The heart wants what it wants.

  I'm sure that many of you have heard the statement. I'm sure that many of you have even used it a few times to justify doing something exceedingly foolish. The sentiment is that you cannot fight an existing emotion, that it is not a thing of logic. In part, your instructors agree. There is no universally defining logic. Rationality is a murky pond with questionable depths.

  However, you can modulate your own foolishness, and you can take full advantage of someone else's.

  The urge to betray oneself, to create impediments in one's life, is created from a variety of factors coalescing together. Most often, it is the lingering traces of emotional maladaptation left over from childhood, from previous traumas, and from addictive or anti-social behaviors that have been injected into you by way of birth and environmental design.

  Take into account something simple: The most common way we can find leverage against a person is in the mundane. Someone is unfaithful. Someone cheats on those they promise to be forever bound to. This is a common issue. The reasons behind this are also quite numerous:

  Some people are looking for thrills. Others are simply regretful that they found themselves forced into a deceiving arrangement with another; they yearn for freedom. Others are trying to punish their lover, though they still feel connected to them. Others punish their lover and don't feel connected.

  It is very complicated, as all this needs to be viewed on a person-by-person basis.

  Ultimately, however, this singular statement defines all personal treachery: people want, people imagine. When people want and imagine, a mirage forms—a mirage of desire, of an oasis beyond the pleasures they currently can taste in the desert of their life. That which might be will always be enticing. That which could be will always be the thing that lures one to their doom. For the heart that can't ignore it, they will be drawn out like moths to a naked flame. For a while, the moth might burn; for a while, the moth might be the flame. But moths make for poor kindling, and lies are worse than any fire.

  For lies are our domain. If one is to seek betrayal, then they have already given themselves to us in part. And so, my dear little birds, when someone is standing on the edge, it is your solemn duty to push them over and find use in their remains.

  Now, for your assignment, look around the room. Stare at one of your fellows. See if you can find what they have lied about. See if you can use it to lever them into submitting to your will. It will be a fun exercise. The ones who fail will be removed. The ones who manage will stay and move on to the next course. Good fortune.

  -The Anatomy of Treachery, Aviary

  257 (I)

  Extraction [IV]

  Sage of the Enkindled Heart: You told her too much at once. She is now bearing far too much of a burden. Not only does she carry Blackedge on her shoulders, not only is she facing a terminal metamorphosis; now she has to glare down the shadows of her past in the form of a creature she might not even trust.

  Maybe, Shiv replied, but I'm not going to lie to her. And even if it makes me feel sick to my stomach, I know there's a chance she might not make it out of this. I don't want her to go into the dark, not knowing what happened to her mother or all the details behind her mother's death. It's too much, but it's always going to be too much. I don't think there's any way out of this.

  Sage of the Enkindled Heart: You could have applied the information with a bit more gentleness.

  There's no gentleness when it comes to death, Shiv answered. And that was what he believed. Yet, part of him still doubted, part of him still worried.

  Uva did, in fact, request to speak to Tulveg, and so he and Adam briefly departed from Hymn's mindscape to give them a bit of room. This was a deeply personal matter.

  With that, Shiv found himself faced with his assortment of companions and potential allies or enemies once more. The eldritch chasm that had allowed them to peer into the Outside was gone. The fireplace crackled with its deep-black flames again, returned without any hint of damage.

  Above, the Dragon Brokers peered down at him thoughtfully, their eyes glinting with intelligence and questionable intentions. Shiv tried to read them using his social skills but found them impenetrable. It wasn't even because they weren't human or any race he was familiar with. Instead, there seemed to be an impenetrable barrier surrounding them. He gained glimpses of emotion, but beyond that, they were exceptionally well-guarded. More importantly, they felt like the sources of great disturbances, things that caused waves to shift and crash. In summation, he suspected that their social skills far outstripped his own.

  "Was that really necessary?" Adam asked, staring at Shiv. It seemed that the Gate Lord had the same apprehensions as Shiv's skill. He couldn't even blame him.

  "I didn't like doing it, but I think so, yeah."

  "It's a lot for her to take in right now."

  "It is. But I saw what the truth did to Roland after all those years. And I think there is no ‘good time.’ I think there is no moment when you want to find out the darkness of your past. It's just always going to rip you open. Now, if it rips you open quickly, it might do some more damage, and it might feel like a lot. But after a long period of time, it might just fester inside of you. I guess I just didn't want her to turn out like your dad. And also..."

  Shiv didn't finish the last part of his statement. He didn't need to. Adam looked away, and the Deathless knew his friend understood.

  "Do you think he's going to be alright?" Adam asked.

  "Your dad?"

  Adam gave him a slight nod. “And my mom—all of them, really.”

  "Absolutely fucking not. The only reason you're asking me is that you're looking for a bit of hope. We both know Roland Arrow—you know him better than I do. But Roland is a man of honor. Roland tries to do his best for most people. Especially you. And, my guess, he tried to do the best things for my family too, before everything went to shit. What he suffered at their hands was… It was more than betrayal—more than what anyone could describe. Now it seems that the woman he regarded as a sister had been taken without him ever noticing by an enemy he thought he'd already killed. So yeah, I don't think he's gonna be alright about this for a while."

  The Gate Lord's expression darkened. "I forgot to thank you."

  And now Shiv was confused. "For what?"

  "For not dropping the truth on them before I ever had a chance to speak with them."

  "Yeah, you're welcome—Fuck, I still need to talk to Georges. With all this bullshit happening, I didn't even get a chance to ask if he was alright. Shit…”

  A loud inhale drew both Shiv and Adam's attention. All heads in the room turned to Tulveg, and the vampire shuddered, blinking. He managed to master himself, and after a long sigh, he looked back to Shiv. "She wants to speak with you. Alone. I do not think she trusts me. And… I do not think she likes me."

  Shiv grunted. "Yeah, I don't know what to tell you about that, man. You're a vampire. Even if you're exiled, she’s spent most of her life fighting your kind."

  "No, that, I understand," Tulveg said. "Her mother was the same way. The exact same way, in fact. It is not just like speaking to an echo. It is almost like speaking to a copy at some points."

  "It is, huh?" Shiv said. He narrowed his eyes at the vampire. "Hey, Tulveg, no offense, but if you make any moves on my girl because of leftover emotions about her mom, I'm going to have a problem with that. We’re not doing this shit.”

  Tulveg stared blankly at Shiv.

  "We're just diving into the most uncomfortable emotional matters over and over again, aren't we?" Adam commented with a sigh.

  Shiv rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm just making things known. I don't want any confusion about this. We clear on that, Tulveg?"

  The vampire let out a grunt but didn't say anything otherwise. Shiv hoped that they didn't need to revisit this topic. But something about Tulveg hinted at a character that was desperately and emotionally unstable. And that reminded Shiv of Sullain.

  Shiv really didn’t like being reminded of Sullain.

  He sighed. "Hey Tulveg, this is not a threat. I’m not saying we’re going to get violent over this, but I'm laying it out there so we don't get confused about this in the future. You understand?" Once more, the vampire grunted at Shiv's words, but there was less emotional agitation written upon his face.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  That was as much as Shiv could expect right now.

  "Ready to go back in?" Hymn asked. Shiv gave the Headmaster a near-reluctant nod, and the man projected a cone of Psychomancy over him. Once more, the world turned into translucent whirls of mist, and before him, Uva manifested. She looked troubled, but more composed than he'd expected. Her arms were folded, and her face was creased in a deepening frown.

  Shiv rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry to drop that all on you at once, but uh, I thought you really deserved to know. And… uh, stuff…”

  Uva didn't say anything at all for several seconds. When she opened her mouth again, however, it was with resolute intent. "Alive," Uva said. "I want the Giantsbane’s grandson alive. I want to face him myself. I want to know the truth.”

  "Yeah, I thought you would," Shiv replied. "That's why I joined the vampire on his hospital raid. Part of the reason, anyway. The other part was that I didn't trust him to keep casualties to a minimum.” He shuffled awkwardly for a moment. "So, what did he tell you about him and your mom?"

  A long sigh slipped out of the Umbral. "Things I don't think I wish to believe. Things I'm still struggling to process right now. But as much as I despise the substance of his words, I think he wasn't lying. I couldn't taste any hint of a lie, though he is quite the substantial Psychomancer himself. It wouldn't take much effort on his part to mask his true feelings from us. What does your Psychology Skill tell you about him?"

  "That he's a bomb waiting to go off. That he's still fixated on your mom. That he's driven by anger and grief. And also that he might be imprinting on you the same way he imprinted on your mom."

  Somehow, Uva's expression got even more sour.

  "I told him to think twice about trying to make any moves on you," Shiv said.

  A faint twinkle flickered behind her eyes. "Oh, feeling possessive about your territory, are we, Deathless? Well, I don't think that's exactly fair. Didn't you seduce two women while I was gone? Don't you have unclaimed children to father?"

  Shiv sighed. "I'm gonna shove a carrot up Adam's ass for saying that. No, listen, let me explain. My Perfect Semblance is this guy called Marcus Unblood. Despite being partially physically crippled and also looking sort of deformed, the guy somehow managed to attract at least two different girls from his village. I'll just cut a long story short and say that that caused a big damn mess I had to handle."

  "Sounds like a fun side adventure," Uva said. “Were the girls High-Tiered, at least?”

  "No. Not even real Adepts. And it was a fun little adventure, at least until we got to the ‘death and ruined families’ bit." Shiv thought about Magnolia and the others from Old Brunswick. He gritted his teeth. "Listen, I'm sorry for dropping all that on you at the same time, really. I just don't know if there is going to be a better time. So I decided against hesitating and just pulled the blade out right away."

  "Like you often do," Uva replied with a faint breath of exasperation. But she didn't blame him. He could feel that. "I thank you for letting me know, and that conversation… I don't know what to make of Tulveg, but I think we should keep him close. If nothing else, he will give us insight into the First Blood. And if his animosity is true, we might be able to use him against the vampire elders to great effect."

  Shiv chuckled. "A Sister of the Arachnae Order, even now."

  She smirked at him. "Always and forever. I will never forget what the Composer did for my people." But then there was a beat, a hint of hesitation, a sliver of doubt. "But… there are things I'm beginning to notice, limitations within her. She spoke to me at a few points. I felt her reaching out to me, but she could offer only lament and sympathy." Uva paused as if struggling to process the words she was about to say. "She does not have the power needed to change my fate. And I fear that... that she may not have the power needed to change the fate of Weave either."

  And that was a bitter realization, if there ever was one. Shiv had felt this at several points as well. He had learned long ago that good intentions and noble souls didn't mean much in a world that was ruled by conflict. It was why Georges couldn't change his fate, even though he cared about Shiv, even though he had authority over the kitchen. The world was ruled by people who wielded calamitous powers, who delved into ruinous lores, who held blades that could hew horizons.

  "Suppose that's gonna have to be up to us, then," Shiv said. "Why else should we be Legends? Why else should we be powerful? If not to change the world, to make things better. Is that what you're thinking about? That if we manage to survive this, and you make it back to Weave, you could help the Composer make things better?"

  "I was thinking more than 'I'," Uva said. "I was thinking 'we.' And I was thinking about more than Weave. I was thinking about our gate, about the people you and Adam helped save, about what we're doing now. I think we stand close to change, and we must be prepared to embrace it, but also to be strong enough to decide our own fate. But after that, yes—it would be a dream seized from the trials of this nightmare to avenge my mother, to return home with the power to better the lives of my Sisters and Honored Mothers, to aid my goddess. And to see my home grow beyond what it is. To see my family grow grander as well."

  That made something inside Shiv do a flip.

  "The Republic will come after Blackedge's survivors. They will not stop until they seize Roland and capture the Starhawk. During my time in the Outside, I have come to value them, and I will see my health unmade before any harm comes to them. And I think the best thing we can do for them is to see them sequestered within our gate, and, if needed, to see them granted amnesty under the Composer’s protection."

  "That might bring the heat pretty close to your doorstep," Shiv muttered.

  "The flames are already spreading across the abyss. The Ascendants and Udraal have their eyes on the Great One. Hesitation cannot serve us here. Hesitation will only see someone else determine our fate, and I am tired of ceding my destiny to the whims of another—divine, eldritch, or superior Pathbearers be damned. Everything we've suffered was thanks to the machinations of someone that thought themselves greater, that wished to feed their own selfish desires. I will not become as they are. I will not make another shadow of myself in another Umbral, or allow foul hands to compose the tragedy behind your birth. Damn Udraal. Damn Hawgrave. Damn the Ascendants. And damn the very System itself.”

  "Damn the System," Shiv agreed. "And let’s start by fucking over the Eldest and getting you out of the Outside. Ah, speaking of—I was a little caught up in everything earlier. Georges, is he alright?"

  At his question, a blank look crept over Uva's face. She asserted control over her expression almost immediately, but Shiv noticed, and he went very still.

  She quickly shook her head. "He's not—He has not passed. He's alive. But his condition is dire, like that of a great many of Blackedge's people. Sullain inflicted a plague upon the town during the siege, and it has only grown worse in the past weeks. We are dry of medication, and the only Biomancer left is an Initiate. The last Master Biomancer we had died in defense of the town two breaches ago. At the current rate, those in the infirmary likely have about as long as I do."

  As if Shiv didn't need even more motivation to see his home freed. He swallowed heavily. "Is he… awake? Can I talk to him?"

  "I'll check," Uva replied. "Sometimes the fever breaks, and he has a moment of lucidity. He resists the disease better than most others, but it is only growing stronger. From what I can tell, it's not merely a plague of the flesh, but something that withers the soul as well. To infect so many people to punish one person… The Vicar is a vile man for sinking to such depths."

  "Was," Shiv corrected.

  "Vicar Sullain is dead?" Uva asked, her eyes widening. "Are you certain?"

  "Beyond certain." Shiv thought back to Sullain's final moments, how Udraal used him as a sacrifice, a doll to teach Shiv how to break the prison’s mana core. He told Uva about the Vicar's final fate, and though a complex array of emotions played over her face, the final feeling she decided upon was acceptance.

  Utter, cold acceptance. "I cannot claim to relish in the final suffering of one who faced atrocity at the hands of a mutual enemy. But at least he will never strike at us again. At least he will not hurt another soul.” Uva sighed. “Do you think Udraal made you kill him to earn a measure of trust from you?”

  Shiv considered that. "No. Udraal doesn't think of me as a person. I don't think he thinks of anyone other than himself as a person. We're all just variables for his big experiment. He probably killed Sullain because he interfered with his tests, interfered with me, and maybe because he was offended by the whole Undying Tarrasque thing as well. Speaking of, the Tarrasque went missing."

  "It's not dead?" Uva asked, utterly aghast. "The Ascendants didn't slay it? How?"

  A scornful scoff slipped out from Shiv like a blade ripping free from its scabbard. "Well, the dumb bastards decided that it would be more useful alive than dead in the short term. They punted the thing south so that it would savage a neighboring nation. It did that for a while, then, imagine this, it went missing. Probably got picked up by Udraal or something. Last time they had a read on it was in the ocean somewhere, maybe the Pacific. Can't quite remember all the details."

  Uva's characteristic calm broke. "This creature could end the world, and they're using it to… assert geopolitical advantages?"

  "Apparently, being a politician means that you have to do the opposite of the smart thing on the regular. I mean, I know it's bad because even I think it was stupid! And I love doing risky and reckless shit."

  "That's because this isn't risky and reckless; it's just pointlessly cruel. A Tarrasque is a living bomb. It's a wild beast that can destroy entire worlds. And this one doesn't die."

  "It could have been killed," Shiv said. "It could have been killed if the Ascendants had decided to pull their heads out of their asses and help us. We could have solved everything if they'd just—Ah, to hells with it." Shiv clenched his fist and controlled his building agitation. There was no point going down this line of dialogue. The Sage of the Enkindled Heart simmered inside of him, and he stored that rage for better use later.

  As little breaths escaped him, Uva mastered herself as well. "He's awake," she suddenly said, and the mood between them shifted.

  "Georges?"

  "Yes. I'll connect you to his mind now. But do take into account that when the fever comes on and the sickness swells, he might experience a bit of delirium."

  "Yeah, I don't care about that," Shiv said immediately. "I just want to see him."

  She nodded. With a flex of her power, the vague mists of the mindscape shifted once more, and through the translucent haze emerged another form. That form, however, wasn't as Shiv remembered.

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