Deadgold: Chapters 20-21

I have a surprise announcement for everyone: Travis Baldree is narrating Bloodcrete! From there it has to go through a few steps of proofing before release, but we're finally looking at an imminent audiobook launch instead of an unknown. More on this later. ^-^

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Chapter 20

Fiyu hid herself in the aftermath, partially as a strategy and partially for the peace and quiet. She sat atop a ruined tower and hid every aspect of her presence except her mass and life energy, so that Friend Theo and Friend Nauda could find her. This gave her a perspective to watch over everything as it played out, step by step.

Their assault had succeeded excellently in its primary objective of driving Tymetron out of Laksloe without letting them sabotage the city. The secondary objective of eliminating an enemy Dominion should have failed, but fortunately some luck had gone in their favor for once: the enemy was overconfident and died without weirkeying out of the city. According to the reports, he had begun treating Citizen Dominion as not a threat, which had gotten him fatally bound in place.

Now many more people were arriving, necessitating her retreat. They included more soulcrafters from Norron who hadn't been able to participate in the assault, as well as depths Fithans who were glad to return to the occupied city. It seemed like the balance would be restored, and on top of that House Blacksilver was arriving with medical and emergency supplies in order to help rebuild.

Would all of this lead to more peace between land and sea Fithans? It was difficult for Fiyu to know, because those divides went so deep; if she had been at war with another people for generations, she could never have forgiven them, but Fithans seemed to treat war less heavily. As a foreigner, Fiyu had no place in the meetings between leaders on both sides, so she would only hope they could make amends.

She was completely undisturbed until Friend Theo noted her mass and came to speak with her, so she extended her stealth technique into a bubble to encompass him.

"Everything alright, Fiyu?" he asked.

"I am well, there are simply too many people." She smiled at him to make the truth of her words clear. "How are you, Theo? Are you upset that you did not defeat your... battle friend?"

"No, it's obvious that Jazin will retreat when it's the smart thing to do." Friend Theo shook his head and seemed to set the matter out of his mind. "If anything, I'm upset that I didn't realize the truth earlier: Tymetron wasn't fighting to try to keep the city, not after they realized they couldn't sabotage it. They were just buying time to weirkey out as many of their resources as possible."

"Oh." Fiyu blinked as she adjusted her model of the battle and realized that she had entirely neglected this aspect.

"Don't worry, we hit fast enough that they couldn't get out everything. They were using this place to launch assaults as well as enslave soulcrafters, so they had large stores, and it seems like they kept a lot here. That's actually what I want to talk to you about."

"What do you mean?"

"Can you keep track of the resources in the fortress? I'm afraid that other factions, or even looters, will try to seize them before they can be distributed." Friend Theo shifted in odd discomfort, almost as if embarrassed. "I should handle that myself, but... I want to take care of Homez first. He, uh..."

"Allies are important," Fiyu agreed with several nods. "There is no shame in that. We should all meet with him later to see what can be done to help."

"Good, thanks. We'll catch up later, and there's a lot we need to talk about, but at least we're on the other side of this."

With that, Friend Theo departed to take care of Ally Homez and other important matters. Fiyu was more than happy to do as he asked, as it didn't require her to do any more than remain in position and analyze the heavy masses within the fortress vaults. It did seem as though Tymetron had a great many sublime materials here, and they could well be useful.

It was not long before Friend Nauda came to her as well, clearly aware of her life force, merely taking longer to find the exact location. Still, her Ichili senses had come so far that Fiyu was quite glad to watch her approach and find her way into the stealth bubble. Sometimes it was still uncomfortable, if Friend Nauda wanted to be closer, but it seemed her companion was still quite serious.

"Any trouble with the explosive?" Friend Nauda asked. "I'm still afraid that they can trigger it remotely somehow..."

"The artifact required armaments in order to trigger the stone," Fiyu pointed out. "However, I agree with your concern. As soon as we have a secure area, I hope to remove the explosive stone from my soul. It is quite potent, but I believe it requires modification before it could be effectively used in a soulhome."

"You have plans for it, then?"

For a time they simply sat together and spoke of soulcrafting, which was very pleasant after the intense assault. Friend Nauda shared more details about her plans for her Stronghold floor, particularly struggles over what organs she might represent. In turn, Fiyu actually shared some of her secret plans for her own floor, even if their implementation was still premature.

Eventually, however, it became clear that they couldn't relax forever. The city of Laksloe had been heavily damaged in the attack, and now that the danger had passed, the inhabitants were bold enough to emerge, which caused different sorts of problems. Friend Nauda stood up and dusted off the back of her dress.

"Well," she said slowly, "what do you say we go out there and help? Blacksilver is already on the scene, but we should show them that soulcrafters can do more than destroy."

"Very well." Fiyu nodded and emerged, and with her companion close, it wasn't so bad.

~

For a while it looked like Theo's most challenging battle was going to be non-combat: what to do with Homez. Fiyu and Nauda had managed to bring him down, then some of the medical soulcrafters had knocked him unconscious, but he was still controlled by the enemy.

With more time to observe Homez while unconscious, Theo had looked into his soulhome and found the golden seal that had been forced into it by Tymetron. It partially infected some of his Corporeal chambers, but the worst of it was actually infiltrating his armor chambers. Based on what Theo was seeing, the gold controlled his stone armor directly, so with that dissolved he was less dangerous, at least in the short term.

Theo had wanted to compare the seal to the Authority who had used wind techniques, but infuriatingly, the man had managed to escape his Asplundat captors and weirkey out. It rankled and made Theo feel like he couldn't ever leave anything to anyone else, which was unfair after this battle had been won via coordinating so many forces.

The real difficulty, however, came when Citizen Dominion and other representatives of the Asplundat Movement came to collect their fallen soldier.

"He endured torture for the sake of the Movement," Citizen Dominion said yet again. "He deserves to be treated as a hero and restored to health."

"I'm telling you-" Theo began, only to be interrupted by one of the others.

"We know he's still controlled," the Asplundat soulcrafter said, "and we have prepared pacifying techniques to keep him from attacking anyone. If this is a matter of trust, believe me, we can take better care of him than you can."

"It isn't that. He deserves a real solution that will free him from the seal."

"Hmm." Citizen Dominion pierced Theo with a cool gaze for a long moment. "Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you believe he'll receive better care in the Ruling Cities, that this decision is truly for his benefit?"

Easy lies came to mind instantly, but Theo reconsidered. He might not think much of Citizen Dominion as a soulcrafter, but the man was an experienced leader. For all that the Asplundat Movement preached peace and togetherness, their apparent camaraderie included hard edges, and this felt like a trap.

"I truly want to help Homez," Theo said, "but that isn't the only factor. We need to study the seal and compare it to the deadgold we have on hand. Let me say this: I believe that some of my allies are the ones best able to figure out this problem."

"You see?" another soulcrafter said, throwing up her hands. "It's just like I said."

"You think we'd try to keep the information to ourselves?" Theo raked his gaze across the entire group. "I'm the one always trying to make both sides work together, not keeping secrets."

"There is a political element as well," Citizen Dominion said softly. "Homez has sacrificed greatly for the Movement, and if we do not reward him accordingly, it will make us look like hypocrites who demand sacrifices for nothing. To simply hand him over to the Ruling Cities, which were our enemies until so very recently..."

"Is House Blacksilver neutral enough for you?"

"It is better than sending him to Dris Kolonb, but many will still be unhappy. You must understand, there are factions still unhappy about this alliance."

"Does it help if they aren't Fithan? The person I want to help Homez is actually an Arbaian named Navim, who has been studying this material."

"An intriguing suggestion. However..."

In the end, they agreed that Homez could go to Norro Yorthin so long as he was accompanied by a guard and healer from the Asplundat Movement. Once it was decided, Citizen Dominion simply clapped his hands and that was apparently the end of it. Within minutes, they were across the world and startling Navim, who had not expected such an experiment so soon.

Fortunately, the Mundhin proved equal to the challenge, and even had a clever suggestion for his assistant: he called on an Aathali who, in addition to being a specialist, was not affiliated with any Fithan House. The shrub-like soulcrafter produced roots that bound Homez comfortably in place, and allegedly could send spiritual roots into his soulhome to help extract the gold.

This was enough to mollify the Asplundat Movement, so many of them departed. Once that was done, Theo could finally breathe again. He wanted to go back to Laksloe and get his due in sublime materials, but found himself lingering with Homez and Navim.

"Do you have any idea if the extraction can be done without damaging his soulhome?" Theo asked.

The Aathali specialist gave a noncommittal grunt. "The extraction will not harm him, but having a sublime material forced into his soulhome has already caused damage. Outcomes depend on him."

"We will do everything we can," Navim reassured Theo. "However... if I do not miss my guess, your ultimate goal is to determine relationships between these gold seals and deadgold?"

"Exactly." Theo stared down at Homez as he lay unconscious. "Prioritize his life, obviously, but don't worry about trying to extract the material, even if anyone pressures you. What we need most of all is to figure out their exact nature."

"It might be helpful to speak to specialists from the Gold Wastes, considering their far greater expertise on this subject."

"I'll try to put you in contact, but I want to get your unbiased perspective on this. I think they've been fighting Tymetron for so long, they have a very... practical view of these sublime materials. A more theoretical perspective might be more useful."

Now that everything was settled, Theo considered going back, and might have if pinpointing an underwater city via weirkey wasn't so delicate. Before he could do so, Nauda and Fiyu arrived to check on Homez. The former managed to drip some healing honey into his mouth while the latter brushed fragments of stone from his hair, murmuring in concern.

For a time they just stood there with their injured ally. Theo couldn't help but think about what Homez had gone through, intentionally throwing himself to the enemy knowing that he would be tortured, potentially even guessing that this would be done to him. Those acts, mad as they seemed, had won them the day. Tymetron had lost a major base off the coast, and there would be numerous secondary effects that shifted the war in their favor.

Just as Theo was about to suggest their departure to let Navim work, Homez slowly opened his eyes. After looking around blearily for a time, his gaze managed to focus on them, and a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Do not worry, Homez." Fiyu immediately moved in, wiping it away. "You are among friends now."

"More... of the... honey..." His voice sounded ragged and weaker than Theo had ever heard it.

"Of course." Nauda fed him an entire one of her healing cakes, and chewing it seemed to do him a lot of good. "I wish we could let you up, but I'm afraid you might..."

"No, you're right." Swallowing a final time, Homez settled back into his prison of roots. "If you let me out, I'd reform my armor and try to attack you."

"What is it like?" Theo asked.

"It's hard to describe. The gold in my soulhome... its like a heavy mass in my chest. In battle, my body moves without me willing it... I... can't say exactly..."

"What about intellectually? What if you try to remove the sublime gold?"

"I get these... sudden pulses of emotion. Like when you're too angry to think, except for no reason. And for my soulhome... just thinking about removing it results in a wave of dread and disgust. My captors told me that trying to remove the material would result in death."

"Likely a mendacious exaggeration," Navim said. "It appears they tried to make the seal load-bearing for one of your walls, but while it could not be simply taken out, it could well be replaced."

"Good..." Homez tried to say more, but it seemed that he was weak from his ordeal. Unfortunately, he wasn't going to face an easy path from here, because the experiments and extraction could well be even more difficult for him.

At least his spirit seemed unbowed: he was determined to help his people learn more about Tymetron's weapon, even if it cost him his own soulhome. Based on what Navim had said, that shouldn't be necessary, but it spoke well of him. Theo lingered with the others for a while, giving him encouragement until he lapsed into sleep again.

Then they had to return to the city, where they would find out just how much Homez's sacrifice had gained them.

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Chapter 21

A cynical part of Theo had been convinced that victory in Laksloe was going to lead to a huge ordeal of politics, but thankfully, he was too pessimistic for once. That, or his cynicism before the assault had been vindicated. If he hadn't run himself ragged trying to get every faction on board, they could easily have caused trouble in the aftermath, but as things stood, everyone was united in declaring this a clean victory.

Liberating the city made him a minor hero, more so than the dust Fithans who were still viewed with some skepticism. As he met with a few leaders and prepared to receive his compensation, Theo realized that this was yet another location where he could have sunk into an entire life.

He already felt like he was stretched over too many people, so he didn't really invest in Laksloe or do more than was strictly necessary. The others seemed to agree, as Nauda and Fiyu mostly stuck to one another even as they helped in some rebuilding efforts. Only Krikree seemed to be enjoying herself, staring out into the waters and emitting pheromones about the "water ants", who seemed to appreciate her just as much for some reason. Her scouting was what had triggered all this, even if the city leadership didn't seem to appreciate it.

Thankfully no one tried to give them a parade, not while a war was still going on, so they were simply summoned to the restored mayoral manor in order to receive sublime materials. Personal gifts were limited to those who had played the largest roles in the battle, which in practice seemed to mean only Strongholds and Dominions. Either they were brushing aside the contributions of Authorities or they just couldn't afford to give out that much.

Everyone was there again, meeting for the first time since the assault. Citizen Dominion was fully healed and wore his fancier stone collar, while Melitta wore her normal armor. She nodded respectfully to Theo, however, so he supposed that he'd proved that he didn't waste her time.

"Our peoples have engaged in warfare for centuries," the leader of Laksloe was saying, "but these tactics of Tymetron are completely treacherous. All of us respect that you came here and dealt with the business of the land when it intruded into our oceans, without making any untoward demands. For that reason, let us share in the spoils of victory."

They began with the lowest honors, including a number of locals who had contributed to either the battle or the recovery. Theo distracted himself by observing the great seashell piled with sublime materials, trying to determine all their natures.

The only easy part was the pile of deadgold: they had seized eleven international units of it, which was a great bounty. Of course, it was being split between every single faction that was at war with Tymetron, so he had no idea how much he would end up with. Still, combined with the gift from Giatrice, Theo estimated that he was responsible for more deadgold coming to Norron than any other individual, even sublime merchants. If that didn't increase his reputation enough to throw his weight around, he wasn't sure what would.

When they got to the higher tier soulcrafters, the ceremony dragged on and Theo began to worry about whether or not they'd be mentioned. But it turned out that the city simply valued their contributions highly, because they were held until near the end.

"Next, we have Peanen of House Blacksilver," the city's leader announced. "Who did battle over the rooftops of the city, stopped entire groups of invaders, and helped tip the balance between Dominions. To him, we grant one sphere of deadgold and this sublime material."

"Thank you." Instead of walking all the way forward, Theo used a gravitational field to lift the materials toward him.

Apparently the deadgold had been melted down from its original form and made into spheres, each a bit bigger than his head. Theo was more interested in the material, which was a dark red gemstone that was labeled as a "bloodruby". The name didn't sound promising, yet when he hefted it, he realized that its nature had immense mass, even gravity; someone had clearly observed his abilities in battle and chosen something appropriate for him. His only problem was that the material was also deeply corporeal, no doubt from the "blood" portion of the name. Perhaps his thug tactics had come back to bite him, though he thought he could figure out a use for a material this powerful.

There was no more time to consider that, because the leader had moved on.

"Next we must honor two visitors from other worlds, Nauda and Fiyu. They fought into the enemy fortress and prevented them from sabotaging our city, as Tymetron has punctured so many cities that refused to bow to its empire. To them, we grant our unending gratitude and spheres of deadgold. If you will step forward, we have chosen gifts for each of you."

As the two women moved forward, Theo reflected that the mayor had elided the fact that they were also from House Blacksilver and wondered if that was to make the ceremony seem more balanced. It probably helped the city's morale to think that visitors from across the Nine Worlds had come together in order to liberate them, instead of being rescued by hated dirt Fithans.

In any case, they were going to profit from it. Nauda was given a trident that was allegedly a powerful armament passed down through a House in the city, while Fiyu received a glowing material they called sublime seaweed. It didn't strike Theo as particularly remarkable, but he could judge Fiyu's emotions fairly well now, and she seemed unusually pleased.

After them came a depths Fithan Stronghold who had honors heaped upon him. Theo didn't remember him from the battle and wondered if his role had been exaggerated for the sake of local pride. In any case, once the man moved away, they had reached to the end of the ceremony. Only two left.

"And now we come to Waveleader Melitta, so often our enemy." The leader of the city shook his head slowly. "For your part in our victory, we grant you two spheres of deadgold as well as a new treaty between our peoples. We have spoken to our network across the ocean, and hostilities against the Wavefront will recede for now."

"As will our assaults," Melitta answered as if this had been planned. "May this treaty lead to peace between our peoples."

"Well said. That leaves only one force remaining to thank: the Asplundat Movement, our unexpected liberators. They were only harmed by the attacks from our city, yet they sacrificed one of their own and set off the events that led to the freedom of Laksloe. To accept this reward on the Movement's behalf, we have Citizen Dominion."

"We have always sought to unite Fithe in peaceful cooperation," Citizen Dominion said as he floated to the front. "We look forward to fighting against Tymetron together with you, and all of your people are welcome in the Asplundat Movement."

"For your people's sacrifice," the depths Fithan said grandly, "aside from deadgold we hope you will use against Tymetron, we forge a commitment between our factions. Just as you have pledged to assist in rebuilding Laksloe, we pledge to help rebuild the locations that Tymetron used our city to destroy."

The two Dominions had received by far the largest rewards, since they would change the movement of nations, yet Theo reflected that he would have been disappointed in their place. Maybe he had more maturing to do, maybe he was just selfish, or maybe in the grand scheme of things he would just prefer to get sublime materials.

Still, as the ceremony broke up, he reflected that the political outcomes dwarfed all of the other consequences. The sublime materials would be useful in their personal soulcrafting, yes, and the deadgold was even more valuable because it was fungible, but the alliances made today would have by far the largest impact on the overall war.

Not wanting to get involved, Theo flew away from the manor and found an unoccupied rooftop to sit and look over the city a little before he left. In the future, when he was less busy, he would need to spend more time in Laksloe and the other oceanic Fithan cities.

Before he could depart, Krikree landed beside him and skittered to the edge of the roof.

"Sorry you didn't receive a reward," Theo said.

"Not problem." Krikree settled in to look over the city. "Queens and princes always unfair, but Fithan queens and princes less unfair. Krikree happy that water hive is safe."

"So it is. You seem to have taken a liking to them, do you want to stay here?"

"Scout with Theo-sister." Krikree edged closer to him. "Water ants good, but scouting better."

"Well, I appreciate that. You know... there's another big question we should decide now. The United Norron Tournament will be starting soon, and we'll be gathering participants from across the Nine Worlds, but you would actually be eligible. Do you want to participate?"

Krikree paused for a moment, face unreadable as she cleaned her antennae, then abruptly said, "Not!"

"You sure? I think you'd do well."

"Theo-sister think tournament is waste of time. Krikree agree. Want scout other worlds!"

Theo chuckled and scratched the base of her antennae. "Glad to have you with us, then. There's definitely a place for tournaments, but at our current tier, we need to be more selective. At some point I'd like to run one, because I have some ideas for how to make them more effective."

"Maybe beetles participate?"

"Other Fithans? We definitely plan t-"

"Not!" Krikree twitched her antennae in puzzlement for a time, then emitted, [Beetles-beetles.]

"Oh, you mean Slescans." Theo paused as he considered her real meaning. "I hadn't thought much about them, but you might have a good point. I doubt that any queens would deign to participate, but Bluepetal might know of soulcrafters in Acidmount who could benefit."

"Correct. Beetles and scouts not have much sublime, need more."

It was a good thought, and Theo mentally adjusted his plans to make one more trip while they gathered participants. He reflected that they hadn't gotten a single weirkey as a reward for the battle, which was a shame, since they only needed one more Fithan weirkey to have a complete set of three. Then again, the reason he wanted them was the same reason that every faction across Fithe was hoarding their own: the longer the war stretched, the more important mobility became.

They sat there for a while longer, soon joined by Fiyu and Nauda. He expected them to sit down next to one another, but to his surprise they actually sat on opposite sides of himself and Krikree. For a while they said nothing, just observed the city, illuminated by the glowing lace of seaweed overhead.

"So... what do we do with all this deadgold?" Nauda eventually asked.

"I think the best use is trading it," Theo said immediately. "It's useful against Tymetron, not so much in the long term. But as we've just seen, it's a valuable resource here, and I'm willing to bet we can trade it for materials we could never purchase with money."

"We should leave some with Navim," Fiyu said, "so that he can study it."

"Yeah, that too. We need to compare what others can create with the medallions Giatrice soulcrafted."

"Then... do we return to Norro Yorthin? Or should we remain here longer?"

"Scout for tournament ants!" Krikree insisted.

"Krikree is right," Theo agreed. "We're running out of time to get any of our allies enrolled in the tournament, plus I'm sick of all these negotiations and logistics."

Nauda chuckled. "And that's why you want to arrange a complex schedule of meetings across the Nine Worlds?"

Theo only chuckled in response. Against his will, he was already putting together a plan that would allow them to maximize their coverage while keeping tabs on Fithe and avoiding any more complications, but it could wait a little longer. For now, he sat with his friends in a liberated city and enjoyed the lights glowing in the depths.

-

And so we have the battle aftermath, which illustrates another part of what I was trying to do with this book. Yes, the characters actively participate in some of the fighting (it's a war, after all), but the surrounding negotiations and logistics are more important than beating the bad guys. As I've said before, seeing the characters' position in the world change really interests me and this is another angle on that.