Eight 4

The next twenty minutes saw Ikfael and me sitting awkwardly together. I briefed her on what I’d seen of the Maltrans, and she acknowledged the information. Though she was clearly interested in learning about the recent invaders, the sense of distance didn’t decrease.

Yuki tried to help by acting as my sounding board. The two of us went round and round in my head talking about what to say or do, but sometimes there isn’t an easy way forward. Sometimes you have to wait for more clarity before a reconciliation—on both sides of an argument.

Time was the thing that would help most. Ikfael was fresh from having to relive probably the worst three days of her life, and she needed breathing room to think more clearly about my intentions.

I also couldn’t ignore the ongoing struggle between the two heavyweights. Bits of impressions leaked through the connection with the Deer God. It wasn’t anything coherent, though—more like stray fragments of will. They felt ephemeral and elemental, both at the same time.

Then, the Deer God and Heleitia abruptly stopped their conflict, and the two of them turned their attention eastward. While Heleitia sank into the water, the Deer God disappeared from my spirit eyes with a blip. My sense was that their unfinished business would continue later.

The rolling pressure that had filled the Glen withdrew like the tide. Both Ikfael and I looked at each other with confusion. Heleitia was usually more dignified when she retired back to wherever the hell she went under the Glen, but her retreat just now had seemed almost… hurried?

‘Woah,’ Yuki said. ‘Mumu just messaged. Something that looked like a giant block of stone just shot past them on the way to the Glen. At the rate it was moving, ETA should be only a few minutes.’

Did she recognize the creature? I asked. It didn’t attack the team?

Yuki shook their qi. ‘Completely passed them by. She says that the lines were too clean, too symmetrical. That it might be a magical effect as opposed to a living being. The team is rushing here as quickly as they dare.’

“Is it the Maltrans back for round two?” I wondered aloud. To Ikfael, I added, “Something’s coming from the east—maybe a stone creature or the results of a magic spell. It’d be best to take defensive positions, just in case.”

After a brief hesitation, she nodded and slipped into the pool, becoming one with the water. Once I saw her safely away, I grabbed my bow and made my way back to the top of the cliff. A Camouflage later, I was hidden too.

Working steadily, I envenomed a couple of arrows—one nocked and the other in easy reach. My knives were in their sheaths, ready. I’d need a new spear once this day was over, though. The one I’d used on Sklein was compromised and couldn’t be trusted not to shatter. I’m going to have to bite the bullet one day and take one to Level 5. Otherwise, they’ll just keep breaking on me.

Yuki contacted Snow and Mouser to let them know that the state of things had shifted at the Glen. They’d gone northwest to investigate the area where the escarpment had collapsed, but started to double back, in case it really was the Maltrans again.

Ah, there was a disturbance in the forest to the east. Something approached heedless of the trees, and the spirits didn’t like it. Moments later, the water in the pool flashed, which was a signal from Ikfael that something had entered her territory.

Man, it’d been a long day, but work was work. I got myself ready for another round of fighting.

The stone block came into view, moving at the speed of a galloping horse and pushing aside everything in its path. No wonder the spirits were angry—the thing was a like a bulldozer, leaving upturned trees and bushes behind it.

The stone block slowed as it pulled into the Glen. It was about ten feet on all sides, with a protrusion at the bottom front that looked like a train’s cowcatcher. Then, shockingly, one side of the cube flowed to make an opening for an elderly man to step through.

What I noticed first was that even though he wasn’t particularly tall, he stood straight, his head high. His hair was white as snow and plaited at the sides with gold wire in patterns I didn’t recognize. He wore a coat that looked very much like white silk over a red vest. His shirt and pants were both silver in hue and shimmered faintly. There was more gold around his neck, but if there was a pendant, it was hidden under his shirt.

Xefwen the Hierophant of Albei (Human, Silvered)

Talents: Earth-Touched, Master Diviner, A Singular Purpose, Perfect Opportunist

As Albei’s hierophant gazed at the scenery around him, a section of the cube’s stone pulled away to form a second smaller cube that hovered over his right shoulder. Then, he looked up at my position, and I saw his eyes turn from brown to gold, shining in the reflected light of the sun.

“You there, show yourself!”

A quick look at my Status clock showed that only about forty-five minutes had passed since I first identified the Maltrans. That was an awfully quick response, even if Mumu used the calling stone connected to the Hunter’s Lodge in Albei.

Maybe things were different when the earth itself helped you to move along? Ikfael could do some amazing things with her manipulation of stone, but this was a level of control and power beyond what I’d seen to date. And, according to his Status, Xefwen was also a Master Diviner. He could very well have foreseen the need for his presence at the Glen. It was just that his timing was off, you know? The fighting was already done.

Yuki sent Snow and Mouser the all-clear. Reinforcements had arrived, not more enemies.

“I said show yourself!” Xefwen’s voice was stern. “There will be no other warnings.”

I stood from where I crouched and let the Camouflage spell lapse. “My apologies, Honored Hierophant, but this place was recently attacked by Maltrans. As its defender, I was merely being careful.”

Almost immediately, I seemed to be examined and dismissed. Xefwen glanced around the Glen, starting to circle around the pool. “Is it just you here?”

“There’s also the spirit of the land Ikfael. This is her territory; her shrine is through trees just over that way,” I said, pointing, then started to make my way down. “The Maltrans who attacked earlier retreated to the northeast. I’m tracking their leader with a spell—”

Xefwen waved a hand as if shooing away a fly. “They’re of no consequence.”

“But they’re the ones poisoning Albei’s darklight; I overheard them myself.”

The hierophant stopped to examine me again, his eyes flickering gold. “So they are, and you’ve done well to defend the spirit of the land’s shrine from them. I can see, however, that the hunters' grandmaster will be on her way later this afternoon. She will take the burden of tracking Albei’s enemies from you. There is no need to worry. Now, was there anyone else here? Or did something happen—a phenomenon difficult to explain or understand?”

I nodded. “Another spirit of the land named Leiluminwei helped in the Glen’s defense. His territory is adjacent. More importantly, the Maltrans are able to embed additional cores into their people, so that they are guaranteed to turn into undead after they die. Their zombies are also harder to kill as a result.”

Xefwen nodded sagely. “Anything more?”

“One of the Maltrans triggered the trap meant for our Ikfael. He turned dark, and one of his powers trapped me in an old memory. Just for a time, though. I was obviously able to get out.”

“A memory you say. Was it yours or—” Xefwen left the rest dangling.

I quickly signed a negative. “Not mine, but from history. There was a lodge master from Voorhei who sacrificed her life for the village—”

The hierophant interrupted. “What about power?”

“The Maltran leaders were silvered—”

“No, no, not them. I’m looking for a spirit or creature who is older, who has had time to truly ripen into their abilities.”

Well, that seemed to describe Heleitia the Boundless to a T, but my throat closed up before I could say anything.

The hierophant must’ve taken my silence as a negative, because he shook his head in disappointment and said, “There still may be enemies nearby. I will search the area myself.”

“Should I—”

“You stay here to wait for your Silasenei,” he instructed. And with that he looked around one last time, his eyes practically glowing, before striding into the nearby trees.

I stood there for a couple of beats, a little dazed by how quickly and smoothly he’d arrived and then departed again. He’d acted a bit like… well, it wasn’t a big deal, but I’d met a few famous actors and actresses in my previous life. There was a kind of breezy importance they carried with them that Xefwen possessed too.

Still, reinforcements were reinforcements, especially the silvered kind. And apparently Silasenei was on her way too. The Glen would be safe now that Xefwen was here—

I blinked a couple of times, realizing that something was off, and then checked my Status.

Conditions

Occupied (Evolving*), Influenced (5)

Gods damn it. The hierophant had had me wrapped around his finger. And it had been subtle; without my Status screen and the all-too-recent experience with Heleitia, I likely wouldn’t have even realized it.

I caught a pair of otter eyes peeking over the pool’s edge. The moment was brief, however. She nodded to me before slipping back into the water. Knowing her, she wouldn’t make an appearance unless Xefwen came forward to ask for an exchange.

Annoyingly, I couldn’t help making the connections between Ikfael’s argument and the hierophant’s actions. The leaders in Albei used their influence to further their goals. Even in Voorhei, we didn’t have anyone silvered, but I knew for a fact that our village head Koda had invested in Charm. He also actively worked to develop his people-based skills and talents. Both were critical in keeping the village peace and making sure we were united during the Long Dark.

Where was the line between persuasion and manipulation? Obviously, there were some clear differences between right and wrong—lying to your people, asking more from them than he can afford to do, etc.—but in a world where you could literally affect how people thought using attributes, talents, and magic… that was a slippery slope, wasn’t it?

My mind spun in circles, not settling on any easy answers. People were complicated, and the systems by which they organized themselves were even more so. The only way to avoid those complications was to live alone, without even a spirit of the land for company.

What an awful, awful thought.

###

A whistle signaled the arrival of the team from Voorhei. Mumu came out of the bushes first, followed by the others shortly after. Thanks to Yuki, they were already up to date on what had happened with the Maltrans, as well as Xefwen’s arrival. The stuff about the Deer God and Heleitia, though, that was private. A secret of the family, as it were.

Still, it felt good to have additional allies nearby, and I got a fire started so that I could make them tea. While they waited for it to steep, my teammates curiously examined the stone cube the hierophant had ridden to get to the Glen.

I’d not found any runes or energy channels after my own examination. The cube appeared to be formed and controlled entirely via Xefwen’s Earth-Touched talent. It was a truly amazing feat, and I couldn’t help wondering if Ikfael might one day be able to manage something similar.

Anyway, my team and I were deep into the debrief of the Maltran attack when he showed up at the other side of the pool. He paid Voorhei’s hunters no mind, however, and disappeared again after a brief once over. My team didn’t seem to find his actions odd; they just took it in stride that he was too busy to talk to them. If anything, they were excited about having caught a glimpse of him. Apparently, the hierophant had a reputation for being reclusive.

A part of me wondered if we shouldn’t tarry and take after Theloc, but Xefwen had said that our grandmaster Silasenei would be on her way soon. We could trust him to be right. We could…

With a sigh, I managed to once more slip out from under the hierophant’s influence, and it was with clearer eyes that I noticed how my team was being remarkably docile. Obviously, we were doing what was necessary—these debriefs were an important part of improving our hunters’ craft—but there was also this sticky notion that we should stay put in case the hierophant needed our help.

A glance at my Status showed that the Influence (5) was still in effect even with Xefwen himself out of view. A quick merge with Yuki shook the uekisheile from their stupor, and they then passed along the message to Mumu and Teila.

A subtle frown was all I saw on Mumu’s face, but Yuki confirmed that our lodge master had also gotten free of Xefwen’s influence. Teila, not so much. Yuki reported that she’d heard the warning, but then promptly forgot about it.

Mumu signed to caution the others that we were being affected by a manipulation power, and that reinforcement helped Teila. I saw her brow furrow with the struggle. Tegen and Haol also began the process of fighting off the influence.

It was interesting that Yuki had been affected. That meant the ability didn’t need to be targeted. There had to be a range limit, though. I needed to stick around the Glen to make sure nothing untoward happened, but my team didn’t.

“Go wait for Silasenei at the eastern boundary to Ikfael’s territory,” I advised.

“Distance enough?” Mumu asked, her hands signing the question.

Replying in kind, keeping my hands low and out of sight, I said, “Don’t know for sure. If it’s not enough, go farther out. I’ll signal if I need help.” For appearance’s sake, my necklace had stones for both Mumu and my family in Voorhei.

Mumu nodded, and then signed for the others to head out.

I sent them off with a wave, then sat to gather my wits in case Xefwen came back. Once I felt steadier, I began to meditate and focused on simply moving the energies in my body to recover the mana and qi I’d spent. After a while, because I couldn’t help picking at scabs, I shifted my attention to the blurry line between my sense of self and the feeling of being influenced.

That only lasted about ten or fifteen minutes, though. I had to stop when Xefwen came striding out from between the trees, seemingly frustrated. But then, I had told him that the Maltrans had fled. They shouldn’t be anywhere nearby, or else Ikfael and Leila would’ve said something about it. Unless he really was after Heleitia?

Well, there was only one way to find out. I asked, “Can I be of service, Honored Hierophant?”

Xefwen ignored me and turned in a circle as if to examine the landscape. He seemed to look through the things around him—the trees, shrubs, and waterfall. His gold eyes passed over me once, twice, and thrice.

“Here, but not now,” he muttered, a slight scowl marring his features. “Am I too early or too late…”

“Perhaps if you tell me more about what you’re looking for,” I said.

This time when the hierophant looked at me, his eyes were a mundane brown. The tension he’d had earlier seemed to fall away, and he stood even straighter than before. I felt small in comparison, as if he was looking at me from high above.

“You’re that boy Iseld is so fond of,” he said. “The one who helps organize her Tournament of Masks.”

“The tournament belongs to the Voorhei Hunter’s Lodge,” I clarified. “World Speaker Iseld is one of its dear supporters.”

“In honor of the spirit of the land whose territory this is, isn’t that right?” Xefwen asked.

“That’s correct, Honored Hierophant.”

“Our records make it clear she’s only a little over two hundred years old,” he said. “She must’ve found good fortune to develop so quickly in so short a time.”

I felt a tug urging me to be truthful, but I stuck with the cover story we’d developed for the tournament. By that point, I’d repeated it so often, it might as well have been the truth. “My understanding is that Honored Ikfael encountered a natural treasure of some kind.”

“And you know this, because you are the keeper of her shrine,” Xefwen observed. “A talented boy with—if you’ll pardon my frankness—a remarkably dull future ahead of him.”

I couldn’t help my eyebrows climbing. “Excuse me?”

“It’s true. I’m never wrong about these things.” Xefwen gestured meaninglessly as he continued, “Although you’ve done well by being at the center of things, you’re like a nugget of feldspar stuck between veins of gold.”

My jaw dropped. Had he seen my spirit map? Over the past few years, as puberty hit, the numbers on my visible Status had climbed until they were almost the same as the ones on the hidden version. Only Spirit had lagged, likely because a 20 in the attribute would’ve been far-fetched for a sixteen-year-old. The Jack of All Trades talent that had once been hidden was also now visible, and a lot of my previous life’s old skills had also started to appear.

Seriously, I should’ve been downright impressive. Just look at this old man and his nonsense.

“Nothing to say, hmm?” Xefwen made another useless gesture. It was getting annoying. Every time he did it, it’d catch my attention, because I thought he was going to sign something.

“You’re no doubt shocked,” he continued aloud. “A boy like you, that village nearby would be desperate to keep you. They would’ve filled your ears with praise. Rewarded you with their paltry gifts. Have they tried to marry you off yet? Tie you down with responsibilities? That’s the way they do these things.” The last words he spoke were especially dismissive.

I was speechless, genuinely so. Even Yuki was flabbergasted. For a moment, I thought it was the influence at work, either Heleitia’s or his, but no… we really didn’t know what to say. Neither of us had been put in the position before of being randomly insulted by the equivalent of a country’s head of state. Because that was who Xefwen was—one of Albei’s three co-leaders. Yes, we were part of the larger Three-City Alliance, but that was more of a loose federation. Nothing like the Maltran’s empire…

Xefwen lifted his chin to look down his nose at me. “I’m the first, am I? To speak the truth to you? You’ve must’ve had some luck before to get to where you are, the position you’re in, but I see it running out—your future all drab and meaningless. A wasted opportunity, really.”

I finally managed to get out, “Honored Hierophant, why are you saying these things?”

“Because I hate to waste opportunities,” he replied. “Listen well, lad. When I was young, barely older than you are now, I was living in Hathwavel far to the south. There, during one of our Long Darks, I saw the city’s hierophant torn apart, our grand pyramid demolished, and do you know why? A single, stray worm—a silvered gray burrower. You don’t get them this far north and be thankful to the gods you don’t.” Xefwen shook his head, but I couldn’t tell if the emotion he seemed to show was real or not. “I learned that year that nothing is more important than power. With power comes safety. With power, you can control fate and bend fortune to your will. With power, all things harmful are averted. Nothing and no one else is as dependable as your own power.”

As he spoke, it hit me that he wasn’t talking to me. I was a prop to him, a convenient audience to the story he wanted to tell.

Then he continued, “So what do you say, young man? Do you want power? Tie your fate to mine, and you’ll have it. Not as much me, of course, but more than you’d get from that village of yours.”

“I’m happy where I am, Honored—”

“The alternative is death, you know,” Xefwen interrupted. “There’s been a disturbance in the flow of fate—I’ve seen it; it’s why I’m here—and those never bode well for small villages like yours. Better to get out while you can and find someone more powerful whose scraps you can use to transform from feldspar to gold. Become my agent here, and I’ll make sure it happens.”

The offer was instantly ignored. Instead, the thing that caught my attention was: “A disturbance?” I asked.

Xefwen nodded. “Both here and at Old Baxteiyel, at the same time. The events are obviously connected, but the timing is… uncertain. Don’t worry, though, I’ll see that neither opportunity is wasted. The only issue is the timing, but I’ll get it. Fate and fortune are in my hands. I just need someone here to keep an eye on things. My attention will be needed for a race I’m hosting.”

“I’m participating in that race,” I said. “Some acquaintances from Albei have hired my team and me to guide them.”

For the first time, I saw Xefwen startled, as if what I’d said had surprised him. He examined me with his gold eyes then, and he kept them on me. “Strange, all I see is mediocrity. Even Old Baxteiyel will be a wasted opportunity for you. That’s almost a talent on its own. You need me, lad, to shake off that dull future. Now what do you say?”

Once more, I felt the tug of Xefwen’s influence, but it turned out to be not that hard to say, “Thank you for the offer, Honored Hierophant, but I prefer to be the master of my own fate. Whether it’s dull or not, it’ll be on me to decide.”

Ooh, the hierophant didn’t like being balked. His spirit might’ve been impenetrable, but I caught the slight frown and the faintly narrowed eyes. “I see. Well then, hopefully that spirit of yours is more sensible. Call her for me; I would speak with this shrine’s spirit of the land.”

In response, Leilu’s voice whispered in my ear. “Our Ikfael is currently unavailable.”

I glanced over to the pool but saw no sign of the otter. She’d thoroughly hidden herself away. Surely this Xefwen was an ass, but was he that distasteful? An exchange with the hierophant would surely benefit Ikfael, unless… I circled back to the idea that he was after Heleitia.

If that was true, it’d go a long way to explain the various behaviors I’d witnessed. But then, what was her connection to Old Baxteiyel? According to Xefwen, there was one, although I didn’t know how much credence to give him. He hadn’t exactly impressed me with the accuracy of his divinations. Speaking of which, I should let him know the bad news.

“Unfortunately, Honored Hierophant, our Ikfael is currently away. She withdrew after the fight with the Maltrans.”

That frown of his became a little more pronounced, and he didn’t say anything for a while. He just looked at me with those gold eyes of his. Then, with a “Tsk,” he spun to walk toward the stone cube. At the entrance, he paused to speak over his shoulder. “Send a message if you change your mind. Do know, however, that the offer won’t last for long.”

The stone cube sealed up once he was inside, and he drove away, although at a much slower pace.

For the first time in what felt like ages, the Glen was still, with only the sound of the waterfall and the motion of the fine mist rising from it. Heleitia, the Deer God, Ikfael, and even Leilu and the silver wolves all appeared to have decided that enough was enough and retired for the day.

It was just me alone for the time being.

Far to the east, at the edge of what I could sense, the winds shifted. I felt a change in the pressure and clouds gathering. A quick scan of the weather forecast didn’t show anything unusual over the next ten days, but I was sure—a storm was brewing.