Malcolm Tent
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Wish upon the Stars chapter 928
🕑 Added 2025-07-11 19:55:02 +0000 UTCI had a LOT of rock in my ring, and after melting it down enough to thin and having Callie reach into the shadows…I dropped it all. There was a whump of displaced air as the light in the cave flickered wildly. Not enough to wake the bats, and not enough to be extinguished, but it was definitely dimmed in our nearby proximity as condensed D-rank stone coated the walls and floor of the maze within about a mile of me.
Sadly, while I DID have enough prescience to stockpile some rock, I wasn’t actually able to see the future in any reliable sense, so I didn’t have nearly enough of the stuff. Still, it would help smooth over the beginning of the journey, especially given several of the entrances led into the area I’d just covered.
I turned around, amused to find everyone in my retinue had made their way into the maze already…and was now covered in melted stone. My wife, being the person who dispersed it, had avoided being coated, but everyone else looked like they’d just come in out of an indoor rainstorm at a dirt factory. “I did a plan,” I told them all solemnly. “It’s genius in it’s elegant simplicity.”
“I don’t think LITERAL mudslinging is a revolutionary idea,” Benny said waspishly as he wiped his face clean.”
Snorting, I triggered Agares, and then Murmur. I was fairly shocked to find that because of Song of the Soil being part of my Dantalion form, which was part of Murmur, the two overlapping abilities seemed to…synergize. It wasn’t a new Domain, though I could probably make one if I tried, more just an exceptionally useful mix of tricks. Still, within moments, I was blown away to realize my Murmur domain had EXPANDED to fit the field of mud I’d created, using the liquified stone as a carrier for my senses and doubling down on my stealth and detection capabilities.
The boost made anyone detecting us nearly impossible, but more than that, it made anyone getting PAST my detection just as unlikely. Which meant…”Shit, we need to sit and wait.” I said with a grimace. My stealth became more viable with time, and with this kind of boost, I was pretty much positive we could wrap up anyone who came in. We’d essentially be sneak attacking them with a thousand people from ambush.
We’d have to move eventually, but given we were at the entrance of the maze, someone would need to come through here at some point.
So…we waited. It was annoying, and felt counterintuitive, but it was the right call. And sure enough, within about an hour, a party of people came through. We’d retreated to the center of the mud area, so I could get as much warning as possible with which to position my people, so I saw them coming from almost LITERALLY a mile off.
Two hundred. A relatively small force. But I wasn’t taking them lightly, because I recognized one of them. The copper titan. I still didn’t know his name, but I’d seen him fight, and he was definitely someone’s ringer. I had Abel on standby ready to take him down, assuming the surprise wasn’t enough to drop him.
As he made his way deeper in with his people, I finally spotted what I assumed was his candidate. A small blonde girl with pudgy cheeks and sky blue eyes, her hair pulled up into a pair of braids that hung over her shoulders. She looked cheerful and excited, and I wouldn’t have even known who she was if not for the purple electricity dancing in her eyes.
Apparently when you got the notifications about a task, it triggered the same visible energy surge as granting wishes. That was good to know. Nat and Belsara hadn’t been around to see my eyes the last few times, and vice versa, so I had been unaware until now.
“Cryton, you don’t need to be such a worry wart,” she chirped happily. “We have our whole army with us. Plus you’re guarding me personally.”
The copper titan, currently copper but not titanic, scowled. “Can you not take things so lightly? This is DANGEROUS Alys. The rules of the game have changed. They’re trying to keep us alive. It’s not right. I don’t trust it.”
She snorted, blowing a raspberry. “That’s just dumb, my family is being nice, that’s a good thing.”
“It is NOT a good thing,” he snapped heatedly. “It’s a SCARY thing. The Wyndham family are cold blooded serpents, to a man. You’re the only decent human being in that den of vipers. The fact that they suddenly grew a conscience and are trying to keep all of you hale and healthy SHOULD concern you.”
Alys pouted. “That’s so mean. I know they can be a little standoffish, but they’re still my family. I think its nice that they’re giving us a way to get through this without alienating our family members. We’ll all be serving in the WCP together in the future. It only makes sense not to take things too far.”
I was feeling legitimately bad for planning to attack her at this point. She seemed so…nice. I wished more of my family thought like she did. Of course, given they were raised away from the branch clans, it wasn’t surprising other Wyndhams thought like me. But seeing one was…kind of heartwarming. The only thing that made me feel a bit better was that I wouldn’t need to hurt her. This was a fairly peaceful trial, like he’d said. We just had to pin her down and then move on.
Heart heavy, I raised my hand, pointing out positions for my people and getting them ready to waylay the incoming force with the most overwhelming advantage possible. The more we overpowered them, the less actual force we would need to exert and the less injured they'd need to get. The formations we’d learned in the Empire were definitely going to be a help in that regard too.
To my shock though, as they were walking into our trap, Alys froze, her head snapping up like a dog who caught a scent. “We’re…not alone,” she said slowly. “In fact, I THINK we might be surrounded.”
With a sigh, I let the traces of us fade into being, halting my obfuscation of our forces. Keeping it up at that point would have been MORE dangerous. If they didn’t know our numbers, they might be more likely to try to break out of the encirclement, and random attacks could accidentally kill someone even if they weren’t aiming for that.
Cryton’s eyes flared with incandescent rage as he started to grow, but Alys’s hand shot out to grip his shoulder. “Wait! If you get too big you might breach the bats' airspace.” She smiled wanly at me. “Hello cousin. You’re Shane, right? I recognize the mask. It’s super creepy by the way.”
“Thanks, I try,” I chuckled, stepping forward and raising my hands to show I wasn’t a threat. That was nonsense, obviously, I could pincushion the whole army with a thought, or at least the D-rankers. But there was no reason to be too aggressive. “So, are we actually cousins, or is that just a general use term of endearment? I know my dad has about ten half siblings I’ve never met.”
“Second cousins, I think,” she shrugged. “It gets hard to keep track. Family is family, so most of us just say cousin to keep it simple. “So, I don’t suppose you’d be open to negotiations?”
I cocked my head. “I mean…what kind? I waited an hour here to catch you guys, so I don’t think I can just let you go. But I’m not unreasonable, if you think there’s something you can pay me with that’s worth potentially losing out on a local helper, I’m willing to listen. Though I’m surprised you’re so reasonable, your buddy there seemed pretty dead set on coming for me when we first met.”
“Oh, don’t take it personally,” she chirped. “He was just playing politics. You know that the branch heads put a bounty on you, right?”
“I wasn’t aware it was anything that formal,” I admitted with a laugh. “But I knew they put the word out. I suppose I can’t exactly blame him for coming after me for benefits when I’m doing the same to you. Go ahead and make your offer, though like I said, I’m not sure how much we have to talk about. I can’t just let you go.”
She hummed consideringly. “Alright…how about a head start? Or the opposite of that, I guess. I’ll trade you twenty scrolls for two hours. We stay put for two hours, and then after that time ends we’re free to advance into the maze. Gives you decent odds of beating us out, and you’ll get the points as long as you do, even if we make it out later. Plus it’ll be a friendly start to our future dealings. I think the branch heads are finally starting to see the value in teamwork, so we might have a chance to work together in the future!”
Callie turned to me with a dazed look. “And I thought YOU were optimistic for a Wyndham. I almost want to keep her.”
“Don’t YOU start,” I told her waspishly. “You already brought Tilda home. If you start picking up strays like Bethy does we won’t have anywhere to keep them all.” I glanced back at Alys. “Sorry, ignore that, my wife and I like to banter. I think your idea has merit. I DO like your attitude. And it would save us some trouble and possible injury.”
Cryton snarled at me. “CERTAIN injury. You’re lucky I’m hobbled in this damned cave, or I’d crush the lot of you.”
“Can I punch him in the throat?” Abel asked acidly. “He seems like he could use a throat punch.”
“No,” I told him bluntly. “And shut up if you don’t have anything nice to say. I’d tell him to do the same if I thought he’d listen.”
Alys nodded approvingly. “I like that. Cryton, shut up if you don’t have anything nice to say.”
Cryton glared at me like I’d just taught his toddler how to swear, and I wondered briefly how they knew each other. A lot of candidates probably came with foster siblings or childhood friends. These two seemed close.
I withdrew a contract, sketching out some terms, and to my surprise, Alys tossed it back with a few addenda. I returned it with alterations, and we spent about ten minutes going back and forth before we finalized the terms. Of course, we used a wish to seal it, and she paid me for leaving them in peace with two hours lead time.
The wishes themselves weren’t counted as part of the deal, mostly because appropriately valuing a scroll was basically impossible. She handed them over before we left, and we headed off into the maze.
I was happy to meet Alys, and looked forward to getting to know my newfound cousin in better circumstances, but we needed to go. However, this little encounter and the wait to prepare for it had given me a new idea. Given the synergy between Murmur and Agares in these conditions, maybe I could extend that particular window of usefulness.
Focusing on the mud, as well as on Murmur itself, I stepped forward, and with a grunt of effort, the liquid stone began to writhe and roil, slowly moving forward along with me. Inside the Murmur domain, the liquid stone was concealed, and the spread of the stuff allowed me to expand the domain beyond its normal limits. The soul strain of moving the whole thing was no joke, but speed seemed to affect the difficulty. So with that understanding, I just began moving as slowly as possible.
Jack, who had been watching in morbid fascination during the negotiations, seemed to regain his senses as we started moving, and he quickly took charge of our path, leading me towards the exit as well as he knew how. At this rate, it would only take a week or two to get out. Lovely.
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He needs to collect these good relatives under his banner later if possible.
