by Andrew Rowe
I rubbed at my hand. Figures that I’d be disqualified for the amazing sounding secret society at the same time I found out about their existence.
Teft grimaced. “And what have you and this ‘Voice’ been doing, Lyras? What have you gotten into?”
“A whole lot of nothing interesting, Jonathan. Investigating the backgrounds of the people that Corin freed from those cells, as well as the disappearance of Tenjin.”
“You consider that uninteresting?” Teft scoffed.
“Only in that I found so little of relevance. Whoever is concealing Tenjin is far beyond my level of power and influence. Vera and the child are nearby and already under observation. They appear to have deep ties to the government of Caelford. I’m not sure if the children are aware of this, but in spite of their distance, most of our government considers Caelford our closest allies.”
Jin put a hand to his forehead. “Caelford. Really? They’re your closest ally?”
The disdain in his tone was obvious, but I could understand it. If he really was from the royal house of Dalenos — a much geographically closer ally, sitting directly to our north — he’d have every reason to be upset.
Orden turned to him. “It’s not my opinion, Jin. As I said, that’s the stance of some people in the government.”
He grunted and gave her a nod. “Very well.”
Orden leaned up against her chair. “Now, Vera’s significance still isn’t clear to me, but she is a member of a powerful merchant family. She appears to be living with her brother, Aloras, an automobile engineer.”
Just as I’d suspected. I stood up. “Do you think that they’re spies for the Caelford government?”
“Possible, but unlikely. Allies do spy on allies at times, but they’ve been largely keeping to themselves, and we’re well aware of their presence and location. They’re not doing anything overt, which implies to me that they’re waiting for something.”
I nodded. “Like Katashi’s attack. Would they have known the location of the weather shield’s generators? Is that information public?”
Lyras pursed her lips, contemplating for a moment before answering. “An automotive mechanic does potentially have the skill set to sabotage a generator, so you have an interesting idea. If Caelford had decided to side with Edria in a conflict, they could have sent agents to take down our shield... But I don’t think they would have been able to locate all the generators. I’ll check with my contacts to see if they can determine where Aloras was during the attack. It’s an interesting hypothesis.”
I felt vindicated by the idea having some merit, at least, and sat back down.
But, on a hunch, I sat down on an empty space rather than my chair. Another chair appeared to catch me!
This place was amazing.
I needed to figure out how it worked at some point.
Orden didn’t look nearly as excited about the chair manifestation room as I did. Instead, she turned toward Teft for the next part of her explanation. “The other prisoner that Corin freed was Keras Selyrian. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories about what he did in Dalenos.”
Teft nodded and Jin tensed.
Interesting. Does Jin know more about Keras? I assumed that the crystal he showed me was the only thing he found in the Divinatory, but he certainly could have found something else that he kept to himself.
Teft replied, “I saw the memory crystal. I’m not sure the children are supposed to hear about this.”
“Oh, please, Jonathan. That’s hardly a secret. It was in the newspapers.” She turned back to me. “Have you learned anything more recent, Corin?”
I shook my head. “Nothing much. I heard he was sighted heading toward the Edrian border.”
Orden frowned. “How’d you come upon that information?”
“I spoke to my mother, as you suggested, but only briefly.”
The professor nodded. “Good. Have you followed up on anything more recent?”
I shook my head. “Nothing since then, unfortunately. I tried to find you again, but you’d headed into the tower at that point.”
Orden frowned. “You can’t always expect me to answer everything for you, Corin. If you wanted information, you should have broken into the restricted archives in the Divinatory.”
“You expected me...to break in...”
She chuckled. “Whisper candidates are expected to be... resourceful. You’ve proven that way in other areas, but I suppose you’re still not much for trespassing. I’m sure we could work with that, if you end up joining us — but no matter. That’s not the issue right now. I hadn’t actually heard the report about Keras heading toward Edria. That’s something we need to investigate further. I’ll give you a key to the archives. Ask the Researcher for anything regarding Keras within the last few months.”
I nodded. “I’ll do that, but have you found any more information on your side to indicate if Keras is involved?”
“Very little pertaining to him, I’m afraid,” she admitted. “Prior to your mention of Aloras as a suspect, I was considering the possibility that he had been the one to destroy the shield generators. That’s still possible, but Aloras actually seems to fit better. I find it more likely that Keras is the one who is responsible for Tenjin’s disappearance. If he could fight one visage, it’s possible he could have harmed another one.”
No one seemed very comfortable with that statement. It was sacrilege to think a mortal could harm a visage. They were, after all, supposedly aspects of the goddess herself.
At least locally.
I knew that in Caelford, the Mortalists sect believed that the visages were actually heroes who had managed to climb all the way to the top of the towers and ascended to divinity.
Pantheonists, a prominent religion that was primarily in Edria, believed that each of the visages was a god in their own right and biological children of Selys.
While that viewpoint wasn’t popular here, I remembered Katashi’s words. He’d called Tenjin his brother. That definitely sounded more like they were independent entities that were biologically related. Of course, that also could have worked with the Mortalist view. Maybe two brothers had simply made it to the top of a tower together.
Or maybe the visages all really were bits of the same Goddess, like our own Aspectist priests preached, and Katashi was just putting things into terms that I’d understand.
I broke the silence after a few moments. “Seems possible. It’d certainly explain why Katashi wanted to fight him.”
Orden nodded. “Did Katashi mention Keras to you?”
I shook my head. “Not a word on that subject.”
Moment of truth... I supposed that telling Orden the information at this point probably wasn’t going to hurt.
Probably.
I rubbed the burn on my hand. It still hurt just a bit, but not as much as a true brand from an iron would have. Well, as far as I knew. Fortunately, a branding iron had not been one of the tools used to discipline me as a child. “Katashi wanted me to bring Vera to him inside the tower. Within the next week; otherwise he’s going to send a much larger attack.”
“Ah.” Orden sighed. “That explains a few things at least.”
I frowned. “Such as?”
“When the school year started, no one was able to leave the tower. I believe that was because Katashi sealed it almost immediately after his encounter with you, in order to prevent Vera and Keras from leaving the tower.”
I nodded, and she continued explaining.
“Weeks later, when the monsters were scouting the skies — that probably meant whoever he was looking for had managed to get out of the tower somehow. Either they left before Katashi sealed the exits, or perhaps they found some way around the seal. In either case, Katashi didn’t find them, but he did talk to someone who convinced him to leave. Maybe one of our chancellors, perhaps someone in the government.”
That all made sense. “I’d thought you might have been involved in getting the monsters to leave.”
&n
bsp; Orden shook her head. “Can’t take credit for that, sadly. I did, however, learn that people were starting to exit the tower again. That’s when I went inside and spoke to the Voice. He confirmed, among other things, that neither Keras nor Vera was still in the tower. I didn’t find out how Keras managed to escape. The Voice might have known, but he doesn’t always tell me everything. It was shortly after that event that I tracked down her location.”
I scratched my chin. “Okay. So, she’s in an obvious enough spot that we can easily find her, but no one has turned her over to Katashi yet. Why?”
“Presumably because whoever spoke to Katashi the first time and gave him assurances was either incompetent or working directly with Vera.”
I balled my hands into fists. “And that inaction just cost lives.”
Professor Orden nodded. “Yes. I will investigate who spoke to Katashi the first time. If they deliberately delayed giving him information, that is a crime that must be answered for. In the meantime, if Katashi’s demand is for us to deliver Vera to him, we would be wise to do so.”
I nodded. “If we know where she is, perhaps we should go as soon as we’ve rested. I see no reason to wait a full week, especially if there are potential enemies who may act before we do.”
Orden glanced at Teft, then back to me. “I concur, but with a few minor adjustments. First, if you are planning to head into the Climber’s Gate, you must be properly prepared. Only six can enter that gate together. Jonathan, I assume you will be going?”
Teft grunted and stood up. “I wasn’t particularly effective against Mizuchi, but I can handle a few floors of the tower. Let’s hope the visage decides to meet us at the entrance, though.”
“Right. I will also be accompanying you. Unfortunately, even if she is incapacitated — which may or may not be necessary — Vera will count as one of our six. That means that you children will need to decide who else among you is going to be entering the tower with Corin, if anyone.”
She paused, biting her lower lip before continuing. “Under normal circumstances, I would advise that Corin be escorted by a full group of professors or military officials...but given the likelihood of corruption in our ranks, I would advise we keep this entire plan to ourselves. I will inform some of the other Whispers of the situation so that they can spread this discretely in case of our failure.”
Teft flexed a hand in the air. “We should at least tell Jack.”
Professor Orden sighed. “Fine, fine. I agree that it’s unlikely the vice chancellor would be working against our country. He’s nothing if not a patriot. But do advise him to be cautious. In fact, perhaps we should just bring him here for the discussion after the children leave?”
Teft scratched his chin. “That would be a good idea.”
“All right.” Professor Orden turned back to me. “Given how dangerous this could be, I’d advise you to buy and pack anything you might need for the tower tonight. Tomorrow, check the archives to research Keras and Vera. Perhaps you’ll find something new. I’ll scout Vera’s location while you do that, and then meet you at the Divinatory at eleven bells. We’ll confront her together and hopefully bring her to the tower directly afterward.”
I nodded. “That should give us plenty of time to get this done before Katashi’s deadline.”
“Agreed. If there are no further questions, I’ll bring you all back to the school - and you can head back to your rooms. Do not discuss anything related to Vera, Keras, or Katashi unless you are in a secure area. You should, however, decide who wishes to go to the tower. Just keep the conversation vague. Understood?”
We all nodded. If we hadn’t been through so much, we probably would have had far more questions. As it was, everyone just looked exhausted.
With another teleport spell, we found ourselves back in the middle of campus.
We headed straight for the dining hall.
Fighting and thinking, it seemed, were both hungry work.
***
“I’m going with you.” Sera opened with it almost as soon as the teleport had finished.
“Okay?” I replied uncertainly.
“I would also like to accompany you.” Jin this time. A little surprising, given his reluctance before.
Patrick nudged me next. “I’m in, too, if you need me.”
Marissa had an oddly introspective expression. “I’ll go as well, of course, if you’ll have me.”
I turned to Jin. “Might be unwise for you to come with me, given how badly you were hurt.”
He slipped the ring of regeneration off his finger, handing it back to me. “As I mentioned before, my patron’s healing was quite effective. I no longer feel any pain from my injuries.”
I accepted the ring, slipping it on and activating it immediately. I already felt much better than earlier, but using it more couldn’t hurt.
Probably.
I wasn’t actually sure what happened if you had a regeneration item on and you were already fully healed.
Oh well. If I have three arms in the morning, I’ll know this was a bad idea.
I glanced between my three candidates. I was pretty sure Sera would murder me if I didn’t bring her along. She was already pretty frustrated that I’d been leaving her out so much, and I couldn’t blame her.
Perhaps even more importantly, I didn’t think anyone in our group could match her combat ability. Maybe Marissa, now that she’d hit Carnelian, but I doubted it. Sera’s summoned monsters made her vastly more dangerous than a standard attuned of the same level.
So, if things got messy? Sera was the best option I had.
That meant choosing between Patrick, Marissa, Jin. And that was rough decision to make.
Patrick was my retainer. I wasn’t very good with people, but even I understood that failing to bring him with me on a dangerous mission would potentially alienate him forever. So, uh, that was bad.
Marissa was Carnelian now, which meant she was clearly more powerful than the rest of us. That almost made the decision for me... but she looked exhausted. Sick, even. I remembered her tripping when we were heading back from the fight - had she overused her mana that significantly?
Jin seemed to be looking for a chance to redeem himself in our eyes for getting injured earlier. More importantly, he probably had something to prove to his patron visage. This would give him an opportunity to do something to garner his visage’s favor, as well as repay the visage for healing him earlier. It was a big opportunity for him.
“I’m bringing Sera. She’s family, and her summoned monsters give us more flexibility.” I saw a series of nods from the others; no one seemed to dispute that call.
I turned to Marissa next and handed her the mana watch. “Marissa, can you check what your mana looks like right now?”
She accepted the watch. She’d seen me use it dozens of times and knew how it worked. She turned, awkwardly slipped it into her shirt, then pulled it back out.
The number read “0/172”.
I blinked at the reading. Not only was her mana capacity vastly higher than my own, it was even higher than I’d expected for a Carnelian.
But her current mana was zero. That was strange. Even if she’d overused her mana, she should have recovered some of it by now. “Have you been feeling sick, Marissa?”
She nodded. “Just a bit, pay it no mind.”
Sera turned to Marissa. “I think it’s more than that. Katashi probably gave you an infusion of his mana when he enhanced your attunement. I don’t think your body has acclimated to it yet. Every time I make a contract with a new monster I experience something similar, just on a smaller scale. It looks like he gave you a lot of mana.”
That explanation made sense. It was similar to the reason why Enchanters and Shapers couldn’t safely transfer mana from one person into another.
Marissa looked downcast. “What do I do?”
Sera waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, you’ll be fine. You probably just need to rest for a few days. I think you should sit this one
out, though.”
I frowned at that. Marissa was our best option in terms of raw fighting ability. Still, if Sera was right and Marissa was going to be sick for a while...
Marissa looked at me.
Resh. I really didn’t want to make the decision.
“It’s okay, Marissa. You saved me back there and defended Jin, too. You should be proud of that. Take the time to rest, you’ve earned it.”
She gave me a nod. “If you’re certain.”
That left the even harder part.
“Jin, Patrick. I want to bring both of you with me, but I can’t. I also can’t choose between you. Patrick, I know you’re my retainer, and that should take priority in most cases. Jin, however, just got healed by his patron visage and has a good chance to earn that visage’s favor here. This isn’t just about me.”
Patrick nodded to that. “Yeah, I get it. But someone has to make a call.”
They flipped a coin. Jin won the toss.
Patrick sighed. “You just take care of each other in there. I wouldn’t forgive myself if you’re hurt.”
I nodded. “We will. I promise.”
Promises are so much easier to make than they are to keep.
Chapter XIX — Borrowed Memories
My first order of business was to prepare for climbing the tower. That meant getting supplies.
I headed over to the Climber’s Court, trusting that Lars would offer me some sage advice to accompany his sometimes-absurd prices. It was evening by the time I arrived — hours after the attack — but I could still see smoke rising from buildings only a few streets down.
I hadn’t realized just how close the shop had been to the tower.
The Court hadn’t been hit directly by the Hero’s End, but the doors and walls were marked with huge gouges. A large chunk of the eastern wall was completely missing.
Through the crack, I could see Lars sweeping broken glass into a dust pan. His face was sunken into a deep frown of dejection, and a bright red wound was exposed across his left arm.
I couldn’t stand seeing him that miserable. I walked around to the front door, opening it.
Lars startled at the sound, reaching for a hatchet on his belt and drawing it in a swift motion. Fortunately, he recognized me before he threw the thing, his expression softening. “Corin. You shouldn’t be ‘ere! It’s not safe.”
