I wasn’t sure who cooked all of it, but at the moment, I was too famished to care. I tore into the breakfast with abandon while I listened to Derek.
“I’d been hearing some dark rumors about happenings in other countries, and I decided to look into it further. Last night, Keras and I went to The Golden Run to meet with a few old friends of mine. We learned a few things that are, well, concerning.”
“Such as?” I asked, while Patrick poured me a drink and handed it over. I nodded to him gratefully.
Derek’s expression took a turn for the serious, which was never a good sign. “Only hours after we left the Shifting Spire, someone detonated an explosive device in the Grand Cathedral in Dalenos. Dozens were killed, and hundreds injured.”
I had to put my fork down to pause and process that. “The Grand Cathedral? Isn’t that one of their biggest centers of worship?”
“It is. Or, rather, it was. The place was devastated. There’s talk that Katashi’s Hierophant may have been killed in the explosion, but I haven’t been able to confirm that.”
I winced. “That can’t be good. With Tenjin missing, Katashi was already inches from leveling Valia.” I paused, processing that. “Which was probably deliberate. You think someone is trying to force Katashi’s hand?”
“Definitely. Could be the same group that Orden was working with, could be someone else being opportunistic. Either way, the longer Tenjin is missing, the more this situation has a chance to escalate. I was hoping that with Orden captured, Katashi would have enough information to find his brother and resolve this himself…”
I understood where Derek was going. “But if someone just attacked a major temple in Katashi’s home region, he’s probably going to need to deal with that.”
“Right. And there’s more to it. Two more temples have been attacked in the last few days, and three other government buildings. There have been a few people arrested, but the attacks haven’t stopped. They most likely have organized leadership, and I suspect this is just an opening move.”
Patrick had a thoughtful expression. “For what goal?”
Derek grimaced. “A few possibilities there. Orden mentioned protecting Valia as a goal. By drawing Katashi’s attention back to Dalenos, the people who were working with her might minimize the damage to our country. There are all sorts of other longer-term goals that could be behind this, though. Weakening specific countries to allow for an invasion from another force, such as Edria or Caelford, for example.”
I had another hypothesis, but I didn’t say it aloud. It was pure speculation at this point, and I didn’t want to raise any more alarms.
“So many people,” Marissa mumbled. “It’s terrible.”
I hadn’t even been thinking about that, in truth. I agreed with her, of course, but my mind was elsewhere.
Tristan, what are you planning?
Derek was right. If Tristan and his organization were behind this, they’d have a longer-term plan of some kind.
I glanced at Sera, saw her calculating expression, and knew she was contemplating possibilities like I was.
Keras turned his head toward Marissa. He’d been silent up to this point, his expression neutral. “It’s unconscionable. And we intend to put a stop to it, but for that, we need to find the source.”
Derek nodded. “Right. And we were planning to do just that, so Keras and I headed straight to the spire after we were done at the casino.”
That drew a series of blank stares. Marissa was the one who spoke up. “Just yerselves?”
“Either one of us could handle the first twenty or so floors on our own without much difficulty, and we were only planning to check the first few floors for clues. The plan was to try to find the spot where Tenjin was captured, and see if we could find any blood or other clues. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the problem. Someone has sealed the spire entirely. It’s impossible to get in or out.”
Several pairs of eyes turned toward me. I opened my hands in a gesture of surrender. “You think Tristan sealed the spire somehow?”
Derek shook his head. “Not exactly. I think Tristan is one of the people involved, though, and he might be the easiest to find to get some answers. The other possibility is that Katashi sealed the spire himself to prevent any further interference to his own investigation. We don’t have a good way to contact him to ask, however, nor would he necessarily respond even if we did.”
“Do you have a way of finding Tristan?”
I had the book, but that was just a way of sending messages. I’d considered the possibility that it might be used to trace his location in the same way he seemed to be tracking me, but I didn’t know how to do it.
And I hadn’t told everyone about the book yet. I wasn’t quite sure if I wanted to.
“If you’d be willing to give us a sample of your blood, I think we could use it to locate Tristan.”
I folded my arms. “The spire blocks most forms of divination, even for people inside. That was one of the first things we checked when Tristan disappeared. People try to locate lost loved ones in the spire all the time, it doesn’t work.”
“True, under normal circumstances. But certain people are given the ability to circumvent that in order to do their jobs properly. Using it for personal gain is, of course, strictly forbidden.”
My eyes narrowed. “You’re talking about Whispers.”
“Yes, or other groups in the service of the visages. I believe that given the dire nature of the situation, we could find someone who would agree to help us.”
I wonder if there’s any chance Arbiters are on the list of people that can use detection magic inside the spires? It would make a degree of sense, since it’s an attunement that the visages give out directly, and we’re supposed to be some kind of assistants to the visages.
I can’t count on it, but I can try to learn an information gathering spell or two and test them next time I’m inside the spire.
In the meantime, I’ll need to look into other options.
I took a drink, pondering. “Orden was a Whisper. Tristan was, or is, a Whisper. How would we know if any given member of their organization is working with Tristan?”
“I don’t think we could decisively prove someone’s allegiance, but I have a few ideas for people Tristan and Orden might not have been willing to work with. Either due to ideological differences or personal ones.”
I turned toward Keras. “What about your magic? Would the tower block it?”
He shrugged. “I’ve never learned any dominion sorcery for information gathering. If my friends were here…” He shook his head. “But they’re not. And I’m honestly not sure it would work, either way. Whoever made these towers was familiar with my style of magic, they may have taken precautions.”
That was an interesting statement, but before I got a chance to follow it up with more questions, Derek spoke again. “I think I know someone who could do it, but I’d need Corin to agree to help first, and it could take a while for me to track them down. Probably a few months, at least. They were in Caelford, last I checked.”
I glanced to my right.
Sera gave me a curt nod.
I turned back to Derek. “I’ll do it. But under one condition.”
Derek grinned. “You want to come with us when we enter the spire, I assume?”
I twisted my lips into a frown. “Am I really that predictable?”
I tried not to wince at the chorus of chuckles that followed.
“I’ve talked to Keras about it, and it would be dangerous, but there are enough advantages that we’re willing to take you along. Even if we can get a divination spell to work from outside of the spire, it’s not going to give us enough to find Tristan, especially if he’s moving. If you’re with us, we can have the diviner cast the spell any time to get his current location. And if we do find Tristan, you’re the most likely to be able to talk him into cooperating.” He paused. “It’s also possible you could talk Katashi down if he gets angry at us for investigating this on our own.”