Throne of Time - Chapter 67: The Exhilarating Hunt for Crystal Drakes (Patreon)

The end of the loop approached with an atmosphere not quite like any previous, due to the abstract threat from outside the university. Most remained on campus except for the Junnite group, which had a mad plan to steal a flying vessel and rush out to fight the crystal drakes before the official hunt was announced, since they thought they could take advantage of this somehow. Other loopers just planned to finish with larger and rowdier gatherings than usual.

For her part, Suria was happy to ignore both of those and focus on her work. She had a newly concentrated vial in her satchel that she planned to test before the end, plus she hadn't fully internalized her new augments. The soul talisman remained intact but frustratingly difficult to use, and she'd scheduled a meeting with Qanti to try to work on more soul magic on one of the last days.

Suria had probably accomplished the majority of what she could in Alchemy and probably wouldn't return to the discipline for multiple cycles. She reflected that she had now met all seven surviving thrones of Darkmoon University, and studied the majority of fields - she had yet to take any classes in Transmutation or Conjuring.

In the future, she would need to specialize, and that could be a challenging decision.

That evening, she got together with Murtiel and her daughter at their home in the dormitories. The place really wasn't so bad, Suria decided: the cramped dorms filled with younger students were a pain, but the family rooms were downright homey. Most of the food on their table had been carried from the cafeteria, but Murtiel had made a a pear tart from scratch that had been delicious.

Since it was near the end of the cycle and she was taking the evening to restore herself, Suria decided to take a second piece. Albree's eyes widened and she reached out a tiny hand.

"You aren't allowed to have two pieces," she insisted.

"There can be different rules for adults," Murtiel told her, taking her hand gently.

"Why?" Albree demanded.

"Because adults are bigger than you, so they need to eat more to fill up."

Albree considered this for a long time, her lips pressed together tightly, before she apparently decided that this was acceptable. Suria ate her second piece of tart while Albree got sleepy and formally said goodbye to them, then was put to bed.

Once she was asleep, Murtiel returned to the table with less vigor and slumped down. She had been inexhaustible in classes, but now at the end of the day she sagged like the wind had gone out of her.

"You have a hard time taking care of Albree alone," Suria observed. "I assume there's no one else she could stay with?"

"Not really, and I wouldn't want to leave her." Murtiel was silent for a time. "Her father left. He said that it was to find work, but that was two years ago and it was barely a believable lie back then."

"Was he also an herbalist?"

"No, just a laborer. They've never made as much, and a lot of them have been replaced by new agricultural magic. Home is... a strange place these days. They say the Akrashic Union is on top of the world, and it produces more of everything than ever, but it doesn't really feel like that on the ground."

"Is that why you went to Darkmoon instead of somewhere back home?" Suria asked. "I'm sure New Akrash University could have taught you plenty, and there are probably a lot more smaller schools."

"Taught me, yes, but not based on what I know." Murtiel pushed herself a little more upright, gesturing vaguely. "There are too many connections between the universities and the North Akrash Company, so they determine what gets taught."

"I'm not sure what that is."

"Oh, it's one of the big merchant corporations. Nearly a monopoly when it comes to herbalism and a lot of other fields. Anyway, they decided that herbalism is the past, so no one really studies that type of alchemy anymore, and my knowledge doesn't mean anything. At Darkmoon I can build on what I know and maybe find something new."

"I understand. What-"

"Suria." Murtiel reached out and touched her arm with a weary smile. "I like talking to you, I really do, but I am exhausted. What do you say we meet again, maybe over lunch? It could be after the next Alchemy lab. That would work well for me."

That would be in eight days, which wouldn't exist thanks to the time loop. By far the easiest answer would have been to agree, but making another false promise felt wrong to Suria, even if it would clear out her remaining schedule.

"What about in four days?" Suria suggested. "That would work better for me."

"Sure, we'll just be on campus. That could be nice." Murtiel went with her to the door and surprised Suria with a hug, then they parted ways.

It was nice that she would get one more meeting with the two of them before the timeline reset, then Suria would face the difficult decision of what to focus on in the next loop. Having Rije alive in this cycle had been wonderful and she was going to meet with him tomorrow to go over everything they'd learned. Even if he wasn't likely to solve the conspiracy on his own, he offered a useful new angle.

With just a few meetings left, Suria hoped that her remaining time in this loop could be used to prepare for the next. She realized that wasn't going to happen when she stepped outside and saw Adwyrma waiting for her.

The other woman wasn't glowering, just staring at her intensely, which was almost worse. Unlike at the beginning of cycles, Adwyrma wore heavy gray armor that looked to be of local construction, covered in slightly curved plates with glyphs inscribed on them. She wasn't carrying a weapon, but she had a runebook in an armored holster at her side and Suria knew she could create a sword in an instant.

"We need to come to an accord," Adwyrma told her.

"Do we?" Suria asked. She hated feeling threatened by this looper, and now at the end of the cycle, she wasn't going to put up with it. "There are a lot of things I can do to avoid you at the beginning of the next loop."

"Yes, I came to that realization. You're clever, and I have no doubt you'll continue being clever." Adwyrma took a step closer to her and folded her gauntleted arms. "But know that I could do much worse if I wanted to disrupt everything you're doing here. Working against each other like this is pointless. We may be able to cooperate instead."

Though she had her hand instinctively on her runebook, Suria took a while to seriously consider the offer. She had been viewing Adwyrma as an enemy, but at the moment neither one of them could permanently kill the other, and any of the loopers posed a serious risk if they decided to cause trouble. Negotiation was by far the best decision here, as even if it proved unworkable, it would give her more information than refusing, much less fighting.

"I assume you want to enter Convocation Hall early?" Suria asked.

"Exactly." Adwyrma relaxed her arms the tiniest fraction of a degree. "It must be the key to everything that's going on here."

"And is that your goal? Figuring out what's going on?"

"No, my goal is to make it out of this hell. This isn't life."

That hadn't been what Suria had expected and she wasn't sure if she could actually take the words at face value. Still, she decided that she needed to work with what Adwyrma told her, so she said, "I've discovered a little more, including ways that the thrones can end up attacking. There are staff in the building who can call them, for example. I don't want you charging in again."

"I won't," Adwyrma insisted. "That was a one time error. I didn't even kill you even though it would have been convenient to do so."

"Well, the staircase to the basement is still blocked by the spatial trap. Can you do anything about those?"

"Probably not, but I'll need to see it."

"You aren't the only one," Suria pointed out. "Wynchard wants to investigate as well, and he can arrive before you. What about this? I let you both in, you search the building in a non-disruptive fashion, and we gather enough information to make a better plan - together - on future loops."

Adwyrma snorted. "Just the sort of cheerful cooperation all the others want. You're not like Wynchard, I can tell. Do you really expect me to play along like a good soldier?"

"You wanted to compromise on terms, didn't you? That doesn't mean bowing to whatever you want."

"You don't trust me." Adwyrma stared at her for several seconds, then nodded. "That's fine. You shouldn't. But if you expect me to cooperate with you, I need to see something from you first."

"Are you suggesting," Suria responded flatly, "that me allowing you to enter Convocation Hall early should count as a favor to me?"

"I don't participate in the farcical system of favors. No, I mean that I need to respect you. I know you can heal, but can you fight? What have you done with all the time you've been given?"

"It has been less than a year. I can't fight as well as someone who's been here for three times as long."

"I didn't expect you to fight me, just to defend yourself." Adwyrma abruptly unfolded her arms and rolled her neck. "Come with me into Darmkael. Prove yourself capable enough to be worth cooperating with."

Under normal circumstances, Suria would have said that idea was mad. But with the loop running down, she had to consider whether or not it made sense as a calculated risk. Based on her conversations with Qanti, it was probably impossible for Adwyrma to have any method of soul killing, and she was perfectly capable of attacking Suria here and now, especially with so little time left. Adwyrma wouldn't gain much advantage in the city, whereas if she was telling the truth, this was warding off a potential enemy.

"What would we be doing there?" Suria asked.

"The others are fools," Adwyrma told her. "The Endelythans just try to master criminals, seeking money and power. Wynchard is convinced there is some great enemy he is destined to fight. But there's something worse out there. Something tied to the reason we're all here."

"You may be right," Suria agreed, to her surprise. "I want to find out the truth of why we're here too."

"I don't care about 'the truth' as some ideal. But I do need to know who did this to us."

"And how will going into Darmkael help that?"

"There's a cultist outpost outside the city that the others haven't noticed. I can take the forces I've seen on my own, but they presumably have backup. You could help fight... or at least serve as a healer if you can't." Adwyrma smiled, which wasn't much more encouraging than her glare. "Then we can find out what's being done out there. If you do that, and really open the Hall next time, I'm willing to cooperate."

Put that way, Suria felt like it was the best option available. She had been avoiding Darmkael, but it sounded like they wouldn't linger in the city, and if Adwyrma was really fighting with her instead of stabbing her in the back, she'd be much better defended than she had been before.

"When?" Suria asked. "My final days are get-"

"Tonight." Adwyrma pushed back her hair and shifted her legs as if ready to go that very second. "No point wasting time scheduling. Let's get it done now. That will give me plenty of time to search before the end."

"Then I suppose we can go." Suria didn't need much aside from her runebook, and contrary to Murtiel, she was feeling wide awake after the refreshing evening.

"Keep up."

Adwyrma headed out of campus at a surprising rate, her body clearly reinforced by Enchantment. Suria managed to keep up, but she was panting for breath and had to strain to keep focused. It didn't seem like Adwyrma was intentionally wearing down or distracting her - the other woman was simply impatient.

Heading straight south, they almost retraced the steps that Suria had taken a long time ago when she first entered the city. Adwyrma maintained her brutal pace, so there was no time to get distracted by anything, much less be waylaid in an alley. As far as Suria could tell, the atmosphere of the city didn't seem that changed, though she could imagine there were criminal undertakings going on beneath the surface that she wouldn't be aware of.

When they left the city gates, Suria realized that she was outside city limits for the first time in most of a year. Without the buildings huddled together, the night air was colder than she expected, and the lights of the city behind her rendered the world outside rather bleak.

That world might not have changed, but Suria had: she cast a low-intensity light spell as well as a modified fire spell to provide some warmth. In theory she hoped to combine them via more efficient glyphwork, but for now it left her feeling like a real mage as she headed down the mountain pass in a secure bubble.

For her part, Adwyrma stalked forward as if she didn't need heat or light. As far as Suria knew, Shantic eyes didn't have any special properties, but someone who had enchanted her body so much had probably enhanced her eyesight as well.

"Wynchard thinks there's one great conspiracy," Adwyrma said abruptly. Not quite to Suria, more like she just had to announce a few things to the air. "He's wrong. There are different pieces, and they don't quite fit together."

"What do you mean?" Suria asked.

"Why should I tell you?"

"Why did you already tell me?" When Adwyrma didn't answer, Suria pressed on. "You implied the others were getting in your way, right? They'll listen to me more than you. If you can convince me, I can pass the facts along to them and maybe future loops will go better for you."

"...there are a number of things," Adwyrma said begrudgingly. "There are different groups calling themselves Glyphbreakers, and they don't seem to know each other. Wynchard thinks the Blank Hand is working for those groups, the Endelythans think it's the other way around, and they're both wrong. We have a lot of different factions."

"And a cult?"

"I'm not sure what they are, but I felt the magic out here in the previous cycle. We should be able to investigate it this loop."

They had been walking down the mountain road for some time, but now turned aside on a path Suria hadn't seen before. It took them to a small cluster of buildings: just an outpost, not even a village. There were no lights or other signs of life, yet Suria felt a sudden leap in tension and instinctively cast her perception spell. Yes, there were people moving around within the structures.

She lowered her light before Adwyrma could complain and they crept in closer, alongside one of the low brick buildings. So far it was hard to tell much about how many people there were, or what exactly they were doing. There did seem to be a source of magic near the center of the outpost, and when they reached the edge of the building, they peered around to see what looked like a normal well.

At least, it appeared normal until it began to bubble with liquid. No well would normally have water that high, and in the pale moonlight it appeared to be a sickly purple color. If there was any doubt, a hand emerged from the bubbling surface and gripped the side.

A monstrosity emerged from the well. It wasn't identical to the one Suria had seen in the Endelythans' memories, but it had the same unnatural jaws and glowing growth, this time on its back.

"We kill it for examination," Adwyrma said, then she rushed forward.

There was no more time to think; it was all happening too fast. Adwyrma formed a gray blade while she ran in, aiming to stab the creature, but it lurched with startling speed, its limbs stretching and wheeling wildly, forcing her back.

Suria didn't make the same mistake as the dead Endelythans: she cast not at the creature, but at the wall behind it. Her force spells tore free several heavy blocks, which by gravity alone pummeled into its misshapen head. They dealt much less damage than Suria had hoped and she flinched back as it turned toward her, desperately considering other options.

It didn't matter, because that distraction was enough for Adwyrma to slice into it from behind. Even after taking a cut from her gray blade, the creature took a surprisingly long amount of time to die, striking back at her and landing a few blows before she cut it down. Suria realized unsettlingly that the creature made no noises: not of rage, not of pain, nothing.

"Is it dead?" Suria asked quietly.

"Maybe." Adwyrma dropped down to one knee, holding herself up with her sword stuck in the ground.

"Stay still and let me heal you."

Before Suria could arrive, one of the nearby doors opened and light burst over the grounds. Suria backpedaled as she saw three more of the hulking creatures, but then her attention was captured by what appeared to be an ordinary man standing in front of them. He had a black hood over his face and his robes were marked with a pentagon with a slash through it.

A Glyphbreaker? He didn't introduce himself, just cast a spell that made coils of light leap up from the air. Adwyrma hacked away at them, while all Suria could do was raise a mana shield. The ropes wrapped around that as well, squeezing inexorably, threatening to break her shield.

"Who do we have here?" the man asked. "Darkmoon students?"

His creatures were circling around, ready to come from three sides, and Suria realized that this battle was probably hopeless. She gripped her satchel close and tried to steady her nerves for what was coming. In theory, she didn't need to fear death here and she should push him as hard as possible for information that could be useful in the next loop. Yet in practice she was trembling as she imagined the kinds of torture they could inflict on her.

"Run!" Adwyrma broke her sword over her knee and the sound of a bell rang out, pushing the creatures back. Both Suria's shield and the ropes around her were blown away, so she instinctively followed, sprinting into the mountainside.

Then she pitched head-first into the ground and her body was in agony. Suria looked down, expecting to see what she'd tripped on, and saw that her legs were lying behind her and her torso was a bloody mess.

She hadn't imagined it being like this. Sometimes her combat instincts weren't sharp enough, and she could imagine being outmaneuvered, or caught in a trap she wasn't subtle enough to see. But this, just losing her legs with no warning, shook her in a way she hadn't expected.

The creatures were approaching now, and the man in the dark robes had no mercy in his eyes. Even if there was a chance of learning more, Suria couldn't bring herself to do it: she desperately plunged a hand into her satchel, found the vial of silphium, and drank it.