Unbound

The sound of skis over frozen tundra was almost as loud as the wind that whipped down from the distant mountains, interrupted only by the heavy pants of the scarred Hoarhounds yoked to each of their sleds. Night had well and truly fallen, but the dark was a fleeting thing due to the waxing moons above; the snow-reflected light was enough to cut the shadows into a false twilight. Felix sat at the front of their company, first among a fleet of thirty such transports, and only a small portion bearing his own people. Despite the Cold Rock Coven’s statements to the contrary, a sizable portion of their Witches and Warriors rode behind him on their journey toward the Kingsrock.

“How much farther?” Evie asked. Her breath was white steam under the moonlight, but her armor gleamed brighter. Felix had been surprised when he saw it and the other Claw members, each of whom now bore weapons of the same material. Harn had been busy.

“It is close,” Kimaris answered.

“Hope so. Been sitting in this sleigh for hours,” Beef muttered. He shivered. His Cold Resistance wasn’t particularly impressive, Felix knew. “Aren’t we supposed to be there by dawn?”

“Yeah. The approach opens at dawn,” Felix said. “I figure we have another half hour before the sun comes up.”

They had left a few hours after nightfall settled on the Hoarfrost. The Witches conjured up the huge sleds, each one three times the size of the ones that brought Felix to Cold Rock. Enough supplies were stacked onto a single sled to feed an army for weeks, and nine of the other transports were filled with Witches and Warriors meant to reinforce Felix’s troops. Mother Vepar herself was there, riding just one sled back, her eyes fixed on the horizon. Kimaris and Naberius told him this was a vote of confidence in Felix’s approach, since the path to the Kingsrock brought a great many dangers, and the Coven was trusting him to keep them safe.

Felix was betting it had more to do with the other Coven he dragged along.

Five more sleds were filled with the enemy Witches, their hands no longer bound and their mouths uncovered. Ten others contained the Warriors and Berserkers that had survived the confrontation with Felix’s Claw. All of them were presences in his Mind, each bearing a knot of silver that strung to somewhere deep in Felix’s chest.

“I do not trust them,” Naberius said, following Felix’s gaze. “Do you truly think they’ll keep to this oath they made?”

“I’m sure of it,” Felix said. He’d given them the choice to serve and fight for him or to be imprisoned in Cold Rock’s newly formed Fiendstone jail. The Warriors had been quick to agree, and the Witches hadn’t been far behind. The Risi, he had found, were quite proud—they knew they were beaten and Felix could sense little to no resentment over that fact. That didn’t stop him from making them swear fealty to his Seat and Seal, though. He wasn’t that stupid.

“Felix has a way with words,” Vess said from his other side. Felix shot her a look, his Mind cast back to a few hours prior. She grinned at him, and he had to fight down a blush. “And Oaths have power, if you know the way of it.”

Naberius frowned. “We have heard of this magic, but it is not something of the Kin. I cannot help but distrust such things.”

“I am sworn to the same Oath as the Feldspear Coven. All those the Autarch saved from enslavement are,” Kimaris pointed out. “It is binding, yes, but it does not weigh on us. I have found that living in his city has granted us greater freedoms than I ever had while living in Cold Rock.”

“To me, it sounds as if you’ve given up one master for another…but I shouldn’t be surprised,” Naberius scoffed. “You were always quick to choose subservience when it benefitted you. For yourself and others, no matter the consequences.”

“Grimmar was chosen at Kingsrock, just as all Chieftains. Our choice was valid, Naberius. The Mother spoke to him! How could we ignore that?”

“And now the Mother of Monsters is gone, is she not? Or do you hear her whispers, still?”

“I—”

“The important thing is that Feldspear is here to help. I asked and they agreed,” Felix interrupted. Both Witches tore their heated gazes from each other and focused on him. He had no intention of refereeing another pissing match among the Coven. “They will provide support once we are within the Starfield Step.”

“We shall see. Were they the ones who shared that name with you?” Naberius asked. “The details of the Kingsrock are hidden for a reason.”

“No.” Felix didn’t bother to elaborate. “What’s that?”

They crested a slope in the erratic terrain and there, to the east where the sky was beginning to lighten, was a set of thick spires. Felix squinted, his Perception flaring, and made out the shape of nine stones set vertically in the tundra. They were arranged in a loose circle, like the gap-toothed smile of some half-buried beast.

“That is the approach.” Naberius’ Spirit sang with anxiety and steely determination. “We must make it there before the sun rises. Warriors! Faster!”The drivers lashed their reins and the Hoarhounds put on a burst of speed. Felix wobbled back, sliding on the icy interior, and everyone else gave little lurches in their seats as the thirty sleds sped down the slope and up another.

The sky brightened even further.

“Faster! Put everything you have in it!”

The standing stones were ahead, weathered by relentless wind and cold, but they looked at least fifty feet tall. A hundred feet away, but they loomed like dour sentinels. Felix thought he could make out carvings on them, but the rising sun cast them all into sharp relief. Rays of light struck them and reflected off of shimmering inclusions in the rock.

The sleds whipped forward.

The dawn broke, and the standing stones were suddenly wreathed in light. Colorful ribbons burst around them, cascading across the sky as a song followed after. It rose to a sudden crescendo, a surprise orchestra of flutes, strings, and a deep, percussive rhythm.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

They breached the space between the stones just as the song reached its climax…and the world itself twisted. Felix jolted as vertigo claimed him and he gripped the edge of the sled so hard he felt it crack. Thankfully the sensation was short, and the Hoarhounds coasted to a stop.

“We made it,” Kimaris said in clear relief.

“Where exactly did we make it to?” Evie asked. She looked up, and Felix followed her gaze.

Whoa. The sky was filled with swirling, almost liquid clouds made of gold. As he watched, thick threads of purple, blue, and greens zipped across it like strange lightning.

Mother Vepar’s sled stopped close by, and she lifted her arms just as she raised her voice, pitched as if to address everyone present. “Welcome, Autarch Nevarre, to the Starfield Step.”

Below the strange skies was a chaotic landscape of shifting ice. Glaciers the size of buildings shifted in all directions with little warning, smashing into one another hard enough to scatter debris like razor-sharp hail. It should have sounded like bombs going off, but everything was eerily silent. Their thirty sleds all sat atop a strange flat area bounded by thin, vertical rocks; miniature replicas of the standing stones they had just passed through. They were unremarkable save for the green moss that grew along the side facing them—Felix was pretty sure it was the only wild greenery he’d seen since entering the Hoarfrost.

Though we’re not exactly in the Hoarfrost anymore, are we?

Feels like the black mountains, Pit sent from another sled away. His beak was raised to the sky and sniffed at the air. But different. It’s…zestier here.

Zestier?

Pit nodded. The air tastes spicy. Like it’s waiting for something.

I’ll keep that in mind, he sent back. “Are the stones keeping sound out?”

“They are. The magic of this place is deep and unknown, but these places are the only safe spots within the Starfield Step.” Mother Vepar pointed just beyond the mossy rocks, where a path led down into the churning fields. “That is where our challenge begins. And that is where we must go.”

Beyond it all, rising at the center, was a lonely mountain. A corona of shimmering light surrounded it, those threads of purple, blue, and green danced atop its peak like the aurora borealis.

The Kingsrock.

“We must make it to the base of the Kingsrock and anoint you in the old ways,” Mother Vepar said.

“What does that entail?” Felix asked.

“We must beseech our ancestors to obtain the blessing of the Kingsrock, and then anoint you with the fallen stars. I cannot tell you more than that; just know that it will take time, and we must move quickly. You can clearly see that the Starfield Step is dangerous, but not only because of its volatile terrain. It is trapped. The remains of the unquiet dead litter this field, and they do not take visitors lightly.”

“Unquiet dead. Like necromancy?” Felix asked.

Mother Vepar’s mouth thinned to a grim line. “Yes. There are…things within the ice that use such magic. You do not know woe until you have stared into the face of your fallen brethren, now set on ending you. That terror has felled more warriors than the crushing ice.”

“How fun. Beef, Hallow. Do you feel anything?”

The Minotaur sniffed the air. “No. I can’t feel anything beyond those rocks. Like nothing exists out there.”

“The wards are too strong,” Hallow agreed. Her Homunculus form tilted its roughly humanoid head at the boundary stones. “Not even Harmonic senses are getting through.”

Felix realized she was right. He felt nothing beyond the barrier, though he could see the chaos quite clearly. “Chanters? What are those mossy stones protecting us from?”

“Sound, as was said,” Laur said. He stood by the boundary stone and was staring at them intently. In the distance, another pair of glaciers slammed into one another before completely collapsing onto a third. “Those impacts are undoubtedly loud enough to deafen, even at Adept Tier. Perhaps at Master Tier too, depending on your Body’s composition. These wards are complicated though—I am unsure what could breach them, if anything.”

“Alright. Mother Vepar, you mentioned traps. Do you have them mapped out?”

“No. They move with the ice, just as the creatures within.”

If Felix knew anything about Nymean ruins, it was that their traps didn’t mess around. That would have to be the first priority as they moved forward. “What’s the method the Kin use to get through here, then?”

Mother Vepar scoffed, but it was Naberius that spoke up. “You must decide that. You are a prospective High Chieftain, and must prove yourself worthy.”

“Another Path of Rule?” Felix asked.

“It is our way.”

Great. Felix skimmed his Perception across the silent chaos beyond their landing ground…but just as the others said, it was like they didn’t exist. Thankfully his eyes still worked, and Felix spotted an obvious trail leading down from their staging ground into the Starfield Step proper. “Alright. The smart move would be to send scouts ahead, but I don’t know that any of us would do well getting caught between those glaciers.” He looked up, into the liquid gold sky. “We could fly, maybe.”

The Witches exchanged looks, and Kimaris winced. None of them spoke.

Felix sighed. “Or not. Vess? Can you make sense of this?”

The Dragoon was staring off into the distance. “Going on the ground is a fool’s game. The ice is moving erratically, we have no clue what sort of traps lie in wait, and there’s an unknown necromantic threat. The sky appears to be safer, but we cannot count on it.”

Yin clambered up her shoulder, smoke trailing from his little snout. “If the Witches speak truly, then we cannot dally here much longer. This Starfield Step requires our full strength. To do less would be to invite disaster.”

“The lizard’s right. Gotta bust through. Worrying and bein’ cautious is for folks that got time to waste,” Evie said.

A sharp, clarion call pierced the Starfield Step, somehow bypassing the excessive wardings to shiver down each and every one of their spines. It was followed by over a dozen bolts of liquid color from the molten sky, each landing in a different place miles away.

“What the hell was that?” Beef asked.

“The other tribes,” Mother Vepar said, her wrinkled cheeks quivering. “They are here.”

“Wait. How? We just got here, and it took us hours to reach those standing stones,” Felix said.

“The tribes were alerted the moment we rode the dawn’s light, but this is not our world. Time does not work the same here as in the Hoarfrost, and those that built the Kingsrock were not bound by the laws of monster or mortal.” Mother Vepar gestured sharply to her Warriors, all of whom had clambered back aboard their sleds. “They could be here any moment. We must move.”

“Damn it. Get it!” Felix commanded, and everyone rushed back to their places. “Harn!”

“Aye?”

“Split focus, full defense.”

“Aye, sir. Talons to arms! Long and short range Skills to bear! Focus on port and starboard sides!”

Felix turned to the others on his sled. “Tzfell, Evie, Pit and Vess: I need you for aerial support!”

“As you wish, Autarch.”

“Of course, Felix.”

“Stab and slash upwards, got it.”

“What’re we killing?” Pit asked. “Did anyone say?”

“No clue. Just blast anything that gets above us.” Felix climbed up next to the Risi drivers as they nudged the hounds toward the boundary stones. “I’ll handle the path ahead. Go!”

The Risi snapped their reins and the Hoarhounds took off like a shot.

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