Wakespire: Chapters 28-29

Hey, before the chapters, I have an unusual issue for everyone. It would be premature to announce anything, but it is possible that I might have an opportunity to put out deluxe hardcover editions for The Weirkey Chronicles (or at least one). Your input on the following questions would be much appreciated:

• 1) Are you interested in deluxe editions? These would be leather bound, illustrated, and expensive.
• 2) What do you think of the idea of combining the first three books into a single volume? I feel like a deluxe edition for a book as short as Soulhome would feel too slim, unsatisfying on a shelf. With a combined version, we could have three books (plus short stories) for a more satisfying-looking volume.
• 3) What scenes in the first book (or first three) would you most like to see illustrated? Imagine high quality illustrations of the main cast, the cliff dividing Tatian, or the city of Norro Yorthin.

Please give your opinions and thoughts here, because they could have a major impact! Maybe you want one fewer scene illustrated but some kind of fancy soulcrafting tutorial? I could easily shift in one direction or another depending on your preferences.

For those interested in details: there is no financial downside to this for me, but if the books don't sell well the publisher won't make more, so obviously I'm interested in making these as high quality (and appealing to the audience) as possible.

That said, I have chapters for you as well! Notes at the end.

-

Chapter 28

"Okay, this one will actually be dangerous."

Theo and Senka had gone back to eat with the others and get a full night of sleep, plus Senka had spent a while running wildly into walls. Now that they were refreshed, he was ready to focus on soulcrafting and searching out materials with her. But when she began the conversation with such a serious phrase, it sounded like there was more at play.

"Is the next cache guarded?" he asked.

"Not a cache at all. This is something more serious... or maybe not." Senka floated out to the balcony and sat on the side railing, staring off into the mountains. "Before I was like this, I was a member of an organization. A major one, by which I mean one spanning multiple worlds. My memories of them are unusually scrambled. Suspiciously so. But I've been remembering very carefully about what I can't remember and I think I've come to some negative conclusions."

"So this is dangerous because of the organization?"

"And the region, but that's trivial. The real threat is that, assuming I have it figured out and that they're still there, that they'll attack us for some reason. These people were not weak, Theo. In fact, if you don't want to do this now..."

"Would a month or even a year make a difference?" Theo asked. He leaned against the railing so their heads weren't so far apart. "If this organization soulcrafted beyond Dominion, I'm not going to be catching up any time soon."

"Probably not, but I wanted to give you a choice." Senka grinned over at him. "On the other hand, they might welcome me with open arms and give all of you magical rocks that instantly turn you into Strongholds!"

"I'm sure. Alright, let's try it."

This time Senka was much more cautious when she suggested the direction they should use for weirkey travel. Even before Theo had fully emerged, he could feel a difference. The very air felt charged with cantae, and the sky overhead was roiling.

The sky? Theo looked up at the twisting mass of clouds, then back down to the layer of puffy white clouds that had become almost natural to him. The layer below seemed much the same as anywhere on Noven, but the sky above looked like a thunderstorm about to break. It shouldn't have been possible for clouds to form so thick above the cloud layer, but he couldn't deny what he was seeing.

"There are two separate cloud layers here?" Theo asked. "What does that mean?"

"Oh yeah, greatstorms. I have a distinct memory of someone explaining the atmospheric science to me, but I wasn't really listening." Senka grabbed his shoulder and kicked his back. "Alright, that way! Only use a gravitational field, just in case people are monitoring."

Theo completely neutralized his gravity and then used the slightest boost of cantae to begin floating in the direction she pointed. Since she seemed so tense about it, he narrowed his gravitational field until it only affected him and the smallest possible area around him. Now they were flying as subtly as they could without Fiyu's stealth. He wondered why Senka hadn't asked Fiyu to come along and decided it was probably intentional.

For a while they traveled in silence, but Theo couldn't help but look up at the storm. Not only did the clouds twist violently, he occasionally saw flashes of blue lightning within them. "Is that storm safe?" he asked.

"Not at all. Not remotely. I've seen greatstorms kill Authorities in one bolt."

"In that case..."

Senka patted his head. "Authorities weaker than you. Don't worry, we won't be here long. I didn't direct us that far out, so we should be seeing our headquarters soon. Actually, I'm surprised we can't see it now."

With no idea what to expect, Theo just looked around the cloudscape and stretched his gravity senses as far as he could with good resolution. He didn't really feel much of anything with substantial mass ahead of them. Then again, Senka's former organization might be so far beyond him that he didn't have any chance of sensing them.

Gradually the clouds beneath began to thin and he could even see a point where they vanished in the distance. As they flew closer, and the empty space grew larger, he felt Senka's arms digging into his shoulder. Judging from the pressure, this was not what she had expected.

Finally the corpse of a mountain came into view. Theo could see the base of what must have been an enormous peak stretching across the earth because none of the clouds would get anywhere near it. He couldn't even see the opposite side, just the gentle curve of the clouds surrounding the remnants.

Because a perfect sphere had been torn from what should have been a mountain peak.

It was wrong to think of the mountain as having been decapitated - more like its entire torso had been ripped away, leaving the arms to crumble onto what remained. Senka shivered at the sight and Theo had to suppress a flinch. Not because he knew anything about the area, but because he recognized the devastation: a spatial knot had been formed here, erasing existence itself to annihilate whatever had once stood on the mountain.

"So... it's not supposed to look like that." Senka's attempt at humor fell completely flat and she sighed. "It wasn't our policy to wipe out old bases or even move. Everyone was too hidebound for that. So it was probably destroyed."

"And likely a long time ago," Theo pointed out, "if you look at the erosion."

"Techniques like this weren't beyond our power, but even our worst enemies... I don't know what to think... they might have gone out in a war, they might have destroyed themselves... I just don't know..."

"Oh sure, you get your past annihilated because it's important."

Senka stared at him, then snorted and whacked his head. "That's horrid of you and I love it."

"I wasn't sure if that was too far. Did you lose friends?"

"Nah, there's a good chance those fumpets betrayed me to whoever cursed me. I was with them because I needed an organization to gain power, not because we shared any ideals." She floated off his shoulder to get a better look. "There used to be a village of servants down at the bottom, but I don't see a single brick of it left. All the valuable materials would have been destroyed on the mountain and everything else probably decayed."

"So there's no reason to explore further?"

"The longer we stay, the more risk from the greatstorm. No, there's nothing here. Sorry I wasted your time on nothing."

"This isn't nothing." Theo reached for his weirkey, but he didn't use it just yet. "The fact that it was destroyed tells us something. This was the sort of organization that lasted for centuries and hosted many powerful soulcrafters, right?"

"I can't say we were the most powerful, but we were right near the top. The Nine Worlds can't support very many organizations with that much power."

"Other soulcrafters would probably have taken over or looted, but this total destruction seems like Vistgil. That tells us something useful."

"Assuming you're right." Senka folded her arms somberly. "I'm not sure I believe that, but it would make sense. I haven't seen any sign of our ancient rivals, so it seems like the most powerful organizations were systematically destroyed. That matches the fact that there aren't as many soulcrafters beyond Dominion as there used to be."

"Maybe because Vistgil doesn't want anyone who can challenge him."

"Maybe." Senka's body abruptly went limp and she flopped onto his shoulder. "Let's get out of here. I'll figure out my next cache some other time."

"Sure." He flew further away from the corpse of the mountain, just in case, and prepared his weirkey. "What was your organization called, by the way?"

"Does it matter anymore?"

~ ~ ~

Fiyu was not sure how she felt about weirkeys becoming common for them. It was one thing for her relative to be able to transport them between worlds, which he did only when necessary and prudent. Now Friend Theo and Betrayer Senka were constantly appearing and disappearing at random times. It was fortunate that the city defenses prevented them from entering the rooms directly, or they would likely be popping up directly beside her at all times of day.

But even she had to admit that their increased mobility allowed her to soulcraft more quickly. Between Friend Theo and Relative Guchiro, they were able to acquire almost anything she required. Only the most valuable of materials would be beyond reach, and by this point she had acquired her core materials and only secondary soulcrafting was necessary.

The ephemeralia she had received from Isorales was working well. She had suspended the glass orb in her soulhome by cooling sublime water from Ichil into ice. After some advice from her relative, she had succeeded in cooling the sphere as well without cracking the exterior. Once it had reached the temperature of the rest of her chamber, it resonated strongly.

Now what she needed, more than anything, was a way to train her incorporeality skill to refine the chamber. For the time being she focused on her soulhome, just in case she had no choice but to ascend. She didn't want to, but new dangers could emerge at any time.

While Fiyu was in the middle of work, she felt the familiar movements of Theo arriving. This time, however, he did more than greet her.

"Can we get your help?" he asked.

Fiyu left her soulhome to rise to her feet. "What is it?"

Betrayer Senka was the one who answered: "One of my caches is protected by a sort of... lock of darkness, you could say. It's too intricate for Theo's gravity sense and I'm useless, so you're our best chance."

"I will do what I can."

As they departed, however, Fiyu could not avoid analyzing Betrayer Senka further. Seeing her transition so much, Fiyu thought that she had pinpointed a number of differences between the false Senka and her real, if treacherous, self. Her strange body had no proper muscles, but it held itself in different positions. The false form moved much like a child, spine stretched and arms rotating wildly. Her real self slouched slightly, kept her arms restrained, and narrowed the material around her eyes.

Judging from her tests so far, Fiyu thought Betrayer Senka was not fully aware of her own tendencies. When she occasionally pretended to be foolish in order to bother Friend Theo, she might shift some of her patterns to mimic a child, but not all of them. If Fiyu was very observant, she would not be deceived.

They moved from Ugustial to a pleasantly dim region. Instead of pure darkness, the area beneath the clouds was lit in subdued blues and whites as the suns overhead were filtered out. All around them she could sense wispy plants, with cloud-like heads to absorb the faint light and thin flexible stems that swayed in the wind.

"This was an agricultural region," Betrayer Senka said, "but I had an old, old cache here. There's a chance that it got overlooked."

"I will try to help," Fiyu said.

Betrayer Senka led them to a shaft into the side of the mountains, one of many. Fiyu had been concerned that the location might have traps of extreme power, but it appeared normal enough. Instead of dangers, there were thin lines of sublime materials that seemed fragile and designed to break.

"This is as far as I got," Friend Theo said. "Senka says that if you break any of the lines or bring light into the shaft, the cache at the end will lock down. There's supposed to be a lever at the other end, but I couldn't risk getting there. I've been improving my tunneling technique, but it's disruptive to the environment..."

"Yes, I see the difficulty," Fiyu said. "It should not be a great problem, but please do not distract me."

She carefully began making her way through the shaft. Usually it was simply a matter of placing her feet carefully, but occasionally a thread of sublime materials hung like a spiderweb. There was no sign that anyone had broken any of the lines and the dust was heavy over the entire shaft, which boded well for the cache containing items of value.

As she moved, Fiyu's mind was free enough that she examined Friend Theo and Betrayer Senka again. She slouched against his leg, stiff body revealing exhaustion, and Friend Theo did not shift away. He seemed to trust her, which was entirely irrational.

Fiyu had read tragedies about incompatible networks of relatives. Through unusual circumstances, some more realistic and some wildly convoluted, well-meaning relatives who cared about one another ended up with incompatible circles of trust. The results varied, but always contained great heartbreak. She did not believe that the situation with Betrayer Senka was so dangerous yet, but she did not understand how Friend Theo could trust her.

Betrayer Senka had deceived all of them. Perhaps not maliciously, though she did contain great malice, but intentionally and at times for no reason. People who lied so habitually could not be truly trusted, not even if they meant well. Nothing that Betrayer Senka had done since then changed those fundamental facts.

Eventually Fiyu reached the end of the corridor and the lever that had been mentioned. When she pulled it, the lines of fragile materials began to recede into the floor... but the mechanism clashed and groaned to a halt. Fiyu was afraid that the entire mechanism would break until it finally went silent and was simply inoperative.

"That didn't sound good," Betrayer Senka said from the opposite side. "The entrance is right beside you, can you just look?"

"Yes, I can." Fiyu entered through the door that had been partially opened by the lever. It required strength that would have been more appropriate to Friend Nauda, but Fiyu was able to twist her way through. On the other side, her senses quickly revealed a mostly empty room. "I am sorry, but there is little here. Rotted remains of what may have been blankets, perhaps some bones from food..."

"Don't be sorry, that's what we've usually found."

"It isn't entirely empty." Fiyu picked up one of the small crystalline densities from the ground and confirmed her suspicions. "It seems that some craftgems were spilled across the floor."

"The thieves probably dropped them on their way out and didn't care enough to pick them up. They get less useful the further you get past Authority."

"Let's take them anyway," Friend Theo said. Even from across the corridor, he used one of his fields to lift the craftgems into the air. This saved Fiyu the trouble of scrabbling for them, instead letting her sweep them up into a bag. The number was not inconsiderable and Fiyu again wondered just who Betrayer Senka had been.

With everything taken, Fiyu made her way carefully down the corridor. The last question remained with her long after they had returned.

-

Chapter 29

After multiple wasteland caches, Theo was surprised when Senka led him to a city. It was a heavily fortified cube built into the side of a mountain, more characteristic of Arbai or Fithe than Noven. Other than the heavy use of metal in the fortifications, he wouldn't have been able to tell. Every time he thought he had a solid handle on the Nine Worlds, they revealed some new facet.

"You need to memorize the exact numbers," Senka said as they flew in. "Messing up even once will bring us attention we don't want."

"If it's that serious, why don't you handle it?"

"An Authority knowing the bank code is no surprise, but whatever I am now? More of that attention, which again, we don't want."

"If you insist." Theo thought he'd memorized the numbers well enough, but he wasn't sure about engaging in negotiations in a culture about which he knew almost nothing.

Allegedly the Great Bank of Avn Kovor was a straightforward organization that served high tier soulcrafters of all types. According to Senka, they asked no questions and were accountable to no greater powers. The fact that they seemed to have survived for so long did speak well of their institutions. Their city itself was too much of a grim fortress for his taste.

Flying was forbidden in certain areas, so they needed to walk the rest of the way to the bank. While they walked through the blank streets, Senka examined the inhabitants curiously.

"There used to be a lot of Deuxans living here," she said. "I don't see many these days."

"Would they be thrown out?"

"It's not likely. There was a gate to Deuxan that must have been destroyed. Sometimes that happens, and even if people try to maintain connections via weirkeys, it never lasts."

"Speaking of that, do you know how gates are created?"

"It's an advanced technique... but my memories are fuzzy and I don't think they'll get clearer. That's soulcrafting knowledge that could actually have benefited me."

He wanted to ask more about the Deuxan community left behind, but at that point they finally came within sight of the Great Bank of Avn Kovor from the ground. It was a remarkably standard building by Noveni standards, just a dull metal block. What struck him most was that it was business-like. No ornaments or balconies, not in any of the styles he'd seen across a dozen cultures while traveling. Not even any ostentatious doors: just a practical entrance with utilitarian handles.

Inside, he was certain of subtle wealth from the very first step. It was more than the plush carpets and understated walls, it was the sublime materials underneath his feet. Not only was the entire building reinforced, there was some kind of spatial barrier that could likely be used to expel him.

"Do you have an account?" The Noveni who spoke to him appeared to be a normal official in a bank uniform, but remarkably the man was an Authority.

"I do." Theo rattled off the bank codes as if he'd done this before and wasn't an outsider. The official didn't so much as blink.

"Very good, sir. This way."

They were taken to a small room with even more security around it. Several officials set down a cup of tea and a plate with small pyramid-shaped pastries, then asked him to wait. Theo settled into the drab but extremely comfortable chair when Senka spoke up again.

"Oh, don't eat anything they give you. They poison things here."

"They what?"

"It's a weird cultural thing." She shrugged. "Something about not trying to poison someone being a gesture of disrespect. Anyway, the fact that they just handed you a poisoned drink is a sign of how classy this place is."

Theo stared at Senka, trying to figure out if she was joking. That seemed the most likely explanation, but she looked deadly serious. Before he could test the matter further, the official entered the room carrying a dull metal cube. He set it down on the table and then touched a long series of points on one side. Carefully remembering the opposite key he'd been taught, Theo entered his own code and was relieved when the cube cracked slightly down the center.

"Close the vault when you are done, sir, and it will be firmly locked." The official gave him a deep bow and then vanished from the room.

"Alright, let's get it over with." Senka gripped the slight crack in the top of the cube, threw it open, and then sighed.

"Nothing?" Theo leaned over to look and saw that the cube was mostly empty. There was a small glint at the bottom, however, and when he picked it up he discovered that it was a pale white key. "A weirkey?"

"Just to Noven, which means it was left practically as an insult." Senka emitted a growling sound that shouldn't have been possible for such a little body. "The number of people who had access to this vault was very small. The fact that they stole my things must mean they thought I was dead or at least taken out of the picture."

"Does the bank keep records of who took what?"

"No, it's all absolutely anonymous. But if it's not in use now, the others must be gone. They can't have died or left more than a century ago or the vault would have been closed. They weren't a part of my organization... but they also weren't people who would surprise me if they got themselves killed, if you get my drift."

"Still, this one wasn't a total loss." Theo pocketed the weirkey with a smile. "I won't have to share with Guchiro anymore."

"Sure, sure, weirkeys all around." Senka grabbed his coat to pull him from the bank. "At the rate we're finding out institutions are destroyed, we're going to need a lot more than that."

~ ~ ~

Theo was popping in and out at all times these days, so Nauda had needed to lie in wait to catch him. That wasn't too much of an imposition, since she had plenty of soulcrafting of her own to do. When he finally landed on their balcony and began making plans for another journey, she intercepted him and touched his shoulder.

"Theo, it's almost time for the next Wakespire." She made sure to get him to actually meet her gaze so he didn't stay in his overly focused mode. "There are some things we need to talk about."

"Are they moving the date up?" he asked.

"Nothing like that, but tensions are rising between the Dortorus and Terefilia teams. I think maybe you should stay, and apparently Isorales really wants to talk to us."

"We could still..." Theo paused and then sighed. "No, you're right. You can take a break for now, Senka."

"I don't mind." She jumped off his shoulder and flopped down onto the table in the center of the room. "It's not like we've been finding great treasures. I'll think hard about any remaining caches and we can take care of them later."

"Great. So where are we headed, Nauda?"

As it happened, they didn't end up needing to go anywhere. After Nauda told Isorales that they had all returned, he came to meet them directly. Not just himself, but at the head of a whole group of Jadadictus soulcrafters. They were mostly Archcrafter guards, who didn't seem so menacing given the current stakes of the Wakespire. Given that all his Ruler allies were injured except for the gruff bearded man who had fought along with them on the mountain, perhaps they were running out.

They met in the first room of the chambers they had been given, just the three of them. Guchiro was actually in the next room obscured by darkness, no doubt listening in. But for now, this was supposed to be a discussion between their teams.

"I wanted to discuss an alliance." For once Isorales didn't hem and haw around the subject, he just started with business. He didn't look injured from the battle, either. "Not like the previous round, something more serious."

"What changed?" Theo asked. Even though Nauda was more positively inclined toward Isorales than Theo was, she thought it was a good question.

"Two things. First, my lineage's goals have changed. My parents and grandfather believe that no one else is likely to ascend to Authority, so they want to win more rounds for the prestige of it. Second, attrition has taken its toll." Raising his slender fingers confidently, Isorales almost looked like a different man. "It would be difficult for us to raise a single competitive team, much less multiple."

If this group was the best they could assemble to help guard their new Authority, Nauda believed him. When she looked over the soulcrafters, she saw a mix of fear and anger. It seemed like Theo was about to press Isorales harder, but Nauda thought that a gentler approach would be best, so she spoke up first.

"Last round we forfeited our progress for you," she said. "But we actually want to win this time, because this part of the sublime legacy is essential for my soulhome. If you want us to give that up, you'll need to offer something remarkable."

"I can do better than that. What I propose is to combine our members to create one team with a better chance of victory than either separate group. If we do, you'll receive all the rewards we win... so long as the combined team is under the Jadadictus name."

The way he spoke, he seemed to think that was a major compromise. Judging from what she'd overheard in the training hall, Nauda suspected that it would be a sticking point for most Noveni. But for them, it meant almost nothing and she just hoped they didn't give away that they didn't care about the concession. Fiyu was listening with absolutely no expression on her face, while Theo briefly met her gaze with mild amusement.

"We might be willing to accept your terms," he said, "but we need to ensure the sacrifice will be worth it."

Isorales shook his head. "I wish I could offer you more, but I don't have the full confidence of the lineage. I don't have much to negotiate with. All I can offer you is my word that we'll all be grateful to you if you can help our lineage win."

"The team can be in your name, but we want control of the strategy. And the team members."

"I wanted to discuss that anyway." Isorales smiled around the group. "What if I joined you in the place of the fourth member you've always had forfeit immediately? That would be quite a strong team, I think."

"Ridiculous!" The bearded Jadadictus surged forward as if he couldn't contain himself any longer. He didn't grab Isorales, but his hand slammed down on the table as if he wished he could. "I can understand the Authority, my prince, but will you really do this? It will barely be a Jadadictus team at all!"

"Jarikius, calm yourself. The Dortorus teams are already accusing us of collaborating, so what difference will it make? Besides... who else would you put on the team? You, Jarikius? Which one of them would you replace?"

The large man's eyes shifted around the table. He didn't stay on Fiyu for long, which was no surprise. Nauda did her best to look confident when he looked toward her, because she expected that would be the real argument. To her surprise, Jarikius lowered his gaze.

"Joining with the foreigners would be the best possible team," he said, much more quietly.

"Thank you. This is for the sake of the lineage, after all." Isorales smiled at his guard, then turned back to them. "And thanks to all of you as well. I truly hope that this will benefit all of us. This is the penultimate round, after all, and the other lineages appear to be taking it quite seriously. We'll need an optimized group if we want to win."

Isorales remained a while longer and discussed various details with them, from changing their registration to their strategy in the Wakespire itself. Once the business was done, he seemed more anxious, which was more like his old self. He clearly wanted to stay longer, but his guards were encouraging him to return and Fiyu was getting antsy with all the company.

As they all filed out, Nauda thought about what that meant for them. This would be the first time they would enter the Wakespire with a full team, so that should have been encouraging. It was a very non-Tatian feeling, but she felt a little pride that she had been chosen. Maybe she wasn't so far behind other Rulers anymore, even if she hadn't fully recovered from the destruction of her soulhome.

Before they split entirely, Nauda caught Theo by the arm and drew him aside. "Are you going to try to squeeze in more trips across Noven?"

"I was thinking about it, but I guess not." He gripped her arm in response and smiled. "There will be plenty of time for everything else later. Let's win this."

-

When writing this book, I was relatively sure that readers would enjoy Theo's ascension, but I'm less sure about this section. Most of the time in previous books, the characters have only been able to see a small part of a world. Now that Theo is an Authority and can use weirkeys (they're in the title!) I wanted to give the sense that the Nine Worlds were opening up for him. Each world is supposed to feel like a vast space you couldn't explore in many lifetimes, but these books are only so long.

Future books won't bounce around as much, because the characters will have things to do that anchor them in a place. As they start to collect weirkeys, though, they'll increasingly have the ability to jump worlds when necessary. This is one of the ways I hoped that Authority would feel less like "Soulcrafter Level 4" and more like the characters have entered a new tier.

Anyway, these chapters are the balance I tried to strike. Theo will see more glimpses of Noven than the other worlds, but everything is grounded in the Wakespire.