They finally get down to the last floor of the Endless Paths of Od Nua - and the Master Below wasn't Od Nua, though his spirit was in the floor just above. Tied to this realm by his grief.
Turns out he tried to bring his son back from beyond the Shroud, tear it away from his rest or new life by force. The many floors above, at least since the Engwithan architecture, all the lives lost and horrifying experiments were to understand where a soul goes after death and to bring one specific one back - intact, and with the memories of being Maros Nua. The statue was to house Maros' soul, carved in his likeness and spanning fifteen floors and the fingers just sticking up out of the ground. They can't imagine how much time, trouble, and patience that thing took to make - its gigantic.
Cera freezes when they get onto the path to the bottom of the floor, her expression one of total shock and disbelief. "Eder?"
"Yeah?"
"You've still got that shield we found on the Battery roof, right?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"We're either going to be dragon slayers after this…or dragon food. The Master Below is down there." She points to what looks like a massive piece of Adra - and then, on closer inspection, they see the pile moving rhythmically. It's breathing.
When they make their way down to the ground floor, with a plan of 'spread out and stay alive and kill this thing', it opens its eye and looks at them with something as close to amusement as a dragon can get. Her voice rings out, female and loud, "So, you've finally come to the end. Past hundreds of skeletons, Xaurips, cannibal ogres, spiders, and beetles. To me, the Master Below."
Cera straightens almost automatically, and asks "What's a Dragon doing all the way down here? Underneath a castle?"
"I came down here as a Wurm, sneaking past Od Nua's researchers, construction workers, all the way to nearly the heart of the world. Where the Adra veins converge before descending to the world's core. They never noticed me back then, small and silent as I was. Now, they'd be hard-pressed to miss me. Were they still here."
She rears her head up, then cocks her head and looks at Cera with something like curiosity. "You…I recognize you. How far you've come from your lofty beginnings. Your dresses and slippers - the rules and obligations aplenty."
Cera goes still for a minute, then slowly asks "You…know that?"
"My body may well be trapped down here, but the mind wanders. Like yours can, like a Cipher such as yourself. I've lived in the background of hundreds of lives, all across the world. Workers, farmers, nobility and peasant. Your life, I came across while you were smaller than one of my scales. You fascinated me, for never had I found a mind such as my own. I was highly amused by your choice to leave, and by your parents' attempts to process the fact."
"Wait…how long? How long were you…with me?" She seems suddenly anxious - like there's something she suddenly knows and is rather worried about.
"You started talking to me. You could tell I was there, likely because of your powers. Your parents were highly unamused, told you to never fabricate any 'imaginary friends' ever again. They quickly discovered your powers were real when you then asked if your father truly thought you were a disgrace to the family. I can still remember the look on his face, and I laughed so hard I would have spewed fire."
Kana incredulously asks "Cera…your friends…with a dragon?!"
Cera shrugs and says "I'd…I'd forgotten that detail, though I didn't know Sefyra is a dragon. But…if you can be anybody you want in the world…why come back? You said once you were trapped…you meant here, didn't you?"
"Yes, you always were a bright one. I am trapped here. What am I to do, dig myself out of your keep when the Adra finally runs out? The flesh always calls me back. It takes many years now, a lifetime for a human, but it always calls me back eventually. I've been feeding on the Adra Statue for so long now that I am inextricably bound to it, and it serves as a conduit for my travels. Though, even this cannot last. One day, the Adra will run dry. I will starve - but that won't be for many years."
Cera casts her eyes to the ground, and quietly says "I'm sorry. I wish I could help you, Sefyra."
"You cannot. None can. Not as a Cipher, not as a Watcher."
"Wait, I'm a Watcher. What if I bound your soul to the Keep? A territory you'd never lose, yet you'd be free to feel the sun and the wind."
Sefyra cocks her head and seems to consider, and Aloth hesitantly asks "Cera, are you sure about this? What…how…are you even capable of doing this? Not to insult, but…"
Cera puts a hand on his shoulder, saying "I realized I could do it back in Durgan's Battery. When I freed the Dwarves' souls. I could have bound them to the Forge itself, or the cannons - I chose instead to set them free. It was the same with Maerwald, I cut him loose instead of binding him to the Keep - here's hoping he gets a better lot in his next life."
Aloth nods, and then asks "But you're sure? Binding the soul of a dragon to the keep…it seems a bit extreme. Not that we've been doing things by halves lately or anything, but…"
"I get it, really, I do, Aloth. But the Master Below is a dragon. She's ancient, and very capable of killing us all right now. But if I bound her to the Keep as a kind of Warden…"
Eder quietly says "I can imagine there's worse guards, at the very least. Dragons and their territory, you know."
Everybody can tell it seems the best solution - one that doesn't end with them in Sefyra's stomach at any rate - and Cera binds Sefyra's soul to the Keep grounds.
Well, now the place has one very good Warden, and the Master Below won't be sending up monsters anymore. All in all, not a terrible ending.
Of course, when they're about halfway back up through the Endless Paths, Sefyra's voice sounds in Cera's mind. Hatchling, it seems it was a god idea to bind me to the grounds. Two Kith, both elves, a male and female, just entered the keep. They are armed, though not as you are. And one of them seems intent on dominating and destroying you and taking your territory for himself.
Oh no, is his name Arlerdr Gathbin? Nevermind, the answer is yes. I can feel his arrogance from all the way down here. Thank you, Sefyra.
I'll be heavily amused when you deal with him.
Cera focuses past Gathbin's arrogance and self-entitled attitude - which she hates so much, honestly - and finds Captain Emery's mind.
Captain Emery, I know you're on the Keep grounds.
What? Who-
You must remember me, we sized each other up back in Defiance Bay after all.
Your…Lady Cera.
Correct, I thought you were smart when we first met. So, why are you two here, hm?
If your contacting me, then you must already know. I pegged you for a smart one as well. And Gathbin here has you pegged for a soft fool that is easily overthrown. Stories of your kindness and generosity abound, all through the Dyrwood. Kolsc in Gilded Vale nearly had us killed when Lord Gathbin tried to recruit him in the cause of taking Caed Nua from you. The Duc in Defiance Bay flat out refused and had us escorted out of the palace. The people of Dyrford knew of you and nearly revolted against us. And all the locals either swore as colorfully as the Adra gleam or slammed the door in Gathbin's face wherever he went. Seems his reputation precedes him as well.
And it's far from a good one, from what I've heard. That would be why there's just the two of you. But tell me something, Captain. Why are you working for him? Really?
The man is swine, albeit noble, wealthy swine. If I had the chance to leave, I would take it. I doubt I'd have accepted the position if I had my current knowledge back then.
Well, what would you do if things changed?
Say, if he were dead? I don't fully know. Perhaps I'd work for an honorable lady - but Gathbin won't simply let me leave his service. Oh, and he means to take Caed Nua by force - though you likely know that by now. As nobody would agree to help seize it from you and destroy you, he has no army. He's turned to less-open methods as a result. Hoping to ambush you and kill you before you can react - though your reflexes suggest he'd end up sprawled on the ground in agony from your mysterious purple fire.
I'll deal with him, Emery. He should be really glad he didn't own Caed Nua though, the place was a complete mess, needed thousands in renovations and repairs, and there was until recently a dragon living at the bottom of the basement. She's the new Warden, by the way.
You've got a DRAGON as your new groundswarden?!
You'd be surprised how a territorial, ancient-beyond-comprehension, well-traveled soul such as Sefyra's makes for an excellent groundswarden. Besides, she can't hurt anybody now.
…if you say so, Lady Cera. But…are you sure you can deal with Gathbin? He's arrogant and cruel, but he's also been trained in battle.
My life since coming here has been incredibly…exciting, let's say. I've been in more battles than I have fingers and toes to count them on. Back to my original point, I'm in need of a good captain for the guards - the last one died about a week ago from a bandit attack and I'm still searching for a good replacement. And Gathbin doesn't seem the type to hire anything but the best - or have anything but the best.
You'd…you'd hire me as the captain of the guards?!
Why not? You seem like a good fighter, after all. Or is 'Captain Emery' your full name?
Fair enough. But you'll still have to beat him, you know.
Captain Emery, I'm going to be really up-front about this. I'm currently exhausted. I haven't had a decent night's sleep since the day before the caravan I was in while traveling to Gilded Vale got attacked by Glanfathans. I'm on nearly my wit's end, and have recently discovered that an incredibly ancient dragon has been living under the Keep. I'm not in the mood to deal with Arlerdr Gathbin, and that means he's not going to be in Eora much longer. I can detonate his soul, make it leak energy and set him on fire, or I can just disintegrate him. Either way, he picked the wrong day for this and I'm not going to just give up my home - my fully repaired home, no less - just because some arrogant, self-entitled noble has a distant family claim to the land but refused to follow the Erl's decree and so lost it to me. And besides, even if he hadn't, the Keep apparently has a will of its own and chose me as the next Master after Maerwald died. So I'm guessing simply kicking me out would have backfired on him.
When they open the hatch behind the chapel, sure enough they find Lord Gathbin and Captain Emery standing there. Chancellor Warrin and Marshal Forwyn are there as well, Warrin looking nervous and Forwyn looking ready to whip his sword out at a move from Gathbin.
Cera, for one, has had enough for one day - Gathbin is just about the last thing she can deal with, it's just a good thing her parents haven't decided to come back with an army to drag her home or anything. Gathbin smiles arrogantly, but Cera beats him to the punch by deadpanning "Let me guess, you want to kill me. Tough luck, others have tried and failed already."
Instead of answering, he charges and swings his sword at her. She nimbly dodges, looking like she expected it completely.
"Yeah, Arledr? Thing about fighting a Cipher, we can see exactly what your planning on doing before you do it."
That only seems to make him angrier - and all the others, who Cera pre-told to let it be between the two of them, more and more amused.
Finally, his sword flies from his grip in an over-enraged swing that went right over Cera's head and buried the sword twenty meters away sticking out of the ground. Gathbin makes the very stupid decision to charge Cera, thinking he could take her on hand-to-hand - she lets him get close, then whips up her knife, unconsciously igniting it in purple fire and burying it in his chest along with a knife made from her powers in her other hand.
The look on Gathbin's face is one of pure shock, and then he topples over sideways with his robe getting stained red. Everyone just silently stares for a minute, then Eder finally breaks the silence by casually asking "Since when have you been able to make a knife with your fire?"
"Since just now. I think I need to…" Thump!
Sagani smacks her hand to her forehead, and says "I'll get her to Brighthollow. Aloth, you wouldn't mind escorting Captain Emery to the Steward, would you?"
"No, I don't. Captain, please follow me."
AN: Yeah, I finally got this chapter posted! And yes, I did think a fight with a dragon would realistically end with them all getting cooked through. Sefyra's comments on the Watcher's background got me imagining, and so Cera's knowing Sefyra in a way came to be! Cera sensed Sefyra's presence, talked to her - an 'imaginary' friend that was far from imaginary. Anyway, I'll really try to update more - and there's only a few chapter left until Aloth and Cera finally get together, promise! Enjoy! Reviews are much appreciated!
