Verigenesis: Bounty (Rifthunters Book 1), page 12
It was time for the hunt to begin.
Chapter 14
The Great Plains had been far from empty on their way into Tabula Rasa. But standing beside the rift now, gazing out at the thousands of verists trampling through the tall grass, the sector felt tinier to Nate than it ever had before. And every single one of those verists is part of our competition.
“So many people…” Ellie murmured. She had tugged her Goggles of Magnification down over her eyes to better study one of the nearer groups. A hulking man easily ten feet tall stood in the middle of them barking orders, his thick muscles coated in slabs of stone. “It’s incredible.”
“It’s a mess,” Nate said. “How are we going to get through all of this?”
“Walk,” Ellie suggested. “Unless you’ve got a better idea.”
Unfortunately, he didn’t. While some verists rushed for one of the many rifts lining the sector’s edge, others stood huddled in small groups, perhaps discussing tactics or checking over their Registries for information on nearby sectors. The net result was a nil-load of congestion, particularly as one got closer to a rift. If only the Source had blessed me with spaceweaving…
At least they had one advantage on the rest of these nil-brained fortune seekers. Using Wes and Ellie to shield him from view, Nate removed the compass from his pocket. He kept it low, cupping it as best he could in the palm of his hand. The last thing they needed was for one of the nearby verists to notice the device and take an interest in them.
Nate flinched at a sudden whoosh of air above him that conjured memories of swarming fungitera. Then he realized it was just a group of verists taking advantage of their powers to swoop past the crowds below. He glimpsed a skyweaver enveloped in a cyclone of wind hovering beside a wildweaver flapping bat-like wings before they vanished in the distance.
Shaking his head at his jumpiness, Nate fed a thread of his essence into the compass. The pool of vera in its center immediately congealed into a line that pointed almost due north toward where the greatest number of verists was congregating.
Wes pulled out his Registry and flicked through the illusory screens that appeared in the air above it. The small spherical gem contained a record of all publicly logged sectors, along with any private logs he’d gathered or had shared with him.
“That heading’s not much help,” Wes sighed a moment later. “Most of the rifts leading out of the plains are in that direction. We’ll need to wait until we’re closer to get a better reading.”
Ellie must’ve noticed Nate’s glum expression because she said, “Cheer up; I’m sure you’ll get a chance to beat something to the Null and back soon enough.”
Nate just grunted in response. He tucked the compass away and started walking north. Might as well get moving. He hadn’t taken more than two steps, however, before someone suddenly loomed ahead of him. Nate tensed, readying an Ice Blade as he studied the stranger.
The man was tall and stocky, dressed in simple robes. His lack of any obvious physical manifestations or forgelings made Nate guess he was a binder, though he didn’t see an aura either.
“What do you want?” Nate demanded.
The binder regarded Nate gravely. “To warn you of a great danger.”
A deep sense of foreboding washed over Nate at the man’s words. The bounty could wait. Nate knew without a doubt that he should listen to what this man had to say. In that moment, nothing else mattered.
Ellie and Wes stepped up to flank him, but Nate kept his attention riveted on the binder. “What do you mean? What danger?”
“There is a grave threat building in the Nexus. One that may consume us all if we don’t deal with it with before it is too late.”
The ominous feeling shrunk back, leaving Nate’s head strangely fuzzy. He squinted, trying to clear his addled thoughts. “I don’t have any patience left today for riddles. Say what you mean or get out of the way.”
The binder didn’t seem to mind Nate’s rudeness. He simply inclined his head. “You are right to be worried. For too long already, we have allowed ourselves to be deceived. But no longer! It is time to remove the veil from our eyes and finally confront the truth!”
A deep fear gripped Nate as the sense of impending doom returned. “What truth?” he whispered.
The binder smiled. “The truth that the Immortals’ promised paradise is a lie. They are not the benevolent leaders they pretend to be. They have kidnapped us to this other realm and forced us into servitude. This new bounty is just one more ploy by the Patriarch to keep his iron grip on the chains that bind us.”
Nate still had little idea what the man was talking about, yet his words resonated, demanding Nate’s undivided attention. “What can we do?”
The binder slipped a piece of paper from his robes. Nate eagerly snatched it. “Read this and heed what it says. Soon enough, the day will come when we must decide if we want to live in their Nexus…or in ours.”
With one final bow, the binder turned and walked away. As soon as he was gone, Nate blinked and shook his head. His unease vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving his mind sharp and clear once more.
He glanced down in confusion at the paper he held. “What the Null just happened?”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “You just got all kinds of bamboozled by that guy’s aura. He was laying it on pretty thick. If I had to give a name to the emotion he was radiating, I’d call it ‘paranoia.’ I’m sure it helps loads with the conspiracy theories he’s peddling.”
Nate looked between Ellie and Wes. “If he was doing something, why weren’t you two affected as well?”
“Guess we’re just not as weak-willed as you,” Ellie said. “You should really boost your Resolve the next chance you get. Otherwise, any decent psychic verist is going to walk all over you.”
Nate ground his teeth, then remembered the paper still clutched in his hand. He tried to crumple it, but Ellie snatched it before he could. She quickly skimmed it.
“What does it say?” Wes asked.
“Just as I thought: he was a representative of the Dawnstars. They must be taking advantage of all this activity to spread their message. I don’t think they’ll find many takers among this lot though.”
“The Dawnstars? Are they a new guild?” Nate tried to make a habit of monitoring news on the major guilds in the Nexus, but he’d never heard of one by that name.
Ellie shook her head. “Nah, just a bunch of misguided fools. They sprang up a month or two ago, claiming the Immortals are evil. The Patriarch’s ignored them so far, but if they keep up this talk of overthrowing the Immortals, I doubt he will for much longer.”
Nate knew little about the politics of Tabula Rasa or about the Immortals themselves. Beyond his first meeting with the Judge, his recent close encounter with the Lord Protector was the only time he’d met any of them in person.
As for what they’d been doing prior to that or how they’d arrived in the Nexus, there was little but wild speculation. It was rumored they’d been alone in the Nexus for years before they opened the gate to Earth and started the great hunt for their home realm.
Nate didn’t particularly care about the Immortals’ pasts. By his reckoning, they’d earned his loyalty when they’d gifted him with this new life and the chance to prove himself worthy of it.
What he did care about, however, was having a soulbinder messing with his mind. Nate considered storming after the man, then dismissed the idea. They’d wasted too much time here already.
Instead, he led Wes and Ellie deeper into the Great Plains. He did his best to skirt around the largest clusters of verists, glaring mistrustfully at anyone who got too close to them.
“This is going to get really crazy, really fast,” Wes eventually remarked.
“What do you mean?” Ellie asked. She’d put her Goggles of Magnification back on and was studying each group they passed with wide eyes.
“Well, this is probably the most people ever setting out into the Nexus at the same time from the same place. And every single one of them is looking for the same thing.”
“So?” Nate said. “Aren’t they usually all looking for the same things: essence and undiscovered gates?”
“Sure,” Wes said. “But there’s more than one of each of those. Two guilds could head off in different directions, and both might still stumble upon plenty of essence deposits or a new gate. This time, only the first people to find the prize will receive any reward. It’s a zero-sum game: if you get it, that means I won’t.”
Nate considered Wes’ words. The Immortals encouraged competition among the guilds but forbade direct interference or violence. Still, with so much on the line, desperate verists might do anything, no matter how short-sighted. He placed a hand to his side, feeling the compass safely nestled there. That was a secret they’d need to make sure they kept at all costs.
It took them almost two hours to finally make it through the press of people to a rift near the sector’s northeastern edge. Nate had checked the compass as they got closer, verifying that this was the only rift that had lined up.
He was surprised to see how little traffic this one was getting compared to the other nearby rifts. When Wes looked it up in the Registry, however, it became clear why.
“The Squelching Bog is an Initiate-class Noxious sector,” Wes read. “Looks like it’s been listed as Medium size, with three other rifts leading out besides this one. Terrain is your standard swamp, with lighting about the same as an overcast afternoon.”
“Sounds lovely,” Nate said. “Threat level?”
“Low. Some basic environmental hazards noted though, along with an unusually fast development rate for verabeasts considering its weak ambient essence.”
“So, plenty of things to kill; I can live with that. Anything else?”
Wes shook his head. “Nothing listed.”
“Alright then.” Nate turned to Ellie. “You ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be for a glorious hike through a fetid swamp.”
Nate honestly couldn’t tell whether she was being sarcastic. Given what he’d seen of her so far, he thought Ellie could probably muster excitement if they found themselves in the Null itself. When Wes nodded his assent, Nate took a deep breath and stepped through the rift.
Stuttering through space, he landed with an unpleasant squelch in an ankle-deep pool of brackish water. Ellie and Wes soon followed. Nate tried to step forward, yelping as he sank into the muck.
“Of course we’d need to pass through a swamp,” he grumbled as he pulled his boots free, swatting at one of the countless insects that already swarmed around them. “What a fantastic start to our epic journey.”
“Since when does an adventure ever take you anywhere scenic?” Wes asked.
“I’m sure there’s beauty and marvels here,” Ellie offered hesitantly. “Somewhere beneath layers and layers of mud at least.”
Wes chuckled as Nate pulled out the compass. “Let’s just follow the Null-cursed trace to the next rift so we can get out of here.”
That proved easier said than done. There were no visible paths to guide their way: just gnarled plants, fetid pools, and the stench of rot. And insects; lots and lots of insects. They spotted the occasional verist through the trees, but these other travelers seemed eager to avoid them. Nate was happy to oblige.
To Nate’s consternation, the compass didn’t appear to be taking them toward any of the logged rifts out of the sector. Instead, it led them deeper and deeper into the bog, where the underbrush was tangled with creeping growth and the ground grew ever more unstable.
“You’re sure this is the right way?” Ellie said, her foot slipping to plunge with a sickening squelch through thick mud that had looked like solid ground.
Wes grabbed her by the arm and hauled her out while Nate consulted the compass again. “Yup, this is definitely it. We’ve got to be getting close though; the Registry said this was only a Medium sector, and I’d guess we’ve gone at least a mile or two by now.”
Stepping back from Ellie, Wes nodded in agreement. Of the three of them, he seemed the most unaffected by their less-than-ideal surroundings. Even Ellie’s initial enthusiasm had dimmed. That was Wes for you: stoic despite the grime that coated his clothes and skin.
“I think it must be taking us toward the center of the swamp,” Ellie said. “Most rifts form near a sector’s barrier, but they can sometimes appear in spots particularly rich in essence.”
“Essence and mud apparently,” Nate grumbled.
He tried to continue on and found that, while he’d been standing still, his own boots had sunk into the muck. He raised his foot and could feel the mud sucking at his boots, trying to tug them off. This was getting ridiculous.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. Summoning his essence, he focused his energy into the weave for his Frost Armor. Much as he had while fighting the ferroceros, he burned a vera for a Sculpted infusion to manipulate the spell’s shape, focusing its energy downward.
Ice soon seeped into the mud beneath him until a thin sheen had formed around his sunken feet. Once the mud was fully frozen, he yanked on his boots. This time, they pulled free with a satisfying crunch. Nate grinned triumphantly, then noticed Ellie appraising him.
“Think you can do that in a wider area?” she asked. “You don’t need to freeze all the mud: just the top layer.”
Shrugging, Nate again spent a vera on Sculpted Frost Armor that radiated ice atop the murky ground. His efforts worked at first, creating a layer of frost around him. However, as soon as he took a tentative step, he could feel his concentration straining to maintain the weave. The frozen surface cracked apart.
“Sorry,” Nate said. “With enough vera and a bit of practice, I might be able to keep myself up that way. But there’s no way it’ll last long enough to be of use to anyone else. My Frost Armor’s just not designed to affect the environment like that.”
“Let me try,” Wes offered.
At Nate’s nod, Wes channeled his essence to form the weave for Freezing Mist. Wes usually used the spell to obscure enemy vision and slow their movements. This time, though, he applied a Sculpted infusion to make the mist coalesce around his feet rather than his entire body. Almost instantly, the brackish water froze over.
Rubbing at the goosebumps that had sprung up on her arms, Ellie took a tentative step onto the ice, grinning when it creaked but held her weight. “Much better! I’ll take a little cold over sinking in mud any day.”
They found that Wes could only maintain the effect for about a five-foot radius around him before the ice started to break apart. That meant they had to stay huddled close, waiting to shuffle forward until the path ahead could support them.
Progress remained slow, if more comfortable than it had been. Even so, there were plenty of close calls as one or more of them almost lost their balance on the slippery surface.
They were finally rewarded forty minutes later by the stunted trees parting to reveal a large lake. A crackling rift hovered in its center, just above a tiny island that looked like little more than a mound of mud. Nate checked the compass while Wes tabbed through screens on his Registry.
“This is it,” Nate confirmed.
“It’s not logged, so there’s no way of telling where it goes,” Wes said a moment later.
“How is that possible this close to the city?” Nate asked.
“Not sure,” Wes said.
Ellie frowned, squinting at the rift through her goggles. “I’m detecting some odd essence fluctuations coming off that thing.”
“It might be unstable,” Wes suggested. “That would explain what it’s doing so far out and why no one’s stumbled on it before.”
Nate waved a hand dismissively. “As long as it waits to dissipate until after we’ve gone through, that shouldn’t be a problem. Once we’ve found the Lord Protector, we can take our time charting a different route back if we have to.”
“It’s not its stability I’m worried about,” Ellie said. “It’s difficult to tell from here, but those fluctuations could signify a build-up of essence. We might want to find another way around. If there’s an active anomaly in there—”
“We’ve only got twelve days,” Nate said, cutting her short. “We can’t risk wasting Source knows how long on an unnecessary detour. We’ll just have to take our chances with whatever’s on the other side.”
Ellie shrugged. “Suit yourself. You can keep that ice up across the lake, right?” she asked nervously, turning to Wes. “I really don’t fancy a swim in that water.”
Wes nodded, though Nate could tell by his strained face that maintaining the Sculpted Freezing Mist for so long was taking a toll on him. “It’ll hold. Might get a bit bumpy though.”
Nate soon realized what Wes had meant. They stepped out over the open water, and the frozen patch beneath them immediately bobbed and tilted from side to side.
“What’s going on?” Nate demanded, doing his best to balance on the precarious platform. “Is the Freezing Mist weakening?”
Ellie shook her head. “There’s no ground left for the ice to cling to. It’s less like a trail now than it is a raft floating on the pond’s surface.”
“Right,” Wes confirmed. “So everyone watch your step and for the love of the Source, please don’t capsize us.”
Moving even more cautiously than before, they followed the trail of cold Wes left in a rough circle around him. Nate kept glancing nervously at the hazy water as they walked. Though the surface remained still, he swore he caught glimpses of shadowy forms lurking below.
This close to so much stagnant water, the insects were swarming even worse than usual. Their bites might not penetrate an aegis, but that didn’t make their buzzing any less obnoxious.
They were about halfway across the lake when something leaped out of the water to their left, snapping at the hovering insects. Nate glimpsed slimy brown skin before it vanished beneath the surface again with a loud splash. Ellie stumbled and might’ve fallen over the side if Wes hadn’t caught her arm.
