The shelling stopped almost as soon as it started, but the damage had been done. The gate was destroyed, half the abbey had collapsed, and its inhabitants were in disarray. It was only a matter of time before they had Coalition boots storming the place. Mikhail was supposed to put a stop to this, but the Coalition evidently worked faster than he'd anticipated. Still, what had he thought would happen, coming here first instead of the Coalition camp?
Well, there was no time for second guessing himself. He just had to work fast, which fortunately, he was used to. There was a joke in there somewhere, at his expense, but he figured no one around here would be very appreciative.
"Jibril," he said, trying to get her attention. She was busy shouting orders at the monks as they moved through the abbey. "Jibril!"
"What?" she asked. "I thought I told you to leave. You're a Coalition citizen. You need not share our fate."
"Screw that. You get your people out."
"I think the time for that has passed, Driver."
"I have faith in my people," Mikhail said. "They'll buy us some time. Now get your people out of here."
"You really wish to help us?" Jibril asked. "After everything the Praetorium did to you?"
"Sure, you guys don't have a lot of fans back home. But we're tired of war, Jibril. We've all seen too much of it."
"It feels a little late for negotiations," the Leftherian woman said. She was some kind of representative for Fonsett village. As far as he knew, they didn't have any formal leadership, but she must have been respected amongst the community to be trusted with something like this. And she looked the part, too. There was a worldliness behind her eyes.
"We won't know until we try," Mikhail said. "Just give me some time. If nothing else, my team and I can maybe buy you a few minutes to get the civilians out."
"I am the Abbess," Jibril said. "If negotiations are indeed possible, then it is my duty to participate."
"And if they're not?"
"Then you are my Driver, and I will not leave you to face the Coalition alone."
"This seems ill-advised," the Leftherian woman said. "But I'd like to avoid a war too. Let's see if we can't talk some sense into those idiots."
"Well, I'm glad to have the backup," Mikhail said. "I left my team with the Flamebringer's forces. She's supposed to stop the Coalition from going too far, but if they've decided to attack, then I'm guessing they didn't listen. Still, if we link up with her, I think she'll at least be able to keep them from killing us."
"I would prefer to live through this," the woman said. "Where can we find her?"
"By now? I'm not sure. But if we head for the Coalition camp, we should run into them sooner or later."
"Unless we run into Coalition forces first," Jibril noted.
"Well, if that happens, then I guess we'll just have to rely on my roguish charm."
Mikhail slicked his hair back and winked at the Leftherian woman, but she just rolled her eyes at him, clearly unimpressed. Which was the reaction he usually got, these days. Probably for the best, anyway. Patroka would probably find a way to reach through the ether and strangle him if he started flirting with other women.
"I'll defer to your judgement," Jibril said. Then she turned to her men. "Tell everyone to fall back to the caves. If negotiations fail, we make our stand there. I will escort the non-combatants to safety and attempt to negotiate a ceasefire."
They bowed, quickly hurrying to enact her orders.
"Since when am I a non-combatant?" Mikhail asked.
"You said it yourself," Jibril said. "You're dying. I won't put your life at risk."
"Not really your decision to make." Mikhail manifested his fans. "It's been a while since I last had to use these things, and I'm well into my twilight years by now, but I can still put up a fight."
It might cost him to do it, but he'd manage somehow. He wasn't going to let things fall apart. Not when he'd finally managed to get through to Jibril.
"Very well." Jibril sighed. "Lead the way."
As they headed out of the abbey, however, the ground began to shake again. Were the Coalition resuming their artillery strikes? No. This wasn't explosions. The ground itself was shifting beneath them. Cracks opened up in the walls, and spikes shot up, skewering two monks further down the hallway.
Immediately, the villagers with them began to panic, but their leader kept her cool. She didn't even flinch as Jibril threw up a shield around the ground, barely in time to block another spike. All around them, the walls began to collapse, and Mikhail added his own shield to help reinforce hers. It just barely held as the abbey came to pieces above their heads.
As the dust settled, Jibril dropped her shield and surveyed the damage. The entire complex had been torn to shreds, and the monks had been thrown into complete disarray.
"My abbey," she said, surveying the damage. She was doing her best to remain composed, but that seemed to be getting harder by the minute. "My Children."
"This isn't the Coalition," Mikhail noted. The only Blade he knew that was powerful enough to move enough rock to tear apart this whole complex was Strix, and he was back in Temperantia. No one the Coalition had with them could've managed this, not even as a team. At least not this quickly.
No, that wasn't true. He did know one other Blade powerful enough to do this. Atasaiah. Which meant the Spessians were finally making their move. And they hadn't only hit the abbey. There was smoke rising from Fonsett too.
"No," the Leftherian woman muttered. For a brief moment, Mikhail saw rage cross her face. "The village. I need—"
"Go," Jibril said. "See to your people. I will see to mine."
The woman nodded, and her group began making their way through the rubble as quickly as possible. She seemed like she could carry herself on a battlefield, but clearly none of them wanted to be on one.
Jibril, meanwhile, began spreading her ether out, using it to snake underneath the rubble and free trapped monks. Mikhail would've helped, but generating that shield had already put him under a lot of strain. He needed to be careful going forward, or he might not be waiting for death much longer.
"I'm going to find out who did that," he said, leaving Jibril to tend to her wounded. "Try not to die in the meantime, yeah?"
"I could say the same to you," she said. "Go in the Architect's light."
Not a phrase he was really fond of. But he didn't have the time to complain.
"You too," he said as he began moving. If Atasaiah was the one who'd hit them, then maybe Mikhail could talk him down. Or, at the very least, he might be able to find out why he was doing this in the first place.
But Mikhail wouldn't find Atasaiah just by wandering around. He knew enough about the man to know where to really look. He stepped a couple steps away from Jibril, making sure there was no one in his immediate vicinity, and then pressed his ear to the ground. Sure enough, he could hear something rumbling deep inside the Titan. Likely, the second wave of attacks.
"Get back!" he shouted whirling around. "There are more attacks incoming!"
"There's nowhere to run," Jibril replied.
"Blanket of darkness, then. Shield everyone as best you can."
"What about you?"
"I'm going to have a word with the Titan Eater."
Mikhail took his fans and drove them through the rubble, working the bladed tips as far as he could into the ground. Then he shot out a thin stream of ether, slicing through the ground. He placed his ear against the ground, for whatever good that'd do him, but he was mostly shooting blind. Aiming for the direction the rumbling seemed loudest.
His ether broke through something, and abruptly the rumbling stopped. Then, without warning, it returned, increasing in intensity tenfold. A chasm opened in the ground, and a platform rose from the depths.
Dozens of Spessian soldiers stepped off, raising Core Chip powered rifles at the crowd of disorganized monks. Jibril and Mikhail threw up shields, but they couldn't protect nearly everyone. Blasts of ether cut through the dead and dying, and the soldiers advanced forward slowly, executing everyone in their path.
Towering over them was Atasaiah, surveying the battlefield. Like he was looking past everyone present for something specific. Whatever it was, it kept his attention occupied for the moment, so he didn't react much as Jibril began fighting back. She hurled wave after wave of darkness at the incoming soldiers, and they scattered to get out of the way. Mikhail stepped forward, bringing up his fans to fight alongside her.
But something moved in the corner of his vision before he could. The air broke in half, and a cloud of mist began to form. Then, after a moment, a large antlered man dropped from it, his body quickly expanding and gaining muscle. He flew straight for Jibril, and Mikhail put up a shield, stopping him just short of crashing into her. But as he did, more mist began to gather, and a dozen more people like him appeared. Sthenosi warriors, here to finally extract their revenge for two thousand years of Praetorium occupation.
Mikhail rushed to Jibril's side, casting out a lance of darkness to strike the first man back. This was the last thing he'd wanted to happen. He was here to put a stop to a war, not start one. But it didn't look like the Spessian alliance was going to give them much choice. If he wanted to keep his hands clean, he'd have to abandon the Praetorians to their fate, and he wasn't going to abandon his Blade again.
As he reached her side, however, something struck him from behind. A wave of ether crashed into Jibril, throwing her into the ruins of a nearby wall, and the Sthenosi descended on her. She fought back desperately, and Mikhail tried to work his way over to her, but someone grabbed his head and pulled it back.
Suddenly, an old woman's face appeared in his vision. She wore a tattered, grass-stained dress, and thin lines of blue light ran all across her skin. She laughed, pressing one finger against his forehead, and he lost all feeling in his limbs. He struggled in vain, but after a moment, she pressed another finger against his head, and his vision went dark.
Spessia. It was… Not quite the last place he wanted to come back to, but with Torna sunk beneath the waves, it might as well have been. He figured Jin felt the same way, and yet here they were. Scouring the wastelands of Spessia's spinal ridge for a Blade they weren't even sure existed. But other than Minoth, this was the last guy on their potential list of allies, and even if Mikhail could put up with fighting alongside the Dark Aegis, he doubted that old idealogue would feel the same way. It wasn't like the old man had much need for revenge, unlike the rest of them.
"This is the area!" Obrona announced, shouting to make her voice heard above the winds of the approaching sandstorm. "But we don't have long before we're in the thick of it, so I suggest we move fast!"
"Are we really going to bother with this?" Patroka asked. "If Obrona can't find him, then what chance do we have? How are we so sure he even exists?"
"He exists!" Malos shouted. He whistled, and Sever conjured up a dome of wind to give them a moment's peace. "I can feel it. Like a hole in my brain."
"A bigger one than usual, I take it," Mikhail said.
"The biggest. The gaps in my memories are nothing compared to the void this guy occupies."
"Why is that, exactly?" Perdido asked. "You've never even met him."
"Does no one pay attention to the briefings?" Akhos asked. "I don't write those for fun, you know."
"Yes you do," Obrona chided.
"Well, I don't write them only for fun."
"Malos has a sense for other Blades," Mikhail explained. "It's his gift, like Nia's healing and Jin's speed."
"Well, not exactly," Malos said. "I'm a little bit of a special case, in that regard. Y'know, being the Dark Aegis and all."
"We just saying that out loud?" Obrona asked. "I thought we were keeping that on the down low?"
"It's not like the brat's around to hear me."
Mikhail rolled his eyes. Sure, Nia and Jin were on assignment elsewhere on the continent, but that didn't mean it was a good idea to get comfortable. Restoring Malos was going to be a lot harder without Nia on their side, and she was still a little too idealistic to entrust with the truth just yet. For now, they needed to get used to keeping secrets.
"Being the Dark Aegis doesn't explain how you've got telepathy," Patroka said.
"It's not—" Malos sighed. "Listen, the details aren't important, but I've got a sense for how the world flows. The Titan-Blade cycle and all that shit. As much as Amalthus tries to mess with it, things keep turning. But this guy? He's exited the loop altogether. What's left of my core won't stop shouting at me to go fix him. I'd like to get a little peace of mind before we kick off the plan."
"And we need more heavy hitters," Mikhail reminded him. "There's no guarantee we can take Mythra in a fight if Jin can't keep up his speed."
"Well, if everything goes according to plan, we won't even need to fight Mythra. Finding this 'Titan Eater' guy is really more of an insurance policy."
"Need I remind you people there's a sandstorm closing in?" Obrona asked. "Get it in gear already!"
"Yeah yeah," Patroka said. She and Perdido stepped out of Sever's wind bubble. "Just stay out of our way!"
"How about a little competition, then?" Akhos asked, running after her. He and Patroka continued to bicker as they entered the storm, but their voices were quickly drowned out by the raging winds.
"What a bitch," Malos muttered. He looked back and caught Mikhail glaring at him. "Though I guess you're into that, huh?"
"Shut up," Mikahil replied. "Or I'm going to make you. We aren't friends. I assume you can at least remember that much."
"I don't know." Malos grinned. "My memory isn't what it used to be. Why don't you remind me?"
Mikhail stepped forward, but Cressidus reached out to stop him. With one hand on his shoulder, Cressidus pulled him back.
"We should get going," Cressidus said. "We'll search the ridge. I suggest, for everyone's sake, that you pick another location, Malos."
"Fine," Malos sighed. "If it means the kid here doesn't throw a tantrum, I'll be good."
Mikhail's first instinct was to bite back, but he knew it wouldn't be worth it. They needed to put up with Malos until they could finish the plan. He wouldn't be nearly so frustrated if they weren't here, of all places. The graveyard of all their hopes and dreams, so to speak.
Before he could change his mind, Mikhail headed into the storm. Cressidus volunteered them to look along the ridge, so that's where he headed, climbing up the slope to the spine.
"You alright!?" Cressidus shouted as they marched.
"No!" Mikhail replied, tilting his head back so he wouldn't be drowned out. "Not really!"
"Want to talk about it!?"
"What I want is for all of this to be over! Or at least to get away from the biggest reminder of it all! But sure, talking in the middle of a sandstorm! That works too!"
"Not here, obviously! But you shouldn't keep your emotions to yourself! I'm your Blade! I should hope you'd lean on me a little!"
"Yeah, yeah," Mikhail muttered. Squinting, he scanned the horizon, looking for anything resembling shelter. Malos didn't know the precise location, but he had been able to pin the Titan Eater down to this area. Which meant he likely had a shelter for when something like this happened. With fuck-all else out here, looking for a cave seemed like their best bet.
As they searched, however, there didn't seem to be anything along the ridge at all. They walked in silence for what felt like hours, inspecting the wall of rock. Mikhail could see the light of Perdido's flames in the foothills, meandering around. The others weren't having much luck either, it seemed.
"Got something!" Cressidus announced, rather suddenly. Mikhail turned to see him press his hands against the side of the ridge. Slowly, the rock slid away, revealing the entrance to a cave that had been covered up, likely by a Blade.
"Good work!" Mikhail shouted.
He stepped inside, grateful to be out of the storm for a moment. The cave wound deep into the side of the ridge, and it didn't look natural. Probably, whoever had sealed this place had also carved it out.
"I'm assuming we're checking this out," Cressidus said.
"Damn right we are."
Mikhail slung the gauntlet off his back and headed further into the cave. Normally, he would have just fought with his fans, but Cressidus was here, and they needed to learn to work together better. The brute-force approach wasn't exactly his style, but he'd make do.
After winding down into the rock a ways, the cave eventually widened to a large chamber that resembled the least-organized workshop Mikhail had ever come across. The walls were lined with all kinds of scrap machinery, most of it old, only some in working order, and there were parts strewn everywhere. Clearly, someone had spent a long time trying to build something here, and he couldn't tell whether or not they'd succeeded.
That didn't seem so important once he realized he wasn't alone. Standing near the far wall was a hulking brute of a man, nearly twice Mikhail's size. His skin was covered in plates of rocky armor that almost made him blend into the wall, and he stood uncannily still. Like he'd been suspended in time, somehow. As Mikhail approached him, however, he turned around, revealing his blackened Core Crystal.
"I have a visitor," the man noted. Mikhail immediately recognized the voice. Five hundred years ago, he'd fought in Addam's militia. He'd been here during the massacre, too. And from the looks of things, he'd chosen to stay.
"You," Mikhail said. "You're the Titan Eater?"
"That's what they call me." The man shrugged. "Though my name is Atasaiah."
"I know," Mikhail said. "I doubt you recognize me, but I was there during the massacre. Your team found me after my companion died."
"Ah, I see." Atasaiah nodded. "The Tornan boy. I thought you looked familiar. I doubt this will mean much, now, but I am sorry things turned out like they did. I did my best to keep the Praetorium from you."
"I'm sure you did."
Mikhail did his best not to glare at the man. He didn't want to think about what had happened after Haze fell. The bits and pieces he could remember through the shock were not pleasant memories, and looking at Atasaiah brought them all rushing back. Cressidus put a hand on his arm, lowering the gauntlet, and Mikhail realized he was tensed up.
"He doesn't mean to be standoffish," Cressidus said. "It's been hard on him, coming back here."
"I can imagine," Atasaiah said. "And here I thought I was the only survivor crazy or stupid enough to still come here."
"If you weren't here, I wouldn't have come back at all."
"Yes." Atasaiah nodded. "I suppose that was an unfair assessment on my part. You do appear to be of sound mind. How can I help you?"
"I represent a group of people looking to change the world," Mikhail said. "We'd like your help."
"Oh?"
"We call ourselves Torna. I'm sure you remember Jin, the Paragon? He's the one who put this endeavor together. We're going to Elysium to have some words with the Architect."
"I would advise against such a thing. There would be no point."
"You don't believe he exists?"
"He exists," Atasaiah said. "Of that I am certain. But if it were possible for him to effect any change, he would have by now. Exacting revenge on him would be a hollow endeavor."
"He still made this damn place," Mikhail said. "He should answer for that."
"Perhaps. But I have no interest in extracting so-called justice from a man so thoroughly powerless as he is. My goals lie elsewhere."
"We're going after the Praetorium, too. I know that has to mean something to you."
"I'm sure it did, once upon a time. But destroying it is your destiny, not mine. It will make little difference either way."
"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence." Mikhail sighed. He wanted to argue the point, but he didn't like being here, and it wasn't fair of him to drag more survivors into this mess. Not unless they wanted it as badly as he and Jin did. "Listen, I understand not wanting to get involved. I really do. If it weren't for Jin, I wouldn't be doing this either. So I'll not press you about it. But you should know Malos isn't your biggest fan. I suspect he only put you on the list so he'd have an excuse to track you down and do… Whatever it is he's supposed to do with anomalies."
"The Dark Aegis knows of me?" Atasaiah asked. That seemed to surprise him more than anything else.
"He calls you a hole in the system, or something. Says he can feel you in the ether."
"That is…" Atasaiah frowned. "Very inconvenient, indeed. I would appreciate it if you kept this conversation between us."
"Sure," Mikhail said. He glanced back up at Cressidus.
"I'll keep my mouth shut," Cressidus said. "Malos is an ass anyway."
"Thank you. Is the Dark Aegis here in Spessia?"
"Yeah, he's out there in the storm searching," Mikhail said. "I'll tell him I couldn't find you, but if I were you, I'd lie low for a while, because the plan kicks off pretty soon. We're only missing one piece, but once we get it, there's no going back. After that, either we die, or the world does. Fair warning."
"I faced my death long ago," Atasaiah said. "It did not claim me then, and it will not claim me now. But I appreciate the warning all the same."
"We should get going," Cressidus said. "Malos is going to come looking for us if we take too long, and we don't want him asking questions about where we've been."
"Return to your group," Atasaiah said. "I have places I can go to lie low. I am very eager to see how your endeavors will fare."
Atasaiah plunged a hand into the ground and opened up a hole. It looked like it ran deep into the Titan.
"Before I go," he said, turning back. "I never did learn your name."
"Mikhail," he said. "This is my Blade, Cressidus."
"Mikhail…" Atasaiah muttered the name to himself a few times. "I see. I did mean it when I said I was sorry. I wish things could have turned out differently."
"There was nothing you could've done."
"Indeed." Atasaiah nodded. "Good luck, Mikhail. May you meet your end smiling."
Seemed like a strange thing to leave off on. Mikhail wanted to ask what the fuck that was supposed to mean, but before he could, Atasaiah stepped into the hole, disappearing into the Titan's depths.
"We should go," Cressidus reminded him.
"Right."
Mikhail managed to tear himself away from staring at where Atasaiah had been, and the pair left the cave. Whatever Atasaiah was doing here, it looked involved. The man seemed to have found some purpose, just as Jin had. He'd wanted to ask what the machines were for, but it wasn't his place. Mikhail would give him the privacy he'd earned after fighting through that awful war.
The storm was beginning to subside outside, and it didn't take him too long to find the others. They'd grouped up along a sorry excuse for a road, and Jin and Nia were back with the other recruit. Strix, the All-Seeing. According to Obrona's assessment, he could project his sight out to some extreme distances. Which was good, considering there was something they still hadn't managed to find.
"And he returns," Malos said, watching Mikhail make his way down the ridge. "Have a fun trip?"
"Bite me," Mikhail replied.
"Find anything?" Akhos asked. "Our searches were a total bust."
"No," Mikhail said. "Searched through some of the caves up on the ridge, but there wasn't much besides some old junk equipment."
"Well, don't despair," Nia said. "Jin and I found the perfect man for the job."
"Hey," Strix protested. "I never said I was joining your club. I said I'd hear you out."
"We're going to Elysium," Jin said. "And we're going to make a world where Blades don't have to fear persecution. Where there is no Praetorium to hunt down those of us who make unthinkable choices for those we loved. Were everyone can be free."
All true, kinda. From a certain point of view, anyway. Nia's ability kept Jin's core from tearing itself apart after repeated use, but she was naive. He'd brought her in under false pretenses, and now they had to keep up appearances. Sooner or later, she'd learn the truth, but that was a problem for after they had the Aegis.
"Sounds nice," Strix said. "Not interested, though. I don't get along so well with other people."
"We can keep the Praetorium off your back," Akhos offered. "We know you spend a lot of time on the run."
"I spend a lot of time searching," Strix corrected him. "That guy you all failed to find? The Titan Eater? I've been looking for him too. He knows a little too much about me for my tastes. Compared to that, the Praetorium aren't much of a concern these days."
"You don't like people knowing who you are?" Patroka asked. "The what the hell are you doing here?"
"I don't really care so much if people know my name. What I care about it people knowing what I can do."
"What a shame," Obrona said. She smirked. "And we came all this way to ask you to find something for us with those all-seeing eyes of yours."
Strix tensed up.
"How do you know about that?" he asked.
"I have my ways," she said. "I'm very good at analyzing Blade data, just like you."
"We'd be willing to keep quiet about what we know," Akhos said. "Provided you do some jobs for us, of course."
"No," Nia said. She glared at Akhos. "We're not going to resort to blackmail."
"We'll do whatever it takes," Malos said. "Isn't that right, Jin?"
"Yes," Jin said, frowning at him. "Whatever it takes."
"I'm not joining your weird cult," Strix said. "But… I can tell you're not fans of the Praetorium, so I'll tell you what. You need me to do some jobs? Sure, I'm game. Could use the distraction, frankly. But after that, I'm gone. You forget about me, I forget about you, and we never mention this again to anyone. Ever. What you know about me, and what I know about you, stays buried. Are we clear?"
"Yeah," Malos said. "Sounds good to me."
"Fine," Nia muttered.
"Good," Strix said. "What is it you need?"
"First, we need the Titan Eater," Malos said. "We're recruiting, and he's the last Flesh Eater on our list of candidates."
"Good luck with that," Strix said. "I've been trying for years, and the closest I ever get is glimpses. He can move through a Titan faster than you can blink. Last time I caught sight of him was two years ago in Sthenos. I'll give Spessia a good once-over, but if I can't find him for you, I doubt anyone can."
"That's fine," Jin said.
"But—" Malos began to protest, but Jin cut him off with a glance.
"There's another target we're after," Jin continued. "An old Tornan ship, sunk just after the Aegis War. It has some cargo that's vital to our plans. We want you to find it."
"A sunken Tornan ship?" Strix asked. "Yeah… Yeah, I could probably manage that. You guys got a way of getting under the Cloud Sea?"
"We have a ship of our own," Mikhail said. "But the Cloud Sea is too big, and the currents change too quickly. We've never been able to track it down."
"You're lucky I let you find me, then," Strix said. "I'd rather not dawdle, so let's get this thing started now, alright?"
"Fine by me," Jin said. He started walking, and the group followed him back to the Marsanes. Mikhail, however, stuck around for a moment, glancing back up at the caves. Atasaiah had felt so certain that nothing they were doing would matter in the end. Mikhail couldn't let himself believe that, but… If the Architect was willing to let the world decay like it had, then what would destroying it accomplish? Beyond catharsis, what would this plan actually get them?
"Mikhail!" Malos called out. "You having violent flashbacks or something? Come on!"
"Eat sand!" Mikhail replied. After a moment, he caught up with the others.
Worrying about what they were doing would have to wait. For now, all that mattered was he was here to look after Jin. But beyond taking care of what remained of his family…? He honestly didn't give a shit. The world could burn, or not. It didn't matter. So long as Jin got what he was looking for, Mikhail could live with any outcome.
Aingrom combed through more of the Blade-man's memories, looking for anything relevant to their struggle. Weaknesses they could exploit. Information about their Gardens that the Titan Eater had not managed to procure. Knowledge of his allies that it could use against them in a confrontation. It was a slow process, but it had time while Drognav played with his food. It could see him through its Second Sight, beating the Praetorium woman into the ground.
She scrabbled out of the way of his attacks, and idly Atasaiah threw up a wall to keep her contained. He was watching the chaos unfold, and something seemed to be troubling him. Perhaps that was a weakness they could exploit? It knew enough of him to be suspicious of his plans. No being who went by the name "Titan Eater" could be trusted. It was possible they would need to kill him, for the good of the Whole. But he betrayed very little information as he looked around.
Idly, as it searched another memory, it used the Sight to check on the other groups currently engaged in the conflict. The Flamebringer's squadron was bogged down just outside the abbey, fighting the bulk of Spessia's forces, and the Coalition forces seemed none too keen to assist her. The Blades from the Gardens were doing their best to help, but they were outnumbered. Further afield, the Aegis Driver and his friends were busy fighting in the village. It wasn't nearly so large a force, but the point was simply to keep him where he was. If he wised up and rejoined the Flamebringer, the mission would be much more difficult to achieve.
With a flick of a wrist, it conjured up a cloud of ether and broadcast it through space, closing distance to the Aegis Driver in an instant. The cloud struck him, knocking him back, and it seemed to disorient his allies for the moment. But that wasn't its intended purpose. It was an illusory mist, designed to plague the target with visions. A simple spell, compared to what Aingrom was currently engaged in. Quickly, it summoned up several more and cast them into the ranks of the Flamebringer's forces. Such spells could only affect humans, but there were enough Drivers there to make a difference. None of them would be approaching any time soon.
"Something's wrong," Atasaiah said, drawing its attention. "Drognav, I would appreciate it if—"
"You don't give me orders," Drognav said, cutting him off. He lifted the Abbess up and slammed her into the ground again. She cast out ether to attack him, but none of it could penetrate his magically enhanced flesh. Aingrom had made sure of that. Right now, he and his warriors were nigh invincible.
As he drove a clawed hand through the Abbess's stomach, Atasaiah winced, and it finally had a clue as to the nature of his discomfort. He knew the Abbess. Or a past version of her, more like. It distressed him to watch her suffer. That was something it could exploit.
"Break her," Aingrom said. "Draw out her suffering as long as you can, Chieftan. Such is the will of Sthenos."
"With pleasure," Drognav grunted. He lifted the Abbess up and grabbed her by the arms, pulling on them as hard as he could. She screamed, and the limbs threatened to tear from their sockets.
"Enough of this," Atasaiah said. "We have more important matters to attend."
"You have other matters," Drognav said. "I am only here for the Praetorians."
There was a cracking sound, and for a moment Aingrom assumed the Abbess' arm had torn from its socket. But Drognav stumbled back, dropping the woman to the ground and clutching at his chest. A large crystal of ice began to grow on it, threatening to overwhelm him.
Aingrom stepped up, keeping one hand on the Blade-man and using the other to cast a spell. It broke up the ether around the ice, shattering it, and as the ether dissipated, it noticed motion it had failed to detect before. Swiftly, it whirled around, but it wasn't fast enough to stop the attack from landing. It drove Aingrom back, forcing its hand off the Blade-man. He stirred, and before it could put him back under, a woman appeared over him. The Shattered Blade.
"Howdy," she said, pressing the gun into Aingrom's forehead. Before it could unleash a spell to stop her, the Shattered Blade fired. The resulting blast of ether tore through Aingrom, splattering its body across the ground.
For a moment, its consciousness was suspended in the ether, waiting as the body tried to recover. As an Extension of Sthenos, its life was tied to the Whole. Unless the Whole were to perish, Aingrom would persist indefinitely. But if its body failed, it would be purged, and a new Extension brought in to fill its place. It had served the Whole longer than any other Extension. It would not fail now.
With a pulse of ether, it signaled the Whole for more power. A promise that any ether expended by the Whole to assist it would be repaid in full. A dangerous promise. One that, if not delivered upon, would see Aingrom dead. Or worse, reduced back to a mere human. But as the space around its body folded, bringing in a surge of new ether, it felt confident it could deliver.
"Oh shit," the Shattered Blade muttered, watching Aingrom's body stand once more. She fired six more shots at it, but Aingrom stepped back, condensing the ether around it to fold space and placing it behind the Shattered Blade. She could tell something had happened, but not immediately what, and it took advantage of that. It grabbed the Blade-man by the head before he could fully recover, unleashing a great cacophony of ether into his system. A complex spell to override his body's functions and force it to do the bidding of the Whole. Not a spell it employed often, but it always achieved great results.
The Blade-man stumbled forward, swinging one of his fans at the Shattered Blade. She struck him to the side and put up an illusion in the ether, trying to prevent him from attacking her, but he was no longer in control. Aingrom was, and it had no need to rely on mortal sight.
"What's the big idea?" she asked, jumping back as the Blade-man crashed through her illusions. "We're on the same side, dumbass!"
"Can't," he grunted. He sent out a pulse of ether from his core, trying to disrupt Aingrom's control, but he was not strong enough. "Can't control… myself."
"Figures," the Shattered Blade sighed. She fired several blasts of ice to pin the Blade-man to the ground, and Aingrom forced him to break free, using his ether to slice through hers. It left the two to resolve matters between themselves and moved to Drognav's side. Quickly, it produced a flash of ether, stripping the ice from his body. As he lumbered to his feet, however, another warrior crashed into him.
The Abbess was on her feet again, and she had given up on using her fans to cut through her enemies. Instead, she resorted to brute force, slamming herself through their ranks with reckless abandon. She grabbed another warrior by his horns and hurled his body at Atasaiah, finally earning his attention. The Spessian forces immediately focused their attention on her, giving the Praetorian survivors a chance to run for cover, but Atasaiah put up a hand.
"No," he said. "I'll do this myself."
"She's mine," Drognav grunted, shoving the other warrior aside and charging the Abbess. She stepped back, slamming her hand to the ground, and a cascade of darkness poured from her. It snaked across the ground, engulfing Drognav, several of his warriors, many of the Spessians, and Atasaiah all in turn. Aingrom floated up, keeping clear of the mass, and used the Sight to watch how things unfolded.
Immediately, Atasaiah charged forward, using pillars of rock torn from the Titan to clear his path, but the Abbess moved between them, leaping up to strike him in the face with her fans. He raised a shield to block her a moment before her attack landed, and she pivoted, throwing out a wave of darkness to launch herself back toward Drognav.
Aingrom had wanted to use the Abbess to probe Atasaiah for information. Every action he made gave it more to work with, and it couldn't let that fight be cut short. So it folded space, sliding Atasaiah and Drognav around until they had switched positions. The Abbess slammed into the Titan Eater's shield a second time, and he reached out a hand, grabbing the Abbess by the head. He slammed her into the ground and immediately imprisoned her in a cage of spikes.
Yet he refused to kill her. Interesting.
A quick sweep of the battlefield revealed that the Flamebringer's forces had made no progress. The Flamebringer herself was severely wounded, and several of her comrades were under the effects of Aingrom's spells. That she hadn't yet retreated was a testament to her resolve. As it decided how best to break that resolve, however, something landed in the middle of the forces arrayed against her group.
It was the Aegis Driver and his Blade. Not an ether manipulator per say, but the winds he could conjure were strong enough to dispel most magic. He should not have been able to act so quickly, however. Aingrom's spell on the Aegis Driver should have prevented it. Which meant the boy had broken from its influence on his own. Judging by the gash on his leg, he'd shocked himself out of it with pain. Likely he had some experience dealing with illusions. He was much more tenacious than Atasaiah gave him credit for. Which meant they had to end this quickly. Unfortunately, shouting drew its attention back to their current predicament.
"We had a deal!" Drognav bellowed, grabbing Atasaiah by the throat. "The Abbess is my kill! Release her!"
"I cannot," he said, barely flinching even in the face of Drognav's enhanced strength. "I have… Lingering attachment to her. I would prefer her death be humane, if possible."
"She is a Praetorium monster. Her death will be long and painful. As Sthenos wills it. Now give her to me, or I will consider Spessia another enemy to destroy."
"Very well." Atasaiah sighed, releasing his restraints on the Abbess. Immediately, she shot forward, and Drognav ran to meet her. They clashed, throwing each other back, and the other warriors resumed their onslaught. Aingrom thought about stepping in, but it had already gleaned much about the Titan Eater from such a short encounter. Drognav could have his fun.
As Atasaiah stepped back, however, something tore through the ether at blinding speeds, almost catching Aingrom off guard. It managed to fold space the instant before a large blast of ether tore into the battlefield. Fortunately, it twisted the path of the blast, diverting it away from the Spessian forces and into a nearby hill. Moments later, a Blade descended from the sky.
Monstrous and reptilian, the Blade more closely resembled a Titan than even the Titan Eater himself. Herald, the last true remnant of the power of Old Torna. During the Cataclysm, they had single-handedly defended Genbu from the Dark Aegis's forces. Now, all that destructive power was concentrated on a single target. Atasaiah.
They shot forward, slamming into the giant of a man and forcing him to step back. Energy crackled in their maw, and they unleashed another blast, too close to Atasaiah for Aingrom to deflect. He took the full force head on, raising a shield to deflect the blast, but it broke through. The energy was hot enough to sear his armor, but he didn't seem concerned. With a grunt, he tossed Herald back and raised a pillar of rock into the sky. It struck Herald and knocked them to the ground, where they immediately unleashed another blast. Immediately he raised a cage of earth around them, but Aingrom knew it would not hold for long.
"Deal with that, if you please," Atasaiah said. Aingrom realized after a moment that he was talking to it.
"I serve one master," it replied, remaining where it was.
"I have more important matters to attend to than dealing with the Coalition's attack dog. Now if you'd please be so kind as to uphold your end of—"
"Hey jackass!" the Shattered Blade shouted. Aingrom looked just in time to see the woman fire a wide burst of ice shots at it, and it quickly moved aside. She had broken her companion's legs to prevent him from attacking her, and now her attention was focused on the rest of the battle.
Aingrom threw out a wave of ether, but the Shattered Blade was already running. Firing blasts of ether at both it and Atasaiah, creating balls of ice that rapidly began to expand as her ether cooled the air around them. He raised a wall of rock between himself and the attacks, however, cutting the Shattered Blade off. And sticking her with Aingrom.
"Fine," he sighed. "You deal with that one, then."
The mountain of rock around Herald shattered as he strode forward, and they clashed, driving each other into the ground.
Aingrom floated in thought for a moment as the Shattered Blade tried to attack it. She manifested useless illusions and fired blasts of ether that it could easily avoid, so she posed no great threat. The real problem was the Flamebringer's approach. With the Aegis Driver's help, she was beginning to route the forces Spessia had brought. Even with her wounds, she would be a formidable opponent. Aingrom moved to intercept her advance, hopeful it could route or delay them, but the air in front of it shimmered.
Suddenly, the Shattered Blade appeared beside it, in midair, and put several shots through Aingrom's torso. How had she managed to fool its Sight? What wizardry was this?
As Aingrom hit the ground, it realized its error. The Shattered Blade had frozen the ether itself in place, leading it to think nothing meaningful was happening. It had been careless to think it understood the full extent of the Shattered Blade's abilities. A mistake that would not happen twice.
It shot up, body reconstituting, and drove a large wave of ether into the Shattered Blade. She flew back, and it folded space to meet her, grabbing her and unleashing yet more ether. It was almost impossible to control Blades or Cannibals, but disabling them was much simpler.
Unfortunately, what it had grabbed was not the Shattered Blade. Aingrom could tell the second its hand made contact. This was simply a sculpture of ice, made up to look real. It even had a crystal of in its chest that pulsated with waves of ether to fake ether resonance. The real Shattered Blade was below, ready and waiting with a column of ice. The blast engulfed Aingrom, freezing it in place. She looked rather pleased with herself.
Aingrom began using heated ether to melt its way out, but progress was slow. It would take several minutes to get free.
"Ya' doin' alright, Mik?" the Shattered Blade asked, taking her focus off Aingrom.
"Just fine," the Blade-man said, sounding anything but. "I think I'm going to lie here for a second. Can you help out Jibril?"
"That bitch?" she looked over her shoulder, where the clash between the Abbess and Drognav's men was just barely visible. "Really?"
"She's better than people give her credit for."
"She's also a Praetorian."
"Just… Help someone, alright?"
"Fine."
The Shattered Blade stepped forward, disappearing from normal view, and immediately she began firing into the ranks of the Spessian soldiers. They'd been keeping their distance from the heaviest fighting, trying to hunt down the remaining Praetorians, and she tore through their ranks with little opposition.
As Aingrom worked itself free, it watched the battle progress. Atasaiah and Herald beat each other seemingly without pause, but eventually the Titan Eater began to gain the upper hand. Herald's blasts of ether were devastating, but they took time to charge. Atasaiah used that interval to erect defenses while battering Herald with attacks from all sides. When they took to the air, Atasaiah sheltered himself with great walls of stone and unleashed waves of rocks that punctured holes in his enemy's wings.
Then Atasaiah began manifesting his weapons. Long spears cast at Herald like great arrows. They struck Herald, skewering through them and forcing them to land. But they didn't give up. Instead, their jaw unhinged, and the next blast of ether was tenfold more intense, carving through Atasaiah's defenses and reducing the spot he'd been to sludge. But Atasaiah had already moved.
He emerged below Herald with more spears, dozens driving through their arms and legs. Dozens more through their torso. Spear after spear was driven into Herald until they could hardly move or breathe. Only their Core Crystal remained intact. Not out of any past attachment this time, however. Herald was one of the many threats Aingrom and the others had studied over the years. They suspected that, were his Core Crystal to break, the resulting explosion would destroy everything in the vicinity. If Atasaiah was not careful, their fight could rupture even the Titan they stood on. Such was the power of Torna's most favored child.
"Stay put," Atasaiah said, encasing Herald further in a prison of stone. As he turned his attention to the rest of the battle, however, a column of darkness formed around the Abbess, drawn up from all the ether she'd scattered across the battlefield during her fight with Drognav. Tendrils reached out, engulfing Drdognav and his men and dragging them up into the air. She spun them, slamming them into one another and driving them into the ground, and as they collapsed, some of their transformations broke. The blessing was beginning to expire.
As the Abbess's column of darkness collapsed under its own weight, she shot forward, spearing straight for the Blade-man. She hit the ground next to him just as Aingrom freed itself, but she didn't seem too concerned about that. She was too focused on her Driver, using her ether to patch up his wounds.
Aingrom began to advance of them, preparing ether to regain control of the Blade-man and use him against her, but a blast of wind struck it back. The Aegis Driver's Blade had arrived, and the rest of the Flamebringer's group wasn't far behind. As they arrived, the Jewel threw out a wall of flames, splitting the Spessian forces, Drognav's warriors, and Atasaiah into silos. Aingrom floated back, keeping its eye on how things unfolded. The others were here for war or revenge, but the Titan Eater had come for this. It was curious to see what he would do.
"Flamebringer," the Titan Eater said, striding forward. "I see you've survived. An unexpected development."
"If you're going to send an assassin after me, at least make it someone more competent than Walraig," the Flamebringer spat. She leaned on her other Blade, one hand at the wound on her stomach, but she still looked intent on fighting. "And if you take another step, I will consider it a declaration of war."
Atasaiah stopped. Then he turned to Drognav, raising his voice to be heard above the flames.
"Would you like to do the honors, then? Or should I?"
"This is not what you promised," Drognav said.
"So little faith." Atasaiah shook his head and turned back to the Flamebringer. "I will deliver exactly as I promised."
With one step, he cast his ether out across the whole area. Instantly, the ground began to shift, crumbling and shooting up spikes in equal measure. Walls came up around the Flamebringer's forces, preventing their retreat, and as they scrambled to get their footing, he began to form and hurl spears through their group.
The Jewel, her companion, and a dozen other Blades threw up shields to block the assault, but even if it ensured their momentary survival, they were still pinned down.
Aingrom cast out ether to scatter their shields, but a wave of wind blasted its spell back. Then the Aegis Driver's Blade took to the air, forcing his ether into a contest with Aingrom's. Atasaiah attempted to strike him down with a spear, but the moment he did, the Aegis Driver vaulted over the shields.
He ran for Atasaiah, casting out a wall of wind to block the onslaught for a moment, and the Flamebringer charged in after him. Atasaiah raised walls of stone to protect himself, but the Aegis Driver cut through them, giving the Flamebringer a clear shot. She swept her weapons out, arcs of flame spearing straight for the Titan Eater, and he met them head on. Even still, they seemed to burn hotter than Herald's blasts. Plates along his chest began to warp beneath the sheer heat.
As Atasaiah braved the Flamebringer's onslaught, he used his ether to lift the many spears he'd cast out back into the air, recalling them all at once. They speared straight for the Flamebringer and the Aegis Driver, now exposed in the open field without nearly so many Blade shields to protect them. As they approached, however, the air grew cold, and spikes of ice shot up from the ground to catch them.
The Flamebringer's other Blade brought the wave of ice around, slamming it into Atasaiah and cracking the plates on his chest. He stepped back, throwing out waves of spikes to force his attackers back. Then, once they were far enough away, he began to destroy their footing. Which didn't bother either human as much as it should have. They were very experienced fighters, it would seem. Even with a hole in her stomach, the Flamebringer could still move fast enough to hold her own.
Not fast enough to fight two enemies at once, however. Drognav's men came charging through the flames, crashing headlong into her forces, and Drognav himself went after the Flamebringer. He ambushed her from the side while her focus was on Atasaiah's attack, knocking her to the ground. The Aegis Driver unleashed a blast of wind to force him back, but the damage had been done. She got back up to a crouch but didn't seem capable of moving much beyond that, and Atasaiah shot forward, spear in hand, to run her through.
Before he could reach the Flamebringer, however, a wall of darkness descended, engulfing the two of them. When it subsided, the Blade-man stood in his path, leaning on the Abbess to stay standing. Aingrom could tell at a glance that her core was overloaded. She'd used too much ether in too short a time, and now she was spent. Nevertheless, Atasaiah stopped.
"I don't want to hurt you," he said, his voice as calm as always. Only his actions betrayed his state of mind. He was still attached to the Blade-man, too. "Step aside."
"I won't let you do this," the Blade-man said. "I gave you a chance to get away years ago. I thought you'd be smart enough to take it."
"There is only one path left to me. If you stand in my way, I will be forced to kill you."
"Well I'm not moving," he said. "And I'm not smiling either. What's is going to be, Atasaiah?"
The man looked between the two for a moment, and there was pain written clear as day across his face.
"Please," he muttered, looking at the Abbess. "Don't make me do this."
"I won't make you do anything. We all have a choice. For the first time in my life, I'm choosing to do the right thing. There will be no more bloodshed on my watch. You could choose the same, if you wished."
"I can't."
He hung his head, and the pair tensed. The Flamebringer's Blades and the Aegis Driver tried to reach them, but Drognav's men blocked the way. Even as the Jewel cut through them with wreathes of fire, she was a second too late. Atasaiah raised his spear and drove it through the Blade-man's stomach.
A shame, really. Aingrom had hoped to continue exploiting that weakness of his. But as Atasaiah towered over the Flamebringer, it seemed he had no more weaknesses to exploit. If he threatened the Whole, then he would be a formidable opponent indeed.
"I'm sorry," he said. He pulled the spear from the Blade-man's stomach.
"Yeah, me too," the Shattered Blade said, appearing next to him. She pumped a dozen blasts of ether into his side, knocking him back, and immediately the Flamebringer lunged up. She drove her sword through one of the cracks on his chest, and flames poured from it, snaking through Atasaiah's body. He grunted in pain and collapsed to one knee, losing his grip on his weapon. Slowly, the Flamebringer got to her feet, and her Blades returned to her side.
"You've lost," she said. "And now you're going to pay for all the suffering you've caused."
"I have paid a heavy price, Inquisitor," Atasaiah said, sitting back and dissolving the various defenses he'd put in place. For a moment, it looked like he was surrendering. "But I have not lost. I accomplished everything I came here to do."
Then, the instant the Aegis Driver let his guard down, Drognav rushed forward. He grabbed the boy with one large hand, lifting him into the air and pinning his arms to his side. He struggled against the grip, but it was too strong. Others rushed to his aid, including his own Blade, abandoning his struggle with Aingrom. But none were fast enough.
With his free hand, Drognav pulled the necklace from the Aegis Driver's neck. The boy screamed, thrashing violently, but Drognav tossed him aside. Immediately, Aingrom sprang into action, using its remaining ether to fold space. Taking the Spessian and Sthenosi forces away from the battlefield. Fulfilling its prescribed duty for Atasaiah's plan.
After a moment, they all found themselves a fair distance away, safe from the fighting.
"The core, if you please," Atasaiah said, looking expectantly at Drognav.
"Uphold your end of the deal first," Drognav said. "Kill them."
Atasaiah sighed. Then with one wave of his hand, he cast his ether throughout the region. Ether control far beyond that of a normal Blade, or even a Cannibal. He gripped the entire hillside with his power, and then he crushed inward. Not aiming to kill those on the surface, but the ones beneath it.
With its sight, Aingrom could see the Coalition forces in the tunnels beneath the landscape, in the midst of a very tense standoff with the remaining Praetorians. Both sides had been ordered to stand down. To give cooler heads a chance to prevail. Which left them completely exposed as Atasaiah's ether worked its way through the tunnels. With one great wave, he collapsed everything within his reach, trapping thousands of soldiers within. It would take the Coalition months, possibly years, to recover from a loss like this. The Praetorians would never recover at all.
The Flamebringer's men and the Shattered Blade appeared on the horizon, hot on their trail, but Atasaiah pulled them into the ground before any of their pursuers could arrive. The ground around them moved, propelling the mass of injured soldiers and weakening Sthenosi back to their staging ground, and as they retreated, Drognav handed Atasaiah the Aegis Core.
"There were survivors at the Abbey," he noted. "Your men did not kill them all."
"We'll have time aplenty to hunt the Praetorians once the Coalition falls," Atasaiah said.
"I hope you're right."
Drognav sat down on the platform, letting Atasaiah work, and Aingrom tabulated the plan in its head. They had the Morythan Herald. Dr. Jenal's device, newly repaired. And now the Aegis Core. The plan was nearly in place. Soon, they could secure Sthenos's immortality. All they needed to do now was retrieve the Eye of Genbu and eliminate Atasaiah.
He had to be eliminated, of course. After all that had happened, it did not trust him not to be thinking the same thing. The only hurdle was that it no longer had a good way to stop him. Perhaps no one did.