"I'm not sure what you mean by that, but no, he let his true intention slip just before we fought," I said, immediately fading the half-formed smile on his face.
"Impossible. Mideia wouldn't have made that sort of mistake," he said with evident disbelief written on his broad features. "I think we have to take into consideration the fact that Thoma seems to be a weak point of his. As for why remains to be seen, but if we could somehow leverage that to our advantage, we might stand a chance at beating him," Syldir added with a nod.
Widner mulled over what Syldir was saying, but in the meantime, I couldn't help but wonder about his earlier comment.
"Maybe I am, but what did you mean when you asked me if I was sure I wasn't like you? You're a dragon, and I'm… well, me," I said, gesturing to my entire body. His attention shifted from being lost in thought back to me, his gaze seemingly piercing through my entire being.
"I meant to ask if you were sure you weren't a Devourer," he said in a tone that demanded a serious answer. "I don't know what that means," I said, matching his tone, which made him sigh lightly.
"Throughout the ages, there have always been dragons who can speak entire realms into existence, and others that can devour them before those creations come into full existence," he began, turning back to look over the city.
"Those who devour the Words are there to stop those who would seek to disrupt the balance of the Twilight Sea and the Wheel that turns it," he said, but his explanation left me with more questions than answers.
"You do realize that I can sense your confusion, right? Very well, then. Think of it as you would a water wheel on a farm. The water, or Words in this case, turns the wheel that allows the farmer to pull water from a well and redirect it wherever he wants," he began, gesturing with his hands to imitate an upward pulling motion.
"However, the Wheel, in our case, doesn't just affect one single form of irrigation, but all forms of it. In this realm, I believe that it is more commonly known as Fate," he said with finality, suddenly producing an orb of pure Tyrant mana in the palm of his hand.
"This power was originally created to disrupt, or devour, those who would seek to change the balance. My entire clan's sole purpose was to protect and harness this power, but during the time of the Great Partition, everything changed when Mideia sought to take it, along with all the other forms of mana for himself," he continued, but I could hardly take my eyes off the swirling orb of black mana before me.
"I don't mean to interrupt, but would you mind if I tried something?" I asked sheepishly. "As an owner of the Authority, I don't see why not," he shrugged and held his hand out a little further toward me.
I summoned a small dagger of Wraith mana and sliced through the orb like I was moving it through a bowl of water. The orb suddenly dissipated, as if whatever control he had over it had abruptly been lost, but instead of growing angry, he began to laugh.
"My, my! What a delectable Revelation this is!" he said in his more usual tone. "It has been a very long time since I have seen the rise of a potential Wraithlord who could dispel that so easily! You certainly know how to choose interesting allies, Syldir," he said, turning to look at the prideful look on her face.
"There is still much for him to learn, but if Essentia was the one who welcomed him to the Path of the Wraithborn, then who am I to judge?" She shrugged nonchalantly, but I was more confused as to how she'd worded it, rather than the fact that she knew.
It seemed I wasn't the only one who was confused, but for an entirely different reason.
"She welcomed him? Are there any other Revelations you wish to suddenly drop at my feet?" the Mouth asked with visible astonishment. "Actually, I was hoping you could answer something for me," I began with a tilt of my head. "Of course, if it is within my realm of knowledge to do so," Widner replied.
"When we first met, I coughed up blood when you began to speak. What was that all about?" I asked, but I could tell he already knew I was going to ask about it.
"The moment you stepped through the tear Syldir made, I sensed Mideia's presence in two places. The first was still within Edryd's core, a faint remnant hidden beneath your Wraith mana. The second was within you, another remnant of something he did to your core long ago, from the look on your face," he said, pointing out the fact that my jaw had nearly sunk into the floor.
"H-How did yo-..." I immediately halted at the rise of his hand. "I have been around his machinations long enough to recognize his mana signature, which is why I had hidden a few extraWords to ensure that there would be nothing left. There was another whom I could tell had also been influenced by him, but Syldir had already taken care of it," he said with a nod.
"Meliss," I muttered, earning me a nod from the two of them. "You might not understand everything I say, but at least know that I am no threat to you, nor any of you who have been listening to Thoma's core; only those who wish to disrupt the balance," he said with a wry grin.
Shit, he knows! I heard Bernar's voice resonating through our connection like a child who'd just been caught with its hand in a cookie basket.
I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of him running and hiding under a blanket, but I did my best to maintain my composure.
"I know that you have other matters to attend to, so I will not delay you any further. Although I do hope you will allow me to impart one final piece of advice," the Mouth said, turning back toward the city. "Of course," I replied, but he didn't turn to look at me.
"Heed and be wary of the Cry of the Voiceless," he said, his voice filled with a power that I now knew was that of the Words. The moment I opened my mouth to ask a question, he turned to look at me and shook his head. "Don't bother. Only you will know what that means when the time is right," he said with a firm nod, prompting me to shut my mouth and offer both him and Syldir a bow of respect.
"Thank you, Mouth. Or, would you rather I call you by your true name?" I asked. "I believe it is time I began going by my true name again. After all, the Wheel turns yet again with our meeting, and I feel both excitement and fear at the prospect of what comes next," he said, turning back to look out over the city. "As you wish," I said, taking my leave shortly after.
I made my way back to where the others had been, only to find Athar laughing with his arm around Ed in a friendly manner. "Look at that! I have another brother!" he said with a bright smile on his face. "Yes, Athar. We know," Irun sighed heavily, indicating that our beloved nutcase hadn't shut up about it since I'd left.
"What's going on here?" I asked with a chuckle. "Just Athar doing Athar things. So, how did it go?" Irun asked after another heavy sigh. "Sounds about right. It went well, but there's still a lot of work left to be done. For starters, we need to get Ed used to his body and well into the fourth or even fifth stages as soon as possible. Meliss, that means you, too," I said, but the moment I did, Ed's eyes widened in surprise.
"Thoma, what in the realms happened to your eyes?" he asked with genuine concern. I hadn't noticed it, but that shift in my field of vision had happened once again during my conversation with Widner. "Ah, right. That's, uh, that's a bit of a long story," I began awkwardly, but he raised an eyebrow at me in a way that reminded me of what happened last time I'd kept secrets from him.
"Syldir happened. After… after our fight, I didn't have the strength to heal, so she gave me some of her blood so that I could enter Polarion to get treatment," I said, not wanting to make him feel worse than he probably would have if I'd told him the real condition I'd shown up there in.
Despite my efforts, he still understood what I was saying.
"One step ahead of me again, I see," he chuckled. "Listen, Ed…" I trailed off as the beginnings of my apology were waved off like a bad stench. "Nope. None of that shit with me. You said it yourself: I'm your best friend. I just wish there were a way I could catch up more quickly," he said, earning a wry grin from me, Ysevel, Kalia, Athar, and Irun.
"Funny you should mention that," Athar began, wrapping his arm around Ed once more and waving his hand at some imaginary painting on an even more imaginary wall. "We have this beautiful little spot for training that will entirely shatter your will to live," he immediately cleared his throat. "I mean, it's a great spot to get a lot of training done really quickly," he corrected himself, having let his alternate's voice slip through.
Ed gave me a nervous smile, but I couldn't answer with anything other than a shrug. "S-Sounds great!" he said with feigned excitement. As everyone's chuckles died down, Ed sighed and chuckled inwardly as he shook his head. "I'm just glad I won't be the last to know things anymore, especially not after that bullshit in Narin," he said loosely, but the words stung a little more than he had expected.
"It's not that we didn't want to tell you, it was that we couldn't," Devyr stepped in with a subtle nod toward me that she could handle it.
"Mideia had used many of his tricks to get away with so much that we couldn't be sure who to trust. Even some of our own were caught up in his latest scheme with Nexis, meaning we couldn't simply reveal our hand, not even to those we'd consider our allies," she said, offering them a bow of respect.
Naturally, the two of them were a bit taken aback, but they seemingly understood what she'd meant.
"That… makes a lot of sense, actually. Thank you, Devyr," Meliss replied, returning the bow, but Ed stepped forward and looked between us Wraithborn. "I'm sorry, but I have to ask: is it possible for me to learn to use this Wraith mana, or whatever Sabura called it? I mean, you all got it from her, right?" he nodded his head in Kalia's direction.
"In truth, we got it from Ren, but it would technically be possible. Now that Mideia knows the Wraithborn have returned, and his foothold in this realm was all but destroyed, we might have need of more wielders than we realize," Ysevel replied, catching Ed a little bit off guard at the mention of Ren's name.
Ren, of course, merely offered him a thin-lipped smile.
"You son of a…" he cut himself off, scoffing in disbelief. "It all makes sense now. I hadn't put those two things together, nor why he gave you those vials before you left for Caegwen," he said, putting the palm of his hand to his forehead.
"Well, there are other options we ca-..." I cut myself off, feeling a surge of oddly familiar mana coming from behind me. "Vauv? What brings you all the way down here so soon?" I asked, trying to ignore Ed's and Meliss's collective jaws plummeting to the ground.
"Hello, Thoma. Or is it brother, now? I'm not sure anymore. In any case, it's good to see you again, but I'm here to tell you that Duke Ryfon has summoned you, as well as the others who are able to enter Polarion, to return immediately," she said with a level of urgency that was impossible to ignore.
"As he commands," Syldir said with Widner close behind her. "Well, I guess that happened sooner than expected. Is there anything else?" I asked coyly, hoping my suspicions were correct.
"There is, actually," she said with a grin, producing a satchel that clinked with the sound of more vials rattling inside. "Ah, thank you! Wait, what are these for?" I asked, quickly taking it from her and handing it to Kalia with a silent nod of understanding. "Recovery," she grinned maliciously, causing the others to gulp. "Fair enough," I nodded, understanding the absolute hell the others were about to undergo.
Keep me updated on their progress, will you? And don't go easy on Ed or Meliss. Especially not Athar or Irun. We need to make sure they're able to keep up, I gave Kalia a smirk, one that she returned in kind.
Don't worry. I'll have to put them through the same thing you did. No changes there, she said, nearly making me chuckle at Bernar's reaction to her words. Are you sure about this? Ren asked. Of course. She's easily one of the best instructors I've ever had. You might even learn a thing or two in the process, I sent him with a wink.
"Uh, Thoma. Want to explain what's going on?" Haldir asked rather sheepishly. "To make a long story short, I had to call in a favor from Ren that Kalia and Sabura were gracious enough to assist with," I grinned, sending a chill right down Ed's spine. "Oh, no. I know that look," he muttered, but I didn't say anything further.
You'll find out in time, I thought.
"Aaaanyway, we have to go, but I'll leave you in Devyr and Kalia's more-than-capable hands. Oh, and as a final piece of advice, it's not about trying to actively see where you're going; it's about feeling the spaces in between. Good luck!" I said cryptically, leaving those who were staying behind with far more questions than answers.
Take good care of them, battle-sister, I sent Kalia with a nod. When all she returned was a grin, I knew they were in good hands as I stepped through the portal back to Polarion.