Kael tossed the Datum mote back into the river and retracted his consciousness.
"That should do it."
With the mote healed, all that remained was leaving the Depths.
Kael clicked his tongue and patted his shoulder.
The Bloodwing crow looked at him curiously for a moment, trying to work something out, then hopped twice and climbed up using its beak as a small grappling tool.
Kael waited for her to settle before starting toward the mine.
Four days had passed since he arrived at the lily fields. To his surprise not a single Pale One had reached him. Either they had lost interest moving north, or something had kept them occupied. The vast arms in the shadows the most likely answer. There was no way to know for certain though.
He began moving rocks from the collapsed tunnel, then stopped and set the crow down on a ruined support beam.
"It won't take long."
For reasons he hadn't fully figured out, the Bloodwing crow had taken a liking to him. Or at least a sustained interest. She had begun doing crow things in his vicinity, sleeping nearby, cawing at intervals, generally behaving as though he was a feature of her environment rather than a threat to it. Which suited him well. The rank four mote, which he had decided to call the Spring Autumn Cicada, would never be far from him this way. Even with a tendril in its river of Will telling him where it was, that didn't make it accessible. He would inevitably have to return to Sole eventually, and if that meant leaving the crow it essentially meant the mote was out of reach regardless of whether he could sense it.
So even if she had no interest in following him, he would probably have brought her anyway.
He had considered taking the mote by force. But the crow was an extremely abnormal Dreadborne, and having seen her inner realm hadn't produced much confidence either.
It was a little nerve-wracking at first, having a Dreadborne in such close proximity. But like most things it was a feeling you eventually got used to.
He exchanged glances with her now and then as he removed the rocks.
"Right, you probably want a name if you're planning on staying around." He murmured thoughtfully. "Ansi?" He looked at her for a response but she just pecked mindlessly at a rock. "Not that then. Luna? Lumi?" She seemed to peck a little harder at Lumi, so that was what he went with.
Cold fresh air washed over them when they stepped out of the mine. He looked down at his boots and the snow beneath them. It had been compressed so tightly by the Pale Ones it had turned to ice.
'Wonder how far the wave has gotten.'
Thinking about it, he had never read any reliable estimate of how long a wave typically took to reach a given location.
"Strange." he murmured, taking the first step towards Rosalie's.
Lumi flapped her wings and began moving from treetop to treetop, never letting Kael out of her sight.
Not long after, a stone building appeared between the trees. He let himself in and walked through every room without finding her.
"Rosalie?" He called into the forge only to be met by silence.
His eyes fell on a cloth-covered object leaning against the anvil.
He walked over and wrapped his fingers around the handle, only to realise he had put far too little effort into it. He tightened his grip and tried again, lifting it from the ground with real effort. Rosalie hadn't been joking. It had to be six or seven times his own weight.
Kael turned it over slowly, studying it.
The handle was pure Asterite, completely black with waves of deep ruby red running through it like veins. Thin, much like the blade itself, completely unconventional for a mortal and only usable by someone with a disgusting amount of grip strength. The handle alone was long enough, three people could have placed their hands on it simultaneously.
His eyes moved to the far end. The pommel was shaped like a sharp O, and from it hung an Asterite chain holding a small lantern crafted from the same material, containing a small blue flame from the forge that gave no indication of ever going out.
Like most passionate people Rosalie was a perfectionist.
The crossguard was thin, long, and completely straight, wrapped in tungsten, making the sword look like a literal cross.
He removed the cloth and studied the blade itself. Because the material had been so limited and reach was a requirement, the blade was barely thicker than the grip. Without the tungsten wrapped around it the thing would have looked almost fragile. With it, it had an ominous quality that was harder to dismiss. On a rough estimate he concluded he could almost close his fingers around it. True to her words it had become more of a blunt weapon than a cutting one.
Kael placed the pommel on the ground and studied the tip.
"A completely blunt edge." He looked at it, amused.
With no real thrust potential she had dismissed the fragile tip entirely and gone with an executioner blade design instead.
Standing upright on the ground it reached just above Kael's chin.
"Not bad, Rosalie." Kael said, sending it to the Stone Coffin.
He held the door open, waiting for Lumi to fly out before stepping through himself. He pulled it shut behind him and started toward the shore.
—
The sun had just crested the horizon, casting golden light across the northern reaches of the western continent. Kael stood with his arms crossed.
There was no question about it. It was beautiful in every regard.
However.
He would have much rather seen a boat here.
"So they left..." He folded his hands and watched the sunrise for a moment.
"They?" A voice came from behind. "More like Mister Redgrave studied the ship the entire time you were gone and then left. Fucker didn't even wait for me."
Aurelion stood a few steps behind him, somehow having found new cigarettes.
"Are you done with your business with the smith?"
"More or less." Kael said. "Why did he leave?"
Aurelion gave him a flat look.
"What do you think? He panicked when the Pale Ones came and took off."
Kael nodded and started walking.
"Where are you going?"
"Sole."
"God damn it. Just wait. You think I take jobs without some kind of insurance? My client has already arranged something to collect me. You can tag along if you want."
Kael turned and rolled his neck.
"Lucky me." He muttered.
The trip had been scandalous on multiple levels. Not only had the Pale Ones appeared historically early, he had also been thrown into White Lotus Spring against his will. The one thing he had gone out of his way to avoid.
By now he was struggling to distinguish between ordinary luck or if luck was actively being inflicted on him by Serene Moon Demon Paragon. Hells, he couldn't even tell whether the spring had any effect on him at all.
The more time passed the more he found himself disliking Luck pathway.
On paper anything Luck pathway related should resolve in the user's favour. In practice it was unpredictable to a degree that made the supposed advantage feel more like a variable than a guarantee.
Kael found a rock and sat down. Lumi dropped from his shoulder onto his thigh and settled there.
"You know that's a Dreadborne, right?"
"I know."
Aurelion raised an eyebrow and stepped closer, leaning in.
"How in the hell did you tame that?"
"Why?"
"Because I'm genuinely terrified of it." There was no fear in his expression, but it didn't look like he was joking either.
Kael leaned back on his hands and watched her in silence for a moment.
"Guess I'm lucky."
The cold had started to bite by the time something finally changed.
The sound of tearing paper echoed as a tear appeared in the air only steps away. Massive fingers pushed through the opening and wrapped around the edges, stretching it wider. Then a golden eye, large enough that its colour bled across the entire tear, peered through.
"You're coming?" Aurelion asked, standing up.
"Where is it taking us?"
Aurelion paused at the opening. "That's up to the client."
Kael placed Lumi on his shoulder and stepped through.
There was nothing that registered as teleportation except the warmth that arrived a moment later.
When they stepped out the familiar sensation of cobblestone came underfoot.
Aurelion took a long drag and tossed the cigarette to the ground.
"Huh." He laughed quietly. "Would you look at that."
He reached into his pocket and produced a white card.
"Aurelion's special. Burn this if you ever want to hire me. I'm not cheap and my schedule fills up fast."
"Sure it does." Kael said, taking the card.
Aurelion gave a small nod and walked into the passing crowd.
The card had no text. Just a pale image that resembled some kind of noble estate.
Kael pocketed it and looked around.
"Second layer."