Unbound

The morning dawned on the Risen Ward, and already the streets were crowded. Most notably, folks gathered thickest near the Temple and Council Rotunda, where a wide platform had been erected in the night. The Matrons and Masters stood behind a minor official as they offered a proclamation. From her position across the Ward, Zara could not make out the entire speech, but it was easy enough to guess the rest of it.

They're rallying the people against us. Blaming a...someone killed a Master? Zara squeezed her eyes shut, a headache threatening just behind her eyes. Felix. Of course. And now they're all condemned as traitors.

"Did a Master truly die? You did not mention that before," she said aloud. Beside her, skirts rustled and armor clinked softly.

"I was not able to see much that occurred...only that your representative was far stronger than anyone expected." Fiammetta shuddered. "He defeated one of the Masters, and though I did not see him die, I am not surprised if he had. Or rather I am. I—that level of strength, and he is a mere political envoy? Who is your ruler, then?"

Zara didn't bother to answer that. The girl had proven herself useful after Zara interrogated her; in fact, the Chanter hadn't even had to do much except ask questions. The Faun was quick to give everything she knew. That was why Zara wasn't particularly surprised about the proclamation and what it claimed. What did alarm her, however, was the idea of this sacrifice. It was precisely the sort of thing the Hierocracy fabricated to hunt down those that did not kowtow to their little god.

Avet let me live to see the day they all burn, she thought. It was less of a prayer and more of a wishful promise to herself. And let today be the last day these hateful fools darken this world.

Across the square, she spotted movement atop the walls of her target.

Zara stood. "Come. A number of the Knights have already left to attend that proclamation. While the crowds and officials are distracted, now is the time to strike."

"Right," Fiammetta said. She hefted a mace in her left hand, made almost entirely of a golden alloy and etched with a number of sigils. "How are we to do this, then?"

"If you cannot recall, then I do not need you on this endeavor," Zara said dismissively. "I will rescue my people alone."

"No!" she said quickly. And then, after a breath. "No. I can do this."

"Can you? Can you kill Temple Knights? These are your brothers and sisters in arms, are they not?" Zara needled her, Affinity dialed in on her Spirit. She could hear a bevy of emotions strum through the girl's heart, but rising from them all was a sense of guilt coupled with a strident determination.

"I cannot allow the Matrons to do this horrible thing. It is not what I was taught, nor is it in the best interests of this city. I—I am sorry for my part in events, but had I an inkling of what the Masters were planning I would have...I would have done something. I know it." The Faun's eyes were still red-rimmed from her confessions earlier in the night, but her gaze was unwavering now. "This sacrifice must not happen. There must be another way to save the Highest Flame."

Zara grinned and was pleased to see the Faun barely flinch from her sharp teeth.

"Then do as I say, exactly."

Felix drank down a third cup of Panacea wine and hesitated only a second longer before filling a fourth. As much as he didn't want to admit it, the mixture was doing wonders for his Aspects. The fire in the pot-bellied stove was crackling and warm as ever, but he was uneasy. After he'd convinced Michael to stop trying to kill him, the two of them had ascended a set of hidden stairs in the cliff face, until they returned to Naos' small hut. Despite their wild fight, the hut didn't show a single sign it had ever been partially collapsed.

Naos had offered the both of them some space to rest and relax after their altercation, and though the Yttin seemed immensely curious about Felix, he restrained himself from asking any questions. Michael, for all his talk of Endurance, passed out almost immediately after laying down. The Minotaur's snores had soon filled the hut and beyond.

Felix found it difficult to trust the Yttin, but sleep had been too tempting to refuse. Pit had remained outside, too big to enter, but was more than enough to watch over him while he rested. Eventually Felix allowed himself to drift off.

That had been hours ago. Now he sat on a poorly crafted chair and watched Naos fuss over the Minotaur's many wounds. The poultice the Yttin had prepared before was wrapped tight against Michael's huge shoulder. Outside, Pit and that enormous Multipede sniffed curiously at one another.

"I'm fine," Michael insisted again.

"You were bleeding all over the sand, boy," Naos said acerbically. "If I am to play at being your teacher, then perhaps you should listen to me and not try and murder my houseguests, hmm?"

"Not even bleeding anymore," he muttered. Quietly.

"Teacher?" Felix asked.

"Oh yes. I've been tutoring willful children for many years now." Naos smiled in that unnerving way all Yttin did.

"And how many years have you worn the face of a Yttin?" It was a guess, phrasing it that way, but he'd watched those flashes of light ripple across the healer's body multiple times now. They looked like seams.

"You speak nonsense." Naos narrowed his copper eyes at him. "You see far too much for a young man, to speak of Unbound and faces that change. Who are you, Veil? Truly?"

Felix set down his mug, half-drained, and spread his hands. "Just a guy from Florida."

"Wait," Michael straightened, his dark green eyes wide. "Florida? That's...that's not on the Continent, right? There isn't like, a Florida full of Elves or something right?"

The thought of that made Felix chuckle. "No. Not that I'm aware of. I'm just like you, Michael."

"You're from Earth? Holy shit." The Minotaur surged to his feet, his bullish face giddy. "Naos said there were others, but I didn't—I haven't met anyone who knew about Earth!"

"There are nine of us," Felix said, before he caught up with Michael's rushed words. "Naos said that, huh?" He stared at the Yttin, who had gone very still in the corner. "Did he also tell you we were summoned here to fight a war?"

"Be careful what you speak of, Veil. You tread on dangerous ground," Naos warned him, but Felix snorted.

"Can't exactly say that's new for me," he said, but didn't press the topic. From the way Michael was pacing and laughing, he wasn't sure how much the guy even cared.

"Naos said we got summoned, yeah yeah. Said he and some of his friends disrupted the ritual-thing and got us free. Naos is smart. Definitely min-maxed in Intelligence and Wisdom," Michael said.

"Wisdom...isn't one of the stats."

The big guy stammered and then snorted bullishly. "I uh, I meant Willpower. Same diff, right?"

"Uh. I mean, sort of," Felix allowed.

"So you are Unbound as well," Naos said, finally drawing closer to him. He moved slowly, and kept his hands well away from his person, as if approaching a feral animal. "Two. Here, under my roof."

"Oh yeah, I'm definitely an Unbound," Felix said, letting his teeth show. "And you're a Chanter, aren't you?"

Naos' eyes went wide.

"How did you—what are you talking about? I am Yttin, I have lived here for centuries! Ask anyone!" He gestured to the empty level, devoid of anyone. "Well, ask anyone another time. But I am only Naos."

Felix rolled his eyes. "I already established that you're wearing a disguise. And it's not made of Mana...at least, not entirely. It's too convincing. That's Chant made, and you're Cantus Sodalus." Felix snapped his finger. "Isla, isn't it?"

"Tch." The imperious-looking Yttin deflated and surprised Felix by pouting. "I can recognized a Chanted artifact when I see one, and that amulet is impressive indeed. You've met a member of my Order, then?"

"Zara."

Naos—Isla—laughed, the noise almost girlish and ill-fitting in his mouth. "That old bag of bones dragged herself to the desert. For what? She clearly had already found you."

"My visions...I was seeing Michael here, and he was in trouble." He looked to the Minotaur. "I came to help."

Michael huffed a long, relieved breath. "Help. And you're from Earth?" he asked again. His eyes watered, as if worried Felix would change his mind.

"Yeah. I think all of us are from Earth," Felix said.

"Wow," he said. "Wait. Why'd you call Naos something else? What is the Catan Sodapop?"

"In due time, dear boy," Naos said. "I did not get your name, child. Your real name, if you please."

Felix leaned back, scooping up the mug of wine once more. "Felix Nevarre. Nice to meet you."

Silence overtook the cramped hut, and then Naos began to laugh.

"So I've been in the desert a while, ya know? Fightin' shit and stuff," Michael said as they stood on the outside of the hut. He patted the rough carapace of his strange companion. "Hallow helped me through a lot of it, really."

Hallow, the Multipeded, nodded his truck-sized head. The spaces between its segmented chitin glowed blackened-green.

"Is Hallow your Companion?" Felix asked, stepping away from the chasm's ledge. He was unhappy to realize that while he knew he could survive the fall, the idea of jumping into it again made his stomach decidedly queasy. Or maybe that's just my little hungry abyss, he mused. It was still complaining—sort of. The communication between Felix and his Hunger wasn't exactly on the level of words or even sense-impressions like with Pit. More like vague concepts.

"I am one," Hallow said. Its voice was oddly resonant, though definitely female.

"One what?" Felix asked the creature.

"Don't bother. She says that when I ask too," Michael admitted. "Don't really know what she is, just that she's the one that, uh fills up all the bodies I can control."

"Fills up, huh," Felix said. "In the visions I had of you, that was pretty clear. How does that work?"

"I am legion," Hallow said. Soft as it was, the voice reverberated, and Felix felt his teeth vibrate.

"Oh yeah, he says that too," the Minotaur said with a shrug. "No clue what that means either."

Pit was sitting nearby, golden eyes trained on the unnerving insectile length of Hallow. He kept sniffing the air and making short chirrups.

What's up, bud?

Pit shrugged. Smells good.

Interesting. Felix wouldn't have bet on that.

"So...did you get hit by lights too?" Michael asked.

"What?"

"Like, when you were brought here?" He shrugged, a bit awkwardly. "I was hit by like, this huge wave of liquid light? I was in my room, playing SwordLore. Almost got to the last boss too."

"SwordLore?" Felix's Mind reached back, to the hazier memories of Earth. "That was an...MMO right? The one with all those professional guilds and stuff?"

"You never played it? What? Everyone at school played it non-stop." Michael snorted, his bull-snout twitching. "I didn't, uh, I didn't have any kinda guild or anything. More of a solo player, ya know?"

"Sure," Felix said. He'd never been a fan of online gaming, preferring to play one player games or tabletop stuff. "Been a while since I played any sort of game, to be honest."

"What do you mean? We live here now!" Michael spread his heavily muscled arms. The guy was huge, and his reach was really impressive. "This is like every awesome game I've ever played, but a million times better!"

Felix frowned, but Michael kept talking, his gestures growing more animated as he went.

"Anyway, the light wave grabbed me an yanked me through like space or something? I don't remember much, except landing here. South of this city, deeper in the desert. It was a nasty time." His enthusiasm waned a bit. "Real bloody at first. There's...there's lots of bad things out in the sands during the day. So when I got the chance to pick my own Race? Hell yeah! That was amazing. So I chose my favorite. A powerful body that could win."

"Minotaur is a good choice. I imagine you get extra Strength and Endurance each level?" Felix asked.

"And Vitality. They're like, custom-made to be awesome warriors," Michael said with a wide smile. "Can't believe you stuck with Human, though."

Felix shrugged. "If you don't mind me asking, what's your Omen?"

"Oh, yeah that thing." For some reason the guy looked suddenly embarrassed. "Promise not to laugh, okay?"

"Okay?" Felix said, unsure.

"It's just...ugh. I got the Lovers Omen."

Michael looked down at the ground, as if profoundly ashamed, and Felix didn't know what to say. "Why would I laugh at that?" he asked.

"What? Because it's all about love and stuff? That's dumb," Michael said with a distinct pout in his voice. "I dunno what's out there, but I wanted like King Kickass or something. And I got some lame female MC thing? It's not fair."

"I—" Felix sighed. This is stupid. "What bonuses does it give you?"

With an annoyed grunt, Michael swiped his hand across the air. A blue notification window rotated into Felix's view.

Omen: The Lovers - Bonded and sealed. +2 INT, +1 VIT, +1 END

"That's pretty solid," Felix said. 'Bonded and sealed' is interesting. Is that why Michael was able to develop this Companion of his? "Spells hit harder, a little extra Mana, and even more Stamina and Health boosts. What's not to like?"

Michael only shrugged. "I dunno."

Felix rolled his eyes and decided to keep the conversation moving. "After that, you decided to rename yourself, then?"

"Oh!" Michael's eyes regained their luster with a vengeance. "Yeah! It's cool, isn't it? Like, I wanted my old handle I had in SwordLore, but the System wouldn't let me add special characters."

"So you...picked Beefhammer instead?" Felix asked, trying and failing to contain a smirk.

"Bruh. I'm a big slab of beef now! Took some doing to get my hammer, but I got it! Now I kick ass all over the desert." Michael—Beefhammer—flexed his arms and posed. Felix couldn't help it as a laugh bubbled out of his throat. "What?"

"Just—" Felix said, shaking from restraining more laughter. "It's just Beefhammer is...it's, hoo, it's a great name."

"It is, isn't it?" Michael said, clearly just as proud as he was oblivious to Felix's amusement. "Though, could you stop calling me Michael? That's...that's my old name, for the old me. I'm Beefhammer now."

The guy's tone shifted so seriously, and his Spirit followed. This was important to him. Felix nodded. "I can do that, Beef."

Beef grinned. "Cool."

The door to the hut creaked open and closed, and a Human woman with long limbs and piles of platinum blonde hair that tumbled from a strangely woven, metallic headpiece. She had a strong nose over dark eyebrows and eyes with an almost hawk-like intensity.

"Whoooa, who're you?" Beef asked, a conjured great maul suddenly in his hands.

"Isla, I presume," Felix said, looking at the Minotaur. "Formerly Naos." He turned back to the Chanter and inclined his head slightly. "Nice to finally meet you."

"Naos! You got boobs!" Beef said, staring in confusion at the Chanter before him. "When you said you were wearing a mask, I thought you meant like...I don't know. But you're Human? Not Yttin?"

"Yes, dear boy. I know it's confusing, but such is the nature of magic." She shrugged delicately and smirked at Felix. "Nice to meet you both, officially. Michael. Autarch Nevarre."

"Autarch," Michael said with a wondering laugh. "Man, I still can't believe you conquered a whole Territory. You're in like...endgame content already. Or at least mid-game."

Felix spotted the heavy bags at Isla's side. "What's the plan, then? Taking the fight to the Grandmaster?"

"No. That's foolish, and I've nothing to prove," Isla said. "I go to find my sister and help her evade this sacrifice. To help those I can."

Felix nodded at her bags. "What's with the luggage?"

"Some may heal with Skills alone, but I have always found bandages and the appropriate tools to be greatly beneficial." She held out a hand before Felix could open his mouth again. "No, you cannot come with me. You Unbound are too important, to everything. I cannot risk that on some petty vengeance."

"They have my friends, Isla. I'm not going to sit around and just wait for them to be rescued," Felix said, and he felt his eyes burn.

"Calm yourself. Autarch or not I will force you to stay here if I have to. You cannot fight the Grandmaster as you are, and if you follow me that is what will happen. Kel'lyv is a savvy man, and he will not miss your return." Isla's face softened with her tone. "If I go alone, I can evade all of their notice. I will be able to find and rescue your friends. I promise it."

Felix took a breath, flaring his nostrils. As much as he wanted to fight her, Isla had a point. Would Abyssal Skein even hide me from someone at that level? He simply didn't know.

"I—I will have to trust you, then," Felix said at last. "I don't like it, though."

"I go to aid my sister Zara. With her help, we can overcome any obstacles before us. With you here, I can trust that Michael is in good hands." She looked at the Minotaur and smiled. "He's stubborn, but you'll both be safe while you fully recover. We can settle the rest at a later date, yes?"

"Fine. Just please, make sure you bring back everyone. I gave you their names, and all of the members of my company." Felix shook his head. "I got them into this mess, and I need to see them out of it."

Isla bowed, a good bit more than Felix had for her. "I will see it done."

When she straightened, a swell of harmonious music erupted, and she vanished. Or rather, her Body was sent zooming into the dark chasm above with incredible speed. In a blink, she was gone.

"Holy shit," Beef said, clomping up next to Felix. "Naos can fly?"

"Apparently."

There was a beat, while the both of them looked after the spot where Isla had disappeared. Felix could still sense traces of her Mana, like a plane's contrails, but the abundance of crystalline resonance above them made it all a mess after a short distance.

"Well, this is boring." Beef clapped his hands and turned to Felix. "Wanna see a dead body?"

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