Wintersteel (Cradle Book 8), page 41
She only felt numb.
Lindon didn’t end up Soulsmithing anything, and he rested for more than the hour he’d planned. Not entirely out of his own choice.
Ruby woke up struggling only minutes after she’d gone to sleep, shredding a blanket with her Goldsigns.
Sleep had reminded her of being back in the dark, she said. She’d thought she was alone again.
Lindon tried not to feel bad for her, but he didn’t quite make it. It was hard to convince himself that she was just a Blood Shadow, especially when she looked so much like Yerin. He held her hand as she fell asleep again, just so she could remember someone was there.
Little Blue did her best to tug their hands apart.
It was almost dawn when Ruby woke again, and this time she sat bolt upright. Lindon had already sensed a change in her spirit, but he’d assumed it was another dream.
“Yerin’s an Overlady,” she said.
“Already?” Lindon had the advantage of Northstrider’s hunger madra technique, so he couldn’t imagine anyone gathering power faster than he had, and still Yerin had beaten him.
The Akura family would pump all their resources into her now that their family prosperity was directly in her hands, but even so, elixirs and spirit-fruits could only do so much.
“What about you?” he asked curiously. The Blood Shadow had shared Yerin’s advancement, but that had been before Ruby was…herself.
“Not yet. Not until I go back.” She hopped out of the bed and tugged on his shoulder to pull him to his feet. “It’s morning, true? Let’s get on the road.”
Little Blue objected loudly.
There were a number of preparations to make before they could leave. Lindon washed up, checked the contents of his void key just in case, and gathered up the team that would be going with him to the Dreadgod.
Since his return, the actions of teams had been limited. There weren’t many assignments when they were all locked up in the same fortress most of the time. He still saw his former team members often, especially Grace and Naru Saeya, but he spent most of his time operating on his own.
This time too, though he needed people to back him up, he tried to limit the number of people attending.
Fury had to watch over them, to prevent another Herald’s interference, though of course he wouldn’t be following them down to the beach personally. He’d seen enough Dreadgods, he said, and they were far more fun when they were awake.
Lindon was glad to have Mercy at his side, and he doubted he could prevent Ruby from coming. With the two of them together and Fury watching for Heralds, he felt much safer.
And it was to no surprise whatsoever that he walked up to the gate leading out of the fort and saw Eithan waiting for them.
The Arelius Overlord swept his long blond hair away from his face and affected an offended expression. “I’m afraid your invitation never reached me. Your many messengers must have betrayed you, or been waylaid by enemies.”
Lindon pressed his fists together and bowed. “What need is there for an invitation between brothers? I know that wherever I go, you go as well.”
Over the years, Lindon had learned how to handle Eithan.
Eithan laughed loudly and threw his arm around Lindon. “Well said! Now, I understand there isn’t supposed to be danger to anyone but you on this mission, but when I look at your three companions, I have to assume you’re preparing for combat.”
Three companions? Was Eithan counting himself?
No, Lindon realized with a sigh, he’s warning me. Dross, why didn’t you tell me someone was following me?
[It’s because I thought you’d enjoy a surprise, and not because I wasn’t paying attention.]
Now knowing that he’d been spotted, Pride strode from the shadow of a nearby building, straining for every inch of height. “I heard the entire story; I don’t know why you bothered trying to leave me behind.”
Lindon considered a number of responses to that, but none were constructive, so he said nothing.
Ruby didn’t feel the same. “You want to follow at our heels, I can find you a leash.”
“Delightful,” Eithan said with a sigh. “She really is like having a second Yerin. Not that you aren’t wonderful in your own right, Ruby.”
Ruby narrowed her eyes. “I don’t remember caring much for you.”
Eithan clapped a hand to his chest and staggered as though suffering a wound.
“She’s just kidding, Pride,” Mercy said. “Of course you can come along!”
“I am coming, whether she’s kidding or not.”
“You tell me what part sounded like a joke, and I’ll change it,” Ruby said.
The section of wall that served as a gate melted away, and they passed through the new opening.
It was a good thing the plan called for them to openly walk down a street with no attempt to hide, because this was perhaps the farthest thing from stealth that Lindon could imagine.
“Ha, yes, by all means let’s continue to make jokes at Pride’s expense,” Eithan said, “but is that how you think of me, Ruby, or how Yerin does?”
“Take three guesses, then pick the answer you like best.”
“I’m the son of a Monarch,” Pride reminded them.
Mercy patted him on the arm. “I know you are!”
The stone hand was visible above the ruined homes of Sky’s Edge, and there was a completely straight road from the fortress straight to the tip of the middle finger. Cracks running through the street made their footing uneven, but Lindon was less concerned about their route and more about the skies around them.
The headquarters of Abyssal Palace, Redmoon Hall, the Stormcallers, and the Silent Servants surrounded the valley, and dragons flitted across the sky. Every time Lindon’s spirit shivered, indicating that someone had swept him with their perception, he tensed and readied himself for battle.
But no one attacked, so he took the opportunity to ask some questions.
“Pardon if this is too personal, Ruby, but do you remember Eithan? Or does that come from Yerin?”
“Hard to separate one from the other,” she said immediately. “By and large, it’s the same thing. Not even fair to say we’re completely different people, so much is the same. Only a little is totally mine or totally hers.”
“That is almost exactly the question I asked,” Eithan pointed out.
Ruby linked an arm around Lindon’s elbow.
“I have a question!” Mercy said, with her hand in the air. “Do you like being on your own?”
Ruby nodded. “It’s me and her now, not all us.” She squeezed Lindon’s arm, and he sensed more fear in the gesture than anything else. “Now I have something for me.”
Mercy melted. “Awww!”
A dreadbeast hurtled out of the darkness, but a casual black arrow pinned it against a nearby wall.
“What do you think your odds are in the finals tomorrow?” Pride asked, immediately throwing cold water over the conversation.
[I can answer that!] Dross spun out onto Lindon’s shoulder and made a show of coughing into the end of one of his tentacles. [And I will, because you’ve been speaking without me for too long. Based on Sophara’s match against Mercy, Yerin’s advancement, and Ruby’s…entire existence…we have a good forty or fifty percent chance of victory!]
He said it so proudly, but those numbers weighed heavily on Lindon.
Fifty percent chance. Who wanted to bet their lives on the flip of a coin?
“That’s not too bad!” Mercy said.
[Now, that is assuming Sophara will make no further improvements. I can’t account for those. Don’t blame me for anything I couldn’t know about!]
“Wonderful!” Eithan agreed. “If only there were something one of us could do to influence that outcome in our favor.”
Ruby stabbed at him with one of her Goldsigns.
“Uncanny,” Mercy whispered again.
Dross, Lindon asked, can you give Ruby a simulation against Sophara?
[Not as well as I can you,] Dross warned, [and not for long. But yes, I could do that, theoretically speaking. I mean, absolutely yes! I’m almost certain.]
When we get back.
He wasn’t sure Ruby would want to spend her one and only holiday training for this fight, but they needed to give Yerin any edge they could.
A number of Abyssal Palace collection towers had been erected over the homes of Sky’s Edge, identical to the other towers that Lindon had destroyed. Like the others, these were scripted to prevent spiritual detection, but Eithan assured them they were empty.
These towers closest to the Dreadgod would be operated remotely, once the Titan awakened. They would be destroyed in seconds, at most, but those were seconds in which they could collect Dreadgod madra for their sect.
Only when Lindon stood against the Wandering Titan’s finger, which loomed over him like a black stone wall, did his situation become fully real to him.
Ruby patted him on the shoulder and released him, taking a step away.
The moment had come so much more quickly than he’d expected. For some reason, despite knowing the plan, he had thought they would have to fight their way through guards or…something. He had expected something to go wrong.
Gingerly, he extended his right hand, stretching fingers of white madra. The arm wanted to shoot forward and feast, but he had such control that the limb didn’t even tremble.
Ruby and Mercy called encouragement, while Pride stayed icily silent.
“Soothe yourself,” Eithan said. “Relax. Pretend that you’re not doing something monumentally dangerous.”
[Oh, that’s good advice! Try that.]
Lindon shut them out and placed his Remnant hand against the Dreadgod’s.
With as little madra as he could use, he activated the binding in his right arm. A tiny spark of power trickled into him.
His consciousness disappeared.
Sleep had held him for too long, but he had almost shaken free of it. Soon, he would walk again. And this time he was hungry for more than just the delicious powers he could feel within the earth.
He smelled the one thing that could fill the endless hunger inside of him. He pictured himself wading through mountains like tall grass, tossing them aside, and finally finding the one meal that would put an end to his eons of starvation.
Home.
He would find what he needed at home, in the tunnels where he had been born.
Home.
He was going home, to his brother tucked away between four peaks.
Home.
Lindon fought his way back to awareness as though struggling to the surface amid storm-tossed waves.
He was lying on his back. He tasted blood. Dross was screaming at him, and Ruby stood over him with teeth bared and Goldsigns extended, a fence of blood and sword aura shredding anything that came close.
All around, dreadbeasts threw themselves at him like they’d gone insane.
Lindon tried to push his way up to fight, but his body wouldn’t listen. He was still swallowed in the vision, in the overwhelming desire to get home.
He was starting to separate his own memories from the Dreadgod’s now, but that only made his fear sharper. More real.
The Dreadgod’s home was his home.
When it woke, it would head straight for Sacred Valley.
Before he could speak, he passed out.
24
When Lindon woke again, it was to find nine eyes staring at him.
He was lying in a bed in some kind of makeshift medical center, with Ruby, Mercy, and Eithan all leaning over his bed. Little Blue stood on his chest, and Dross hovered over his face.
The second he woke, they all made some kind of noise.
It was almost enough to knock him out again.
“Knew that wouldn’t bury you,” Ruby said, squeezing his hand.
Little Blue chimed her relief and threw her arms around his neck in a hug.
“How are you feeling?” Mercy asked. “Are you thirsty?”
[Physically, you were totally unhurt. Mentally, it was like you were…well, how afraid are you of death?]
Eithan beamed. “Pride owes me ten scales.”
Lindon sat up, careful not to dislodge Little Blue, who refused to let go and ended up dangling from his neck. “The Titan is heading east. It’s not going to get distracted, and it could wake up within the week.”
Home. It echoed through his spirit.
And once again, he saw himself as the Dreadgod, wading through mountains.
The vision overlapped with his memory of Suriel’s vision of the future. Something incomprehensibly gigantic tramping Sacred Valley.
He turned to the side of the bed, and Eithan pulled Ruby out of the way.
Lindon vomited all over the floor.
When he could speak again, Eithan handed him a handkerchief and a mint leaf. He took them both.
“Gratitude.” Given that he owed them some kind of explanation, he spoke. “The Dreadgod is heading home…for my home. The valley where I was born.”
“As expected!” Eithan said brightly. “Still, it’s good to have confirmation.”
Lindon couldn’t put his feelings into words. It was one thing to slowly, intellectually realize that Sacred Valley had a connection to the Dreadgods, and that his vision of the future was one of them devastating his home one day in the distant future.
It was entirely something else to feel it happen. To know that it could be only days away.
He wiped his mouth clean, popped in the leaf, and slid out of his bed. Little Blue climbed to his shoulder, and Ruby moved as though to support him.
“Apologies, but I have to go. If I warn them in time, they can still leave.”
Mercy put her hands out to stop him. “We’ll help you. We won’t leave anyone in the Dreadgod’s path if we can help it. But…you know you can’t leave.”
On some level, he did. The Archlords and Heralds might not interfere with one Underlord running around while he was still in their grip, but they would stop anyone trying to escape. There was no point encircling the Akura encampment if anyone could just slip away whenever they wanted.
“There has to be a way out,” Lindon said firmly. “I can sneak away.”
“You won’t need to!” Mercy assured him. “We’re evacuating everyone in the Dreadgod’s path.”
That was some relief, but in the future Suriel had shown him, Sacred Valley hadn’t been evacuated.
Dross waved a tendril. [Ah, about that. Actually, Lindon’s home is designated a special danger zone, so in fact it is illegal to enter that area for evacuation purposes. Interesting how the law works, isn’t it?]
Lindon straightened and readied himself to leave. Ruby turned as though to follow him.
Eithan raised a finger. “Ah, but there is a way! Once the tournament is over.”
“My mother did give us a way out,” Mercy said hurriedly. “Uncle Fury told us. We’re just staying here to keep the enemy Heralds here. Once the tournament ends, no matter how it…turns out…we have a way to evacuate anyone who needs to leave.”
Lindon made himself breathe, concentrating on his cycling.
“If I stay here, can you guarantee me that we will make it to Sacred Valley before the Dreadgod does?”
“Lindon…” Mercy began, but stopped herself.
[I don’t think anybody can tell you that,] Dross said. [Except maybe the Dreadgod. You didn’t ask him, did you?]
Eithan met his eyes, and with complete confidence, answered “Yes.”
Lindon watched him for a long moment before deciding to trust Eithan.
“All right. I still need to advance.” And he’d have to cash in his points with Fury. Assuming they were still split among his team, he’d have to find out exactly how many points they had.
Ruby looked to her feet. “I’ve got to run back. The Bridge is up again, and my three days is almost burned up.”
Lindon looked into Ruby’s red eyes, and he remembered his worry for Yerin. At some point in the next few hours, she was going into battle against Sophara.
Saying good-bye to her felt too much like saying good-bye to Yerin.
“Don’t worry about us,” he assured Ruby. “You two will bury her.”
Ruby gave him a familiar smile. “I look worried to you?”
Then she leaned in close, and Lindon had an uncomfortable premonition.
Sure enough, she went on tiptoes to kiss him.
With a hand on her shoulder, he held her back, conscious of all the eyes on them both. “Ah…apologies, but…”
She looked hurt and confused, but he had to go on.
“You’re…not Yerin.”
Ruby dropped back down. For a second, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and then she nodded. “No, I’m not…I’m not. I’m me.”
She forced a smile that was painfully different from the last. “Bye, Lindon.”
Then, in a flash of moonlight, she vanished.
Leaving Lindon standing in a circle of onlookers.
[Oh, that was cruel. Just shattering a spirit’s heart right before the biggest fight of her life. You’re not going to do that to me, are you?]
“Don’t try to kiss me,” Lindon muttered.
Little Blue chimed in her encouragement. He was right to turn her away.
“You did the right thing,” Mercy agreed. “But poor Ruby! But you had to let her down. But that must have hurt so much!”
That didn’t help Lindon feel any better.
Eithan waved a hand vaguely in the air. “It makes me wonder about the ethics of the whole situation. Is a copy of Yerin still Yerin? From a certain point of view, the heart you broke may have been Yerin’s. Do you think she feels a sense of absolute, crushing rejection right now without even knowing where it came from?”
Lindon walked away.
Calan Archer had seen Reigan Shen before, but he’d never met the Monarch in person.
The Monarch transported him to an opulent, gold-paneled display hall where weapons and constructs of every description were sealed in transparent cases or hanging from the wall.
Under other circumstances, he would have enjoyed looking at each one, but it seemed he was last to arrive.
Lindon didn’t end up Soulsmithing anything, and he rested for more than the hour he’d planned. Not entirely out of his own choice.
Ruby woke up struggling only minutes after she’d gone to sleep, shredding a blanket with her Goldsigns.
Sleep had reminded her of being back in the dark, she said. She’d thought she was alone again.
Lindon tried not to feel bad for her, but he didn’t quite make it. It was hard to convince himself that she was just a Blood Shadow, especially when she looked so much like Yerin. He held her hand as she fell asleep again, just so she could remember someone was there.
Little Blue did her best to tug their hands apart.
It was almost dawn when Ruby woke again, and this time she sat bolt upright. Lindon had already sensed a change in her spirit, but he’d assumed it was another dream.
“Yerin’s an Overlady,” she said.
“Already?” Lindon had the advantage of Northstrider’s hunger madra technique, so he couldn’t imagine anyone gathering power faster than he had, and still Yerin had beaten him.
The Akura family would pump all their resources into her now that their family prosperity was directly in her hands, but even so, elixirs and spirit-fruits could only do so much.
“What about you?” he asked curiously. The Blood Shadow had shared Yerin’s advancement, but that had been before Ruby was…herself.
“Not yet. Not until I go back.” She hopped out of the bed and tugged on his shoulder to pull him to his feet. “It’s morning, true? Let’s get on the road.”
Little Blue objected loudly.
There were a number of preparations to make before they could leave. Lindon washed up, checked the contents of his void key just in case, and gathered up the team that would be going with him to the Dreadgod.
Since his return, the actions of teams had been limited. There weren’t many assignments when they were all locked up in the same fortress most of the time. He still saw his former team members often, especially Grace and Naru Saeya, but he spent most of his time operating on his own.
This time too, though he needed people to back him up, he tried to limit the number of people attending.
Fury had to watch over them, to prevent another Herald’s interference, though of course he wouldn’t be following them down to the beach personally. He’d seen enough Dreadgods, he said, and they were far more fun when they were awake.
Lindon was glad to have Mercy at his side, and he doubted he could prevent Ruby from coming. With the two of them together and Fury watching for Heralds, he felt much safer.
And it was to no surprise whatsoever that he walked up to the gate leading out of the fort and saw Eithan waiting for them.
The Arelius Overlord swept his long blond hair away from his face and affected an offended expression. “I’m afraid your invitation never reached me. Your many messengers must have betrayed you, or been waylaid by enemies.”
Lindon pressed his fists together and bowed. “What need is there for an invitation between brothers? I know that wherever I go, you go as well.”
Over the years, Lindon had learned how to handle Eithan.
Eithan laughed loudly and threw his arm around Lindon. “Well said! Now, I understand there isn’t supposed to be danger to anyone but you on this mission, but when I look at your three companions, I have to assume you’re preparing for combat.”
Three companions? Was Eithan counting himself?
No, Lindon realized with a sigh, he’s warning me. Dross, why didn’t you tell me someone was following me?
[It’s because I thought you’d enjoy a surprise, and not because I wasn’t paying attention.]
Now knowing that he’d been spotted, Pride strode from the shadow of a nearby building, straining for every inch of height. “I heard the entire story; I don’t know why you bothered trying to leave me behind.”
Lindon considered a number of responses to that, but none were constructive, so he said nothing.
Ruby didn’t feel the same. “You want to follow at our heels, I can find you a leash.”
“Delightful,” Eithan said with a sigh. “She really is like having a second Yerin. Not that you aren’t wonderful in your own right, Ruby.”
Ruby narrowed her eyes. “I don’t remember caring much for you.”
Eithan clapped a hand to his chest and staggered as though suffering a wound.
“She’s just kidding, Pride,” Mercy said. “Of course you can come along!”
“I am coming, whether she’s kidding or not.”
“You tell me what part sounded like a joke, and I’ll change it,” Ruby said.
The section of wall that served as a gate melted away, and they passed through the new opening.
It was a good thing the plan called for them to openly walk down a street with no attempt to hide, because this was perhaps the farthest thing from stealth that Lindon could imagine.
“Ha, yes, by all means let’s continue to make jokes at Pride’s expense,” Eithan said, “but is that how you think of me, Ruby, or how Yerin does?”
“Take three guesses, then pick the answer you like best.”
“I’m the son of a Monarch,” Pride reminded them.
Mercy patted him on the arm. “I know you are!”
The stone hand was visible above the ruined homes of Sky’s Edge, and there was a completely straight road from the fortress straight to the tip of the middle finger. Cracks running through the street made their footing uneven, but Lindon was less concerned about their route and more about the skies around them.
The headquarters of Abyssal Palace, Redmoon Hall, the Stormcallers, and the Silent Servants surrounded the valley, and dragons flitted across the sky. Every time Lindon’s spirit shivered, indicating that someone had swept him with their perception, he tensed and readied himself for battle.
But no one attacked, so he took the opportunity to ask some questions.
“Pardon if this is too personal, Ruby, but do you remember Eithan? Or does that come from Yerin?”
“Hard to separate one from the other,” she said immediately. “By and large, it’s the same thing. Not even fair to say we’re completely different people, so much is the same. Only a little is totally mine or totally hers.”
“That is almost exactly the question I asked,” Eithan pointed out.
Ruby linked an arm around Lindon’s elbow.
“I have a question!” Mercy said, with her hand in the air. “Do you like being on your own?”
Ruby nodded. “It’s me and her now, not all us.” She squeezed Lindon’s arm, and he sensed more fear in the gesture than anything else. “Now I have something for me.”
Mercy melted. “Awww!”
A dreadbeast hurtled out of the darkness, but a casual black arrow pinned it against a nearby wall.
“What do you think your odds are in the finals tomorrow?” Pride asked, immediately throwing cold water over the conversation.
[I can answer that!] Dross spun out onto Lindon’s shoulder and made a show of coughing into the end of one of his tentacles. [And I will, because you’ve been speaking without me for too long. Based on Sophara’s match against Mercy, Yerin’s advancement, and Ruby’s…entire existence…we have a good forty or fifty percent chance of victory!]
He said it so proudly, but those numbers weighed heavily on Lindon.
Fifty percent chance. Who wanted to bet their lives on the flip of a coin?
“That’s not too bad!” Mercy said.
[Now, that is assuming Sophara will make no further improvements. I can’t account for those. Don’t blame me for anything I couldn’t know about!]
“Wonderful!” Eithan agreed. “If only there were something one of us could do to influence that outcome in our favor.”
Ruby stabbed at him with one of her Goldsigns.
“Uncanny,” Mercy whispered again.
Dross, Lindon asked, can you give Ruby a simulation against Sophara?
[Not as well as I can you,] Dross warned, [and not for long. But yes, I could do that, theoretically speaking. I mean, absolutely yes! I’m almost certain.]
When we get back.
He wasn’t sure Ruby would want to spend her one and only holiday training for this fight, but they needed to give Yerin any edge they could.
A number of Abyssal Palace collection towers had been erected over the homes of Sky’s Edge, identical to the other towers that Lindon had destroyed. Like the others, these were scripted to prevent spiritual detection, but Eithan assured them they were empty.
These towers closest to the Dreadgod would be operated remotely, once the Titan awakened. They would be destroyed in seconds, at most, but those were seconds in which they could collect Dreadgod madra for their sect.
Only when Lindon stood against the Wandering Titan’s finger, which loomed over him like a black stone wall, did his situation become fully real to him.
Ruby patted him on the shoulder and released him, taking a step away.
The moment had come so much more quickly than he’d expected. For some reason, despite knowing the plan, he had thought they would have to fight their way through guards or…something. He had expected something to go wrong.
Gingerly, he extended his right hand, stretching fingers of white madra. The arm wanted to shoot forward and feast, but he had such control that the limb didn’t even tremble.
Ruby and Mercy called encouragement, while Pride stayed icily silent.
“Soothe yourself,” Eithan said. “Relax. Pretend that you’re not doing something monumentally dangerous.”
[Oh, that’s good advice! Try that.]
Lindon shut them out and placed his Remnant hand against the Dreadgod’s.
With as little madra as he could use, he activated the binding in his right arm. A tiny spark of power trickled into him.
His consciousness disappeared.
Sleep had held him for too long, but he had almost shaken free of it. Soon, he would walk again. And this time he was hungry for more than just the delicious powers he could feel within the earth.
He smelled the one thing that could fill the endless hunger inside of him. He pictured himself wading through mountains like tall grass, tossing them aside, and finally finding the one meal that would put an end to his eons of starvation.
Home.
He would find what he needed at home, in the tunnels where he had been born.
Home.
He was going home, to his brother tucked away between four peaks.
Home.
Lindon fought his way back to awareness as though struggling to the surface amid storm-tossed waves.
He was lying on his back. He tasted blood. Dross was screaming at him, and Ruby stood over him with teeth bared and Goldsigns extended, a fence of blood and sword aura shredding anything that came close.
All around, dreadbeasts threw themselves at him like they’d gone insane.
Lindon tried to push his way up to fight, but his body wouldn’t listen. He was still swallowed in the vision, in the overwhelming desire to get home.
He was starting to separate his own memories from the Dreadgod’s now, but that only made his fear sharper. More real.
The Dreadgod’s home was his home.
When it woke, it would head straight for Sacred Valley.
Before he could speak, he passed out.
24
When Lindon woke again, it was to find nine eyes staring at him.
He was lying in a bed in some kind of makeshift medical center, with Ruby, Mercy, and Eithan all leaning over his bed. Little Blue stood on his chest, and Dross hovered over his face.
The second he woke, they all made some kind of noise.
It was almost enough to knock him out again.
“Knew that wouldn’t bury you,” Ruby said, squeezing his hand.
Little Blue chimed her relief and threw her arms around his neck in a hug.
“How are you feeling?” Mercy asked. “Are you thirsty?”
[Physically, you were totally unhurt. Mentally, it was like you were…well, how afraid are you of death?]
Eithan beamed. “Pride owes me ten scales.”
Lindon sat up, careful not to dislodge Little Blue, who refused to let go and ended up dangling from his neck. “The Titan is heading east. It’s not going to get distracted, and it could wake up within the week.”
Home. It echoed through his spirit.
And once again, he saw himself as the Dreadgod, wading through mountains.
The vision overlapped with his memory of Suriel’s vision of the future. Something incomprehensibly gigantic tramping Sacred Valley.
He turned to the side of the bed, and Eithan pulled Ruby out of the way.
Lindon vomited all over the floor.
When he could speak again, Eithan handed him a handkerchief and a mint leaf. He took them both.
“Gratitude.” Given that he owed them some kind of explanation, he spoke. “The Dreadgod is heading home…for my home. The valley where I was born.”
“As expected!” Eithan said brightly. “Still, it’s good to have confirmation.”
Lindon couldn’t put his feelings into words. It was one thing to slowly, intellectually realize that Sacred Valley had a connection to the Dreadgods, and that his vision of the future was one of them devastating his home one day in the distant future.
It was entirely something else to feel it happen. To know that it could be only days away.
He wiped his mouth clean, popped in the leaf, and slid out of his bed. Little Blue climbed to his shoulder, and Ruby moved as though to support him.
“Apologies, but I have to go. If I warn them in time, they can still leave.”
Mercy put her hands out to stop him. “We’ll help you. We won’t leave anyone in the Dreadgod’s path if we can help it. But…you know you can’t leave.”
On some level, he did. The Archlords and Heralds might not interfere with one Underlord running around while he was still in their grip, but they would stop anyone trying to escape. There was no point encircling the Akura encampment if anyone could just slip away whenever they wanted.
“There has to be a way out,” Lindon said firmly. “I can sneak away.”
“You won’t need to!” Mercy assured him. “We’re evacuating everyone in the Dreadgod’s path.”
That was some relief, but in the future Suriel had shown him, Sacred Valley hadn’t been evacuated.
Dross waved a tendril. [Ah, about that. Actually, Lindon’s home is designated a special danger zone, so in fact it is illegal to enter that area for evacuation purposes. Interesting how the law works, isn’t it?]
Lindon straightened and readied himself to leave. Ruby turned as though to follow him.
Eithan raised a finger. “Ah, but there is a way! Once the tournament is over.”
“My mother did give us a way out,” Mercy said hurriedly. “Uncle Fury told us. We’re just staying here to keep the enemy Heralds here. Once the tournament ends, no matter how it…turns out…we have a way to evacuate anyone who needs to leave.”
Lindon made himself breathe, concentrating on his cycling.
“If I stay here, can you guarantee me that we will make it to Sacred Valley before the Dreadgod does?”
“Lindon…” Mercy began, but stopped herself.
[I don’t think anybody can tell you that,] Dross said. [Except maybe the Dreadgod. You didn’t ask him, did you?]
Eithan met his eyes, and with complete confidence, answered “Yes.”
Lindon watched him for a long moment before deciding to trust Eithan.
“All right. I still need to advance.” And he’d have to cash in his points with Fury. Assuming they were still split among his team, he’d have to find out exactly how many points they had.
Ruby looked to her feet. “I’ve got to run back. The Bridge is up again, and my three days is almost burned up.”
Lindon looked into Ruby’s red eyes, and he remembered his worry for Yerin. At some point in the next few hours, she was going into battle against Sophara.
Saying good-bye to her felt too much like saying good-bye to Yerin.
“Don’t worry about us,” he assured Ruby. “You two will bury her.”
Ruby gave him a familiar smile. “I look worried to you?”
Then she leaned in close, and Lindon had an uncomfortable premonition.
Sure enough, she went on tiptoes to kiss him.
With a hand on her shoulder, he held her back, conscious of all the eyes on them both. “Ah…apologies, but…”
She looked hurt and confused, but he had to go on.
“You’re…not Yerin.”
Ruby dropped back down. For a second, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and then she nodded. “No, I’m not…I’m not. I’m me.”
She forced a smile that was painfully different from the last. “Bye, Lindon.”
Then, in a flash of moonlight, she vanished.
Leaving Lindon standing in a circle of onlookers.
[Oh, that was cruel. Just shattering a spirit’s heart right before the biggest fight of her life. You’re not going to do that to me, are you?]
“Don’t try to kiss me,” Lindon muttered.
Little Blue chimed in her encouragement. He was right to turn her away.
“You did the right thing,” Mercy agreed. “But poor Ruby! But you had to let her down. But that must have hurt so much!”
That didn’t help Lindon feel any better.
Eithan waved a hand vaguely in the air. “It makes me wonder about the ethics of the whole situation. Is a copy of Yerin still Yerin? From a certain point of view, the heart you broke may have been Yerin’s. Do you think she feels a sense of absolute, crushing rejection right now without even knowing where it came from?”
Lindon walked away.
Calan Archer had seen Reigan Shen before, but he’d never met the Monarch in person.
The Monarch transported him to an opulent, gold-paneled display hall where weapons and constructs of every description were sealed in transparent cases or hanging from the wall.
Under other circumstances, he would have enjoyed looking at each one, but it seemed he was last to arrive.
