Unbound

Chapter One Hundred and Five - 105

Tucked away in a blind alley beneath a leaking awning, Felix took a chance and let loose. A flash of light, a little brighter than usual in the dim morning, and Pit re-materialized next to him. The tenku regarded Felix with a tilted head, curious.

"Let's see what this Stone is all about, eh?" Felix held out the diamond cut malachite in his palm, level with Pit's face. The chimera nudged it with his beak, but it just sat there. Inert. "It says you have to bond it by blood."

Pit understood right away. He raised a clawed paw up and slashed at his foreleg. He had to do it a couple times before he could draw any blood, then dribbled it onto the malachite. A surge of horns swelled in their ears, as if someone was trumpeting a charge, but it faded quickly.

Pit has Claimed the Stone of Wild Echoes.

The stone lifted, floating under its own power. Felix and Pit watched it with fascination, the polished surface glinting in the overcast light. Then, with a burst of speed, it slammed into the tenku's forehead.

"Whoa!"

By the time Felix reacted, it was already over. The green diamond stone shone bright against Pit's black plumage, centered directly above his eyes. Felix extended his hands gently, almost but not quite touching it.

"Are you...okay?"

Pit warbled an affirmation, and sent a pulse of thoughts along their bond.

"I don't know." Felix tilted his head, moving it around to look at the stone from different angles. "Try activating it like a Skill, maybe?"

Pit tilted his head in mimicry of his Companion, and with a sudden shimmering chime, his body...disappeared. In its place was a large dog the same size as Pit. A Dire Hound, Felix supposed. To him, it appeared like a heavy jawed, giant fox more than a dog. Pit looked at Felix with his bright golden eyes, and his tongue lolled out of his mouth.

"This is amazing," Felix whispered. His Eye couldn't even tell there was a Skill or spell active. He ran his hands along Pit's back, feeling only coarse fur. "Is it an illusion or a transformation? How the hell does it work?"

Whatever the Wild Song was, it was powerful. That was clear. Even Pit's wings were gone, as if they'd never existed. Felix stood up after a while and patted his friend's head. Even the stone was invisible. Pit leaned in for neck scratches, of course.

A crack of lightning disrupted his musings, and Felix looked up into the blackened sky. It was raining buckets still, the precipitation pleasantly cool on his overheated skin. Felix was feeling more and more uncomfortable indoors, he realized. Outside in the fresh air felt just...right, to him. Pit, of course, was a wild creature and the moment Felix's attention drifted the chimera started bounding up and down the alley. He soon made a game of splashing in the puddles there, and Felix tried to let himself relax.

Breathe.

Thunder shook the skies again, resonating in his chest like a timpani. Large, fat droplets spattered down onto the street and eaves around him, interrupted occasionally by a stiff westerly wind. It smelled of petrichor and grilled vegetables from a few streets over, earthy and savory in his nose.

Breathe.

His jacket was soaked, as was everything except his feet. He had good boots. His new satchel too had a weatherproofing enchantment on it, so he didn't worry much as he spread his arms and enjoyed the downpour. It made him feel...normal, somehow. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine being home again.

Miss you too, Bumble.

Felix's eyes snapped open and he forced himself to breathe deep again. His recall kept surprising him. It was unreliable beyond thirty days into the past, but sometimes a memory would dredge itself up and replay, gemlike in clarity. He'd purposefully kept from thinking about home, his real home, ever since the Anchor.

Figures that it'd fuck him up right when he was trying to relax.

"Well, the only thing for it is to get to work, I guess," he clapped his hands and turned to Pit. "C'mon boy, let's go visit--"

Splashing in his direction, Pit panted in glee. Water poured convincingly off his impeccable disguise, the tenku looking exactly like a big dog.

A really big dog. A really big wet dog.

Perhaps going to the Elder Crown isn't the best choice right now. Felix doubted Zara would appreciate him leading a sopping wet mutt into her shop, Dire Hound or no. Considering she was very likely steaming mad about his, ah, reorganization...

Yeah. Best to leave that for tomorrow.

Felix walked down the alley, Pit at his heels. It was nice, not having to hide the chimera. Convergence was wildly useful, though perhaps not for its intended purpose; the ability to hide Pit had been a definite boon since entering Haarwatch. The boost to his Harmonic Stats that it offered had been less frequently useful. But then, he didn't really understand what those stats did; something he planned to rectify.

A loud creak and splash sounded just ahead, from the mouth of the alley. Felix reacted instinctively, twisting behind a corner and getting out of sight. But as he peeked around the brickwork, he saw it was just a common carriage and a few people on the street. None were looking at him, most of them more concerned with getting out of the rain than passersby. The carriage rattled passed, the giant birds leading them squarking piteously, like ostritches bred with lizards of some sort.

Getting jumpy, he chastised himself. The encounter with the Inquisition had put him more on edge than he realized. Will the Amulet keep me hidden from them? It's worked once already, but how? It's almost like it's making decisions by itself, altering what it veils and how it does so. Is that possible?

As Felix walked through the nearly empty streets, uncaring of the torrential rain, he realized there were no Redcloaks out and about anymore. The few people he saw moved quickly and appeared to be workers of various stripes, all wearing heavily oiled cloaks. One of them even gave Felix a double glance, but the Nym just shrugged. Why worry about getting wet when you're already soaked?

What he did worry about, however, was the immediate future.

Should I try to leave? On my own? The Inquisition is looking for me, and I doubt it's to give me a medal. The Guilders seem to be shitheads. Why stay?

But he already knew the answer to that question. Fear. Felix had thought he'd abandoned it in the Void, like it was a piece of him he could cast off. The fear that lurked in him since his arrival never went away, and it drove him still. Was he strong enough to last in the interior of the Continent? Or even back in the Foglands now that the monsters were apparently growing more powerful and numerous by the day?

He also feared the Maw, and whatever power it still held over him. Felix had to get rid of it, cleanse himself, somehow. His transformation the previous night, as well as his new Title and Skill were proof enough that he was encroaching on dangerous territory.

However, did he really want to leave the city? To head off into the unknown again, just him and Pit? While the thought of exploring the Continent did appeal to him, Felix had only just got here. The city offered comfort and at least a small measure of safety. Not to mention: a way forward.

Zara might be able to teach him more about being Unbound or the Nym, while Caerwin...He didn't really know what the shopkeep had to offer. But it had something to do with the music he heard on a daily basis. That alone felt important enough to stay. Leaving in a few months with Cal and the others seemed the safest bet. And if that fell through? He could always run.

He was getting very good at running.

Mind resolved, Felix headed back toward the Dust, keeping to the streets this time. The hilly roads and thoroughfares were slowly turning into miniature rivers in the deluge, but apparently his magic boots were waterproof. His feet were dry as a bone. Once he realized that, Felix slogged through the water carelessly, casting his mind forward.

Cal, and Evie, and Harn. Are they okay? Guilt flashed through him, that he hadn't thought of them before. But they were tough, the older two certainly stronger than him. Even if a bunch of bugs attacked, I'm sure they would be fine. Right?

The warehouse the others had holed up in looked no worse for wear after the hectic night. Felix supposed that made sense. He was pretty sure all of the Prismatic Wretches had been contained east and south of this area, but it was a bit of a relief anyway.

After knocking, the door was answered by Karp, his bright red beard still vivid in the overcast light. The man grinned, showing off several missing teeth before waving Felix inside. His smile slipped only slightly when Felix was followed by a giant red and black Dire Hound.

"Felix right? Wasn't able to say earlier, but nice to meet ya," Karp's smile was wide yet oddly disarming. "We were wonderin' if you were comin' back. She's been asking for ya."

"Nice to meet you too--wait, who was?" Felix looked at the grinning archer. His question was answered by a shout.

"Felix!" A green rope dropped from the ceiling and a lithe figure descended it. She practically floated, moving downward far slower than normal physics could account for; she landed lightly on her feet and stepped closer. Evie's face was stricken.

"Did you see the battles?"

"Uh, yeah, I did."

"Noctis' tits, how come I always miss the good stuff!" She frowned and glanced over at Bodie and Harn, who were discussing something at the other side of the warehouse training area. "By the time we got out there, everything was over. Siva's teeth! Is that a Dire Hound?"

Evie put her hands out for Pit to sniff, but instead of doing that the disguised tenku just jumped up onto her and started licking her face.

"Ooofa! Haha!" Evie weakly fought off Pit's affection. "He's a good boy! Aren't you? What's your name?"

"Pit," Felix supplied with a smile. Evie looked up at him with a curious gaze before her eyes widened in realization.

"Pit? How?" She ran her hands over the tenku's face, ruffling his ears and scratching his neck. "This is--how?"

Felix shrugged, not giving an answer, entirely too aware of the presence of Karp. "You didn't miss much, by the way. Giant bugs, nasty and mean." Felix tried downplaying it, but Evie wasn't convinced.

"Sure. Next you'll tell me you didn't fight em." Felix's face betrayed him and her mouth quirked into a victorious grin. "I knew it."

Another green rope dropped beside the first, and another woman descended. She did so far more rapidly, but with substantial more grace than Evie. It was Cal, and she pushed back the green rope (vines, he realized) and stepped forward.

"Felix. Welcome back. After last night, some of us were worried about you. The creatures invaded right after you left us." Cal looked him up and down as if checking for injuries. "You fought them?"

Felix only shrugged. "No one else was."

"Rotten Guilders..." Karp muttered, and Felix gave him a look. The bearded man only frowned and moved away, toward Yan and Bodie nearby.

"Been hearing a lotta wild stories," Cal drawled. She took a slow sip of a flask at her hip. "Apparently some hero decided to take on all the bugs, alone."

Felix's face soured. "I'm not a hero."

"That's not what people are sayin'," Cal continued. "They're sayin' this hero smashed through the bugs like they were nothing. Still took him a half hour to take care of em all though. Mighty slow. Sounds like this hero could use some practice. If he's as strong as the washerwomen were saying this morning, well, then I imagine he can take some proper training."

Felix smiled. "That's exactly why I came by."

Evie squealed in excitement. "Avet's eyes, yes. Time to fight."

"Alright," Cal leaned back against a padded post and regarded him. The four of them, Cal, Evie, Felix, and Harn had all relocated to the far side of the warehouse nearest the obstacle course. The others were all busy in the back or in the sandy arena fighting pit, and they'd been warned to give them privacy. "How do you want to progress? I know you can fight, I've seen it, but is that what you want to do?"

Felix paused. He hadn't considered that before, and he said as much.

"I had a feelin'," Cal smiled. "Most folk born here develop a particular set of Skills based on how they wish to live their life. Often, they'll let their Born Trait guide them in those choices. This, generally, leads to Skillsets and Titles that reinforce one another, giving a particular lean to their proficiencies."

"Don't always happen that way, though," said Harn, who was still not wearing his customary silver armor. Felix found it very strange to see him out of it, like a turtle without a shell. "A lot of folks get caught up in bad situations, or shit, they get forced into developing Skills that ain't best for their Born Trait. Happens all the time."

Cal nodded. "You've got this Keen Mind. It's not a Trait I'm familiar with, but Harn tells me it has to do with memory. I imagine that'd make you good at knowledge Skills, yeah?"

Felix shrugged. "I suppose. I have perfect recall for thirty days back. Beyond that I have an increased chance for perfect recall, though it's not a sure thing. I picked it when I thought my Race and Omen were leading me toward being a wizard."

"A wizard?" Evie asked, mouth scrunched around the word. Pit was in her lap and enjoying head scratches.

"Oh, a mage, I guess. Big hat, big beard? You don't have wizards here?" Felix looked around at them.

"Haha, big hats and big beards aplenty. Never heard the word before, though," Evie grinned. "Wizard."

"Anyway," Cal cleared her throat and nodded at Harn. "After you put your trust in us, I was talkin' over your Skills and Titles with Harn. You're just...all over the place. It's like you picked up every Skill and Title you could, somehow. Which is damn hard to do."

"Something to do with being Unbound, maybe," Felix shrugged off the difficulty, forcing nonchalance into his tone. "But the why of it was survival and necessity. Every Skill was won through combat or experimentation, and the Titles were mostly accidents I was lucky enough to survive."

Deception is level 9!

"When I got here I had no idea how all of this worked. There are still mysteries to me that are probably common knowledge to all of you. I fought tooth and nail; I survived...my enemies didn't." Felix shrugged, but his face was troubled. "I don't...in my world, fighting to the death is called murder, no matter how you dress it up. Here's it's so normalized. I feel like I should hate it but...it's exciting, it's--goddamn it--it's fun. Is that screwed up?"

Cal shrugged, nonplussed. "Not on the Continent. Plenty of battle nuts here. The strongest usually are, anyway."

Harn grunted. "You got a long way ta go before being Silver or Gold Ranked, but Cal's got the right of it. Battle is in the people's blood, leastwise those that do best in it. I've seen you fight more than her, and you got the spark."

"Now you just need the skill," Cal chuckled. "That's where we come in."

"Honestly, I enjoy magic too. I'd rather roll all my Skills into my fighting style, if that's possible." Felix looked uncertainly between the two of them. "Can that be done?"

"First, a question," Cal asked while stepping closer. "How much pain can you handle?"

This time, it was Felix who grinned.