by A F Kay
“It made a deal with a more powerful dungeon, and this was one benefit,” Ruwen said.
Tremine’s eyes grew large, and he placed a hand on a crystal to steady himself. “Did this other dungeon actually manifest here?”
Ruwen nodded, knowing Tremine would immediately know who the dungeon must be.
“Why is the area for the portal so large?” Bliz asked.
“I agreed to give the dungeon inhabitants an area of their own,” Ruwen said.
Bliz’s eyes grew large. “I request to build my bar as close as possible to their area.”
Ruwen thought a moment before speaking. He knew how Blapy felt about equal rights for her followers. Just like Big D, Blapy wanted equity and fairness for her people. He decided it would be a requirement for anyone who wanted to do business here.
Ruwen waved at all the crystals. “Eventually, this entire area will be full of creatures people usually only see in dungeons. I haven’t worked out all the details yet, so this might change, but I think a good start is every business must agree to the following. One, they can’t deny service to anyone without a good reason, and two, every business must employ someone with the ability to translate fluently. That can be a Worker with a level three Hey You, or some equivalent. You have temporary permission to build, and when you show me your plan to serve everyone, I’ll make it permanent.”
Bliz’s eyes glazed over for a second. “You just triggered a quest for me. I go decades without a quest, and then Tremine prompts one followed a few days later by you. I feel like I’m a hundred again. I like your philosophy, young man, and I accept.”
Ruwen smiled. “Then build wherever you want.”
Bliz grinned. “This is going to be epic. Does the dungeon have a focus yet?”
“It’s called the Shattered Sun, and it has a Resource focus,” Ruwen said.
Now Bliz used a crystal to steady himself. “Uru help me. I must be dreaming. This is fantastic news for the Lodge. Workers will be in high demand.”
“You know an awful lot about this dungeon,” Tremine said casually.
Ruwen rubbed his forehead. “It’s mostly because of the temple thing.”
“The temple thing,” Tremine repeated.
“Yeah, we got the temple working again, and I learned some stuff,” Ruwen said, the biggest understatement of his life.
“We noticed Uru’s Blessing had doubled in size,” Bliz said. “That was you?”
“It was a team effort,” Ruwen said. He really didn’t want to talk about his Architect Role and restoring the temple because he didn’t want to lie to Bliz, so he tried changing the subject again. “Why are you two here?”
“To help you,” Tremine said.
“We could have used your help yesterday,” Sift said.
“It appears you didn’t need it,” Tremine said.
Sift pointed at Ruwen. “Barely. Genius here almost killed Lylan by shooting her from his bag.”
Tremine and Bliz both stared at Ruwen, their eyes wide.
Ruwen groaned. “I didn’t kill her, and that idea saved us.”
Bliz stepped up to Ruwen and grabbed his shoulders. “It worked? You guessed the countdown would keep her alive, right?”
Ruwen nodded. “It was a last resort. But the Bone Sculptor was on top of a tower, and we didn’t have any other way of getting up there.”
“I’ve tested it on plants, but always wondered if it worked on people,” Bliz said. “I could never talk anyone into trying.”
Ruwen looked at Sift. “Well, Lylan has a habit of making bad choices.”
“Hey!” Sift said.
Ruwen laughed and then looked at Bliz again. “You told me when I got my band that anything living wouldn’t survive inside it if I died. But I had some plants that lived.”
“You died?” Tremine asked.
Ruwen winced. His entire life had become something he didn’t want to talk about. “It was by choice, a necessary sacrifice for restoring the temple.”
Tremine shook his head. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Bliz still looked thoughtful. “I’ve never heard of anything surviving a revival.”
Ruwen nodded. It probably related to how fast he’d revived or possibly something to do with his Spirit. “Just one more thing to investigate.”
Bliz patted Ruwen on the shoulder. “You’ve had your Void Band for two months and already answered two questions I’ve spent my life wondering about.”
“The gate runes and launching Lylan were all done in desperation,” Ruwen said. “My only contribution was finding terrible situations.”
Sift nodded. “He’s like a bad luck magnet.”
Before Ruwen could respond, Tremine spoke up. “Speaking of bad luck, we encountered Naktos and Haffa Scouts on the plains. The poor Cultivators are as trapped as you.”
“Let’s head back to the city,” Ruwen said. As they walked, Ruwen wondered about the Cultivators. “Are the Cultivators fighting?”
Tremine shook his head. “They’re just protecting themselves. They’re mostly nomadic, so they don’t have cities to defend, but they’ve run out of places to hide and are grouped north of here.”
Ruwen hadn’t given the Cultivators much thought, but now the area they’d inhabited for thousands of years had returned to Uru’s Blessing. That meant Uru’s followers would soon arrive to farm and build cities. If that wasn’t bad enough for their culture, an invading army was putting their lives in danger.
If Ruwen could talk to the Cultivators, maybe he could convince them to help. Perhaps for an area of their own they would help Ruwen defend the southern border. He thought of Phoenix and Willow and the other Cultivators he’d met in the Spirit Realm. Powerful allies like that might make a tremendous difference.
But the Cultivators probably saw little difference between Uru and Naktos or Haffa. Those who Ascended were all the same, and they tended to treat Cultivators poorly. The Priests especially didn’t like Cultivators and referred to them as the Unbound. High Priest Fusil had threatened to cast Ruwen out to live with the Unbound on Ruwen’s Ascension day.
Ruwen wanted to offer the Cultivators a deal, but he didn’t know how much authority he had. Did his control just cover New Eiru?
Rami? Will you listen in on this conversation, please.
Sure.
Lir? Ruwen asked, not sure if the temple could hear him.
Yes, Architect Starfield.
Ruwen took a moment to be as specific as possible, knowing Lir took everything literally. Earlier, you told me you spoke with the other temples. What did you tell them about me?
Your oxygen levels, weight, bone density, blood pressure, chem—
Stop. Let me try again. Do they know my name?
Yes.
Ruwen stepped around a pine tree and swallowed a groan about the revelation of his identity. Sift was interrogating Bliz on the last two months of Step Tournament matches. Sift had removed Io from his sheath and spun the dagger as they talked. Ruwen knew Sift had removed Io just so the dagger could hear Bliz’s responses.
Have they given my identity to anyone else? Ruwen asked.
Of course not. Protocol requires me to inform my siblings of your Role. The Architect’s word is law, so proper identification is paramount.
Ruwen felt a wave of relief. That makes sense. I don’t want my identity revealed to anyone. Can you tell the other temples?
I can. Do you wish to speak with them yourself? I can connect us all.
No! You’re good for right now. There are already too many people in my head.
Lir’s words sunk in. Did you say my word is law? Like whatever I want?
Correct. You are the Architect, and Divine authority is yours.
Divine authority? Like I’m a god?
Correct. Although a severely handicapped one as your body remains in the Metal levels.
What does that make Uru now?
Uru is a Divine Harvester and the current figurehead for your domain, but her author
ity has been transferred to you. Do you wish to alter the figurehead to one that more resembles your form?
No! Leave everything as she had it, and tell me if a decision I make alters her choices.
As you wish. I’ve updated my siblings.
Ruwen had started this conversation to understand if he could make a deal with the Cultivators in good faith, and now he knew he could. In fact, he could do anything he wanted.
The idea of being a god had never occurred to Ruwen. His goals had centered around knowledge and magic. A surge of adrenaline accompanied the realization that he now held ultimate power over everything in Uru’s domain.
Thoughts of punishing High Priest Fusil immediately came to mind. Ruwen could have the man killed, or punished, or whatever he wanted. Justice for his parents and for the misery Ruwen had endured was just a command away.
New swords cause the most harm, Rami said.
Ruwen flashed back to his years of training with Rami. When she wasn’t teaching him Step Forms, she taught him strategy, and this was one of her favorite sayings. He’d thought she meant new swords were better because they caused the enemy more damage. But he’d quickly learned she meant the opposite. New weapons were unfamiliar, and they, more often than not, injured the owner who used the weapon too soon.
Thanks, Rami.
Ruwen wouldn’t make any changes right now. He’d wait until he had more experience with this new power.
Bliz and Sift were still discussing the Step Tournament in front of Ruwen, and Tremine walked beside him.
Ruwen turned to Tremine. “Do you think I could convince the Cultivators to fight with us? Maybe for some land of their own?”
Tremine nodded. “It’s a good idea. They will be desperate soon. As desperate as we are.”
“I know,” Ruwen said. “There’s an army here ready to be revived, but we need a lot of some critical resources.”
Tremine pointed at Bliz. “I assume that’s why she wanted me to bring him along.”
The emphasis on “she” confirmed what Ruwen had guessed. Uru had sent Tremine here.
“There’s something else,” Ruwen said and swallowed hard. “My parents are here. They’re reviving now.”
Tremine stopped, and Ruwen did as well.
“Thank, Uru,” Tremine said, his eyes glinting. He stepped forward and hugged Ruwen. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks,” Ruwen whispered.
They started walking again.
“That simplifies things a lot,” Tremine said. “Maybe we do have a chance.”
“Simplifies what?” Ruwen asked.
“Finding the terium to revive that army in the temple queue. I worried Bliz and I needed to treasure hunt, but now we’ll have guides.”
Ruwen’s stomach knotted. “What do you mean? My parents didn’t take that terium. They didn’t kill that party!”
Tremine’s face paled and Sift and Bliz turned to look at them.
After a moment, Tremine lifted his hands. “I never said they did. None of us knows what happened or why. Let’s let them speak for themselves.”
Ruwen strode toward the city, his thoughts in chaos. Regardless of what Tremine said, he must have guessed what had happened. And if he was right, it meant High Priest Fusil and all the people who’d whispered about his parents were right.
It meant his parents were murderers and thieves.
Chapter 8
Ruwen played with the popper on his plate, his appetite smothered by thoughts of his parents and their possible misdeeds. Tremine had brought enough poppers for everyone, and the six of them were all eating lunch together. They all sat around a circular table just off the large room they’d initially found. Lir had assured Ruwen that the Guardians provided an adequate watch, so even Lylan had joined them.
Tomorrow you can ask your parents and get the truth, Rami said. There is little point in boiling yourself in a pot of hypotheticals right now.
I know. The next twenty-four hours are going to be difficult.
Only if you sit here doing nothing.
What do you have in mind?
I found some Class information.
I thought you’d already looked?
The symbols in the Specialization and Sub Class quests Bliz gave you were in a book in Lir’s library. I’m still indexing all of Lir’s books, but I recognized those symbols. Now that I know what to look for, I believe I have the symbols for all of Uru’s Sub Class and Specialization paths.
Ruwen sat up straight. Even the Warlord one?
Yes.
That is great news!
That’s not all. Another one of my queries finished.
Remind me what you’re running.
For you, I’m looking for information on Ancient Mother, Lalquinrial, how to get the Scarecrow Aspect off, Architect, essence patterns in your spells and abilities, and how to Sub Class and Specialize.
You found something on the build paths, what else did you find?
Ancient Mother.
Ancient Mother had been the term Uru used when she saw Sift holding Shelly. The tiny turtle had been with Sift since he’d freed her from the Plague Siren’s lair in the Spirit Realm.
They’re travelers, Rami said. Their control of dimensional space is superb, and they might be indestructible. The book I found talks about them eating stars.
What do you mean, stars? Like the sun?
I think so. The book reads like a poem, so it might just be flowery language. It says they swim through the darkness above and the oceans below.
Ruwen twisted his lip in thought. It must be poetic. Shelly is half the size of my thumb. Even if my suspicions are right and she fought that giant squid to give us time to portal out of the Spirit Realm, that is hardly big enough to eat a sun.
It gets stranger. Rami said.
Are you kidding?
The author was with the Ancient Mother as they traveled the Universe. Somehow, this tiny turtle who feeds on suns and changes size can transport people as well.
Like some sort of turtle ship?
I guess.
Okay, I’ll talk to Sift about it and see if he’s had any success in communicating with Shelly.
Rami continued. I brought this up now because we both agree you should keep busy until tomorrow, and if Shelly really can transport people, then we can fill a critical need.
Ruwen knew the biggest hurdle to reviving so many people was resources, specifically terium and carbon. The terium reminded him of his parents, and his thoughts spun again.
Focus, Ruwen. Rami said. The carbon math is simple. Over half the people needing revived here are kids. Uru must have synched everyone before the catastrophe. So we’ll assume each new body requires twenty-five pounds of carbon to be safe. That’s about half a cubic foot of coal or one gallon of oil.
We need seven hundred and fifty thousand gallons of oil?
Or three hundred seventy-five thousand cubic feet of coal.
That’s impossible to do.
For one person, yes. But we can’t revive everyone at once anyway. To start, we just need enough for the army.
Let me guess, Ruwen said. You know where to find some carbon.
Ruwen’s map pulsed yellow, and he opened it. A red dot appeared deep in the mountains to the west and a little north of New Eiru. It sat on the very edge of Uru’s Blessing.
Rami continued. This is the mine Lir used to provide supplemental carbon.
Ten thousand years ago.
That’s true. A lot might have changed.
I guess there’s only one way to know. Assuming Sift’s star turtle can get us there.
Ruwen spent a minute thinking through the next twenty-four hours and then focused on the conversation around him. Bliz had just finished a story about a gullible pirate and a talking fish. Sift, Hamma, and Lylan were still laughing, and all of them were wiping tears from their cheeks. Tremine smiled but kept glancing at Ruwen.
The popper in Ruwen’s hand had gone cold, but the taste still
brought back a flood of memories. Times not that long ago when his life had been simple.
Hamma leaned toward Ruwen. “Finally done thinking?”
Ruwen smiled at her. “Yes, sorry.”
“Your friend tells the best stories.”
“I know. You’ll have to tell me this one later. I missed it.”
Hamma winked at him and turned back to the others.
Ruwen waited for a lull in the conversations before speaking. “We need help defending ourselves, and the aid we require is here,” Ruwen said and pointed at the ceiling. “But the temple lacks a critical resource that I plan to go get.”
“When?” Lylan asked.
“Right now,” Ruwen said.
Hamma pushed her chair from the table. “Just give me—”
Ruwen reached over and grabbed Hamma’s hand. “Wait. I need you here to watch the revival baths. No one else knows what to do.”
Hamma bit her lip and, after a moment, she nodded.
“I’ll take care of him,” Lylan said to Hamma.
Ruwen shook his head. “You just dinged twenty. Specializing is a considerable increase in power, and we will need you as powerful as possible in the days to come.”
“I don’t know how to Specialize,” Lylan said.
“I do, and I’ll give you what you need before I go,” Ruwen said.
“Bliz and I will join you,” Tremine said.
Ruwen shook his head. “As much as I’d enjoy your company, there’s a chance I won’t be back when…” Ruwen’s throat constricted, and he forced the words out. “When my parents wake up. You and Bliz need to recover the terium the temple desperately requires.”
Everyone looked at Sift.
“What?” Sift asked. “I’m not going anywhere with him. Shelly and I are going to explore that lake.”
“Funny you should mention Shelly,” Ruwen said.
Ruwen didn’t continue and instead grabbed another popper and dipped it in the sweet red sauce. He took a bite and stared at Sift.
“What about Shelly?” Sift asked.
Ruwen shrugged. “Oh, just something Rami figured out. You’ll probably discover it on your own. Eventually. Maybe.”