Memoirs 507 - Stepping through the steppes (Patreon)

It was suspicious, right?

Definitely.

No question about it.

Skye glanced back at Evelyne. The woman was walking beside Regina and talking quietly with her, one hand holding the edge of her headscarf in place while the other stayed wrapped tightly around the strange metal construct she kept pressed against her side.

For someone who’d supposedly only been here in the Steppes for a short while, she looked in pretty rough shape.

Skye felt bad for her.

But still, there was no way that woman’s sister had just happened to end up in precisely the same place they were, was there?

Skye didn’t want to be suspicious of Evelyne. She honestly thought the woman was fairly chill. They were probably around the same age, and the last time they’d spoken, Evelyne had struck her as the smart, responsible sort of noble who actually cared about the people around her and the ones living on her lands.

A bit like Regina, really.

But looking past who Evelyne was related to was hard.

Beside Skye, Briana kept her attention fixed on the horizon, searching for anything that might be moving out there.

“Do you trust that woman?” the Oathbound knight asked in a low voice that barely carried over the distant wheeze of a sandstorm gathering to the west of them.

Skye glanced at Evelyne again before facing forward, squinting through the faint grey haze surrounding their group.

“Frankly? Not sure.”

“I think it’s suspicious,” Briana said.

“It is, isn’t it? So it’s not just me?”

“It might not be wise to bring her with us.”

“Let’s not take it that far. We’re not leaving her in the middle of the desert, at the very least.”

“If you say so.”

Briana fell silent.

Skye shot her a sideways look.

Briana could be a bit too paranoid sometimes. Mostly, Skye didn’t mind. It had helped them out more often than it had caused problems. But the woman could probably stand to be just a little more trusting or lenient every once in a while.

Then again, spending too long in the Unresting Steppes had a way of getting under your skin and making everyone tenser than normal, so Skye couldn’t really blame her.

She looked back towards Melody, who was walking a few steps apart from the rest of them and constantly checking every direction like she expected something with half a mile of teeth to come barrelling out of the sand at any moment.

Mel, especially, had been antsy this past week. It always got worse during the day, when the moon wasn’t visible.

Skye suspected a lot of it was in her head, but knowing that didn’t help much. If Mel could move past everything that troubled her by just being told it wasn’t all there, she probably wouldn’t be here with Skye and the others right now. Skye had tried to encourage her where she could, but the Steppes were rough on the woman. It probably didn’t help that one of the better ways Mel had found to calm herself down was imagining herself counting stars, which worked a whole lot better at night.

Skye watched her for a few seconds longer before looking over at Oveth in the middle of their group. He was walking with those incredibly even, rigid steps of his, like some kind of machine, while a steady stream of grey smog flowed from the crown of his staff and fed into the haze surrounding them.

She would probably never stop being amazed—and weirded out—by how he did that. Just zoning out and putting his body on autopilot while he devoted almost all of his focus to his magic.

Good thing he could, though. Without it, they wouldn’t have been able to cross the Unresting Steppes in the middle of the day without monsters jumping them twenty-four seven. The grey semi-barrier around them might look shady as heck at first glance, but what it actually did wasn’t all that complicated. It just made them really difficult to notice.

“Oveth,” Skye said.

A faint glimmer appeared within the shadows beneath his hood. That meant he was listening.

“How long will it take before you can use the clavis once we get back? Can you do it right away?”

“No,” he answered in a thin rasp, and the flow of smog from his staff slowed slightly. “I will need one day at minimum. Perhaps two or three.”

“Alright. But that’s our priority, just so you know.”

“I am aware.”

The glimmer disappeared from beneath his hood, and the smog picked back up again.

Skye turned her attention forward as they kept moving. Time passed slowly, but that was just the way it was when you were marching through a desert this big and the only breaks from all the beige-white were the occasional smudges of dark storms building close to the ground or jagged stretches of rock poking out through a dune here and there.

Skye liked to think she’d gotten used to it by now. But she would still take literally any other landscape over this one if someone gave her the choice.

If she had to guess, another two or three hours passed before they finally reached a narrow stretch of flat ground squeezed between several broad dunes. A line of rock outcroppings hemmed it in on one side, and huddled against those rocks, more than half-swallowed by sand, were the ruins of a few old buildings and pillars. Most of them had crumbled so badly that it was hard to tell where the actual structures ended and the sand began.

Skye and Briana immediately got to work searching.

Evelyne stayed back with the others, watching in confusion as they kicked sand away from half-buried stones, scraped grime from fallen slabs, and checked around the bases of anything that looked remotely man-made.

“What are they doing?” she asked, stepping closer to Regina.

Skye bent over beside a broken pillar and shoved nearly her whole arm into a pocket of loose sand, feeling around the pillar’s buried base with her fingers.

“They are searching for signs of an array,” Regina answered. “There are ruins of outposts like this one scattered throughout the Unresting Steppes, and some contain artifacts called Seamstones that allow travel between them. This was the closest outpost to where we found you, but since we haven’t visited this one before, we first need to confirm whether its Seamstone survived.”

“Travel? Do you mean like Kilnstones?”

“There are Kilnstones in the Steppes, but those aren’t what I mean. Seamstones have a much shorter range and only connect to other Seamstones within the Steppes.”

“I’ve never heard of them.”

“According to Oveth, they were made by a group of Zuver called the Olaneiros. They were apparently much more isolated than most other Zuverian civilisations, so the artifice they developed was rather distinct. Almost all traces of them disappeared during the Severance, but the Seamstone network is among the few things that survived.”

“The Olaneiros…?”

Skye glanced back, catching the fascination on Evelyne’s face.

“It’s hard to believe something like that could exist throughout the Steppes without anyone knowing,” the woman said.

Regina smiled. “I agree. I hadn’t heard much about them before meeting Oveth either. There are a few older surveys—Master Hestian’s Fragments Beyond the Barrier comes to mind—that argued some of the deeper ruins here were Zuverian, perhaps belonging to isolated settlements rather than any of the well-known cultures. But that was only one theory among many, and the architecture here differs enough from what you will find in the rest of the culture that most ignored his argument. And as you might understand, very few scholars have actually been willing to come here and collect more evidence themselves.”

“But surely someone would have found the Seamstones before?” Evelyne asked. “There have been several expeditions into the Steppes, and the Vanguards regularly venture past the Everdust Barrier, don’t they?”

“That is true. As far as I’m aware, though, there are no records of Seamstones being used by imperial expeditions. I imagine that has to do with how difficult they are to recognise in the first place.” Regina looked around the ruins. “The Olaneiros seem to have favoured very unobtrusive artifice. They worked it into almost anything. If you don’t know what to look for or how to activate it, a Seamstone hardly looks different from any other piece of ruined stone.”

“I found it,” Briana called from the other side of the ruins.

Skye immediately abandoned the spot she’d been digging through and headed over with the others. Together, they started clearing sand from around a huge chunk of sandstone half-buried against the rocks. Even up close, it looked more like something that had broken naturally off a cliffside than anything shaped by someone’s hands.

Eventually, they exposed the base of the stone, where several thin lines had been carved directly into the surface. Beyond that, though, there really wasn’t anything to make it stand out.

These things could be a real pain to find.

Oveth was good at narrowing down their general location, but the Seamstones themselves really could be hidden in basically any random place, and they all looked like this. Supposedly, most of the actual magical workings were buried deep inside the stone.

Skye and Briana stepped back as Regina knelt in front of it, carefully tracing one finger along the carved lines while whispering a short chant that Oveth had taught her. After a few seconds, the grooves lit up.

A muted flash swallowed them.

Next thing Skye saw, they were standing in a completely different set of ruins, one she and the others had already visited before.

From there, Regina activated two more Seamstones, making three jumps in total. Altogether, that skipped what would probably have been another day or two of walking.

Oveth kept up his magic to hide their trail as they left the last outpost, which sat tucked into the lee of a broader sand ridge, and headed back into the dunes. This time they only had to walk for around an hour before the landscape started changing. Tall shelves and pillars of rock rose through the sand everywhere ahead, creating narrow valleys where the wind funnelled between them, carrying waves of sand that never seemed to stop.

Skye honestly hated this place.

It was like walking through some great natural wind tunnel with an industrial sandblaster hooked up at the other end. No matter how well you wrapped your face, sand still found its way into a good half of your holes, and once it got in, it was way too stubborn to get back out without a fight.

She pulled her headscarf tighter as they passed between two towering rock walls, keeping her jaw clenched against the grit rushing past them. You didn’t really want to talk much in here unless you liked eating sand, but she glanced back every so often to make sure Evelyne wasn’t getting knocked over by the wind.

Eventually, they reached a cave hidden deep among the rock formations. Once they had entered it and gone far enough inside, the wind died away completely, letting everyone finally stop and shake the worst of the sand from their clothes.

Deeper in, the tunnel opened into a broad cavern. Several magical lights had already been set up around the walls, along with a few shallow alcoves they had carved out to make the place a little more comfortable. A few empty crates sat stacked in one corner, and blackened patches across the stone marked where they’d made fires on earlier nights.

Evelyne slowly looked around. “Have you been…living here?”

“Yep,” Skye said. “Temporary base.”

“Oveth says these caves have a strong connection to the surrounding land,” Regina added. “It makes it easier to hide our presence from scrying, and it also helps with some of the rituals we’ve been using.”

“Rituals? What sort of rituals?”

“Oh, I’m not an expert, but—”

Skye mostly zoned out once the conversation started drifting into magic stuff.

She wandered over to one of the crates in the corner and hopped up onto it, pulling one knee close to her chest. From her pouch, she took out a couple of ration bars made mostly from nuts, dried fruit, and some kind of grain that she wasn’t too fond of, along with a waterskin, then started munching away while watching Oveth join Regina and Evelyne after he’d finished activating the wards around the cavern.

As usual, Briana went off to check the nearby tunnels for any sneaky surprises that might have moved in while they were gone. Mel hung around near the entrance for a while before eventually making her way over to Skye. Skye offered her one of the bars, and the two of them ate in silence.

Once Regina, Oveth, and Evelyne seemed about done with whatever they were discussing, Skye waved Evelyne over.

“If you want to take a shower, we’ve got a basic setup through there,” she said, pointing towards a narrow side passage in the corner.

Evelyne blinked. “A shower?”

“She means you can wash yourself,” Regina explained with a light chuckle. “The water ‘showers’ down on you. Skye hates baths.”

Evelyne gave Skye a bemused look. “I…see.”

“What’s the point of bathing if you’re just sitting in your own grime?” Skye said, grimacing. “Anyway, that sister of yours hooked us up with a bunch of fancy thingamajigs, so water isn’t a problem. Here. Towel and clothes you can use.”

She pulled out a spare set from her storage along with a towel and dumped both into Evelyne’s arms.

The woman looked down at them for a few seconds, then back at Skye and the others. “What about you?”

“We’re used to walking around covered in sand by now. You don’t look like you are, so you should go first.”

Maybe it wasn’t the most impressive achievement to brag about, but Skye had managed to rough it out for a week plus without showering on more than a few occasions ever since she first woke up without any memory of who or what she was.

It wasn’t nice. It did get easier when everyone smelled bad together, though. Everyone except Oveth. He never seemed to have any smell at all.

Still, since the Baroness had apparently decided to splurge when sending them on this suicide mission, Skye had been enjoying the luxury of only smelling slightly bad most days.

Evelyne lingered for another moment before finally disappearing into the side passage. Briana returned not long after and confirmed that the nearby tunnels were clear, and everyone settled in around Skye.

Regina brought out the iron trivet, cook pots, and brazier while Briana retrieved some of their proper food supplies. They hadn’t had a real meal for a while, as busy as they’d been chasing around Ustrum.

“So,” Skye said. “What do you guys think?”

Nobody needed her to explain what she meant.

“I think she’s telling the truth,” Regina replied, lining up several potatoes on a tray and slicing them into a pot one by one.

Oveth inclined his head slightly. “I can’t be certain, but I am inclined to agree. However, I should point out that the construct she is carrying… That is a Somatic Armature.”

The knife in Regina’s hand clicked sharply against the tray as she froze and looked up at him.

Skye glanced between them. “What’s that?”

Regina’s attention shifted to her. “It’s something close to the grand ideal for any mage. The culmination of individual magecraft.”

“What? Like the holy grail?”

“If you mean the Chalices of Canon, then no. It’s beyond that.”

Regina looked over at the passage Evelyne had disappeared into, then back at Skye. “I should be clear that, as far as I’m aware, the Somatic Armature is only a theoretical concept. But at its most basic, it’s a type of magical focus shaped specifically around the mage using it. Not simply attuned to their mana, but matched precisely to the structure of their mana channels and the way their body naturally handles magic. To the point where the distinction between the focus and the mage is supposed to become almost meaningless.”

Skye frowned a little. “So…a magic prosthetic?”

“No. It would be more like having a third arm, except that arm is ten times stronger, a hundred times more sensitive to mana, and reaches a thousand times farther.”

“Sounds unwieldy. And useful.”

“Considerably more of the latter. The Somatic Armature is to mages what the panacea is to alchemists. Nearly every serious mage has probably wondered at some point what it would be like to have one.” Regina set the knife down, apparently too distracted to keep cutting. “There are some accounts suggesting that Armatures were among the instruments used by the ancient divinarchs to reach the height they did.”

“And you’re saying Evelyne had one of those?”

Where did she even get something like that? Had the Baroness given it to her? Was that part of how that damn woman had ended up so ridiculously strong?

“The most likely explanation is that Ustrum gave it to her,” Oveth said.

Regina turned to him. “Ustrum gave it to her?”

The shadows beneath Oveth’s hood shifted, and the eyes hidden within sharpened. “I believe so. He possesses the method to create one.”

Regina stared at him for several seconds.

“Why,” she finally asked, “have you never mentioned that?”

Oveth was silent at first, then gave a small shake of his head. “I only remembered it now.”

Regina closed her eyes and pressed two fingers to her temple.

“So why would he give something that valuable to Evelyne?” Skye asked. “That makes her a whole lot more suspicious, doesn’t it?”

“I can’t say.” Oveth’s gaze shifted in Evelyne’s direction. “The Ustrum we encountered likely had no need for the Armature himself. If he recognised potential in Evelyne Hartford, that may have been sufficient reason for him without any prior connection. Potential is one of the few qualities he has always respected without reservation.”

Skye thought back to the way Ustrum had spoken to Evelyne before disappearing. It had sounded like he saw something in her.

Still, how bonkers did you have to be to just hand over something like that?

“Are all the Undead Council people completely nuts, or is that just a Ustrum thing? No offence, Oveth.”

“None taken.”

Another thought hit Skye. “Wait. This thing isn’t going to turn Evelyne undead or anything, right?”

“It should not. To my knowledge, there is no inherent necromantic function to a Somatic Armature. However, I would prefer to examine it before drawing any firm conclusions.”

Briana had been sitting against the cavern wall with her arms crossed. Now she looked over at Oveth. “Would it be useful to you?”

The group fell silent.

Briana continued. “If the Hartford girl only received it today, she probably hasn’t attuned to it yet. If the artifact is as valuable as you say, our group would have more immediate use for it.”

“It would be of no use to my current body,” Oveth said. “It is already as acclimatised to magic as it can become.”

Briana’s eyes moved to Regina instead.

Regina was staring down at the half-cut potatoes. It took her a moment to notice Briana looking at her.

She blinked.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I couldn’t. Not if it belongs to Evelyne.”

Briana’s brow furrowed, but she didn’t argue.

Skye got where she was coming from. If the thing really was that useful, it made sense to at least think about who could make the best use of it. Still, taking it from Evelyne didn’t sit right with her.

Also…Evelyne was still Baroness Hartford’s sister.

Riling that lady up was a serious hazard.

They spent the next while talking through what exactly a Somatic Armature was, what it could supposedly do, and how many members of the Undead Council might have access to one. Regina eventually went back to preparing the food, though she stayed distracted enough that Skye had to stop her from nearly sticking half her hand into the pot at one point.

Eventually, footsteps sounded out as Evelyne emerged wearing the spare clothes Skye had lent her. The trousers sat a little high around her ankles, and the shirt hung looser around the shoulders than it did on Skye, but otherwise…

Huh.

They actually fit her pretty well.

Evelyne slowed when she noticed Skye looking at her. “Is something wrong?”

“Nah.” Skye offered a thumbs-up. “You look cool.”

A faint smile appeared on Evelyne’s face. “Thank you. I will say, I’m not quite used to wearing this sort of attire.” She tugged lightly at one of the sleeves, still carrying the Armature in her other hand. “If my sister saw me dressed like this, she might bar me from stepping anywhere near the mansion for an entire day.”

“She’s that much of a control freak?”

“Well…”

Evelyne didn’t finish that sentence.

Skye eyed her.

Then she hopped down from the crate, pulled a small sack from her pouch, and walked over to hand it to Evelyne. “Here. For your Somatic Armature thingy. So you don’t have to carry it around everywhere.”

Evelyne stopped.

Her eyes dropped to the construct in her hand, then slowly rose back to Skye.

“My…what?”

“Did I say it wrong? Somantic Armature? Armiture?”

Evelyne’s eyes gradually widened like someone had just told her the thing was about to explode.

“You’re… Is that what this is?”

“Wait, you didn’t know?”

“No!”

For a second, Evelyne looked like she wanted to drop it. Then she seemed to remember what it supposedly was and tightened her grip instead.

“An Armature…?” she murmured. “Why would he even…?”

Skye glanced back at Oveth, exchanged a look with him, then turned to Evelyne again.

“If you’re okay with it, Oveth wants to take a closer look at that thing. While he’s doing that, maybe we can figure out how to send a message to your sister.” Skye scratched lightly at the side of her head. “There’s been a lot going on lately, and I’m guessing both you and her are going to want to hear about some of it.”