(I) Quest
Chapter 29 of "Path of the Deathless" kicks off with action-packed scenes: -Essential Reading at Phoenix Academy of The Yellowstone Republic17 (I)QuestâBefore we continue, please donât lie... Discover more!
-Essential Reading at Phoenix Academy of The Yellowstone Republic17 (I)
Quest
âBefore we continue, please donât lie to me,â the Composer said. Her face was stern, hard as a statue. âI loathe lying. Thereâs nothing I hate more than a liar, so please donât make me hate you, Shiv. I donât want to hate what seems like a good man.â
Shiv looked at her, swallowing. After all of thatâafter killing the raven to hide his secretâshe knew. All along, she knew. Sheâ
Before he could answer her, another question came up. âWait, if you were aware of what I was the entire time, why didnât you just kill the raven?â he asked.
âI wanted to see what you were capable of, and if they actually knew you. You must understand that not even my home is entirely safe. The agents of New Albion are everywhere. And though my web stretches far across the abyss, I know little of the surface. Frankly, you are, in ways, more of an enigma to me than I am to you.â
âI very much doubt that,â Shiv muttered. âI keep hearing about this New Albion. Valor warned me about them.â He held up the dagger. âBut I barely know about New Albion. From what the Republic says, theyâre like a small backwater nation thatâs barely worth mentioningâthat theyâre lucky to exist with our protection.â
The Composerâs face contorted in an expression of barely suppressed mirth. âThe Yellowstone Republic said that about New Albion... Well, the Auroral Councilâs arroganceâŚâ Her expression turned serious again. âNo, New Albionâs power makes them among the greatest nations on post-Integration Earth. Few have the resources and influence of the Stolen Throne, and all are wary of its spies.â
Shiv frowned. âExcept for me, apparently. I donât really know anything. But Iâm not a spy. Iâm not from New Albion.â
Foreshadowing: From afar, a man with a Mythical set of artificial eyes watches the Composerâs nest. He flickers into Weave only briefly, stealing a glance before vanishing. He does this several timesânever staying in one place. He wonders why he agreed to this assignment just days before his retirement. And why the Throne is so interested in the least hostile of all the Abyssal NationsâŚ
Foreshadowing > 3
The Composer observed him for a long moment. âI believe you, mainly because of your Path. They wouldnât risk someone like you on mere tradecraft alone. And that's what I want to talk about: Why canât you die?â
Shiv licked his lips, unsure how to proceed.
Valor said.
Great. Now he had to explain to Valor why he was lying the entire time. Shiv closed his eyes. âI donât know. I donât know how it works. It just happened. I gained the Path the first time I died. When the raven killed me.â
âOh, so that was a thing of revenge. I was wondering why you were so vicious with him,â the Composer said, seemingly entranced by his story. âOh, continue, please.â
âYeah. So, where do I begin?â Shiv went into some detail about his past. He went through as much as he could. His upbringing. The ritual his parents did. Him being an Omenborn, and how Roland Arrow dealt with him. After that, he managed to skip most of his miserable years as a street rat before his acceptance into Georgesâs kitchen and his determination to gain a Path before he finally got to the point of the present.
To his surprise, though, the Composer knew who the Town Lord was.
âThe Dread Horizon,â she whispered.
âThe Dread what now?â Shiv said.
âThat is what we call him. During his invasion into our depths, he slew many, destroyed cities with the other surfacers, and displaced countless people.â
Shiv just stared. âWhat invasion?â
âThey didnât tell you this? The surface nations⌠They pushed into the Abyss after their victory during the Eclipse. At first, they were pursuing the Necrotech Legions, and we allowed it to be, for it was the Necrotechs who brought misfortune upon themselves. But the surfaces, and the Yellowstone Republic especiallyâthey continued pressing on, pushing further. It took the Five Faiths uniting to halt the surfacer advance. It was an unprecedented, fragile union, considering only just a few years before we were all at war with each other: the Second War of Faiths⌠War of the Five.â
The Composer fell silent for a few moments. âThat was likely also the reason why we couldnât protect ourselves. So often, we strike at each otherâmauling and bleeding and committing atrocities in the name of my fallen progenitor.â Her voice took on a mournful quality. âWe cannot unite. We are too different. And so, we hurt ourselves worse than any surfacer could. It might be our undoing in the long run.â
Shiv blinked as he tried to process the information. The history books distinctly ended with the Yellowstone Republic victoriously defeating the Abyssal legions of the Necrotechs and pushing them back into the Abyss. But they did not speak of a counter-invasion. Frankly, none of the soldiers he knew talked about it, not even those veterans from the campaign. Something was very wrong here. Shiv shook his head.
âAll right, well, I didnât know anything about that. But Roland Arrow is Blackedge's Town Lord. And the restâthe rest is the absolute truth of what I know.â
âYou said your parents performed a foul ritual behind your birth. You suspect that to be why you have your Path?â
âYeah,â Shiv said uneasily. âMy Curse went away. It had the condition that something terrible would bear fruit after meeting a certain requirement. I suspect that requirement was my death.â He chuckled. âIt wasnât as bad as I thought it might be. And probably not nearly what Roland Arrow feared.â Come to think of it, this might have been his parentsâ plan all along. âIf Roland Arrow had the strength to kill me, I might have gotten a Path a long time agoâŚâ
Valor said, processing everything.
âAnimancy?â Shiv asked.
âAnimancy,â the Composer explained, âis the study of souls. It is the direct modification of a Path, of every component that makes up a personâs being. It is a new skillâone very few have.â
Valor pressed, entering the conversation.
Shiv was reeling.
Valor continued. Valor trailed off. His tone became ice-cold.
The Composer looked troubled, and Valor was silent.
âSo, what does this all mean? Is there something wrong with me?â Shiv looked between the dagger and the goddess.
âOn the contrary,â the Composer said, looking at him with renewed interest. âYou might be special. That is why one of your skills is Uniqueâbecause no one else has it. In a sense, you have a composite body: something that has your mind, your soul, and your vitality bound together, hence allowing you to exist in a state of disembodied, incorporeal life.â
Valor elaborated.
âFor a time,â the Composer said, âyour vitality field isâitâs very, very chaotic. Your body gives it a stable shape, but the moment you lose your material formâŚâ
âI start getting colder.â Shiv added, âI start dissipating.â
âYes, I suspect you will cease to be⌠without draining a surplus of vitality from someone else,â the goddess finished. Both the Composer and Valor were now quiet, each lost in thought.
âSo,â Shiv said, âam I going to be put in a cage? Are you going to experiment on me? If you reach into my mind, IâŚâ He clenched his teeth. âI will kill myself, you understand. I will do my best to escape from you. I will destroy myself for good before I let you take me as a slave. This is my honesty.â
The Composer almost looked offended. Her many fingers clasped together, and she shook her head. âYou have not had the best experiences with authority, have you?â
âYeah, well, you can say that again,â Shiv said, thinking of his upbringing, of his last conversation with Roland Arrow. âBut my Path is also Unique. I have a Unique Skillâa Legendary Skill. This must be interesting to some people, right?â
âYes, butâwell, we donât need to make a slave of you to learn about this. In fact, it is pointlessly brutal to do something in that way. Itâs honestly quite hurtful that you would think that of me,â the Composer finished, and she pouted. Again, the shift between girl and goddess was quick and sudden.
Shiv started to feel bad. He wasnât expecting this. After years of Republic propaganda, he expected monsters, horrors, and nightmares lurking around every corner. Instead, he foundâwell, he was finding that he liked this place more than he liked it back home on Blackedge.
âIâm sorry,â Shiv said. âThe things I grew up learning in the Republic, the things I thought about the Abyssâitâs just none of it is true. None of it.â
The Composer looked upon him with pity. âYouâve had a hard life, Shiv. Iâm surprised you are the way you are. Many would break under these circumstances. Sorrow would seep into their souls, Iâve heard itâthe songs, low and mournful.â
Shiv looked at her and shook his head. âI thought about that a few times, and I wouldnât give the world the pleasure. World wonât stand for me? Fine, I do. Iâll be my own champion since the gods apparently hate me, and since everyone hates me. Itâs the way it is, itâs the way it will be, itâs the way I will always be.â He was resolute. Even before he had his Path, that was the truest thing Shiv knew about himself. He wasnât going to betray his own heart, not for a second.
A moment passed as the Composer studied him, and slowly, she smiled. It was a genuine, appreciative smile. âYouâre a very precious boy, you know that?â
âIâwhat?â
âVery precious,â she said again. âWell, after hearing all this, I will need to convene with a web of my eldest daughters.â
Valor asked.
âI think I will spare you this time,â the Composer said. âBesides, I think itâs best that you stay with Shiv for now, until I figure out the rest of your situation.â
âMy situation? I have a situation?â
Valor said.
Shiv swallowed. âYeah, sorry about hiding all that from you.â
Valor didnât acknowledge that, and Shiv felt worse. Valor said.
âI know where they are,â the Composer said with a slightly apologetic smile.
Valor said.
âYou would probably be strangling me,â the Composer guessed quickly.
Valor said.
Shiv tried to imagine that. âHow big are your hands, Valor? How big are you, actually?â
Valor let out a surprised sputter.
But Shivâs question broke the tension in the air, and the Composer started laughing again. âOh, he is precious. He is truly, truly precious,â she said. âBut, Valor, we really know where the pieces of your soul are. We just donât have all of them yet. A few are held within my vaults. I will return them as soon as I can, provided that you agree to the Quest I have for you. But as for the four others⌠One of them is still with the Necrotechs in the Moonlit Library. Two are held by the Descenders. And the last oneâthe last one might be the most difficult.â
Valor said, dreading.
âBecause the last one was brought into a gate during a crusade into another world. A crusade led by Compact.â A moment passed, and Valor did something that Shiv never expected him to do.
Valor started cursing. Very loudly, very angrily. He cursed Compact in every way, begging for their children to be born wrong, to be born of mind and of flesh. He prayed to the Great One, asking every member of Compact to have their greatest skills shattered and for them to gain the Path of Slave. And he finally cursed someone called the Suzerain in especially vivid detail.
With every word that Valor spoke, Shivâs eyes widened further, and the Composer shared his expression. He looked up at her. âIs he⌠alright?â he muttered.
âNo,â the Composer said. âHe is very upset right now. In fact, I donât think Iâve seen him this upset since the last time we fought.â
Valor ground out. His voice rose, each word building in rage.
âInvading another world?â Shiv said. âLike what happened to ours all the way back in the Apocalyptic Era?â
Valor replied.
âIâll come up with a plan,â the Composer said quickly. âDonât worryâjust be patient for a little while longer.â
Valor almost screamed.
Both Shiv and the Composer were dead-silent now.
Valor finished. By the end, the great hero sounded like he was weeping.