Chapter 159: Winds of Fate
<strong>Cursed contract of the Lord of Space:</strong>
<strong>Gain ess to the spell Spatial Bend. Only usable once per hour.</strong>
<strong>Spatial Bend (Passive): Space bends just around you, routing lesser projectiles that would strike you to miss. </strong>
<strong>Return: Inform the Graverend Army of the growing wormhole in the basement of the Archon Citadel before it bes toorge to contain. (Time remaining: 197 years) </strong>
<strong>Cursed contract of the Lord of Pathways:</strong>
<strong>The Lord of Pathways has augmented the parasitic tattoo, Lodestar, with a pathway. </strong>
<strong>Return: If ever youe into contact with the Witch Charlotte Hansley, she must die.</strong>
Lnd reviewed the two newest pages in his grimoire. He couldn’t sleep, not with all that had happened that evening. So, he went over his newest spell a few times before trying it. A passive effect, while usually less than shy, was a blessing when it came tobat. Anything to help win battles was greatly appreciated by mages, especially when the mage didn’t have to <em>think</em> about casting. Regardless of his concentration, Spatial Bend would just <em>work</em>.
So he pressed his hand into the page, allowing his halo to take. Lnd then slowly sat up, shifting himself to look at the Huntress. She quirked an eyebrow at him before slowly frowning. She studied him for a long moment before reaching for a pebble.She threw it.
It was fast, far faster than Lnd could properly catch. But that didn’t mean much when it was considered a <em>lesser projectile</em>. The pebble interacted with the suit of mana around Lnd, suddenly morphing into that of a long string before being ushered around him like a coil rolling down a curved slope. The pebble then leveled off, sting out into the woods far behind the young man.
“Again, slightlyrger pebble,” Lnd said.
Isobel smirked, tossing another rock. Then another. And another. By the next, Lnd suddenly had a welt across his shoulder.
“H-how big was that one?”
“justrger than an arrow head.”
“That’s… good.”
She rolled her eyes. “’Good?’ You can redirect rocks, that’s much better than ‘<em>good.’”</em>
“Yeah, of course, but it’s not something I want to rely on,” he replied.
“What Lord?” Isobel asked.
“Space.”
“You didn’t think to, I don’t know, get a teleportation spell?”
“I tried,” Lnd muttered. “It was either warding projectiles or leave with nothing.”
“And the cost?”
“I’ve got to warn some people about a wormhole.”
“A wormhole…”
Lnd sighed. “I spoke with the Lord of Portals, Space, Pathways, Gateways, Portals, and Teleportation. Can you think of any others that might have arge-scale teleporting power?”
“Magic, Void, Light,” Isobel offered.
“I have a contract with the Lord of Magic. The Lord of Light is a Vile Lord, so no. And to be honest, I forgot about the Lord of the Void. Harlen told me about her. She’s apparently passionate.”
“You think she’ll help you?”
Lnd mulled on that. “Maybe? It''s always a gamble. The Lord of Portals seemed to hate me on sight, so…”
“You do have a hate-able face.”
“Hey…”
Isobelughed. Lnd did the same a momentter. How long had it been since he actually smiled? It had only been a day or so since they arrived at Archon Valley, but it sure felt much longer. The battle with the Toy Maker had changed things, it had marked a shift in personality. Not just in Lnd, but the other boys as well.
Lnd wished they were here with him. Exploring the Valley with them would have been an adventure! A dangerous one, sure, but an adventure, nheless.
“I received a message while talking with the Lord of Portals, however.”
“A message?”
“From my Lord. Suffice it to say, Sybil has two months before something happens and the Boneforged Monarch changes her. She needs to be with her mother before that.”
“Hence you asking about teleportation-able Lords.
Lnd nodded.
It was at that moment Sybil chose to sit up. While Isobel <em>had</em> known the Princess was awake, she decided not to mention it to Lnd. Why? Well, how was she supposed to know Lnd was going to talk about her.
Sybil regarded Lnd coldly. “What do you mean change?”
Lnd hesitated, fumbling over his words. “Something with your soul and the Monarch’s. I wasn’t given the specifics, but I’ve seen what happens when a Lord’s soul tries to enter a mortal’s body. And well, since you are not a liquid pile of burnt skin, something is protecting you from the Monarch’s soul.”
“So what?” Isobel asked. “You think in two months this protection will fade?”
“That, or two months is how long the Boneforged Monarch will remain idle. We don’t know her ns, and who''s to say if you don’tplete the ritual in that timeframe she’ll cut her losses and try again.”
Sybil went stark still at that.
Lnd noticed and quickly added, “The note from my Lord didn’t make it seem like all hope was lost. If there was no hope at all, she would have mentioned it.”
“Would she?” Isobel asked. “You can’t understand what a Lord is thinking any more than a hurricane.”
Lnd didn’t agree with that. In his experience, Lords had been conniving or maniptive, yes, but they always worked toward a goal. If the Lord of Curses wanted to lead him on, what was the end goal? Force him to watch Sybil be changed? No. She’d know he would break if that came to pass.
And like many times before, the Lord of Curses had sprinkled in enough crumbs of advice to keep him moving to what <em>he</em> wanted. To help those he cared about.
“She said you can’t glow anymore, Sybil. It speeds up the process apparently, and we are going to need all of those two months to get you home.”
Sybil stared at Lnd like he was an executioner.
He did <em>not</em> like that look. “Sybil, I promise I will get you home unchanged.”
She looked away.
For a moment, Lnd felt his heart sink. Sybil was a friend, and he had never seen Jude or Glenny look away from him like that. They trusted him, the Princess obviously did not.
A pain filled his lungs and Lnd suddenly found his vision narrow. All his life he had only wanted to follow in his parents’ shoes and help people. Whether as an adventurer, an Inquisitor, or a schr. It didn’t matter <em>how</em>, as long as he was out there actively making people’s lives better.
The Onryos, Shoutwell, Gelo and Floe. The list was short, yes, but Lnd desperately wished to add another name. Sybil.
A p of muted thunder rippled from the heel of his shoe. He skidded across the ground, managing his speed with amateurish effort. A kick of lightning followed him, but Lnd made sure to skirt around Sybil so as not to harm her.
He arrived in her gaze, crouched down low so she was forced to look at him. She startled at the sudden use of magic, but Lnd was already speaking by then.
“I <em>will</em> get you home. I promise Sybil Palemarrow.”
The Princess nodded, silently swallowing all the while stilling her churning stomach. With everything that had happened so far, she realized <em>Lnd</em> had been there for all of it. And while she didn’t believe his words, Sybil believed <em>in</em> Lnd.
Isobel let the moment go on until <em>she</em> couldn’t stomach it any longer. Kids, especially lovey dovey ones, were like poison. A poison of gross smiles. She had to cut it away before it affected her.
“And just <em>how</em> are you going to get her home?”
Lnd backstepped, arriving at his pillow and nket with a snap of lightning. “First step is summoning Lodestar. The Lord of Pathways gave me a custom pathway, somehow mixing it with my summoned scythe—”
Suddenly the Huntress was gone and a wave of kicked-up leaves rushed into the woods. Before Lnd and Sybil could even question it, Isobel arrived back, monster in hand. A monkey-alligator thing was thrust at him, with only the words “use this,” as an exnation.
Lnd gawked at the <em>adult</em>.
“What?” Isobel asked. “It’s been stalking around us for thest hour. I was going to just throw a rock at it but, well, here we are.”
Shaking his head, Lnd mechanically siphoned the creature’s soul. By the time the ring of purple fire faded, a soul of the Damned presented him with ammunition.
“Thank you,” he muttered, taking the lost soul and allowing the soul of the Damned to be free. It left while kneeling, descending into the ground.
Then, without any fanfare, Lnd used the lost soul to summon Lodestar. Darkness rose and fell, shaping itself into a pole while growing from his hand. Manifestation took, and the scythe fully formed with a bit of a <em>spring.</em>
Before Lnd could even question the Lord of Pathways’ changes, a gale rushed by. He braced himself, the wind like a pendulum hammer crashing into his back. He forced himself to stay stationary, but all he thought about was following the tempest. Something whispered in the back of his mind. <em>All</em> of his worries would be scraped away if he followed the wind.
If he walked through the pathway. <em>His</em> pathway.
Behind him, the Huntress tossed another pebble. It whipped around him, Spatial Bend still being activated.
“Kid,” she said, pulling Lnd’s attention. When he looked at her, she threw another slightlyrger one.
He stepped to the side, arriving near a tree with a kick of lightning. In other words he dodged, yet he didn’t know <em>what</em> he dodged. It had moved far too fast for his young inexperienced eyes, yet his Path <em>told</em> him to move. The wind had shifted, the gale turned, the tempest reversed.
“There’s a reason your dad couldn’t defeat that Pathway Witch in Ruinsforth, kid,” Isobel said with a smirk. “Legacies of Pathways are known for <em>always</em> evading and out maneuvering. If they are fast enough, that is.”
Lnd looked at her, but the wind called his attention. He turned off, looking into the distance. The longer he thought about it, the more he realized it wasn’t <em>just </em>wind. Invisible, yes, but far from a force that could push clouds or make grass sway.
No, it was far more than that. Wind, yes, but wind that affected fate rather than the physical.
“<em>Divination</em>,” he muttered, tracing the winds toward their apex.
“So kid, where do you have to go to take the Princess home?” Isobel asked.
Swallowing, Lnd pointed toward the sky. “Where we’ve been headed. To the eye of the storm.”
Ahead of the group, thick dark clouds rolled with an eternal rain. Big <em>booms</em> of blue lightning marked silhouette deep within, each twisted and wicked. Highlighted by the shes of light, beings fought for dominance over whatever the storm circled while defending against the deafening thunder.
Isobel sighed. “Of course it is.”