4.19 In Which the Dark Lord Tells the Truth

4.19 In Which the Dark Lord Tells the Truth

Vylkher and the squad really knew how to apply pressure without overtly doing it; I loved watching professionals at work. In fairness, most of it was taking advantage of the golden situation wed handed them. All they had to do was just walk in formation surrounding us in calm silence, responding to any attempts at conversation with noncommittal monosyllables or nothing at all.

Our party bore up under this pretty much exactly as I expected. Rhydion remained inscrutable as always; Aster and Harker, being professionals, were terse and tense but did not show unease beyond that, and Dhinell grew increasingly frazzled with every passing hour until Rhydion took to bringing her up alongside him so he could talk soothingly to her. I, of course, was fine, owing to that same old benefit of knowing more than anyone else here did. The squirrels might hold that advantage over everyone else (except Aster, to an extent), but they didnt know about my goblin reinforcements following and surrounding us just below ground level, or about Biribo feeding me updates on that and on the other squirrels moving around in the vicinity. Nor, presumably, did they know how easily I could kill them all if they should give me a reason, or that I could demolish their entire village with a thought the second I gained line of sight on the khora it was built in.

Which wasnt to say that my walk was without tension. I really wanted to sit down and work on my spell combination. Shock was nice in and of itself but I was sure it would yield some good shit once I was able to start combining it. Unfortunately spell combination took time, focus, and a lot of mental energy; it wasnt something I could do while hiking. Nor something Id dared to do while camping, both because depriving myself of proper sleep while on this excursion seemed like a bad idea, and because I was mindful of Biribos warning about Rhydions helmet. I doubted he would recognize spell combination, given how only one person had it at a time with at least multiple centuries between them, but I didnt want to risk him catching on that I was doing something unusual and magically extreme.

So we walked in tense silence, through the uniform cold and occasional brief snowfall, for most of the remainder of the day. The afternoon light was just beginning to darken, and I was starting to wonder about the distance, when Harker grunted significantly and pointed up ahead. Between two khora I could now see a new kind I hadnt encountered before: twice as tall as most khora, vivid crimson, and covered in enormous spikes.

Yes, Vylkher stated in response to the question no one had bothered to ask. We are nearly there. Night comes; you have been invited and thus shall be welcomed until dawn, so long as hospitality is not broken.

Your courtesy is appreciated, Rhydion said, nodding deeply.

Vylkher bowed to him, which made Dhinell gasp in scandalized annoyance, which I had to figure was at least part of the reason he did it. His furry face gave nothing away, though, and we continued on our path in silence.

The sight became clearer as we drew close, and I was almost disappointed by the mundanity. The squirrels lived inwell, treehouses. They hadnt carved into the shells of the nhithra khora itself, merely using its huge spikes as attachment points for platforms and bridges. Onto most of these platforms were built walls and roofs, all made of cut planks of akorshil. They looked more or less like wooden treehouses from Earth, except in the pastel and jewel tones of khora rather than shades of brown. The thick ropes helping hold everything together were a very typical earth tone, however.

Also, the closer we got, the more I couldnt help noticing the lack of any ladders leading up to the squirrel village. Visible ones, anyway. I could tell they would be necessary; even squirrels wouldnt be able to climb the khora itself, which was smooth as glass in texture, with its thorny outcroppings too far apart to make handholds, and most also too big to grip. So they had some means of withdrawing access to the village. Made sense.

Instead of up, we were led down. Vylkher brought us to the edge of a kind of ravine formed between the roots of two of the enormous khora, leading into the space in the middle of these colossal specimens, directly below the village proper.

The Seer waits ahead, he stated, bowing again. You are guests here, and will be safe. My people will defend ourselves if attacked. Otherwise, you shall not be harmed.

Thank you, Rhydion said politely, for your time and your assistance. We are honored by the trust you have shown, and will repay it fully.

Hum. Vylkher blinked once, almost sleepily, then stepped back. His comrades did likewise, taking up an honor guard position flanking the entrance to the ravine.

Rhydion turned and began striding down into the shadows below. With nothing else for it, the rest of us followed.

I felt a subtle tugging at my scarf as Biribo lifted his head just enough to whisper right below my ear.

Squirrels all around, boss; theyre at the base of the khora, hidden from view and just out of reach from the floor down here. Most armed. Bows and arrows, darts, and also containers of liquid. Dont start any shit with this Seer.

I hadnt been planning to, but still, good to know.

The space between the massive khoras equally massive root system was clearly used for ceremonial purposes, and appropriately spooky. I didnt know whether something about nhithra caused this or the squirrels had hollowed it out deliberately, but the whole area had been stripped of most of the soil, leaving only hard-packed dirt along the bottom, giving way here and there to bare rock. All around us, the smooth red walls that were the rock-hard shells of the roots ascended to ridges behind which the tribe now lurked, with the khora superstructure towering above. Intricate carvings and paintings covered almost the whole surface, apparently just decorative or at most ceremonial in purposeit wasnt writing in any conventional sense, anyway, since I couldnt read it despite my Blessing of Wisdom.

It was obvious where we were meant to go. Though there were other corridors branching off between the roots, the arrangement was far from complex and the destination was visible from the entrance. We carefully descended the sloping path to a wide, empty space in the center of the formation. The towers of khora rose up on all sides, the bridges and platforms of the village suspended above casting shadows across it; ropes stretching across the space were hung with long streamers of charms which created a constant rattling, chiming and humming from the cold wind that whistled through this chasm.

And in the center of the depression, behind a low altar upon which a wide, shallow bowl held a bright asauthec flame, stood the Seer.

I was a little surprised, finally. When you picture a villages major oracular figure you tend to think of someone elderly, but this squirrel woman was trim, healthy and upright in a way that suggested youth. Their furry faces obscured many of the signs of aging, and her fur was a pattern of tan and white that would tend to conceal graying, but I had the distinct impression she was of prime fighting age.

None of that was what commanded my attention, though.

The Seer had a squirrel sitting on her shoulder. Not another squirrel person, a squirrel. And yet, not a squirrel, to judge from the fact that it was a gleaming white and seemed to have a subtle, luminous aura, with blue eyes that glowed like LEDs. As we all straggled to a halt before the altar, the squirrel stood up on its hind legs and pressed its nose against the Seers ear, apparently whispering.

Is that? Dhinell asked quietly.

Hn, Harker grunted. A familiar. Blessed with Wisdom, dont see those every day.

Ssssshit.

Okay. My objective here was ultimately to get the squirrels to voluntarily join the Dark Crusade. I had to maneuver them toward that right under Rydions nose without letting him, with his mysterious helmet powers and general political savvy, figure out what I was up to. As if that wasnt going to be enough of a trial, I now had to do it in front of somebody whose entire job was seeing through secrets.

How much did she know? There was no way to be sure, no telling what Wisdom perks she hadand Wisdom perks might do fucking anything, in this bullshit unbalanced cheater-enabling magic system. Bare minimum, she had to know she was dealing with a Champion of a Goddess; familiars could identify Blessings on sight and hers would be able to tell her I had all three. Did she even know which I was? The Seer was studying each of us in turn. Even as I rapidly considered the possibilities, her eyes lingered on me for a moment and she smiled.

Smugly.

I could live with smug. Smug meant she was going to hold this over me, which beat the hell out of blurting it in front of this whole company. With Rhydion standing right there and a host of heavily armed squirrels lurking above, I did not want to try fighting my way out of this.

Seer, Rhydion said, nodding his helmet deeply to her.

Paladin, the squirrel woman replied. Her voice improved my ability to estimate her age by a bit; she was probably older than me, but I doubted much more than thirty. Younger than Minifrit, certainly.

They are worth it.

Slowly, the Seer nodded once at him. And that is your truth.

She turned to gaze expectantly at me.

I, uh Well, that was a hard production to follow, I admitted. Look, lady, Im an atheist. If you wanted me to talk about the things I dont believe in, I could do that all night. This, though, uh This is something I havent given much thought.

The Seer tilted her head slightly to one side, just staring at me.

Okay, any thought, I acknowledged. Like, ever.

Then this is an important moment for you, Lord Seiji, she said, again with that amused little smile. Think on it. Give it the time it takes and be certain, because all of this will end, immediately and without amity, if you try to tell me falsehood. Her smile widened, and there was something implacable behind the superficially gentle expression. These others follow the two of youit is your beliefs, your hearts, that tell me what you will do. And the tension between you that will tell me how it will go. I will hear this truth, or you will leave this land.

I inhaled, tasting the frigid winter air, the incongruous stank of whatever hoodoo shed put in that brazier. What did I believe? Not fucking much, to be honest.

The hell is an atheist? Harker muttered from somewhere behind me, followed immediately by a muffled thump as somebody elbowed him.

Belief? Ive never been an adherent of any political philosophythat was really starting to bite me on the ass here on Ephemera. I could tell you exactly whats stupid and wrong about every major system, but none had positively impressed me. Being a child of two countries and cynically realistic about both, I cant say Ive ever felt very patriotic. As for religion Sure, Japanese daily life is filled with little rituals, and they mostly have some origin in Buddhism or Shinto, but thats juststuff we all do. Culture. It was never significant to me, except as a set of general expectations for getting by in society. I was acquainted with Christianity from my time spent in California, as my grandparents had gotten into it. I could see why it appealed to people, but to be frank, Christianity as Americans practice it tends to either amuse or scare me.

What did I believe? Why was I doing this? Because I couldnt go home and Virya would horribly kill me if I didnt, of course. But now that I actually considered the question That wasnt all. I had changed a lot in my short time here. I was driven by more than survival and self-interest. I just had never sat down and reflected on what. What was I doing? Why was I doing all this?

I thought about all the misery I had seen. The bloodshed, the despair, the diseased and hopeless and abandoned. The casual cruelty of those who elevated themselves above it, from smirking Fflyr highborn to Virya grinning as she twisted my spine nearly in half. My constantfrustration.

And suddenly, I laughed.

The Seer smiled; everyone else stared at me in a mixture of expectation and alarm.

I believe, I said as soon as I could speak clearly again, in people.

Rhydions armor rasped almost imperceptibly as he shifted position to give me a more direct look.

Youre not supposed to lie, Aster hissed from behind me. I ignored her.

I believe in the darkness in people. I spoke to the Seer, the words flowing from me as if suddenly liberated from some grim confinement. People will forsake and abandon and betray almost anything if theyre pressed over it, and you know what, why not? I dont think I even blame them anymore. The universe is unfeeling chaos and life is mostly suffering; who are any of us to judge anyone else for cracking under the pressure? Loyalty, love, virtue, none of it stands up when its truly tested. But you know what never fails?

My own clenched fist rose in my vision before me; I hadnt actually decided to brandish it, but the gesture felt too appropriate to drop. I was grinning, I knew, reveling in the unexpected freedom of articulating something I hadnt even consciously considered before.

Anger. Time and time again, I have seen people stand up, turn on their tormentors, and break the wheel. Win, when they absolutely should not have been able to. All the pain, the humiliationif you only figure out how to burn it the right way, it becomes fuel. Rage grants energy that will roar when love flickers out. Hatred keeps you focused no matter what oppression and drudgery is imposed on you. So long as people can find the will to fight back, I believe theres hope. We can make a better world. We can be free, and stronger, and have peace and space to catch our breath without having to scrabble and claw for every scrap. And the only thing that will get us there is being too pissed off to stop.

Wind whistled through the canyon, carrying the biting chill of the winter evening, the quietly odd music of all the charms dangling above us.

Slowly, the Seer blinked her eyes once, expression inscrutable.

And that, she said quietly, is your truth.

We gazed at each other in thought for a moment.

Thats the craziest thing Ive ever heard, she added frankly. Youre a scary guy, arent you, Lord Seiji?

I settled back into an upright posture, lowering my fist, and let my grin relax into a smile. A calm, serene, beatific smile, just like hers. I looked pointedly at her familiar, and then back into her eyes.

Yup.

Aster began muttering constantly under her breath, mostly too low to be audible. The only phrases I caught were needs a hug and punch him in the kidneys.

Rhydion was still staring directly at me. More even than usual, Id have given a lot in that moment to know what his face looked like.

Truth I asked, the Seer finally intoned, and truth you have given me in good faith. I havethe answers I sought. Perhaps I do not know them yet, but you have given me much upon which to think, and meditate. She paused, tilting her head again, then nodded once. What an interesting group you are. I thinkthat your quest is worthy of support. Very well, you shall go before our leader, to plead your case to him.

Rhydion turned his focus back to her, and deliberately folded down his hands in the traditional Fflyr gesture. We are grateful for your consideration, Seer. If the Goddess grants it, we can reach an accord with your leader, and work for our common good.

Oh, goodness, no, she said pleasantly. Hes not gonna give you anything, not a chance in hell. But hey, you might as well ask him anyway. Its not as if you have any better ideas.