Ilus Rises: Chapter 17 Part 1 of 2

Chapter 17:

The glimmers of morning were starting to dapple the horizon and clouds.

The water parted for Mesurial, the wind filling their sails, almost aggressively. It didn’t make being in the crows nest any more fun.

Petor checked the horizon, left eye for where the sun was, right eye for where the sun wasn’t. Throughout the night Desari had powered sails and smoothed water. Petor feeding her mana throughout.

Valter had helped with the sails. Mya at the helm, reading the winds and the water to etch out even a bit more speed.

Seven ships followed behind. Loaded for a fight and with speed that while they’d fallen back they’d been within sight of Mesurial all night.

Petor blinked and took in a deep breath, focusing his mind and eyes. Checking the range on the ships.

“The chase ships are slowing!” Petor said. “Wait, they’re turning now!”

“Why now? They’ve got the crew to keep their sails full and the seas parted,” Mya said.

“They’re flashing lights. Some kind of pattern?”

“Tell me the cadence,” Mya said. “Might be long ones and short ones as well as pauses.”

“uhh long one? Flash, flash, pause, long, long, long, pause, long, flash, pause, flash, long, long, long, another long, flash, pause, long, pause, long, flash, flash, long, flash, pause, long, long, pause, flash, pause, long, flash, flash, long, flash, pause.” Petor let out a sigh. “flash, flash, flash, flash, pause, flash, long, pause, flash, long, flash, pause, long, long.”

“Well that is interesting,” Mya muttred. “And its nice to know that something that works actually gets copied.”

“After that brain melting boredom, what did I just gibberize?”

“It’s a signal system, translated it means don’t mean harm.” He could practically hear the snort from Valter and Desari.

“Yeah I don’t think that we’ll be going and chatting to them about what they mean. We did smash up their chain after all,” Mya said, having a two way conversation.

Petor checked the horizon, nothing in any direction.

“If you don’t spot anything else, get down here. I’m eager to check out that map.” Mya said.

“Nothing I can see.” Petor climbed out of the nest and kept a firm grip on the different ropes and overhangs, quickly scaling down, while the wind tore at his clothes.

He spotted Valter below moving for the rear of the ship. He dropped the last little bit to the deck and followed after him, weaving across the deck and up the stiars to the poop deck, two at a time.

He drew out the map and passed it to Mya as he passed her at the helm.

“Thank you,” Mya looped a rope on the helm and opened up the map.

Petor walked to the aft of the ship, looking in the direction the Misty Cove ships had been in.

Desari continued to weave her spells.

“Well that was a bust,” Petor said and turned to face the others, leaning against the rear railing.

“Three fucking days, that’s all we needed,” Desari growled, the winds picking up even more. The waters shaking around them.

“Luckily we were able to trade for some cores. Two Greens.” Mya drew them out.

“Still not enough,” Desari, ran a hand through her hair, letting out a sigh measured in frustration and fatigue.

“We probably can’t go to any of the other convergence points. Misty Cove will probably have some way to talk to them rapidly,” Valter said, Arms crossed as he leaned against the side railing, arms crossed.

“I’d think so,” Desari said.

“No convergence points, none of the major cities. Thankfully we have maps to get around that.” He breathed in and let it out. “We have two options as I see it. We go to the black market locations and buy from them.”

“Can burn them out but I ain’t trading with them,” Mya said.

“Could do that as well, but risky and there are only four of us.” He uncoiled his arms and rested them on the railing. “The second option: Missions. Take on missions where we might earn a lot of cores. Do we need to have green cores or can we take on smaller cores?”

“Any cores would do,” Desari said. “What we need is the volume of power in one shot to send us to the material plane.”

Petor pulled out Limos’ card. “Still can’t summon him.”

“Based on the amount that we earn on the mission its pretty easy to guess out what level of mission it is and the threats that we’d face,” Mya said.

“Is there a way I can charge up the gem?” Petor said.

Desari grimaced, looked around and then pulled out the gem.

The multi-sided gemstone was clear, frosted with runic markings. Its three bands of gold, silver, black and white spun and orbited to either side.

Valter pushed off of the railing, even Mya moved closer, eyeing it up.

“I’m not even sure what the materials are,” Valter said.

“The runes are beyond my understanding, they are damn dense and there are layers of them within the gem,” Mya said.

“Why doesn’t it move? The ship is moving,” Petor asked.

“It allowed an entire island to jump between worlds and planes. I think staying in place relative to a moving ship isn’t too tricky,” Desari said dryly.

“Was a fair question,” Mya said lightly.

Desari breathed in and let it out. “Sorry I’m just—frustrated.” She deflated putting down some of the weight on her shoulders.

“We will get to the material plane,” Valter said. “This I promise.”

“Where there is a will there is a way,” Petor said.

“I will miss being on a ship,” Mya sighed forlornly.

Desari cracked a smile, the first one since leaving Misty Cove.

“So, what do you know about it already?" Valter asked, without taking his eyes from it.

“So, it already had power stored in it from before.” She walked closer to the gem. “Though I’m not really sure how it got into the gem. I think that there was some kind of resonance or connection with the wells that were at the center of the dungeons.”

Mya tapped her sword and sucked on her lower lip. “Synchoronous sub-ritualization. Around each of those wells in that black and white place were circles that interlinked to the circle under the gem. I wonder if they made it or they found it. Thinking about it, it looks more like it was a part they understood its actions.”

“Within the plane, they were creating mirros o fht eidfferent fountains that were in each of the dungeons. Splitting it basically. Though they had been turned off so they were feeding and spreading the energy around each of the fountains instead of into that place.”

“So we just cover it in mana?” Petor asked. “Is it taking in mana right now?”

Desari reached out, putting her hands on either side of the gem and closed her eyes.

“Its starting to gather some, but its very little compared to what it had before.”

“What if I was to increased the mana around it?” Petor stepped forward.

“Try it,” She said.

He pushed mana out of his hand, directing it towards the gem.

Mana floated around the gem, a few tugs here and there.

“Its taking in more power, damn this capacity is just incredible.” Desari shook her head.

“Well it moved a city,” Valter said.

“A lot of the mana is being wasted, not going in the right place,” Petor said.

“Maybe we can make our own ritual where we contain the mana an then the gem can draw it in?” Mya said.

Petor focused on the gem, probing it with mana, a dozen locations were all drawing his mana in at a slow rate.

If I was to focus the mana there and feed it directly?

Petor reached out with his mana and sought out the openings that were pulling on his mana. He grimaced, his mana was like wet clay as he guided it to the openings.

If he could make it denser, thinner like his channels then it would feed directly into the gem with less waste.

He compressed and tightened his mana using his will. More like working with a hose than throwing a stream of clay at the gem.

Now if he could make a dozen of them, each at an opening?

“What did you do?” Desari asked, cutting through the theory chat.

Petors control stuttered, less focused and more everywhere. “Oh, uhh I made my mana denser and fed it at the places that are sucking in mana.”

Desari’s eyebrows rose. “Small wins. Though it makes sense. There are layered levels of runes within the gem and its rings. There has to be paths between them all to feed mana through. Turn it into a sort of maze. If you can create thin threads of mana and slot them through the gem and empower it at the same time, there should be a lot less power loss. It’ll work on your mana and will control while also speeding up its recovery.”

“Still going to take a while,” Mya said.

“Yes, so we’ll have to take on missions. If we can cultivate our cores and gather the ones we need to power the gem that would be for the best.”

“Petor might be able to consume the cores and pour their power into the gem wasting less of it and speeding up the charging,” Valter said.

“Yeah, I’d want to do that slowly, stabbing someone in the core is like trying to drink out of a full keg without a tap,” Petor said then in a smaller voice. “Shit goes everywhere.”

“And it wastes good beer,” Mya shook her head in dread, Valter doing the same. “I want a beer now.”

“On other  matters,” Desari said. “We need to create something that will allow us to pour our mana into it and then it will put it into the gem, and then the missions.”

Petor drew out his card, the others doing the same.

The Coral Labyrinth Recovery

Description: The Coral Labyrinth, a maze of living coral, guards a treasured artifact known as the Pearl of Tides. Better than it wasting away!

Reward: 18,000 GP

[Accept?]

Echoes of the Siren's Song

Description: Several villages and trading companies have reported missing people and ships. There are rumors of singing before the disappearances. Stop whatever is disrupting trade and scaring the locals.

Reward: 20,000 GP

[Accept?]

Abyssal Relations!

Description: We have reports of creatures from the Abyssal Plane appearing in the Lios Vents. Investigate the situation. Find out how they are accessing the water plane. Secure the point of access or gain favor with those that control it.

Reward: 30,000 GP

[Accept?]

Kraken's Wrath Quelled

Description: A legendary Kraken, once a guardian of the sea, has begun attacking ships indiscriminately. Investigate the cause of its aggression and find a way to calm the beast without killing it.

Reward: 35,000 GP

[Accept?]

Relic of the Sunken City

Description: We have reports that the Trident of Azure Waters is located in the sunken city of Toria. The city is filled with bandits, beasts and even the haunted remains of the city’s residents.

Reward: 40,000 GP

[Accept?]

“Subduing something like a Kraken is going to be much harder than killing it. Will take a lot of time to figure things out,” Mya said.

“If there really is an abyssal gate we can use that through to the other plane. It won’t be as good as the material plane but I can still summon the elementals I know to there,” Desari said.

“What is the Abyssal plane?” Valter asked. “Isn’t that whereone’s soul goes if they have done deeds against the gods?”

“When I get my hands on your priests and your gods I’m going to lobotomize them for twisting the rules of the worlds to their bullshit,” Desari huffed out a breath. “No, good, bad or otherwise your soul goes to the Celestial plane, passing through the nether. Lets say that the Material Plane is the nice place where things are all balanced out. The Abyssal plane is a dimensional copy of the Material plane, but instead of the elements all nice and balanced. The elements are raging there, the plane is broken up into six regions, Earth, Water, Fire, Air and then two Mixed regions. In the mixed regions the elements mingle together like in the Material Plane. Though the elements are always crashing into one another, it creates chaos. What do you think that means?”

“There’s little stability. The situation can change at any time,” Petor said.

“Constant tension leads to fighting. They’re going to be more militarily focused,” Valter said.

“More mana usually means more ways to increase one’s level, more ways to become strong,” Mya said.

“All correct. Each world, each plane is different. Though Vedra, the name for this abyssal plane is nearly always fighting. The most organized things get is to the city-state level. At least that was the reality when I died.” Desari glanced upwards. “Geraxi did a lot of trade with people from the Abyssal Plane, they didn’t care who they sold too, food and water were worth much more to them and the empire was always looking for elementals.” She frowned. “It will depend where the gate leads to, could be any one of the regions.”

“Wouldn’t it be a good bet it would go to the water region?” Petor asked.

Desari shook her head. “It’s more likely it opens in the Fire region. See the abyssal plane is always trying to seek equilibrium—and fails, every, damn time.”

“So it draws on the opposite elemental plane?” Mya frowned.

“Oh trust me, it has been the center of many a fierce debate,” Desari huffed as if dearly tired of the whole thing, but there was a fondness under it and a glimmer of a smile. “Best as we could figure out, the abyssal plane, like the Material, seeks balance. In trying to seek balance, when an area has too much of one element then it can attempt to draw in another element to counterbalance.”

“Well I think that we’ve outstood our welcome here,” Petor said.

“You said that Ilus could be in the Abyssal plane, the fire region I am guessing from the images we saw in the scrying?” Valter held his chin.

“Two birds with one stone,” Petor said.

Desari nodded.

“With the amount of gold on offer it should be at least Epic level, so we might get a green core out of it,” Mya said.

“So head for the Lios vents?” Valter said.

“Let me check the maps and get us a heading,” Mya moved for the navigation table, pulling out her own map from her storage ring.

“I know a few mana containment spells that can be used to increase the density of mana in a specific area. Though I’ll need help turning it into runic,” Desari said to Valter.

“Lets take a look. Mya, mind if we use your table?”

“Go for it!” She waved them off. “I’ll lay in a course and come with you.”

Petor sighed as they chatted mana alignment and material mediums down the ladder.

“And I’ll see about charging this thing up,” Petor looked at the floating gem and its rings. It was pretty, in a stark way.

He took a seat and started feeling around the gem again, spreading mana around it all he traced out the points where it was pulling in his mana.

Focusing he stripped his mana down to a thin thread and inserted it into a point on the gem. It went inside to find a twisted path within. These are all the runes and shapes carved into it to create a path.

He sensed the pull and traced through the runes. He touched the side of a tricky rune. His mana recoiled much faster than he’d sent it out, he grunted from the recoil and the headache.

“Fuck me.”

“So what stupidness you do now?” Mya asked. She was at the helm, turning the wheel, the sails adjusting.

“Just hit the side of one of the runes and feels like someone just flicked me with a bowstring in the head and right in the core.” He rubbed where his core was as he held his head.

“Mana backlash. Makes sense with the gem. Be hard for you to break it.” She stopped moving the wheel and checked a compass, then the sun. “Though mana has to move in a very specific way with something that strong and exact. It would probably rebuff the mana to the right path, but being you’re willing the mana forward your control fails and your mana retreats to your body.” She turned to face him. “Nasty, not great for long periods of time.”

“Not going to try it for long periods,” Petor muttered.

“Condense your mana into threads and then slowly guide them through the gem, start with one and see how far you can get it, then add in a second thread and so on. Then try to move deeper,” Mya clapped her hands. “Well, have fun, I’m going to see what the other two are up to.” Mya slid down the stairs to the main deck.

Petor leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms. He eyed the gem and its rings, shifted to get comfortable and sit against the back of his seat. He kept the cloud up around the gem, compressing some of it into a thread that he fed into a new opening.

His trainers had done a lot more than give him a headache when he was learning how to use a spear.

Petor led the thread through the gem, pausing when it got to a point he wasn’t confident on.

Mana released from the thread pulled through the construct.

Lets try another one.

He spun another thread and reached out to another opening and entered, focusing on keeping both running at the same time strained his mind.

“Alright I don’t know if I’ll be able to get further, it splits a bunch and its much thinner,” Petor muttered to himself checking both threads, releasing mana right into the gem.

He started spinning up a third thread. The world had disappeared around him, his focus consumed by the gem and his mana threads.

***