Aetherios System: Whirlwind

Book 2: Chapter 31: Bugged

The bedroom was grave silent. The sort of quiet that didn’t feel peaceful, just the absence of noise. Though what mattered was that Eric was breathing. That was the first thing Alex checked.

His friend lay still, his form carefully tucked into the blankets. They had set two enchanted cooling pads pressed beneath his collar to help with the rising fever. He looked like someone who’d gone ten rounds with the universe’s spiciest hot sauce, and there was no doubt in who had won..

Allie sat beside the bed, unmoving. She looks down at him, just watching, and waiting for… well anything really. Her fingers tapped against her knee in an off-tempo rhythm, Alex guessed that she probably didn’t notice she was even doing it.

“Let me know if anything changes,” Alex murmured.

Allie didn’t look up. “It already has.” He left the room before she could say more.

The rest of the squad had gathered around the common table, its surface still marked from their earlier war-board setup, now half-cleared of glyphs and illusions. There were plates of untouched food that rested, now cold, along the sideboard of the table. Someone had lit the wall sconces and set them too high, casting long shadows across the chairs and throughout the room.

Garret was the first to speak. “Well. We made it out of the garden without starting a war.”

Lance snorted. “Barely.”

Kate was standing near the far window, arms crossed. “We got the Vault to agree to a duel, outplayed Auralde, shook the church’s cage and we’re still alive. That’s something.”

“That’s blood in the water,” Devon corrected, seated with his head in his hands. He didn’t look up. “The Metalworkers guild is now bolstered to vote against Auralde, yeah, but Sanvek will still be against us. Not to mention, Vess won’t let this go. I humiliated her.”

“Good,” said Zach quietly.

Alex sank into a chair beside the board, rubbing at the bruises that still ached from the poison’s aftermath. He hadn’t even changed out of the fancy garden summit clothes. None of them had.

“Church is split,” Allie said from the doorway, voice heavy. “We managed to ensure Theralyn will argue for us. But Deros... he’s watching. And the older clergy are listening to him more than they’re pretending not to.”

“And House Thorneth?” Lance asked.

“They’re spooked. They definitely are the culprits behind they leyforge, or they know about it at the very least.”

Garret leaned forward. “The good kind of spooked or the kind that makes people disappear in alleys?”

“The kind that means we poked something sharp,” Alex said. “And they bled just enough to remind themselves they’re not gods.”

No one spoke for a moment, then Henry turned from where he tended to his plant. “Master Halraen offered a formal trial.”

Devon blinked. “Wait, a trial?”

“Dueling rite,” Lance clarified. “Public fight between two chosen warriors, structured, witnessed. He wants to see what we’re made of, and the other Sect wants to see how serious we are.”

“They’ll be watching our choices,” Henry added, voice even. “Not just who we send into the ring, but why. We already cleared Kate to be our fighter.”

Alex nodded slowly. “That’s what all of this has been about.”

Kate’s gaze swept the table. “We don’t get to act surprised anymore. Everyone’s watching now. I’ll win the fight, so Henry and Lance can secure Halraen’s vote, and it’ll be a public display so Lady Caerwyn is no longer unsure of our capabilities, securing her vote as well”

“And we have half the church,” Allie added, rejoining them. “After the garden fiasco, the Mother has decided to place her trust in us.”

Zach was the last to speak, voice low. “They planted a garden full of knives. And now they’re waiting to see who bleeds first.”

Alex looked down at the table. The glyphs were gone, the enchantments were dim, but in his mind, he still saw the pieces. Votes. Allies. Threats.

The days ahead would be hard. Two days until the vote, that was it.

But they were still here.

Still playing.

***

By some miracle, but most likely lots of effort on Allie’s part, Eric was mostly up and back to his normal self by morning. Dark bags still hung under his eyes, and stark lines etched his exhausted face. But the color had returned to him somewhat, and he no longer shook and shuttered from fever.

Alex found him in the common room already eating some breakfast and looking over the glyph table. “Hey, feeling better I see.”

He only got a grunt and wave of a hand in reply. But that was good enough for him.

“You fleshsacks are much more reliant than I first gave you credit for.”

Humans are known for their reliance.

“No, Earthborn Behemoths are known for their resilience. Humans are known for their reproduction. Still, something could be said for your species ability to survive the harshest of circumstances.”

What the fuck is an Earthborn Behemoth? Wait no, don’t even tell me. I don’t want to know. Just… thanks for noticing humans got grit, I guess.

“You are very welcome, grit textured meat boy!”

He rolled his eyes, grabbed a fruit that looked like a cross between an apple and a pear, and sat on the couch. By the time he had finished his “breakfast’ the others hard already started filtering in for the morning.

Once again, a new round of congratulations went out to Lance and Peter, how had also now entered the Adept Tier of their mage cores. There rest may complain twice as hard, but Alex knew they were all very close behind.

He check his abilities to see where his own progress lay.