Uncrowned (Cradle Book 7) by Will Wight

Author:Will Wight [Wight, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Hidden Gnome Publishing
Published: 2019-09-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Eithan tapped his fingers together as the Ninecloud Soul produced another floating model of his flying fortress.

“Is this more of what you had in mind, number sixty-four?” The feminine voice from the cloud of rainbow madra was beginning to sound impatient. He couldn’t blame the spirit. This was his eighty-first revision, and even artificially created spiritual networks could get testy.

“Perfection!” Eithan declared. His “fortress” was a broad square, stretched to the maximum dimensions, and filled with a series of gardens. It looked more like a plot of farmland.

“Now, are there any plants in particular that we can provide for you?” The Ninecloud Soul’s exhaustion was beginning to strain its polite words. “Keep in mind, you are only permitted a limited total value.”

“Nimblethorn root,” Eithan said immediately.

The rainbow shimmered, confused, but one corner of the floating garden converted to a patch of thorny bushes. “Are you a refiner, number sixty-four?”

The Nimblethorn root was typically used as a medicinal herb to separate types of madra before spiritual surgery. It wasn’t common, but it wasn’t incredibly valuable either.

“Not much of one, I’m afraid. Now, how about some ancestral men’hla trees?”

Rumor said that Emriss Silentborn had been a men’hla tree before her ascension, and as such they were considered sacred in certain circles on the Everwood continent. It had a handful of uses for refiners, but it was especially valuable to Soulsmiths, as each of its leaves actually produced a separate Remnant. For many projects, one men’hla tree could be an endless source of dead matter.

The red in the Ninecloud Soul grew brighter. “I am afraid we can provide only one century-old men’hla tree.”

Eithan affected disappointment, but the joke was on the Ninecloud Court. He didn’t actually need this tree at all, he just wanted to extract the maximum value from his prize.

Of course, since they were willing to give him one, he would use it.

“Hammershell fruit,” he recited. A prime source of force aura. “A hive of ivory bees. Cloudbell bush. A spring of Whispering Water. Starlotus pond.”

His list contained nothing that the Ninecloud Court would balk at or flag as unusual. Some were more useful to Soulsmiths, others to refiners, and he mixed in some decoys with the ones he really needed.

When he stretched the process of designing his first-round prize to over two hours, the Ninecloud Soul said, “Allow me to remind you, number sixty-four, that there is no rush. You cannot bring this prize into the second round, so you can take your time planning.”

Eithan smiled into the rainbow light. “I assure you, I have taken my time. And not for the second round.”

~~~

“Seize the crown!” the Ninecloud Soul's pleasant voice rang throughout the arena, and instantly a forty-foot image was projected in the center of the air.

It showed a sacred artist with a blank face approaching a golden crown, which hung suspended in a column of yellow light.

“There are thirty-two crowns scattered across a beautiful tropical island,” the voice continued. “The crowns can be easily identified, as they send up a beacon of golden light.

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