Chapter 79 of 89 · Book 7, This Inevitable Ruin

Chapter 79 — Tart

Book: This Inevitable Ruin · Part: The Peeling of Larracos · Previous: Chapter 78 — The Scavenger's daughter is with us now · Next: Chapter 80 — Inside the dragon · Floor: Floor 9 — Faction Wars · Series: the series

Opening

» Samantha: ARE YOU GUYS COMING OR NOT?

Summary

By ground transport over ash-grey haunted plains to the Reaver castle: Imani, Katia, Doctor Bones, Holger, Splash Zone, Tipid, Bautista driving, Rend at the rail like a dog at a car window, Donut on a buffer Mongo, Dong on Gonk with Bigs whooping, Jamal with his nozzle turned backward, Elle and Juice Box as a wisp overhead. Two hours until the Dream throne room falls; Shanty Town ceded back to the NPCs; Ferdinand 'directing' the Nest repair. On the Oak Fell: Milk suspects posturing on the twelfth set in motion by Nekhebit; Rosetta: the Champion system belongs to Battle Royale and Land War seasons (Bodi was one; Ntumba), brings a bounty from Nekhebit's enemies and, quietly, 'not too unlike Conscription, but with a lot more autonomy for Donut' — Nekhebit can order her to do something 'or face a smite' — 'Fucking Odette.' The new spells are druid-scale: Raise Forest (a kilometre per level), water to salt water, Gather Ye, Vermin (all small mammals within ten kilometres — 'made by the pervert AI so it can summon squishables'), and Map the All Tree, one mana, twelfth floor and deeper: 'Provides a map of the All Tree and all the nodes.' Pied Piper is an instrument skill — 'We can start a band!'; the bagpipes stay in the probably-never folder with the glitter, the Bea Arthur condom and the sushi kit. Louis unmoved: held for a hiding warlord, or a trap. Fang: 99 per cent cybernetic, shape-shifting, and replaceable — the Reavers keep 'the Initial', a chunk of brain they peel citizens from. Katia explains that cop's husband: a policewoman died protecting Louis as a child and her husband said something cruel at the funeral. 'Don't tell sad stories about Louis's past […] You're going to jinx the rescue!' The castle: a plastic 80s playset cross-sectioned, honeycomb hallways that shift jerkily and build a single path for the credentialed. Ping: only Samantha; the drake is Calliope, Cybernetic Bleached Drake, level 130, Fang's pet, wing broken and see-through. Katia by message: 'Especially after all we learned today.' Victory, Drick and the Reavers' antlered adjutant Tart arrive — 'a stripper name if I ever heard one'; Bitches had a Tart (a kobold, Dong says, sold down to the bargain rack, then a mercenary, like his beloved Corcunda); Bigs: ten gold to lick her tail, twelve against the grain; 'I am one of the galaxy's foremost political analysts […] I am no prostitute!' Tart whispers over his empty shoulder: Fopsy, invisible, an outline in Donut's power view. Both missing warlords' adjutants present: Plan B. Juice Box becomes a Hunter Wraith — 'no damn wonder they could never find and catch her' — takes Louis's position off Doctor Bones's paper map and vanishes in cool air. 'Has anyone ever noted that she is quite terrifying?'

Characters

• Princess Donut — Champion with a smite clause; 'We can start a band!'
• Juice Box — A Hunter Wraith; terrifying.
• Tart — The Reavers' antlered adjutant, no prostitute.
• Kandy Bigs Newton — 'Twelve, if you lick against the grain.'
• Katia Grim — Louis's story; 'after all we learned today'.
• Fopsy — Invisible at Tart's shoulder.
• Rosetta Thagra — Explains champions; 'or face a smite'.
• Louis and Firas — A cop's husband at a funeral.

Locations

• The Reaver castle — A plastic playset of shifting honeycombs; Calliope above.

Motifs

• The all-tree — Map the All Tree: one mana, twelfth floor and deeper, 'all the nodes'.
• The gods — Nekhebit's champion, Odette's spell, a bounty and a smite.
• The Reavers — The Initial; a cyborg drake; a castle that builds your path.