Broken Lands

Chapter 368 – Ansuz’s Quest

Sophia led the way down the long interspace conduit. It was significantly more damaged than the one that led from Othala to Tiwaz, with rents that nearly reached the ground, but it was also short. Sophia couldn’t tell if those two facts were related; had the damage that caused the conduit to break in the first place been more extensive because of the short length, or was it simply coincidence? Were they in a thinner part of the protected area, whatever that meant?

One thing it did mean was that there were goo monsters in the conduit itself. They weren’t there the first time Dav and Sophia came through, but they were certainly there now. These weren’t the goo monsters they’d seen before, either, slow and nearly harmless; they were far more like the black-coated hawk that attacked Sophia as they left Old Kestii. They weren’t consumed by the goo and relatively passive; instead, they were coated in it and it seemed to have enraged them.

They were also almost exclusively birdlike, which made some sense, sort of. The cracks didn’t actually reach the floor, so they were flying over the walls.

Fortunately, despite their fury, the monsters were almost completely ineffective. They were first upgrade creatures, though the strongest might be at the bottom of the second. That wasn’t enough to challenge the team, even when they came in numbers. A dozen first upgrade sparrows and a single second upgrade hawk wasn’t enough to stress Dav and Sophia working together, which turned out to be a good thing. Their Abilities, along with those of Cliff and Taika, were the only ones that worked properly in the interspace conduit. 

Xin’ri’s spells shifted through space strangely, while her animated objects screeched and slowed as they seemed to gather spatters of black on their surface. Mo’ra might have been able to walk through the space, maybe, but it was hard to know; they’d left her at Arryn’s house with Marcie. She was a Professional by choice even though she shared Xin’ri’s Grand Talent; her place was back at home or in the forge with Sweetfire, where she wanted to be. 

It gave Sophia a new appreciation for why Othala didn’t allow Scout into the interspace conduit; the same thing would likely have happened to her. It seemed entirely likely that Scout might even turn into one of the goo monsters if she was exposed to the interspace for too long. Sophia didn’t like it at all.

Ci’an’s Abilities didn’t work well on the monsters. They were susceptible enough, but they broke out quickly, far faster than they should have for their power. Her arrows also seemed to have a mind of their own, randomly changing directions as though space wasn’t always the same shape.

Sophia suspected that was actually true, even though she didn’t have the issue. It certainly was true in the Origin, and this place seemed sort of like a patchwork placed through the Origin to stabilize an area. She was simply able to deal with it better. Cliff and Taika probably inherited her tolerance, while Dav had taken on some of the Origin’s characteristics. He could probably read it as well as Sophia could, at this point.

Jax had it the worst in some ways. Unlike Xin’ri and Ci’an, his attacks didn’t go wild; they simply never manifested at all. He couldn’t generate light in the interspace conduit. He didn’t even have a physical sword anymore; they’d replaced it with one formed of summoned light. If they’d known about the limitations of the interspace, Jax could have brought a real sword, but they hadn’t.

They quickly settled into a routine where Sophia and Dav took care of the birds as they came. Everyone could watch out for them, and with the aid of a flight of small draconic echoes provided by Cliff, none of them managed to repeat the feat the hawk managed when it attacked Sophia several years earlier.

They could see the exit from the interspace conduit when Cliff finally dropped the surprise he’d clearly been thinking about for a while. He spoke to one of the hawks as it turned into a black puddle on the pathway. “Goodbye, dungeonborn. I cannot take you back, but I can copy you. You are not forgotten.”

Sophia froze. “They were your monsters? Or from some other dungeon?”

“Mine,” Cliff answered with his usual lack of words. “Lost. Alone.”

The echoes vanished with a feeling like a closed door and Sophia knew that was all she was going to get from the former dungeon. He rarely revealed his emotions and it was true that dungeons were different from more short-lived creatures, but they still had feelings. It was very obvious that seeing his former monsters hit him hard, even though he knew as well as Sophia did - probably better - that they were not real.

Dungeon monsters weren’t the same as outside monsters until they were released from the dungeon to find their own way. Oh, there were exceptions, especially when an outside creature bonded with a dungeon, whether through the interference of the Voice or by their own volition, but by and large the creations of a dungeon weren’t actually individuals until they were separate; they were closer to artificial life, programmed only to mimic real life and often poorly at that. 

Dungeons didn’t care when they died; they could simply make another copy of the same thing. They didn’t even care when they escaped, or at least the dungeons Sophia knew didn’t. Those dungeons still had the originals, after all; they could make more.

Wait. These monsters were all separate from Cliff. He couldn’t spawn them again. In fact, he’d never chosen to spawn any of the creatures from his original dungeon, not even the Hawk of the Black Blood she’d earned as a reward after killing the one that attacked her. Sophia had the feeling she’d just found out something he’d hidden in his silences: that he’d lost all of his original templates. It was clear he regretted that.

It was also clear that he didn’t want to talk about it. She’d give him space; that was all she could really do, since they were bound to the same body.

Moments later, they slipped through the door into the new complex. Once they were past the door and the glowing leakage that all of the interspace conduits had, it was pristine, if apparently abandoned. The first time they visited the complex, the doors opened seemingly grudgingly as they approached. This time, they sat open, as if they were waiting.

They probably were. Isaz wasn’t particularly welcoming the first time, and when it came time to leave after only a quick discussion, that was exactly what she did: she opened the doors that led out and told them to follow the path. Sophia wasn’t exactly thrilled to return. If Tiwaz hadn’t specifically asked them all to make the trip after they all reached the third upgrade, none of them would be there.

Sophia led the way to the facility-mind. It was far easier this time, because they didn’t have to search, but it was still a decent walk, longer than the interspace conduit itself. It was almost like Isaz wanted extra separation; none of the other facility-minds were that far from the conduit. 

Admittedly, none of the other conduits were that short or that broken, either. Everything she’d noticed could well be due to that; perhaps Isaz was placed farther from the conduit because the conduit was shorter. From what Othala and Tiwaz said, they didn’t design their facilities, at least not the core structures like the conduits and their own placement. 

“Isaz?” Sophia called out to the dimly flickering facility-mind as she stepped into her room. “Tiwaz sent us, he said to come once we were all at the third upgrade.”

“Tiwaz told me you were on your way,” Isaz stated neutrally. “If I had my way … well, none of you are right for this. Two Hallowed of the Wanderer, one of the Builder, one of the Hunter, and one of the Bard. If you were followers of the Open Hand or the Shield Wall, perhaps, but you are not. It is not my choice, however; it is Ansuz’s choice that brings you here. I will give you two things because Ansuz commands it: the Heart of the Empire and instructions. A Quest, if you like. That is what Ansuz called it.”

“A Quest?” Sophia frowned. Quests meant something specific back home; they were significant. They were also fairly rare, because there were only a handful of ways to get them. There was one thing they all shared, though. They all showed up in the Status. “I haven’t had a Quest here, does it show up in the Status?”

“No,” Isaz answered bluntly. “A Quest is a task that will likely result in a Feat. The Guide does not acknowledge them until they are complete. I do not see why this would result in a Feat, but Ansuz is older than I am; he must know something I do not. In any case, walk to the far side of the room from where you are and examine the opening in the wall.”

Sophia was absolutely certain Isaz wasn’t entertaining questions. Fortunately, she knew who Ansuz was; Tiwaz looked up to him and was extremely grateful to have Ansuz’s guidance again. She hadn’t realized that this mission was at Ansuz’s behest instead of Tiwaz’s, but she guessed it was basically the same thing; they worked together. If anything Tiwaz worked for Ansuz, so it made sense.

The alcove Isaz directed Sophia to held only a single item: a fist-sized faceted crystal. It was the size of Sophia’s fist, not Dav’s, but that was still large if it was actually a gemstone. Sophia didn’t think it was; it looked more like the core of a geode or something, even though it was completely solid as far as she could tell. It had a green core surrounded by purple-red and had clearly been cut to put a slight point on the green core. It was chipped in several places and Sophia didn’t think much of the person who cut it, either; sure, the planes were flat, but they weren’t even. 

It glowed with magic, despite the lack of obvious runes or any containment. There was no way it was naturally occurring, either; if it were natural, it would be leaking mana and the only leakage Sophia could see was at the chipped places. “What is it?”

“The heart of the Empire,” Isaz repeated. “The most important part of the city, the piece of the control node that could be removed for safekeeping. A key, essentially. Ansuz wants it returned to where it belongs. He never agreed with removing it.”

“The city of Kestii? Old Kestii?” That seemed like a long trek, but Sophia thought it was on the same shard of the Broken Lands as the Maze, even though they’d gone through several different portals to get between the two. “Somewhere in the middle of the city? I think they said it was more dangerous that way, but we can probably manage it now.”

“No. The City that was at the base of the Tower of Kestii,” Isaz corrected. “Kestii sprawled outside; that is what is now called Old Kestii. The City sits inside the Maze, broken. It was broken even before the Tower fell; as the Maze spread, the City vanished. It was already mostly abandoned even then, but that sped the exodus. Places like Mazegate and Old Kestii were where the people from the city settled, for a time. You must take the Empire’s Heart to where it belongs inside the Maze. You will know you are in the right place when you find the door marked with the Empire’s sigil or the sigil of its betrayer; even Ansuz does not know which now controls the city.”

There was only one person Isaz could mean. “The betrayer. You mean the Broken Lord.” 

“Yes,” Isaz agreed. “Once you are inside the door, find Ansuz. He awaits you there and will give you direction.”

“Why can’t we take the Heart to him through the interspace conduit?” Dav paused. “I know we didn’t actually meet him, but surely he can open the doors for the Heart?”

“You must enter through the main entrance,” Isaz stated firmly. “You did not meet him because he is prohibited from allowing anyone through the hallways from an unapproved entrance, and the conduits are not approved. He will explain more; I have done what he asked.”

Isaz did not answer any of their other questions, even with a refusal to speak. She was simply completely annoyingly silent.