12 Miles Below

“Oi. I met your boss.”

Lejis turned his head to the sound, eyes meeting my own. Chains kept his arms tied, though they were loose enough for him to sit in reasonable comfort. “The Feather?” He asked, in the gloom of his cell. The door behind me creaked shut while the guards beyond took their post. Leaving me alone with the Chosen priest.

Well, as alone as I could be with Cathida in the background.

“Yep. Pale fellow. Long white braid, thinks he’s great with a spear, walks around with sandals and a toga. Violet eyes, and a metal hand that’s made of floating pieces, plus that oversized shoulder tower wall thing he’s got going. And the cape. Can’t forget the cape. Ring any bell?” I asked, walking over and setting up a seat right before him. On the other hand, I offered him a pear. “Hungry?”

His hand reached out, chains clanking noisily at the motion. He took the fruit, biting into it with little fanfare. A quick nod in thanks, and the man focused on chewing slowly. Savoring it. Food likely hadn’t been very good down here in the dark.

“You have no need to be dramatic, Winterscar. There can be hardly anyone else you speak of given that description. And given that you’re here and alive, I take it you somehow managed to defeat that demon?”

“Not a fan of him? Curious, I thought you worshiped the machines.”

He shook his head at that. “My faith is my own, as I’ve told you before. I know the danger they pose." There was a look in his eye at that, something I couldn't quite put my hand on.

"I'm guessing he wasn't vey polite to you either?"

I paused. “What?”

Lejis rattled his chains slightly, taking another bite instead of answering and chewing for a moment, eyes closed. “A little boy who’d been playing nearby." He finally said. "The ball crossed his pass, and the Feather simply stabbed his hand through the child's heart, and then cut his throat without pause. Didn’t look, or seemed to care at all. As if he's acted only on instinct, hardly aware of it. The only machine type that wears our form - in the most idealized manner - is the truest monster of them all. While the rank and file, those machines that wear a twisted nightmare of our form, all skulls and bones. Why, they end up being far more harmless. Outright curious, I could claim. Perhaps it may strike you as odd, but the rank and file machines were far more agreeable to us. Like children themselves. Only the drakes seemed to watch us with an echo of the hatred that To'Aacar did.”

Another bite into the fruit. I let him chew and swallow before I asked again. “If you want to help me put an end to him, I could use any information you might know. If you'd helped me earlier from the start, I might have put him into the ground permanently. Don't make the same mistake twice."

Lejis raised his arm, shaking the chains locked around his wrist. "I’ve balanced my duty to my people with my duty to the machines that hold my people’s lives. I won’t apologize for omitting information or being obtuse, though I hardly had to bend any truths thus far. Ask what you will. I'll answer what I can.”

I shrugged, taking it in stride. "What do you know of To’Aacar, now that you seem to be in such an agreeable mood to share.”

He took another bite of his fruit, chewing on it casually. “I respect his power and rank, but I share little love for his temperament. If anything, I’m rather happy hearing he’s been defeated. You need to be more specific with what you want me to inform you about. I do not know how you intend to fight him, or what weaknesses you are searching for.”

“All right, let's start at the basics. Tell me what this Feather is. What’s he want with me?”

“What’s he want with you?” He stopped, swallowed and looked me in the eye. “Why would he care about you? He is an emissary of the machine goddess, and not a favored one at that. He failed the lady in some way, and now as atonement, he’d been sent to deal with us. We are below his level, and he’s made that blindingly clear many times over. As I mentioned, my first meeting with him was not a peaceful one. Did your own first sight of him match?”

“First time I saw him, he monologued at Lord Atius for a bit, and threatened to kill us all. Technically he did win the duel, but it wasn’t in the way he’d end up happy. Was that the failure the lady took personally?”

Lejis shrugged. “I’ve never heard him speak about Lord Atius, nor any fights with him. Up to now, he’s only shown concern with completing the lady’s missions. For whatever reasons she sees fit. We’ve spoken only a few times, and each time it had been to give me orders to complete. I don’t think he even knows my name. I am not a person to To’Aacar, only a tool. I don’t think any of the Chosen register as individuals.”

“So you don’t know why he’s after me exactly?”

He shook his head in genuine confusion. “Rather, this is the first I’ve ever heard of him care about a human in any regard. If I had my hunches, I suspect it’s an order from the Lady. That’s the only reason he would stoop to dealing with humans. But that just makes even less sense, if you couldn’t be in To’Aacar’s sights by natural means, then what hope do you have of being on the pale lady’s own sights?”

All right, things were starting to point to my initial theory. This had something to do with the bunker, and the discussion I had with Tsuya. “What’s he want with the surface?”

Again the priest shrugged. “He had been given an order by the lady to convert as many humans as possible. Pilgrimage was to start with the surface dwellers, so we were dispatched up there.” He paused for a moment. “You should know he cannot die. Like a Deathless, destroying his body will only stop him for a few days at most until he has a new one made. I don’t mean to try and rob you of your victory. But he will be back, and he will seek revenge a hundred fold greater. Killing him might have been the worst thing you could have done.”

“And yet you followed someone like that.”

“It was that or death. Between both options, I think you might understand why I chose the former.” He took a last bite of the fruit, consuming it whole. “How did you kill him?”

I shrugged. “He tried to attack me personally, separate me from my crew. And I politely told him to fuck off.”

Lejis laughed, “By politely, I assume with a sword? But how exactly did you defeat him? The Feather is many things, weak is not a word I would use to describe him.”

“His arrogance. I took advantage of his arrogance.”

The priest nodded, as if my one-word answer solved everything. “I could certainly see him fall for that. That pride was not unfounded however. I was told he was over five hundred years old, and all those years were spent in combat. He certainly moved like a monster from ancient times. How did you match him at all?”

“That’s for me to know, and if you’re lucky, you’ll never find out either.”

He paused. Then nodded. “Perhaps ignorance is preferable. I have a feeling it wouldn’t be healthy to know your secrets. After all, they brought down the attention of a Feather. Did you get everything you wanted to know?”

“Your knights. I’ve taken out To’Aacar, and captured the returning airspeeder, but there’s still knights unaccounted for. Where are they?”

He shrugged. “That, I can’t tell you. What I can tell you is that my captain is meticulous, and I don’t think he’ll stop. Not with who’s at stake for him if he fails. We all fight for something, or someone. If their goal was to capture you in the first place, then he will not stop just for this. You need to prepare.”

There was a knock on the door. “Master Winterscar, the clan lord’s Chenobi’s have arrived and are going to be interrogating the priest. Respectfully, sir, your time is up. Forgive us, but we cannot bend the rules more for you than we already have.”

“Well, you never saw me if anyone asks,” I said, winking at him as I stood up.

He smiled, the sort of enigmatic smile of a doomed man. “Were it be so simple. Thank you for the fruit. I appreciate the kindness. Good luck to you, Winterscar, and may your gods watch over you. Perhaps we will speak again someday, in another life.”

Ellie swirled the wine in her glass, watching as the pale liquid moved. “Don’t consider me ungrateful, but while I appreciate the wine, I’m not quite sure this glass is worth getting shot in the leg another time.”

“We’ve only been here five minutes, there hasn’t even been any screaming or shooting yet. Night’s still young.” I said, taking a sip of my own glass. Under the balcony we sat at, the clan was busy trying to dance away their stress. House Revenal, an agrifarmer house, had gone all in on the decorations in a desperate attempt to lighten the mood. Vines of all kinds had been setup, and some of them even had been stuffed with vegetables, as if we were in the middle of a wild untamed vertical farm that’d been left a few years to its own ideas. Not sure how they pulled it off, but I had to hand it to them. The place breathed of life.

Ellie, on the other hand, was still nervous about her own life. “I really should be asking to get paid for this. Snarky compliments and a cheap glass of wine just don’t have that same charm they used to.”

“I might be amendable, depends on what the services included. How far are you committed to customer satisfaction? Are we talking full service here or only a massage?”

A piece of sticky rice flew off directly into my face as a response. “I knew you were secretly swine on the inside.” She said, rolling her eyes. “Mother always warned me about boys like you. And yet, here I am anyhow. I just keep doing it to myself at this point.”

The waiter came by, dropping two plates of freshly cooked surface staples. The smell wafted over, tickling my nose. “We family disappointments stick together you know? Only natural.” I said, stretching back on the chair and listening to the music. “Besides, pigs can be pretty cute. And clever! Give me a bit of credit.” And true to my nature, I set in on the main dish before me.

Giant isopodan bug-stir, complete with spicy peanut sauce and sticky rice. The massive pillbug had been overturned on the back of its shell, while the meat inside had been carefully detached, cooked up with seasoning, and then decoratively returned into the shell. This one had been an enormous little bugger, probably weighing at two or three pounds. I ripped a piece of the steaming rice, rolled it into a ball, and used it to scoop up some of the broiled insect meat, dipping it right into the peanut sauce after. Spice and flavor with each bite. Wonderful.

Ellie snapped off one of the legs off her own isopodan, and waggled it at me like a stick. “See, there’s a problem with that plan of yours, Oh my cute and clever pig.” She took a quick pause to suck up the meat inside, tossing the little leg back on her plate, empty. “If I were the Undersiders, I’d take one look at all this, you being here unarmored and alone, and I’d call it bait. I’d be screaming it left and right to anyone in earshot. And, guess what? I’d be right. Because I’m not an idiot.”

“Who’s to say my main plan is just to fish for undersider knights? I could just be enjoying a night out with a friend and eating some of my favorite food, taking a break from that armor. You don’t know me.”

“Please. I’d bet my last stockings that half your house guards are hiding away in armor somewhere obvious, like the roofing. And the other half are hiding behind the curtains. With their little toes sticking out.” She said, wiggling her fingers at me with her free hand.

“First, you wouldn't see their toes, they have boots. Second, don't think I don't notice the bait. You start throwing out hot words like stockings around here, expecting me to be some kind of chauvinistic pig and zero in on that, but I am not going to fall for it. Nope. I am the model of a gentleman.” I paused for a moment. “Are they the black ones though?”

“Case and point, you pig. The defense rests.” She said. “That said, we should put a damper on the flirting. I’ve gotten some serious proposals lately, all thanks to you. I might actually decide to have that arrangement, in truth this time.”

“Alas,” I sighed, the back of my hand going to my forehead while I looked away dramatically. “Our budding love was never to be. Such a tragedy.”

“Destined to freeze.” She finished. Just as dramatically.

“So who’s the unlucky man you managed to con this time?”

She hummed, waiting for a moment. As if thinking about it. While she played up the theatrics, I served myself another glass of wine and took a nice gulp. I only realized halfway through she’d been waiting for me to take a sip.

“Oh, he’s from this little Retainer house. Very quaint. They call themselves Winterscars. You might have heard of them?”

I choked on my drink for a moment, and gave her a stare. “You serious? You incurable flirt, not even the guards from my own house are safe.”

“As funny as it would be, I do have at least some tact left so no, I’m just getting a rise out of you this time. There’s a lot of people to sort through, that part I wasn’t lying on. And all of them are after my ties to you so that’s put a damper on prospects. I even got one from House Shadowsong, of all Houses. You’re both a blessing and a curse, you know that?”

“At this point, I just want these Undersiders to show up and save me from this topic. Please, I’ll take a bullet to my leg even. Or can we skip to the part where I’m permanently uninvited from the wedding, again? I’d like to stick to tradition.”

“Pick another topic if you don’t like the gossip, there’s plenty to go around. Your loss, I have some hilarious stories from this.”

“What’s the word about Winterscar? I’ve recently put a target on my head when I kept all that armor but my head has been firmly under a glacier.”

Bell like laughing came from her. “Oh the Houses are absolutely livid. Let me paint you the picture. Right after you come back from the underground, House Winterscar starts its mass expansion campaign, poaching and swiping up all kinds of talent. Either from the Houseless, or from other Houses directly. Kidra gave not a single frick about that. Best gossip in years.” She grinned. “And then you came into the picture. Shadowsong himself starts to follow you around like a guarddog right after your sister leaves with Ankah. Which I’ll remind you, shadowing someone is something he’s only ever gone as far for his only daughter. He’s notorious for being an overprotective parent.”

“I can already imagine the rumors from that bit adding it all together.” I groaned.

Another bite, another swallow, another sip. She was taking her time to tell me the news. “So of course, everyone suspects Shadowsong’s arranged a marriage between Ankah and yourself. Why else would he suddenly be so protective of you unless you were going to become his son in law pretty soon?”

I think the disgust on my face gave a little too much away. “I see that particular rumor’s not completely true then.” She said, nodding as if everything made sense. “Well, that doesn’t change all that much. The Houses are now sure the two strongest and most powerful Houses in the clan are about to get politically tied up in a possible merge. This is where the clan lord should have stepped in and helped balance things out.”

“And instead I get a writ of full passage for anything I want.”

She snapped her fingers. “Exactly. Now all the Houses are beyond spooked. Something’s gone real bad if Lord Atius is breaking his famed neutrality to push a powerhouse up the ranks. Nobody knows what the end game goal is. Then the raiders pop up, and try to take you out. Now if people aren’t suspecting the Chosen for being behind that, they’re suspecting each other as a desperate attempt to break up the gathered power. It’s a complete mess in the background, and you’re probably completely oblivious to it all, aren’t you?”

“I uhh…” Well, she wasn’t wrong there. I’d been spending my time training Captain Sagrius and his band of merry murder knights how to protect me from future shenanigans. Little did I know the absolute zoo that was secretly happening under my nose. And I called myself a Winterscar. How the mighty have fallen.

“And now we enter Lady Drass. Who is impartial, a Logi, and had been specifically elected because she wasn’t Shadowsong and wasn’t supposed to be involved in all of this Winterscar-Shadowsong takeover. The people’s hero, that would sweep in, revoke all these absurd powerups, force you both to auction out some of your earned armors in order to restore balance to the clan.”

“Well, that didn’t work out like they’d thought.” I said, slurping down the rest of the flakey pillbug meat and drinking it down with another healthy gulp of wine.

“Absolutely did not. Not only did Lady Drass not revoke your writ of passage, she expanded it. Winterscars get to keep all the armors they collected, and Shadowsongs are the ones forced to auction out some of their armors to the lesser houses. Her own First Blade wasn’t exempt to the rules, but you - a random house by all means - were. And worse, she refused to elaborate on why, keeping it all a secret. Not to mention the bigger secret of how so many slaver knights got butchered once they stepped into the Winterscar compound. You got hit by an entire army that would have crippled any other clan, and somehow you’re the only one walking out of it with hardly a scratch.”

Her chopsticks speared out some more bits of seaming meat off her plate, to which she washed down with some of the sticky rice. “And none of the Winterscars are saying a single thing about it, they’re like a vice grip that’s been sealed shut. Right down to the lesser servants. Nobody knows what the hell’s going on inside House Winterscar, but the request for three hundred Occult blade replicas really didn’t help at all.”

“Rumor mill must be having an aneurysm. What’s your bets?”

She leaned back, thinking for a moment. “You’ve got some kind of superweapon you brought out from underground. And you, specifically you, managed to fix it up. Don’t hide it you little scraphead. I know you’ve got a knack for engineering, if there’s one person who’s got a chance of bringing back something from the golden era working, it’s you. The three hundred occult swords are a smokescreen, you’re having a giggle at the other houses by freaking them out with all kinds of scrapshit jobs to hide what you’ve really uncovered. But whatever it is, it’s got to be some kind of legendary artifact, a relic from the war of the gods or something. No way that many enemy relic knights could have been knocked out by you. I’m putting my bets it’s some ancient imperial artifact, considering you came back to the surface with a crusader’s armor.”

“No comment.” I said, waving for the waiter to bring the bill.

“Of course you’d say that. Anyhow, that leads me right back to this little stunt of yours tonight. The Undersider knights aren’t going to be showing up. Frankly, if I were them, I’d be putting as many doors, walls and continents between you and I as I possibly could. You’re not going to see even a hair of them try to pull the same stunt that ruined the Slavers. They’ll know all the same things I do, it’s not exactly hidden away in someone’s files. You’re terrifying. Nobody wants to mess with you.”

Lejis said his captain wouldn’t bow out. But Ellie was making a convincing case that he would. Especially since I did take out To’Aacar, which probably puts me one level above just terrifying. I wondered what I would have done had I been in their shoes. How would I have tried to capture myself given the resources available? The game was utterly stacked against them right now.

I guess it was a little much to expect the Undersiders to jump at the bit for me here. And Ellie was right since for the rest of the night, I saw no sign of them. Which was perfectly fine with me, as I had the most relaxing night in the past few months. Captain Sagrius, who was indeed hiding in a slightly less obvious spot than the roofing, along with the rest of the Winterscar knights all sulking around in their own carefully prepared hiding spots, well he probably didn’t have as much a good night as I had.

So if they won’t come to me, I’ll need to hunt them down instead. But it was nice to know I could now spend some time away from my armor and enjoy sleeping on a bed again. The newfound confidence really did a number on the paranoid thoughts and nightmares I’d been dealing with since the raid. That feeling of not being completely safe in my own estate grounds was swiftly going away with scheduled medicine and meditation.

Sagrius and I will have to go explore the underground tunnels tomorrow, see if we can find any tracks of the Undersiders. It’s been some times since I’ve done a full delve underground.

….

Maybe I should take a few more days to relax first before I jumped into the fire again. I haven't taken a bath in forever after all.

Next chapter - Interlude - Captain Sagrius

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