Bloodcrete (The Weirkey Chronicles Book 6), page 7
Once he'd completed the design phase, Theo was happy to leave the rest to Navim's expertise, because he had so much else to do preparing for Authority. But as he prepared to leave, he spotted Krikree sitting and pondering, then changed his mind.
"Navim, would you be able to stoneshape a weapon for me? Not fancy, but durable."
"Oh?" Navim looked at him curiously. "Surely you aren't changing your blueprints at this stage."
"Not for me. What I want is a pickaxe, designed for battle instead of mining. And fashioned for use with between one and four limbs, if possible."
That got an understanding chuckle from Navim. He retrieved a sublime material from his workshop and shaped something remarkably quickly, though Theo realized that he shouldn't be surprised, since Mundhin would need to master tools for multiple limbs. With little time added to their visit, he fashioned a dark stone pickaxe, then presented it to Krikree.
"A gift," he said simply. Krikree scuttled backward and looked to Theo.
"Not?"
"No, it's for you," Theo said. "This one shouldn't break so easily."
Krikree extended one hand hesitantly, tilting her body so as little of her approached as possible. She gingerly gripped the pickaxe, then skittered back. When nothing went wrong, she experimentally swung with it a few times.
Her antennae shot bolt upright. "Weapon! Navim-what good!" She scuttled up to him and patted his lower legs. "Krikree thank! Not understand Navim-what, but good!"
After that, the only problem was getting Krikree to put the pickaxe back in her soulhome so she wouldn't brandish it at passersby. Once that was settled, he headed back to the House Blacksilver complex in a good mood.
Because Navim was reliable, Theo could consider his windows finished, so he analyzed the other obstacles. He needed to perfect his gravity sense, which he would do with Fiyu and her relative. Several rooms needed improvements or even primary materials. It occurred to him that the door to his vestibule was still made of random Tatian wood and definitely needed an upgrade.
Most likely a few other details would pop up, but Theo was optimistic. He'd perfect every last piece of his blueprint so that by the time he got access to Noven, he'd be ready. Then, the ascension material that he'd squandered in his first life could actually reach its full potential and he'd be an Authority to be reckoned with.
Theo was starting to feel like nothing could ruin his good mood. But when he entered the Blacksilver complex, a younger member stared at him, then rushed away. They hadn't even glanced at Krikree, and he wasn't sure how to interpret their expression. It seemed like there was another aide coming, hopefully to explain.
"You're finally back," the man said breathlessly. "Authority Dhan said that you're supposed to contact him as soon as you get back to Norro Yorthin. We have a problem."
Chapter 6
Finding a shadowmind had proved more tedious than Fiyu had expected, but the months exploring the twisting shadows had given her plenty of time to work on her Corporeal Floor. She had most of the essential work done, but of course it needed sublime materials dedicated to enhancement as well. Instead of plinths or tables, Relative Guchiro had guided her in curving displays that mimicked the connections between all parts of her body.
Now her shadowmind sat atop one of the highest spirals within her mental chamber. Choosing the exact one appropriate for her had been an ordeal, because each behaved in strange and idiosyncratic ways. Fiyu had never encountered such a sublime material before: when she neared one of the shadows, what she felt was not a substance, but a behavior. One would feel vicious and aggressive, another timid. Some reminded her of Friend Theo or Friend Nauda, others were like no one she had ever seen before. Yet when she found herself drawn to one, it was almost like seeing her own past.
The one she had finally chosen was just like her, she felt it on a deep level she couldn't put into words. Yet she had collected several others along the way, shadowminds that were suitably cautious but too shy, determined enough but too cynical, and so on. She would have felt bad abandoning them, so she kept them in her storage chamber just in case.
While Fiyu was busy with enhancement materials, Relative Guchiro descended from the clouds overhead. That was another thing that had changed: he would at times leave her without a guardian when there was work to do. The fact that he trusted her so far made her heart swell, and she resolved to be worthy of that sentiment.
"Is your shadowmind in place?" Relative Guchiro asked. Fiyu quickly rose and nodded agreement.
"Yes, it is. Do we need to leave?"
"We have everything we need here. I don't believe you will find your remaining materials in Ichil, but I know where we should search next. Come here." He extended a hand and she felt the immense density of a weirkey within it. When Fiyu took her relative's hand, they were immediately pulled away, twisting into the darkness overhead.
Before they could travel to another world, her relative activated the Ichili weirkey in his other hand and the darkness twisted again. Fiyu's stomach flipped inside her, but then they were standing on a dappled plain. Clouds flowed overhead, revealing brief glimpses of the ominous orb beyond.
It looked like one of the Moonscape regions, though she couldn't be sure which one. She knew that they wouldn't be staying, not only because of her relative's words but also because of the gate fortress nearby. This one was relatively small, just a box with a few rooms and guards. When she tried to examine it in greater detail, her senses fell away into the endless void of the gate itself.
"Our passage has already been negotiated," her relative told her. "There will likely be no great surprises on the other side, but remain on your guard."
No one stopped them beyond confirming their identities. Once they stepped inside the large central room that contained the gate, Fiyu received a surprise despite her relative's words: the other side of the gate was actually darker than Ichil. She couldn't see or feel anything at all on the opposite side. Since her relative strode directly through the arch, she plunged in after him.
As she hung between worlds, Fiyu realized that the space stretching to envelop her was like nothing she had felt before. She had grown more familiar with the slight shifts to her body between worlds, but this was a more extreme change. When she stumbled onto the other side, Fiyu carefully checked herself, finding nothing obviously wrong and yet still uncertain.
They had emerged in a similar Ichili fort, likely created from imported stone. While she reoriented herself, Fiyu extended her senses outside. The world beyond the fort didn't have a stone surface, but some sort of highly compact earth. Above it, she felt almost nothing. Usually her senses cascaded over a variety of surfaces and densities, but now it swept through empty air.
When her relative led her out, Fiyu realized that it truly was completely dark. That was a comforting environment, of course, it was simply strange. She couldn't feel any caverns beneath them, and little on the surface, just a few spiky plants. The only times her senses had returned so little around her was when she had been in the air.
Using her eyes, she saw a single oddity to the west beyond her sensory range: a line of light that seemed to reach to the heavens. And yet, in some way she didn't understand, it shed no light on the world around it. The line was perfectly straight, with darkness alongside it. When she turned away, there was no visible indication that there was a light behind her. She urgently wanted to investigate how the line would feel to her proper senses, but her relative was walking north instead.
"This is the world of Siata," Relative Guchiro told her in a soft voice. "It is less diverse than some worlds, but there is more to it than this."
"How dangerous is it?" Fiyu asked as she caught up to him. Her relative shifted his shoulders in an ambivalent way.
"Most regions have few predators and the greatest threat would be starvation. There are a few regions that are dangerous beyond almost anywhere in Ichil. But our tasks are only to meet an old acquaintance of mine and to investigate possible materials for you."
Relative Guchiro revealed a simple floating sledge from his soulhome and stepped inside. Fiyu followed him, glad that it would allow her to soulcraft but missing their familiar sleigh. It still sat in the Blacksilver complex, and she hoped it was secure. Her time with her relative was marked largely by walking or flying, with vehicles only used as convenient.
"In my original plan for your adolescence," her relative said once they were underway, "this would have been the second world that you visited. It would have been a gentler way to introduce you to overwhelming light, as well as teaching you a number of lessons. Perhaps it can still be of use to you."
"I once met a Siatan," Fiyu told him. "It was a strange being. I am not sure I understood it."
"They are rather different, yes. But before I tell you what I know of Siata, it is time for your next lesson in soulcrafting."
While they flew, Relative Guchiro showed her the proper techniques for creating a garden around the base of her soulhome. It needed to be properly contained by stones, of course, and the soil within enriched until it was perfect. Eventually she would plant her sunlessrose within and create a ring of them. The material was powerful enough that the new roses would grow very slowly, but her relative assured her that if she had everything in place before her ascension, it would strengthen alongside her.
For several days they traveled with a mix of conversation, lessons, and soulcrafting. Fiyu eagerly memorized all the warnings and suggestions her relative offered about Siata, but it was clear he had not explored it as extensively as some other worlds. There were certain details that he remained silent on, no doubt because he intended a later lesson.
Instead, Fiyu learned what she could on her own. In the entire time they traveled, she never felt a single cavern or even a crack in the earth beneath them. There were occasional hills or collections of plants, but her relative always flew on as if they were of no interest. Sometimes she could see columns of light in the distance, always too far away to investigate.
"Most Siatans are understanding." Her relative broke the silence for no apparent reason and began slowing the sledge. "If you do nothing unreasonable, there is no way you can cause offense. But my acquaintance is overly focused, so I suggest you only speak up if the material is inappropriate or there is an essential reason."
Puzzled, Fiyu examined their surroundings with her full senses. Nothing at all, though her range had serious limits at her current tier. Then, with no warning at all, someone appeared beside them.
Fiyu was alarmed to feel an entire body snap into existence. She hadn't sensed a cantae shield dissipating, it was as if the being had been ephemeral the moment before. It took her several breaths to calm herself and examine it more carefully.
Unlike the Siatan she had met previously, this one was entirely wrapped in a cloak. Underneath, it seemed to have the same spirit-like body, but she couldn't sense anything through the cloth. It had what felt like a powerful shielding wall that obscured its body as well. Based on that, she estimated that her relative's acquaintance was an Authority, and quite skilled.
"Greetings." The Siatan lifted its rumpled hood, revealing the glowing head within. This one was blue and had an inscrutable face, little more than eyes and a mouth on a flat surface. It regarded them somberly. "How have the years treated you?"
"Well," Relative Guchiro answered, "and you?"
"I am weary, and must reawaken soon. But you have requested a sublime material of me, and I have answered: this is darkplasma." One of the sleeves shifted enough for a blue hand to emerge holding a vial that glowed with cantae. Fiyu realized that the Siatan seemed to illuminate almost none of the environment around itself, but the light from the sublime material cast long lights and shadows all around them.
Even though they weren't on Ichil, Fiyu's old instincts took over: she quickly grasped the vial and wrapped it within her cloak. The Siatan did not seem offended and simply spoke to her relative about the price. While they did so, Fiyu played her part and examined the sublime material carefully.
Based on the name darkplasma, she had expected a flame of some kind, but the vial contained only liquid. She recognized that it was more organic than elemental. Years ago, her relative had told her that blood was composed of different components: one was colored red in Ichili, but the other was mostly clear. The liquid was indeed clear, though it released so much light it was difficult to be sure.
In her hands, it seemed hot and cold at once, and Fiyu knew that it was right. This darkplasma would perfectly bridge the gap between the fire and ice components of her Corporeal Floor, embodying her blood. It might be bright, but it was a sterile brightness that she much preferred to the suffocating warmth of other worlds. When Relative Guchiro looked to her, she nodded her approval.
"It is sufficient," he said, and paid the Siatan with a sack of craftgems. "There is one other thing I would ask of you."
"Ask," the Siatan answered. Its voice seemed to vibrate in a way she couldn't quite explain.
"I have been told that this region contains circles that host sublime birds of great strength. We are seeking feathers, but we do not know exactly what we seek. Do you know of a place with sufficient variety where we would not disrupt the natural order?"
"How potent of materials do you require?"
"As potent as can be sustained on a second floor."
This answer made the Siatan pause, and it looked toward her. Clearly it understood, and it was likely evaluating her. Fiyu stood firm and tried to look determined so that it would give them a good answer. Eventually it turned back to her relative and pointed into the distance. "That circle is the most likely. It may be difficult, but it is uninhabited."
"Thank you. May your next awakening remember us."
"Then it is done. " The strange being pulled up his hood and simply melted out of existence.
Fiyu frowned in his absence, wishing that they could have spoken longer. Her old self would have considered that irrational: it was foolish to spend time around powerful strangers. But all her time traveling other worlds had awakened a different sort of hunger in her. She resolved that one day she would be strong and experienced enough to speak to Siatans on her own.
"That was the material I was certain of." Relative Guchiro spoke up once they began to travel in the direction the Siatan had indicated. "The next is a gamble, and will depend on your judgment of materials. But if it works, you will have filled your final unifying chamber."
"The connection between fire and darkness?" Fiyu frowned as she considered her blueprint again. "I confess, I am unsure as to what it represents within my body."
"It is no organ that exists naturally, but one that will exist in your new body. A core of darkness, which will flow into a technique on your third floor. We require an exceedingly dark material, but the absence of light as seen on Ichil is no longer sufficient for you. I thought that perhaps a deeply saturated color would work, and the birds here are known for the color of their feathers."
"I will do my best to search for them." But since it didn't seem they would arrive any time soon, Fiyu decided to ask another question. "You paid him in craftgems?"
"Few Siatan cultures use money. All of their units of exchange are functional."
"The two of you knew one another?"
Relative Guchiro smiled beneath his mask, the smile extending to the muscles around his eyes. "You've become curious, Fiyu. Perhaps one day, I will tell you of our relationship. But it is equally possible that we will never meet that entity again, at least not in that form."
As they traveled, her relative explained to her that Siatans followed a life cycle otherwise unknown in the Nine Worlds. Allegedly they could speak within days of birth, and soulcraft within a year. But as they aged, their minds and power began to reach limits. When that happened, they would go to sleep and awaken as a new being that began as a higher tier of soulcrafter. If it had been one of her friends from another world, Fiyu might have thought it was lyingwit.
Her relative taught her more about the Siatans as they neared their destination. The next day, Fiyu noticed a line of light directly in their path. But as they drew closer, it began to grow, far more than she had expected. By the end of that day, it had become a column of light that burned from the earth into the infinite sky, yet it still seemed to shed no light around it.
Soon she realized that the lack of her density senses had deceived her: the pillar was far vaster than she had imagined. The simple light gradually separated into colors, a spectrum of yellow and pink and blue. It was as if someone had stuck a tube of pearlescent glass into the mud. Yet, when she strained all her senses to try to examine it, she felt certain that it contained more than simple light.
No matter how she asked, her relative refused to explain, saying that it was easier to experience herself. That left Fiyu stretching to learn more on her own... until she felt the world falling out of the sky.
For many rapid heartbeats, Fiyu was too stunned to say anything. The sky had been empty even of clouds for a long time, yet now she sensed something immense. It was as if entire mountains had been tossed aloft and now came tumbling down. When she focused, she felt that it wasn't as dense as rock, only a liquid, but it pounded into the earth with lethal force.
"Guchiro... what is that?"
"A storm." Her relative abandoned his amused silence and stood up on the sledge. "This is one of the exceptions that could kill an unwary traveler. Ordinarily, it is necessary to shelter in place and endure the storm. But I am with you, and time is short."
Fiyu stood to secure a position beside him. The sledge disappeared back into his soulhome, but he put an arm around her shoulders and his cantae held her aloft - she felt much safer that way. At least, she always had as a child. Now that she had seen more of many worlds, she wondered if even her relative could protect her from the horrible storm thundering down on them.
It truly was horrible in her senses: the clouds roiled like oceans overhead. Drops plummeted to earth with such force that bursts of mud flew into the air. The storm pummeled the surface almost as far as her senses could stretch, but she could imagine how it would leave only mud behind... which would flow into the flat earth she had felt before that point.
