Endburn: Chapters 25-26 (Patreon)

Chapter 25

Relief time between battles was precious and part of Theo wanted nothing more than to go back inside and ignore all of this. It wasn't as if he would have been wasting that time, as he desperately needed to work with Guchiro or Senka, or even Navim. But sending away Kathina would represent the narrow focus he was trying to reject, so he invited her inside.

They all arranged themselves around the open main room with varying degrees of attention. Nauda and Fiyu sat together, clearly no more eager for this than he was. Senka flopped over the back of a couch, near enough to mutter to him if necessary. Kathina was the least comfortable and sat down stiffly on a chair opposite him to lay out her plan.

"Tymetron is going through sublime gold at an unexpected rate," she began, "due to all our deadgold contingencies. This hasn't had an impact on the war because they have vast reserves to draw on, so it hasn't been relevant. But on a hunch I monitored their supply lines and I noticed that not all of the bulk shipments come from the main continent."

Kathina pulled a map from her soulhome and suspended it in the air, then tapped on the Gold Wastes subcontinent off the Tymetronese coast.

"They've been shipping sublime gold from the Gold Wastes. I don't think the name is connected, and they never got the majority of it from there in the past, but clearly that has changed."

"Did they conquer it?" Theo asked. "I thought they just killed Giatrice."

"My understanding is that they killed the top soulcrafters and broke the Gold Wastes as a power, but instead of trying to occupy it, they attacked Norron." Kathina traced a line across the bottom of the subcontinent. "They must have a position here that they're using to extract sublime materials, but I haven't been able to get close enough to analyze. What we can do from a distance is confirm that there is frequently a Dominion on site."

"So you think it is a soft target," Fiyu said. "But no one is willing to make the attempt, so you have come to us."

"Admittedly, I don't have a lot of options." Kathina turned to focus on her. "All I'm asking for, at first, is your support via stealth so we can properly examine the position. If it's impossible to take, or not actually a good target, I won't argue with you. But I think this is an opportunity for us."

Theo watched Fiyu to see her reaction, and she exchanged a glance with Nauda before turning to him and nodding. Most of this was on her in the short term, so Theo was more than willing to consider it. He wanted to return to the Gold Wastes anyway, and this sounded like the first time he could justify the weirkey trip.

It took them another day to make plans, mostly coordinating schedules. In the end they left Senka behind, so it was four of them weirkeying across Fithe in Fiyu's bubble of stealth. Just in case, they came out above the ocean and then flew the remaining distance north.

Along the way, Theo found himself thinking about Giatrice, the old Ophaon veteran who had spent her entire life fighting against Tymetron. He hadn't known her well, but she'd been so vibrant when they met, it felt wrong that she could have simply been killed. In a way, Norron owed her a great deal, because her opposition had made Tymetron hesitate for years.

That would make it fitting to strike a blow for the Gold Wastes... but the war was balanced on a knife edge and he couldn't afford to make decisions based on sentiment. It would all come down to whether the position was as critical as Kathina seemed to believe and how well-defended it was.

Most of the Gold Wastes was unoccupied, just a dusty plain with yellower sand than most places on Fithe, which he assumed was the source of the name. Soon enough they spotted something exactly where Kathina's scouting had suggested: a vast open mine like a wound in the world. What was strange was that it seemed to be worked by local inhabitants as far as he could see, with no Tymetronese presence.

"In the clouds," Fiyu said quietly, and Theo adjusted his senses. Once he got a better gravity reading, he spotted the figure.

It was one of the Tymetronese Dominions, currently seated in a grand chariot. This was no war chariot, it was more like a mobile palace, filled with pillow-strewn couches and a table loaded with food. All at once Theo understood: this was one of Tymetron's relief positions for their own weary soulcrafters.

"Are they controlling them with threat alone?" Nauda asked, clearly thinking along the same lines. "If the Gold Wastes were broken, they might not be able to stop a Dominion. Perhaps they're keeping the locals in line with the threat of destroying cities?"

"It's an efficient use of their forces," Theo agreed. "I assumed some of their absent soulcrafters were covering other war fronts, but if this position is mostly acting as a threat, it lets them rest."

"Taking down one Dominion seems possible, if we can spare enough people. But would we just be condemning everyone here to death?"

Kathina coughed and gestured lower, around the edge of the open mine. "I don't think they're quite alone. They don't have enough guards to hold the entire mine, but I think those are support."

As soon as Theo glanced where she indicated, he understood that the dynamic was different. Once they would have looked like just another group of Fithans to him, but now he noted the lack of Wastes tunics or Tymetronese armor. While it was technically possible that they represented some minor faction from the empire, he was relatively certain that the sloped helmets and axe-like blades were from a different continent altogether.

"Foreign mercenaries?" Fiyu suggested.

"Most likely, and that's bad news," Kathina said with a wince. "I gave myself a little too much credit earlier - it wasn't like I figured this all out on my own. We have evidence that the Eternal Spectrum is negotiating with other Fithan groups, and I'm pretty sure this is a group of mercenaries tied to them. If they didn't hire them, they made sure that Tymetron did."

"Are they direct allies?" Theo asked. "Or are they trying to muddy the waters with a third faction?"

"Normally Tymetron doesn't use mercenaries, only gold-bound soldiers. I think the Eternal Spectrum wants other forces that could run a destroyed Norron for them. This might be a trial run."

"That doesn't answer my question," Nauda said. "Is it even possible to strike this position without Tymetron retaliating?"

"If we strike hard and fast enough, I don't think they'll be able to," Kathina said. "Remember, they're getting spread thin too. If we could eliminate this position without an extended battle, especially if we can take out a Dominion... I don't think they can afford to spend so much strength punishing the Gold Wastes."

"I see the logic, but that relies on our strike going perfectly. I'm not sure we can manage that, not unless we can bring Guchiro over here."

"Not likely," Theo said, but he was starting to smile as the idea came together. "We need to scout more first, but I think you could be the linchpin."

Nauda frowned. "You mean sending me back to soulcraft until I can ascend? I don't know if I'm close enough for that."

"No, not exactly. At least not at first..."

~

It would have been much more relaxing to spend time with Lifemate Nauda directly, but Fiyu thought that watching her was the next best thing. She remained hidden by her technique while Lifemate Nauda used conventional stealth to scout the enemy position. Sometimes Fiyu would extend her senses to feel her lifemate more precisely, just for reassurance, but she had to resist that now, so close to the chosen time.

Over the past few days, Lifemate Nauda had thoroughly scouted the Tymetronese position while also being spotted a few times. Fiyu and Friend Theo had used their senses to analyze as much as possible, of course, determining the shape and extent of the mines as well as the positions of the foreign mercenaries. Some types of analysis still required someone on the ground, such as determining the exact extent of the anti-weirkey stones buried beneath the earth. Lifemate Nauda had performed admirably at gathering all of that necessary data.

Sadly, they had also gathered data that should have been unnecessary. They had seen that the mercenaries were brutal to the prisoners in the mine, far more than needed to enforce order. Fiyu had been watching them primarily to record their exact numbers and patterns, but she had lost all compassion for them in the process. There was no need for any complex negotiations during the attack: it would be an elimination mission.

Now it was only the two of them for the final step, which was a risk even if they didn't intend to fight. But the plan relied on surprise, so they couldn't afford to be clearly absent. Friend Theo had given up part of his break in order to return to the battlefield and make sure that Tymetron was too preoccupied to think about this position.

As she watched, Fiyu focused partially on her lifemate and partially on her own soulcrafting. She had repaired much of the damage to her soulhome and her Ethereal Chamber was filling up again. In the future she was confident it would take much less time to fully enrich the cantae within, but the requirements for ascension were very strict and she couldn't afford to cut corners.

Meanwhile she went below to work on her basement, trying to enlarge the partially-carved rooms. Unfortunately, it was even more of a struggle than it had been before, as her foundation had been reinforced by the step backward.

That was a consequence that she had not properly considered. Her current basement still increased the intensity of her cantae, but it was sorely lacking in space. She actually worried that, with so much of her soulhome highly optimized, she would lack for storage space in the future. At least for now, with everything stretched so thin for the war, she did not have to worry about excess sublime materials.

Abruptly the Dominion over the mine stood up: it was the man with a scythe, who was one of the more dangerous opponents. Fiyu wished that it could have been different, but they couldn't afford to waste a long time analyzing the Dominion rotation before starting the plan.

Fiyu held her breath, hoping that Lifemate Nauda had noticed. Fortunately, her partner had been working consistently on her life senses and she didn't miss a Dominion preparing for battle. The man raised his scythe and plummeted toward the mine like a cantae bolt.

Lifemate Nauda leapt backward at top speed, which wasn't enough against a Dominion pursuing her. Fiyu was on her feet, desperate to act but hoping that they could stick to the plan. Her lifemate was retreating toward Fiyu's position, trying to be lost in the wastes as the storm picked up around them. It would never work alone, of course, but Fiyu's presence might go unnoticed.

Just as the Dominion closed in, Lifemate Nauda brought her foot down in a stomp, unleashing a shockwave of nullification. That was just as they had planned, neutralizing the projectiles slicing toward her back without reaching Fiyu's position to interfere with her stealth.

They hadn't accounted for the scythe: it whirled toward Lifemate Nauda ferociously, pushing its way through the faltering shockwave and slicing onward. Even though Lifemate Nauda tried to dodge, it curved after her in midair, cutting deep into her side.

Everyone moved at once: Lifemate Nauda tumbled, Fiyu leapt forward, and the Dominion recalled his scythe. Fiyu was just fast enough to pull Lifemate Nauda into her technique and fly away before the next attack.

She was right to be cautious, because Dominion-tier cantae erupted across the wasteland. The scythe returned next, whirling wildly through an area as if suspecting an invisible opponent. But Fiyu had already lifted Lifemate Nauda into the air and was retreating at top speed.

"Got him," Lifemate Nauda said weakly. Her blood was leaking all over Fiyu's arms.

"You are deeply injured," Fiyu said in dismay.

"I'll heal, and I need to soulcraft anyway."

Technically things had gone according to plan, but carrying her injured lifemate, Fiyu couldn't be happy about it. She hoped that this was not all a terrible mistake.

-

Chapter 26

As time stretched on and she still hadn't ascended, Nauda felt as though she was failing everyone, even though no one said as much. Yet there was nothing she could do except keep soulcrafting and hope that this was a delay, not a dead end.

It had been almost a month since Kathina proposed her plan, and in that time the mood across the Norronese continent had worsened. The enemy aeon-class soulcrafters were no longer dominating, returning to the previous status quo of Dominion-based warfare, but that still favored Tymetron. Worse, Theo and others were convinced that Tymetron was preparing another weapon that could upset the balance and threaten to end the war again.

There was very little that Nauda could do to speed up her soulcrafting, however, at least without limiting herself in the future. She had continued working steadily on her reversed tree, and with Theo converting some more of her materials, it was nearly done. Since that was her limitation, she built everything else around it.

There had been many discussions around her blueprints, but they hadn't ultimately changed much. Theo had offered one of the cantcoins, but they judged it wasn't good enough to boost her soulcrafting. She seriously debated changing her deadgold chamber, only to stick with it because she was likely to be fighting Tymetron for so much of the near future. She and Fiyu had discussed what else could be done with her statue, but didn't make real modifications aside from adding some secondary materials to frame the central chamber.

One task was simple and now complete: shaping new stone around her towers to form the endpoints of her forearms, with hands around her staff tower and elbow chambers on the other side. She'd needed to consult with Navim regarding stone-shaping, but was quite pleased with her result. Currently the disembodied sections looked a bit strange, but when she moved her arms at Dominion, they would be solidified and ready.

Her largest remaining task was finishing her staff enhancement chamber, which progressed surely and steadily. After that Nauda worked on various other secondary materials, anything that could be enhanced by ascension. She was going to depend a little on a future ascension fusing remodeling into her design, but Theo had done the same thing for some floors, so she could stomach it.

Now, with the deadline coming ever closer, Nauda walked her soulhome again for final preparations. The biggest part was cleaning up her garden and building some guiding channels so that it wouldn't be completely washed away by the ascension storm.

As for the top of her soulhome... there she had received a gift that had actually helped. Her progress was mostly secret, but Homez had learned about it and offered some Asplundat techniques. The most important was a set of stone plinths which could be positioned atop her three towers, which she used to support a platform in the center. Instead of trying to ascend from just one tower, she built her pyramid in the center, which would hopefully lead to a more stable ascension.

"Nauda..." Fiyu appeared beside her in the real world and crouched down beside her with a hand on her leg. "I do not wish to rush you, but the Dominion with a scythe is back in the Gold Wastes. If it would be possible..."

"It's probably time." Nauda took one more look around her soulhome and returned. "A tree is never really done growing, and it's just about bursting the chamber with cantae. Nothing I soulcraft in the next few days will equal the tactical advantage of acting now."

"You do not need to force yourself, if there is any doubt."

"No. Really, Fiyu, I'm ready." Nauda gently took her wife's hand and intertwined their fingers. "I'll just meditate for a while to get ready and trust you to figure out the rest."

"Of course, Nauda." Fiyu kissed her cheek and then rushed off to begin.

In the end they decided to attempt the ascension the next day, since that allowed Theo and others to finish their battles. Nauda didn't complain, because she needed the night of sleep more than she realized. Soon enough the whole plan would depend on her and she needed to be at her best.

Various allies were coming, but Theo was the only one who joined them at first, as it should be. Just having the two of them watching her as she sank into her soulhome grounded her. She associated them so closely with her soulcrafting that she would have felt adrift without them.

After double-checking all her preparations, Nauda gently cupped the triuneflower that floated in the center of her garden. It resonated with her even more than most sublime materials and practically flew along with her when she leapt up to her platform. In theory this ascension would not be difficult, but if anything went wrong...

No, she couldn't allow such thoughts to enter her mind. Everyone was depending on her.

When she started walking up the side of her pyramid, Nauda almost wondered if something was wrong. The pressure coming down from above was more like a light breeze than the thunderous force she remembered. As it increased, however, it became more familiar and she realized that she was the one who had changed.

She had been fighting Dominions and facing Ophaons for so long, her soul had been stripped of all softness. Pressure like this was the norm, not an ordeal.

Nauda charged up the side of her pyramid and for a moment thought she could ascend in an instant. But the heavens fought back, driving her to a standstill, and her charge brought the tribulations of the ascension on her in a devastating wave.

Rain pummeled her, wind slashed from all sides, and bolts of lightning cascaded through her soul. Nauda reeled, clutching the triuneflower to her chest to protect it. For a moment, with lightning blasting in a continuous rain, she thought she had gone too far, then she realized that her instincts were wrong: the triuneflower was meant to shield her, not the other way around.

Lifting it to the side, Nauda let it absorb the rain while she endured the lightning herself - there had been no time to build lightning rods. While she took the remaining steps more carefully, she stretched her senses down to her garden. Her defenses had survived the first onslaught of the rain, so now that the downpour had been reduced, they would be fine. She could concentrate fully on reaching the top.

As she reached the top she wavered, cupping her hands around the triuneflower again. Theo had told her how it would absorb as much rain as possible and then transform into what she needed, but it was her conversation with Fiyu that filled her thoughts now.

This was a rare opportunity to choose the form of a sublime material and she didn't want to waste it. They had discussed keeping it as a flower, perhaps placing it on the chest of her statue, but as she felt its raw potential she abandoned that idea. The material needed to be placed inside her soulhome or it would be wasted.

Her sixth floor would include the chamber representing her heart, perhaps one of the most important chambers in her entire blueprint. It seemed obvious that the triuneflower could be her heart, and she could feel it transforming in response to her will. She'd thought she made her choice, but as she reached the top of the pyramid, Nauda hesitated.

The flower embodied Fiyu and Theo, and they were close to her heart, not her heart itself. She had encountered so many materials that could work for a heart, it seemed a waste to use this precious opportunity on that. And yet she hadn't discussed this with either of them, and it was too late to talk now. Would changing her plan ruin everything? All that potential in her hands, surely she shouldn't gamble it on her instincts...

A crack sounded beneath her and Nauda realized that the platforms, which had seemed so durable before, were beginning to break. She had only seconds before her ascension failed, potentially disastrously.

So Nauda leapt into the sky, thrusting the flower over her head as she made her decision. They weren't her heart, they were her soul.

She exploded through and found herself laughing as the new pressure flooded down around her, strengthening her soulhome. Nauda barely kept her grip on the triuneflower, which vibrated wildly in her hands. It had lost the otherworldly coloring and returned to the three colors of the crestflower it had once been, only vastly strengthened by her choice.

Soon enough she would need to take inventory and begin work. For now, Nauda emerged to embrace her friends and invite them inside for the first time.

~

As they began the assault, Fiyu moved above the others, hidden within her stealth technique. She was there partially as a contingency, but also to monitor every detail of the battle. In order for the strike to be effective, they needed to wipe out their opponents without a single one being able to escape.

One Tymetronese Dominion, their primary target, and two dozen mercenaries. Two Strongholds, six Authorities, and the rest were lower tier soulcrafters. They had seen the mercenaries use weirkeys in order to check in with either Tymetron or the Eternal Spectrum, but it was impossible to know which of them were currently holding the weirkeys, not even with her senses. Since one of them had just returned from a meeting, it was time for them to attack.

Fiyu slipped forward toward the guard station outside the anti-weirkey area. There was always one Authority from the mercenaries stationed there as a precaution, so he needed to be eliminated first. Fiyu confirmed that no one was nearby and hovered beside the mercenary. When he turned, she wrapped one hand around his mouth and drove her cantae blade through his heart.

If all went well, that would be the last blow she would need to strike in the battle.

The others were advancing, but only Lifemate Nauda moved visibly toward the mine. Friend Theo, Ally Isorales, and Associate Kathina were all hiding far overhead, prepared for when the attack began. Unless the enemy Dominion ran in the very first seconds, they would be able to keep him within the anti-weirkey area and finish the attack.

"Rise up!" Lifemate Nauda shouted over the mine. "The tyranny of Tymetron ends today!"

"Are you a fool?" The Dominion rose to his feet and hefted his scythe as he walked to the edge of the palatial chariot.

When he attacked, Lifemate Nauda was glorious - not in her strength, but in how perfectly she mimicked her old self. She barely evaded his initial cantae bolt, moving with the reflexes of a Stronghold. The Dominion leapt down, into the anti-weirkey zone, thinking that he would be exterminating an irritant.

As he attacked, Lifemate Nauda showed her true strength. She pushed in, the scythe glancing off her shoulder with only a shallow cut, and her gauntlet closed around the Dominion's throat. His expression changed from arrogance to horror as she drove him to the ground and began pummeling him into the mine floor.

Fiyu's other allies dropped from the sky, taking up positions around the mine and closing in to fight the mercenaries. Only one part of the attack went differently than they had planned: the miners actually listened to Lifemate Nauda's ruse and attacked. It was as if they had been waiting for something to set them off, because the soulcrafters among them swarmed the mercenaries.

The enemy Strongholds and Authorities floated overhead, intending to put down the revolt, but there was still no need for Fiyu to act. Associate Kathina took on one of the Strongholds in personal combat, her fire and water swords creating a storm in front of her that blocked off one side of the mine. Another of the Strongholds attempted to flee and was struck out of the sky by a beam from Ally Isorales. Friend Theo took on all the rest of the mercenaries himself, suppressing them with a combination of all his techniques.

For a time it seemed as though everything would go according to plan, yet Fiyu watched tensely. There were still several fights ongoing, and at this level soulcrafters could be highly mobile. If anyone managed to escape, or was knocked out of the secure area, she would have to move in an instant.

When something went wrong, she almost didn't notice at first. One of the Authorities, who had been smashed into the stone, suddenly rose in a shimmering aura. Fiyu's attention focused on him and she pinpointed that the source of the aura was a gemstone built into his chestplate. The density was unremarkable, but it must have been an armament.

As the Authority began to fly, the shimmering aura made Friend Theo's techniques melt away. Not only was the armament a contingency, it seemed like it had been charged by a higher power, likely the Eternal Spectrum. Fiyu had assumed that an aeon-class organization would not stoop to support lowly mercenaries, yet now that assumption proved dangerous.

Fiyu was their counter-contingency, and she had already left her position, flashing across the mine to intercept the Authority before he could escape. When she passed him, however, her cantae blade skated off the aura.

Surprise threw Fiyu off balance, twisting through the air as the Authority kept fleeing. There was no time to analyze the protective armament and her usual techniques seemed unlikely to be effective.

Thinking desperately, she dropped her stealth and threw herself physically into the Authority's path. He flinched back and tried to switch directions, but Fiyu mimicked Lifemate Nauda and slammed one foot into the stone. She might not be as physically adept as her partner, but she still managed to launch a stone into the air.

It crumbled as it struck the shimmering aura, but the Authority fell back. The defense must have been designed for cantae, then, not force. Fiyu lunged to tackle the Authority, ignoring the burning of the aura and pushing him to the ground.

Once he was pinned beneath her, Fiyu stabbed her cantae blade down again. It glanced off at first, but her second strike was truer, and the third finally penetrated the aura and sliced into the man's chest. As soon as the chestplate was damaged, the aura disappeared.

Breath escaped Fiyu's lips as she saw they were still inside the anti-weirkey boundary. She looked up to check on Lifemate Nauda... and saw another shimmering aura moving in the opposite direction. It had been obscured by the flurry of attacks from the main battle, so the last mercenary was already near the boundary.

On the opposite side, where she couldn't possibly stop him.

-

I didn't think I was going to leave you guys with a cliffhanger, but this battle is longer than I remembered. Anyway, the difficulty with TWC is that I want the Nine Worlds to feel vaster than the story can fully explore, but it's hard to simultaneously flesh out all those places. We've spent much more time on Norron, but the Gold Wastes have their own things going on, and I hope you guys will like both this and where it goes.