Path of the Hive Queen

Chapter 440: Tethers

Berren Green-Grey of Onciris knelt in front of his mistress, feeling her hand on his cheek as she looked into his open eyes and just as much into his mind, going through the memories in the surface layer of his recent experiences.He supposed it probably looked intimate to an observer, but had gotten used to the intimacy long ago. Which didn’t stop him from marveling a little at the sensation of touch. He lacked a physical body, after all, and thus shouldn’t have been able to feel it. He didn’t feel physical sensory stimuli; except on the rare occasions when Leian had had him share her body’s, he supposed.

But they were currently in a dreamscape, or something close enough — a place where his body was almost as real as hers. It still allowed for all their normal interactions, and he could sense the connection between their minds as usual. Leaning on the soul tether would have brought it into even sharper relief, and maybe allowed him to feel even more, but he avoided doing that out of habit, content to experience his environment normally.

It was a fascinating project, and he would have loved to spend a few more hours investigating and asking her about it. The fact the Master of Agialsis never stopped learning and experimenting was one of the things he respected about her. In his more honest moments, he could admit that even for a woman from a Blue lineage, she was exceptionally gifted; which was obvious, given she had become exceptionally formidable even at a young age. His own lineage had trained him more traditionally — Green being more focused on warfare and the practical side of law enforcement by tradition — but he hadn’t been able to match her in a direct confrontation anyway, and he didn’t have her facility with portals, of course.

“I appreciate the compliment,” she muttered.

Berren didn’t let it bother him. He could sense her own appreciation for his skills in return for his current line of thought.

The fact that she let him mentor the mortal disciples — eager and talented little manabirds that they were — was proof enough. he mused.

Leian commented.

His first instinct was to deny it, but he knew before he started that she wouldn’t belive his protestations; and they would probably be false. he said.

She jumped into the next memory, returning to the first she had looked at, a little harder and he suppressed a wince. Quietly, they both watched his recall of what he’d given Iseis and Galatea. Finally, she withdrew her hand and looked away, their mental connection simmering down.

“Finished, Mistress?” he asked. Almost unconsciously, his hand raised to rub his face and return the pressure on his skin.

“You haven’t done anything I see the need to disapprove of,” she said. It wasn’t a reassurance, or a threat, or a concession, just a bare statement. “Although you will need to continue keeping an eye on those two. And their fellows, I think.”

“I would have done that anyway,” Berren said, finally rising to his feet. “You would’ve wanted me to watch them discreetly either way, I assume?”

“You can still move with less scrutiny and risk of being seen than me,” Leian responded. “At least, I certainly hope that’s still true.”

Berren wasn’t sure about that, but he didn’t say anything. Leian would obviously be considered a greater threat by her enemies than he. Half of them seemed to forget that he even existed most of the time; he wasn’t entirely sure all of them were actually aware he did. He’d always liked it that way. But Deirianon wouldn’t be stupid enough to forget he existed right now. He could be stealthy when he wanted to be, though.

Leian paused, looking off into the distance. “Or maybe I will have to send you out anyway,” she murmured. “This would raise your profile, but it’s better to be sure.”

“What is it?” he asked cautiously, then frowned as he felt the edges of the answer. “Iseis sent a message?”

Leian was quiet for a moment, before she raised a hand and gestured. The air — which wasn’t air — to their left warped and splintered into several windows, which showed what was happening in a specific location in the world. One of them seemed to come from Iseis, one was a top-down view of a location, and the other was augmented with colors and little icons highlighting what was happening. It made it easy to grasp the situation quickly.

“They’ve attacked the southern base with the Esiatin,” he said. “Can you tell who it is? Who sent these men?”

“… Unfortunately, I’m not certain,” Leian answered. Her expression had hardened and he’d seen the dark look in her eyes when he mentioned the material.

Berren sympathized. Knowing that the Hivekind — or at least some Hivekind, to be fair — had kept the secret of this material was galling … Not that he’d ever been allowed to know how to make it. That wasn’t the point. It still hadn’t been their secret to know, and they shouldn’t have kept the knowledge that they had it from Leian (and him), either.

He glanced back the at the screens, then reached out to the System to try and get more information. It wasn’t easy. While the System did, by necessity, contain information such as the location of people, it wasn’t set up for tracking. The opposite, actually — That was something its operation was supposed to prevent.

“You mentioned sending me out?” he asked. “Are you that concerned about this attack? The gods will know how important it is if they see me there for sure.”

Leian shook her head thoughtfully. “As much as I’d like to be optimistic, the chances the gods aren’t involved in this are far too low to rely on. They might know already. And besides, you would be deep underground and just beside a large amount of Flame of Ruins; sensing you there will be almost impossible. As long as they don’t have a Champion there who can see you with their own eyes while a god is watching through their connection, it won’t matter.”

Berren accepted that with a nod. “Then I will be discreet and avoid going to the surface,” he said with a small smirk.

“Do so. Protect the cache, Berren. I don’t want the attackers to even see it. And do what you can to protect Regina’s people as well.”

“Of course, Mistress. I won’t let them defile it.”

She dismissed him with a small smile and a wave of her hand. “Keep being this agreeable and we might get somewhere, little blade.”

She hadn’t called him in a while. Berren didn’t say anything else as he departed. Instead, he focused on the task in front of him.

Teleporting out of this dream realm was a curious sensation. Not quite as curious as appearing somewhere close enough to the material to feel its effects, however. It had been a long time. In his bodiless state, he was probably more sensitive to it than others. But he didn’t let it distract him, either. Instead, he turned to his new (rather old) student, knowing Iseis would undoubtedly notice him even if he had tried to hide his arrival.

“Berren?” she asked, clearly baffled. “What are you doing here?”

“Wait, what, he’s here?” someone else asked. Berren turned just in time to see a group of humans and drones arrive, sliding to a stop by Iseis. They were led by a familiar young man.

Since he didn’t want to waste time on this, Berren made himself visible. Admittedly, he enjoyed the way the young prince (or whatever title they used) gasped when he did. To their credit, the soldiers with him immediately assumed a useful fighting formation without making it too obvious, and were clearly preparing for the situation to turn violent, but didn’t outright brandish their weapons at him.

He glanced around quickly to confirm what he’d seen before. They were standing in the corridor, just by where the shaft and staircase would go down into the vault with the material. It was safer up here, although he would have to check on it presently. He could sense it, though; and he didn’t sense anyone else here at the moment. Iseis appeared to have opened the door, but he could still sense magical defenses waiting for anyone trying to get to it unaware.

“I am here to provide protection,” he told them — not specifying what, exactly, he would protect, but they could probably guess. “Please keep in mind my presence is not to be revealed further.”

“Okay, we’ll keep our lips sealed,” Dan agreed. He was frowning slightly. “We’re still fighting the intruders. I suppose you’ll prioritize this place? Can you still provide us any help?”

Berren considered his request for a moment, then nodded. “I will stay close to this spot for now. But I can ease your way. Stand still, I’ll cast a spell on you.”

He twisted mana in a familiar pattern. It was like a Haste Spell, but unlike such a construct, it didn’t use the System — or rather, it only used the System to reinforce what he was already doing. Dan and his soldiers would be strengthened now, able to not just move but think and react more quickly, and be more resistant to enemy magic.

“Also, be careful what you run into,” he added. “They’ve left several of their comrades behind as they died. Don’t get to close to those, but they should ignore you if you don’t bother them.”

He waved a hand and cast a more complicated spell. This time, it wasn’t really a single spell; it was a working he hadn’t done in quite some time.

The first step was sensing what he had to work with, which was simple enough. They might be underground, but he wasn’t limited simply to scrying, and he could work around that fact, anyway. He sought out the bodies of humans, the mana still lingering in them, as it would gradually return to the world with their decomposition (which thankfully hadn’t started yet). Then he infused them with more mana, imprinting and shaping everything according to his direction.

“Wait, you’re going to animate them? Like, necromancy?” Dan asked.

“I thought that wasn’t possible, if their souls have departed?” Iseis added.

Berren frowned slightly, irritated at the questioning. “I simply raised their bodies. This does not involve souls. They won’t be intelligent or able to understand complex commands. Think of them as zombies.” They wouldn’t be very useful like this, either, but they should help the Imperial forces, at least.

Dan and Iseis exchanged a look, and Berren was sure he could guess what they were thinking; he simply didn’t care. Instead, he turned his attention to his constructs. They made it even easier to sense what was going on. Which, in this case, meant the battle had resumed with higher intensity, as the attackers were surprised by the sudden attacks from places they’d thought were safe.

“Didn’t you want to go and fight …?” Berren prompted Dan.

The young Hivekind stiffened slightly, and nodded. “Alright. I’ll leave you here, then, but with some extra guards. Call us if there are any issues.”

He singled out some of his soldiers, who took position close to Berren, then departed with most of the other soldiers. Berren looked at Iseis questioningly. She shook her head, clearly indicating that she wanted to stay here. He supposed that the Imperial troops should be plenty to handle that fight.

“When are reinforcements coming?” he asked.

“The first should arrive in a few minutes,” she answered. “I might go up to make sure everything is going well with the teleportation. First, though … we should check on the chamber, don’t you think? My lord?”

“Indeed. You, soldiers, alert us if anyone else comes or if you sense anything off. You can manage to watch the entrance, can’t you?”

“We will, Sir,” one of the men said calmly. He was an Archmage, Level 45, so Berren supposed they would be able to sense something amiss. And these supposed to be elite soldiers.

Berren and Iseis descended the shaft downward. Berren simply floated down, ignoring the stairs hewn into the rock, while Iseis walked slowly and carefully. It meant he stepped into the antechamber first. This gave him a second to make sure his preparations to deal with the material’s presence were sufficient. Lacking a physical body, he had to take extra care. The absence of mana wouldn’t be healthy for him, to put it mildly. But he knew how to handle it, and he could harden his form against the influence of the mana-void.

“Will you be alright in there?” Iseis asked as she caught up to him.

“Of course.” He stepped into the vault itself. “We shouldn’t linger here too long, though,” he added with a look at the old elf. “For your sake, if not mine.”

He could already sense the effect it had on her. Iseis was a very magical being. It should be fine for a few minutes, though.

Berren turned his attention to the room itself, checking that everything was as it should be. It seemed undisturbed. He walked further in, looking around. It was a beautiful place, despite everything. He touched one of the walls, feeling the coruscation in the material; or rather its echo, since he didn’t physically touch it. It was as unblemished as the day it had been put here, a thousand years ago. Then he turned to the shelves, which were clearly made from some kind of metal alloy. They were still empty.

“Lord Berren? Anything we say here, no one could scry on it, could they?” Iseis asked.

“Indeed,” he told her absently. “If our enemies could do it, they would be much more dangerous and have probably won this conflict already.”

He looked back at her in time to see Iseis’ nod. The old elf was still standing stiffly, and he wondered if it was just the effect of the room.

“If I may ask, my lord …” she started.

He bit down on the urge to tell her she didn’t need to call him ‘lord’. Berren detested eating his own words.

“Ask, I won’t take offense,” he replied instead.

“Then I have two questions. First, is there any way I may help you? Is your … situation … comfortable enough to bear it? And secondly …” She took a deep breath. “Will you expect me to betray my patron? You mentioned giving you a reason for your gift. It occurs to me there may be a certain answer as to why you would teach someone else soul magic.”

Berren floated closer to her, crossing his arms. He hadn’t expected this; perhaps he should have. Iseis was smart. Still, he wondered how much she really understood. “Speak plainly, woman,” he said. “What is it you fear I am scheming?”

“Not scheming,” she said quickly. “Or, well. Leian said it would be expected, if you were to be … planning. To free yourself. Presumably, having someone else skilled in soul magic would help. But if that’s the case, I wanted to be clear that I won’t betray my lady. Not that I don’t sympathize, but … I couldn’t.”

Berren uncrossed his arms, but simply stared at her for a moment longer. Iseis shifted uncomfortably, but still met his gaze.

“So, if I said I wanted you to kill me …” he questioned.

“I’d do it,” she affirmed.

Berren took a small step closer, cocking his head. “But you wouldn’t free me from Leian’s control if I simply wanted freedom and told you to sever the tether,” he observed.

“No,” she confirmed. “It would be a step too far. You might attack her, or go after other people or places she cares about. I hope you understand.”

Berren hummed. That was about what he’d expected, honestly.

“Well, as much as I appreciate the initiative and consideration,” he drawled, “it would take quite a while to teach you enough to even think of rivaling Leian Blue-White. Most likely, you would only get yourself in trouble. And truthfully, I don’t feel a particular urge to see the River of Souls right now, even if it has been some time since my death. Besides —” he stopped himself.

“Besides?” she prompted.

He hadn’t wanted to go that far, but sod it, he might as well say it. , he realized.

“Cutting the tether would kill me truly,” he stated plainly. “Not immediately, of course, but in time. I might have a few years, or a few decades. But it is the only thing keeping my soul anchored. I can’t have freedom without losing it to whatever afterlife awaits me soon enough. Which I do realize shouldn’t be enough to disdain it; we aren’t supposed to seek immortality. Though, well, I suppose it would be possible to remain long-term without it, in principle. I would simply have to find another source to sustain me. But it’s extremely unlikely I would find something like that, especially on this world.”

Iseis nodded, her expression grim. “I see. Thank you for trusting me, Lord Berren.”

He shrugged, then turned around. “Let’s go. Leian would be upset if I let you injure yourself by staying here too long. And it’s easier to guard this place from outside of it.”

They walked out in silence.