Chapter 45

The Mothmin didn’t exclude or imprison Diya once they returned to the giant tree. However, the insectoid people made little effort to include him. They dropped him on a grand high platform and guided him to a large hall with fruit-laden tables and sweet-smelling, luminous beverages. He received a padded tree trunk for sitting while Gwyneth went on towards the grandest table in the room.

It amazed Diya how smoothly she conversed with the Mothmin. Their language sounded like little more than chittering and clicks to him. Yet Gwyneth spoke just as fast as the insectoid, laughed and embraced them. Once at the grand table, she kneeled in front of the largest Mothmin around, offering the rhombus. The specimen stared silently at the crystal, and then her black eyes shifted to Diya. It was the queen.

The gaze sent shivers through his spine. Unlike the other Mothmin, the queen's snow-white fuzz covered her entire body, and her gaze carried the same energy as the rhombus. Dainty limbs slid out from the wingcape and held the crystal. The queen closed her eyes and held them to her head for a moment.

Diya almost fell out of his seat when a pulse of invisible energy washed over him. It radiated outwards from the queen, and the rhombus grew brighter until it was almost too bright to look at. She released the crown, and it floated up into the air. The crystal stopped a few dozen feet above her throne, and a rhythmic clicking filled the hall. It spread through the entire structure until the soft sound felt like a muted roar. Shivers ran down Diya’s spine as he watched, listened, and felt the change in the air.

When Gwyneth returned to him several minutes later, Diya still hadn’t moved. Goosebumps covered the back of his neck and arms. She took a bowl off the table and filled it with the viscous beverage.

“Drink,” Gwyneth said, holding it to Diya’s lips.

The beverage relaxed his muscles. The goosebumps faded, and all remaining pain from the fight went with it.

“Did she just enchant me?” Diya sighed after emptying the bowl’s contents.

Gwyneth shook her head. “Arthur called it a religious experience the first time he experienced it. Like I said before, the Mothmin have a deeper connection to raw magic—Aether, according to Arthur’s understanding of their language—than we do. There are seven types. This was unrefined Life Aether. It's used for healing and plant magic.”

“They have cards, too, don’t they? That must mean they’re far more advanced than us. How come they’re only in the first interval?”

“The Mothmins’ motivation is different from ours. They're physically far weaker than us, too.”

“I guess they’ve got their limitations, too,” Diya said, watching the Mothmin as they gathered and danced under the crystal. “It’s understandable. Their society probably functions completely different from ours. Do they have the concept of money —”

“I’d love to talk, Diya, but do you mind if we leave it for later?” Gwyneth asked. “I’d love to socialise before we move on.”

“How long will that be?”

“Tomorrow. The queen said the crystal had suffered too much damage to open the vault and gate. It needs some time to regenerate.” Gwyneth removed the pilfered cards from her pocket and placed them on the table. “Why don’t you sort through these and sort your deck? Or, I could introduce you to my friends—”

“Go enjoy yourself,” Diya said. “I don’t want playing translator to get in the way of your fun.”

“It won’t be any trouble,” she replied.

“This is a lot for me to process, too. Don’t worry about me.”

Gwyneth nodded and returned to the grand table. He watched her go for a moment before summoning the pen and journal. As expected, a new card outline awaited him. Diya took his time tracing the runes and the artwork. He took breaks to watch the Mothmin and sample the different fruit. The luminous beverage was too rich for his taste, but he sipped it slowly.

Shadow Ink Blade

Much to Diya’s surprise, the runes made immediate sense to Diya. After repeating it several times for his cards, he'd grown familiar with ink. Blade featured heavily on Baba and Neer’s soul cards. He inferred shadow.

The card had two abilities. Merge With Shadows and Dark Passage. Unfortunately, Diya lacked the means to test it. The base version manifested as a tier-three card.

How the hell did this come from a tier-one climber? Did I copy her soul card’s power? Is it why it's so powerful?

Diya lacked the means to test the card’s power until he reached the next interval and upgraded his soul card. However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t make the most of the runes he had just learned. He flipped to the page with the Slimeskin Coat. Much to his annoyance, as soon as he added the Shadow rune to the card, its tier increased to three, rendering it useless for the time being.

After some thought, Diya chose to remove the Silence rune. When that didn’t work, he removed the padded sections along the forearms. The gauntlet already protected his left arm, and he knew better than to catch blows on the right. The experimentation drained his ink, forcing Diya to dispel his coat and gauntlet to restore a part of the inkwell.

The final Shadow Slimeskin Coat manifested as a tier two but only had padding on the shoulders and along the spine. The resulting garment was significantly lighter and didn’t sag anywhere. Diya felt more flexible even without hardening the padded areas. He resolved to invest in a plated vest the next time he exited the tower. Diya craved abdominal protection more than a breastplate.

Diya’s heart skipped a beat. The card featured a keyword: Shadow Touched. It was tempting to test the card straight away. However, he worried the Mothmin wouldn’t appreciate him doing so in their home.

The experiments had drained Diya’s stores, but he had just about enough to attempt one more card. The inkwell would restore itself during the night, and they were reasonably safe. So, he flipped through the journal until he found Seeking Inkfire Bolts. He copied the card but replaced the rune for bolts with Blade. When the tier didn’t increase, a smile spread across Diya’s lips. The artwork replaced the flaming bolts with dark-blue knives bathed in azure flames.

Seek Prime Beast
Repel Beasts
Haste
Silence
Ink
Harden
Soften
Stick
Relax
Bolt
Fire
Frost
Shadow
Blade

Diya’s list of known runes had grown significantly since he received his spirit. When he had the time and an ample supply of ink, he hoped to try different combinations and construct cards from scratch. Several words were missing from the list that he hoped to figure out. Coat, Gauntlet, Lance and Spear used a combination of runes in inconsistent sequences. Diya struggled to find a pattern and pinpoint the symbols he needed.

By the time Diya closed the journal, he found his body swaying and gait unsteady. He felt warm, and his body involuntarily moved with the dancers’ rhythm. The colourful lights appeared more vivid, and Diya felt more relaxed than he’d ever been in any Boleyn gathering.

Am I drunk?

Diya glanced at the empty bowl next to him. He had drained it several times while working.

No hangovers plagued Diya when he woke the following morning. He woke in a hammock, using his coat as a blanket. Much to his surprise, Gwyneth lay snuggled next to him. The hammock had squashed them together, and she lay facing away from him. Diya struggled to recall how they ended up sleeping in the same hammock. Flashes of them dancing together returned to him, but not much else.

I hope nothing happened. Working together could get awkward otherwise.

Still recovering from what happened with Victoria, Diya didn’t feel ready to entangle with anyone romantically or carnally. Their parting kiss was the only romantic moment they’d ever shared, but Edgar’s status and Alexander’s condition had tainted it. Even though he didn’t want anything romantic to ever happen with her, he missed her as a friend. Given his quest’s urgency, Diya hadn’t given it much thought. However, he was sure that he wanted to keep things professional and platonic with Gwyneth.

As Diya lay next to Gwyneth, he struggled to deny the underlying attraction. She had beautiful eyes and features. Diya never understood why the British nobility looked down on ginger hair or freckles. The fiery red mane and complexion didn’t put him off at all. Instead, it gave Gwyneth character. In fact, after a lifetime of living amongst the nobility with their constant grooming and make-up, her relaxed, unrestrained nature appealed to him.

I couldn’t ask for a better climbing companion. Her knowledge of cards and the tower is a bonus, too. Maybe she can help me figure out Gaia’s secret and Neer’s fate.

The Mothmin appeared to have no sense of privacy or modesty. They wore no clothes, and their home had no doors except barriers connecting the tree trunk’s interior to the outside world. When Diya sat up, he found several Mothmin of varying shapes, sizes, and colours watching them. A giant bucket of water, two bowls, and a platter of fruit sat on a carved stump. Gwyneth stirred while he helped himself to both.

A slender Mothmin no taller than Diya’s chest approached them as soon as Gwyneth left the hammock. The pair spoke at length and laughed. They caressed each other’s arms before parting.

“The vault and gate are open,” Gwyneth said, pointing at a hallway connected to the alcove where they had slept. “The queen has given us permission to collect Arthur’s effects and then move on.”

“You mean we can just walk in?” Diya asked. “No guards or patrol?”

“The vault exists to protect the Mothmin’s most valuable prizes from outsiders, and they see me as one of their own. Since you helped retrieve their crown, they trust you, too.”

“What’s stopping us from taking whatever we want then?”

“Our conscience. The Mothmin are friends, and I would never steal from them.” Gwyneth frowned at him. “That means you won’t either.”

“I won’t.” Diya held up his hands, feigning surrender. “I’m just curious. You don’t meet creatures at the same intelligence levels as humans every day, after all.”

“The Mothmin are significantly smarter than us,” Gwyneth told him. “The communications I share with them are just surface level. They share memories with each other and remember everything they learn. Magically they're far ahead, too. It's just their physical prowess that holds them back.”

“Can’t they nurture their soul cards to even things out?”

“Gaia doesn’t give them soul cards. As I said, things are different for them. Don’t ask me how. I can’t begin to explain it. Perhaps Arthur’s research will help.”

The gate to the next floor glowed at the back of the vault. As Diya looked around the giant domed room, his mouth fell open. Cores, cards, pelts, bones, and all manner of Gaia’s most valuable resources filled the room. Diya’s palms itched as he followed Victoria through the vault. He worried that if any noble houses found out about the Mothmin’s valuables, they’d likely ravage the floor and commit genocide. Gwyneth’s unwillingness to tell him about them made more sense.

Gwyneth navigated the vault like it wasn’t her first time in the cavernous room. She stopped at a carved barked pedestal housing a brown leather satchel. It appeared light and just about big enough for a couple of notebooks and pens. Gwyneth checked its contents and then nodded. Her lips spread into a soft but sad smile.

“Everything okay?” Diya asked as Gwyneth wiped her eyes.

“Yes.” She nodded. “It’s just nice to find a piece of Arthur.” Cards filled the satchel. Gwyneth showed them to Diya, and most of them were tier-zero journals. “I bet I’ll need a cypher to read them, but it's a start. His research isn’t lost, after all.”

Gwyneth slung the satchel across her torso and walked through the gate. Diya hesitated before following her. He glanced at the riches one last time. It was tempting to grab a core. He sighed and shook his head.

Taking anything would make me as bad as Edgar.

Diya marched through the gate, entering the interval’s final floor.