Elder Cultivator

“Well, that was convenient,” Chikere said as the doors opened behind Vari.

Stopping herself from falling backward should have been trivial for a cultivator of Vari’s level, even a century of training before. She didn’t because there was no real danger to overcome her sudden revelation.

Vari shook her head as she picked herself up. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” she said, looking at the formations around them. She was no master, but she understood they should still be working to serve whatever their purpose was. At least, they didn’t seem terribly worn despite their age. “It should have been waiting for the proper conditions to open.”

“A member of the Harmonious Citadel?” Chikere asked. “Because if so, it’s broken. Especially since some of those actual guys had been coming here since this place was first around.”

Spikes was simply sniffing around the area, seemingly disappointed with the lack of useful feedback. There wasn’t much to get from stone statues and centuries unused halls. That was all that was immediately visible, another room with a few statues. Though there was one notable feature about those statues. The majority of them were missing their head, not a clean cut but a messy stone break. There were only two that had their heads- Silvija herself, and the similar looking woman. The latter was not placed in the same arrangement as the rest, but of clearly different make and smaller size, placed more or less Silvija’s statue.

Vari spoke her thoughts aloud. “Are these two twins…? Or perhaps just sisters.”

“The latter, I think,” Chikere answered. “The stone focuses on their features while leaving out their proper demeanors. I don’t think the artist knew these people.”

“You’re now an expert on sculptures?” Vari asked.

Chikere shook her head. “No. But I’ve seen some that appear ready to spring to life. These are highly detailed, but lack the spark of life. And their stances are garbage,” she gestured to the statue holding the sword.

It looked decent enough to Vari, but then again ‘decent’ was probably far below what the saints should have looked like. She tried to remember the statues back on Rouhiri, but the once venerated images were indistinct to her memory. They were mostly better made, she thought, but not necessarily lifelike. Or maybe intentionally not.

“If this is a vault, it should have something more,” Vari said. “I would suggest we search the place but… there seems to only be one additional door.”

Though they could all feel the power of formations protecting the structure around them from intrusion, the internal walls and that door were more or less unmodified. The door swung open easily to reveal a small room, roughly carved into the area around it. It had only a few small shelves, a table, and little else.

On the table was a small leather bound tome with a name carved into the cover. Kullike. Upon seeing it, Vari quickly closed the intervening space and grabbed it. Perhaps if she had been less eager she might have noticed the formations bound into the book itself, not that she could have done much about them. Even as she lifted the book it began to disintegrate in her hands, turning to dust before she could even open the front cover. She just stood there, looking at the dust falling between her fingers.

After a few moments, Chikere approached her. “Hey, you alright? You look like someone just broke your favorite sword. Is that Kullike something important?”

The unrelatable but still heartfelt comparison brought Vari out of her momentary trance. “She was my mother,” Vari said.

“Same name, huh? I suppose that brings up bad memories.”

“No,” Vari shook her head. “Not exactly. There really aren’t many. And more importantly… it was actually her. Which would make Silvija… probably my aunt.” Vari grimaced, “But that’s just speculation I can’t prove. Though that tome should have told me what I wanted to know.”

“What about all those?” Chikere waved to the shelves, with dozens of books or scrolls.

“All techniques, looks like.” Vari picked up one volume with a scratched-off title. It didn’t disintegrate or anything, so it seemed the thing addressed to her mother was considered more important or secret. Idly, she opened the tome and found several pages of titles, all scratched out but not removed from the book. It included such names as ‘Harmony Be Gone’ ‘Screw Those Bastards’ ‘Ten Thousand Countermeasures’ and a few names both better and worse than those extremes. Finally, there was one title that wasn’t scratched out. “Citadel’s Downfall,” Vari read aloud. Following that was an explanation of what it was for. “A comprehensive guide on countering the techniques of the Harmonious Citadel.”

At first she thought it would be unnecessary. She had her own studies that were quite detailed on the Harmonious Citadel’s techniques. Some insights from others might be a little bit useful but if they were outsiders- a feeling she had for some reason about this author- how could they really do better?

As she started actually reading it, her mind changed. She had to admit that some of it was rather hastily written, with huge portions crossed out- but the final version that remained was quite detailed. She thought she could learn a lot from it.

The rest of the tomes were other techniques from the Harmonious Citadel, mostly centered around spear techniques. Chikere was already reading through the single book covering sword techniques.

There was something frustratingly familiar and yet unfamiliar about the authorship of ‘Citadel’s Downfall’. It was likely some centuries old, but it seemed similar in style to things she’d recently laid her eyes on. Then she realized it. Despite the man always remembering to prominently slap his name on things, it seemed Everheart hadn’t put his name on this one. A slip-up, or intentional? Given the hasty nature of the book, she wasn’t sure. The question was what one of Everheart’s works was doing in the collection of a former spear saint, especially considering how forbidden Everheart’s stuff was in the Harmonious Citadel.

Vari realized there might be some answers available to her, though it would take weeks if not months to get any sort of proper answer.

-----

The first signs of activity were in Okloi, upon Atania and Cheitov. Those were carefully monitored, because if there was an intent to retaliate against the trifold alliance, a likely target was Rutera. They were lucky to have any information at all, their few surviving spy cameras transmitting what they could. Though an attack by Iceheart Ocean would be somewhat of a problem, neither Carlitos nor Aridasa would be the same level of threat away from their worlds. It was a different matter if they worked together with allies, though.

It was possible that the opposite of the intended results had been produced, but Anton held onto hope. The Sylanis Cluster would have realized unity was required to defeat the trifold alliance eventually, taking action to prevent that and end the war had been worth the risk. And they couldn’t be certain what was actually happening. Calculations were still being made about where the departing ships were headed- it would have been easy with proper tools on ground, but they worked with what they had.

If they came, Anton was ready. Not him alone, of course. Devon and the Great Queen were with him. Nthanda was on loan to Weos at the moment, now that Rutera had finished The Independence. With the loss of Oluchi and some uncertainty among their new Assimilation cultivators, they needed some proper bolstering of their forces. More than that, they could provide something of low cost to them with high value for Nthanda. Gravity. Anton was aware she agreed to go because her training could be enhanced there as they could provide the harsh conditions her body needed to actually improve.

Reasonably, one more of the mobile cultivators should have gone to help them, given the results of the Ivory Maw’s attack on them. Yet numbers wise the systems were now fairly balanced, and Anton, and the Great Queen basically came as a set. Devon did not mind being away from his grandfather, but he preferred to fight with more familiar allies if it came down to it. Weos likely could have tempted him away with enough promises of resources, but it seemed they weren’t that desperate for more help. It already required them to swallow some of their pride to invite Nthanda.

Then, it happened. Ships appeared above the Ivory Maw. The information available from there was quite limited as many of the places they had been were demolished, intentionally or not, following the counterattack a few months prior.

At first it seemed like the forces might be inadequate to assault the Ivory Maw, simply a few dozen ships- but it was soon clear that only a portion of the forces were visible. The limited view revealed only snippets of what followed. The great eyes of the skull were the resting places of Bala’s bone mountain and the writhing flesh ball of Leonas, the Ivory Maw’s third Worldbinding cultivator. Second, now, but the final one Anton hadn’t interacted with.

Those two and the disciples of the sect crashed against the enemy forces. The Worldbinding cultivators wiped out handfuls of ships at a time, but there were signs of other Worldbinding cultivators involved- though not obvious at the distances involved. Eventually the battle moved out of the sight of all of the remaining cameras. There were hours of little information until cultivators marched back into view and began destroying everything that belonged to the Ivory Maw, including the very ground of the false moon itself. That resulted in the destruction of the final cameras as well, merely by coincidence.

A decisive victory against the Ivory Maw, but Anton wasn’t fully happy with the results. There was no clear sign of the deaths of Bala or Leonas. Certainly the forces arrayed had been powerful enough to defeat them, but cultivators of their power also had the option to retreat. Especially as their sources of power were more or less morbid mobile ships.

Of no comfort was a message from Aridasa that the Ivory Maw had been ‘expelled’. It arrived somewhere after it was expected that either of the Worldbinding cultivators could have reached parts of the trifold alliance, so it seemed they hadn’t directly come to attack. It wouldn’t have been the smartest move, but powerful desperate cultivators weren’t something Anton wanted to deal with.

-----

A message from the upper realms came to Anton. He had no ability to act on it for several weeks as it required an in-person meeting with Everheart, but things seemed settled enough for Anton to return to Ceretos for a bit. Traveling back and forth was time consuming, but he got marginally faster every time. Spending time between systems also helped him train the distance he could draw upon stars, uncomfortable as it was to be cut off from the majority of his power. Going to see Everheart just to ask a question was kind of a waste, but Anton also wanted to regularly remind him that he was being monitored. Just in case he got any ideas.

“Got a question for you from the upper realms,” Anton said after they were finally together. “You are familiar with the Harmonious Citadel, right?”

“Yes,” Everheart agreed. “Of course I know of them.”

“Did you write a technique called ‘Citadel’s Downfall’?” Anton asked. “Or are you perhaps familiar with a woman named Silvija?”

Instead of the expected responses, Everheart just sighed wistfully. Then he frowned. “Wait, how did you hear about any of that?”

Anton shrugged. “Some of those in the upper realms are doing research on the Harmonious Citadel. Found an old vault with the technique in it.”

“That’s impossible,” Everheart said. “That vault should have only opened for Silvija and her sister. Both are dead.”

“You didn’t really answer one of the questions,” Anton pointed out.

“Correct,” Everheart nodded, still contemplating something. “What if…” he frowned. “No, definitely not,” he shook his head. “But Kullike, maybe…” Everheart clicked his tongue. “That’s what I get for being hasty with formations. But I suppose it worked out.”

“... And?” Anton asked.

“Who found it? A man or woman?”

“A woman,” Anton said. “Does that part matter?”

“Not really,” Everheart said. “Except that I might have a niece. Sort of.”

“You don’t really strike me as the marrying type,” Anton said.

“Hence the sort of,” Everheart shrugged.