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00:00:00.000 Speaker 1 Imagiserum.
00:00:46.160 Speaker 1 Chapter One: High in the Peaks.
00:00:55.600 Speaker 1 Shale stared up at the Source Anomaly with naked greed. Here was the power to
00:01:01.320 Speaker 1 become a god. But it was not for him, and though that ground at him,
00:01:07.740 Speaker 1 he would bring it back to the Guild of Self as commanded – assuming they could get
00:01:12.240 Speaker 1 there first. He tried to open his tent, but when he pulled aside the flap, he found
00:01:17.940 Speaker 1 the entrance buried by snow. Wretched substance. He started digging out the
00:01:23.780 Speaker 1 snow but grew impatient and simply crawled through the narrow opening at the top.
00:01:28.600 Speaker 1 Shale dragged himself out of the tent and rose to stand. Some of the tents had been
00:01:33.980 Speaker 1 buried in last night's blizzard. Only low mounds of snow marked where they had once
00:01:40.100 Speaker 1 stood. The people inside were likely dead, but it probably wasn't anyone important.
00:01:46.580 Speaker 1 Everyone important – that is, everyone from the Guild of Self – had enchanted tents
00:01:52.000 Speaker 1 that melted the snow as it fell. There were no guarantees in these conditions,
00:01:56.220 Speaker 1 though. There were no guarantees with enchantments in general. It wasn't the magic
00:02:01.280 Speaker 1 that was unreliable; it was the people. How could you trust anyone who worked for
00:02:06.460 Speaker 1 coin? Shale certainly didn't trust them. He called out to the camp around him.
00:02:11.540 Speaker 1 "Up and out! Up and out!" There was movement in a few of the
00:02:17.500 Speaker 1 tents around him. People climbed, shivering and weak from their own snow tombs,
00:02:23.820 Speaker 1 dark circles around their eyes. He'd let them sleep for nearly two hours. It should
00:02:29.400 Speaker 1 have been more than enough. Never mind that a blizzard was coming through and they'd
00:02:33.760 Speaker 1 been forced to hunker down anyway. Shale had his apprentice do a fairly quick tally
00:02:39.140 Speaker 1 of the expedition party.
00:02:42.020 Speaker 1 Seventeen dead, thirty still living. Of the seventeen dead, fourteen were
00:02:47.600 Speaker 1 Ungilded, and two of them from the Guild of Light. Unsurprising, really, given
00:02:53.560 Speaker 1 their relatively weak fortitude. More mages for hire. You couldn't even trust
00:02:59.520 Speaker 1 them to keep themselves alive. Perhaps if he'd paid them more, they would have tried
00:03:04.640 Speaker 1 harder. Only one of the Guild of Self mages had perished in the storm.
00:03:10.500 Speaker 1 Her tent had collapsed while she was on an Aether walk. Shale knew this because
00:03:15.840 Speaker 1 she'd had the good sense to report everything she'd seen to his second soul, even as
00:03:21.820 Speaker 1 the blizzard raged around her collapsed tent, even as the snow suffocated her.
00:03:28.020 Speaker 1 This was the kind of fortitude he expected. She had lived and died well.
00:03:34.060 Speaker 1 Her final Aether walk was the reason he was roused right now. Time was limited.
00:03:40.500 Speaker 1 The Aether walker had found a rival expedition on the north face of the mountain.
00:03:45.260 Speaker 1 Mages from both the Guild of Enchanting and the Guild of Progress, working together,
00:03:51.880 Speaker 1 trekking through the blizzard. Blast them. Shale looked up at the peak of the
00:03:56.780 Speaker 1 mountain, roughly where the Source Anomaly must be. He couldn't see it with his
00:04:01.080 Speaker 1 normal eyes, of course, but he knew it was there. He turned to shout at the sluggish
00:04:07.060 Speaker 1 expedition crew. "No! There's no time for a fire. We're moving immediately after
00:04:13.040 Speaker 1 the transmission." A haggard-looking man, nearly buried under innumerable layers of
00:04:18.760 Speaker 1 clothing, stepped forward. His fellow Ungilded compatriots stood in a
00:04:24.720 Speaker 1 loose group behind him, looking down at the ground, arms wrapped around themselves.
00:04:30.060 Speaker 1 "Sir, we've lost fourteen men. Have some heart."
00:04:36.200 Speaker 1 Shale casually narrowed his eyes at the man. He couldn't remember his name. The man
00:04:41.960 Speaker 1 stared back. The people behind him continued looking at the ground. The mages
00:04:46.980 Speaker 1 silently drifted away from the collection of Ungilded, sensing some impending threat
00:04:52.220 Speaker 1 that the regular people could not. Suppressors were not well known among the
00:04:56.740 Speaker 1 Ungilded. Unfortunately, that meant he couldn't ride the coattails of his kind's
00:05:01.700 Speaker 1 reputation. Fear could be taught, however. Shale closed his eyes and
00:05:07.640 Speaker 1 stepped into his second self – his soul. He opened his second eyes and detached his
00:05:13.660 Speaker 1 soul from his body. It was usually dark in the Aether, but the Source Anomaly lit up
00:05:18.720 Speaker 1 everything here like a false sun. Shale glanced to the left and saw three Aether
00:05:23.900 Speaker 1 walker souls. They had silently slipped into their second selves as well to watch.
00:05:29.620 Speaker 1 He stepped forward and reached out with his shimmering, iridescent right hand,
00:05:34.300 Speaker 1 gripped the man's soul, and squeezed. He peeked through the
00:05:40.220 Speaker 1 eyes of his first self – his living body. It still stood ten feet away from the
00:05:45.640 Speaker 1 other man, but he could see the heavily wrapped man's face contorting in agony. His
00:05:50.640 Speaker 1 hands were locked in claw-like grips, tearing at his own chest, trying in vain to
00:05:56.360 Speaker 1 pull away a phantom attacker. Shale released his grip on the man's soul and let his
00:06:01.420 Speaker 1 second self drift back into alignment and reattach to his body. The other man fell
00:06:06.696 Speaker 1 to the snow like a puppet with cut strings. He was unconscious, but still breathing.
00:06:12.996 Speaker 1 His compatriots, who seemed only minimally invested in this person's rebellion,
00:06:17.696 Speaker 1 quickly scattered and went about making themselves useful. None of them asked what
00:06:22.196 Speaker 1 happened. Good. He didn't need their understanding, only their obedience,
00:06:28.776 Speaker 1 in whatever form that came. Shale's apprentice, Riva, approached him
00:06:34.696 Speaker 1 once she felt it was safe to do so. Her head was shaven, but she only had two lines
00:06:40.376 Speaker 1 of branding on her forehead. The three remaining Aether Walkers stood just behind
00:06:46.056 Speaker 1 her with their hands behind their backs, unshaven heads bowed. A single line
00:06:51.976 Speaker 1 branded their foreheads. Sir, the air has cleared enough for a transmission.
00:06:58.896 Speaker 1 Shale nodded and followed Riva to a place nearby, set just far away from the camp to
00:07:03.756 Speaker 1 be respectful. Or secretive. Who knew with the Guild of Light? There was no reason
00:07:09.156 Speaker 1 to hide your magic when you didn't sell it. A lone man stood at the cliff's edge,
00:07:15.036 Speaker 1 his back to them. The man's silhouette struck an imposing figure framed by the
00:07:20.056 Speaker 1 rising sun before him. He was statue still, eyes closed, pointing
00:07:25.896 Speaker 1 accusingly at some place in the far distance. A barely perceptible thread of light
00:07:31.376 Speaker 1 ran from that finger to the point in the distance. It flickered rapidly. The Light
00:07:36.976 Speaker 1 Mage spoke without moving. To move would be to break the connection to the tower a
00:07:41.636 Speaker 1 hundred miles in the distance. This is the Vessel.
00:07:47.236 Speaker 1 This is Suppressor Shale. And even though he was speaking directly to a Light Mage,
00:07:52.976 Speaker 1 and not the Vessels, he bowed his head, mostly out of habit.
00:07:58.536 Speaker 1 Report, Suppressor Shale. We are a half day from the anomaly.
00:08:04.776 Speaker 1 A blizzard slowed our progress. An Aether Walker scout discovered another expedition
00:08:10.256 Speaker 1 on the north face. I apologize for my performance.
00:08:16.336 Speaker 1 We know. They could not be bought off. Secure the
00:08:21.956 Speaker 1 anomaly at any cost to yourself and others. We have
00:08:28.056 Speaker 1 spoken. Shale hesitated. Technically, he wasn't supposed to speak again,
00:08:34.416 Speaker 1 but there were times when practicality trumped etiquette, even when speaking to the
00:08:38.856 Speaker 1 Vessels. Are you asking that I kill them, Vessel?
00:08:44.596 Speaker 1 We have spoken.
00:08:48.396 Speaker 1 The Light Mage handling the transmission opened one eye to look at Shale. He was
00:08:53.216 Speaker 1 clearly uncomfortable with that last message. Putting an Ungilded in their place was
00:08:58.316 Speaker 1 one thing, but killing dozens of Gilded Mages in cold blood? Well, that was another.
00:09:04.396 Speaker 1 It wasn't the kind of thing the other guilds would just ignore. It would mean war.
00:09:10.316 Speaker 1 Then again, if you had the power of Source itself, it wouldn't be a very long war.
00:09:15.916 Speaker 1 Shale had to trust in the Vessels' wisdom. He tried to reassure the Light Mage. It
00:09:21.476 Speaker 1 won't come to that. The man lowered his arm and walked away from the cliff's edge
00:09:26.776 Speaker 1 without speaking. He didn't look convinced, however. Hopefully he would not become a
00:09:32.096 Speaker 1 problem. The moment his back was turned, Shale felt a ripple on his soul, the
00:09:37.916 Speaker 1 equivalent of a shoulder tap in the Aether. He closed his eyes. Riva's soul
00:09:43.556 Speaker 1 shimmered next to his. Should we force him over the edge? No. But the
00:09:49.576 Speaker 1 Vessels... I am in command here. They did not order death, they merely
00:09:55.596 Speaker 1 allowed for it. Riva's soul slinked back into her body, and then they followed
00:10:01.576 Speaker 1 the Light Mage back to camp. The man remained ignorant of how close he'd come to
00:10:07.136 Speaker 1 death. Once they were back in the camp, an Ungilded woman rushed the newly returned
00:10:12.316 Speaker 1 group. A storm! Sir, another storm from the north! Bigger this time.
00:10:18.116 Speaker 1 Bigger? Much bigger. We need to prepare. Shale grit his
00:10:23.996 Speaker 1 teeth. It seemed as if the world itself were conspiring against him. At least
00:10:29.876 Speaker 1 this time it would hit the other expedition first. Would they stop and hunker down
00:10:34.216 Speaker 1 in shelter too? Shale looked up at the peak. It was a prize of
00:10:39.396 Speaker 1 incalculable value. No, they wouldn't stop. They
00:10:45.276 Speaker 1 wouldn't stop for anything. And neither would he.
00:10:51.236 Speaker 1 Chapter Two Secrets in the Snow
00:10:56.116 Speaker 1 Shale closed his eyes to see with his second sight. The Source shone like a
00:11:01.096 Speaker 1 brilliant foaming star in the black behind his eyes. It was so bright he
00:11:06.096 Speaker 1 instinctively tried to shield his eyes, but couldn't. Second sight was a trade for
00:11:11.076 Speaker 1 blind sight, and despite what the other Gilded might think, it wasn't always a good
00:11:15.776 Speaker 1 one. Like all magic power, it was a trade of peace for power. When
00:11:21.736 Speaker 1 it came to magic, you always paid the price in pain, one way or another.
00:11:28.816 Speaker 1 He rode through the blackness of the Ire, like a man in the backseat of a carriage,
00:11:34.296 Speaker 1 dimly aware of another self somewhere else. That man was in pain.
00:11:40.336 Speaker 1 Shale averted his second eyes from the Source, only occasionally glancing at it.
00:11:45.556 Speaker 1 Much like the sun, it was painful to stare at. Now that he was closer, he could see
00:11:51.516 Speaker 1 indigo sparks flying off like little stars all their own, streaking through the
00:11:56.676 Speaker 1 Aether like magical arrows. One purple ember zipped his way. He threw his second
00:12:01.996 Speaker 1 body down and felt the ember warp his soul as it passed. Unbelievable power.
00:12:08.016 Speaker 1 He stood back up in the Aether. Fortunately, his first body, his real one,
00:12:13.808 Speaker 1 hadn't thrown itself down in the snow in mirror. It was still obediently trudging up
00:12:18.828 Speaker 1 the mountain. If just the radiation it was throwing off could do that,
00:12:24.928 Speaker 1 what would happen when he got closer still? For the first time since they'd begun
00:12:30.428 Speaker 1 their trek just two weeks ago, he was beginning to have second thoughts. They could
00:12:35.728 Speaker 1 just let it burn out. But then they would never know what the anomaly was. Its
00:12:41.708 Speaker 1 secrets would belong to the guilds of enchanting and progress, and that was
00:12:46.888 Speaker 1 unacceptable. Toward danger, then. The blizzard
00:12:52.828 Speaker 1 wind cut through his cloak, once again reminding Shale that his real body was
00:12:57.908 Speaker 1 withering in the savage cold. A wall of white had replaced the thinning alpine
00:13:03.108 Speaker 1 forest hours ago, cutting him off from the rest of his group. Soon after the storm
00:13:08.828 Speaker 1 hit, he'd told Riva to turn back and seek shelter. There was no use in her dying,
00:13:13.808 Speaker 1 too. He would press on alone. Shale had spent most of the time since the whiteout in
00:13:19.028 Speaker 1 his second body, away from the frantic thoughts of a dying mind. It was easier to
00:13:24.868 Speaker 1 push his meat self forward when his consciousness was on this side. It was more like
00:13:30.048 Speaker 1 driving a pack animal this way. Still, it wasn't wise to ignore those base fears.
00:13:36.408 Speaker 1 You could drive a pack animal to death, after all, by ignoring its plight. That was
00:13:41.928 Speaker 1 the price of magic. You always paid in pain.
00:13:47.708 Speaker 1 That was when his first body tripped and fell. Shale rolled his second
00:13:53.408 Speaker 1 eyes, then stepped back into his body to take more direct control of the situation.
00:13:59.148 Speaker 1 The wind screamed around him. It didn't feel right to call it a wind anymore. It was
00:14:04.788 Speaker 1 a suffocating wall of frigid white pain. Worryingly, his feet and hands didn't
00:14:10.668 Speaker 1 hurt at all. They felt like great blocks of ice on the ends of wooden poles. He
00:14:16.328 Speaker 1 would lose fingers and toes. Maybe all of them. He stood on numb
00:14:22.348 Speaker 1 limbs and pressed forward anyway, guided only by the growing brilliance of the
00:14:27.208 Speaker 1 source anomaly in his second sight. He desperately wanted to tuck his hands under
00:14:32.448 Speaker 1 his cloak, but knew if he lost his balance again, he might not get up. It didn't
00:14:37.908 Speaker 1 matter how strong his soul was if the container broke. He would have a front row
00:14:42.548 Speaker 1 seat to his own death. And when his body finally went cold, it would drag his soul
00:14:47.908 Speaker 1 away to the great beyond. He couldn't let that happen. He had to keep moving.
00:14:54.048 Speaker 1 He Shale tripped over something in the whiteout. Thankfully, he kept upright.
00:15:00.148 Speaker 1 A mound in the snow. It had a sort of disturbing give to it when he'd hit it with
00:15:05.848 Speaker 1 his foot. He walked around it and tried to push the thought from his mind. He didn't
00:15:11.208 Speaker 1 dare slip into his second self now. The detached clarity was a useful tool, but
00:15:17.148 Speaker 1 it might be lethal at this point. Soon after the thought finished crawling through
00:15:22.308 Speaker 1 his mind, he stepped out of the storm. The sensation was immediate and
00:15:28.308 Speaker 1 surreal. Shale stood in a perfectly circular clearing. The
00:15:34.068 Speaker 1 air was a little chill, but completely still. He turned to look behind him.
00:15:40.148 Speaker 1 A wall of white raged and churned just a few feet away, its howling muffled to a
00:15:46.008 Speaker 1 soft, whistling whine. What the He looked up.
00:15:52.008 Speaker 1 A cylinder of calm, clear air all the way to bright blue sky. And in the center of
00:15:58.048 Speaker 1 it all was a ramshackle wood cabin. A stone chimney puffed a thin line
00:16:04.008 Speaker 1 of smoke. The house was dilapidated, but not quite falling apart. Considering where
00:16:09.968 Speaker 1 he'd been, it was beyond inviting. It was unreal. Which
00:16:15.648 Speaker 1 was a distinct possibility. Perhaps this was a figment of a dying mind.
00:16:21.708 Speaker 1 Or maybe he'd already crossed over without realizing it. Shale stumbled toward the
00:16:26.847 Speaker 1 cabin. He certainly felt alive. Which was not to say good.
00:16:33.088 Speaker 1 The front door was slightly ajar. The warm glow of firelight lit the interior, but
00:16:38.508 Speaker 1 he couldn't make out much of what was inside. He paused twenty feet from the door.
00:16:44.408 Speaker 1 There was something piled up in the snow against the side of the house. A lot of
00:16:49.068 Speaker 1 something. Instead of going straight inside, he hobbled over to investigate. When he
00:16:54.708 Speaker 1 saw what it was, he stopped walking. A tiny shoe.
00:17:01.288 Speaker 1 Poking out of a mound of snow taller than he was. His frozen mind began to
00:17:07.288 Speaker 1 register the other shapes in the mound. Hands. Feet.
00:17:12.928 Speaker 1 Faces. Dozens of them. Some of them far too small. The
00:17:18.928 Speaker 1 pile wrapped around the back of the house. Discarded people. Shale stumbled
00:17:24.648 Speaker 1 backward, hoping that this was a dream. This was not the miracle he'd imagined. It
00:17:30.508 Speaker 1 was a nightmare. And he knew then that it was too cruel to be an illusion.
00:17:37.268 Speaker 1 Someone had already claimed the power of a god. And they had been very,
00:17:43.568 Speaker 1 very
00:17:44.188 Speaker 1 busy.