“On his way. The nearest branch of the labyrinth is several days’ flight from here. I could bring him now, but I fail to see why I would.”
She was inspecting Mercy for a reaction, but Mercy was dumbfounded. “Why did they—”
“Not they. He’s alone.”
There was only one reason Mercy could think of that Lindon would come here alone. He had heard about the advance of the Wandering Titan and he was coming to prepare.
“The Titan destroyed his hometown,” Mercy said. “He’s been looking for a way to kill the Dreadgods. We could use his help.”
“Maybe that’s it,” Malice murmured. “I admit, I was looking forward to using the labyrinth for our own ends. Why don’t we go see if he’s here for the Titan, hm?”
“Are you taking us to him, or bringing him here?”
“Let’s split the difference.”
The darkness of Mercy’s office peeled away, and Mercy found that they were now sitting on a dark cloud overlooking the outer walls of Moongrave.
The walls, like most other parts of the city, were black and spiked. They rose high over the surrounding lands, and the local gates were guarded by hulking lizard-like Remnants so advanced as to resemble sacred beasts.
These Remnants walked like men, wore armor and carried weapons, and had been artificially raised to have strength comparable to Heralds. They were deadly opponents.
Normally traffic from outside streamed through the gates between them; even air traffic was stopped here and made to fly through the gates.
Now, with the gates shut, most people had been redirected to other entrances. No one was approaching for miles.
Until the shadows twisted in midair and a cloud fortress appeared.
Windfall’s cloud base was a deep blue, and most of it was taken up by a garden of sacred herbs the size of a tilled field. It had a pair of trees, a pool of crystalline water, and a three-story house…as well as a tiny hut where Eithan had supposedly made his home.
Mercy didn’t feel Lindon’s presence onboard, but that was the point of the security scripts Lindon had been so proud of. In theory, even Malice couldn’t scan the fortress without breaking or disabling the scripts first.
It took the cloud a moment to slow, by which point the guards had risen into midair to meet it. They were silent and did not level their weapons, but just by their presence, they threatened to tear the fortress apart.
“Why didn’t we just bring him inside?” Mercy asked.
Malice still lounged on her chair, watching. “I want to see what he’ll do.”
Only a moment later, Lindon emerged from the front door of his house. He walked calmly out to the edge of the cloud and bowed in the direction of the two guards.
He wore an outer robe of the Twin Star Sect, and his was light blue with highlights that bordered between orange and red. His large frame was dwarfed by the lizard-men, but he pressed his fists together unhurriedly.
“I am Wei Shi Lindon Arelius,” he announced. “I believe the honored Monarch is expecting me, and I am grateful for the transportation here.”
Akura Justice had worked harder than perhaps anyone in the entire clan these past few days, so Mercy expected a subordinate of his to appear, but apparently he had been warned by Malice in advance.
The old Archlord rose from behind the walls with black-clad hands held behind the small of his back. He dipped his head to Lindon when they met.
“Sage of Twin Stars, I am Akura Justice, and I greet you on behalf of the Monarch.”
“Akura Justice. A pleasure to meet you again. Gratitude for your assistance in the Uncrowned King tournament.”
From above, Mercy saw Justice tighten his hands behind his back. From what she gathered, Justice hadn’t expected much out of Lindon prior to the tournament. He must have done or said something he regretted now.
“It was my honor,” Justice said. “Be most welcome to Moongrave. With all respect to the Sage, may I request that you tell us the purpose of your visit?”
Lindon looked into the sky, and Mercy felt his spiritual sense leave the protection of his script. Malice must have been veiling them, because Lindon’s perception swept through Mercy and her mother as though they weren’t there.
Only a moment later, Lindon returned his attention to Justice. “Of course. I’m here to request an audience with Akura Mercy, if I may.”
Mercy’s back stiffened.
Malice chuckled at her reaction, then spoke off to the side. “Tell him no,” she said.
“Mother!”
Justice clearly heard the command, because he froze for a moment, then he turned slightly to glance up in their direction. He wore a troubled expression and stroked his beard, visibly searching for the right words.