Chapter 30 - The Circle
Alexander skimmed through scroll after scroll, starting to piece together a picture in his head, one he wished he hadn't. The White Spire was a long-standing institution. It had shaped the way he saw the world, teaching him morals and tradition. It boasted deep roots, going back three centuries as one of the great powers to emerge after the great calamity wrought destruction across the world.
But here in these scrolls sat a ledger, a tracking of citizens belonging to this Authority. From what he had skimmed so far, the dates went back at least two thousand years. And there were still hundreds of scrolls, ledgers, and books left to go through.
He rubbed Rune's ears without even registering what he was doing, glancing over his shoulder at Julia. She was helping to tidy up the room, and he still couldn't quite reconcile what she was. Undead, for sure. But not in the way the Spire taught. Not in the way his grandfather's childhood stories had warned him. And certainly not in the way he himself had previously encountered them.
She wasn't mindless. She didn't harbor an insatiable hatred for the living. She was... gentle.
Rune, my dear boy, what have we gotten ourselves into?
Rune let out a huff, as if answering the thought. Given the circumstances, Alexander wasn't entirely sure the wolf hadn't actually heard it.
Skimming the scrolls was starting to give him a headache, an endless list of names, dates, last known locations, confirmed and unconfirmed deaths, and burial sites. He decided to switch tactics.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, his glasses slipping a little too far down.
“Mrs... um, Julia? Did you bring me to this desk on purpose?”
Clack. Clack clack.
Julia barely turned, waving a dismissive bony hand. Alexander was getting terrifyingly good at reading her intentions. The translation he gathered was: Less talking, more reading.
Of course, he thought. Research.
His mind flooded with the implications. What did all this mean for Siurad and Yona? And where did he stand in relation to it all?
He retied the scrolls and reached for a different book. It was a much smaller ledger still old, but nowhere near as ancient as the scrolls. The cover bore a simple title: H.C.
He opened the cover, and the words on the first page made his stomach lurch.
Known surviving family members of the High Council: Aman and Archibald.
This ledger was dated roughly two hundred and seventy-five years ago. Just as he reached to turn the page, a man's voice cut through the quiet; it was a voice that made his skin crawl.
"You know Vex will have your head for that."
Amadeo stopped near the entryway, his eyes locked on Alexander. The gaze made the priest feel queasy, like a plump boar being eyed by a starving predator. Alexander quickly looked back down at the book, trying to avoid eye contact.
"That's his desk," Amadeo continued smoothly. "No one sits there. Not even me or George."
“Apologies,” Alexander said, snapping the book shut. “I didn't mean to intrude. I'll be taking my leave.”
“Tell me, priest,” Amadeo said, stepping further into the room. “Tell me why.”
“Why?” Alexander stammered. “Why what, exactly?”
Amadeo closed the distance fast, not quite a sprint, but a highly aggressive stride. As he drew near, the heavy, sour scent of spirits and wine radiated off him.
But he didn't make it far.
The docile wolf Alexander had been petting completely abandoned the "docile" part. Rune slid smoothly out from under the desk, positioning his massive frame directly between Alexander and Amadeo. He didn't growl. He simply stood there and stared. Slowly, his coat began to shift, the regular fur giving way to inky, shadowy tendrils that swayed unnaturally in the air.
Clack.
Julia turned her full attention to the unfolding scene. Amadeo stared at the wolf, then at the giant skeleton, his bravado wavering slightly.
“My meeting with Vex is next. I'm supposed to wait here,” Amadeo said.
Clack-click.
Julia rolled her skeletal neck. Alexander interpreted this as Get out, delivered with a heavy dose of authoritative sass.
“Vex will not be pleased,” Amadeo hissed.
Clack. Clack.
She turned to face Amadeo completely. She didn't physically grow, but her presence suddenly loomed much larger, sucking the air out of the room.
“By the Light,” Alexander whispered, clasping a hand over his mouth. He understood exactly what she was saying.
Move, or you will be moved.
The entire library fell dead silent.
“This specimen should be a sacrifice for the great Peronin. A strange man shows up, and now suddenly everyone has lost their damned minds! He is pure, he is special! The teachings were not a—” Amadeo trailed off, his voice cracking with raw emotion.
This man is just heartbroken, Alexander realized.
“Please,” Alexander said softly. “We can talk this out without any violence.”
Rune slowly turned his head to face the priest, his lupine features displaying what could best be described as utter puzzlement.
Alexander coughed. “There has been a great deal of change for everyone here. I think it's best if we all just—”
“I think the proper thing to do is to calm yourself, Amadeo.”
Vex stood at the entrance to the library, with Steve looming massively behind him.
Steve's empty gaze swept across the room, looking from Julia to Amadeo. He took one large, heavy step forward, but Vex calmly raised a hand to stop him.
“I doubt he would be so foolish as to truly defy Julia. Am I wrong, Amadeo?”
“Of course not, Master Vex,” Amadeo stammered. “I was just appalled to see the sacrifice sitting at your desk, in your chair, going through your forbidden files.”
“I appreciate your worry. However, the priest is a guest of Kivuli. As such, he is entitled to view anything within these walls. I hope that is not a problem for you.”
“Kivuli? Master Vex, you must understand what this looks like! A random man shows up out of nowhere wearing a ring, and suddenly you have forsaken all that we have worked for? I believe you are bewitched by this priest and his companions. They have filled your mind with false memories! With tales of a fake god!”
“Your emotional state is understandably fragile at this moment, Amadeo,” Vex said, his tone chillingly even. “We will reschedule your interview for a later date. But be aware, your comments regarding Kivuli will be overlooked this one time. There will not be a second. You may leave.”
“Master, I'm only trying to say—”
“You are dismissed.”
The green flames in Vex's eye sockets ignited like a blazing inferno. Deep within the magical fire, a violent violet hue began to overtake the emerald green.
Amadeo rubbed his neck nervously, shooting one last venomous look at Alexander before turning on his heel and fleeing the room.
By the Light, Alexander thought, his pulse quickening all over again.
“Alexander, is it?” Vex asked, the magical flames settling back to a calm green as he strode forward so smoothly it appeared as though he were floating.
“Yes, that... that is my name,” Alexander stammered. He attempted to get up from the seat.
“Please, remain seated.”
Alexander's heart sank. He looked to Julia, who had strode over to stand next to Steve, and then his eyes went to Rune, who seemingly didn't think there was any threat at all.
Rune, please.
Vex made it to the desk and looked down at him. The lich was tall, with gaunt, sharp features. To Alexander, he looked human, but wrong. He could pass for a living man at a passing glance, but the longer Alexander stared, the more the unsettling, unnatural details began to stand out.
“You are a priest of the White Spire?”
“I am.”
“Yet here you sit, surrounded by the undead, and you do not attack. Tell me why.”
“I am... I am traveling with Siurad and Yona, and the being they call Obi. I am a morality guide of sorts.”
A smile stretched across Vex's thin face, the pale muscles pulling unnaturally tight like old rubber.
“Bring me a chair,” Vex commanded to no one in particular. Moments later, a young initiate scurried over, carrying a wooden chair. It was cushionless.
“You can have your chair back, it's really not a problem,” Alexander offered quickly, gesturing to the plush leather seat he occupied.
“Nonsense,” Vex said dismissively, sitting down. “Tell me, what do you know of morals?”
“May I ask you a question first?” Alexander asked, the words coming out a lot quieter than he intended.
“You may,” Vex said. He leaned back and crossed his long legs, bringing a thin, pale finger to rest against his temple.
Rune sniffed around Vex's boots, apparently decided he wasn't interesting, and then trotted over to Julia. He laid down heavily at the skeleton's bony feet.
You have forsaken me.
“Peronin...” Alexander started. “Was that you all along?”
“No, of course not. Peronin is as real as you or I.”
“So why...?”
Vex regarded him for a long moment in silence. His gaze drifted past Alexander, settling softly on Steve and Julia.
“May I tell you a story about family?”
“About family?” Alexander asked, sinking deeper into the seat cushion.
“Yes. Were you under the assumption the undead were all orphaned?”
“I meant no offense. I simply... well, it never crossed my mind.”
“None taken. A great deal of years ago, I was what you would call a mercenary. I was merely an interesting weapon put to work for those with enough capital to purchase my efforts.”
“Is that when you met your family?”
“No.” Vex stared into Alexander's eyes, the green flame dimming to an emerald ember. “That is when I met Peronin. He noticed me. Noticed the beauty of my work and the uniqueness of my methods.”
“So you became his follower?”
Vex let out a shallow, dry laugh. “No. I became his property.”
“He owned you?”
“One does not negotiate with a god. They allow you to enter their presence, and that comes with stipulations. For his attention, I was granted access. Peronin saw the symphony in the silence of the dead,” Vex continued softly. “He acknowledged the artistry of my craft. But that validation came at a terrible price. In his eyes, a creator of such beautiful things was too valuable to be left to his own devices. I ceased to be a practitioner, Alexander. I became property. An artifact. Catalogued, bound, and shelved for centuries. I had no voice, no agency. I was simply a tool belonging to a god.”
Alexander swallowed hard, clutching the leather armrests of his chair.
“Then, a specific work contract brought me into the path of the Obsidian Authority. Into the path of Xara.” Vex’s voice shifted, the cold, detached cadence warming with a quiet, profound reverence. “I asked her for a simple thing. I asked to be freed from my catalogue. Do you know what she did?”
Alexander shook his head mutely.
“She didn't just break my chains. She made me family,” Vex said. “When Peronin came to reclaim me, she did not negotiate. Not for a second. She recognized I had agency, thus there was no debating the cosmic balance or the morality of property rights. She offered him a choice: to leave alive, or to face correction. When he sent his followers to retrieve me, she slaughtered them. Personally. Anyone who tried to harm me, anyone who tried to drag me back to the shelf... she destroyed them. Because I was hers. And she protects her own.”
Vex leaned forward, the green fire in his sockets locking onto Alexander’s wide eyes.
“The Obsidian Authority is my family. Tell me of yours.”
Vex sat back, waiting.
“My mother and father were killed when I was young,” Alexander answered quietly. “I was raised by my grandfather and grandmother.”
“You have told me of your genetic lineage. I asked about your family.”
“They are all I have.”
With one long, skeletal finger, Vex traced a slow, invisible circle on the surface of the black desk.
“The Obsidian Authority taught me what family is.”
Vex leaned back in his wooden chair, the wood creaking under his weight. He gestured casually toward Julia, who was gently patting Rune’s sleeping head, and then toward the door where Steve stood silently watching.
“Blood does not define family. The Spire teaches you to love the world. It teaches you to draw endless lines in the sand between right and wrong, good and evil, permitted and blasphemous. But the Authority taught me to draw a circle.”
Alexander thought of his childhood. Every lesson, every line he had ever read of the Spire's teachings.
“There is only inside the circle, and everything outside of it. I do not concern myself with those outside,” Vex whispered.
Alexander thought of Amadeo’s cracking voice. He thought of the frantic initiates upstairs, scrubbing away the symbols of a god they had worshipped just yesterday.
“But the cultists,” Alexander stammered, his Spire-taught conscience flaring up. “You lied to them. For generations. You let them bleed and pray to a god you were using as a shield. How do you justify that?”
“I do not.”
Alexander's grip tightened on the leather armrests. “Then you have taken the very agency you yourself longed for.”
Vex smiled, the emerald flames exploding within his eyes.
“Yes. There it is.”
Rune lazily looked over toward them, Alexander's sudden outburst finally grabbing his attention.
He is insane, Alexander thought.
“Tell me,” Vex leaned in slightly. “What would you do if your grandfather was taken from you? If your grandmother was scattered across the land, and your family's very existence was systematically eradicated from history? How many lives would you trade for theirs?”
“The Spire teaches us that every life is sacred! It would be unjust to put any one above another. That is not the way of the Light!”
Vex laughed and clapped his hands. Necrotic green flames sizzled from between his pale palms, making Alexander jump in his seat.
“Excellent! Beneath all of that politeness, you have a spine, Priest. I see what lies beneath...” Vex trailed off for a moment, his smile lingering before he continued. “But you have only told me what the Spire teaches, not what you would actually do for the only family you have in this world.”
“I would find a way that did not involve trampling the rights of others,” Alexander said firmly.
“And if there isn't one?”
“There is always one.”
“Then you are still naive. I do not fault you; you are young. The world has not yet shown you how cruel she can truly be. I envy you.”
Alexander pointed to the open ledger on the desk, to the names Aman and Archibald.
“If someone denied them agency?”
Vex laughed out loud.
“To Aman and Archibald?! The day that happens is the day Kivuli has completed his purpose.”
“Then you are a hypocrite.”
“No,” Vex said smoothly. “I have never told you it is wrong to deny another creature its will. I told you what happened when someone denied mine.”
His skeletal finger drew the invisible circle on the black wood again.
“Xara did not free me because she was conducting a moral crusade against ownership. She freed me because I asked, and by then, she had decided I was family.”
He tapped the center of the invisible circle.
“That is monstrous,” Alexander whispered.
“Perhaps.” Vex shrugged lightly. “It is also consistent. Do you truly believe your Spire does not have its own circle?”
“The Spire helps all. I do not believe this is an equivalent comparison.”
A knowing smile returned to Vex's face.
Clack.
The sound came from the side of the room. Alexander looked over to see Julia watching them, while Rune stared at the priest intensely from between her bony feet.
“Are you aware of the purge of the beast-kin?” Vex asked, his voice dropping to a dangerous purr. “The rampant slave trade that flows through both Doria and Vildris? Where has your Spire been? Too small to act? Too busy?”
“They cannot be everywhere at once,” Alexander defended defensively.
“True. But they also lack the conviction to act. Xara would have never allowed this world to look this way.”
Alexander hesitated, his mind racing to process the barrage of historical and moral challenges. “You mentioned Kivuli... His purpose. What is he?”
Vex straightened up, the green flares in his sockets receding to quiet embers once more.
“He is family. And you must decide if you are, too.”
Vex smiled and stood up from the unpadded chair.
“This was fun. I look forward to many more chats. Continue your research, Priest—my entire library is open to you. See for yourself what we were. Decide which side of the circle you stand on.”
With that, he turned and walked out, Steve and Julia in tow. Alexander was left sitting alone at the black desk in a room full of busy cultists, accompanied only by the ledger, his shattered worldview, and a suddenly very dejected Rune.