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Chapter 576
🕑 Added 2023-04-12 16:31:54 +0000 UTCEnjoy! Longer one today!
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The interior of the fortress was far homier than Felix anticipated. He expected martial defenses and an abundance of ice; what he found was similar to almost any town he'd encountered up to this point. It had shops, taverns, a smithy, even a kennel for the massive Hoarhounds.
Also a lot of ice.
The walls were made of it, a blue so cloudy it bordered on white. Purple-white Mana vapor was thick in the midday sunlight, gleaming almost as bright as the snow piled high in the corners of the streets. Children with brooms, dressed in leather and fur, worked hard to keep the snow contained. Felix assumed they were children, at least, based on their slender limbs and basic proportions—basically Humans, save their blue skin and six foot height. They were the first to notice the strangers in their midst, and their chubby faces spread in excited grins.
“Ta lana! Kas ta lana!” one of them cried out.
As his company exited the large sleds, the hustle and bustle of the town ground to a halt. Older women grabbed their children, pulling them back as they regarded Felix’s team with fear. Rotund shopkeepers emerged, axes and hammers in hand, while mothers and youthful female citizens lifted four-foot long knives made entirely of ice.
“Tu roun! Morvena ais koma!” Orvar shouted into the tense silence. “Set aside your wrath! They have been invited by the Coven!”
As if the words were a magic spell, weapons disappeared and the people returned to their chores and duties without a single word. Only the children seemed unaffected, their curiosity singing as brightly as their boredom.
“That’s about the welcome I expected,” Evie muttered. Harn was next to her, hands caressing the hilts of his axes as he scanned the area.
Beef let out a huge, whooshing breath. “What the heck was that about?”
“The Risi do not suffer intruders,” Tzfell said, and her sedate voice was troubled. “Laur. Where were your shields?”
“Summoning a ward is just as dangerous as drawing a weapon,” the Elf said, hand to his chest. “Did you wish to escalate things further?”
“Calm down, everyone,” Felix said. “And keep your weapons and spells to yourselves. The last thing I want is a massacre.”
“And if they give us no choice?” Tzfell asked.
Felix frowned down at the Dwarf. “Then I will handle it. Understand?” She bobbed her head, but said nothing else. He looked to Orvar. “Where do I find the Coven?”
“Their instructions were to wait just inside the gates,” the young warrior said. “An escort would come to relieve us.”
“And so it has.”
Down the wide thoroughfare came a handful of familiar Risi Warriors, led by the youthful figure of Kimaris. Her white hair snapped in the arctic breeze like a flag, billowing almost as much as the purple and black gown and cloak she wore.
Felix smiled. “Kimaris. Battlelord Vidar.”
The lot of them—Witch and Warrior—stopped a dozen feet before his company and dropped to a single knee in unison. Fists went to heart and earth. “Lord Autarch! Hail the king!”
Felix maintained his smile. Barely. He gestured for them all to rise to their feet. “You’re leading us to the Coven?”
“I am,” Kimaris said. She pointed further up the street, where the road wound up a steep cliff toward a structure made entirely of icy-columns. “The Coven awaits within the Frostfather’s Embrace.”
Looks like the little hut they had in the Domain, Pit sent.
You’re right. To Kimaris he said, “Alright. Let’s get moving then. I don’t want to waste time.”
“As you wish, my Lord.” Kimaris made a shooing motion at Orvar, her manicured nails gleaming in the sun. “Go on, boy. We’ll take them from here.”
Orvar grimaced and that dark spark inside him flared up just a bit more. It was anger and rage and several other emotions packed together so tightly that it was hard for Felix to pick them all out. He seemed poised to say something—do something—but the young warrior only ducked his head and left with his men, hustling up the same central road.
“There is a lot of anger in him,” Vess said in a low voice.
“In all of ‘em,” Harn pointed out. “This place is boilin’.”
“Where’s he going?” Evie asked.
“To report on your arrival, I don’t doubt,” Kimaris said before turning her wide grin on Felix. “Thank you for returning so soon, Lord Autarch.”
Felix could feel the strange miasma of discontent all around them, now that his friends pointed it out. It was so omnipresent that it felt almost environmental. “Is there a problem?”
“What is a problem, but an opportunity to change things to our advantage?”
“So that’s a yes.”
Kimaris’ beautiful face creased with a faint grimace. “The majority of the Coven supports your claim on the title of Chieftain, but there is a vocal minority that do not. We have been trying to sway them but, well.” She cleared her throat. “My people are almost as stubborn as the Dwarves.”
At his side, Tzfell snorted derisively.
Kimaris’ nostrils flared, but she ignored the Chanter. “Lord Autarch? If you will follow me.”
“Keep an eye out, folks.” Felix inclined his head and motioned for everyone to get moving. He stepped up until he walked just behind Kimaris’ billowing cloak, while his sworn Risi Warriors surrounded him like a guard of honor.
Harn mashaled the Claw behind them, and soon everyone was marching in formation up the winding road. Evie took up the rear for some reason, but Felix didn’t question it. She knew what she was doing. Felix marched at the head, of course, with the Chanters and the rest of his friends close to hand. Pit had tried insisting that Felix ride him, but caution had won over the need for pomp—with his friend’s open wounds, Felix feared exacerbating them with his legs. Pit had glumly agreed.
The journey through Cold Rock was illuminating for a number of reasons. For one, Felix had never really seen any Frost Giants aside from the Risi Warriors and Witches. Frankly, he’d thought that was the extent of their society. Now though, he saw giant merchants, butchers, hunters, blacksmiths, and even tanners. The last one was pretty gross, if only because of the gnarly tanning pits that Felix could smell from hundreds of yards away. Sometimes high Perception wasn’t so great.
More amusing were the gaggle of children that were trying—and failing—to stealthily tail their group. They kept running into one another and giggling, which drew a smile from more than a few of the Claw.
The second and far more important realization Felix had was how much Grimmar had damaged Cold Rock. While there were people around, all of them were very old or young, with a rare few actually looking something like an adult like Orvar. Grimmar had taken the best and strongest with him when he invaded the Foglands, following the siren song of the Maw…and Felix had just about killed them all.
Not all of them, he reminded himself. Kimaris and the others in Nagast had been saved, reverted back to their natural forms after the Archon had turned them into monstrous Arcids and mindless Reforged. But also not nearly enough.
He’d killed a lot of giants…creatures the System designated as monsters. A Type, not a Race. The people of Cold Rock made it clear that the System was wrong.
Why is it like this? Inside his chest, his Hunger rumbled. Wasn’t asking you.
Hungry.
Felix blinked. His Hunger had been quite silent recently. You’ll get food soon, promise.
Yes. Food Is Coming.
That’s what I said. Felix rolled his eyes. His Hunger was a lot like Pit in many ways—one track mind. Hold tight.
“Quite civilized for monsters,” Tzfell said, following his gaze. Beside her, Laur sniffed.
“I’ve seen very little reason for them to be classified as monsters.” Felix pointed at a Risi woman hanging a bundle of clothes over a low fire, a large baby bound to her back. The woman was singing and the baby was fast asleep. “I’ve seen scenes like this in just about any town.”
“The designation of Type is not something for us to question, Lord Autarch. Monster or mortal, it is the System that decides such things. For the System is but an arm of the music that shapes us all,” Laur said, as if explaining something fundamental. “You could say it is the will of the Grand Harmony.”
Felix curled his lip. “The System is not infallible.”
“I never said—it is the choices we make that determine our lives—”
“And if you were born a Type instead of a Race? What choice was it that decided that?”
“Well—monsters rarely have the ability to form a potent Mind. Few would ever notice. They are animals.”
Felix scowled so hard at the Elf that he took several steps back. He pointed again, this time to the Risi children that were following their procession. “Do they look like animals?”
“I—I only meant to say—”
“That Types are monsters. No. I got that.” Felix took a breath, calming himself. “The Inquisition calls their enemies monsters too, you know. Choristers, Sorcerers, whatever.”
“I’m aware.”
“Then you know why they do that, right?” Felix’s memories flashed back to the sewers beneath Haarwatch, where worshipers of the old gods died in droves while the Inquisition filled them with fire. “It’s way easier to kill a monster than a person.”
Felix greatly doubted anyone that claimed to know the will of a greater entity, whether that was the System or the gods. It didn’t help that he didn’t really trust the System, and definitely didn’t trust the gods.
Soon the pathway opened up to the church-like structure at the very top. It loomed high to Felix, though it seemed a bit more normal when compared to the general dimensions of the Risi. Like the chapel in the Ironskin Domain, the building was made of icy staves curved into a swooping shape that came to a high peak and left a large portion of the flooring wide open. Twenty-foot tall windows covered nearly every wall, all of them made of perfectly transparent panes, yet none of it looked delicate or weak. If he focused on it, the Mana that filled the walls shone like the sun itself, so thick was it layered into the ice.
Kimaris led them through the large double doors and directly into a familiar chamber. The interior had no walls and occupied the entirety of the structure. Aside from a tall altar with a glass-like orb at least five feet across, the only real decoration were chairs made of stone, all of them arranged in rigid lines before the orb. Just beyond it was another set of chairs—thrones, almost—facing the others.
All of them were filled with Witches.
A youthful guard tapped their spear against the ground and the sound rang out like a bell. All of the Witches that didn’t notice the doors open pivoted in their seats to see the newcomers approach. “Announcing Kimaris, Witch of the Waters!”
Kimaris’ shoulders twitched at the title for some reason, but the Risi woman smoothly entered the arrangement of chairs, Felix and his company trailing behind her. “Witches of Cold Rock Coven, allow me to introduce my liege: Autarch of Nagast, King of Ahkestria and the Leviathan Depths, Returned God of Thunderflame, the Blue Eyed Fiend, Felix Nevarre.”
Inwardly, Felix groaned. Ugh I need to remind people to stop using the Returned God one. Outwardly, he kept his face stoic and stepped forward until he was just ahead of Kimaris and her warriors. Pit kept pace at his side, a warm presence in impressive armor, while his friends moved slightly so they were arrayed just behind him. “Well met, Cold Rock Coven. I am happy you agreed to meet with me.”
“Well met, Autarch Nevarre. I am Vepar, leader of this Coven. It is rare someone so…Titled would deign to speak with us.” The woman speaking was in the center of the front row, a seat Felix would have assumed was reserved for the leader even had she not said so. The seats were elevated, putting the already huge giants well above his party. Naberius, Sitri, and Berith flanked her, but said nothing. “Your kind typically only come for our heads.”
“I assure you, I am here in peace. I only wish to claim what is mine, as the Ironskin Champion.” An unsettled murmur spread through the Witches, but Felix waited.
“Show us,” the woman demanded. Her eyebrows were thick and aggressively angled, though her Spirit was more or less calm. “How far did you walk down the Path of Rule?”
Felix lifted his hand and summoned a blue screen with his Title before motioning it outward. He ignored the various youthful guards and sent it only to the attending Witches.
Ironskin Champion IX (Epic)!
You have successfully conquered the ninth layer of the Ironskin Domain, proving your worth to the Frostfather! +20 END, VIT, DEX
Gasps filled the ice church, and whispered words followed.
“The Frostfather—!”
“Ninth layer!”
“—farther than any other—”
“Silence!” Vepar demanded, her eyebrows as fierce as her voice. She regarded Felix from her elevated position. “Your completion of the Path of Rule is noteworthy, Lord Nevarre. It is clear you are mighty, for a Human. For this reason, I am willing to enter into a peaceful treaty with your kingdom. But we cannot support your approaching Kingsrock.”
“Mother Vepar, you cannot be serious! Not only did he complete the Path of Rule as you have admitted, but he fixed our Domain!” Kimaris looked out to all the Witches, encompassing them in her words. “The source of our training and sustenance. Without the Domain, Cold Rock would be finished, and that is at the feet of this man.”
“We would not be so beholden to the Domain had your beloved Grimmar not ripped our warriors and hunters away, Kimaris,” Berith snapped.
Vepar raised a hand. “Enough. I will be the first to admit that he has done a great service for our people. And he has progressed further than any Risi Chieftain in living memory…but he is not of the Kin.” Nods of agreement started spreading around the chamber as the Witches caught onto her meaning. Vepar regarded Felix with cold eyes. “You cannot approach the Kingsrock.”
Felix shrugged before summoning another Title and sending it out. To everyone.
Conqueror of Ironskin Domain (Legendary)!
You have achieved what no one else has in the history of this Domain: defeated the Frostfather in combat. Your connection with ice, stone, and metal Mana has deepened, and your dexterity with all three elements has increased!
No whispers met this revelation, only shocked, breathless silence.
Vepar cleared her throat. “But, who are we to gainsay the will of the Frostfather?”
Felix almost laughed. Those words had cost the old Witch something to say, judging by her pained expression. He only inclined his head.
His people had read the Title but seemed unconcerned. The other Witches all watched, their Spirits as flabbergasted as their faces.
“Ahem. If you wish to approach the Kingsrock, then you shall need an army. Normally you would have a clan of advanced warriors to aid your approach, but we are at a distinct disadvantage. Our warriors have been greatly depleted due to this one’s interference.” Vepar gestured at Kimaris, who flinched. “We cannot spare any of our people, Lord Autarch.”
“That’s fine,” Felix said. “I’m good with what I have here.”
Vepar leaned forward, her age-spotted hand clutching the arm of her throne. “The approach to the Kingsrock is filled with great danger. Not only from the terrain and the beasts below, but from us.”
Felix frowned. “Explain.”
Naberius spoke up. “If I may, Mother.”
“You may.”
“All clans are alerted when the Kingsrock is approached, and even the weakest will mobilize. The approach is an opportunity to test ourselves against one another, but also to claim the riches within the trapped fields around the Kingsrock. To be chosen as our new Chieftain, you must reach the Kingsrock and defeat all contenders that have walked the Path of Rule.”
“I thought people either made it or died?”
“Many live, having achieved only the first few layers. They are still highly regarded, but they are not fit for the role of Chieftain,” Vepar said. “If they defeat you, however, they will take your Title for their own.”
“They can do that?” Pit asked. Several nearby Witches jolted in surprise at his voice.
“They can, Honored Tenku,” Naberius said. “It is our way.”
“We can deal with the issues as they come up, I’m sure,” Felix said. He was more than confident in himself, and his people had proven themselves time and again. “Just point us in the right direction and we’ll be out of your hair.”
“Indeed. We must open the way to the Kingsrock…it is not a place that can be reached by normal means. Allow us a day to prepare, Lord Autarch.” Vepar drummed her skeletal fingers on her chair’s arm. “So long as we are not opposed, the initial steps will proceed smoothly.”
“Feldspear has been raiding our hunters these last few months. Your fixing of the Domain means a great deal for that reason above all else,” Naberius said.
“Feldspear?” Felix asked.
“Feldspear is our sister Coven to the north. They did not support Grimmar as much as we did. I did,” Kimaris explained, a flush of anger in her cheeks and regret in her Spirit. “They held back their tithe of warriors.”
“Meaning they might pose the greatest challenge to us before we can arrange for the approach.” Vepar gestured for the other Witches to gather. “We must—”
Food Is Here.
“What?” Felix asked, hand to his chest. Vepar looked to him.
“What is going on?” Vepar asked, her impressive brows drawn. One of the young guards ran up to her and started whispering. “What do you mean? If it’s an attack then the horns would sound!”
A basso note shook across the earth and sky, shaking chips of ice down from the ceiling and jostling their insides. Felix felt the sound in his teeth. Gasps rang out around the chamber as the Witches began summoning their aides.
Yum.
Comments
Aaron Schwartz
Dude. The hunger in his core doesn’t feed on Fried Chicken. I think he knew he’d I have to fight something impressive enough to feed it, in order to gain control of an entire other territory for his kingdom. So yes, he knew food was coming. He just didn’t anticipate it as soon. You do have a point about the Tenth pillar thing though. However, while the whole did battle epiphany thing is kind of played out in this genre, I do wanna understand why he is so much crippled with indecision about this. It’s a huge decision. And if he fucks it up badly enough, it’ll kill him.
Brent Thomas
FEED ME!
Gardor
"His Hunger had been quite silent recently. "You’ll get food soon, promise." "Yes. Food Is Coming." "That’s what I said". Felix rolled his eyes. His Hunger was a lot like Pit in many ways—one track mind. "Hold tight."" This willful...thickness of Felix is and has been my least favorite part of this novel. He won't be able to understand (or even think about) what his usually silent inner demon is saying until the very last second, as the "food" arrives. He also won't take thirty minutes to pick his tenth pillar, despite having nothing else to do while travelling to the giants, deciding it's a better idea to train his iron manipulation. Why not save it for a life and death battle in some dream realm created by an antagonistic god, that'll make for much more exciting reading. It's the fact that he's always a slave to the plot that annoys me, a Felix who does clever things most of the time but will dismiss odd phrasing to make a better surprise later.
