Icarus Awakens

Thomas stood in a room worth more than even his own family, staring at the corpse. Dead by no blade, spell, or arrow, but a contract. A contract bond. They could be powerful and you always heard rumors that Aughal had strived to find out just how far you could go with them. Swearing to a formal contract was one of the only surefire ways to form a bond, not that many agreed to them. How had this one been phrased? No one would willingly sign something that would kill them, but words could be tricky.

If he’d been there, he’d know it was something like this: ‘We will give you a new life. If you break this contract, we will take it from you.’ To someone young who only understood that as a loss of wealth and status, who hadn’t been exposed to real evil before, it was an easy mistake to make.

Now the Fate of Aughal was dead, and Xavier wasn’t able to save her. And wouldn’t be when he regained his powers, as the longer one stayed dead the worse chances were the power worked. A week was about the limit regardless of who it was that had died. Even if the Cleric hadn’t just used Resurrection, there may have been some agreement between the city and him to not revive Silora. Otherwise, she’d have tried to find a way to influence him instead.

He could do it. He could also leave, blameless. No witnesses, and without an Assassin who else could stop a heart without any damage? Any trace of poison or magic? Yet, he was trapped on multiple fronts. For one, there was a human somewhere with his secret who would reveal it should Silora not give the all clear. If that happened, his church would shelter him. Treasure him. Hoard him. Xavier hadn’t left the city for years. Thomas had talked to him about it, just for a short time some weeks back to not give anything away.

The other reason, why this hurt so much? He couldn’t help but want to help people. If Silora stayed dead because of what he’d promised, forced or not, that was as good as killing her. The only reason he hesitated was what this would take from him.

“I promised.” Thomas took out his Focus, the charm of the Hand now twice replaced. It broke whenever he used this power, as he had discovered following his first death via falling. Thank the Hand the only two people with him at the time were honorable enough to keep the secret. And Guy was torn up about his ‘big secret’ with Hunter. If only he knew.

Resurrection. The dream and nightmare of Hand Clerics, for how could you live with the responsibility and guilt of not acting when you could? Thomas had seen dead people since he’d returned, able to save each one and spare the family the grief. But if he had, if he used his power as frequently as he was able? He’d never advance again, stuck like old Xavier as if he’d hit his advancement wall.

The secret had to be kept. Silora had leveraged that into an escape from her contract at Thomas’ expense. So, he placed the Focus on her chest, resigned to the act. His hands felt feverish as all the mana stored in his body was prepared to be released in one moment. That still wouldn’t be enough to use the ability, which was what led to its ultimate price.

He closed his eyes and prayed that this was the right decision. That this all wasn’t a huge mistake. Like always, no reply.

Thomas’ hands were on the Focus. He’d never used the ability on someone else before, and yet he knew what to do from watching Xavier. The words were unnecessary, but he spoke them anyway. “Silora. You didn’t have to do this. You didn’t have to trap me like you did. I’ll save you anyway. Because I have to, and I need to.” Anger and mercy in equal measure, before his eyes hardened. “Still, you won’t escape what we’ve agreed to. So, live.”

It was a simple change. In one moment, death. The next, a heart started beating, blood flowed, damage repaired and decay reversed. It happened faster than the last two times, not that Thomas remembered. The first time his body had to put itself back together after being partially splattered, the second a neck unbroken. Here, Silora just needed to be reanimated.

The world became gray as what Thomas cherished most was driven from him and into Silora, the shark who’d scented his blood. He backed up as she gasped, still holding the now broken Focus in his hands. “You really-” She broke off, breathing and looking at herself. “I felt that. It hurt! Did the bastards make it like that, or does death always hurt like that?”

“I don’t remember,” Thomas answered blankly. He’d been battered unconscious the first time and had no memory leading up to the second. Mercifully. “You’re free, then?”

“Yes? Yes!” Silora cried out, taking stock of herself and noting an absence. “It really, oh.” She pouted, an insane expression for one just brought back from the dead to wear, as she felt something else take the former bond’s place. So did Thomas. “I thought, maybe, since we didn’t write anything down…”

The implication should have made Thomas rage and lash out. Instead, he looked at her coldly. “Tell your friend to stand down.”

“Of course, just let me, hhrm.” She almost snarled as she was forced to stop while halfway getting up. “Little Tyrant already, aren’t you? But I agreed. Fine.” Her eyes closed. “Damn, but this is hard without my Focus. I’ll have to rebind to this chamber and get some rest, unless you don’t want me to keep up appearances? Or, well.” She gave him an appraising look. “I imagine you’re going to want to enjoy your end of the bargain at some point. There’s enough time for that.”

He didn’t know what was worse, if she was serious or just trying to get ahead of what she assumed his desires to be. “Just send the message,” he replied tiredly. “I’ll try and find my friends and see how long we have to wait before moving. You’re sure no one can tell your contract’s broken?”

“Probably not. The person who directly swore it with me is dead by now so it defaulted to the city itself.” Silora blinked. “Huh. A city killed me. Not something many people can say.” Thomas opened his mouth but she waved him away. “I found him, don’t worry about it. Besides, now that I’m bound to you, I don’t want people finding out either.”

“Just send the message. I’ll see you when I can.”

Silora paused, still a little surprised. “When I looked into you I heard about a certain reputation. You don’t want to-” But he was already gone.

…

“She’s gone, as well as the others,” one of the duskers staffing the tavern told him. They only knew who he was asking about because how could you ignore Blessed staying long-term in your tavern? Or the fact that one traveled with a ringcat? Beastmasters. But they also knew Thomas, who made it a point to check in with the staff whenever he came by. Mostly for the gossip. “She did tell me to say, ‘Sorry, but you’re missing out on something. We’ll make it up to you.’”

The look she got in return was almost haunting. “Did Evalyn say what it was?”

“No. But to be out this late? I hope they aren’t in trouble.”

“They’re fine.” Even if the city’s on the brink of a riot, Evalyn could walk them through a mob untouched. When did everything start going wrong? Eido, Thomas decided. “I need to go to sleep.”

The dusker, one of the better readers of other species among her kind, hesitated. “Do you need something to eat? You look worn out.”

“I’m good.” Thomas headed for the stairs, ignoring everyone. He sat on his bed in the small room. He probably could have asked for one of the larger ones by now but didn’t see the point. Still, as he lay back, a bit of relief came to him. The worst had happened. Now, he just had to wait and plan out how to fix the mess he’d made with his attributes. Sure, he couldn’t go hunting with the others anymore, but hadn’t he already decided not to?

The secret was safe. He had a Fate bound to him until he regained his Focus. Funny, she’d offered that up front along with her demands, as if expecting him to be insulted by extortion alone. Well, she had spent her entire life here. As much as Thomas loved his city, he’d left it for a reason. He would again in the coming days. This time, he might not come back. Not much for him here anyway.

His thoughts slowed as he approached the edge of sleep. Rest, he could do that. Regain mana for what it was worth. And maybe, figure out what he’d gotten from level 3. The funny thing was, it felt like he could still use Flash Balance. There were a few rare powers that worked without a Focus, and this appeared to be one of them. Could this new one also be used without a Focus? One thing was for sure, he’d have time to find out.

…

In the pre-dawn hours, while an as of yet unnamed team was enjoying a meal, Rasalia was dragged away from the conference yet again to receive a report. Things hadn’t been going well. This was intended to be a come-to-Star moment when the unruly factions were heavily impressed upon to nominate a leader, if only temporarily, so they could start putting this city back together.

To her disgust, they’d made absolutely no progress. Politics. The fact that you could see the price of pitchforks skyrocketing couldn’t make old money pause its relentless dealings. If she didn’t know better, Rasalia would suspect the factions were intentionally dragging this out, but who did that serve?

A few people she’d spoken to had fear thinly veiled under feigned regret and open greed. Rasalia’d thought that had come from her immediate presence and the way she’d briefly taken over the city a month ago. Maybe something else was going on. “Report.”

“Commander. Walls saw a flash of light a few hours ago and a few briefly heard thunder. They waited a bit in case someone took down a monster near the walls or something, but no one and nothing came from that direction. They sent a few of us to take a look and we didn’t see anyone there either.”

The Commander was not in the mood to have her time wasted and glared at the poor dusker who’d brought her the message. “Then why are you bringing this to my attention?”

“Well, there was this area of sand that got burned in a weird pattern. Looks like glass, almost. If lightning did do it, it wasn’t natural. So, something happened. And we found this ring after a bit of searching. Enchanted, helpfully engraved too. House Seliri.” She almost expected the man to produce it, and the hunter knowingly shook his head. “None of us could touch it for more than a few seconds.”

Rasalia froze, mind spinning to reframe everything. Any ring could have letters scraped onto it, but one at least level 3 in make, perhaps one she couldn’t touch? She focused a freshly sharpened gaze on Aucrest. If this was some sort of game, he had no idea. The man was earnest in trying to reform the Council even if that meant provoking the other factions into getting their acts together. You could call him one of the faces of the movement to avoid complete anarchy.

She knew what this was. In a low voice she commanded the hunter, “Find as many teams suited to scouting as you can and marshal them in the courtyard. Day or night teams, throw open rooms if you have to and give me something to go on from that ambush site.”

“Ambush, commander?”

If I can’t trust my people, we’ve already lost. “Someone just kidnapped Silver Eye’s wife or daughter. Possibly both. Keep this within the guild for now. The news by itself might cause panic.”

Some of the chitinous plates on the dusker became lopsided in shock, staring at the very man who was right there, though the hunter brought himself back under control quickly. “S-should we raise a general alarm?”

“No!” They may not know the ring was dropped. Rasalia didn’t have the full picture in her head, but she was starting to figure it out. Clearly, this was some kind of hostile takeover in progress. Someone, be it the Mirage or another region, was kidnapping family members and using that influence to force Aughal into a nose dive, opening it up for them to establish control. Making the public entirely lose trust in a system of government was difficult, but if you pulled it off it made control over the Spoke very tenuous and open to manipulation. If she could find them, that by itself could save the city. “Get Corphein to organize the search teams. I’m going to see the Fate.”

Daniel and Evalyn were not the first to take flight around the Spire’s Eye that night. Rasalia landed to small applause from the handful of nobility on the Eye in the earliest hours for the morning ritual. It was simply the fastest point of ingress, the Fate living in the Sun Spire meant there were no breaks in the Shroud for the balconies the elevated members of her kind loved. Once inside, she could fall through the center of the escalating columns to reach the right floor. Faster than necessary most of the time, too fast for Daniel and Evalyn to notice, but too late for Thomas to be terrified on his way out.

The door was the easiest part. Exigency and her higher level defeated mere locks in this instance. “Fate Silora! I have an emergency request.” Doubtlessly her voice woke up everyone on the floor. Oh well. The Fate didn’t appear from her bedchambers. In fact, no one stirred. She turned her head, giving the shavi a terrifying view of a currently six-limbed creature cluing into her position. “You’re awake?”

Silora remained frozen for a few more seconds before she both realized who this was, and that they didn’t know what she’d done. “Champion. Uh, Commander. Rasalia.” Why do high level people continue to just show up in my apartment? I need to leave this damned region already. “How can I help you? I was just about to turn in before dawn.”

“I need a scrying on the direct family of Lord Seliri. Brief, so long as they are safe. You’ve seen them all, I hope?”

That threw Silora, for more than one reason. “I, ah, of course I can help you.” And as far as you know I’m still forced to. She had to be very careful. A Lord with a lie-detecting ring was one thing, but the Commander of the region whose attributes trumped her own? Very different. Very dangerous. “Although, I haven’t seen all of them. Just the younger daughter and current wife.”

Rasalia didn’t need to ask about the former wife. She’d been there. “Older daughter? Oh, right. Beastmaster.” Lightning? “What would you need to find her?”

“Well, uh, Commander, the thing is-“You’ve come at the worst possible time? “I need to rebind my Focus. Something happened with the setup, that’s why I’m awake.”

The Champion caught the lie. She was manipulating her mana to improve the effectiveness of her wisdom attribute at the moment, but she wouldn’t have needed to. Neither was it important. Either Silora would help her or reveal any potential treachery through refusal. “And?”

“I’m rather drained of mana, Commander. Without my Focus I can’t use most of my powers either.” Silora kept her voice respectful, words within the strict bounds of truth. She’d had practice with this before and leaned on old habits as she recovered from being rattled. “I’ll need a day to recover fully. I can try my best, of course, but I can’t guarantee anything.”

Almost half a minute passed before Rasalia, with one of her combat powers active, chose to speak again. “Have you been threatened in any way? I can defend you from the Assassin if he is still here.”

“No,” Silora quickly denied. “I haven’t seen any Assassins on the Regional Log. Well, aside from the new one, but even they’ve left.”

That did little to set Rasalia at ease. “There’s reason to believe members of that household are in danger. Do what you can until your mana is exhausted. You will be rid of me as soon as you do.”

What is going on? “I, I see.” Even without her tethering to the chamber, Silora could still control the chair she was sitting on. Throne. Whatever. I should be exhilarated. Finally free! Damn this city for robbing me of that. “I don’t think the family of a Council would be easy to scry on, but I’ll try.”

True to her word, Silora was familiar with Willow and Alecia Seliri and had met both. Willow rather recently which helped refresh her memory. Farsight needed something to bind a search to a specific target, and without a strong connection to her Focus or an idea of a location, such memories were the best she could do.

The expansion of her vision was similarly hobbled compared to her normal practices. The runed walls around her still glowed, but unclaimed they did nothing to aid her. Scrying into another region was out of the question. In or near the city? Doable, but she was also racing the sun. No doubt the city would understand why she’d run out of mana with the Ironrush Ravager demanding her time, although she also needed to avoid as much attention as she could. She was free of the contract but not from suspicion or minders. Only Rait’s bought loyalty and the value she now had to the Cleric gave her a chance of getting out.

“I’m past the city walls,” Silora reported. Surprisingly, she felt a connection. As if she were in a night’s sea, spotting a distant lighthouse. Past the first stage where she broadened in every direction, she could now propel her intent in a spike outwards from the initial bubble. West. She couldn’t help but notice something on her way out. “You have people searching off the west wall?”

“You see them? Wait.” Rasalia shook her head. “Don’t answer that.”

Silora grimaced. “I’m running low. You don’t have a potion?”

The Champion actually patted her belt for a moment. “No. I was in a rush.” Her legs were tensing, ready to bolt as soon as she received confirmation. Or, if her worst fears were confirmed, to rally the city against invasion. When the Fate gasped softly, she prepared for either option. “What?”

“I, I don’t understand.” Silora rubbed at her eyes as they opened. “I’m sorry. My mana’s out and I’m quite exhausted.”

“What did you see!?”

“The path traced back to the city rapidly.” Silora frowned, exposing sharp teeth. “So fast I couldn’t see where I was going, but when I got there, I saw myself.”