Chương 105: Stranger friends

Vera waited for Cin to answer, a tiny pit tightening in her stomach. The man's gaze didn't move from hers for even a second. Something unreadable passed behind his eyes, as if he was turning over her words and all their possible meanings in silence.

"Cin," Vera finally said. A roar pierced through the blizzard around them. Her head snapped toward it, eyes narrowing as she peered through the wall of snow in the direction of the sound. That sounded like another dragon. How many of those were there?

"We should leave before we continue this conversation," Cin said beside her, voice calm to a degree that almost pissed Vera off.

"If it's true that the Rimebound are targeting you, they're unlikely to stop even if we kill this one." Vera kept her eyes on the shifting mass of snow for another moment before letting out a quiet curse under her breath and turning back to him.

"Fine. My guess is we have about ten seconds before that thing is on top of us."

"Do you have enough Resonance to use Hollow Reach?"

"Do fish swim?"

"Use it." Vera cut Stillwake straight across the space between them. A Hollow Reach opened. Cin didn't even wait for her to speak before stepping through. Vera heard the heavy snap of wings somewhere inside the storm and followed him through. The tear closed immediately behind her. They exited into another stretch of the pass still battered by violent sheets of wind and snow. Hail clattered against Vera's shoulders and hair, each pellet probably sharp enough to cut like a knife if her body hadn't been so sturdy.

Before she could say anything, Cin raised his hand, and the Vaultring on his finger glowed. A small black prism appeared in his palm. Vera's eyebrows rose. That was a Shardbound Reliquary, one of the rarest drops from the Shardbound Twin's Apostate, and possibly one of the most obnoxious stealth items in Ashen Legacy. As far as Vera remembered, only Cin and Nyx had ever gotten one in their guild. Cin fed Resonance into the prism, and a thin ripple of Veilborn Resonance spread in return.

The veil slipped over both of them without blocking the blizzard in the slightest, but the sharp pressure of their Resonance suddenly faded, smothered beneath a layer of cold, false absence." Hollow Reach again," Cin said, looking to Vera and pointing.

"That direction." Vera created another tear, and they stepped through. They repeated the process several more times, Cin guiding her as they moved. Each time they emerged, he took only a moment to orient himself before pointing again. Gradually, the path began to climb. Soon they were on a ridge, then a narrow shelf of black stone, and the last Hollow Reach opened onto a peak that was untouched by the blizzard.

"It won't find us here," Cin said, letting the Shardbound Reliquary stay in his grasp as he walked past her. The mountaintop was a long, mostly flat stretch of rock covered in a thin layer of snow. Ahead, the stone ended in a sheer ledge overlooking the Thryne Passes. From here, though, you couldn't see more than snow and cloud churning in a slow, grinding spiral that filled the passes from wall to wall while the higher peaks rose through it like dark islands in a white sea.

Cin stepped into a semicircle of low black stones half-buried in the rock. They were easy to miss at first glance, but now that Vera was looking, she could feel the blend of Emberward and Veilborn Resonance humming through them. Cin looked back at her as if expecting her to follow. Vera lingered before walking over. When she stepped into the circle, the worst bite of the wind dulled. She glanced down at the stones.

"Yours?" Cin followed her gaze.

"Yes." Vera crouched slightly, studying the nearest one and the sigils carved into its surface. It wasn't an item she recognized from the game, so presumably it was some kind of Resonance craft developed here. She glanced at the dark iron table set within the circle, then back at Cin, motioning around them.

"For a hideout, this place is pretty bare-bones."

"It's an observation point."

"A hideout with a view, then." The man didn't seem interested in arguing. Vera rose, brushing snow from her shoulders and hair. Cin's dark coat was untouched by even a single snowflake despite the storm they'd just crossed. Following House Emberward's path had its perks. The man's eyes stayed on her, just a tad too focused. Vera's stomach tightened again.

"So, are we talking?" she asked. He studied her for several seconds longer.

"Veralyth Mournvale," he finally said. Vera frowned.

"Yeah?"

"Veralyth."

"That's me."

"Vera." She smiled awkwardly.

"Are you trying to wear the name out?"

"Vera Morgans." She went still. Then a genuine smile broke across her face before she could stop it.

"Hi, Cin." The words came out quieter than she expected. Then her brain caught up. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Wait." Her smile thinned.

"How the hell do you know my last name?" Cin's expression barely changed.

"Your voice chat profile linked to an old username. That username led to several inactive accounts, one of which referenced an art account you used. From there, finding your real name wasn't difficult." Vera stared at him.

"Are you serious?"

"No. Mireya got drunk one night and told us." She closed her eyes. Of course.

"I'm going to kill her," she muttered.

"She claimed it was an accident."

"Still killing her."

"She also claimed your middle name was Petunia." Her eyes snapped open.

"It's not."

"I assumed."

"Good." For a moment, the only sound between them was the muted hiss of the wind scraping across the stone. Vera folded her arms.

"For the record, if that account thing had been true, I would've had questions."

"I know."

"Several questions."

"I wouldn't have had any use for the information."

"That's not exactly the reassuring defense you think it is."

"It's the accurate one." Vera gave him a look, then let out a short breath and turned her gaze toward the storm. She did believe him on that. That sounded like him, after all. Cin had always been the sort of person who treated information the way he treated rare crafting components. Worth knowing and worth storing, but not worth touching unless there was an actual use for it. She supposed it could still be creepy. But it was familiar creepy. From the corner of her eye, she considered the man. …

She'd been seriously afraid this wouldn't be the CinderCtrl she knew. More afraid than she wanted to admit, even. There had just been something about him. The air around him, the way he looked at her, even the wards he'd set up here. It all fit into this world too cleanly. Like he belonged here. But now that she was really looking at him, maybe that was exactly why it made sense. Cin had always been like this.

In a guild full of semi-chaotic idiots, in a game most of them played like addicts, he had always bordered on being serious to the point of parody. Obsessive with systems, allergic to inefficiency, and the kind of person who maintained spreadsheets for every raid route, crafting chain, drop table, and build experiment they touched. He probably knew more about Ashen Legacy's lore than any other player Vera had ever met. If anyone would adapt to a world like this as if they'd been here all along, it'd be him.

"Right." Her smile returned, though it settled into something smaller.

"It really is you." Cin watched her, then looked toward the storm.

"You thought I might not be." Vera's fingers tightened slightly around her arms.

"I met Syl already." His gaze returned to her.

"She's not like us," Vera said.

"I know."

"…What about Mira?"

"She is the same person that you knew." Her grip eased. Thank god. She had kind of figured, since the same was true for Cin. But she'd still been worried.

"What about the rest of the guild?" she asked, before pausing.

"…Those who are still alive."

"They were all like Syl," Cin replied.

"So the three of us are the only ones?"

"No. SoulRefund and BlightReaver are the same."

"Really…" That had been one of Vera's original suspicions. Or hopes. Her, Cin, Mira, SoulRefund, and BlightReaver made up all the player characters counted among the group known here as the Marked Ones, with Elaria, Yria, and Kaelen Vire being the remaining NPCs with that title. They had all been among the highest-level players in Ashen Legacy, so there was clearly some kind of connection there. A light frown touched her brow.

"How come neither Soul's nor Blight's guilds are around here, though?" She looked at Cin.

"I checked when I was in Caer Virell, and Last Hearth was the only player guild I found any trace of." Cin shook his head.

"I don't know for certain. It could be because Last Hearth was the only one of our guilds that had more than one of us in it."

"Do you know anything about anything?"

"Be more specific."

"About our situation. I'm guessing you were already aware, but I've been stuck inside Sablewatch Hollow for two years, so I'm about as out of the loop as you can get." Vera unfolded one arm and gestured vaguely through the air.

"That doesn't apply to you, does it? So do you have any idea how we ended up in Ashen Legacy's world, of all places?" Cin's expression shifted slightly.

"Unfortunately, no," he said.

"I've looked into it, but I haven't found anything."

"But you've been here for two years, right?"

"Yes. Roughly. I wouldn't recommend seeking out SoulRefund or BlightReaver to confirm it yourself, but I've spoken to both. We all appear to have awakened here at the same time, but under different circumstances, and none of us noticed anything that suggested a cause."

"Wait, why shouldn't I seek them out?"

"You can approach SoulRefund if you truly have reason to, but he hasn't shown much interest in involving himself in this world's affairs. As for BlightReaver…" A rare edge of anger entered Cin's voice.

"There's no better way to put it than that he's discarded his humanity." Vera frowned.

"What does that mean?" Cin regarded her, then shook his head.

"We can discuss it at another point. It isn't relevant to the present situation."

"…Alright, sure. If we're sticking to the point, then I'd like to know what you're doing here. Syl told me you were looking into what happened with Thorne and Strake, who's missing. Does that have anything to do with your presence here?"

"Partially."

"How partial are we talking?"

"I still haven't been able to determine what caused their disappearance. However…" Cin gazed out past the mountaintop.

"There is a concept that divinity and the Truebound in this world refer to as the Slow Reckoning." Vera blinked.

"Yeah, I've heard of it."

"Then you are familiar with what it signifies?"

"I know the gist of it somehow explains the change in power scaling, and that it's supposed to be connected to why there have been so many tribulations. I communed with Erelseth, and she said something about the dominions of man Resonating more closely with Truth. Supposedly, it's marking the end of an age and all."

"You communed with the Keeper of the Beneath?" Cin asked, giving her an intrigued look before nodding.

"Yes, that aligns with what I've surmised as well. Very few people appear familiar with what this 'Truth' actually is, however."

"Still, how does that tie into you being here?"

"While I haven't been able to pin down the cause of our compatriots' disappearances, I've concluded that there is likely a connection to the Slow Reckoning, as well as to the emergence of new threats invading the dominions of man from realms outside this one. The Silence Between is one such threat, and that—" He pointed at the storm.

"—is another."

"You're sure those are connected to their disappearances?" Vera's expression darkened.

"…Is it the same for what happened to Talandra, Moss, and Kai?"

"It appears likely." Cin turned back to her.

"Do you know anything?" Vera hesitated, pressing her lips together.

"I do."

"Mira asked for my help dealing with this storm," Cin said.

"She suspected that it originated from a threat breaking in from outside the dominions, so I came immediately. During my investigation in these passes, I've determined that this threat is forcing its way through an increasing number of rifts connected to its source. I've been trying to narrow down where its main body is hiding, but it keeps moving. Any information you have would be useful."

"Moving?" Vera looked at him.

"Sorry, but you're wrong. That thing isn't moving." He scowled.

"I can assure you that it is. I've mapped its Resonance extensively."

"Then you're mapping the wrong thing."

"How can you be so sure?" She watched him for a moment, then turned back toward the storm. She closed her eyes and let out a slow sigh.

"I'm not really supposed to talk about these things, but since this one's basically already broken through, I guess it barely matters anymore. If anything, it might be better to let it loose completely at this point." She raised her arm as Stillwake appeared in her grasp. Resonance gathered along the halberd's edge, cinder burning inside her body as the blade shone with a cold gray-white glow. Crescent Wake. Stillwake swept through the air.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened except the faint ghost of the halberd's path lingering in front of them. Then the distant storm split. A vast crescent tore across the heart of the blizzard, cutting through the churning wall of snow. Cloud, ice, and wind peeled apart in a widening arc, revealing a hollowed glimpse of the pass beneath. Within that wound, something moved. A shape too large to understand at a glance shifted deep inside the white, coiled around itself like a never-ending buried serpent.

Vera caught the suggestion of pale ridges, endless hooked spines, and a mouth opening somewhere in the depths, vast enough that the landscape itself seemed ready to lead into its throat. Then the storm slammed shut again. Snow and cloud crashed back together, swallowing the vision as if it had never been there.

"That," Vera said, "is the White Maw." Cin stood very still, staring at the place where the storm had opened.

"Impossible," he said.

"I checked the storm first."

"We're talking about something that might be older than these passes themselves. It knows how to hide." A low rumble rolled through the mountains. Across the pass, the storm intensified. Snow twisted upward in spiraling columns, and the clouds above them folded toward their peak with slow, deliberate pressure. Cin's gaze shifted to Vera.

"…And you just gave it your position. Again."

"It wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me." Vera took a step forward.

"I wasn't leaving this place without dealing with it anyway. And now I've got you for backup." She glanced at him, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"So, what about it? You up for taking on a proper raid boss with me again? It's been a while since just the two of us ran anything."