Silence - Chapter 28

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Wonderment gripped an empty candleholder—of all things—and gave it a solid yank. The candleholder tipped, audibly engaging some mechanism that swung open a panel between bookshelves. The raven gestured into the open doorway, which was well lit with a buttery yellow light.

"After you."

Felix and Pit walked through, senses stretched outward for any sort of threat, but the hallway was simply that. It was well made, just as the rest of the Conference Hall, lined with small magelights in sconces set regularly down its length. Interspersed between those lights were small tables or chairs—small pieces of furniture—each and every one made of well-polished wood. Actual wood, according to his Eye.

"Where'd these come from?" he asked Wonderment as he stepped up next to Felix.

"All in good time," was the response. The Korvaa led the way down the corridor, his taloned feet clacking against the void bone flooring. They passed room after room, all closed doors, all made from a mixture of wood and bone. Where had it all come from?

Felix and Pit followed the tail feathers of Lord Wonderment for at least five minutes, passing from the corridor into several smaller chambers, all of which had wood or simple metal items within them. A sitting room had a platter of silver cups and some sort of chaise with silk throw pillows. Silk! They slipped through some sort of kitchen, dark for the evening, and Wonderment pushed back a heavy-looking island in the center of the space. It shifted with a slight grating noise, revealing hidden tracks built into the floor, as well as a secret door leading down. A single heave opened the door and Felix saw a set of stairs leading down into darkness.

"Follow me, Honored Tenku and bonded Companion." Wonderment led the way down the stairs.

"Maw? Isn't this where you tell me not to trust them?" Felix muttered. Yet the Primordial was curiously silent. He turned in a full circle, searching for it, but it was gone. Doubt it's for good. Pit, what do you think? Trust him?

Pit shrugged and followed the Korvaa down into the dark. Felix reluctantly stepped after, pushing his thoughts at his friend. If he murders us, I'm blaming you then.

The stairs led only a short way down, no more than twenty or thirty feet, though it was filled with shadow Mana. Felix's Manasight couldn't quite parse what was in the room as the shadow Mana did a great job obscuring it all. And perhaps that was the point, considering the amount of secret doors they'd just gone through. There was a spark of ghostly golden light and the shadow Mana was suddenly banished as a series of manalights formed along the vaulted ceiling.

"Whoa. What—What is this?" Felix asked.

They were in a room that Felix could only describe as a crypt. There weren't any bodies lying in the many alcoves, or even graves; instead, it was filled with the most astounding level of trash he'd ever seen, filling up an area easily as large as the width of the entire Conference Hall.

"This is the flotsam and jetsam we have collected over the years. Many of it brought over from the Continent, but some are from far stranger origins." Wonderment walked up to the pile, picking up some sort of spoked wheel, completely made of wood. "Please. Take a look."

Felix's eyes widened as he took it all in. It was trash, broken and mostly useless, but there was a ton of reclaimable wood. Which explained the Hall's furnishings in the back areas. Pit nosed through a mound of the stuff, and a few pieces cascaded down the chest-high pile. Felix gasped. Sitting on the ground was a pair of miracles: a worn toilet plunger, and a water-warped copy of Xtreme Dirt Biking featuring a blonde woman in a bikini standing next to the eponymous vehicle.

He picked up the magazine with shaking fingers and flipped it open. The pages were mostly a single mass of water-sealed paper, but near the back it opened to an advert for some sort of energy drink. It depicted a long beach, a summer sunset, and people lounging in the sands. It reminded him of home so viscerally it was like a punch in the gut.

Stupid emotions. Felix stifled a laugh, feeling a giddiness in his chest. If he started laughing it'd end up hysterical real quick. Flaring Meditation helped him center himself again, at least. He held up the magazine. "Where did you find all this?"

"Ah. One of the picture books. Remarkably lifelike renditions of all manner of folk. Mostly Humans, however." Wonderment's wings flapped and he did a sort of assisted hop over another mountain of debris. There, the Korvaa pulled out stacks of other magazines from a carved nook. "We've found many of these, strangely enough. We aren't sure why there are so many...varieties. Regardless, to answer your question, all of this comes from a hole in the Void, where the Ethereal Realm bubbles through into ours. There is a darkness there, something more than the Void, but as the Ethereal presses into it, things emerge."

"Ethereal?"

"Mhm. An old name, to be sure. Just as the Void was once called the Cognitive Realm." Wonderment shrugged and placed the magazines back in their cranny. "No matter. You may know it by another name: Desolation."

Felix recalled Nokk speaking of Desolation. "I thought the Desolation were holes in the Void that ate up everything around it?"

"That is true. But all things require balance. The Ethereal also ejects bits of dross with every cycle. We dredge the area around the nearest hole to Desolation regularly, and sometimes we find wheat among the chaff." Wonderment flapped his wings again and executed another assisted hop. He landed a few feet away from Felix and Pit. "Once, we had hoped that it was the answer. A way back. If the Desolation released things, then surely one could enter it and survive. Or so was my predecessor's theory." He spread his arms wide, palms up. "His attempt at just that is why I now have this position."

Felix swallowed. His Mind flashed back to the sight of voidbeasts being disintegrated by the pirates' Desolation shield. Wonderment handed Felix an object approximately the size of a magazine. It was a folded piece of vellum, actual vellum according to his Eye, inked with a series of strange diagrams on the outside. Felix opened it, and the item revealed itself to be a map of the Void.

"This is the extent of our knowledge. Nearby settlements, dangerous areas, we've marked down what we could. Take it with my blessing, as poor recompense for helping the Rim Hunters."

Felix glanced up at the Conference leader in surprise.

"Oh yes, I received word from the Hunters shortly before you arrived." Wonderment smiled—or as close as the bird folk could come—but it was a sad thing. "I wish I could offer you more. A way out...I have wished for nothing more my entire life. But there is nothing."

Wonderment let out a soft, musical note and a sense of exhaustion poured over Felix.

"There is no escape from the Void."


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"I appreciate your discretion. For years we've trawled for materials and kept it a secret. The wood is useful, luxurious even, but we've not told the Reach." Wonderment sighed. "It would only lead to discontent and futile arguments."

They had left the contents of the trash crypt behind and made their way back around to the front offices in the Hall. Here, everything was made from void bone, leather, and the odd piece of coarse, woven fabric. They stopped, just at the edge of Wonderment's office.

"Yeah, I, uh, it would be pretty cruel to dangle hope in front of people like that," Felix said. His hand lingered on the door, tapping at it unconsciously. His mind was filled with a worrisome weight.

"Indeed. Your ship is located at the Rimward docks and, as I said, will be repaired shortly. I will send word when it is ready." Wonderment sat at his desk once more, and his raven-like face became suddenly professional and aloof. "I wish you good tidings, Felix Nevarre. Honored Tenku."

Felix nodded wordlessly and opened the door, only to find the peacock features of Grand Detachment staring in the face. Or rather, staring at his chest, as the Korvaa was considerably shorter than Felix.

"You," his deep, resonant voice laced with suspicion. "What are you doing in these offices?"

"He was my guest, Detachment, and just leaving," Wonderment said from behind. "If you allow him to do so, we can begin our meeting."

Reluctantly, the big blue bird shifted out of the way to let Felix pass. He did so, stepping quickly. Both he and Pit exited the Conference Hall far more rapidly than they had entered. Apart from annoyed at Detachment's tone, Felix was in a bit of a daze. He couldn't believe that Echo's Reach had nothing, not a single clue on where to find an exit. He unfolded the map he'd been gifted—a copy, he'd been told—and admitted it hadn't been a huge loss.

I could cross reference this map with the one I got from that pirate cook, Felix mused to Pit. If we're lucky, maybe there's something both groups missed.

Pit chirped and sent back the sensation of utter trust and confidence. Felix chuckled, mood somewhat lifted by the magic of bird-dog loyalty. He scratched the tenku's ears and they took off in their skimmer.

It took another half hour or so to get back to the farm, but when they did Felix immediately noticed something was off. Bateo was on the front porch, wrapped in a cloak and hefting a heavy pack while Estrid fussed about him.

"Why do you have to go back out there so soon?" she was asking him.

"Dearest, we've been over this," Bateo said kindly. Then he noticed Felix's arrival. "Felix! You've returned! I trust you found the Rim Hunters."

"I did. They said they were moving out and patrolling the Rim before moving inward." Felix climbed the steps of the porch three at a time, Pit right behind him. "What's going on?"

"You see? The Hunters are out and about. It's perfectly safe," Bateo said to Estrid. She simply sniffed reluctantly. To Felix, he said, "The wards that keep out the voidbeasts are drained. One of my neighbors saw the nearest one and told us. It has to be why the voidbeasts got into the area." He hefted his odd staff, the one with the organic looking pouch attached. A pouch Felix now knew contained a whole bunch of Manabladders. "I need to refuel them."

"I'll go with you," Felix said immediately. There was no chance he was gonna let the guy go alone, but he refrained from saying why. He looked at Estrid before making eye contact with Bateo. "I want to help."

Luckily Bateo was quicker on the uptake than Felix. The hawk's eyes widened before he nodded in understanding. "O-of course. But...the skimmer is a bit much with you and your Companion, at least for speed."

Felix picked up on that, at least. He was concerned about his family. "Not a problem. Pit can stay here. Keep an eye on things while we're gone," Felix said. "Sound good to you, Pit?"

Pit chirp-barked, earning pleased looks from everyone. He was more than willing to protect Bateo's family, and it resonated through their bond. A fierce urge to protect and a willingness to help. Felix patted the tenku affectionately.

Estrid sniffed again, but this time it was a noise that conveyed all her fear and aching worry for her husband and family. Felix wasn't sure how he could tell that from a sniff, but he was certain of it. Bateo folded her gently in his arms and outspread wings. His wife replied in kind, her lighter coloration standing out sharply against Bateo's.

"Come back to me, you fool," she whispered.

"Always, my stolen priestess," he whispered back. The exchange was too soft for others to hear, but Felix found his Perception to be a bit of a curse in that regard. Still, he looked away and tried to focus on anything else.

Which was why he was surprised when hands grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down into hug. Estrid held him tightly. "You keep him safe, Felix."

"I will," he promised.