34 (II)

Recon

Shiv started handing out plates of food, but he was listening. That quiet knot of anger was dying down to a nub of annoyance. “So. You want me to put up with Adam? To comfort him?’

“No. Great One, no!” Valor almost choked. “That might just shatter his mind entirely. To be regarded as pitiful and a creature to be protected and comforted by the object of his envy, loathing, and respect… It might break his sense of self for good.”

“So, what should I do?”

“As you did when training. As you did during the ambush. Challenge him when he needs resolve. Spite him when he feels worried. Make him build strength. But let him rest when he is wounded and weary. He can be built into a true Pathbearer. And friend. Give him time. But you must be wise.”

“I’m not sure how wise I am, Valor.” Shiv shook his head and placed Uva’s dish beside her as she broke down their tent. “There’s soup and slow-cooked variants as well if you want more. Adam was supposed to do a taste test.” Shiv paused. “I might have put in a little too much salt this time.”

“Yes, but that is why I am here,” Valor said, holding his head up proudly.

“Valor. Has anyone told you that your training methods are strange? Do you always get your disciples to just train each other?”

“No. But you are far from a typical disciple. What I am to do with you is simply propel you further. But also remind you of things besides becoming a legend.”

“Like what?” Shiv asked.

“That people and the world are fragile. We may be enduring. But some things, when broken, will never return.”

Shiv considered that. And nodded. “Fine. But if he’s still pissy when he gets back, I’m going to bully him.”

“It’s practically the love-language between you two by this point,” Uva muttered off to the side.

Shiv winced in discomfort. Ikki giggled.

***

“…and that concludes my report,” Adam said, arms folded behind his back. The Trapdoor agents looked at each other and exchanged a series of gestures that had the Young Lord swinging his eyes between them in slight nervousness. “Again. I take full responsibility for the excess civilian casualties. I should have approached the situation with more measured aggression and foresight.”

“No, no,” the leader of the Shadow Cell said, holding out her many hands. “It is… We are not criticizing your efforts. We are merely comparing notes. What you have done is… quite remarkable considering the force size and timeframe you had. Your tactics and approach were sound.”

“But imperfect,” Adam added.

“A criticism that we all must share,” the Weaveress refuted. “Even I have only achieved nine truly perfect raids against Compact’s slavers over my centuries in service. The deaths are our burden. But also our kindling. We can only endeavor to save more next time, Esteemed Adept Adam.”

The Young Lord nodded gratefully and concluded his report.

The lead Weaveress—an ancient Trapdoor veteran by the name of Still Water—arrived in camp as everyone was breaking it down. She proved her capabilities as a Heroic Pathbearer focused foremost on Stealth by manifesting out of thin air beside Shiv to take a drink of his soup. The Deathless flinched in shock when she asked if she “kept them waiting” for long.

The truth was that she arrived much earlier than expected—before Uva even had a chance to report to an Operator about them moving their forward operating camp again. With her came two other Trapdoor agents. The one missing an arm was called Liquid Serpent, and she immediately started boasting about her revolving hand crossbows to Ikki and anyone who would listen. The last of the group was a white-shelled, Umbral-shaped automaton called Spark Ripper who bore a rare Fusion Skill combining Aeromancy and Swords Proficiency.

Shiv wanted to find out about how they attained their Fusion Skill, but at his approach, Spark Ripper sputtered something incoherent and fled. It took Still Water explaining that they had extreme social anxiety for Shiv to understand what just happened.

Their cell was supposedly getting a brief moment’s rest after a series of mysterious explosions tore through some of Compact’s border territories. As a result, the Court of the First Blood was blamed, and the two sides were engaged in another ugly skirmish. A tragic but common state of affairs in the Abyss.

After a while, Adam returned with what seemed like half a forest of dead animals in a net. He simply muttered “ingredients” to Shiv and said nothing else—not even bothering to clean the muck and blood off himself before launching into an aggressive after-action report before the Trapdoor agents were prepared to receive it.

Oddly, this seemed to endear Adam to them—especially Liquid Serpent, who started calling Adam the “nice-skinned one” for some reason. When Shiv looked to Uva for confirmation, she replied with an expression of cluelessness herself.

“Trapdoor seeks effective soldiers. Sometimes, effective means peculiar.”

“As we have not been within Compact territory,” Still Water continued, “there are many things we cannot tell you. Such as how Compact will likely be strained for manpower in the area soon due to the recent attacks by the bloodspawn. And how their Lords of Law will be called upon by the First Blood’s Elders to stop the conflict before it spirals out of hand. Or how there will be a special caravan heading for the gate in one day’s time. A special caravan that rumors suggest to be carrying part of a very special Necrotech weapon.”

Adam, Shiv, and Valor all shot to attention. “Necrotech weapon?” Adam asked.

“Oh… Is this part composed of a lot of mithril?” Valor asked with a weary note to his voice.

“Interesting. How did you know about its composition, Great Valor?” Still Water asked.

“I suspect I know more than just its composition. I likely know what it is: A part of a walking fortress-sized siege-construct containing an Animancy Core: A Soulbreaker Engine. If I am to guess further, this might be the Animancy Core itself.”

“So, my guess was correct,” Liquid Serpent hissed, spinning her crossbows again. “It was some manner of… mithril mechanism, after all.”

Shiv didn’t know why she said the words with so much emphasis, but decided to let it go.

Valor sighed. “If I am to voice my guess, I suspect that Blackedge has managed to secure its own territory and hold a defensive line for now. The Necrotechs should not be so bold to move through Compact territory, but a rogue vicar with much to give and little to lose… might just be able to strike a contract with one of the Lords of Law. Now that Blackedge’s wards are enduring and Sullain has not yet managed to smash through its walls, he must bring in something capable of overcoming the city’s mana field—which means he is rushing as well.”

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A surge of joy passed through the Young Lord’s face. “The town is holding… It’s holding, Shiv!”

“I wouldn’t be too happy yet,” Shiv muttered. “This construct sounds like a problem.”

“It is. Animacy is the most fundamental expression of magic because it deals in the manipulation of the source of all mana. The soul. But that is just why it is such a volatile art. The slightest mistake in understanding and intent inflicts damage so severe that even the fabric of reality is not spared. These wounds linger until the System itself intervenes to mend what was lost.”

“So, we intercept, destroy, or steal this weapon,” Adam said. “It might not be a simple operation, but—”

“There is also another thing we don’t know,” Still Water continued. As she leaned a bit more out of her invisible cloak, Shiv noticed she had eye patches on two of her eight eyes. “We don’t know that there is a small army of elite, mercenary Pathbearers protecting the weapon. And we certainly don’t know that they might be meeting with a delegation of surfacers inside the Compact gate.”

“What?” Adam said, startled. “What delegation? What surfacers?”

“This part we actually don’t know,” Liquid Serpent clarified. “We only ironically

didn’t know all the things before, you see. This is all we managed to get before the people talking to us expired during interrogation.” Liquid Serpent laughed, the sound sibilant and uncanny. “They were weak…”

“They really weren’t,” Spark Ripper mumbled, pulling their invisible cloak tighter around their body. “You just made me use too much electricity this time.’

“More importantly, the construct is considered a restricted weapon between the Five Faiths,” Valor said. “An Animancy weapon is highly unstable and can only truly be channeled through mithril. And if you are in the vicinity when it fires… your soul will wither, and you will face a death more absolute than most.” He eyed Shiv briefly. “Regardless of who you are.”

The Deathless only narrowed his eyes as he considered something: “If I die but manage to survive that… maybe I could get an Animancy Skill too?”

“Shiv,” Uva said, her voice bordering on threatening. “Do not.”

“It’s just a thought.”

“I know. Now. Move that thought out of your mind. I will not share space with it.”

“Fine.”

“Shiv.”

“Fine. Just give me a second to get distracted by something so I can stop thinking about it.”

Valor let out a very uncharacteristic groan. “Damn you, Sullain. This is going to be a problem…”

“Yeah, we thought so too,” Still Water said. “That’s why we came in to give you all a heads-up. We heard that these two were planning on using the gate to cross over. Well. Once the Composer hears about this, I suspect she’ll be scrambling to demand an answer from Lords of Law too. And the First Blood will start moving their armies because they’ll assume that someone might be trying to sell a Soulbreaker Engine…” The Trapdoor Weaveress trailed off with a grunt and took a drag of her smoke. Shiv blinked. He didn’t see her holding that until now. Or even know that Weaveresses could smoke.

“This is going to cause a hellstorm,” Still Water whispered. “A real big one. But also, no one’s really in position to intercept or halt the transport. By sometime after midnight, it’ll pass through the gate for good. And once it’s there, it might be gone for good, no matter what we do. Compact isn’t going to let anyone else take a look inside their gate, the Necrotechs will deny, disavow, and ignore, and everyone else will be spitting venom but getting nowhere.”

“Typical politics,” Spark Ripper muttered.

Still Water breathed out. “There’s a wrong smell on the winds. Bad days are coming. Bad times. The air tastes just like it did before the last War of the Five.”

The Umbrals all looked disturbed. But Adam was staring off, absent—considering something. “We might have a means of interception,” he said. “To make sure the weapon never gets into the gate—and maybe create an opening to slip in ourselves. But we’ll need more information, and fast. And we’ll need them to stall along their path.” The Young Lord found Shiv already looking at him. The Deathless held his Mask of False Paths up for everyone to see.

“What’s that?” Liquid Serpent said, squinting.

Shiv put on the mask and showed them. A second and a brief burst of fire later, the Perfect Semblance of a dead slaver stood in Shiv’s place.

Still Water leaned back and shared a look with her two comrades. “Well. That’s useful.” Her eyes flashed. “Hmm. Can’t even tell it’s you anymore, Esteemed Master Shiv.”

“Yeah,” Shiv said, examining his new hands. “Pretty convenient. But it’s also untested. I just took this semblance yesterday. Not sure if I got everything down yet, but…”

“But this is the perfect opportunity for a field test,” Adam said, pressing the issue. “Think of it. The last caravan was attacked and slaughtered. If the special weapon’s transport team is taking the same road to approach, and they come across a sole survivor…” He let silence and imagination fill in the rest.

“There’s also a substantial risk,” Uva said, looking at Shiv with the slightest hint of worry. “The mask is not a bound item. Should Shiv be killed while in his guise for any reason, it is likely that the deception will be unveiled and his presence revealed.” She frowned. “The mask is the only thing protecting his mind from enemy Psychomancers as well. This is too soon. Too aggressive.”

“And if we wait and hesitate, then Blackedge will be in more danger—and this might even draw your people into another war with the surface,” Adam replied. Shiv took the mask off into the meantime, showing the Trapdoor Operatives the item’s functionality. “This is our best chance to achieve multiple goals. To discover more intelligence about how to access the gate, to stop a dangerous weapon that threatens all of our peoples, and also for Shiv to finally make use of the mask. Him appearing as a sole survivor of a massacre is more than believable, it’s practically perfect.”

“I’m willing to do it,” Shiv said, shrugging. Since this group was filled with elite warriors, maybe if things went wrong, one of them could kill him too…

“It is disturbing how excited you get imagining your own deaths,” Uva said flatly.

“Sorry,” Shiv replied. “I just want more skill levels.”

“Well, you might be getting improvements to Stealth and Acting soon,” Uva said, her mind still tinged with worry.

“Uva. I can’t die.”

“That’s not the worst thing that can happen to you,” she said. “You might be able to come back, but if someone shatters your mind…”

“They won’t. I’ll have the mask. If something goes wrong, I’ll use my Biomancy to pull the corpse into my cloak and act before anyone knows what’s actually happening. The cape’s still bound to my soul. It shouldn’t come off.”

She didn’t like this. Not even a bit. “It’s still too soon. With more time to prepare, we could maybe see about finding an enchanter. There’s a limit to how much magic can be infused into each Tier, but…”

He tightened his mind around hers in something of an embrace. “I’ll be fine. I’m always fine.”

Uva looked at him, smiled slightly, and nodded.She trusted him. “Alright. But proceed with care.”

“I always do?”

She squinted at him. “Shiv…”

“Okay. I’ll try.”

“I’ll tell you what, Adept Adam,” Still Water said after a brief moment consulting her comrades. “As it goes, the Arachnae Order cannot be found operating on Compact territory. But. Should you be able to create an opening or cause the mercs to ‘lose’ their cargo somehow, you’d be doing a great deed for the political stability of the Abyss. And your home. Just a shame no one can help you out.”

“We’re back to being ironic,” Liquid Serpent whispered with a laugh, as if everyone hadn’t gotten the memo. “We are absolutely going to help you steal a weapon of mass destruction.”

Adam let out a breath and nodded in appreciation. “Thank you. Shiv. Are you ready to give us another master class in acting?”

Shiv grunted. “Yeah. I think I can pull off ‘terrified, shell-shocked survivor.’ Just gotta keep my eyes wide and mouth open. And whimper about the Skintaker?”

“Hmm? Skintaker…” Still Water said. “We heard chatter about that from Operations earlier. Something about some kind of demon flaying faces out in the woods.”

Uva, Adam, and Shiv all shared the same awkward cough.

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