25 As above, so below

Beakrag Bolton, Baron of Opin - The Geshians are a strange people. They are a wandering family with few things they hold dear. They are the best friends you can make...and the worst of enemies.

Sophia glanced towards me before her eyes deadened. After waiting for the punchline of my joke, she said, “You can’t be serious? Surely not. There’s just no way.”

I shrugged as I said, “Well, I mean...maybe?”

She sharply stood as she said, “Hell no. Tell them to off themselves.”

Solomon walked over and said, “Why are you all so against the palisade? What have they done to deserve this?”

Sophia clenched her hands as she said, “They’ve done more than enough...I don’t want to talk about it.”

Solomon shook his head before saying, “I’m starting to remember the bad parts of having children.”

Joan laid her hands on sophia’s shoulders as she said, concern pouring from her voice, “Sophia, just relax.” she turned towards me as she said, “You meant that as a joke right?”

I weighed my hands as I said, “Ehhhhh, about half and half. I wanted to break into the subject with humor. That obviously backfired. I apologize for my mistake.”

Sophia shook her head before saying, “No...I get it. I should have heard you out before snapping like that. Gah, that sounds so awful though.”

I nod as I said, “I understand your ire. I despise their actions, but we’ve been ordered by the head of the palisade, Abraham Elseyary.”

Joan’s eyes widened as she said, “It’s amazing. I’ve read about these people all my life in history books. Now I get to meet them.”

Sophia interjected, “History has a way of being dark, deep, and winding. I try not to let it decide my decisions too often.”

Solomon said, “I’m honored to hear that, but you both need to get going. Jericho, show Sophia where the palisade is. I’ll explain what I want from Joan.”

I nodded before Sophia and I left, Sophia’s heels dragging as a gloomy grimace painted onto her face. After several minutes of her sullen silence, I said, “Think of this as an opportunity. You can learn about the palisade from the inside while stealing their techniques. It’ll be a blast.”

She hunched as she said, “I’m gonna be tinkering with living specimens. Sounds atrocious.”

I shook my head as I said, “They’ll be working on a project called Obelisk. They want to let a person use their own soul during fights. Sounds right up your alley.”

She stood taller as she said, “Really?”

I leaned towards her as I said, “It’s true. Perhaps we can find some sort of shortcut towards your goal of creating a future without soulforging or gemchaining. Who knows.”

A reluctant grin popped on her face as Sophia said, “Alright, I’m sold. I’ll see if I can’t make the best of this even if it kinda sucks.”

I nudged her shoulder as I said, “That’s the spirit Sophia, but I have to warn you. There are malevolent forces there. Their perilous as a plague and the sights may peel your skin like the fires of purgatory.”

We stopped walking as she leaned closer and said, her voice wobbling, “What are they doing,”

I whispered, “Dark, deathly things Sophia. Feel that. That’s fear, Sophia. Feel fright. Feel...afraid.”

After my last word, I shouted like a man echoing his voice at a mountain top, “Booooooo.”

She leapt up while screaming before pummelling my stomach with punches as she said, “You’re the worst, just the worst. I hate you.”

An irrepressible grin appeared on my face as I said, “Just trying to get rid of some tension. You seemed so stiff. I didn’t want you walking in there like you were scared. You’ll be fine. If it becomes too much, we’ll try getting the remnants some other way.”

She nodded before I sighing as she said, “This is gonna be miserable.”

A near noiseless pitch drummed in my ears as I shrugged and said, “Sometimes you either laugh or cry. Laugh, Sophia. Laugh loudly.”

Walking forward, I relaxed before noticing the lack of steps beside me. As I turned around, tears fell from the cheeks of Sophia as she leaned over. I blinked before checking our surroundings in case something was wrong. With my instincts taking over, I dashed towards her before placing my hands on her shoulders as I said, my voice radiating concern,

“Are you alright Sophia? Did I hurt you?”

She wiped her face as she said, “No, no you didn’t, I just, I...ugh. I don’t know. You just sounded so sad.”

I placed a hand on her cheek as I gleefully grinned and said, “I’m fine, really. You're the one falling to pieces.”

She shook her head as she said, “That’s not right. You’re the one hurting. Damnit, what...you just need to be less...self-lying-ey.”

I ruffled the hair on her head as she grumbled before I tapped my temple and said, “Just between you and me, I hear a voice in my head, and he can be brutally honest at times, almost painfully so. Makes it hard to lie to myself”

A puff of laughter escaped her tear stricken cheeks before I said, “I know how hard this will be Sophia. I know this goes against everything you’ve wanted to do. I know this is like swallowing molten metal, but I’ve been in the belly of the beast and come out stronger for it. You’re quite like me in that regard. You never falter in the face of an undertaking.”

I leaned onto a knee, reaching eye level as I laid a hand on her shoulder as I said, “You rise above and smash it with your will. In that tiny frame holds the soul of a colossus. Learn to trust yourself as I do. If you can’t hold faith in your own judgment, hold faith in mine. ”

After a large breath, Sophia let out a sigh carrying her wilting weakness before she said, “Thanks for the pep talk. I feel way better now.”

I stood as I said, “Honestly speaking, so do I. Solomon said something similar to me after I nearly lost it in the Arbitrufix.”

She glanced up, curiosity burning in her eyes as she said, “Whad’he say?”

“What I needed to hear,” I said with an impish smile starting to crop up my lips.

She frowned as she squeezed her eyes into thin slits as she said, “Thanks for the elaboration. You’d make an excellent teacher.”

A sly grin growing on my lips, I replied, “And you’d make an excellent student since you’d never sleep through any lessons.”

She blushed before I added, “And fun to tease.”

She tried hitting my side before I dodged with dramatic movement before sliding past a series of her other strikes. She unleashed a quick, quiet kick as I beamed a grin before her foot slammed into my face.

Instead of moving backwards, I stood still as stone. Sophia’s foot popped before she howled, “Ohhhhh...Oh fuck. Owwwwww.”

I bit my bottom lip as I snickered before a most reluctant smile slithered up Sophia’s lips as she glanced at me and said, “I forgot how hard headed you were.”

We busted out in laughter before she limped towards the palisade’s entrance as she said, “I suppose I’ll try helping with a broken foot. Wish me luck.”

I waved as I said, “Good luck. Keep your head down and your eyes open.”

She shooed me away with a hand overhead, so I walked towards Solomon’s sanctuary before entering into an empty house. The lingering scent of smoked meat and pepper kept me there before the the sound of scraping heels sounded outside. Within a few seconds, the door opened, revealing a stocky man covered in scars. The mane of gray on his head and chin along with his scars revealed who he was.

Galen frowned as he opened then closed the door and said, “Where are you, Jericho?”

I rolled my eyes and said, “I’m waiting for some guidance on the palisade’s orders. Needless to say, I won’t be carrying them out with any adequacy.”

Galen squinted at me as he said, “You’re the best actor I’ve ever seen. If I hadn’t seen you before, I’d never know you were the darkest demon, the blighter of blue skies, the-”

“Pfff, come now. Those titles are ridiculous.”

He raised an eyebrow as he said, “Are they though? From what I’ve seen, you’re truly terrifying.”

I sat on the sofa of stone as I said, “I’m as terrifying as my enemies make me, no more nor no less.”

Galen’s eye twitched as he said, “Then you must have quite the set of enemies.”

I stood from my chair as I said, “Meh, there their. Not pressing nor potent. Regardless, what did you want?”

He frowned as he said, “Solomon placed Joan under my care at the university. I’m actually the principle there, so he thought I could foster her talents for chaining.”

“Heh, it’s a small world.”

He nodded as he said, “It is. You know, the arcanum’s stronghold has always been here in Nelastra. We’ve plenty of ore for harvesting along with plenty of spare humanoids for souls in our slave golems. The produce here creates quite a few potent, addictive drugs, and the sub-humans outside of the barrier become dependant after a mere taste.”

I glared as I said, “What’s your point?”

He cupped his hand as he said, “I figured that since you're the one tasked with inspecting the two forces outside the wall, how about we make an arrangement of sorts.”

My glare glowered as I hissed, “What kind of debilitating contract would you want?”

Galen leaned towards me as he said, “I’d like for you too ignore an increase in kidnappings of the orientals and treat them like casualties of the two forces outside the walls.”

I slit my eyes before I said, “Why would I do that?”

“You want to take the remnants, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then if we instigate a rebellion, you’d have a cloak of chaos whenever you aim to steal them as long as you align your thievery with the uprising.”

I raised an eyebrow as I said, “That’s rather conniving, don’t you think?”

Glavin shrugged as he said, “Perhaps, but it makes getting the remnants far easier. The tensions between the city and the tribes is already high. If we give the sub-humans even the slightest push, the precarious balance would tilt.”

“No.”

“Good, then...Wait, what?”

My voice forged into an adamantine iron as I said, “No. We will not use such chaotic methods for something so simple.”

Galen replied, “Hah, are you serious? You’re the Darkened One. This should be nothing.”

I walked over towards him as I said, “I am not the Darkened One. I am Jack Donovan, and I say this isn’t just wrong, it’s senseless.”

Wrinkles rose on his forehead as Galen said in disbelief, “You think this city is free from sin? They treat any outsiders like trash. They abuse the sub-humans outside as if their walking manure. Hell, you’ve seen the palisade’s experiments. The next king’s a child and the-”

I snapped, “Does that mean they all deserve death?”

“Huh, what?”

“Please, do tell. Why are you head of the Arcanum?”

Galen’s eyes set to steel as he said, “I wanted a brighter future for my family. Joan needed the tuition money and so did Petra. Before founding the arcanum, the drug and golem trades were utterly random. You couldn’t walk through the streets without being kidnapped for use in some twisted procedure.”

He met my eye as he said, “If not for my intervention, you’d find mercenaries at every corner. Now you can just pay a tax for protection. No more missing children. No more missing daughters.”

The last line carried a deep sting before I interjected, “Just as you have your reasons for leading such a twisted construct, so do Nelastrians have their reasons for living such twisted lives.”

Galen bit his lip before sighing in frustration as he let his hands flop on his sides. He said, “Alright, fine. I can see your set on your opinion.”

I frowned as I said, “Why do you want the destruction of Nelastra?”

His jaw knotted with frustration as he said, “The city ordered Petra’s staying at Mareovosa. This is where the proctors of the purge reside. They stole then killed my only daughter. What other reason should a grandfather need?”

I winced as I said, “Taking an entire city with you though, doesn’t that seem extreme?”

He frowned before saying, “Don’t you intend on the palisade’s destruction? My revenge is no different.”

I shook my head before I said, “The palisade are creating technologies that could corrupt all of Alta. Nelastra is just a city, a collection of people. They won’t create a new plague, but the palisade are well on their way to doing something similar.”

Galen hissed, “Those are just self justifications.”

I frowned as I said, “They are still justifications. Do you have any for killing everyone here?”

Frozen as a fossil, Galen paralyzed before I said, “That settles it.” I placed a hand on his shoulder as I said, “Try to help Joan with her powers. She’s a rather rare case of potential.”

I left him before he turned towards me and murmured his words, “Ah...Solomon wishes for you to meet at the palace courtyard.”

I nodded before leaving him as he ebbed a palpable disappointment. From what he said, Galen was a walking fire, a fierce force dead set on igniting everything around him when he died. Joan’s presence emboldened him rather than soothed him as I thought it would, so now he burns beside the barrel of oil that is Nelastra. Like a lit match beside a fuse, he made me nervous and rightfully so.

His connections with the Arcanum gathered information on the circumstances around the remnants or on the coming and goings of the palisade. Joan ensured his stability while Sophia’s revelations created a near need for his scientist’s expertise. I’d keep my eyes close to his heels, but I needed Galen, just as much as he needed me.

With his hatred curbed for now, I tread towards Solomon who over saw Joan and another strapping young knight as they spared. Cool on my skin and hard on my hands, the raised edges of surrounding palace shaded half the courtyard while several granite benches encircled an open center. Maples, wormwoods, oaks and leadwoods grew around us. Willows wove their wilted branches around the open patches of earth sprinkled throughout while roots rose and crawled over one another.

Dots of sunlight crawled through the canopy while daisies, violets, balsams and brambles of baneberries cropped between these roots. This wet world grew green as a geshian’s blood. Despite trying to prevent any attachments while there in Nelastra, I enjoyed the courtyard more than I’d admit, though those gathered here were all business.

Joan sparred against another knight as they bolted back and forth. Joan’s mobile movements kept him guessing, and as her flowing attacks merged into a single storm of precise, powerful blows, she overwhelmed him with sheer speed. Solomon sat on the stone outcropping of the gated garden. He said little to nothing to Joan, but he berated the poor knight trying to match her,

“Keep your feet level...She attacks enough that you need to dodge more than one attack at a time...Meld your defense and offense as she has...Bah.”

As I trotted up, the knight shot out a well placed straight right for Joan’s chin, but she leaned back as the blow barely tapped her nose. As he pulled his punch back, she shot towards him with a heavy handed palm right at his gut. It sunk deep into the knight’s pillow of a gut before the man gasped and fell over, unable to breath.

I turned towards Solomon and said, “Having trouble finding her a challenge?”

He tapped the side of his helm as he said, “I fight so differently than her. She’s quick on her feet and with her mind. It makes it hard to see what she could improve.”

I shrugged as I said, “She’s where I learned most of what I know about fighting.”

The knight gurgled on the ground, “She hits so hard...Can’t do it.”

I snickered before saying, “Fighting’s more about leverage and effort than strength. Anyone can deliver a monstrous blow if they know how to put their weight into every punch, even a delicate flower like Joan.”

The man bit into the leather edge of his glove as he groaned before I glanced at Joan and said, “Thatta girl.”

She grinned before smacking her hands together and saying, “Wanna have at it?”

Solomon said, “You and he fight in different worlds. I’ll be personally instructing Jericho on how to use his strength against his foes. You’ll be receiving the instruction of Galen until he finds your talents suitable.”

She grumbled, “I doubt that’ll ever happen.”

Solomon leaned towards her as he said, “Why would you think that?”

She grabbed her arms behind her at her elbows as she said, “It just doesn't sound like something a master would say.”

Solomon nodded before standing as he said, “I agree. You’ve got a few issues to iron out I’m sure, just like Jericho over here.” Turning towards me, he continued, “You’ve got quite a grip on your strength, but you don’t know how to dish out damage without taking it in turn.”

As he walked over, he said, “You fight like you’re invincible. That won’t work on enemies stronger than you. You need you to focus on creating moments of weakness that you exploit rather than just grinding your enemies to dust.”

He grabbed his side as he said, “Trust me, someone will show you the limits of your strength. After that, you can only rely on what you know.”

And so the drilling began. Unlike Petra, he elaborated on the reasoning of each maneuver while explaining when to use each technique. As he adjusted my stance, my blows became hard and heavy as a quartz brick across the side of the skull. Parry and pounce and dodge and duck. We went through dozens of exercises and motions, many of which I’d never seen nor heard of. I won’t bore you with the details, but in essence, he gave my fighting a structure.

Before Solomon’s instruction, I fought with a hazy mixture of instinct and fervor. My battles were the same as a dog’s, vicious and primal. I pounded and pummeled my foes until a pulpy corpse rotted beneath my blood soaked fists. Not quite as elegant as I’d like, but not a soul that faced me could deny my style’s impact. It worked.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work well. Against an enemy like Aether, I'd be mashed like clay squeezing between a child's fingers, except musing meat and blood instead of dirt. Petra almost ended me as well. I needed a style that combined the talents Deluge granted me with my own method for mutilation.

Solomon’s explanation served as that stepping stone of my evolution. With each correction on form or new technique taught, I absorbed and assimilated the knowledge with a starving curiosity. My mind groaned and grumbled after several dozen of these tricks, but I forced the rejuvenating food down my throat. I indulged on the knowledge.

The session ended after three hours of this intensity. By the end of it, Joan glanced with a disappointed acceptance. I couldn't blame her. If something pushed me to a certain extent, my thoughts set into a linear, focused force. Nothing diverged my attention at those times. I'd mince through the task with a ravenous resolve as if possessed. It made me far less conversational during crisis.

Shaking that obsession from my shoulders, I discussed the gritty details of each maneuver with Joan before a blot of red formed at the edge of the garden.

Holding her hands in fists, a woman with massive arms and stocky shoulders walked up. Each and every step scraped the stone beneath her heavy heels. Her mane of hair held interwoven iron that clanked on her armor with each of her steps. Thin circles of gray wrapped around her black pupils as she bore those eyes at mine. She beamed confidence. She radiated power. Like a moving mountain, she shoved aside anything in her path with both her words and her might.

She strode up beside me, only a half foot shorter than me as she slapped my back and spoke, “Fine day isn't it Jericho? I'm Krakowah, the Saint of metal and magma. It's good to finally meet you.”

Her voice boomed bold with her open eyes holding no expectation. She spoke without weighing her words, so they sounded easy as seeing through glass. I liked her from her first word, so I replied, “It's good to meet you as well.” I leaned over towards Joan as I said, “This is my lover, Joan. She's a potent fighter and charming as a sunrise. Please treat her well.”

Krakowah grabbed Joan's hand as she said, “You've got quite the beauty here. Glad to meet you as well.”

Joan nodded as she grinned and replied, “Good to meet you too.”

Solomon slid towards us as he placed a hand on Krakowa’s shoulder and said, “Excuse her brashness. She's a relatively new Saint.”

Joan raised and eyebrow as she said, “Besides having a really hot hand, Krakowah seems nice.”

Krakowa bellowed a laugh from deep in her gut she she said, “Of course! I'd love to hear of your battles. I'm sure you both have much to tell. I wouldn't mind listening.”

I scratched my cheek as I said, “Well, perhaps I have a few I could share.”

Krakowah wrapped her arms across my and Joan’s should really as she said, “Then lets go for a drink. All stories sound better with wine and a warm fire.”

Grins bloomed and our faces as she dragged us from Solomon as he said, “Why not? Go wreck some havoc, but try not to burn anything down, Krakowahh.”

She turned towards him, her eyes laughing as she said, “Hah hah, no promises.”

We wove through each street until we reached a wooden bar wilting at the side of an alley. Though the broken boards hanging from the walls showed an obvious disrepair, people let themselves speak without hiding. It was as if the bar itself was a burning booze that loosened lips. In this tiny corner of Nelastra, the rowdy and rambunctious came together for fun.

Krakowah dragged us into the boisterous bar before shouting, “Give me a barrel. I won't be letting either of you leave sober.”

As a middle aged bartender with a well groomed mustache and a well wiped countertop moved towards the back, I said, “Good luck getting me drunk. I can drink just as I breath, forever and always.”

“Oh hoh hoh? I like your attitude. Get this man some baneberry brew with that barrel. Make it hard as Solomon’s fists.”

The man heaved a barrel from the back before Krakowah rustled underneath her armor before whipping a chain through the air. Fast as a shooting star, the metal links shot through the air, blurring into a bending blade. In an instant, the chain wrapped around the barrel before she jerked with a single arm.

Catapulting the canister, the barrel sliced through the air before she caught it with the palm of her other arm. As if popping into existence, the hundred pound object popped right in front of Joan before Krakowah pushed the barrel onto the ground. Wood cried as her hand broke the seal atop the barrel as she said,

“So let's start with a glugs.”

She opened her satchel before revealing a hollow, hexagon glass of quartz. She took a swing her arm over the barrel,cruising the deep blue liquid into the cup before handing it to me as she said,

“The glass won’t empty until the barrel does. It’s been custom made. Let’s see how long you can swallow that liquid fire.”

I rolled my eyes before pouring the glasses contents into my mouth as usual, but as I turned the glass overhead, the wine fell like a waterfall without stopping. Instead choking, I gulped and gulped as the brew stabbed into my throat like swallowing a stream of fire ants. My eyes watered as the malted mixture melted my throat, acrid as acid and tasty as bitter wormwood bark.

Of course I kept swallowing long after they thought I’d stop. Deluge hated alcohol, so he des imitated it before it reached our bloodstream. I could drink an ocean of moonshine and come out sober as death and fun as a funeral.

As a third of the barrel emptied, I unturned the glass before wiping my mouth as I said, “Like chewing hot coals. Not so bad.”

The suppressed silence ended as I set the glass on a table beside me. Many drunkards stood slack jawed, a few even cross eyed before Krakowah said, “Amazing. You could out drink Solomon. I can hardly believe it.”

Joan rolled her eyes as I said while cracking my fingers, “I figured you'd want some of the barrel. No reason to drink it all at once.”

Joan elbowed me before I laughed as Krakowah said, “Thanks for the thought. Your gut’s so large you could swallow someone whole.”

Joan cringed before I stepped back and said, “Keep the comparisons tasteful.”

Krakowah chugged from the cup for a solid six seconds before handing it to Joan as she said, “Get some fire in your belly. It should take the edge of my words.”

Joan drank for a few seconds before she said, “Aaaaaaah, man. That’s got such a good kick at the end.”

Krakowah’s green tinted cheeks flushed as she said, “I know right. I hate drinking with Solomon. He always acts like he’s looking after a child when he's with me. I'm 85 years old for Gaia’s sake. You can’t just treat me like a brat. I earned my Saintdom.”

I grinned as I said, “What did you do for your recognition?”

A bright grin grew on her face as she said, “I set Mareovosa on fire.”