Chapter 497 – The Mountains Move

The Inchoate Mountains were supposed to be at the foot of the Tree that Holds Worlds, so that’s where they started: directly outside the Roots of the World Tree. It wasn’t a small space; the World Tree was as wide as a mountain, by far the largest tree Sophia had ever seen. They circled the World Tree and paid attention to their surroundings; if they were at the foot of a mountain range, it ought to be easy to tell.

They weren’t even at the lowest point in their surroundings. There were several deep gouges in the ground nearby, usually filled with water like ponds. There was no clear mountain range near them; oh, there were mountains, but they were scattered across more than half the sky. 

It also wasn’t possible to tell where the fog that filled the lower reaches of the area outside the World Tree came from. It was everywhere and it didn’t move.

Sophia finally gave in and admitted to herself that they needed to use the Mage’s wayfinding spell now rather than once they were already on the mountain. She turned and flew to the opening in the World Tree that led to Kestii Tower and the Broken Lands; the root there was large enough for all of them and it was it seemed somehow right to find the way to her next stop while standing at the doorway to where she’d been before.

When she landed, she could tell Dav was carefully restraining the impulse to say he told her so. He had, even if he hadn’t fought very hard when she insisted on trying without the spell. “It shouldn’t be this hard.”

“There’s no map,” Dav said as he landed next to her. “At least, not one that includes geography other than the islands and the World Tree. It’s weird to me; even if it changes regularly as islands shift, why aren’t there any maps?”

“I don’t think it’s because of the spells on the workshop,” Sophia disagreed once again. “There are maps of the islands and how they relate to each other, with notable features. They’re a lot like I’ve seen on other planets, planets without satellites and cameras. Heck, even maps from a hundred years ago-”

“Would have included the mountain ranges,” Dav interrupted. “Or at least the handful of peaks that pierce the cloud layer. These don’t.”

“Because they move,” Xin’ri countered, agreeing with Sophia’s point. “I think Sophia’s right. Look up; what do you see?”

Sophia followed her friend’s hand. It looked normal for Arcatiz. “Floating islands in the clouds. It’s hard to see from down here.”

“No, I see what she means,” Dav disagreed with a shake of his head. “This is near where we left the World Tree this morning, but the islands have moved. Some of them have moved a couple of miles; others haven’t gone as far. They’re in almost the same relative positions, but they’ve shifted around the World Tree.”

“They’re moving with the winds,” Xin’ri agreed. “I’m not sure why they stay near the World Tree, but if you watch them, you can see them move across the sky slowly.”

“The World Tree must influence the local weather, create a low pressure spot or a high pressure spot, whichever one makes weather move around it,” Sophia guessed. She wasn’t a meteorologist, but she was pretty sure one of those things made the winds swirl instead of moving like a normal storm line. “There could also be enchantments on the islands to move them or try to keep them near the World Tree. That would be better than having to move islands regularly.”

“That would explain why the maps have so many more islands near the World Tree than elsewhere,” Dav mused. “I assumed it was just because they weren’t inhabited, but if they’re actually moved closer to the World Tree because the Archons want more living space near the most important location on their planet … fine. I guess there is a reason the features below the clouds don’t appear on the maps; they’ve only mapped above the cloud layer.”

“It might have something to do with the cloudtrees being native to the nearby mountains, too,” Xin’ri added. “They might move themselves to stay nearby.”

“Could be,” Sophia agreed. She didn’t need to rub in the fact that she’d won the debate about maps with Xin’ri’s help any more than Dav made the point that he was right about the wayfinding runescript. “Can you help me lay this out?”

Sophia carefully pulled the roll of mana-rich parchment out of her pack, then carefully unrolled it and checked for any damaged inscriptions. There were a few cracks in the protective upper coating, so she brushed over them carefully with a brush lightly coated in manaphilic resin, then carefully pushed the resin into the cracks with her aura. The repair was probably not necessary but Sophia didn’t want to remake the entire runescript. That took days.

She also didn’t want to return to the World Tree right now. A sulking Leo was a sight to behold, and he didn’t react well to being told he didn’t get to come with them. She kept turning around expecting him to appear where he wasn’t supposed to be and he didn’t need any more opportunities for that.

Cleaning the brush was easy enough; the resin followed her aura as she pushed it into the last of the damaged areas. There was a slight residue, of course, but that would have to be cleaned later with paint thinner. For now, it was clean enough to tuck back where it belonged.

Sophia sealed up the resin pot and settled it into her pack next to the brush, then sighed to herself and checked the runescript one last time. There were no obvious flaws or even any hidden ones she could make out, but there was only one way to check it more carefully. “Dav?”

“It looks identical to me,” her boyfriend confirmed.

Sophia set the key in place and activated the runescript by pushing her mana into the nearby input rune. As the Eidolon said, it was easy to activate the runescript; that was definitely the easiest part of this whole process.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an enchantment like that,” an unexpected voice commented.

Sophia looked up to see the Wanderer standing just beyond the edge of the rune-inscribed parchment. His attention was on the runescript rather than on Sophia. “Revanos?”

“That’s my name,” the Wanderer agreed with an easy smile. “You’re ready to head for Mimir’s workshop, I assume?”

“Yeah,” Sophia agreed. “I wasn’t expecting you, though.”

Revanos shrugged. “I might not have said it, but I didn’t exactly hide my interest in traveling with you to try to find Lady M’Beja. I had a few things to deal with before I could leave, but they’re handled well enough for now and I’m not about to let you travel into a danger that trapped my friend without me. Are you sure you’re ready to go?”

Sophia frowned. That was almost the same question as the Eidolon asked the last time they spoke, so Sophia gave him the answer she’d given the Eidolon. “I’m not going to get any more ready without actually seeing the spell. I can’t … these runescripts don’t make proper spellforms until they’re activated. I can’t see them to know what to bypass. What I can do is know when I’m about to walk into something I shouldn’t, so we can turn around and get out if we have to. That means we can go look at the real thing, which might let me puzzle it out enough to actually do something. If not … if not, I don’t know what I’ll do. Something.”

She really did know what she’d do; she’d ask her father for more help. If it really seemed impossible, she might even ask her father to send Uncle Althyr across the Origin, but that was for emergencies. Uncle Althyr would probably crash his way through the protective barriers the local Gatekeepers and the Guide created for all of the Gateways, which could be a disaster far larger than the fact that she was temporarily delayed getting home.

That didn’t mean she was about to let herself become permanently trapped in some sort of broken stasis spell. The last note she’d sent told her brother what she was going to try to do and that she was leaving Leo behind in the World Tree, so if everything went wrong, Xavier would know he needed to send help. She just had to hope that he’d come up with a more elegant solution than her uncle’s.

Or better yet that it wouldn’t be necessary at all. 

“I’m pretty sure that if I can see the actual ward, I can do something about it. That’s definitely what the runescript on the building is making; it has to be. Any long-term enchantment like that is basically a ward. Thing is, I normally bypass wards, I don’t take them down. Taking them down gets noticed. I can, but I usually don’t. In this case, with that much power … I’m going to have to be really careful. I won’t even know if I can do it or not until I can see the thing!” Sophia bit her lip to stop her rant. 

She was really unhappy about the runescript; it didn’t tell her anything about the actual spellform it created, which was completely unlike the runescripts she learned as a child. They were predictable and you could build from simple runescripts to more complex ones. Every single one of these inscriptions using Bridge as the runic language was unique!

“That is part of why I’m going with you,” Revanos declared. He twisted to face Xin’ri and Jax. “I can, with your permission, move you through space. You two are harder than Sophia and Dav, though I can manage it if you choose to come.”

“You’re not leaving us behind,” Xin’ri stated flatly. “Not for this. I know how important it is to be able to go home, even if you choose not to go.”

Jax laid a hand on Xin’ri’s forearm but didn’t say anything. His face was still, but his body spoke loudly; he agreed with his partner.

“Good,” Revanos said quietly. “We should talk before we go. I should have said something earlier, but I expected more time. The easiest place to send you all to is a place we’ve planned ahead of time; I could send you back here, for example. I can also simply move you away from the problem, whatever it is, but that’s far more limited, especially for those who are not my Hallowed."

“Here is fine if you need a place,” Xin’ri agreed. “But only if we aren’t needed there; if we can still help, I don’t want to be sent away.”

“Of course,” Revanos agreed. “Everyone else?”

Sophia nodded. Dav and Jax murmured agreement.

“Then is there anything else we should talk about before we head out?” Revanos turned towards Sophia as if he expected her to have something.

“I don’t think so?” Sophia wasn’t sure. “We’re going to follow the key. I’m not about to argue with you coming to help; that would be silly. Did you think I would?”

The Wanderer chuckled. “Most people seem to think that I should stay behind and do Patron things because I’m a Patron.”

“Then you’re not coming because you want to see M’Beja?” Dav asked with a note in his voice that Sophia thought was teasing. 

“It is,” Revanos answered with a grin. “And because I feel like I got you into something that might be a bit much for you, so I should be here to help. That doesn’t mean I don’t travel with other Hallowed; I do, regularly. I like to travel; you don’t get a name like the Wanderer if you like to stay put.”