Karanos said that there wouldn’t be trouble regarding how things ended with Ari and Achemiss. Apparently he was wrong, else he wouldn’t have brought us here, even if that meant forgoing the opportunity to discuss the dagger artifact with an expert.

“Is contacting Kuin really necessary?” I ask. “Karanos already delivered us from the arrows when we entered the hangar. Unless there are defensive arrays everywhere, I can avoid trouble by pretending that I’m someone else.”

Jeseria inclines her head. “Unfortunately, there are defensive arrays throughout the grounds. Karanos has the authority to disarm them, but that means he’ll need to escort you everywhere at all times.”

Is that so bad? I wonder.

“This entire situation is ridiculous,” Karanos asserts. “This should not have happened, so on principle I’m going to resolve it.”

Jeseria waves her hand in a circle to summon a holographic projection. With a single glance, the projection flickers and rearranges itself, ultimately morphing into a white circle.

“I’m going to press the button,” she warns.

Karanos folds his arms. “Go on.”

With a sigh, she flicks it with her finger. “Now we wait.”

Glancing at us, Karanos thinks, “Jeseria is over two-thousand years old, so she’s fairly young, but considers herself old enough to understand the relationships between those of us in the faction's upper echelon.”

Maria narrows her eyes. “Two-thousand isn’t insignificant, even if your scale of time is skewed.”

“Two-thousand years is vapid when you lack adventuring spirit. Jeseria can’t even keep herself alive in the void without an artifact. At least you two are honest about your ignorance.”

And what about Maximus? I ask.

“I have no idea how that man ascended, but he’s probably related by blood to whoever did his ascendant trial.”

I place a hand over my mouth to conceal a laugh. The atmosphere in the room is serious, but Karanos’ blistering remarks are a balm for the weary soul.

I soon sense the form of a young man approaching the back wall. His body is fascinating–his mouth is filled with the pointed teeth of a predator, while his ribs curve differently to make room for an enlarged heart and lungs. I sense power coursing through his wiry muscles.

It only takes a few seconds until the wall melts away, revealing a teen who can’t be more than five feet tall. He’s garbed in a pitch black robe with curled epaulets; a filigreed silver choker clips a crimson capulet around his neck. As he strides in, his red eyes reflect oddly in the white glow of the ceiling.

“Kuin,” Karanos says, smiling, the expression obviously forced.

“Karanos,” Kuin replies. His youthful voice matches his appearance. “I love surprises. Did you bring me Dunai so I could keep him myself?”

Keep?

“He can’t just kill you,” Karanos transmits back. “You’ll revive. In Eternity, the only long term option is to imprison your enemies.”

“Dunai is mine,” Karanos retorts.

Kuin raises an eyebrow. “Attendant, or protege?”

“An attendant in this context is an indentured servant or a contractee, like Messeras,” Crystal explains.

Karanos responds without hesitation, his words coldly disinterested. “Protege.”

The youthful ascendant rubs his jaw. “Jeseria, leave us.”

After she leaves, Kuin sits down on the leather divan and wraps a red quilt around his shoulders. “Karanos. I was on call when Morningstar died at Dunai’s hands.”

Karanos blinks. “Then you chose me to find him?”

“Crimson Teeth wouldn’t let us send Dunai somewhere easily accessible–black faction made a persuasive case for Dunai’s innocence,” he replies. “Given the circumstances, you were the only available ascendant with the means to locate and collect him.”

“You sent me in the hopes that I’d hurt Dunai.”

“And get justice for the both of us–for everyone who called Ari friend.”

“You could have sent Ascendant Opal,” Karanos points out. “She’s cloistered herself near Vizier’s Crown. Wouldn’t have been far for her.”

“She represented us at Swinzer’s war game two hundred years ago. Meanwhile, what have you been doing? When was the last time you did anything remotely productive?”

“Kuin...”

The teen pulls the blanket tight, pushing pale hair against his head. “Probing the secrets of Eternity, I know. The same excuses year over year.”

Karanos scoffs. “It’s like you don’t even care about understanding the words of the founder. You forget yourself.”

Kuin narrows his eyes, his mouth curving into a thin crescent, teeth glinting. “Unlike you, I actually live here–I see the tablet every day. It’s indelibly marked on my heart.” He draws a finger across his breast for emphasis. “Karanos, I’m not ignorant of the forces that call you beyond the faction. But enlightenment...” He pauses as though considering his wording. “It isn’t everything.”

“I need to know why,” Karanos says softly, though his words radiate intensity.

Sighing, Kuin turns his gaze to me. “So you’ve decided to take him in Ari’s stead?”

“I have.”

“And you vouch for his ability?” Kuin’s red-eyes probe my own, sending a chill down my spine.

“That’s irrelevant to the matter at hand. Please remove his name from the blacklist.”

“This is still about revenge, isn’t it?” Kuin murmurs. He turns his gaze back to Karanos. “What plot is important enough to bring you back to the fold?”

“Aside from Dunai, who is responsible for Ari’s death?”

Kuin’s eyes narrow slightly. “Achemiss.”

Karanos nods. “I’m going to kill him.”

Kuin is silent for a moment. “I see. So is Dunai a protege or a means to an end?” He speaks as though I’m not in the room, and he hasn’t so much as looked at Maria.

“He is intentionally ignoring her, but not because she is undead–he is not a Life or Death practitioner,” Crystal explains. “He would also ignore you if not for your political significance.”

“Can you remove his name from the blacklist, yes or no?”

Kuin leans back into the divan. “If I can’t?”

“Then we’ll leave.”

The teen sighs. “Consider it done...but only if Dunai is here as your protege in an official capacity.”

“That’s fine,” Karanos says with a sigh.

“He won’t cause you to lose face?”

Crystal, what is Kuin talking about? I ask.

“I am not sure.”

“You’ll see, won’t you?” Karanos responds bluntly.

Kuin’s smile stretches into a full-blown grin. “I suppose I shall. Dunai, slayer of Morningstar, you’d better make a good showing or you’ll embarrass your master and everyone Ari ever learned from.”

A good showing?

“It’s time to leave–now,” Karanos announces. He bows his head forward and turns away, heading back towards the wall we came from. Placing his hand upon the white surface, the wall melts and forms a passage back to the welcome hangar.

“What was all that?” I hiss under my breath. Karanos ignores me as he leads us to the other side of the hangar, his face stoic. I meet Maria’s stare; she shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders.

We’re not the only people exiting; Karanos catches the door as a pair of ascendants pass through. “Beyond are the grounds of the dwarf plane Voidkeep. I’d argue that it’s actually a translocated rift, but I digress.”

Immediately upon stepping outside we can see the edge of the plane on the left, sharp, craggy rock descending into darkness. A bit further away, pieces of rock bob and spin, caught in the weightlessness of the void. To the right stretches the rest of the plane, spring green grass giving way to polished pale stone that forms a large courtyard the size of a small dueling arena. A few people stand in the courtyard, with most congregating around the dark monument at its center. I sense most people, however, within the castle that borders the rear of the clearing, its battlements stretching horizontally like a pair of arms.

Between the castle and the hangar are hundreds of practitioners, easily constituting the most acute practitioner density I’ve ever witnessed. And these people aren’t just at the pinnacle of their practice, but ascendants strong enough to decide the fate of worlds.

Struck by a sense of foreboding, I walk over to the edge of the plane and peer down. Despite my experience looking down from high places, I feel a sense of vertigo. Crystal and Sah also approach to inspect the edge. The frost dragon seems intrigued by the exposed edge and even begins to climb down before Crystal gives the dragon a warning swipe on the rump.

“I’m not sure how it works for us to be so close to the void,” Maria says. She summons a bolt of flame around her fingers, then flings it into the darkness. It flies for a few seconds before extinguishing. “You can breathe fine–there’s an atmosphere. And yet the abyss surrounds us, separated by some invisible membrane.”

“Kuin,” Karanos suddenly calls out. “Did you still need something from us?”

Turning around, I see Kuin standing next to Karanos. I didn’t sense his approach at all–it’s like he teleported.

“Karanos, I’ll have to trouble you to accompany me to the upper keep. Others are inquiring after you.”

“I’m sure they are,” he mutters. “But Dunai is unfamiliar with Voidkeep.”

“I’ve arranged for Alan to escort him to the other proteges.”

I give Karanos a questioning look.

“It seems we’ll need to part here. Play nicely with the others,” he transmits. “It might do you some good.”

Do I take Maria?

“Yes. Why would you leave your best weapon with me? I’ll take care of Crystal and Sah.”

“Do not put on airs of magnanimity,” Crystal interjects. “I am the only thing keeping you sane around Kuin.”

“Unfortunately true.”

“Here he comes,” Kuin mutters, interrupting our nonverbal chatter. A swarthy ascendant exits the hangar, his hair styled into an afro. He’s dressed in an ivory suit with a green brooch securing a hot pink cape. One corner of the cape is clipped to his left sleeve by a slim silver pin so that when he stops before Kuin, bowing his head, the cape drapes stylishly across his side.

“Alan, meet Ian,” Kuin introduces. “He’s the new protege of Void Seeker Karanos. Bring him along with you.”

“Of course.”

Kuin gives Karanos a crooked smile, his eyes glinting. Suddenly the two disappear, their movements too fast to follow.

I lock eyes with Crystal. Did he just forget you?

A moment later, Karanos reappears, his suit somewhat ruffled. “I got carried away for a second. I’ll bring the pets at my own pace.”

Crystal and Sah follow like obedient ducklings, walking behind Karanos in single file.

“And then there were three,” Alan says, looking between us. “That fish monster is terrifying and also remarkably well trained.”

“She’s more intelligent than she looks,” Maria comments.

Alan’s lip curls in amusement. “If he’s Ian, who are you?”

“Maria.”

“Are you also Karanos’ protege?”

“Do ascendants like Karanos usually keep more than one?” I ask.

“No, but it would be impolite to assume.”

I shake my head. “She isn’t his protege; she’s with me.”

“As your partner?” He raises an eyebrow.

How do you want to spin this? I ask.

It’s best to be honest, she replies. We’re at a gathering for ascendants: powerful, undying fighters. What are the odds we’ll be involved in combat before we depart? I’d guess quite high.

“I’m here as his lich.”

“You, a lich?”

Maria deactivates the circlet, inviting the alien pallor of undeath and revealing glowing cyan irises. Shaking her head, she reactivates the artifact and returns to her normal appearance.

“You’re a necromancer, then,” Alan says, shooting me a complicated look. “Interesting. We don’t see many of those.”

“Why not?”

“Most join the black faction, where they can justify turning cities into mausoleums as part of the natural cycle of samsara.”

“And it’s exactly because I believe in saving worlds that I joined this faction.” I clear my throat. “Where are we going exactly?”

“To the other proteges.”

“How many are there?” I inquire.

“Twenty four, including you.”

The conversation dies, only to be resuscitated by Maria after a few seconds: “How long have you been an ascendant?”

“Around two-hundred years. It’s hard to keep track when time doesn’t always move at the same speed depending on which planes you frequent.”

I nod in understanding. “Recently, Maria and I have been spending most of our time in dilated planes.”

“What for? We have all the time in the world here.”

It’s unwise to mention anything about our strategy and aims, Maria says. I would be shocked if there wasn’t a single traitor present, feeding information to the other faction...and to Achemiss.

Agreed.

“We’re new ascendants,” Maria says. “We’re playing catch-up.”

“Besides, it might be interesting to return home, and that won’t be possible without a return beacon.”

“Or descending,” Maria adds.

Alan waves his hand dismissively. “It’s best to let go and move on, rather than worrying about a land that’s destined to become a fossil. My lineage probably still lives, but they’re all strangers to me now. If they one day ascend, perhaps we’ll meet as equals.” He sighs and averts his gaze to the edge of the plane. “Is this your first time seeing the void up close?”

Maria and I share a perplexed look. “How else would we have arrived here, if not by traveling through the void?”

“You didn’t come through Abyssinia?”

“Abyssinia is the only plane that is directly connected to Voidkeep by a stable veil vulnerability, and it happens to be rather distant from where we were all traveling,” Karanos says, his voice relayed by Crystal.

“I thought you left?” Maria exclaims.

“I’m walking slowly, remember? Anyway, ascendants in the faction who cannot endure travel in the void reach Voidkeep through Abyssinia.”

“Did you travel through Abyssinia, then?” I ask, trying to stay focused on the conversation at hand.

He nods. “And I think I’ve discerned how you got here–Karanos escorted you through the void. Based on what I’ve heard about him, it should be within his capabilities.” He raises an eyebrow. “How did you impress him enough to become his protege? I doubt he’d be interested in anything pertaining to your practice of necromancy.”

“It just sort of...happened,” I confess. “Luck.”

Alan snorts. “Luck. All right.” He begins to walk in the direction of the castle, leading us through the white-stone plaza. “Since this is your first time in Voidkeep, you haven’t seen the tablet yet, have you?”

I assume he’s talking about the black obelisk at the center of the plaza, the one surrounded by the largest number of ascendants.

“Only from afar,” Maria confesses.

Up close, the tablet is bigger than I expected, at least as tall as three men. On it is inscribed some odd script I can’t read made of squiggly, overlapping lines.

Alan stares at the tablet with his arms behind his back and begins to recite. “This is the translation I’ve memorized.”

The Samsara Crucible

And with change, comprehension:

Heaven's configurations and Earth's patterns–

trace them to their origins and

back to their ends

to grasp the axiom of life and death.

In the abyss of abysses, that infinite tunnel,

darkness penetrates darkness, faster and faster.

A balance of genesis and completion

without deliberate purpose

and without effort.

From nothing, everything, and everything a dream–

opposites in reciprocity

spawn each other.

“I presume that this is more than a simple poem,” she notes. “What is the significance of putting it on a giant tablet?”

“It’s supposedly wisdom from the founder,” Alan answers.

“Abyss of abysses, darkness penetrating darkness, accelerating, like a wheel set into motion that then sustains itself,” I muse. It almost calls to mind imagery of the soul as a wound coil spiraling inward.

“What is the most popular interpretation?” Maria asks.

Alan chuckles. “There really isn’t one. Whatever language the tablet is written in has been lost to time. There are multiple oral histories passed down through the subfactions; people attribute the inconsistencies to the Intention Matrix’s translation protocol. Beginning practitioners can debate the meaning of each character for days, but without other textual references from the same language, nothing is conclusive.”

“What do you think it’s about?” I wonder.

“The origin of Eternity itself. The dream of dreams, the light born from darkness infinity.” He smiles wistfully. “It’s a great mystery, isn’t it? Eternity, the infinite realm of possibility, the playground for the powerful. What came first, Eternity and the million planes, or the mortal worlds?”

“Eternity came first,” Maria postulates. Remember Floria? Seeking an end to become a new beginning and spawn a new world?

“I’m not so sure,” I argue. I see Maria’s perspective, but Eternity strikes me as too complicated to come first.

Alan coughs. “I shouldn’t delay us any longer. It’s almost time for the pageant.”

Teen girls in dresses come to mind. “...Pageant?”

“What else would you call it when the big shots show off their proteges?” He tugs at a coil of hair, stretching it out over his finger. “Look. We’ve taken the most self-important people from different eras and worlds and brought them together in a single location. After this is over and done, they’ll all go their separate ways and return to their important eternal lives. Until then, it’s a madhouse.”

He smiles encouragingly. “Buckle up.”