“What did you do?” Cadi asked. “What's a shaendae?”
“A shaendae is something a Dashhuygin can create, a mirror self. It looks like them, acts like them, but… it has no soul,” Viktor said.
“Yethe, the shaendae have no souls, nothing to sacrifice. The person who died was me. A magick unique to the Technomancers, to the Old Ones specifically, is the ability to calve the soul. A fragment is a mirror of the whole. I created a subtype of myself, down to every last nuance of my essence. He was me and, if he were still alive, could be reintegrated into my own essence, provided it were done within two weeks of the calving. After that, the subtype becomes their own being, an identical twin of sorts.”
“You… created a being, only to sacrifice him?” Cadi asked slowly, thinking of the cheeky man whose final request had been a kiss. “What if he didn't want to die? You created a new life. Doesn't that mean anything?”
“It was necessary,” Draccus said. “A preservation of our knowledge and the ability to fulfill the sacrifice so that the beast could be contained, but… if it makes a difference to you… it was the primary who completed the sacrifice. It is the essence that retains memories and an Old One can change bodies at will, by transferring the soul chip. This is little different and I am still Draccus. It was I and not Dracos who was there that night. I watched myself die. Not something pleasant, but you gave him a parting gift quite unexpected.”
“But… doesn't getting rid of part of your essence cause problems?” Cadi asked.
“Sometimes,” Draccus acknowledged. “Sometimes it is enough to cause the new body to fritz, a danger I'd already survived when I underwent Conversion to begin with. The calving, perhaps, left me a little more insane that I already was. I don't know. I can't tell.”
“I thought those who fritzed were… put down?” Viktor asked.
“They are, as I should have been. I slew the Architects who had performed the Conversion and those who tried to stop me. I fled and found a way to put the compulsions I now felt to a more… constructive… use. My Patron has guided me these many long years, helping me to master control. I came here, to Jericho, and founded one of the better hunter's guilds this city has.”
“Is… Dracos a subtype too?”
“Yethe. Dracos is my al'raj, though he is more like my brother.”
Cadi nodded. She knew what an al'raj was. They were beings the Technomancers created, with bodies like those of the Old Ones and personality traits and characteristics devoid of essence, which Cadi now understood to be soul essence, distilled from volunteers. The vital spark of soul essence was provided by Mercurius himself, through a conduit. The al'raj, or al'raja for females, usually tended the Technomancer labs, ships and other facilities.
“I'm glad to… know the truth, but why did you call us here? What could we possibly do for you?” Cadi asked.
“Not for me. For the one who gave his life, for both of them. I did want to let you know the truth. I also wanted to express my thanks, for you brought a Patron to us.” Draccus looked down at the desk and pushed a tech-slate over to her. On it was a detailed drawing of the minotaur towering over the fallen form of a winged man and a defiant man in a miner's lamp. “And I want permission to erect a statue like this in the East Ward plaza. They deserve it.”
Cadi nodded. “Certainly. I can arrange for some of the Artificers to help you.”
“No need. I'd prefer to do it alone. But… I'd like to request some of the tryllym to create it. A pallet of ingots the Artificers have crafted should serve nicely. Just name your price.”
“No price. Where do you want it delivered?”
Draccus frowned at her offer. “It's too valuable to give away. As for where, just have them move it to the front of the storage vault. I can get it from there and it's much closer to the plaza.”
“Done. It'll be there tonight. And I'm not giving it away. That price has already been paid, by both of them.”
At her words, Draccus' face grew solemn. “So it has. Dos mere, Lady Cadi. If ever you have need of us, or just wish to visit, do stop by. Drakkengaard is always open to you.”
Cadi and Viktor made their farewells, returning to Thorndagger via the East Ward mining vaults. The Artificers there had given her odd looks, but hadn't argued about the strange order to move a pallet of the tryllym ingots to the front of the storage vault. And in the morning, Cadi was hardly surprised when servants woke her and Viktor with the news that a tryllym statue had appeared in the East Ward plaza overnight, with no evidence as to how it had gotten there and she smiled at the thought of the stealthy drakeen hunter jumping the mage-metal out of the vault and crafting a statue with it under the noses of the Crows and Magisters patrolling the Ward.
Dear reader,
Thank you for taking time to read Obsidian Alcatraz. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated.
Obsidian Alcatraz: An Evalyce Novella Page 8