Judging by her spirit, she was on the verge of a breakthrough to Archlord. In other circumstances, that would be record speed. Now, it wasn’t nearly fast enough.
“I left a protective script around Yerin,” he continued. “It might be broken already, but I should be able to feel what’s left of it. If we can open the Way again, I can follow it to Yerin. Still not sure she ended up where Lindon is.”
Mercy’s perception stretched back behind them, and he knew she was checking on Orthos and Little Blue, who were sealed away training together. “They haven’t said anything.”
“I’m sure they know Lindon’s in trouble, but he’s in trouble a lot.”
She nodded distantly, clearly turning something over in her head. “If I open the portal again, can you take us through the Way?”
“I can keep us from falling apart immediately. Anything more than that is up to willpower and sheer chance. I can’t even control if we end up in the same place.”
“Good enough,” Mercy said. “Allow me a few minutes, if you don’t mind.”
Ziel looked her over warily. This was about to be another case of a young person doing something reckless. “What are you trying to do?”
“My mother left some of her authority in my Book. I’m going to advance, then I’m going to borrow her power to transport us.”
She was already sitting down in the cycling position, and her tone made that ridiculous statement sound almost reasonable.
Ziel didn’t have a better idea. Leaving Orthos and Little Blue here seemed like a terrible idea, but he couldn’t make a script strong enough to shelter them in the Way. He would at least have to explain things to them.
That was a job better suited to Mercy, but she had already closed her eyes and sunk her spirit into her Book.
Which left Ziel standing before her lifeless body and her shining Book, functionally alone, wrestling with the task of visiting Orthos and Little Blue.
There were other things he could do. His understanding of the Way and the runes used to control it was shallow at best, so preparation time was critical.
But he sighed and began trudging toward the other two spirits who remained on the island. No sense in putting it off.
Inside the Blackflame cycling chamber, Orthos was devouring another dragon-spirit. This one was an Archlord with enough power that even Ziel felt a little pressure. Orthos wasn’t having an easy time of it; the spirit was missing several mouthfuls of its flesh, lost to the hunger fangs around the turtle’s jaws, but the clash between the two of them still crashed violently against the invisible barrier of script that sealed off this room.
Ziel had laid this script himself, and from the outside, he was wondering if he should reinforce it. He reassured himself that at least Little Blue was safe, but she wasn’t supporting Orthos, as he had expected.
She was sitting in a cycling position at the center of the script as the Blackflame battle raged around her. A tiny bubble of blue-white energy surrounded her, and as any madra scraped that sphere of safety, the foreign energy was wiped away.
After only a second or two, Ziel noticed that both combatants were avoiding the small Hollow Domain. Either the Remnant sensed what would happen to it or it had already been taught a lesson by the Riverseed.
The script that contained them dampened spiritual perception. It was hard for him to sense inside, like trying to listen in on a padded room, but it was almost impossible for them to sense out. Even so, only a breath or two after Ziel arrived, Little Blue’s eyes snapped open and met his.
Ziel recoiled. Her gaze was uncharacteristically intense. It was so much like Lindon’s that it was unnerving, as though Lindon and his contracted spirit had switched bodies.
Then Blue waved cheerily and let her bubble drop. She ran to him, each of her little footsteps chiming against the floor. Orthos grabbed the dragon-Remnant in his jaws and body-slammed it into the ground on the other side, freeing up space for Blue to move.
The impact of the Remnant shook the stone so much that Little Blue was lifted an inch off the ground, but she hardly seemed to notice.
She shivered when she crossed over the script, but when she was out, she asked him a tinkling question.
Ziel looked down to meet her eyes seriously. “Lindon’s in danger. The portal is destroyed. Yerin already went after him, and Mercy and I are going too. Is there anything you can tell us?”
Little Blue’s eyes didn’t widen, and he didn’t sense any fear from her. She scrunched up her eyebrows and held her chin in a hand, considering.
A moment later, she gave him a response like the ringing of miniature bells. Ziel interpreted them as saying that Lindon wasn’t afraid, so she wasn’t either.
She ran up to pat him on the knee, wished him good luck, and then hurried back inside the script to continue training.
Ziel watched her leave, and for a moment wished he had a contracted spirit or sacred beast of his own. The emotional support alone might have helped him through the worst years of his life.
Then again, Lindon had far too many tiny companions. Ziel tried to picture himself with half a dozen pets and shuddered. He couldn’t imagine it. The heavens had only made him responsible for one life, and that was already a heavy burden to bear.
Ziel returned to the portal and began operating the Grand Oath Array. Profound silver runes spun around him. Controlling the complex will, authority, and scripted interactions took his full concentration.
He still wasn’t sure what difference he and Mercy could make, even if they did make it to Lindon’s side in time. But he knew one thing: if Lindon died, he wouldn’t do so alone.
Little Blue watched the battle between Orthos and the black dragon Remnant as it crashed against the ceiling.
Orthos tore another strip from the Remnant, but he took a tail-slap on the shell that sent him slamming back down to the cave floor. The impact once again launched Blue into the air, but she hardly noticed. She was focused on Orthos’ feelings.
Every new mouthful of madra added to the struggle inside of him. That was the real battle, not out here.
Orthos was wrestling against the mind and spirit of another while trying not to lose himself. It was a furious fight, and Little Blue wished him constant encouragement while she waited for him to win.
The battles on the outside and the inside ended at roughly the same time, as Orthos finished digesting the Remnant’s tail. With that, he was too powerful, and the spirit had taken too much damage. It sunk down and quietly dissolved into essence as Orthos roared his victory.
Then Blue ran up and laid her hand on his skin.
He grunted in discomfort as her madra flooded through his channels, cooling them as it passed. He didn’t like it when she cleansed him so suddenly, but they didn’t have time to waste.
“He’s grown stronger,” Orthos said, and the rumble of his voice shook Blue’s entire body. “But he’s on the verge of death.”
She cheeped in agreement. Blue told him what Ziel had said, and Orthos grunted. “You should go. You could help.”
She shook her head rapidly. She might be able to help the others, but she wasn’t strong enough to help Lindon yet. She needed more for that.
And without her here, Orthos would never make it in time.
He sensed that thought, and he didn’t like it. It pricked his pride, though he didn’t acknowledge that, so she didn’t mention it either.
Instead, she caught his eye and pointed out that it was her turn.
Without comment, Orthos began walking into another chamber, and she hopped up onto his head for a ride.
The next cave inside the island held a device Lindon had assembled from stolen Monarch ingredients specifically for her.
Six terrifyingly powerful Remnants were sealed in scripted tanks around the edges of the cave, each about the same distance from one another. They were all either the equivalent of Heralds, and thus appeared more lifelike than most spirits, or they had unique authority and powerful will.