Alex
It had been a few days now, and I still didn’t understand how the moose had managed to sneak along with us. Even l had not managed to pick up that the creature was following along, sothing the man found very interesting. I guessed he had started planning out so growth paths for the moose, but that wasn’t sothing I had any idea about.
Once we found my son, that would all change. I couldn’t keep my head half in this world anymore. The passing days since we entered chaotic space had told that. So of the pain, to my surprise, had eased, but it left behind a driving need to get stronger. Out there, a baby was relying on to do just that, and the next ti I found the monster that took them, they would not find wanting.
When we left the port and entered the rift into this black space, I had sohow expected more. From what little I had learned, it seed like chaotic space should be a place of constant danger. Instead, so far, all it had been was black. If it weren’t for the sensations of the ship itself, it would have been hard to tell we were even moving.
I had spent each of the days so far in a simple routine, one I imagine would have made my dad proud. Not that he could actually maintain one, but he loved to think he could, and who was I to break him of that illusion? I woke up, ate breakfast, and went to work on my training.
Squidlen had a room on the ship set up to safely spar, and l was a very willing opponent. The first day I fought him ended in a near breakdown as the violence of my attacks brought out what I had been holding in. That likely had a lot to do with more of the pain passing.
l had just stood there and let wail on him, giving it everything I had until I collapsed in exhaustion. The man had known it was coming. He was the only one on the ship that I knew of who had lived through anything quite like I had. I was glad he was here to help , and I understood why my father liked him as much as he did.
Underneath all that gruff exterior was a kind and gentle man. He was soone who had lost everything and was still trying to help those as best he could. From what I had learned, he had only just regained much of his own fighting spirit, but even before then, he had been ready to help. Now, though he was a force to be reckoned with, and he was here to help save William.
Another thing I hadn’t expected was that these fights would give real experience. As far as I knew, that hadn’t been sothing that worked at ho, but apparently, there were ways to build rooms that allowed for this. They were incredibly expensive, which explained why we didn’t have one. It also explained why Dad’s simulator wasn’t magically able to push him above everyone else out there. It just gave him a leg up against so of his initial competition.
The fights had already pushed up to level twenty. I was growing much faster this way than from the random things that had seed to give experience before. Realistically, I knew it was unlikely I’d ever beat l in a true fight here, but the idea of it pushed all the more. If I could do that, I was ready for the jesters. Though I would fight them, ready or not.
“We should be heading out of the Dark Periphery soon. Once that happens, you can all see so shit you’ve never dread. Just listen to any alarm and don’t question Squidlen, he’s about the only man alive I’d say that for. If he told to punch a razor devil in the face, I’d do it. I wouldn’t be happy, but if that man said to do it, there was a good reason,” Yorela said as we ate our lunch together in the ss hall.
“Wait, what do you an by Dark Periphery? Aren’t we in chaotic space already?” I asked, confused. We didn’t get there as soon as we left the port?” I asked, growing worried. How far behind William were we?
“That’s just what they call the space out here between the real chaotic space and the Spiral. It likely used to be part of chaotic space before it was cleared out a long ti back, but, don’t really know how,” Yorela answered, taking another bite of her stew after she spoke.
“What is it really like out there then? Everyone talks about it in their hushed way, even the crew seems afraid to really describe it,” I asked, not that I had prodded them for details. I might have been doing better, but it wasn’t to that level. And I certainly didn’t make for good company at the mont.
“So there’s a superstition that talking about chaotic space while you’re in it causes bad luck. I think it’s bullshit, and I’ve never seen Squidlen remotely care about it, but most of the crew are likely only here because of how much they are being paid. They spend most voyages half scared out of their mind. And for good reason, there isn’t anywhere more dangerous we could be heading,” she paused to take another bite of her food.
“It’s not empty out there either, like a lot of people seem to think. There are inhabited places all over if you know where to look. There are even small pockets of relative safety out there. We’re likely gonna to see so of the most majestic sights beyond your wildest dreams, and to make up for it, we are gonna to see so nightmares. And if we’re real lucky, those nightmares are gonna stay at a distance, but I wouldn’t count on it. They rarely do.” Yorela finished this statent by downing her mug of whatever she had been drinking.
That was sothing that had radically increased since they left as well. She had gone from the rare drink, and never during our lunches, to drinking with every al. Being back out here was clearly hard for her in ways I didn’t fully understand. I was all the more grateful for her help, and one day I’d have to find a way to repay her once we were back ho. But for now, I was in no position to judge her coping skills. Mine were near non-functional.
“Yorela, get your little group’s behinds to my ready room!” Squidlen’s voice bood out from everywhere suddenly.
“Yep, looks like it’s about ti to hit chaotic space proper. Co on, he’s gonna have a bunch of yapping to do, but sowhere in it will be sothing important,” Yorela said, grabbing her dishes and dropping them off in a tub as we left the ss hall.
Below the deck of the ship was mostly made up of long hallways that led between rooms. Each room had a locking seal on it that was used in case the ship was boarded or as a secondary defense against any effects that pierced the field that surrounded the entire ship.
That was sothing I had asked about the day we arrived. How could there be an above deck if we were heading into space? The answer, of course, was the usual one. Magic, or more specifically, a magical field kept a breathable environnt sealed inside with us. Another magical device worked to make sure that the air stayed clean and refreshed.
There were so many things on this ship alone that I knew would fascinate my father, and normally, it would have as well. But in my current state, all it could produce was a mild curiosity, which was still more than it had done on that first day we had been aboard. Would the wonder we saw as we moved deeper into chaotic space be able to get through?
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The moose was already in the room when we arrived. It was the only one who had beaten us there, but that wasn’t too surprising as it had taken a liking to Squidlen. It seed to be either near or him at all tis, no matter how much he seed to dislike the intrusions.
“I’ve t many a blasted primal mana beast in my ti, but never one quite so determined to be annoying as this damned moose you’ve cursed with.” Squidlen’s tone didn’t match his words, making doubt how much he actually disliked the animal’s company.
I, for one, was happy to have him aboard. While I couldn’t quite put into words why, the presence of the moose made feel more like this was all possible. He was here to save William, just the sa as any of us, and if he could leave a planet he was supposedly so strongly tied to, to do so, that gave so extra hope. And that was sothing I desperately needed at the mont. I was willing to cling to any of it like a life preserver in a storm-wracked ocean.
“Yeah, yeah, are you gonna spend this whole damned trip whining because a moose likes you?” Yorela fired back as the rest of our group joined us.
“I’ll whine as much as I damn well please, it’s my ship after all. Being captain’s gotta be good for sothing!” Squidlen had grown louder with his own retort, but he had a large smile on his face, giving away the ga. I had no doubt in his and Yorela’s friendship.
“I’m guessing we’re heading into deeper space soon?” l asked, floating up next to .
“Yeah, couple of hours at most. So I’ve got the position your little monster entered at, but I doubt he’d still be there by the ti we got there. We should be able to overtake him long before he reaches his howorld though, but I wasn’t prepared for any kind of deep run, so we’re gonna have to stop off for supplies at Vidack. It’s not the ideal spot, but if we wanna keep on the right path, it’s our only real choice,” Squidlen answered.
“What’s so bad about Vidack? Is it full of chaotic space pirates?” Maud asked, excitent filling her words.
“Pirates?” Squidlen exploded in laughter. It took almost half a minute before his laughs finally died and he started speaking again. “God, I wish they were pirates. No, they’re blasted card magicians. Which ans it will be awful for our own abilities to interact with theirs. I hate dealing with them, so that’s why Yorela’s gonna do it for . Plus, she’s got a friend there.”
Yorela gave Squidlen a glare so intense I questioned if there was magic behind it. “You really want to step foot on that planet after what happened last ti?” she asked, her glare sohow growing stronger.
“Fine, fine, I’ll join you. Gonna need you to stay focused for the deeper run anyway, can’t have you find any new entanglents planet-side.” Yorela’s glare finally dropped with his new promise, but only slightly.
“So, another reason I wanted to talk to all of you, this isn’t the first ti I’ve been hired to parley with the jesters to get a kid back.” Squidlen’s words brought to full attention. He had done this before?
“I didn’t know that. How the hell did that happen?” Yorela asked, sounding shocked.
“I still don’t know the full details. But one day, soone with a lot of money showed up at a bar I was in and asked to talk. Told the jesters had managed to get hold of a kid and they wanted him back. He gave all the money I needed to fund the trip, and said the deal had already been brokered. I just had to bring the kid back, and they would break a planet off into chaotic space,” Squidlen explained.
“Who the hell had the kinda authority fer sothing like that?” l asked, anger boiling into his words.
“No idea, and I’ve tried to figure out the answer to that question many tis over the years. It’s never gotten anywhere. Far as I knew before that mont was that only top-level Spire councils could agree to cut loose a planet. Seems I had been wrong about that, because as soon as we had the kid, the jesters had their planet,” Squidlen answered.
“What happens to a planet…” Maud started to say, but her words were interrupted by a sudden rainbow of colors blanketing the room. “Uh, new question: what’s going on?”
“We’re into the real bits of chaotic space now. The rainbow shift is the first sign we’ve moved out of the periphery. It’ll pass in a few minutes,” Yorela answered.
I wish I had been seeing this in better tis. It was gorgeous. Colors danced and blended across everything in the room. It was sothing I vowed to see again with my whole family.
“I feel different. Things are becoming less cloudy,” Sanquar said, a note of shock in his voice.
“Different how?” l asked, his body turning to look at him.
“Sothing out here is reacting with the damage to my core. I can feel it. I wouldn’t say I was healing, so much as sothing in there was being suppressed maybe. I’m not sure,” he answered.
“Yeah, yer core is just as broken as ever, but yer not wrong. I can see so sort of magic starting ta lt away from it. Don’t know what, though, not sure I’ve ever seen anything like it. What do ya think, Squidlen?” l turned back to the captain as he asked this.
“Nothing good. That’s a whole new bucket of chum we’ve just found ourselves in, and it ans our plans on Vidack are gonna have to radically shift,” Squidlen answered.
“Why? What the hell is on core Squiddy?” So of Yorela’s bluster had faded, replaced with worry.
“I’m not a hundred percent sure here. It had mostly gone away before I got a good glimpse, and I wish I had realized it was there sooner to have checked, but I think that was a very specific type of gravitational mana. One I’ve only ever seen near one of the sapient black holes. I doubt it lted away. More likely, it was reabsorbed.”
“Wait, those are real? I thought they were just stories so of the crew told to scare each other?” Yorela’s worry had changed to fear.
“Everything is real out here. Everything. Alright, it’s gonna take so ti for it to decide if it wants to see us or not. It will decide it wants to, though, we’re too tempting a treasure not to interest it. That ans Sanquar here needs a new source of magic, only way we can throw it off.” Squidlen put a hand on Yorela as he spoke.
It was a gentle fatherly reassurance. He was trying to tell her it would be okay without words. In my case, though, this new danger had barely registered. I had my focus, and that was all that really mattered. Squidlen would handle this part, and maybe if we got lucky, Sanquar could help us fight.
“What will this new power source be like?” Sanquar asked, sounding more curious than he did concerned.
“Hard to say, never used any card magic myself. But I got a couple friends there we can talk to. Didn’t wanna involve them, but sotis the wind blows in directions you can never expect,” Squidlen replied.
“Do you think the moose could use card magic? Actually, what can the moose use? Should we find a class orb? He has the shield orb already, but that’s it,” Maud said, rambling a bit. I had noticed she did that when she wanted to break the tension of a conversation.
“Don’t worry about the moose. He and I will figure out his path in ti. I’m more concerned with this sapient black hole. How the hell are we gonna stay away from one of those?” l asked.
“Luck, tenacity, grit, and the fact that hell refuses to take ,” Squidlen answered.
“I think a better question might be how this mana source would have ended up on Sanquar’s core? I know we don’t know the exact details about what happened to him, but this seems odd even by the standards of the usual things we encounter,” John added.
“No idea, but this is just the kind of adventure that tends to follow . So don’t worry, I’m excited now, and nothing can stop once that starts! This is just the type of gamble I needed,” Squidlen replied.
That hadn’t been the kind of answer I had expected, and I didn’t know what to make of it. A look at Yorela told it was likely a positive, as the earlier worry was gone from her face. I just hoped that this gamble paid off. William was counting on us.
If the powerful decide that your upstart faction is causing too much of an issue, there is little anyone can do to save you. What exactly they will do often depends on the faction’s size and relative value. If it is considered near worthless, well, many a planet has been cut from the Spiral without just cause.
That is sohow the least of the terrifying possibilities that can await. From there cos conquest, enslavent, exile, and any number of horrible consequences once the war that the smaller faction never stood a chance at is declared. In the end, those who have the power always find a way to get more, and those without it suffer under their iron grip.
Faction Wars: A Brutal History by lhelm VII
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