by Andrew Rowe
“Not much in this one.” Derek turned around, closing the door. “Big box in the back is a mimic. I could handle it, but there isn’t much of a point. We aren’t here for treasure, and there aren’t any other doors in there.”
I leaned over to whisper in Sera’s ear. “When I give you the signal, make a wall.”
Sera gave me an inquisitive look paired with the slightest nod.
Two preparations in place.
I reached into my bag, adjusting the position of my return bell to make it easier to grab. Vera, Jin, and Sera were all close enough to be in the bell’s range.
Professor Orden turned toward the large group of us by the spider room’s door. “I believe that if we’ve discovered the location of a stairway, it would be prudent for the veterans among us to go handle the spire guardian and proceed.”
I shook my head. “Even if Sera needs to wait here, I really should go along. Jin can stay here with her and make sure her condition doesn’t get any worse, but I should really be there for the meeting with Katashi.”
“I’m sorry, Corin, but it’s just not safe for you to come along. I insist. You agree, don’t you, Derek?”
“Yes, Professor Orden.”
That confirmed it in my mind. She was actively trying to edge me out of completing this assignment. I folded my arms. “His agreement doesn’t exactly count for much when you’re controlling him, Professor.”
She folded her hands in front of her. “That’s quite an accusation, Corin.” A grin spread across her face. “But I’ll admit, it’s an accurate one.”
Derek’s hand moved — but not quickly enough.
“Derek, stop,” Orden commanded.
He froze in place. After a moment, he visibly trembled, his hand already atop the ring.
Orden casually gestured at him with her right hand. “Derek, withdraw your hand from the ring. Then freeze in place.”
He straightened his spine, moving his hand away from the ring, and then stopped moving entirely.
Near me, Jin and Sera had both drawn weapons, but they didn’t seem to know who to point them at.
“Now, everyone be calm,” Orden began. Derek visibly slumped, and Orden frowned. “I didn’t mean you, Derek. Bah.” She shook her head, turning toward me. “Now, Corin. I commend your observation, but you should have simply said something to me in private if you had concerns. Derek is under my control for all of our safety. You are, after all, the one who told me that you suspected he’d been involved in Tenjin’s capture.”
I sighed. “I was suspicious of him, yes, but this doesn’t seem like an appropriate response.”
Orden raised an eyebrow. “How so? Too extreme of a precaution? I do remind you that he’s an Emerald.”
Vera frowned. “She’s got a point, Corin. You think he’s the swordsman I saw before?”
I shook my head. “I was considering it, but I’m finding it less likely now. Professor, I’m not worried that it’s too extreme of a precaution. My problem is that if you can control his actions, you could have determined if he was guilty the moment he slipped on the ring — and you chose not to use it for that purpose.”
Orden opened her hands upward in a gesture of concession. “True, but I was trying to be subtle. I didn’t want anyone to have undue suspicions of Derek if it wasn’t necessary. Moreover, now that he’s aware of the ring, he’s undoubtedly going to try to find a way to break out. Difficult, to be sure. The ring is directly on his skin, so his shroud can’t help. Still, I would have rather kept him unaware of the ring except for emergency situations.”
“Well,” I began, “Now that he knows, there’s a simple way to resolve some of this. Order him to answer all of my questions directly and honestly, and I’ll ask him if he was involved.”
“Why the extra layer? I could simply ask him myself.”
“Because you’ve already been manipulating him to support your arguments. Like, for example, to leave me behind. I don’t trust you not to phrase questions in a way that forces him to reply the way you want him to.”
“Very well, I’ll humor you.” Orden turned to Derek. “Derek, answer Corin’s questions completely honestly.”
I backed up a bit, putting my back to the door to the spider room, so I could easily look to see both Derek and Orden on opposite sides of the chamber. “Derek, were you involved in the disappearance of visage Tenjin?”
He shivered. I braced myself, my hand going to the sword at my side, but his reply was simple:
“No.”
I nodded, relaxing my grip on the weapon. “Okay. Have you ever attacked Visage Tenjin or any other visage?”
“No.”
“When you entered this tower, did you do so with the intent of causing harm to anyone here?”
“Not if it was avoidable.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Elaborate.”
He didn’t reply.
Ah, I didn’t ask him a question. Gotta rephrase.
“Under what circumstances would you have caused harm to a member of this group?”
Derek focused his eyes on me. “If someone attempted to stop you from fulfilling your mission, I would have intervened on your behalf.”
I glanced back to Orden, worried that she might try something drastic, but she didn’t seem to be making any moves just yet.
I turned back to Derek. “Are you aware of anything related to Tenjin’s disappearance?”
“Yes.”
There we go.
“What do you know about it?”
His eyes shifted to Orden, then back to me. “I have a pretty good idea of who was involved and why.”
I nodded. “Who was involved and what do you know about their motives?”
“The initial group that entered the tower consisted of Vera, my friend Carter, Elora Theas, and some others from Caelford that I didn’t know. Carter and Elora were working with some kind of secret society. I don’t know all the details, but when Tenjin showed up with his attendants, Carter and Elora started a fight. Tenjin’s attendants stabbed him in the back, and I’m pretty sure they were—”
“Derek, stop.” Orden clapped her hands, and Derek shut his jaw. Orden smiled. “Well, this is all quite interesting. It’s obvious Derek wasn’t responsible.”
I turned back to her. “What are the odds that one of the names he was about to say was ‘Professor Orden’?”
“Quite high, I’d say, although my friends usually call me Lyras. Yes, yes, I had Tenjin kidnapped. I was truly hoping to avoid this conversation, but I suppose it’s inevitable now.”
Jin raised a pistol, not quite pointing it at Orden, but keeping it at the ready. “We may be having a bit more than a ‘conversation’.”
She looked at Jin with a hint of surprise, like she was seeing him for the first time. Then, blinking, she continued. “Oh, don’t be so eager for violence, Jin. I believe you’ll agree with me when you hear my motives — but even if not, I would urge you not to attempt any violence. After all, Derek was the only one of you who presented any threat to me, and he’s quite thoroughly under my control.” Orden rubbed her forehead. “Really, this is such a bother.”
Sera glanced at me, then meaningfully shifted her eyes toward Derek.
I shook my head just slightly.
Not yet, Sera, but I’m glad you’re ready.
“Okay, Professor.” I waved a hand at her. “Tell us why you kidnapped a visage.”
Orden chuckled. “Oh, it’s so much more than that, Corin. You’re thinking too small. Why don’t you ask Vera what she was doing in the tower in the first place?”
I didn’t take the bait, so I just shrugged. “Research. Artificial attunements or something like them.”
Vera winced. “That...may be a slight understatement.”
Oh, goddess curse it, Vera. What now?
Without looking away from Orden, I said, “Okay, Vera. Fill us in.”
Vera nodded. “Guess there’s no point to keeping it a secret now. You met Echion, yeah? Well, he�
�s the result of a joint defense project between Caelford and Valia. An extremely important project; one we’ve been working on for decades. Something that could have helped keep us safe from Edria for generations.”
Professor Orden raised a hand to her chin. “You’re still dodging the real issue, Vera. Why don’t you tell us exactly what Echion is?”
“He’s...” Vera glanced from side-to-side. “His attunement is unique. It’s not like a human attunement. It’s structured more like the power used by a god beast.”
Okay, Orden might have succeeded at deflecting our attention after all. Everyone’s eyes shifted to Vera. I replied first. “Wait, what?”
Vera scratched the back of her head sheepishly. “We’ve been able to replicate existing attunements for years. Echion is our first success at making a completely new one. It’s distinct from what the goddess grants, and vastly more powerful than any individual standard attunement. He’s still learning how to use it, but eventually...”
“Eventually he’ll be like a human with the power of a god beast,” Jin concluded.
That’s a line of research I wouldn’t mind hearing more about, but it obviously has the potential to be dangerous. And it sounds like they weren’t careful enough.
Vera closed her eyes. “That’s the light of it. We brought him here to test him in the tower, but someone must have tipped Tenjin off. Carter or Elora, I suppose. I still don’t understand why. They were both a part of the project.”
“Because you lacked foresight.” Professor Orden raised a hand and pointed up. “Tenjin was always going to find you in the tower. We just expedited the process. And we saved you from him. Tenjin would have annihilated your group. I know because he told me. I am one of his Whispers, after all.”
Vera stepped toward Orden, arms folded. “Well, if you were doing us such a great favor, you could have told us about it. And, you know, not beat the pants off of us afterward?”
Orden opened both hands in a gesture of peace. “If all had gone according to plan, you would have woken up safely in a lab with the rest of your companions — who are all safe, I assure you, and cooperating quite nicely.”
I sincerely doubt that last part, unless by “cooperating” she means “under the control of magic rings”.
Orden glanced away from Vera. “Unfortunately, Tenjin didn’t fall quite as easily as we expected. He managed to cast a spell to summon help before he lost consciousness. We were forced to grab the people closest to us and flee. Sadly, that led to Katashi finding your unconscious body at the scene and throwing you into prison. It took some time before one of my fellow companions was able to make enough adjustments to lead someone to your prison to free you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “If you had influence over the tower, why not just free her directly?”
The professor opened a hand. “If he’d simply freed Vera directly, he’d have been noticed, but Whispers work within the tower and often make layout changes. Making a trail for you just looked like he was doing an extension of his normal work. Katashi would have discovered the tampering if he checked the prison in any detail, of course, but he’s never been much of an investigator. We gave him a false enemy and he followed that lead instead.”
“Keras,” I realized. “When we freed him at the same time as Vera, he became the primary suspect. Both for me and, presumably, for Katashi as well. You used Keras to distract away from what you were up to.”
Sera pointed her sword at Orden. “And all those Edrian troops began maneuvering. Your work as well, I take it?”
“Oh, goddess, no. None of this was ever truly an Edrian conspiracy. They’re always maneuvering. I did enjoy deflecting investigations in that direction, however. I have no doubt that there truly are Edrian spies and agents in our midst, but I am not one of them.”
Orden sighed. “In fact, protecting our nation from Edrian influence is a large part of why we took the actions we did. They have had decades to grow unchecked, with full access to two towers. Our spies believe that Melkyr, one of their visages, may be training their forces directly. Our defenses are insufficient — and that is why we must take drastic steps.”
Orden turned to Vera. “Echion was an excellent start, but one artificial attuned is insufficient. Our tests indicated that he’s probably around Derek’s level of strength and still growing stronger. Quite impressive for a child, but not enough to defend a nation on his own. And certainly not both Caelford and Valia.”
“You want to make more of the new attuned,” Vera surmised. “That was always the plan, but we needed time—”
Orden waved a hand dismissively. “And that’s why we acted, darling. Because you and your friends from Caelford spent years monitoring one test sample when you could have been growing dozens. We would have given you the resources.”
Vera set her jaw. “This ‘we’ you’re referring to. It’s not just a small conspiracy, is it?”
Orden shook her head. “Not at all, dear.” She turned toward Derek. “Derek, dear, stop trying to free yourself.”
A glance toward Derek showed him tremble, then go still again.
“Now,” Orden continued, “Where were we? Ah, yes. I’m working as an extension of the Council of Lords. There is no conspiracy. Just covert actions taken without the knowledge of the general populace. All for the sake of Valia’s survival.”
I could understand the logic.
I had some moral questions about the idea of creating new attuned for the express purpose of warfare — even if they were meant to be deterrents to an invasion, rather than offensive tools — but I still could see where she was coming from.
In some senses, I wanted to agree with her. Learning to create our own attunements so that we didn’t have to send more children to die in the spires was a noble goal. Making new attunements that were better than the existing ones had a strong appeal, too. I’d be researching it myself if I had the capability.
I didn’t even mind being lied to or manipulated. I was a little hurt, but I’d be deceptive if I had to do it for a cause on that scale.
I saw flaws in Orden’s plan on other levels, though. More practical ones.
“You said before that Tenjin would have destroyed everyone if you hadn’t incapacitated him. What happens when the other visages find out about this? You can’t conceal working on a bunch of artificial attuned forever. What’s your plan?”
Orden nodded. “If you’re all willing to cooperate, I will take Vera to the rest of her team. They need her help in order to continue their studies in an efficient fashion. Vera quite wisely did not share all of her data publicly, and while I’m confident she has records somewhere in Caelford, searching for them would take some time. Cooperation would be far preferred.”
“After that,” Orden glanced from side-to-side, “Katashi would need to be dealt with. Ideally, before your little seven day deadline.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You want to kill Katashi?”
She shook her head. “No, no. Killing a visage or a fully grown god beast is a terrible idea. Their mana density is too high. They’d explode like a bomb, probably leave the city a crater. We’d have to incapacitate him somehow, ideally in a way that makes Edria look responsible. Dalenos will undoubtedly seek revenge if he vanishes. It would be best to point them in the direction of our enemies.”
Jin trembled silently, clenching his jaw tight.
I took a step closer to Orden, balling my hands into fists. “You’re talking about starting a war over a lie — and that’s operating under the assumption you could even hurt Katashi in the first place.”
Orden shrugged. “It’s not impossible. Admittedly, we knew Tenjin’s strengths and weaknesses from working for him for years, and he was always more of a scholar than a fighter. There is no doubt that fighting Katashi would be a more difficult endeavor and there would likely be terrible losses. But we are fighting for the future of our country. I’m sure you can understand that.”
I could understand that. The infuriating pa
rt was that she had ideas I could strongly sympathize — even agree with — if she wasn’t talking about starting a war to cover her covert operations. I couldn’t justify bloodshed on that scale for an experiment.
But that wasn’t even my biggest problem.
I folded my arms. “Not only is starting a war to deflect from your research horrifically immoral, it’s an unreliable plan. And you’re gambling our own nation’s survival on it.”
Orden waved a hand dismissively. “If blaming Edria doesn’t work, we’ll find another route. Perhaps we don’t need to move against Katashi. We can find a way to placate him before he deals too much damage. Maybe point him toward Keras again. It’s a manageable problem.”
I saw the bodies of the Soaring Wings that Mizuchi had left in her wake.
And, with all the resolve I could muster, I clenched my fists and said something unwise. “Leaving a trail of dead bodies in the wake of your schemes is not a manageable problem, Orden. If you truly want to protect Valia, you need to stop treating her civilians as acceptable losses.”
Orden closed her eyes. “It’s a utility calculation, Corin. I can—”
I put my hand on the hilt of my sword. “Let me stop you right there. We’ve all heard about stories of sacrificing a hundred to save a million. I get the concept. That’s not the core problem. The problem is that you’re taking a cascading series of greater risks — and several of them have the chance to wipe out the entire population of our country. If a group of freshly attuned students can figure out your plans, do you really think no one else will?”
“But you didn’t figure out my plans, Corin. You saw something amiss, and then I explained my plans. I can see you’re concerned, and that’s understandable. We need to make certain we execute each step of this plan as perfectly as possible to mitigate the very risks you spoke of. I want to work with you, not against you. If you have an alternative suggestion, I’d be glad to hear it.”
I considered that. “Let us finish our mission and deliver Vera to Katashi. Even if you want to fight him at some point, this gives you more time before he starts taking chunks out of our city. Time you can use to research him, find weaknesses like you did with Tenjin.”