Chapter 226 – New Seas to Sail

Mirian arrived in Alkazaria and gathered the high priests. This time, the High Priest of Carkavakom accepted her claim as easily as the others. He didn’t smile so much. It was like he was a different person.

Her best guess was an Elder creature was involved. Some of them had been assigned by the Gods to guard the Elder Gates. They could visit different paths in the fields of time, meaning they must be present in some paths, but not others. In the cycles where she never visited the conduit rooms, they would never appear—why would they need to? Perhaps Carkavakom had such an agent.

If so, she could only hope it was as restrained as Conductor and Eyeball. If it was interfering, why? And why now?

Naturally, even Eyeball refused to tell her anything about it.

When she arrived at the council chambers, she took a different tactic.

“Dawn’s Peace is in a stronger position than you realize. They even have infiltrators here in Alkazaria,” she told First Councilor Izrif. “However, there’s an Elder artifact buried beneath the city that can be used as a powerful weapon.” Turning to one of the council secretaries she now knew was working for the Deeps, she said, “Much like the one in Torrviol, only, I know how to use it.”

Like rallying Torrviol against the Akanan invasion, it was much easier to rally Alkazaria’s elites against Persama than for ‘saving Enteria.’ Stick with the world they know, she thought, leaning on her father’s advice.

Later, in a personal conversation with Izrif, she said, “I think credit for the Elder artifact’s discovery should be given to whomever is most responsible for it being uncovered. Imagine what the history books will say about the man who changed the fate of Baracuel.”

Like with Archmage Luspire, she could play to his ambition.

It rankled, but it worked much better. There were still stupid political games, but they didn’t impede her digging so much. This time, she also had to deal with the Praetorians before they left, though she’d already briefed her father about them and how to avoid their intelligence network.

“Fate’s a funny thing,” Voran said, when he realized just who this new Prophet was.

Mirian wanted to rip off his head, but she restrained herself.

***

It took four more cycles, before at last, leyline data narrowed down the location and a geomancer team successfully found the spherical hollow beneath all the andesite and obsidian bedrock. It was much deeper than she’d thought it would be, and it was directly under one of the spires in the south part of Central Hill, just north of Oldtown, near the Temple of Eintocarst.

Conductor greeted her when she found the conduit room.

I CAN’T ACTIVATE IT UNTIL YOU REPLACE THE CONDUIT CRYSTALS, the Elder creature told her in that annoyed tone it always had.

Can’t you use an intact set of crystals from another conduit room? she asked.

NO. YOU KNOW THE RULES.

Mirian had already fabricated a full set of the crystals, guessing that the fiery blasts that had destroyed the ancient Viaterrian city had done the same damage here that she’d seen in Palendurio.

Connecting the Alkazaria Gate to the Palendurio Gate so late in the cycle only extended the loop by three days. She announced her success to the other Prophets via zephyr falcon the next loop. With the location known, she could now connect the Torrviol and Mahatan Gates on the first day of the loop, then connect Palendurio and Alkazaria five days later. She began measuring the effects on the leylines immediately.

In the meantime, she waited for word from the others.

The news from them was less inspiring.

Gabriel was now trying the overland route to Zhighua, having a ship drop him off on the coast and then staying along that to avoid the worst of the jungle. However, he was again changing tactics, because the myrvites in the Jiandzhi seemed more aggressive than usual, and he’d gotten killed twice in the attempt. Then, because he hated dying, he’d taken a break to go back to studying Labyrinth routes to see if he could find any more Vaults.

Mirian was annoyed. There was a known overland safe route south of Alatishad that was pouring refugees into the city. Surely, he could just use it, even if it would take weeks. However, she knew berating him wouldn’t do anything.

Jherica was continuing their research and personal training. They hadn’t accomplished much either, but they also had a great deal of catching up to do. As far as Mirian could tell, Liuan wasn’t interfering. The wizard had checked up on Celen, but there was no change in his situation.

Ibrahim sent no communication. He’d seized Rambalda as usual each cycle, but that was all she knew. All her zephyr falcons went unanswered.

Finally, there was Liuan.

Her message was brief. She gave no updates on the political situation, nor any apology for the RID agents she’d had follow Mirian after the last Council of Prophets. All she had to say was:

Mirian,

Problems with both leviathans and Tlaxhuacan warships. No progress made. Invasion may be necessary to progress.

-Liuan Var

Mirian stared at the letter with disgust when she received it. Five loops. Ten months! That’s it? Is there a new Akanan tax on words? Did they run out of ink over there? Gods above.

She burned the letter with a burst of raw fire and sat in her tower room in Alkazaria for several moments, looking out across the city. Then, she took the Gate to Palendurio, burrowed up through the rock, and was on the train north to Torrviol within the hour. She could have changed the destinations of the gates to go straight from Alkazaria to Torrviol, but decided to take the first set of full measurements of leyline data from the new arrangement.

As soon as she arrived, she sought out her old acquaintance.

“Xipuatl,” she said, barging into his apartment. She’d known he was there because she’d seen him with detect life behind the wall. “I need to know as much as you can teach me about Tlaxhuaco. Current politics. Basic history. Religion. You might as well start teaching me the basics of the language, too,” she said.

This late in a cycle, with Torrviol Academy directed to do her research and the Gate open, rumors that she was a Prophet tended to spread. Xipuatl gaped at her. The natural glow of her silver eyes tended to do that to people now, and she knew she carried herself with a presence that was hard to ignore. Finally, he said, “Wait, you know me?”

“Yes. You taught me some basic soul magic. We used to meet for study sessions with Nicolus. We worked together for two years, and I’ve been making progress on your universal theory.” When he didn’t respond, Mirian said, “I didn’t become like this overnight. You’re part of the Yanez family, which means you can get us safe passage to the island. I don’t know any other Tlaxhuacans yet. It won’t happen this cycle, but we can start making preparations now.”

Love what you’re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

Xipuatl took a step back. “Wait… I’m right?”

“About soul magic and arcane magic being part of a universal system, yes—but we’re not getting into that right now.” Mirian looked over to his meditation room where his focus—what he and the Tlaxhuacans called an ‘elder reliquary’—was hidden behind a permanent illusion in the wall. “I’ve been meaning to take a closer look at this,” she murmured as she casually used raw force magic to pull it to her. The jade-like substance had similar properties to the silver-gray focus she’d bound to herself. Both reflected light in a strange way.

“You can’t—that’s my family’s sacred—”

Mirian lowered the focus, put a hand on his shoulder and met his eyes. “Xipuatl. The world ends soon. What happens to anything will not be permanent. The only thing that will matter is the final cycle, but that won’t happen unless I learn more about the strange deficit of leyline energy in Tlaxhuaco. Do you need time to wrap your head around that, or can we talk seriously?”

Xipuatl took a moment. Mirian had these memories of him being so confident and unshakable. It was strange to compare that to the young man who stood before her now.