Chương 219: Chapter 292 - Plans Within Plans

The next few hours were a flurry of activity as Mirian ran through her initial preparations for each group. As she did, she let people move back and forth through the Gate to Uxalak. That would help cement their belief in her ability to do miracles, and there wasn't much damage they could do. The Uxalak gate was in a giant pit. Ceiba Yan had excavated the shaft that exposed it to the air, but it would take some days before his roots grew into the spiral staircase that made transportation back and forth easier.

The Sacred Tree's communication with people had improved remarkably over the years, though it still took a great deal of interpretation and familiarity to understand. Still, it would be sufficient to prepare Xecatl's nagual until she could awaken. Poor Lily was now preparing cold-weather gear and several eximontars for the journey north. Nicolus and Nurea would be moving south by the train. Mirian had already fixed the engine. She continued speaking to the crowd.

"… and if you have any experience with artifice or experience in the crafting professions, Professor Torres will be leading lectures on the preparation of large-scale conduits. Professor Cassius, please gather a group of all professors and apprentices who can sustain 50 myr. Professor Jei, you will be teaching that group basic conduit growth spells. Persaman sand is rich in quartz, so practice with that. Grandmaster Ingrid, please begin leading lessons on basic fabrication to as many students as you can.

This group—yes, you all—you'll go with her. No one protest that you can't learn it, because I've seen what you all can do, and it's impressive work. Liamar, step forward. You'll be heading down to Palendurio to reunite with Rostal and start organizing his neighborhood. He'll be glad to see you, though as you know, he won't say it. Tell him Ibrahim and I have recovered four lost dervish forms, and each of us has invented a new one. Professor Holvatti… where are you? Ah, there you are.

You will be leading a group of miners from Mahatan in acquiring bauxite ore in the central desert. By the way, your wife has always wondered why you haven't fashioned some of your prized mineral collection into jewelry for her. Since you have a few days to prepare and your anniversary is coming up, I think you know what to do. Moliner… ah. You will be organizing a militia to defend Torrviol." Moliner, who had been elected one of the captains of the militia in the Battle of Torrviol, looked confused.

"Defend it from what?"

"Hopefully, nothing." Mirian raised her voice.

"If the other Prophets do what we agreed, we will oversee the most peaceful and unifying event Enteria has seen since the Cataclysm. However, we must plan for any problems that arise."

"Other Prophets?" came a surprised voice.

"There are eight of us appointed by the Ominian to solve this crisis. If that doesn't adequately convey the magnitude of what we're facing, I don't know what will. Let's see, who's next… ah. Magistrate Ada, please step forward." Mirian closed her eyes. Specter had made it too easy on her: all the spies had marks on their souls, making it trivial to locate them even in this crowd. She cast mass lift person, targeting each of them.

Some two dozen bodies flew through the air, several letting out yelps before they were unceremoniously plopped down in front of the magistrate and Mirian.

"Akanan spies, I suppose you've been wondering your fate," she said in perfect Eskanar.

"I'm not—""Don't deny it, Ayland, I'm tired of that," she snapped. She took a deep breath.

"Apologies, you've done it nearly every cycle, and it grates on my nerves. As many of you are aware, Specter and Hache are dead. In the original timeline, you facilitated the slaughter of everyone in Torrviol, myself included. Look around at this crowd. Every single one of these people who stand around you died by your deeds." She paused. Several people in the crowd who understood Eskanar gasped.

"Specter and Hache were irredeemable monsters. However, you are not. Right now, Prophets Liuan Var, Sio Jherica, and Celen Lineas should be engineering the political turn of Akana Praediar away from a scheduled war and towards a new peace. You are now part of that plan. Idras, your family is safe from retaliation, as Director Matteus and the vast majority of those part of Project Zenith are dead, by my hand." The spies arrayed around her looked terrified.

"Idras, you will be informing the various blackmailed individuals on this list that the material being lorded over their heads has been destroyed." She tossed a notebook at him.

"Gerard, you'll be helping academy maintenance repair your vandalism. Also, there was never a good reason for you to be leaping about on roofs. You could have just walked through the front door, you buffoon. Timmon, you will be in charge of removing your eavesdropping devices from Mayor Wolden's office." She switched to Friian.

"Mayor Wolden, those Florinian ingots you hid in your secret room are fake. If you don't believe me, weigh them. They have the density of lead, not gold. You will also be stepping down as Mayor. There will be no plebiscite; the post of mayor will remain open until the crisis is resolved. Magistrate, our friend here greatly benefits from spending some time reflecting in a cell for a few days. You'll find his correspondence with an enemy of the state here." She tossed her stack of letters bound by twine.

More murmurs and excited conversation rippled through the crowd. Mirian paused, surveying the people around her. If there was one thing she wouldn't miss, it was the early days of the cycle. The repetition had felt endless. Like Ibrahim had said, it was hard to respect people who you had dancing to your whims, knowing their every reaction. She suppressed a sigh, keeping her regal composure in front of her audience. There was much to be done.

With Xecatl incapacitated for two days, it was up to her to retrieve her myrvite birds and send them down to Zhighua to distribute the violet focuses. Once the full Council could meet in the dream, she'd have a better idea of how to proceed. By now, they'd all been working together for decades. They'd helped each other stay sane in a world that demanded insanity. They'd laughed and shared a lifetime of meals together. If it had been only an act for some of them, it had been a damn good one.

However, if it had been, she was ready for it. Today was only just beginning. * Liuan Var waited in the dream, keeping her senses alert for certain souls. She knew Mirian had her own violet focus, and by now, Zhuan could have already obtained one. However, she was counting on the fact that she hadn't revealed that she'd soulbound her own dream focus, that they usually met at night, and that they didn't tend to come into this part of the dream.

The two of them liked to wander about the Ominian's most beautiful memories, where They strode about white-capped mountains or through waving fields of grass. They rarely came here. She looked out on the sea of sundered flesh. It was horrible to look at. The bodies had been made of the same strange stuff as the Ominian: ever-staring eyes, dotted with wings. Beneath it was whorled stone that moved like the slow currents of molasses.

It was impossible to tell how many Elder Gods had possessed the bodies, only that they had been ripped into so many pieces that it covered the world from horizon to horizon. This was the understanding that had helped her ascend. This was the understanding that fools like Xecatl refused to accept: When the chips were down and the future of the world and the void above had been on the line, even the Ominian had slaughtered Their brethren like a base animal.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Every myrvite fought for territory and prey. Even plants deployed strategies to dominate others in their battle for sunlight and soil. Any alliance was temporary. War was more than just human nature. Peace wasn't just foolish; it was blasphemy. A flicker of soul-movement caught her eye in the distance. Gabriel had finally shown up. Late, as usual.

He also didn't understand the fundamental truths Liuan had uncovered, but he at least understood the dangers of Mirian's stated plan. The simultaneous destruction of so many institutions would create chaos, famine, and death. The destruction of all spell engines would do worse, causing widespread economic shocks and shortages. She was sacrificing the years ahead for these few months of production. Stability would come through domination.

To relinquish control was merely to let some other warlord step forth, as the collapse of Persama after the Triarchy had shown. Even Zhuan's idealistic world would inevitably degrade into a monarchy in all but name. However, she didn't think Mirian would actually relinquish control. Xecatl might be fooled, but she wasn't. Liuan wasn't sure if Zhuan was manipulating Mirian or Mirian was manipulating Zhuan. Either way, it was clear they planned for a rebirth of the Zhighuan Empire.

Perhaps their relationship really hadn't been for show and they'd rule together. No. There had only ever been one Prophet at a time. Liuan understood this. The test of endurance they'd gone through was only another trial on the holy path. Liuan had been perfectly happy to go along with Mirian's plan for the decades it had taken. All the while, she'd been talking to the others and accumulating contingencies. All of them had. Trust was for fools.

Perhaps Mirian really did think she'd tricked them all into thinking she was benevolent. She hadn't systematically attacked them and tried to remove their anchors—probably because of Ceiba Yan, more than anything. Removing that tree's anchor would be damn near impossible, so the plan to get them all to willingly do it was a reasonable one. Liuan was happy to take advantage of that. Gabriel finally made his way over to her, gingerly avoiding stepping on any eyeballs.

"Liuan! You always know how to choose the nicest places for a date." Liuan didn't comment on that. She wished, probably for the ten thousandth time, that Gabriel didn't insist on putting on the facade of a dunce.

"I knew she'd pull the trigger soon, but I didn't see this one coming. She's really doing it!" Gabriel thought to her.

"Yes. And as I predicted, it was the time of her choosing so that she'd be at an advantage."

"Obviously. You think she'll really pull her own anchor? It hasn't shown up on the Ominian yet. I think she's waiting to do it during the next dream council."

"Probably. She does have a flair for the dramatic." Gabriel sent the sensation of laughter.

"Oh, but it's such good drama!" He waved his hand about, shaping some of the burnt flesh around them into a chair, which he then sat backwards in.

"So! We might be able to delay the council, but she'll grow suspicious if that's the case. I have a plan for getting Ibrahim to join us, willingly or not. Are Jherica and Celen still on board?

"They'll both join us. I've ensured it. When Mirian tries to get everyone else to pull their own anchor first, she'll just confirm the suggestions we've already made to them."

"And if she does it first?"

"Then she's a fool, but I have a plan for that as well. As do you." Gabriel laughed again.

"Plans within plans! It's all very tiresome. But I can't really say I'm not enjoying immortality." Seriousness wafted from his spectral form.

"Here's what I don't understand: what prevents us from just killing ourselves as soon as she removes her anchor? Zoom! Off goes the temporal needle! She can't stop that, especially if we're a continent away. It would seem like the most obvious way to get rid of her." To that, Liuan didn't have a good answer.

"She must have a plan for that. Perhaps a field of magic she hasn't shared. Even if we don't understand the method, we have to proceed with the assumption she has a solution. One of our goals will be unveiling these undisclosed capabilities."

"All that talk of trust, and she's still hiding things. You think she got those morons who run the Gates to help her out?"

"Doubtful."

"Maybe something to do with Luamin?"

"Jherica finally made it there and past the magical defenses. They never found any indication as to the function of the devices there, nor a way inside."

"The other thing we could do is just hide out until the cycle ends. She's said it a million times: even if Divir can be stopped, the Ominian's soul is still going to destabilize and detonate. The only thing that stops that is a full fifty anchors. All it takes is one person hiding on the ass-end of Enteria and she'll fail. She must have a plan for that too."

"Yes. I think that's the other thing she expects. However, if we let her dominate events, we'll lose the capability to stop whatever her true plan is. I've seen glimpses of her practice sessions for contingency plans."

"Yeah… about that. Uh, things are going to get a bit messy here. Two of the princes are dead already in Urubandar, along with four of those foss merchants. And that's just in Urubandar. However she did it, it was undetectable." Liuan stared at him.

"Six? You're dealing with six dead bodies?" She sent the feeling of shaking her head.

"I'm already getting reports of several dozen dead in the RID headquarters. An entire board room, dead. Grand Marshal Caldwell dropped dead in the middle of Fort Ferrabridge behind a locked door. Rosen, Stalswrot and Saiyal are also rumored to be dead. She wasn't kidding when she said she'd killed the war faction. And you think you have a bloody mess?" She felt a chill off of Gabriel.

"Oh fuck. So… wow. Wow. Shit. What do we do? How do we…?"

"You really didn't plan for something like this? Have you seen how fast she can fly and how far away she can kill someone? My contingency didn't anticipate it would happen so quickly, but I do have a plan. It'll take me some time to get Akana Praediar on war footing, but I will get them there. I don't think she understands that most of these factories are running at reduced production rates. She certainly doesn't understand population disparities at work.

And none of the factories will need to be retooled for my purposes." The other Prophet was feeling thoughtful.

"Okay. I can work with that. I assume you need me to delay her."

"She can only be in one place at a time. And she needs to sleep. For all her bluster, she's critical for getting that leyline regulator up and running. Every minute we prevent her from working on that is a minute we're winning."

"Yeah, yeah. I've probably run more battles than you have. Honestly, without Akana's stuff, she'll probably fail to create the damn thing without us lifting a figure. But fine, I'll run interference. Some nice guerrilla tactics, keep her spread thin and sabotage those supply lines. Get some of those Akanan cutters down here to start blowing up container ships from Zhighua. If you can also—" Gabriel froze. Liuan could sense it too. Ripples were propagating through the dream.

The Ominian reacting strongly to a new presence. For some reason, the reaction was always stronger with her.

"She's here. We'll talk later."

"Yup. Ah, you know what to do." He vanished. Liuan woke up a moment later. Immediately, she manifested the Mask of the Fifth Prophet, her set of mythril jewelry, and her bound spellbook. Just like Mirian hadn't revealed her full capabilities, she hadn't either. The problem was that it seemed too easy. Even with the war faction in Akana gutted, there were too many points of failure to exploit in Mirian's plan. Success really did require them all working together.

So how in the five hells did she, even for a moment, think she could succeed if even a single Prophet turned against her? It worried her. However, they'd had nothing but time these past decades. She'd planned for everything. When it was over, there would be one empire, and the peace that came with it. One ruler of Enteria. One Prophet. Her.