by Chris Fox
“Wow, this place is awesome.” I slid into a seat at the table, which shifted to perfectly fit my body. Pizza was closest, so I started with that.
“I’ll talk while you eat.” Reeva sat in his own chair, which conformed to his smaller body. “I prefer cooking by hand, but this is so much more expedient. Hands free and all that. Anyway you’re probably wondering why you’re here. That was my idea. I’ve been, ah, pulling the strings to arrange events to get you into the city. Sorry I picked a reality where your planet blew up.”
“Okay.” I set down my pizza, and gave the dwarf my full attention. “So you’re saying I’m here because you wanted me here?”
“Precisely.” Reeva picked up a cheeseburger, and began happily devouring it. He didn’t speak again until he’d finished chewing, then picked up his explanation as he licked his fingers. I waited. “You didn’t think you happened to get void magic, and then fire magic, and were born with dream, and then got life, as some sort of accident, right? I’ve been putting the magic you need to accomplish the tasks I have set for you right in your path, lad.”
“Okay.” I pulled a pumpkin pie closer to my plate. I was an adult. I could totally have dessert first. “Let’s say I accept that you’ve been marching me around the circle of eight powering me up. Why? And why not continue the trend with water magic?”
Yeah, I was bitter about it.
“Because.” Reeva snorted a laugh, then popped the rest of his cheeseburger in his mouth, which he spoke around. “You needed purify more. I give you exactly what you need. The void was to become an eradicator, and you need to get on that. None of this healing crap. You’re a weapon, Jerek. My weapon.”
I enjoyed a mouthful of pie, complete with whipped cream. It was somehow better than anything our forge could produce. “A weapon? And what is it you think a scrawny relic hunter can kill for you?”
“You haven’t been scrawny in some time.” Reeva squeezed my bicep, which I realized had gained a lot of definition. “And while your skills as a relic hunter are valuable they’re just a foundation to help you find and use the tools you’ll need to accomplish your true purpose. And no, I’m not telling you what that is, though I’m happy to answer other questions.”
I didn’t ask why he couldn’t tell me, as I was familiar with the concept of paradox. Knowing might mean I didn’t do what he needed me to.
“Why was it important to bring me here?” I folded my arms and glared at a god. “Are there answers? Or like, a tour or something? A treasure vault? Some sort of cow level? I’ve been through a lot. I’ve lost a lot. There has to be a reason.”
“I’ve got nothing like that.” Reeva shook his head as he finished chewing some cake, then took a drink of what smelled like chai before finally speaking. “A couple reasons. I can’t intervene directly, which means I can’t tell you what you might find here in the city. I can tell you that bringing you here has marked you.”
He nodded at me, and I glanced down at myself with my sight. A forest of glowing sigils perfectly encircled my heart. They swirled around it, blocking it from my sight. Obviously it still beat, though I couldn’t see the muscle.
“What does this mark mean or do?” The complexity dwarfed everything that had taken root in my soul, from the Catalyzations to the covenant with Nara. For contrast, her covenant was a tiny knot at the base of my neck, about a tenth of the size of the one I’d just received.
“That will become clear in time. For starters, though, it means that you can survive anywhere. The void. The Umbral Depths. The magic will protect you from inhospitable conditions.”
“Wow.” Where was this when I’d been lost in that blizzard? “That’s amazing.”
“But not its true purpose.” Reeva leaned back, loosened his belt, and offered an amazing belch. “The mark needs you, so it protects you. A god can still kill you. Hell, a mortal mage, or a demon, or any number of things can get the job done. But it will be harder now, and that’s going to be damned useful in about an hour when you’re fighting for your life against your worst enemy.”
“Are you going to give me any real answers, or is this going to be one of those I see paradise, and then get kicked out with nothing to show for it?” I already knew the answer. This place was too good to be true.
Reeva laughed. A good-natured laugh, and one that seemed to ease something in him. “Ah, lad, I like you. I’m glad you found this place. You’re right. There are no real answers, but be fair. You saw the stakes in Hotep’s mind. When you get back you can make contact with Nara. Sharp lass, that one. She’ll help you understand what we’re up against, and get you moving in the right direction. The resistance around Xal is pivotal in the overall battle, and you have a small, but vital role to play in all that.”
I ignored all the prophetic doublespeak, and focused on the one salient fact in that whole mess. “So, you’re saying there’s a way out of this place?”
21
Reeva’s whole demeanor changed in the wake of my question. He picked up a napkin, and carefully dabbed his mouth before shaking crumbs from his beard. “Ah, lad, you want to be real careful asking that kind of question. It will…force the issue at hand.”
“What issue?” I badly craved some real answers for a change. Was being smugly cryptic a requirement of being a god, or a perk?
How does he know of my presence? Utred’s voice exploded within me, as acid flowed down my veins. My entire body twitched, and I toppled to the golden road, where I flopped helplessly. When the episode petered out about two years later I lay paralyzed, wishing for death.
Then my body stood up without any direction from me. My heart sank as I realized what Utred had managed to accomplish. He’d literally stolen my body. That had been the plan all along, and I’d stumbled along like a good stooge.
He couldn’t get into the city, but I could, and so he’d circumvented that whole limitation. Whatever he did here would be my fault. Every bit of it. Now I knew what Reeva had meant. Mentioning leaving had forced Utred’s hand. He’d probably intended to wait until we were alone.
“Ahh, a titan. A true titan.” Utred stalked toward the elder god, though he moved awkwardly in my body. Every step was too jerky, and he seemed to have trouble maintaining balance. “You have no idea how I’ve longed to meet one of you. To learn from you. Someone who was there near the beginning, and can tell us of the original creator being.”
“I’m not teaching you anything.” Reeva barked a laugh, and hopped to his feet to peer up at Utred. At me. “But you’re here now. You did it. Make the most of it. I won’t help you.”
And then Reeva was gone.
“Bastard.” Utred stalked jerkily up the golden road, still not the complete master of my body. I strained mentally to regain control, but if he noticed my efforts he didn’t acknowledge them.
What are you searching for? I thought at him. I couldn’t control my jaw, but I could access my mind, and could still feel my magic. Wait, could I cast spells? That bore further exploration, though I should wait until Utred was distracted to make my play.
“Ah, there it is.” He hobbled up a narrow thoroughfare, which ended at a squat dome with a pair of double doors. The doors slid open at our approach, and revealed a circular lift that covered the entire floor.
Utred hurried to the control panel near the center, and rested his hand on it. A bit of my life magic passed into the system, showing he could access it too. The lift whirred and began to descend. “There we go. Apologies, Jerek. I wasn’t ignoring you. Just a little flustered by the disinterest of our diminutive friend. What little I found about him suggested he was impartial, and I didn’t realize he’d be prejudiced against necromancers.”
“It’s not prejudice.” Reeva appeared next to us on the lift, and flicked my nose with his forefinger. I could feel it, even if I couldn’t control it. “I don’t like you specifically. Necromancers are an okay lot—well, I mean compared to, say, the denizens. Not you though. You’re a prick. You’re here out of greed.
You broke the rules. You aren’t the first, but you are the one with the potential to cause the most damage, because of what you’re after.”
“The gate to the Cycle.” Utred flicked Reeva’s nose in exactly the same way, and the deity grunted. “Where is it? How do I get in? I know this place is the key. I know I can use it to reach the Cycle.”
“Well, that’s true.” Reeva allowed. “You can theoretically find the gate using the city, but the gate isn’t in the city, if you know what I mean.”
“I don’t.” Utred’s eyes narrowed. He did a really good job of making me look scary. I wished I could do that. I tried to take notes. “Where is the gate?”
“I’m not going to tell you that.” Reeva gave a rather spiteful grin, and then vanished again.
Utred’s rage bubbled up, and while he didn’t voice it I could feel his frustration. Feel him. I examined the spell he’d used to invade me, and realized it was a kind of binding. A complex binding, but a binding nonetheless. Not that the knowledge really helped me. I wasn’t a very adept counterspeller under the best of circumstances, and trapped in my own mind was hardly the best circumstances.
“You can’t remove it. Trust me—this magic is beyond you. Accept your fate.” Utred’s taunts were delivered without enthusiasm, as the lift ground to a halt and revealed his apparent destination.
The father of all matrices stood by itself in the center of the room. A temporal matrix, similar to the one on the Flame of Knowledge, save far, far more elaborate. This was the Flame matrix’s big brother.
It possessed a fifth ring, and a sixth. Our standard matrices only had three, and the temporal one had four. What was this thing? And I’d just delivered it to Utred. I had to stop this somehow.
“No….” Utred stepped forward, ignoring my thoughts. He could hear them, I thought, but he’d dismissed me as unimportant. This was his moment of triumph, but he feared it might be taken away. “This is no gateway. I would know it for its true form.”
“Nope.” Reeva appeared and this time had a half-eaten drumstick in one hand from some bird, and a tankard in the other. “That’s no gateway. Uh oh…looks like you were wrong about it being in this city. Did you think you could just walk up and ring the bell, and you’d be let into the most secure place ever constructed? This is Sanctuary. It defined the word. There is no violence here. No ambition. No aggression. Only peace. And even if there were, are you daft? You must be able to survive the trip, which in itself kills most would-be despots.”
Utred collected himself. Well, collected me, if we’re being technical. He stood and faced Reeva, all emotion draining from his face. “Then what is that thing? This is a place of knowledge, right, and you were the original seeker? Neith, and Osmium, and Xal, and every other sat at your feet. You taught them. You are the very last of the Witnesses.”
“What of it?” He raised a bushy red eyebrow. “I teach a lot of people. You know what they all have in common? They aren’t asses. You? You’re an ass. Unfortunately, I’m bound by specific self-imposed dictates. During the exodus I had to agree to them, and they state that I deliver knowledge freely to the worthy. Your host is worthy, and you’re milking that for all it’s worth. So here it is…that’s the Matrix.”
“And like a temporal matrix I can use it to reach other times? Other possibilities?” Utred delivered a cruel smile that finally betrayed the maliciousness he’d been hiding under his polished demeanor. “Can I use it to reach the Great Cycle?”
“Yes.” The word was dragged from Reeva, but the deity gave it. He seemed about to add more, then clamped his jaw shut with a triumphant smile. “What else can I help you with?”
Utred’s smile never slipped. “Tell me the precise origin and purpose of the Matrix, then tell me exactly how it can be used.”
Reeva’s smugness evaporated, and his expression said he’d finally been caught. He’d have to give up the information, and then Utred could use it however he chose. I had a feeling that while entering the Cycle might be his primary goal he could find any number of other ways to terrorize our universe with an artifact this powerful.
I had unleashed this, and try as I might there didn’t seem to be a way to stop it.
Interlude X
Today had begun as a special day for Vee. She’d completed her master’s piece, a tiara to complement her bracelet. Where one bracelet channeled spells, and the other afforded defense through a shield, this one aided perception and spellcasting. It made her a better mage, but more importantly, a better artificer.
All future pieces would benefit from the tiara of clarity, her temporary name for the item. The creation wouldn’t have been possible without Inura, the Maker, and she couldn’t help but eye the handsome deity sidelong from her place behind him on the Word of Xal’s bridge.
She trailed after the god everywhere, soaking up scraps of knowledge, and helping him with whatever errand he needed seen to. Inura, as he insisted she call him, loved the attention, and it seemed a small price in exchange for everything he’d taught her in such a short time. She flattered him, and he gave her all the proper lessons she’d missed by not being able to attend an Inuran academy.
Her eyes found his jawline, and the swell of muscles along his shoulders, and those knowing eyes, and even the majestic wings behind him. Inhuman perhaps, but also proof of his divinity. She couldn’t deny the attraction, and knew that he was playing a slow game to bed her. She’d resisted, because she couldn’t do that to Jerek, but…she also knew what she wanted, and feared a weakening of her resolve.
Those were the girlish thoughts consuming her attention when Vee’s reality shattered forever. A monstrous cyborg appeared a few meters from Captain Irala in the matrix, a hellish, familiar figure that made Vee want to release her bladder.
A necromancer. Not just any necromancer, but one of the ones who’d traded bits of their body, and now scuttled about on those awful clanking harnesses. How had she breached the wards? And could Inura stop her?
Vee took an unconscious step backwards towards the door. Then she forced steel into her spine. These necromancers had taken everything. Not just their world, but her people’s faith. They’d built a religion to exploit innocent lurkers, and had turned them into monsters who hunted other humans.
Inura had explained to her that her people had once been the technicians and artificers who’d kept the Great Ships flying over scores of millennia. This woman was why they no longer were. She’d help Inura oppose her.
The woman was saying something, but a ringing in her eyes and the thundering of her heart drowned it out. Was her breath really that loud?
The necromancer’s jaw distended. Unhinged, and worse. It tore the very soul from Captain Irala, and devoured it before them. That single hideous act, that unclean theft, was the worst thing Vee had ever witnessed.
She turned to sprint away, but Inura’s strong grip found her wrist. He pulled her into a quick kiss, his tongue hot, and somehow sweet, then he released her. “Run, Vee. Take what little I have left. Guard this will your life. Open it the moment you are safe.”
He pressed something warm into her hands, and she glanced down to see a golden cube, rich with many-layered magic. She slid it into her void pocket, and then took his words to heart.
Vee managed not to look over her shoulder as she heard the clash of combat begin. She knew Inura couldn’t best that thing. Not if he’d given her his power…and she realized that somehow he’d done so without any visible spell effect.
Water, life, and air swirled within her. New Catalyzations. Three of them! Even amidst the sacrifice and chaos Inura had still managed to make something beautiful. He’d spent his last helping his people. She would honor that. She would honor the Maker. Always.
Vee sprinted from the bridge, dashing up the corridor, and to the primary lift. She knew the ship fairly well now, the traveled parts anyway. Unlike Jerek or his mother she couldn’t simply teleport, so she had to hoof it four times a day.
She waved her hand i
n front of the control panel, then darted into the lift and tapped in the coordinates for Highspire. Visala was the most powerful being on this ship, and while she might not be able to kill the necromancer she was their best hope of doing so.
Should she send a missive? Vee decided against it, and bit her lip as she waited for the lift to reach the proper level. To her immense shame the most pressing thought proved to be her disappointment that Inura would never have a chance to judge her master’s piece. She’d had a fantasy of how that would go.
Now it was ashes.
The lift doors opened, and she sprinted down a narrow corridor into the largest cargo bay on the ship, the one containing Highspire. She could hear explosions and small arms fire, plus less identifiable battle sounds, as she rushed into the room.
The assault on the bridge hadn’t come in isolation. Thousands of wights and bone thieves were guided by dozens of necromancers as they herded unholy creations into battle.
Jerek would have been proud of the defense.
His classmates, under the guidance of Visala in her Wyrm form, were giving as good as they got. These weren’t children any more. They’d been battle tested and were holding their own. Their salt lines and wards were down, and spells of all eight aspects flashed out from their ranks into the unliving mass.
The wights prowled outside salt lines, easy targets as the necromancers allowed their creations to soak up spells. They were draining their opponents, she realized. Put enough fish in the barrel, and you ran out of bullets to shoot them with. A war of attrition.
The leader of the enemy forces stood tall in the rear of their army, directly across the hold from where Vee had appeared. She sketched a fire sigil and improved her vision. The necromancer appeared as the others, except that her face was maddeningly familiar.
Was that…Matron Jolene? She’d never forget the fight on the cruiser. Vee had almost died. They all had.
