“Zilverna.”

Zilverna whipped around and winced, clutching at his tightly-bandaged chest. His eyes widened in concern. “Mother...what are you doing here!?”

The Eldemari sat down onto the cot. Two guards silently flanked the door to the medical room. She trusted that the one on the left, Kaiwen, would take any preemptive actions necessary to ensure her safety. She knew that the others had already spread out over the battleship to watch for threats within and without.

“What happened?” Maria asked while cupping Zilverna’s forehead, her expression twisted in concern.

“Just what happened to everyone else under me,” Zilverna spat. “I could accept not holding my own against Dunai in a duel, but his constructs...they’re infuriating, and worse, they’re still patrolling the entire coastline. I could swear that one on the southern coast is as big as the Cuna at this point.”

“At least they’re easy to escape from,” Maria murmured, brushing away a stray lock of Zilverna’s hair. “Everyone under you did escape, after all.”

While acutely effective against non-practitioners, the Skai’aren’s Deathseed constructs were usually unable to kill swift, retreating targets–elementalists. Once Selejo had realized that point, they stopped sending non-practitioner cannon fodder and the SPU battlefront fell deceptively quiet.

Zilverna’s face contorted into a grimace. “Mother...I feel like such a fool. Dunai isn’t even in the city and we still can’t breach Zukal’iss’ bulwark.”

Oh, Zilverna... Maria knew that she couldn’t tell her son everything, but she hated seeing him so...defeated. If he felt that way, then who knew how the rest of the troops felt?

It was a mistake to let their morale fall so far. She and the other ministers and generals waging the war were treading a fine line with their plan...but it seemed that they’d let things get slightly out of balance. She’d sensed a slow, wide-scale deviation of fate in her network of End connections, but seeing the poor morale firsthand, and from her own son...

Maria firmed her resolve. Luckily she was the Eldemari: While she could sit back safely in Cunabulus for the duration of the war, she didn’t need to. It was obviously more risky to act herself, but she was confident in Kaiwen and her other attendants. They weren’t half-step ascendants like the Skai’aren, but they were at least on the level of Euryphel and the other princes.

“Dearest...trust me when I say we’re exactly where we need to be in the war effort.”

“Don’t try to comfort me with false assurances,” Zilverna pouted, turning away. “That fact that you’re even here is evidence enough that something has gone wrong.”

Maria blinked, then began to laugh. “You couldn’t be further from the truth. Today is the day we shift into the endgame. I would say more, but I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.”

Zilverna fell forward into Maria’s chest, his head craning over her shoulder. “Wait for me to join you; I’m probably next to be healed.”

Maria caressed Zilverna’s back, her fingers tracing over the rough separation between strips of bandages. “Can I see?” she murmured, working to control her voice.

“No!” Zilverna squawked, recoiling backward. “It’s just a flesh wound: All of us were already seen by one of the Life practitioners when we arrived. We’d be fine if not for how difficult it is to apparently heal wounds from the Deathseeds.”

Maria rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m not letting you accompany me while you’re still injured. Be a good officer and stay put, alright?”

“Mother!” Zilverna began to splutter. “That’s so...lame.”

Y’jeni, if I didn’t already have a lifetime of experience dealing with him, I wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face. “Wish your mother good luck.”

“You don’t need it,” the younger Sezakuin protested.

“Confident now, are we?”

Zilverna’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I love you, Mother. Thank you for visiting me and reminding me that what we’re doing here is all theatrics.”

Maria chuckled. “Don’t belittle yourself: It’s not all theatrics.”

“You know, I thought that after the summit you might actually give me a meaningful task, not just something...I don’t know...safe. I want to do something actually important.”

“Then talk to Judith tomorrow.”

“Y’jeni, not Judith...” Zilverna sighed. The guard on the right side of the door snorted a laugh.

“Okay, I’m going to leave.”

“Uh...what about...”

Maria could tell that Zilverna was floundering. While the boy spoke charismatically around strangers, before the eagle eye of his mother he lost his smooth charm. “Dearest, I’m leaving. The healer isn’t going to come in time. There’s nothing left to discuss.”

Maria leaned in for a careful hug, mindful of Zilverna’s wounds. He nodded and saluted her as she turned for the exit. As she stepped out of the doors, Kaiwen and Judith falling into step, her heart fluttered with anticipation.

—

Geniflen sighed and shook her head disapprovingly. “This isn’t your best idea.”

“I’m better now,” Zilverna retorted, pointing to the bandages strewn across the cot. “You’re an excellent Life practitioner.”

“You’re not fully healed, Zilv,” she muttered. “Your chest might look fine to you, but I can still see Death energy mottling the surface. It’s nothing serious if you give it a few days, but going out now and encountering another Deathseed wouldn’t be ideal.”

“I want to go, though.” Zilverna wasn’t stupid, but apparently his mother chose this random day to make history, and he wanted to be there by her side to pave the way forward. He knew it was selfish, but if he stayed at a distance, he didn’t see how anything could befall him: Judith alone would be enough to keep an entire platoon safe, much less the Sezakuin duo.

Geniflen let out a groan of frustration. “Has anyone called you stubborn before?”

Zilverna paused and grabbed his chin, giving her a contemplative look. As she came at him with a rolled piece of paper, Zilverna ducked out of the way and laughed. He looked down at his pecs and beamed. “Like I said, great healing: no pain whatsoever.”

“...Don’t get yourself too hurt out there, okay? Don’t get cocky because you have someone like me to patch you back up: There’s always the possibility you won’t even make it back.”

“Don’t worry,” Zilverna said, flashing a laid-back smile. “I got this.”

—

Zilverna’s End affinity was pretty bad, but it wasn’t so bad that he couldn’t track his mother North along the SPU coast. For a moment in the beginning she fell out of his range, but he was able to go off of her general direction until her fate arrows rematerialized.

Of course that meant that she could sense him as well: She’d probably noticed the moment he started following in pursuit. As far as Zilverna was concerned, that she hadn’t yet taken any measures to stop him was tepid acceptance of his presence. He had no idea where she was headed, but he didn’t have any difficulty keeping up. Even if the Infinity Loop had been a long slog, he’d learned a thing or two about pushing his own limits.

Zilverna’s eyes widened with anticipation as his mother and her entourage halted their advance. He knew it was probably pushing things to not just follow them but actually come close enough to see them...but like he told Geniflen, he wanted to be at the center of the action when history was written.

As he flew in close, he heard Judith’s admonishing voice follow the wind to his ear.

“Zilverna, you disobedient boy. Tsk, tsk.”

Zilverna rolled his eyes. “Ha ha, you caught me. What happens now?”

“It’ll be easier to keep track of you if you’re among us,” Judith replied. “Come.”

The young Sezakuin flew over, jets of flame bursting behind him. He lowered himself onto a levitating disc buoyed on a plateau of water and bowed his head, smiling sheepishly at the assembly of retainers.

“Hi, Mother.”

“You know that if you keep indulging him, he’s never going to learn,” Judith said, doing that annoying thing where she acted discreet by whispering just loud enough that Zilverna could still hear.

Mother gave Judith a wry smile and shook her head, turning back to her son. “I think I would’ve been more surprised if you stayed behind.”

Zilverna coughed softly. “So...what’s the plan?”

Judith snorted. “Just stand back and let the adults operate.”

Zilverna resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the obnoxious woman. Sure, he was still seventeen biologically, but he thought he’d matured a good deal in the loop. Before, he might’ve even challenged Judith to an impromptu fight over her flippance, but now he maintained a steady smile and ignored her.

Kaiwen spoke next, her gaze flitting between Mother and Judith before settling on Zilverna. “Unfortunately there’s no task for you at this time, Zilverna, though I’m sure your mother would appreciate it if you kept your eyes peeled for any interlopers and joined us in defending her if needed.”

They really aren’t expecting to be attacked, then, Zilverna realized, sighing internally. If Kaiwen had things her way, he’d never be allowed out of the Cuna. No matter: I can’t really complain if I’m able to watch my mother be awesome.

“Alright, I’ll keep my wits about me,” Zilverna replied. “When’s the table-turning going to start?”

Mother raised an eyebrow. “Now is as good a time as ever.”

Without further warning, the Bay of Ramsay’s water began to recede, the sun kissing sand over a hundred feet below. Kaiwen held her hands off to the side, her stance strong as she parted the sea to reveal dark inscriptions that looked both burned and etched into the sand.

Zilverna’s mouth formed an “O” of realization as his mother brought her hands to her chest, her breath cycling in a slow, regular rhythm. Her hands were balled up into fists save for her index and middle fingers; as the two raised digits from each hand made contact, Mother closed her eyes. Zilverna saw the innumerable threads of fate covering his mother stiffen as though someone had grabbed and yanked them back. Most extended in the direction of Selejo, but there were still thousands of fate arrows in the direction of the Ho’ostar mainland.

Mother opened her eyes in a flash of pink energy. The fate arrows began to ripple; as she moved her fingers apart, flexing her arms back by her side with a ninety-degree angle held at the elbow joint, the rippling increased in frequency. With a sigh of release, she lanced her arms forward, her index and middle fingers like knives piercing toward the SPU. The fate arrows following the trajectory of her fingers began to flail wildly before falling still a few seconds later.

While Zilverna could see what his mother was doing...he had no idea what she’d actually done.

Mother smiled and stepped forward to the edge of the hovering disc. “Let’s proceed.”

Kaiwen released her stance, allowing the sea to flow back and cover the underwater array. She took in a deep breath and nodded her head. “Let’s.”

“Everyone else ready?” Judith asked, elevating her voice. None of the eighteen other retainers present protested, their ever-stoic expressions revealing no emotion.

Taking the silence for agreement, Judith flung their hovering platform forward with a gust of air while Kaiwen supported it from below with a column of water. Soon they approached a remote area of the coastline without any visible buildings.

“There’s a Deathseed construct lurking in the water up ahead,” Kaiwen murmured, her eyes narrowing. She brushed her plastered black bangs to the side and turned to two other retainers. “Briant and Jordel, go forward. Freeze-dry strategy.”

The two dove forward, Briant wrapping himself in a column of surging water while Jordel hugged his back, catching a ride.

“That’s the only subsea threat this far north,” Kaiwen observed. “The other constructs will be pacing the coast. I don’t think we’ll have trouble piercing through them.”

Kaiwen’s words quickly became reality. Groups of retainers periodically jumped off the hovering disc as soon as they began streaking over the mainland, following orders to decisively dismantle the construct defense. They’d promptly return one to two minutes later and wait to be sent out again. Zilverna couldn’t help the annoyance that bubbled up over the ease with which they took out constructs that had given his platoon the run-around for the past week, but he committed himself to keeping a cool head. These are Mother’s best; it’s only fitting they can take out a few Deathseed constructs.

After about ten minutes of flying, they began to encounter humans instead of Deathseed constructs.

The entire ride Mother was silent, but he knew that she must be giving strategic orders to Kaiwen within the retainer’s Regret scenarios. Now that enemy humans were finally entering the loop, Zilverna was eager to see what his mother would do. Especially after that display earlier with the underwater array...that took serious preparation.

The terrifying thing about weaponized End was that most people couldn’t see it coming. You could see a ball of fire or a blade of wind, could feel the insidious assault of Remorse. But fate...fate was only visible to the eyes of End practitioners. This far out from major population centers, Zilverna figured the only End practitioners they had a hope of encountering were those defending the coastline...but End practitioners were scarcely deployed in the field unless they had dual affinities.

For this very reason they were able to cut through the SPU like a knife until they reached a small hamlet called Yivyiv. There was no fanfare for their arrival: The citizens seemed shocked to see a group of Selejan practitioners flying in on a wide, white platform.

“Isn’t this too easy?” Zilverna whispered to Judith. “This has to be a fluke.”

“There was a great deal of set up for this moment,” Judith replied, sneering. “I’m not surprised it seems easy to the uninformed.”

Zilverna’s eyes narrowed at the private insult, but he knew showing annoyance would only embolden the wind elementalist further.

Judith continued her musing. “To the SPU’s credit, they had no less than eight different lines of defense prepared to stop intrusions and alert the capital in the event of a breach. I’m proud to say that we’re going to win this battle because of our own competence and preparation.”

“Congratulations,” Zilverna replied sarcastically. What are you even doing to contribute, Judith? You’re only good for pushing us forward. He knew that Mother and Kaiwen were the two pulling the most weight.

“We claim this city for Selejo,” Mother stated crisply, her voice magnified to cover the citizens closest to the town’s main entrance.

Kaiwen crossed her arms and smiled grimly, her eyes narrowing to dark crescents. “Before you begin to protest, let me explain the situation. If you haven’t realized it already, you’re in the presence of Selejo’s Eldemari. This is a very good thing for you because it means that everyone here has the chance to live.”

Everyone was silent as Kaiwen paused, letting her words sink in. The woman really does have a terrifying charisma, Zilverna observed, goosebumps raising along his arms.

“This is how things will work under our occupation. You will continue to live as before. For each of you that rebels, one of you will die. For every one of our soldiers stationed here killed by the SPU, one of you will die. It’s in your best interest for this war to end as quickly as possible. All we ask of you is to provide food and supplies to any of our people who come ashore.”

Judith stepped in front of Kaiwen and gave everyone present a radiant smile. “Nothing Kaiwen said is wrong, but I need you to understand that we’re acting because we have no choice. Your princes decided to invade our allies without provocation. If they stand down and admit to their wrongs, as they should, we’ll have no cause for conflict. If, instead, they choose to attack...” Judith shrugged and gave everyone a helpless expression. “We’ll need to stand our ground.”

Mother nodded and whispered something inaudible to Judith. Two retainers hopped off the disc and touched down on the ground, then gave Mother a salute.

“Continuing onward,” Judith transmitted. “The next town’s five minutes away. Kaiwen, keep it shorter next time, less menacing.”

“I’ll try, but it’s harder to pay attention to how I come across when speaking Swellish,” she retorted.

Mother sighed and spoke out loud: “Do try harder; the same criticism goes to you too, Judith. Every second is precious: Euryphel will find out about our intrusion sooner rather than later.”

They spent the next hour capturing city after city until at last they stopped cutting into the interior. At each stop they’d shed two retainers such that now only Kaiwen, Judith, Bryant, Jordel, Mother, and Zilverna were present.

Mother spoke through Judith’s wind elementalism: “Bryant, Jordel; this place is under your command now. I’m not going to repeat what you already know. The city is your greatest defense and your greatest weapon: Show no hesitation doing what needs to be done.”

The two saluted and stepped off the hovering platform, Jordel forming a column of earth to support their descent towards the medium-sized city’s cowering citizenry. Zilverna noted the chain-like bindings of fate that formed between Bryant, Jordel, and the common citizens.

Zilverna had watched his mother since birth, had worshipped the ground she walked on and studied her every victory. The more they pressed into the SPU, the more time Zilverna had to observe the fate chains forming between retainers and the people they conquered...and the more sure he became about the purpose and power of the underwater array.

He was almost certain at this point that there was a secret rule that Kaiwen had left unvoiced: While the death of a common soldier would result in the death of a single citizen...if one of Mother’s retainers fell while holding a town or city, Zilverna suspected that half of its citizenry would die. If both retainers fell, the city would become a ghost town.

Judith flew the remaining party back West toward Yivyiv. The group was welcomed by no-less than a thousand troops whom the two stationed retainers had protected from reformed Deathseed constructs and escorted over. Their anchored warship was just barely visible on the far-off coast.

“Zilverna, I’m going to be taking this ship back,” Mother explained. “Kaiwen is coming with me. I know how much you want to help, so I’m going to give you two options. First, you can stay here and help keep the citizenry under control. Your platoon is already on its way over and should anchor in the next few hours.”

“What’s option number two?”

Mother smiled. “I confirmed for myself that the Skai’aren has left the SPU as we suspected. I’m sending numerous agents all over the world to look for him, but our Beginning augury suggests that he’s likely gone East.”

Judith’s eyes widened and she glanced at Zilverna in dismay, but held her tongue.

“I’ve already made arrangements for Judith to head East in pursuit of the decemancer, approaching from southern Adrillon. If you wish it, you could accompany her. You remind me seemingly every day that nobody knows Dunai better than you do; your insight may prove useful in tracking him down.”

Even if I’m stuck with Judith, how could I say no to something so important? Zilverna thought to himself. Besides, seeing her so crestfallen is a win on its own.

“Do you even have to ask?” Zilverna replied, grinning. “Adrillon awaits!”

“Remember,” Mother interjected, “this is a scouting mission. You are absolutely not to engage.”

Zilverna sighed and thought back to his defeats in the Infinity Loop. “I think I’m the last person that needs that reminder.”

Mother stepped forward and planted a kiss on his forehead. “Regardless...please stay safe.”