At the Frostwind Gate, the northern Chaos Channel leading into Realmheart, a veritable army assembled. The Legion Incursis was at full strength, with ten thousand warriors, at least at Third Order Journeyman, a thousand Knights and Knight Captains, and of course, the Legate Lars Devi Cheval, a Knight Dominus.

The troops were in formation at the moment, waiting at parade rest for the inspection. Legate Cheval walked with his Tribunus, and a special guest, the Imperial Court Mage, Sadeen Kierra Mishala. Only years of being exposed to the gorgeous woman allowed him to keep his composure but he could feel her Mien pressing against his Anima. They were close to each other’s Anima strength though, so it didn’t matter much.

Alas, the same could not be said for his legionnaires. It wasn’t as if Lady Sadeen’s clothes showed a lot of skin; it was to the contrary, actually. Her formal robes pretty much covered everything except her face, though since it was cinched at the waist it still showed off her curves.

Regardless, Lady Sadeen’s presence truly tested the discipline of the Legion. Most couldn’t resist staring at her and one of the newer members went so much as to fall out of line. He eyed his squad leader, who turned red and yelled at the newbie to return.

Thankfully, the Luminous Circle Sorceress was quite used to such displays and didn’t comment, going so far as to smile at the troops. About half of them nearly broke discipline. Commendations to those who kept their composure.

“You’re bringing a Colossi contingent?” she asked.

“Of course. Three squads of Certi, led by an Evgenis each. Do you think more will be needed?”

The woman smiled but didn’t answer. Well, she was here to bring the most important tool anyway, to be turned over later just before departure.

Inspection over, he gestured to his Tribunus to have the troops enter the Smiling Dragon, a Chaos battleship and general troop transport. It would be accompanied by two carrier ships, the Fiery Goose, and the Icy Wolf, which were enough to carry nearly a thousand legionnaires each, discounting the ship’s staff and crew. The Dragon was a behemoth of a ship, named after a mythical beast from the time before the Shattering, but enough portraits and paintings were left behind that they had a reasonable approximation of the things. They were long and narrow, like a serpent, but with four stumpy legs with five claws each. The heads were horned, though the number and style varied, and were often depicted with whiskers or beards. Some paintings had wings, some didn’t but they didn’t need it to fly through the skies. They were masters at controlling ambient Chaos and could easily bend reality to their whims.

The Chaos ship was adorned with several markings simulating the dragons and was armed to the teeth with varied Plasma Carronades, sniper’s nests, and even a ram. It could carry and service all of the legion’s Colossi too.

While the loading took place, Lars and Lady Sadeen convened inside the Portmaster’s office. A quick, yet pointed look at the officials sent them scurrying out to give them some privacy, though not a few gave him some measuring looks and had ill-concealed smirks on their faces. Fools. Lady Sadeen was quite unusual for a Mishala in that she’d stuck with her current husband for so long especially since, as far as he knew, the man wasn’t of the imperial family.

Besides, in his near-century of life, he’d dallied with one of her clanswomen before. Best time of his life, even if he did feel that he’d done too much of Lili’s bidding most of the time. He shook his head clear of memories and sat across the table from Lady Sadeen, and pulled out a crystal screen. He waited for the documents to load, had it materialise on paper, then reviewed it.

“These are in order, please sign the expedition form, ma’am.”

“You’re too kind,” Lady Sadeen said in a dulcet voice, making Lars shiver before he hastily protected his Anima.

“The target plane is four out of the frontier and close to the Belrath Xylarchy’s borders. Let me clarify the intelligence with you. There are already elements of those tree huggers in that plane and they’ve got one of the Roots there?”

“Yes.”

“A hostile area.”

They would not use an existing Chaos Channel to enter in that case, as defences would be strong at those points. Piercing the Veil from the outside is difficult, nearly impossible actually, since one would have to fight the entire plane to do so. But not with a Gemheart.

The ambient Chaos around Lady Sadeen shimmered and flashed as she spoke in Old Imperial while gesturing delicately with her hands and fingers. Streamers of varied colours formed runescript lines which wrapped around a small, hand-sized diamond that came out of the lady’s hip satchel and was now hovering over the table. The runescript lines dove into the thing, and slowly, it unfolded until it was nearly twenty inches across.

A Gemheart artefact: the Empire’s tool to solidify its control of the planes and connect it to the rest of the planar network. Unseen to all eyes but his and the Lady’s, golden threads appeared from midair and entangled the artefact. Lady Sadeen’s voice rose to a crescendo as more runescript lines and golden threads spun into the Gemheart.

Instructions and energy.

He could read some of the lines and he recognised the instructions for breaching and stabilising planes. It was not a Gemheart for extended control but for a lightning assault. They were not to bring the plane into the fold?

Well, he supposed it made sense since it was too far from Imperial territory. Well if the intelligence were correct…

“It is ready,” Lady Sadeen said with a warm smile.

“I give my thanks.” Lars signed the dispatch orders, then he hesitated and asked, “This Bella plane, are you sure there is a deposit of Ambrosia there?”

“Not entirely, as I’ve never been there. My daughter brought an entire canister of it with her, and said that there were at least a dozen canisters left in her luggage that was abandoned in the Pure Lands.”

“An entire canister.” Lars' mouth was dry and he swallowed convulsively. “The Empress said she needed more Ambrosia and I know many of us felt despair.” Ambrosia could not be made easily, and any effort to do so using any method other than time always cost more than the product.

“I know. I was surprised, too,” Lady Sadeen grinned.

“Ah, there are natives on that plane, yes.”

“I believe so. Beastkin and other Chaos twisted. Ah, some agents of Belrath too, of course.”

“I see. The usual arrangements?”

The Lady’s face stilled and her soft expression hardened. “I think not.” Her voice lost its soothing and gentle tone. It was as hard as millennia-old ice.

“Oh?”

Then she smiled, her eyeteeth gleamed in the dim light, which sent a quiver of fear shooting up his spine.

“Bury them.”

“...Understood.”

____

“...Mien training hasn’t been going too well.”

Miya frowned as she gave her report. She kept her eyes carefully averted from her grandmother, Prima Elisha, as the woman tapped out a pattern on her desk with her sharp fingernails. Miya glanced at the figurine next to those fingers, curious at the new addition on the desk. She noted the folded letter underneath before her grandma spoke.

“What’s the problem?” she asked.

“Well…” Miya hummed, “I can’t quite put my finger on it. We started with the basics, of course, controlling emotion, but as far as I could tell, Yuriko isn’t beset by emotional instability. She’s actually quite rational. Too rational.”

“Oh?”

“She’s been at the academy for nearly four weeks now and I’ve exposed her to my friends and acquaintances. Even some with whom I’m not on good terms. Nearly all of them exhibit Aspiration. Minor aspiration, extremely minor, but symptoms nonetheless.”

“All of them are to her liking?”

“That’s the thing.” Miya shrugged. “I’m sure we’ve pinpointed her tastes.”

“And?”

“Cuteness or athletic. Well-muscled for men, toned and athletic for women.”

“Cuteness?”

“Mostly those who look young for their age,” Miya chuckled.

“Ah. And the problem?”

“Their Aspiration levels are random. They’re not worse than all the others at all.”

As far as Miya knew, the Mien, when untrained, worked mainly at those the possessor found attractive. The more they conformed to the archetype, the stronger the Mishala Mien affected them. It took training and Anima strength to focus it on people that they didn’t find attractive. That didn’t mean that it didn’t affect others, but they were clearly not as affected. Ah, reining the Mien in, also took a lot of training, and was actually much harder than focusing it.

“Then clearly, those aren’t the type she’s attracted to,” the Prima said, “or, she had broader tastes than expected.”

“You think?”

The quip came out before Miya could stop herself, but on second thought, it pretty much summed up the frustration she felt. Yuriko’s Mien messed up her own Supplicants.

Grandma Elisha gave her a flat look, before she snorted. “Like mother, like daughter.”

Miya kept her silence despite her burning curiosity. Lady Sadeen had only come back to the clan around seven years ago and her presence had created a maelstrom of activity and trouble. For one thing, her aunt was now strong enough to easily contend with the Prima, and her talent had been acknowledged by the Progenitor, too. Would Yuriko be the same? It was starting to look like it.

How many Mishalas had Miens strong enough to matter? In her generation, there was only her, and now Yuriko. The rest of the clanswomen had a watered-down version. It made them more attractive and persuasive, but not to the point that their ‘victims’ would abandon everything for them.

“What else is she doing?”

Miya resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Why ask her? She was sure that the hidden guards would have a complete report.

“Well…Swordmaster Kinohara had taken a rather unhealthy interest in her,” Miya continued.

“Does she think to train a new swordmaster?” Elisha laughed.

“Yuriko does like playing with swords,” Miya smirked. “She can form them out of her Animus.”

“Very well. What else?”

“Nothing much, after that. Oh, I’ve heard she spends hours playing Shatran.”

“Ah, that explains it.” Elisha glanced at the figurine and smirked.

“Oh?” Now that she had more time to look, Miya recognised that the piece was an ornate playing piece. The Red Empress. “Is that a…?”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

Miya wondered briefly if Yuriko would run away, too, like her mother did when Lady Sadeen had been pressed into a similar situation. Once was excusable, but for it to repeat?

“The 28th Pia’Vasi was merciful,” Elisha shrugged, “I don’t know about the 29th.”

Miya shrugged, “He might simply be smitten.”

“Maybe.” Elisha laughed. “Now then, tell me how close you are to Knighthood.”

“Very. I’ve already seeded the Implements. The Jade Circle should be attainable soon.”

“Very good.”

____

The frozen sea. Ambient Chaos flooded into the plane. The breach made by the Rose’s Thorn was made permanent, and the continued death and dissolution of so many bodies had permanently changed the atmosphere.

The ice cracked and water flowed. Heat, from the Radiant Sun, from the Luminous Moon, and from the fire-aspected Chaos particles, gave everything new life. There were no natives left nearby, all of their essences had been wrung dry by starving and desperate Wyldlings.

Swarmlings, Wanderers, Hunters, and Chevaliers roamed the ice and had moved as far inland as possible. Every now and then, hooting cries, and pained howls drifted with the wind. Lesser Chaos Lords, however, were notably absent. The plane where the Siderious rested was still a secret, even if the Imperial Knights’ presence was a beacon to the rest of their voracious fellows.

This very moment, there was an entire Legion of them not more than a dozen Waypoints away, fighting through a dozen hordes and slowly culling the weak from the strong, or perhaps simply, the lucky from the misbegotten.

She Who Whispers in the Light stepped past the Veil. The ambient Chaos tugged at her internal reserves, but the negative pressure was no longer strong enough to siphon her dry.

She took a deep breath, savouring the stale air. At last, the way was open.

End of Book 5