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There is a space at the bottom of the world, where Earth and Ice and Shadow meet. It is cold, but not cold enough to kill; dark, but not too dark to see. A small round room, made of chilly black marble, lit by a dim and sourceless glow, with a spiral stair climbing the curve of the wall and a shallow circular recession in the exact center of the floor. The recession is maybe six feet wide by six inches deep, lined with something resembling pale frosted glass, and there is nothing in it.
Cor in Kitaloei
sun-shines-clearest
"With one world saved, maybe I could hope for more," murmurs Ravkesial. "With two, maybe I could hope for all of them..."
disapparatus
"I deliberately didn't wait until my planet was slated to vanish the subsequent week so we'd have the leeway to evacuate, if my spell worked and we had somewhere to go."
cityinthelight
"Out of people who could've dropped into my attempt to save the world with a whole extra world in need of saving, I think you're among the best I could've hoped for."
cityinthelight
"Most people, even if they could probably handle a situation like this, would need - help. And while I admittedly thrive on helping people, for something this high-stakes I do appreciate someone who - can keep up? That sounds so egotistical but there it is."
cityinthelight
"I mind my own egotism a little. Other people's only if I think it's more than the evidence supports."
cityinthelight
"Mm... it's really important to me not to - let myself get out of hand, not to let 'I'm brilliant and I can do anything' turn into 'I don't have to care about getting it right because it'll all work out in the end because how could reality dare to oppose me' - so I have to notice when I'm being egotistical and double-check if it's warranted, and that combines well with - being in the habit of softening my more arrogant utterances, which is a good habit to have because most people find arrogance off-putting."
disapparatus
"It sounds almost backwards? I am great because I care about getting things right, I would be failing to be relevantly myself and therefore great if I were sloppy there."
cityinthelight
"...that's not exactly the thing, it's more... if I believed my own legend to a sufficient degree, I could see it starting to just seem self-evident that whatever comes into my head is obviously the right solution because I'm just that good - particularly since I am very clever and insightful and good at thinking on my feet, it would not be that much of an exaggeration of the strengths I demonstrably possess - and I don't want to get caught in that trap, and I've never noticed myself seriously tending in that direction but if that's because I'm in the habit of checking I don't want to find out by taking the brakes off and running the carriage over a cliff."
disapparatus
"Huh. I pride myself particularly on - knowing all the moving parts in my head - I can think on my feet but I don't think of it as me at my best."
cityinthelight
"I know what I'm made of but - not the way I know a book I've read a hundred times, more like the way I know how to fly a swoop or pick a lock, I'm - a resource I'm good at using."
cityinthelight
Riale glances back at him and smiles.
They've been flying in the shadow of Heron River province for a while now, with the ground below transitioning from farms through wild grassland to rocky hills, and the mountain of Highpoint gradually getting clearer up ahead. A tall single peak rising into the space framed by Jeweled Sea and Heron River, only barely touched by the shadow of Rainmere slanting in from the west. Roads spiral up and down the mountainside, lined with all manner of buildings - houses, shops, market stalls, libraries, offices, warehouses, landing pads. Lines of carriages trickle in and out through the foothills, and a continuous swirl of flying vehicles connects the mountain to its cluster of continents, with an occasional arrival or departure on a more horizontal heading.
Now, as afternoon gives way to evening and the Emperor's swoop emerges into that open space, their view expands, no longer blocked by the rocky underside of Heron River province. They can see the peak of the mountain ahead, gleaming in its last hour of sunlight before dusk; off to the left, they can see the Heron River itself, pouring out of the Jeweled Sea in a broad green curtain and down onto its namesake province where it will wiggle along until it forms the Misty Falls all the way on the other side.
And way up on the peak, at the highest and pointiest point, there is another of those spirit-dowsing feelings. This one feels - buoyant. Light and airy and energetic.
cityinthelight
"Ooh. All right, let's see—"
He slows his flight as they approach, looking for the highest available landing pad. There's one not too far below the peak; he circles around to it and lands. An employee comes out to ask him for a docking fee and he takes a minute to walk her through the process for applying for imperial reimbursement when someone lands at your airdock and waves an imperial seal at you.
