Andrew Rowe - On the Shoulders of Titans

He raised a finger. “First, and most prominently, you have the Godslayer faction. They believe the visages must be killed. They also believe that anyone who has been complicit in the visages retaining control, such as the rulers of most kingdoms and the highest ranking priests, should also be removed.”

Tristan raised a second finger. “The Peacemaker faction believes that our goal should be to work with the visages, and get them to acknowledge their faults. That we should, perhaps, show a firm hand and our willingness to fight, but that ultimately we are better off working with the visages than against them.”

“Finally,” he raised a third finger, “There is my faction. A much smaller group, with little support and different goals.” He paused. “It was the Godslayer faction that employed Mizuchi to attack that ball. Their goal was to remove important figures of government, as well as supporters for the Peacemaker faction and my own group.”

“How is that possible? Shouldn’t Mizuchi only be able to leave the spire with the help of a visage?”

Tristan shook his head. “A powerful enough Summoner with a contract with Mizuchi could use a true summoning spell to bring her outside of the spire. I believe that is what happened.”

I tightened my jaw. “A powerful Summoner…like Elora Theas, perhaps?”

“I find it unlikely that it was Elora, but you’re wise to suspect her. She has the capability to accomplish such a thing, but I don’t believe she has the motivation.”

I nodded. “Do you have any idea on who else it might be?”

“I’m not certain. I’ve had minimal contact with the outside world. You probably know more Summoners than I do.”

I didn’t think I knew any as powerful as Elora, but I could do some digging at the Divinatory another time. “And this faction of yours — what is it?”

“I’m glad you asked.” He clapped his hands together. “I call us Ascension. I believe there is a fundamental flaw in simply trying to eliminate the visages or work with them. In the first case, we would then be at the whim of other powerful beings, either from within our continent or the outside world. The latter case is an overly optimistic dream. There is no way to negotiate with a being that can wipe out your cities with a swipe of their hand and outlive you a hundred times over.

“The visages do not rule us because they are too strong. They rule us because humanity is too weak. If we ever truly wish for humanity to emerge from the shadow of the visages, we must rise to be their equals. And that, my dear brother, is my goal. To raise every human being — not just a chosen few — to power comparable to that of the visages themselves.”

I folded my arms. “That sounds good from a conceptual standpoint, but what happens when any ordinary person who has a bad day can wipe out a city?”

Tristan nodded. “Giving everyone exactly the same capabilities as a visage would be a mistake, of course. We do not need every human being to have that degree of offensive power. But imagine if every human had a Guardian attunement, at a level higher than Emerald, and bodies as resilient as a serpent’s.

“Imagine if no one had to die from malnutrition, disease, or accidents. And if an outside force chose to invade our continent? Every citizen could break swords with their bare hands. Bullets would deflect from their shrouds.”

I’d considered much the same, though on a smaller scale, when I first thought about the potential ramifications of artificial attunements. Widespread Wayfarer attunements for rapid transportation. Elementalists who simply manipulated the weather to improve crop yields. Menders on every street in case someone was injured.

It was an appealing prospect, but it seemed almost too good to be true.

A part of me tried to fabricate reasons in my mind why it was too dangerous, or why it couldn’t be possible.

But I knew the truth — there was a part of me that was just afraid of change. And another part that was afraid of losing what made me special.

I’d risked my life for that attunement. Was it really fair for others to get them for free? Perhaps even any attunement of their choice?

But that was an inherently selfish line of thinking.

If there was a way that everyone could have attunements, in a way that didn’t cause great harm, that was a goal worth striving toward.

But if that really was Tristan’s goal, it still raised further questions. “If your goal is widespread attunements for humanity, why did you sabotage Vera’s test?”

“That was Orden’s work, not mine. And while I could have opposed her, I would have failed. She was one of very few Whispers who had enough trust from the visages to work outside of the spires. I’m sure she had a brand to prevent her from talking about certain things, but she had freedom, and that freedom gave her power and influence.” He turned his head toward the room he’d exited from.

“But Orden is out of the picture now, and I have access to excellent sources of research. Moreover, artificial attunement research continues unimpeded within Caelford. While Vera’s team was important, they were only one group of several.”

I turned toward the doors he’d come from and pointed. “That room — that’s where you’re keeping Tenjin? And those other researchers?”

Tristan shook his head. “I won’t answer that. I wanted you to know why I’m doing what I’m doing, but you’re not working with me. I’d like you to, and I’ll make you that offer here and now. But it would take time and trust before I would give you a secret as great as Tenjin’s location.”

I could respect that. I was getting used to having secrets of my own. “Okay. I do have to ask one more thing, though.”

“Of course. I’m sure you have many questions.”

“When you first were admitting who you were in the book… Why’d you send me a villain monologue?”

Tristan broke into laughter. “I was a bit over the top, wasn’t I? In truth, I didn’t know what to say to you. I would have told you the truth earlier, but I couldn’t risk the possibility that Orden was going to find your book. Until she was out of the picture, I couldn’t write my name in there. If she’d known I had ways of communicating with the outside world, she could have used that against me. Had me executed, even.” He shook his head. “But aside from that? There’s a part of me that wanted to motivate you.”

“In what way? I already was looking for you.”

“Of course. And…” He looked pained for a moment. “Thank you, Corin. Like Mother, you never stopped believing that I might be alive. You even asked about me during your Judgment. I’m grateful for that. You’ve always asked questions — that’s something I respect about you.”

“But?”

“But I needed you to dig deeper. I needed you to consider the possibility that anyone could be a threat. Even me. You need to internalize that. It will help you survive the things to come.”

“And those things are?”

“I’m working on it.” Tristan sighed. “I have plans, of course, but the attack on the ball injured or killed many of my key allies. It’s going to take me some time to—”

There was a loud snap as the door behind me flew off its hinges.

I spun, drawing my sword.

I heard the sound of metal sliding against leather from behind me as Tristan did the same.

In front of us, in the open doorway, was my sister. Sera.

How is she—

A figure behind her pushed her forward.

Sera stumbled, then broke into a run toward me.

“Go ahead and run, Summoner.”

Mizuchi smiled as she stepped into the room, glancing from side to side. She was in her human form, with the long purple hair. “I’d be glad to have you all in one place. It’s easier to kill you at the same time that way.”