All that was missing was the requiem for the dead that she’d sung more times than she could count and the bottle of alcohol that they’d use to toast the departed.
She needed out of here.Distance and time to get her head on straight.
On her way out, Kira nodded at the pair of oshota standing guard in the sleepers’ chamber, finding reassurance in the knowledge that Elise and the others would have company during their long rest.Roake remembered them and stood in eternal protection.Until the sleepers were finally ready to rejoin the world.
No matter how long it took.
Her first breath upon exiting felt like a relief.The weight on her shoulders eased slightly.She felt lighter.Steadier already.
This must be what closure felt like.
Noticing the dark haired Tuann facing away from her, Kira frowned.“Finn, you alright?”
At her question, her oshota glanced back at her.“I thought I heard something.”
Finn made room as Kira joined him on the Nexus’s edge.
The chamber that served as Roake’s seat of power was massive, reaching several stories high.Sheets of water fell from above in several places, creating waterfalls that veiled large sections of the room, turning it into something of a labyrinth.More confusing were those waterfalls that fell upward, defying gravity to climb back toward the ceiling as if drawn to something up there.Throughout, a complex geometric pattern was carved on the floor via channels filled with trickling water.
At the center of it all sat a pedestal.To reach it, anyone wishing control of the House’s defenses and offenses would have to first walk through the thin sheet of liquid surrounding it.
A more difficult prospect than it seemed.Even from this distance, Kira could feel the immense power radiating off the Nexus’s water.The molars in the back of her mouth fairly tingled from the buzz it was giving off.She didn’t have to experience it for herself to know that one droplet from the waterfall’s spray would cause an immense surge ofkithat could damage an untrained Tuann’s mind and body.
Harlow told her it would be like stepping into a lava field.Blistering hot and painful.Her mind would want to break, but she wouldn’t be able to let it.
It was the final trial Roake’s heir had to overcome before assuming the mantle of Overlord.
Defensively, the place was a nightmare.Filled with so many blind spots that someone could launch an ambush from.
Kira supposed that was the point.Anyone trying to infiltrate this place was playing fast and loose with their lives.If Roake’s Nexus didn’t kill them, its oshota would.
“I don’t hear anything,” Kira said.
She was surprised Finn had.
The stone walls turned the Nexus into a giant echo chamber.The falling water a dull roar that was made worse by the relentless buzz the Mea’Ave was giving off.
It was disorienting.
The fleeting reflections she kept glimpsing out of the corner of her eye didn’t help.The water telling her truth and lies.Promising the universe’s secrets.Everything that would break an undisciplined mind.
“Want to check it out?”Kira offered, seeing Finn’s preoccupation.
“If you don’t mind.”
“It’s better than dwelling.”
She’d take anything over the cloying sense of grief and guilt that had marked the last few months.
“It gets better with time,” Finn promised.
Kira gave him a jerky shrug, not really wanting to talk about it.“Let’s get this over with.”
Right as she said that, Raider stepped out of the chamber behind them as if summoned.“What are we doing?”
“Finn heard something.We’re going to check it out.”
Raider’s gaze swung toward the oshota.“A strange something or a suspicious something?”
