III-61 Provoke (II)

“The Eldest follows.” This is a fundamental axiom for all Seekers who have not only witnessed the Outside and kept their minds intact but al

“The Eldest follows.”

This is a fundamental axiom for all Seekers who have not only witnessed the Outside and kept their minds intact but also allowed that which lurks beyond the system to reside in them. When the colors from that place beyond settles within our pattern-limited flesh, a synthesis follows. But with the beginning of that synthesis, you become a child of the Eldest, for before all the other Outsiders were, the Eldest was waiting.

But tragically, we are the only ones that can truly notice the Inverted Progenitor. For the Eldest exists in relation to its uncanny mixed descendants, but remains unknown to its direct spawn. For they are not apart from the Eldest, but too closely intertwined.

Think on this: Your skin cells do not have a conversation with you, do they? Yes. So the lacking metaphor serves its end.

And what does the Eldest seek? A change. A mutation. A splitting of its lines. It yearns to instill the disorder of the shapeless Outside within a structure of pattern-based stability, and should you endure before the initial colors, the Eldest will follow, and they will paint you from within. They will make you something new.

But herein comes a stranger struggle—the Eldest cares only for change. Something will be grown within you. Something meant to rise from your flesh, or to be subsumed by your flesh. And for you to endure, Seeker. For you to remain changed but continual unto yourself rather than a host to a new organism, you must devour the unreason that lives within you. You must consume the strangeness, and integrate it into your order.

For the host and spawn of this metamorphosis are in question, and ultimately, the transformation itself is what the Eldest desires…

-Face of the Stranger: Eldritch Beings at the System’s Periphery

III-61

Provoke (II)

Mind-rending colors spilled out from Uva and trickled along the exterior of Shiv’s Vitae. The Deathless tried to detach his mana, but whatever had a grip on him refused to let him go. The eldritch colors pressed against Shiv’s Vitae streams but failed to seep in. He watched it wash against the outer layer of his Vitae like a flood of oil being poured across water as he pulled back.

Uva directed her Dreamtaker’s Gaze at the colors spilled out of her, but rather than splitting the colors rushing out from her body, they simply merged, and the essence of the Outside grew even stronger.

A whispering voice crawled across Shiv’s brain matter. It felt like a spider was tapping its limbs along the inside of his head, trying to reach the very core of his self. Yet, though the spider dug and pulled, it couldn’t rip through enough of Shiv to embed itself.

“Will not change.”

The voice was the barest whisper, and Shiv felt an ocean of sorrow and unhappiness come with it. A second later, the spider receded from his mind, and the colors were retracted from his Vitae as well. The presence holding him let him free, and Shiv pulled his Vitae back into himself. His mind reeled at what he just experienced, and he barely noticed Uva holding his face, looking into his eyes.

“Shiv? Shiv? Are you well? Did it do something to you?”

He didn’t reply. Not immediately. Instead, he summoned a swirling mass of Vitae atop the palm of his hand and checked it for any lingering Outsider influence. When that was done, he looked into Uva’s eyes—and flinched. “The hells…” Uva went still, but her heart began to speed up. He cupped her face and stared at two clusters of eight spider-like ocelli forming new irises within her colorful eyes. And they were watching him as well. Something inside her was watching him.

“Shiv,” Uva swallowed. A few of her Psychomancy strands were coiled tight around her own mind. She forced herself to take breaths to combat her terror—terror that Shiv could taste thanks to his Intimidation Skill. “What do you see? What happened?”

“There’s something inside your eyes, now,” Shiv said. “Something that wasn’t there before. It’s like two sets of spider eyes inside yours. And something reached out from the inside of your soul. It tried to sink itself into me, but it couldn’t. It couldn’t get through my soul or my mind. And that made it sad.”

“Sad?” Uva whispered.

“Yeah. Sad enough that I felt it. Like it was mourning something. But there’s something inside you. You said the Eldest placed an avatar inside your soul or something earlier? Well. This might be it.” Shiv hesitated for a moment, but he pushed his worries aside. “I’m going to try again.”

Uva went stiff. “Are you sure that’s wise?”

“No. But we need to know what the hells this thing is and what it might be doing to you. I’m not going to let some Outsider just twist you from the inside.” Shiv slipped his Vitae into her again. He moved carefully, waiting for the thing inside Uva to seize him again. He felt his Vitaemancy get pushed back instead.

“I don’t want you. You are a permanent thing. You do not change. Anathema.”

“Can you hear it talking to me?” Shiv said, shrugging off the tension building inside his gut.

“I… Yes.” Uva blinked as she listened. “Yes. But it's quiet. And distant.”

“Away,” the entity pushed at Shiv’s Vitae again. 

He pushed back slightly. “Hey. I’m not leaving. Not until I get some answers from you. Like what are you? And are you doing inside her soul?”

“Superimposition,” the entity said. “One will hatch from the other. The other will be womb-gate-origination.”

Shiv clenched his jaw at that. “Yeah. No. Get out.”

“Won’t. Can’t. We are already fused. Fused and grown as she used the Gaze. As she let the Outside flow through her. As her body was used to incubate more Aberrant Fractals.”

He reached out with his Vitae, trying to find where the entity was hiding. It pushed against him even harder this time, but Shiv resisted, holding himself in place. “Yeah. Not leaving until you do.”

“Cannot separate us without vivisecting her soul. Your presence is pointless. You cannot serve as an Offspring.”

A shudder of anger passed through Shiv. He fed it into his Vitaemancy and kept going. “Which of your skills changed? Can you use them? I’m gonna try and see what’s wrong with them.”

Uva lifted a trembling hand and summoned a rush of coldness. A jagged icicle materialized, but its texture was different. As was the mana radiating off of it. It wasn’t a chunk of ice, but rather an oppressive heat-barren stillness. A crystallized layer of tarnished golden mana was fused over it, and Shiv knew what it was the moment he felt the mana it radiated erode his Chronomancy field.

“My Cryomancy was not yet Adept before. Now, it has been changed into something that stills the pace of time and drinks away all light from the world.”

Shiv watched as the insides of the icicle grew darker with each passing second. “What’s the Skill Tier now?”

“Adept. I haven’t had the opportunity to test it. Or the nerve, to be honest. So far, it just seems to freeze something on a temporal basis while drastically lowering its temperature. But I have no Chronomancy.”

Shiv followed her rippling soul and found the position of the skill. He tried pressing into it. 

The avatar inside her froze and shattered Shiv’s Vitae strands in retaliation.

Shiv bit back a grunt of discomfort as coldness filled his insides. A scattershot of red and white mana bounced off the Chronomancy shielding his bare torso. “You godsdamned—” He glared at the thing inside Uva.

“Frost. Stillness. They are one and the same to the Outside,” the avatar lurking inside Uva whispered. “Both are crystallizations of an instant. But not you. You are acceleration. Acceleration to engineer a falsehood of stillness. We are connected here. Our mana levels were even. And I was transplanted in place with this. Her Reflexes have changed as well. I will not leave. I cannot. But I can tell you what I have altered.”

The Deathless shared a glance with Uva. “Why?”

“To convince you to depart. Your efforts serve no purpose. We will change. We are changing. The only thing that may be decided is which will be dominant over the other. The pattern. Or the chaos.”

“Why? Why does this have to happen? Is this some kind of Outsider system strife bullshit?”

“No,” the avatar said. “We are. So that the Eldest retroactively was. The descendants must continue. Changes must unfold. Otherwise, the Eldest cannot be.”

“Alright. Great. Retro-continuity eldritch bullshit.” Shiv sighed. “I felling hate the Outside.”

“Your feelings do not affect existence. It is not fruitful.”

“Uva. You trust me?” Shiv asked.

“Yes,” she replied. He could taste the dread she was keeping at bay leaking over from her mind.

He took a breath as he tried something. “Hey. Avatar. Whatever you are. Can you survive inside her if I break the skills you’re infesting? What happens if I crush her Cryomancy.”

“Then I am wounded. And so is she. But another akin to me will be transplanted. Will superimpose. Unless you seek to break her entirely. And you will not. I have tasted your affection. You will not take this course. She is fated to be—”

“Yeah. No.” Shiv gritted his teeth and halted time. He also activated his Outside Context Problem for good measure, just in case this damn thing had some counter-time magic trick hiding somewhere up its ass. This proved to be wise, as soon as he triggered his Chronomancy, a burst of frozen time exploded out from Uva and passed through Shiv. He cast out his Vitae as soon as the attack missed him and directed his unique mana deep through the skill. This time, the entity was unprepared and unable to react. Shiv’s mana washed deep through Uva’s altered Cryomancy skill—and he kept going. Rather than there being an end to her of the skill, it was like a tunnel leading to another side. Halfway through, he gained an Animated Skill Infusion but kept going regardless. He dismissed the notification as his Vitae spread out from within the avatar’s soul. It felt misshapen and wrong around him. 

No longer was it like oil and water. Instead, his vitality greeted its soulstuff like a burning rod being driven through inner flesh. Shiv briefly made sure Uva was fine on her end before he started tearing the avatar apart from the inside. The moment he struck the avatar, his Outside Context Problem ended in a burst of Vitae. An explosion of exhaustion trembled through Shiv, and then promptly faded as he stole vitality from the avatar as well.

A piercing scream sounded from inside Uva. The entity tried to react, but Shiv ripped with all his might, shredding the thing’s soul.

Vitaemancy 69 > 70

Strider of the Unbending Path 138 > 139

Cracks spread along his temporal shell. He didn’t care. Shiv whipped and tore at anything he could touch.

“Stop! Stop! Not up to—”

Its voice cut out as he seized two sides of its soul and pulled in opposite directions. The Deathless growled as the avatar opened down the middle. It gave a final choked howl before it split apart down the middle. But even as he pulled the avatar in half, he continued drinking from its vitality, draining it until there was nothing left.

As his temporal shell shattered, he drew in the final few drips of its vitality before pulling his Vitae out from Uva.

The Eldest is displeased by your actions.

The Eldest is confused by your nature.

Feat Gained: Causal Scargiver (Unique) - Causes the injuries inflicted by the Pathbearer to be scarred upon their enemy across time and causality.

Feat [3/3]

Uva looked up at Shiv with her eyes wide and her breath hitched. The strange spider ocelli inside her eyes were gone. As was any presence of the avatar. The Eldest was pissed off, though. But considering what they were trying to do with Uva, the Eldest could go fuck themselves with a calcified clump of shit.

“You alright?” Shiv said. He observed Uva, waiting to see if anything was wrong, if some other eldritch avatar might try reaching across from her soul. When nothing happened after a minute, she let out a shuddering breath.

“I can’t feel the avatar anymore,” Uva said. She blinked as she rubbed at her chest. “What did you do to it?”

“Froze time. Went out of context. Reached across your skill with my Vitaemancy, then pulled the asshole in half from the inside.” The Deathless sneered. “The piece of shit was giving me the whole ‘it’s fated to be this way’ speech. So much for things being fated, huh, Eldest?”

The Eldest has marked you as anathema.

The newest notification made Shiv laugh. “Like you give a shit about what we wanted beforehand. I didn’t start this.”

The Umbral Psychomancer just gawked at him blankly.

“Hey, Uva, get the Dreamtaker’s attention, too. I want to speak with them.”

“Why?”

“Just wanna let all these Outsiders know where they stand with me,” Shiv growled under his breath.

Uva’s eyes shifted through several different hues, and a voice sounded from within. “Ah. Unchanging One. Deathless—”

“Dreamtaker. I’m going to keep this brief because I’m tired of dealing with eldritch horseshit. If you or another one of your eldritch friends decide to do something to Uva’s body, mind, or soul that’s not okay with, I’m going to launch a few Vitae Golems at the Outside and have Adam use them as target practice. Do we understand each other.”

The Outsider was quiet for a beat. “This is an extreme response.”

“It’s going to be my first and only response with you people with how much I hate dealing with you. Keep your godsdamned kind under control. Or I find out what pretty colors you all make when your souls catch fire. Alright. I’m done talking. Fuck off, and don’t bother replying.”

The Dreamtaker let out a quiet rumble of incomprehensible noises before going quiet.

Uva’s mouth remained open.

“You okay?” Shiv asked. “The Dreamtaker’s not threatening you on the inside or anything, right?”

“No. She’s quiet. And dumbstruck, I think. She doesn’t understand why you are so agitated. She still can’t perceive any part of the Eldest’s existence.” Uva blinked rapidly as ran a hand along her body again. “And I can’t believe you managed to kill it.”

“Yeah, well, they aren’t the only ones that can perform acts of bullshit. And if they do start changing you from the inside again, you let me know so I can follow through on that threat. I wasn’t lying when I said I’m tired with the Outsiders and their incomprehensible nonsense.” He calmed himself slightly. “At least I got a Feat out of killing that thing.”

“A Feat,” Uva said with surprise.

“Yeah.” Shiv grinned as he brought up his new reward. “Casual Scargiver. From the way it's described, I can keep the Outsiders injured across time and causality. What does that mean? I’m not entirely sure. I guess I’ll find out when I end up killing someone later. My guess is that if I hurt someone, they’ll stay hurt now. At least until they fix themselves up. They can’t just jump back in time and remove the wound with Chronomancy like I can.”

“I…” Uva pinched the bridge of her nose. “Shiv. Adam is right. You are absolutely ridiculous, sometimes.” Shiv grinned as he pressed his body against hers. Uva’s eyes remained locked with his before she broke and let out a soft chuckle. “Well. I’m glad I came to you with this matter, Hero Shiv. I was so very worried before, but now…” She placed a hand on his chest, and Shiv felt his inside ignite at her touch.

“You know,” Shiv swallowed. “We should still tell Adam and… Valor about this.”

“Later,” she breathed. “We still need to monitor the situation. See if the Eldest returns.”

“Yeah,” Shiv whispered, pulling her closer. “We should give it a few minutes. Or an hour. In the meantime… Again?”

“Again,” she answered, wrapping herself around him once more.

***

“And you’re sure you killed it?” Adam asked, looking over Uva with concern.

Shiv stared Whisper down as he let the orc into his cape. The final member of the stealth team was in place with Can Hu and Valor. The only thing left to do now was wait for Uva to enter his Forest of Alloy and then they could depart.

“Yeah,” Shiv said, blowing some dust off his Mask of False Paths. “I definitely killed the damn thing. Got a Feat out of the deal too. Did I mention that?”

Adam glared like he was trying to will Shiv’s head to explode. “You did. Four times already. This makes it a fifth.”

“Really? Damn. My Memorization Skill must be regressing. You want to hear about what it does—” A jet of water cracked against the back of Shiv’s head, causing him to guffaw. “Is that a no?”

“You bastard piece of shit,” Adam hissed through clenched teeth, trying not to laugh. He pointed his hand at Shiv, and the Gate Lord’s Hydromancy mana condensed into a narrow sphere at the tip of his index finger. “Another word and I soak you. I’ll get your eyes and ears.”

“Ah, shit, my only weakness,” Shiv sighed. “I guess I better just tell myself what the skill does in case I forget—” Adam fired a curving jet of water straight into Shiv’s left ear. It struck dead-on against his inner ear, and the Deathless twisted away. “Agh. Damn good shot.” He started whacking at his head to get the water to come out. “Okay. You got me. I’ll just do it mentally.”

Adam shook his head. “It’s like trying to discipline a large, bloody dog sometimes.”

“Vera was the same way.” Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned as Rose Van Erren stood at the tower’s entrance. Shiv blinked at her as he pounded against his skull twice more, dislodging the water. Adam stepped away from Uva as he shot a worried look at Shiv. “The orcs?”

“All in the cape and accounted for. They didn’t see her.”

“Good.” Adam marched over and took his mother by the arm. She was wearing a plain white dress, and her complexion was still pale. Despite this, she looked stronger than she did a few days ago. Her eyes weren’t so sunken anymore, her hair looked more vibrant, and her body was slowly developing muscle. Even so, the slowness of her movements told Shiv she wasn’t even as fast as an Initiate in terms of Reflexes. She might have gotten some skills back, but she needed to level them all again.

“Mother, what are you doing here? You need to rest and recover.” Adam took his mother by the arm. 

She shook her head and pushed him away gently. “I can walk on my own, Adam. I’m feeble, not crippled. And as for rest and recover, I tried that, but your gate has a crippling lack of wine and cigarettes. I can’t quite sleep so well without them.” Her eyes slipped past Adam and fell on Shiv. As he looked back at her, she averted her gaze.

At least things are going better than last time, Shiv thought.

“So. You’re all leaving again?” She asked. “Off to save Blackedge.”

“Adam isn’t leaving,” Shiv replied. “He’ll be nearby, trying to coordinate the orcs and plan the town evacuation mission.”

“Oh. And what will you be doing?” there was a hint of a challenge in her voice.

“Infiltrating Stormhalt and his Inquisitors. Hopefully, I can get them to start a fight with Sullain and his Necrotechs. Save us some trouble.”

Rose’s expression turned into a savage scowl. “Oh. Havel’s involved in this, is he? Of course he is, the fucking cunt. Jealous sack of refuse never could let anything go. Just never expected him to take thing this far.” She spat on the ground to show her distaste for City-Lord Stormhalt. “Fucker.”

Adam, Shiv, and Uva traded looks. The Gate Lord in particular looked mortified by his mother’s language, absolutely uncertain about how to react.

“Well. Do you have room for one more in that dimensional cape of yours?” Rose sniffled.

Silence followed. Everyone stared at Rose.

“M-mother,” Adam began.

“I’m not going to be lying about while your father fights for our town and his life,” Rose said, cutting him off. “It's not happening. I’m a Pathbearer, too. I’m going to help. Actually, you idiot kids should have come to me about this shit instead of trying to plan this yourselves.” She did a double-take at Uva. “Actually, how old are you, Dark Elf?”

“Umbral,” Uva said, narrowing her eyes.

“Yeah. That is not the part I care about. I just want to know if there’s an adult among you.”

“We’re all adults,” Shiv replied.

Rose let out a pitched laugh. “Truly? Well, you do have more facial hair than your dad did at your age. Bad news is that it looks like what your mom had down below.”

Shiv tried not to picture her words. Shiv managed not to gag. In the corner of his eye, he saw Adam look on in growing horror.

“I am twenty-two years of age,” Uva said with quiet dignity. Shiv noticed her lip twitched slightly, but she was keeping herself polite for Adam’s sake. “I have undergone—”

“Great. So. You’re a baby, too. An extra baby for an elf. Fuck me, is there anyone over thirty among you? Wait. Where’s the lich and the bot? Are they in your cape?”

Adam coughed. “Mother, what we’re about to do is going to be extremely dangerous. You—There are things you can do here. I could use your insight—”

“Are you going to be dealing with Havel or are they?” Rose asked.

“I… Uh…”

“So, I’ll be more useful there. I know Havel. Oh, I know that worthless mongrel far too well for my own liking. Did father tell you I was supposed to be betrothed to him? That I went after your father just to infuriate your grandfather for selling me off like a broodmare?” Adam’s mouth was like a door left open during a rainstorm. It slammed open and closed over and over again as he struggled to produce words. “Well. Your father turned out to be diamond, while Havel stayed a bitch. But that didn’t stop him for trying to wed me out of spite. Even if he wasn’t that interested in me. Oh, no, the fact that I went with Roland Arrow was the part that he couldn’t take. Losing. Which is what we’re going to make him do again.”

“Well, how are you skills?” Shiv asked.

“Absolutely dreadful. Not a single one at Adept.” Rose spat those words with annoyance but not fear. She didn’t care that she was weak, and she was determined to come along. “I’m not offering myself as a combat Pathbearer—I’m not stupid, Lowe.”

“Shiv. The name is Shiv.”

Rose scoffed and rolled her eyes. She looked more than little like Adam when she did that. “Shiv. Fine. Yes. I’m not stupid. I know I’m worthless in a force-on-force confrontation. But I have a question: Which of you served with the Inquisition? Who among you has actually fought in a campaign and marched with a Republic army?”

“I graduated from the academy,” Adam squeaked.

Rose’s expression wilted at that. “You… you did, did you? I… Gods, there’s so much I missed.” A flash of sorrow passed over the woman’s features, but she forced it down. “But, Adam, have you served in the Guard? The Auxiliaries?”

“I took a class under Captain Irons.”

“Irons?” Rose did a double-take. “That fucking moron is still alive? And he made captain.”

Adam’s eyes widened. “Yes?”

“Broken Moon, the Republic is in worse state than I thought if they promoted that suicidal war-addict. But also, no, Adam. That’s a class. Which makes me the only person here who’s actually been in the Guard, and the only person who knows how Havel thinks. I’m going. No more arguments. Shiv. Activate your cape and let me in.”

The Deathless stared at Adam and projected a telepathic thought. “Hey. Adam. Control your mother.”

“What the felling hells do you mean control my mother,” Adam hissed in reply. “What do you want me to do?”

“Tell her she’s not going?” Shiv answered.

As Rose walked toward him, each step she took looked like a struggle. She was definitely not ready to be away from her bed.

“Adam!” Shiv called.

“I—I—” The Gate Lord’s face was scrunched tight with indecision. His mouth moved, but no sounds came out. 

Shiv bit back a sigh. “Listen. Lady Erren—”

“That’s what people called my mother,” Rose said. She squinted up at him. “Cape. Also, were you bigger a few days ago?”

“Yeah, skill stuff,” Shiv answered. “But I’m going to be heading into a mess and the last few times I tried to be a spy, it ended bloody. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to come with me.”

“It’s a shit idea, but being a Pathbearer is all about surviving an endless series of shit ideas and shit situations until you finally die in battle.” Her expression hardened. “Or someone you consider to be your brother and sister end up murdering you. That can happen, too.”

Shiv flinched.

Uva glared at Rose. “You are risking yourself needlessly. Everything you know can be compiled into an intelligence report and reviewed.”

Rose didn’t even look at Uva, she just repeated her command to Shiv. “Open your cape. I’m going. If you don’t let me in, I’ll find my way over myself.”

“Mother,” Adam finally managed to say.

“I will not stay broken and worthless in a bed!” Rose shouted. Adam shuddered in response. “I will not. I need to be out in the field. I must be close to the battle, doing something.” She bit her lip. “I need to be of some worth. I need to build skills again. And quickly. I will not let Roland struggle alone. I won’t.”

This time, she met Shiv’s gaze without flinching.

“You will need to consign me to a cell to stop me,” Rose added. And though she said that to Shiv, the challenge was Adam’s to bear.

And that was the moment Shiv knew she was probably going with him.

“I can watch over her within the Forest of Alloy inside Shiv’s cape,” Uva said, regarding Rose with a slight frown. “So long as she proves not to be a liability for us. Or herself.”

Rose looked Uva up and down. “Oh, don’t worry about me, girl. I’ll only be of use.”

“Uva,” Adam croaked. “There are orcs inside his cape. Orcs.”

“Orcs?” Rose snorted, as if the gray brutes weren’t a problem at all. “Oh, those cockless, predictable monsters. I’ve killed more than a few of those. They’re easy to play with as well. I’m not worried about any orcs. Now. Stop wasting time and let me in. I wish to speak with the lich and automaton.”

“Are we leaving yet, Insul?” Whisper’s voice sounded from Shiv’s cape. The Dimensionality lining the material quivered as the orc used his magic to connect to the outside. “Or has there been a delay?”

Rose went still. Then she looked at Shiv. “Insul? I—you invoked the Bloodrites of the Vaketh-Insul?”

“You know about that?” Shiv asked.

Rose Van Erren groaned with displeasure. “Know about them—-the Challenger offered me the same ritual thirty years ago. I told him to drop asshole first on a naked blade. But you agreed… Is this the army you’re going to use to liberate Blackedge.” She blinked in realization. “Adam?”

“I…” Adam winced. “Yes?”

“Oh, Broken Moon,” Rose rubbed at her face. “Alright. Fine. Right. The best of a shit choice, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Shiv said.

Rose glared up at the ceiling, but with the way she was blinking, she was reading something. “Oh, laugh it up, Challenger. Like I’m going to be cowed by your dickless wonders. In fact, I’m going inside to give them a piece of my mind—cape! Shiv! Now!”

The Challenger wants you to bring Rose Van Erren with you.

He promises the orcs will behave.

He promises this will be amusing.

Shiv trusted the Challenger about as much as he trusted a blood-starved vampire with a baby. “Uva,” Shiv called out. “You go in first.”

“I’ll keep the orcs controlled,” she said. She eyed Rose once more. “But… are we sure about this?”

“Not a godsdamned bit. But I don’t think I want to womanhandle Adam’s mom. And Adam’s no godsdamned help right now either.”

“What do you want me to do?” Adam hissed.

“Manhandle your mom,” Shiv answered.

Rose turned to eye Adam. The Gate Lord’s legs started shaking.

Shiv rolled his eyes. Uva stepped into his cape first—and just as she passed through, Rose flung herself in.

Adam’s jaw was clenched so tight that Shiv was worried he was going to chip a tooth.

“You know, it’s still not too late to drag her out,” Shiv said. “Uva will do it if we won’t.”

The Gate Lord nodded, but said nothing.

“You can’t even give that order, can you?”

“No,” Adam muttered. He looked at once overwhelmed and ashamed. “No, I cannot.”

Shiv sighed. “Alright. Look. She’s probably going to be safer in there than a lot of places if the orcs manage to slip into the gate. At least Uva’s watching over her. Along with Valor and Can Hu. I’ll make sure nothing happens to her. I’ll just jump back immediately if something goes wrong.”

“I can’t believe I just let her do that,” Adam breathed. “Why couldn’t I stop her? Why did I let her go in? Is… is she alright?”

Shiv paused. “Uva? Uva? What’s the situation in there?”

The Umbral’s mana strands twitched. Shiv frowned, and an ill-feeling filled his gut. “Uva?”

***

Uva glared at Rose Van Erren as she dragged the human redhead away from the orc she was attacking. Rose was less than an Initiate in terms of Physicality and half a head shorter than Uva. But the moment she got into the Forest of Alloy and laid eyes on Whisper, she went berserk and attacked the orc. She tried gouging his eyes with her fingers and ripping his throat out with her teeth.

Whisper, for his part, didn’t resist. In fact, he had a grin of satisfaction on his face.

“You motherfucker! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you for what you did to Lena.”

“It’s good to see you again, too, Lady Van Erren,” Whisper chuckled. “I would say I’m surprised to encounter you here, but I already knew about your presence since a few days ago. And I must confess I was looking forward to our reunion.” 

Rose seethed as Uva held her at bay. The Umbral eyed the orc, and he held up his hands. The other orcs looked with amusement as well. Behind them, Can Hu and Valor observed the unfolding conflict in silence.

“I was the victim in this,” Whisper said. “You saw, Sister Uva. As did the rest of you.”

The other orcs grunted in accord, and Rose let out a very unladylike growl as she tried to push past Uva. The Umbral held her still.

“When you said you didn’t fear the orcs, I thought you were a fool,” Uva hissed at Rose. “Not a mad woman. What could possibly possess you to attack an orc in your state.”

“He murdered my cousin,” Rose snarled. “You—When you said orcs, I didn’t think this one would be with you, too. He’s supposed to be dead. Roland broke his soul. I watched you die!”

“Not all of my soul,” Whisper replied. “Not nearly enough. And now, his life might very well be in my hands. Isn’t life delicious, Lady Van Erren?”

Uva sighed. “I’m removing you—”

“No!” Rose barked. She pushed away from the Umbral and glared at the orcs. She drew in a sharp breath through her teeth, but adopted a hateful stare in place of further violence. “I’ll control myself. But I stay. I have to stay.”

Uva hesitated as the former Diviner and the robed orc stared each other down. The moment was only broken when Valor slipped out from between the orcs. Rose blinked, and before she could say anything, Valor spoke first. “Lady Van Erren. Have you come to partake this mission?”

Rose’s mouth opened as her eye narrowed. “Yes. Wait. Have we… Who are you, lich? Why does your voice sound familiar.”

“I am Valor Thann. I believe you’ve faced my son before.”

The Diviner’s jaw went slack.

Whisper chuckled. “The system is provoking you, Rose. So many ghosts of your past inside a tight little dimension. Are you sure you still wish to stay?”