Unbound

“Oh, that makes more sense,” Felix said, sometime later. The gray sand beneath his feet was just as pale and gritty as he remembered, as were the green vinegar waves that crashed nearby. “They’re in a Manaship.”

A fair distance out, barely a speck on the horizon, was a Manaship flying a series of colorful flags. Zara said they were traditional indicators of peace, prosperity, and deference—common flags to fly when entering another nation’s sovereign land.

“Did you think they traveled the Bitter Sea on an ancient sailing ship?” Zara asked.

“We don’t have Manaships on Earth. Well, we have planes, but that’s—my point is, the water isn’t made of acid where I come from. Just salty.” Felix scanned the beach and the horizon, feeling strangely vulnerable. “I’m used to folks sailing on the water, not over it.”

“Ah. So that was why you were so comfortable with our trip through the Leviathan Depths.” Zara nodded to herself. “Aside from the Yttin, your warriors were terrified of sinking.”

“Huh. I recall their fear, but I just figured they were just scared of what was in the water.” Felix’s eyes never stopped moving, his Perception flared as much as he could manage. “I am. Especially here. These waters are even more dangerous than the Depths.”

“The Dread, I believe you called it?” Zara frowned at the green swells, nose wrinkling slightly at the astringent breeze that carried off of it. “A Bloodbeast.”

“Mhm.” Felix hadn’t seen the Dread in almost a year, not since it had almost killed him. Not since it had Marked him for the Maw, and changed everything. “Tell me more about the Cantus Sodalus.”

Zara regarded him a long moment before speaking. “As you wish. I told you of our purpose, and perhaps I could regale you with the struggles of our storied past. The conflicts resolved between nations and Territories, the monsters bested and cities saved. I do not think you are so interested in those, however.”

Felix smirked. “I mean, that sounds cool and all, but no. Not at the moment. Tell me about the summoning. How did it work?”

“The summoning is an ancient ritual, perfected by the Nym but rarely used. It takes a great deal of power to enact, and a greater amount of concentration. The Hierophant performed the ritual atop her Shining Palace, at the apex of En’Cridhe. The Star of Heaven in the old tongue, believed to be built by the Nym.” Zara showed her sharp teeth, still staring at the green waters. “The official history claims it was the Pathless himself who lifted the alabaster towers. Mortals, it seems, are almost as good at erasing history as the Ruin itself.”

“Star of Heaven. Sounds like the Nym, that’s for sure.”

“It is obvious, isn’t it? Regardless, the Hierophant controls the Shining Palace—it is the Seat of her Authority, after all. So the summoning ritual was performed there, and you Unbound were intended to be brought directly to En’Cridhe. Would have been, had we not interfered.”

“How?” Felix asked.

Zara’s veiled Spirit rippled, a faint, vague emotion that Felix suspected hid a great deal more. “Some of our own sacrificed themselves to take the place of the lesser clergymen. They disrupted the ritual at the last moment, turning the summoning toward chaos. Dissonance.”

“And had us all flung across the Continent,” Felix finished for her. “Why not alter the ritual so that we were summoned to a place you chose?”

Zara clenched her jaw, eyes still distant. “The wardings around the Shining Palace are too great. The time, Skill, and power required to alter the ritual was not available to us—we learned of the Hierophant’s plan too late. Considering the state of the Foglands at the time, it is a wonder that I found you at all.”

“You have the Maw to thank for that,” he muttered. Felix had wondered more than a few times where he might have landed and what might have become of him, had the Maw not apparently tipped the scales in its favor. “Okay. So the ritual was disrupted, all the Unbound got summoned but scattered, and you Chanters went out searching for us. Now you found me, Isla found Beef...what about the rest?”

“That is what I hope we can discover together.” She nodded at the oncoming ship, now a slightly larger speck on the horizon. “Others are still searching, and only Mauvim knows all the details. Part of the reason she wished to come here. To meet you.”

“Mauvim. You’ve spoken of her before. What’s she like?”

“She is the oldest of us, but the founders of our order were dust long before she was born. She is wise, but not the kind to take fools lightly.” Felix could all but feel Zara’s side-eye, but he ignored it and she moved on. “There are others among the order that hold influence, but she is the one to convince. If you have Mauvim on your side, then we can move with greater assurance.”

“On my side?” Felix asked. “I thought we were all supposed to be on the same side?”

“We are as all people, from the lowest valleys to the highest peaks. The Cantus Sodalus is united in our cause, but not in how to serve that cause.” Zara sighed. “This shouldn’t be news to you. You’ve met Isla.”

A bark of surprised laughter escaped Felix. “I mean, I wasn’t gonna say it, but yeah. I was aware of some tension.” He paused, considering his words carefully. “I don’t like her, or her methods, Zara. She’s wormed her way around Beef, and she tried the same with Vess. If the rest of your people are like that, I don’t want anything to do with them.”

Zara didn’t say anything for a bit, and Felix let her collect her thoughts. The thought of Isla messing with Vess’ core space still ignited a sharp heat in him—it swam up his chest and floated around his head, burning to leap out of his mouth. He held it back, and simply waited.

After a time, Zara spoke. “Vess’ circumstances are strange, and certainly outside the bounds of what I have experienced before. A Link to you, a bounty of Primordial energy passed through it, so much that it changed her? Not only that, but it was a positive change. Before you, Felix, the touch of a Primordial was death or rebirth into something horrible. I cannot say I would not have tried to help Vess in the same way…but I will admit that my methods would have been different.” She grimaced and met Felix’s eyes. Blue to blue. “Isla seeks to master what she cannot understand, to yoke it to her Will. It is what makes her such a remarkable healer; she persists until she can conquer injury and disease. For you Unbound and those caught in your orbit, she must come to realize that is not the way. I will make her realize it.”

A weight fell from Felix’s Spirit, and it was heavier than he had suspected. He smiled just a touch. “Thank you, Zara.”

The Naiad inclined her head. “A dangerous path looms before us all; I would not have us walk it alone.”

The Manaship was closer now. It had to have been moving very fast, based on its progress and the very faint wake that creased the Bitter Sea beneath it. Felix could tell the craft was flying high, but not nearly as high as it should have been. He focused his eyes, letting them brush up against the protections of his Territory. Mist instantly appeared all around him, thick enough to trouble even his Perception. It only worsened as one rose higher, where the setting sun made it bloom with diffused light. They’re flying low for better visibility, he realized. He contemplated exempting them from the Mirk Enclosure, but decided against it. Time for that after. They’ll be here soon.

He didn't have a lot of time.

“Zara.”

“Yes?”

“What do you know of Core Manifestation?” he asked.

“Where did you hear that term?” The Chanter shifted her weight and her left hand twitched. “It wasn’t Isla, was it?”

“What? No. You can relax. I know about it because I’ve done it. I only know the name from the Frostfather, though—oh I didn’t say, but he’s a Supreme Elemental that rules a Domain to the north—” At her look of overwhelmed confusion, he waved off the rest of his words. “Point is, you’re not spoiling my advancement by telling me more. I’m at the edge of it.”

Zara’s face was a mask of wonder. “Surely it is too early, Felix.”

“Tell that to the mountain I beat up.”

“I should not be surprised, not anymore. Isla spoke of Beef achieving it already, but I was skeptical. Now you…Perhaps I was hasty in dismissing her claim.”

“Wait, Beef did this? When?”

“In the depths, I’m told. Shortly after reforging his core space.”

And he didn’t tell me? “Does he know what he did? Did Isla explain it to him?”

“She said she has not, and Beef seems to think it was an extension of his evolved Chitin Construction Skill.” Zara pointed at Felix. “You cannot tell him either, Felix. It will—”

“Interfere with his advancement. Yeah I know. Have a little faith, Zara. I’ve been helping him train for a while now, and I think it’s gone very well so far.”

“Much to Isla’s chagrin, I imagine,” she said with a sharp smile.

“Oh yeah. She hates it.” Felix was proud of that. It’s the little things.

Zara eyed the oncoming ship, now able to make out their set of triple sails far easier. “Regarding Core Manifestation…it is a feature of your advancement, but only after one weaves their Tapestry. To my knowledge, Felix, you are only on the cusp of that stage. Unless something has changed?”

“No, you’re right. I’m…well I need to resolve one last thing before beginning whatever the Tapestry Stage is.” He rubbed at his chest, recalling with visceral detail the amount of pain he’d experienced in the Ironskin Domain. “Unleashing that hand was like ripping my insides out.”

“You are lucky to be alive. Unveiling a Core Manifestation so early would have ripped anyone else apart.”

“I had that feeling, yeah.” Felix frowned at his scaled hand against his soft green shirt. “Tell me about the Tapestry Stage. You’re there already, right?”

“I am. It is incomplete for now, but I know the path forward. You’ve already advanced through the Weaving Stage with incredible speed and potency. That firm foundation will serve you well, as you consider the whole.”

“The whole?”

“It’s called the Tapestry Stage because you must pull back and take in the whole of your core space…and draw out a Revelation. You,” Zara cut herself off, laughing. “You have a hint for yours already. This…hand you summoned.”

Felix wrinkled his nose. “My Tapestry Revelation is a big hand? That’s a little underwhelming.”

“Describe it, if you please.”

He did, noting the color, the apparent construction, and even the feel of it as it manifested. She seemed intrigued by all of it, especially the eye within the palm.

“It didn’t really look like an eye, I guess, but that’s the best way I can describe it,” Felix said. “It just…shattered the Frostfather.”

“Incredible. I cannot draw your conclusions for you, Felix, but focus on what you know of this clawed hand. The experience of it, and how it relates to your own core space. Your Revelation need not be momentous, just significant, for that is what fuels it. You must gather greater and greater significance to complete the Tapestry Stage and unify the whole of your core space.”

“Unify.” Felix rubbed at his chest absently. “Alright. I’ll think on it. Oh,” he snapped his fingers. “I used the hand before. It was what I defeated the Creature with, back when I ate it in Khasma.”

Zara’s eyebrows climbed nearly to her hairline. “Two manifestations? One internal and one external, and still you live. I urge you to show more caution Felix. That hand will kill you if you continue to use it before you are ready. Without your Revelation, you sacrificed parts of your Aspects to draw that power out, that is why you felt so terrible afterward. Too many times and your core space will fragment and your Skills will sunder. All of them, all at once.”

“That’s…not good.”

“I know you’ve experienced a sundering before, but things are different at your stage of power. Before you could break a few Skills and survive with some pain. Your core space is fundamentally you now. Break it, and you break the very nature of who you have become, and it will never return.”

Well. Shit.

Felix sat with that knowledge for a bit, turning it over in his head. A companionable silence stretched between them, interrupted only by the crash of the vinegar surf and the faint cry of distant birds.

Eventually, Zara gestured around the beach, empty except for the two of them. Even Pit had remained in Zara’s house to gorge himself on Glitterhog. “Are you sure you do not wish for a more royal entourage? We are not far from Elderthrone, you could have the Legion and your Shadows in place in short order.”

“I don’t need a retinue. If they’re going to meet me, they’re gonna meet me.” Felix squinted. “Wait. Are they riding even lower than before?”

The Manaship was closing in on the shore fast…but for some reason it was almost touching the waves below it, creating a huge wake behind it. Things stirred in the waters, leaping at the craft, but spherical barriers flashed where monstrous fish dashed themselves fruitlessly against it.

“They are.” Zara sounded just as concerned as Felix felt. “What is—”

A piercing shriek split the sound of wave and wind, followed by a massive, hooked tendril that slammed into the ship.

“Goddamn it!” Felix’s hands burst alight with lightning.

The Dread had come to play.

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