by Andrew Rowe
“What was this deal?”
Tristan turned back to me. “Tenjin came to her directly. He praised her for her achievements, having reached higher in the spire than anyone had in decades. And he offered her a gift — a boon that he would grant himself if she would never set foot in the spire again.”
I felt my heart sink. “And she asked for him to bring you back.”
“Indeed.” Tristan laughed. “It was her goal from the beginning. Tenjin knew this; he had watched her, and she had mentioned it often to the others who climbed with her from time to time. He told her that I was alive, and in his service. She was overjoyed at first, until she learned that Tenjin would not allow me to leave.”
“Tenjin’s compromise was that he let us meet. He believed that I was loyal, and that simply knowing that I was alive and healthy would be enough for mother.” Tristan shook his head. “We were allowed to talk within the spire for a single hour. Ostensibly in private, but I knew that we’d be watched. I could not tell her the truth there, but I was able to pass her a seemingly innocuous book.”
“A book like mine?”
Tristan nodded. “Precisely. It’s possible Tenjin realized what I’d given her and simply chose not to act. But I took the risk, and it worked. I wrote to her. I explained what I knew. And she began to plan, recruiting more people outside the spire to our plan. She became instrumental to our efforts, since few of those who know what I do are ever allowed to leave.”
“But why did Tenjin allow the meeting at all? Why not just tell her that you were dead, and beyond his abilities to revive?”
“It is unwise for the visages to admit to weaknesses or limitations. It undermines their authority. Moreover, I believe Tenjin thought she could be manipulated. Perhaps, up until the point where he was captured, he believed everything was still going according to plan. Even beings as ancient as they are have the ability to make mistakes. In fact, an inability to accurately anticipate how humans think is perhaps one of their greatest weaknesses.”
“Couldn’t he have just let you leave, then? Only letting you speak for an hour must have seemed like a poor reward for all of Mother’s years of climbing.”
Tristan shook his head. “I should probably explain something else. There would have been an uprising long ago if those of us within the spires had the freedom to do as we chose. But we are carefully watched and, of course, limited by other factors.”
He lifted up his shirt.
His entire chest was covered with a massive runic inscription. “Is that...a brand? Like the one Katashi had put on me?”
“Precisely. A much more complex variation. The more knowledge and access a Whisper is given, the more is added to our brand — and the more things we’re restricted from. In my case, the core function is to prevent me from ever leaving the spire. It would explode if I did, and I assure you that would be quite fatal.”
“Couldn’t Tenjin just have removed it? Maybe removed your memories?”
Tristan pulled his shirt back down, then put a hand over his chest. “Perhaps with great effort, but the brand was not Tenjin’s work. It was placed by another visage.”
“Wydd, I presume?”
“Precisely. Tenjin may have been able to remove it, but if Wydd learned of that, it may have caused a conflict between them. It was not worth the risk. Moreover, Tenjin has always framed these marks as something he disagrees with, that Wydd forces upon us.”
“Wait. So Tenjin knew you were working for Wydd?”
Tristan nodded. “Oh, of course. Working for another visage from time to time was not unusual. I may have made it sound clandestine, but any work that I performed for Wydd went through approved channels. The only ‘secret’ portion was that the Whispers of Wydd believed I was loyal to Wydd, and Tenjin believed I was loyal to him.”
“Why would he take the risk of keeping you close if there was any chance that your loyalties could be compromised?”
Tristan chuckled. “I don’t think you understand precisely how powerful these visages are. Under ordinary circumstances, no human could possibly challenge them. That has led to each and every one of them developing a degree of arrogance. Tenjin probably knew there was a chance that Wydd would try to use me against him in some way, but he would never have expected it to be a physical assault.”
Tristan shook his head. “Similarly, I suspect he believed that Mother or I would take out our aggression against Wydd, if we felt that it was Wydd that was keeping us apart. He thought he could manipulate us to his own ends.”
I nodded at that. “But he failed. You moved against Tenjin first.”
“Indeed. Not because Tenjin is the worst of the visages, but because of convenience. Once Mother had the book, I was able to explain a great deal to her. She spoke with many of the Whispers who operated out of the spire, and they made plans. When we learned that Vera Corrington was coming to the spire to test a new form of artificial attuned, it was a perfect opportunity to lure Tenjin into a vulnerable position. We took it.”
“I still don’t understand how you managed to incapacitate a visage.”
Tristan chuckled, stepping out of the doorway and finally letting it close. “A great deal of knowledge of how his abilities work, the element of surprise, and a good deal of luck.”
I hesitated now that he was approaching. I didn’t think he was going to attack me, but I was still on high alert. “That’s not a real answer.”
“No, you’re right. But I can’t tell you everything.” He tapped his chest.
I understood the gesture, but I wasn’t going to take that simple of a response. “You could claim that anything you don’t want to tell me is one of the things your brand prevents.”
“Also true. But I have no motivation to omit things like the weaknesses of the visages. I want them to be defeated.”
“Including Wydd? Or are they helping you?”
Tristan shook his head. “That’s an excellent question, not no, Wydd isn’t working with us. I’m sure Wydd is aware of everything that is happening, however, and they probably have an angle on how to use it to their advantage.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Why did you imply that you wanted me to join the Whispers of Wydd, then?”
“Ah. That.” Tristan shrugged. “I planned to have you infiltrate them to get information for me. But things change, and that’s no longer wise. The details are unimportant.”
I frowned, considering. “Who’s backing you for all this, if it isn’t Wydd? You implied you had someone powerful helping you.”
Tristan shook his head. “Sorry. Can’t talk about that. But it’s not Wydd, and I’ll say that it isn’t the Tyrant, either.”
I gave him a dirty look. “I don’t like the fact that you’re still keeping secrets.”
“You’re going to have to accept a degree of it. I’m sorry for that. But just as you don’t trust me, I can’t completely trust you with everything, either.”
That made a degree of sense, but I still felt a brief surge of frustration. “Fine, fine. But why try to attack the visages directly like this? I mean, it’s obvious you feel they’re manipulating people, but what’s your end goal here? Killing them all? Would that even be possible?”
“Perhaps it would be, but that would be a terrible risk at best.” Tristan shook his head. “No, that’s not my goal. Although it is a more popular one.”
“What do you mean?”
“As I said, I’m not in charge of this little uprising. Many Whispers have far more influence than I. I played a key part in imprisoning Tenjin, and that has earned me a degree of clout, but I am not the one making all the decisions. And that, unfortunately, has put you in harm’s way. I am sorry for that.”
He didn’t sound particularly sorry.
“You mean what happened with Mizuchi? What was that about?”
“Someone working to remove competition. The uprising has a central ideal — that humanity must be liberated from the oppression of the visages. This sounds like a good
unifying factor on the surface, but there’s no agreement in how to go about doing it. This has resulted in the birth of three sub-factions, each with different goals.”
He raised a finger. “First, and most prominently, you have the Godslayer faction. They believe the visages must be killed. They also believe that anyone who has been complicit in the visages retaining control, such as the rulers of most kingdoms and the highest ranking priests, should also be removed.”
Tristan raised a second finger. “The Peacemaker faction believes that our goal should be to work with the visages, and get them to acknowledge their faults. That we should, perhaps, show a firm hand and our willingness to fight, but that ultimately we are better off working with the visages than against them.”
“Finally,” he raised a third finger, “There is my faction. A much smaller group, with little support and different goals.” He paused. “It was the Godslayer faction that employed Mizuchi to attack that ball. Their goal was to remove important figures of government, as well as supporters for the Peacemaker faction and my own group.”
“How is that possible? Shouldn’t Mizuchi only be able to leave the spire with the help of a visage?”
Tristan shook his head. “A powerful enough Summoner with a contract with Mizuchi could use a true summoning spell to bring her outside of the spire. I believe that is what happened.”
I tightened my jaw. “A powerful Summoner...like Elora Theas, perhaps?”
“I find it unlikely that it was Elora, but you’re wise to suspect her. She has the capability to accomplish such a thing, but I don’t believe she has the motivation.”
I nodded. “Do you have any idea on who else it might be?”
“I’m not certain. I’ve had minimal contact with the outside world. You probably know more Summoners than I do.”
I didn’t think I knew any as powerful as Elora, but I could do some digging at the Divinatory another time. “And this faction of yours — what is it?”
“I’m glad you asked.” He clapped his hands together. “I call us Ascension. I believe there is a fundamental flaw in simply trying to eliminate the visages or work with them. In the first case, we would then be at the whim of other powerful beings, either from within our continent or the outside world. The latter case is an overly optimistic dream. There is no way to negotiate with a being that can wipe out your cities with a swipe of their hand and outlive you a hundred times over.
“The visages do not rule us because they are too strong. They rule us because humanity is too weak. If we ever truly wish for humanity to emerge from the shadow of the visages, we must rise to be their equals. And that, my dear brother, is my goal. To raise every human being — not just a chosen few — to power comparable to that of the visages themselves.”
I folded my arms. “That sounds good from a conceptual standpoint, but what happens when any ordinary person who has a bad day can wipe out a city?”
Tristan nodded. “Giving everyone exactly the same capabilities as a visage would be a mistake, of course. We do not need every human being to have that degree of offensive power. But imagine if every human had a Guardian attunement, at a level higher than Emerald, and bodies as resilient as a serpent’s.
“Imagine if no one had to die from malnutrition, disease, or accidents. And if an outside force chose to invade our continent? Every citizen could break swords with their bare hands. Bullets would deflect from their shrouds.”
I’d considered much the same, though on a smaller scale, when I first thought about the potential ramifications of artificial attunements. Widespread Wayfarer attunements for rapid transportation. Elementalists who simply manipulated the weather to improve crop yields. Menders on every street in case someone was injured.
It was an appealing prospect, but it seemed almost too good to be true.
A part of me tried to fabricate reasons in my mind why it was too dangerous, or why it couldn’t be possible.
But I knew the truth — there was a part of me that was just afraid of change. And another part that was afraid of losing what made me special.
I’d risked my life for that attunement. Was it really fair for others to get them for free? Perhaps even any attunement of their choice?
But that was an inherently selfish line of thinking.
If there was a way that everyone could have attunements, in a way that didn’t cause great harm, that was a goal worth striving toward.
But if that really was Tristan’s goal, it still raised further questions. “If your goal is widespread attunements for humanity, why did you sabotage Vera’s test?”
“That was Orden’s work, not mine. And while I could have opposed her, I would have failed. She was one of very few Whispers who had enough trust from the visages to work outside of the spires. I’m sure she had a brand to prevent her from talking about certain things, but she had freedom, and that freedom gave her power and influence.” He turned his head toward the room he’d exited from.
“But Orden is out of the picture now, and I have access to excellent sources of research. Moreover, artificial attunement research continues unimpeded within Caelford. While Vera’s team was important, they were only one group of several.”
I turned toward the doors he’d come from and pointed. “That room — that’s where you’re keeping Tenjin? And those other researchers?”
Tristan shook his head. “I won’t answer that. I wanted you to know why I’m doing what I’m doing, but you’re not working with me. I’d like you to, and I’ll make you that offer here and now. But it would take time and trust before I would give you a secret as great as Tenjin’s location.”
I could respect that. I was getting used to having secrets of my own. “Okay. I do have to ask one more thing, though.”
“Of course. I’m sure you have many questions.”
“When you first were admitting who you were in the book... Why’d you send me a villain monologue?”
Tristan broke into laughter. “I was a bit over the top, wasn’t I? In truth, I didn’t know what to say to you. I would have told you the truth earlier, but I couldn’t risk the possibility that Orden was going to find your book. Until she was out of the picture, I couldn’t write my name in there. If she’d known I had ways of communicating with the outside world, she could have used that against me. Had me executed, even.” He shook his head. “But aside from that? There’s a part of me that wanted to motivate you.”
“In what way? I already was looking for you.”
“Of course. And...” He looked pained for a moment. “Thank you, Corin. Like Mother, you never stopped believing that I might be alive. You even asked about me during your Judgment. I’m grateful for that. You’ve always asked questions — that’s something I respect about you.”
“But?”
“But I needed you to dig deeper. I needed you to consider the possibility that anyone could be a threat. Even me. You need to internalize that. It will help you survive the things to come.”
“And those things are?”
“I’m working on it.” Tristan sighed. “I have plans, of course, but the attack on the ball injured or killed many of my key allies. It’s going to take me some time to—”
There was a loud snap as the door behind me flew off its hinges.
I spun, drawing my sword.
I heard the sound of metal sliding against leather from behind me as Tristan did the same.
In front of us, in the open doorway, was my sister. Sera.
How is she—
A figure behind her pushed her forward.
Sera stumbled, then broke into a run toward me.
“Go ahead and run, Summoner.”
Mizuchi smiled as she stepped into the room, glancing from side to side. She was in her human form, with the long purple hair. “I’d be glad to have you all in one place. It’s easier to kill you at the same time that way.”
I ran to Sera, stopping when she was near me. “What happened? How are you here?”
Sera stopped running when she reached me. “She summoned me.”
“...what?”
Mizuchi laughed. “You humans are so arrogant. You forget that we serpents are superior beings. And that we can learn your little ‘attunement’ arts, too.”
I glanced at Sera. “But without a contract...”
Sera let out a nervous chuckle, stepping behind me. She was unarmed, and had a long gash along her right arm. “I cast a binding on her during the fight in the ball.”
“And what your sister didn’t realize is that when you have a binding or a contact with another Summoner, they go both ways.” Mizuchi clasped her hands together. “Of course, normally I would have ignored a little girl trying to bind me, as insolent of a gesture as it was. But imagine my surprise when I learned that she was the sister of the legendary Tristan Cadence. Blood of his blood.”
I glanced at Sera’s injury and realized what had happened at the same time Tristan explained it.
“A tracking spell.” Tristan stepped forward next to the two of us, assuming a traditional dueling stance. “But I know your abilities, Mizuchi. Summoning is among them, but Divination is not.”
“Ah, yes, quite right.” Mizuchi turned back toward the doorway. “Come along, darling. Don’t be shy.”
Researcher stepped into the room after her, her head bowed in shame. “I...”
“I didn’t tell you to speak, dear. I’m just showing you so they understand their mistake.”
And I did.
I remembered where I’d seen Mizuchi before — stepping out of the restricted section of the Divinatory.
When I’d helped Mara during her test, she’d told me that serpents could learn attunement abilities. She’d also told me that they could assume a human form, but often with some distinguishing characteristics. Like purple hair, for example. The same color as Mizuchi’s scales.
That hadn’t been enough for me to consider the possibility that Researcher’s Summoner had been someone who wasn’t human.
While I could conceptualize the idea of a serpent living in human society in disguise, the thought that one of them might have already been doing something like that so close to me... it had never even occurred to me.