No, the uproar today was likely all about the Life Coalition. He looked down, over the tiers of seating reserved for maji from House of Potential. There were black-cloaked figures, far below, like shadows against the gentle glow from the crystal floor. A line of the Effature’s guard stood not far from them. No weapons were in sight, but Rey saw a guard’s hand twitch to her sheathed sword.
The Dome of the Assembly was big enough that the bottom of it rested on the true floor of the Nether, not the dirt and stone built up over however many cycles beings had lived here. Another freaky thing about the giant crystal—it was impenetrable. Once yer got to the crystal, that was it—yer couldn’t go any farther. And if yer looked into the crystal, granddames preserve yer. It was like looking through miles of ice, and a mirror, at the same time. There was no end to it.
Yet his mentor had hinted that maji—and only maji—could pass through the crystal. It was some part of the test to go from apprentice to majus.
Rey found a seat near his mentor—apprentices were not usually invited to the Assembly, but there was a special allowance today. They really wanted everyone to be here. He looked up, to where a vast net supported many oiled tarps, draped over the hole in the Dome’s roof. It let in less light than it used to, but the glow from the floor was enough to see by.
After a small eternity, the Effature—the old man what was in charge of the Nether, waved for things to actually start, and Speaker Oscana—the leader of the Council of Maji, and the head of the House of Communication—gave some speech about seeing what these Life Coalitioners were all about and how dare they come here. Rey twiddled his fingers through it, waiting for them to get to the point.
Rey sat forward when the black-cloaked figure in the middle of the small group stepped forward. Majus Kheena did the same, and Rey traded a look with his mentor. They would finally let the Life Coalition speak.
“Gathered representatives of the ten species,” a high, clear voice rang out. None of the Life Coalitioners had pushed their cowls back, and it was impossible to see anything about their shapes, but they all looked to be the right size for Sathssn. That meant they probably all belonged to the more conservative factions of his mentor’s species—the ones who covered their whole bodies so not a hint of skin poked out. All well and good, but Rey wondered how hot they got in all that fabric.
“Today, we have come before you to speak as equals.” There was some murmuring running along the seats at that. “Though us, we have kept hidden for the many cycles our organization has existed, now, we have determined it is time to share our goal with the inhabitants of the Nether, and of the homeworlds.”
The figure continued to make generic remarks about how great the Life Coalition was, without quite saying anything at all. Rey rolled his eyes. Why did important folk always want to talk so much? Just get to the point. Majus Kheena shifted, next to him. “Me, I could be back in my study, researching information transfer,” he grumbled.
“I’m sure they’ll say sommat useful at some point,” Rey answered. “They came here for a reason.” He narrowed his eyes, trying to see the figure better. There were five others with her. It was a female—the Nether had informed him of that much, in the creepy way it provided helpful clues. It was like he was remembering a bit of information he’d never learned.
“—and to show our sincerity in coming before you, me, I give you my name.”
“Ah, here’s sommat,” Rey said. The revelation of names among his species was a time-honored tradition. It happened when things started getting serious.
“Me, I am Janas, leader of the Life Coalition,” the figure said. She gestured two others forward, and one took a place on each side of Janas. “This, is Iano—” she gestured to her right with a gloved hand. “—who was at one time a majus in the House of Power. He has renounced his claim to the title of ‘majus.’” Muttering and conversations began in the seated section of maji belonging to the House of Power.
“This, on my other side, is Zsaana, a majus who once belonged to the House of Healing, and even held its highest position at one—” The rest of her statement was drowned out by a rise of noise from the maji in the House of Healing, as well as from the floor of the Assembly. Speaker Oscana had risen to her feet, as had the Pixie who was the head of the House of Communication. Rey looked to the seats for the House of Healing, where Majus Ayama sat, unperturbed. He found Majus Cyrysi, in the section for the House of Communication. His crest was flat. If he’d been surprised, his feathery hair would look like he’d gotten struck by lightning. Kirians could never hide what they felt. That could only mean they’d known about the leaders of the Life Coalition. Which they’d also neglected to tell the rest of the people supposed to be working with them.
“Majus Zsaana,” his mentor murmured. “This, it is a surprise. He was highly regarded among maji until he disappeared twelve cycles ago.”
So it wasn’t just apprentices the maji were keepin’ secrets from.
“If such a prestigious majus is keepin’ up with the Coalition, what does that say about its members?” Rey asked Majus Kheena.
The majus waggled a gloved hand back and forth. His slitted eyes were thoughtful. “This, it lends credence to the Life Coalition’s claim they are attempting to bring peace, no matter those they have felled. Zsaana was well respected, even if him, he was a bit—” the majus paused, groping for a word. “—well, specist.”
Rey shrugged. “Lots o’ beings have a reason or two to dislike some aught species.” He couldn’t say too much. The Sureriaj knew well they were the pinnacle of evolutionary biology among the ten species. That the others called them out for their unattractive faces only proved their point. They were just jealous.
But Janas was continuing to speak. She hadn’t introduced any of the other figures, so maybe they weren’t as important, or they weren’t as trusting to make themselves targets for several billion beings.
“The voids we created, had they not been stopped, would have already achieved the peace I speak of, with the loss of little life, comparatively.” More muttering and even a few shouts for Janas to give up the floor. That one, Rey couldn’t agree with. He’d seen reports of the desolation in the Methiemum city of Dalhni, and was sitting directly under the damage they’d done to the Dome. Janas ignored the jeers.
“You all, you say we have killed. Me, I say the Life Coalition has saved many more lives from destruction. Now, we must work the slow path to bring organization and order. Like everyone else here, we only wish to have enough time and energy to care for our loved ones.” She lifted a gloved finger, as if to make an important point. “The Life Coalition, we have found a way to bring boundless energy to all the species in this Assembly. Such resources, they would halt the end of all things. This, would it not be an acceptable trade for a few sacrifices?”
“I would not call Dalhni ‘a few sacrifices,’” Speaker Oscana said. Since she was one of the Etanela, her words slurred together, making it hard for Rey to catch them all. Why couldn’t everyone just speak normal, as the Sureri did? “Nor would I discount those who died in this very room, from your actions. You have yet to tell us what this power source is or where it comes from.”
The Life Coalition leader bowed her cloaked head, accepting the censure. “This, it is regrettable. For the time given us to develop the technology to create the great seeds, there was little occasion to make you see the path we walked. To alert you would mean you would stop us.”
“And you were stopped!” called one of the Pixie speakers. A round of nervous laughter wavered across the Assembly, but quickly died.
Janas spread her hands, the black absorbing the light reflected from the Nether floor. “This, it is why we change our tactics and come before you now, in humbleness. You hear the pleading chimes of the Nether itself. What else would you call these cries that have occurred twice already? The Dissolution is nearing.” There was muttering at that, but Rey got the feeling no one else believed those ravings either. He traded a skepti
cal look with Majus Kheena. “We see your power,” Janas continued. “We know your might, and us, we are willing to share with everyone our divine plan to bring the great power to us, which will fix the problems of the Assembly and push back the Dissolution.” She raised her arms wide, encompassing the Dome and its new hole.
“This is a strong claim you make, with little proof, but much suffering,” Speaker Oscana said from her seat in the middle of the Councilors of the maji. “What if we do not accept this ‘plan’? Your army has been decimated, many of your hideaways destroyed. Do you now come in peace only because there is no alternative? If we eradicate the rest of the Life Coalition, will we not have the same peace you speak of?”
Janas didn’t flinch. She must’ve been bodged together from powerful stuff, to stand up to the stern Speaker and the glowers of the other sixty-six speakers who surrounded the figures. She didn’t even acknowledge the guards looming behind her.
“The Life Coalition, we are not defenseless,” she said, and her voice carried throughout the Dome. “Us, we come in peace, but also in strength. We make an offer in goodwill, but if we are attacked, know we and our allies will respond in kind. Us, we will also use the other powerful weapon in our arsenal—our Aridori assassins.”
CHAPTER FIVE
The Viciousness of Tales
- The passage of time does many things, but its most pernicious of abilities is to dull the memory. What is not written or passed down orally is easily forgotten. What is communicated can be changed, either intentionally or not. I have lived a long time, and seen much. Yet there are things even I do not remember correctly, or do not trust in written accounts. Some important items I never did record for fear of discovery by the wrong person. I may regret some of those decisions in the coming cycles, based on rumors and actions coming to light.
From the Journal of Bolas Palmoran, Effature of the Nether, 995 A.A.W.
Enos sat bolt upright at Janas’ proclamation. No one could get in a question through the multitude of representatives shouting over each other. She saw the ancient ward against Aridori—two fingers, passed in front of the eyes—repeated all over the Assembly.
Surely the Life Coalition wouldn’t admit they held Inas? She glanced to Majus Ayama in the seat to her left. Enos’ mentor was glaring as if she could spear the speaker with her eyes. Enos was almost surprised there was no aura of white and olive around the majus.
The Effature finally rose from his seat next to the Council of the Maji and made a gesture. The noise in the Assembly cut to a whisper.
“I am thankful for recent upgrades made to the speech System in this chamber,” the Effature said in his low, warm voice. Something always drew Enos to him, the few times she had glimpsed or spoken to him. It was like he was a long-forgotten benevolent uncle, trying to please an unruly family. Enos’ eyes went to the circlet of crystal perched on his head. Was it connected to the Nether?
Her parents had told stories of strange things the Nether could do, but when Enos arrived with Inas, they were surprised by how much the gigantic crystal interacted with those inside it. It had taken more than a ten-day to be certain the Nether would not give their species away, but it seemed content to classify them as Methiemum—the shapes their family took.
“When I reset the speech amplification System,” the Effature continued, drawing Enos from her thoughts, “Speaker Oscana will ask the first question of Janas and the Life Coalition.”
The colors of all six houses of the maji sprang into being as the Effature switched a set of levers and brass buttons attached to his chair, and she could hear muttering around her again. The seats were close, to pack in the multitude of diplomats and several thousand maji.
“I still think the Aridori are all dead.”
“—heard one was attacking my neighbor’s cousin. They were changing shape right in front of her and were to be taking her jewelry.”
“—All a myth. It’s some of the other maji, playing tricks on the rest of us.”
“Janas,” called Speaker Oscana, “you say you control Aridori. It has been a concern of this Assembly that there may be members of that ancient race still in existence. Can you offer proof for what you claim?”
Councilor Feldo had captured the Aridori Enos and Inas talked to in Gloomlight prison. Enos glanced at his empty chair. Speaker Oscana carefully hadn’t said the Council already had proof of their existence.
Zsaana, the cloaked Sathssn next to Janas, took a step forward. Enos shivered at the memory of his glove on her hand, in the tunnels where the Life Coalition had held her and Sam. He was of the House of Healing, like her. He knew she was Aridori. He’d probably been the one to specify Inas be captured. Was her other instance with them? Would they dare bring a known majus apprentice before the entire Assembly?
“Proof, this we have,” said Zsaana. He gestured to the other three members of the Life Coalition, clumped together while their leader spoke. They separated, and Enos saw they’d been hiding a small metal cube between them, the outside carved into twisting designs. It only came to their knees, and Sathssn were not a tall species. They must have cleared it with the Effature’s guard, somehow, to get it in here. Several of the guards standing close behind them edged closer, but the Effature made a tiny motion with one hand and the guards retreated, hands at the weapons on their hips.
“The Aridori, it is in here,” Zsaana said.
“It can’t be,” Majus Ayama murmured. Enos traded a look with her. Her hands were white, clasping the arms of her seat. Enos swallowed down a surge of fear and her nostrils flared as she tried to suck in enough air to keep the room from spinning.
“Do you feel anything from it?” her mentor whispered, casting a glance at those seated around them. “Is it—?”
No one was paying them any attention, and Enos reached out as she did when Inas was next to her, but there was no response.
She shook her head and whispered back. “It can’t be. I…I think I would know it if it were him.” She remembered the waves of emotion from her latest seizure.
Fear. Cold metal. It cannot be him, can it?
Enos leaned close to Majus Ayama’s ear, hoping no one near could overhear. The Methiemum to her right was leaning half out of her seat, and one behind them was conversing with his neighbor.
“I felt him again, when you almost opened the portal. It was like you paved a pathway to my brother.”
Majus Ayama clenched one hand at the news, but showed no other sign of surprise. She opened the hand again, as if to ask, ‘well?’
Enos shook her head. “I felt cold metal through him, but…I do not think he is here.”
The other three Coalitioners scraped the box forward as if it was very heavy, and the screech was headache-inducing in the silence of the Assembly.
Even after working with Majus Ayama, she had no idea how to connect with Inas intentionally. If that was a skill of the Aridori, their parents had not shared it. She knew little about connecting with her other instance, if they were not in the same room.
Could they have him in there? Forced to abandon his shape? Who would do that?
Yet Councilor Feldo had done so to the Aridori they captured. It might be a retained technique, like the hand gesture or knowing the Aridori changed form. It made a sick sense—how better to keep a shape changer from escaping than to confine them with only enough space for them to exist?
Majus Ayama raised her lips to Enos’ ear, her breath ticklish as she whispered. “If he is not there, that means they have more Aridori. More than Inas, and more than the one that attacked Feldo.”
Enos’ heart climbed into her throat at the revelation.
There are more of my species. But Nakan had told her they had trouble handling one Aridori, when he took Inas. She assumed he referred to the one in Gloomlight prison, but even that Aridori was made of multiple instances. The Life Coalition had not been truthful.
“Deep breaths, apprentice,” Majus Ayama said, and Enos nodded. It was what Enos said t
o Sam, when he got too anxious. She looked across the seats to where her friend sat next to Majus Cyrysi. He was wringing his hands, his eyes wide. As if he felt her gaze, he locked eyes with her.
The rotting conglomeration of Aridori in Gloomlight prison had been forced together with no solid form. They had spoken nonsense, lilting and multi-phrased. Just the thought of it made her shudder. There was so much she didn’t know about her species.
“You all, you wish proof?” Zsaana asked into the stillness of the Assembly. His question was met with tense silence. He held one hand over the box and the white of the House of Healing spiraled down his arm. Enos could just hear the music he changed above the background noise of all the biological chords surrounding her.
Majus Ayama grunted. “Old bigot. He nearly cost me my first attempt at majus, back when I was an apprentice. He’s latched onto something else bigger than him, looking for power.”
What kind of power was that? Janas’ protestations of peace and boundless resources in the face of the Dissolution hit too close to what Sam had learned from the voice. Trying to control the Symphony.
Zsaana slid several latches back, turned a dial, then raised the lid. A hush hung over the gathered representatives, and Enos shivered.
Don’t be him. Don’t be Inas in that tiny box.
Surely she would feel a connection if it was him. She reached to her other instance again, but felt nothing.
“I’ve never heard the Assembly this quiet,” Majus Ayama whispered to her. Enos nodded absently.
A tendril grasped the edge of the box from the inside. The head that rose from the knee-high box was dark and iridescent, but unformed.
One hundred thousand beings inhaled.
Enos stared down, but the floor of the Nether was too far away. She risked a glance left and right. She had to see who was in the box. Could she change her eyes to those of eagles, in the middle of so many, while an Aridori—another Aridori—showed its face for the first time in a thousand cycles?
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