“You two were in that room for a week,” Amiri said in a flat, slightly hostile tone when Sadeen exited the suite with her husband. She flashed the redhead a smirk and Amiri scowled.

“Why Miss Cypher! How nice to see you after so long,” Sadeen said mockingly.

The other woman just glared then rolled her eyes. She sniffed and wrinkled her nose, but Sadeen had cleansed their suite, and they were freshly bathed.

“A week? Really?”

A glance back at her husband showed Virgil slightly shamefaced. He averted his eyes and coughed, before muttering a quick, “Sorry.”

“Rotting right, you are,” Amiri continued, then sighed. “I get it, but we need to harvest more shards.”

“I will help, of course,” Sadeen interjected, and the fiery woman nodded.

“I was going to show her the Colossus,” Virgil interrupted.

Amiri grunted. “Well, we need shards to feed it, either way.”

“Ah, yeah. It’s about time.”

Sadeen’s eyes bounced from her husband to his teammate. Colossus? Was that the reason why? The Empire had a glut of Colossi, and there was no reason to seek out more. Even pre-Shattering variants weren’t that much better than the modern counterparts, unless…

“A Royal?” she asked out loud.

Amiri exchanged a glance with Virgil. “At least.”

Sadeen’s eyes widened and she completely understood. A Vasi Colossus. The Empire had exactly three of those in existence, piloted by veteran Knights Domini. With one of those, one could match the power of a Chaos Duke by themselves!

Her heart pounded in excitement. Even more importantly, having another specimen would mean that they could advance research on how to build their own Vasi Colossus!

Recreating those ancient war machines was difficult at best, and impossible for the higher variants. Koinos Colossus, the common kind, was easy enough to make. In truth, the Koinos were derived from Certus Colossi, which were the weapons used by footmen back then. They’ve managed to crack how to create Evgenis Colossi, the next step up that allowed Knight Commanders to face a Domini equally in battle, but the process was economically ruinous.

The higher-tiered Colossi were relegated to myths and legends, though the Empress had been rumoured to own Theikos Colossus. Sadeen had never seen it though, and neither had the Progenitor mentioned it.

Sadeen clutched at Virgil’s arm. “Show me!”

Her husband patted her arm, “No, Amiri’s right. We need to gather the shards first. We won’t be able to enter the chamber otherwise.”

“It’s locked.” Sadeen hummed. Of course, it was. A Vasi Colossus was a powerful relic, capable of turning the tide. There was no way one could be accessible too easily, also…” None of you can pilot it?”

“Heh, of course,” Virgil admitted. “But you can. Probably.”

Anyone less than having the Anima strength of a Knight Dominus would not be able to even move the Vasi Colossus. She doubted one could even live long enough inside the core chamber to try. The pressure would kill them first. Though if the Colossus’ animating spirit was awake, it might not come to that.

“Is it awake?”

“No,” Amiri answered quickly. “It’s why we need the shards.”

“Very well,” Sadeen smiled. “Let’s go.”

The other three members of Virgil’s team, Balliol Muryh, Craig Zorin, and of course, junior Inquisitor Sarra Gorlyn, were in the lounge at the end of the hallway. Sadeen stared at the suites, which suspiciously had Amiri living next to her husband. She wasn’t the jealous type, really, but Virgil wasn’t affected by her Mien at all, so…

He pulled her close to his side, his arm around her waist. Virgil was more than a head taller than she was, and had broad shoulders, both aspects of his made her feel protected and loved. She beamed up at him as they walked, and heard Amiri’s scoffing behind them.

“Sorceress Mishala.” Sarra Gorlyn bowed to her. Balliol and Craig nodded familiarly. Aside from Inquisitor Gorlyn, Sadeen had served with the other four in Legion Vagaris.

“Inquisitor.” She nodded back.

The six of them entered another chamber, and Sadeen’s eyebrows reached her hairline when she saw the suits of armour laid out on the table. Or rather, the spheres that were the armours’ condensed, storage form. She recognised the runescript lines and could see the armour’s expanded form as a pale echo in the ambient Chaos.

Her own battle robes were more than a match for these suits, since those provided only basic protection, and climate control. They pushed the spheres over their chests and the armour expanded and folded over them.

Virgil had mentioned their harvesting, though not much on the details. She followed them down a maze of corridors and eventually into an intake tunnel.

Wyldlings of all shapes and sizes marched inside like cattle to slaughter. They died to Warforged Drones and static defences. Turrets that shot out needles that broke the air, bolts of superheated plasma, or plain lightning.

And the five of them, six including her, harvested the Chaos shards dropped by the dissolving corpses. They moved from tunnel to tunnel, heading to where the fortress opened the kill zones. They always arrived at the tunnels right after the slaughter, and just before the collectors siphoned away the loot.

“If we arrive before the battle ends, the Warforged will attack us, too,” Virgil explained as he used his newfound Ennoia to scoop up the shards. He gathered them faster than the others could, and by the end of the day, his stash was more than double of anyone else’s. Which was probably why Amiri had been so annoyed at Sadeen. Heh.

Contrary to what she expected, it took them a bit longer before they could gather the requisite shards. A week, to be exact. They plied different hallways and kill zones, sometimes even engaging the Wyldlings directly. At other times, they headed towards the garden areas and harvested fruits and vegetables.

There was a species of large, wingless hornets, that gave edible meat. Barely edible meat. They grew quickly though and were plentiful enough that the small group would never run out of hornet meat.

Sadeen enjoyed the gardens though. It wasn’t just the fruiting trees and shrubs, but the flowers. A burst of colours and pleasant scents. Some of the flowers shouldn’t have blossomed at this time of year, but then, the gardens were divided into Seasonal slices. It wasn’t that obvious but observing the ambient Chaos flows revealed an invisible line in the regions. That and the temperature varied. It was gentle enough that it took someone paying attention to notice the shift.

Hmmm, she should ask Virgil to bring her here for a picnic. The ceiling was transparent and gave a lovely view of the skies. They were grey and overcast currently, but at night, the Chaos flows were a fantastic sight.

The next day they had enough shards and the whole lot of them went towards the Colossi dock. The route was rather circuitous, and not just because the hallways were bent out of shape. They avoided large hallways and chambers, and when Sadeen peeked inside, she saw hundreds of humanoid Warforged. They were either standing as still as statues or were going through the motions of a patrol, or something equally obscure.

“The Athrodius are hostile to us,” Virgil answered when she asked. “Though only if we cross into their territory.” He shook his head. “They were absent the first Season we were here, but suddenly appeared sometime after, when the Wyldlings appeared. It’s probably because the fortress awakened to deal with the threat.”

“Are they that strong?” Sadeen asked. Warforged were relics of the pre-Shattering age. There were a few specimens that the Empire had found and studied. Any that were captured degraded once it was certain that they could not escape.

“The weakest are at Knight level,” Virgil said. “The upper echelons are as strong as I am.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “There’s more than three.”

“Ah.”

Finally, after a long convoluted path, they arrived at the Colossus Chamber. Balliol deposited a handful of Chaos shards into a funnel next to a panel, and the door slid open silently.

The chamber was dark, but as soon as they stepped inside, light began to illuminate the interior and its occupant. There, at the far side, seated on a throne ten paces high, was the Vasi Colossus.

Sadeen drew a ragged breath after several minutes of stunned silence. The Vasi was magnificent. Unlike the Koinos and the Certus Colossi, the Vasi was made entirely of metal. It was a deep golden alloy that she was sure was orichalcum. Alloyed with a few other materials to be sure, as the golden metal was both heavy and dense to Animus. Practically impenetrable unless attuned.

Sadeen couldn’t help but come closer. There was a clear barrier preventing them from touching the Colossus and she pressed her fingers against it, wanting to touch the glorious thing. The others, having already seen it countless times, were pouring their harvest of Chaos shards onto a table, which glowed with runescript lines and slowly melted the shards. Lines of light appeared on the floor and walls, then formed more runescript as they funnelled the dissolved energies into the Vasi.

Contrary to other Colossi, this one had a face. It looked masculine, with a square jaw and sharp features. The eyes were closed though, even as the Chaos was transferred into it.

And then…all of a sudden, the barrier disappeared and Sadeen staggered forward. Her hand touched the Vasi’s left calf, and then, she couldn’t move.

A muted buzz was all she heard and then thumps and strikes. She could turn her head, couldn’t blink. She half thought to summon her Domain and break free, but she sensed no malice from the Colossus’ animating spirit.

Then, she found herself back outside the barrier, staring up at the face. On the forehead was a blazing mark. A sunburst sigil.

“What happened?” Virgil grabbed Sadeen’s shoulders and pulled her away.

“I don’t know,” she replied absently. She knew now that this Colossus wasn’t just a Vasi, but something with the capability to become more. And she also knew that there was no way any of them could pilot it.

The Colossus chooses its pilot, not the other way around.

Hmmm. Did that mean that her husband and his team had wasted more than a year on something that wasn’t meant to be?

She shook her head and clicked her tongue. Not if she had any say in it!

_____________

“Is this really the best way?” Saki asked Yuriko.

She nodded absently while she watched the Wielder of Divine Flame’s Corpus turn to dust. After the battle, she had used Fri’Avgi to absorb the rest of the Weaver’s bodies and converted them to much-needed distilled Chaos. She had enough to initiate Heron now.

The Wielder, Firehead, had a serene expression on her face. Accepting any tribulations to come. Well, what she was to do now would challenge the depths of her grit and creativity.

No, she hadn’t devoured the Chaos Lord’s Anima. There was little need. But she and the rest of them had to be destroyed so that they could travel in peace.

And they were no longer heading towards one of the desert oasis towns. No, a new destination had been revealed to her. It was so sudden and strange.

Fri’Avgi.

Within the red gem, where a cocoon once rested, was now a lively little girl. Asleep at the moment, but definitely alive. Next to her was a projection. A map.

The Zarek Mountains in Rumiga’s southern half split into two, and created a wide, yet hidden valley within. Therein was the ruins of an old city, back when the plane was part of a bigger whole. And within that ruin was a path that led to another city.

Synkrasia.

Fri’Avgi pulled her to go there, and perhaps through that portal. Something awaited her there, something momentous. Something that could change Rumiga’s Fate.

For if she did nothing, she knew for certain now: Rumiga would fall.

End of Book 8