Wish upon the Stars chapter 890

After a few repetitions of the technique, my sister and the dryads had opened up an idyllic path for us to follow. To my surprise, rather than reveal the golden sphere we’d been waiting for, the path led further into the oasis. The small copse of trees, like everything else on this planet, was bigger on the inside. Staring off into the jungle, all we could see was a winding path, open and dappled with light shimmering off the cave ceiling from spiky white crystals.

“Looks like there IS enough of a path for us to bring a group,” I said cheerfully, but as I stepped forward, Callie’s hand lashed out and clamped down on my arm with terrified force. 

“Wait,” she said harshly. I frowned, glancing back to see if she was angry about something, but her eyes weren’t on me. In fact, I didn’t think there were on anything, or at least not anything in sight. Her blue black gaze was fixed on the path into the forest, but it was more looking THROUGH the space between the trees than at it.

I put a hand on hers. “Cal, what is it?” I could feel a cold wisp of dread worming its way through the bond, and blue black flames danced nervously along her fingertips as she swallowed thickly.

“Void,” she said after a minute. “That oasis. It’s not…it’s been infected. They used the spatial warping as a carrier to create a shallowing. It’s a small one, but it’s there. Something is waiting for us. It’s watching.”

My blood went cold. “That’s…that shouldn’t be happening. This is the wishmaster succession war. Direct intervention is the one surefire way to breach the old man’s neutrality. Like he’s IN the war, but he never acts directly. He’s just support. Attacking his descendants during the war would be a direct violation of his authority. He would HAVE to retaliate.”

“The Void doesn’t care,” she said in a small, hollow voice. “The Void doesn’t know fear, or doubt, or hesitation. The Void is hunger. All consuming and all encompassing. The wishes and desires of the mayflies of the mortal plane are but a whisper of wind in the ears of the great titans that dwell within the outer darkness. Behemoths of such colossal size and profundity that their very silhouette would shatter the minds of feebl-” she was swaying, her eyes filling with black, the pupil consuming her entire sclera, and I didn’t even hesitate.

I grabbed her by the face, crushed my lips against hers, and breathed heretic fire right down her throat. She stiffened in my grip, eyes fluttering, but I held her there. After a second she relaxed. Leaning against me, and I let her go, pulling my mouth off hers and resting my chin on her head.

My mask had receded like it did when I ate, subconsciously activated in my moment of need. Callie just…stood there. The black in her eyes receded, and she was shaking as her glazed stare fixed blankly on the middle distance. I grimaced, squeezing her tightly in a reassuring hug. “What was THAT?” I asked worriedly.

“I…I let my guard down,” she said shakily. “I thought under guard of the whole WCP we were safe. I wasn’t circulating my heretic fire. It…it’s a bit taxing. Not much, but keeping it up all the time is like walking around with your gut sucked in. I thought I didn’t need to bother, so I let my guard down and-”

I put a finger to her lips. “Hey, none of that,” I said firmly. “We all assumed this was safe. I didn’t expect the void would dare to stretch their hands into this place.”

“I feel like an idiot,” she hissed angrily. “I know better than to get lazy. Complacency is death.”

“No,” I responded bluntly. “It isn’t. That’s why I’m here. We’re a team. If you slip, I catch you, and if I slip, you’re there to help. That’s how we work. You’ve pulled my ass out of more than a few fires. Don’t go getting greedy on me now. I’m perfectly entitled to save you once in a while. I’m not just a pretty face, you know.”

She snorted, giggling roughly. “You’re a dumbass. But you’re my dumbass.” She leaned up to peck me on the lips again. “Thanks.”

“Well, sometimes I like to use my head for something other than as a place to hang my mask,” I said modestly. “Mostly in those instances I use it as a blunt instrument, but the occasional thought is fun too.”

That got another giggle, but we were cut off by a loud throat clear. “Hey, lovebirds, maybe have your moment some other time? Not to step on your vibe, but having a near seizure from perceiving a terrifying Void invasion and then getting distracted with cuddling is almost definitely considered bad form. Especially in a graded leadership exercise.”

“That’s…” I trailed off. “Actually probably a really good point. But Callie is more important than an optional task to gain a couple points.” I glanced down at my wife again. “You alright?”

She nodded solemnly. “Yeah, don’t worry about me. Now that I know to be on guard they can’t touch me. You gave me all the tools I needed. It’s just been months and we’re in such a unique place I let myself slip. Won’t happen again.”

Jessie stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder, flooding her with green energy. Callie shot her a grateful smile and out healer shrugged. “Thought maybe a pick me up might help you stay focused. Let me know if you need another, ok?” She gave my wife a warm smile and then pulled her away from me for a heartfelt hug.

“So, I take it Callie won’t be going in?” Chelsea said worriedly. “If she’s in danger-”

“She is,” I confirmed. “We all are. All the time. But we’re safer in a Void Shallow with Callie running point. THe heretic fire protects her, but she still has the Path of the Abyssal Priestess. She hears their call, and can discern things from their workings that we can’t. Plus she’s safer here with all of us. And I’m absolutely bringing our heaviest hitters inside.”

Benny gaped at me. “We’re going IN?” He sounded aghast. “Why not just avoid it? We don’t need the sphere bad enough to take the risk.”

“We need to see how deep the infection goes,” I sighed. “I can’t see it all, but Callie’s bond with me lets me pick some things up. The severity of the infestation will tell us how much the Void has permeated the dimensional structure of this world.” I glanced at my wife. “Right? Because if that’s not accurate tell me and our asses will be gone in a flash.”

She winced. “I can’t. You’re right. The Void Shallow back in the dungeon was old and entrenched. Getting out of it was the only real priority. This one is new, and aside from finding out how deeply they’ve embedded themselves, we can and should try to dissolve it. We can sever the connection before it has a chance to become established. Otherwise we’re just leaving it to fester and possibly trigger a Void Break down the line.”

Inside our heads, through the bond, we shared another reason. A reason we didn’t dare say out loud here where we might be being observed. For the Void to stretch its claws into the heirworld, it would most likely need help. Any external attempts to penetrate would have been noticed and stopped. Someone within the formation that suppressed this planet had to have helped. And since everyone in here was a WCP criminal…

We might have a traitor. Hell, they might not JUST be inside. The incident with my uncle was rattling around in my head. Outside forces were making inroads into the WCP, using the war as cover to slip by undetected, and not all of those forces were necessarily friendly even outside of their plans for conquest.

The others weren’t privy to that line of thought though, so they mostly looked dubious. The idea of charging into an obvious trap to potentially disarm it over a prison planet we’d be leaving not long from now was apparently a bit counterintuitive to them.

To my surprise though, no one argued. I wasn’t sure if it was the various tasks or just the normal bonding of subordinates supplemented by my contracts, but my people trusted me. Not just the ones I knew well, but others. Dayna and Whisper, the archers, didn’t bat an eye at the decision, nor did Animal. They just accepted that what I said was what we’d do.

“I want the defensive specialists up front,” I said after a moment of thought. “Line of interlocking shields. I’ll be right behind them with Abel and Bethy. Callie, Jessie, Chelsea, Mel, Serah, and Holly, you all have that crazy flame combo thing. If we get attacked, the rest of us will hold the line and you burn…everything. Just everything you can see. Burn the trees to ash. Then burn the ash. Hell, burn the fire if you get the chance. Once the forest is going up we retreat. We CAN retreat, right?”

Callie nodded. “The entrance is going to be the most stable thing in there. It also shouldn’t have any rules. No way they’ve had enough time to establish a power structure in there that can support that. There MIGHT be a problem though. The formation above us enforces the zones. The Shallow is NOT in that formation.”

“It’s fine,” I assured her. “If anyone broke through it would be recent, and we have the forces to beat a C-ranker or two.” With my staff more than up to the task of ending a higher ranked threat, not to mention an army of friends, I couldn’t bring myself to sweat a beginner C-rank enemy at this point, not after the dungeon.

Chelsea cut in. “Destroying the trees, especially with Callie’s flames and mine combined, should demolish the formation. Should we do that now? Would that prevent the Shallow from establishing?”

“It might,” my wife said consideringly. “Like Shane said, if we hit a snag that’s plan A, but until then, we should check to see how far along it is. It might be important later, so it’s better to take a look when the situation is under control than to wait until our backs are against the wall later.” Her voice was firm and confident, even though I could tell through the bond she didn’t feel it at all. I let my hand fall to my side, subtly entwining my fingers with hers to let her know I was with her. I felt a pulse of gratitude and love through the bond and returned it, but we had other things to worry about.

We all got into position, taking up the formation I’d laid out, and then we headed toward the expanded path. The defensive line formed a half circle in front of the rest of us, keeping their shields locked while getting the most coverage. We arrived at the entrance to the oasis quickly enough, and we all stopped to stare over the line where the grass just popped into existence on the cave floor.

I triggered Dantalion and Mornax, defending as well as scanning ahead. I waited for a minute or two for it all to sink in so I would get the best info, but sadly it wasn’t enough. I shook my head, and everyone sighed, then we began our journey inside.

We stepped over the line of grass and everything shifted subtly. The air became lighter, the light a bit brighter, and I could smell fresh air on the breeze, which hadn’t even been there a minute ago. Slowly, we made our way along the path, getting deeper and deeper. I couldn’t help but note that despite a lack of Danger Sense feedback, I could FEEL myself being watched. I tightened my grip on my staff, planting it firmly as I walked like a walking stick. I’d be ready whatever happened. I just hoped it would be enough.