The Will of the Many

The Festival of Ancestors arrives, a two-day event to celebrate the dead held at the Necropolis—a mountain filled with mausoleums for the wealthy dead, surrounded by fields of graves for the less important. The holiday gives Vis the opportunity to speak with Ulciscor. Vis rides the Transvect to the Necropolis with Aequa, Emissa, and Indol while Callidus remains at the school.

The students discuss Vis’s likelihood of getting out of Class Six despite Dultatis. As they chat, Vis feels that Aequa is still suspicious of him. The Transvect arrives at the Necropolis and a crowd greets them. Vis is shocked when they all cheer for him as “Catenicus.”

Ulciscor arrives to greet Vis. Staff from the school remind Vis that the Transvect between Solivagus and the Necropolis will run every couple hours for the next two days so students can return on their own schedules, but that he must be careful not to miss the last trip back. Then Vis and Ulciscor climb the mountain to the Telimus family mausoleum.

Vis and Ulciscor speak alone. Ulciscor is irritated that Vis has not risen higher in the school ranks and Vis tries to enlist Ulciscor’s help in getting past Dultatis. To prove he is valuable, Vis explains what he found in the ruins, but Ulciscor insists it is not enough. Vis needs to visit the other ruins on the far side of the island. Vis has a plan to do so but needs Ulciscor to provide a few tools to help. Ulciscor promises to prepare what he needs by the time he leaves the Necropolis.

The rest of Ulciscor’s family arrives. Vis greets Ulciscor’s parents. Vis freezes in terror when he realizes that Ulciscor’s wife, Relucia, is also Sedotia, his contact with the Anguis.

Sedotia/Relucia hugs him, pretending to be affectionate while whispering warnings of secrecy. She invites Vis to walk around the Necropolis. At first, Vis fears she intends to kill him, but realizes that the Anguis still want to use him. He sees that Estevan’s death was always part of their plan. Relucia explains that the naumachia attack was not enough to kill the Republic and they need someone on the inside. They want Vis to reach Class Three, win the Iudicium, and be awarded Domitor (the top-ranked student) which will allow him to request a high-ranking governmental position.

Vis considers his own plans. He wants to be Domitor so he can request an ambassadorial position in Jatiere, a far-off Republic holding. Vis does not tell her that he wants the position only because using Will is forbidden in Jatiere, allowing him to avoid submitting to the Aurora Columnae. From Jatiere, he hopes to escape the Republic entirely.

Relucia warns Vis that another Anguis member knows his secret, so it will do no good to kill her. She tells him to meet her in Caten during the next school holiday for the Festival of Pletuna. Vis asks if the Anguis intend to destroy the Aurora Columnae, ending the Will system. Relucia says that they plan to remove the oppressive government and start again. Vis retorts, “If all you’re trying to do is change who’s in control, then you don’t really want to change anything” (339).

When they return to the mausoleum, Ulciscor pulls Vis aside, saying he knows Vis is not the Aquirian orphan he pretends to be. Ulciscor does not care so long as Vis’s past does not compromise Ulciscor’s goals. Then he gives Vis the tools he requested: Will-imbued magnetic cuffs that will allow him to ride on the outside of the Transvect.

Vis intends to ride the Transvect through the seawall around Solivagus, then drop into the water before reaching the school, which will allow him to reach the ruins on the other side of the island. He will then swim back and use the magnetic cuff to pull him back up to the Transvect. Ulciscor warns him that the force of the cuffs could easily tear Vis’s arm off. Vis boards the Transvect heading to the Academy.

Vis hides dry clothes and one Will-imbued cuff inside the final compartment of the Transvect. Then he uses an escape hatch at the bottom to crawl out and hang from the bottom of the Transvect with the second cuff. The Transvect flies toward Solivagus. It passes through the seawall and Vis drops from the Transvect and swims to shore, heading for the far side of the island.

He climbs through the mountainous and forest-covered island toward the second ruin. When he reaches the ruin, he finds another domed building like the first. The structure is curved and crimson, with no windows or doors. He finds carved words in the dead Vetusian language that read “Luceum. Obiteum. Res” (352). Vis recalls similar words at the first ruin and recites the line aloud, causing a entrance to open. Inside, the walls are lined with corpses speared through with obsidian, but none move or open their eyes. Vis approaches a platform overlooking an abyss. He steps onto the platform, and it descends.

The platform lowers to an enormous chamber. A man, Artemius, appears from nowhere, telling Vis that the chamber contains a test. To pass the test, Vis must reach the exit at the far end. Artemius shows Vis an arm bracer like the one used by Academy students. Artemius warns that Remnants guard the way and will stop him if he attempts to cross. He then offers to demonstrate.

A maze just like the Academy Labyrinth appears. Artemius heads through the maze. Shapeless waves of black converge on him, changing into a mass of weapons that tear Artemius to pieces. Then the shapes and maze disappear.

A new figure appears: a woman who speaks the same words as Artemius. She offers to demonstrate the Labyrinth, but Vis stops her. Realizing he is out of time, he goes back up the platform, running out of the building and closing the entrance behind him.

Vis heads for the shore. On the way, he finds an injured alupi pup (giant wolves that live on the island). Vis feeds the pup and wraps its injured leg. He calls the pup Diago, then leaves. Reaching the water, he swims back to his jumping-off point, almost missing the Transvect’s last shuttle. He crawls back inside, changes into his dry clothes, and steps out when it reaches the Academy. As he exits, a teacher asks if he saw a Fourth student, Feriun, on the Transvect. The teacher laments that Feriun will be demoted for missing the last ride back. Exhausted, Vis returns to his dorm and collapses.