Heretic Spellblade 6 - Ch10

Chapter 10

“This feeling is somehow familiar, but so strange,” Tarako said as she tested out her reactivated gem abilities. “Don’t get too caught up about the noises I made earlier, boyo. I’m a thousand times older than you, and you’re far too serious for me.”

Nathan had used the traditional method for claiming a Champion—primarily because he actually didn’t trust himself to use a non-sexual method for a trigem—and Tarako had reacted as sweetly as any other Champion. At least until she’d returned to her senses.

“I happen to like his seriousness,” Narime said, crossing her arms in annoyance.

“You’re in your peak, Narime. Of course you do. But when you’ve been around the world so many times, you want some naïve hero type that can be shaped.” Tarako eyed Nathan. “I’m too old to be shaped myself.”

“That’s fine,” he said, aware that Tarako was setting her boundaries. “I only sleep with a small number of my Champions, relative to how many I have.”

“So I’ve heard.” The fox shrugged, as if disappointed he hadn’t chased her further. “In any case, I’ll need to return to the clan headquarters for tonight. Even if I’m not the chief, I still set events in motion today. They’ll panic if I just leave. You’re marching tomorrow?”

“Yes. Trafaumh is in danger of breaching.” If it hadn’t already.

“I’ll return then. If there are Messengers and demons to be vanquished, my Nine-Tail Slash will send them back to the Seven Hells they dared crawl out from.” She tilted her head and grinned from ear to ear. “Did I get the quote right?”

She had. Memories of her spewing that line over and over in the books he’d read in his childhood filled his mind. Despite himself, his face flushed and he looked away.

Narime tutted while Tarako giggled at his reaction.

Once the legendary fox teleported away from the palace, Nathan finished up for the night. Narime joined him and Kara in the control room, as they chased Seraph out. The fox planned to help coordinate the remaining operations.

Then Nathan collapsed. If he did anything else, it faded from memory.

The smell of food and Fei’s rumbling tummy awoke him. He stirred slowly, aware of the draining warmth of his bed. Chatter echoed in his ears.

No sex last night. He guessed that Fei and Ciana had crawled into his bed, but neither lay beside him.

Missing their company, he finally joined the world. Nathan sat up.

Then he stared at the small gathering taking place a half-dozen feet from his bed. How long had he dozed for?

“Good morning,” he said, voice too husky to express the dryness he tried to inflect into it.

Fei, Ciana, Sen, Sunstorm, and Reine sat in the small parlor attached to his bedroom. He slept in a palatial room separated from Alice’s by a wall and a door, but it contained amenities such as a complete set of sofas and a side table. At present, his Champions used them to lay out a huge breakfast spread.

“Good morning,” Ciana chirped as she shot to her feet.

Before she could get too far, Sunstorm cut her off. The one-armed unicorn glared at the other Champion, but Sunstorm refused to relent.

“You’re not wrangling with a plate of hot food like that,” she said. “Nathan can get his own food.”

Hurt splashed across Ciana’s expression for the briefest of instants, before she schooled her expression. She looked at Nathan. Perhaps she expected support.

He rose to his feet, glad that he’d worn some underwear given the company. Reine’s eyes still raked over his shirtless body and her tail wagged happily. Her presence was new to any morning gathering. He suspected somebody had dragged her here to prevent the spymaster from overworking herself.

“I’ll shower, then worry about food,” he said, dodging the argument. “I like to be clean when I eat.”

He looked pointedly at Fei, whose face was a mess of mustard and jam from the sausages and bread she’d been stuffing herself with. A pile of sausages and cold cuts so large that it threatened the table’s stability had been piled onto one plate. Her other plates contained bread, sauces, and enough cheese to make a small wheel. All she lacked was a crate of eggs.

The catgirl swallowed the food in her mouth, then said, “I showered.”

“Exactly my point,” he said.

Giggles escaped the other girls, while Fei glared at him. The effect was ruined by the way her cheeks puffed out when she filled them with an entire sausage.

Nathan entered his bathroom and began to shower. His mind occupied itself with his plans for the day, as well as possible problems moving into Trafaumh, while his body automatically scrubbed itself clean.

The door opened and somebody entered. Ciana appeared across from him with a neatly pressed uniform, which she lay on the change table, beside the basket that held his discarded clothes.

“I’ve said before that I can prepare my own clothes,” he said, performing their usual routine.

“I know. But I like doing this,” Ciana said, immediately deviating.

He looked at her as she ran her fingers over his uniform. Usually, she’d dance around his words or simply pretend that her assistance counted anyway. Even back in his old world, he’d prodded Ciana over the way she acted like his personal servant. Her omnipresence had been like a security blanket.

“Ciana?” he asked.

“We’re marching to Trafaumh today?” she asked, still not facing him.

“I’m not sure if we’ll be marching, but yes. Given the speed we need to move at, it’s more probable that I’ll teleport the largest force I can manage without collapsing.”

She nodded. As she walked past him again, he allowed himself to calm down.

Then she stopped right outside the shower stall. Her lips moved, as she spoke so quietly he swore she didn’t intend him to hear her.

“Are you going to leave me behind?”

Nathan shot forward and pulled Ciana into a hug. A squeal burst from her as she froze up. Her ears and tail rose in panic, and she seemed at a complete loss for what to do.

“Of course not,” he said.

“I, Nathan, what,” she gasped out. “You’re getting water everywhere, I need to clean that up and—”

As he should have expected, she used her panic and his current state as an excuse to try to escape. But his strength matched her and she refused to use enough to actually harm him. Instead she whined as he held her, her face cherry red as she pressed it against his bare chest.

“Ciana, you are always going to be one of the most important people in my life,” he told her, pulling away to look at her face. “Nothing will change that. We will find a way to make things work. Prosthetics exist, and maybe I’ll find a way to make them combat-capable.”

While magical prosthetics could match or exceed a regular soldier’s capabilities, the same wasn’t true of a Champion. Especially as they might conflict with the magic coming out of a gem. Nathan might be promising something impossible.

But he needed to give Ciana hope. And he genuinely refused to give up on her.

She rubbed her face against his chest again. “Thank you. So much.”

By the time she’d calmed down, the floor and her uniform truly were a mess. He cast a water spell to suck up all the freestanding water, although she’d need to change uniforms regardless.

He finished cleaning and dressed. By the time he emerged, everything appeared as expected. Ciana looked as she had when he entered the bathroom. Nobody teased her or him about what had clearly happened, as she would have emerged soaking wet.

“How soon are we heading out, Nathan? It’s already 8AM, but I don’t know if that matters as I doubt we’re marching,” Sunstorm asked.

“As soon as I confirm everything. It’ll likely be a few hours,” he said. “Reine, do you know the current status of Trafaumh and the Empire?”

For some reason, Fei shot him an annoyed look.

“There have been no breaches so far,” she said. “But I was ordered by both Fei and Seraph to minimize the use of my eyes while I rested. Has that order been rescinded?”

Nathan looked at Fei, who shrugged.

“She needs to rest as well,” she said.

“It’s fine.” He paused and thanked Ciana for the plate of food that she and Sunstorm had put together for him. “Reine, do you ever minimize your scrying?”

“It is impossible. I am always scrying.”

“I figured as much. Fei, you and Seraph had the right idea, but you basically ordered Reine to shut her eyes. Forcing her to sleep and eat is one thing, but pointlessly preventing her from using her vision is different.”

“Sorry,” Fei mumbled.

“I said it’s fine. Now, Reine, what do you know?”

Reine nibbled on a hardboiled egg as she stared into nothing with those eerie eyes of hers. “Fyre’s location is still unknown. The Empire’s borders remain safe. I believe the Spires have defeated their invasions, as they have ceased their fireworks display. Trafaumh is difficult to read, but I have seen no signs of breaches.”

“And I can’t feel any new cascades,” Nathan said after checking. While he did so, he also probed Fyre again.

She still felt oddly close. That gave him an idea of where she might be. If Reine failed to scry her and Fyre had yet to appear anywhere, there might be only one place she could be.

“We’ll send Narime to collect Astra and Nurevia,” he continued. “Otherwise, Fei, Sen, Sunstorm? Find Seraph and work with her to gather a large enough military force to enter Trafaumh and assist them with suppressing portal invasions and potential breaches. This is like the Mortiswatch situation. Only bring knights capable of fighting demons, and only those available within a few hours.”

“We were ahead of you last night.” Fei grinned triumphantly.

“But some of those knights might have been sent elsewhere by Kara to put out fires,” Sen warned. “Vala and her knight-killers might not be available.”

Nathan frowned. “If they’re not, or are too tired, have them rest. I’d like to catch Vala before I leave, but if I don’t, she needs to know that I need her unit at their best for when we fight Falmir. That might happen as soon as we reach Soreaux.”

They stared at him.

“Lord Nathan, Falmir’s army is currently weeks away from Soreaux. To reach it, they must—” Reine tried to say.

“Charlotte can teleport, the same as we can. Plus, we know she has Gareth in the city. Vala is our secret weapon.” Nathan held no illusions about the blood he’d spill in Soreaux.

And that some of it might be of Trafaumh’s erstwhile defenders.

After breakfast, he finally took the opportunity to follow up on his suspicion about Fyre. Fei and the others could give Seraph his orders.

“I think you should remain here,” he told Ciana.

She stared at him as if that suggestion was utterly insane.

“I mean it. If Fyre’s hiding, then she might not be ready to face others.”

Despite her current mood, Ciana nodded. Yet she still followed him.

He entered Alice’s bedroom a few minutes after the rest of them had presumably entered. His fiancée sat in her room. A huge wireless device stood beside her, emitting the familiar voice of some noble Nathan should remember but couldn’t.

After he pointed at the door, she blew him a kiss and waved him off. Ciana gave him an odd look as he walked toward the mental door. He’d just sent everyone here, after all. Why come here by himself?

But when he walked through the door, he arrived in an entirely different room. Ciana had at least remained in Alice’s bedroom.

A replica of the Imperial Palace’s true throne room surrounded them. The glittering throne occupied the far wall, a map table matching the one in the control room dominated the center, and a large water feature trickled in the corner. Bookcases, an office table, and an eating area filled out other corners.

Fyre lay across the throne, her head resting on one arm and her legs dangling over the other. She looked oddly similar to Ciana, but prettier. A horse beastkin with blonde hair and a modest bust. A pair of white angel wings stretched out from her back and spiral horns matching Ciana’s reached for the heavens. Even her uniform matched the unicorn’s, but had religious iconography in place of Imperial regalia.

She stared blankly at Nathan as she entered. Perhaps she didn’t realize he was real.

After he prodded her over their mental link, she shot upright and sat on the arm of the throne. Color filled her face.

“How’d you know I was here?” Fyre asked.

“I should be the one asking questions,” he drawled. “This is my secure mental fortress. The one that people can’t get inside without my permission. How’d you slip in here?”

She bit her lip. “I… I felt what happened after my duel with Charlotte. The cascade is my fault. I know. I wanted to disappear, but knew that I couldn’t because I’ve sworn to give you my everything. So I wanted to be somewhere only you could find me. Somehow, I just… ended up here when I teleported.”

“So you panicked after you felt the cascade.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose while walking across the throne room. His boots clicked on the marble flooring. “What makes you so sure you caused it?”

“This is the third time, isn’t it? The canyon, then Mortiswatch, now here. I let Siv through, then Charlotte attracted Atlas. This time, we’re both at fault. I should have known better. Kadria screamed at me not to take her bait.”

Fyre tried to smile at him, but her expression seemed to collapse in the process. All he saw was a small, vulnerable woman reaching out to him for help.

Unable to leave her be, he sat on the throne and pulled her into his lap. She nestled against him. Her horns jutted against his neck uncomfortably before he helped her find a suitable position.

“I heard Charlotte appeared above the city and made it glow with song,” Nathan said. “You’re battling her over legitimacy as the true prophet, so ignoring her wasn’t an option. Even ignoring that, wouldn’t she have triggered the invasion anyway?”

“Maybe.” Fyre pressed herself against him. “But I did fight her. And because I did, I wasn’t there to help you. Or to help Ciana. Her arm…” She sniffed. “How can I face her?”

“The same way you always have. Commiserate over spying on me during sex using your mental link.”

She snorted, then glared up at him with red eyes. “We don’t do it all the time.”

“You spent months lurking outside my bedroom every night, only to duck off whenever I got too hot and heavy with someone,” he said.

“I mean, you get hot and heavy with everyone in your bedroom.” Fyre grinned. “I’m still waiting for you to fuck the Twins out there.”

He frowned. “Why ‘out there?’”

“I don’t know. When you’re in here, it’s harder for us to monitor you. Maybe because this place is a mental fortress, so your defenses are up.” Her eyes wandered across the smooth stone walls that rose up into an infinite abyss above them. “I like this chamber. Can I… come here in the future? I know it’s private, but—”

“It’s fine,” he said. “You’re not the only one who can break in. Now that my main mental fortress is being used as a command room, I’ll likely make a separate private space than this, too.”

Fyre bit her lip. “Thanks. It did feel a little too crowded there. I’d like some sort of parlor or small garden we could relax in with you. Maybe with a little hot spring, and a heart-shaped bed that we can slip into after a chat.”

“Are you imagining a honeymoon suite or a mental getaway?”

“Both?” She giggled.

They sat in silence for a good minute. Fyre began humming as she played with his collar and her tail wagged against his legs.

A question continued to bother him.

“I expected more resistance,” he said slowly. “You vanished, yet made yourself easy to find. I get the feeling you’ve had enough time to recover, especially if you can overhear my conversations over the past day. So why have you waited here for me?”

Her eyes stared up at him, full of vulnerability. “I needed to know that you need me. That you’d come find me before rushing off to battle again, even if nobody knew where I was and I told you nothing. If I’m just a prophet to you—a way to channel Omria’s power—you could take Soreaux and just have me claim it later. But you didn’t. It... makes my heart flutter. You do care for me as more than just a tool, don’t you?”

A few months ago, Nathan knew he couldn’t answer this honestly. He’d struggled with Fyre’s behavior during the civil war. Afterward, he’d repeatedly pushed her to help him, knowing that she remained obsessed with him, but never returned the love.

But when he reached out and tickled her horse ears, causing her to bounce in his lap while giggling, it was with a clear mind.

“Yes,” he said. “You’re difficult almost all the time, but I do love you. I came looking for you out of concern, not just because I’d lost a useful sword.”

“Technically, you’re the one with the useful sword.” Her eyes glowed as she shifted in his lap.

But he stopped her. “Not now. I don’t have that much time.”

Pouting, she slid free from him. Fyre then wandered over to the map table. He watched her for nearly a minute as she soaked in the current state of Doumahr. Somehow, this table reflected the one Seraph had been using in the control room, even though he’d never set it do as much.

“I overheard that we’re going to Trafaumh today,” Fyre eventually said. “Should I go get ready?”

“Yes. But before that, I need to know what happened with the Regal Council and the clergy. At least before Charlotte arrived.” He leaned his head on one hand as he considered the problem. “It’s impossible to know what we’ll run into upon arriving in Soreaux, but if the Order remains intact, then we’ll need to play by their rules.”

“Really?” Her expression darkened. “The descension rites had effectively been completed. Lots of priests kept trying to stall them, but the Bishop Errante pushed them aside. He reminded me of Gorthal. Deeply passionate about Omria, but I can’t tell whether his belief is because he’s genuinely that religious or if he’s projecting his own life and ideals through his faith.”

This conversation felt dangerous to Nathan. Mostly because he’d been a faithful follower of Omria himself in the past, and even now he struggled with the effective abandonment of his faith.

Knowing that Omria was actually a succubus who had used and abandoned countless races in an eternal war against her former employer took the wind out of his religious sails.

Yet, deep down, he wanted something to believe in.

What was it that Tarako had said?

She didn’t believe in Omria, but did believe in her power? Was that what Nathan felt now? That what Omria stood for mattered more than what she truly was?

“I’m sorry. I triggered some troublesome thoughts,” Fyre said with a grimace, breaking him from his introspection. “I just meant to say that I think we can trust the Bishop Errante. He’s vastly different to the corrupt priests that surround him, as I don’t know if any of them truly believe. They’re trying to deny me because it’s inconvenient to them.”

“It’s fine.” He finally stood and approached her. “In that case, if we arrive in Soreaux and the Regal Council is still operational, we’ll pressure them to recognize you.”

“And if it’s not?”

Nathan’s face shrouded in darkness. An odd glimmer rose in Fyre’s eyes and her lips quirked upward.

“It depends on who’s taken power,” he said. “But I’m not leaving Soreaux unless it’s a staunch ally or vassal of the Empire. Anything less is risking Falmir swiping it out from under us.”

“And if that means deposing the Inquisition…?”

“I’ll do it. Although the question is less the Inquisition, and those trying to replace them.” He ran a hand over his face. “I’m terrified this will be a repeat of the Spires all over again with Sureev. Except this time, I’ll know the people involved and the consequences of intervening.”

Fyre rubbed his back. This wasn’t a topic he cared to elaborate on.

“We’ll also need you to visit the Spires,” he said, changing the topic. “Charlotte’s attempt to seize Soreaux confirms that there are places of power important to the goddess. She seems to have made a move on the Spires.”

“Are we heading there before Trafaumh?”

He shook his head. “The dark elves will tie you up for days in ceremony and bureaucracy. We don’t have that time. Anyway, go get ready. I’ll follow soon.”

Despite throwing him a wary look, Fyre left through the rune-encrusted door that controlled entrance and exit.

Nathan leaned over the map table for what felt like hours. Without a watch or other way to tell time, he might actually have been in here for that long. In truth, he suspected only a few minutes to pass.

Something changed in the room. His senses barely detected it.

No, not his senses. An odd feeling in his mind. Somebody had messed with the mental defenses hiding this place.

“Do you have anything important to add before I head north?” he asked aloud.

A voice answered him. Feminine and more than a little annoyed. “I’d hoped we might have an actual discussion given what’s taken place. Last we spoke, you seemed calm. Why are you directing your fury at me?”

He whirled on the source of the voice. “You said all of my former Champions were dead! That was Jafeila in there! My Jafeila! The same gems, the same background, the same haunted souls that she called up as soldiers to fight as undead. She even held the same dislike for Narime. At the end, she even told me that I’m her Nathan. You lied to me!”

A bronze-skinned succubus sat on the lip of the water feature, wearing little more than thin strips of black cloth over her nether regions and an entire jewelry store’s worth of hoops and bangles. Despite being the same race as the Twins, her figure was almost their polar opposite. Lithe curves and bottom-heavy. Her eyes were violet with red pupils. Notably, she had four curly horns instead of two.

She was Kadria, the elite Messenger who had effectively destroyed his old world and brought him to this one.

Her expression turned stony as he glared at her. “Perhaps I’ve lied or misled you in the past. I won’t deny that, even if I will argue until entropy consumes us that it was the right thing. But I did not lie about that.”

“Really? Then where is she from?”

“You’re not in the mood for a calm discussion about this. But recall that the multiverse is infinite. I used that infinite nature to draw forth the memories and emotions for two of your Champions. Those two idiots offered the same to one of your dark elf puppets. There is no way to truly bring back the women you knew. But there are countless more that exist in alternate worlds. Evidently, the partner saw fit to recruit Fei from one.”

“Jafeila,” he corrected. “They’re different.”

He tried to quell his fury. The multiverse nonsense seemed too complicated for him to handle right now. Was Kadria simply using sophistry to redirect his anger?

Whatever the case, screaming at her didn’t help. Even if he struggled with the succubus’s constant need for secrecy and condescension.

“Does the name matter that much?” Kadria asked.

“Yes. Fei is the dopey, loyal Champion of the Empire who has never known much in the way of trauma. Her innocence is part of who she is. Jafeila lost hers when the Empire fell and her village died.”

For some reason, Kadria looked away with a complicated expression. “That’s fair. In that case, I’ll be more upfront. I don’t know this Artemis. Based on Atlas’s comments earlier, she’s new.”

“I figured that much at least.”

“My educated guess, with no data to support it, is that she was recruited from the ruins of your world. An infinite number of possibilities branched off when you lost. No doubt I killed you in some, or you refused my deal. Perhaps, in some, Jafeila survives where you do not. And now she is Artemis, named after a hunting god from my world.”

Hunting… “That fits Jafeila. And her behavior toward me.”

Artemis had seemed to be hunting for him. Or at least a Nathan that matched her expectations.

Running a hand through his hair, Nathan tried to mentally grasp what he understood. “So she is my old Champion. But she’s also not.”

“You’ve told your catgirl the same thing multiple times: she is her own person, made as such due to the decisions and events that shape her. Artemis has the distant past of Jafeila, but she isn’t her. Do not let that blind you when you battle her again.”

He gulped. “I get it. I can’t afford to stay my blade.”

“Exactly.” Then Kadria grinned lewdly. “Although if you can find a way to tame the kitty the succubus way, I won’t mind. You’d have a two-for-one deal with the two kitties.”

Groaning, he tried to change the topic. “Different Messenger. Bauer?”

She shook her head. “He was around before I came here. Obviously, as he arrived here before I did. But I don’t know him that well. A bit of a loner. The Twins got along with him because they share a resentment for our old world.”

“So you know that much.”

“I know that Bauer is dangerous. We become Messengers for a reason. Usually to escape a terrible life or achieve stolen dreams. But Bauer had everything, and still took up the poisoned chalice. He’s driven by hatred and fury. This isn’t a job to him. He despises humanity and everything like it. Whatever happened to him prior to becoming a Messenger broke him.”

Now that Nathan had calmed down, he began to process what Kadria was telling him. He walked over to her.

That caused the succubus to blink across the room so she sat on his throne.

“Claiming your position in life?” he drawled.

“Oh, I hold no illusions about where I stand relative to you.” She made a lewd gesture with one hand in front of her mouth. “But we’re still partners, and doesn’t that mean I get my own throne? Or can at least sit in yours until you bounce me up and down on your cock?”

“Partners, huh?” He walked back up to the map table. “I told you last time—”

“That you want me on Doumahr. I know. Easier said than done. You do realize that Messengers need portals to invade through, right? I can piggy-back on your binding stones, but the portal requirement is a hard one.”

“I have countless portals.”

“None of which can sustain an elite Messenger like me naturally.”

“Atlas—”

As if expecting this turn of topic, Kadria snapped her fingers. Several binding stones lit up on the map.

Soreaux, the Spires, Waier, Mortiswatch, Kaufberg, and Aleich.

“There are two ways for Messengers to invade. The natural method uses energy that builds up in the binding stones, then slips in through them. The stronger the Messenger, the more energy. Hence why we rarely attack outside the oldest, biggest binding stones.”

“Which comprises the ones you’ve highlighted. Or at least, the nearby ones.”

“Yes. My old employer can lean on the scales, however. We still need an invasion, but he lowers the energy requirements. It’s basically a priority queue, and Atlas used it to sneak through. The Twins manipulated it when they first snuck in, but they were massively depowered because they didn’t do it officially.”

Nathan nodded. This made sense so far. “Can’t you do the same thing?”

“I tried. I’m locked out.” She sighed and leaned her head over the edge of the throne. “That means only the traditional method works. And you’ll need to have control of the portal when I come through, or else all hell breaks loose.”

“Agreed. But there are still options.” He looked at the highlighted binding stones. “Aleich—”

“Is still controlled by Beatrice.”

Shit. He’d forgotten. “The Spires, then?”

“Do you really think the dark elves will appreciate a Messenger waltzing through one of their portals to work with you?” Kadria laughed.

“Short of taking over Waier or the south-western Empire…” Nathan narrowed his eyes. “Soreaux. You’re suggesting I take over the binding stone of Trafaumh’s capital in the chaos and bring you through it.”

The clap Kadria gave him was her usual mocking variety. “Clap. Clap. Clap. Sorry, but I thought that was obvious. You already know that Dominic is opposed to Baudelaire. Odds are you’ll end up facing him, or somebody else will take him out for you. I don’t know if you need to permanently control the binding stone once I’m through, so if I slip through in the chaos, it’s fine.”

“What about the Messenger currently in control of it?”

A mocking smile rose to her face. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll be more than capable of taking care of anyone that gets in our way. But you’ll have me by your side soon enough. And then you’ll be able to introduce me to that wonderful bed of yours in the palace. The sheets look positively divine. The sort that I’d love to wrap myself up in as I drain out after you rail the shit out of me.”

For a woman who’d spent years pushing him away sexually, Kadria made no bones about her desire for him now.

Nathan admitted that he appreciated it. By the time he finished his march on Soreaux, he’d resolve countless issues. Including the loyalty of one little succubus tempting him to forget about his work.