Path of the Deathless

177 (I) Terrify [I]

-Georges Archambault to Shiv177 (I)

Terrify [I]

Shiv regarded the Ascendant in silence. Cripple wasn’t the type to lie—not to anyone but itself. Even if it was speaking the truth regarding Rebis or Five, Shiv still felt like he owed them something. And leaving them here in this prison felt crueler than just murdering them, especially after what they'd gone through together. Death was one thing, but being caged for year after year? Being made into an experiment? That was a special kind of torture.

, Shiv realized. What the Ascendants were doing here was basically orc-shit with extra bullshit to justify all the brutality and torture. Just because someone else was a godsdamned bastard didn’t mean that you had to be. Killing them was one thing. Protecting yourself was one thing. Torturing them and using them under the pretense of punishment was like trying to insulate some of your own wretchedness.

But Shiv thought back to the vampires at Gate Piety—at the experiments he used them for—and remembered that he might be a bit of a hypocrite right now. They were vampires that tortured and inflicted their depravity upon the world. That was true. Shiv felt nothing when he hurt or broke them, but that was because his experiences with the First Blood were nothing but violent and foul.

he thought.

What if Shiv truly learned of the sins his fellow prisoners had committed to see themselves interred here? What would he think then?

the Deathless thought to himself.

Philosophy 16 > 17

“Cripple,” Shiv began, sticking to his instinctive candor. “I kind of feel like I owe these guys something. But now I might owe you a bit too. So. Yeah. Can I have a second?”

The expanse of light that comprised the Ascendant’s domain shifted slightly. Shiv heard a strange tension in Cripple’s voice just then, and the Ascendant let out a weary sigh.

“Why’s that matter?”

“Look. I might just be eighteen—”

Shiv didn’t hesitate when it came to that question. “Yeah. My Legendary Delve was made from my regrets. I hate the fact that innocent or weak people die a lot when I fight. I hate the fact that I’m not strong enough to stop them from getting caught in the crossfire when I run up against something strong.” He paused and fought through his discomfort. “I hate that I’m responsible for their ends. I hate it.”

Cripple sympathized.

And that inadvertently made Shiv feel a bit worse as he only recalled a few select people from his past. Leu and the boy that 811 had killed were at the top. The others were more like silhouettes to Shiv. They were more conceptual entities with faces and theoretical lives than actual victims. It didn’t make it any better.

“It’s not supposed to be this way,” Shiv muttered.

Cripple replied with a softer tone.

The battle-loving part of Shiv wanted to argue with the Ascendant some more just for the sake of arguing, but he refrained. It wasn’t a good use of time right now, and Shiv had another idea. “How about this: I do whatever I can to keep your wardens alive while recruiting whatever prisoners I need to get Adam back. Once I find him and make sure he’s safe, we can talk about if these guys should stay in this place or not.”

Cripple asked.

“I’m planning to ask him about it, at least,” Shiv said. “I don’t think I’m a bad guy, but sometimes I… I guess I don’t really care enough about things or people. And I haven’t thought about problems like this nearly enough. Adam probably has. And whatever he decides, it’s probably as close to proper righteousness as anyone can get.”

A mechanical rumble sounded from all sides.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“More than you can ever know. Guy’s got the biggest heart. Even after he got dragged down into the Abyss, all he could think about was saving Blackedge and stopping another war. And anytime someone needed him, he was there.” Shiv chuckled to himself as he remembered Adam’s adventures across Weave, catching serial killers and talking automata off ledges. “He’s my favorite asshole.”

Silver Tongue 33 > 36

A somber silence filled the bright expanse, and then it suddenly began to dim.

“And if I do, I’ll deal with it, and then I’ll deal with them,” Shiv said. “Can’t be worse than running with a bunch of orcs.”

The Challenger is amused by the Ascendant’s—

Cripple the Strongest rebuffs the Challenger’s presence from its domain.

Shiv felt himself getting displaced. Slowly, patches of color were bleeding through the bright canvas shrouding the world around him, and the weight of Cripple’s presence began to recede as well.

A loud snort escaped from Shiv, and he couldn’t stop it from turning into a resounding laugh. “Well, now we’re at two people you shouldn’t have placed in this prison.”

A drone came from the Ascendant. Shiv felt a faint vibration rattle forth from the reactor core he was still holding.

Shiv frowned. “What? No.” For a moment, he considered the possibility that Uva got back to Adam somehow, but it didn’t seem likely. Especially with her apparently being trapped in the Outside. “Why? Wait, did someone break him out?”

Cripple sounded half-distracted.

“The only other person I can think of vanished into the Outside along with Blackedge. Or so you claimed earlier.”

A low grunt of displeasure escaped the Ascendant.

“Okay, so do they know where he is?”

A few seconds of silence passed. Then, Cripple spoke again.

“Yeah, real cute felling name,” Shiv growled. “Alright. Give me his last known location. I’ll grab however I can and… Hm. The other Avatars will be on the scene first, won’t they?”

“Okay. Rushing in is probably not the best idea. I need someone with Stealth capabilities. Legendary-Tier Stealth.”

As Shiv continued his musings, the incandescent mana surrounding him shuddered and thinned. Cripple’s presence grew ever-fainter as well.

“Any chance you can put the bastard down?”

Cripple answered with a growl of dissatisfaction.

Shiv narrowed his eyes as he detected both shame and fear in the Ascendant’s voice. “Look. I know talking about her bothers you something bad and how you won’t tell me what she has on you, but can you let me know about her weaknesses or something? Anything that I can take advantage of?”

Cripple said, its voice reverberating with a terror-stained hollowness. Shiv tasted the sheer amount of dread radiating from Cripple like it was a spike in the The air around him stank with humid fear.

Psycho-Cartography:

Cripple broke out of its quavering stupor.

Once more, Shiv’s paranoia reared its head. The Deathless promptly stomped on the feeling, as there would be no point in capturing both him and Adam at the same time. Again, Cripple could have simply aided his fellow Ascendant earlier if he wanted Shiv captured. “Got it. You’ll be able to track me with this core, won’t you?”

“It’s fine. I think we’re both past that point now. If the other Ascendants manage to recapture me and peek into my mind, how much trouble will you be in if they see this conversation we just had?”

Cripple whispered.

A beat of awkwardness slid between them, and Shiv grunted. “Alright. I’ll see if I can figure out where Adam is without getting myself put back in a cage. You better get back before the other false gods start getting more weird feelings about you.”

“I’m damn sure going to try,” Shiv said in reply.

Cripple gave a distorted hum.

With that, the talk between them came to a close. A thunderclap of pressure shook the brilliant domain, and the divine mana crashed toward Shiv in receding waves. Rather than slamming into his body, the incandescence narrowed into streams and wormed into the reactor core Shiv now clutched in his left hand. When the final motes of brightness faded, he found himself hovering in the crawlspace, staring at a shredded Orichalcum wall. There was still a lingering stench in the air, but with Daughter missing, it wasn’t nearly as bad. He placed the reactor core into his cape and stepped forward. Shiv lined the underside of his feet with vectors and through the air. He entered the prison cube again in search of Rebis—and then realized Bonk and Five probably heard the entire conversation.

“Five. Bonk. Come out. I think we got some stuff to talk about.”

Neither the orc nor the wolf-man replied immediately. Shiv frowned as he landed on the valley floor of the prison. There were bodies everywhere. Dismembered wardens littered the ground, and smears of their blood painted the walls. Most of them were crushed and mangled in strange ways. It looked as if a giant hand squeezed them until their organs were forced out of their body.

Shiv remembered the massive Vulteg that he'd halted earlier. Urri, Shiv thought his name was. Maybe this was his doing. Distant sounds of battle rang out from ahead and behind, and Shiv considered calling out for Rebis. Drawing attention to himself might not be the best idea right now, but he needed—

Something crashed into Shiv. The Deathless felt his heart drop as he reacted. He seized his attacker by the neck and drove them against the Orichalcum wall. A resounding bang rang out. The attacker writhed. Shiv gathered his Shapeless Tides and prepared to rip them asunder. Pointed vectors of force speared along his arms and stabbed against his adversary. Just as Shiv was about to pull his newest victim apart, he hissed and stopped himself.

“Rebis,” Shiv snapped, looking at his badly damaged companion. “The hells? Don’t just throw yourself at me like that.”

The amalgamated Pathbearer was not in good condition. His human side was bleeding and wounded in a dozen places. Blood seeped out from his many cuts, and his skin bounced in parted flaps while smoke rose from sparking wires protruding from his mechanical side. Despite this, Rebis was still combat-capable.

“S-sorry,” Rebis said, pointing his face away from Shiv. The cyborg’s wings twitched a few times before ultimately going slack. “I was… I moved too fast.”

Shiv let Rebis go and used his Aegis of Assimilation to drain away the wounds he could. As he turned the cuts lining Rebis into crystallized mana, the cyborg glanced down at his human half in surprise before briefly shooting Shiv a glance.

“Glad Daughter didn’t kill you,” Shiv muttered. “She tore you up something bad, though. Damn, that’s a lot of cuts.”

“No,” Rebis said, shaking his head violently.

“No?” Shiv asked, not understanding what the cyborg was referring to.

“Not a lot of cuts. They cut more when they experiment on me. They cut more when they are trying to put things inside.”

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Bunch of felling bastards.”

Rebis gave Shiv a twitching nod.

“Five. Bonk. You guys alright?” Shiv called out again. When there was still no response, Shiv knew something terrible had happened.