IV-33 Burden

Trust is both complicated and simple at the same time. The thing about trust is that it is an immeasurable quality. Sometimes people simply trust you. Whether it's because of foolishness, honor, or some other reason, it is hard to tell. All people are different. All people are shaped by specific experiences. And thus, you must trust your own judgment when it comes to matters of trust. That is why trust is ultimately a thing best reserved for desperate circumstances.

We wish to operate on terms of interest. Trust is a simple thing because there are countless other emotions that compel people to act, that compel people to break their trust or form it.

Hatred, for one. Hatred between two different individuals that could be exploited to your benefit. They may not trust you, but if you offer them the opportunity to hurt their hated foe, they might very well work with you. Love is similar. If you hold something someone loves, they will dance to the wave of your wand and capitulate to your every demand.

But we are not amateurs, and everything we do must have a measure of redundancy. That means we exploit more than one emotion. We pull on more than one strand, and we deal with far more than two people while in the field. Find your opportunities, manufacture new ones, and understand the emotions you prey on. If you can predict someone else's actions down to the finest detail, then you can make them an asset, regardless if they are an enemy or ally.

Now. You have been selected for this trial, little bird. If you wish to become a raven, then I suggest you earn your feathers. Fly free. Seek out an enemy of the Throne—and make them our friend.

-Raven Qualification Trial, Aviary

IV-33

Burden

"Shiv," Cripple said aloud, a hint of surprise lingering in the Ascendant's voice as it took in the gathered extraction force. Its avatar was missing its left arm, and in its place were limbs shaped by incandescence and crackling flames. Other sections of the avatar's chassis were damaged as well. Its container-like body was eroded. Several patches had been dissolved outright, but it wasn't burned as one would be by fire, but by spell shapes from Necromancy and Animancy.

The avatar's glowing optics swiveled about upon its round head. The orcs held themselves at bay, albeit barely. Most of the gray-skins regarded the Ascendant with barely withheld hunger. The avatar was injured, damaged. By all means, it should have been easy prey, but Shiv knew the opposite was true with Cripple. It was a flame that burned brightest before the end, and should Cripple let loose his full divinity, his avatar would die, and everyone around it would be reduced to less than cinders.

"This isn't an ambush," Shiv declared immediately. He approached Cripple's avatar with both hands held high and made his Vitae Golem stand aside with a slashing gesture. It was slowly running out of vitality anyway.

Gone popped in right behind him, interrupting whatever he was about to say next. "Daughter's gone. Probably not for long. She'll be back soon. Stay alert."

Shiv looked over his shoulder and glared down the dimensional pathway they had just come across. They had moved through three different cubes thus far, and Adam was preparing another arrow, about to chart their next destination.

"Listen," Shiv began, "I don't know how things look to you, but I'm going to tell you this first. We are not working with Udraal Thann. We didn't have a choice in his appearance. Yes, he did pull us out from that ambush earlier. Yes, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. But no, we're not working with him, and I most certainly don't trust him worth a good godsdamn. Maybe even less than I trust you."

Cripple's optics stared at Shiv for a beat, and then it figured out what the Deathless was planning. "I see," Cripple said. The Ascendant's voice rattled out from the incandescence, and the war-scarred cube shook from its baritone. "You wish to use me against Udraal? Is that so?"

"Something like that," Shiv said. "But that's not all. We're going to need your help. We plan to collapse the mana core of this place."

"You what?" Cripple said, suddenly alarmed. "You cannot. The prisoners, they will break free. The damage this will inflict on the capital and the Republic will be..."

"It's already in motion," Shiv cut the Ascendant off. "I'm not threatening you. I'm telling you, this is what it is. Udraal is here. Udraal has a plan, and Udraal is going to do everything he can to break this Rubix Well and force the Ascendants to spend all their time containing the breakout. That way, Adam and I can get out of here and make for Blackedge." Shiv took a breath as he considered what to say next. He knew Cripple wasn't going to like a good portion of what they had planned, but everyone was running out of options. "But I think you can reduce the damage. You can get ahead of both him and the other Ascendants, or you can wait and react. I'm done with reacting, and I say we do something unexpected."

Cripple's avatar strode closer to Shiv. Despite the Deathless's imposing physique, the cargo-shaped automaton still towered over him by a good meter. "I do not intend to be used," Cripple said, its voice dropping even lower than before. "I understand your desperation, Deathless, but what you are asking me to accept holds far too much risk.”

"Well, get ready, because we’re not done asking you for ridiculous shit," Shiv said. "I need you to understand a few things right now, Cripple. We're all being used. Veronica and the other Ascendants are going to come for you. You know this. If they haven't done anything to your mind now, it's going to happen later. You think they're going to wait?"

Silver Tongue 37 > 38

When Cripple didn't reply, Shiv scoffed. "Yeah, exactly. They were willing to twist Adam's mind. You hate Stormhalt? Well, the others don’t even seem to give a godsdamn what they do to him." Shiv pointed at the dimensional archer. The gate lord paused and stared at Cripple. For the first time, the ascendant noticed both Adam and Can Hu. Though Cripple's avatar was an automaton, its body language was still human enough to betray its surprise.

"Is that a Penitent?" Cripple asked. “You still remain?”

"Yeah," Shiv said. "He came all the way in here to help save us. He's a good friend. And the only reason he's here at all is because of Udraal. I started fixing his soul, and Udraal finished. I'm telling you this now so there are no surprises."

Cripple observed Can Hu silently, but the Penitent did not do the same. “Ascendant. If you have any steel left in you at all, you know that it is time to make a decision. You cannot turn away from what is to come.

And a long sigh escaped from the Ascendant. "And… if you are here, then who does Udraal have with him?" Cripple asked.

"One of my golems," Shiv said. "I sent one with him so that you can be distracted. And by 'you' I mean the ascendants. I came looking for you because I don't trust Udraal not to fuck us over down the line."

"So you're playing the Ascendants and your creator against each other."

"Something like that. Truth be told, we’re kind of pulling things out of our ass as we go along and hoping we’ll find gold instead of just shit. So far, the only one I'm not really playing is you," Shiv said. "Listen, we’re all desperate here. The entire world's gonna be after me. Ever since that world quest triggered, there was no way back. You spoke to me. You were close to the Starhawk. It means that you don't have much of a way back, either. Not unless you want to destroy yourself."

"The ruling council has endured and emerged from greater moments of internecine conflict," Cripple said, though he didn't sound entirely convinced. "I have had disagreements with my fellow Ascendants many times."

But before Cripple could say anything more, Shiv interrupted him. "If you say this is no different, I'm going to walk over and unplug your head from your ass. This is different. You know it is. The ritual, the Great One coming back, me, the Starhawk, everything. This is different. You feel uncomfortable? Great. Welcome to the club. I didn't want this. I didn't start this mess. But I'm caught in the middle of it. I'm going to deal with it. The question is, Cripple, are you going to deal with your problems? Because you have them too."

"Prepare for transition. Three, two, one," Adam called out clearly. He loosed another Veil Piercer. A pathway tore open before him, and this time, Shiv was surprised to see the insides of the guard cube they started from. Five was standing on the other end, as were a few dozen orcs, clad in heavy armor, wielding heavier weapons. "Talk and move at the same time," Adam called out. "Ascendant. Either come with us, or piss off. We're doing this. We're making our own path. It's time for you to decide. Whether you want to make yours, or if you're going to wait for your so-called brethren to slit your throat when you're not looking. You've already reached out and aided us once. Just because they are working with you to handle Udraal doesn't mean that bygones are bygones."

The extraction force began to filter across the pathway. Can Hu and Adam moved first. The orcs followed thereafter. The last ones behind were Kura, Gone, and Shiv. The Deathless studied the other prisoners, surprised they were still here. But the surprise turned to apprehension as he noticed how both Kura and Gone were glaring at Cripple.

"Shiv, hurry the hell up!" Adam called across the dimensional pathway.

Gone was facing away from Shiv and Kura. Her eyes were locked on the only other dimensional rift in the room. It shrank down and closed. And even at the last moment, Daughter remained absent. No sudden attack came. But that didn't mean they were out of the woods. Not even remotely. Rather, they were simply walking deeper of their own accord. They were as if lambs trying to become wolves to spare their own lives; go from prey to predator against beings they had little hope of overcoming.

"It seems that your own house is not in accord, Deathless," Cripple said.

"There is no house!" Kura snapped. Her left hand twitched, and the many scars trailing across her body like thorns came alight with Chronomancy. She looked evermore like one of those cracked cups repaired with veins of golden enamel. "The Deathless has said his piece, and I will say mine. The only reason I went in to claim you peacefully, Strongest, is because I owe the Deathless a debt of mercy and honor. With you here, this debt is nearly paid."

"Kura," Shiv warned.

"Silence!" the elven chronomancer nearly screeched at him. "You had your time to speak, Deathless. I have my own grievances. Cripple, I remember you. I remember the feeling of your fists. I remember you breaking my bones, shattering my spine, and casting me into one of your cells for years. Years. I languished here. I suffered.”

"And I remember you as well," Cripple intoned. There was no lack of malice in the Ascendant's voice, either. "I remember what you did to those soldiers. I remember what you did to that family in the Windlands southwest of Diego. You remember the cage and the wounds I dealt you. I remember the child you murdered. I remember holding her in one hand, how her blood kept seeping out from that neat little wound you made in her throat, how her casket was small… too small."

And suddenly Shiv was aware of how few of the other prisoners came to be. He knew some of them had to be in here for a good reason. And if Cripple wasn't lying...

"You see them as innocent, do you?" Kura sneered and spat at Cripple's feet. "They are but traitors to me. They gave me their oath-words that my position would not be sold to your Prismatic Guard. I had no intention of inflicting harm upon your Republic. I was merely passing by, mending my own wounds after the betrayal committed upon me by my own blood. This didn't have to happen, Ascendant. The child didn't have to die. That family didn’t need to taste slaughter. But if I were to leave everyone who betrayed me unscarred, what worth would be the weight of my words?"

Shiv's first instinct then was to reach out and break Kura's neck. He could put up with a lot of things, but murdering a child, murdering a family, pointless butchery... that was an orc-like thing to do. What made him loathe Kura more was how she had so many excuses, how she pushed away blame. The Challenger was lovable in one regard: he was unashamed. The orcs were unashamed. They were monsters and weapons wrapped in flesh.

Psycho-Cartography: Stop. Remember what you've learned. Think thrice. You kill Kura now, and would Gone trust you? You kill her now, and we have fewer legends on our side. We will need everyone we can gather to escape from this place. You have a grasp of her psychology now. She is cruel, brutal, willing to do anything. But she also feels a sense of loyalty to you. You can use that.

She's a fucking monster, Shiv thought in reply.

Psycho-Cartography: This world is made of monsters. You are a monster sometimes as well. The ones she murdered are already gone. And if she is to be punished, it must be at an opportune time. You can see righteousness done, whatever that righteousness is. But know that killing her now will hold its own consequences. Ones you might not be able to survive.

Psycho-Cartography 78 > 80

Philosophy 24 > 26

Shiv fell quiet but resolved to have things out with Kura at some point. He also knew he needed to keep Adam from this bit of information. At least for a while. He would tell his friend when they were less pressed. Adam was far more emotional than Shiv was. He didn't have the psychology for this. Best keep him in the dark for now, until they had a moment to breathe and go over things in details.

"Listen, are you two going to tear into each other, or are we going to be actual path-bearers and deal with our real issues?" Shiv interjected, but Kura and Cripple stared at him. He didn't flinch. "We'll have all the time in the world to kill each other, but we're going across now. Cripple, you stay, we're back to being enemies, and I'll mourn whatever I knew of you and the other Ascendants. They'll carve up your mind or stick all your avatars in a cage somewhere. Maybe they'll let you out only to fight me or Udraal. Kura…" Shiv barely held himself back from attacking her. "I'm leaving. You want to stay here and get your pound of flesh? Fine. But you know you're probably not getting out of this prison without me or Adam."

He turned and walked, and after three steps he heard the loud thumps of the avatar’s footsteps, and sensed the movement of Kura's Chronomancy. The weight settled in his chest, but rather than feeling like a rock had sunk to the bottom of a pond, it was a body surfacing and bobbing up and down along the waters of anxiety.

A thin, small hand gripped Shiv's leg as he entered the dimensional pathway. He saw then that Gone was holding onto him. He stared at her, but she placed a finger over her lips and then she tapped her head.

“What?” Shiv asked.

“Psychomancy,” she muttered.

The Deathless wondered what she was playing at, but he decided he wanted to find out. 

"Don't react too much," the goblin's voice echoed inside his head. "You intend to resolve the elf?"

"Why? What got you thinking that?" Shiv wasn't sure if he trusted Gone either, but so far the goblin had been nothing but helpful. Ultimately, that didn't really mean anything. They were all prisoners here. Who knew what Gone did to deserve her cell? Or if she was planning something with Kura on the side?

"I know you don't really trust me—wouldn’t be so trusting myself" Gone said. There was no offense in her mind, but there was a lingering urge to commit violence. Shiv had been around enough minds to know that feeling by now. "But if you do go for her, I want in."

And that surprised Shiv. Of all the things Gone could have asked for, this wasn't one he anticipated. "Why?" he replied.

"Because child killers should die. Don't need a bigger reason than that." The goblin released Shiv, and he watched her accelerate ahead in a burst of Chronomantic lightning. She vanished into the guard cube where Adam and the others were waiting.

Halfway through, she called out from behind him. "What did she want?"

Shiv looked over at Kura. She was trailing close behind him, and at the very end of their group was Cripple, looming large and covering the entrance to the rift with its body. "Same thing you did earlier," Shiv said. "We all got our histories, and we all got our vendettas. And right now, I feel real popular with how many people want my help.”

The elven Chronomancer studied him for a moment and then offered an ugly laugh. Something told Shiv that she bought it.

We need her alive for now, Shiv, he reminded himself. For now.

***

"I can pinpoint where your equipment is. I'm willing to send one of my avatars along with you as a countermeasure against Udraal. But the other two requests..." Cripple hesitated. "I cannot accept the escape of any prisoner. And furthermore, I cannot condone a meeting between you and Veronica Chandler. Of all the avatars, she stands alone as the most dangerous.”

"Yeah, I'm aware of that," Shiv said. "But me and her, we got history I need to figure out. Things to talk about."

"And that is the greatest risk of all," Cripple continued. "If you speak to Veronica Chandler, then by the end you will be little more than a thrall. She will break you with her words. She will render you little more than a pet, not even a slave."

"I've been hit by her words before," Shiv said. "I know their weight. I can take them.”

"Hubris," Cripple said. "She was gentle with you. She was testing you, trying to get you to surrender willingly."

"Yeah, well, then I guess she doesn't know me well. Just kind of a fucked up thing, considering the fact that she might be my granny."

Cripple's avatar froze then, and its optics narrowed, zooming in on him. "Your grandmother... why didn't I see this before?"

"Probably because you were too busy dealing with six different streams of bullshit at once," Shiv said. "Udraal told me quite a few things. I want to know how many of those things are true. I want to know why he would make me like this, if that had anything to do with my family history. And I want to know," Shiv gritted his teeth, "I want to know why she never bothered, you know, if she knew about me at all. Why she just left me at Blackedge and, uh, well, everything. My life used to be a miserable nightmare, but now it just doesn’t add up.”

"She might have," Cripple said softly, "but high-tier Pathbearers and other individuals of great power are threatened by weakness. And family is just so often that when your position is high enough. Weakness." Cripple sighed. "You would not be the first of her grandchildren. And your father wouldn't be the first of her many offspring either. You are simply the most important offspring, if what Udraal claimed is true."

The Deathless was speechless. "Are you felling serious?"

"I'm afraid so," Cripple sighed.

"It's not uncommon," Adam interjected uncomfortably from within Can Hu’s chassis. "Especially among the nobility. When one becomes a path-bearer, especially a high-tier Pathbearer, they'll often attempt to make sure their offspring are as powerful as possible. Marriages are for the main family branches, but they're also partly for interest. But there are also coupling arrangements made to strengthen and expand family lines."

Shiv blinked. “Coupling arrangements?”

Adam continued. “My father is untangled from the mixing branches of the nobility, mainly because we are a new family. But my mother..." The Gate Lord let out an exasperated laugh. "She showed me her family tree once as a child. Or maybe I looked in the book myself, it's hard to remember things that early on in my childhood. It was like staring at a messy patch of vines coiled around each other. If I had to describe the nobility, it would be a nest of cousins and half-siblings experiencing near misses with each other, in the best of cases."

"In the best of cases?" Shiv echoed.

"Biomancers can clear away some of the issues resulting from inbreeding," Cripple said.

The nobility is a godsdamned inbreeding pit. Shiv’s insides recoiled.

"Can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm quite glad I turned out to be an orphan," Shiv snorted dryly. "Thanks, mom and dad. Really helped me dodge the family tree bullet there."

"Perhaps in more ways than one," Cripple said. "Kathereine likely had her eyes on you. You and Adam both. He's still at risk if he ends up in her clutches, but you've been removed as a prospect."

Shiv really didn't like the sound of that. "Because... why?"

"Kathereine is Veronica's grandmother. Direct incest ranks among the few things that, how does she put it, ‘makes someone so very unappealing.’" And suddenly a wave of near unbearable disgust washed through Shiv. The Deathless groaned.

"Shiv? Shiv, are you alright?" Adam asked.

"Yeah," Shiv said, lying. "I'm just trying not to think about certain things."

"That makes two of us," Adam said.

"I think we could come to an arrangement regarding the prison break," Shiv muttered. "Right now, if you dispatch one of your avatars to be part of our company, you can maintain a close watch over those who escape with us. We don't intend on bringing a war to people of the capital."

"Intentions are secondary to consequences," Cripple shot back. "I did not intend many things, yet they still resulted in failures."

"Yeah, and you might have failed anyway, even if you didn't do anything," Shiv shot back. "Cripple, I know there's a risk here, but I'm going to ask you a few simple questions. First, do you think that we're going to be able to shake the Ascendants and the avatars if we don't collapse the entire prison? If the only ones that escape are us and the Ascendants come hunting, how long do you think I can stay unnoticed? How powerful is someone with legendary awareness?" 

Cripple didn't immediately respond to that, and Shiv knew the machine god lacked a good answer. "Alright, so let's say I do manage to hide from them for a while. What then? How long do you think I can avoid Udraal? And do you think you can stop Udraal from destroying the prison anyway? Does Udraal Thann strike you as someone who only has one plan?"

"No," Cripple said, "but he's not infallible. He's been beaten before."

"Beaten? Or temporarily inconvenienced?" Adam asked.

Cripple didn’t answer.

Shiv began to circle Cripple. "I don't know much about Udraal. I barely know his skills, have no clue about his history. But I can tell you that he has plenty of bodies to spend. He's stupidly powerful and some of that magic he's using," Shiv gestured at the entropy scars lining the avatar's body, "is like nothing I've seen before. Stop hesitating and decide something. You don't want the prisoners to spill out into the capital and wreak havoc? Fine, we're on the same page. We're going to warn you when we drop the mana core, and you can be prepared to intercept and recapture as many of them as you can. Alternatively, you say no. We try to do this anyway because we have to do it. But there is no way we're staying inside this place. And we're probably going to be entirely reliant on Udraal's help in that situation. We don't want that. Not you, not me. But I will take my chances with Udraal if it means breaking out from this pit."

Shiv stopped. He glared at the back of Cripple's head. The Avatar hadn't turned to look at him at all, but Shiv could tell the Ascendant was thinking. "This isn't me forcing you to do anything. This is me cutting you in. It's the best offer you can get. Now, if you don't do this, I'm going to tell you what happens. Udraal will exert whatever influence he can over us. Adam and I are going to resist. But guess what? I don't think our odds are very good. He's a little too powerful for us to handle right now. He's got schemes within schemes. Hell, he says he has worlds under his control."

"He does not lie," the Ascendant replied, its voice barely a whisper. "We have scried Udraal's activities beyond integrated Earth. He has conducted several conquests, claiming worlds with equivalent ambient mana thresholds, most likely higher."

Shiv and Adam shared a look, and the Deathless clenched his fist. "That's why we need you, Cripple. You specifically. You want to meet the Starhawk and not have Udraal pull off whatever fuck-fuck game he's about to play? Well then you need to be there. You need to be there with the only other Ascendant who is on the outside of this thing. The rest of them don't care. The rest of them are only playing for their own self-interest. We are past the point of trust now, and you know it. So, I'm putting up with you. Now I'm going to need you to put up with me, or we all go down the worst path, or we end up choosing the least shitty option for ourselves. And let me tell you, I don't see a very happy outcome that way."

Silver Tongue 38 > 39

Cripple didn't immediately reply, but Whisper stepped forward. The stealthy orc's midnight cloak billowed as if an invisible wind was passing along the fabric. "May I speak?"

Shiv narrowed his eyes at Whisper. He wondered what game the orc was playing now, but he gestured, allowing it.

"Cripple the Strongest. The Challenger respected you the most among all the ascendants."

Cripple gave a bitter laugh. "He has given this speech to me directly, and he's told the Starhawk the same thing."

Whisper shook his head. "He was only lying with the Starhawk. He meant it truthfully when he spoke to you."

"I suspect he said that to the Starhawk as well," Cripple said flatly.

The orc paused deliberately and stared at Cripple. "I want you to know that what I say next is not a threat. I want you also to know that the Challenger is immensely disappointed in you."

Cripple's posture changed. The avatar clenched its fist, and incandescence billowed out from its body in crushing waves. Shiv came alert as the whisper of violence graced his instincts. Kura and Gone were equally incensed. Adam shaped a new arrow, and the orcs bared their teeth.

"What do you mean?" Cripple said, and there was no warmth in the automaton's voice anymore.

"The Challenger knows about Kathereine. He knows about what she has over you and why you are so wary. But we can see you freed. We know where the contract is, and we know where Amira is as well."

A twitch passed through the avatar's body. Adam looked well and truly lost. “Who is Amira?”

"I have no idea," The Deathless shrugged.

The incandescent mana radiating out from the avatar began to intensify. A series of waves crashed against Shiv's Shapeless Tides, and he braced himself for an unwanted brawl against the Ascendant. This wasn't the ideal outcome, but Adam had planned for this. The teleportation anchor connected to this place had been disassembled. Five was allowed to tap into the mithril supports directly, and with the few automaton wardens that Can Hu subverted, the wolf-man could flood the insides of the cube with dimensionality and draw everyone across to a new safe point. However, that required Shiv, Adam, Kura, Gone, and Candles to contain the avatar for the duration.

"You lie," Cripple said, his voice heavy with anger and disbelief. “You goad me with her name.”

Whisper, meanwhile, never lost his smile. "She still writes to you every month. You get letters from Elysium Field, and you've tried to find her yourself several times. You weren't careful enough during your last attempt, and the letter was delayed for a month. Catherine handed it to you personally within your domain."

And suddenly all the fight went out of Cripple. He sagged, more like a weary man than a war-wounded machine.

"The Challenger also wants you to know that it is a mistake you've made," Whisper continued. The smile died on the orc's face, and a hint of scorn leaked through. Shiv realized that Whisper hated Cripple, for whatever reason he couldn't tell. But that expression, that glare in the orc's eyes was unmistakable. "The Challenger says that you should have finished her off yourself if you wished to give her any mercy. That gods cannot have weak followers, and gods cannot have mortals as kin."

"I care little what your savage mongrel of a master says. In his eyes, only monsters make for proper gods gods."

"And is he wrong?" Whisper shot back. "Are you not a monster?"

"Everything I have done..."

Whisper interrupted the Ascendant. "Yes, you did it for the Republic. Justification or truth, it doesn't matter. Even if you did do it for the Republic, does that make it right? Does that make it proper? Does bombing a place and butchering all the people who live there so that your people could have more room to expand constitute nobility? Does capturing people, cutting them apart and experimenting on them make you good just because the ones you victimized were vile themselves? Come now, Ascendant. Come now."

Psycho-Cartography: His psychology is good. At least as good as ours. Perhaps more. He might have Psycho-Cartography as well.

The other orcs began to grunt and mutter words of pity under their breath. "He doesn't know who he is," Mortar settled out. He gestured at Cripple. "You see this? This is what happens if you end up going between. You're not willing to stop being mortal, to stop being tethered to whatever ethics or weakness you obey. And you're not willing to commit to godhood despite using its power in breaking so many. No way out. Just an eternal trap."

Shiv realized the orcs were trying to educate him. They thought this was a poignant moment. And despite everything, he agreed. He didn't think the orcs were right about ethics, not even close. But Cripple was being torn, torn in so many directions. He wanted to work with Shiv, but he still hoped to reconcile with the other Ascendants. He wanted to meet with the Starhawk, but Kathereine held him in her clutches somehow. 

Criipple wanted to aid Shiv, but he wasn't willing to go far enough. And bit by bit, the sheer stress Cripple was under made itself known. The ascendants were godlike in power, but they were not godly in terms of psychology or wisdom. And that alarmed Shiv. Even the Composer, humane and gentle though she was, was not so wise. There were points of failure with her. There were things beyond her notice, beyond her power. 

And then there was the Challenger. 

The Challenger was a true monster, but he committed to it. He embraced it. He didn't let it be a liability. The Challenger was horrifically wise. And that was another point of nuance to being a path-bearer.

Psycho-Cartography: You walk a halfway path, and you will be rendered asunder by your path. Know this.

Psycho-Cartography 80 > 81

By now Whisper had fallen silent, but his eyes were locked on Shiv rather than Cripple. The leader realized what his orc was trying to do, and he stepped in.

"Cripple," Shiv said, "I don't know what they're saying. I don't know what my orcs blindsided you with. But even if you don't trust them, I hope you can trust me. I came to you, didn't I? I'm here begging for your help. But I think I've come to another arrangement. Whatever Kathereine has on you, I think I can break it. I will try to break it and set you free. And I'm willing to put a skill of mine on the line if you are."

That made Cripple turn. He stared at Shiv, and the Deathless waited for the ascendant to speak. When no words came, he saw the Avatar's hand shaking.

"First," Cripple started, its voice choked, "I wish to help Young Lord Arrow get his equipment back. I will see one of my avatars assigned to you. And as for Veronica..." Cripple trailed off. "Are you certain you wish to meet her?"

"No," Shiv said. "In fact, the thought of meeting makes me wanna go another round with the Tarrasque alone. Feels like I'm falling all the time. But I'm not gonna let discomfort turn me away from what I have to do. This is a sooner-or-later thing, not a hope-and-run-away thing."

Cripple looked away from Shiv then. The suddenness of his aversion caught the Deathless's notice.

Psycho-Cartography You shamed him. He wishes he was you right now. Be proud, but pity the Ascended.

While Psycho-Cartography had one epiphany, Shiv had another. Power alone isn't enough to set you free. Your behavior, your choices, the people around you… the system has so many angles to hurt you with.

Philosophy 26 > 27

Shiv thought about Adam, Uva, and Valor, and now he thought about everyone around him. The longer you lived, the more ways you could be wounded.

"I want you to make an oath," Cripple said. "Not a ritual, just your word. I will take your word, Deathless. You will not lead your band to inflict harm on those of the capital. You will keep my avatar close and informed regarding all your plans, and you will deliver me to the Starhawk with utmost haste. If you can do these things, then... then..." Cripple's words died again. It wanted to say something else. "Do you think you can do it?" it suddenly asked. A faint whisper of hope snaked its way into Cripple’s voice.

Shiv cocked his head. "Save Amira? Whoever she is? Yeah, maybe. I need details, though. I need to know what Catherine has on her, whatever the hell's going on between the two of you."

"It is a contract. A slave contract."

Shiv frowned. "Okay, so, what, she owns you, technically?"

"No, not anymore. I made sure I broke that shackle, but I failed to save another. She owns someone that I cannot afford to lose."

Tequila almost started gagging. Shiv shot the orc a glare, but all that made Tequila do was turn away.

"So be it," Cripple said. It wasn't a statement uttered by a determined Pathbearer, but one who was tired. "If we are to do this, however, I need to bring you back as a prisoner."

Shiv considered Cripple's statement. "So that you can preserve your cover among the other Ascendants? I… Cripple, I don't think this thing is going to last."

"It will last for as long as I can make it," Cripple said. "I do not wish to lose my standing among the other Ascendants entirely, and I will need their aid if I am to intervene on your behalf against Udraal. I can keep them in the dark regarding where you are and what you are doing, but should you stand against your maker, it will not be a single avatar that stops him. Is that understood?"

Shiv nodded. "So what? You lure Veronica out by bringing me in?"

"It is the easiest way to do this. However, I recommend that you remove all equipment you are not willing to lose. It is hard to tell how this might go, and without a strategy of escape..."

"Oh, I have a strategy of escape," Shiv interjected. "You leave that to me. But what about Adam's weapon and the mana core?"

"Those two matters can be handled at the same time, for his weapon is stored near the mana core in one of the shifting cubes protecting it. There is another problem, however. His armor has been requisitioned."

"Requisitioned?" Adam spat aloud. "What do you mean? It's my armor! You're just going to let someone else take it?"

"Not someone. Enoch." Cripple paused. "He needed a new set of armor for his newest avatar."

Shiv felt his heart go cold. Ice flowed through his veins. "Rebis," Shiv said. "You recaptured him."

Cripple sighed. "Harlock did. And he returned Rebis to Enoch, who, after all that has happened, hastily infused his being into the broken prisoner. The project was incomplete. The binding has caused the one you call Rebis a great amount of pain. But it is done. He is now enthralled to the Ascendant."

Five sniffled. "Perhaps not exactly. His mind, it is still split in two, is it not?"

Cripple regarded the wolf-man. "Speak your piece, raven."

"If his mind is split in two, then so are his skills. That's the entire point of Rebis. He has two paths, two different souls meshed together, not just a single one. That's why Enoch wanted him, because of his incomplete ritual of soul-severing, is it not?" Cripple fell quiet, but Five just continued. "His mantling is likely incomplete as well. I know Enoch is partially damaged, and Rebus is mutilated at the soul. His merging has not concluded. If that's the case, then only part of him has been anchored to the Ascendant."

"And if we remove that part, won't that kill Rebis?" Shiv said.

"Perhaps," Five replied with far too much levity, "but if it's done right, maybe I can preserve some of his brain function. Keep him alive to some extent. Besides, I don't think our dear friend would like to live life as an enduring thrall to the one that cut him open and fused him back together as if some kind of macabre art project."

Shiv didn't like it, but he also didn't much like the idea of letting Enoch have a slave for an avatar. "Alright," Shiv said. "Finish him off, too, if it comes to it. Be a mercy for him—better than being used as a soul-puppet. If we can free him, though..."

"Of course," Five answered. "Of course I will."

"So does he have my armor yet or not?" Adam asked.

"I am uncertain," Cripple replied, "but if we must do this, then we must act in tandem. This also lends aid to your infiltration of the mana core. If you can secure the armory cube at the very core of the nadir, then you likely have a direct shot to the mana core as well. It is one of the essential cubes, fully anchored to the mana core."

Shiv and Adam shared a look. "And can you get us into the cube," Adam said, "without suffering extreme attrition or bloodshed? I don't know if you've noticed, but what we have here isn't exactly an army."

"I cannot," Cripple replied.

Adam sighed. "Alright, then I guess we're going to do the soul detonation method then.”

"I'll start making golems," Shiv grunted.

"You did not let me finish," Cripple added. "I said I could not. I did not say that we have no means to infiltrate."

"What does that mean?" Adam snapped, tired of the Ascendant's prevarications.

"I mean there are many Legendary prisoners, and there are few that pose a direct threat to all things material or otherwise. And one might see us pass through without inflicting immense damage.”

And both Shiv and Adam picked up what the Ascendant was putting down.

"There is a prisoner I would like you to locate," Cripple said. "They should not be hard to find. After all, they are particularly large for a hydra, and they are particularly loud as well."

"Alright, so we can find this hydra and they'll do what? Burn a hole through the cage?"

"More like they'll swallow a piece of Orichalcum, merge with the material, and swim through the cages without being impeded. They were contained in a special cell. Said special cell was utterly destroyed when the magical restraints keeping Solzimort sedated were deactivated."

“Solzimort?” Adam asked.

“The Hydra we are looking for.”

And that was likely Bonk's fault. Shiv grimaced; the large orc would have loved to see this, the carnage and chaos left over from his previous actions.

"Aside from this, among the many prisoners here, Solzimort is one the few I am willing to bargain with."

"And why is that?" Adam asked, sounding both curious and suspicious.

"Because Solzimort shouldn't be here. The main reason they are here is because of Longinus. Solzimort is a unique Pathbearer, a unique life form. Longinus likes to collect unique life forms."

"Broken Moon," Shiv growled. "Cripple, look, I get you like playing at being a decent guy. But seriously, what the fuck? Half of this place is a slave pen and the other half is filled with the worst godsdamn killers I've ever met."

The Avatar turned away from Shiv, and the Deathless tasted the Ascendant's shame. “What is the goddamn point of being a god if you're so easily bullied and cowed?” 

Shiv held back the words he wanted to spit out the most. You're still just a slave, Cripple. He knew that was true and Cripple did as well. But just as Psycho-Cartography allowed him to find the Ascendant's deepest wounds, it also informed him that casting it out so freely would come with severe consequences. If he broke Cripple's heart now, there might just be no going back, no matter how much Shiv thought the Ascendants deserved it. The Deathless pushed his anger aside and gestured for Cripple to continue.

"I will be able to have Solzimort carry all of you into one of the cubes. After that, it's best that you move quietly. The Wardens there all possess Heroic-Tier Awareness at the least. You will likely not be able to stay hidden for long."

"Then this will be quite the challenge," Whisper said. "It's been a while since I had one."

At this, Shiv took off his cape and handed it to Adam. The Gate Lord stared at him. "Why?"

Shiv didn't answer. Instead, he entered the cape and felt the clenching pressure of dimensionality wash over him. He reached the Forest of Alloy, stepped inside, and left a temporal anchor there. He studied his echo and left the Category One dimension thereafter. "So I can get to you fast. Or when my meeting with Veronica goes wrong."

Adam gave Shiv a nod. "Good luck. Don’t let her talk you to death.”

“I’ll try to do her in with my words first,” Shiv said, cracking his neck. “See how many levels I can get in Rhetoric or something from this.”

"Alright, that's him and the mana core. But what else? What about you?"

"You will come with me," Cripple said. "I will deliver you to Veronica directly."

"You know where she is?" Shiv asked, wondering if he could manage to ambush Veronica somehow.

"I know where she's likely to be, and I can get her attention. Specifically hers. She will likely want to speak with you, unbothered by the other avatars or Ascendants as well—even her own. That is something we can count on."

And that was just what Shiv was hoping for. "Alright." He turned and regarded his orcs. "Whisper, Mortar, while I'm gone, you guys stay on your best behavior." A chorus of jeers and insults came his way. Shiv ignored them. “I’ll make it up to you assholes later. For now, make sure Adam and the others get to the core. I’ll be with you shortly.”

“Don’t get caught again,” Mortar chuckled. “You won’t like what we have planned for our next rescue. It involves hostages.”

“Shit, Mortar, that’s all the reason I needed to stay out of a cell,” Shiv muttered back.

"I can send one of my shadows with you," Kura said.

Shiv waved her off. "No, the fewer people that come with me, the better. Don't need Veronica spooked. This is going to be an actual conversation, not an assassination."

"A shame," Kura said. "But you should be bolder, Deathless. Between all of us, we can slay her alone. She cannot stop us.”

The thought occurred to Shiv, but it didn’t seem like a likely outcome. “We're still running up against a Legendary Pathbearer with god knows how many skills and an Ascendant she can call on. An Ascendant I want to avoid as much as I can."

"Wise," Cripple agreed. "Even alone, Veronica Chandler stands among the most dangerous path-bearers I've ever met."

Shiv grunted once more. “Adam, get your armor, get to the core. I'll be with you as soon as I can. Whether that be because everything's gone to shit, or because I've learned enough."

The Gate Lord seemed like he wanted to say something else to Shiv, but refrained. "Good luck, Shiv," he said. "If you feel anything is wrong—”

"Don't worry, Adam," Shiv said, realizing just how worried his friend was for him. "I'm not gonna risk my life for something stupid."

Adam fixed him with a flat stare.

"Okay, I'm not going to risk getting enslaved for something stupid."

"That's better," Adam said.

"Listen, with how our luck's going..."

"Yeah, I know. We're probably gonna need to fight Rebis. Hell, we're probably gonna need to fight a bunch of other people that when missing. When everything goes to hell—and it always goes to hell—stay ready.”

“You too. I'm going to need you intact for what's to come. After all, you're the one that needs to collapse the mana core. Udraal gave us two hours. Suppose you'll get half of that to chat with your grandmother."

"I’ll  probably be out faster," Shiv said. "Everything we do here is a risk, but so was working with Udraal. So was doing nothing. So was just reacting." Shiv let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding and turned to face Cripple. "Alright then, let's make this look as real as we can. Suppose I need to be marched in as a prisoner.”

“In restraints.”

“Great. Well, let’s see my new bracelets.”

***

Shiv stared down at the masses of Orichalcum manacles coating both his arms. They were wrapped around his left and right hands, fused up to his elbows, and they had a spiral of varied spells keeping his magic suppressed. His Shapeless Tides ground against the manacles, and Shiv wondered if he could break free in less than a second. As he directed a few Overflow Tides into the material, the spells reacted violently, popping and bursting, but ultimately stabilizing as they held him in a state of constant subversion.

"Stop that," Cripple said.

"Just want to know how tough this thing is," Shiv responded.

“Enough that you won’t be able to break free without significant effort and time.”

Their footsteps filled the long hall. The floor was draped with fine carpets. Their color was blood red, yet as Shiv swept the ground using his Biomancy earlier, he realized some of that was literally blood, painted and infused into the fabric itself. The walls here were of fine, rich wood. Their color was a warm brown with many rings and faint traces of age. Lanterns hung from above, and they sway as if brushed by a soft, unfelt breeze.

After leaving Adam and the others, Cripple led Shiv across the crawlspace until they found a specific cube. This one was smaller than most of the others, little more than the size of a cabin in the countryside. Yet, there was no easy way in. No magic flowed around the cube. It wasn't connected to any of the mithril supports. And there was a sense of wrongness when Shiv looked upon it. 

It was like his Awareness didn't want him to know the cube was there, that his magic peeled away as he drew closer, that his skin and instincts howled at him to run, to flee, to do anything he could to preserve his life. 

For how unassuming the little cube was, it radiated with dread.

And only when Cripple used his own divine presence did that crushing feeling die down. He pulled Shiv into the cube with a burst of divine mana. And after that, they found themselves walking down the aforementioned hall, upon the carpets surrounded by soft wood and swaying lanterns, walking until they came to a halt before a large stone door. 

A series of runes encircled the frame of the door. Its centerline was cracked, as if someone had tried to batter their way through at some point. On both flaps of the door were trailing scribbles. Shiv guessed it was a story of some kind, and as he stared at them, a light flared as if the sun shone through from behind. 

Whispers filled his mind, tales that wormed their way into his skull, but his shapeless tides held them at bay. It was trying to reshape his consciousness somehow, to make him slumber, but his legendary skill ensured he was no easy prey.

"So what now?" Shiv said. He held up his manacles. "Do I knock?"

"We wait," Cripple replied.

Shiv turned and regarded the ascendant. "We wait?”

"Yes. This is one of Veronica's private sanctums. This door is only accessible by her, and we have likely been spotted the moment we breached this place's threshold. She will be coming soon."

She did. And at that, the door opened with a thunderous groan. It snapped wide, and the runes spat embers of magic, showering both Shiv and Cripple's avatar.

The chamber beyond was even more opulent than the hallway Shiv just walked down. A raging fireplace crackled to the right, and the mantelpiece was made from some kind of glossy marble. It was sculpted exquisitely, sporting countless faces: human, elf, goblin, machine, and more. It climbed all the way up to the chimney and to the ceiling, and Shiv saw a glistening crystalline chandelier swaying above. 

Yet atop the chandelier were small creatures. They had little wings, and when Shiv used his Farsight to narrow his vision and get a better look at them, he found himself surprised to be staring at what seemed to be small winged children. They were dressed in greenish tunics, frolicking with each other, laughing as mana dust spilled free from their bodies.

“Fairies,” Cripple said. “Don’t look at them. They will curse your eyes.”

Shiv blinked at the Ascendant.

“Veronica has pacts with the fae. They see us. And so she does. So. Do not look at them, unless you wish to smell only candy and see only the color blue for a period.”

Besides the mantelpiece, the walls were lined in books, so many books, books rising row by row, books stacked so tight that to pull one out would take a struggle, and to push it back in would require a squeeze. 

There at the far end of the room was a long desk. It was as worn as the door, made from stone much like the door, and there were etchings upon it, not so different than the one on the door. A mess of scrolls, tomes, papers, and more littered the top side of the desk, and Shiv wondered why some of those books called to him. An insatiable urge pulled at his person. He wanted to take some of those tomes, to read some of those words.

"Cripple. You're going to need to explain this to me."

And then she was there. She walked right past Shiv, but he never felt her, never even heard her. Her static war dress billowed around her body, and Veronica Chandler made for her table. She came to a stop in front of it and sat atop her desk. She regarded Shiv and stared deep into his eyes. He forced himself to meet her gaze. His Voidmantid’s helmet was collapsed so she could see his face. It took everything he had not to glare or scowl at her.

"The other Ascendants and avatars," Veronica began, "they're out hunting you. Udraal supposedly has you, but here you are, right in front of me, inside one of my personal sanctums, accompanied by my most untrustworthy and most compromised Ascendant."

"There is no scheme here," Cripple began.

“Cripple, I say this as a sympathetic friend: Shut the fuck up.” Veronica waved him off, and Shiv cringed as he realized she gestured the same way he did, cutting through the air with her hand shaped like a knife. "Please, Cripple, you can insult anyone else, just don't insult me. I've known you for too long, too well, and I don't blame you. My grandmother plays her games. The other ascendants can't seem to make up their mind about what they want to do. Their appetites get worse and more extreme every year, and the Republic strains even as it bloats and grows." 

Veronica gave a soft sigh as she rolled her eyes. "And at the center of it all isn't you, but me. Me holding it all together. Me, dealing with the sins of the past, the problems of the present, and the threats of the future." She pressed her lips together and took a step forward. "So which one am I?"

The Deathless chuckled. "Or am I all three?"

"Clever," Veronica replied dryly. "But I haven't quite figured that out yet. Udraal, he's talked to you."

"Yeah," Shiv said. Veronica's gaze grew more intense by the second, and the Deathless forced himself to stand firm. An unnatural fear clawed at his stomach. He felt like an animal on the inside, but he was more than that. Fear, natural or unnatural, couldn't turn Shiv away. "Told me quite a few things about you, and I want to know if they're true. More than that, I want to know about my parents. I want to know what your deal with Udraal is. I want to know about the ritual."

And Veronica began to laugh. Her voice rose, and the pitch of her amusement climbed higher and higher. After a good ten seconds, she fell silent. "You know, this might be the first time a prisoner has tried to interrogate me inside one of my own offices. You're bold. You're overly bold. But I find that quite endearing." She clenched her jaw. "Yes, to begin with. I think you're probably my blood. Just as your father was probably my blood. That's no lie."

"Probably?”

Veronica smirked. "Let me be honest with you, boy. I've had many children. I kept none. I can't fully remember all of them. And you don't seem to know about this because, well, Roland's probably kept you insulated and severed from healthy development. Understandable, but pointlessly paranoid."

For a beat, Shiv had nothing to say. "So your excuse for not knowing is that you have too many bastards?”

Veronica shrugged. "I suppose so." And then her expression softened. "I wouldn’t call them bastards. Just… disowned. For what it's worth, though, I did wish for a better life for your father. He probably deserved it, but I couldn't give that to him."

"You're the Legend-Councilwoman of the Republic!" Shiv almost shouted. "What do you mean you couldn't give that to him?"

"I mean exactly that," Veronica said. She stared at Shiv as if he was simple. "I can't give him a good life, a safe life, because of who I am. Legend councilwoman. That isn't a position of privilege. That's the position of the chief babysitter for all the Ascendants, for every citizen in this great nation, and the cleaner for all the problems tumbling our way. You want to know what that makes me? You want to know what else that makes me, boy?"

Shiv considered her question for a second, and the answer followed naturally. "A target."

"A target, exactly." She snapped her fingers, and the flames within the hearth flickered. This close, and with them just speaking, Shiv could focus on how powerful she was, how heavy and dense her Dimensionality felt. It was crushing. The pressure radiating out from her made it hard to breathe, and his shapeless tides were the only reason he wasn't flattened. Even so, his bones creaked, and his tendons were pulled tight.

"I cannot afford a proper family. I cannot afford to spend my time rearing young and playing house. These are things you give up once you have enough enemies, or you wish to create a worthy enterprise. So, my father, he's not the only kid you handed away."

"No," Veronica admitted. Her voice fell, grew quieter right after. "It always hurts. I am not heartless. I'm not invincible. It always hurts, I always regret it, but I always understand the price I paid to get to where I am. A price I hope the children don't pay."

"Well," Shiv said, "he's dead now, so..."

"He's dead because he was a fool," Veronica finished. "He was a fool, you were a mistake, and your mother was a greedy whore. Now. Would you like to hear about them? About their mistake? And about what Udraal probably intends to do with you.”

“I might now more than a little about the last part, but yeah,” Shiv said. “Let’s hear about how mom and dad got to the point of mass murder, grandmother.”