Chapter Two Hundred And Eighty Six - 286"Local Authority. Huh." Harn looked up at the night sky, thinking.
They were seated around a piece of splintered statuarya hand, closed around a broken swordbetween the tall Nymean sentinels. Those monstrous insides were glaring down at them all, the Henaari having decided to spend the remainder of the night in the shelter of its wardings. They were minor, but were clearly driving away wandering beasts and unwanted eyes.
Handy, that.
Built to celebrate our people's pact of trust with the folk of the Continent, offered Karys. There are a number around the land. The Guardians face outward with orbs of power, while within are contained the horrors that would ravage the world.
"What horrors?"
"What?" Evie asked.
Many kinds. I know that you've encountered some already, though how you purified the Primordials' flesh curse is remarkable.
"What flesh curse?" Felix asked.
"Hello? Felix? Are you talking to the sword guy now?" Evie said, waving her hand in front of Felix's face. He blinked and looked up at the others around them.
"Oh. Yeah, Karys was telling me some...things." Felix smiled, banishing his concern for later. "Now's not the time." He refocused on his team, all of whom were spread around in the shadow of Pit's extended wings. Evie, Vess, Atar, Alister, and Harn were to his right while the Haarguard were to his left. All of them were looking at him with confused expressions.
"A sword spirit," Kylar said with a breathless sort of glee. "I never thought I'd see one."
"Still haven't," Nevia reminded him. "The Fiendsorry, Felix said it was a ghost he bound to the blade. Not the blade's own spirit."
Felix considered correcting her wording, but decided it didn't matter. "Karys is a boon. He's helped me a bunch and we've only known each other for an hour. But more to the point, this proves I can take Authority."
"How? Didn't the System try to kill you last time?" Atar said. Too late, he glanced at the Haarguard and snapped his mouth shut.
"What? Why would the System try to kill you?" Vyne asked.
Felix waved his hand. "Not important. My friend here tells me it's because of...circumstances, that I was able to take this location."
"What about other Nym ruins?" Harn asked. "Can you take those too?"
Provided you take proper control, yes most likely, Karys said.
"Should be able to," Felix said.
"We can see that as a win, at least," Vess stated. "It means that, maybe, we can secure Authority over the Temple before the Archon reaches it."
Who is
"How far out are we?" Atar asked. He had wrapped his cloak tight around himself, as the night had grown unseasonably cool. "A week or two?"
"Thereabouts," Harn said. "Should only be a couple days until we reach Shelim, provided the way's clear."
"And the Farwalker said the city is occupied by our friends," Evie said. "So we go around the city?"
Felix nodded. "I think that's for the best. We'll circle the city and head directly into the mountains. Hopefully we can find a way through them without alerting the Archon."
Felix found the Haarguard staring at him. "What will you do?"
"Do, sir?" Vyne asked.
"It's gonna get even more dangerous in the coming days. If you all want to return to Haarwatch, now's the time to do it."
Vyne and others opened their mouths, their Spirits all flashing with denial and no little bit of fear. Felix held out a hand, forestalling them. "Think it over. Let me know in the morning. There's no shame in admitting if a fight is beyond you."
The Haarguard gave him thoughtful nods, even Kylar. "Let's all get some rest while we can. We'll set off at dawn when the Henaari pack up." Felix stood and stretched. His muscles actually felt tight and a bit sore after his fights.
The others spread out, grouping up and chatting. They didn't have to worry about doing any sort of watch as the Henaari more than had that covered. The nomad people had insisted his team relax after driving off their would-be murderers, giving them the rest of the night to rest before they set off in the morning.
The Henaari and Felix's team would part ways then. When he'd arrived on the back of his Companion, the Farwalker and a surprisingly subdued Matriarch had welcomed him with open arms. The gathered Henaari had cheeredin Spirit, at leastand the Farwalker explained their plan. The wandering people would head for one of their nearby redoubts to the north, near where the Hoarfrost abutted the Foglands. There, they hoped to escape the Archon's creatures.
Felix understood. This wasn't their fight. As the Farwalker put it, "the Great Raven empowers us to challenge the dark for the thrill of the unknown, but she does not send us to death." And to face the Archon directly was...well, it was toeing that line.
Felix wandered the area.
Quite a few gave Felix deep bows of appreciation for what he'd done, often clutching close their loved ones at the same time. Felix could feel the shaky relief in their Spirits, like someone told they had days to live only to have the diagnosis reversed. It was nice, the recognition, he could admit that to himself. But it was far more rewarding to see a few of the faces he recognized from the first tunnel, now reunited with family members and children.
They would have died, had you not acted. You have done a good thing, Inheritor.
"Thanks Karys. Always nice to be reminded of that."
Felix settled in against the back of one of the monoliths. A snarling creature with too many eyes and an upsetting number of mandibles loomed above him, but he paid it little mind. The echo of their growling had been unnerving at first, but Felix had seen weirder stuff. He'd followed the threads of sounds, hoping he'd find an illusion array buried in the statues or ground, but the traces of it simply vanished. At the same time, the vicious snarls had cut off completely. Whatever he'd done, it meant that he could settle against the statue without anything louder than the wind in his ears.
They fled. I had thought them only hiding.
"Who did?" Felix unsheathed his sword and placed it across his lap. It felt odd talking to it at his side, considering it had once been a person. "Who are you talking about?"
The horrors I mentioned. Those growls you heard through your Harmonics were not illusions. That was a spellwrought connection to another place, a Vault much like the one in which you found me. Karys sounded agitated. And now I can find no sign of that connection. As if it had been severed.
"Not by me. All I did was trace it backwards," Felix said. "The thing disappeared the closer I looked." Felix looked up at the statues and the monstrous visages. "I've been told the Nym collected monsters, hoarded them like a CEO hordes cash. Is that true?"
What is a CEO?
"A rich guy," Felix said.
My people did not hoard monsters, Felix. They protected people from the worst the Continent had to offer. The Golden Empire was one of peace and learning, free of the strife inherent in our neighbors. The sword buzzed, wisping slightly with green gold vapor. Threats were hunted down. Where something could not be eradicated, it was contained and restricted.
"Okay. That gels with what I've learned about them. But why even forge a connection between some distant Vault and these statues? What's the point?"
Goodwill is transient, unless people are reminded what is done for them.
It clicked. "So these are political statements." Felix could see it. No wonder the outside looked so heroic while the inside was designed to scare the crap out of people. "And they upped the 'wow factor' by setting up an audio feed directly into the cages. Dang. I'm impressed."
Except now that connection is gone. The threads have snapped.
"Weren't they just something to bring the monsters' Spiritual presence here?"