Bloodcrete (The Weirkey Chronicles Book 6), page 12
"Senka cocoon." Krikree had pinned Senka with one arm and was poking her with the butt of her spear.
"Senka doesn't get it! Stop saying weird blook!"
"Bad Senka, not. Become talking Senka. Metamorphosize."
"That's dumb! You're dumb!" Senka flailed enough to escape her arm, but Krikree moved in front of her in an instant.
"Metamorphosis require food? Rocks food?" Krikree tried to shove a rock into her mouth, but Senka spat it out forcefully.
"Nuh-uh! You're just a blooky cheep cheep. Senka doesn't like you!"
"Talking not. Cocoon."
Of all the things happening on the plateau, that was definitely one of them. Theo decided that he could leave Krikree to wrangle Senka and headed below to search out Asplundat soulcrafters.
Again, it would have been convenient to have Fiyu with him. But his shielding wall was sufficient, especially since he'd finished the gate and polished the outer surface in his spare soulcrafting time, so he should be mostly invisible. Especially if he avoided intense uses of cantae and just used the gravitational effects derived from fundamental techniques.
He'd expected it to take days of searching, but Theo found the Asplundat soulcrafters in less than an hour. They cloaked themselves in a hazy obscuring technique - good enough to hide in a sandstorm, just not anywhere near enough to stop him from feeling the mass they were transporting. Theo frowned and crept closer so he could see through the distorted field.
It wasn't an invasion, just a small military force escorting a set of floating wagons. He made sure to check all the soulcrafters first: almost a dozen Archcrafters in their dull gray armor, one Ruler surrounded fully by stone armor, and a few others assisting or observing. That settled, he let his attention focus on what had initially caught his gaze: the contents of the wagons.
Each was piled high with stones that glowed a lurid red and radiated dangerous cantae. Powerful, but all of Theo's instincts warned him that it wouldn't be a good idea to touch it. As he looked closer, he saw some sort of liquid on the stones, then realized that they were actually releasing it. He wasn't sure how it emerged from the stones, but it oozed down the sides like unusually thick blood. Actually, now that he looked closely, there was something oddly artificial about the edges. Theo leaned further from his hiding place, trying to determine what bothered him. The edges didn't look like natural rocks, more like something had been broken apart artificially...
"Spy!"
The shout came from one of the lesser soulcrafters Theo had dismissed, and as stone armor began to form around the man, Theo realized his mistake. One of the observers was actually a perfectly cloaked Ruler, and an observant one. As he turned to point at Theo, his face came into view: it was Homez, the Asplundat soulcrafter they had met in the Chasm.
Theo cursed Nauda for letting the man live out of a misplaced sense of mercy and abandoned any attempt to hide. He was tempted to begin forming a full singularity right then and consume them all, but that might be a mistake. The wrong move could set off a war, and this might be his chance to learn more...
Instead of attacking, Theo began gathering cantae between his hands and shouted to the entire group. "What are you doing here?"
"That's our line," Homez snapped back. He hadn't fully closed his helmet, but his armor was otherwise ready to fight. "We have the right to travel in this unclaimed region, but what right do the Ruling Cities have to send an agent to manipulate the population here?"
"I'm not trying to manipulate anyone. Don't pretend you aren't doing something suspicious here." Theo had considered lying, but Homez might remember him and that could just lead to more problems. He kept gathering cantae as discreetly as possible and pretended he had the moral high ground.
"Why are you even trying to lie?" Either Homez was an excellent actor, or he was truly puzzled. "Ruling Cities agents have been infiltrating the plateaus for months, clearly preparing for an attack on us. I understand why your leaders might deny it officially, but we've found you out - why pretend?"
"What agents? Where, exactly?"
"You really don't know?"
"Most likely it's a rogue House," Theo said. He didn't release any of his cantae, but he adopted a more passive stance in case there was really a chance to talk this out. "I was sent here to investigate your aggressive actions, but also some parts of the Ruling Cities. There's more going on here than either of us realize, so if w-"
A boulder ejected itself from the other Ruler's armor and Theo barely ducked out of the way in time.
"Do not listen to the servants of tyrants!" A woman's voice rang from the second suit of stone armor. "All his lies are designed to delay us. Kill him, now!"
So much for that. Theo cast a gravitational field and instantly hit all his opponents with over ten times their normal gravity. The Rulers were protected within their stone suits, and even the partial armor shielded the others a little - it might be mass-produced, but it wasn't garbage. He could have killed many of them then, but Theo held off a little longer.
"This one manipulates our weight," Homez said to the others. "But you can resist, and it will not affect-"
Before he could explain further, Theo released the cantae he had been generating in three separate techniques: a small singularity that consumed some of the red stone, a gravitational field that lifted the wagons, and a point of anchoring that tipped them to the side. Instantly the shipment became a cascade of bleeding stone that showered all over the canyon floor.
Both Rulers flinched, giving Theo time to observe more. The lesser soulcrafters completely ignored him in their efforts to dodge the rocks, and one who was struck tore off his armor with a look of pure terror. That was useful information. Before any of the others could recover, Theo struck them with points of disorientation that left them collapsing.
In seconds, his only opponents remaining were the two Rulers.
"I could have done worse," Theo said calmly. "I don't know every scheme of the Ruling Cities, but this isn't-"
"Lies!" The woman raised her fist and a boulder broke off her armor to fly toward him.
Something about this one was different. Dodging would have been easy, but Theo instead dropped high into the storm on a new field. That got him completely covered in the red dust... but he was grateful the next moment when the boulder exploded with concussive force.
Homez leapt at him the next moment, much faster than such heavy armor had any right to be. Theo was forced to retreat through the storm as the two Rulers pursued him. The woman could cause the most damage with her explosive boulders, but Homez was actually the bigger threat: the man was a well-polished Ruler who had already fought him once, with the patience to choose his moment.
Maybe he could have beaten them both, but it would have been a risk. Theo instead evaded until he could get around them, then circled to the fallen shipment. He wouldn't risk touching the dangerous sublime materials and instead lifted a large number of them via gravity. When the Rulers closed on him again, he flicked a few rocks toward them with bolts of cantae, and as expected they dodged.
"Just what is this?" Theo asked. "You implied you were bringing this here in response to Ruling Cities aggression. Are you sure you're not the ones striking the first blow?"
They didn't attack, though he wasn't sure if they were listening or just figuring out a way to get past the bleeding rocks. Theo faked a smile and focused on Homez's armor.
"You can't tell me that you're sneaking this stuff in with the permission of the locals. You're terrified of it touching you. Isn't the Asplundat Movement's whole purpose creating an equal society where stronger soulcrafters can't rule over others? How do you think the Dustwind farmers would feel about this?"
"I don't like our methods," Homez answered. "But we-"
"Homez!" The other Ruler spat out his name. "Don't speak with propagandists."
"Can you honestly tell me that your cities aren't in league with outsiders?" Homez continued as if he hadn't heard her. "I don't want to reject anyone, but I saw what your House of the Lost did in the Chasm. The Ruling Cities are bringing great evil into the world for the sake of their own power. If we don't take action, we'll be overrun with demons and conquered like all the rest."
So they had noticed the increasing demons. The female Ruler had gone silent as well, perhaps because Homez was repeating Asplundat doctrine. Theo could almost see it from their perspective as well, so he considered his answer carefully.
"If we could control demons," Theo said, "why would we summon them here instead of inside your cities?"
"You cannot pierce the Movement's defenses so easily!" the other Ruler spat. He had to wonder if the inside of her helmet was covered in spittle.
"Ruling Cities intelligence believes that the demons are being generated here to turn us all against one another," Theo said. "I was also told that some Houses are trying to turn this to their advantage, just like you always preach. But if you want to help people, you won't do it by fighting us indiscriminately."
"Who would turn us against each other?" Homez asked.
It sounded like he was actually listening. Theo decided that talk of multi-world conspiracies would just sound unbelievable, so he opted for a different tactic. "I can't tell you that I know for sure. But I know one thing: if the demons keep proliferating, who will suffer most? Higher stage demons will devastate the local soulcrafters, while the strong ignore them... on both sides. If you let them become victims of this struggle, you're no better than any Ruling City."
"And just what solution are you offering? Letting them all join you under another of your tyrants? Don't pretend that you'd be happy with them joining the Movement."
"Let them be an independent region." Theo didn't have anything close to the authority to negotiate continental politics, but he could give it a shot. "Acknowledged by both sides, joining neither, free to choose their own affairs. That's what you want, isn't it?"
Homez seemed to be considering his words carefully, but then the other Ruler moved. She had been increasingly angry throughout their conversation, her agitation visible even in the movements of her armor, but now she raised an arm with another explosive boulder... and pointed it at Homez.
"Do not betray the Movement." More and more cantae was gathering in the boulder, and she seemed actually willing to fire it at him. "Your ideological weakness has already compromised the mission. If you do not submit to correction, I will be forced to take action."
"Keristha, wait." Homez turned fully to her and spread his arms to either side, offering a target. "The Asplundat Movement's ideas must triumph honestly. If the Ruling Cities would really accept a neutral zone, we could save so many from them..."
"I'm sorry to see my doubts about you were right." Keristha finished speaking and released her boulder.
Theo's torsion bolt hit it the second it left her hand. The wave of concussive force staggered Homez and knocked Keristha across the canyon floor. She skidded close to the fallen crimson rocks... and before Theo could finish her off, she reached out to grab them.
The bleeding rocks leapt onto her armor, sinking into the darker stone. Theo could hear the Ruler crying out in pain, but her armor was spiking dangerously. It looked like she would almost double in height, and her cantae was growing rapidly. Even though he knew he should attack, Theo couldn't help but watch: the new sublime material appeared to be leeching stability from her soulhome and returning it as explosive power. He knew of materials that traded life for temporary power, but not like this.
"In the name of the Asplundat Movement," Keristha thundered, "I condemn both of you to die! No one can stand in the way of the future, for w-"
"Not!" Krikree landed on top of the armor and swung her pickaxe with full force.
Her swing shattered the forming stone helm, and Keristha staggered. She started to retaliate, but Theo moved first: the first singularity he'd cast had been quietly absorbing stone during the conversation and now it slammed into her armor. It tore apart the outer layer, and an instant later Krikree's next swing punched deep. The crimson armor staggered to one side and landed on one knee, as if the Ruler somehow clung to life, but then she fell and her armor collapsed lifelessly.
Krikree hopped to the ground and kicked her feet oddly to remove the ooze that had collected on it. Theo thought he saw burns on her chitinous skin, but it seemed she had resisted the material draining her. Once clean, Krikree oriented herself toward him, crouched, and pointed at the fallen statue.
"Rock bad."
"Thank you, Krikree." He turned from her to Homez, who watched them carefully. Homez had taken no action during the brief fight, but he wasn't so amateur as to be stunned for that long. His inaction meant that he had allowed them to kill his companion, or perhaps his minder. "Are you willing to negotiate?"
"Keristha wasn't a cruel woman." Homez crouched down beside her wearily, then his stone armor began to slough away. "Overzealous, and her time as a truthwatcher made her worse, but she truly believed she was doing what was necessary for the world. I wish.. that it hadn't come to this."
Homez might be feeling sympathetic, but to Theo "truthwatchers" sounded like a secret police. Lots of ideological movements that got out of hand had something like that, and this Keristha had certainly seemed like she intended to execute Homez for ideological impurity.
Eventually Homez rose to face them. "This really wasn't a ploy?"
"I truly believe someone is manipulating us," Theo answered. "I don't know who, not entirely. But I want to know everything about the House that has been working in this region, because they might be our enemy as well. The enemy of all the Ruling Cities, I mean."
"We need time to heal." Homez gestured to the fallen soulcrafters, who were just struggling back up. "If you want to negotiate, give us that, at least."
"Not to be too suspicious, but that sounds like you want a numbers advantage."
"You may have seen our worst face, but in the Asplundat Movement decisions are not made by the most powerful. Just because Keristha died does not make me leader. Listen to me: if you want to work together, let me convince the others so you can negotiate with all of us."
Theo rolled his eyes, but he waved his acceptance. "You can start with pointing out how I could have killed them all instead of disabling everyone."
After brief negotiations, they agreed to all move up to one of the plateaus. That would let them see one another... and more importantly none of them wanted to be in the choking dust storm any longer than necessary. Theo had dropped his defensive anti-mass during the fight, so he was coated. His coat might clean itself, but his skin and hair were absolutely filthy.
Krikree merely shook herself off at first, but then spent a very long time cleaning her antennae with all four hands. She seemed intensely focused, so Theo didn't ask about Senka and just looked for her himself. She had been left alone, so something might have happened to...
No, she was balancing on her head and making faces at him.
Theo decided to ignore her and just used some water from an everpitcher to clean off a little. Homez appeared to be true to his word, simply helping all of the surviving Asplundat soulcrafters recover. That wasn't really a concern, since Theo could take them out again - actually, they looked pretty bad, since some had been struck by collateral damage from the battle between Rulers that he hadn't even noticed.
"Give Senka slorpies!" She leapt at him, trying to grab the everpitcher, and Theo swung it out of the way automatically.
"No. You are so obnoxious like this."
"Nu-uh, Theo is the obnoxy one! Gimme!" Senka launched herself at his head and began flailing wildly to grab the everpitcher on the other side.
"Calm down."
"Hmph! Theo is a blookhead!"
"Sure I am. Just don't ruin the negotiations, okay?"
Senka crossed her arms and pouted theatrically. "If you don't give Senka slorpies, she's gonna scream her sporping head off."
Just when Theo's patience was about to run out, he hesitated. Was there a glint in her eye? "Wait a minute... Senka, are you back?"
"You sporping think?" She abruptly gave him a vicious grin that the false Senka never could and stepped closer, no longer moving like a child. "I woke up during the fight, but I wanted to mess with you because it's just too much fun."
"So are you back for good?"
"I wish. No, I'm going right back to being a nlerm idiot. We need to talk while I'm still awake."
"Now?" Theo glanced toward the Asplundat group, but there wasn't really a choice. Despite himself, he smiled back at Senka. "Alright, let's talk. Do you know something about this entire conflict?"
"Not as much as you'd hope." She gave a shrug that looked odd on her tiny body. "It does seem like you're right about there being foreign interference. I think they want the Ruling Cities and Asplundat Movement to tear each other apart and kill off as many outsiders as possible, then Tymetron can come in and mop up the rest. But I'm just guessing there."
"So you're aware even when you're acting like an idiot?"
"It's a shield of buffoonery, thank you very much! But no, my awareness comes and goes."
"If you don't have information about that," Theo asked, "what did you want to talk about?"
"Honestly, I just need to talk to someone. I feel like I'm losing myself, so..." Abruptly Senka shot him a caustic glance. "You're so sporping weak as a soulcrafter, you need all the help you can get. Right now Vistgil could just flick your head off."
"Alright, let's talk soulcrafting. In the Chasm you said 'it's all fractal' - what did you mean by that?"
"Did I say that?" Senka rubbed her forehead with both hands, and it didn't look like she was faking. "My head was so sporping scrambled I might have been babbling. But you figured out what I was probably trying to say, right? You asked how many tiers there are, and the answer is nine."
So they'd been right about that. Theo was glad to know, not least because it meant he hadn't given Nauda terrible advice. "For most of the groups around here, anything above Dominion is basically a myth. I suspect that some of the people claimed to be extremely powerful Dominions are actually beyond, and it may be different in more powerful regions, but it sounds like the Nine Worlds have declined since your time."
