Wish upon the Stars chapter 1043

I stood among my people. That was really the only way to describe it. I wasn’t feeling particularly noble or leaderly at the moment though, just…safe. I was with family. I was loved. And it was ending. It was time to go out on my own, to do my best for the family, and to try to prevent a war that would absolutely destroy everything I cared about if left unchecked.

Callie was pouting. Her eyes were wet, but also hard and a little angry. Not that I was leaving, but because I’d told her about Uncle Moon.

“I can’t believe you arranged for me to have an S-RANK bodyguard without ASKING me about it!” she hissed acidly. “Especially when YOU are running off to the Void alone to get yourself killed with no backup!”

“He’s not doing that,” said Chelsea flatly as she stepped up next to us. “Firstly because I won’t let him, and second because he needs a contact for more than just the Lady’s followers.” She jerked a chin to one side. “Dayna is going with him. Bethy’s been training her since she joined up, and she’s easily ten times more dangerous than before. She’s much lower in C-rank than you, granted, actually just made it over the line, but her heritage will bridge the gap.”

Dayne nodded at me solemnly. The Heaven Murder Elf was a former worshipper of Verdyn who had been subdued by Bethy a year or two ago in the Screeching Shoals Dungeon. Silvery hair, blood red eyes, sharklike teeth, and pointed ears made it more than obvious Dayna was more than human, but the unnatural stillness as she stood in front of me was what told me she was dangerous.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I hedged. “No offense, Dayna, but I don’t even know you. You could betray me.”

“An absurd scenario,” she said coldly. I relaxed a bit, it was good she was so commit- “I would require loyalty to you to engage in betrayal. Your continued existence is meaningless to me. No act I took against you would qualify as betrayal under those conditions.”

I sighed. “Gosh, that’s a relief,” I said sarcastically. “And here I thought you might be a danger.”

“My lady’s will, however, is my bond,” she reassured me. “She is quite fond of you, and as such your death is counter to my purposes as her agent. I will defend your flank in her name, and will not fail you on this mission.”

Callie nodded approvingly. “Good, at least you’re not going alone.”

“You’re surprisingly sanguine for a woman who was just told her husband is going to be alone on the road with a gorgeous elf girl,” Abel said in amusement. “You’re not…worried about that?”

My wife sniffed derisively. “Don’t be silly, I trust Shane. He loves me and doesn’t have eyes for anyone else.” I nodded in satisfaction at the very accurate response. “Also he’s not going to close our bond for the entire duration of this trip, so I’ll know every move he makes.” I threw my hands up in bewildered outrage and she shrugged. “Trust but verify, hon.” She winked to let me know she was kidding, and I chuckled a bit to myself.

She was worried, and the bond would reassure her. I sent a pulse of love and reassurance across the bond to her, and she smiled back adoringly. Of course, that wasn’t the last of my companions either. “Well, I had no idea Dayna would be coming along, but I was always planning to bring backup. Namely, the fine and fancy free Phoenix that you all know so well, my boy Archimedes!”

I gestured up to the sky, and with a joyful screech, Archie erupted from cover, blazing with life nova flames and doing a wide victory lap. Of course, the flames just HAPPENED to rain down and cover everyone, the good mood mitigating the somber atmosphere somewhat, but that definitely hadn’t been my PLAN.

“I don’t like it,” my mother was in annoyance. “A C-rank elfling and D-ranked bird isn’t enough backup. Elijah, SAY something to him! This is a ridiculous plan. He should be bringing a small army with him!” Her voice was frantic and pleading, and it broke my heart to see how afraid she was for me. She’d known this was coming, but hadn’t expected it quite so soon. My dad shot me a helpless look and I chuckled, stepped over for a hug.

“It’s FINE, Ma,” I said soothingly. “I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself. And I’m more than prepared for almost any situation. Even ZEKE has trouble with Astaroth. I can blend in safely wherever I go. And in case of an emergency…” I held up an ominous looking black scroll.

This was another of my dad’s devil wish scrolls. It was set up the same way as before, I only needed to fill it up and that would pay for any wish he was capable of making. It was a last resort, break glass in case of emergency, type of measure, in case I ran into something really scary, but my dad was no ordinary devil, and the scroll had been imbued with an Onyx Soul to make sure it could pull its weight on top of that.

When activated, it wouldn’t just grant a wish, it would manifest a soul clone of my dad TO grant the wish, and he’d be able to learn my situation once it dispersed, in case I needed further help. With the wish itself to defend me, and my dad having access to multiple S-rankers who could help him get to me if things went wrong, it was probably the best possible insurance.

I turned to my cabinet members. “You all know what to do, right? If you have any concerns, you can approach Davina about them. She’s volunteered herself as a guide if any of you need advice. Otherwise…just do what you do. I appointed you all for your skills. I trust them.”

Looking over at Abel, I sighed. “Just…keep an eye on them too? When you can? Bethy’s the Champion, but she can’t be everywhere. I’d feel better if they had some level appropriate muscle to work with. Family rules do a lot less to protect people from enemies of their own rank, you know.”

He nodded. “Of course, I’m around if anyone needs me. I’m looking into acquiring that theme park Wulf showed us, so I’m going to be pretty busy, but local at least.” He frowned at Callie and my sister. “I…I kind of want to go to the front lines with them. But at the same time I don’t think I have anything to contribute there. Callie is going to be working with Aiden and the Moonlight Pope, and Chelsea will be training with your grandparents. I’ll be working on my combat skills, obviously, but I think I learned enough from Lark to last me quite a while. What I really need is some downtime to digest everything and really integrate it.”

I recognized his expression, the focus, the determination. “You’re going to try to form your Chronicle,” I said bluntly.

He shrugged. “I’m about there, and I won’t be able to function on the same level as you all until I do. Not to mention I’m at C-rank, and I won’t be able to break through to B until I condense one, so I’m kind of on a clock anyway.” He nodded to my Master of Substitution. “Dante has offered to hook me up with some decent fights to help me polish myself up again, and once I’m back at fighting weight…I’m going to go for it.”

“I’m with him,” Mel said with a wry smile. “My idiot would be helpless without me. He’d probably end up opening a food truck or something and forgetting to work on his Chronicle at all.”

I laughed, clapping them both on the shoulder. “No pressure. Callie has her teachers watching her back and Chelsea has plenty of backup,” I nodded to Gabe and Bethy, who were hovering just behind my sister like guardian angels. “You do what you need to do. Just be sure you’re ready when I get back. No clue what we have in store, but I’m sure it’ll be just as crazy as usual.”

I said my goodbyes. To my parents, to my friends, to my retainers like Fade and Donovan. Then I turned and left the suite with Dayna, heading for the library. The old man had summoned me, apparently he was going to be taking me to the edge of the Void Roads personally.

When we arrived, I was surprised to find him waiting there for me, looking bored. “Well, it certainly took you long enough.”

“Yeah, I had people to say goodbye to,” I said with a shrug. “I didn’t drag it out.”

After my little flare up following The Quiet Room incident, all of my fear of the old man was pretty much gone. Not to mention I was the WIshmaster now, and ostensibly his next in line if not his equal. So I’d relaxed my manner of speech somewhat. He wasn’t going to kill me, especially not before a big mission, so a little casual chitchat wasn’t the end of the world. Dayna, meanwhile, looked horrified by nonchalance, though she didn’t say anything about it.

Sure enough, he didn’t seem to care about or even notice my shift in tone. “Well, come on then. I’ll take you to the edge. There aren't a lot of spots that connect to the Void Roads in the Wishworld. I minimize contact to avoid dealing with pests trying to slip in, but it’s impossible to completely block them from connecting. They span the entirety of the Void.”

He showed me into the library, through the massive stacks and around the back. We reached a small turnoff, and stepped into an alcove. A door sat in the alcove, a single glowing sign above it marked “Exit”.

“Seriously?” I asked dryly. “You just have an emergency exit into the Void lying around your core Domain?”

He blinked at me in confusion. “Where else would I have an emergency exit to?”

I had no response to that, so I just sighed. “Where does this let out? How long til we get to the Hanging Lands from there? Which direction? Not sure we have any real idea of where we’re supposed to be going. Dayna knows some of the Void, but we have to GET somewhere for her to recognize it.”

“You’ll figure it out,” he said with a chuckle. “The roads are both complicated and very simple. I can’t give you too much of a heading. Just…follow the stars. The congregate above the Hanging Lands. Getting lost in the Void is easy, but you can always find SOMETHING.”

He pushed the door open, and it led out into…nothingness. I would have said space, but there weren’t really any stars, just darkness. Splitting through the middle was a long, winding dirt path with ridges of stone bracketing either side. It split off in the distance, winding out, and the path went up, down, and even upside down in some place as it diverged into dozens of different roads along its length.

The roads, interestingly, were all softly glowing. Not enough for it to be visible up close, but just a sort of omnipresent ambient illumination surrounding them. That alone acted as a source of light in the Void.

“Don’t step off the road unless you find solid ground,” my ancestor advised. “Because you can only see the paths when you’re on them, barring specific entrances like this. They span the length and breadth of the Void, but are invisible to any inhabitants. Not that there’s no danger on the roads, but they tend to be more manageable.” He paused, then withdrew a small booklet. “Since you’re undertaking this job for the family and therefore for me, I suppose I can give you something to help. No need to thank me.” And with that, he grabbed both of us, shoved us through the door, and slammed it shut behind us. And so began my journey into the Void.