Chapter 1070: 1069: The Soulmending Spring

"What kind of treasure did you find?"

Zarven remained silent for a while.

His gaze moved toward the faint formation surrounding the table. Only after looking back at Simon did he speak.

"A Soulmending Spring."

Simon waited, but the name told him little beyond the obvious.

"It heals the soul?"

"Yes. Including injuries that would otherwise leave someone crippled for the rest of their life."

Zarven pushed his untouched plate aside.

"A missing arm can be replaced. Damaged flesh can be healed. But an injury to the soul…"

"Can remain long after the body has recovered," Simon finished.

He knew that much.

Zarven nodded.

"Some never recover. They survive, but they can no longer use the strength they spent their lives obtaining. This spring gives them a chance to regain it."

Simon’s interest grew.

"How severe an injury can it heal?"

"We’ve confirmed that it can repair a fractured soul. One of our elders suffered such an injury years ago. We spent a fortune keeping it from worsening."

Maelis’s fingers tightened around her fan.

"He could barely recognize his own children toward the end."

Simon glanced at her.

"And the spring healed him?"

"He needed several treatments," Zarven said. "But he recognized them after the first."

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Maelis lowered her eyes, and Simon realized this discovery meant more to the family than another valuable possession.

"Does it work on Daemons?"

"One of the four protectors identified it for us. According to him, even a Supreme Demon King’s soul can be treated."

Zarven paused.

"He also warned us that its uses would interest people far stronger than that."

Simon leaned back.

Now he understood.

An organization as old as the Abyss probably had members who had survived terrible battles only to spend centuries living with their injuries.

What if several of them recovered?

They wouldn’t need to train replacements or wait for promising descendants to grow stronger. Experienced fighters could return with the strength they had already possessed.

For The Dominion, that alone might be enough to justify this conflict.

"Can it bring back the dead?"

"No. If the soul is gone, there is nothing for it to repair."

"And it never runs out?"

"It needs time to recover after each treatment. A sufficiently powerful patient could exhaust it for years."

Simon nodded slowly.

There were limits, then.

Still, he doubted the families of those wounded experts would complain about waiting. Especially when they had already waited much longer without any hope of recovery.

He briefly thought of Lilith.

She had regained some strength after consuming Joren’s soul, but he knew she was still far from her former condition.

Would something like this help her?

He then recalled when Lilith left him and decided to wander the city.

Had she sensed the presence of the Soulmending Spring?

If she had… what did she plan on doing with it?

He put the thought aside before his expression revealed too much.

"What does it look like?"

"A shallow pool. Silver water, hardly deep enough to cover your knees. You can see the bottom clearly, but not your own reflection."

Simon looked at his glass.

A pool of water.

That was all it took to make one of the Four Orders attack a city protected by another.

Then again, he had killed for less.

"Did you know what it was when you found it?"

"Not immediately. Once we understood, we tried to keep the discovery quiet."

Zarven’s mouth tightened.

"We restricted access to it. Kept it out of our trade records. Even most of those who knew we’d found something valuable weren’t told what it could do."

"But The Dominion found out."

"Yes."

"How much do they know?"

"Enough to name it when they demanded that we surrender it."

Seraya’s expression became somewhat cold as she recalled how unpleasant it was back then.

Simon rested his forearms against the table.

"And the Eternal Court? The Blood Covenant? Do they know about it?"

"I don’t know whether either of them has heard about it. I haven’t seen anything to suggest they have."

Zarven looked toward the windows.

"I doubt The Dominion would willingly tell them. Taking a treasure is easier when you don’t have two more Orders trying to take it from you."

Simon understood.

The Dominion had every reason to keep whatever it knew to itself.

But how had the information reached them in the first place?

He glanced at Zarven.

A merchant like him should understand how dangerous a loose tongue could be. With something this valuable, he must have taken more precautions than those he had just mentioned.

Had someone sold the information?

Or had The Dominion been watching the Daegrins long before the discovery?

There was little point in deciding that now. Simon didn’t know how the treasure had been identified, who had examined it, or what other measures Zarven had taken.

He would only be guessing.

"Why not give it to the Abyss?"

Tavian looked up.

Simon continued before anyone could misunderstand.

"Not necessarily for free. Sell it, exchange it for something else, or let them keep it somewhere safe. The Dominion would have to go after them instead of Vhal-Sar."

Zarven gave a tired smile.

"We considered it. Unfortunately, they would have to take the island with it."

Simon frowned.

"Why?"

The First Merchant pointed downward.

"We found it beneath Vhal-Sar."

"Beneath the city?"

"We were expanding our underground vaults. One of the workers sensed something beyond the excavation and reported it. Further down, we found a sealed cavern."

Simon looked at the floor.

The treasure wasn’t in a chest waiting to be carried away.

"How far does the spring extend?"

"The pool itself is small. The passages feeding it run deep into the bedrock."

"Could you collect the water?"

"We tried. It loses its healing properties shortly after leaving the spring. Preservation vessels delayed that, but none worked well enough to make transporting it practical."

"What about moving the entire pool?"

"The pool is where the water gathers, Blackmoon. Taking the basin wouldn’t bring the source with it."

Zarven spread his hands.

"We’ve had specialists examine it. So far, no one has found a way to relocate it without destroying what makes it valuable."

Simon fell quiet.

That complicated things.

He could imagine why Zarven had been hesitant to describe the treasure. Someone who wanted to own it couldn’t simply take it and leave.

They would need access beneath Vhal-Sar.

Perhaps control of the city itself.

"The four protectors know about it," Zarven added. "We’re willing to discuss an agreement allowing the Abyss to use it. But granting them ownership wouldn’t move it out of The Dominion’s reach."

"The attacks would still happen here."

"Exactly."

Maelis glanced toward the dark lake.

"And our people would still be living above it."

Simon followed her gaze.

The glass bridges, the crowded streets, the children playing with enchanted toys…

None of them could be packed away with the family’s valuables.

"The Dominion knows we’re allied with the Abyss," Zarven said. "It hasn’t stopped them from attacking us. I have no reason to believe putting another name on the spring would change that."

Simon couldn’t argue with him.

Nor did he think the Daegrins should have to surrender every valuable thing they found just to receive protection their alliance already promised.

Still, there was an uncomfortable thought he couldn’t ignore.

Even if they defeated The Dominion’s current efforts, would that be the end of it?

The spring would remain.

As would the people who wanted it.

For now, though, he needed to understand what was happening rather than every problem that might follow.

Simon turned away from the windows.

"Tell me about these attacks," he said. "What exactly has The Dominion been doing?"