Home > Bloodline (Cradle #9)(5)

Bloodline (Cradle #9)(5)
Author: Will Wight

He was hoping that his resolve would make an impression on the Heart Sage, but her face was still placid. She did, however, let out a long breath.

“Lindon. Yerin. I will do anything in my power to keep you as allies. So instead of forcing you, I will beg you.”

To Lindon’s surprise and discomfort, Charity bowed deeply at the waist.

“Please, do not go yourselves. There is too much that may go wrong, and humanity will be worse off for your deaths. Please stay here.”

Even Yerin shifted uncomfortably, and she flicked a glance up at Lindon to gauge his reaction.

At that moment, the script-circle on a panel to Lindon’s right lit up with a new figure made of light. Mercy was running up to their front door, waving a black-clad hand.

“Can you hear me? Open up!”

Lindon triggered the door without thought, and Mercy’s projection beamed as she ran through. “Thank you!” she called.

Charity straightened from her bow, folding her hands in front of her and waiting as though she had expected Mercy to arrive with exactly that timing.

When Mercy reached the top floor and joined them in person, she spoke immediately. “Don’t hurt them, Aunt Charity!”

Mercy’s appearance was sloppier than usual. Her hair had been tied back unevenly, with strands escaping here and there, and her black-and-white robes were rumpled and loosely tied. There were unexplained smudges on her face, and Lindon wondered if she’d had a chance to rest.

Overlords didn’t need much sleep, but they’d all had an exhausting few days.

Charity’s eyebrows tightened. “What makes you think I was going to hurt them?”

Lindon absolutely thought Charity would use violence to make them listen, but he didn’t say so.

Mercy ground her staff and raised her chin, as confident as if she were giving an order. “They’ve earned the right to go where they want.”

Maybe she was delivering an order, though Charity still outranked Mercy in their family hierarchy.

The Sage was unmoved. “Even if we ignore the Dreadgod, there are other threats. If an enemy Monarch or Sage finds them, they will be slaughtered.”

“Then aren’t they going to the safest possible place?”

“Not from the Wandering Titan.”

Yerin waved one crimson-tinted sword-arm. “Malice owes me a prize.”

“The Monarchs collectively do,” Charity pointed out. “Our clan owes you a debt of gratitude that we will gladly repay, but it is poor compensation to send you into certain death.”

“Then help us,” Lindon said. “You said we could organize something to evacuate Sacred Valley without us going in person. Why don’t we do both?”

He had pushed her for help before, but now he felt he had an opening. “It can only be faster than going alone. And safer.”

Charity looked to Mercy, who eagerly nodded. The Sage searched the faces of Lindon and Yerin, and then she closed her eyes.

Lindon couldn’t tell if she was communing with her Monarch, looking through her own memories, or even gazing into the future, but he sensed nothing.

After a few breaths, she opened her eyes.

“I can only mobilize perhaps two dozen passenger cloudships,” she said. “They have a maximum capacity of six thousand apiece, so depending on the size of your valley, you may need to make multiple trips, and that may not be possible if the Dreadgod is too close.”

Lindon’s spirits soared, but before he could thank her, she continued.

“Furthermore, the cloudships cannot operate inside the valley’s security field. The ships will have to wait at the border. I will leave their crews under your command, and they can help you evacuate, but they will have standing orders to leave immediately at the first sign of the Wandering Titan. Even if they have no passengers aboard.

“Finally, in order to reach the territory in question, we will need to pass through the portal to Sky’s Edge. Where the Dreadgod is currently feeding.”

A chill passed through Lindon’s spine. He remembered the massive humanoid figure of dark stone, its shell rising from the ocean like an island.

He had felt its thoughts crashing over his mind in an avalanche of hunger.

He could imagine what it was like when it was awake, active, and focused on destruction. He could imagine it all too well.

“I will enter the portal first,” Charity continued. “If I believe the situation is too dangerous, I will not allow you to pass. Once I have escorted you through, if the situation is too risky for the other cloudships to follow, then I will leave them behind and you will be on your own. Even if everything goes perfectly, I expect you to be wise enough not to throw your lives away and to return as quickly as possible. If these conditions are not acceptable, then I cannot allow you to go at all.”

She spoke as though she expected resistance, but Lindon couldn’t understand why.

Not acceptable? That was perfect. She was offering more support than he had hoped for, much less expected.

Now, he had a real chance of success.

Dross folded his arms. [That seems convenient, don’t you think? Awfully convenient. You’ve got some kind of plan for us, don’t you? A secret Sage plan. I’d trust you a lot more if you gave me a peek inside your memories. Just a quick—]

“It’s perfect,” Lindon said in a rush, forcibly cutting off Dross. He bowed as deeply as he could. “My sincere gratitude. I cannot thank you enough.”

[Something I’ve noticed about you,] Dross said to Lindon from inside his head. [You’re so agreeable once you get what you want.]

“Thank me when you come back alive,” Charity muttered. “It will take some time to arrange the cloudships, and my father is about to ascend. The earliest we can leave is tomorrow morning, so in the meantime I will put you to work. Disembark your cloudship and return to the tower. Dress for a formal occasion.”

Lindon chafed at the delay, but ultimately this should save him time. If it meant two dozen more cloudships with which to evacuate the population, then he could wait.

Charity rubbed at the center of her forehead as though to soothe a headache. “Now, do you have any other business with me?”

If he said he did, Lindon thought Charity might transport him to the bottom of the ocean. “Apologies for taking up so much of your time, honored Sage. We will see you tonight.”

She waited a moment longer, purple eyes looking him up and down. “You’re a Sage yourself now,” she said at last. “Even if you have a long way to go. Call me Charity.”

Mercy sputtered while Lindon tried to formulate a response, but the Sage didn’t wait.

In a fold of shadow, Charity vanished.

 

 

2

 

 

The cold weight of Lindon’s wintersteel badge hung against his chest as he stood witness in the trial.

This room in the Akura tower of the Ninecloud Court had been shrouded entirely in shadows. The edges were totally black, creating the impression that the circle of people in the center existed in the one well-lit island in a sea of endless dark.

Purple eyes glowed in the darkness, all filled with rage, all focused on the three figures bound and kneeling in the middle.

Meira, Underlady of the Seishen Kingdom, looked largely unharmed. Her gray hair, unfitting for her age, hung messy behind her, but her skin was untouched. Her pink flower Goldsign shone over one ear.

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