Skyvenom: Chapters 32-33

Here are your chapters for this week.

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Chapter 32

Now that they had a weirkey, Theo was tempted to go rushing off across Deuxan, but he restrained himself. In part because moving around such a hostile world was an easy way to invite more trouble and in part because there were several matters he had to deal with first.

Fiyu, Senka, and Krikree had investigated the coalrag thoroughly and agreed with his own analysis: it was a perfectly ordinary sublime material. When he brought it into his soul and used it to clean off the skyvenom slime, the dark cloth soaked up the green at the slightest touch. After getting over some lingering paranoia, Theo used it to completely clear his entire soulhome.

The question of why they would give him the coalrag was contingent on why they would test him in the first place. Originally he had wondered if they had been sent by Vistgil, but if that was the case, he saw no reason why Vistgil wouldn't have just attacked. The best possible interpretation was that they were looking for easy marks who would take the simple solutions they offered, actually recruiting outsiders instead of hunting for them.

Even though Theo was suspicious of that interpretation because it meant he was safe, he didn't have a better one yet. So he picked up the coalrag and took it to the top of his soulhome to see what could be done.

Throwing it up into the clouds was ineffective, which he'd expected: materials needed to be connected to his soulhome to have much effect. The cloth did seem to potentially interact with the poisonous clouds, though. Theo looked around for wire and, after realizing he didn't have any, carved out a pole from outdated Tatian wood. Then he used all his abandoned bricks atop the soulhome to build a pillar.

While he worked, his mind wandered back to the battle. He didn't want to underestimate Esaire, and now that his head wasn't pounding, he'd thought of another potential plan. It was entirely possible that Esaire faked his hatred and pretended to want to finish things personally in order to distract Theo from his real plan to target Strongholds.

Because it didn't matter how well Theo could fight Esaire's forces if they ended up completely overwhelmed by Strongholds. Esaire could even be sincere in trying to win the fight, since the strategies reinforced one another: the more Theo struggled, the less other Strongholds would want to support him, and even if the convocation didn't go in his favor, Esaire would still have more Authorities.

The more he thought about it, the more Theo felt that even if this theory was wrong, it was too obvious a strategy to ignore. Esaire had to be deeply in debt to the Demon Court by now, and they at least weren't stupid enough to miss this possibility.

Eventually Theo finished his pillar and stuck the wooden pole in it. He climbed the side until he felt the heavens pressing back on him and risked an ascension, then he tied the coalrag to the top. The instant it left his hands it snapped to the side and Theo stared in surprise. There wasn't really wind inside his soulhome, but the roiling of the poisoned clouds seemed to interact with the cloth. Which was what he'd hoped: the coalrag was slowly draining the skyvenom into itself.

As he climbed down, he realized that it reminded him of a windsock. Of all the things he'd planned to do upon returning to the Nine Worlds, building a sublime windsock had not been one of them. Well, if it worked...

He watched for a while and couldn't sense any overall difference: the coalrag was absorbing the skyvenom steadily but extremely slowly. Presumably this had to be faster than waiting for the poison to dissipate on its own, but was it in any way superior? In the end he'd have a piece of cloth absolutely drenched in an ascension-damaging poison. Did he have a use for that? Did the Mercury Court?

It all made little enough sense that he was tempted to just march on the Mercury Court suite and demand answers. He supposed it was possible that they wanted exactly that, though "capture through annoyance" seemed like a bad strategy.

Well, if it was a trap, it was one he couldn't discern. If it was really a challenge, as the Stronghold had said, then Theo intended to meet it. He could ask the poison expert about the coalrag, and perhaps he should ask around about more antidotes, as if he was concerned about the skyvenom. Time that Esaire spent trying to block him at Authority was time that he couldn't spend on his other schemes.

Being so close to the poison clouds made Theo more light-headed than he expected, though the sensation vanished once he returned to his body. That was probably all the soulcrafting he should do for the time being. Now that he'd taken care of that, he had no reason to delay any further. If Esaire was focused on the convocation of souls, Theo needed to counter him.

Briefly Theo considered asking the others. But Fiyu and Nauda were spending time together, Senka was sleeping, and Krikree was soulcrafting angrily. No, he should handle this himself. If their own ally was a threat, it was the sort of threat they wouldn't overcome with power.

Theo flew out of their suite and arced around the palace under his own power. The stewards would have given him a vehicle, and that seemed to be the fashion, but Theo wanted to flex his own cantae. He took flight for granted now, but when he took the time to actually enjoy himself, it was a pleasure. His own cantae flowed around him like water, easily carrying him through the winds.

Almost too soon he landed on the balcony dedicated to Greater Ostic. Chlira was on guard and waved to him, but he didn't have time to talk to her. Instead he walked inside to have another conversation with Aima Nourise.

She seemed to have finished changing into an evening gown, no doubt to attend an event with other Strongholds. But when he stepped into the hallway she paused, then made a gesture to some of the servants. In seconds they were alone and she turned to him fully.

"It took you long enough," she said. "I thought you were fixated on your little vendetta."

"You seemed busy yourself." Theo shrugged in the Deuxan fashion, as if a few weeks were irrelevant. "But considering that we never solved your problems for you, I thought we should discuss the exact terms of our agreement."

"The convocation has become simultaneously more and less dangerous." Nourise glanced over her shoulder toward the central chambers. "With more Strongholds involved, it's less likely that I'll actually have to fight, and Sartozi and I won't be at each other's throats. But there are greater powers at play, and I don't like sticking my head out for outsiders I barely know."

"I tracked your schedule and it seems you've been busy. You think this could benefit you."

"It could, but one of the most obvious ways for me to turn a profit would be to join the winning side. I should tell you that I've already been approached, both by the Demon Court and by Esaire's minions. The only reason I didn't betray you is that they haven't offered anything worthwhile. No, at this stage they can only hire mercenaries and the least stalwart of noble families."

She mentioned the idea of betraying him smoothly, as if discussing the weather, and Theo had a feeling that it wasn't any kind of bluff. Perversely, that honesty only reinforced the minimum of trust he had for her. Unlike the higher courts, Nourise didn't seem to be playing any game except the obvious.

"Before the Demon Court arrived, you told us that we needed to resolve your wars in Western or Southern Ostic," Theo said. "Is that offer still open?"

"If you can do that, you'll give me what none of these courtiers will." Nourise scowled southward as if she could see her court with her bare eyes. "While I'm taking risks here, Sartozi has returned home, which may yet prove the wiser choice. He wouldn't attack directly, not without breaking the convocation, but he will be putting pressure on my court."

"So you want us to take care of that."

"Can you? It seems that you have politicking of your own to do here."

"I think I can do both." Theo gestured with his new Deuxan weirkey. "I just wanted to be sure we were still aligned."

Nourise shrugged elegantly. "I'd prefer it. I don't trust the Demon Court not to throw away their allies, and I trust the Mercury Court not at all. If you can actually prove yourselves in Ostic, I'll continue standing for you in the convocation. If you manage to survive all this, I'll even consider you allies."

"Surviving is generally the plan." Theo swept a Deuxan bow and then left the suite.

On his way back, he realized that he would be splitting up from the group for the first time since they'd returned to Deuxan. He had never exactly hoped this would be easy, but he'd hoped it would be over sooner. Instead things had grown further than he'd expected... and frankly, he was just going to make things worse.

When he explained what he intended to Fiyu and Nauda, they both looked skeptical.

"Sartozi has made himself our enemy," Fiyu said. "He is working with the Demon Court. Why could he be trusted?"

"I don't trust him," Theo said, "but think about this from his perspective. He's pushed by a foreign court to take care of a matter he considers beneath him, then he's stopped by three Authorities. Not only do we fight him publicly, after that everyone who hears about the convocation knows that he failed. We're a blow to his pride, which means a blow to his status."

Nauda snorted. "Those sure sound like reasons he wouldn't want to listen to you."

"Maybe he won't listen, but I don't want to ignore this and let it fester. If I had acted differently years ago, maybe I could have avoided a feud with Esaire. He wouldn't have chased me to Norro Yorthin, we wouldn't be dealing with this now, his family might not have invaded Nlukoko."

"Maybe, but I wouldn't be so sure." Nauda settled back thoughtfully. "It's not like he's innocent in this, and Nlukoko had nothing to do with us until we made it our business."

"You aren't wrong, but..." Theo couldn't help but think back to their first confrontations. "Esaire didn't always seem this petty and obsessed with vengeance. It doesn't really matter if it's fair or if it had anything to do with me, this vendetta has caused us a lot of trouble. I don't want to take the same path with Sartozi. It might be a long shot, but I'd never forgive myself if I didn't try."

"What is the long shot?" Fiyu asked. "Do you think he would ever support us?"

"Keep in mind the Demon Court pressured him into this and he doesn't care about Esaire. We don't need his undying loyalty, we just need him to withdraw his support when it matters most. If the convocation is close, that could make all the difference."

They were silent for a time, then Fiyu nodded carefully. "Very well, Theo. I will wish you luck."

With their approval, Theo only needed a little time to prepare for his trip. He decided to leave them the sleigh for any official functions and grabbed a few of the things he needed. The bigger question was whether Krikree or Senka would come along, but he decided against it. If this did turn violent, his first defense was politics and his second was retreat via weirkey. Adding other people would only mean potential complications or even hostages.

And so Theo finally raised the Deuxan weirkey he'd been itching to use. First he left the world via another weirkey and felt reality twisting up behind them, then he grasped the silver key and arced back. For an instant he had an overwhelming sensation of the continent of Socirro, then he snapped back into being over the desert.

Or perhaps not as close to the desert as he'd intended. Theo flew up to the cloud layer and searched around to see how far he was off before he finally spotted a city in the distance. He'd seen that one before, while traveling away from Anguedan.

Except that time, he'd been seeing it from the north. He'd weirkeyed himself too far south, so he was already inside Occoire territory.

Since no one rushed to attack him, Theo began flying south. There were definitely other Authorities in Occoire Court, but generally not more than one per city, and they wouldn't be eager to attack him. So long as he made his presence clear, they likely wouldn't think he was a spy, so he flew with impunity.

Though he hadn't been to Occoire itself before, Theo knew it when he saw it: the capital sprawled over far more of the landscape than any of the smaller cities he'd passed. Most of it was surrounded by the same windswept plains that he saw elsewhere in the south of Socirro, but beyond the city he saw an entire forest of silvery trees. Anguedan had some trees around it, but those were tiny groves compared to this sea of shimmering boughs.

When he flew closer to the city itself, he waited for someone to attack, but so far he'd been ignored. Most of the city appeared similar to the other ones on this part of the continent, with flat buildings made from shiny gray stone. He saw a few of the same outfits and pack animals that he recognized from the desert, though many fewer. Other than that...

No, on closer inspection Theo realized that there were more differences than he had realized. What he'd taken for a gutter in the street was flowing not with water, but some sort of metal. There were other lines of metal flowing through the city as well. They flowed like mercury, though he hoped it wasn't, because he doubted even Deuxans could benefit from the toxic metal. Atop one house there was an entire pool of it, and when Theo floated closer he was surprised to find that the metal seemed to radiate cold.

Before he could figure out the liquid metal, a new power appeared in the sky. Theo rapidly retreated from the buildings so it wouldn't seem like he was attacking... not that it would matter, judging from the expression on Sartozi's face.

The Stronghold hit him with a violet shockwave and Theo only braced himself and retreated instead of evading. He grimaced when the raw power struck his body, but his armament largely absorbed it, and his cantae wasn't so far beneath a Stronghold's now. It still sent him sailing back over the skies of the city.

Just as Theo started to reorient himself, Sartozi reached out and a vast purple sleeve extended from him. The projection wrapped around him and then slammed him to the street below before grinding him down into the cobblestones.

Theo grunted and licked some blood from his lip as the Stronghold loomed overhead. All according to the plan so far... the possibly very ill-advised plan.

Chapter 33

Even though Theo didn't have the defensive focus that Nauda did, his body was reinforced by all his Corporeal chambers, plus his coat was especially effective against the blunt impacts. He endured being smashed into the street, then braced himself when the giant sleeve of cantae gripped him again.

For a moment it tried to squeeze him to death, but Theo burned cantae until the pressure stopped. Instead it hurled him away from the city and he decided to go with it, neutralizing his gravity so that he sailed away from city limits and over the Deuxan wilderness.

Sartozi burst after him, of course flying faster than he could. Theo stayed ahead of him until they were out of sight of Occoire, then allowed the giant cantae sleeve to trap him in place again.

"Why aren't you fighting back?" Sartozi demanded.

"Because I'm here to talk." Theo finally flexed his cantae and struck the sleeve with a torsion punch, tearing through it and freeing himself.

Even though Sartozi wasn't surprised, his eyes still narrowed. "About what?"

"I need your help." Theo hadn't been planning to say that, but when he saw the anger in Sartozi's eyes, he realized that an aggressive approach was the wrong one. Now that he'd established himself, admitting weakness might actually put him in a stronger position.

"And why would I help you? You've been nothing but an inconvenience for me."

He could have said more than that, considering how Theo had gotten him involved in a complex war, so "inconvenience" was minimizing things. Another hint that his new approach might be the better one. Theo stayed alert, but spread his hands and dropped his cantae until he simply hung in the air.

"Right now I'm nothing but an inconvenience," Theo said. "A few people saw us fight before, now they've seen us fight again - they'll forget all about it, if they're given something more important to remember. But what's an inconvenience for you is life and death for me. If we beat Esaire, everyone will spin a narrative that you were on the losing side. If you support us, it will be just one more victory in your past."

"And what can you possibly give me to equal the Demon Court?" Sartozi's robe finally faded to its normal silver and he folded his arms across his chest. "They gave me a valuable sublime material as a down payment, and having such a powerful court owe me is worth far more than a debt from a few outsiders."

"Obviously I don't have the resources to pay or bribe someone like you. But I'd be willing to bet that when this started, their gift looked like it had few strings attached. Now everyone knows that the Demon Court is meddling in Socirro's politics and that you were the first to take what they offered. So how much is your reputation worth to you?"

Sartozi stared at him for several seconds, then let out a brief laugh. "I admire your spine, at least. But you're working together with Nourise and Greater Ostic... if you're planning to betray her, I'm willing to listen, but I don't think that's why you've come."

"I'm not in a strong enough position to betray anyone," Theo said with a self-effacing smile. "But Nourise isn't a solid ally either, and the payment she's demanded is attacking you. My position may not be strong, but it's strong enough to cause problems for your court. Surely we can negotiate something better."

"For a start, what does Nourise want?"

"Southern Ostic. We've already fought some of your Authorities there, though we didn't kill them. She wants us to come back and wage true war. Right now, we're on opposite sides, so it would be within the terms of the convocation."

That was the first real risk he took - much larger than going to the city and enduring an attack from a Stronghold. If Sartozi was too skeptical, or had some reason to disbelieve him, the potential alliance would be ruined. Fortunately, it looked like he'd bent the truth just enough, because Sartozi sighed and nodded.

"True as that may be," Sartozi said, "you're just describing the stakes of war. If that's what you plan to do, I might as well finish you now."

"But it's not in my best interest to actually fight Occoire." Theo gestured toward the city in the distance. "Isn't it clear by now that I don't have any interests in Deuxan? I want to take care of my business and leave. Give me a way to resolve this that benefits you and I'll take it."

"That seems more like your problem than mine. Occoire Court is strong."

Despite his words, Sartozi's anger seemed to be weakening and he couldn't be as confident as he pretended or he wouldn't have retreated back to his home city. Theo made sure not to look too aggressive and tried another tactic.

"I need Nourise in the convocation, but she can't help me otherwise. Her entire court is specialized in Ethereal Floors, so she lied to me and hid the fact that yours specializes in basements. All I'm looking for is an excuse, another path I can take to survive this."

"I admit I didn't expect you to open your basement like that." Sartozi shook his head slowly. "To do that without guidance, in a court like Ostic... that's not bad."

"Then surely we can come to terms." Theo pretended to grope for another path. "What about Western Ostic? I don't understand the conflict there, but I'm told you're technically at war. Isn't there something I can do that benefits both of you?"

"Perhaps, but not enough for me to stick my neck out for you. Western Ostic is too far out into the desert, and it's not a wealthy region. But they're old, and proud, and Nourise needs their support. I just want to steal them from her to undermine her, but we wouldn't actually go to war over a place like that."

"Then it sounds like there could be a solution, you just need the right motive."

"Listen, boy, it's not as though I don't understand your argument, and I resent the Armeau family for dragging me into this." Sartozi took a deep breath. "But the Demon Court is not to be trifled with, and I pledged my support."

"What about the Mercury Court?" Theo asked.

"No one knows why they're meddling, but they've been doing it for a while. They certainly have the power to cause trouble, but will they? Socirro handles its own affairs, and it's better that way."

"Then I have information you may not know: the Mercury Court is specifically acting against the Demon Court. They approached me directly to recruit my group for their efforts. I don't know exactly what they want, but it doesn't seem like they plan to leave Socirro any time soon."

Putting it that way implied he was actually working with the Mercury Court and could potentially cause problems, but Theo could tell that he needed more leverage. Just the possibility of another powerful court must change the scales and he could almost see the calculations shifting behind Sartozi's eyes. The Stronghold pivoted in midair, as if he wanted to adjust his weight but couldn't.

"That's useful information," Sartozi said eventually, "but there's far more going on than you know. Unlike you, I have to deal with inter-court and continental politics aside from my own vendettas."

"Then let me take one problem off the table." Leaving unsaid that if they couldn't negotiate, Theo would make himself a much bigger problem. He hoped that was far enough, but this had more to do with the courts involved than Deuxan diplomacy.

"I can't see a solution in Western Ostic, but perhaps you can. I'd be willing to talk... but you have to do something for me first."

"What is it?"

"Come to Occoire Court, the physical court itself, and bow to me." Sartozi's eyes blazed as they locked on him. "It doesn't have to be public, but come and admit that you need help. Then, if you serve the court, we might consider accepting a compromise that will let you walk a narrow path between sides."

"I still fight for Nourise," Theo pretended to fidget as he spoke, "I can't simply betray her publicly..."

"I told you, it doesn't have to be public. If asked, you can say that you approached us for information regarding basement soulcrafting. If you actually perform a service for me, we'll repay you in training, so it will even be true. But if you can't do this, there's no point in us negotiating any further."

"I would... fine. If you try to use this against me, I'll tell Nourise I was infiltrating."

"Heh, and she'd probably believe you, because she hates me. But no, I want a path forward as much as you do. We can talk, so long as you bow."

Theo lowered his head, pretending to accept the inevitable. He kept the smile off his face the entire time he flew back to Occoire, keeping behind Sartozi so as not to seem presumptuous. When they flew down into the local palace, Theo dropped to one knee and pledged his cooperation.

And it cost him absolutely nothing.

Deuxans might backstab one another whenever it was convenient and think that loyalty was naive, but they did believe in pride. Theo thought that this idea of pride was just as naive, and as he stood up in the court, he finally let himself smile.

Western Ostic was still a variable, potentially a nasty one, but he was one step closer to finding a solution.