Unbound

Chapter Eight Hundred And Sixty Eight – 868

"Are you certain you don't wish to use the arrays I've suggested?"

"I'm sure.” Felix could feel the woman's unease with the plan far more sharply than he had before, now that they were Linked. That process had gone just as smoothly as the others he'd initiated, and now Elowen sat with a Tier III Link to him. It wasn't quite equal to some of the others—someone had to reach Tier IV in order to receive his Boon of Bonds—but it was a start, and he was glad for that.

One thing Felix did hold back from the woman was that in the process of forging a Link, he got a better glimpse at her Spirit, free of any sort of veiling. Elowen was a kind woman, with a good head on her shoulders and a good heart in her chest. The breadth of worry and compassion he heard there were revealing; coupled with the conversation she had with Archie, Felix was finally sure of her. So he took her repetitive, anxiety-induced questions in stride.

"I understand that the Tower had its particular methods. Tern mentioned that you mages use arrays and monster cores to power the weaving, but we don't need that.” He gestured to the side, where a number of Chanters stood by mithril panels inscribed with dull sigils. "We have them, but they’re precautionary.”

They were all assembled within a chamber down the hall from his, up one level from the Seat and Seal. There, his friends had gathered along with a number of Chanters and Legionnaires. Zara was speaking quietly with them all at the moment, informing them of their particular roles in the hours to come.

His friends were going to weave their Pillars.

"So you’ve said.” Elowen regarded the crates full of lumpy monster cores with a skeptical eye. “I only worry that the supply of cores you have isn’t enough to forge a single full set of Pillars, let alone seven of them.”

“They'll be fine. We have our Link.”

Elowen bit her lip. “Is that really enough?”

The seven of them were assembled across the empty chamber. Evie, nearest the pair, gave an enthusiastic whoop. “I’m fit to burst with all this power in me. This duel champion is ready!”

“I think we should stop wastin’ time,” Harn grumbled. “I got irons in the fire.” The man was, for once, out of his armor, wearing only the blue and black uniforms that had been developed for the Legion’s commanding officers. He cut a fine shape in it, even if it was rumpled from constantly wearing it beneath armor, and torn by the edges of axes that he still kept at his side.

Both Harn and Evie were seated on the ground, feet folded beneath them, looking as comfortable as anyone. Alister and Atar, next to them, however, were seated upon a number of plush cushions, the colors of them complementing their robes. Alister had his silver rapier set across his lap while Atar carried his inscribing staff, and a small flame flickered around his head. Unremittingly white save for where a bloody crimson defined the tips of each licking tongue.

yes. let us finally expand our power. this is our moment, atar!

"Yes, it is, and if you don't let me concentrate, you will ruin that moment."

bah! Flame muttered, but the mote of fire dwindled until it vanished from above his head. Alister simply reached over and took Atar's hand wordlessly.

Beef was next to them, wrapped in his Hallow armor and lounging in a wide chair that he'd made from chitin. "Yeah, I'm a little nervous," Beef admitted, "but excited. What about you, Archie?"

He was in his own, smaller chitin chair, but he sat with aggressively good posture. "I just want it over with."

Next to them sat Vess, who had settled upon the floor much like Evie, her legs folded beneath her. Yintarion was curled around her, his length wrapped around her back and body twice, so that she could rest against his broad, scaled side. He lounged like an enormous cat, smoke curling from his nostrils.

"Of course we are ready," the Drake said. "The Dragoon has been waiting on all of you for a very long time."

"I have not. I am sure there is much still to prepare—”

“You merely chase perfection, my dear. It is laudable, but one can only polish a jewel so much."

She stroked a hand down his white mane, eliciting a purring growl from the Dawn Drake. "You are not wrong.” She met Felix's eyes and flashed him a dimpled smile. "We are ready, Felix."

He grinned right back. "Awesome. Everyone's reached the end of their books?" A chorus of agreement rose up in varying timbres of enthusiasm. "And you performed every task it had asked of you." Once again, confirmation, though it was laced with increasing annoyance. Felix lifted his hands up, palms out. "Just checking off my list. The next step is a little guidance, and then we're off to the races."

"As in, we'll complete our Pillars alone?" Beef asked nervously. His hands gripped the sides of his chitinous throne as if he wished he could grab his absent hammer. "Can we do that?"

"You have to," Zara said, stepping forward. "Not even Felix and his Fiendforge can weave your Pillars for you. It would taint your foundation with someone else's Intent and Will. The ground beneath your feet must be forged by you and you alone, or else it will crumble."

"Yes," Elowen said, "that's why you must all keep your Intent firmly in mind as you weave. As I'm sure you've no doubt been instructed. Keep your Skills, their growth, and the Features that feed them at the forefront of your Mind is imperative as you lay your foundation."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"And you won't be alone," Felix added. "You have to do it yourself, but all of you have advantages that few others have. From Companion Bonds and Urges to the memory of family and your own rock solid Wills. All of you have something to push yourselves forward."

"Not to mention the metric shit-ton of stolen juice you gave us," Archie said.

Felix grinned. "There's that, too."

There was a subtle but distinct sigh of relief in the air from most of them. Harn, however, leveled his gaze on Felix. "How safe is that power?" the man asked. "It's already sunk into my core space more than I'd like, but weaving it into the Pillars seems a bit opposite to what Zara just said."

"That power was filtered through me originally, and then it overflowed into you. I've had a look within each of your core spaces over the past day, and the power is indistinguishable from its surroundings. I talked it over with Zara, and we both agree—by this point, it is your power. Not the creatures it was taken from, and certainly not mine.”

Harn grunted.

Long familiarity with the man made Felix smile. He knew gruff acceptance when he heard it. "I'd say don't worry, but that'd be a lie. Worrying is smart right now. A little fear can hone your edge, so long as you know that I am here for all of you. My Fiendforge will be close to hand, even after I've left."

"Left?" Evie asked.

"I’ll be holding it from a distance. You’ll see. I'm going to delve your core spaces now. Clear your Minds and visualize yourselves there. I'll be close behind."

Alister materialized in his core space within five heartbeats. White marble and blue force enveloped him.

No. He supposed that wasn't quite right.

White marble formed his flesh and blue force his robes. His dark hair clung to him, halfway between stone and liquid Mana, gleaming just as much as his skin, like a statue freshly polished. His core pulsed, spinning with all the complex turnings it embodied, and his focus sharpened. His Mind clarified and Alister found the well-worn groove of his visualization—he wove marble into flesh and force into cloth and hair. Within the space of another five heartbeats, he was no longer a living statue, but simply Alister.

The surface of his observation deck gleamed beneath his heels and the spinning mechanisms of his gyroscopic machine whirled all around him. Above, jeweled bands of bronze clicked and rotated with every turn of his core, while the dual-toned star flashed with sapphire and carnelian light.

“Oh,” he said to himself. “I see that I’m first.”

That light joined together, pouring from above in a stream. In a flash, it solidified into red-gold bones that spread upward from feet to knees to ribcage and skull, before they were enveloped in blue-white flesh and clothing, scale and claw, formed from nothing. In an instant, far faster than Alister himself, it became Felix, just as he was in the outside world. All but his eyes. Those remained filled with liquid light.

"My God, you made that look easy."

Felix spread his arms. "What can I say?”

“Nothing, it would only make me jealous,” Alister said with an easy laugh. “How does this work?"

"Let’s start with the space you prepared."

"As you wish."

Alister led Felix down a ladder toward the base of his mechanical core. The pieces that were his Skills moved all around them, the swinging arms and moving panels only a few strides from the tops of their heads. Yet they walked a path helpfully marked out in blue—it led them safely between every gear and mechanical arm until they reached a hatch. It was set into the housing around the whirling gyroscope, and as Alister turned the copper wheel, blue force Mana surged through the metal in steady, clock-like pulses. With a click and hiss, the hatch opened, revealing a ladder down into the bowels of the machine.

“Narrow fit,” Felix said.

“Only seems like it. It’s a protective measure, meant to keep people from trying to get in here.”

“That’s clever. So I’ll fit?”

“Easily. Follow me.”

Alister climbed into the hatch and down the long white marble ladder. Felix followed, huffing in surprise when his scaled-bulk slipped without issue through the hatch. Several long moments followed, Alister moving with a mechanical surety he wished he could mimic in the Corporeal Realm—each step was precise and perfect, ensuring that there were no slips or accidents as they descended nearly five hundred strides to the bottom. Along the way, they passed a complicated series of braces holding the formations up above, as well as a series of pistons that fired off in intermittent bursts. Blue Mana surged through them, feeding into the complicated machinery hanging all around them.

It felt a bit indulgent, but Alister could not help but marvel at the way his core space functioned. The pistons gathered Mana from all around, pulling it from his channels that were represented here as copper piping. It poured through them, the force filling up the pistons before they shot forward, the Mana adding a spin to the gyroscope machinery that whizzed as it sped up, only to slow slightly just before the next piston fired off.

It was there, in the underbelly of his core space, where the sleek white marble and glowing blue came to a point. Beneath the pistons, braces, and moving gears above was an open space marked by incomplete lines of glowing blue. At the very center was his pride and joy, an addition he'd only recently made.

Alister stepped off the last rung of the ladder and spread his arms. "Welcome, Felix, to the control node."

The node was perhaps only five strides across and completely circular, made from a combination of metal, stone, and crystallized Mana. It sat in the very center of the chamber, radiating lines of sigaldry limned in sky blue that spread outward and upward into the core space above. The nodes was furnished with gearboxes, switches, and dozens of levers spread out across the entire interface. The copper flooring was textured so that Alister did not slip, white marble was inlaid into the node’s panels, and the handle of each lever was crystallized force Mana cast into a unique shape.

"What do you think?" Alister asked.

For his part, Felix looked absolutely flummoxed.

"Holy moly, this is gnarly.” He pointed to the open space beneath the core and the engine that fed it. "I can see where the Pillars would go. You’ve prepped these nine spaces here," Felix pointed at the markings in glowing blue arrayed around the central control node. “This is extremely precise, and very well prepared."

He turned to Alister, a broad smile on his face. "I'm very impressed."

"Well, thank you, Felix. Tern gave me quite a few pointers in developing the foundational weave while I was in Levantier. I admit I nearly talked his ear off, but he offered a lot of insight into the mechanics of the ancients."

"That's awesome," Felix said. "So you know what all of this does, all these…bits?"

"I do."

"Good. Show me. I need to be sure how things work so I can hold it all together properly. And this place—" Felix looked at the control node the way some people looked at wild beasts. It wasn't quite fear Alister saw in his gaze, but it wasn't far off. "I have a terrifying urge to press all of these buttons at once."

"No!" Alister stepped forward, putting himself between Felix and the node. "I'll explain quickly."