Skyvenom: Chapters 44-45

Here are your chapters for this week.

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Chapter 44

Krikree likes her soulhome. When she was just a scout, she didn't think about it much, but now she likes it. The old hive was something she had been given, this is something she created for herself. It is not permitted, it would get her in trouble in a normal hive, but Krikree has scouted very far and there are no more rules here.

She has built her soulhome in the same way as Theo-sister, in part because he is very smart and in part because he is a good sister. Nine rooms on every floor, each a comforting sphere of mud like a nest, and twenty-seven spheres in total. Incredible! Alarming! Somehow she has filled them with twenty-seven important sublime materials. Some are natural, some are sneaky, some should only be permitted to royal guards or queens. But Krikree has them now.

Inside the focal points of mud are eight enhancing materials, radiating their strength to the surrounding chambers. This is very difficult, and Krikree has rearranged them over and over and over. Now everything is in order, a perfect unity as organized as the behavior of an entire hive. She is proud of herself, but Theo-sister is the only one she can tell.

[Krikree ready,] she emits.

[Good,] Theo-sister emits in his funny pheromones. [The first step is to remove everything extraneous. This will be more difficult than any ascension so far, so be careful. If you're feeling confident, I could give you this darkegg, which-]

[Not! Krikree has plan.]

Theo-sister raises the lines of hair on his face the way he always does, but he trusts Krikree. He does not release natural pheromones, but human-pheromones can be derived from expressions and posture and other details that Krikree has learned to scout. So when he speaks, Krikree is already certain of what he will say.

[Then fix your entire soulhome in your mind and ascend,] Theo-sister says. He has done a great deal for Krikree, but now this is Krikree's mission alone.

First she must fix the details in her head so that nothing will break when she ascends. Krikree crawls through her soulhome, thinking of the origins of every piece. Theo-sister, of course, but she has also been taught a great deal by Navim-thinkrock and the Fithan beetles and many others. Other sections took inspiration from the strange queens, one even from Senka-food.

But there is one other inspiration, one Krikree has not spoken about by word or by pheromone. The very mud she crawls across was formed using a technique she learned when she was young, just another drone among many. Workers are given low level sublime materials and told to chew, digesting them in their stomachs and regurgitating finished wall compound. When it dries, it becomes as hard as stone. Krikree has learned the spiritual version of this, so she has shaped her own soulhome.

Some of her old sisters would grow sick or weak, because the sublime materials cannot fill their stomachs, and if they could not continue, the royal guards would cast them down and their bodies would be fused into the walls of the hive. Krikree tried to save her sisters, but one after another they failed. Only Krikree was strong enough to become a scout. She was sent to explore and understand, to serve the hive.

And then one day, she is sent out to investigate a strange intrusion and a power takes hold of her, carrying her off the ground...

Past is past. Present is present. Krikree remembers everything and begins to prepare.

She has collected a great deal of sublime meat, at first to supply the hive and then to make sure that she would never grow hungry again. But Krikree is not stupid! Krikree understands this is too much meat, and she has been collecting it very carefully. Now, as she moves to the roof one last time, she gathers it up in her arms to take along with her.

When Krikree begins to climb, she feels the sky press down on her, as if it does not wish her to climb any higher. In rockworld she read about ascension, and she does not think it is this difficult for others. But Krikree is ready, so Krikree climbs.

The sky is sapping her strength, so Krikree pulls out the first piece of sublime meat. As she chews it, the power is destroyed, releasing a final burst of energy that fuels her climb. Step after step, piece after piece, Krikree is ascending her ramp toward the heavens.

Now the ramp is almost vertical, a surface only full ants can climb easily. Krikree grips hard with two hands while she shoves the remaining meat into her mouth. She must store it all, the way she once did as a drone, gathering all the power within her stomach to prepare. Only this way can she keep up with all the threats to her hive.

Once she is stuffed to the limit, Krikree begins to climb again. She has eaten too much, she is almost bloated, but she cannot give up. She knew it would be difficult, but Krikree is a good scout, she will keep scouting even if what she is exploring is herself.

The heavens tremble above her and Krikree longs to take a bite from them. Yet now, when she is only steps from success, she feels a terrible flicker of failure. Something deep within Krikree stirs, something even she was unaware of, words and feelings and sensations rising to the surface.

Krikree is not a queen.

Scouts do not ascend.

Krikree is not a queen.

Authority is only for queens and princes, not scouts.

There is still strength in Krikree's spirit, but her limbs have frozen. The sky closes around her like a fist and she realizes that the cantae is rushing below. It is filling her soulhome, and there should be power there, but if she does not act soon, it will all explode. This should fill her with urgency, yet all she can do is tremble and begin to climb back down.

One arm lowers. Krikree not queen.

Scouts serve.

Krikree not queen.

This wrong.

Krikree not queen.

As Krikree's hand lowers further, she thinks of Theo-sister and Navim-thinkrock and the beetles and all of the sisters who have gone before her. The truths are still slamming down into her mind, but now she understands that the voices do not come from her, they are just another part of the barrier in the sky. They are standing in her way.

[Krikree not queen!] she shouts to the heavens. Krikree lunges upward, grasping the last handhold and then hurling herself into the sky.

At last the barrier gives way and the power floods down. All the voices are swept away and Krikree feels so light and so pure that she nearly forgets her plan. But as the cantae flows down through her, she expels everything in her stomach, the mixture that has been merging with her spirit and the cantae all around her. It flows along with the ascension, glowing white hot as it becomes more than a simple wall.

The mixture floods over Krikree's construction, coating it in a layer of her soul. On the central building it fuses into an outer shell, over her grass it saturates into the soil, and the parts splashing up onto her shielding wall harden into a polished sheen.

When Krikree lands atop her soulhome, it is hers. For the first time, in a way she hadn't understood before that moment, she is her own.

Krikree emerges into the real world to find that Theo-sister is watching her and smiling. She launches herself at him and he hugs her, but there is too much energy and Krikree soon leaps away. [Ascension!] she emits, to everyone and no one. [Ascension!]

Now that her cantae is so much stronger, Krikree can fly! She leaps into the air and immediately drives her head into a wall. Flying not like jumping. Krikree falls back and cleans her bent antennae, but she is not unhappy. Soon she will scout flying.

Theo-sister comes to sit beside her. [Krikree-sister is Krikree-queen now?] he asks. He is not serious, so Krikree strikes him.

[Not!]

It is the happiest [Not!] she has ever emitted.

~ ~ ~

The ascension seemed to take a long time, even from the outside, so Theo was beginning to grow concerned. Afterward, he had an extremely rambunctious Krikree on his hands, wanting to test her new abilities in both soulcrafting and sparring. Only reminding her of the stakes got her back on track.

She'd have plenty of work to do, but first Theo needed to do something. Not the reason he'd helped Krikree this far, just a bonus.

He took them back to Accilonia, then sought out the Slescan gate and the grand palace that sat beside it. There weren't many traces of Slest there, aside from the guards around the exterior. They automatically moved to block his path, but a commanding pheromone emanated from within and they stood down. By the time Theo landed, Queen Nyuba had emerged onto the roof.

"Well." She glanced at him briefly, but most of her attention focused on Krikree as she wobbled to the ground. "Look at you. I didn't think it was possible for a scout to ascend to Authority, but here you are. Is it something you learned in another world, do you think?"

"Krikree soulcraft hard," she said. Her pheromones seemed entirely flattened in the presence of the queen and Theo hoped that she wasn't being influenced again. Surely being at Authority would give her more resistance, not that it could be seen in her posture.

Nyuba placed her hands on Krikree's shoulders. "They say there are drones and soldiers and queens, and those categories must never mix, but you, my dear, are a queen at heart."

Krikree bent lower and began cleaning off her antennae, emitting proud and happy pheromones. There was something odd about them, but Theo didn't have time to think about that, not with the Slescan queen approaching him.

"Is this what you expected?" he asked.

"From the beginning, you two have been a puzzle," Nyuba told him. "At first I thought you might have some unknown trick for commanding lesser Slescans, but now I see your choice was more than loyalty. I don't suppose I could convince you to give me this one?"

"No, Krikree is exceptional."

"Well... given my position here, I cannot fight for you in your war. But you have met my challenge, so you will be amply rewarded... and I see no reason to support your enemies, though I will take whatever royal guard they have stuffed full of materials."

"Thank you." Theo accepted a sack heavy with Silver Crowns and gave her a low bow, hiding his annoyance.

He'd hoped, just not expected, that she would actually join his side of the convocation. But he'd been confident that she would give him a valuable Slescan material, perhaps even something well-suited to Krikree. The absence was pointed, perhaps even a message. One unusual scout who ascended to Authority was an amusement, but further advancement might not be so entertaining.

Theo flew away, Krikree buzzing unsteadily around him. Along the way, he counted the Silver crowns - exactly twenty-five thousand. Definitely a considerable sum, just not as much as he'd hoped. Krikree was obviously more important, but he hoped that she hadn't been too impacted by the encounter. He glanced over at her, noting her drooping antennae.

[Are you alright?] he asked.

[Krikree lie!] She emitted with sudden force. [Krikree not queen, Krikree is sister.]

[I'm glad to hear it.]

[Krikree fight! But... need Strongholds. What Theo-sister do?]

That was a very good question.

Chapter 45

Even though they were supposed to remain in groups, Theo found himself traveling alone across Deuxan. He carried their only weirkey, which he told himself was defense enough, but the incident with Fiyu had proved it was possible to engineer an ambush, particularly in a city as filled with anti-weirkey stonework as Accilonia.

First he arranged an appointment with Krimmile, though the Arbaian couldn't see him until the next day. When he returned from that, he discovered that a message had been left at their mostly abandoned suite - the Treasurer pointedly mentioned that his services were still available for bidding, all but stating that Esaire had currently given a price near one hundred thousand Silver Crowns.

Faced with that threat, Theo paced and considered whether or not to meet with the Accilonian Bank. He found himself bizarrely torn not between logical arguments, but between frameworks of himself.

Once he would have took out the largest loan he could and then simply left, betting that when he returned, he'd be powerful enough to take on the bank. Another side of him hated the idea of being in anyone's debt. An old self told him that he shouldn't need to engage with all this, that if he'd been smarter or better, he could have avoided the need.

And yet... was the desire to move through the Nine Worlds without debts just another manifestation of his old outlook? He could skate over the surface of worlds like before, gaining power and little else, but that was the life he'd rejected. When it came to debts, he'd implicitly tied himself up far more trying to support Western Ostic than a simple debt to a bank. For that matter, joining Blacksilver instead of just exploiting it had locked him into so much in the future.

He reminded himself that the Accilonian Bank wasn't a crazy soulcrafting organization, it was just a bank. It gave out loans because it thought they were reasonable investments that would be paid back. They probably had some shady dealings, but not with powers that could be a serious threat to them.

So Theo went to meet with the bankers and accepted their loan as Peanen, without listing the others. They made him fill out some paperwork, but they didn't have any mystical oaths or soulcrafting gimmicks to force him to repay the debt, which meant honor was one of their better enforcement mechanisms. Theo decided that he wouldn't violate that honor unless they violated it first.

The others each carried some of their money, but he knew that the total came to one hundred and sixty eight thousand Silver Crowns. That was actually more than they needed for the top sublime materials, especially since Fiyu had found one of hers. And yet, if they wanted to bribe the Treasurer to support them, most of their funds would disappear immediately... except, if they did that, Esaire could well counter and bid them even higher. Scenarios where either another Stronghold or sublime materials were useless seemed equally possible.

Abruptly Theo realized that this wasn't his decision alone. He weirkeyed back to the inn to join the others and laid out the situation as he saw it. Senka was asleep, but otherwise they all listened carefully, even Krikree. When it was over, the silence stretched on longer than he expected.

"I vote sublime materials," Nauda said first from beside the bed. "I agree with all your logic that this might come down to the Strongholds, but that's hypothetical. If we buy the materials, we'll definitely use them when things get rough."

"I agree." Fiyu was wrapped in blankets so that only her bobbing head emerged. "The Treasurer would only betray us when someone else offered more money."

"Krikree?" Theo asked. She remained perched on her chair, cleaning off her antennae, and didn't seem likely to give much of an answer. "I guess that's settled, then. Nauda, do you want to come along? I want to be absolutely sure this is the right material for you."

Nauda hesitated, glancing back toward Fiyu, who reached out to pat her arm. "I will be okay, Nauda. Go find the materials you need. Krikree will be here to guard me."

Just in case there were lingering issues, Theo glanced toward her. "Krikree, are you okay with guarding?"

"Krikree protect Fiyu-queen!"

That got a chuckle from Nauda. "You break all traditions to become an Authority, and you're still excited about playing guard?"

"Now Krikree very good guard!"

It seemed like Nauda was comfortable enough leaving Fiyu in Krikree's hands, and Theo had to admit she was probably the best guard they had. She might not be equal to the three of them at the moment and had a lot of soulcrafting ahead of her, but Krikree's raw offensive power combined with an Authority's cantae would be a force to be reckoned with.

Given the time needed for the appointment, they actually had a while longer, which they mostly spent soulcrafting. Theo slept more of it than he wanted to admit, and he wasn't sure how long he'd been running from task to task. A solid night's sleep might not make the difference between life and death, but at this late stage it would do more good than a lot of things.

At last it was time, so he and Nauda leapt back to Accilonia. The Arbaian's home looked identical to the first visit, though they still advanced very cautiously just in case he'd somehow been subverted. It didn't take long before Krimmile rolled into the room, however, just as before.

"I suspected, when you proved yourselves, that you might have a use for such rare materials," Krimmile said. "I trust that you have returned with money or equivalent materials in hand."

"We did," Theo said, "but I'm curious. Purchasing sublime materials at our tier is generally very difficult, so how have you come across so many?"

"I was formerly a member of the Orphic Cabal, so I-"

"I'm not familiar."

"Then you don't need to be," Krimmile said as if that concluded the matter. "But my previous work gave me enough inter-world connections to set up shop here, and since then my funds have allowed me to pursue further specialty items. Now, if you have finished with the small talk, do you have business to conduct?"

Nauda stepped forward. "Show me everything you did last time."

She didn't need to specify further, Krimmile simply revealed everything from their last visit, from all of her requests. Of course, one material was far and away the most powerful: the sphere that had been called an omphalos. Theo had to wonder what Nauda heard, considering the name translated as Greek for him, but she was too fixated on its cantae.

"This is what I need." Nauda paid, then took a deep breath as she drew the sphere into her soulhome. She shivered as it entered, but then glanced toward him. "It might take me a while to place this in my corporealbottle, especially since I don't know what effect it will have right away."

"Are you sure you don't want more?" Theo asked. "We're likely to have a little extra."

'The armaments?" Nauda glanced over them briefly, then clenched her gauntlet and grinned. "No, I'll stick with the strategy I picked. The strength has to come from me, not a weapon."

Krimmile said nothing during their conversation, simply vanished all of Nauda's sublime materials. While she stepped away to soulcraft, Theo stepped up to the counter. "There's only one thing I want."

That said, there was no need for any more small talk. Krimmile revealed the thought-made-flesh and it was every bit as perfect as it had been before. Since Theo already had the voidluster to fill the other gap, this finished his Authority floor. Not just a fourth floor, the perfect foundation for his audacious Corporeal/Ethereal hybrid. He didn't know if he had pulled it off, but he had gotten this far.

"Is there anything else?" Krimmile asked.

"Good question." Theo glanced back at Nauda. "That leaves us with 28,000 left... huh, that's almost what Krikree earned us. Think we should get something for her?"

"I do have a wide variety of Slescan materials."

"Let's not," Nauda said. "We have a Slescan weirkey and plenty of experience there. I think she might want to find her own."

Given the choices she'd made during her ascension, particularly the idea about reinforcing her soulhome using her own technique, Theo was inclined to agree. Krimmile rolled back slightly, regarding them from the glow within his sphere.

"If our business is concluded, you may be on your way. Thank you for your patronage."

"We just gave you over a hundred thousand Silver Crowns," Theo said. "Give us a moment to soulcraft what we bought."

"Given the circumstances, and the documented instances of assassination attempts, I suppose that might be prudent." Krimmile remained nearby like a watchful shopkeeper, as if there was anything for them to steal.

In addition to the precaution, Theo wanted to be absolutely sure that they hadn't been cheated. He stepped into his soulhome and gingerly carried the thought-made-flesh to the fourth floor. As it twisted from form to form in his hands, he realized that they were beginning to change. Many of the forms it took looked like his singularity, or a solar system, or portals. Was it aligning to him already?

Theo set his final sublime material on the plinth he'd prepared and took a deep breath as he felt everything come together. The majority of the chambers on his fourth floor radiated practical, physical cantae, while the ghostprism in the corner was deeply Ethereal. But now, the chambers bridging them managed to not only balance the two, they harmonized the whole.

Feeling his new circular flow lock in was a rush and left Theo grinning. He rose to his roof and stared at the sky - the clouds were still tinged green, but he felt like he could match their rage now. And he still had all the bricks he'd prepared, a partially built pyramid and a pillar...

But no. As the enthusiasm faded, Theo resolved to stick with what he'd planned up to that point. There was still some skyvenom to be absorbed into the coalrag, he needed to do more polishing on his fourth floor, and he should change some secondary materials to support the thought-made-flesh. He needed to do all that if he wanted to be a powerful Stronghold.

When he did ascend, he wouldn't be part of Deuxan politics like this, he would stand above it.

Back in the real world, Nauda had also finished soulcrafting. She was standing with a hand on her stomach, frowning. "It feels funny. Not harmful, exactly, but something is shifting."

"The omphalos is a spiritual organ," Krimmile said. "Normally, it could only exist within Siatans, but you appear to have integrated it. Congratulations."

Since they were both intact, they left Krimmile's estate and rose over Accilonia. As they flew, Nauda shifted a little closer to him. "I was hoping I could use this connected to my new technique. It isn't exactly an offensive material, but it could be used to enhance it, right?"

Theo shrugged. "Potentially. You've been stomping with your legs because of the statue, right?"

"That's right, but I want to improve that. It isn't just my legs, it's my entire lower body. The balance and groundedness of combat. But all of that is a lot to take on."

"It's abstract, but Siatan materials tend to be that way, so it could work. Just be sure to test it out first."

They flew while they spoke, getting higher and higher above Accilonia until they eventually escaped the anti-weirkey foundations. Actually, they might have gone far enough, but it was a pleasure just to streak upward and look over the city from above.

"I know it's irrational," Nauda said, "but finally using this makes me feel like it's all going to work out."

"That's not crazy," Theo told her with a smile. "We've taken a major step forward and time will start to be on our side. If Esaire takes too long to attack us or force a convocation, we might become Strongholds. But the sooner he attacks, the more injured or reluctant allies he has to take into battle."

"Talking about it that way, I feel a bit better. Do you have ideas for how we can undermine any of his support?"

"I always have ideas. This should all turn out fine, if-" Then force struck Theo from behind and a weirkey hurled him across worlds.