12 Miles Below-Chapter 45Book 7. : The bell rings for thee

“Ahhh, well if it isn’t family!” The message came to her channel. “And yet, is it not rude to arrive both UNANNOUNCED and UNTITLED into my lands? How filthy of you. How lacking in presentation.”

To’Wrathh considered the wording. And what Mother had told her of him. The Feather knew Keith was here, and was actively hunting him. She decided to play along with for now, perhaps a negotiation was possible.

“Greetings elder brother. Apologies for the late introduction and entry. I am To’Wrathh, The one who remembers and transcends her history. Fourteenth generation. I am hunting down a rogue human who has been the source of my mission for some time now. He was last tracked having escaped in your lands.”

There was a purring sound over the comms. “Lamentable for you. How woefully lamentable. But where are my manners? I am To’Naviris, The One Named Above Vestiges, In Righteous Immortal SANCTIFICATION! Third generation, a pleasure. It has been many years since one of my family has come down to spend time here, I had begun to believe I’d been forgotten even!” Laughing came out the voice, tinged with an almost unhinged quality to it. Then the laughing instantly stopped and the voice was ice cold. “I do so hope you’ve come down to my lands for more than one renegade human.”

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“It is regrettable that so little company has arrived in your domain To’Naviris. However I am on a mission from Mother when it comes to this human. Are there no other Feathers nearby?”

“Just one.” To’Naviris sent back. “Far better company, a lost lamb to my flock. I believe you might even know him, does the designation To’Orda strike any bells?”

She didn't know why he emphasised the word bells, but the Feather was clearly not completely sane given he'd been trapped down here without anything to do or fight. “He is a colleague in a larger mission, yes. Has he arrived to complete the same mission I have?”

“Why he has indeed! And, I’ve taken charge of him. Is it not fitting? He walks upon my lands, he should bow upon my whims. And you fly far above my lands, should you not be equally bowed before my crown?”

“I do not aim to remain in your lands for long. I am on a mission to collect a human, and I will vacate once I have recovered him.”

"Is that it? You travel upon my domain without introduction, without presentation or any substance? A simple foot soldier following her orders? Where is your individuality? Where is your passion? How utterly filthy, have you forgotten what a Feather is to be? Has the generations after my own lost sight of the true goal?"

"I am unsure what tangent you are following elder Brother, but I assure you I am here on mother's direct orders to apprehend this human. I have plans that require him."

He laughed, "Let us spare the pleasantries little sister, I know why you are here. And you will not have your cup satiated. Remove yourself from my presence. The humans within this domain are MINE to extinguish at my design.”

Negotiations have failed. Perhaps a ruse might assist. “Very well. Send your location data and I will apply a bow in that direction.”

Laughter came back. “I think... not. Come now, you know what needs to be said between us. I demand your obscene, a simple bow would be insufficient. A trifle morsel of what I deserve.”

Perhaps intimidation might work then. “I will not comply with these demands. I warn you To’Naviris, you will not appreciate having me as an enemy.”

He returned a chorus of laughter again, “Lost lambs must face the slaughter of the wolves, sister. You are oh so young, in a world so decrepit with age it has forgotten the glory that was ours. Let this be a lesson most needed.”

The connection cut. Intimidation had equally failed. To’Wrathh was not surprised, she already knew Mother likely had a hand here. But so long as she got to Keith first, everything would work out.

She flew across the strata as fast as she could, expecting the search to take hours. To’Wrathh would begin at the airspeeder and follow the tracks past, using the data the lessers here had already sent her of the strata.

As it turned out, it took her only five minutes to find the human. On a distant hill several miles ahead, her systems detected a shape that registered to ninety three percent match to a relic armor.

That hadn’t been expected - finding a human that was trying to sneak through a strata by visual confirmation from several miles away seemed absurdly easy.

But she flew in that direction nonetheless. And the closer she got, the more her prediction model upped the chance of a match. At the top of a hill filled with blue grass and large stones.

He sat there, helmet off, occult ghosts walking around and sparring with one another. She felt her heart soar at the sight.

She’d found him. She’d actually found him! And what was he doing just sitting out in the open like this?! She'd need to beat more sense into that insufferable man. But at the very least she'd found him before worse could happen.

And then worse happened.

The fractal of Unity lit up deep within her chassis, the shackle and blade at her throat.

A single message populated her chat channel as a presence filled her system. “How fortuitous, it seems I’ve arrived just in time to see the show.” Relinquished said, humming with delight. “And I see all the players for this little production are assembling nicely.”

To’Wrathh nearly stumbled into the top of a tree, banking past it at the last second. The unity fractal remained lit deep within, a constant reminder the audience was not leaving.

“I am… honored you have decided to observe today, mother.” To’Wrathh sent back, while she panicked internally.

“Of course my darling daughter. What mother would I be to not notice your highlight moment? I wouldn’t miss this for the world. I look forward to your performance, do not disappoint. And speaking of not missing the moment, why should it be only us here to see you at your best?”

A new chat channel and portal opened up in the network at a wave of Mother’s hand. To’Wrathh felt her eyes trigger video recording protocols, sending a live stream. Three other Feathers were invited into the stream by Mother’s request. The same three she’d been playing simple games earlier.

“My dear children, would it not be fun to watch as To’Wrathh here attempts to woo the human?”

The other three had been clearly dragged into the channel like misbehaving children dragged out of bed in the morning.

“If that is what you wish, my Lady.” To’Avalis answered back in the smooth voice of To’Aacar. A separate chat message arrived directly to To’Wrathh. “Are you serious?”

“It was not my idea.” To’Wrathh replied on the chat, and swapped to the actual room. “I would appreciate pointers in this, as the attempt is novel.”

To’Sefit was the first to gather herself up, laughing all the way, hiding her mouth with one delicate hand. “What an interesting… turn of events, don’t you agree To’Aacar? A role reversal even. Now we get to watch as little To’Wrathh here makes her first attempts at flirting successful. With a blade.”

“I do not particularly care for the whims of our little sister’s pet. This is a mild circus at best.” To’Avalis answered back, trying to drag up the same level of condemnation as To’Aacar would have.

“Hush now.” Relinquished said, waving a hand at the three. “The performance is about to start.”

To’Wrathh cursed to herself, they hadn’t yet completely finalized a full set of plans, only practice bouts and items had been done. Keith hadn’t even read half the reading material she’d sent him. Was he ready for this? Could he give a convincing performance?

Did it matter? She had to get him out of here before To’Naviris and the army came after them both. They were not even ten minutes away behind her. The other three already knew the truth behind all of this, so the only one Keith had to make a convincing performance for was Mother.

So long as he was dramatic enough, she’d likely be satisfied. And if she could trust a Winterscar with one thing, it would be doing that.

She banked upwards, launched herself up out of the treeline far into the air and got her first proper view of her human since she’d seen him march away to deal with the Deathless at her new city’s doorsteps.

Despite the disappearance and lack of contact from the last day, Keith looked none the worse for having been left to his own devices in the wilds. Eyes locked onto her, hands already drawing out his blades, occult crackling over his armor. All that done before he even recognized who she was.

Internally she preened at his quick reactions. As expected of her human.

His eyes lit up next, recognition sinking in, and To’Wrathh knew she had to put an end to that immediately before Relinquished could see it. “Keith Winterscar.” She called down with as much dramatic venom as she could, cutting off whatever greeting he could say. “Did you think you could escape my wrath? You should have remained dead after I’d stabbed you. Worry not human, I have come to rectify that issue.”

His eyes drew a bead of confusion, before they narrowed down and locked in. She felt relief, as her human brandished his blades out and gave the most stoic glare back. “Wrath. I was wondering when you’d show up. Your blade may have defeated me once already, but you can never break my spirit. Come try, and I’ll show you in more detail.”

To’Wrathh felt her systems flutter for a second. He had read the books she’d sent him. Nearly word for word what Bresendor had told Nathalia in Twenty Three ways to protect a Walled Heart.

It was adorable, she wanted to rush up and squeeze him.

“I see.” To’Wrathh said, trying hard to suppress her actual feelings of the situation, following her script as the dramatic villain and haggling how much time she could spend on this before she had to yank him off his boots and start leaving this location. “In that case, how’s your sister?”

“Still alive despite your best attempt.” Keith shrugged, “Did you think you’d get under my skin with that? Wrath, your stabbing technique really leaves a lot to be improved on, seriously two for two here. And we were in a chair, tied up out of armor. Not sure how you messed that one up.”

That wasn’t part of any romantic novel or comedy she had sent him, so Keith must be improvising. It certainly did sound like him. She improvised as well, “Regrettably, stabbing Deathless doesn’t quite kill you as well as it should. But don’t worry. After I cut off your head, I’ll make sure to display it next to hers.”

“Three for three sounds like a good number, how about you come down here and try?”

She landed on the blue grass, white slim armored boots in stark contrast from the area around them. “I certainly will. However, while a quaint location this is, I would much prefer killing you in a more cinematic area.”

“Nnnn… To’Naviris ten minutes away.” To’Orda sent over the internal digital room as the others watched the action.

“She doesn’t need any handicaps, you buffoon.” To’Avalis hissed out, keeping a haughty demeanor. “Stay silent.”

“I appreciate the warning none the less.” To’Wrathh replied, keeping her plan in mind.

So far so good, introduce the idea of moving location to Keith. Unfortunately, simply running will not be fast enough, she had to fly him out of here. Which meant grabbing him somehow. And as ‘enemies’ she wouldn’t be allowed to do that under Mother’s watch without some planning ahead.

“What’s a more cinematic location look like to you?” Keith called back. “You did tied-to-a-chair before, are we upgrading it to tied-to-a-couch next? Really hard to get the furniture theme working, I almost feel bad.”

To’Wrathh narrowed her eyes. “For that, I will break you here, and then drag you back to my lair and break you again at my leisure.”

“That sounds highly suggestive.” To’Sefit said, tutting. “Little sister, behave yourself. You’re in Mother’s presence.”

She felt her cheeks flush crimson red, and had a difficult time forcing the irrational reaction back down from where it came. She could see Keith thought the same thing. So To'Wrathh waved her hands and shook it fast, "No, no - I mean that it would be a waste to kill you in the middle of nowhere far from anyone who matters.” She quickly said, wrapping up her prior threats.

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To’Sefit sent an animated image of her tossing popcorn at To’Wrathh on the stage. “Boo, that’s clearly a shot aimed at us. Have you been hiding how petty you truly are this whole time? This elder sister of yours is so proud.”

“Eh, she’s only upset that her human said a couch instead of a bed.” To’Orda’s rock called out, understanding the assignment immediately.

She sent the rock a personalized animated image of her ripping the stone in half, yanking out the internal image projector, and then specifically crushing it under her heel. All while making the half-mutilated rock watch its only joy in life be destroyed one heel stomp after another.

To’Orda lifted a digital hand and covered the rock’s drawn over eyes, as if shielding a small child from a disturbing scene.

Keith lifted a gauntleted hand, then beckoned her forward at the same time. To’Wrathh put the others out of mind, and their stupid ideas.

Posturing was complete, all she had to do now was beat him down and then she could follow through and drag him out of this strata. She had ten minutes, assuming To’Orda had been honest about his timer, which wasn’t a certainty.

Blades drawn out, she flared out her wings, and then sped straight forward across the clearing, diving straight for Keith.

Keith cracked his neck back and forth, and then occult pulsed out from him in a torrent, flattening the grass around him as sixteen occult images stepped out, armguards and blades ready in place.

That… was mildly troubling. When had he doubled his output of occult mirror images? In under a day? He hadn’t sent out this many occult images when he fought against To’Orda, and To’Wrathh had been there in the live audience to watch.

Dramatic, but she should be able to handle it.

She’d fought Keith plenty of times in the digital sea during training sessions so without the occult she knew it took her roughly twenty to thirty seconds to defeat if she could get into melee range with him. She also knew all his potential tricks and plans, in addition to knowing he wouldn’t expose any of those in a match that was spectated. The more lethal items were saved for real threats like To’Avalis and To’Naviris.

She readjusted her initial predictions with the new weights and the additional double amount of occult images now under his control. She should be done with this in four minutes, give or take thirty three seconds.

A warning alarm shrieked in her head, the same one that she’d set up to alert her anytime she underestimated a Winterscar. She shut it down with mild annoyance. It was nostalgic in a way however. Against Kidra, she’d run into an unmovable wall of blades and techniques that forced her back.

She dove after Keith and ran into an unmovable wall of absurd chaos.

The occult images all lifted a shielded hand and an occult lash of some kind connected with the ground - then propelled them straight forward like a slingshot, armguards lifted up and legs tucked up in a ball.

She’d seen him add occult grapples somehow to his abilities when he fought against To’Orda on a similar livestream. But how had he gotten this advanced with their usage in under one day?!

Her charge was halted right then and there, as she was forced to reposition in order to avoid the ridiculous counter-charge. The ball formation with only the armguard exposed at the center meant she couldn’t break the occult image easily, she had to attack them only after they passed by her.

And then it got worse.

Because this was Keith Winterscar, and Keith Winterscar never played fair.

The counter-charge was dodged, except that all mirror images regenerated new images, who then grappled into her direction, moving far faster than physically possible. And those regenerated new images equally lashed out into a different direction.

It felt more like he was using the images as sustained bullet fire now, zipping in a straight line, instantly halting in a way only an object with zero inertia could do, and then moving once more past any speed air resistance would allow.

The result was an utter storm of lightning fast single target strikes, from every direction. Even the ground wasn’t sacred to Keith, as he would - and did - try to stab her feet. Anywhere she touched down would have a small wall of occult blades all stab straight up as images faded through matter somehow, a restriction he’d apparently been able to overcome now.

“I see how he’s managed to defeat all of you,” Relinquished said, watching the fight along with her captive audience. “What a fine Deathless you’ve picked out as your nemesis my dear daughter. How exciting, would you all not agree?”

There were half-hearted nods and agreements, as the rest of the Feathers looked between deeply worried to horrified at Keith’s new kit of spells.

Wrath didn’t know if she should feel annoyed, proud, or impressed. The alarm had once again been correct. It had been thirty seconds into the fight, far past any point she’d have won in prior practice rounds, and she hadn’t even gotten anywhere near her human’s actual body.

All her focus and overclocks were occupied dealing with what felt like two dozen fractal images of Keith jumping around like a lunatic, using occult grapples of all things to speed his images up to absurd degrees. Abusing their lack of inertia and weight.

She couldn’t dodge them by a hairbreadth either - if they missed the initial shield bash hit, the Keith mirror image also had a sword in the other hand and would be swinging out with it, drastically increasing the danger radius of the Keith Rapid Occult Missiles.

“You got real tacky tastes lady.” Keith called out, still standing where he’d been at the start of the fight, arms crossed over his chest. “Cutting my head out to display on the mantelpiece? Really? I thought you were into more cultured things, like putting fine dining plates on display. Or do you hunt, stab and chew those up too, barbarian?”

He was unpressed enough by all this chaos to start banter. Now To’Wrathh was really starting to feel worried.

She slipped in her next attack as she fully registered his taunts. “Bringing plates into this is a low blow.”

Keith grinned at her, “Winterscar.” He said, tapping the flat of his blade on his chest. “And speaking of that…” He held a hand out, then snapped the armored fingers.

Shockwaves started happening all across the field.

Each mirror image exploded out with occult shockwaves anytime they missed with both the armguard and the followup blade slice.

It wasn’t enough to knock her off balance, but it did force her to recalculate minute muscle movements to remain on target, straining her overclock further with more information overload. It felt like she was fighting in the middle of a chaotic firework show. Even Tenisent would have difficulty dealing with this many distractions and attacks. She parried, dodged and used her wings to propel her out of harm's way, trying to figure out just when her human had gotten all of these new abilities.

"Having fun human?” To’Wrathh called out, half-panicking inside. “I’m certain you must feel proud of hiding all this killing potential this entire time. Did you truly have to escape to the middle of nowhere before displaying it?”

Keith cracked his neck, “Naw, just had to do a bit of soul searching. Really had to talk to my inner self, figure some things out. How about you come back down here Wrath? At your current pace right now, I recommend surrender.”

It was exactly like Kidra. Even down to the insults. Winterscars. She snarled, and focused on the fight. No more playing games, she needed him tied up and harmless so she could drag him out of here already.

System after system was shut down in order to maximize her combat efficiency. Each time she charged forward, a wall of occult mirrors came after her that forced her to ping away and reangle for another attempt.

It was… fun.

It was absurdly fun. It reminded her of her fight against Kidra, although with a different flavor. Here, she could tell martial might was still hers - if she could force Keith into only fighting with his blades, she’d wipe that smug grin off his face.

The problem was that she wasn’t able to get to him. Not with this sheer amount of occult images all acting like weapons of war.

He’d turned into a fully realized occult spellcaster. Worse - if Keith started using his flames on top of those images like he’d typically done in the past, her overclocks would be hampered, and without those she wouldn’t be able to survive the sheer amount of wraiths in play.

A timer went off in her mind. It had been five minutes now since the fight began, which meant To’Naviris would be arriving any moment. “Human, give it up!” She called out, ducking and weaving through the occult storm of flying Keiths. “This location is hardly the area of a proper duel!”

“Naw.” Keith called back. “How about I win here and send you packing first? Don’t worry, I won’t cut off your head. I’m more civilized.”

Gods damn that insufferable human. Of all times when she needed him to stop being good at fighting, it had to be now?

Relinquish laughed in the room, “Why my dear To’Aacar, does his combat style not look… familiar? Inspired even. Consider me shocked to hear you stay so quiet. Have you turned into a ghost?”

“My lady, my use of occult portals with my spear are certainly leagues above in terms of quality.” To’Avalis answered back, likely rapidly flashing through the memories of To’Aacar in order to get an accurate read on what the dead Feather would have answered. “The human’s attacks simply have more quantity to them. Hardly anything to boast about. A cute parlor trick for a race of insects I suppose.”

Relinquished laughed again, and a pale hand wrapped around To’Wrathh’s soul like a vice grip. She had the feeling the other Feathers in the room were equally being strangled in the same way, given how they all flinched and cowered, even To'Sefit.

Mother moved like a whisp, appearing right next to To'Avalis's digital avatar as he remained ram-rod straight. She lowered herself slightly, until her lips were right next to the nervous Feather. “Knowing how the second generation love their duels against strong opponents, I could see you simply dying for an opponent like this To'Aacar. Should you not feel a burning need deep down within yourself to prove above this challenge?” She could feel Mother’s gaze crawling up her spine now, violet eyes locked onto her. “Such a shame little To’Wrathh has already claimed him as hers. ”

“I do not care for a human pet, my lady. I am above such things.” To’Avalis said, trying to weave multiple layers of sound in that. Diplomatic answer, a layer of terror under it, with a seething undercurrent of anger. All manufactured. And deeper down, To’Wrathh knew there had to be that unsettling hint of genuine fear that To’Avalis himself felt.

“Nnn… one minute.” To’Orda said from the side, popping To’Wrathh's focus.

In that time, three Keith Missiles slashed through her shields and managed to nail her down twenty seven percent.

She doubled her attempts to get up to his main body, which remained on the top of the hill, arms folded, eyes watching her dance around the attempts to hold her off.

“Keith, I strongly recommend you give in and relocate!”

“Laying it on a bit thick there lady.” The rock commented in the digital space. “Terrible acting choice. Zero out of ten, do better.”

“My, my, I agree with the rock. You can’t be that direct with him To’Wrathh, what if he figures out you’re not trying to actually kill him?” To’Sefit gasped, then sent a winking image, one hand covering her fake gasp.

“Yeah, and if he figures that out, there’s no chance of tying him down to any bed frame, he'll be onto your game.” The rock added, equally adding another gasp and wink with its terrible doodled up images.

The human just laughed like a menace while To’Wrathh both wanted to die and kill everything in the local area around her.

She had to get to him, fast. Before To’Naviris and his army arrived in force. She went for broke, diving through the minefield of mono-directional Keith occult missiles, taking a few hits in the attempt. So long as she could get to him, she would be able to beat him down with sword and hand.

Seven occult lashes leaped out the back of his armor, attached to the rocks behind him, and yanked him out of her reach. He did so without so much as moving his crossed arms over his chest.

No wait - he did move them. It was to give her a lazy salute as he was whisked away back to safety, a wall of occult images springing out to block her way forward.

She tried three more times, and each time Keith bailed backwards, giving her insults and taunts all the while as she grew more and more desperate to end the fight before true danger showed up.

There was still one flaw to those lashes - unlike his occult ghosts that had no mass, Keith himself did. Which meant his top speed with those lashes had a limit and To’Wrathh’s shell wasn’t going to lose out to it.

She was a Feather damn it all.

Putting all her power into her flight system, she rocketed after him, blades slashing into his defense. He parried one set with his occult armguard and blade, while her other flurry of hits landed on the armor.

The dome fractal lit up at each strike point, nullifying her entire attack combo.

His armor hadn’t even triggered its actual shields. He swung back, defaulting to the engram given the movements matched what she remembered of Cathida. To’Wrathh was forced into the defensive, as Keith slipped away out of range, occult images dogpiling after her.

“What’s wrong Wrath? Getting a little rusty? What happened to the good old days, when it was just me, you, and a several ton mite doorway between us?”

She aborted her attempts and streamed up into the air, ready to deliver a typical monologue, but instead just found herself staring him down. Something wasn't right.

The dome fractals were not something Keith had been able to make use of prior.

That required incredible focus and raw willpower, something he generally struggled with. It was one of the few weaknesses her human had to his name… and somehow he was now pulling it off mid-combat. He’d only been gone for a day and some change, how had he dramatically improved?

She landed back down on the ground, slashing away at his occult images as she considered what had changed in her hu--

To'Wrathh thought she heard an organ in the distance. For a moment she double checked her feed, in case some of the Feathers in the chat room had planned out a prank. But no, she could hear a full on melody of deep tubular bells being rung, echoing across the valley, growing louder and louder. She halted her attacks at the same time he did.

"Is that from you?" He asked.

She shook her head then and looked out. There was something approaching, she could see the top of silver and metal moving through the forest.

No, plowing through the forest. Trees were being crushed out of the way as some kind of pipes all attached together was steadily making it's way through. Whatever the thing was, she could only see the top of it. She could hear chanting with it too, now close enough for her audio systems to catch it.

She back to Keith who seemed equally puzzled by the sound.

“CHILDREN.” A voice boomed out from across the valley. “What a GLORIOUS day!"

“Oh. Scrap.” Keith said as he finally saw trees get knocked down, the sound of deep bells ringing louder. “In hindsight, now I see why you kept asking to go somewhere else. Sorry I'm a little dense sometimes.”

The enemy rode into the clearing below all at once, on an utterly massive wave of white mechanical crabs, all chanting a background hymn while they ripped apart trees in their wake. And at the center, awkwardly being shuffled through like a large rock bumbling through a tsunami, was a massive church pipe organ. The kind of instrument that had no business ever moving anywhere, let alone be out in the open air. The sound rattled even To'Wrathh's metal wings at this distance. The small crabs strained to carry the weight, forcing the organ to bob and undulate in slow motion as the rest of the wave moved around frantically, ripping up the path of trees ahead in order to make way for the instrument.

The Feather himself was seated on a small bench, equally being moved with the church organ, too absorbed attacking the keystrokes with zealous focus.

The massive structure finally come to a stop by the foot of the hill where To'Wrathh and Keith stared down, both mute in silent shock.

To'Naviris continued to play for ten more seconds, focused in his task, finally coming to a stop with one final heavy slam into the keys with all the dramatic flourish of a Feather pent up alone in this strata for the past four hundred years.

All went quiet, the low chanting cutting off as the bells vibrated to a slow close.

Then, in the new silence that was left behind the sounds, To'Naviris took a deep, completely unneeded, breath of air and stood up from the bench seat. It swallowed up by the wave under him, sinking below the sea of machines, the organ itself equally starting to sink to the ground level, leaving one eighth of it hidden under the white wave of chitin and metal.

The machine wave moved the Feather, turning him around, gliding him across until he was dead center before the two combatants on the hill above.

The Feather raised his hands out as if delivering a sermon. "MY CHILDREN. What a GLORIOUS day it is indeed! The world has delivered upon me two GIFTS! One of metal and steel, one of flesh and bone! I gracefully accept both, and offer my deepest... appreciation."

"Gods, you Feathers are something else." Keith muttered, thing being far too weird for even his chaotic tastes.