Chapter 43.3: The Human
Christoff ran across the courtyard as quickly as he could with that sandbag of an asura slung over his shoulder. Vadd wasn’t big per se, but his uneven, flopping weight had been threatening to pull the man over from the very moment he’d left the testing chamber.
Chapter 43.2: Alarming Mistakes
Before long Jinkke and Penny reconvened with the two soldiers, who appeared to have been long since roused by the screaming alarm and were fully prepared for the next step, geared and ready to move. Fjornsson spotted them first, calling their incoming position to Jindel as he hoisted his big broadsword into the scabbard over his shoulder. At his hip was the asuran warhammer they’d gotten from the Vigil captain, a tool that looked a great deal smaller when hanging from a norn’s belt.
Chapter 43.1: Penny Turns
The air had stilled and the trees quieted. Despite the shade, a stagnant warmth settled between the mimosas and other broad-leafed trees that composed the thicket, only adding to the claustrophobia that brewed in Penny’s gut. It was a different feeling than the serpentine knot that sat anxiously alongside it—gods, the two had become fast, stomach-turning friends.
Chapter 42.5: Whose Mercy
Falling to a knee and sucking air back into his lungs, Minkus suddenly heard and understood what the man had said. He spun to face the room, rubbing at his scorched chest. Whatever that prod had been designed to subdue, it wasn’t an asura. The shock from it had burned a ragged hole straight through the stolen uniform. If it hadn’t been for Minkus’ magic, first absorbing part of the blast and now streaming into him to heal the burn, he knew he wouldn’t be on his feet, if even conscious.
Chapter 42.4: Converging Schemes
While Wepp made his way down the steps and along the northern wall of the room, Minkus leapt to the main floor and took off at a jog through the center of the chamber, glancing only long enough at each green tube to determine whether Ventyr or Yissa were inside it. At least, he tried to only glance at them.
Chapter 42.3: Containment
Kikka and her companion continued toward them, and there was literally nowhere to go but past them. Even if there had been another side room to drop into, Minkus wasn’t certain Wepp could manage lateral movement; it was taking everything in him just to put one foot in front of the other. Wepp was doing a good job of keeping his eyes off Kikka, though, letting them wander from point to point on the ceiling or along the glossy floor-stones. Minkus too avoided too much eye contact with the pair. Jinkke, or even Penny would have chided him for shying away from eye contact with someone who didn’t even know him, but Minkus could feel Wepp’s anxiety creeping in beneath his own skin.
Chapter 42.2: Incursion
At the other end of Thaumacore’s eastern wing, Minkus stepped out of the sunlight, through the daunting front doorway, and into the main corridor of the complex. He tugged at the collar of his stolen Inquest uniform. Starched stiff and fitted to the slender guard he’d taken it from, the whole outfit pressed in on him like a crunchy, woolen sausage casing.
Chapter 42.1: Who We Follow
Comakk stood still, letting all the busyness of lab Delta’s teams stream past him. Team members moved crates, applied final calibrations to the expulsion units, and tried desperately to stay out of Kikka’s line of sight. They were useful, even talented, but they were all cowards.
Chapter 41.4: Suiting Up
The two of them reached the tree line without any further problems, hopefully disappearing once more from sight. Minkus worked to catch his breath.
Chapter 41.3: Perimeter Defenses
Penny pushed it all out of her mind and set her sights once more on the runaway guard. With a grimace she passed his companion, who still stared wide-eyed at the scene. Leaving him there would probably come back to bite her, but that lock-kneed idiot wasn’t the immediate threat.
Chapter 41.2: Guard Duty
Chapter 41.1: Time Up
If there was anything Christoff Veritas really knew, it was biding time. In some ways, his whole life had been a matter of biding time, just an endless series of events he’d waited for. While his father had lived, he’d sustained the man’s unrelenting training, just waiting for the day he’d perfect the spellcraft of the Veritas bloodline.
Chapter 40.2: Minkus’ Krewe
Minkus rounded the first bend in the ravine, glancing back to see the gates of the Vigil outpost disappear beyond the lichen-coated northern wall. Now he couldn’t even see the glimpses of it he’d been getting between thickets; it was just gone.
Chapter 40.1: Leadership
Chapter 39: Of Magic & Knapsacks
The group worked nearly through the night, pushing to shore up as many potential points of failure as possible while still using the lyssal isolate. They made sure every tube and manifold was capable of bearing a wide variety of flow pressures, even beyond their designed expectations, just in case the logic systems faltered.
Chapter 38.4: Vigil Politics
Penny glared at the captain through narrowing eyes, her fire returning. “What’s that supposed to mean: too little too late?”
Gelwin didn’t shy from her attention but glanced around the space, landing on a thick, stonework crate left by the Metamagicals people. He gestured toward it. “May I?” Penny made no reply, but Jinkke did, offering it with a nod.
Chapter 38.3: A Little Chaos
