Chapter 448: A Brutal Way

Chapter 448: A Brutal Way

Tala, Terry, and Rane walked slowly across the previous location for the city of Arconaven, Tala’s entire focus on her threefold sight, watching the scars in Reality rippling in the zeme that still buffeted and swirled through the region, even more than three decades after this city’s waning.

The view was so odd in part because Tala could see the scars rending across reality nodes. In a way, the damage was oddly unifying to them in a way that wasn’t usual to her perception.

Like bricks in a wall that was hit with a bladed attack. The strike goes across the individual bricks in a neat line, and doesn’t go away, even if you take down the wall and look at the bricks one by one.

-That’s... yeah. I can see that actually.- Alat then let out a sound like a sharp intake of breath. -Stop!-

Tala held up her hand, and Terry and Rane stopped instantly. What is it?

-Look behind us.-

Tala focused her perception on the area behind them and paled.

There was a very minute laceration across the surface of the reality nodes behind them, leading from near the edge of the city depression up to where they were standing.

No... not where we’re standing, where I’m standing.

There wasn’t one leading to Rane, just her.

Tala grimaced. “I can’t go further. Reality is too weak here. My gate—for whatever reason—is marring things as I walk forward.”

Rane nodded slowly, then gave her a long-suffering smile. “Your gate is much more open than mine. I would say that is the reason.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, well. I didn’t really want to just say that.”

He laughed. “Never fear. I know you’re more advanced in some ways, Tala. What do you want us to do?”

Her grimace grew. “I really want to investigate more...”

He shrugged. “Can you attach your bloodstar clouds to me? I’m not causing any damage, right?”

She blinked at him a few times. “Well, I don’t have to attach them to anyone or anything, but it would be useful to keep them centered on you, yeah. That’s an excellent idea. Thank you.”

She considered for a long moment before nodding, having decided how she wanted to proceed.

“I can have another on your shoulder and talk with you through that.” She could probably resonate the air with her aura just using those that were star- and stoneward, but it wouldn’t be as easy.

Something to work on, I suppose.

With an act of will, Tala moved the basis for her threefold sight to center on Rane rather than herself. As each was a mini-Archon Star binding the blood to herself, it contained and projected a bit her of aura, allowing it to maintain itself and extend her aura, so long as it didn’t get too far away from her...

Tala frowned. She’d been working with Mistress Katie and Master Akra to have her aura exist as separate instances... but she hadn’t succeeded yet. “I’m going to have to leave a trail of iron spikes between us for this to work.”

Rane shrugged. “Whatever you need to do. Are you going to wait here, or go back toward the edge?”

She looked around. “I think I should retreat from the area. Reality’s weak enough here, just standing in place is harming things just due to the small movements in the ambient zeme.”

He nodded. “Alright. I’ll wait here until you’re established, then advance at a pace you choose.” He looked toward Terry. “Do you want to come with me, or stay with Tala?”

The avian looked back and forth for a moment, then flickered to Rane’s shoulder opposite Tala’s bloodstar.

The big man chuckled. “Thank you. You’re right, if either of us needs help, it will probably be me.”

Terry trilled triumphantly at the sky, clearly happy that Rane had intuited the reason for his choice.

Tala chuckled, even as she manifested an iron spike and drove it into the ground right beside Rane and Terry. Without another word, she turned and walked back the way they’d come, driving another iron spike into the ground every ten feet or so, just to be safe, stretching out her aura in a long line.

She initially was able to see herself with ease from the bloodstar-cloud, but the further she got away the less well that worked.

Finally, she mirrored her perspective onto a bloodstar on the forehead of her armor to allow her to perceive the world without dropping her faceplate.

Given she was surrounded by damaged existence, she wanted as much protection as possible, whether or not it ended up being effective.

She considered trying to increase the connection of the reality nodes on either side of the damage she’d caused, but she honestly didn’t know the nature of the damage, and if it was something that actually weakened the integrity of reality nodes, increasing the pressure on them might cause failure in one way or another.

It didn’t take her long to get back beyond the weakest portion of Reality, back past where her passing had caused any damage. Even so, she went a bit further, just to be safe.

She still had plenty of iron so that shouldn’t be a problem in the least. She’d left most of it around her bloodstars near Rane, as he would be covering a greater distance than she’d had to, and she hadn’t wanted to run out.

That would have been embarrassing.

Tala dropped into a cross legged position, placing a final iron spike centered in the open ground surrounded by her legs. She then stopped mirroring her perspective to the bloodstar on her own armor, focusing on her mirrored perspectives around Rane.

She was suddenly seeing Rane as she generally saw herself, from every side all at once, every layer down to his bones and beyond.

She enacted magics through her aura—around his shoulder where the bloodstar she’d left for the purpose rested—to vibrate the air and speak, “I’m ready.”

He nodded and smiled. “Let’s go.”

He walked forward, careful to not move too quickly. Moreover, he seemed to be keeping much of his focus on her aura, making sure to not come too near the edge of it before she placed her next spike and extended it. “Thank you, Rane.”

“Of course.” His easy smile made it obvious just how true that was. He hadn’t even considered acting in any other way toward her and her needs.

Each time that he’d moved about ten feet, Tala manifested some of her iron and drove the next spike into the dirt, anchoring her aura.

As such, they proceeded, creating a gleaming, dotted line through the fading light of the spring sunset.

Aside from creating and maintaining the spike-and-aura trail, Tala kept her focus on the scars—no, the rents—in reality.

It was odd, seeing it so much clearer in four-dimensional space than ever before.

She could actually perceive the creatures that she’d seen in Bandfast swimming or flying about, around the injuries left by gated-humanity.

If someone comes to me and says ‘torture a kid’ or they’ll torture ten. I’ll just kill them. If they’re just telling me about someone else who will torture kids? I’ll hunt that person down.

-What’s with the kid torture?-

...it was the example that came to mind. It was likely because of Mistress Slannir’s known experiments upon children. Regardless, I don’t have to do evil to stop evil.

-Well, that depends on your definition of evil. Some people would say that killing anything for any reason is evil.-

Well, some people are idiots.

-But Tala, if you kill a killer, there are the same number of killers in the world.-

Tala snorted a laugh. Then I’ll make sure to kill at least two.

Alat chuckled in return, filling Tala’s mind with the pleasant sound. -That’s actually pretty funny, even though I knew you were going to say it.-

Yeah, I’m an artist with words sometimes.

-So? What does this mean?-

It means that I was thinking about the whole dilemma wrong. She shifted, feeling a useless metaphorical weight that she’d placed upon herself fall away.

-Well then. Let’s put it to the real test. If you could experiment on ten children to improve the lives of every following child, would you?-

Is the experiment harmful?

-For the sake of argument, let’s say yes.-

Then, no, not without extenuating circumstances, or the children’s direct consent, which can’t really be given, because—children.

-What extenuating circumstance?- Alat’s voice sounded interested, even though they were both aware that Alat already had the answer out of Tala’s own mind.

If they were soulless husks, who just hadn’t died yet, then that should be fine.

-Ahh, because a soulless husk doesn’t have the same intrinsic value?-

Well, yeah. That’s one of the massive benefits we have by being able to see the human soul. We know if someone is in a hampered state—with potential to recover—or if their soul has already passed on. Tala smiled. But back to the question. The issue lies in ‘improve the lives’ of everyone else. Improve in what way? By how much? Would it give every child an extra second of life? That is an improvement. But that really is beside the point, because no. I wouldn’t torture a child, no matter the gain.

-I said experiment, not torture.-

Harmful experiments on a sapient being are torture, saying anything else is just word games.

-Now, what about killing? I know you were concerned about that?-

I will kill any who threaten me or mine. Those who are willing to use violence to achieve their aims can only be stopped with violence—or the credible threat of violence—be they sapient or beast.

-Alright, we know where you stand on that. What of innocents? People who are just in the wrong place?-

What do you mean?

-Well, you could do your utmost to utterly obliterate an arcane city after it declared war on humanity. That would safeguard humanity, but most of those who die wouldn’t have been a part of the fight. Many wouldn’t have even been a part of the infrastructure aiding in the fight.-

I...huh... Honestly, I would probably deliver a warning, because if I understand correctly, a City Lord with an empty city wouldn’t be much of a threat. Anyone who stays after my warning would be tacitly supporting our enemy.

-I can see that. It isn’t perfect, but I suppose perfection isn’t attainable.-

So, all this has still been rather theoretical, despite my attempt to ground it.

-Then, let’s ground it. What are you willing to do when you or yours are threatened?-

Tala felt a clawing at her insides, even as anger passed through her in a wave at the very idea. Obliterate the threat.

No... that was only partially right. It actually felt dissonant to her purpose, to her soul.

She frowned.

In her mind, she saw the cells that she had consumed through Kit. Then a memory surfaced, one of claiming the sireling’s corpse, drawing it into herself to give her greater strength for the next fight, whatever it might have been.

No, I won’t obliterate the threat. I will dismantle it and devour anything of use. That which tries to harm me or mine will only make me stronger, make me better able to face the next threat.

That was close, so tantalizingly close. Yet... it wasn’t quite right.

She and hers belonged to her, it was a trivial fact, but it felt like it was building to something.

Criminals who chose to do wrong often lost their lives, possessions, or freedom. By societal law and civilized agreement, criminals lose their rights to at least some of what they had considered their own before committing the crime.

Then, it hit her, and she felt her whole being resonate with the revelation, and she moved further and further on her path toward Paragon even as the words resonated through her thoughts, That which seeks to harm what is mine, is forfeit and subject to my authority.

That was it.

Upon that revelation, all of her choices made sense. Someone who attacked her was then subject to her authority to kill, imprison, or send on their way.

It was a brutal way of looking at the world, but it was hers. Nothing else fit her worldview.

She was about to generate her voice next to Rane to let him know about her new understanding—and the fact that she was now more advanced than he was—when she heard a voice carrying from outside even through her helmet.

“Well. Isn’t this an unexpected surprise?”

Tala instantly mirrored her perspective to the bloodstar on the forehead of her armor, looking at the woman who stood barely fifty feet from where Tala sat.

It only took Tala a moment to recognize her. Mistress?