Contents
Chapter 44
Overview
After a century of pursuit, Celcha’s constructs finally locate the canith–human pair she blames for Krath’s poisoning. She arrives at a Mechanism room to find the canith already mortally wounded. When Celcha’s towering avatar moves to kill them, Hellet appears in assistants’ white and stops it, forcing Celcha to confront his opposing purpose.
Summary
Celcha reflects on a century spent leveraging the Exchange to amass knowledge, wealth, and influence, while centuries pass in the world beyond. Haunted by guilt over Krath’s poisoning and driven by rage at the canith–human conspirators she blames, she seeds constructs across eras to find them.
Her alert finally arrives via a small messenger made in her likeness. Following its guidance through the Exchange’s doorways, Celcha reaches a crowded reading room containing a Mechanism. There, she identifies the familiar canith–human pair—but the canith lies bleeding, his human partner distraught, denying Celcha the vengeance she imagined.
Celcha notices two canith by the Mechanism’s door, one unusually tall and one very short, stirring a sense of recognition. The taller canith works the door, and Hellet emerges, not scarred as she remembers, but wearing assistants’ white. Celcha calls to him, but he passes without acknowledging her.
A colossal construct fashioned in Celcha’s image advances, dragging torn metal like chains. It surges toward the deceivers, but Hellet raises a hand and halts it against an invisible barrier, staggering only slightly. A lone canith rushes to brace him. Celcha, furious and bewildered, demands to know why Hellet shields those she holds responsible for the atrocity.
The avatar points directly at the wounded canith and the grieving human, fixing blame as Celcha’s long pursuit collides with Hellet’s new allegiance, leaving her vengeance thwarted and her certainties shaken.
Who Appears
- CelchaGanar protagonist; decades-long hunter of Krath’s deceivers; arrives to exact revenge; commands a giant construct; confronted by Hellet’s intervention.
- HelletCelcha’s brother; emerges from the Mechanism in assistants’ white; creates a barrier that stops Celcha’s attacking construct.
- Wounded canithMale canith from the deceiver pair; lies bleeding, seemingly dying, becoming the focus of Celcha’s halted vengeance.
- Human partnerFemale human from the deceiver pair; kneels by the wounded canith, distraught as events unfold.
- Tall canith by the MechanismOperates the Mechanism’s door, enabling Hellet’s emergence; presence feels familiar to Celcha.
- Short canith by the MechanismAccompanies the tall canith; notably small, evokes recognition; later braces Hellet as he holds the barrier.
- Mechanical Celcha avatarGigantic construct in Celcha’s likeness; charges to kill the deceivers but is stopped by Hellet’s barrier.