Stella, Yaga, and Conrad had long since departed and morning had dawned on a new day. Teyva had spent much of the morning conferring with those she trusted most about how things would be handled while she was away. It was fortunate that for the most part, Osan ran itself. She’d left Yaga in charge during her past few forays out into the wider world but her better half wasn’t present and frankly Yaga hated it when she did that. Teyva had drawn up a few picks to handle things while she was away but had settled on Paraklytus in the end. Their interaction the other day hadn’t shaken her faith in him. She’d resolved herself to look past it, she needed to be able to trust those closest to her.

She’d left Paraklytus with enough instructions to keep things going. She wasn’t planning on being gone for very long, after all, and frankly there weren’t many forces on this continent that she had any concerns about beating. The Adventurers in Katal were strong as a unified force but it had been a long time since one of them had tried to cross the Wildlands. More to the point, while a few of them had ascended there had been no indication of any of them achieving anything groundbreaking. She had her relationship with Journey to thank for that. Journey had set it up that when anyone got a major achievement, everyone with access to the system would know. Cycle hadn’t pushed back against the idea and so it had stuck.

Down in Nulakam, Teyva’s lips twisted a little at the thought, did Cycle really not understand her intentions or did it not care? Were those beings so far beyond normal comprehension that only a literal omnipotent wish could bring them down to her level? She glanced to her right at the silent figure of Journey as she walked next to Teyva. Journey opened one eye and glanced her way as well, her expression impassive.

“I have a question,” Teyva asked.

“Ask it,” Journey exhaled, clearly uninterested.

“Before I- before we started working together. Did you ever fudge things for me?” She asked, going quiet as a pair of attendants rushed past them, carrying gear for the expedition in the Labyrinth. She caught the odd look that Journey gave her and raised an eyebrow. “Seriously, I know I probably should have asked this years ago but it-”

“Yes,” Journey said flatly, “I did, my brother made several attempts to bring in new heroes. I stopped him, among other things.”

Teyva looked away for a moment, rubbing her neck and staring forward as they passed a few Akurai. A child waved at her and she smiled down at it, reaching to take the little one’s hand for a moment before moving on. She cleared her throat and glanced at Journey.

“Journey.”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Thank you, for more than what you did for me. Something tells me you’ve been waiting for someone to show up and use the system against Cycle. You’ve been crazy patient. I can’t help but think you feel guilty for what’s been happening to the Azar. Bending the rules like that has got to be risky, right? So,” She tilted her head a few times, “Thanks. I know you see me as an enemy for what I did to you, I’m not apologizing though. I need your help.”

Journey cleared her throat and looked away, “I will remember that you said that.”

Teyva scratched her nose awkwardly as they passed through an opening leading into a room filled with lifts. The chamber, set beneath the University, was the point of connection between the Labyrinth and the buildings between it and the surface world. It was also the location of the heart stone of this part of the labyrinth. Teyva had activated it the moment that Paraklytus had returned several years ago, unwilling to ever be left without an immediate route back home. Bonding to the Labyrinth by installing her own Heart Stone had made that significantly easier. She only needed to be at one heart stone to travel to any other within her network. From here she could go to the Wastes, the Forest, or the Throne room at the moment.

A small army of men and women were darting about here and there, moving supplies into the lifts to be lowered down into the Labyrinth. They only used the lifts on the right-side though. The left were reserved for bringing supplies up from the self-propagating farms below. There wasn’t exactly an easier way to get it all up from the Labyrinth but it hadn’t been designed focus its efforts on the world above. She was working with Paraklytus on ways to make the process easier, but that took a hell of a lot of time. It would probably end up being easier expanding food production above ground and moving things around by rail once the train was complete.

“Teyva!”

Teyva turned to see Azrael approaching from the side, Elat walking with her with a big grin on his face. Next to them was Sari who was looking more tense than usual. Teyva stopped and grinned, “How are things going?”

“Almost done,” Azrael said, “Troops are already down there and ready to start marching. We’ve got Akurai leading each company that have synchronized with the Labyrinth. We’ll get there in no time at all. Priests have already sent darkeyes along the route and there aren’t any major obstructions, just a few critters here and there. Nothing as bad as an Ugroth.”

“That just leaves sending the warning to the Orcs,” Elat said grimly, “I don’t like this.”

“Neither do I,” Sari said, “They don’t deserve a warning from us.”

“You shouldn’t have explained their traditions to me, then,” Teyva said flatly, “Look, I’m fine with them being afraid of us as long as they respect us as well. I want loyalty, not an army that’s going to turn on me the moment I’ve put some trust on them. If their traditions say that before a duel of supremacy between clans they send a warning, we’re going to do the same.”

“And if they have the wisdom to actually get their shit together and band together against us?” Sari asked.

“Then I’ll crush all of their spirits at once,” Teyva said flatly, “Even if I have to pull out the big guns.”

Sari’s eye twitched but she couldn’t help but break into a smile, “I kind of hope they do.”

“Sari!” Elat chided her.

She rounded on him, “I won’t be satisfied until the Wise Men are on their knees, especially Ubet,” She said with a snarl, “Don’t you take that from me. This is part of why I joined up with Teyva to begin with.”

Elat blinked and held up his hands, “I’m sorry, I know. He put you through a lot.”

Sari huffed and nodded to Teyva, “I’m going down to get used to the lighting down there, see you soon , Majesty,” She said, “Journey, Azrael,” She nodded to them as well before storming towards one of the lifts.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Azrael let out a hard breath and glanced at Teyva. “You sure it’s a good idea to bring her with us?”

“She needs this,” Teyva said.

“I know that,” Azrael grumbled, “Still feels like we’re already taking a lot of risks.”

“That’s because we are,” Teyva said, “Calculated risks. For good reason. This is more than just our first conquest. This is our debut. This is the raised flag telling the world that we’re done sitting around and we’re coming from them. This needs to make an impact.”

“Letting it all hang out, like at the Unity Festival Duels,” Elat said, crossing his arms.

Azrael scratched her nose and looked toward the lift that was carrying Sari, she let out a breath and nodded. “I’m with you, sister. Lead the way.”

From there, Teyva and the others made their way to the lifts and descended down into the Labyrinth. The large chamber that the lifts opened up into was framed by four passages that split out in all directions. The walls had all slowly changed into the black marble that was part of the reawakened Labyrinth. The sheer grim stone before having melted into nothingness. Within the chamber, over a thousand men had formed ranks in various parts of the space. It was a small strike force but with the number of priests they had with them it was worth nearly three thousand men on its own. Not to mention what the generals had at their disposal.

Teyva cast her gaze over it all, it was a little bittersweet in a way. Thrake had wanted peace so badly but his death had lead to this. In the end, though, if conquering the entire planet was what it took to draw Cycle out of hiding, that’s what she would do. She glanced over at Journey who had a perplexed look on her face. When the being noticed that Teyva was watching her she looked away again. Teyva sighed, at least it was better than the perpetual scowl she got from her. She shrugged and strode out into the space, waving at some who noticed her before making it to the center where Myranda and her priests waited.

The High Priestess turned with a flourish, bowing and smiling at Teyva, “Are you ready to make history, Goddess?”

Teyva straightened her shoulders and grinned, “May it be terrible and glorious.”