He gave her a flat look. “If you ask me that one more time, I’m going to pick a fight with Yerin.”
“Do…” She hesitated to say anything, but she couldn’t let that go. “…do you think you can?”
Pride folded his arms and sat back down on the bed. “Shut up.”
The cloud fortress that Lindon shared with Yerin had a control panel similar to those that he had used before. It was a raised, polished podium that looked like it had been designed to hold a book, but was instead covered in script-circles.
These controls were more elaborate than those he’d used in the past, and there were several secondary panels to his left and right. The main control panel was situated in the highest room of their home, and broad windows gave him a clear look outside even as projection constructs showed him glimpses of other angles.
It was designed to be as easy to pilot as possible, which would come in handy whenever he was allowed to do so.
The Ninecloud Soul’s feminine voice filled the inside of the control room. “We regret that we still cannot allow any air travel away from Ninecloud City at this point. We will inform you as soon as our security procedures change.”
“Apologies, but I don’t need to fly out of the city. I need a portal.”
“Sadly, our spatial travel is even more restricted at this time, and I cannot guarantee that we will ever be able to accommodate that request. If you would like to make an appointment with one of our Heralds, I can submit your petition into the queue, but we are experiencing a higher-than-normal volume of requests.”
Lindon was finding that even his polite tone was becoming strained. “I understand that, but as I said before, I don’t need you to provide me a portal. I would like you to connect me to the Akura clan.”
Every Akura he’d found had been more than happy to speak to him, but none of them were able to help him find Charity. Or Fury. Or Malice, for that matter.
In short, he couldn’t find anyone who could actually get him out of here.
He couldn’t even get to Mercy; the last time he’d tried, he had been told—politely, and with more than a few fearful glances—that she had asked not to be disturbed while she cared for her brother.
Under normal circumstances, he would have waited for her. He didn’t want to leave the city without letting her know, whether he needed her help or not.
But the Dreadgod was on its way to Sacred Valley. The ending that Suriel showed him had come at last.
No matter what assurances Eithan gave him, he couldn’t waste another second.
And now his seconds were being wasted for him.
“I apologize, but I have been unable to contact any Sages or Heralds from the Akura clan myself,” the Ninecloud Soul said. “I will pass along your message when it is appropriate; until that time, please return your cloudship to the dock.”
“Ram them,” Yerin said.
She stood at his shoulder, arms folded, two metallic red sword-arms poking out from over her shoulders. The fresh crimson streak in her otherwise-black hair still struck him as unexpected, as did her scarlet eyes.
“Who?” Lindon asked.
There were other cloudships in their view, but none of them were the ones trapping them in. It wasn’t as though he could ram the Ninecloud Soul.
Yerin shrugged. “Anybody. That ought to perk up their ears.”
He knew she wasn’t serious, but it was a measure of his frustration that he considered it for a moment.
The Ninecloud Soul’s voice gained an edge of panic. “Please, do not do anything in haste. You are valued guests of the Court, and I assure you, your requests will be considered with due importance.”
That was quite a sudden shift in attitude. Maybe threatening to ram someone had worked after all.
Dross popped onto Lindon’s shoulder, scowling with his one purple eye at the nine-colored flame that represented the Ninecloud Soul. [Don’t listen to her. She was going to lock us up.]
“I never said that,” the Soul corrected. “I said that if you continued to sabotage Court property, you would be punished to the extent of Ninecloud City law, but those circumstances were entirely different. We are now dealing with an unprecedented disaster, and at the time, you were acting well above your station. You did not have the status you have now.”
Dross’ eye narrowed. [That’s not what you said before. You said…]
He spun into a twisted copy of the Ninecloud Soul, but his colors were duller, and he was shrouded by a haze of oily smoke. He spoke in a version of the Soul’s voice, but he spat every word out in a vicious, spiteful tone.
[Lindon Arelius, if you don’t stop, I will ruin you. I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth! I swear I will destroy you, and even if you become some kind of Sage, I will never be satisfied until my vengeance shreds you to pieces!]
Dross’ form shifted, and he returned to his usual form of a round, purple, one-eyed creature. He stroked his bottom lip with one of his pseudopod arms and spoke in his normal voice. [Yeah, that sounds about right.]
For a moment, the Ninecloud Soul was stunned speechless.
“…is that how you remember my words?”
[I’d say I captured the core essence. The spirit of the message, you know. Better than you did, even. Not to brag.]
“We do not have time for this,” Lindon said. “Please. I recognize that you have a crisis to deal with, and I apologize, but there are lives at stake for us as well. I would be grateful if you could put me through to anyone that can authorize spatial travel.”
“I am truly sorry, but it is beyond the scope of my—” The Ninecloud Soul cut off mid-sentence. “Ah, it seems I spoke too soon. A representative of the Akura clan has arrived. Please contact me if you have any further requests. The Ninecloud Court values your friendship.”
The rainbow flame winked out as the Soul escaped, leaving Lindon to view one of his projection constructs. It displayed the image of the woman who had just stepped onto the edge of his cloud fortress.
She had a slight build and looked to be about twenty, her slick black hair tied into a neat bun. Her sacred artist robes were layers of black and white and violet, and her purple eyes had an ageless serenity.
Akura Charity stood at the base of their home.
Wards over the entire fortress made entering via spatial travel…not impossible, but more difficult. Lindon had requested that security measure to stop Sages from popping in unannounced.
He suspected that one day soon, Eithan would be able to teleport. Best to plan for that early.
Sages could most likely overpower those protections, and Monarchs certainly could, but it would be better than nothing. Evidently that script had kept Charity out, or he was certain she would have appeared at his elbow instead of knocking on his front door.
When she did knock, the entire castle shook.
She was already unhappy. Lindon didn’t think that was fair.
Lindon’s pure madra slipped into the control panel. Opening the doors remotely required an intricate process of chaining madra from script to script, which recently would have strained his concentration.
Now, it was as though his madra did as he wished without his input. On the ground floor, the door swung open.
Once she was through the threshold and inside the protective script, Charity stepped into shadow. She emerged at Lindon’s side a second later.
“You can’t leave,” she said flatly.
Lindon pressed his fists together to salute the Sage of the Silver Heart. “I am grateful for your attention, but we have no time to wait. My homeland is in imminent danger from the Dreadgod. If you would provide us with travel there and back, it would greatly speed our return.”
She moved her gaze from Lindon to Yerin and back. “It was risky enough to allow you to move as you wished when you were only a talented young Underlord. Do you expect me to permit an Underlord Sage and the world’s first…pseudo-Herald…to willingly place themselves in the path of the Wandering Titan?”