Path of the Deathless

230 (II) Bread [I]

230 (II)Bread [I]

Shiv's right eye twitched. Dealing with the Fair Folk was beginning to feel a little bit like handling the eldritch. Both were very annoying in specific, bullshit ways.

Culliwier spent a moment in thought. “The easiest way is if you manage to strike an accord with the Knighted Bread.”

Shiv nearly sputtered.

“That would be the simplest solution, yes.” Cullywier offered him a smile, but it seemed unnatural and forced.

Psycho-Cartography:

“Deathless, are you well?” Cullywier asked. “You've been silent for a few moments.”

“I will say this much: being favored is a perfect antidote against boredom,” Adam muttered.

Shiv began, ignoring Adam's piece of wisdom, “

“That is a potential option,” Cullywier said. “You claim the chefs here captured the Faebread? If so, they might have a container made from cold iron somewhere. You might not be able to hurt the Knighted Bread reliably, but you could still overpower them.”

Shiv finished.

And then there was a final thing that occurred to Shiv. He summoned his Last Morsel, and it snapped to one of his Vitae strands.

Shiv thought to himself.

The thought appealed to Shiv, but there was a growing feeling of unease in the back of his mind as well. He knew his Last Morsel was supposedly indestructible, but that didn't mean that it couldn't be consumed by bread. The last thing he wanted was his Legendary frying pan contaminated and ruined by fae magic.

“Incurring Harlock the Midnight’s notice and having the Ascendant cast this place into a prison plane of shadows. After that, it's most likely that the Ascendancy will finish striking a bargain with the Fairwoods, making up for whatever has been taken from the Court of Summer. This wouldn't be the first time such a thing has occurred, anyhow. The powers that be on your world send a great many caravans through the Chernobyl Nexus Point to the Fairwoods and other worlds.”

That option left him feeling uncomfortable. True, he could call upon Cripple or Veronica to take over for this situation, but that would make him vulnerable. And frankly, he wanted to see this done himself, if only to discover how he could overcome the fairies.

“Would that be all, Deathless?” Cullywier asked. “The Dragon Brokers are summoning me, and though my time is primarily signed over to you, they do get quite upset when I am not prompt.”

Shiv said.

The fairy pressed his lips together and cocked his head. “When you speak to one of the Faebread, listen carefully. Think about the meaning behind their words. They can't lie to you outright; it is not within our nature. But there is something that they can do: obfuscate. They can blind you with twisted meanings and missing information. Be mindful, and have a plan of escape.”

“Got it,” Shiv replied. “Adam, Helix, you guys are leaving now too. Head back to the coliseum. Adam, keep an eye on this place using your Awareness. If everything goes to hell, well, I don't know, tell Irons or something. Then have him bring the Prismatic Guard down on this place.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“I think it's best for me to stay,” Adam said. “Helix can inform Irons when he returns later. For now, I think it's best that I accompany you. Your worries are correct. I've noticed some crumbs spilling out from each of the vents in all the rooms. They're building up slowly, especially in the customers right now. If I have to guess, we don't have long before a mass casualty event follows. And there will be more things that might be missed if I am not with you.”

“Shit,” Shiv grunted. And once again, the pressure was on. “Alright, but if anything goes wrong, you get ready to get out of here. And you stay close to me in the darkness. If one of those bread pieces touches you, it's gonna spread through you.”

“Well then, I think it's best that I remain untouched,” Adam said. He emerged from Shiv's cape along with the orc. Shiv used that opportunity to borrow some vitality from Helix for the sake of an easy resurrection. After that, Adam fired a Veilpiercer across into the coliseum, and the orc retreated temporarily.

“Make sure you don't die, Insul, and don't get turned into a piece of fairy bread,” the orc said with a sneer. “I swear, the things you get involved with are just…”

“Yeah, well, this is my life now,” Shiv said. “I can't walk across the street without killing some bastard or fighting some freak thing no one's seen before. If you're going to complain now, you pledged yourself to the wrong guy.”

“This isn't me complaining,” Helix said, rolling his eyes. He floated across the dimensional pathway and turned around halfway through. “This is me simply telling you to watch yourself.”

As Helix crossed over, Shiv and Adam looked at each other.

“If he wasn't an orc,” Adam said, “I'd have said he's actively worried about you.”

“He actively worried about me,” Shiv grunted. “He's worried that he won't have anyone to show off his cool Biomancy to if I'm gone.”hat Shiv had briefly glimpsed earlier. There were faces lodged in the Knight’s torso. Screaming faces that resembled humans, goblins, elves, and even an automaton. The large figure had four arms, and it seemed to be encased in—or made of—a crust of deep-brown armor. The color was rich, and it ebbed with gleaming might.

Shiv never found a piece of burned bread intimidating, but something about this one made him more than a little wary.

“Adam,” Shiv said, his mouth opening and closing a few times. “Does that look like toast to you?”

“Yes,” Adam replied after a full second. “Yes, it does.”

Then, both Shiv's and Adam's breaths hitched as, impossibly, the towering, toast-armored figure angled the vertical slits of its visor at them, staring straight toward the anchor point of Adam's Seer of Horizons

A few seconds passed. Shiv lowered his head. “Well, I guess we should go talk to this Toast Armor guy.”

“Stupid as this all feels, I shudder to imagine what he might want from us.” Adam grimaced. “He's already killed three chefs in retribution. What could the Summer Court possibly want? And what do we have to give?”

“I don't know, Adam,” Shiv muttered. A building weight of uncertainty was growing inside him. He clenched his Last Morsel tight. “I don't know. Just be ready for shit to go sideways.”

“That's pretty much how everything turns out for us now,” Adam sighed. “Well. Let’s see this crisis resolved.”