Unbound

Chapter One Hundred Thirty Two - 132

"Our help?" Felix gestured around them. "For what?"

"There are some things I cannot do," Zara said. "And it is a task that needs those sensitive to the Grand Harmony."

"So not me, then?" Evie said, and Felix couldn't tell if she was annoyed or relieved.

"I don't doubt you're quite capable," Zara said. "A trusted ally is always worth their weight in gold."

Felix's Eye couldn't fully read Zara; he'd tried several times before and she clearly had something similar to an Amulet of Veiling. But the Naiad must have decided to let her guard down, because suddenly he could perceive her advancement. He sat up in surprise. Felix's sense of the Tiers grew foggy after Journeyman, the heft and weight of each one different, but what he felt from her was strong. Very strong.

"What Tier are you?"

Zara's eyes sparkled with muted amusement as she answered. "Master Tier."

That's a whole level above Adept.

"Avet's lying teeth!" Evie shouted, while Vess gasped. "If you were Master Tier you wouldn't need us for anythin'!"

"That is normally quite true," Zara agreed, folding her arms and settling back into her chair. "But what needs to be done cannot be accomplished by someone such as myself, or truly anyone significantly above Journeyman."

Vess frowned and slashed her hand through the air before her. "Before I hear any of your requests, you will tell me about my mother. Now."

Felix gave her a surprised look, but nodded when he saw the young woman's intensity. Her mother died, right? She said it was just her and her father, the Duke.

Zara folded her hands and regarded the heiress with a cool gaze. "What do you wish to know?"

"How did you know her? What proof do you have that she practiced...Sorcery?" Vess' voice dropped into a whisper at the end of her question.

"Your Grace," Zara began, tapping her fingers together pensively. "Your mother was a Dragoon. You know this, of course, but what you may not know is that she fought more than dragon-ilk in our skies. Beasts of all stripe threaten the Heirocracy, and the Lady Dayne was a powerful spear against their throats. But once she needed more than her spear and Skills, and in a moment of dire need she reached out for something, anything...and found it."

"Sorcery," Vess repeated. Zara inclined her head.

"Sorcery. Harmony. The Wild Song. It has as many names as there are people in this world. She found within her a capacity, and she came looking for tools to better harness it. I was living in Pax'Vrell at the time, and that is when I met her. She had quite the knack for my trinkets, and though her fame was her own, I like to think I helped more than most."

Vess went quiet, her stare turned inward.

"Need and inspiration draw it from within most of us. You have unlocked some Harmonic Stats, no?" Zara asked.

Vess nodded. "Resilience and Might."

"Very good. I imagine you got them after Tiering up, yes? One or two of your Skills evolving into a higher rarity?" The sharp look Vess gave her made Zara smile, those shark teeth reemerging. "That is the way of it. The Grand Harmony is the truth of creation itself. Those that stumble upon even a smidgeon of it discover remarkable insights."

The Naiad swept her eyes over all of them. "Such insight is needed, because the balance has shifted here in Haarwatch. A dark dissonance has grown within the center, one that must be cut out at the source. The Inquisition and Protectors' Guild are both flawed organizations, filled with those who follow their own greed and lust for power. I've had plenty of time to experience the truth of that. But worse things have risen from the shadows of that gluttony. The Guilders overreached when they sent their people into the Foglands to claim it, and when they came back, something else came with them."

Felix shifted his feet. "What?"

"There were ten that sickened badly after the operation," Vess said, with a dawning horror.

Zara nodded. "Ten that the Guild could not heal, which is a rare occurrance. The System assists our bodies greatly in recovery, and those few Skilled with curative abilities are usually enough to stave off death. But all ten were reported dead after a few weeks."

Vess stood up and started pacing. "But they did not die, did they? Elders Teine and Fairbanks both have spoken about the survivors, about how they have been put somewhere safe."

Vess slowed to a stop and turned to Zara.

"You said dissonance was growing in the center. The center of what?"

Shit.

"The Domain," Felix said with a groan. "You're saying the Domain has been, what, corrupted by whatever the Guild is doing?"

Zara nodded.

"Which is what, precisely?" Evie asked, annoyed. "State it plainly."

"Very well," Zara said. "The Elder of Spirit has long experimented with Mana Skills and whatever power he could grasp. It's no surprise that he would leap at the chance to study a powerful corruption that followed the Guilders back from the Foglands. They were isolated in the Domain, and the Domain itself restricted from all but a few in an effort to keep it contained. Yet the dissonance grows worse. It's a subtle thing, but soon it will be bad enough that even you two may hear it."

Felix's mind raced. "This corruption it...do you know what it is?"

Zara shook her head. "It's powerful, yet insidious. I haven't experienced it before."

I have a feeling I have. Felix listened to his Bastion, but the Maw made no sound, nor movements. It was trapped securely. It'd be nice to be wrong, though.

"So this corruption thing grows, why's that our issue?" Evie asked.

"It is of concern to everyone in Haarwatch. If the problem is not resolved, we have a week, perhaps two, before the dissonance escalates beyond our control. The power within will dissolve the script wards around the Domain--"

"And the shell will break," Vess finished, her face pale. "Whatever monsters are within, they'll flood the city."

"Haarwatch will be eaten alive, from the inside," Zara confirmed. "It has already begun. While our Wall is overwhelmed, rumors fly about other monsters lingering in town. Murdering in back alleys and deserted shops."

"You mean the Butcher," Felix said. "I was told they thought it was coming from the Domain. You think it's one of these corrupted creatures?"

"One or more, I do," Zara said. "If you'd seen the bodies, you would know they were not ravaged by any normal beast."

"I ran into one, yeah," Felix said, his mind trying not to envision the twisted sigils on the Elf's corpse.

"You did?" Evie asked, surprised. "You didn't mention that before."

"Sorry. I told Atar. He's been searching for the Butcher for...the Guild." Felix nearly cursed when he realized what that might mean. "He said Elder Teine was having his students all search for it."

"Trying to clean up his mistakes," Evie muttered.

"So what would you have us do?" Vess demanded. "I cannot stand idly by and let the Domain fail. It would be a catastrophe."

"The only thing that can be done is to enter the Domain and cleanse it. Once the source of the corruption is eradicated, then the Domain has a chance to balance itself," Zara explained.

"Enter a highly secure area directly beneath the Guild?" Evie scoffed. "Even if we were strong enough to handle this, we wouldn't get past the Silver and Bronze Rankers that guard it."

"I also know that the Inquisition has placed some of their people down there, too," Felix said. "Atar mentioned it a few days ago."

"Really? Shit. Why?" Evie looked at him.

"That is suspicious. Why would the Inquisition care about the Domain?" Vess asked Zara.

"Because they know something is happening too," she explained. "They have to. Like you said, Felix: the Inquisition knows Chanter magic as well. They can feel it in the air."

"Then why are they feeding it?" Felix asked. "Wouldn't that just make whatever is corrupted inside the Domain stronger?"

"Yes it would. Why would they do that, do you think?" Zara leaned forward, piercing them with her light blue eyes.

"Cause they're stupid?" Evie muttered, before sighing in frustration.

Felix thought of the Redcloaks and their attitude toward the city, toward the Guilders, toward everyone. He'd seen a great amount of contempt from the Acolytes and Initiates. It was hard to imagine that changed as you went higher up the chain. So what was the logical extreme of feeding an already dangerous situation?

"They plan to break the Domain," Felix said.

"No! Not even they would dare!" Vess insisted, looking between Felix and Zara. "The Inquisition are hateful fools, but why would they even want that?"

"They clearly don't care about Haarwatch, or the people in it," Felix growled as he paced behind the row of chairs. "The better questions is, if the Domain is broken then what does the Inquisition gain?"

Zara smiled her saw-toothed smile. "Well put, Felix. I'm impressed. You're right. There is much to gain here. If the Domain fails, then the blame will lie squarely with the Guild. Monsters will ravage the population and the Inquisition can come to their aid and cleanse the city. After that, Guild Charter broken and city saved, the territory would be ripe for the taking."

"As would the Foglands," Felix finished with a frown. "And all of the untapped resources they contain."

A moment of silence crawled across the room, the only sound the crackle of the fire.

"And you want us to stop this?" Evie asked, incredulous. "This isn't a convincing argument. If anything, it's just convincing me to tell Callie and make a run for it."

"Evie," Vess admonished. "You would never run."

Evie's sour look softened, and she fell back into her chair with a defeated sigh.

"Siva's tears, you're not wrong, Vess. But this is a lot," she eyed the Naiad. "You're sure you can't go and deal with this yourself?"

Zara shook her head ruefully. "If only I could. But the Domain is not highly ranked, and my level of advancement would strain it beyond its limits. The shell would break, and we'd be in the same situation I'm looking to avoid."

"Forgive me if I overstep Zara, but you are a chorister of Avet. He is a god not known for order and virtue." Vess said carefully, hands turned up. "The chaos of an unleashed Domain would seem to be exactly what he would desire."

"Avet is a god of chaos and change. Revolution. Not slaughter," Zara explained, a touch of exasperation on her face. "And the short of it is that I have not spoken to my god in all of my life. The gods are not dead, but they are farther away than we can imagine. I do this because I love this city and its people. I will not sit on my hands while innocents are butchered for power.

"I cannot say this will be safe. That would be a lie. But it is the only way I know to prevent an atrocity."

Felix scratched his jaw and looked at the others. "Can you give us time to think it over? I don't think this is something we can decide on just with ourselves. I think Cal, Harn and the rest need to be involved too."

Vess and Evie both agreed.

"Of course. I wouldn't expect you to rush into any decision here," Zara rang a small bell on a side table, and the doors on the far end of the room cracked open. A woman with red skin and a dark grey gown appeared. "Melle will be able to escort you to your rooms. You are free to spend as long as you wish here. In the morning, we can all speak with Calesca and Harn."

The three of them cautiously stood up and followed the servant up a set of stairs and down a dimly lit hallway. Three rooms were laid out before them, but they all moved into the same one as soon as the servant left.

A sharp trilling sounded in Felix's head, and he smiled to himself. "Sorry bud, just a sec."

There was a flash of light and Pit coalesced beside him. He still hadn't resumed his Dire Hound disguise, and the chimera stretched his dark wings out to their fullest extent. He had grown again, and his wingspan was nearly ten feet.

"Pit! Doesn't it get stuffy in there?" Evie asked. "Can't imagine there's much room with all the other Skills crammed in. Also probably stinky."

Pit let out a cheerful chirrup and padded over to her for head scratches.

"Traitor," Felix murmured.

"That Skill of yours is impressive, Felix," Vess said, reaching a tentative hand out to pet the chimera. "I am still amazed at how different he looks."

"Hm? Oh right, because of the Foglands illusions. Yeah, I always wondered why he creeped you all out. To me, he's always looked like a, well, this." Felix gestured at his Companion who currently had a lolling tongue and eyes half closed. Both Evie and Vess were scratching right behind his ears. Felix could feel his thrum of contentment, but he tried not to let it dull his caution.

Felix extended his senses to the limit. He had to assume they were being observed somehow, but he couldn't detect a thing. "What do you think? Is Zara being honest about this?"

"I believe she is telling the truth as she knows it," Vess ventured, sitting with a tired sigh on the edge of a large king-sized bed. Pit let out sad whine when her hand left. "Is that the truth as it is, however? Do we really think the Guild and the Inquisition are capable of such terrible things?"

"Both the Guild and the Redcloaks can go rot, for all I care," Evie spat. "I wouldn't put anything past them."

Felix had to agree. "I don't know much about either organization, but the Guild has been a mixed bag from what I've experienced, and the Inquisition...I've been on their bad side since I got into town."

"Why is that?" Vess asked, peering at Felix with her dark eyes. "You have alluded to it a few times."

"Oh that's because Felix knocked out an Acolyte on his way into town," Evie laughed. "Bam! Hit em with that lightning bolt thing he does."

"No!" Vess seemed equally shocked and delighted. "How were you not arrested?"

"Had to catch me first," Felix let himself smile at her surprise. "I snuck away and ended up in Caerwin, ah, Zara's shop in the Wall Quarter. It's how we met."

"Such a strange life you lead," Vess murmured and then yawned. It was late and all of them, except Felix, likely hadn't slept since the day before. "We should get some rest. I would suggest we put up wards or something, but that seems pointless."

"Yeah, she'd just tear right through anything we laid out," Evie grunted before patting Pit firmly on the head. "Off ya get, cutie."

Pit's tail and wings drooped as he slunk back over to Felix, who rolled his eyes.

"Zara needs us for now. No reason to harm us before we help. Still, wouldn't hurt to look around, right?" Felix flashed them a smile before exiting, a grumpy tenku on his heels.