Published at 6th of July 2026 6:59 am

Chapter 304 - Grind of the Millstone

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The storm soon left the coast of Tlaxhuaco entirely, fading as it moved north. Mirian had long ago stopped channeling. She felt a shallowness to her auric mana that was entirely unfamiliar. She felt how depleted Ceiba Yan’s aura was, too, and told the old tree to drink deep. Her artifact would help replenish the Sacred Tree.

The hail had turned to sheets of rain, and the thick haze of gray out on the sea was still veiling just how much damage she’d actually done, but observers had seen at least one battleship wrecked on the shore of the archipelago, with several other ships with significant damage spotted moving north. The Akanans were in full retreat, at least.

Xecatl had departed to organize the relief efforts. She returned to find Mirian leaning up against Ceiba Yan’s great trunk, eyes closed.

“Thank you,” the Emperor said, sitting next to her. Then, “I don’t know how you did that.”

Mirian kept her eyes closed, letting the ambient mana around her soothe her weary aura. The shade and the lingering breeze felt good. “There were rooms in the Labyrinth. Meant to educate, not just test. There was a room near Frostland’s Gate that shows the effects of adding energy to a system. Wasn’t the only one. Another room was about balancing ecology. Another, about weather and climate. Then there was Viridian’s theory about the Labyrinth regulating the climate. I’m sure he told you in one of the loops.”

“He did.”

“Shifting the leyline shifts the Labyrinth. Shifting the Labyrinth shifts the weather. I don’t know what effect this will have in the long term. Ceiba Yan can keep the climate here regulated to some degree, and perhaps when this is over we can shift the Labyrinth back. For now, though, this relieves the energy buildup. The more stable we can keep the leyline, the less pressure it’ll have on the Ominian’s entropic field. With most anchors back in Them at the beginning of the cycle, the entropic field is that much more stable, but the longer we draw this out, the longer I have to deal with the… anchor problem.”

“And the longer this war goes on, the more people perish.”

“Yes,” Mirian said. There was a deep pain in that word.

They sat in silence for a time. Then, Xecatl said, “So it must be. It’s a continuation of the rest of history. I suppose the other Prophets must have thought they managed to twist civilization’s fate in directions that would let us escape human failings too. It seems we are no exception.” Another pause. “There’s been flooding in several of the lower areas, including the gardens. A lot of damage, but not more than we planned for with our redundancy. Casualties among the nagual were within acceptable limits.” The Emperor’s voice sounded cold and analytical, but Mirian knew her well enough to know what emotions lay masked beneath.

“I expect I know Liuan’s strategy now. If I’m right, Tlaxhuaco won’t face a major attack again—Liuan can’t afford to risk any more of the Akanan fleet. It will face harassment. I’ll get you some anti-skiff artillery with airburst shells and a few long range guns with magnetic detonation shells. I’ll need the rest.”

“Torrviol and Palendurio are next, then?”

“Almost certainly, though we can expect feints and misinformation to mask that.” She sighed, savoring how the currents of Ceiba Yan’s soul felt. “It all comes at a cost,” Mirian said. Her power was limited. Wherever she went to save lives, it came at the cost of the lives in places she wouldn’t be.

“I know,” Xecatl said. She put her hand on Mirian’s and squeezed.

Mirian felt their old friendship through that touch. Then she sighed and stood. Her silver eyes looked out over the island. “It’s so strange to think this is all permanent. That I won’t be able to revisit this point in time again. That one day, all those sunsets we saw together will be in the past for good—and there will be new sunsets. Ones we can’t predict. That all this will be remembered. Even now, it doesn’t feel real yet.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Xecatl said, also standing. “We both have our duties. Xylatarvia watch over you.”

“And you,” Mirian said. To Ceiba Yan, she thought, Take care of her for me.

She descended through the Gate.

 

***

 

Jherica was checking up on the adamantium production when they overheard Archmage Tyrcast talking with one of the military liaisons.

“…ships still scattered from the storm, so we’re still missing a count of the losses. At least four ships sank, including one of the new battleships, but there’s talk it might be a lot more. That’s being kept quiet, by the way,” the liaison said.

“You know my reputation,” Tyrcast said, which made Jherica roll their eyes. The man would use any information he could to get ahead, but the liaison just couldn’t help but suck up to the famous archmage in case Tyrcast dropped him some scraps. “What happened, though? There shouldn’t have been any storms down south.”

That made Jherica pause. Down south? Did he mean Urubandar? But Gabriel said he had control of that city back. And there shouldn’t be any storms down south. North, sure, and east, obviously. Jherica furrowed their brow, still leaning over the conduits they’d been checking. The spell engine was fine. The runes were fine. They weren’t sure how Mirian had mind-controlled those leviathans, but at least it would give them the souls they needed for some proper defense against her.

“—no one’s talking. Prophet Liuan announced it was a leyline-fueled storm, triggered by the Divine Weapons the false prophet stole, but… well, you didn’t hear this from me, but word is that tree had something to do with it.”

“Tree?”

“Yeah, the big one…” The conversation was moving away from the room. They were heading to one of the underground command centers that had another of the fake Liuans.

Jherica’s brow furrowed. They’d expected Mirian to finally make her move. But why had the Akanan fleet even gone near Tlaxhuaco? Jherica searched their memory. All the long decades were all jumbled up. They had the hardest time remembering this cycle. Mirian had started by betraying them, trying to remove the other anchors—Liuan had been warning them all in secret that would happen for some time. Then Jherica had been assisting in getting the orichalcum armor ready for both personnel and vehicles. None of the other Vadriach University arcanists appreciated just how hard it was to plate a spell cart or a ship with orichalcum without interfering with any of the glyphs, including Tyrcast. Jherica had remembered how to do that… but other things kept slipping from their mind.

They paused their work and headed up from the hidden factory to one of the lounges. Several newspapers were strewn about, as they always were. There were articles about Mirian’s attacks and another massacre she’d perpetrated. It was disgusting how she was lashing out after the loss of her anchor. Articles about securing the Rift Sea and destroying the leviathans. But then why had they attacked Tlaxhuaco? There wasn’t anything about that. Even if Xecatl had allied with Mirian, Ceiba Yan was literally rooted in place. Wasn’t a threat to them. Couldn’t be.

Something wasn’t adding up.

Jherica shook their head and blinked. The more they thought about what they were missing, the harder it became to focus. Their mind was fuzzy, almost like they’d been—

And then their mind went fuzzy again. It was annoying. It was like in those loops after they’d woken up. Too many memories, they thought, and with a sigh, headed back down to the workshop. The adamantium production was the priority. They needed to get the archmages all outfitted, or they wouldn’t be able to take the offensive.

They got back to work, this time checking the heat engine’s calibration to make sure the alloy would hit the perfect temperature as the leviathan’s soul energy was pushed in. Just too many memories, Jherica reassured themself. They remembered Liuan saying that phrase about herself. It was a joke among the three Akana Prophets, a nice little reminder of how much they’d been through. Besides, Jherica wasn’t like all those fools out there. Even now, Vadriach City was full of them, all willing to believe whatever they were told. Articles about the “greater good.” Articles about “bringing liberty to Baracuel,” and how the people across the sea were begging for the Akanans to liberate them from the tyrannical Mirian and her cabal of necromancers. They could even print an article about spellbombs landing in Palendurio next to the one about Baracueli praising Akana, and people wouldn’t even blink an eye. Wouldn’t even question how exactly the writers were getting interviews with people in Baracuel. It just took making the lies omnipresent, and people would believe almost anything, even if it contradicted their own experience. Celen had them dancing in his hand.

It had bothered Jherica at first. Still bothered them, some days. But in the end, it didn’t matter what they said as long as they got what they needed out of this cycle.

Good old Celen, Jherica thought fondly. If something was really suspicious, Celen would be the one to sniff it out, and he’d tell Jherica. Wasn’t anything to worry about if Celen was fine. They’d have to catch up later in the dream. Make sure he was still safe and hidden.

Jherica brought their full attention back to the devices. The adamantium was critical. They could always talk to Liuan later about any questions they had.

The little voice in the back of their mind quieted.

 

***

 

Mirian sat hunched over a table in Bainrose Castle, looking at a map of her forces. She’d hardly had time to rest since returning from Tlaxhuaco. Several militia lieutenants and army colonels stood nearby. Akanans were beginning to deploy infiltration teams into Baracuel.

My forces are spread too thin on the coast. That’s why so many are getting through, she knew. But that was always going to happen. Baracuel’s armed forces in Persama were all either trapped, turned, or dead by now, and so many people being moved to work on the leyline regulator reduced how many soldiers could be recruited to bolster their numbers. Akana Praediar simply had more people.

“We destroyed another Akanan infiltration team to the north,” Cassius said. “There’s been a… worrisome development. One of the Akanans looked exactly like me. Fortunately, the militia members on patrol found the circumstances questionable, and discovered the doppelganger didn’t know what classes I taught last quarter. But they couldn’t detect any illusions.”

“Soul disguises,” Mirian said instantly. “It uses runes and celestial bindings. It isn’t illusion magic. Professor Marva or any of the priests can help you assess if someone is using a soul disguise.”

“Ghellia? But if it’s not illusions—”

“Yes. Set up a rotating challenge-response system. Pick words in Friian or Cuelsin that Akanans have trouble pronouncing. Remember that personal details might not be enough; Liuan could very well have told that impostor your class schedule.” Mirian felt how the mood in the room shifted as she said that. “Establish a procedure where anyone going into the Gate room needs to have their soul checked by a priest. Get more observation teams up on the towers to look for Akanan skiffs. If you have the manpower, establish forward observation posts here, here, and here.”

Mirian went through more of the details of how to improve security. She would have preferred to have General Hanaran up here, but she’d needed to move her down to Palendurio where her competence was much more necessary. Commander Hirte was holding down Fort Aegrimere.

From what Mirian could tell, Liuan’s current strategy was to use every skiff and ship capable of traversing the Rift Sea to land small infiltration forces who were then charged with sabotage. Their ultimate goal would be to plant a large enough cluster of explosives by a Gate that they could destroy it. That would mean they needed to increase security around the Gates and check cargo moving through. Thankfully, the most critical shipments had already gone through, but that would slow their ability to move material and put more pressure on Zhighuan industry. The Baracuel Army’s command structure would provide resistance to infiltration, so Mirian was still planning on moving army divisions through if needed, but she’d have to make sure the officers were aware of the threats and were taking proper precautions. She knew well how soldiers could get lax in their duty.

Mirian’s forward outposts along the coasts would be most effective at stopping ships, but the skiffs would be hard to stop; they could fly high enough and fast enough and weren’t limited in where they needed to land. Zephyr falcons could alert the interior forces to be prepared for an incursion, and at least the skiffs could only deploy limited groups of soldiers.

However, there was a risk that Liuan included archmages and Sorcerer Elite in one of those groups, lulling her and her forces into a false sense of security before executing a fatal blow.

And that was why she was so exhausted. Even as she was trying to recover from her storm spell that had smashed the Akanan fleet, she needed to both help bolster security in Torrviol, Palendurio, Alkazaria, and Mahatan, while also being ready to respond to any incursion that threatened them. Right now, she could focus on Torrviol and Palendurio, but despite the losses the Akanan fleet had taken, the leviathans had been devastated and now their ships were moving freely on the coast. Reports were that Urubandar was accumulating a massive Akanan army, which meant Mahatan could be threatened in anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. And inevitably, Akanan strike teams would slip in or traitors would be convinced to move on the Alkazaria Gate. There were too many refugees still moving east to screen everyone.

Zhuan was assembling their own forces, but it took time for factories to be retooled and soldiers to be trained.

Mirian needed to buy them as much time as she could.

A messenger ran into the room, breathing hard. “Sacred One, Palendurio forward elements report multiple airships detected. The Praetorians and our own airships only turned back two. Between five and six more are thought to have made it through. Divination teams are already at work, but General Hanaran is requesting assistance.”

“Very well. Captain Cassius?”

Cassius swallowed and saluted. “We’ll get those security procedures implemented immediately.”

“Good. Ominian watch over you.”

She left, using blink to move to the Gate.

Soon enough, she was flying above Palendurio. Here and there, she heard cheers from the crowds below as she soared overhead. Liuan had foolishly thought having skiffs drop spellbombs on the cities might induce them to pressure their leaders to surrender, but it had only hardened the citizens’ resolve, and even more had flocked to join the war effort.

The upgraded skiffs were fast, but they also burned a lot of fuel. Mirian surveyed the sky with her spells, looking for infrared streaks. She sent out several divination spells, targeting key glyphs that would only be found in Tyrcast engines, to see if any airships had snuck into the city, but it didn’t seem so.

A glint in the distance. The airship was using an illusion to blend into the sky, but they’d only veiled the visible spectrum. She streaked forward, cone of force helping her pierce the wind.

The Akanans saw her coming. Desperately, they turned their shield engines to maximum capacity and turned their guns toward her, but she used blink and total camouflage to vanish. Their skyburst shells exploded harmlessly a few hundred meters away. That was when they started panicking. When she was only a kilometer away, Mirian grabbed the skiff with bands of force and pulled it towards the ground. As one band of force ruptured the primary spell engine, the craft stopped resisting her spell. The airship plummeted like it was attached to a chain and a leviathan had just yanked it down. The ground shook with the impact, and the crater it left offered little indication there had once been an airship or any people on it.

She moved on, drinking a mana elixir and quickly stabilizing the mana it offered. She shifted into the Lone Pine dervish form. Sleep would have to come later.

There were at least four other enemy craft to find.

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