Og stepped out into the dark cave, jaw set and hands clenched tightly at his sides. This was starting to get ridiculous. Spider had somehow managed to escape him. Again. The man had a supernatural ability to somehow get out of situations that should have been impossible. And not just that. He seemed to be equally as capable of inserting himself into situations in which he didn’t belong.
Surviving the fall of Arbalest was one thing. Coming back considerably stronger after months and joining the tournament was potentially expected. Og could even accept Spider somehow getting strong enough to cut through his defenses and nearly melt him alive.
But it hadn’t stopped there. Spider was involved with the Apostles as well. He’d damn near managed to convince them that he was a Truthseeker. He’d also, somehow, gotten them to believe that he’d been married to Vivian of all people.
And then, right when he’d been trapped, his ally had popped up to save him. An ally that Spider clearly hadn’t been planning to rely on.
Og normally wouldn’t have even hesitated in killing them both. A single extra Rank 7 mage wasn’t going to turn the tides against three Apostles and himself. But the newcomer had been far from a normal mage. Something about him had instantly set every one of Og’s internal alarms off.
It didn’t matter how much the unkempt mage had looked like a madman that had just happened to wander into the wrong place at the wrong time. All of it was an act. Beneath the surface of that Rank 7 had been something far, far more powerful than what he let show.
And he’d revealed a flicker of it in his arrival. The dart that he’d thrown never should have made it to Og. No human of equal rank ever should have been able to land a physical blow on a demon from such a range. And yet, Og had barely even realized the dart was coming before it had embedded itself in his skull.
Another one with strange magic.
Og’s teeth ground. Orlen hadn’t warned him about the second mage. Someone that dangerous should have had good potential to be a False Herald. But, for whatever reason, it seemed the man hadn’t made the cut.
An irate sigh slipped from Og’s lips.
Orlen wasn’t making this easy for him. Not at all. There had been so many interferences during their work in the tournament that a part of him was wondering if Orlen himself wanted Og to fail. It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility. Understanding him was impossible.
The victory that Orlen sought was not one that most people could understand. He did not view existence in the same way as mortals. Perhaps his vision for Og was simply as another pawn to be sacrificed in pursuit of some great success further down the line.
Perhaps Orlen had never planned for Og to witness the greatness of their goals.
Og shook his head. It didn’t matter. Trying to understand Orlen was a futile task. Getting lost down that road was a great way to begin questioning everything he’d been working toward all these years. He was far too deep now to begin second guessing himself.
I am Orlen’s closest servant. He wouldn’t sacrifice me so easily. I am too useful. Perhaps I will not live to see the fruits of our work, but he would not lose me when we are far from its conclusion. Not unless I fail in my own tasks. And I am getting dangerously close to doing so.
It stung to admit that, but there was no more denying it. He’d come dangerously close to failing too many times — and all because of the same False Herald. But that didn’t mean he could afford to ignore the others. The future had not yet been decided. The others were still powerful and growing stronger and stronger still.
He’d hoped to use the tournament for longer. It was quite convenient. But it seemed he was out of that luxury. Vivian would eventually catch them. Waiting around for the perfect opportunity at the end of the tournament was no longer an option.
It seemed they were going to have to accelerate a few things.
That wouldn’t even be that great of a loss. Og had accomplished nearly every goal he’d come to Aqua Terra for already. The most important of his tasks had been ensuring his access to Solstice… and that had already been successful. All of the appropriate False Heralds were seeded as well. The Faction Heads would have recruited them by now. And that meant they would be present in the Solstice when he needed them to be.
All that remained now was to kick the final pieces of what they’d been working on into motion. He couldn’t afford to play around with Spider any longer.
At least there’s one thing going well. Spider is a chronic liar who drives himself into business that is not his. With the amount of ridiculous bullshit he spews, nobody of real relevance will ever allow him in their presence. Vivian is no fool. And that means she’ll likely disregard anything he says if he manages to actually get close enough to her to convey what he’s heard.
That was good. Restarting his plans with the Apostles from scratch would have been troublesome. Especially when everything was already in place.
Og blew out a breath and shook his head, letting his gaze travel across the cave and over to the stone chair in its deepest part. Sitting upon the chair was a large man clad in pitch black armor covering every inch of his flesh. Og’s lips curled into a thin smile.
“Prophet,” Og said. “It’s about time for you to pay a visit to Aqua Terra. The tournament is in need of a little chaos.”
Dim purple flame smoldered behind the Prophet’s heavy black helm. An arc of hissing red light danced through it. The large man rose to his feet, looming several feet over Og. He didn’t speak a word. He simply swept his hand down, clawing several rippling lines of murky gray energy through the air. The magic spread to form into a pool before him.
Then the Prophet stepped into the darkness, vanishing from sight.
The portal pulled shut behind him.
Og pursed his lips.
“Everyone really does have a way to teleport nowadays,” Og muttered. “I’m starting to feel a bit lackluster. After this whole business is done, I need to work on my own power more. The fact Spider was able to contest my Chaos magic... Embarrassing. Utterly embarrassing.”
Og dragged his own portal open, forming a hissing gate of electric red magic. Og stood there for a moment. A small frown tugged at the corners of his lips. It was ever so slightly concerning that Spider was growing at this rate. It really hadn’t been all that long since they’d last met.
The fact he’d advanced his understanding of chaos so significantly in a few months…
Spider can’t be allowed to enter Solstice. Orlen entrusted the success of what we are working on to me. I don’t care if we’re trying to refine the False Heralds. He’s has just been growing too fast. I can’t allow him to interfere any further with our goals.
Orlen’s lips pressed thinner still.
Then he stepped into the portal and vanished, leaving the cave as silent as death.
***
Noah appeared Vivian’s room.
She let out a surprised curse as he arrived, leaping out of her chair. The ring of runes perpetually floating at her back ignited with pearlescent power before she realized who it was. Only then did her hands lower slightly as her eyes narrowed in a glare.
“You can do that?” Vivian asked. “Here?”
“I just remembered roughly where you were,” Noah said. He paused for a moment. “Was I not meant to be able to?”
“No,” Vivian said curly. “You were not. How did you not trigger any of the anti-spatial defensive — oh, forget it. I don’t care to know. What are you doing here?”
“Reporting back,” Noah replied. “I got some information on the Apostles. Kind of. Not really what I wanted, but it’s better than nothing.”
“I see,” Vivan said. She paused for a moment. Then her eyes narrowed. “Did you happen to have anyone with you during this discovery?”
“I did, actually,” Noah said. He glanced around the room. Then he frowned. “He was supposed to be here too.”
Vivian sighed. Then she extended a hand, twisting it and running her hands through the air before closing them into a fist.
Hundreds of of pale pink energy filled the room in an instant. Power buzzed within them with enough intensity to set his hair on end. Most of them were arranged in perfectly geometric patterns, but Noah instantly realized that there were quite a few that had fallen out of the pattern.
They’d been pulled askew and bound into what seemed to be a man-sized cocoon at the corner of the room. Vivian glanced at Noah out of the corners of her eyes. Then she flicked her fingers.
The cocoon split apart, dropping Jalen on the ground unceremoniously. Then the pink threads faded away.
Jalen cleared his throat, brushing himself off as he rose to his feet and adjusted his lapels. “Well. Your room is quite well defended. I see you don’t much fancy visitors. Can’t imagine why.”
“I believe I was quite explicit with my orders when we last spoke,” Vivian said. “What gave you the idea that you were allowed to teleport into my room?”
“Well, I was following him,” Jalen said, jerking his chin toward Noah. “So really, it’s his fault. And does this mean you don’t mind him teleporting in? Maybe the rumors were more true than I thought. Go figure. Congratulations and condolences. Let me know if you need a rebound.”
“What?” Vivian asked, staring at him in befuddlement. She looked to Noah. “What is this fool on about? Why would I need either congratulations or condolences, much less both of them?”
“Don’t worry about that,” Noah said with a wave of his head. “It’s hardly—”
“Oh, but it is. I never joke around when it comes to matters such as these.” A coy grin crossed Jalen’s lips. He strode over to Noah and clapped him on the shoulder. “They were for your marriage and subsequent divorce from our good friend over here. Up to you to decide whether the good part was getting together or the split.”
Vivian stared at them for a long second.
Then her eye twitched.
“My what?”