Chapter 109: Journey(2)

The whip-like branches of the trees were completely wrapped around the rear of the ship, and Kothar slammed his charged palm into the Titanite exterior of the ship, and the entire exterior of the ship was completely electrified.

Sparks ran over the entire exterior surface of the ship, and the twisting green branches writhed and squirmed, and then fell away, allowing the ship to soar away into the dimly lit sky, completely enshrouded by a thick layer of gray cloud.

[Aren't you glad I made sure that the exterior shielding was insulated from the interior mechanics of the ship?] Silane said cheekily, knowing full well what Kothar's answer would be.

[Yes, I'm glad you fulfilled a very basic safety prerequisite Silane, now, how about we get off this plane. I'm in no mood to fight plants for another minute. Let's try to avoid this plane if we have to hop through planes like this again.] Kothar sighed, and closed the cockpit, and a low hiss sounded as the interior was pressurized.

[I guess you didn't think to provide me with some way of making sure I could electrify the exterior from inside.] Kothar grumbled, knowing that the run in with the plants would have depleted some of their precious reserve of breathable air, if he hadn't been so sure that such a plant dense world would be so oxygen dense, which was confirmed by the basic instruments on the ship.

[If you had asked, I would have told you about the cable that's lying coiled there, just a little to the right of your legs.] Silane snarked back, holding back a laugh.

Kothar didn't reply, Silane was getting to a point where she took far too much pleasure in teasing him, if not for the years that she had unflinchingly obeyed him as an AI, he'd have probably had some choice words for her, and there were also the splitting headaches he would get if they had an argument.

Soaring over the multicolored patchwork jungle beneath him, Kothar wondered how his family was doing on Eclat, how his father was dealing with the aftermath of the war. 

He dismissed the errant thoughts with a shake of his head, soon enough he would back on Eclat, and he'd be able to find out for himself.

Kothar charged up another portal, and searched for another 'thin' spot that would lead them in the direction of Eclat.

This was one thing he had gained for the artifact that he could not fully understand, he seemed to have an innate sense of direction for where planes were in relation to one another. 

The massive portal opened up in the air ahead, and Kothar soared through, to find himself staring at nothing at all.

This plane was completely empty, rather than calling it  a plane, it would be better to call it the remnant of one, or perhaps even less than a remnant. 

Kothar could see, far off in the distance, the fading light of a sun that the residents of this plane had no doubt resided on.

Of the planet that was their home, there was no trace, except a slightly larger asteroid far below, which Kothar now slowly orbited, taking in the desolation all around him.

Perhaps, far off, there were flourishing planets in other systems within this plane. But to the average interplanar traveler, this was of minor interest. It had never occurred to them to explore beyond the confines of a planet, and this had created the concept of 'The Myriad Planes.'

These were the planes that were like clusters of beads along an endless length, those planes whose planets had flourished thanks to the blessing of the Wise Ones, and who neglected to really explore the stars, for why turn to the stars, when with enough power, entire planes were no more than a step away.

[Kothar, don't you think you might be stepping on the toes of the Ascendants.] Silane had been following along with Kothar's train of thought and chimed in.

[Why? Are they the only ones who are allowed to properly explore planes? I don't think so, they don't care in the slightest about interplanar travel. Why would they care about some weakling investigating things that they don't even pay the slightest attention to.] Kothar stared out at the glimmering stars of every color in the distance, and a pang of loss hit him as he remembered enjoying drinks on the bridge of an Alliance warship with his fellow Sentinels.

[No, but we don't know that much about Ascendants yet, it's best we don't generalize. And for all we know, the Devourer, it might not even be an Ascendant at all.] Silane's voice was quiet and pained, she knew the likely outcome for the Alliance, but she didn't want to breach the topic.

[What interest could any of them have in me. It's not as if my knowledge is valuable to them? They can literally step across planes and find any old civilization whose knowledge they can plunder.] Kothar was beginning to feel furious, remembering the Devourer set him off. How could a being be so cold and callous, threatening to destroy everything that Kothar knew because Kothar had tried to defend his home.

Was it the power that had warped its mind, or was it simply its nature?

As he waited for his Spatial Core to gather enough mana for a portal, Kothar's thoughts continued to turn to the Devourer. 

There had to be other beings of its level, otherwise it would simply rule the entire myriad planes, and relax as everything was brought to it. Did the powerful Ascendants truly not value the knowledge of civilizations of other planes, like the Devourer did not? Or was it simply an aggressive, reckless and ignorant outlier?

For him to really get a measure of how the myriad planes functioned, he would have to meet an Ascendant. And that would only be possible if he became far, far more powerful than he was now.