Seventy-Four

  Max stumbled back into the group with a staggered step like he'd been hit in the head several times past too many.

  “Check if he’s possessed!” Hazgul shrieked.

  “He’s not,” Harmony assured the spirit. “How are you feeling Max?”

  “Like I’m the jailer to a horny, violent, mass murderer who whispers the most inappropriate things into my ear. But I’ve got this.”

  Jessica scooted away from the agent and closer to Tyler. “How about we get a friendly offensively-minded spirit for Lord Tyler? Something to compliment his defensive capabilities as a tank.”

  Friendly and offensively minded did not mix well with spirits in the book. If any creature was set in their ways it was them. Death usually didn’t create an environment for change. If that is something Tyler wanted they’d have to have some concessions. “After we go check on the chained spirit for Rose we can look into that.“

  Grosse categorized the chain spirit as a weak tier two one. Hazgul says it still existed, and Harmony hoped she could boost it for Rose. The ability to restrict opponents was something she could use. But it was bound to a chain, so she’d have to haul it everywhere.

  Harmony yelped as Adric pulled her to the side. Everyone had weapons in their hands as the ground split sending a tree crashing down.

  Garrick’s head popped out of the crack. “Ho, questors. Spirits come to check your worth and prove theirs.” Then his head disappeared into the ground.

  “Not this guy. “ Len’s spirit compined.

  “What?” Len asked.

  “You are going to now see a bunch of eccentric spirits. Nothing nice and normal like I am. Wake me when the circus is over.” Hazgul flickered out. Harmony could feel him nestled and condensed into Len’s bond.

  A wave of spiritual pressure blew in. The ghost trees flickered out. The deadwoods merely felt dense, until revealed to be otherwise. Minor spirits fled from the wave. Then real trees started to fall, and a clearing formed around them.

  Outside of that gust, Harmony couldn’t pick up on what was going on. It was dungeon-like with the environmental manipution, but not. This was not her forte even if undead was involved. The team was getting nervous, grabbing weapons, readying skills… except for… Adric and Bowe. This was clearly part of Thorne’s pn. Some random event or interaction they couldn’t be told about beforehand?

  At the edge of the clearing they were in, amorphous shapes, hazy beings, and looming shadows all watched and waited.

  “Wanna py!?” The shriekingly high voice echoed out. A clown stumbled out of the circle of trees, then another, and another. A colorful one with a red balloon. One bck and white with a tiny bck hat. One with a smile like his mouth had been cut wider with a knife. Clowns continued to funnel out and toward them with looks in their eyes, when they had eyes, that showed a distinct ck of sanity.

  “Harmony?” Tyler asked.

  She didn’t need her css senses to tell her these were wrong. Or how terrifying or monstrous they were. Even if there was a nice one in the bunch none of these fools needed to be bonded to a clown. “Not friendly. Jessica, want to light them up?”

  The sunfire berzerker cracked her knuckles and punched out with a stream of fire.

  Harmony kept back and let the others fight. Tyler’s maul knocked the head off of one but the body kept coming. Rose’s energy arrows blew off kneecaps halting movement. Len sent fireballs and set up shields. Max bisected the undead with his sword going shoulder to hip. They had this under control, so she walked over to Adric and cast a little bit of silence around them.

  “This isn’t much of a negotiation?”

  “They have to prove themselves. When Bowe and I went to get the attention of the spirits here it was spiders. I think I prefer clowns. More punchable.”

  “I’m assuming there will be a few rounds of this?” Harmony asked.

  “More or less. I was seeking advice or help on my condition. With them wanting spirits for bonding I don’t know what will be thrown their way. Thorne insisted they not know the details, as knowing beforehand can taint the results. So, bring in the clowns.”

  Some big muscly clowns with mallets that made Tyler’s maul look small wandered out as well. The team was handling it, staggering skill usages so that with a quick bit of communication either a look or tap they would sub out. As the st clown fell they turned into sand, sinking into the earth.

  “Under the great eye, all shall be revealed!”

  In the sky overhead a giant eye formed blocking out the whole clearing under its shadow. Harmony grunted as a greater inspection effect smmed into her. It permeated her body, skills, and soul. A piece of her flinched it away, deflecting it from going too deep. Like a reflexive fsh of her morning routine. Her sense of existence remembered a simir feeling of intrusion when Von Trell visited and knocked her out. Like [Recall] trying to pull memories of a bad dream.

  Everyone staggered under the effect. Len was on his hands and knees. Max puked. Rose wobbled. Tyler activated one of his tank abilities causing him to square up and shine with defensive power. Jessica had her hair turn into a mane of fire for a moment.

  Along the edge of the clearing, the first statue was unearthed from the ground. Adric sat cross-legged on a backless bench, a much smaller jewel-encrusted Bowe, to get the colors right, in his p like a dog, tongue lolling out of his mouth. He had a huge grin and vitality in his eyes, with a single silver chain wrapped around his throat.

  Jessica’s statue was pure red, stone glowing with heat, a defiant look daring anyone to challenge her. The statue's clothing is a maid’s uniform with stone fire eating away at it. At her feet, A burning pile of rope coiled around her in a mess.

  Maxwell’s rose up next, pink popping up out of the earth. Descending order of power, at least if defined by levels. Harmony pced her statue as going up st. A little bit of marketing for the spirits watching. The pink-haired singurly sworn’s statue had him kneeling with his sword before a sleeping statue of Harmony dressed in her armor looking too perfect. What would be a knight's armor hung broken from his body, a shiny new bck suit underneath. At his ankle, a tiny red devil strapped to chains tried to pull away from him.

  Maxwell's face fell, and Harmony covered hers briefly in embarrassment at the scene.

  Jessica looked the most confused, so at least Tyler had let Max’s css status slip to her. “What in the burnt toast is going on there!” She demanded.

  “Well.” Tyler started

  The statues weren’t done. Tyler and his maul raised high in one hand and the other hand grasped a broken crown. The armor was a patchwork of metallic colors, shades of silver, gray, bck, and gold.

  “Hey, Little Lord, what's with your crown!” Max yelled to distract from his own issues.

  Rosaline’s emerged. She had a crown too, but not the cssic kind Tyler held in his hand, a heavy iron chain circled her brow. Through her right palm, the arrow of many things sat pierced. Rather than armor, she was wearing a rge poofy ballroom dress, sparkling and white.

  Only two left. As oddly embarrassing as the statues were, Harmony saw potential to figure out the root of the theocratic bond, maybe the eternal title would be somewhere.

  Len’s rose up. Farthington now a full dragon wrapped around his bare shoulders. As it continued to rise up out of the earth the statue continued to be bare. Shirtless, but not without his spells. Wards and spell circles he could use to cast decorated every inch of his skin. In the hand where the Jamesian bond was paired, a glowing light shone from his palm. At its full exposure, Len’s statue stood tall, proud, and completely naked.

  Well, at least that’s not happening to her. Night should firmly be on any statue that rises out of the ground next. Right?

  No crown. That’s a win. Rather than stone, this one appeared to be made of polished sand so fine it might as well be dust. Harmony could feel the ground bone mixed into it. The whites of the status eyes were nearly all bone. And the look on her face, one might mistake for fear, instead was pain.

  What looked like frost gripped her throat. Night clothed her, twisted and ripped. Bruises decorated the flesh, a rib extended out broken. [Recall] reminded Harmony of all the times she died. Stabbed from behind. Overwhelmed by the queen's recognition. Bodies of hers bludgeoned, beaten, chewed, and frozen during the climb. The simucrum’s right hand was missing, ripped off above the wrist.

  Pain, but so much was missing. No Hyacinth where Len had Farthington. No Adric where the prince had Bowe. Max had her and even his new spirit bound to him. In that, it was ugly in a visceral way that demanded an answer.

  Harmony walked up to her statue. It stood a good bit taller than her. Fine like dust. [Manipute Dead] Pulverized some of the bone inside it more turning it to actual dust allowing her to get to work [Beautician], [Dust], and [Manipute Dead] blended together as she commenced the remodeling.[ Mend] helped fuse it back together in the correct way.

  [Analyze], [Style and Grace], with [Poise and Bearing] to work on the body into a strong pose with none of the crippling pain of the form as the bruises, breaks, and blood are erased.

  Not enough colored material to do the hand right, but there is enough bone in the sand to make the repcement solid white, and in her palm is a tiny bck Hyacinth and two miniatures representing Prince Adric and Maxwell beside it.

  Exhausting, but not worse than when she'd done all the hair and makeup for Songstress and the flows. Now it had style, css, and beauty.

  Len edged in nervously, breaking Harmony's trance-like focus. “Um. Harm, could you maybe help put clothes on my statue?”