cruise with a crew of this size was going to have guards for the engine room. I had to hope I could sweet talk my way past them.

  Sweet talk, of course, being the key skill of Corin Cadence.

  First, I activated Detect Aura, taking some mental notes.

  Carnelian-level, both hand-marked. No gloves…Elementalist and Guardian.

  I dispelled the spell, then gave a little wave as I approached. “Hi. Can I see the engine?”

  “…No?” One of the guards responded, blinking. “Why would you even ask that?”

  “Oh, oh, sorry!” I raised my hands in mock-surrender, trying to look as helpless as possible. “I’m Corin Cadence. Farren Labs. Just wanted to see if I could…”

  “Nice try, buddy,” the other guard cut in. “Our rune combinations are proprietary. You filthy lab rats aren’t stealing them. Not on my watch. Now, screw off.”

  “Hey,” the other guard nudged him, “we’re not supposed to be that aggressive with the guests.”

  “Right, of course. Kindly go screw off.” The guard tipped his hat mockingly.

  “Yes, of course, forgive me.” I bowed in exaggerated fashion, then slowly turned and walked away to retreat around the corner.

  I couldn’t walk too quickly. That would have torn the mana threads that I’d hurled through the doorway as I’d waved.

  I hadn’t quite figured out how to see through my mana threads yet, although I was absolutely certain it was possible. I planned to study some divination for that purpose once I got back home, but alas, for the moment, I had to improvise.

  Once around the corner, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the threads. Gradually, I unspooled the end of each of them and let them spread out further, then used transference mana to push the threads across the room. I’d been able to see the engine from the doorway, just not the runes themselves. It wasn’t difficult to get the threads going in the right direction.