Wakespire (The Weirkey Chronicles Book 7), page 22
Behind her, Fiyu must be creeping toward the region still covered in the landslide. She could no doubt make her way over the rocks, with her senses warning her about unstable sections. But how could she get the sleigh free without being noticed? Nauda got up and went to talk to the Jadadictus soulcrafters, trying to think of a plausible way to attract a bunch of attention.
"Don't try it!"
She looked back over her shoulder and saw one of the Dortorus Authorities hovering over the landslide, surrounded by tendrils of light. Nauda's heart leapt into her throat as the light spread out, seeking for an invisible Fiyu. They connected with nothing, but there was no way of knowing if Fiyu was trapped within his range.
"Stay where you are," the man commanded, "or I'll destroy your transportation."
"Does no one on Noven have any honor?" Nauda spat out the words with more real invective than she'd intended. She marched to the side of their group and pointed her staff toward him. "From the very beginning of the Wakespire, you've treacherously attacked everyone who stood in your way!"
"Some in the Dortorus lineage might have behaved dishonorably, but I have not." The man glowered at her, but he hadn't stopped searching with his physical light. "Yes, some have acted ruthlessly. I cannot approve of this. But we have no choice, when traitors are trying to rob our city of a sublime legacy."
Nauda had honestly expected their words to be a mere prelude to fighting, so she was surprised the conversation went anywhere. She lowered her staff to her side before responding. "What do you mean? None of us have done anything but participate fairly."
"The soldiers may not know, but their princes work treacherously. There is a rot in the city's nobility, and we need to tear it out. The Jadadictus lineage is clearly infected, seeking to undermine the competition. All we have done to stop them is injure a few soulcrafters: no deaths, not even any permanent injuries. And in return, we've been attacked, and one of our own crippled during the Ritual of the Climbing Suns."
"Alright, let's talk about that." Nauda saw that the Jadadictus soulcrafters were anxious, like this was just a pretext, but she wanted to hear the man out. "What's your name?"
"I am Cannium Dortorus. I have never wanted to be anything other than a defender of the light of Ugustial."
"I'm Nauda, from the world of Tatian. I have no stake in any of your conflicts. If you really believe you're fighting for your city, then show me some actual evidence. Right now, you just look like thugs beating down everyone who's standing in your way."
Cannium glowered and his light expanded around him, but he did answer. "A member of our own lineage was murdered and his identification used to rob one of our vaults, even though such a thing should not have been possible. Some believe this to be treachery from the undercloud Terefilia faction, wanting to take back the legacy they believe belongs to them."
"So you think they started this?"
"And then they crippled one of our Rulers mid-ascension!"
"Then why are you attacking the Jadadictus teams?" Nauda gestured back toward the miserable soulcrafters. The gruff man looked furious about the conversation, but the others sagged exhausted and drained. "They're doing nothing but trying to participate."
"They may believe so, but forces of darkness are working behind the scenes." Cannium raised a fist, which glowed with inner light. "They don't want to steal just a few sublime materials, they want the entire legacy. And they're willing to manipulate anyone to do it, Jadadictus or Terefilia."
Before Nauda could decide how to respond, Fiyu appeared atop a pile of rubble. It seemed that she had retreated from the Authority's position or decided she couldn't get close enough to the sleigh, but she was still easily within the range of his light attacks. Despite the danger, she smiled up at him.
"Perhaps we are not enemies," Fiyu said. "All we wish to do is compete fairly. Perhaps if you tell us all you know, we can-"
"No more words from you!" Cannium launched a beam of light that demolished Fiyu's position and forced her to jump to the side. "You're the prime suspect, monster! Your power... this isn't even shadows from below, it's pure darkness from the pits of the deepest abyss!"
"Oh dear." Fiyu raised her hands in a gesture of peace. "Please understand that I do not mean any harm. When I first left my world, your light seemed very terrible to me. But I have come to understand that different people are reassured by different things, so-"
"Enough!" Cannium unleashed a monstrous storm of light that curved through the air, rapidly surrounding Fiyu's position before closing in. She remained there for a little too long, still trying to reason with him before the light crushed her.
Nauda thrust out her staff, binding Fiyu in place, then jerked her backwards. Since Fiyu didn't resist, she was whisked to the side just before all the light descended. With an adroit flip of her staff, Nauda drew Fiyu to her position and they both retreated as the Authority began firing on their position.
"Maybe this isn't a good time to explain cultural relativism?" Nauda suggested.
"I had hoped he would listen." Fiyu lowered her head sadly, but it did seem that she was ready to fight.
Too late, Nauda realized that there was another Authority rising from the clouds.
Her plan had been to retreat from the unstable area and join the Jadadictus soulcrafters in a better defensive position. But while they had been talking, the Dortorus group must have sent their second Authority under the clouds to get in their way. This one was a thin woman who was one of the weakest 10th class members, but her Authority-tier cantae could still be deadly to them.
Trails of light pursued them from behind while cantae bolts approached from the front. Nauda tried to juke to the side and lost her footing on one of the shifting rocks. Fiyu grasped her arm before she could fall, but there was no time to dodge, they'd be crushed between the attacks...
Bronze rings swooped in at the last second and intercepted them. Each was a full pace across, a thick bronze band with cantae burning in the center. The cantae bolts on one side were repelled, while the tendrils of light seemed to be snuffed out when they touched the bronze. Two rings circled around Nauda and Fiyu, defending them, but a third retreated.
Nauda followed its path... back to Isorales. He was hovering now, cloaked in an Authority's cantae. For the first time since she'd seen him, his gaze looked determined.
"Your accusations are baseless," Isorales said sharply. "Have you considered that, if there is really a treacherous force working against the city, that it might be turning us against one another?"
"Ridiculous!" Cannium retracted his light, refocusing now that he was facing another Authority. "Why should I trust you, when you willingly consort with dark forces?"
"You should have come to the princes with your suspicions instead of-" An assault of light interrupted Isorales's words.
The third bronze ring intercepted it, smoothly sliding into position. This time Cannium didn't let up, sending repeated spears of light that hammered the ring back toward his opponent. But he should have been looking at the rings beside Nauda.
They leapt from their positions, lashing out at Cannium with startling speed. He managed to block the first, only for the second to catch him in the chest and send him tumbling. Immediately the other Authority cried out to attack Isorales from behind, but the rings kept spinning, circling around to threaten her as well. In fact, all three rings seemed to be spinning around him with increasing speed.
As Isorales rose higher, the rings rotated to horizontal positions, forming a disc of bronze around him. That disc expanded greatly and one edge sawed deep into the mountain. Nauda didn't understand what he was doing until she saw several Rulers fleeing up the side: they must have been creeping close in the trees, planning to join the battle.
And it was going to be a battle. Isorales was stronger than she'd expected, but he was up against two Authorities and several Rulers. Plus, he was a fresh Authority while their opponents had experience on their side. Unless Nauda and Fiyu could tip the scales, he'd be overwhelmed.
Cannium and Isorales clashed in the air, while the female Authority ran up the mountain toward Fiyu. Nauda watched in panic as Fiyu fired a lightstorm at her, only for the Authority's more powerful bolts to tear through it. She didn't have time to pull Fiyu out of the way again...
Instead, Nauda launched herself forward. She thrust out her staff, managing to bind one of the bolts in midair and misdirect it. Still moving, Nauda flipped her staff around and slammed the other end into the Authority. The Dortorus woman arced one of her wings around herself and the feathers deflected the strike as if they were made of stone.
Nauda was taken aback, but she wasn't willing to give up so easily. Her momentum was still throwing her forward, so Nauda used the deflection to flip her staff again. This time she thrust the tines around the wing, aiming for her opponent's leg.
To her surprise, Nauda actually landed the blow. Her opponent grimaced and stumbled before firing cantae bolts. Nauda managed to dodge one and the other caught her shoulder. Only the bondsfungi reinforcing her body kept the Authority's cantae from tearing through her, and it still hurt. It was remarkable that she could keep up at all, so she needed to end this quickly.
Nauda struck with a wave of nullification, staggering her opponent, then swung horizontally at her wing. This time, her staff plowed through the fragile feathers and struck the other woman in the side. The Authority was sent flying over the clouds, struggling to regain control of her flight.
Behind, Nauda dropped to one knee, gasping for breath and barely holding herself up with her staff. This Authority was much less dangerous than Cannium or many of the others she'd faced, perhaps because she'd used a heavenspear or another material to reach the position.
That should have been encouraging, but it only made Nauda realize how far she had to go. Her soulhome was nothing compared to the polish of Fiyu's. Theo had managed to defeat a stronger Authority while still at Ruler. Even Isorales and Cannium showed signs of far more potential. Nauda realized that if she continued focusing on raw materials and didn't equal their soulcrafting sophistication, she would end up like this Authority and be left behind.
Or she could end up dead before the day was done. As Nauda pulled herself back to her feet, she saw how the battle would go. Unless someone flew to the rescue, it wouldn't end well.
~ ~ ~
It would not be enough, but Acquaintance Isorales was proving more formidable than Fiyu had anticipated.
The three rings he controlled were a powerful armament that had yet to be damaged despite their use as both offense and defense. He controlled them as if he was absolutely aware of their position; it reminded her more of an Ichili sense than any other technique she'd seen on Noven. Perhaps most essentially, he clearly had mastery over their technique instead of clumsily using an armament that someone else had given him.
Unfortunately, he was still new to his power and outnumbered as they all were. Friend Nauda had briefly balanced the scales but was now accumulating injuries. Fiyu had managed to knock some of the enemy Rulers off the mountain, but she was unable to help against the Authorities. In fact, she was more of a liability than anything, because Adversary Cannium continued to pursue her at every chance.
She felt the hate all through his body whenever he saw her. He truly seemed to believe that her darkness was fundamentally evil. It was very distressing.
Overhead, Fiyu saw the battle finally tip in the wrong direction. Acquaintance Isorales had defended himself with two of his rings, but Adversary Cannium had anticipated this and used tendrils of light to bind his rings in place. Now Acquaintance Isorales was attempting to strike him with the third ring but rapidly weakening.
"Excuse me." Fiyu fashioned a lance of darkness and threw it toward Adversary Cannium.
He whirled on her, as she had known he would. Adversary Cannium growled and began emitting shafts of light that tore through the mountain around her. It was the most that Fiyu could do to avoid being struck, and few of her skills could face such immense power. She slipped into her stealth again, less because it would help her escape and more because she knew it would enrage him.
Acquaintance Isorales appeared to have given up attacking with his third ring... no, it was slipping alongside the others. Two of his rings were still grasped by tendrils of light, but he pulled them into position. When all three came into alignment, the bronze glowed from within.
A beam of sapphire cantae shot from Acquaintance Isorales through the rings, blasting Adversary Cannium in the side. It couldn't immediately overcome his light defenses, but the impact drove him down, all the way through the clouds. The beam persisted for a surprisingly long time until Adversary Cannium was nowhere to be seen and a large hole gaped in the cloud layer.
Suddenly alone in the air, Acquaintance Isorales slumped to the side of the mountain. Fiyu leapt to his side, but he did not seem to be injured or exhausted. He regarded her with a strange expression and she noted that his wings were going slack again.
"Thanks for helping... I couldn't have taken him alone..."
Fiyu desperately wished that Friend Nauda had been present to encourage Acquaintance Isorales, because she was ill-suited to the task. She suspected that his mind was injured due to improper treatment from his relatives. That was something she could not resolve in a few seconds, if at all. Yet she needed to do something before he ceased to apply himself.
"You have done well," Fiyu said. She picked up one of his fallen bronze rings, which was surprisingly heavy, and proffered it to him. "You must continue to fight with us."
"The ascension went smoothly," Acquaintance Isorales said weakly, "but I don't have any Authority-tier techniques. You should run while I hold them off..."
Clearly words were insufficient. Fiyu had seen others use a physical blow at such times, but could not bring herself to do such a thing. Instead, she hung the ring around Acquaintance Isorales's neck. He stared in surprise and all of the muscles in his jaw went slack.
"You are the only Authority on our side and you have done well. You must keep going."
Too late, Fiyu sensed someone shooting out of the clouds. Adversary Cannium had returned, and he'd flown up beside the other enemy Authority. Both of them were gathering their cantae now, ready to rain fire down across the mountain. With Friend Nauda injured and her other allies drained, Fiyu did not know what she could possibly do.
With a lurching step, Acquaintance Isorales threw himself back to his feet. His rings flew upwards and hovered in a triangular pattern. Cantae spread between them the instant before the enemy Authorities unleashed their own attack. His shield managed to deflect the assault, but the rings were being pushed backward, blow by blow...
Just when Fiyu began to despair, she felt someone flash across the sky. Both of the enemy Authorities staggered and their assault petered out. Who could it have been?
Fiyu eagerly expanded her senses, trying to keep up with the rapidly moving body. She had hoped that it would be Relative Guchiro, but it did not seem to be. Instead it was a smaller man... could it be Friend Theo? But there was something odd about the shape, and there were other bodies as well...
To her surprise, four Noveni flew up from the clouds. They were no one she knew well, but she did recognize them as the Terefilia team. Their leader, an Authority, unleashed twin whips of crimson light that struck aside the rest of the cantae assault. One of the others began throwing out accusations and the Dortorus soulcrafters had no choice but to retreat.
Since the battle was over, Fiyu rushed to find Friend Nauda. She appeared to be seriously injured, but to Fiyu's surprise, her friend withdrew something from her soulhome.
"You're hurt... try this..."
Fiyu gingerly took the object, which was revealed to be... pellets of manna bonded together by honey? This made little sense, but Fiyu nibbled on the edge. "It tastes good, Nauda, but why?"
"It's supposed to heal you." Friend Nauda finally got her staff in a firm position and used it to hold herself upright. "I suppose I'll have to work on it more."
If anyone needed the manna cake, it was clearly Friend Nauda. Fiyu ate the rest, hoping to have something encouraging to say, and she did feel new cantae flowing through her. Not dramatic, but it did seem like a foundation on which her friend could build a useful technique. Before Fiyu could offer her any compliments, the situation on the rest of the mountain developed further.
"This is no alliance." One of the Terefilia Noveni spoke to Acquaintance Isorales while the others kept guard for remaining attackers. "We simply saw a chance to strike at our enemy."
"Why shouldn't we work together?" Acquaintance Isorales asked. "The Dortorus lineage has the overwhelming advantage and they're clearly targeting all of us."
"All we want is to recover the sublime legacy of our kin and return to our own nation. Do not get in our way."
"Wait." Friend Nauda squared her shoulders to look strong, though her back muscles were clearly aching. "They were yelling a lot of things about some conspiracy. Did the man who interrupted the ascension have anything to do with your group?"
The Terefilia Noveni shifted uncomfortably and glanced at one another before the leader answered. "We did not plan that attack and are still investigating how a rogue element could have interfered. As far as we are concerned, this entire city is corrupt. All we want is the sublime legacy that should have been our birthright."
Though Friend Nauda and the others continued to try to talk to them, Fiyu could feel the tension rising in their wings and knew that there was little chance. For a brief moment, both groups had fought together and might have cooperated. Now, they returned to their factions. If there was any truth to everything that Adversary Cannium had shouted, it would not be found here.
With the battle finally over, Fiyu sank to the ground and let her shoulders slump. She was grateful to the Terefilia soulcrafters for saving her, but they were not who she wanted now...
