by Sarah Lin
Even then, Esaire managed to dodge back, his superior speed pulling him out of the way in between the moment the cantae started to manifest and when the singularity began to consume everything about it. But he was much too close, the black hole tearing fragments from his aura and growing rapidly.
Esaire let out a scream and channeled all his cantae to his gloves, creating a force that pushed him back, away from the all-consuming sphere. That effort kept him at a distance, but the darkness absorbed the cantae he used to do it, growing more and more powerful as Esaire began to weaken.
As his defenses fell, Theo got a clear view of his soulhome, all three silver tiers of it. There was an elegant defensive wall, but as the black hole grew in power, the wall cracked, then pieces of the rubble began to float away. His singularity had manifested on a spiritual level now, a dark sphere in the sky of Esaire's soulhome that continued to grow.
Leaves tore from his silvery trees, loose bricks lifted into the sky, and part of his foundation gave a loud crack. In the real world, Esaire stared at him in horror, recognizing what he faced.
Theo released the technique and the arena was still. The judge had risen to her feet and several other Authorities in the audience had begun to act as well. Their overwhelming power ensured that he never would have been able to ruin Esaire's soulhome or kill him. But Theo just stared into the other man's eyes and made sure that he knew that Theo could have gone further, and he'd chosen to stop.
Around them, he saw shock on the faces of all the spectators... except for Nauda and Fiyu, who were watching with a mixture of joy and relief. After so long being utterly focused on the fight, Theo let himself smile at them. He also started feeling his leg and back injuries, which were going to need treatment, but that could come later.
"The match has clearly ended," the arbiter said, "and House Blacksilver is victorious. The Deuxan party must now answer for their actions."
"I have a few questions." Theo looked past Esaire, who had collapsed, and instead focused on Arceon ai Armeau. The head of the Armeau family was a fully developed Ruler, stronger than his grandson... but there was a hint of fear in his eyes. "While on Deuxan, I attempted to do ordinary research on Deuxan history. In return, you declared me evil and tried to have me killed. Why?"
"This..." Arceon drew himself up with all the dignity he could muster. "This is not a matter to be discussed in such a public place!"
Though the expression on the arbiter's face didn't change, she let her full strength as an Authority settle over the room before she spoke. "The city of Norro Yorthin does not care for your local customs. You agreed to the terms of this duel and you must now obey those terms, or be considered in contempt of the House of Coin."
"You... you spoke of a forbidden matter." The old man's eyes flickered between Theo and the Authorities in the room. "Must I speak the name here?"
"I don't care, I just want you to explain why."
"Nearly a century ago, the small Deuxan family you researched was destroyed, root and stem. The exact circumstances are lost to history, but we know this: the destruction spread. Others in the same court wanted to acquire their lost assets and attempted to research what had happened, only for those families to be destroyed as well."
"By who?"
"We don't know. It is believed to be a foreign power that had passed beyond the known limits of soulcrafters, because the destruction was so swift and many demons crawled through in their wake." Arceon took a deep breath and shook his head. "Since that day, uttering that name has been forbidden. The riches of that family must still lie somewhere, and fools occasionally still die trying to learn more. So every significant court has agreed that the very knowledge of that name must die out."
For the sake of the audience, Theo snorted. "I don't know anything. This superstition is utter madness... I tried to do a little historical research and you persecuted me all the way to Fithe."
Judging from the reaction, no one else took it particularly seriously. A representative from the House of Burning Leaves rose to say that the Deuxans had comported themselves dishonorably and would no longer be considered guests of the House. Someone from Blacksilver argued that they should answer for their disruption, but the arbiter insisted they be simply exiled to their home world.
Theo ignored all of it. Despite his mocking reaction, the revelation troubled him deeply. Brigana ai Teraeves had been from a small but powerful family, perhaps a bit strange based on his brief meetings, but not deserving of such a reputation. He feared that it could somehow be his fault, that Vistgil and his demons had eradicated the entire family because Brigana had traveled with him.
Based on what Arceon said, however, there had been roughly a decade between Brigana's death and the destruction of her family. Theo didn't think he'd been lying, but the records might be inaccurate. It was possible that their destruction had nothing to do with him, but it felt too much like another one of Vistgil's traps.
If the Teraeves family had interacted more than usual with outsiders to the Nine Worlds, then it made sense. They'd been destroyed with their wealth intact, and anyone who had known them might try to retrieve it. When they did, they'd trigger the trap that had been woven into Deuxan culture itself.
The question was... had he triggered that trap? Theo didn't think that there was anything directly sinister behind the Deuxan courts, and the Armeau family didn't seem inclined to spread the knowledge. Here on Fithe, he had no doubt that the details of the fight would be forgotten, since everyone would focus on the fact that an Archcrafter had beaten a Ruler.
So he might not have brought his enemies down on his head, but he needed to be even more careful than before.
City guards pulled the Armeau family from the arena, gently but with the full threat of force. Theo saw hatred in the eyes of the grandfather, but as Esaire was carried out, he stared back with a strange expression. There was no time to address him further, so Theo would need to keep that in mind.
"Curse you!" An explosion of anger finally overcame the stillness and Theo turned to the side to look.
Tythes stalked away from the others representing House Crimson and hurled something white down at Nauda's feet. She picked it up with a smile, and turned it so Theo could realize that it was a Chasm Invitation. He could only presume that she'd bet on the fight and mentally thanked her for it, though he should also thank Tythes for being so careless.
"You may have won that, but you cheated!" Tythes jabbed a finger at her. "Duel me next!"
"I'm humbled by your assessment of my strength," Nauda said with a meek bow. The Crimson Authority hissed and took a step closer.
"I don't care that you're just an Archcrafter, I can wait to tear you apart! Let's set a duel, just like this! You'd need, what, ten years? A hundred years? Duel me or I-"
He cut off as the older woman from House Crimson grabbed his shoulder. "It's time to go home, Lord Tythes."
Though he hissed and glowered, more like a toddler than an Authority-tier soulcrafter, Tythes let himself be dragged away from the arena. With him gone, the atmosphere relaxed further. Theo saw Blacksilver representatives smiling at him, no doubt very glad for the fame he'd brought their House, but he ignored them to limp next to Fiyu.
"You require healing," Fiyu told him, her smile growing somber. "The sword cut deep."
"I do, but I want to know about that Invitation." He glanced at Nauda, who slid an arm under his shoulders to help him keep the weight off his injured leg.
"Not much to it, just a smart bet. We have three now." She grinned over at him. "That was remarkable, but I imagine you're hungry. Should we bring you something to eat while you recover?"
"Nothing too expensive. I have some serious debts to pay off." But considering that his debts were to his allies, Theo didn't consider that a bad thing.
Epilogue
The older she became, the more Gethyrue understood the limits of Authority. When she had been a child, growing up in the courtyards of House Crimson, the soulcrafters
at such ranks had been her greatest heroes. She knew that Strongholds were supposed to be more powerful, but they were only stern figures at the edges of her life, and anything beyond that was myth.
Now, at nearly one hundred years old, she felt no wiser than that child. The Strongholds of Norro Yorthin fought one another bitterly, but she had given up all hope of a Dominion-tier soulcrafter rising from among them. In her travels, she had learned that there were soulcrafters beyond those heights, standing on the other side of a gap even greater than the one she had crossed to become an Authority. She had ascended as an old woman and knew she would go no further, her soulhome growing increasingly rigid with age.
Five members of House Crimson had reached Authority-tier or higher, and she was the eldest of them. Though at one hundred her body retained some youth, she had failed in her efforts to craft an Immortality Conduit. In time she would pass away, without ever ascending further, and her only remaining hope was to see someone else who could bring change to all she regretted.
At the moment, she dragged her nephew's wine-soaked body through their courtyard to his home. Tythes was no longer the boy he had once been, in so many ways.
Around them, members of House Crimson looked on with pity, but only briefly, because they didn't dare draw Tythes's wrath. He'd established that reputation quite effectively, thus leaving her in the position of being the only one to stand up to him. She no longer expected that he would be the leader she'd hoped for, but the boy scared her sometimes.
She dropped him into a lounging chair and turned back to the door. One servant carried new robes, but Gethyrue shook her head apologetically. Once the servant departed, Gethyrue closed the door and activated the defensive barrier around the room.
"Well, that's done." Tythes sat up and ran a hand through his hair, sweeping it back from his face. "As soon as they're exiled, track the Deuxans back to their court. Then come back here and get one of our better assassins."
"Tythes..." She preferred him like this to his drunken facade, but sometimes the two seemed to blur. "They may be no threat to the House, but surely it's senseless to kill them."
"You didn't let me finish. Have the assassin deliver a poison, all nicely boxed up. They need a reminder not to meddle here again." Tythes stood up sharply and walked to his desk, speaking more rapidly as he did so. "Have them steal a Deuxan poison in return, and use it for a weak attempt in the House of Burning Leaves. That should discourage them from using other worlds in their schemes."
"I understand." Gethyrue smiled as she understood his plan, regretting that she had doubted him. Tythes was not the man his parents or tutors had tried to make him become, but sometimes she hoped that something of what she had tried to teach remained in him. "I think they are already chastened, but a reminder might not be inappropriate."
"We need them on their back foot for what's coming. It will be politically delicate." Her nephew glanced over at her, a true smile on his face. "Do you think they took the sublime spices? As opposed to destroying them or handing them over to House Blacksilver, I mean."
"I suspect they will."
"Excellent. And thanks to the bet, they now have three Chasm Invitations. I think it might be best to leave them be for a time, or the continual meetings will grow suspicious. Hmm, that leaves me with rather a lot of time. There's other business to be done, but perhaps a few unwilling vassals..."
"Tythes..." She took a breath and stepped behind him, putting a hand on his arm. "I know you think this will make a difference, but I don't understand why you're so excited by a few foreign Archcrafters. Let me in, nephew, please."
He paused, the intense concentration on his face receding. The innocent boy he had been no longer existed, but when his eyes focused on her, she thought they were kind. "You know the problem with this city's balance, Gethyrue. Even the House of the Lost has become just another faction, and the cycle continues. I need young soulcrafters, ones who won't just become more House minions."
"They appear loyal to House Blacksilver."
"Not for long." Tythes swept away, grinning with a bit of the energy he usually faked. "I think they're the ones I've been waiting for. This Nauda has the spirit for it, even if her soulhome is a bit messy. The Ichili won her whole tournament handily and essentially just waited to ascend at will. I thought the boy was the least interesting, then he promptly does the impossible and defeats a Ruler. They're blazing upward, they just need a little guidance."
The way he said it, Gethyrue could almost believe, but that was just his way with words. He'd had a honeyed tongue from a young age, and when he got older it had transformed into something much sharper. She didn't believe that he would manipulate her, not when they had been working closely together for so many years, but she did sometimes wonder.
"Eight months left... I need to analyze them further during that time. They wouldn't push for the Chasm of Lamentations unless they had a reason, perhaps related to the House war over it." Tythes shook his head sharply and began to walk to his balcony. "Need more information. No point speculating."
"You seem inspired." She walked out beside him, smiling slowly. "I was beginning to believe that you really had grown apathetic."
"Hardly." Tythes leaned on the edge of his balcony and stared out over the courtyard. "Merely waiting for the people I need to destroy House Crimson."
X X X
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Acknowledgments
Thank you to all my alpha and beta readers for their feedback.
Thanks to Cultivation Novels, Western Cultivation, and GameLit Society for the community.
Appendix: Soulhome Architecture 101
(This appendix was originally posted on my subreddit, with character expressions and soulhome diagrams. These don't play well with many ebook formats, so they can't be included here, but I'm including the raw script due to reader requests. Here's the link to the full version:
https://old.reddit.com/r/TheBrightestShadow/comments/k6vxt8/soulhome_architecture_101_with_theo_nauda_and_fiyu/)
Soulhome Architecture 101
with Theo, Nauda, and Fiyu
Nauda smiling: Hello everyone!
Theo smiling: We're going to be explaining the art of soulcrafting from The Weirkey Chronicles.
Fiyu neutral: Are we self-aware now? Is this another meta-fictional story?
Theo neutral: This isn't canon; just go with it.
F smiling: That is better, but I do not understand why we are represented by heads.
T frowning: They're chibis, and I, for one, am personally insulted to be portrayed this way.
N grinning: It isn't canon; just go with it.
F neutral: Before we look at some soulhome designs, we will introduce the basics...
Basics
N smiling: The first part won't surprise you. Cantae is a form of energy that living beings can only use if they open up a space inside their soul, ca
lled a soulhome.
T neutral: You can use it to make yourself a little stronger, or shoot it as a bolt, but these things are child's play compared to building within your soulhome.
F neutral: Such people are called soulcrafters.
T frowning: You can't use just anything: only materials with spiritual properties - called sublime materials - can be pulled into your soul and used in construction.
N smiling: But inside, soulhomes follow simple logic. Bigger rooms can store more cantae. Physically sturdy rooms make you spiritually sturdy. Fancy rooms with valuable sublime materials crafted into patterns are more powerful than just throwing a magic rock inside your soul.
F neutral: Not everything is architecture. Usually you begin by creating a "heart chamber" that has sublime materials to generate cantae, which flows through the other rooms.
T neutral: The process rapidly gets more complicated, but we'll focus on the basics today.
F smiling: Let us look at some simple blueprints. I think that will make it easy to understand.
[Unplanned Farmguard Soulhome]
N neutral: We'll start with a humble village soulcrafter. They probably built one room at a time without too much planning.
T neutral: It's actually not terrible... squares are balanced shapes, and the internal doors will allow for strong cantae flow.
F question: Why do they have so many doors to the outside, though? Won't cantae leak out?
N smiling: That isn't obvious to everyone, Fiyu. They may have opened more to make soulcrafting easier.
T frowning: It's an inefficiency, but that's trivial compared to the fact that their design is lopsided. Feast rooms generate cantae, just not as much as heart chambers, so it should have been switched with the technique chamber.
N neutral: They were clearly doing the best they could with what they had.
F smiling: I don't think it's so bad. They have some cantae, a chamber to strengthen themselves, and room for a technique.