by Chris Fox
Was that a Harvester? She’d thought the wedge-shaped battleships all destroyed. It had to be the shipmother’s flagship, as the others had gathered around it.
The vast majority of the unseen fleets had come together, over two-thirds of their number, with the remaining cowards lurking in the storm to see who won, so they could grovel.
She glided across her bridge, ignoring the thralls guiding the vessel, as she ignored the young woman whose soul currently fueled it. Battles between necromancers were rare. Spirit versus spirit meant high defense against high defense, and necromancer ships rarely possessed the offense to win decisively in such an engagement.
That had been one of her primary considerations when retrofitting the Maker’s Wrath. Her main cannon had been constructed with two modes of firing, precisely to settle the type of engagement she was about to face. No one had ever seen the second mode, and they had no cause to suspect its existence.
One of the thralls twitched, and a thought flittered across Necrotis’s consciousness. She willed the shipmother’s missive onto the scry-screen before her, and smiled coldly as the crone’s weathered frown filled the screen.
“So you gathered your courage.” Necrotis leaned into the smirk. Agitating this woman not only furthered her possible victory, but afforded personal satisfaction. “When we first met you bested me at Kem’Hedj. Do you remember that?”
“I do.” Her eyes narrowed. “I won once. You took it personally and disappeared for nine decades. When you returned I never won again, though I must say I have improved considerably as a result of our games over the many centuries.”
“Once you believed we could be friends.” Necrotis clasped her hands behind her back, and stood as an Outrider would. “You believed us equals. But I have no equal. And today I will prove it. You’ve brought your forces. Do you believe you can overwhelm my defenses?”
“My spies tell me you are bluffing.” Shipmother’s frown lightened a shade, but her skepticism didn’t diminish entirely. “Your son is gone. Your daughter is gone. The bulk of your forces have been deployed to the trade moon to help deal with the Confederacy and their imminent attack. You are alone, Necrotis, and we are many.”
“Indeed you are. Good luck on the battlefield today, shipmother.” Necrotis inclined her head respectfully. “I too have learned a great deal in our games over the centuries. And your one weakness is as predictable as the heat death of our universe. You can be baited into overcommitting your forces when you are too confident of victory.”
Necrotis killed the missive, and willed her ship into action. She’d been prepared for this exact moment. The main cannon charged with a hideously large amount of spirit, four millennia’s worth of toil and worship from those blasted lurkers, and then discharged.
A wave of white translucent death enveloped the oncoming ships, all of them, down to the last frigate. They’d all been making for the Wrath’s bridge, and had likely clustered to take advantage of the wards offered by the capital ships.
It proved their undoing.
Her siphon spell ate their wards, eagerly siphoning the magic. Then they ate the life support. Everywhere her magic passed, it devoured what it encountered, and thanks to the Wrath her spell passed everywhere.
As one the bonds anchoring every lich and wraith to their bodies broke. The ancient unliving were ejected from their corporeal vessels, and forced into the spirit realm where they were helpless. For her cannon did not merely exist on this plane…the siphon spell ripped from the spirit world as well. There was no hiding, and those venerable demigods, the shipmother among them, were sucked into the cannon like the maw of some insatiable beast.
She devoured them all. Their wards, and their elders. Only living necromancers endured, but even they had their current supply of magic ripped away. Any souls held by their soulcatchers were hers as well. Most of their materials and powers now fueled the Wrath, which it desperately needed after the firing of that terrible cannon.
She did not recoup even a quarter of what the cannon had cost to fire, but what matter? Her goal bad been the destruction of the shipmother and her elders, the ones most likely to attempt to stop her.
The rest? The children? As expected they scattered like a flock of birds startled by a clumsy predator. They fled back into the storm, away from her wrathful eye. There was no battle. Not really. Not a single ship had fired at her. She suffered no damage. Just a loss of magic, and not a terribly great one at that. In time the unseen would return, and join her of their own free will. They had no leader now.
Her work was done. Now she could celebrate.
Necrotis held out her hand, and reached into the ship’s vast soul drive, to the freshly added souls she’d taken from the fleet. She found shipmother’s, distinguishable by its age and power, and willed it into her hand.
“Ahh, little bug.” Necrotis raised her hand as she studied the soul, throbbing with power and age. “You? Me? Equal? How quaint.” And then Necrotis ate a small piece of her. She chewed thoughtfully on the shipmother’s youth, digesting power and memory, and purpose.
She devoured a bit of the soul of these people. Now they could be properly molded to her cause. Now she could gather the survivors and ensure that they followed no one but her. Then, once they were properly cowed, she could go to Kemet to take vengeance for her daughter’s death.
Just as soon as the Confederacy killed her.
17
I didn’t remember the nightmares, except a few flashes I eagerly pushed away. As promised, I awoke with no hangover. In fact…I felt amazing. Like I’d slept for a week, and had the world’s best massage.
Miri’s soft sigh came from beside me, and she scooted her butt a bit closer. Panic seized me, and I sat bolt upright, the soft blanket slipping off me. Oh, thank the gods. I still had my clothes on, and so did she. We hadn’t done anything to be embarrassed about, just crashed out together after being wrecked by a companion’s death.
I slipped from bed and noticed that I still wore the heavy boots I’d donned over my armor for the climb. I peeled them off, and dropped them on the floor next to the bed. I seriously doubted we’d need them here, given how warm this place was.
“Jer?” Miri’s sleepy voice came from the cocoon she’d made of the blankets. Only a shapely leg extended into view. “Time to go?”
“Yeah.” I stifled a yawn. “Saho’s probably already waiting.” I rose with a stretch, and tried not to eye Miri sidelong as she slid from the bed. She’d removed everything but her panties and a shirt, and began hastily putting her clothes back on.
“Do we need climbing gear?” Zipping came from behind me, but I kept my attention on the room’s one small window. I could see over the curtains into the common room below, and had spotted Briff and Rava at a table talking. Rava looked upset, and Briff was attempting to console her.
“I don’t think so. If we do we’ll come back for it. Go light. Just food and water in a basic pack.” I gave the instructions absently, my attention once again finding the problems that I’d escaped last night. “I’m going to head down. See you in a bit?”
“I’m right behind you.” She snatched her pack from the corner with an encouraging smile. I appreciated that she hadn’t made a thing out of us sleeping in the same bed.
I opened the door and trotted down the stairs into a room full of happy Marid enjoying coffee, eggs, several types of meat, some sort of flatcakes, and other foods I couldn’t identify. They were laid out as a buffet, so I grabbed a plate and filled it as I headed over to the table with Briff and Rava.
Miri broke off to get her own food, but met back at the table around the same time. We took the last two chairs, and I set to eating with a will. “Mornin’.”
“You two didn’t?” Rava raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, yes.” Miri enjoyed a spoonful of eggs as she drew out the moment. “We slept together. I couldn’t get his clothes off though.”
“Because he has a girlfriend.” Rava’s tone made it clear what
she thought of Miri’s behavior. “And you need to stop.”
Miri blinked a few times, clearly taken aback by my sister’s hostility. “I’m sorry…I was just trying to make light of things. I mean, we’re dealing with a lot.”
The moment stretched, so I did my best to quash it.
“Siwit has us all on edge. The best thing we can do is get the job done. Let’s get to that Catalyst, and pillage some magic.” I seized control of the situation, because the last thing we needed was an argument before we set off. I phrased it in a way to pique Rava’s interest, and it worked. “Today we’re going into the mind of a god. We need to treat it like it can kill us. All of our problems, whatever they are, can wait until we get back. Let’s put everything aside and focus on that. Deal?”
“Deal,” Briff answered without hesitation, and perked up. His energy levels had reached manic, but he looked more gaunt than ever, despite the fact that he’d never stopped shoveling bacon into his mouth as we sat. Emaciated was not a good look on him.
“Deal,” Miri agreed, and focused on her flatcakes. She didn’t look up, and ate in silence. I think Rava’s words had really stung her.
“Deal.” Rava glowered at everyone in equal measure, daring us to take issue. She wanted a fight. Maybe she needed one.
Was I supposed to provide that? What was a brother’s role? A captain’s? To follow his own instructions, and focus on the mission.
I cleaned my plate, even though I could only identify half of what I ate. Then I filled my suit’s water reserves from the primal water just sort of sitting out at tables. Who had that much primal water to just give out? These people talked a lot about being traumatized by the death of their god, but I just didn’t see it.
Toward the end of breakfast Seket finally trotted down stairs with a light pack. He gave us a little wave and a smile, then left the inn. I had no idea what he’d been up to, but a pair of very pleased Marid sauntered out of the hallway at exactly the same time. If they hadn’t spent the night in his company their gossipy giggles said they wanted to.
We left the inn much lighter than we’d entered, and I couldn’t believe how much better I felt. After a climb like that I expected three days recovery as my whole body rebuilt itself from that much exertion. The primal water had accelerated that recovery, and I felt stronger than ever.
I led the way down the stairs and relaxed a hair when I spotted Saho standing at the base. Her parasol was gone, replaced by gauzy yoga pants, and a form-fitting top of the same material. Breathable, and great for exertion, but definitely distracting. Good lords, I missed Vee.
“Are you ready?” Saho called with a smile. “I trust you are well rested?”
“We are.” I spoke for the group, and no one else interjected anything, so I continued. “So where to? How do we reach the mind? Please tell me there isn’t another trial.”
“A bit of one.” Saho admitted with a shrug. “Nothing on the order of what you’ve already dealt with. All you have is a climb up wide, well lit stairs. But there are a lot of stairs.”
No one groaned, out loud at least, and we followed Saho along the shore of the lake, to a cave that I realized must be the nasal cavity. Being inside of a god was really creepy. The anatomy wasn’t the same, but it was similar enough to invite disturbing comparisons.
I guided my spellarmor into the air over the stairs…effortlessly. After everything I’d been through it felt surreal. Like a trick. Like I was going to be attacked randomly at any moment.
“Open Quantum interface,” I muttered. I hadn’t really taken to the voice commands in my makeshift helmet. A window popped up. “Play The Dark Lord Bert at minimal volume.” A small animated window began to play my favorite show about a tiny goblin becoming the lord of a goofy kingdom. I knew the episodes well, so they weren’t distracting, but they gave me something comfortable to watch while I cruised along.
The rest of the party climbed without complaint, and no one gave me any grief, though Rava shot more than one glare in my direction. I was the only one wearing a helmet, and if I was being honest I’d only brought it so I could watch holo. I didn’t enjoy having a duct-taped helmet. It made my priceless armor look trashy.
Could I speed the repair process with water magic? Theoretically that would unlock the greater path of healing. No, that would be more air and life. Still, healing would be amazing to have. I’d been all set to study destruction at the earliest opportunity, as becoming an eradicator increased my odds of survival. But becoming a healer? One with greater spells? Now that seemed truly overpowered.
The credits rolled and I realized that twenty-two minutes had already passed. We’d made it up a good hundred and twenty flights of stairs, but who’s counting? Man, I loved my armor, even when damaged. The cavern, and by that I mean the nasal cavity, narrowed and the stairs grew more steep, until a pair of cables were added to help people climb.
“Everyone cluster around Miri please,” I called at the base of the steep ascent. My team gathered without question, though Saho stood blinking at me, and did not join the others.
I launched a gravity sphere, and anchored the spell on Miri. She and everyone else levitated into the air, then I sailed over and grabbed her around the waist. When I flew up the ascent the others were drawn with us, since they followed the gravity source.
Saho climbed the cables on her own, but moved far more swiftly on her own that she had with us, and arrived at roughly the same time. “Impressive! Hotep values ingenuity. Magic can and should be used creatively.”
I ended the spell and my companions were dropped to their feet. Everyone landed, though Briff flapped his wings wildly, as if compensating for his different body shape. How much weight had he lost?
Rava had already started up the path, and I glanced after her, then froze as I took in the view. I could see the interior of the skull now. Our path spiraled up and around the brain, which perfectly mimicked a human’s, except that it was comprised of super-cooled water. Pulses of light flowed through the entire thing, a fireworks display that never slackened, only moved to different parts of the brain.
“That’s the mind of a god,” I murmured, not bothering to disguise my fanboy-ish awe. “This is one of the beings who gave our universe definition.”
I’d never seen a true elder god before, one who’d existed before all the petty politicking in our sector. It put deities like Lady Voria into perspective. This was a true god.
“Come! We’re nearly there.” Saho continued up the path, and we wound around the brain, which I could not stop staring at. In a few minutes I’d be touching it, and maybe learning a bit of what it knew. What could I see? What would it show me?
And…would I survive? Would my companions? Or would we become a permanent fixture inside that thing?
We continued in our upward spiral, until we reached the top. The path ended before what would correspond to a prefrontal cortex in a human, and a bone spur jutted out to form a large platform where supplicants could physically touch the god’s dreaming mind.
As we approached I realized something that shocked me, though it shouldn’t have. We weren’t alone. Another group of supplicants had just reached the platform, a group of Marid with a few Djinn. The latter surprised me as I’d thought they were at war. Perhaps both hated the necromancers enough to have some sort of treaty.
A Marid touched the brain, his hand sinking into the water. An expression of bliss grew on his face, but then a moment later ice shot up his arm, flaking over the limb, then into his midsection. He tried to withdraw his hand, but despite his frantic roars he remained attached as the ice spread. The cries continued until the ice engulfed the chest, and then the Marid went limp. The process consumed the entire body, then the supplicant slowly sank inside the brain, gone as if he’d never existed.
“So that’s a thing that can happen,” I announced as I floated over to Saho. “Can you give us any advice on not ending up popsicles?”
“I cannot.” She offered a helpless shrug, abs
ent her usual smile. “You are interacting with a god. Some are…not accepted. Most are though.”
She nodded down at the other supplicants. Two more had vanished into the dead god, but five survivors were undergoing a different process. Glowing water flowed into their bodies, and suffused them with divine power, visible even from this distance.
The surviving supplicants all offered a bow, then marched off a separate ramp that led down the opposite side of the cranial cavity.
Now it was our turn.
18
I glanced over my shoulder, back down the path, and saw that another group already advanced behind us. Apparently quite a few supplicants visited the Mind of Hotep. Saho ushered us forward, and I didn’t have time to think before I stood on the platform next to the Mind.
The rest of my friends looked to me, of course. It made sense I’d be the first one, and as I stared at the pulsing water, so like tissue, I battled my demons, and won. I didn’t want to risk my life. I didn’t want to be a permanent fixture here, but if I didn’t risk it, then I couldn’t ever hope to escape.
Power, Dez pulsed in my mind. Do not fear.
I raised my palm and pressed it against the cool blue surface.
Current passed through me, electric, and somehow part of the water. A moment’s fear bubbled, but I forced it down. I’d come too far. There was no way that after all this….
Ice began advancing up my wrist. A terrible advancing numbness that erased all feeling wherever it passed. I lost my left arm by the time the frost reached my elbow, but it didn’t stop there. It continued up to the shoulder, the terrible cold overwhelming me.
Why? I’d worked so hard, and done everything that was asked of me. And it all ended here? The bitterness festered, even as the ice spread. I could have died back on Kemet, yet somehow had lived through everything.
For nothing.
The ice pushed into my chest, and a nameless pressure smothered my vision from all sides. I couldn’t see. Couldn’t breathe. The ice continued to spread, and then with a tremendous crack oblivion took me.
