“Let’s leave,” I said, standing, moving my napkin over Melhi’s message.
“Leave?”
“Food doesn’t interest me.”
She shrugged, standing. “We’re both just brains floating in a nutrient solution; the food is a comfort. It helps us pretend.”
We ditched the table, passing a confused servant wheeling a cart full of food toward us. I walked back to the foyer with the box that had lifted me here. I didn’t get in it, however, instead pushing open a door that was labeled stairs.
Sophie followed me in. “What a wonderful change of décor,” she said, regarding the cold stone stairwell.
I began climbing the steps. “These shoes people wear here are ridiculous. What is wrong with good boots?”
“Other than being unsightly?”
“Says the woman wearing heels as long as a handspan.”
“These are considered very fashionable,” she said. “And it enrages my inner feminist to no end to wear them alongside a dress like this.” She was grinning widely.
“You are an unusual woman.”
“It does strange things to you to realize that the conservative establishment is forcing you to be a progressive liberal fighter for universal rights.” She started climbing up the steps beside me. “I had to buck that, but didn’t know what to become instead. The only thing I could come up with—something truly difficult—was to become a complete anarchist. They built a perfect world for me, so I had to burn it down.”
“Destruction isn’t difficult.”
She grinned savagely. “It is if you’re fighting against what the Wode wants. That’s the only way to be a real warrior, the only way to find a true challenge. Defying them.”
I grunted, agreeing with that.
“So anyway,” she said. “What was that writing on the tablecloth all about?”
“You saw that, did you?”
“Of course I did. Thought you were hiding a vial of poison at first. But it was just words.”
“It was a message,” I said as we reached the next floor. “From my nemesis.”
“Nemesis?” she said, amused. “What is this, middle school?”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“A place for children.”
I said nothing, leaning against the stairwell railing for a moment.
“Seriously,” Sophie said. “How does one go about getting a nemesis? Undefeated dragon back home or something?”
“It’s another Liveborn.”
“Oh, of course. You realize that you’re just playing into what the Wode wants, right? Dueling with other Liveborn to keep you both distracted.”
“Maybe,” I admitted. “It seemed that way at first, only . . . I don’t think Melhi is acting like they anticipated.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a long story.”
“And we appear to have a lot of steps left if you intend to get to the top.”
I sighed, then started up the next flight. “I first met Melhi in a Border State . . .”
4
I first met Melhi in a Border State, though I can’t even be sure it was him I talked to.
I rode into the State with a full legion, some fifty thousand strong. Border States were new to me back then, and I hadn’t wanted to take any chances.
I made the trip on a small hovering platform, only about five paces wide. The platform had a raised front and side, like a large chariot—but without the wheels or horse. There was just enough room for Shale and Besk to accompany me.
My advance guard had already secured a position on the edge of the large valley that made up the bulk of the Border State. I turned as we arrived, looking back down the wide path through the forest. We’d set foot upon that road in the jungles of Evasti in my State. After about half an hour of traveling on the enchanted road, the trees had started to change to these pines and aspens. Eventually, the road spat us out here.
“So we’ve left our world,” I said, wearing my shining gold breastplate and helm. “Why can I still see the Aurora?”
I’d watched it through the clouds the entire duration of our trip, anticipating with dread the moment when it would fade away. It hadn’t. Yes, it looked strangely distant here—shimmering in its majestic way over the tops of those mountains beyond the trees. But I could see it, and Lancesight determined I could still feel its pulses, though they were softer here.
“This is fascinating, Your Majesty,” Besk said. He had a large tome open in front of him, pages pinned down to prevent fluttering in the wind of our flight. “This State is not a full world. It is just this valley, which is surrounded by a forest. At the edges of that forest, the State simply . . . fades away. If anyone travels in that direction, they will be lost in fog and then appear on the opposite side of the valley!”
Shale grunted. “Then the only exits are . . .”
“Yes, the path we took,” Besk said, then pointed. “And an additional two like it, leading to the States of other Liveborn. One cannot traverse the enchanted pathways in or out without the aid of a Liveborn, and only Simulated Entities live naturally in this State. It exists solely for us to visit.”
“Or to conquer,” I said, and mentally instructed my platform to rise upward.
It ascended dramatically, zipping into the sky high above my army, though two dozen like it—manned by my best archers—followed to provide protection. From beneath, each flying chariot looked alike; armies trying to bring me down would be confused at which one held me.
From this vantage, I could see the fog that Besk had mentioned, consuming the wood behind us before stretching to the mountains, which appeared to simply be scenery. I wondered if one could reach them while in flight.
Despite ending in those woods, there was territory in this State, quite a bit of it. I could barely make out the edge of the fog ring on the other side of the forest. If necessary, I could array an army in here and hold the position, blocking the other two exits with my forces. We could undoubtedly use the State’s nature to our advantage; if I needed to get troops to the other side of a battlefield in a hurry, I could send them backward through the fog.
It actually seemed too perfect. That I should discover places like this now, once the entire world was mine, itched at me. Like a pain in my spine that could not be banished. I had thought I was done, but if there were many such Border States, then I had a great deal more to conquer.
I swooped the platform back down toward the front of my army. The natives of this Border State were equipped with primitive weapons—spears and wooden shields. They had dark violet skin. I glanced at Besk.
“Our early scouts indicate that the skin tone comes from eating great quantities of a spice produced by local trees,” Besk said. “The spice makes these people superior warriors, able to fight tirelessly for many hours and recover from otherwise deadly wounds. In addition, they appear to have access to a strange metal mined from somewhere in this valley that they will not speak of. Those spears will slice through steel as if it were butter, Your Majesty.”
“They’d make excellent subjects, Kai,” Shale said, looking over the arrayed natives, who had hunkered down in a battle formation—looking completely dwarfed by my own army, and in awe of my flying platforms. “Your generals have been complaining about needing more elites. And that metal . . .” I could sense the hunger in his voice. “We can’t rely on enchanted swords forever, as you yourself have said. Recharging the Aurorastone is a complete waste of your time.”
“There are non-martial applications of at least gaining favorable trade with this valley, Your Majesty,” Besk said. “I believe your scientists are quite excited by the discovery of that spice. The healing capacity it affords could save thousands of lives.”
“Yeah,” Shale said, “if you want to turn every kid with a broken leg into a supersoldier.” He rubbed his chin. “Actually, that might not be a bad—”