12 Miles Below

“We have one airship remaining above for our return. I had planned to make haste given your Father’s condition.” Atius glanced over to Father’s body, where Kidra knelt by. It went unsaid that we’d have more time now. “The rest of the convoy would have departed already by now, or they couldn’t have made it for the celestial flyby. Too important to miss.”

I’d seen Teed’s maps before we’d left. I knew none of the gods were predicted to fly over this part of the world for at least another two weeks. We had one airspeeder and no way to refuel it. “We’re stranded?”

At that he chuckled. “Not at all. Operation of scale, lad. A massive convoy has too many airspeeders to individually refuel. So we rely on the celestial flyovers to refuel the whole. A single airspeeder, different story.” At my bewildered look, he patted my shoulder. “Do the math, lad. How many power cells does one airspeeder really need to make a week long return journey?”

Numbers flashed through my head. “Twenty one, add another six to cover an extra two days worth of travel as insurance for possible issues encountered. Oh.” That’s a doable number to collect between our group. I mean, there wasn’t a lack of enemies walking around with those power cells.

Atius patted my shoulder. “You’ve got the right idea. We’re far, but not that far. The cost in power cells is within our means to collect. Not suitable for a full expedition of airspeeders. Refueling just one is.”

I nodded at that. Made sense.

Around me, a small camp had been set up. The rest of the knights were busy either loading a hover sled with power cells, or using the cells and dead bodies to repair their armor. Some sat and ate rations while they could, joined by Calem.

“If we’re looking for more cells, Father and I fought a small army earlier. We can retrace my steps to find their bodies.”

“If this small army of yours is the size I think it is, then we won’t need to linger down here hunting for more. Now, I’ve come here to talk to you about parts of your report, if you’re ready for it, lad. There’s two details I need to confirm with you on.”

I gave him the go ahead, and he went right to it. “First, I’ve tried to retrace your steps to unlocking the administrator account for my own armor and found no solution. Once I input and failed the third password attempt, the armor closed off all access. The other knights report the same. Are you sure there isn’t any other step or action you omitted or forgot about? Even smaller details.”

I thought back at all the steps I’d taken. “No, I told you everything I did. All the steps, as far as I could remember them.”

He nodded at that, frowning. “I suppose we can review the video footage back home and then try a more detailed and methodical approach. Human memory is fickle. I’ve heard all I needed to know about Winterscar armor for now, but you haven’t told me more about this artifact you recovered.” He pointed at my belt. “Have you done any more experiments since the initial probing?”

I shook my head. “No time. I haven’t tried to crack into the logs either about what this priority one artifact means, or was used for. Have you seen it before?”

The clan lord shook his head sadly, “I’ve seen a lot in my lifetime, and there’s always something new around the corner. Like what happened with Tenisent. This would be one such item to add to the count. Allow me to see it?”

I handed Cathida’s last memento and he took it from my hands with reverence. Bringing it up to head level, he turned the brick around in his hands, touching different sides. “Not from the third or fourth era.” He held it on the flat of his palm, watching it. “Nothing from the occult either. This is pure technology. Seems closer to the relic armors, perhaps built in that same lost era. That’s only a speculation on my part, intuition. It doesn’t feel made or designed by humans.”

He flipped it around in his hands a few times, touching the different buttons and testing it out.

“A crusader owned this previously, which means the Imperials had access to this somehow. Possibly a relic from their vaults? Those are only given to their strongest ranks. Had to come from the lower levels then. What has me curious is the circumstances you found this in. Why was it brought all this way near the surface? And with such a small force? Almost like they were sneaking past the machines with this.”

“Do… do you want to hold on to this, my lord?” I asked.

To that, he chuckled. “No lad, I’ll not strip you of your fun. Finders, keepers, as the saying goes. I have a feeling you’ll uncover more things than I ever would, given your current track record.” He pushed the object back into my hands, letting go once I had a firm grip. “The priority, of course, will be to return it to the crusaders. First chance we get, I trust we won’t have any issues when it’s time to let go?”

I gave him a curt nod. “No way am I going to call down even worse luck on myself. And the logs, sir?”

He gave a shrug. “Not my speeders, not my snowfield. I’d advise we follow the spirit of their wish and hand the logs over to the first pilgrims that make it up to our clan. Preferably a priest, out of curtesy. They’ll take it from there. Am I clear?”

“Perfectly, my lord.” I answered.

“Then we’re done here, for now.” He turned his head to watch Kidra from the sidelines. She’d remained by Father’s side. Quietly watching over him. Preparing.

Atius gave me a soft push. “It’s time for your sister to join our ranks. I’ve held you up long enough. While the others are busy stripping the dead of their cells, you should be by her side for this.”

With a sheepish nod, the brick was put back on its place by my belt and I made my way over to her. I could see her face was impassive, blank, as she kneeled over the body. Normally, she’d have been donning this armor back in the quiet safety of our House manor, well within our territory.

“Ration bar for your thoughts?” I asked.

She smiled, a soft sad thing. “I hope that isn’t simple lip service because I will be holding you to that, my dear brother. Strawberry.”

“No worries, I’ll find a way to weasel out of it later. So? Thoughts?”

After a pause, she spoke. “I wasn’t sure the armor would end up in my hands. He trained you past what a normal scavenger would get, that detail always confused me. I suspected he intended to give you the armor, or else why all the extra training?”

“Life makes for strange reflections on the ice.” I said. “For what it’s worth, I think he was training me for a very different reason than being a relic knight. He never told me anything about the underground before. That’s the real evidence this armor was always supposed to be yours.” I shrugged.

“Most signs pointed that he would leave it for me, yes. But there were still inconsistencies that I couldn’t rule out. Details that didn’t quite fit that story.” She sighed. “I feel dread, inheriting this. It comes with a heavy burden and a lifestyle I don’t idolize like my friends had. I’ve looked into it deeply before, I’ve done my due diligence.”

“Tell me about it. Not quite like the stories show it to be, owning one of these things. How are you fairing? About him?”

She stayed quiet for another moment, likely mulling it over. “I knew him when he was someone different. For years of my life, I believed if I took care of him and stayed at his side, he would eventually just… wake up and come back to us exactly as he was before. The sort of naive dream of a child. I never really outgrew that.”

Kidra sighed, shaking her head. “It was a shock to me when he came back like a stranger. An obvious one. In a way, to me, he’d died a long time ago, so now all I feel is numb. Or perhaps, as he would probably word it, I am in shock and will only process through everything later.”

Ankah stepped behind us, her hover sled active and loaded with a few dozen power cells already. “Winterscars. I’ve brought my sled to carry his body.”

I turned to thank her.

She gave a scoff in reply. “I suppose condolences are in order. I didn’t care for the man, though I respected his combat ability. Your father might have bested my own to be the first blade of the clan lord, but once I’ve earned my armor you can be sure history will not repeat. That honor will return to House Shadowsong. Where it belongs.”

The past half day, death itself had hounded after me, and I’d been convinced multiple times I’d never see the sunlight again. But here she was, focused on things that seemed so trivial in comparison. “It’s somehow comforting to hear that, Ankah. Thank you. I needed a bit of normality back after all this.”

The girl in turn seemed confused at my response, huffed, then stalked away leaving us alone.

“The underground must have been an ordeal for you, to be like this.” Kidra said.

I flashed her a cheeky thumbs up. “Oh, it was the absolute worst. It felt like every other hour they’d attack us. And if they weren’t already attacking us, they were certainly hunting us. Long story short, I don’t recommend any tourism down here without booking a guide. The expensive kind, with guns.”

She tutted at that. “I, for one, find that the natives down here can be charming. When they’re broken down into pieces at my feet, possibly crushed under my heel.” She gave a sigh, hair shaking as she moved her head. “How are you really faring?”

“Well, if you want to know, it’s not good.” I said. “Gallows humor aside, I’m trying real hard to hold it together. Part of it is easier because almost nothing feels real anymore, you know? See enough terrible scrapshit and the mind stops processing things. I feel like I’m only doing the bare minimum while the rest of me is shut off. Like I’m only reacting now, not really in the moment anymore. I’m exhausted.”

Father’s body remained still, unmoving. Reminding me again and again that he was gone. And somehow not gone at the same time. The logical part of me could understand what had happened, but the rest of me still didn’t get it. “I think the drugs are probably keeping me in a strange state. I’m a little worried what will happen when all of this... you know, actually sinks in. It partway did earlier, and I threw up in my helmet.”

She scrunched her nose at that. “I doubt that was pleasant.”

“I don’t think I was lucid enough to really notice anything more than blowing bubbles into it before Journey cleaned it all up. And you?”

She undid the straps on her gloves, pulling them off one at a time. “Combat is more than knowing when to attack and how to dodge. He taught me well on how to remain focused. I’m making use of his training even now. I have a duty to complete and we are not yet safe in the airspeeder. I’ll take a second breath once I’m strapped in and we are away.”

Winterscar’s helmet seal hissed open as she drew her fingers near, as if the armor had recognized another Winerscar and judged her worthy. In a way, the armor had known Kidra already. It had watched as Father had trained her, day in and day out. It knew her capabilities just as well as she did.

“Thank you, Father.” She whispered, hands holding the sides of his helmet. “I will… carry the armor now, for our House. For our clan. And for your memory.”

The helmet was pulled off.

There was no final smile to see. Instead, the armor was hollow, empty. His body was gone. I took a step back, stumbling. “Journey, wh-what happened?”

No answer came. I hadn’t been wearing my helmet. Kidra continued to look at the armor, perplexed. Parts of it broke apart in front of her, following procedure to be equipped by a new user. Every part that tumbled on the ground revealed nothing within the armor. No bones, no body.

Only the frozen blood that rimed the outside of the armor had remained. My sister glanced up at me, confusion visible in her normally impassive face.

The only conclusion possible reared up in my head.

Winterscar had consumed his body.

“There were… circumstances near the end.” I said. “I’m sorry, all the events are happening too quickly. I explained it to Atius in private, but...”

She nodded. “I take it the armor has taken him for repairs? I suppose that is as fitting a burial as they come.” If she were troubled at the thought, it didn’t show. Instead, she stood up and began to strip her environmental suit off, taking it all in stride.

I walked behind, picking up the chest plate of Winterscar. Still stunned and not quite sure what to think. “No… The armor had already been fixed at that time. It didn’t need to… look, there’s some things you really need to know about this armor. You might want to hold off before you don it.”

Atius’s words rang heavy in my head. That armor had held his body, mind and soul all overlapped. Perhaps it had been even deeper than just that.

If Winterscar had subsumed his body, what had it done with his soul? The lady of the deep collects all souls in the world, shortly after they die. She was the personification of death itself, more a force of nature as it was said in the songs. Could a relic armor hold to a soul despite that?

If he remained, the armor had made no sign of it, behaving exactly as it should. It was more and more troubling. I feel I should be freaking out a lot more than I currently am. Were those drugs still affecting my thoughts?

While I’d been having a silent breakdown inside my head, Kidra had continued on with the preparations, stripping off the environmental suit. Knights would wear a more skintight black mesh under their armor. Scavengers like us usually wore whatever we felt was most comfortable. She’d been wearing a simple leggings and overshirt combo in this case. Normally she enjoyed wearing the kimono styles while in the colony, that’s practically all she liked to wear. As Teed would put it: Kidra liked to sign her name in glitter, and nobody except a mission would stand in her way. But expeditions demanded practicalities, and a dress wasn’t practical to wear under an environmental suit. She liked what she liked, but she also liked to be practical.

“I’ll hear you out.” She said as she worked, “However, as you know, the reality of the situation does not grant us any luxuries. We can’t afford to waste a relic armor down here.”

Still, she had to know what she was getting herself into, both figuratively and literally. I tried to explain in more detail exactly what was going on, pushing my groggy mind to bring out all the details, although I had a strong feeling she’d wear the armor even if a demon from the underground outright possessed it. And if I’m honest, I think she’d have the demon terrified of her within the hour.

“Regardless of what happened to Father, the mission remains.” She simply said after I told her everything I knew.

I helped her don the plate, piece by piece, the same way Father had helped me don Journey. If she was more hesitant to don a haunted armor, she didn’t show a single hint of it, only grim resolution.

Wisps of black smoke were already dissolving parts of the armor, reshaping it to fit her height and frame.

If Winterscar had a sense of shame, it certainly seemed to act like a dog with its tail down. It might have been my imagination at first, or random luck, but certain parts of the armor were being left untouched. The armor seemed like it was avoiding anything with frozen blood on it, dismantling all the other parts it could to work around that limitation.

It became more obvious and decidedly not accidental with a closer look. I could even see parts of the armor nicked and broken, unrepaired only because blood coated the surface. Only the chest plate bust was impossible to avoid. Kidra needed the extra space.

I saw it disintegrate the chest plates slowly, leaving the blood until the very end, reforming the whole into something fitting. A sleek triangular frame, with a short throat guard.

The traces of blood were removed in the process, showing the armor was perfectly capable of cleaning that up but not replicating the blood stains. It couldn’t create anything besides what it had in the design docs and armor variations if I remembered right, but it could destroy next to everything when it needed to and had time.

The behavior made me suspect that consuming Father’s body hadn’t been a choice the armor had picked. And it made me question just how loyal these suits were to their programming. I’ve seen Winterscar squint at the rules already, and now I’ve seen it attempt it’s version of deference to a dead past user.

Father had been convinced once he’d died, the armor would only remember him as a name on a list of previous owners. The truth seemed more involved.

Armored up, Kidra looked the part. The changes had been subtle, yet it was clear Winterscar had been changed. My sister held onto the helmet, the last part to wear before her initiation was complete. Eyes lifted, meeting my own.

“Tsuya guide you.” She said.

“And may Urs witness your trials.” I answered and equipped my helmet, hearing it hiss shut. “It’s still you and me, like any other time. Only a different chapter in our lives now. We’ll manage. We always have.” A quick hand sign for a smile passed from my hand.

She returned it, smiling back, then donned her own helmet. Of course it fit her perfectly.

The very first thing Winterscar did was rat me out.

“Keith.” She said, a note of horror in her voice. “What the gods happened to you?”

“Be more specific? I’ve got a lot of answers for that.”

“Winterscar is showing dozens, maybe even hundreds of red markers over your body. Fractures, muscle contusions, it’s one thing after another. How are you still standing?”

“Drugs.” I shrugged. “Painkillers are still in effect, I can’t feel a thing. There’s some grinding on my ribs that I still feel if I move the wrong way, Journey alerted me it’s a rib fracture. Other parts I can’t feel yet.”

“You should be put on the hoversled, I can carry you back like that. It was cleared off for Father’s body, it can fit you in.”

I gave her a shake of my head. “We both know we can’t afford one less knight on the field, even if I’m not exactly the best knight we have. Practicality above all. Besides, Journey would have warned me if the damages I was taking had gotten too serious to walk around in. Right buddy?”

My armor chimed affirmative, in a very grudging way. At least, that’s how my gut heard it even if technically it had sounded the same monotone as always.

Kidra was certainly smoldering in her new armor, but she had enough sense to put her feelings aside for the moment. Her hands went back to work recovering her environmental suit backpack and items and she didn’t say another word to me about my condition. I had a feeling she was saving all of those for when we were back home.

There was a single major difference to the armor compared to how Father wore it. Kidra now sported a bandoleer over her chest, holding knife straps. Winterscar had known she’d have two knives now and it had already provided storage for them.

With a quick rummage over her environmental suit, she withdrew her own personal knife. A learned flourish later, she drew Father’s old knife in her other hand. “I haven’t used dual knives before. I suppose I will have to improvise as I go, if we end up in melee.” She sheathed both weapons on the chest straps, then made her way to recover her rifle.

Ankah watched with poorly hidden disgust from the sidelines. My sister had gone from having a knife, to having two knives and the prime armor of our house. The petty side of me shot Ankah a smirk, though of course with Journey’s helmet she couldn’t see it.

I swear, I think she still felt it somehow given her reaction.

Camp was soon lifted, and Atius took to the center. Word of father’s body having been consumed had circulated already, being received with mixed emotions. Bodies of knights who couldn’t be carried back home were often ‘buried’ like this, so the event hadn’t been unprecedented. Except it’s always been a choice.

“The mission parameters have changed.” Atius said to the gathered group. “Kidra, henceforth you’ll be referred to as Winterscar one for the duration of this mission. Keith will be designated as Winterscar two. We will be resuming the original mission. Our first objective will be to secure enough power cells to fuel a return trip.”

He pointed straight at me next. “Winterscar two has given me the coordinates for a past encounter he’d been in that contains enough cells to complete this objective.”

Holding his hand out, his armor displayed a map of the surrounding area. Most of it was obscured, except for where Father and I had traveled through and what looked like the search party’s travels. All the armors must have already consolidated the map data. A large target had appeared on the site of the final battle with that spider. “Following recovery, we’ll resume direction northwest for seven clicks.” Atius said. “Once we’ve secured what I came here for, we’ll be making our way back to the surface.”

He pointed at a massive barrier on the map, further away from our current position. “Since we’ve had to seal blast doors on our way down here, another way back will need to be scouted. I don’t expect this to be an issue, finding a way to the surface is only a matter of time.” He glanced over his fireteam, all of us ready. With a nod, he dismissed us, turning and making his way back in the direction I’d come from.

We began. Both Shadowsong knights, the prime and his second in command, carried Ankah and Calem on their backs. The rest of us had armor so we quickly fell into a run. I explained to Kidra everything I knew about the armors as I jogged at her side. Her gait had initially been awkward. Initially. Now she strode with the knights as if she’d always belonged.

Scraps raining from above, I think she moved better than I did already.

Atius had her come to the front, where he began a private chat, coaching her on the armor as we sprinted back. The rest of the group remained quiet as the yards flew by under us.

It was quiet for a moment on the comms as we simply ate away at the distance.

“I remember challenging your old man before.” The knight from House Ironreach told me, as he fell in line at my side. If I remember right, his name was Delmar Ironreach. He wasn’t the head of his House, that honor fell to someone else. But House Ironreach’s first armor was in his possession for a reason.

“I was a bit younger back then. A hotshot you could say.” He said, a tinge of nostalgia in his voice. “I had beat everyone else in my House and proved worthy to wear Ironreach itself. Riding on the contrails of that victory, I was looking for more opponents to test my mettle with. Of course, my new fellow knights turned me to Tenisent’s direction and gave me a push. All I needed. No intel, no studying up on my target. Worst possible way to be introduced to the Winterscar prime.”

“I’d make a bet that he beat you,” I said, “Except I don’t think anyone here could be convinced to take me up on that.”

I’d never heard of Father losing before against anyone in the clan - with exception to the Shadowsong prime, once. And Atius himself, once as well.

“I can’t even call it a fight to be honest. Winterscar was a monster among monsters.” Denmar said. I could almost see him grinning in his helmet. “Atius would use him to cool off hotheads like me all the time. In the past he’d be the one to do that, but with Winterscar there, the clan lord had gotten lazy. Tossed them right at him like a meatgrinder. Your father would quietly break them over his knee like children. No words, no taunts, nothing.”

“Worse, he’d do it in seconds.” Windrunner added. “It’s like he always knew the single most optimal way to get past your defense and knock you out. Imagine it from our point of view. You spent time preparing for the fight. You walk out into the field contemplating all your opening moves. Take your stance and ready the blade. The next moment, it’s already over.”

Ironreach nodded. “Damn unfair if you ask me. What about you Shadowsong? You’re the only one who beat him.”

Ankah’s father remained silent for a moment, before speaking. “The man I beat wasn’t Tenisent. More a pretender, clinging onto things he had no more right to own.”

I knew this story. The shadowsong prime had called Father out and challenged him to his title of first blade of the clan lord, something he’d held onto ever since he’d earned his armor, where he’d won it from Shadowsong himself. This was about two months after Mother’s death. Father had accepted the fight and arrived completely drunk. They say he almost couldn’t stand on two feet. I hadn’t seen the match or remembered anything of it, it’s all second-hand to me. I’d been two months old at the time after all.

“Still almost beat you.” Ironreach snickered. “That was brutal to watch. Devolved into a monkey show by the end.”

Shadowsong growled back. “What I did, I did for the clan. Atius needed a first blade, and Winterscar was tarnishing the title.” His head turned back to glance at me, and then he looked down, focusing on the run. “At that moment in time, at least.”

“I never got to watch that particular fight.” I said. “The first time I’d ever seen Father actually fight was against you, funny enough, to recover that title.”

Much like Ankha would, he scoffed in that special way only a shadowsong could truly emulate. “I feel no shame in being beat by the real Winterscar prime.”

“How about we pick a different topic than something grim like that?” Windrunner suggested. “I’d rather we honor his memory with the better times we’ve shared with him, instead of the strange ones.”

“I have just the one.” Ironreach said. “Caught feelings for a woman a few years ago, something bad.”

Windrunner groaned. “Never ceases to amaze me, how you find a way to fit that in every time. We know already, you’re planning to propose after this mission. Spare us the joke.”

“See, if I lampshade it dramatically, bad luck won’t happen because everyone expects it now.”

“I’d rather not tempt fate at all. Some things should never be said out loud.” He said, knocking on his chestplate a few times for luck.

“Well..... it can’t possibly get worse, right?”

That got a groan from all the knights on the comms as he started laughing himself. Even Ankah looked like she’d seen a rat, though she kept quiet.

“I don’t think I’ve ever told you lot, how I got the courage to confess. See, she was part of command and control, and way too clever for a meathead like me. ‘Least that’s what I thought all the time. Talked to me often, gave me winks, touched my hands often, smiled each time she saw me. Never picked up on the hints. Always thought she was joking. She once played a game where she ran her hands on my leg asking if I felt nervous. In hindsight, don’t know how I didn’t get that one.”

Windrunner started snickering. Ironreach shook his head, “Laugh it up buckethead, everyone around can always tell but when it’s you in the center of it, you’ll keep doubting all the signs. Guarantee that. Wasn’t until gods damned Tenisent himself stopped me that I realized how bad it had gotten. Remember it like yesterday. Had his hands folded over his chest, glaring at me, and in that pissed off voice of his demanded that I get it together and ask for a date already.”

“If Winterscar of all people could notice the tension between you two, must have been a massive wake up call.”

“Exactly! That’s exactly what went through my head! It was like a light had been lit and I saw all the signs for what they were. Followed his advice right away and things are looking good for us. She’d told me her own friends were also at her throat too about making the first move. I think we were days apart from that. And well, things have been steady ever since! And guess what! I plan to propose to her after this mission.”

Windrunner groaned loudly at that, while Ironreach laughed and laughed. “Anyways... that’s my favorite memory of him. Who’s next?”

“I have one.” The shadowsong prime said.

That made the whole group fall quiet. There’d been history between these two, history that seemed to have passed down right to Kidra and Ankah. He didn’t keep us in suspense for long. “It was the time he offered to train my daughter.”

That got a collective held breath around comms, with exception to Ironreach who immediately blurted, “What?! That can’t have ended well. And how in the frozen wastes is that a good memory of him?”

The shadowsong prime shook his head. “Had anyone else said those words to me, I would have started a blood feud immediately. Such words could only be seen and taken as an insult. Especially from a Winterscar of all Houses. Instead... I believed his sincerity. We happened to pass by her as she was training in the courtyard against aspirants. He simply saw something that could be amended, and he offered to do so. There was no other motive. I could see it in his eyes. Tenisent was above politics.”

That made the woman in question tilt her head. “You rejected that offer I take it? I don’t recall him teaching me anything.”

“I did turn him down, yes. It was too much for my pride to allow him to teach you, no matter the intentions. Instead, I asked him to teach me. And then I passed down what I learned to you.”

Heh. I could see Ankah taking that with mixed emotions. Struggling to reconcile that parts of her training had come from the Winterscars. Or the idea of her Father being a student to her traditional enemies.

“We’ve arrived.” Atius said over the comms, cutting off the discussion.

The battlefield was much as I’d left it. The spider had been partway dissolved, but the rest of the screamers remained as they had been.

Windrunner whistled. “All this, just the two of you?”

“Just me and him. And at the end, it was just me.”

Atius stalked forward, inspecting the carnage. “Why is a spider out of its nest?” He asked.

I shrugged as I caught up to him and Kidra. “The thing followed us.”

“Followed? Explain.”

“We’d escaped it once, when a door shut between us and the nest. It setup an ambush later on and tried to finish the job.” I patted my armor. “As you can see, that didn’t work out. Chased after us with a different plan each time until I killed it.”

“Troubling. What you’re describing is behavior I would expect from a drake. Those are the designated hunters machines use at this layer. We understand their patterns perfectly after centuries, they don’t change.”

His eyes lifted up to watch the far edges of the world. Thinking. Calculating. “New behaviors… they always come as an omen.”

Next chapter - The secret left behind.