Chapter 65 of 89 · Book 7, This Inevitable Ruin
Chapter 65 — Bear Witness
Book: This Inevitable Ruin · Part: Open Hostilities · Previous: Chapter 64 — The crystal shows itself · Next: Chapter 66 — Rolling Battle Formation · Floor: Floor 9 — Faction Wars · Series: the series
Opening
The loud thwum of the 105th Scream Warriors teleporting into place filled the woods behind
Summary
The 105th Scream Warriors arrive with a thwum, some half in trees, and a Fire Dryad called Charmander; Jurgen lands in a superhero pose ('Jurgen and Heidi are here!'); the team automatons crunch in Jamal with fortified spider legs and Velma, Tserendolgor's flamethrower, on his belly; Bautista, Gluteus Maxx, Doctor Bones, Areson, Chris and Clay-ton. Imani hugs Chris with her wings. Hundreds of buggies stop a kilometre out and light flares. Rend has the Enchanted Tooth Cap of Hi-Yo Silver, a five-kilometre summon-to-Carl that may smash through walls — Louis and Elle nearly came to blows over 'heigh-ho'. Carl sits against a tree thinking of the Lone Ranger, his father's Louis L'Amour books, the unopened Christmas present that is clearly books — and is slapped awake: Endless Thread of Distraction, Self Harm, Intrusive Thoughts, the ring glowing red, his bare feet stuck in the tree. The torrent under him: 'Souls', flowing down, screaming. A friendly male voice, a dwarf, not Shi Maria or her husband: 'This is the second time I've told you that you're not crazy. You're family now […] You've been standing in this so-called river this whole time.' Mind Balance 16 — 'You now tread in the realm of gods!' — trained on battlefield conditions with his feet in an All Tree root; the 'Empire Strikes Back cave scene bullshit'; 'She would be proud of you.' Who? The tree is dead and withers as he pulls free. At 16 he can see the mind mages and paints them; Bomo's last missiles kill more than half. Donut: the corpses are on the wrong side of the castle — the plan had been Bodi's corpse field and a tower-enhanced You're Not Done Yet; Carl is relieved: no more war mages. Then a yellow glow on everyone: invulnerable 'until the completion of the Chaos Ritual'. Eris has cast Bear Witness over the whole floor, outside structures only; Mind Balance negates it for Carl; everyone else freezes white-eyed under a symbol of two Cs and a flaming lance. Awake: Carl, Dong Quixote, Rend, Bigs, Gonk, Jamal ('A most unexpected development'); those who were tattoos, the sluggalos, those indoors — Donut in her tower, Bomo, Li Na and Li Jun, Tipid in the FOOP. Kiwi: 'Where is my daughter?' Tina is frozen. Samantha cannot be summoned by Eris. Louis: the dragon is coming. Then Bring Forth the Witnesses, level 20, a backlash that kills long-range teleport for an hour: the frozen rocket into the sky like the rapture — Carl's army, the Madness's, all of them. Bianca lands without Prepotente, screaming, and Carl points her southeast toward Eris.
Characters
- Carl — Mind Balance 16 with his feet in an All Tree; the only human left standing.
- Jurgen — 'Jurgen and Heidi are here!'
- Jamal — Spider legs and Velma; 'A most unexpected development.'
- Garret — The Enchanted Tooth Cap of Hi-Yo Silver.
- Imani — Hugs Chris with her wings; slaps Carl awake; frozen.
- Eris — Bear Witness and Bring Forth the Witnesses, panic-cast, over a whole floor.
- Dong Quixote — 'My goodness'
- Bianca — Screams for her missing rider.
Locations
- The Madness territory — A treeline that empties into the sky.
Motifs
- Mind Balance — Level 16 on battlefield conditions; 'the realm of gods'; the tree dies.
- The river in Carl's head — 'Souls.' Not a river; always down; why are they screaming?
- The all-tree — A root that holds his feet; a dwarf's voice; 'You're family now.'
- The gods — A goddess who does not know her own spells; the Chaos Ritual.
- The Christmas present — Unopened, clearly books, and he is afraid to open them.