Chapter 214


    Loss, despair, and a tiny flicker of hope all tore at my mind, burning any semnce of cognizance to ash. Nothing mattered. Not the order, not whatever oveplicated bullshit I was trying to aplish here. None of it meant anything if Ellison was gone.


    Was he? He knew. Had to. Somehow concluded that once we were out, the system would reward an artifact and made sure it went to medid he know that because he was aware he and hispanions werent traditional Users and were therefore exempt from receiving the artifact? Or because missing the Nosferatus head was a critical mistake, and hed lose, and what kind of fucking time loop was it for fucks sake? If Ellison died did everything reset? Or were there quantum elements in y, and every time he died he moved to a new timeline?


    Too many fucking unknowns.


    <em>Crack</em>


    I put my fist through a stone coffin, barely feeling the impact. It fractured in a series of spider webbing cracks and copsed, spilling out desated bones and dust. It barely registered that the coffin was nearly an inch thick, and I shouldnt have been able to break through it.


    The panic blew the lid off, growing more sharp and pronounced, a tingling fraying ache that threatened to paralyze me. I put my fist through another coffin, and again, the stone obliterated as if Id struck it with a hammer. It hurt more, this time, and I felt a pulse of pain in my fist that granted a moment of rity before I plunged into a never-ending pool of anxiety.


    Myrddin.


    Someone was calling out to me. Someone I didnt care about.


    <em>Go back go back now you have to know for sure you have to see go now go now GO NOW!</em>


    <em>Myrddin.</em> Miles caught my shoulder before I could jump back in the ripple.


    I pivoted and swung a blind backhand that hit nothing, trying to get around the interference so I could


    Do what, exactly? Save him? If the worst had happened Ellison was already gone. Go anyway and bet on the astronomical odds hed dropped a core? The Nosferatu would pick me off as easily as breathing. And Id seen its power first hand. Payback was out of the question.


    At least for now.


    Slowly, I stopped moving. That old familiar feeling of helplessness overtook me, rooted my feet in ce.


    The tunnel vision faded, and I stared down the threaded barrel of a Glock, dimly realizing what happened. I fucked up. And in my briefpse of sanity, Miles had taken the initiative and now held the advantage. His right eye aligned with the sight, his expression emotionless and cold.


    When I spoke, my voice was so twisted and raw I barely recognized it. You got a memory loss issue, Miles?


    Stay. Back. Miles said.


    Because you had ample fucking opportunity to throw me into an abyss a few minutes ago, and let it slip through your fingers. I growled and took another step forward.


    Miles retreated, keeping a constant distance of around five feet between us. A less experienced shooter harboring the same level of anger might have pressed the gun against my head and made for an easy disarm but Miles never missed a beat. That was before you started punching through stone. And just because I overlooked half-pint backing you up again in the moment, doesnt mean I am now. Not without one hell of an exnation.


    I gritted my teeth, and tried to banish the image of Ellison that popped up in my mind. If you want answers, get the goddamn gun out of my face.


    A mental recoil sent a wave of pain through my neurons. It felt simr to when I tried to cast <strong></strong> on a target with elevated Intelligence. Only, I hadnt.


    Miles grimaced and lowered the gun. He didnt inventory it, just gripped it at his side, and when I tried to walk past him towards the elevator, he still retreated as before, staying between me and the elevator.


    That bounty notification probably went out to everyone at the tower. Its possible the Adventurers Guild is ying interference, but if some actual monsters down there in the line decide they want a shot at you, theres only so long the guild can hold them off. All of which means we have a tight window to get you out. I red at him. Make up your fucking mind.


    Every part of me wanted to abandon this course altogether and rush back into the ripple. Even before the dome and the transposition, I had trouble trusting Ellison, probably because of the many simrities we shared. What Id missed was how thatck of trust frayed our rtionship, slowly wore it down and fostered resentment. Maybe he had just been trying to get some space thatst breakfast at <em>Sams</em>, but the only reason his words cut so deeply was because they were steeped in truth.


    At some point, Id lost sight of who he was, and just saw the parts of him that reminded me of myself.


    If I wanted to make a changefor Ellison to trust me again, I needed to return the favor. There was no faking the tiredness in his voice. Hed been doing this for a long, long time. And hed specifically told me that if I took too long getting Miles clear, it would make things harder in the long run.


    For now, Id believe. It didnte naturally and directly conflicted with my tendency to think the worst. But Id believe just the same. Ellison wasnt dead. He just wasnt a User.


    Becauselets face itif I looked at all this in terms of game bnce, a time loop ability waspletely overpowered. And anotheryer of system fuckery was pretty much par for the course at this point.


    Having worked through his own inner conundrum, Miles inventoried his weapon. He stared at me, as if expecting a sudden attack at any moment. When none came, he finally seemed to rx.


    Now. You said something about answers. Miles raised an eyebrow.


    /////


    I multi-tasked, checking in with Azure and chatting with Kinsley as soon as we came back into range. The situation in the lobby wasnt great. The Adventurers Guild had acted quickly, leveraging their influence to protect Miles and suspend elevator entry as soon as the bounty notification went out, but things were deteriorating quickly. They werent able to stop anyone inside the tower from using the elevators, so I instructed Azure to disguise himself as a random adventurer, go down to the lobby, and report to Sara as me. After some convincing I let my summon handle exining why Id missed what must have been a never-ending mess of red-alerts and all-hands-on-deck. It was difficult to take a hands off approach for once, but Azures talent was crafting narrative.


    Getting Miles out was an outright pain in the ass,rgely because the tower was protected. I dropped a hint for him to coordinate with Kinsley and see if there was anywhere in the tower she could door to, while I coordinated with her from the other side. Once he was out, shed immediately spirit him away with her sanctuary ability, until we could figure out next steps.


    While the lower floors of the tower werent blocked frommunication, they had a hell of a lot more protections in ce to protect from unwanted entry and teleportation. Kinsley went through, painstakingly testing each floor and failing to find an entry point until shended on the fourth floor. She warned me it felt unstable, that the towers security seemed almost intelligent and she didnt think she could open a door inside the tower again.


    Which meant me, Nick, and the rest would be on our own.


    I just took that in stride, because I had my hands full just telling Miles the truth.


    Or at least, doing so without giving him enough rope to hang me with.


    It was a mostly undeveloped theory. One percting in the back of my mind for quite some time since the Allfather revealed himself as my patron, and was reinforced every time a god interfered.


    Theyre cheating. Miles said aloud, as if wrapping his mind around the idea.


    I nodded. Its the only thing that makes sense. The Overseer''s public statements imply theyve been doing this for some time. And while I cant exactly show hard evidence for this, the Allfathers, proctors, and Nychtasments all seem to imply these inquisitions have been going on for a staggeringly long time. My ss. <em>Your</em> ssunless Impletely wrongand the way they screwed with Tylers truth-sight ability right when it would have the most devastating oue. Now, granted, all of those prior cases have justification. Im guessing you answered questions within the void before your ss was assigned, just like mine?


    Miles nodded, his mouth tight.


    And divine-tainted monsters wounded Tyler, which is a little more borderline. But Hastur is running his own fucking guild, and more problematic, Nychta outright granted me something I needed at the perfect moment.


    Things are devolving. Miles finished.


    Right now theyre running a proxy war. Using third-parties to snipe at each other, jockeying for position, all while maintaining usible deniability. Remind you of anything? I asked.


    Miles looked troubled. Might as well be pulling directly out of the spook ybook. Fund the ragtag resistance against the regime you dont like, arm and back themat least until they either crumble, overthrow the regime, or do something you dont approve ofthen call it a day.


    Rarely ends well for the resistance. Even if they win.


    Thats a goddamn understatement. Miles said, rubbing his chin. Then he caught himself and reentered his focus on me. Though all this spitballing is feeling like a distraction.


    How so?


    None of it exins what happened in the tunnel. Or why you waltzed into a goddamn death camp and spared the necromancer running the show.


    I winced. Largely because he wasnt wrong. That was what Id done. And sure, it looked far worse from the outside, but there was only so much I could tell him without putting Kinsley in hot water. This was a critical pain point with Miles. I couldnt deflect or blow it off. Whatever he believed or disbelieved, this was what he needed to buy in more than anything else.


    We were in dangerous territory now, specifically regarding the tunnel. I was technically safe for as long as I was a member of the Order of Parcae and the geas remained effective, but when Miles found a way around it and also happened upon someone who could unequivocally confirm what actually happened that day, I was fucked.


    And he would, eventually, find a way.


    Which left me with two alternatives. Make myself so critical and valuable to both the feds and the Adventurers Guild that eliminating me wouldnt be workable when the news broke.


    Or eliminate every witness from the Order in attendance that night.


    Both felt flimsythe more contact I had with Miles, the more likely he was to connect the dots. And the second option


    <em>I have a family.</em>


    I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to banish the voice, then centered myself, piecing together the best version of what to tell Miles. When I opened them, he was still standing across from me on the elevator, his arms folded.


    The Order of Parcae approached me early.