That was clear from the contents of the stone building. It was a small one-room container, little more than a box, but the wall was obscured by scripted tanks containing Remnants that reminded Lindon of Sacred Valley.
An orange monkey took a bite of an apple, then restored it to pristine condition and bit it again. A squid-like slimy Remnant punched the inside of its tank, lighting up the glass; Lindon felt the punch containing a weight that twisted the world. A buzzing cloud of flies formed a vague outline of Yerin, mimicking her movements slightly before she did. She waved and began striking strange poses to see if she could force it to make a mistake as Lindon inspected the rest.
Then he followed the base of their tanks, to where lines of script connected them to a hatch in the floor.
[There’s a reason, besides his infamous eccentricity and dramatic flair, that he built this facility on the back of a flying sacred beast. The Colossal Moon-eater, as this creature is called, has a natural authority that imbues its blood aura with an aspect of preservation. Which makes it ideal for storing experimental material, as well as for this…particular project.]
The hatch didn’t go down far. It couldn’t, as it was dug into the Colossal Moon-eater’s skin. The blood aura, rich with preservation, hung over a silver capsule like a mist.
Lindon destroyed the security construct with pure madra and Yerin twisted a handle to disengage the capsule and pulled it up.
[Inside this capsule,] Dross whispered, [is—]
“We know,” Yerin interrupted. “Picked it, didn’t we?”
She opened her void key and tossed the capsule in. Then she reached for the tank containing the buzzing Remnant flies, but Lindon grabbed her wrist. “No, there’s no time!”
She stared at him like he’d sprouted a second head until his serious expression cracked.
Yerin gave a relieved breath. “Whew, thought for a second you’d been replaced.”
“Ha, no, of course we’re taking everything.”
Lindon seized every Remnant in the room while Dross complained.
[I know you know what’s in the capsule, it’s just…it’s about the experience, isn’t it? Is it really as satisfying, stealing from a Monarch, if you don’t bask in the weight of it? And to have it explained by me, the masterpiece of that same Monarch? It would be a wasted opportunity if I didn’t do it, I think.]
Transporting in hadn’t been a problem, but a transportation out might be thrown off by the authority of the Moon-eater. Lindon and Yerin walked off the edge of the flying lizard.
“You can tell us,” Lindon said over the rushing wind.
[Good, I will! Inside that capsule is one of Northstrider’s latest attempts at replicating an Abidan artifact. It manipulates the Way to perfectly preserve and stabilize any target, potentially even granting…eternal life!]
Yerin and Lindon vanished before they hit the ground, reappearing on the steps of the ancient fortress that led into the labyrinth.
“Wow,” Yerin said dryly. “You’ve cracked my mind in half, Dross.”
[That’s why you both picked it, and I win the bet.]
“What? I didn’t pick this.”
[You considered it very strongly. I should win at least fourteen percent.]
“Fourteen of what?” Yerin asked.
[Satisfaction. I will be fourteen percent more satisfied than I am now.]
“How about, instead, I let you explain the next target?” Lindon suggested.
[Oh, I will be doing that anyway. I cannot be stopped.]
While it was difficult to track the exact location of the labyrinth from the outside, there were fewer extensions of the labyrinth on the Ninecloud continent than anywhere else. Over the years, the Sha family had built up a good understanding of where the ancient maze fell.
They couldn’t sense it exactly, but there was only one labyrinth exit near anything of substance. Sha Relliar, Herald and Right Hand of the Luminous Queen, stood guard with a contingent of Lords and Ladies. They had the exit surrounded by security scripts and by the perceptions of their sacred artists.
Though none of them expected to catch someone.
The labyrinth entrance was buried in a beautiful nine-leveled pavilion, each a different color. The building shone as the labyrinth opened, and Sha Relliar instantly ordered the script activated.
All the aura in the area froze. The circle was temporary, not a permanent part of the installation, so it wouldn’t last for long against sacred artists of Wei Shi Lindon’s power. But it didn’t have to.
That was why Relliar was here.
He was much older than he looked, though during his advancement to Herald, he had kept marks of his age. The wings of white in his hair and subtle wrinkles at the corners of his eyes lent him dignity, he felt.