Chapter 128 – Onto Something
By the time we make it to the infirmary, Kanin is already there—along with Aquenno, of course, who has been glued to her bedside since she first arrived. Between them, myself, and Mirzayael, it’s more than a little cramped.
Blair manages a tired smile when she meets my gaze. She looks better than she had before—all the blood has been cleaned from her fur—but her HP still hasn’t fully recovered. It seems the System can only work so fast where replacing blood loss is concerned.
“I’m glad to see you awake,” I say, scooting around the others.
“Glad to be awake,” Blair replies, voice quieter and weaker than I’m accustomed to. She closes her eyes for a moment, as if gathering her thoughts. I wait for her to continue.
“Much has happened within the last few hours,” Blair finally says. “Or days, from your perspective. I will try to lay it out linearly. But there was much confusion in the Heavens. I’m not sure I even understand everything.” She pauses to catch her breath.
“Take your time,” I tell her. “There’s no rush.”
She smiles ironically. “I wish that were true.”
Between consistent pauses for Blair to recover, the god lays out what happened in the Heavens the night of the break in. Or at least, what the gods understand of it.
After I activated the Fortress’s defenses, Teranu went back to the Heavens to report on the situation, whereas Mura Tal found Kanin and Dizzi and put out a call for backup. From the Heavens’ perspective, Teranu returning to the Heavens and Mura Tal’s call for backup happened nearly simultaneously, which was the first source of confusion that worked in our favor. Seconds later (from the Heavens’ perspective) Lorata also got a signal from her champions that they needed assistance. Efforts began to be directed toward sending champions to watch the Fortress while Lorata investigated what was transpiring with her champions. This was about when Shirasil teleported her champions somewhere else.
On top of all of that, something in the Sanctum briefly set up an alert before resetting. Blair suspects Shirasil was involved in suppressing the alert, somehow, but it was enough of an abnormality that a god was sent to investigate anyway. Lorata was also struggling to get in contact with her champions, who were abruptly and strangely nowhere near the Fortress.
At this point everything in the Heavens was devolving into chaos. By the time Lorata finally got in contact with her champions and they told her about Aquenno’s betrayal and my involvement, we were nearly done getting all the Travelers out of the Sanctum. The story after that is a familiar tale.
“After the dust settled, Lorata called for a full assembly,” Blair continues. “There we learned much of what I have just described. She also presented a refiner to us that had supposedly caught the elusive Kanin the Heavens had all been searching for.”
Everyone looks over at Kanin, who holds a pair of glass hands with a shrug. “She probably did get some of Ink. And some of my memories, maybe. It was a close thing. We barely escaped.”
“Lorata thinks she’s caught Kanin?” I ask, surprised. “If that’s true, then the Heavens won’t be looking for him anymore.” I can feel Mirzayael’s surprise, too; she’s already brainstorming how we could potentially use this to our advantage.
Blair nods. “However, in the moment, I thought he had been captured. And as it was this I was ruminating on, I did not realize Lorata had turned her attention to me.”
“My Lord,” Aquenno says as she pauses for another breath. “I’m sorry. I never meant to endanger you. I didn’t—”
“No, please don’t,” Blair stops him with a feeble hand, and Aquenno hangs his head. “I don’t regret any of your actions. I only regret I didn’t do the same sooner. At any rate, Lorata began to question me. About Aquenno—the Fortress—Kanin. The plan to break the Travelers out. That I could respond to truthfully, at least; I knew nothing of the plan. Lorata’s Sight is keen at recognizing lies, so I answered true where I could, and where I couldn’t, I attempted to speak truths around the truth. But it was not enough to deceive her. She ordered me to be apprehended; my memories to be mined by Quimalad. They would have learned everything.”
Aquenno looks distraught, and Blair holds her hand out for his. He complies, and she squeezes it gently. “Please, enough of such looks. I managed to escape, didn’t I? Though it was not without some effort.”
I wince as I recall the state Blair had arrived in. “Lorata does not surprise me, but the rest of them? I can’t believe they would inflict this level of violence on one of their own. Did none of them stand up for you? Not Shirasil? Or Yua Tin?”
“Actually,” Blair says, looking up at me with misting eyes, “they did.”
“What?” Mirzayael demands, finally speaking up. “The gods defied Lorata’s order?”
“A few of them, anyway,” Blair clarifies. “Shirasil mostly stood around laughing and taking neither side as the scene devolved into chaos around them.”
“That does not surprise me,” Mirzayael privately remarks.
“But a few did stand up for me,” Blair insists. “They tried to deescalate the situation. It seems some of their champions have been in contact with the leaders of Fyreneth’s Fortress over the last few months.”
It takes me a moment to process what she’s saying. The favor I asked of Aquenno to contact other champions and invite them to the Fortress. The visit from Rinviu, Yua Tin’s champion.
“Really?” I can’t help but grin. “They listened? Talking to them worked?”
Mirzayael sighs. “I’m never going to hear the end of this.”
Blair chuckles, but it turns into a wince. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up over a Heavenly revolt, but you’ve changed some minds. Enough for a debate to break out, which as far as I know has never occurred in the pantheon to date. Still, Widengra was… overeager with his attempts to subdue me, and became increasingly reckless as I managed to evade capture.” Blair puts a hand on her arm, rubbing at some unseen wound.
My good mood sours. Echo has told me of Widengra before: the God of War and Bloodlust. Even compared to Lorata, his stories stand out as particularly cruel.
“Well, you’re here now,” I say as Blair seems about to slip back into her thoughts. “And you are free to stay for as long as you like.”
I can feel Mirzayael’s distaste for this declaration, but she doesn’t argue the point. She knows as well as I do that kicking Blair out would be a death sentence.
“I appreciate the offer,” the god says. “And I accept—for now, at least. But more pressingly, you should be preparing for Lorata’s attack. She will want all of the Travelers back.” She looks between Kanin and myself. “All of them.”
Mirzayael folds her arms with a smirk. “You haven’t seen the Fortress recently, have you?”
Blair blinks at her, brows furrowing. “What do you mean?”
“We’ve made some improvements to our defense systems,” Mirzayael says with a grin. “I’d love to show you.”
Blair gives me a questioning look.
“Perhaps later,” Aquenno suggests. “After my lord has had more time to recover.”
Blair laughs lightly. “I am not some child that needs coddling.”
“But more time to recover does seem wise,” I say. As much as I can feel Mirzayael’s eagerness to show off the dome and recount her encounter with Lorata, Blair doesn’t seem up for a walk quite yet. “Take it easy. You can contact me whenever you feel ready.”
“Thank you, Fyre,” Blair says. Kanin and Mirzayael shift, readying to depart.
A message appears in my Contact interface.
[Blair: Thank you for everything. What you said to me in the Heavens was harsh but true. I had hoped I could change things slowly, from the inside, but that mission had been foolish.]
The others have already departed, so I offer Blair one last smile and leave her alone with Aquenno, though our conversation continues down the hall.
[Fyre: Trying to change things for the better is never foolish.]
[Blair: Attempting to do it on my own had been foolish. I should have taken a page out of your book—made more allies, first.]
[Fyre: Or friends] I gently correct.
Mirzayael raises an eyebrow at me as we walk in the tell-tale silence of me using the System.
“In a minute,” I assure her.
[Blair: I will try to make it up to you somehow.]
[Fyre: That’s not necessary.]
[Blair: Perhaps. But I at least have some things I can offer you now. First…]
A notification from Echo appears in my interface. [Permissions updated.]
[Blair: I hope that will bring you assistance even if something were to happen to me. And the second thing is a message: Before I left the Heavens, Shirasil relayed me something to pass on to you. I’m not sure I understand it, but perhaps you will find its meaning. He said, “Fyreneth was onto something.”]
We step outside, and orange-tinted sunlight from the dome bathes the city. I wait for a moment, but Blair doesn’t continue.
[Fyre: That’s it? He didn’t say anything else?]
[Blair: I’m afraid not. But I doubt he would have sent the message if he didn’t think it was important.]
I mull this over. Why would he bring up Fyreneth? What would she be onto? I mentally recount the exchange with Mirzayael; she doesn’t seem impressed.
“Of course the only help he’d offer would be in riddles,” she thinks. “Typical.”
“Fyreneth was onto… the gods?” I muse. “The Dungeon Core?”
As we make our way across a courtyard, I turn my face skyward, warming my skin beneath the distant sun. The shadow of one of the Fortress’s towers spills over us.
I stop. “A tower.”
“What?” Mirzayael asks.
I spin around, searching the skyline until I find the jagged silhouette of Broken Tower.
“What she was onto,” I say, excitement mounting. “The spell she never finished.”
And it’s high time I paid that spell circle a visit.