It had been about three days since they all had set off for Castle Blackgaze, and Lance was already growing tired of this snow-covered wasteland. Compared to everything else that had happened up to this point, these snowy plains were endlessly boring. At first she had been grateful for the relative peace and quiet, it certainly did beat out the cells in New Romai, and she'd not choose to go back there over the endless trudge through the snow. Only an occasional stray frostbitten Fiend helped to break up the monotony, but otherwise the constant march was mind-numbing, aside from her sore feet anyhow. They were still a bit torn up from her sprint up the cavern, but they had recovered enough that this journey wasn't too taxing.
Things were only boring during the day… Every night, when it was time to set up camp, she'd snuggle up to Jason to keep herself warm, and he let her. She still hadn't needed to sleep yet, so she had spent every night fully awake in his arms. The more she looked at them, the more she appreciated his muscles. It was hard not to feel safe in his embrace, thankfully Nolvi needed to share the tent with them as well, meaning nothing inappropriate could take place.
Not that it would have, even if they were alone. Lance was not a hussy, they had not even begun proper courting yet. These feelings for Jason still felt surreal to her, she almost couldn't believe she'd chosen to love this man. It was like something out of a story book, a woman falling in love with a scion of divinity, who came from beyond the stars. Her mother and father likely wouldn't see it that way though, she could already imagine the hells they would raise if they found out.
Or when, if Jason reciprocated. She knew now that he was, at the least, physically attracted to her. All that was really left to figure out was if he loved her back, so now all that was needed was for her to sit back and wait for him to make that first step. Yet, what if he never did? This was Jason she was talking about, he was the most thick-headed man in the world.
But if Lance had it her way, then Jason would be her thick-headed man. Maybe she needed to be more clear with her hints? Hmm, not too clear, otherwise it would basically be her initiating. Was this really what romance was? It felt more like she was playing a game of tactics than anything else, nudging here, maneuvering there, and so on. Maybe she wouldn't be on the backfoot if she'd actually paid attention to her female peers' love troubles. It had just been so boring at the time, love just wasn't as interesting as scaring humans out of the forest. At least not until now, when it involved herself.
She continued to muse as they trudged along, her thoughts interrupted by Jason suddenly freezing in place.
Lance turned to stare at him, "What's wrong?"
"I have to go." Jason said, gently laying down the supplies, "I just picked up on an emergency beacon, coming from the west. I will be back-"
"Take me with you." Lance urged, "In fact, let's all go."
Jason hesitated, "Alright. Halm can you keep up with me?"
Halm laughed, "Not likely, but I'll follow your tracks. I'm not too slow. Little Nolvi, I can carry you along if you aren't scared."
"Yes please." Nolvi nodded, "I don't want to be left here alone."
Jason immediately picked up Lance before darting off, each footstep kicking up mounds of snow and dirt as he ran. Lance had to shut her eyes as the wind tore at her face, burying her head in her cloak as Jason continued on. She'd almost forgotten just how fast he could run, even with the suit on. Soon that familiar nausea began to return as she felt her stomach rise and fall with every step.
When they finally stopped, Jason released her, and she squatted down, putting both hands over her mouth as the world around her began to tilt. She wasn't used to this anymore, another trip like that and she'd die. How long had they been running, half an hour? It was hard to tell, time often ceased to exist when one was under the torment of nausea. Jason said nothing, just standing there next to her. Curious, she fought back her sickness to look up, seeing a ghastly sight.
Four black-plated bodies surrounded one of The Sparrow's escape shuttles, wearing the exact type of armor Michael had. Three of the bodies were mostly intact, but their backs were blown open, the plates perforated. She couldn't see any blood spatter amongst the snow, meaning that whatever took place here had happened a while ago. Slowly she stood, able to see the scene more clearly now.
It looked as if three of the corpses had been trying to flee from the shuttle, either that or they hadn't been anticipating an attack from behind. Two of the bodies were laying on their sides, as opposed to their backs, meaning they may have attempted to turn and face whatever had done this to them. All save for one body, the headless corpse lay propped up against the sealed shuttle door, a normal-sized Magnus laying beside him. Frozen gore stained the door, implying that the marine had blown his own head off.
She noticed Jason's fists clenching as he observed the scene… likely he came to the same conclusion that she had. Kazon's hatred had clearly affected these men, particularly the one who had wielded the shotgun. In his rage, he killed his comrades, then after realizing what he had done, turned the weapon upon himself. Jason did not try to explain this to her, just staring at the scene silently.
"Cat was lucky that she was alone." Jason said, "There aren't going to be any other survivors we'll come across out here. They're either dead like this, or cursed, like the marine Twindil healed at the bridge."
"Jason…" She whispered, trailing off.
She just didn't know what to say here. It was a tragic scene, even if he wasn't part of their military any longer, they were still his people. There weren't many Outworlders left, seeing them become cursed or perish must have been heartbreaking.
"It will take time, but I will bury them." He said resolutely, "After that, we'll be taking the pod with us instead of carrying the supplies by hand.
"Take as much time as you need, I can help you if you'd like." Lance said, putting a hand on his arm, "But isn't the pod too heavy?" Lance asked, "I don't know how you intend to bring it with us."
"I can drag it, there are retractable tow lines I can use that will emerge from the front of the pod. I will pull it with those." He nodded. "And no, Lance. I will dig the graves on my own, it will hardly take any time or exertion on my part, I don't want you wearing yourself out."
Lance nodded, "You speak sense, I suppose. As for the pod, I'm surprised that you didn't want to take the one you landed in before." Lance pointed out, "As in drag it around with you, I mean."
"I can't perform combat operations as effectively if I lug it with me wherever I go. Not only that, but it would have been slow to do so, and I was prioritizing finding my comrades as quickly as possible." Hoplite explained, "It is ideal in this scenario to bring it with us, the terrain is flat and it will be a much better shelter than that tent. It has its own Kelvinite piping, along with a toilet and its own water reserve. Add in the Tungsteel exterior and there is no good reason to use the tent as shelter instead of this."
"Why didn't you want to drag Michael's pod with us instead of the wagon?" Lance asked, "It was on the other side of the wall, wasn't it?"
Jason shook his head, "I considered it, but the pod was far too filthy, the water system had been compromised, it just wouldn't have been ideal. I wanted to get to the Fiendwood ASAP, taking the time to clean out the waste and other detritus, along with trying to repair the water system would have been far too time-consuming. The wagon had just seemed more optimal at the time.
Lance nodded, "That makes sense, I wouldn't mind procuring one or two pistols either, if that is alright."
"I see no reason that would be an issue." Jason nodded, "But I need to teach you how to use them properly."
She couldn't keep being scared of guns, not considering what they were going up against. She'd seen first hand what a single bullet could do to a Pillar-Born, Lance needed that power to go up against these Greater Fiends. Not that her chains wouldn't have been adequate, of course not, but there was nothing wrong with having options. She felt them wiggle slightly against her forearms, as if in response to her thoughts. How strange, it was almost like they really could read her mind sometimes… Her eyes widened, they probably did! How else would they know where to strike or where to float otherwise? Were the chains sapient, did they have a name?
The chains wiggled in reply.
Right then, she'd come up with a proper name for them soon. Jason moved over to the corpses before he began dragging them off to the side of the pod, lining them up beside one another with a grim silence. He then, with his armored hands, began to dig through snow and soil, until there were four equally sized holes, each one adjacent to one another. Halm and Nolvi finally arrived as Jason began gently lowering the bodies into the shallow graves, continuing to maintain his grim silence.
Lance explained to them what had happened, and wordlessly, Halm approached Jason, helping to bury the corpses. Neither man spoke a word as they moved the dirt back over the bodies, Lance and Nolvi watching silently. Eventually, Jason put a fist to his chestplate, his head hanging low. Halm partially stuck out his tongue before biting it gently, a sign of farewell from a Tongue of Zodd.
Nolvi just continued to stare at the shallow graves, her expression blank. However Lance could read a slight melancholy in her gaze. Lance shut her eyes and whispered a silent prayer for the souls of the departed. When she opened her eyes again, Jason cocked his helmet in Halm's direction.
"Why did you help me bury them?" He asked, "They aren't Tongues."
"A warrior is a warrior." Halm replied, "They don't need to be a Tongue for me to pay my respects."
Jason looked back to the mounds, silent for another moment before he went over to the pod. She didn't know how he was going to get in without breaking it, the pod back in the Faewood had a keypad, and so did this one, he couldn't have known the right number for it- Jason tapped a few digits, the door sliding right open on the first try.
"How did you guess that right the first time?" Lance asked, surprised.
Jason's helmet turned to her, "The digits are the same for each drop pod." He explained, "As long as the shuttles are from the same ship, of course."
"So this fell from the sky?" Halm asked as he rounded the pod, "Is the metal casing an Artifact? There isn't even a dent in it, and it had a long way to go if it came from that thing next to the moon."
Lance looked up, shocked to see the dead shell of the Final Kind's ship still floating next to Rhetyna. In all the turmoil in this adventure, she'd almost forgotten about it's presence.
"Not at all." Jason answered, "It's made from thick layers of Tungsteel, it's highly impact resistant."
"This is neat, I would like to hit something with it." Halm clapped his hands together, a sound that was akin to metal pans bashing together, "Can I pick it up?"
Jason shook his head, "Negative. This is to be our shelter, do not do anything to compromise the supplies inside." He finished, stepping into the pod.
Lance followed after him, curious to see what was inside. He'd never allowed her or anyone else to come into the pod with him, she was excited to see what it was like. Four chairs lined each side of a narrow aisle, with compartments below them for storage. Beside her was another chair made of steel, but it was strange. It was round with a hole in the center, and a pool of water filled the bottom. Could that be a basin for washing oneself? She could use a cleanse right about now, but that could wait until later.
She changed her mind once she saw an actual basin beside it, also made of steel and at chest height. Two levers sat on either side of what looked like a spigot.
Jason turned to her then as he reached the far door on the other side of the pod, "That's the toilet and sink." He explained.
"It's strange to have two sources to draw water from, wouldn't the spigot here be more than enough?"
"The water in the toilet is used to remove waste, the paper set into the wall beside it is for cleaning." He said, pointing to a small alcove next to the toilet.
Indeed there was a roll of parchment there, which upon further inspection, was soft to the touch. She frowned, if this was for removing waste, then that must have meant this was the chamber pot, right? Did the hole in the bottom suck away the refuse by using the water somehow? There was another lever sticking out of the top, attached to a pipe. That must have been how to trigger the removal.
"Is this lever the one to pull?" Lance asked, pointing to it, "To remove the waste, I mean."
Jason nodded, "That's right."
Lance pulled it, letting out a squawk as the toilet roared at her, sending her scrambling backward. The water level within rose before forming a whirlpool, the water then rushing down quickly before the pool reformed with a light hiss. She heard a strange sound coming from Jason, and she looked over at him, indignant.
"Did you just snicker at me?" She asked, crossing her arms.
"Negative." He told her.
She could tell from his tone that he was smiling under that damn helmet of his. Laugh at her terror, would he? She would get even one day, mark her words. Despite the thought, she found herself smiling as well. He needed to have some light-hearted fun after the grim burial just a few moments ago, if she was the one he needed to laugh at, then very well. That didn't mean she wouldn't get her revenge though.
Jason turned back around, opening the door to what must have been the cockpit. There was another chair inside that one as well, with dozens of levers and other buttons on a large panel in front of it. She tried to squeeze past Jason to see more, but his bulk made it impossible.
"Can you wait just a second?" Jason asked, tone growing slightly irritated.
"Don't you take that tone with me." Lance scolded, "I've been wanting to see what it's like in one of these things for ages now."
"You could have looked in Michael's pod after I retrieved him." He pointed out.
"I couldn't go in there." She told him, "You didn't smell it, it was hellish in there."
"You can wait until I'm out of the way. I can't back out with you standing right there." He reasoned, "Please."
Lance acquiesced, and Jason left the cockpit, stepping aside to allow her in. Excitedly, Lance began inspecting the different buttons, marvelling at how many there were. An immature part of her desired to push some of them, but Lance suppressed it. There was no telling what would happen if she did that, the pod might explode if she did something wrong. She sat in the pilot's seat, surprised at how comfortable it was.
It was then she noticed that there was a strange little piece of parchment beneath the control pad. She grabbed it, quickly realizing that it was a tiny booklet with laminated pages. She opened it eagerly, surprised to see that all the text was in perfect Saiharan. She supposed that it shouldn't be so shocking, considering who Jyn really was. Why had he decided to make the Outworld follow the Ahkoolian tongue? She supposed that she would never find out, he was the Banished Child for a reason, and he would never return to Ahkoolis. That was for the best, she didn't want Jason to fall under his power again.
As she read through the pages, Lance quickly came to realize that it was instructions for how to operate the shuttle, from how to slow it's descent once it breached atmosphere, to proper landing technique, as well as all the buttons and levers. She found herself pulled into the manual, eagerly digesting its contents until she heard Nolvi speaking to Jason behind her. She closed the manual, turning to see that Nolvi was inside as well, inspecting the toilet as Lance had.
She reached for the lever, but hesitated, right before letting her hand fall away. She may have been curious to see how it worked, but no doubt she'd heard Lance's reaction earlier. Nolvi was likely too nervous to test it. Lance herself was unsure about how she'd feel using it as a chamber pot, would she have to hear it scream at her every single time? How did the Outworlders stand it? These toilets must have only been installed in these escape pods, no one in their right mind would want to have a screaming watery chamber pot in their home.
Lance put the booklet back in its compartment before she stood, leaving the cockpit. She realized that the temperature was actually quite nice in here, compared to the freezing cold outside. It wasn't warm per say, it was just normal. Jason had said that it had Kelvinite piping, just like his suit did. Meaning that it fed off the cold and expelled heat as a result, but wouldn't the heat just build up in the interior? It must have worked both ways, when too much heat began being expelled, the Kelvinite would switch to feeding off cold and vice versa. She would love to have a coat woven with Kelvinite, those Faewood summers would have been a lot more bearable if she had one.
She then saw Halm, peeking in from the outside, "A bit too snug in here for me, too broad across the shoulders." He sighed, "Looks nice though. No room for bedding though, unless you plan on sleeping between those chairs."
"The chairs recline." Jason told him, "They will be suitable enough."
Lance's eyes fell slightly. If they could each rest in a chair and the temperature would stay moderate, that meant she couldn't snuggle up next to Jason any longer. As much as she hated to admit it, Lance was used to it by this point. No matter, she wouldn't die if she didn't sleep right next to him.
Jason then began inspecting the compartments, finding extra food, water, and weaponry inside. There weren't just the ones beneath the chairs as she originally thought, but there were others above them, with doors that swung downward to reveal dozens of shelves. Nodding to himself, Jason sealed the compartments before directing everyone's attention to the massive steel canister next to the cockpit's door. It was nearly as tall as he was, but was only as thick as his arm.
"This is filled with air. Don't interact with it unless you have my express permission." Jason said firmly.
"If it's just air, why do you make it sound like it's so deadly?" Nolvi asked, staring at the cylinder.
"It's highly compressed, if it somehow gets punctured it may explode. It's not likely, but I still wanted to warn you, also do not bring any source of fire close to it, that may also cause it to explode."
Lance frowned, "I just won't do anything around it." She told him, "That's more frightening than the toilet, why even have it in here if it's such a hazard?"
"It's for emergencies, if a crew gets stranded in space or sinks into an ocean, they can release some air from a valve when they run out of oxygen. This is just to keep the crew alive until they can be retrieved." Jason explained.
"I see." Nolvi said, quickly looking away from it, "I shouldn't stare at it either."
"Just remember what I said, and there won't be any incidents. Also do not touch the firearms unless I am there to supervise you. I can teach you how to use them, but you must obey my commands during instruction, understood?" He asked firmly.
"Those dainty little toys are too small for these sausage-fingers." Halm replied, "I'm not interested."
"I have my eyes." Nolvi told him, "I do not think I need to use them."
"I'm interested, Jason." Lance spoke up, "I've fired one before, remember?"
"When we first fought Tuji." Jason nodded, "That was an incredible shot for a beginner." He complimented.
"Really?" She asked, "Well now I really want to learn!"
She'd never been good with a bow, but what if she had an innate talent with firearms? It was possible that she had only gotten a lucky shot off on Tuji, but what if it hadn't been luck? She couldn't leave this mystery unsolved.
"Can we try right now?" Lance asked.
Jason shook his head, "I wanted to rendezvous with the others first if possible. The more of us that are armed, the better, and if we start practice firing, I don't want us being attacked when it's just the four of us."
"Fair enough." Lance sighed, her eyes landing on one of the open compartments.
She could see a small pistol inside, like the one Michael had given her during the fight with Tuji. Hopefully the boy was alright, those caves were dangerous, even for a vampire.
"We still have time left in the day," Jason said, "Let's keep moving, Nolvi, Lance, you can stay inside the pod if you want, if I can drag you full speed we'll reach Blackgaze faster and you won't exert yourselves. Halm you can ride on top of the pod if you want, the weight won't be an issue for me.
"You'll exhaust yourself." Halm frowned, "I weigh as much as ten men put together. I have no doubt that you can pull it, but not for long."
Nolvi shook her head, "He can do it. He had no trouble pulling our wagon along."
"That had wheels." Halm pointed out, "This is through thick snow and this pod is smooth on the bottom."
"Making it an ideal sled." Jason countered, "I won't exhaust myself, Halm. The suit does most of the work when I use it. For me It would be as exhausting as wearing a backpack, and I can feed myself with Foundation to nullify even that."
"Well, I see no issue with it." Lance said, "Nolvi?"
"If he's sure he can do it, I see no reason to complain." Nolvi nodded, "We may arrive before Twindil and the others, but that's fine. It may be easier for them to find us if they discover the trail this pod will leave."
"Fine then," Halm nodded, "Then I agree, let us see the strength of your arms, Jason."
"First, we need to retrieve the supplies we left behind." Jason told them, "I'll be right back."
With that, Jason sped off, the snow turning into tidal waves of white as he sprinted away, quickly vanishing over the horizon. He came back a little while later, bindle and barrel in hand before he put them inside the pod. After that, Lance and Nolvi took their seats, the door to the outside closing. The torches, or light bulbs as Jason had called them, buzzed ever so slightly after the door was closed. Or rather, it was more noticeable now that the wind outside couldn't be heard. It wasn't long before she felt the pod being dragged forward, slowly at first, then exploding forth. The pod tilted upward slightly as it went, likely due to the snow it was smashing beneath it.
Nolvi's neck strained as she clutched her armrests tightly, lips drawn to a line. Lance did much the same, but she was also grateful that her stomach wasn't being shaken to oblivion. If she did get nauseous, she would have to brave that horrible toilet, she didn't want to sick up on the floor. An hour passed before Lance could bring herself to relax in her seat, but she still kept her hands firmly on the armrests despite that. More time passed until finally, the pod slowed, coming to a complete stop. Lance had no idea how much time had passed until the pod doors opened, revealing that night had fallen.
Jason stood there, Halm right behind him, "We can see the castle now."
Lance and Nolvi stood, the latter a tad more shaky as she stepped outside. Lance herself was unbothered, that had been nothing compared to being carried, she didn't feel sick in the least. Emerging back into the bitter, wind tearing cold, Lance spotted something glowing in the distance. There, atop a high cliff, was a massive set of dark walls, underlit by pulsating crimson crystals. They looked to be made of pure obsidian, and stood just as high as the Root-Wall that guarded The Bastion.
What must have been the Crymstolys were chaotic in size and shape, the crystals glowing an ominous shade of red. They lined the entirety of the Black Walls, which stretched across the entire cliff face as far as the eye could see. A thick fog obscured everything behind the walls, but she could at least see the outlines of tall spires. The cliff the castle was set upon was sheer and unclimbable, the only clear path up being a slanted stone bridge.
This path led straight up to the only break in the Crymstolys, a gate of dark iron. Lance frowned, they could not just walk up to the gate and ask to be allowed inside, meaning they either had to breach it or scale the walls. Lance preferred the latter, but climbing it might be impossible, she wasn't sure. If she could only see through the fog more clearly, then she'd be able to pick out more details.
"This is far too unnatural." Jason noted.
"How do you mean?" Lance asked.
"Look at how the cliff is shaped." He pointed to it, "It's far too clean, like it was lifted straight out of the ground."
Halm nodded, "It isn't a natural formation. Castle Blackgaze was once Lithia's seat of power; it was made for her by the Pillar-Gods themselves, raising the rock from the earth so it could not be assailed easily by mortals. The only way up the cliff is to use the bridge, meaning that we'll be easy to spot, I'm afraid."
"Practice firing will be impossible without alerting them we're here, I'd need to move us somewhere else to do that. The distance as well as the fog will keep us concealed for now, but we cannot rely on that. We'll need to find a better hiding place than this." Jason said, crossing his arms.
"Actually Jason," Nolvi began, "I have an idea, we might not have to move from this spot at all."
"Do you intend on using illusion magic?" Jason asked, "I considered that, but I don't have the ability to cover us out in the open like this completely."
"Why not?" Lance asked, "I thought they were easy to maintain?"
"They maintain themselves." Jason told her, "But I can only cast two of them, and I can only make them about as big as a doorway right now, there would be visible gaps that enemy forces could see through."
"I can only cast two illusions as well," Nolvi admitted, "But I can make them far larger than that, I'll place them facing the castle, all they will see is another blank section of snow."
"I will add my own illusions as well, just in case-" Jason paused, right before shaking his head.
"What's wrong?" Nolvi asked, "I think it's a great plan."
"It is, I'm just disappointed with myself." Jason sighed, "We don't need to leave to practice firing, I can suppress any noise that the firearms would make. This isn't just ideal for practice, if I suppress my rifle, I can pick off hostiles silently from a distance. Unfortunately, I can only cast that spell twice."
"You must also remember the limits of your Foundation." Nolvi told him, "You can maintain several different spells, that's true, but if you divert too many resources to them, you won't be able to launch a strong Counter Spell if you need it. Invisibility, Sound Suppression, the more you divert your Foundation, the less efficient your spells will be. Thankfully you have a naturally massive reserve of it, so this isn't too much of an issue for you, but once you do learn to cast more than two of the same spell, you may overdo it and be left with barely functional spells."
"It's like water pressure." Jason said, seemingly more to himself, "The more diversions, the less powerful the stream."
"Exactly." Nolvi nodded, "Grandmother told me that the more Foundation you put into one spell, the more effective it is compared to splitting your power between multiple ones."
"I remember." Jason said, "For my operations in New Romai though, I needed to utilize several at a time…" He finished, trailing off.
"What are you thinking about?" Lance asked.
His head turned toward the pod, before back to the gate, "I may have a plan to get everyone inside without being spotted. I need to work out more details though, I'll let you all know when I have something more concrete. Now, let's put those illusions up and get some rest. Lance, we'll begin your firearm training tomorrow, with all the extra rounds we've just procured, we can afford to expend a few rounds."
Lance nodded, excitement mixing with dread as she turned to stare back up at Castle Blackgaze once again. In there resided Kazon and his minions, a dangerous legend, and here she was, preparing to go and kill him with a group of Pillar-Born, a half-Dragon Outworlder, and a sapient Fiend, not to mention Theopalu, a genuine demi-god who'd lived throughout almost all the ages. Their party could not possibly be any stranger, or more dangerous. Out of all the adventurers that have come to kill Kazon in the past, this group was the most likely to succeed.
She dearly hoped that none of them would die, but Lance didn't want to get her hopes up. It was practically a guarantee that at least one of their number would perish or worse… her hands clenched, palms sweaty despite the freezing cold. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up to see Jason staring down at her, helmet still on.
"We'll be fine." He said, "Minimal casualties."
She frowned, he was still as blunt as always, hopefully that would never change.