Chapter Six Hundred And Thirty Four – 634
We cannot find a single trace of them, Chosen Imara, an Inquisitor reported. The vault is too damaged.
Imara heard but said nothing.
How certain are we that they didnt die in the collapse? Bellar asked, his voice pure acid. His arm was in a sling, and his face was covered in dark bruises.
One hundred percent positive, sir. Our trackers would be able to identify corpses with ease, even in this high-Tier rubble.
Bellar waved away the man with a sharp impatience. Impossible. How could we have lost them? Not only here, but across the entire mountain!The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñøv€l-B1n.
Distantly, Imara was aware that the Inquisition troops had been scouring every inch of the Vault of Nine Kingsthe parts that were still whole, anyway. The entire thing had collapsed shortly after she had beenknocked out. Again.
Shame and regret curdled in her chest, opening a hole inside of her that had once been filled with Light. She had heard the reportsof the Fiend and his team disappearing into thin air. Of the Gnome. Gone again. Yet, she could not find any part of her that cared. Instead, the shame was rudderless, the regret without visible cause. Phantom emotions echoing down a barren hallway.
Chosen Imara? Bellar prodded.
She blinked. Has it grown dimmer here? she asked.
Itit has not, Bellar said. Are you alright, my Lady?
Im fine, she lied. She wasnt sure what was wrong with her, but things feltwrong. All of her armor had been covered in molten stone and metal, rendering it all but useless until it could be repaired. If it could be. She held up a bare hand.
Thiswhy do I feel?
You Must
A breath caught in her chest, but the voice faded away. The interference of this Dwarven realm andand whatever the Fiend had done to hertogether they worked to silence the Pathless.
A hand closed on her shoulder, and Bellar gazed down at her in compassion. Are you? Fine?
Yes. Imara stood, shrugging off the mans touch. She shoved the aimless weakness away, banishing it to a corner of her heart. Gather your forces. The hunt continues.
Lilian slipped unnoticed through the dark streets of Elderthrone. They were harder and harder to come by, as the Glyphmaster slowly modernized even the farthest edges of the growing city. Thankfully, the inscribed street lamps ended two blocks ago, and Lilian slunk through a wide alleyway.
Good. The hand withdrew, quivering. Things are coming to a head now, child. Keep on as you are, and you shall have all that you have wished for.Lilian looked up, and her heart thudded hard within her scarred chest. Soon then, Master Tiene?
Behind the curtains, the man moved. Master Teines cadaverous face emerged from shadow and silk, far more gruesome than Lilians, but his eyes gleamed in the low light. Yes. Things are only beginning.
In the depths of the earth, where caverns opened into a forest of moss and crystals, Felix tried and failed to sleep.
The journey down the mountain had been rough as they were forced down a thin stairway barely clinging to the edge of a cliff and fully exposed to the gale-force winds of the Voidstormbut they had made it. Once theyd hit the lower slopes, it was only a short jaunt to the Rockshapers workshop, then through his emergency exit to the Low Roads.
That was where they were now, camped out in the miles of tunnels between Dwarven Holds. They were still beneath the Rimefangs, still within spitting distance of a great many enemiesbut they could breathe.
Felixs Claw had, hopefully, already set out from Birchstone. The smugglers had been hired to get them out of the city and into the mountains, where they could escape to the Hoarfrostand where his chosen Exemplars could use Labyrinthine Wing to return home.
His friends were around him, laid out on patches of moss while the Eidolons watched for oncoming threats. Beef was snoring alongside Hallow, Laur, and Archie. The Delvens wounds were patched up, and hed even woken up for a time, but only to curse profusely before passing out once again. Evie was beside Harn, not sleeping, but standing guard over the injured man. Tzfell had once again cast her limited healing magics on him, which had stopped his bleeding but could do nothing for his missing legs.
That hit Felix hard. Anothing failure on his growing list.
At his side, Pit was curled up and breathing deeply in a slumber hed yet to wake up from. The chaotic power of the Mote of Frenzy still rippled across his body like an iridescent oil slick, and the System told him his Evolution remained in process.
Vess was nearby, too, wrapped up in her cloak against a boulder-sized pale pink crystal. Next to her, perched atop the smooth, glass-like core, was Yintarion. The orb flickered regularly, like a heartbeat, molten colors swirling within its fathomless depths.
Felix scrubbed at his face with his palms. They had retrieved Archie. Theyd taken the Mote of Frenzy. Theyd even secured so much treasure that they hadnt cataloged it all. Everything Felix had set out to do had been accomplishedand yet he felt empty.
Gabby.
He knew his Unite the Lost had done something, but the last look theyd shared wasnt one of recognition. It hadnt been enough, and that drove him crazy. She was out there, bent and twisted into Imara, while the Pathless rode shotgun in her soul.
Felix wasnt having it.
The Pathless and the Hierophant took his sister, and they would answer for it. He had to get back to Nagast, but plans boiled in his Mind, churning through dozens of possibilities every second. Plans for reaching Master Tier and for weaving his Tenth Pillar. Plans for his friends, his allies, and his army. All of it burned his Mind, but he held on within the walls of his Void Sanctuary, until a single, irrefutable fact emerged.
Felix bared his teeth.
He had to kill a god.
