The spider let out one last plaintive screech Then its body caved in on itself the long arm tumbling away and cracking the ground DeganawidahÆs figure vanished returning to defend Lowanna against the crusade by the Prophet
We donÆt have fucking time for this Neveah muttered Wild patterns of Aether Engravings built themselves in her mind and then were obliterated by the inevitable realization it would not be able to salvage the situation Each of her ideas could alleviate a symptom of the failure but she couldnÆt take advantage of it in quite the right way
For all that she thought Randidly was insane for these attemptsÆ she couldnÆt deny that the result possessed a poetic sort of inevitability And from that his ideas drew their staying power Her ideas meanwhile
She considered rushing to RandidlyÆs side and donating energy but she knew that it would require more than even she could provide quickly most of the energy he needed was significance which she could not provide nearly as easily as Aether She considered picking up the buck and forcing the memory through a transformation but now she understood Deganawidah was an impediment to that option Her mind raced through other possibilities
While she thought the world didnÆt bother to wait Even after the spider’s body collapsed the spirits that Randidly had assembled lingered They rushed to form a ghastly specter that looked at the world with desperate and hopeless eyes They sat at the center of a fading web of connections the veins that could have animated the memory to become something more than it was The black pillar between reality and the memory degraded further until it seemed that only a strand connected them
And then Neveah had an idea Those lingering fading pieces Randidly had managed to create fit together into an answer
Symbol after symbol shot away a solution wedged into the closing threshold And just barely the shadow of a miracle slipped through the gap
With a gasp Neveah finished She sat down panting and shaking She had expended so much mental energy that the illusion of her human form faltered for a few seconds leaving the monstrous carapace of a bone wyrm visible to the world However her part was done Plus she very purposefully tried not to think of the trouble that would result when the memoryÆs Aether did return and smash against the edge of the Dungeon she had created
The massive Engraving she had erected began to spin and whirl The edges snapped into place The bubble sent by the main Nexus hummed in recognition of the selected section it had been scooping up Dungeons and plopping them into the Nexus for a long time As it activated Neveah was surprised to note the whole of the memory was brought along
Just with an unpopulated third of it existing outside the confines of the DungeonÆ She wondered if it was possible to cross that barrier
The memory rumbled as even DeganawidahÆs efforts couldnÆt fully restrain the disturbance in the significance The whole of space around Neveah flickered as their positioning shifted and settled into its new location
And in came a pulse of meaning that Neveah had to have felt against her skin to believe It was not realityÆ that breathed through in that moment of uncertainty But when the connections between the memory and the Nexus began locking into place a sense of legitimacy passed through to their location Those raging spirits began to gather up a roaring momentum The web woven by the spider sank into the fabric of the memory becoming battery and animating force
RandidlyÆs patterns of significance replicated endlessly along the branches and pathways The feedback loop intensified bringing power and meaning to the knock off Lifeseals that Neveah had built into the Dungeon Nearby hostilities escalated between Aether and Nether forces reignited in earnest most of the soldiers and probably even the upper echelons not understanding the meaning or effect of those massive energy shifts
Neveah rubbed the bridge of her nose happy to have been able to complete RandidlyÆs work but the longer she looked at the rising tide of momentum of the memory spirits of significance the more she felt thankful that the Cult of the Savior was making trouble for the Nether Arbiter at the moment
Because such was the potency of the emotions that for the first time the deep rock of significance that had weighed down the memory began to stir Hope had been given to these spirits And in the depths of DeganawidahÆs history individual bites of significance began to break off and flow into the Dungeon Web
The amount was minuscule It would take hours before it amounted to a handful probably even longer before it would have a noticeable effect on DeganawidahÆs power But a flow had been established one that made the result inevitable
The structure of this cobbled together Dungeon Web could not coexist with Deganawidah
Neveah blinked as a new problem asserted itself A figure flashed across the outskirts of Homewell making a beeline for RandidlyÆs still inert form She recognized the image almost immediately the young Don Beigon sensed weakness in Randidly and was out for vengeance
Lucretia Do you have
Already on it Lucretia replied Only a moment later a tall figure in a beaten leather coat stood over Randildy and slid his fingers through his belt
Don Beigon slowed as he approached his eyes narrowed Who are you
A man who owes this fella a favor Hank Howard tipped his hat toward Randidly He grinned at Beigon Take another step and youÆll regret it
Don Beigon sneered and took a step
Hank Howard drew his revolver and shot him in the chest
Chapter 2307
Mae Myrna floated in an abyss Darkness whispered behind her ears flitting back and forth in the edges of her vision Her heart had been hacked hollow by an ice pick and left to dry she wondered if she would ever feel real again Her image curled inward on itself losing all the carefully crafted momentum she had built up over the past few weeks since isolating her area The darkness used small fingers removing her foundation grain by grain
She felt so empty Her eyes just fixated on the ground The darkness pulsed urging her to speak Her tongue felt swollen and the words left her sick I am nothing
Yet she could not stop speaking them
I deserve
I am nothing
I I just wanted
Just nothing
In reality she sat in her room with a meal set out in front of her Brilliantly woven tapestries sang gallant colors along the wall a collection of gemstones filled a shelf behind her and all of the furniture was solid wood she had carved herself This was home At one point steam had wafted off of the delicious smelling pork chops but she had been hunched over the table so long that it had cooled away to inertness
Since the darkness came she had not moved but to whisper
Now the strange insight that revealed the dark certainty had vanished but for a bit it had felt like Mae had been able to see through the fabric of existence She saw herself how she truly was a pale imitation of a true being that had existed in the past She saw the arc of that womanÆs path felt sure she would have become that woman except
We all deserve Mae mumbled the words her image trying to find its legs once more Time mattered for individuals who existed and she didnÆt But for every rotation of her world state image the foundation collapsed a bit more completely She couldnÆt escape this loop
I am nothing We deserve nothing Mae felt tears coursing down her cheeks She knew this was not the path she was supposed to walk She didnÆt want to die a snake devouring its tail until its body vanished But she also knew that now that she had seen through the bedrock of her existence she couldnÆt perpetuate a lie They did not call her the Patron of Truth for nothing She refused to lie to herself
Armed with this new knowledge her image began to change
There was no other way to survive
Devick stood in front of a triptych mirror and swayed back and forth almost in awe of what she saw Zethusala clicked in admiration You are a rare beauty Miss Devick