Unbound

Chapter Eight Hundred And Six – 806

You Have Proven Yourself Against The Tempest, Pit, Shaper of Chaos!

Be Welcome To The Halcyon Hold!

You Have Been Marked!

Authority Increased!

Stormtested!

You May Enter The Tempest With Impunity. The Stormwardens Will Accept You As One Of Their Own.

The voice of the system thundered through Pit, and an ineffable weight settled across his being like a blanket astride his soul.

Authority. He'd felt it plenty of times before. And I've been Marked. Felix won't be happy about that. They had a complicated history with gods and others Marking them, but this seemed benign enough. If it ends up being a problem, I can just have the Atlantes get rid of it later.

There was an unearthly glow to things within the eye of the Tempest, as if the world itself had turned the brightness up. Perhaps it spoke to the clawing darkness he'd just left, but the circle of blue above him was almost blinding. The world around was so quiet that Pit had to shake his head. It felt like he had water in his ears.

Movement caught his eye. Behind him, the dark stormwall swirled, layers of clouds passing over one another while, deeper in, they flashed with hidden lightning. The shadows of great tentacles and vast finned bodies moved across the light, far slower than they’d been before. Pit shivered and looked away.

There were better things to see.

The area within the eye of the storm was very large, and it was entirely filled with floating bits of stone. Much of the stone was clumped with earth and held together by thick roots, while grass and wildflowers topped those smaller chunks around him. Farther out, the islands grew substantially larger—they dominated the center of the calm, filled with sweeping, bone-white structures on a scale far beyond Euphonia.

It’s a palace! The entire central island, at least two miles across, was covered in ancient, dilapidated walls and towering structures that looked like the elder siblings of Euphonia’s greatest sights. The Halcyon Hold, I guess.

It was broken but beautiful. Certainly a palace, but one that had been long neglected. Time and weather had worn down its many walls, collapsing ancient roofs beneath the weight of greenery, and much of the lower areas were choked with nature. It had, at one time, no doubt been the home of some king or emperor, but now it was empty. The windows were dark, like the eyes of a bleached skeleton, and the wide gardens and courtyards were filled with trees that heaved away old slabs of cut stone. Nine spires stood around the estate, several of them blue with the hazy distance between them and Pit, and all of them were broken.

All but one.

There, the topmost level was a riot of green. A garden gone wild bloomed atop the bone-white stone, a miniature forest replete with bright blossoms and a burbling stream that catapulted off the edge before hitting a reservoir farther below.

Pit squinted past the bright light around him; within the wild garden, figures stood. There were at least a dozen, and though they were distant, their armor glinted in the omnidirectional radiance. Moreover, as Pit studied them, it was clear that they were watching him as well.

Three of their number hopped into the air, pumping wide, feathered wings that sent trees blowing away from their might. Wyverns rose, skirting the tops of the wild garden before splitting up. Two dove from the spire, banking wide to circle around to Pit's sides, while the middle one ascended directly toward him with a deceptive speed.

Pit pulled up, unsure whether to fight or to run. He flared his Mantle, just in case—but as the wyverns reached him, they didn't attack. They drew short, their wide wings spread to stop their approach, and the middle one twisted, corkscrewing their tail and lashing the air with their hind legs.

"Be welcome, Chimera. Follow us."

They didn't wait for his response but wheeled around immediately and headed back. Without a better option, Pit followed, pincered between a triangle of wyverns that didn't so much guide him as prevent him from running.

They approached the wild garden, and it took longer than he’d expected. The distances truly were deceptive, for the spire grew larger than Pit could have imagined, until he was confronted by what was essentially a true forest atop bone-white stone. It spilled out of the sides of the spire and clearly extended several floors down, judging by the branches and fronds that stuck from open porticoes and latticework windows.

The wyverns guided him to a clearing where ancient stones peeked up between tufts of wild grass and small saplings. It was a sizable area, but then, Pit was very big. As soon as he landed, he tucked his wings, careful not to bash into the young trees around him. Immediately, a small crowd emerged from beneath the canopy of the forest. Armed and armored Korvaaa, tenku, wyvern, and Sylphaen surrounded him, hands on their weapons, before they came to a stop no more than twenty feet away.

Pit's hackles rose, but he held still. He’d been welcomed, right? They weren't going to attack him.

Right?

"I am happy to see that you've passed." A pale tenku emerged from among the throng, and Pit let out a relieved breath.

"Scylla! Boy, am I glad to see you. How'd you get here so fast?"

"I, too, am Stormtested. The Mark we both bear allows us to enter the Tempest's fury with impunity."

"Oh." His crest feathers lowered. "Is that why you guided me?"

"Of course." She fixed him with her gray eyes. "What other reason would I have?"

Someone cleared their throat, and Scylla started. "Ah, my apologies to all. Friends and fellows of the Guardian Beasts, allow me to introduce you to Pit, Shaper of Chaos, emissary of the King of Nagast, and the newest Stormtested."

"Autarch," he corrected and nodded around him. "Nice to meet everyone."

Everyone released their weapons, and a few offered him broad smiles. One sparrow-looking Korvaa even winked.

"Well met, Pit."

Like someone had shoved an iron bar up their spines, the Guardian Beasts snapped to attention. Without a whisper of communication, they split, creating a corridor among their number leading farther into the canopy of trees.

Scylla cleared her throat. "Pit, this is Her Majesty, Princess Ondine."

The princess stepped forward, a kind smile on her face. She was pretty in an angular sort of way, thin like all the Sylphaen that he'd seen, but not skeletal. She was lithe, covered with lean muscle that showed through her practical off-the-shoulder blouse and pants. She seemed graceful, though a bit awkward standing among the fruiting trees, as if she weren't made for walking.

Huge green eyes dominated her face, and wings were folded over her back that had a multitude of brilliantly colored feathers. They formed a gradient that seemed to stretch across the entire color spectrum and flowed from her back like a cloak. Interestingly, tiny familiar figures flitted around her shoulders like a swarm of palm-sized fireflies. She reached out a hand, and one eagerly landed on her knuckle.

"Wind Sprites," Pit said. He waved a paw. "Hi again. Did you follow me out of the Tempest?"

"You are familiar with their kind?" the princess asked, just as a few of the Sprites around her jumped to Pit and started frolicking around his wide back. She was surprised, but a bright smile turned her angular beauty into something more earnest. She reminded him of Evie.

"They like you.”

"Oh, yeah. We met in the storm. Though, I guess I can't tell if they're the same ones. They don't exactly have name tags."

Ondine laughed. It was surprisingly earthy, and she even snorted a little. "I have the same problem. They’ve followed me around ever since I arrived."

"Here in the Halcyon Hold? Or when you arrived on the Continent?"

“Because it has other Unbound there, an entire army, and ways to quickly escape if we’re attacked. Believe me, we didn’t just show up here without a plan.”

“A plan...yes, it seems your Autarch is planning much. What is this about the Ruin?" Rakia asked.

"Well, it's the big threat behind all of this. According to the Chanters, you're the only hope anyone on the Continent has to survive. It's the second most important reason you need to come with me."

"Sorcerers?" Rakia scoffed. "You trust them?"

"A couple. You don't?”

“They're as flawed as any group among the powerful. I don't doubt they had an axe to grind against the Pathless, but I heard many were faithful to the old gods."

"Some were. Hard to stay faithful, though, when the gods are trying to kill you every few months."

"I can accept the gods and their plotting," Ondine said. "Imprisoned or departed, we know their history of aggression against those that defy them. But the Ruin?" She shook her head. "That should be impossible. The Ruin has no reason to come here. When I learned of the people who used to occupy the Storm Cities, I spent a great deal of time studying them in the archives. There was little about the Nym themselves, but the holes in history speak for themselves. Those led me to the Ruin.”

She shuddered, holding her thin arms around herself. “I was terrified of it at first. The idea that a force could eradicate entire civilizations was so far beyond nightmarish that I refused to believe it. I know better now, but I also learned that it's useless to fear its return. The Ruin can't harm us, for we've not reached even the lowest heights of the Golden Empire. It would require far more to summon its attention."

"Or just one batshit high priestess," Pit said.

Ondine tilted her head. "Who?"

"The Hierophant summoned you. All of the Unbound. At the same time, she also summoned the Ruin."

"That's insane. Even if it were possible, why would she do so?"

"To cleanse the world."

Rakia leaned forward, fixing him with her blind eyes. "You're sure of this?"

"I am.”

“Rakia, what do you make of this?"

The Korvaa ignored her princess and stared so hard at Pit that, for a second, he doubted whether she was actually blind. "She seeks to cleanse the world. All of it?”

“That's what we found out, yeah. The Hierophant summoned the Ruin then summoned the Unbound to make them all Vessels for the Pathless."

Rakia's spirit blazed with a potent combination of anger and fear. "Who told you this?"

Pit frowned but pushed his irritation away. "Mivun Tal, former Hierei, current fertilizer."

"Rakia, you're being rude."

"I beg your forgiveness, Your Majesty. To claim such things is bold, and I had to be sure it wasn't a lie.”

“Are you?" Ondine asked. "Sure, that is?"

Rakia deflated slightly, her blind eyes fixed on some vast distance. "He speaks the truth, or what he believes to be the truth."

Ondine pushed her plate of food away from her. "The Ruin is coming for us. How could you have not Seen this?"

"I–I did."

The silence that descended was far deeper than before, and Ondine drew herself up to her full height. "Explain."

"Some months ago, I began having dreams of a great threat bearing down upon us. The details are hazy, not in the way of dreams, but as if they are hiding from me. But it was a true Seeing. Something terrible is coming for us.”

Rakia turned her blind eyes on the princess. “When the shadowbeasts began their attack, when they took Pavel, I thought, that surely must be it. That must be what I saw. But the dreams do not stop. I’ve Seen a woman atop a tower of white reaching into the sky...and I’ve Seen those same skies turn to ash.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?" Ondine asked.

"I am your Guardian, Princess. My power, however, does not focus on the physical like the others. I protect your Mind. It is for that reason that I have kept this from you. With the fall of Pavel and your relocation here, Thalgrym agreed that it was right that we keep you calm and your Mind safe from the threats beyond the storms."

"Oh, Rakia." Ondine took the Korvaa's feathered hand in hers. "I can hear that the lie has hurt you. I am not angry, but I must know more."

Kem, the wyvern, growled. "Princess, you can't—"

"The world is in danger, my Guardians. I will not back away from what must be done." Ondine looked at all of her people, one by one. Each time her gaze met theirs, it was like they were drawn closer to her. "I am Unbound, and the archives speak of the might and bravery of those who came before me. I can only try to live up to those standards.”

“Princess, the Hall of Songs—”

“Can shove their opinion up their ass. I have the power to help, and you're damn sure I will use it."

She turned to Pit, last. "I believe it is time to see the wider world, Pit. Let us return to Euphonia, and we can begin the process of leaving Sunara immediately."

Pit bounced up onto his paws. "Yes! Just follow me, and I'll take you back to my ships. It's a short trip, now that we know where we're going, and—"

The world darkened, as if the sun had traveled behind a cloud, and every single person started an alarm.

Pit looked up.

The blue sky was untouched, but the swirling hurricane around them was stained by a spreading shadow. Faded white bled into bruised purple that bordered on black, and the muted sound of thunder tore through the Halcyon Hold like a salvo of gunshots. A scream scratched at their ears, so discordant and deep that it made Pit’s bones ache.

All at once, the Tempest faded to true black, and brilliant bloody lightning snaked across the dark horizon. A voice echoed from everywhere, deeper and more resonant than the fading screams, and infinitely more familiar.

Finally. We Have Found You.