Arthur Ward would have faceplanted onto the floor if it wasn’t for Ezrial's steadying hand on his arm. Going from the tier 4 courtroom to the low ether density of Haadran so quickly was almost enough to finally knock The Nether Beast out, but he stubbornly clung to consciousness.

  “Did you know that was going to happen?” Arthur growled.

  Ezrial nodded. “I suspected something of the sort as soon as you issued the challenge. Didn’t think they’d go this far, though.”

  Arthur strangled the retort before it could leave his lips. He’d found himself in a frustrating situation, but it was one of his own making. Ezrial had nothing to do with it. Arthur's scales dissolved back into his flesh, and he began to shrink down to his regular proportions. He didn’t know when it had happened, but Ezrial was half-carrying him now, leading him up the pathway to The House of The End.

  “So what happens now, then?” Arthur’s voice came out as a whispered rasp, hardly intelligible through the massive yawn that overtook him.

  “Now you rest,” Ezrial replied, “Until you’ve fully recovered from this transformation. You’ll be as safe as reasonably possible inside your Soul Splinter, from allied forces and corrupted enemies alike. Haadran’s an annexed world now. The Systemic army is establishing a perimeter out in space as we speak, which we’ll maintain right until we’re ready to transport the planet to more stable space.”

  Arthur was only half-hearing the words now. They went in one ear and out of the other, leaving behind only garbled meaning.

  “I’ve been away from my duties for long enough, so Iris will have replaced me here by the time you wake up. God knows she’s been badgering me enough already. After that… things are going to get very hectic for a while.”

  Arthur had finally reverted to his human form now. A bone-deep exhaustion had settled over him, and keeping his eyes open was impossible.

  “The Weaver won’t be stupid enough to send you on your assignment immediately. That would be going too far, even for her. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if The Court slaps a restraining order on her for a few years to keep her away from you. Make no mistake, though, The Weaver has her eyes set on you, for good or for ill. Until she’s bored, Makora will find a way to meddle with your life, consequences be damned.”

  Ezrial was princess-carrying Arthur now, and their destination was in sight. The door to The House of the End loomed ahead, equal parts welcoming and foreboding.

  “With a Nexus point and twenty-four other planets under your control, you’re going to need to hire a company to manage them for you. I don’t recommend trying to do it yourself. Oh… and you're asleep now. This is a little awkward.”

  Ezrial continued to mumble to himself right up until he reached the door. He tried the handle. It was locked. The fae king knocked and waited, looking around surreptitiously, trying and failing to look like a normal person. Well, as normal as anyone could look with an unconscious man in their arms. When no one opened the door, Ezrial forced the issue, using a complex blend of magics to try to break the lock. When that didn’t work, he carefully placed Arthur onto the ground and tried to spartan kick the door open.

  That did nothing but hurt his foot, and he was glad no one was around to see his failure. Ezrial was just about ready to take things to the next level when an inky black drop of blood began to roll down the house's wall. It fell to the ground before rapidly growing to a vaguely humanoid shape, a cross between a woman and a bird; deadly talons in the place of her legs, a humanoid torso and a crow's head where her skull should have been.

  This was the magic Arthur had stolen from Lantris, Ezrial realised. He took a wary step backwards and raised his hands in the air.

  “Look, I mean no trouble, birdy,” Ezrial said. “I‘m just here to return your master. He needs some sleep.”

  The crow lady just stared at him indignantly before squawking, the sound a shrill screech that communicated her distrust.

  “Okay. I’ll be off now, ma’am. I’ll leave Arthur in your capable hands."

  Hoping he wasn’t making a mistake, Ezrial summoned a gust of wind to push him into the sky. Three seconds later, he was leaving the stratosphere. He looked back briefly and saw that the crow lady had picked Arthur up and was in the process of transporting him inside. Ezrial shook his head wryly. It seemed there was no end to the chaos his future son-in-law managed to find himself in. How would Lantris react when she found out her influence on Arthur’s Soul Splinter boiled down to a cantankerous bird lady?

  She’d be mortified. I’ll have to tell him not to summon the guardian for a few weeks until he isn’t in the spotlight so much. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder. Just how many secrets was the kid hiding? You’d think you had him figured out, and he’d just go and peel back another layer. I need to talk to Zenunim. She’ll want to know who Iris is courting. From what he’d seen so far, his wife might actually even approve.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  ~~~

  Iris winced as she watched the recording her father had provided her. It was the twelfth time she’d replayed it, and this part still had her feeling a little embarrassed. It was the moments following Arthur’s transformation into a massive monster when he went on a rampage.

  Iris had tried everything she could to get a viewing spot for her boyfriend's sanctioned battle, but for once, her father's name hadn’t been enough. Now she had to make do with the recording Ezrial had taken. Owning this was illegal and distributing it would surely land her in prison, but there were probably dozens of recordings in circulation already, at least for the upper crust of nobility. People wanted to know who The Perfect Homunculus was.

  The part that had her cringing every time was the moment Arthur first transformed. Sure, Arthur hadn’t been altogether lucid at the time, but watching the hulking Nether Beast chase around the beach balls Melania had summoned wasn’t a good look. Gaia, however, loved this part, and she clapped her hands enthusiastically, giggling like a girl gone mad. Iris adjusted the girl's seat on her lap and pinched her cheeks absentmindedly.

  “You can’t laugh at your brother like that, Gaia,” she admonished. It was the third time she’d told her that, but unfortunately, Alyssia’s corrupting influence always undid her work.

  “See, I told you your brother was slow.” Alyssia cackled, slapping her thigh. “That's why you need to grow big and strong to take care of him.”

  Gaia stared at the alverin with big, solemn eyes and nodded, as if this was life-changing advice. Iris rolled her eyes. The Avatar of Earth was at an impressionable age right now. There were worse things she could be taught than the importance of taking care of Arthur. They were invariably linked, after all. Gaia had quite literally been made with Arthur’s blood, and as they’d come to learn over the last few days, Gaia was still being influenced by whatever changes Arthur went through. Waking up a few days ago to see Gaia’s veins running with purple blood had been more than a little terrifying.

  Thankfully, the changes hadn’t been as drastic as they’d feared. Gaia, and by extension Earth, was now vaccinated against corruption. That was the best way Iris could put it. The ether present on Earth had gone through a refining process and was a few percentages more concentrated now. Whatever the future might hold, Earth had just become a lot more valuable now, thanks to its connection with The Perfect Homunculus.

  Iris was pulled from her musings when Gaia tugged on her hair. “They’re here,” she said, “The people you warned me about.”

  Not even three seconds later, Ayesha slammed open the door, her face flushed. “The vampires have arrived,” she panted, gasping for breath. “Kazi’s with Elaina, keeping them entertained, but I’m not sure how long that’s going to last. They’re demanding that we let their Blood Ancestor cross over.”

  Iris sighed. She set Gaia down and stood up from the couch. “Tell them their demands will not be met. Useless posturing will get them nowhere. And besides, they should know Earth’s ether is too thin to support an Elder vampire who's crossed beyond the class barrier.”

  “They know that,” Ayesha replied, “Information leaked about Arthur’s new house.”

  Iris pinched her nose. This had the Agroth's name written all over it. She knew she shouldn't have trusted the damn nobles. Ever since word of Arthur’s exoneration had spread, Edward Agroth, the man who’d recruited Arthur into the Guild of Fringewalkers, had gone through a series of promotions. Things had naturally progressed from there, and Haadran had now been declared an annexed world, safe for plundering.

  A gold rush had been created, every Earthen mage and warrior and plenty of aliens besides fancying themselves the next Christopher Columbus as they adventured into the tier-2 world. The death toll caused by such foolishness had, of course, been quite large, though it hadn’t deterred anyone. Communication had been established with the planet's natives, and Arthur’s house had been discovered. The vultures had started to circle, and now every Tom, dick and Harry knew about it. Everyone wanted a slice of the pie.

  “Arthur’s supposed to be waking up today, so that's some good news at least. Have we got anything new on the Lich Queen's movements?”

  “Nope, same old. She’s still using Azure's vitality to pump out more undead. In the last 24 hours, we’ve managed to kill 172,000 skeletons. That's with the vampire's help, by the way. She's pumped out close to a million in that time. Brazil and Uruguay have been completely taken over, and Argentina’s on its last legs. Maverick's help there has been indispensable, but he can only operate for three hours out of every day before ether starvation sets in.”

  Iris cursed the politicking responsible for this mess for the umpteenth time. A newly integrated world had to deal with its own problems. She was all for that. Help always came with strings attached in the System universe. The Lich Queen, however, had long since crossed the threshold for what a tier 1 planet could reasonably deal with. Her growth since capturing Azure had been exponential. As much as Iris might love Earth, keeping the Prime alive had been the wrong decision. Unfortunately, Gaia didn’t have the authority to go against the main body’s decision yet. Not that Iris could ever bring herself to order the little girl to kill her friend.

  “Tell the vampires I’ll be with them soon. Send them to reinforce Maverick's position in the meantime. Have we got any word on the mercs we tried to hire?”

  Ayesha shook her head. “They refused the job. They’re wary of the Originator. Said they don’t want to step on his toes.”

  “Bullshit,” Iris cursed. “This is The Council's fault. Did they really have to issue a system-wide message saying Arthur was granted safe asylum?”

  Ayesha shrugged. “At least they didn’t leak the sanctioned battle footage. No one knows what Art's managed to do with corruption yet.”

  Iris shook her head sadly. “It’s only a matter of time, Aish. Someone wants to thrust Arthur into the spotlight, and it doesn't look like they'll take no for an answer.”

  "You'd think they'd want to keep their new superweapon under wraps, don't you?" Alyssia interjected. "Nobles are dumb fucks in every dimension."

  "Weren't you a noble back on your homeworld?" Ayesha asked.

  Alyssia grinned. "I never said I was clever."

  Gaia giggled. "So auntie's dumb too."

  Alyssia flicked her on the forehead. "Not as much as your brother. Now let's go wake sleeping beauty up."

  Links to the audiobooks.

  Etherious: Originator

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  Here

  Here

  Here

  ?Goodreads

  Patreon is available with access to 8 advanced chapters.