Archcrafter (The Weirkey Chronicles Book 3)

by Sarah Lin

  While he waited, he listened to the conversations around him, trying to absorb as much of the local environment as possible. He learned many rumors about individual Houses, and got a strong sense that Norro Yorthin was a city balanced between many powers, but no one mentioned the Chasm. In the end, he decided that he should defer any direct interactions until he had a strong grasp of the city.

  Instead, he finished his drink and returned to the exit, or more precisely to the bouncer who worked there. The man nodded to him politely, but Theo stepped out of the main path to speak to him. "Thank you for inviting me in, but I wondered if I might ask a few questions."

  "About our establishment, certainly. Anything about House politics, the State of Rest takes no position. I would also never reveal anything about clientele."

  "Nothing like that. I merely noticed the papers advertising a number of different competitions, many of them without any times or places listed. In particular, I was curious about this Chasm of Lamentations."

  The bouncer had relaxed when he started speaking, but his eyes narrowed when he mentioned the Chasm. Regardless, the man answered in the same polite tone. "I'm afraid most competitions are available only by invitation, so you need special permission to enter. That is especially true for the Chasm, where the invitations are always fiercely fought over."

  "Oh? Is it that valuable?" Theo pretended a disinterested smile. "I assumed that the people of this city would have long ago gained control of any sources of sublime materials. Is this one new?"

  "Not new... I'm unclear on the reasons, but the Chasm is only accessible once every eleven years for a brief period. Many of its most valuable materials have been harvested by the champions of the houses, but others regrow during that period. Hence the intense competition to be allowed in."

  That suggested it was an authentic opportunity, unless the bouncer was in on the deception, a possibility that Theo quickly dismissed. If there was really a great event to harvest sublime materials every decade, then there would be numerous records of it. Though caution remained important, that meant that his knowledge could potentially be useful to them, and reaching the Chasm was essential. Assuming...

  "And when will the next eleven year period elapse?"

  "I believe the event will occur in slightly over a year." The bouncer kept his voice low, more caution than a hushed whisper. "We list the names of those who have already earned an invitation for the sake of their reputation, but otherwise the State of Rest is uninvolved with the contest. That is all I can tell you."

  One year. Even if it was extremely difficult to acquire one of these invitations, he thought that would be more than enough time. It might be troublesome to acquire three for the entire group, but he could easily go and loot the place himself. Assuming that there was no trap and the competitors themselves weren't a problem... no, it would be better to bring Nauda and Fiyu.

  "I won't impose on your good will." Theo gave the bouncer a Fithan nod and started to step away before pretending to reconsider. "I've seen very little of this city, but I have a feeling that I'll be returning here eventually."

  "We would welcome your business."

  "No, we wouldn't." The new voice cut into their conversation and Theo saw a woman cutting a swift path toward them. Ruler-tier, red-skinned Fithan, wearing practical armor. She had her hair dyed a blood red that matched her skin, cut in a sharp line to either side of her face. "You stumble into Norro Yorthin and think you can grab a Chasm Invitation just like that?"

  "I was merely interested," Theo started to say, but she cut him off.

  "I've seen that kind of confidence before. You think it's just another material hunt that you can easily master. Well, you're wrong. A single Chasm Invitation sells for more than you're worth, and that's the price now, not when the season draws near."

  Her words might have been intended to intimidate, but only told him that these Invitations could be bought on the open market, if for an exorbitant amount. That combined with the list suggested that control of them was a game played among Houses, a game he needed to play.

  Adopting his best neutral smile, Theo didn't back down even when she marched into his personal space. "And who am I addressing?"

  "Just someone offering friendly advice." She poked him in the chest, leaving no doubt that it was a threat. "I am Kathina of the House of Coin. Even if you think you're ready for the Chasm, you don't have what it takes to reach the starting line."

  "Perhaps I do, perhaps I don't." His old instincts wanted to wager her that he would, but he realized that anything he won would be trivial compared to angering the House of Coin and potentially getting further embroiled in politics. "I take it you have some personal interest?"

  "I don't see how that's any of your business."

  "You're right, it's certainly not." With that, Theo stepped back with a polite bow and turned away. He thought he saw her give an annoyed sort of smirk, but she didn't pursue him when he returned to the street.

  Distraction shed, Theo headed into the city with renewed purpose. He still needed to do research to be absolutely certain this was the same Chasm as on Noven, or perhaps it was a class of location instead of a specific one. If the competition occurred every decade, contenders would be exchanging intelligence from previous veterans, so he could easily confirm whether or not he had the knowledge advantage he expected.

  Still, he thought it was likely, so the question was how to acquire these Chasm Invitations. If he had any sense for how Fithe operated, he guessed that they were distributed by some sort of official organization that controlled the expedition, then fought over. No doubt some were given to each significant House, then traded, exchanged, or otherwise used as bargaining chips. Over the next year, he needed to get his hands on three of them.

  Promising as that goal was, Theo forced his gaze back to the street level. If he did manage to enter that competition, it would be on the back of many smaller accomplishments, so he still needed to evaluate the city carefully. He hadn't spent much time in the State of Rest, but he did need to make sure to have reached the Arbaian gate before nightfall.

  Even as he examined the streets around him, Theo couldn't entirely contain his enthusiasm. The sublime materials they could acquire in the Chasm, even if it had been picked over by others with similar knowledge, would be a huge boon to them. Leaving Norro Yorthin was no longer a viable option and he wondered if it would be worth lying to the others to make sure they stayed.

  Theo immediately grasped the thought and examined it more carefully. No, that was childishness masquerading as ruthlessness. If they were really his friends, it would be best to approach them honestly with both the risks and the rewards. They would understand how it could benefit all of them.

  What pulled him out of his thoughts was a group of people he passed in the street - a group he didn't recognize. Though Theo acknowledged that there were countless species and ethnicities across the Nine Worlds that he didn't know, he usually had a strong sense for anyone's world of origin, and it was rare that anyone threw him completely as Senka had.

  In this case, it was an entire group of soulcrafters, their soulhomes walled up tight. But physically, he could get a great deal of information from them: all humanoid, with golden brown skin that he would have considered Tatian... except that they had pitch black hair. Theo had visited many places across Tatian and never once seen someone without light hair, so this puzzled him.

  He glanced at the group once more over his shoulder, confirming his observations. The most likely explanation was that they might be Tatians from the dark half of the world beneath the cliff, yet that immediately led him to wonder why Nauda's hair was light instead of dark.

  In the end, he decided that speculation was irrelevant: he needed more data about Tatian. They could just as easily be from the world below, a group he'd simply never seen, or a faction that soulcrafted a change of hair color for some reason. He tucked the idea away for the time being and resolved to keep his eyes open for dark-hair
ed Tatians in the city.

  "Didja miss Senka?" Just as Theo was beginning to feel positive about life, an imp attached itself to his back. "You looked all sad. Because you missed Senka a lot, right?"

  "Not even one hour?" Theo reached over his shoulder to try to grab her, but she scrambled over to the other side of his head. "You couldn't stay away from us for a single hour?"

  "Senka went off to sporp blook up but then waited a long, long, long time and got bored." She ducked aside from his second attempt to grab her, giggling obnoxiously. "Then Senka saw that you were so sad without Senka and so she had to come back!"

  Instead of trying to talk to her, Theo just let some of his cantae flow and reached back faster than she could move, tugging her off his back and holding her at arm's length in front of him. "I've had about enough of you. Keep chattering and I'll send you floating off into the city."

  "That sounds fun! But Senka wonders... will everybody see Senka and wonder what mean fumpet was so mean to a nice little Senka?"

  Theo hesitated, staring into those purple eyes and wondering if there was anything else behind them. That had almost been a threat, and though he would have normally dismissed the idea, he'd tried to reconsider his assumptions after he'd misread Tatian culture. Yet Senka just stared back at him and swung back and forth with a vapid smile.

  "Fine." He lowered her to the ground without letting his annoyance leak out. "You can come with me for now."

  "Yay! But Senka wants to ride!"

  He drew the line well before letting her ride him, and there, at least, he could outargue her. Eventually Senka's intense obnoxiousness seemed to run out and she settled for following at his side, holding his hand. It annoyed one part of his mind, but he rationalized that appearing to lead a child deflected attention from him. Instead of a young Archcrafter who might be dangerous, he was just a kindly father who had managed to scrape into Archcrafter. That could be a useful deception, especially once he soulcrafted a shielding wall.

  "Hey. Hey." Senka tugged on the leg of his pants as they walked, barely audible over the crowds. "What are you doing now?"

  "Scouting the city and visiting the Arbaian gate. You should know this."

  "Nah. What are you doing. Why are you here?"

  Theo glanced down at her, then decided to just ignore her. It was a valid question and he wasn't about to answer it to the insufferable little imp. Instead, he increased his pace toward the gate in the hopes that it would offer some simpler answers. He could finish scouting the city once Senka had been dumped onto Fiyu or anyone else she didn't annoy. Or into a ditch, though the ditch might not be as patient.

  A wall caught his attention: not one of the crimson stone walls that represented societal barriers, but a huge block of sandstone. In the consistently red city, it stuck out, but Theo realized that there were more than a few such walls ahead. Remnants of an older city built with different stone? Or perhaps...

  When he examined the crowds more carefully, he realized that their composition shifted ahead of any changes in architecture. He saw far more Arbaians, rock-shaped Mundhin along with serpentine Eubhan and other species he couldn't even name. When he looked beyond the obvious, he realized that there were Fithans wearing all encompassing robes and face masks for sand instead of dust. It seemed like Norro Yorthin contained an Arbaian community within its walls, which didn't fit his expectations for Fithans.

  "Wow, it's a bunch of rocky fumpets!" Senka punched his leg, apparently out of sheer excitement. "Except... do they have fumpets?"

  "I guess we're about to find out." Theo grabbed her hand and pulled her into the Arbaian quarter.

  Chapter 4

  The walls of Arbaian stone soon included more sandy domes, though Theo spotted many buildings of traditional Fithan red. Several times he tensed as he saw a Mundhin with a body fully crafted for war, most of them soulcrafters, but they appeared to be simple guards. All carried a pattern on one of their spheres that he recognized as similar to the symbol for the city guard.

  Soon he passed through a large market area crawling with Fithans, eager to purchase Arbaian goods. From a glance it seemed like their most valuable exports were finely crafted armaments and stone or metalwork, though he saw some raw materials as well. Several times he had to step aside as a wagon filled with non-native rocks passed, and he also saw trade in sand. Most likely it was rare Arbaian sand suitable for fashioning into windows, which might explain how their windows survived the dust storms on Fithe.

  With Arbai spilling out of the gate, Theo could only conclude that there was a city or major school on the other side. Normally he would have expected Fithe to go to war against such a force, but then again, Arbaians had a reputation for negotiation. In any case, they seemed to have established a mutually-beneficial equilibrium, based on the routine trade he saw all around him.

  When he got within sight of the gate to Arbai, Theo was finally stopped: there was a perimeter of spiked stone and guards from both worlds. Not particularly hostile, but alert, ready to keep order if anyone attempted anything. The only way to get closer to the gate was through several controlled paths, Fithans and Arbaians waiting in long lines.

  Theo briefly glanced at the gate, noting that the arc was formed of dark blue marble, standing out starkly against the reddish Fithan sky. His gaze soon shifted downward, estimating the size of the gate, and he understood why there were such long lines. It might be relatively broad, with a steady stream of people moving through in both directions, but it was absurdly small compared to a city the size of Norro Yorthin. Essentially they needed to squeeze the needs of an entire city - an entire world - through a single gate. No doubt passage was expensive, and he imagined it would be the same for the other gates, which boded ill for Fiyu's hopes.

  "Are you gonna just stare at everything?" Senka asked. Theo scowled in her general direction and moved off without answering, having finally spotted his angle.

  One of the guards sat near a secondary entrance that few approached, not bored but certainly with idle time. Instead of the rocky limbs of the Mundhin, it was an Eubhan, with a snake-like body of smooth living stone. Regardless of its exact species, it had the same guard symbol wrapped around one of its smaller tails.

  "Only critical House business through this gate." Though the Eubhan had a blunt face with emerald eyes and a carved mouth, none of those moved, the deep voice emanating from his core like other Arbaians. "Move along, Deuxan."

  "I don't want to get through," Theo said, "I just wanted to liven your day with a few questions."

  "And what if I don't like questions?" The Eubhan coiled its body to lower its head to his level. Once Theo would have been threatened, but he knew that it was a posture of thought for the Eubhan species, so he pushed on.

  "In fact, I don't think I want to go through your gate at all, but I need to check if it's useless to me. What information could I offer in exchange?"

  "Oh, I don't play games of exchange, Fithan or scholarly. But... I am required by my position to answer certain questions, so you may ask."

  "What lies on the other side of the gate?"

  "The city of Ulsalem, which contains more things than I could possibly count." The Eubhan lowered itself further, a low rumble like rocks grinding together emanating from its length. "What are you looking for?"

  Theo briefly considered whether or not Navim's name could bring any attention or harm, but decided that it was enough steps removed to be no concern. "I owe a debt to someone in the School of Emerald Indulgence. Unfortunately, I doubt this city of yours is anywhere near it."

  "I am not familiar with that school. Now, be on your way."

  "You look like you're from one of the Eubhan combat orders. Which one? Perhaps I might have heard of it."

  The Eubhan wasn't impressed by his knowledge, since it must be common here. Still, after glancing over the empty pathway, he decided to answer. "I am Eemal of the Order of Steeled Steel."

  "Huh. Steeled Steel, is it?" Theo hadn't heard the name b
efore, but the repetition did jog something in his memory. Meanwhile, Eemal shook his head theatrically and released a very good imitation of a sigh.

  "So few of your kind understand the profundity of the name. The majesty is lost when the name is translated across souls, but the synonyms speak to the depth of true being, as opposed to the mere reflections we see in our world. It is a magnificent and profound tru-"

  "No, it's not." Theo smirked at the impassive face - he wasn't an expert in the many schools of Arbaian philosophy, but he knew enough to recognize a fabrication when he heard it. "Even if your order subscribes to the theory of forms, that's not how they'd frame it. If I had to bet, the name is intentionally stupid, some kind of reminder of the futility of human striving."

  For a long moment the Eubhan stared at him, emerald eyes cold, and Theo began to wonder what he would do if it lunged at him. But eventually a rocky chuckle emerged and one of Eemal's tails flicked playfully. "You saw through it! Most Fithans will believe anything if you throw in the right vocabulary."

  "Was I right about the meaning?"

  "Close to it. Ours is a military order, but we have scholarly roots. The name serves as a reminder that invincibility is impossible, and that piling synonymous defenses is a fool's quest." Eemal swayed to the side, looking past him to peer at Senka, who ducked behind him to hide her face in his pants. "What I would like to know is how a young parent is so familiar with Arbaian philosophy."

  "I was telling the truth about owing a debt to a Mundhin school. But I take it that, even if I could buy my way through the portal, I probably wouldn't be able to find it through this gate."

  "Come, let us speak more directly!"

  Now that he had been amused, Eemal was much more open, giving Theo a great deal of information about the city on the other side of the gate. Theo actually recognized the general region from his first life, which only confirmed that the gate led nowhere near Navim or the School of Emerald Indulgence. He had expected that outcome, but did feel a flicker of disappointment before refocusing.