181 (III)
Trust [II]
***
“Why aren’t any of you bastards affected by this radiation?” Adam growled. He could feel his muscles spasming, could feel the faint prick of needles plunge in and out of his skin over and over again.
“Oh, we are,” the Owl said. “But we have modified ourselves to endure such environments. Tragic thing is, the Raven that was tasked to bring you here was one of our best Biomancers for anti-radiation treatments. Now, we’ll all have to settle for a bit of pain. But what is a little pain? We’re Pathbearers. Cancer takes time to kill. Time that our bodies can sustain. Do you know that cancer was once considered a death sentence just a few centuries ago? Back when our Biomancers were weak?”
Adam swallowed. “I am aware. But it wasn’t weakness. It was ignorance. The Unified Theory of Biology was not standardized yet.”
The Owl just laughed. “Unified Theory of Biology. You say that as if it is a new discovery, rather than us relearning the wheel. Let me tell you, Hero Arrow, that Forbidden Africa has long since known how to treat this condition. And without mana. The ancients knew how to help themselves without magic, and they could do such wondrous things. But they fell. They died. And their knowledge, their glory, their wonder died with them. I simply want to prevent that. For all of us.”
“For New Albion,” Adam said.
“For someone to survive the next calamity,” the Owl corrected. He held up a hand, and Gone looked at Adam. The goblin was shivering and twitching too—she was radiation sick as well. “And there will be another calamity. The conflicts are rising again. An incursion is on the horizon. Even without the presence of your chaotic friend. There is no escape from the future. But there may yet be a way for us to survive any disaster, any death. For what we are to endure eternally.”
“Gone,” Adam said, waving the goblin off. She hesitated for a beat but did as he gestured. In a blink, she was standing next to him again, and only then did Candles react.
“Did someone move?” he rasped.
Adam ignored the burning Pathbearer and stared the Owl down. “How do you intend on getting us out?”
“Ah, finally, the silent agreement,” the Owl said. “We have means. The prison is still in an uproar, but the Ascendants will secure control again soon. During this period, we intend to penetrate the mana core and cause a minor disruption. It will not be enough to destabilize the entire core, but it should make the Chronomancy it outputs unstable. After that, we will be free to move beyond the loop and make for Exfiltration Point Prime.”
“I know we’re below the Yellowstone Supervolcano,” Adam cut in. “Just because we can escape from the bottom of this prison doesn’t mean we will be free.”
The Owl hummed. “Correct. However, we have means of moving undetected through the volcano. Technological means on loan to us from our aforementioned friends. Technological means that masks us from the System’s eyes.”
Pure technology was a rare thing in Integration. Adam knew that. But he also knew that New Albion had fought more than a few wars against the Forbidden Ones. Of course, they would have salvaged some equipment and weaponry. But to claim to have something that allowed them to hide from the System itself seemed hubris absolute. The System was everywhere, in everyone, and knew everything. But maybe that was just an exaggeration. Maybe it just hid someone from Divination.
“I want to see it first,” Adam said. “Some proof of your technology. I want to be certain and…” Adam paused as he felt a hint of coldness seep into the room. The Owl’s posture changed as well. Both of them turned and regarded the doorway Adam had just come through. There came loud footsteps that sounded like war drums. Gone and Candles faced the door as well, but Adam called for them to move out of the way.
For the first time, the Ravens reacted. A few turned into puffs of steam—just as Adam suspected they could earlier—and they reformed before the door.
“Secure the premises,” the Owl said. And once more, he was next to Adam in a blink. The Gate Lord didn’t even see him move.
Chronomancy! Adam realized. This wasn’t stealth. It was time magic.
The Owl held out a hand to Adam. “The other two can take my arm. We need to leave, we need to—”
“Adam!” Shiv’s roar shook the room and made the vault door rattle.
Adam’s eyes widened. “Shiv?”
Once more, the Deathless called out his name, and the Owl waved a hand at two Ravens standing before the sealed door leading to the fusion core and sent them out. They vanished into steam once more and slipped out of the room. “Well, this is a surprise. I didn’t expect our wayward Deathless to find his way to us so soon.”
“Surprise is what he does,” Adam said, a faint smirk pulling at his lips. “Just to warn you, he won’t be nearly as accommodating as I have been.”
“Oh,” the Owl said. “But I suspect he’ll be willing to go along with us as well.”
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“I suspect you don’t know him very well,” Adam said.
“Perhaps. But we know him well enough to have a good understanding of the people he cares about. Including one Uva Mettabon—last spotted with the stolen town of Blackedge in the Dreamtaker’s dimension.” The Gate Lord found himself silent. The Owl continued. “The thing about Aviary, Hero Arrow, is that we have friends everywhere. And I suspect that our good Sister will not be able to navigate her way back, considering the compromised state of her soul. Such an ugly thing, Metamorphosis.”
“What do you mean?” Adam asked.
But the Owl said no more about her, for the vault door suddenly groaned and swung open once more. From the bleak red ambiance of the adjoining chamber came the Ravens first, and the battered form of Shiv thereafter. With them also came a billowing coldness that clawed its way into Adam’s very bones.
“Shiv. You godsdamned cockroach, you—” Adam made it three steps before he started to slow. Something was wrong. Something turned in his gut. Shiv was grinning at him—but there was something off with his smile. His face was a mask of blood and wounds, but there was something missing in his eyes.
“Adam,” Shiv grunted, letting out a faint growl of pain.
And that made Adam take a step back. The Owl noticed. “Is there something wrong, Hero Adam?”
“Aw, come on, don’t be like that,” “Shiv” said, letting out a faint whimper. “I know I look like hammered meat right now, but I’ll live. Even if it hurts like hell.” The Gate Lord nodded slowly, but took a few more steps back. The Ravens weren’t slowing. And neither was Shiv. “Adam—”
Adam Arrow shot his favorite bastard in the face with a Veilpiercer. He did it on instinct. He did it without thinking. “Shiv’s” skull spattered apart into a sprawling mess of shadows. Only half of his head remained, and his left eye twitched at Adam before darkness erupted from him.
Everything went to hell after that.
The two Ravens accompanying Shiv burst apart into fountains of blackness as the other Aviary agents struck. The Owl flung himself against Adam and reached out for his two companions. When Adam finished blinking, they were back in the steam-choked tunnels outside the reactor core.
A wet cough sounded beside Adam as the Owl slumped against him. The Gate Lord’s eyes widened as he realized the Owl’s chest was completely shredded. The man’s insides spilled out in an instant as he nearly collapsed, but Adam caught him before he could hit the ground. “Owl! Shit!”
“Oh, dear,” the Owl muttered, looking down at himself. He gave another ragged gasp as he tried to reach for his mask, but missed as his limbs failed him. Adam helped him. As soon as Adam removed the Owl mask from the agent’s face, he winced. Part of the man's skull was punctured—and pierced deep. He was leaking blood from deep within his head. Adam could hear the flowing blood, smell the brain matter, and see the glistening red beyond the pale flaps of the Owl’s skull.
“What in the hells just happened?” Adam asked.
“Ascendants,” Gone groaned beside Adam. He turned and noticed how the Legendary-Tier goblin was covered in injuries as well, her blood already pooling on the ground beneath her feet. Deep cuts lined her body, but she was rapidly healing. Nearby, Candles shivered as he looked around. He tweaked like someone coming down from a high as Gone continued explaining. “Owl and I tried to pull us away. Ascendants aren’t bound by time. Their Avatars hit us. Hit us hard. Daughter went for you. Owl got her in her way. Got shredded. Both of us got shredded.”
The Gate Lord’s mouth opened and closed several times.
A wet laugh came from the Owl. “How is this for an expression of goodwill?”
Adam winced as he looked at the Owl’s face for the first time. He looked… plain. Like anyone Adam might see on the streets of Blackedge. Elf. Well-groomed. No distinguishing marks. But a person. “It’s a good start. You’re badly hurt. I’ll see if you can—”
“No,” the Owl said, placing his hand on Adam’s arm. “I’m already dead. But you aren’t. Finish me and run. And when you get out, find Aviary. Talk to us. Do it because you owe me. Do it because you’re desperate. Do it. Just consider it. We are many things, Gate Lord. We do terrible things for our people and safety. But we are not the monsters you think we are. We are not slavers. We are not so bad.”
He coughed softly. “We just wish to live. And the world does not. There is much that we can offer one another… Much that…” He sniffled. “I really thought I wouldn’t be so scared when my time came. Oh, well.” His eyes snapped to Adam’s. “You need to leave. The steam will guide you. The others know—they know. This place is compromised. This cell is finished. We must see you spirited away. Find your friend. My birds will shroud you, help you. And when you get out, look for the dark spot in the magma. You have such good eyes… You’ll see them.”
The Owl shook as he blinked. “Now. If you would please…” He lifted his head and exposed his neck. Adam hesitated.
Gone didn’t.
The Owl’s head was halfway severed before Adam could respond, and he dropped to the ground.
“Come on. Come on. Let’s go,” Gone said insistently. She dragged Candles along by his leg, and for the first time in a while, the burning Pathbearer seemed coherent. “What! What just—”
“Ascendants. Coming. Follow. Fight. Don’t think.”
Adam looked down at the Owl for a moment longer, watching as the man’s eyes dimmed entirely before he pivoted on his feet and dashed after Gone. Once more, the Gate Lord was covered in blood, and he fought to keep his hands from shaking. He tried to remember the last day he hadn’t seen death, hadn’t had to kill someone, hadn’t had to face the blunt horror of existing in the world.
He had a hard time remembering.
The steam glided along the walls and ceiling, accelerating more and more. “Go faster!” a voice hissed from every direction. “We’re hiding you as much as we can. But he will know! The darkness is no longer our ally. Our lives are forfeit. Do not let them take you! The Midnight is coming! Run, Little Hawk! Run!”
Adam’s vector wings flared as he tore along the tunnel. Gone kept pace easily, and she dragged Candles right behind her. As they fled, the goblin spat a question at Adam, but said it too quickly for him to process at the start.
“How did you know it wasn’t him?”
“Two things,” Adam answered after a few seconds. “First is the lack of a notification. The System always marks him as a target now.”
“And the second?”
“He complained about pain. But those wounds? The actual Shiv wouldn’t have even noticed.”
Gone regarded Adam a moment longer. “I look forward to meeting this Deathless.”
“Gone,” Adam said. “Please don’t try to kill him. I don’t know you very well, but I already owe you my life many times over.”
“I am uninterested in slaying your friend,” the goblin spat out, her voice almost drowned by the whistling winds. “I just wish to be free.”
Adam chuckled faintly. “I’m not worried about you killing him, Gone.”